Finian

ON SAINT FINIAN, ABBOT OF SWORDS IN IRELAND.

ABOUT THE YEAR 610.

Finian, Abbot of Swords in Ireland (S.)

[1] Colgan, when collecting the Acts of the Saints of Ireland, was by no means deceived in his judgment, which he formed, persuaded by many arguments, concerning the Life of this most holy man, committed to written records, and that many years ago: Life found in MS., for it was found by men of our Society in Ireland, and transmitted to us through Father Henry Fitzsimon in a paper codex, not indeed a very ancient one, but which was clearly transcribed from another more ancient one a little more than a hundred years ago: from the very beginning of which it is clear enough that the author was English, one of those who, after the Island was subjugated by men of their nation and joined to the English crown, were brought there to reform the monasteries of Ireland, and who, on account of the most troubled state of religion and discipline which they found there, thought less highly of the whole people: for he prefaces that Finian was indeed born in Ireland, but was thoroughly unfamiliar with the customs of the nation.

[2] written in the eleventh century. In the eleventh century, therefore, when we have said that the monuments of the Saints began to be eagerly sought and transferred from the Irish language into Latin, as we noted in the Life of Saint Kieran on the fifth of March: in the eleventh century, I say, we rightly judge this author also to have flourished. And indeed with greater good fortune than others generally, he seems to have found the original and genuine Acts concerning this Saint, quite free from the fabrications of the Irish antiquaries; and with greater judgment to have kept out of them what, from the uncertain tradition of the common people, as others did more liberally, he could have stuffed into them: so that beyond many others the candor of his otherwise most simple style deserves credence, and its concise brevity also deserves praise.

[3] Saint Finian lived, the monastery of Swords erected by S. Columba, whom Colgan from Irish authors generally calls Finanus, in the times of Saint Columba, and was placed in charge of the monastery of Swords by him: for which reason a certain Irish Life of Saint Columba himself, cited by Colgan, calls him a disciple of his, setting forth the origin of the monastery of Swords in approximately these words: On a certain day, when Saint Columba, Saint Comgall, and Saint Cannoch had sat down in that place where today the monastery of Swords lies (that is, five miles from Dublin), Saint Comgall asked Saint Columba to deign to perform the divine mysteries and celebrate the sacrifice of the Mass for the spiritual consolation and nourishment of devotion of the Brethren present. The man of God consented: and while he was offering the most sacred Host to the Lord, Saint Cannoch saw a luminous and fiery column extending from the top of Saint Columba's head to the very stars, commended to S. Finian which he also soon communicated to Saint Comgall. In that place afterwards Saint Columba raised a monastery, which is today called Swords of Saint Columba, and placed over it one of his disciples, namely Saint Finian, surnamed Lobhar, as Abbot in his stead, and left him sacred codices written in his own hand.

[4] Colgan notes that the Irish word lobhar, although it properly means leprous, and is attributed in that sense by all Irish writers to Saint Finian: the leper: is nevertheless also used to denote one struck with any grave and long-lasting bodily infirmity, especially of an ulcerous kind: and he lists four others referred to under that epithet in the Irish Martyrologies, from which the veneration of this Saint also is proved, insofar as in the ancient catalogue of the Saints of Ireland (which James Ussher, having brought to light in his work on the origins of the British churches, page 913, produced), the first in the second order of Saints are two Finians; his veneration and the Festilogium of Saint Oengus, valued by us more than the other works cited, although all equally unknown to us and hidden in darkness, mentions him with the epithet of Most Radiant; because in that little work the author seems to have selected those to whom a more notable ecclesiastical veneration was paid: also from the many places that are jointly attributed to Saint Finian, it is clear enough that outside the one in which he is buried, he had a famous veneration elsewhere too. in various places. For although the very ancient Tamlacht Martyrology only has Finian Lobhar of Swords: the Cashel Calendar, however, adds Cluain-mor of Maidoc in Leinster, Inis-Faithlenn in the lake of Lene, and Ardfinain; which last Cathal Maguire, enumerating the same places, says is in memory; while the scholiast of Marian Gorman, having listed the former, omitted the latter.

