ON ST. LUGIDUS OR LUANUS, ABBOT OF CLONFERT
IN IRELAND.
In the Year 602.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
The Saint's names, his distinction from others, cult, date, and Acts.
Luanus or Lugidius, Confessor, in Ireland (St.)
BHL Number: 5059
BY THE AUTHOR P. B.
This holy Abbot has chiefly two names: The Saint's names Lugidus, Molua, Luanus, etc. the one Molua, the other Lugith or Lugidus. Concerning both, his Life published by Sirin has this at number 46: Holy Molua, namely, was formerly named Lugidus; but by his mother out of affection he was called Molua; and afterward likewise by his holy master Comgall: and thence all the common people call him Molua; and they know his first name, that is, Lugidus. Hence the Life which we shall give below from a Manuscript codex has this title: Here begins the Life of St. Lugidus of Clonfert; but of the other, shorter one in the same place this: Here begins the Life of Molua of Drumsnat. And the signification of the names Lua and Lugith or Lugaidh seems to be the same; and the name Mo-Lua (as it is often written in Colgan) to be compounded of the particle, or initial letters, Mo (for O prefixed to a name signifies the merits and worth of the person named; but M prefixed to this, the tender and benevolent affection, as they say, of the one naming) and the name Lua; as if one should say, Dearest Lugidus, My son Lua, or, as according to our Life, chapter 2, number 12, St. Comgall called him, Lugith maccan, little son Lugidus. Certainly by the Irish in the vernacular speech he is called not only Molua and Lugaidh, but also simply Lua; and hence by the same in Latin not only Lugidus, Lugidius, Moluanus, but also Luanus; as is observed in the margin of the Sirinian Life at number 1: nay, the title of the same Life there is: The Life of St. Molua or Luanus. By the name of Luanus also Colgan designates him more than once, a man skilled in Irish matters beyond most, and indeed himself an Irishman: to say nothing here of others.
[2] He is the same of whom we treated in the Passed-over on the 12th of July, Wherefore it can scarcely seem doubtful to me that this is that holy Luanus of whom mention was made among us in the Passed-over at the day XII of July, on which he is reported by Ferrarius, and that on the authority of the English Martyrology. But that very English Martyrology of Wilson cites nothing in its own support except Wion in the Appendix to the third book of the Tree of Life, and the Acts of St. Malachy the bishop; and in neither place is either the day of his cult designated, or the other things in which Wilson there errs, when he asserts that St. Luanus was abbot of Bangor in Ireland; likewise that he lived in the time of St. Malachy, bishop of Connor; and that he died about the year of Christ 1140: for St. Bernard in the Acts of St. Malachy, in Surius at the day III of November, number 4, does not call Luanus abbot of the monastery of Bangor, but one of the sons of that holy congregation; nor does he say that he lived in the times of Malachy, but that it (that monastery) had been most noble before under its first father Comgall; that is, in the sixth century, not the twelfth. Our Luanus, I say, we judge to be that man: for to him, and indeed, so far as we know, to him alone, all the marks agree which the Martyrologists just mentioned assign to a fictitious Luanus of the twelfth century in the Acts of St. Malachy, expressed in these words of St. Bernard concerning the monastery of Bangor: For it had been most noble before under its first father Comgall, producing many thousands of monks, the head of many monasteries; a holy place indeed and fruitful of Saints, most abundantly bearing fruit to God; so that one of the sons of that holy congregation, by name Luanus, is said to have been by himself the founder of a hundred monasteries.
[3] And first indeed the name agrees, as has already been shown: next, our Saint was one of the sons of that holy congregation, under its first father Comgall; as is established from all the copies of his Life: and whom St. Bernard praises in the Life of St. Malachy the bishop; finally, that he was the founder, if not of a hundred, at least certainly of many monasteries and cells, his Life from the Armagh codex, published by Sirin, hands down at number 5: and these indeed he is said to have founded in Ireland: for this too seems to be required by what Bernard subjoins in the same place concerning St. Columbanus and other disciples of the same Comgall. All these things, tell me, to what other St. Luanus do they square? To that one whom Jonas treats in the Life of St. Columbanus, in Sirin, chapter 20? So indeed Ussher judges in his Antiquities of the British Churches, page 1157; and the same Mabillon suspects in the Benedictine Annals, volume 1, page 293; for no other cause, I think, than that they had read that he was there called both a most holy man and Lua; and did not know that this same name was common to some other. But indeed that Lua, or Luanus, is known to have been a disciple of Columbanus; that he was Comgall's is not known. Then where are the monasteries which he founded? Alemand certainly, who with great labor scraped together whatever he found written in this kind into the monastic History of the kingdom of Ireland, published in the French idiom at Paris in the year 1690, from page 356 reviews in a long order the chief founders of monasteries in Ireland, and among them at page 364 St. Molua, or Lugidus, who is certainly ours: but he there acknowledges no other Lua or Luanus. I would say more here, did not these things suffice abundantly to blunt an opinion proved by no argument, and to exclude any others whatever (if indeed any others are known at all) named Luanus from St. Bernard's eulogy. And indeed the same thing before us Colgan pronounced without hesitation, both in the Triad of Wonder-workers, note 109 on Jocelin, that is, the sixth Life of St. Patrick, page 113, and elsewhere; likewise the venerable servant of God Fleming, or he who reviewed and published his works, Sirin, or rather both, in the Dissertation on the monastic profession of St. Columbanus, page 438, number 94; Benedict Haeften, Monastic Disquisitions, book 1, tract 7, disquisition 2, page 72; Alemand in the Monastic History of Ireland, page 70, etc.
[4] I said: If indeed any others are known at all: for, but different from that Luanus, or Loevanus, as Father Peter Verne, priest of the Society of Jesus, then residing at La Flèche, taught us in the years 1666 and 1668, there is celebrated among the Bretons a certain holy Luanus, to whom he himself contends the cited text of St. Bernard belongs; but he does not attempt to prove this by any other reasoning than this alone, which he defends in a copious and altogether learned Manuscript dissertation: that his Luanus was in no way different from this one of ours. And so he thought our opinion so certain that he propped his own upon it as upon a base. And he writes that that holy Luanus is venerated in upper Cornouaille, in the diocese of Quimper, in the parish of Mur, near the church of St. Albus, commonly Saint Guen; where a chapel is to be seen, elegant, of modern workmanship, and set on the top of a hill, in that very place in which another ancient oratory had been, but too narrow for the multitude of pilgrims running thither as suppliants, and therefore enlarged: moreover that on the altar of that old little building there had survived until the beginning of the seventeenth century an ancient statue which represented him, in whose name the place had been consecrated, in an eremitical habit: that next to this there had been a rock, so hollowed out that it seems to have received, as if it were soft wax, the body of that same Saint, somewhat bent and leaning on his left side; whose impressed traces it preserves even today: that frequent prodigies are continued in the same place, concerning which he himself received some commentaries from our Father Julian Maunoir, missionary, in which the latter had comprised many miracles, and those most worthy of report, juridical informations having previously been made. He adds that that Saint is called by the natives Saint Luhan, but by the French Saint Elouan: that his Acts there, if they ever existed, now nowhere survive; but only a tradition, which is reduced to these five heads:
[5] whom the Bretons venerate, First, that this Saint was sent by St. Tugdual, or Tugalus, first bishop of Tréguier, that in that wood where now the parish of Mur is seen he might cultivate the solitary life; that he lived there thereafter, and there died, and [had] an anniversary feast, celebrated from all memory on the last Sunday of the month of August. Second, that the same man was Irish by nation: that there are indeed those who make him a disciple of St. Tugdual, and thus a Briton by race; but that the opinion of these is erroneous and recent. Third, that his name among the ancient Bretons was most commonly Luhan; that yet among the same it was also wont to be called Luan, Elvan, or Elven. Fourth, that the body of that holy man was buried there in a stone tomb, which is now empty; and that it is not known whither his relics were translated. Fifth, that his sanctity was long ago acknowledged by the Church: for this is gathered from the chapel and statue erected to his honor and cult. These are the things, he says, which the ancient tradition of the Bretons teaches us, which can be contradicted by no one, and to which I have added or taken away nothing whatever; nay, if I were to do so, there is no one in Brittany who could not convict me of falsehood.
