Endeus

ON SAINT ENDEUS, ABBOT OF ARAN IN IRELAND.

AROUND THE YEAR 540.

Preliminary Commentary.

Endeus, Abbot of Aran in Ireland (S.)

[1] In the very jaws of the Ocean, with the Bay of Galway interposed between Thomond and Connacht, separating those two provinces of Western Ireland, St. Endeus on the Aran Islands: three islands lie separated from each other by a small strait, called the Arans; but distinguished by the English names of the Greater, Middle, and Lesser islands, among modern Geographers; and they belong to the County of Galway. The largest of these, which from its position could be called Northern — because having the mainland to the East it is closer to it than the others — is named Ara-Oirthir, that is, Eastern Ara: it is also otherwise called Ara-na-naomh, that is, Ara of the Saints: because in it Saint Endeus built ten monasteries, subject to one principal one, as Colgan says: of which, now ruined, only the churches remain; so that three of them still retain the name of Saint Endeus: celebrated cult, namely Kill-Enda, the parish church and head of the rest; Teglach-Enda, to which is annexed a cemetery in which is the sepulchre of Saint Endeus with one hundred and twenty other tombs in which no one was ever buried except Saints, as is found in the catalogue of churches of the diocese of Tuam in Colgan's Appendix here, chapter 7, and Tempul-mor-Enda, that is, the Great Temple of Endeus, now indeed so called; but formerly, from Saint Maclongius, to whom it was originally dedicated, Tempul-mac-Longa.

[2] These so evident proofs of no ordinary cult so establish the matter confirmed from the Martyrologies. that there is no need of the testimonies of the Martyrologies, although these are not lacking either: for the manuscript Florarium of the Saints, Hermann Greuen in his additions to Usuard, Canisius in the German Martyrology, and Ferrarius in the General Catalogue at this day all mention Saint Endeus the Abbot in Ireland. To these is added the most ancient Tamlacht: but in it he manifestly contradicts all the others, in that it makes him a son of Anmire, whom all others write to have been the maternal grandfather of Saint Endeus: most expressly indeed Cathaldus Maguire in his scholia on the Festilogy of Oengus: his parents Endeus of Aran, son of Conall the Red, son of Daman of the Orgiels; and the daughter of Anmire, Prince of the Ferardi, was his mother; whom the author of the Calendar of Cashel names Briga or Ailfinn. Marianus Gorman, treating of Endeus, assigns to Conall the Red the homeland of Clogher, and to Endeus himself the epithet of "the Virgin": and this perhaps from that supreme purity of soul and the surname "the Virgin." which it is right to believe he cultivated in himself no less severely than he was accustomed to require from his disciples.

[3] How great an innocence he required from his followers, the collectors of the Martyrology of Donegal narrate in these words: Saint Endeus, Abbot of Aran: Conall the Red, son of Daman, son of Corpre surnamed Dam-airgid, was his father. He himself abandoned his paternal inheritance, his kingdom, and his father's very ample patrimony for Christ: the way he daily tested the innocence of his followers: and built a monastery on the island of Aran, of which he was afterward Abbot, in which he also ruled a community of one hundred and fifty monks in the manner of the Angelic life. And the purity and integrity of their life, lest anyone should admit any stain of contamination or any blemish, the wondrous Father was accustomed to test by a kind of trial more to be marveled at than imitated. For in those parts at that age there was a certain type of vessel in common use, woven of wicker and covered with ox hides, which is called in the Scottish language a Curach. Now Endeus, having first removed the hide which kept the water out, ordered individual Brothers to enter that bare wicker frame each day in the evening, successively and individually, which he himself also entered last after all the others: but if that frame, thus exposed to the water, at the entry of any Brother admitted any water (which otherwise could not be avoided without a manifest miracle) through the interwoven wickers, this was a sign to those Angelic ascetics that that Brother had contracted some stain which contaminated that Angelic purity in some way: if at the entry of each one no water was admitted, all were held to be clean and immune from all stain and contamination.