[5] How he sanctified those places in life or in death, we would explain in the Acts, Whether he was Bishop of Lismore; if such names were found in them: as it is, either none appear, or others. We therefore leave the whole matter in the middle: for we believed a note should be cut from the Acts, appended to them by the collector of the Codex himself, in which it is said: This aforesaid Saint Finian was Bishop of Lismore, and lies at Ardfinain: whose feast is celebrated on the vigil of Saint Patrick. There was also another Saint Finian the Abbot, who is said to be buried at Mellifont, whose feast is observed on the sixth of the Ides of February: body in Cluain-mor on which day we treated of him; citing these same things, as if from the Life of Saint Finian Bishop of Lismore: which, believed on the basis only of the title of these Acts and this note, and proved from no passage in them or from any more ancient writer, we now confess seems scarcely probable to us. Nor do we believe concerning Ardfinain either, that this Finian lies buried there: although we do not deny some relics of his to that place. For Saint Moling, as cited in Colgan, joined to S. Onchuo. in a certain metrical composition about the church of Cluain-mor, composed in Irish, speaks thus: Venerable are the two whose bodies rest near the Cross to the south: Saint Onchuo, who was not held by attachment to the flowing things of the world; and Saint Finian the leper, a vigorous worker of good works. Colgan treats of Onchuo the poet, hymnographer, and zealous collector of relics throughout the whole island, which all remained with him at Cluain-mor, on the ninth of February: but we preferred to pass over him in silence, because nothing certain was offered from which it could be determined whether or not he had true and public veneration in the Irish Church.

[6] The many things which the same author laboriously collects about the lineage of Saint Finian from the rubbish of Irish genealogies, Genealogy uncertain: we prefer to omit here rather than to examine by uncertain conjectures what should be controverted concerning it, with no certain monument providing light. But we should by no means omit entirely what we gave about his death on the thirty-first of January in the Life of Saint Aidan or Maidoc, Bishop of Ferns, at number 59. There was a certain man, sick for thirty years, in the territory of the Northern Leinstermen, named Finian: he, in a vision on the feast of Saint Maidoc, saw a wonderful chariot descending from heaven to the city of Saint Maidoc, Ferns, death in Cluain-mor revealed by S. Maidoc in which was a holy old man, most beautiful of face, in clerical garb, and a most radiant veiled virgin with him; and they gave each other honor, as a servant to the Lord. That man asked them who they were. The Cleric answered him: This is the most blessed virgin Brigid, Lady of Ireland: and I am Maidoc, a servant of Christ. My feast is celebrated tomorrow, and the feast of this most blessed virgin is observed the day after tomorrow: and now we have come to bless our places and those who honor the day of our departure with their gifts and offerings. But you, be glad and ready; for tomorrow you will depart to heaven. That man, rising from his ecstasy, mounted a chariot and went out to the city of the blessed virgin Brigid, named Kildare, situated on the plain of the Liffey in the land of the Leinstermen, narrating his vision to all. And, as was foretold to him, on the third day he happily departed to heaven after the victory of his illness.

[7] From which it seems to follow, death occurred at the beginning of February that Saint Finian should be said to have died on the first or second day of February: because however all Martyrologies, both Irish and the English one of Whytford, commemorating three dead persons raised by Saint Finian, have him at this day; Colgan rightly judges that because of the feasts of Saint Brigid and the Purification falling in the first days of February, his solemnity was transferred here, when perhaps his relics were solemnly elevated and exposed for public veneration. The time also at which Saint Finian died, and indeed also Saint Aidan, will be ascertained more certainly from this passage than either we did there from Ware, who reckons that Aidan died in the year 632; or Colgan here errs with Keating, referring the death of Saint Finian to the time of Finachta, surnamed Fledach, King of Ireland, who reigned from the year 674 to 693. For if he was sick for only thirty years, and that ten or more years before Saint Columba departed from the living in the year 595; at the beginning of the seventh century. (as the time of contracting the illness not long after receiving the Episcopal or rather priestly Order, and the deeds performed afterwards clearly require, even though someone might wish to say he was appointed to the governance of Swords about the last years of Saint Columba) if, I say, he was sick for only thirty years, he must have died before the year 615: and Aidan some years earlier.

good works, a vigorous worker. Colgan treats of Onchuo the poet, hymnographer, and zealous collector of relics throughout the whole island, which all remained with him at Cluain-mor, on the ninth of February: but we preferred to pass over him in silence, because nothing certain was offered from which it could be determined whether or not he had true and public veneration in the Irish Church.