[6] and whom some wrongly confound with ours. For my part I do not see what this Saint, according to that tradition such as it is, could have had in common with ours, besides the name, the date (if indeed these agree), and holiness: for our Saint is most well known throughout all Ireland; that one has long been unknown under the name of Luanus not only to the Irish but also to the Bretons: for neither in Albert Le Grand
in the Life of St. Tugdual, nor in Lobineau in the History of Lesser Britain, book 2, toward the end, does he appear anywhere among the Breton Saints; unless he be that one whom they themselves call Saint Loëvan and make a disciple of St. Tugdual; which does not agree with our Saint: that one was a hermit; ours a cenobite, nay the founder and abbot of several monasteries, never a hermit: that one perhaps never saw Ireland, especially if he was a disciple of the Briton St. Tugdual; ours is nowhere read to have seen the Bretons: that one died and was buried in Brittany; ours, according to all his Acts, died in Ireland and was buried in the monastery of Clonfert: that one's feast was celebrated from time immemorial down to the year 1668 on the last Sunday of August, not so ours, as will presently be seen. What more? He is therefore not ours; nor accordingly did St. Bernard make mention of him: however much Castellanus too seems to have thought this in his Universal Martyrology, when he announces him, not on the last Sunday of August, but on the IV day of the same month, thus: In lower Brittany, of St. Eluanus, abbot of Bangor in Ireland, mentioned by St. Bernard, who wrote that he was said to be the founder of a hundred monasteries. His tomb is honored at St. Albus's (at Saint Guin) in the diocese of Quimper. In his Hagiological Vocabulary he calls him in Latin St. Lugidianus. But if he drew these things not from his own opinion, but from information taken up on the spot, it follows that this opinion has now grown strong there, and that therefore the feast day of the same Saint, formerly otherwise, has now been changed to that which suits ours. But those who wish to confound the two, why do they not also give both the same name? Why do they call him Eluanus and Lugidianus? Why do they also call him abbot of Bangor, which neither ever was? Let us return to our Saint.
[7] It has been said more than once already by our Predecessors that this our holy Luanus is venerated on the day IV of August; Our St. Lugidus is venerated among the Irish on 4 August. as see volume II of January, page 1119, volume III of March, page 22, volume III of April, page 580, etc. Nor indeed have I been able to find anywhere among the Irish any other day assigned for his festival, except in the Manuscript Catalogues of the Saints of Ireland, which in the past century our Father Stephen White composed for our use, himself an Irishman, and, while he taught Theology at Dillingen, an assiduous investigator of the sacred antiquities of his fatherland. For he in his eighth Catalogue has thus: Luanus, who is also Agnellus, abbot in Ireland, whom St. Bernard writes to have alone founded a hundred monasteries … The Man of God was living about the year 700. But in the margin he notes his feast on the day XII of July (perhaps from Wilson) and the XXVII of December. Bucelinus in the Benedictine Menology reports him on the day V of December, from various writers, as he adds, of Irish matters; but he names none. Our Bolland also produces none, volume 1 of January, page 46; where he says that he is venerated on the day 2 of August. Certainly in his Life published in Sirin, page 378, number 53, one reads that the Saint gave up his spirit not on the 1st of August, but on the 2nd of the Nones of August; which day alone Colgan more than once makes proper to him, and that from the Irish Menologies, as he signifies in the Acts of the Saints of Ireland, volume 1, page 58, note 8: For our Menologies record, he says, that many Saints rest there (in the monastery of Clonfert) and are venerated; as St. Luanus on the IV of August, St. Lactanus his successor, etc. Haeften, in the place cited above, when he had treated of the rule of St. Luanus, subjoins concerning him: On the IV of August St. Euchusius (or Ængus), St. Marianus in their Martyrologies, and the Martyrology of Tallaght treat of him; concerning whose date consult the praised work of Colgan, page 4 and following. On the same day he is noted in the Kalendar of the Saints of Ireland arranged by our Father Henry Fitz-Simon, and published at Douai in 1615, and more fully at Liège in 1619; although in both places it is corruptly read St. Motna for St. Molua.
[8] But the place far most celebrated for his cult and relics was the monastery His chief monastery, Cluain fearta Molua. which from him, as its founder and patron, had the name Cluain fearta Molua, or according to the interpretation of the printed Life, page 374, number 30, The wonderful retreat of St. Molua, so called, as is added in the same place, because he himself in his lifetime worked many miracles in it; and even now the graces of the Lord are wrought through him in honor of St. Molua. But Cluain ferta was a double monastery: the one on the western bank of the river Shannon, which divides Connaught from Leinster, and thus belongs to Connaught: this one, founded by St. Brendan, thereafter grew into an episcopal see, commonly Clonfert. See Colgan in the topographical index to the Acts of the Saints of Ireland, volume 1, page 874. The other, of which we here treat, was situated some leagues to the east of the former, in Leinster; as may be gathered from the place of the Sirinian Life already assigned, where it is said to have been on the border of Munster and Leinster, between the regions of Osraighe (that is, Ossory, to the east) and Heli (commonly Haly, to the south) and Laighse, or Laoighis, which here does not seem able to be confounded with Queen's County (for since Ossory is in that county, this would be an inept circumscription of the place); but between the monastery and the farthest corner of Munster it extended, along with part of Connaught and Meath, to the west and north, according to what will be said below in chapter 3, number 23, letter h. In our Life in the same place, number 24, it is said to have been founded beside the mountain Sinnoir, which cannot apply to that monastery of Clonfert in Connaught; as you will gather there from the annotations: and it indicates that our monastery was not only different from that one (which Alemand acknowledges in the Monastic History of Ireland, page 70 and following), but also more remote from it than that author there would have. For the rest, that it was situated in Offaly, or King's County, Ussher teaches at page 943, and Colgan at the XXIX of January, page 193; who nowhere hint that any ruins of it now survive. But in what esteem the relics of this Saint were held there immediately from his death will be plain from the Acts.
[9] The year, month, and day of his death: But he died, if those Acts require any credence, while Gregory the Great was adorning the Roman See: for this three copies of the Acts alike assert: he did not therefore live until the year of Christ 608, as seemed good to Ussher in the chronological Index appended to his Antiquities of the British churches, page 1156; nor did he reach the year of Christ 605, which Colgan makes his last, at the XII of January, page 58, note 3, and the X of March, page 572, note 1, citing the Four Masters in the Annals: for it is established that St. Gregory died on the day XII of March in the year 604; but St. Luanus must have preceded him by more than a whole year: since he expired, according to both copies of his Acts in our Salamanca codex, on the Sabbath day, and according to the Life published by Sirin from the Armagh codex, on the day IV of August: but the fourth day of August, while Gregory sat, was not a Sabbath except in the years 591, 596, and 602; to one of which accordingly the death of St. Luanus is to be reduced. We reduce it to the last, on account of what we shall observe concerning St. Fintan in the Acts below, chapter 6, number 48, at note ee. That he was then an old man the Sirinian Life hands down; which is true, if, as our Acts assert in chapter 4, number 30, he was already abbot of Clonfert when St. Aidan came to him before the death of St. David, bishop of Menevia, which falls in the year of Christ 544, as we showed in volume 1 of March, page 40. But indeed how does this stand with these same Acts of ours, chapter 2, number 10, where Luanus is said to have been led, while still a boy, by St. Comgall, then already abbot of Bangor, to the monastery of Bangor, already assuredly founded; since according to the Annals of the Four Masters in Colgan at the XXIX of January, page 192, it was not founded before the year of Christ 551; nay, according to Ussher, page 956, not before about the year 555 or 559? Doubtless the monuments of Ireland, not rarely besprinkled with anachronisms of this kind, convict their interpolators or authors either of little fidelity, or certainly of being very credulous and rude.
