IRELAND AND ROME.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXI, Issue 2, 8 January 1903, Page 2

IRELAND AND ROME.

ABLE AND INTERESTING DISCOURSE.

By Cardinal Mohan.

(Continued.) The German scholar, Dr. Zinuner, of Berlin, is even more explicit in his testimony :— ' We must not forget,' he says, ' that the Irish from the se\enth to the tenth century were the schoolmasters of Kurope.' And, entering into details regarding this important statement, he adds : 'In the second half of the sixth century, the Irishman Cohunbanus, with 12 companions, amongst whom was Gallus, left his fatherland', penetrated the Kingdom of tho 1 ranks, and finally founded at Bobbio, beyond the Alps, a nursery of culture in the widest sense of the word. And what an energy and pcrse'v erancc is implied in such an undertaking as this ! Crowds of his countrymen followed him ; we meet thorn in all parts of the '"Yankish. kingdom — even in their old abode beyond the Rhine, as St. Kilian of Wurt7burg. They wore everywhere T no piilu»s of Christianity and of culture, and the 'uster- f athers of learning.' Amongst these learned pilgrims he specially names 'John So >tvs Eriarena, the most original thinker of that century, whose philosophical works were epoch-making, and who stood at the bead of the High School of Charles the Bald, whilst another Irishman, Caerulauß, taught in the Cathedral School of Liege from 840 to 860; aid another, Dicuil, between 800 and 830, as a grammarian, astronomer, and geographer, was heard of in every part of the Frankiah kingdom.' Regarding Germany, the Rev. Charles O'Connor attests :— ' The Germans themselves avow that letters were unknown in their country until introduced, tcgether with Christianity, by Irish monks.' Tnis influence of our Irish musionariea 'will be the better realised wh^n we call to mind that 35 Irish Saints sanctified Germany by their martyrdom. There were sixteen Irish monasteries in Bavaria and surrounding districts ; six others in Franconia and Thuringict ; and fifteen in Alsace and its neighboring territory. It is not easy for the mind to grasp how vast and far-reaching was the religious influence which such foundations imply. So widespread was the influence thus exercised by those Irish missionaries, that the festival of St. Brigid was kept in every cathedral churoh from the Grisona to the German Sea for almost a thousand years. W*lhfridus Strabo was so struck by the rush of Irish soholars to Germany that he writes : 'The habit of emigrating has become iv the Irish a sort of second nature.' The words of Rev. Dr. Lynch, in his 'Gambrensis E versus, will suffice to put this matter in its proper light : — ' Gfroi'iny.' he writes, ' was the most nourishing vineyard of the Irish Saints. St. Album, or Witta, is honored as apostle in Thuringia ; St Disihod at Troves ; St. Erhard in Alsace and Bavaria ; St. Fridolin in the Grisona of Switzerland ; St. Gall among the Suabians, Swiss, and Bhetian ; St. Johi in Mecklenburg ; St. Virgil