[6] The many things which the same author laboriously collects about the lineage of Saint Finian from the rubbish of Irish genealogies, Genealogy uncertain: we prefer to omit here rather than to examine by uncertain conjectures what should be controverted concerning it, with no certain monument providing light. But we should by no means omit entirely what we gave about his death on the thirty-first of January in the Life of Saint Aidan or Maidoc, Bishop of Ferns, at number 59. There was a certain man, sick for thirty years, in the territory of the Northern Leinstermen, named Finian: he, in a vision on the feast of Saint Maidoc, saw a wonderful chariot descending from heaven to the city of Saint Maidoc, Ferns, death in Cluain-mor revealed by S. Maidoc in which was a holy old man, most beautiful of face, in clerical garb, and a most radiant veiled virgin with him; and they gave each other honor, as a servant to the Lord. That man asked them who they were. The Cleric answered him: This is the most blessed virgin Brigid, Lady of Ireland: and I am Maidoc, a servant of Christ. My feast is celebrated tomorrow, and the feast of this most blessed virgin is observed the day after tomorrow: and now we have come to bless our places and those who honor the day of our departure with their gifts and offerings. But you, be glad and ready; for tomorrow you will depart to heaven. That man, rising from his ecstasy, mounted a chariot and went out to the city of the blessed virgin Brigid, named Kildare, situated on the plain of the Liffey in the land of the Leinstermen, narrating his vision to all. And, as was foretold to him, on the third day he happily departed to heaven after the victory of his illness.

[7] From which it seems to follow, death occurred at the beginning of February that Saint Finian should be said to have died on the first or second day of February: because however all Martyrologies, both Irish and the English one of Whytford, commemorating three dead persons raised by Saint Finian, have him at this day; Colgan rightly judges that because of the feasts of Saint Brigid and the Purification falling in the first days of February, his solemnity was transferred here, when perhaps his relics were solemnly elevated and exposed for public veneration. The time also at which Saint Finian died, and indeed also Saint Aidan, will be ascertained more certainly from this passage than either we did there from Ware, who reckons that Aidan died in the year 632; or Colgan here errs with Keating, referring the death of Saint Finian to the time of Finachta, surnamed Fledach, King of Ireland, who reigned from the year 674 to 693. For if he was sick for only thirty years, and that ten or more years before Saint Columba departed from the living in the year 595; at the beginning of the seventh century. (as the time of contracting the illness not long after receiving the Episcopal or rather priestly Order, and the deeds performed afterwards clearly require, even though someone might wish to say he was appointed to the governance of Swords about the last years of Saint Columba) if, I say, he was sick for only thirty years, he must have died before the year 615: and Aidan some years earlier.

LIFE

By an Anonymous English Author

from our Irish MS.

Finian, Abbot of Swords in Ireland (S.)

BHL Number: 2992

FROM AN IRISH MS.

FROM MSS.

[1] There was a man of venerable life, named Finian, born and raised in Ireland indeed, Born in Ireland, but thoroughly unfamiliar with the customs of the nation; inasmuch as he was perfected by divine grace from a tender age: whose holiness and sincere purity is also commended by the place in which he was born, because the inhabitants of that place testify that no animals die there, and none can give birth. When he had grown up and become a boy, he was taken to a certain venerable man named Brendan, who in a short time taught him both secular and divine letters. taught letters by Brendan, Sufficiently instructed therefore, having received the permission of his master, he withdrew to the southern parts of Ireland, because his mother was from those parts, and he came to a certain Bishop named Fathlad, who received him with honor, and after some time, having seen his holiness and gravity of character, at the instigation of divine grace that the matter might come about, raised him to the honor of a Bishop. ordained by the Bishop Having been consecrated Bishop, with what great virtues he shone, how many miracles the Lord performed through him, it is not within my ability to declare; for he was both consoled and strengthened by angelic conversation.

[2] It happened that on a certain day he heard Angels, as if celebrating praise and glory and saying: Stimulated to the desire of Martyrdom by angelic song, These are they who have come out of great tribulation and have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. Whence, inflamed with exceeding desire, he asked the Lord that he might by any means merit to attain the palms of martyrdom: ready to act if the occasion were present, and there were one who would do it. It happened therefore that a certain woman came to him, carrying a small boy who was blind from birth, mute, and also leprous: and he poured forth prayers to the Lord for him, and received the answer that the boy's leprosy was to be cured by him that the boy could not otherwise be healed through him unless he himself were willing to suffer the boy's leprosy in his own body. He not only wished this to happen, but rather gave thanks on this account. The boy therefore was healed, and Finian was struck with leprosy from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head, after the example of Blessed Job: the cause, however, was different, because Blessed Job patiently bore what the Lord had inflicted, not seeking it: he willingly takes it upon himself, but Finian desired it and bore it with equanimity. Lest I pass over all his deeds, I shall briefly touch on a few.