[10] likewise the Acts, The Acts, therefore, which we shall here give are almost of that kind and quality of which we have already given not a few others of the Saints of that nation; that is, full of miracles and paradoxical matters, which scarcely the weightiest authority could persuade anyone of, heaped together by an anonymous and unknown writer. But we have found four copies of them: the first, which, before it was published, Colgan often used, and sometimes Ussher too, until Sirin published it, taken from a certain Armagh codex, among the Sacred Collectanea of the Reverend Father Patrick Fleming in the year 1667 from the presses of Louvain, from page 368; the second and third in the parchment codex P. Ms. XI, which seems to have been written in the XIIth century or the following, and which we call the Salamanca codex, because it once belonged to our Irish college there; the fourth, finally, in a not very ancient Manuscript of our Father Fitz-Simon, marked ✠ Ms. 167; where the Saint is also called Molo. Of these the second appears the most ancient, both from the barbarity of its style, and because gaps left in one place and another, and certain things elsewhere joined indeed in writing but by no means cohering in sense, indicate that it was transcribed into the Salamanca codex in the century already mentioned from another codex, by then already worn out with age. This one therefore it has seemed good to publish here in preference to the rest, which, if you attend to the substance, agree with it in most things; not so, if you attend to certain circumstances of the matters, and the manner of narrating, which in the Sirinian is more polished and more explicit, but in the third and fourth copies for the most part so brief that it passes over many things, and touches upon almost all the rest lightly — an epitome of the Acts rather than a history. I said: in most things: because in those there are some things which are lacking in ours; as also in ours certain things occur of which those made no mention.
[11] Thus there is wanting in both our Manuscripts what is read in Sirin, page 375, of which here is a brief supplement number 33: Once the man of God Molaissi had a most grievous ulcer beneath his breast, and his mouth was turned awry: and he refused medicine on account of the magnitude of the pain and its excessive bitterness. Hearing this, St. Molua came to him and said to him: If I may be allowed to bless your breast, with which you are tormented, O dear father? And St. Molaissi said to him: Bless it with the holy sign and with your prayer only; but beware,
that you touch it in no way. And so, St. Molua blessing the breast of the man of God, straightway the pain vanished from him root and branch, and St. Molaissi appeared at once whole. Then those two Saints with their disciples gave thanks to Christ. Likewise that in the same place, number 34: Walking one day about the monastery, the holy father Molua, and one Brother with him named Dochonna, the latter fell into a certain little ditch; and there suddenly his foot was broken into three parts, and in no way could he remove himself thence. The pious father Molua came to him, and took the divided thigh in his hands, and glued bone to bone, praying; and straightway the Brother's foot was healed in his hands, as though it had never been broken. And the Brother Dochonna rising up safe, St. Molua threatened him and said: Beware lest during our lifetime you tell this deed to anyone: for on whatever day you shall disclose it to anyone, your foot shall be broken, and you shall die the sooner; as would have happened to you just now, had not God healed you through me. Which also came to pass. For that Brother Dochonna, after very many days, conversing with certain Brethren about St. Molua, told them the aforesaid deed, [and] there straightway his foot was broken before the Brethren, and after a short space he died; as the holy Man had said. And the Brethren, hearing and seeing such things, were edified in their holy Elder. Then what follows at numbers 35 and 36, more amusing than credible:
[12] One day the holy father Molua went to see the herd of his monastery; we premise. and he saw near the road among the bushes wolves hungry and crying out to heaven: and moved with mercy he summoned them with him, and lodged them in the guest-house; and washed their feet; and had a calf killed and cooked; and it was given to them with all kindness. And such a banquet St. Molua made for the wolves after a yearly custom. And those wolves eagerly began to guard the cattle from other wolves and from thieves; and they were as it were domestic with the Saint's shepherds, recognizing one another. And for many days after St. Molua's death those wolves did this. One day a certain Brother Finan was making the oblations in a certain upper room; and the holy Father Molua was helping him: and a partridge came through the window, and carried off one oblation with it in its beak. And St. Molua made the sign after the bird; and straightway it fell dead to the ground. Seeing this, St. Molua blessed it with prayer, and raised it from death: and fed it kindly. That bird afterward during its life was familiar among the Brethren. These things are only in the Sirinian Life; but what is read in the same place at number 50 the Salamanca epitome also briefly narrates: One of St. Molua's teeth fell out in his old age; and he himself said to the Brother who ministered to him: This tooth, my son, keep diligently: for there will be a day when it will be needed; and let it not be buried with me. Which after a long time was fulfilled: for after St. Molua's death certain monks came to Ireland to seek the relics of the Saints of Ireland: and when they had come to the city of Clonfert to ask for some of the relics of St. Molua, the people were unwilling to open the shrine of St. Molua's relics. That Brother, seeing the anxiety of the monks and of the people, disclosed to them about that tooth, as we have said above: and both parties rejoiced thereat. And that tooth was given them according to their request. In the aforementioned compendium those monks are said to have come from the Ionan monastery of St. Columba. And Iona is one island of the Hebrides to the west of Scotland. See the rest in the Annotations; as also in volume II of January the Life of St. Aidan, page 1118, where concerning his journey to Rome, accomplished in one day; in volume II of March the Life of St. Mochoemoc, page 287, number 38, where he is said to have passed the night in the open, protected from the injury of wind and rain; in volume III of May the Life of St. Carthach, page 380, number 12, where a certain prophecy of this St. Molua is narrated; concerning which the Acts which we now subjoin are silent, the old division of chapters being noted in the margin.
LIFE
From our ancient parchment Manuscript codex of Salamanca, P. Ms. XI, collated with others.
Luanus or Lugidius, Confessor, in Ireland (St.)
BHL Number: 5058
FROM THE MANUSCRIPT CODEX.
CHAPTER I.
St. Luanus's birth, and his wonderful infancy and boyhood.
Holy Lugidius sprang from the family of Corchode a of the grandsons of Fithgenta b: The Saint's country, parents, brothers. whose father Origo drew his line, and was called Carthach c, son of Daiger; but his mother Sochte d drew her line from Dadail Birnn of Ossory e; who bore to her husband Carthach three sons; namely Lugith, and Luger, and Johain. But Lugidius was the younger in age of the brothers, though the greater in grace: for from his infancy he was filled with spiritual grace, and wrought wonders.
[2] On a certain day, therefore, his mother Sochta went out with the infant Lugidius to a neighboring house, The infant heals an ulcer with his tears: that she might release her cattle, which were there in keeping under restraint after the manner of the common people f; and when the mother had entered the house, the man who was in charge of the house suddenly saw the Infant burning like lightning; then that man, terrified with excessive fear, became almost dead, and said: Bring me that infant, that with his hand he may touch my head. And when the mother carried the infant Lugidius to him, the Infant wept, and his tears fell upon that man's breast. Now that man had had for a long time a most grievous ulcer beneath his breast; and straightway the ulcer vanished, and the man was healed of all pain; and the mother returned rejoicing with her cattle to her home.
III
[3] On another day too the holy boy Lugidius with his brothers was pasturing his parents' sheep in the fields, sitting beside a fire: the boy obtains fire by a miracle: his swine appear as sheep: and behold, a sudden rush of waters came upon them, and put out the fire before them: then Lugidius, holding a dead coal in his hand, an angel of the Lord came to him and blessed the coal, and it blazed with fire; and the boys, kindling the fire again, were warmed. And that fire was divided among all the holy men of the region: and in that place signs and crosses have been set up until this day g. On a certain day too h Lugidius was with the other boys keeping swine: and when the swine withdrew farther from them, one of the boys would go out in turn, and the swine appeared as a flock of sheep to a crowd of men that stood nearby: because Lugidius was an innocent sheep, and would afterward become a shepherd of sheep i.
[4] But at another time k the holy boy Lugidius was missing, and for a day and a night no one knew where he was. an angel is seen standing by him: his wondrous fragrance. And when his father sought him, he found him sleeping in a field; but yet he did not dare to approach nearer to him, because he saw a man in white garments standing beside him: and a fragrance going forth from the boy's mouth intoxicated the father for nine … l Then Carthach went to the sons of Coilboth, seven priests; and they came with him to the Boy; and of one of them, who roused the Boy, the excellent fragrance from the Boy's mouth filled his face and mouth, and that man, sated with that fragrance, until the day of his death ate no food save the Body and Blood of Christ, when he offered the sacrifice m.