at Salzburg ; St. Eilian in Franoonia ; St. Rupert in part of Bava ria. From these saints, these different places received the grace of faith and the sacred discipline of Christian virtue, and afterwards honored the memory of their benefactors as the apostleß of their nation. But these are not the only saints to whom the Germans send up their filial prayers. Equal honors are paid by them to some others of our countrymen. St. Albert is honored at Ratißbon ; SS. Deioola and Finton at Constance ; and St. Eusebius at Coire. The town and qanton of St. Gall took their name from oar countryman St. Gall. " This monastery," writes MiiQßter, " was the school of the noble and the peasant, and the nursery of a great number of learned men ; at one period it contained no less than 150 students and brothers." ' Dr Lynoh continues : ' Ireland was therefore both the AtheniEum of learning and the temple of holiness, supplying the world with literati and heaven with saints. Was ever panegyric more appropriate than the words of Eric of Auxerre : " Need 1 mention Ireland, who, despising the dangers of the deep, emigrates to onr shores, with almost the whole ho^t of her philosophers; the most eminent among them becoming voluntary exiles to carry cut the projects of our wisest Solomon." ' It must be considered little more than an idle question to ask, were those pilgrims for Christ from Erin, of whom we have been speaking, In Union with the Holy See. Let St. Columbanus, the great leader of those champions of Christ, reply. Some trouble arose for his community in France. He appeals to the Sovereign Pontiff for protection and aid, and Ate, with duo submission, yet confidently, writes :—: — 'To thee alone do we pour out our supplications, through our Saviour and the Holy Ghost, and through the unity of the Father that is common to us, that thou mayest bestow upon us, laboring pilgrims, the solace of the holy decision, with which thou wilt strengthen the tradition of our elders, if it bo not contrary to faith.' On another occasion, addressing the Holy Father, he styles him ' the most beautiful Head oi ail the Churches of the whole of Europe, the beloved Pope, the pastor of pastors ; ' and he writes : 'We are the scholars of Saints Peter and Paul and of all disciples subscribing by the Holy Ghost to the divine canon ; all are Irish, inhabitants of the remotest part of the whole world, receiving nothing save what is the evangelical and apostolic doctrine None of us has been a heretic, none a Jew, none a schismatic ; but the faith just as it was at first delivered by you, the successors of the Apostles, is hold unshaken.' St. Fursey, on the part of all the liish saints in France, thus salutes the Eternal City : ' O Rome ! exalted above all cities by the triumphs of the Apostles, decked with the roses of niartyidom, decorated with the lilies of confessors, adorned with the palms of vngins, strengthened by all their merits, enriched with the lemains of so many and so renowned saints ; we hail thee ! May thy sacred authority never cease, which has been illustrated by the dignity and wisdom of the holy Fathers ; that authority by which the body of Christ — that is to say, our blessed Mother the Church—mamtains its undying consistency and vigor ' When St. Willibrord set out from the Irish schools for Germany, his lirst step was 'to hasten to Rome, the apostnhc chair of which was then filled by Tope Nergius, that by his sanction and blessing he might begin the wlfched-for work of announcing the Gospel to the heathen ' St. Boniface. of lush parentage, is justly styled the Apostle of Germany. It was from Pope Gregory IT. that he received his mission to preach the Gospel among the pagans When his labois were blessed by God, he was summoned to Rome and received the episcopal consecration at the hands of the Pope : and again from the Holy See special authority was delegated to him over all the German dioceses. In a word, all the Churches evangelised by Irish missionaries were for centuries the champions of the Holy See and the joy of Christendom. 11. We come now to the Second Period. The Danish invasions brought desolation to the fairest territories of Ireland and ruin to a vast number of her sanctuaries. Kildare and Clonmacnoise, Clonard and Armagh, were again and again plundered and laid waste. On the part of those ruthless marauders it was a warfare in hat?-cd of the Christian religion no less than in search of plunder and concpiest. The victory of Brian Boi v on the banks of the Tolka put an end forever to their impious designs and to Danish -aggression. The battle of Clontarf is an event to be held forever memorable in the world's history The representative chiefs of Danish paganism mustered all their strength from Denmark and the Isles and every tributary State to give final victory to their pagan worship and to consolidate its triumph as in its centre in Ireland The Dalcassian battle-axe cut their schemes to pieces, and by one great victory put an end forever at the same time to Danish aggression and to Danish paganism. The theatre on which this memorable triumph of religion wafe achieved is now crowned by the vrand Seminary of Clonliffe and the beautiful residence of the Archbishop of Dublin. In some of the Celtic Calendars, tho monarch Brian is honored as a saint and martyr. At all events, I trust that some day a public monument may be erected to him as a valiant hero who freed the world from a dangerous enemy, and rendered immortal services to his country and to Holy Church. No sooner was peace restored to Ireland than the Church began to clothe herself once more with pristine comeliness. The monasteries were re-opened, the sanctu-