[3] A certain woman came to him carrying a boy at the point of death, he raises one at the point of death, and he prayed to the Lord for him and restored him to his former health. One day he was sitting on the bank of a certain lake, reading: it happened that the book accidentally fell into the lake: those who were present could not retrieve the book, because the water was too deep: yet suddenly by divine power the book was raised from the lake, he receives a book unharmed from the water, with many watching, and was restored to the man of God; and although it had been hidden under the water for a time, it was not at all damaged. On another day sick people came to him, and having poured forth prayer for them, he sent them away healed. A sick boy was also brought to him, he cures various diseases, and departed healed. He therefore made a cemetery and a basilica, which today shines with famous miracles: for if anyone should sleep in it, though the doors were closed, he would be found thrown outside upon the bank of the lake: for Saint Finian did not establish the basilica for sleeping in, he builds a church but for praying to the Lord. At a certain time he proposed to build a mill; but the inhabitants of that land quarreled, lest water be diverted to the mill: the man of God went to his usual refuge, and a mill. he asked the Lord; in the sight of all who were present, the entire lake was suspended in the air: and the inhabitants, terrified, immediately fell at the feet of the Saint, and so he obtained what he wished.

[4] He departed from there and came to a certain place called Olnaimar, and began to live there. the worms teeming from his body he calls his citizens: His whole body was teeming with worms because of the severity of the leprosy, and worms flowed from his body to a certain water that was nearby, and returned again: even today the path by which they went is called the Way of the Worms. It happened that on a certain night, while his companions were keeping vigil, the Saint groaned sharply, and when asked by his companions what this was, he said: One of my citizens is missing, and therefore I cannot sleep. He had said this about one worm, which after it returned, he immediately fell asleep. At a certain time a man came to him, stricken with compunction, to another who desired a similar leprosy, he communicates it despising the world, willing to endure hard things for the Lord, and asked him that through his intercession he might merit to become leprous, wishing to share also in the glory, caring little about what happened to the body as long as the soul was saved. To whom the man of God said: You will not be able to bear it. He replied: I will not leave here until I obtain what I seek. The man of God therefore asked the Lord. he takes the same leprosy away from the penitent. The man was immediately struck with leprosy, and feeling in his members an unbearable itching and unable to bear the intolerable torment, he returned to the man of God and said: I shall not die an old man now, father: help a wretch. The Saint sent him to go to the nearby water and wash himself. He went, washed, and was made well.

[5] At that time the Clerics of that church owed the King a banquet once a year, The King, troublesome to the clerics with the exaction of a banquet and it weighed heavily upon them, because they spent much: they therefore persuaded the man of God to intercede with the King on their behalf. He, feeling compassion for them, sent a certain virgin who ministered to him, commanding the King to remit the debt. The King mocked her: which she, having returned, reported to the man of God. Then he, somewhat moved, arose, went to the court: and when he had drawn near, he sent the same virgin to him: Tell the King to come out quickly and leave the place, or the earth will soon swallow him; and punishes the King who does not obey the warnings by the ruin of his house. for the place in which the proud man had shown contempt will be overturned and made desolate. While she was telling these things to the King, behold the whole place began to tremble and to move completely. Then the King fled, and fell at the feet of the man of God, and what he had not been willing to grant voluntarily, he gave up involuntarily: and as for the place, what the man of God had predicted came to pass.

[6] Afterwards it pleased him to visit his homeland, and he came to a certain place called Sord, prevented from a Roman pilgrimage where he found Saint Columba: and when he had made known to him his intention to go to Rome, Saint Columba resisted, saying: You will not go; rather you will remain here. To whom the man of God said: I have made a vow, and that vow I cannot fail to fulfill it. Saint Columba said: Lay your head here. He laid his head on his knee, and immediately fell asleep. Upon awakening and being asked what he had seen, he said that he had seen Rome and gone around its holy places. Then Saint Columba said: Now you will remain here, you will not go to Rome. S. Columba places him in charge of the monastery of Swords He commended to him his place and the surrounding territory, and he himself departed. Saint Finian healed the sick there, showed all diligence in hospitality, did not give his limbs to rest, but for the fourth part of the night

he sat in cold water chanting psalms, how austerely he lived there and for the remaining three parts he sat on the bare ground, having around him four stones, on which he placed his head in turn when he wished to give himself to rest. Such a hard life did Saint Finian lead: hence also his glory.

