ON SAINT MOCHUA OF BALLA, OR CRONANUS.
Preface[1] Philip O'Sullivan Beare, a most distinguished man in learning and lineage, celebrates another Mochua Saint Mochua of Balla, a disciple of Saint Congall. in the tenth book, chapter two, of his Patrician Decade, where he treats of the monastery of Benchor founded by Saint Congall, from which, among other men illustrious in sanctity and learning, that Mochua also came forth.
[2] The source and translator of the Life. His life, translated from the Irish codex which the Prince of Bearry O'Sullivan had formerly caused to be written concerning the Lives of the Saints into the Latin tongue, was sent to me from Madrid in this year of Christ 1634 by Philip O'Sullivan himself, which I have also decided to give here, since I do not know his feast day. He had appended certain things about the mill of Saint Fechin, which I omitted because the same things are found below on January 20 in the Life of that same Saint Fechin.
LIFE
FROM MANUSCRIPTS, TRANSLATED BY PHILIP O'SULLIVAN.
CHAPTER I.
The lineage, calling to the religious life, and sanctity of Saint Mochua.
[1] The lineage of Saint Mochua. The holy man Cronanus, also called Mochua, was born of his father Beganus, his grandfather Barra, his great-grandfather Natius, his great-great-grandfather Lugo (who was the founder of the Lugic family, by no means obscure among the Irish), and his mother Comna, daughter of Conamalus and granddaughter of Machadanus, of the Dalbuanic people. He had three sisters -- Brinsacha, Luchada, and Iudella -- and two older brothers.
[2] He himself as a boy, with his hair falling out due to a disease of ringworm infecting his head, was rather unsightly, and therefore was made of less account by his parents and raised with a humbler upbringing. He was ordered to turn his mind to tending sheep. He tends sheep. But the one whose appearance and fortune his parents despised, God most good and most great honored with the ornaments of the most illustrious virtues and the power of performing miracles, and raised him to the lofty summit of glory.
[3] Angels seen above his father's house by Congall. First indeed Congall, a man inspired by the divine spirit, came to the house of Beganus, above which he beheld Angels running to and fro. Taught divinely the mystery of this event, he asked Beganus how many sons he had. He answered that he had two young men of good character, and another little boy (this was Mochua), not worthy enough to be named and judged fit only for tending sheep, and the same number of girls as his children. Congall ordered Mochua to be summoned home. Upon seeing him, and greatly delighting himself from his appearance because he was adorned with the gifts of the divine Power, he said that he would become a shepherd of men rather than of sheep. Then he brought the boy to his very devout monastery of Benchor, He becomes a religious. most frequented by holy men. Where Mochua, enrolled in the company of the religious and instructed in sacred letters, was a singular example of sanctity and a worker of marvelous things.
[4] A barren matron, moved by the fame that had spread far and wide, came to Mochua to seek a remedy for her sterility. She encountered the servant of God on bended knees, with hands outstretched, shedding tears copiously, as if alienated from bodily senses and wholly turned to the contemplation of divine things. Wherefore, approaching furtively, Her sterility was dispelled by his tears. she caught in the hollow of her palms the showers falling from the eyes of the holy man, and drank them with her mouth, with great confidence that this would be a medicine for her fertility. Nor was she deceived in her trusting hope: for she shortly conceived from her husband's embrace and bore a son named Dabius.
CHAPTER II.
He is sent elsewhere, with a spring following. Milk rains down upon him. He provides water for the mill of Saint Fechin.
[5] He is sent to build a new monastery. After Mochua had shown himself a brave and veteran soldier of Christ through many miracles, most severe bodily mortifications, pious services to men, and battles undertaken against the devil, he was ordered by Congall to leave the nest and go elsewhere. Obeying the command, he asked his master, with the knowledge of future things that he possessed, to declare where it would please God for him to dwell and build a monastery. "Indeed," said Congall, "I can neither foresee this matter nor indicate it by any argument or sign, unless perhaps it pleases God that this spring" (he was pointing with his finger at a spring nearby) "departing hence should lead you and settle there where it shall have pleased the divine Majesty that you should dwell." With this answer Mochua departed from Benchor, accompanied by a chosen band of religious men. He had not gone far A spring accompanies him in the form of a cloud. when his companions, looking back, saw a dense, dark cloud threatening rain but not sending it, following them through a clear and sunny sky. Seeing this, Mochua also said that it was undoubtedly the spring designated by Congall and sent by God, and that he must pause for a time until it went ahead, and then follow where it led, and where it settled, there they too would dwell. The cloud immediately went ahead and led Mochua to the Ferrosii, to the town of Gaelia, where Gabrenus the Bishop, his fellow student and most sincere friend, dwelt. And there it filled a hollow in the ground by raining milk for them. Milk rains down. Gabrenus indeed offered Mochua a settlement where he might end his pilgrimage. But because the cloud did not settle at all, he did not think it should be observed.