anes of piety were renewed, and schools and other centres of enlightenment were everywhere multiplied throughout the land. One of the great restorers of ptet^Jand learning was Bishop. Gilbert a* .Limerick, Le> gate ol the Holy See for Ireland. Se was indefatigable in gathering the scattered stones of the sanctuary and restoring ecclesiastical discipline. The Protestant Archbishop of Armagh, Primate Usher, has published a treatise of this illustrious bishop, ' De Usu Ecclesiastico, in which he writes : ' To Peter alone has been said : "Tv es Petrus.' Therefore it is that the Pope alone can preside over the whole Church, and it is his privilege that all should be ruled and judged by him.' A Remarkable Feature of the Church history of those days, is the pressing demand of the Irish bishops that the Pallium, as a pledge of indissoluble union, should be granted by Rome to the chief bishops of Ireland. In the year 1151, at the Synod of Kells— in which we find presiding another Legate of the Holy See, St. Christian, Bishop of Lismore— the decrees of the Irish Church were at length realised, and Cardinal Paparo, specially despatched thither by the Pope, imposed, in the Pontiff's name, the Sacred Pallium on the bishops of the four Sees which have ever since been invested with special dignity and honor as the Archiepiscopal and Metropolitan Sees of Ireland. It was this Cardinal who, returning to Home, brought with him the precious relic of our Apostle St. Patrick, of a considerable portion of which the venerable college in which we are assembled is proud to be the custodian at the present day. Among the names of Irish bishops that come prominently before us at this period is that of St. Laurence O'Toole. Tie toiled most assiduously to fan the flame of piety in (Jlendalough and Dublin, and he did a yeoman's part also in combating for his country. He presents himself to us in his episcopate as a special link of Ireland and Rome. Together with five other Irish bishops he took part in the General Council held at the Lateran Palace in Rome in the year 1179, and he returned to his See bearing the additional title and dignity of Papal Legate for Ireland. But it is in particular of St. Malachy I would wish to speak. He was the bosom friend of the great Doctor of the Church, St. Bernard ; he was in his own life a model of virtue ; he promoted discipline ; he loved the poor. Just like you whom it is my privilege to address, he made a pilgrimage to Rome. He received many gifts, many favors, from the Holy See. It is said that the Pope, taking his own mitre, placed it on the Saint's head and mado him a gift of it. St. Malachy was remarkable for his spirit of prophecy, as St. Bernard himself attests, and one of his prophecies has happily been preserved to us. He foresaw the desolation which was about to fall upon his beloved country through the Norman invasion and the dissensions of her sons. In his last moments, as he wept in grief for his country's sorrows, he cried out : ' How long, O Lord, how long ?' In prophetic vision it was then revealed to him that! peace would one day be restored to Erin, and that the glory of her Church would be renewed, and that bright> lv, as in the golden days of her sanctity, the rays of Faith would shine upon her green hills." I will read foil you the beautiful Words of this Prophecy regarding Ireland's future lot which formed the closing messaere of the dying Saint to his assembled brethren — prophetic words which only after 700 years were to be fulfilled :—: — ' The Church of God in Ireland shall never, fail. With terrible discipline long shall she be purified. But afterwards, fur and wide shall her magnificence shine forth in cloudless glory. And, oh ! Ireland, do thou lift up thy head. Thy day also shall come ; a day of apes, a week] of centuries, equalling the seven deadly sins of the enemy, shall be numbered unto thee. Then shall thy exceeding great merits have obtained mercy for thy terrible foe, yet so as though scourges as great and enduring. Thy enemies who me in thee shall be driven out) find humbled, and their name taken away. But inasmuch as thou art depressed, in so much shalt thou be exalted, and thy glory shall not pass away. There shall be poace and abundance within thy boundaries, and beauty and strength in thy defence.' And the Saint, resting for a few moments, again with a loud and joyous \oice exclaimed : ' Now, O Lord, dost Thou dismiss Thy servant in peace. It is enough. The Church of God in Ireland shall never fail, and, though long shall it bo desired, mv country shall one day stand forth in its might, and bo fresh in its beauty like the rose.' It may be remarked that, during the period of which we now speak, The Arts attained their highest perfection in tho Trish schools. The various shrines and other work in gold and silver and enamel that are still preserved — such as the Cross of Cong, the Ardagh Chalice, the Tara Brooch, etc.— attest a degree of perfection in these branches of art that has never been surpassed. The incomparable perfection in tho matter of Illumination so filled with astonishment Giraldus Cambrensis and his brother Anglo-Normans that they, of one accord, proclaimed those unique monuments of Celtic art to be the handiwork not of men but of angels. ' The same historian, Giraldus, though in all his writings he shows himself so hostile to Ireland, can find no