[5] But on another day, while the boy Lugidius was keeping the calves, Again he is seen with an angel: sleep fell upon him; and the calves rushed to the cows; but the mouths of the calves dried up about the udders of their dams n, nor could they suck milk, so long as the Boy was in sleep. Then the mother, seeing the cows and the calves together, ran and roused the Boy; and wishing to whip him, she raised her hand: but an angel of the Lord held her hand, lest she should hurt the Boy. Then the mother, fearing the angel, fell to the ground; and the boy Lugidius separated the calves from the cows.
VII
[6] On another day a certain old man of the sons of Coilboth laid his head in the lap of the boy Lugidius, he raises a dead man: heals a sick man: restores a severed foot: that the Boy might gather the worms from the old man's head o. And it happened that that old man suddenly died in his lap. Then others coming said to Lugidius: Behold, the man who lies in your lap is dead. To whom he said: Leave him; for the Lord will not bring it about that he should kill anyone in my lap. And Lugidius praying, the old man came to life again whole.
VIII
On a certain summer day the holy boy Lugidius went into the water, that in the sun's heat he might wash his body. But a certain man, sick for a long time, whom the physicians could not cure, went out himself also into the water where he had washed. Straightway that man was healed of all pain forever.
IX.
A most grievous disease, namely a canker *, consumed the foot of Carthach, Lugidius's father; and lest that disease should grow greater, his foot was cut off. But the boy Lugidius, seeing his father's foot divided into two parts, was saddened; and he joined the foot again to the body; and straightway the foot was knit together, and became whole from all pain until the day of his death.
[7] But on another day Lugidius was with the other boys playing in a certain place, [he turns the juice of mulberries into wine: to Foilanus it is revealed that he will be an abbot:] and they made themselves beer from the juices of mulberries, as is the custom of boys at play: and the boy Lugidius, a good brewer [p], mixed the liquor and water together in one vessel; and it became wine; and from that liquor the boys were made merry. At that hour the king's son Felanus, son of Dimma [q], with his small band [r] came along the same road; and when they had seen the merry boys and the liquor with its good fragrance before them, they asked that they might drink a cup of that liquor; and the boy Lugidius gave it them with joy; and at once the laymen were made merry, and sleep fell upon them. And in that sleep Felanus saw a vision; namely that the boy Lugidius had put a golden torque * about his neck, which made a cloak about him down to the ground. Which was fulfilled: for that Felanus the king was afterward a monk of St. Lugidius, and offered him many gifts: and Lugidius gave to king Felanus the crown of eternal life and a holy robe in heaven.
[8] But on a certain day Lugidius with his mother
having no bread in the house, he punishes an unjust miller: he heals a mute girl: went out to seek a mill [s]. But the owner of that mill would not give it to them. Then Lugidius with his mother returned empty to their home without meal: and straightway that mill ceased to run, and for three days and nights stood motionless without turning. Then the son of Colbach said: Run after the boy Lugidius; for on his account the mill does not run. And when Lugidius had come, he threw his hand full of grains into the mouth of the millstone; and at once the mill ran swiftly, and ground the people's grain stoutly.
XII
The daughter of Fintan, brother of Carthach, was mute for sixteen years, speaking nothing: on a certain day that girl set her face over against the face of the boy Lugidius, her kinsman; and the breath of the boy Lugidius breathed about her face; and straightway the girl's tongue was loosed, and she spoke. This is holy Kayner of Cluain Clarith [t].
XIII
[9] But on another day [u] the boy Lugidius was playing with three young men before his father and mother: he is lifted into the air by angels: he delivers a pregnant woman. and those three lifted the Boy with them into the air, and remaining there for the third part of a day, it did not appear where he was. Then his mother poured out tears, not knowing whither the Boy had been carried off; and again those three young men, coming, set the boy down in the same place.
XIV
Now there was a woman pregnant for three years, who had a dead offspring in her womb, nor could she bring it forth. But on a certain day that woman, walking sorrowful with tears, found on the road the boy Lugidius, whom, holding between her hands, she pressed against her breast; and straightway that woman was healed, and on the following night brought forth her offspring.
ANNOTATIONS.
p. "Cerevisor," that is, a maker of beer, or brewer.
q. The printed Life at number 10: The son of Dimma, chief of that region (namely of Fidhgenti, as the same Life explains at number 27), Faolanus by name. Concerning him mention will recur below at number 20.
r. "Latrunculo," that is, with an attendant soldier. See the etymologists.
s. "Molendinus" is here taken as masculine for a millstone.
t. The printed Life at number 12: And she herself was called Finn-Cainner (that is, Fair Cannera), who there vowed her virginity to the Lord, and became a holy virgin, wonderful in signs and prodigies; and she built a monastery which is called Cluain Claraidhi, in which that virgin of Christ gathered handmaids. Yet since she is different from that woman whom Colgan exhibits at the day 28 of January, she is altogether unknown to us from elsewhere.
u. The things reported in this whole number are found both in the Manuscript Compendium and in the printed Life at numbers 13 and 14.
* read "cancer" canker
* rather "torquem" torque
CHAPTER II.
His education under St. Congall, abbot of Bangor; several miracles there; the foundation of Drumsnat.
But on another day, while the boy Lugidius was keeping the sheep, [Recognized by a miracle, St. Congall adopts him to be taught: he is taught by an angel.] holy Congall, abbot of Bangor a, came near him: and when Congall had gone on a little from the road, he saw at one side a certain place; and gazing at it attentively he stood still, and said to one of the brethren: Go to that place, and see what is there. And the brother, going out, found there the boy Lugidius sleeping: and over against the Boy's breath, when he breathed out, a nearby rush burned. He was therefore brought to Congall; and his parents being called, Congall said to them: Do you wish that this Boy should go with me to be reared, to read, and to learn discipline? When this had pleased his parents, the Boy set out with Congall to the city * of Bangor, and an alphabet was written for him. But on a certain day Congall found an angel beside the Boy, who was explaining the letters to the Boy, and teaching him, and gently comforting him b.
XVI
[11] Likewise on a certain day the boy Lugidius was sent to keep a flock of goats; His goats appear as sheep: he himself handles red-hot iron with unharmed hands: but it was a flock of sheep, so long as Lugidius kept it c.
XVII
On another day too Lugidius was serving in the monastery of the brethren: and at that time it was the custom that an iron ball heated in the fire should be put into the cups d of the Brethren, to warm the liquor. But when Lugidius had held the ball from the fire with tongs, to carry it into Congall's cup, the red-hot iron fell from the tongs into the fire: and Congall, seeing this, rebuked him, saying: You do not hold the iron well. Then Lugidius, confounded by the elder's words, put his hand into the fire, and holding the fiery iron in his hand, carried it to Congall: but e Congall, unwilling to receive the iron, quickly drew back his cup toward himself, and the iron fell upon the table, and pierced the table through to the ground: and until today that hole remains in the table, and a mass the size of a fist passes through it.
XVIII
[12] For a long time, then, Lugidius was Congall's attendant; to whom Congall gave a name, namely Lugith Maccan; he is present in various places at the same time: because there were fifty men with Congall, and every one of them was called Lugidius f.
XIX
But at another time Congall sent thrice nine men of his household into three provinces, namely nine men into each different province, both in Ireland and in Britain: and these thrice nine men each chose that Lugidius Maccan should come in his company and minister to them. And so it came to pass: for to each of these three sets of nine men it seemed that Lugidius Maccan was on the road in the company of each one, and washed their feet, and ministered to them in all things, until they returned to their city. Hence that name was given him, Gylla na trinonber g.
[13] But on a certain day, when the Brethren had come down from a ship, the sea poured round about gives way to him: one of them rebuked the boy Lugidius; and straightway Lugidius prostrated himself on the shore; and the Brethren did not see this, and came to land; to whom Congall said: Where is the boy Lugidius? And when he was not found, Congall said: Has any of us rebuked him? Then that Brother said: I rebuked him on the shore. And Congall said: Go quickly, and seek him there. And the Brethren going found him lying on the shore, and the sea stood all round about him on every side, and by the breadth of a house did not come near him. And rising from the shore he came with them to Congall.
XXI
[14] But on another day the boy Lugidius was sent to bring milk from a cattle-shed h; in pierced vessels he carries a wondrous liquor: he changes tares into wheat: and while he was walking on the way, the horse kicked under the vessels; and the vessels falling to the ground, their bottom was broken, and the milk was spilled. Then Lugidius filled the vessels with water, and it became milk: and an angel of the Lord lifted the vessels with him upon the horse, and led the bottomless vessels, full of milk, to the city, and delivered them at the monastery: and that milk had the savor of honey and the strength of wine.