[4] and severity toward one who offended in a small matter. But after those heavenly minds had proved their Angelic way of life by such trials for many days, it happened on a certain day that at the entry of the monk Gigneus, who was cook to that sacred community, the little boat gradually admitted water. Then when Father Endeus asked what stain Gigneus had contracted, he humbly acknowledging his fault, replied that he recognized himself guilty of no other fault than that from his own portion of broth he had sometimes poured a little into the portion of Saint Kieran. Hearing this, Endeus, the strict observer of monastic discipline, imposed as expiation for that transgression that Gigneus should leave the island, and separated from the rest of the monastic community, should betake himself to the mainland, there to expiate the admitted stain by austere penance; asserting that it was not fitting for a thief to live in the sacred monastic congregation, let alone to act as their steward. Gigneus therefore left the island and carried out the commands of the Father.

[5] So much from that source, says Colgan, and he adds that these things, with some other matters concerning the deeds of Saint Endeus, Ancient Acts lost, are narrated more fully by the scholiast of Oengus. Whence it is clear that far more ancient and more extensive Acts of his once existed than those which the manuscript Insular codex furnished to us, through a man of singular kindness and learning, Father Hugh Ward; whence Colgan published them headless, the first chapter having been lost. The same were also doubtless more genuine: for he who wrote that Insular codex, Augustine Magraidin, around the year 1390 on the island of the Riensis lake called All Saints, a monk of the order of Canons Regular, did not indeed compose the Life in his own style; but patched it together from two more ancient ones with so little judgment that what pertains to Saint Kieran, others published here and was narrated differently in both of them with circumstances not a little changed, he reported as events substantially different: regarding the things done during the Roman pilgrimage and after the return, he also combines a double narration, of which the latter is so fabulous from beginning to end that Colgan printed it in a different typeface, and noted in the margin that it seemed apocryphal; although he attempts to excuse the compiler, as if he did not approve of it: which from this beginning, "But others narrate this history differently," no one will be persuaded is clear.

[6] some things omitted or noted: We have judged that narration should be omitted, lest it need to be refuted at greater length, as an inept patch carelessly sewn onto a better part, in which otherwise there is nothing you would judge to be from Augustine himself, except certain etymological glosses enclosed in brackets, for distinction, and as little suited to the matter as is the narration which we reject: in which however it is not displeasing that of the "Latin monastery," as it is named in the Life at section 6, built by Endeus upon his return from Rome, he made no mention at all, since no mention or trace of this name is found anywhere else. The ambiguity of the Irish word Leta, meaning now Latium, now Letavia or Armorican Brittany, may have deceived the author. That a monastery or cell of Saint Endeus should be sought in this latter: is clear from the miraculous crossing of Saint Fanchea and three companions over the Virgin's spread cloak, whether and where is the Latin monastery of St. Endeus? by which they are said to have arrived at the desired port of Britain: for why "desired"? Unless because she was going to find there the brother whom she herself had sent there as a pilgrim. There is therefore no reason for Colgan to be anxious in his notes on Saint Fanchea, January 1, lest anyone understand here the Latiniac monastery, founded by Saint Furseus in Gaul in the seventh century; he also vainly suggests the monastery of Liessies in our Belgium, as if from the ruins in the place of the prior small or ruined one, the magnificent

one which exists to this day, founded by Count Wibert in the eighth century, arose from it.

[7] before the year 489, in his forties As for the age of Saint Endeus, we can measure it somewhat from the time of Oengus, King of Munster, most famous in the Patrician Life, and the Acts of Saint Kieran of Clonmacnoise: for from this King, whom the Annals record to have fallen in the battle of Kill-ornadh in the year 489, Endeus sought and obtained the island of Aran for his possession, and no one would reasonably judge him to have been less than forty years old at that time. Saint Kieran of Clonmacnoise, before he entered the discipline of Saint Senan, had served his novitiate of monastic life under this Saint Endeus, and from the same, already master of others and founder of the Anginense monastery, he learned the meaning of that vision by which God wished to foretell the future growth of his monastery at Clonmacnoise, around the last year of King Tuathal, Christ 544. From which Ussher rightly infers in his chronological index at the year 530 that Endeus died at a very advanced age: and thus modestly corrects the error by which on page 867 he had judged this to be Ennaeus, that son of Clothbath, of whose death around the year 457 the Annals of Ulster speak. Our Endeus here is certainly said to have been the son of Conall, and must have lived to about the ninetieth year of his age; around the year 540 he was still alive indeed he must have exceeded even twenty more years, if it were established to be true what Odonnell, Prince of Tirconnell, writes of Saint Columba in Colgan, section 106 of book 1, namely that he had requested from him a place on the island of Aran for building a monastery of his institute: for that could hardly have happened before the year 560, Columba being then about forty years old. But in the silence of the ancient authors we dare not trust so much to that new hodgepodge from Irish writings as to base upon this one item alone an age that is too long: especially since it could have happened that for Saint Endeus his successor in the governance of the monastery was taken, as often happens in those Lives which are written a long time after the death of the Saints themselves. Therefore without any scruple we dare to assert that Saint Endeus by no means reached the year of Christ 550, and perhaps did not even surpass 540.