words sufficient to eulogise the charm of Irish music. St. Aldhelm had attained considerable eminence among the Anglo-Saxons for performance on the harp ; but he had learned the art from the Irish monks. Giraldus, however, awards the palm to Ireland. ' The attention of this people,' he writes ' to musical instruments I find worthy of commendation ; their skill in these matters being incomparably superior to that of any other nation I have seen.' He expresses his admiration for ' the rapidity of execution,' ' the intricate arrangement of the not^s, ' and ' the melody so harmonious and perfect,' which Irish music displayed ; and he was struck with the performance of the Irish musicians, who, he says, know how 'to delight with so much delicacy, and soothe so softly, that the excellence of their art seemed to lie in concealing it.' Poetry seems to have gone hand in hand with music. Warton, in his ' History of English Poetry, attests that •' even so late as the eleventh century the practice was continued among the Welsh bards of receiving instructions in the bardic profession from Ireland.' 111. The period of Penal Laws may justly be considered the Martyr Ago of Ireland, and throughout this whole period of three centuries, from Henry VIII, to 1800, three things stand prominently before us :—: — 1. There was no device of wicked ingenuity left untried to rob the people of their faith. 2. No nation has ever exhibited greater self-sacrifice und heioisni for the preservation of their faith. 3. Throughout the whole period the Holy See was the one untiring friend of our suffering country, and Rome was the secure refuge and home of the Irish exiles. This period of persecution recalls the sufferings of the early Christians, the martyrdom of Ignatius and Polycarp, of Agnes and Agatha, of Cecilia and Fabiola, of Lawrence and Sebastian ; and it is no less unquestionable that it recalls the fervor, the constancy, the heroism, the victories of the first ages of the Church The altars were cast down, the churches were burned or appropriated to alien worship, the people were reduced not only to poverty, but to the condition of ser fs and slaves. As regards the clergy, they tasted unflinchingly of the bitter waters of persecution, thov led li\es of poverty, and died in most cases in loathsome prisons or on the scaffold. Suffering and exile and death were their heirlooms. It was only in secret that Mass was celebrated, only under shelter of the darkness of night could the consolations of religion be brought to the dying, and the Sacraments administered. Yet these duties were faithfully discharged. Terrors of E\ery Kind. surrounded those heroic men They li\ed in disguise, and continually walked in the shadow of death; but nothing could chill their fer\or or damp their courage. In the eyes of the persecutor, thei.r conscience was their crime , m tho sight of heaven their conscience was their crown Thie martyis of the eaiiv Church died in the arena with thousands of spectators witnesses of their gloi ions combat but too often angels alone saw the Irish pi icsts with then de\oted Hoc'-s ciiicll\ butchered on the hill-side, or in the lonely woods, oi in the dismal dungeons. AVa\o alter w,t\e of ]ci sedition swept o\ er our country Confiscations and sufferings were the lot of the people — they surrendered all, but the\ would not icnounce their glorious faith. Mhe Penal Laws pursued their ■* ict mis w ith Malignant Jngenuitv into e\ cry detail of life. For instance • the Catholic heirs ot a Protestant landholder were disinherited, and the estate tiansfened to the next Protestant l elation ' Papists ' weie incapable ol pinchasing lands, ot taking leases for any term o\er .SI ,\eais , and if the piofit on the farm exceeded one-thud oi the lent, the possessor might be ousted and the proieity \ested in the Protestant 'disco\eier ' As regards the lorleited estates, ' Papists ' weie allowed to dwell on them only as laborers or cottiers, \ ro\ ided their tenenic nt did not exceed m \alui 1 tlmj rent o) HOs a >ear r l hey were lined £120, or two months' niipi lsonment lor not acknowledging when and w Ikm c Mass was celebrated, who and what persons were piesent, when or w her c a pi lest schoolmaster resided The law on education, after the prohibition ot Catholic education at home, enacted that, if any subject of Ireland should go, or send any child or other person, to be educated in any Popish urmeisit\, college, or school, or m an\ prnate lamily beyond the seas, or if such child should, by any Popish pet son. lie instiurtcd in the Popish religion, or if any subiects oi Ireland should send mone\ , etc towaids the maintenance of such child, or other person, all eady sent or to be sent, every such offender should be fore\er disabled to sue in law or equity , and, besides, they should torfeit all thenestates, both real and personal, during their- h\cs These are but a Jew ilems of a malicious code, the best calculated to exterminate or degrade a people that the per\erse ingenuity of man has e\er de\ ised The Cloil'V were in a special manner pursued by the aeents of persecution Bishop after hishon, archbishop after archbishop, in all the Sees of Ireland laid down their lues to guard the heritage of the Faith and pieser\e the liberty of the Church of St Patrick

An Irish priest in the United States has penned a short poem on the priest of those penal times : ' His altar was an uncarved rock, The Priest of Penal Days ; His choir, the waves upon the lough ; His incense rose from flow 'rets wild His temple, Nature undefiled, His acolyte, a peasant child— The Priest of Penal Days. ' His garden was the lonely moor, The Priest ot Penal Kays ; His bread came from the poorest poor ; He scorned the earth and ail it gave His mansion was a gloomy cave, His goal, a glorious martyr's graye — Grand priest of Penal Days.' (To be concluded.)