XXII
On a certain day Lugidius was sent to the mill, to grind the grain of tares in the millstone: but the Lord, through the merits of the holy boy Lugidius, made of the tares excellent wheat: and the steward, seeing this, did not dare to eat that wheat; but it was kept with Congall as material for the oblations.
XXIII
[15] But on another day Congall said to Lugidius: Go with the paralytic man who is in the guest-house, that you may lead him to another place, he heals a paralytic: and seek a horse from the steward for carrying him. But when the steward, being occupied with other matters, had not given Lugidius a horse for carrying the sick man, Lugidius said to the paralytic: Rise, that I may lead you to another place: and straightway the paralytic rose up whole: and when they had walked on the way, Lugidius said to him: If anyone shall ask you how you were made whole, you shall say that holy Congall healed you. But nevertheless he could not conceal that Lugidius had wrought this power.
XXIV
[16] But on a certain day Congall said to his Brethren: Which of you this night has asked a petition of the Lord, he asks of God, and obtains, understanding: namely that understanding might be given him? And when all answered that none of them had asked this thing, Lugidius said: It is no wonder if I had asked this petition of the Lord. To whom Congall said: You have asked a perilous thing: for many through a sharp
understanding have been deceived, and their own prudence has been to them a cause of ruin. Lugidius said: If I had understanding, I would not offend God, nor consent to the devil: for if a chain were placed between me and the devil, he would not drag me with him. To whom Congall said: You have a firm faith: let it be to you as you have believed: for you shall have good understanding, and you shall enter eternal life by a straight way i.
XXV
[17] On the night of Easter, when holy Congall was offering the Sacrifice, Lugidius was holding a lamp in his hand before him; he wonderfully lights a candle: he founds the monastery of Drumsnat. but when Lugidius had dozed a little, the lamp fell from his hand beside the altar into the water consecrated for Easter: and Congall rebuked him. But Lugidius, holding the extinguished and wet lamp, breathed upon it from his mouth; and it blazed with fire before the people. Then one of the elders said: These two lamps k cannot be in one place.
XXVI
But Lugidius, hearing the word of that elder, wished to depart from that place l; and being dismissed by holy Congall to depart with a great blessing, he came to the place which is called Druim-Snechti m; and there he dwelt a long time, and wrought many wonders.
ANNOTATIONS.
* that is, a monastery; as often below.
* rather "the vessels falling"
* rather "tares"
CHAPTER III.
More than one change of station; the foundation of the monastery of Clonfert; various miracles.
XXVII
But on a certain day, when two of his boys had swum there before him in a nearby pool, At Drumsnat he raises a dead boy: a terrible beast, the size of a ship, rose up from the pool. Then Lugidius said to the boys: Swim more swiftly to me, that I may see which of you two shall reach me first. And when the boys had swum quickly, and had come up out of the water, the beast running after them struck its breast against the landing-place: but one of the boys looked back, and seeing the terrible beast, died. Whom holy Lugidius raised from death, and blessed the beast: and from that day it did no harm, which before had always done harm.
XXVIII
[19] In that place an angel of the Lord said to Lugidius: If you desire to remain in this place, that land shall be given you between two pools, thence he departs, on account of the importunity of women, namely between the lake Euthath and the lake Erne, and your cattle shall be pastured there. But Lugidius, greatly burdened in that place by the temptation of women, could not dwell there. But on a certain day some women dwelling in a neighboring place, wishing to see Lugidius, left their calves under the cows, and, lifting up their voices, cried out as though they had wished to separate the calves from the cows. Then Lugidius, hearing the outcry, ran swiftly outside. But the women, leaving the calves, did nothing else but only gaze at Lugidius. Seeing this hindrance, Lugidius fled swiftly from that place, as though he were shunning fire a.
XXIX
[20] And he came to the school of holy Finnian of Clonard, to St. Finnian; thence to his own country; where he does not settle; that he might study there b. And from that school each one on his own day put seed into the earth. But Lugidius, on his day, whatever seed he sowed, it became wheat, and on the next day it became a green blade and covered the earth.
XXX
After these things Lugidius came to his own country, to the grandsons of Fithgent; and there he found king Felanus, son of Dimma; entering in to whom, he asked of him a place for himself where he might dwell. And at that hour that king was setting out his dice with his own hand at the royal game, as is the custom of kings. And when the king was long silent, a man who sat beside him said to him: Why do you not greet the Cleric? To whom the king said: I greet him in my heart, and greatly rejoice at his coming, and I am pondering his question in my mind. Then, inspired by the Lord, he said to Lugidius: If you dwell among your own people, your place will not be broad, nor will it prosper well: for a cleric has no honor in his own country: and your own people alone, strangers being rejected, will always rule in your place: but if you establish your place in pilgrimage, your place will be great, and will be honored by all, and will daily grow greater c. To whom Lugidius said: What then shall I do? The king said: If it please you, go, and establish a place for yourself on the border of the Munstermen and the Leinstermen *; and after you shall have settled in any place, everything that shall be needful for you shall be supplied by me.
XXXI
[21] But Lugidius, knowing that this counsel was from God, set out from the king; and taking with him a few monks, nor even in the native soil of his mother; and five cows on the journey, he came first to the region of his mother, to Dail Birnn of Ossory; and there he found two brothers of his mother, one of whom was glad at Lugidius's coming, and offered him his inheritance; but the other was harsh, and a most wicked layman; who came to Lugidius with drawn sword, and destroyed the building which Lugidius had built for himself. To whom Lugidius said: Before a month is fulfilled, you shall die. Which was so fulfilled. But Lugidius would not remain there: and there an angel of the Lord came to him, and showed him the mountain Sinnoir d, saying: Go to that mountain, and there establish a place for yourself.
XXXII
[22] And so Lugidius, setting out, came to a man named Bledne *, but he goes on to Rosbilech, where he dwelt long with his own: to Rosbilech e; and his cows went before him thither, and Lugidius remained f. But on that night an angel of the Lord appeared to Bledne, saying: Tomorrow a cleric will come to you with five white cows with red ears: to him therefore you shall offer your inheritance; because you shall be his monk. And on the following day, when Lugidius arrived, Bledenus offered himself to him with his inheritance: and there Lugidius dwelt many days g. But on a certain day, when Lugidius had there heard the bleating of a sheep, he said: In this place I shall not be: for where there is a sheep, there will be a woman; and where there is a woman, there sin; but where sin, there will be the devil; and where the devil, there will be hell.
XXXIII
[23] Lugidius went out from Roysbilech to Berachus, son of Bacan, departing thence further, he heals a dying boy: in the borders of Lygese h, and sought of him a secret place for himself. At that hour of Lugidius's coming, Berachus's son was sick near to death i, and gave no answer. For him Lugidius blessed water; and the boy, being sprinkled with the water, straightway rose up whole. Then Berachus said to Lugidius: Behold, I offer you that stronghold with all that is in it, and with the fields. But Lugidius, seeing the pleasantness and beauty of that place, said: In this place I shall not be; because in it there will be a great abundance of the world, and many souls from it will go to heaven k.
XXXIV
[24] After these things the king of Lygisi gave holy Lugidius a field beside the mountain Sinnoir, and at last he builds the monastery of Clonfert. where that king's flock was pastured; in which Lugidius built his city, namely Cluoin-Ferta l. And when the dwellings of the city were being built, Lugidius said to his people: In what place are you building the abbot's house? The Brethren answered: In this place. To whom he said: Our abbot is Christ; in that place make a guest-house. Likewise Lugidius said to them: What field will you give to our elders? The Brethren answered: Fitheth. Lugidius said: Our elder is Christ; give that field to the guests for their service.
XXXV
After these things Lugidius went out to his own people m; and there very many offerings were offered him by the folk; and the king said to him: In what land have you built your place? Lugidius answered: I have built among many peoples. The king answered: Your people in the last days will endure many persecutions in that place. Lugidius said: Those who persecute them on earth shall not see my face in heaven n.