[8] He had St. Fanchea as sister and teacher. The sister of Saint Endeus was the virgin Fanchea; holy she too, and indeed, as will be evident from the following Acts, the teacher of piety to her brother. Everything that concerns her, Colgan excerpted for the first day of January, on which day the Tamlacht and Marianus Gorman's Martyrology make her memorial, and her feast day, he says, is said to be celebrated in the parish church of Rosairthir near Lough Erne in the diocese of Clogher: where accordingly Colgan believes she had her monastery: nor is there any doubt that she is venerated with even greater solemnity at Kill-aine, near Mount Bregh in the borders of Meath, where we learn that her body was buried; and Colgan suspects that the name of the place remained from her, as if you were to say Kill-ainche; the letter F having been dropped, which according to the usage of the Irish idiom, occurring after II or any other consonant, is not pronounced at the beginning of a word. But what he adds in conclusion, that she died around the beginning of the sixth century, not even he himself will be able to persuade himself of; provided he pays attention to the year in which he frequently emphasizes Oengus died, 489; which the arrival of Saint Endeus in Ireland preceded by some years, and his arrival was itself preceded by the death of Saint Fanchea.

LIFE

From the manuscript of the Island of All Saints.

Endeus, Abbot of Aran in Ireland (S.)

BHL Number: 2543

FROM MANUSCRIPT.

CHAPTER I.

Birth and conversion of Saint Endeus.

[1] Born of the Princes of the Orgiels God, wondrous in His Saints, sent this man, that is, the most holy Abbot Endeus, like a radiant star to this darkened world, that he might put to flight the shadows of vices from the minds of sinners and pour in the light of grace upon them. Desiring also to show the merits and virtues of that most holy man, let us first take care to reveal the nobility of his family and the honesty of his character. For he was the son of Conall, drawing his origin from the nobler of the Orgiels: his mother, Brig by name, that is, vigorous or virtuous, was the daughter of Anmire, Duke of the Ardkianacht. When therefore he was born in his parents' home, growing like a rose among thorns, he fully showed to others the fragrance of his good behavior and the blush of natural honesty: but after he had reached physical maturity, he practiced carnal military service, like another Martin, according to the custom of his parentage.

[2] After this, Conall, surnamed Derg, he succeeds his father in governance that is "the Red," his father, died: and upon the father's departure, his son Endeus was made Duke of that people: and although he was in his youthful age, and elevated in the popular honor of the Dukedom; yet from the carnal ways by which the human race is usually ensnared and stained, the clemency of God completely preserved him. But at a certain time, when he was being urged by his fellow soldiers to hasten together with them to avenge himself against his enemies, he himself, as if unexperienced in injury and malice, gave them his consent: and when there they killed a certain one of his enemies, and returning to their own country, they approached the hermitage where the holy virgin Fanchea was dwelling, they were singing a certain song of victory over their enemies. When the virgin of Christ heard their voices, and is reproved for slaughter committed by his sister St. Fanchea: she said to her Sisters: Know, my Sisters in Christ, that this terrible shouting is not with the grace of Christ: and recognizing in spirit the voice of Endeus the Duke, she said to the other Sisters: That one, whose voice this is, is a son of the heavenly kingdom. Now this Holy Virgin Fanchea, standing at the gate of the monastery with another holy virgin, said to him: Do not come closer, because you are contaminated with the blood of a slain man. Endeus replied: I am innocent of this man's blood; and not only am I free from the sin of homicide, but from other carnal vices as well. And the virgin said to him again: Why, wretched man, do you provoke the Lord God to anger? And why do you plunge your soul into the depth of evils by various crimes? Endeus replied: I hold my father's inheritance, and therefore I must fight against my enemies. Then his sister said to him: Your father is in hell; whose sins and crimes are his own; but the punishment for them is infernal.