[7] On a certain night he was writing, having the five fingers of his left hand burning as candles; his fingers give light to him as he writes a certain peasant came and looked in: which displeased the man of God, and immediately the peasant lost one eye: and what is more remarkable, his sin is proved to this day by his posterity: for as we see, for the most part they are born deprived of eyes or diminished in other limbs. he puts a whale to flight by the sign of the Cross: He frequently went to a certain island to visit the brothers who were there: on one occasion a great whale came to him, threatening death: the man of God opposed the sign of the cross, and the whale fled. At that time there was there a troublesome abundance of mice, the man of God prayed, and no mouse appeared. Afterwards the time drew near and the brothers lacked fish: he provides abundant fish for those in need Saint Finian ordered the nets to be cast for a catch, and immediately thirty salmon were caught. A certain one of the brothers, going around the island and proceeding carelessly, fell into a dreadful precipice, and the brothers, grieving for his death (for he was not only dead, he raises one who had fallen from a precipice, but indeed crushed entirely), came to the man of God; who prayed and restored him to safety.

[8] After this, the man learned that his arrival had displeased the brothers who were there, he returns to Swords against a contrary wind: and that his presence was unwelcome: he wished therefore to leave them, but the wind was contrary: he nevertheless ordered the sail to be raised high, and thus miraculously against the wind he reached the desired port. When he had come to his place, Swords, all the doors were closed: but by divine power, before anyone knew of his arrival, they were opened. he performs various miracles there: There was there a certain tree bearing bitter fruit; he blessed it: it did not cease to bring forth sweet fruit. A certain poor man came to him asking for alms; the man of God spat into his bosom, and afterwards as long as he lived he was rich. A certain leper came; he sat down, said nothing to him: the man of God spat on the ground, the leper gathered it up, anointed his face, and was immediately made well. A mute, deaf, and lame person from his mother's womb was presented: he healed him with a word. On a certain Lord's day he lacked wine; a vessel full of water was brought to him, and he turned it into wine.

[9] he calls the dead back to life, On a certain day when he was celebrating Mass, a ball of fire appeared above his head to all who were present, which also happened frequently. A certain man was going to war and came to commend himself to the prayers of the man of God; he received a blessing, went into battle, and was killed. His relatives came to look for him among the slain, and suspecting him to be half-alive, they called him by name: the dead man arose through the power of Saint Finian. A certain peasant came to him carrying another dead person, and weeping he swore that he would not leave until his son was raised. The man of God replied: The Lord is merciful, he prevents a killing, He Himself will raise your son: and immediately the dead man arose. Guests came to him in wintertime, and they lacked a vessel in which to heat water: he prayed, and a pan was given from heaven, which was there for a long time in the sight of all. A quarrel occurred between two men; one fled, the other followed, ready to strike: the one who fled had nowhere to flee except to the refuge of Finian: the other wanted to strike, and refused to defer to the man of God, and was suddenly struck with blindness; and thus the wretch escaped. he uncovers a theft, Saint Finian had a ram; thieves stole it; the ram was called Bedan. Those who had stolen it came to the man of God, they swore, indeed they perjured themselves. The man of God called the ram, and the ram answered from the mouth of the thief.

[10] When he came from the island named above, he receives a missal left elsewhere, he had forgotten to bring his Missal with him, and it was the season of Easter. When therefore he arose the next morning, sad because he did not have his book, and had entered the church, he found his book on the altar, restored by angelic hands. he preserves a boy unharmed by fire, It was his custom to drink something hot: he sent a boy to bring him a stone from the fire, so that his drink might be heated from it: the boy carelessly handled it with his hand, but it did him no harm at all. At that time he prepared a feast for his people: he provides unfailing food, he invited friends, they feasted daily, the food did not run out, and many days passed thus. A certain peasant was present and said: These provisions will never run out, he extinguishes a fire, makes a tree fruitful, and immediately at his word the provisions failed. On a certain day fire attacked the monastery: the man of God opposed the sign of the cross, and immediately the fire was extinguished. A woman who was insane was brought to him: he prayed: the woman went away healed. In the monastery there was a barren tree; the man of God blessed it, and the next day it appeared full of fruit. A certain disciple of his, named Boecan, was drowned: the man of God prayed: he who had been submerged arose alive, and those who had seen it glorified God. With these and many other miracles performed through Saint Finian, he rested in peace, he raises a drowned man. and at his relics frequent miracles do not cease to happen, he is famous for miracles after death. the Lord granting and working, who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.