ANNOTATIONS.
snares, changed the place of his dwelling. Yet he did not so depart but that he blessed the place at the same time, a monastery being established there, as the printed Life asserts at number 26.
* read: of the Munstermen and the Leinstermen
* elsewhere Bledene and Blendenus
CHAPTER IV.
His mildness toward his subjects: various miracles.
XXXVI
Now it was holy Lugidius's custom that he should rebuke no one by harshness, He persuades a monk to admit a companion: but correct him by mildness and spiritual understanding. And there was with him a certain layman a who dwelt alone in his own house; and he was unwilling that another should dwell with him. But on a certain day, when that layman was warming himself in his house beside the fire, Lugidius went to him into his house. To whom the layman said: Sit a little, that you may warm your feet. Lugidius said: It is excellent counsel. When after a little the layman himself had gone outside, returning again he found Lugidius walking around the fire, warming himself now on this side, now on that. To whom the layman said: What are you doing? Why do you run round about the fire? Lugidius said: Lest the fire become idle and fruitless on the other side, therefore I warm myself around the fire. Hearing this, the layman was willing that another should dwell with him in his house.
XXXVII
[26] There was also with Lugidius another layman, who was unwilling to disclose the confession of his sins to another. another, to confess his sins often: But on a certain day holy Lugidius, taking that layman with him, set out on the road; and when they had come together not far from that place which is called Tomidomnich, Lugidius stood on the road, where there is a cross, and bending his knees did penance, saying: I have sinned; because today I forgot to lay open the confession of my sins to my elder, which until today has not happened to me: and he said to the layman: Wait here, until I go back to confess my sins, and return again to you. To whom the layman said: Is that confession of sins so great a matter with you? Lugidius said: Unless a man confess his sins, he will not obtain pardon from the Lord; and as the pavement of a house is daily wiped with a broom, so the soul every day needs to be cleansed by the purgation of sins. Hearing this, that layman was healed; and from that day he confessed his sins; and they returned to their house.
XXXVIII
[27] There was also with Lugidius a certain poet b, Conan by name, another, to labor willingly with his hands: who was not skilled to labor with his own hands; to whom Lugidius said one day: Let us go together, that we may do some small piece of work. And taking iron tools with them, they both went to the wood; and finding there a little field full of thistles *, Lugidius blessed the tools, and said to Conan: Come, that we may cut down this thistle together. To whom Conan answered: I can cut it down alone. Then Lugidius set a fork against the thistle, and Conan cut it down: and straightway Lugidius bound up the tools. To whom Conan said: Why do we do no more work? Lugidius answered: This work is enough for today. And thus on that day they returned to their house. But coming on the next day, they struck down two thistles, and on the third day three thistles; and thus little by little the work grew greater. Then that Conan, cutting down a great wood, made a broad field, whose name is called the Way of Conan.
XXXIX
[28] But on a certain day one of the Brethren wished to sew a leather patch on a shoe c before Lugidius; he joins things to be sewn by a miracle: he stays the sun by prayer: and when he had fitted that patch suitably to the shoe with his hand, he said: It would be good if that patch would so cling to the shoe. To whom Lugidius said: This is not impossible to God: and straightway that patch clung indissolubly to the shoe.
On another day too, when holy Lugidius and bishop Setne d had greeted one another in the city of Clonfert, Lugidius said to the bishop: Stay with us this night; for the sun draws near to setting. To whom the bishop said: It is necessary for me that this night I go on to my Brethren, lest they be made sad by my absence; but ask the Lord that the day may not fail before I reach my own place. As the bishop went out, Lugidius, lifting his hand, blessed the sun; and the sun stood still in the heaven, until bishop Setne reached the city of Segrum e before the setting of the sun.
XLI
[29] There was a certain man held in chains at the court of king Niall f; he turns grain given as alms into gold: who, being released by the king that he might seek from all the price of his redemption, came across the mountain to Lugidius, and found him putting seed into a field; and asking alms of him, Lugidius put into his bosom handfuls of grain; and straightway it became gold. And Lugidius said that he should give it to the king for his redemption. But the king, seeing the gold in his bosom, said: Who has bestowed on you this excellent gold? To whom the captive answered: A certain cleric beyond that mountain put this gift into my bosom. The king said: I will not take this gold from a cleric: for his sake I will let you go free without payment. The captive therefore came again to Lugidius; and the gold was turned back into grain, and the captive was set free. [he foretells to men about to go abroad the place of their burial: twice he changes flesh into fish;]
XLII
[30] But on a certain day holy Lugidius, going about the church, found behind the church four men who were thinking of going into exile *; to whom Lugidius said: You are thinking of going into exile; but I say to you that the place where your feet now stand, there your bodies shall be buried, and shall rise again. Which was fulfilled g.
But at another time holy Aidus, abbot of Ferns h, wished to go across the sea to David, bishop of the church of Menevia i, that he might become the friend of his soul k. But when Aidus had sailed on the sea l, the sea rose against him, and a contrary wind; and an angel said to him: Do not go across the sea, but to a man near to you, namely Lugidius Coche; and he shall become your friend. Aidus therefore came with seven men with him to Lugidius at Hir-roysbilech m. And Lugidius killed a fatted calf for them; and Lugidius blessing * the flesh, it became eight fishes. But Aidus, knowing this, blessing n those fishes, they turned back again into flesh. But Lugidius a third time made fishes out of the flesh o.
[31] Then Aidus, bending his knees before Lugidius, held him as the friend of his soul, moved by which miracle St. Aidus offers him his own place: and said
to Lugidius: Come with me, that I may offer you my place before my people. Lugidius therefore went [p] to the city of Ferns; and Aidus offered him the place before his people. But Brandub, king of the Leinstermen, did not permit this, saying: I will not be subject to a subject [q]: it is crafty of the cleric to come between Aidus and his lord. To whom Lugidius said: If I had held the men of the whole world in my own hand, on account of the murmuring of one man, if it had displeased him, I would have let them all go from my hand [r]. Nevertheless, of the family of the king who has forbidden this there shall be no king, and all shall be slain (Which until today has been fulfilled): Nor yet can I close heaven against you on account of Aidus: for I and Aidus have one heart on earth, and shall be together in heaven.
ANNOTATIONS.
p. What follows is lacking in the Sirinian Life; perhaps because these things are difficult to explain.
q. The sense seems to be this: I will not suffer that places situated in my dominion should be subjected to anyone by the authority of Aidan and his people; lest I seem to be subordinate to subjects who have undertaken such things without consulting me. Or else this: Since I long ago submitted myself to Aidan, that through him I might be directed in life (as is in the Life of St. Aidan, page 1116, number 28); if I now allow that Aidan should subject himself and his to the direction of Luanus, an abbot and my subject; assuredly I myself shall now become liable to his judgment and precepts through Aidan. To this second exposition what follows better agrees; nay, so does the Salamanca Manuscript Compendium. That Brandub died in the year of Christ 601, Colgan teaches at the 16th of January, page 89, note 5.
r. What follows is not in the Manuscript Compendium.
* that is, thistles
* that is, to go on pilgrimage
* perhaps "he blessed"
CHAPTER V.
Several prodigies: the exaltation of St. Gregory the Great revealed: a prophecy.
XLIV
There was a certain man, a foster-son of holy Lugidius, named Cruimcher Luichteth; whom Lugidius ordained; By a prodigy he terrifies robbers, two of whom he converts: and Lugidius directed him to establish a place for himself in the borders of Cortholuigde, namely Ochtar-Narde. And Lugidius went out with him to set him on his way, and seven men with him. But when they were walking in the borders of Eugenachta a, a school of the devil ran upon them, having ensigns on their heads. But Lugidius, seeing them coming from afar, blessed his company; and they were turned into rotten logs. The laymen said to him: Where are the men whom we saw with you? Lugidius answered: They have withdrawn. But two of them cut the rotten logs b; and straightway their hands and feet withered *; and the rest, being afraid, fled swiftly. But those two, entreating Lugidius, were loosed; and they offered themselves to Lugidius as monks, and went out with the priest Luigteth, and were with him at Ochtar-Narde until their death.