[3] and having seen the corpse of the girl he desired And Endeus, dismissing the words of the virgin, said: Give me that royal maiden whom you are rearing, as a wife; and I will do what you urge. The holy virgin replied: I will give you the answer to your petition quickly. And immediately she came to the place where the aforesaid maiden was, and said to her: The choice is now given to you, whether you wish to love the one whom I love, or a carnal spouse. The one whom you love, said the maiden, I also will love. And the holy virgin said to her: Come with me into this chamber, so that you may rest there a little. And the maiden came, and lying down on the bed there, she breathed her last and gave her soul to God the Spouse whom she had chosen. Then the holy virgin covered the face of the dead maiden with cloths, and returning to Endeus, said to him: Young man, behold the maiden you desire. Then Endeus entered the chamber with the virgin, where the maiden had died; he is converted, becomes a monk, and the holy Virgin uncovering the face of the dead maiden, said to him: See now the face of the one you desired. And Endeus said: She is now deformed and exceedingly pale. So too will your face be, the holy virgin said to him. Then Saint Fanchea preached to him about the punishments of hell and the joys of heaven, until the young man wept. O the admirable clemency of God in the conversion of this man to the right faith! For just as from the proud Saul He made the humble Paul, so from this worldly Duke He made a spiritual and pious teacher and pastor of his people. Whence this young man was fittingly called Endeus, that is, "Behold God," as appears in his sudden conversion, that from a wicked man he became a studious one. Having therefore heard the words of the holy virgin, and having spurned the vanities of the world, he received the habit and tonsure of a Monk, and completed in deed what was signified by the tonsure.

[4] When the companions of Endeus heard that their Duke had been changed into another man, with those who wished to hinder fixed to the earth, they tried to pull him back from his purpose by force: but as Saint Fanchea prayed and made the sign of the Cross against their attack, immediately their feet adhered to the earth, as if they were immovable stones: for it was just and right that those who desired earthly things should unwillingly adhere to the pavement of the earth. But because tribulation frequently gives understanding, returning to their senses and promising penance, they were released and went away free from punishment. [Whence in this Apostolic woman, what the Lord said to the Apostles sent forth to preach was fulfilled: Whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven: and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven. Matt. 16:19.] The new athlete of Christ therefore began to fulfill in deed what he had conceived in his mind: for digging the earth with his own hands, he made deep ditches around the monastery, and builds monasteries. uprooted noxious weeds and thorns, and behaved as if he were a gardener. When therefore the necessities for this monastery were accomplished, the soldier of Christ turned himself to building a new place for the family of God, which place is called Killaine. In this monastery too he was himself steward and overseer of the workers in the building of houses, ministering to them the things that were necessary.

accepted, understand in an accommodated sense, which you may attribute to the interpolator rather than to the author.

CHAPTER II.

The pilgrimage of Saint Endeus: the journey of his sister Saint Fanchea to him, and her pious death.

[5] At that same time certain raiders came from the region of the Crimthann, who were enemies of the people of Endeus, At the sight of enemies he almost forgets his resolution, and seizing plunder, they passed near the monastery which he had built there. And when the people of the land were pursuing the enemy and a battle was being fought near the cell of Endeus, he himself, moved by human impulse, snatching a rod from the timbers being prepared for buildings, attempted to go to the aid of his people: and when the virgin Fanchea saw this, she said to him: O Endeus, touch your head with your hand, and recall that you have taken the crown of Christ. Feeling his head then, Endeus remembered that he had the tonsure of a Monk on his head: and withdrawing his hand from the impulse of his own will, he sat in peace in his cell: for he ought to have considered that no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. Luke 9:62 Then his sister said to him: Go out from your land and your kindred, lest it happen that you look back from the yoke of God's service to the vanities of the world, and go to Britain to the monastery of Rosnachus, and be the humble disciple of Mansenus, the Master of that monastery. Hearing this, Endeus said to his sister: For how long must I remain there? The virgin replied: Until your good report comes to us.