[6] On the contrary, under its guidance he arrived at Fobaria (this is a town of Meath). At the mill of Saint Fechin, water is miraculously conducted through a mountain. There Fechin, a man admirable in character and deeds, presided with a sacred cohort of Priests; and at the base of a dry mountain, with no water nearby, he had caused a mill to be built contrary to the opinion of the craftsmen and builders. At the arrival of Mochua the work was complete, and nothing was lacking except a stream whose current, turning the wheels, would rotate the millstone upon the base. Thus, greatly rejoicing at his arrival, Fechin and the other Priests conceived the hope that by the merits of the holy man, God most good and most great would supply water for the mill. They deliberated about this among themselves and with Mochua. Inspired by the divine Spirit, they unanimously resolved to go to Lake Levinn, about two thousand paces distant, in the hope that from there the Almighty might divert water to the mills. The architect of the work, understanding this, said: "Most holy men, you undertake a matter most arduous and difficult." "For men indeed," said Mochua, "I confess it most difficult; but for God very easy." When the servants of God arrived there, Mochua lightly pierced the bank of the lake toward the mills with the tip of his staff; Fechin and the Priests did the same. Immediately, through the transverse mountain, the water, marvelously conveyed underground, burst forth with great force not far above the mills. Whence, rushing down in a headlong fall and driving the wheels around with rapid force, it turned the millstone upon the base.
CHAPTER III.
He is received with honor by the King and Queen of Connacht.
[7] Saint Mochua comes to Connacht. Having bidden farewell to Fechin, Mochua proceeded onward, crossed the River Shannon, and sought the kingdom of Connacht. In the principality of Omania he was received with the greatest honor by the nobles, especially by Queen Ballgela, and was asked to remain there permanently. But having blessed his good hosts, he went to Lake Kiminium, where Kellach, son of Ragall, King of Connacht, was residing. At that time the King was refreshing his spirits with hunting, and a stag which he had been pursuing, brought into the greatest straits and extreme danger, cast itself headlong into the lake, and swimming reached a rock situated in the middle of the lake and stood upon it. No one dared follow it there, because of a fearsome beast that infested the lake and was accustomed to killing swimmers. The King, both fearing this danger and at the same time desiring to obtain the stag, addressing Mochua, whom he had embraced with the greatest love and honor, said: "If it pleases you, Father Mochua, relying on your help, I will send someone to the rock to kill the stag." Mochua said: "Although it seems dangerous for anyone to go there, yet almighty God can give safety to the swimmer." Moved by these words, the King sent someone to the rock to kill the stag. But the beast devoured the man as he returned. At his prayers, the beast vomits up the man it had devoured. The King, struck with grief at the loss of the man, transferred the blame to Mochua. For this reason Mochua poured forth prayers to his Lord Christ God. By God's command the beast vomited the man safe and unharmed, nor did it harm anyone thereafter. Awed by the greatness of the miracle, the King and many others humbly venerated the servant of God, and gave the greatest thanks to God. And indeed Mochua was thereafter most dear to the King and to his successor Kenfela, son of Colgan.
CHAPTER IV.
The origin of the monastery and town of Balla.
[8] Thence, having crossed the river Rodba, he arrived at the principality of Keara, in the town called the Grove of Darbrech, at the age of thirty-five. There the spring, in the form of a cloud in the air as was its custom, did not appear. The spring bursts forth again from the earth in another place. With Mochua and his disciples anxious about this and searching for the spring through the fields, a farmer coming their way reported that not far off was a spring never before seen there, surrounded by a balla, that is, a rampart. Whence the new town received the name Balla, Whence the town of Balla gets its name. and Mochua also received the surname of Balla. And he and his companions, because the spring which had set out from Benchor in Ulster had settled there, promising them a peaceful settlement, extolled God with praises.