XLV
[33] But at another time, when holy Lugidius had gone out to greet a man of God, namely Emneban c, he restores his dead sister to life: his sister Cron died in the meanwhile. But when Lugidius had returned, he found his sister dead, and a certain woman weeping and shedding tears beside her. To whom Lugidius said: For your tears you shall have joy forever in heaven. And Lugidius praying, his sister came to life again; and when they had greeted one another, the sister chose to die; and having received the Sacrifice, she slept, and was buried.
XLVI
[34] But on a certain day the cook said to Lugidius: What shall we do, he turns water into prodigious milk. since today the calves have gone in to the cows? To whom Lugidius said: Go, and fill the vessels with water from the spring. And when they had done this, it became milk, which had the savor of honey and the strength of wine: and he made a great supper for the brethren. But what was left over from the supper was, at Lugidius's bidding, poured back into the spring which was beside Milsal; and a certain part of the cows drinking from that spring, their milk was turned into strong drink; and that spring was sweet for many seasons, until certain laymen after a shedding of blood drank from that spring; and straightway the spring, drying up, appeared no more d.
XLVII
[35] But on a certain day holy Lugidius and two of his disciples were sitting in a certain place reading; The exaltation of St. Gregory the Great is revealed to St. Luanus: and suddenly Lugidius, being saddened, wept; and after a little he rejoiced. His disciples asking him the cause of his sadness and of his gladness, he said to them: Today holy Gregory has been ordained to the Principate of Rome; and he, refusing the Principate and contradicting the people, wept; until an angel sent from God came to him, commanding him that he should hold the See of Peter. Then Gregory was made glad. I wept with Gregory weeping, and with him rejoicing I rejoiced e.
XLVIII
[36] But at another time, when Lugidius was in the city of Bangor f, sleeping, he keeps the cattle: he frees a woman possessed by 3 demons: he was keeping the calves, and the door was open between the calves and the cows, standing on either side; and Lugidius, sitting at a distance, was mourning; but the calves did not dare to go in to the cows.
XLIX
On a certain day, as Lugidius was walking in the borders of the Leinstermen, a certain queen g, bound with chains, in whom were three demons, was brought to him: and Lugidius praying, the demons were put to flight from her.
[37] At another time also Berachus, king of Luigse h, made a great supper for the king of the Leinstermen; but the liquor of that supper caused vomiting to all who drank it. he makes a harmful drink wholesome and savory: Then Berachus, going outside a little, saw there a certain poor man asking food of him, who had shoes * upon his shoulders: to whom Berachus said: Why are those shoes not about your feet on a cold day; and who gave them to you? The poor man answered: Holy Lugidius gave me two of his shoes. Then Berachus, taking one shoe, mixed it in all the liquor, and straightway the liquor was healed, and made great cheer for all.
[38] At another time Brandub, king of the Leinstermen, with four hundred men with him, he asserts the religion of the Lord's Day by a miracle: came to Lugidius on the Lord's Day; and the king asked that food might quickly be given him. But Lugidius asked him that, since they had come on the Lord's Day, they should wait until the next day. But the king would not go without food. Then Lugidius ordered food to be given them. And when the king had taken the first morsel, it stuck in his throat, and the morsel could neither go in nor come out: and thus the king remained without food and drink and sleep until the next day, as Lugidius had asked. But on the next day Lugidius blessed him; and he was healed. And the king bent his knees to Lugidius, and offered him many offerings i.
LII
[39] At a certain time Lugidius came to the stronghold of Fiachra, son of Scanlau Mor, in the borders of Ossory *; he heals a blind girl: he makes fire harmless: he raises a slain man: and there Lugidius lodged. But the daughter of Fiachra was blind from her childhood; but with the water [k] of the washing of Lugidius's feet, the daughter's eyes being washed, they were opened.
LIII
At another time also he came to a banquet of the king of Fithgenta, namely Trilline mac Ercce l, and said to the king's servant: Call the king out to me. But the servant, being occupied with other matters, did not tell the king that Lugidius was standing outside. Then fire seized the stronghold; until the king, fearing the fire, came out to Lugidius, and doing penance fell at Lugidius's feet; and the fire did not harm the stronghold.
LIV
There was a certain man who was digging the ground for Lugidius beside the place which is called Troscath; whom the people of Eughenachta slew, and Lugidius raised from death m.
[40] But on a certain day, when Lugidius had come to the place he foretells that boys will be monks: he changes water into wine. which is called Acheth boohele n, three little boys there o, sons of Darius the Black, put their hands about Lugidius's neck: and when men asked why foolish boys should put their hands about the neck of an unknown man, Lugidius answered: Because
these three after me shall be my monks forever. Which was fulfilled.
LVI
But at another time, when holy Gobanus had come to Lugidius, Lugidius made a supper at Dolab-glas, and blessed the spring, and it became excellent wine; and then Gobanus offered his own place to holy Lugidius [p].
ANNOTATIONS.
p. This again is found in our copy alone. But who that Gobbanus was among so many homonymous Saints in Ireland does not seem worth the trouble to inquire.
* that is, a crowd of criminals
* perhaps "met"
* that is, withered
* that is, shoes
* that is, of Ossory
CHAPTER VI.
Other miracles: his holy death: the contention about his body: his festal passing into heaven.
LVII
But on a certain day the herdsman of holy Lugidius, named Cronanus, He raises a dead man: heals a mute: punishes the greedy. died at Achthib Critri: then holy Lugidius's steward, carrying holy Lugidius's tunic with him, laid it upon the dead man; who straightway rose up alive a.
LVIII
A certain mute boy, son of Mailduib, of the family of Maile-Andich, was brought to Lugidius; and Lugidius, putting three fingers into the boy's mouth, straightway the boy spoke.
LIX
On another day Lugidius came to the cell of Croo; and being thirsty there, Lugidius asked for a drink. But at that hour the household of that place were beating milk in a vessel, that they might press butter from it; and they did not give Lugidius a drink: and straightway the milk which they were churning appeared nowhere in the empty vessel. And from that day that place is empty and uninhabited b.
[42] But at a certain time, as Lugidius was walking in the regions of na Desse c, he raises a queen with her dead unborn child: he is visited by an angel: he found there a great mourning in a certain place: for the queen of the king d had died of the pain of childbirth, and had a dead infant in her womb. But Lugidius, having entreated the Lord, raised them both, namely the queen and the infant in her womb. Then the queen offered herself with her child to holy Lugidius; and the king offered him an excellent field, in which place the queen's own son, Bercham, built a place for holy Lugidius, namely Ard Gabreni.
LXI
An angel sent from the Lord to Lugidius said: If you wish, that mountain e shall be turned into excellent land with its garden herbs, and shall be given you. But Lugidius refused this, lest he should cause elation in the Brethren.
LXII
[43] My Brethren f, labor well with your hands: for if you shall labor well, he exhorts his own to virtue: his Rule is approved at Rome: you shall be filled, and shall remain steadfast; and if you shall be steadfast, you shall be religious. Among you there ought always to be steadfastness; before steadfastness, silence; before silence, exile; before exile … g Likewise, for the sake of prayer leave off the labor of your hands; and for the sake of guests let the household go. You foolish men do not know ; otherwise you will turn aside : when I shall be in the kingdom, you will keep watch in hell.
LXIII
But on a certain day the attendant said to Lugidius: Why do you not eat, since it is the ninth hour? Lugidius said: I will not eat, until … that food becomes honey, and a great desire h.
LXIV
But when bishop Deganus i had gone out to Rome, carrying with him the Rule of holy Lugidius; when holy Gregory had seen that Rule and read it, he said: The man whose Rule this is has hedged a hedge round about his household as far as heaven k. Holy Lugidius divided the day into three parts: the first for prayer, the second for reading, the third for work l.
LXV
[44] [he changes mud into bread, a willow into an apple tree: his brother's obedience is repaid by a miracle:] On a certain day, when Lugidius had come to Toim Domnich m, he found there a boy beside the calves offering sacrifice in a boy's game, and he had an oblation of mud. But Lugidius, blessing this oblation, it was turned into wheat, and straightway Lugidius received the sacrifice from that little one's hand. And that boy afterward was a bishop. This is Documini mac Maleanfith n.
LXVI
But holy Lugidius in the cell of Echairith blessed a willow tree; and made of it an apple tree with its fruits, lest a fruitless tree should stand before the door of Maidoc's house.