[6] Then Endeus, wishing to fulfill the commands of the holy virgin, crossing the sea, arrived at the aforesaid monastery: he is sent abroad by his sister to travel, and remained in the aforesaid monastery under the discipleship of that man. And after he had flourished sufficiently there in life and doctrine, transferring himself across the sea, he arrived at Rome. There too, drawing upon the examples of the Saints, and preparing himself in every way for the order of the Priesthood, he was at last ordained Priest and pleased God most high. Because therefore he was made a Priest, seeing that he ought thereby to provide a path to heaven for others, therefore gathering disciples together, he erected a monastery and founded the Latin monastery: which is called the Latin. [And indeed that monastery is fittingly called Latin, where the commandment of charity toward God and neighbor is observed inviolably.]

[7] After a space of time, certain pilgrims came from Rome to Ireland: and when they came to the hermitage of holy Fanchea, the virgin inquired of them about the reputation of Saints dwelling in those lands. at which St. Fanchea crosses the sea on a cloak, And the pilgrims said that one from Ireland, Endeus by name, presided there over a certain monastery called the Latin, who was of wondrous sanctity before the Lord and of great renown among men. Hearing these words, the holy virgin prepared herself to visit her brother, together with three other maidens. She also strictly commanded these maidens not to bring any household goods with them. But one of the maidens, thinking little of transgressing the command, took with her a certain bronze vessel suitable for washing the hands of the virgins of Christ. And when they came to the sea and had no ship for the crossing, Saint Fanchea spread her cloak upon the sea, and walked confidently upon the waves with dry feet, and trusting in Christ, sat securely with her companions on that same cloak. And when, with the wind blowing according to their will, they were being carried across the sea, she rebukes the disobedience of one of her companions: suddenly the hem of the cloak on which they were being carried was submerged beneath the waves. Then Saint Fanchea said to her companions: O dearest Sisters, give glory to God and confess your sins; because on account of a sin which one of you has committed, our cloak is partially submerged. Then the one who had taken the bronze vessel from the monastery with her confessed that she had transgressed the command of her superior by carrying that little vessel contrary to the precept. And taking the vessel from the maiden's hand, she cast it into the sea: upon which the edge of the cloak rose above the waves; and thus with a prosperous course they arrived at the desired port of Britain.

[8] At this time, when the holy virgin Darercha, who was called by another name Moninna, was dwelling in her monastery which is called Belslebhe, and was approaching a cross near the church to pray, to whom St. Darercha sends back the vessel cast into the sea. she saw that vessel cast into the sea by Blessed Fanchea lying near the cross on the ground: and Darercha said: Lord God, this way is too narrow; because you did not allow the holy virgin Fanchea that small vessel in which she might wash her hands. Then she tied that vessel to a similar vessel from which she drank water, asking God's mercy that both might reach Saint Fanchea: which was done. Saint Fanchea therefore, recognizing both gifts, gave thanks to God and to Saint Darercha who sent them; and sending back her own vessel to her, she kept the other with her. And when Saint Darercha received her own vessel sent back to her by an Angel, she gave immense thanks to her Creator and to His Angels.

[9] And He who reveals secrets to His friends showed Saint Endeus She obtains his speech but not his sight, that holy women were coming from the island of Ireland to him; and the man of God told his Brothers to prepare necessities for the pilgrims who were coming. While the brothers were preparing what the man of God had said, behold the holy virgins arrived at the door of the monastery. Saint Fanchea, desiring the presence of her brother, asked that he deign to be present. But she received this reply from him: that she should choose one of two options for herself; namely that she might have his greeting without seeing him, or his visit without his greeting. She, like the resourceful bee, chose what was more useful to her, namely the greeting without seeing her brother. The man of God therefore stretched out a curtain on the ground of the monastery, he advises her to return to her homeland, and behind the veil began to address his sister thus. Among other conversations too, the holy virgin told Saint Endeus that he should share with the people of his native land the talents given him by God, and double the divine gifts. To which Saint Endeus said: After one year from your arrival in Ireland, God willing, I hope to come to you. And she added to Endeus: When you arrive in Ireland, do not first enter the land of your birth, but seek a certain island called Aran in the western sea of Ireland, and there you will faithfully serve your God. [This island is called Aran, that is, "kidney" in Latin, because it resembles a kidney in an animal; because it is narrow in the middle and thick at the extremities.]