[9] But they had scarcely decided to fix their settlement when Eacha Minnechus, Prince of the Ofiachrae people, leading a hundred men from the magnates of that principality, set out to expel the holy man from the place. These, approaching, beheld Angels flying about above the grove in visible forms. By their encounter and by the venerable sight of Mochua The sight of Angels and of Mochua softens the enemies. and his holy exhortations, they willingly dedicated the grove and the surrounding fields to God, with King Kellach consenting. There Mochua had a church built and consecrated by three Bishops; and he himself afterward shone with very many miracles, some of which it will be pleasant to run through with a rapid pen.
CHAPTER V.
Various miracles of Mochua.
[10] Saint Mochua dispels sterility. A barren matron complained to Mochua of her barrenness. He gave the infertile woman two stalks of watercress blessed by him with holy words; which when she had eaten, she shortly conceived by her husband's embrace and bore in a single birth the pious Lukencaria and Scanlanus.
[11] He obtains a catch for fishermen. Fishermen who had been fishing in vain reproached Mochua, who was present, that no fish was caught by them. Immediately four salmon, fleeing a sea-calf, escaped to them onto the land.
[12] A line drawn restrains the lambs. Lambs, catching sight of their mothers, ran toward them to suck their teats. Mochua, who was walking nearby, pouring forth prayers to God, when he saw this, running with swift step to head them off, drew a line on the ground with his staff: for none of them dared to cross the line described by the holy man.
[13] Mochua sent a messenger to Faelanus. A long and narrow inlet of the sea, bordered by lofty, rocky, and precipitous banks, lay between them, where two fierce women, Beca daughter of Cuchoragus and Lithbena daughter of Attrephthus, had a basket suspended by two ropes on either side, by which -- as they professed -- they might ferry travelers back and forth. These suspended Mochua's messenger, having been received in the basket, high up in the middle of the inlet. For this reason the holy man, warned by divine revelation, set out to redeem his messenger. He converts sinners. When he arrived at the inlet, he negotiated with the women to release the man. This he obtained from Lithbena without payment, but from Beca only upon the price of his cowl being given. Shortly, however, by his exhortation he converted both the women and their fathers to the fruit of a better life.
[14] The land grows so that he may cross to the island. Having entered the principality of Mogia, he decided to cross over to the island of Amalga. Since there was no means of a boat for this, he prayed to God. Soon the land grew so much that afterward Amalga could be reached on foot.
[15] A thief is miraculously detained. A thief, having placed upon his back a large bundle of grain stolen from Mochua, could neither walk nor remove the load in any way, until, discovered and freed by Mochua, summoned in the name of the most holy Trinity, he was released from the bonds that secretly held him.
CHAPTER VI.
Various healings through him.
[16] Mochua heals a demoniac. In the name of the same most holy Trinity he expelled evil spirits from a wretched man whom they had long occupied and grievously afflicted.
[17] He cures another sick man. He transferred a large pustule growing more foully by the day in the body of Iathlech, son of Kenfela, into his bell by God's will, leaving the man healthy.
[18] He heals many of jaundice. The people of the Muregidae were suffering from jaundice, or the yellowing sickness -- that is, an abundance of yellow bile spread throughout the body, rendering a man pale. Having consulted all the physicians of all Ireland, they could be healed by no medicine. Despairing of human remedies, they resolved to implore God's help through the patronage of Mochua. Two thousand five hundred sufferers of jaundice came to Balla, where they were healed by the prayers and blessing of Mochua, each recovering his own color, with the pallor passing into the holy man's staff. Whence this staff received the name "the Pale One." And the Muregidae devoted themselves and their posterity to the service of Mochua, whose invocation is also reported to be beneficial for those afflicted with that disease.
[19] He heals a paralytic. A man seized in his hands, feet, and other limbs was carried to Mochua to be healed; and at his command, in the name of the most sweet Jesus, the man rose firm and whole, with each of his limbs performing its proper function.
[20] He raises the dead. A certain upright and simple man carried his one and only son to Mochua, lifeless, that he might recall him from death. With the holy man praying to God, the boy revived to the great expectation and joy of all.
[21] He dies. After these and other things nobly accomplished, Mochua departed into the company of the heavenly dwellers in the fifty-sixth year of his age.
These things I have most faithfully translated from an ancient literary monument written in Irish at the command of the Prince of Bearry O'Sullivan concerning the Lives of the Saints.