LXVII
The three sons of Carthach — Lugerus, Lugidius, John — were virgins. And a messenger came from the Lord to Lugidius, saying: Let one of you go out and beget an heir in your inheritance. Then John, proved by obedience, went out unwilling; and in his own country begot two sons; and again returned to Lugidius, who was then in the island of Cree o; and, at Lugidius's bidding, John came to the island with dry feet without a boat.
LXVIII
[45] But when the day of holy Lugidius's departure had drawn near, he came to bishop Daganus at Ath-Dagain [p]; he foretells his approaching death. that they might consider together who should hold his place. To whom Daganus said: In your seat Lactenus [q] ought to sit. And this pleased Lugidius. Then Daganus said: Give your blessing upon us. Lugidius answered: It shall be given from above. But they thought that he spoke of a lofty place near to them [r]; whereas Lugidius spoke of heaven. Then Lugidius came to holy Cronanus of Ruis-Cree [s], sitting then in the cell of Sen-Ruis [t]; and asked of him the Sacrifice, that he might carry it with him. And Cronanus gave it him. To whom Lugidius said: With you I leave my place, that you may defend it from persecutors.
[46] When therefore Lugidius was going out from Cronanus across Grunna [u] to Doim Domnich, His death: the wonderful translation of his body: he sat down weary in the midst of Grunna; and said to Scellanus *, his attendant: If one were to see the men of heaven and of earth together, with which of the two would you depart? Scellanus answered: Without doubt I would depart with the men of heaven. Lugidius said: Give me the Sacrifice, that I may depart with them. And having received the Sacrifice, he gave up his spirit on the Sabbath day [x]. And his body was carried to Toim-Domnich: and there was a great contention about his body between the Munstermen and the Leinstermen [y], until an angel of God said to them: Set two untamed oxen beneath a wagon with the body. The oxen therefore being yoked, they carried the body to Cluoin-Ferta: and the untamed oxen stood still beneath the wagon and beside the church. Then Manchenus the wise bent his face over the body of Lugidius. Now Manchenus's eye was bloody, outside his head; and straightway it was healed [z].
LXIX
[47] But it was shown to holy Fintan, son of Tulchan [aa], his most joyful reception into heaven, that for seven days after Lugidius's departure there was immense joy and feasting in heaven, and the pains of hell [bb] ceased, and darkness was put to flight from the face of the earth; and every man who had pain on earth was whole during those seven days for the honor of Lugidius. The angel too, who always came to holy Fintan two days in the week, on the Lord's Day and on Thursday, did not come to him in those seven days, until the Lord's Day [cc]. And Fintan asked him: Why did you not come to me on Thursday? The angel answered: In these seven days the angels have not come to visit the Saints, since Ireland's wonderful guest passed to heaven, namely Lugidius of Clonfert. Fintan said: Now it appears that Lugidius alone above all fulfilled the commandments of God. Go to the Lord, that I may know for what cause it is dearer to rejoice at Lugidius's coming than to come to me.
[48] The angel therefore went out; and straightway came to him, and the cause of this is revealed saying: Because the face of no man ever blushed before Lugidius, and he corrected his monks with mildness; but you correct your monks with harshness. Nevertheless be glad [dd] …
because on Thursday holy Fintan was struck with leprosy from head to foot until the day of his death [ee]. To St. Fintan, not without rebuke. St. Gregory the Pope hears angels singing. Likewise holy Gregory at Rome on the day of Lugidius's departure heard choirs in heaven, and the sweet songs of angels, who sang this Antiphon: O holy Father Lugidius, I will not be silent about your merits [ff]. Holy Lugidius [gg], after the Apostle's example, fought the good fight, finished the course, and received the crown of eternal life from the Lord: to whom be honor and glory for ages.
ANNOTATIONS.
p. Ath-Dagain, otherwise Achadh-Dagain, a monastery in Leinster. Go to Colgan, 12 March, page 585.
q. Concerning St. Lactenus we treated on the day 19 of March from page 31.
r. These things do not agree with the printed Life at number 51; where St. Daganus is said both to have prophesied Lactenus's succession and to have foreknown St. Luanus's imminent death.
s. St. Cronan of Ruis-Kree, so called because he founded the monastery of Roscrea not very far from the lake Cree.
t. Concerning the cell of Sen-Ruis, or Sean-Ross, near to the same lake, see the Acts of St. Cronan in the place cited. Here again the printed Life differs at number 53, when it reports thus: St. Molua came to St. Cronan, then dwelling in the island of Cre.
u. Grunna, or Gronna, on Sirin's testimony here, is a certain mountainous and damp land, from which clods are dug out for fuel for fire. But it is said in the printed Life at number 53: There is now a great Gronna between the island of Cre and the city of Cluain-Ferta.
x. "On the Sabbath day." The Manuscript Compendium: On the seventh day of the week he passed to the everlasting Sabbath. The printed Life: On the second (that is, the day before) of the Nones of August he gave up his spirit.
y. For, as is written in the printed Life, the Munstermen wished to have him, because he had been born of their nation, and had a monastery and cells in their province, and in their land, though in its farthest part, he passed away. (Hence it is plain that the Saint did not return from Cronan to Clonfert by the direct road; and that the cell near which he died, Toim-Domnich, was situated in the borders of Munster, Leinster, and Connaught.) But the Leinstermen wished to bring his blessed little body to their city Cluain-Ferta, which he himself established in the western boundary of the region, by the gift of Berachus, chief of Laighse, that he might be buried in it. In that contention an angel of the Lord, etc.
z. The printed Life adds at number 53: Afterward the most blessed body of the holy old man Molua was given to the earth with due honor by a multitude of Saints in a place built in his own monastery, which he built from a field; where a famous city grew up, in which the grace of Christ appears through the age in signs and prodigies beside the relics of holy Molua.
aa. This Fintan is also called Munnu, or Mundus, as will be said on the 21st of October, on which he is venerated. The printed Life at number 54 adds the place where that Saint was then living: namely in his own monastery Tech-Munnu in the southern district of the Leinstermen, which is called Keanselach. Moreover we have two Lives of the same St. Fintan in the same parchment Manuscript codex: and in both this history is narrated.
bb. That is, of purgatory, says Sirin. In the Manuscript Compendium no mention is made of hell: nay, in neither Life of St. Fintan is anything read in that place about the pains of hell being mitigated, about darkness being put to flight, or about the sick being healed.
cc. In this the three copies of this Life agree with both Lives of St. Fintan: but in the Life of St. Mochua of Laois, volume 1 of January, page 46, number 6, the angel is said to have been accustomed to visit St. Fintan daily.
dd. Something seems to be lacking here. In the printed Life one reads: Yet be you glad: for you shall find a like honor in heaven; because you shall suffer punishment in this world afresh until your death. And on the next Thursday he was struck with leprosy, etc. Concerning this leprosy there is nothing in the Manuscript Compendium.
ee. The printed Life: And so he remained for twenty years until his death. But in the other Life of St. Fintan he is narrated to have so remained twenty-four years; and thus the other also, which in the text had only twenty years, has been corrected in the margin by a later pen. In the cited Life of St. Mochua he is said to have been a leper only until seven years, when, healed by St. Mochua, he survived longer. But one testimony must yield to four others, equally ancient at the least. Moreover whether Fintan survived Molua only 20 years or 24, his death cannot be deferred to the year 634, as it is deferred in Colgan at the 10th of January, page 50, note 8, and in Ussher in the chronological Index: since Luanus's life cannot be extended beyond the year 602, as has been shown in the Preliminary Commentary; where we extended it as far as was permissible, that we might come nearer to those chronologists, until we shall have examined the Acts of St. Fintan ourselves.
ff. In the printed Life it is added: And these words St. Gregory ordered to be conveyed to Ireland through holy men.
gg. The printed Life: Our most blessed Patron Molua, etc. Whence it seems possible to gather that the writer of that copy was a monk under this Saint's rule. The same thing this apostrophe hints of the author of the Manuscript Compendium: And so, Brethren, on the festival of so great a Father let us rejoice together with the citizens above, and let us praise the Son of God, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns God through all ages of ages. Amen.
* rather "entreating"
* perhaps "lest you be"
* perhaps "you will turn aside"
* elsewhere Stellanus