[10] After these words, having received the blessing of the holy man, the holy Virgin hastened to make her journey as before upon her cloak on the sea, and returning, she dies on the way. and thus with angelic ministry they merited to arrive at the island of Ireland. The most blessed virgin therefore, perceiving that the divine aid was with her, obtained from God that with those same angelic spirits her soul should ascend, and should receive there the crown of virginal integrity, which was also done. The maidens therefore, not a little desolate at her death, with her holy body carried on her cloak as before, arrived by prosperous voyage in Ireland, where two peoples, namely of the Leinstermen and the Meathmen, were gathered together as one. When these peoples saw the unusual miracle, The dispute between the Leinstermen and Meathmen about her body being settled, namely that, upon a cloak spread over the sea as on the safest ship, so many were being carried, they turned to sedition, each of the peoples claiming the right to the virgin's body. But divine mercy calmed their fury in this way: for it seemed to them that a certain vehicle was placed upon two oxen, on which the holy virgin's body was placed. But then a most astonishing thing happened: for to the people of Leinster it seemed that the oxen with the holy body were going before them to the cell called Barrigh, and that they buried the sacred pledge there in the field which is called in Irish Magh-liffe: but the Meathmen, in truth carrying the sacred body with them, saw the oxen going before them with the three aforesaid maidens; among these she is buried at Kill-aine. and thus they arrived at the monastery which is called Cella-Aine in the vernacular. For this monastery Endeus himself, once a Neophyte that is, new in the faith, had begun to build for this sister of his; there also the oxen, after the weariness of so long a journey, drew up their urine again from the earth, and therefore that place is called in Irish... There also two springs of living waters afterward burst forth. In that monastery also the body of the holy virgin was committed to burial, awaiting the resurrection of the sons and daughters of God into eternal life.

CHAPTER III.

Having returned to his homeland, Saint Endeus builds ten monasteries on Aran.

[11] After the space of a year, as Saint Endeus had promised, from his monastery, namely called the Latin, with one hundred and fifty companions he arrived in Ireland by a prosperous voyage; and he landed on the shores of Meath at the port which is called Colptha. There too Saint Patrick, as it is reported, is said to have landed before him. Endeus, having returned to Ireland, Saint Endeus therefore, arriving on land, founded many churches there on both sides of the river which is called the Boyne. When all these things were accomplished, the Holy Spirit revealing it to him, he approached the King of the Munstermen, who was called Oengus mac Natfraich, by King Oengus, who then dwelt at Cashel, in order to obtain from him permission to inhabit the island called Aran. The wife of that King was also a sister of Saint Endeus, a daughter of Conall the Red: the Queen was called Dairine. The reason why the King had married her is this. Having heard the fame of the beauty of Saint Fanchea, daughter of Conall the Red, he went to the region of the Orgiels, wishing to take her as his wife. through the merit of his sister Dairine, But holy Fanchea, loving Christ more than a worldly spouse, refused to have a worldly king as her husband: but wishing to satisfy the King's request, she asked her sister, Darenia by name, to consent to the King: which she did: and she was betrothed to King Oengus. And for this reason King Oengus himself heard the Saint in his petitions. From this Darenia also a son was born, who founded the celebrated monastery, namely Doire.

[12] When therefore Saint Endeus asked from King Oengus the aforesaid island which is called Aran, he replied to him: Saint Patrick established for me that I should not offer to the Lord God anything except good and fertile lands, and those nearest to me. he seeks the island of Aran. I grant you therefore to choose a place for building a monastery near my royal city, namely Cashel, and I will give you the surrounding lands for your monastery. Endeus replied: Grant me the aforesaid island, and it suffices: because it has been granted to me by God as a share of inheritance in the lands: for there will be my resurrection. And the King replied: An island which I have not seen, how can I offer it? Endeus replied: Follow me to the southern part from your town. When the King had done this, they stood in the place which is called Isel: and Endeus said to the King: Bend your knees, O King, and place your face upon the soles of my feet. and he obtains it, [But the King thought that Saint Endeus wished to rebaptize him, since Saint Patrick had baptized him before: but Saint Endeus did not intend this.] The King therefore placed, as the Saint commanded, his face upon the feet of Saint Endeus, bowing himself upon his knees. Then a wonderful and exceedingly astonishing thing happened: for the earth raised itself up on high beneath both of them; and then they easily saw the oft-mentioned island, which is called Aran. And the King said: Good is this land which I behold. And Saint Endeus said: Offer it therefore as a sacrifice to God and to me. Then the King offered the island to God and to Saint Endeus.

[13] After this the King returned to his town, having sought and obtained the blessing of Saint Endeus. The saint, returning to his sacred college, and he crosses to it upon a stone, led them with him to a suitable port from which he could more conveniently enter the island. Then the saint commanded eight men of the Brothers to carry a great stone which was on the shore to the sea, because they had no other ship for entering the island. What more? In the power of Him who walked upon the waves of the sea with dry feet, he ascended upon that rock, and soon from His treasures Christ produced a favorable wind, and thus with all prosperity He led His Saint to the island. O how great is the power granted to the Angels by God, as is here proved! For in a moment of time and as if in the twinkling of an eye this division of rocks was made. To this man of God also Saint Kieran the son of the Carpenter came, to his disciple St. Kieran and remained for seven years, faithfully serving in the territory of the monastery. In those seven years also he so diligently exercised the office of thresher that on the threshing floor of the territory not a grain that could sprout could be found. Whence to this day the walls of his territory remain at Aran.

[14] There were at that time certain pagans of the race of Corcumruadh there. These immediately fled from the island, as darkness flees the presence of light: for there can be no association between the Sun and darkness, nor between unbelievers and Christians. Therefore of those Egyptians, only their leader, who was called Corbanus, remained. the Gentiles who held it yielding, This man, like another hardened Pharaoh in his wickedness, in the place which is called Leanchoill, prepared ambushes. For thinking him to be a magician because he had seen him arrive at the port prospering upon a great stone, he therefore feared that he might lose the land of his inheritance through him. When the pagan man saw the man of God enclosing himself in the cleft of a certain rock, he said to himself: This magician is not a bodily man, but has an aerial body. Then the Saint said to him: Grant me this island, that I may dwell in it. And Corbanus replied: For forty days I permit you to remain on it, and on that condition he left the island and came to his own region, which is called Corcumruadh. But the man of God, passing through the island, saw the horses of that Corbanus, which were taking pasture in the place called Ardnagcaoroch: and he drove them into the sea. And swimming, they arrived safely at the middle island: whence that place where they landed is called to this day Traighnaneach. From the island which is called the Middle, they swam to the third island, which is called the Eastern, whence the shore where they landed there is still called Traighnaneach to this day.

[15] In the place where the man of God first offered sacrifice to God on the island, and God proving the possession by a miracle he afterward built a monastery. Corbanus however ordered a great barrel to be made, which, filling it with barley seed, he said: If the God whom Endeus preaches wishes him to possess that island, let Him send this barrel full of barley to him dwelling on the island. Wondrous to tell what I narrate! For when the barrel was placed on the shore of the sea, behold Angels came, and just as it was done by their ministry that Habakkuk the Prophet was sent from Judea to Babylon with the provisions of pottage for the refreshment of Daniel, so for the consolation of this Endeus the Lord sent this barrel of barley by angelic ministry. [And, as those who know say, seed of this kind of barley is to be had on the island to this day. They also assert further that the track of that barrel appears in the sea, when the sea is calm: so that the sea does not swell in the path through which the barrel passed; but calm always remains there.] The place where it was miraculously brought to the island is called the Port of the Barrel to this day. Corbanus therefore, seeing such a miracle, came himself to the man of God and gave the island to him and to God forever.

[16] After the island was granted to him, bringing into it the college of his disciples, he established ten monasteries in it: he divided the island into ten parts among them; and in it he built ten monasteries, and in each one he appointed one superior, as a Father, and another as second to him in authority. He ordained these to preside in each monastery in such a way that when the senior died, the other should preside. He also commanded the seniors to be buried with the rest; but the other Prelates who would succeed them he ordered to be buried in their own cemeteries. The holy man himself built his own monastery on the eastern part of the island, which is today called the Cell of Saint Endeus.

[17] half of the island being attributed to the one principal monastery And just as once a dispute arose among the disciples about which of them was the greatest: so similarly among the disciples of Endeus, about the division of the island. For Saint Endeus wished to give half of the island to his own monastery; but the Fathers of the eight other monasteries and their disciples objected, alleging that there was no equity of justice in this division. They therefore fasted twice a three-day fast, that the Lord might show them what they should do in this matter. And the prayer of the Saints was heard: for after the fast was completed, an Angel of the Lord appeared to Saint Endeus, bringing him two gifts sent to him by God: namely a book of the four Gospels and a priestly chasuble of the ministries. For by these two precious gifts it was given to understand that he above the others was worthy of double honor, namely in teaching through the Gospel, which is also proved by a miracle. and in presiding through the priestly chasuble. That Gospel codex is held with great reverence in the church of Saint Endeus: similarly the chasuble, adorned with gold and silver, was formerly kept among the ecclesiastical treasures, but now it is clothed only with the metal of bronze: nevertheless it is still held with great honor. Saint Endeus therefore gave to his monastery half the island; and to the other monasteries the other part of the same; and so this division remains to this day...

among the Romans: to whom nevertheless, refusing that burden and honor, Saint Hilary was substituted, in the year 461 of course. It also contains a contest of humility arising among Saints Endeus, Helveus, and Pupeus, each declining the Prelacy, after first consulting the Pope through messengers, and finally settled by the arrival of three white birds bearing the aforesaid gifts to Endeus.

CHAPTER IV.

The miracles of St. Endeus, his prophecy concerning St. Kieran, and his death.

[18] When therefore Saint Endeus in his monastery was faithfully serving God with his holy college, He dissolves a rock obstructing passage: it seemed an annoyance to his monks that they did not have a level path to the sea. The man of God therefore coming to the port of the sea, marked with his staff that very hard rock which was preventing ships from approaching the monastery, and afterward returned to his house. On the following night, an Angel of the Lord holding a lightning-like sword in his hand split that very hard rock into two parts, making a broad way through the middle, which to this day provides a level and unimpeded path for those entering the island. O how great is the power granted to the Angels by God, as is here proved! For in a moment of time and as if in the twinkling of an eye this division of rocks was made. To this man of God also Saint Kieran, the son of the Carpenter, came, to his disciple St. Kieran and remained for seven years, faithfully serving in the territory of the monastery. In those seven years also he so diligently exercised the office of thresher that on the threshing floor of the territory not a grain that could make a stalk could be found. Whence to this day the walls of his territory remain at Aran.

[19] After this, holy Kieran saw a dream which he took care to narrate to his master. he predicts the growth of Clonmacnoise, For at night he dreamed that he was beside the bank of a great river called the Shannon, and he saw a great tree, leafy and fruitful, and this tree overshadowed the whole island of Ireland. He therefore narrated the dream to Saint Endeus. He said: That fruitful tree is you, who will be great before God and men, and you will provide the most sweet fruit of good work, and you will be honored throughout all Ireland. And Endeus added: Now therefore approach, and fulfilling the will of God, build a monastery there.

[20] After this, Saint Kieran, having received the blessing of his Abbot Endeus, prepared himself to build the monastery of Clonmacnoise. and dismisses him, having established a bond for himself and posterity And when he was commending himself to the prayers of the Saints, before all he said to Saint Endeus: Receive me, Father, with my parish under your protection, so that all my disciples may also be yours. And Endeus replied: God has not so ordained concerning you, that we should all live on this narrow island under my discipline; but on account of your wondrous humility and perfect charity, Christ the Lord will give you half of Ireland as a share of inheritance. And when they had said these things to each other, a Cross was erected as a sign of mutual brotherhood, which they contracted between themselves and their posterity there, and they said: Whoever after us shall violate the unity of our brotherhood on earth, let him lack our brotherhood and fellowship in heaven.

[21] After this Saint Endeus came to the land which is called Medraighe, he drives out a noxious beast: to a certain port which is called the port of Luabann; and there Saint Endeus asked Kieran to approach the nearby place called Acahd-Draighnich and drive out from that place a beast which had devastated the entire land around the aforesaid place: for one of the disciples of Saint Endeus, who was called Gigneus, dwelt there. He was one of the overseas Saints who came with Endeus to Aran, and he had a place of habitation there. Driving out the beast from the aforesaid place, therefore, they possessed their hermitage in peace.

[22] he punishes greedy fishermen: Coming after this to the sea, Saint Endeus saw fishermen there, and asked them for fish for himself and his people; they replied and said: The fish have come to us from the sea of Aran, and we grant you permission to catch them near Aran, and to have them, and you allow us to have the fish of our sea here. When one boy, moved by the spirit of God, heard this response of the wicked, he said: I have one fish which God provided for me, and I grant it to you. Saint Endeus replied: In this port where alms are denied to the servants of God, fish shall henceforth not be caught. Which was done: for to this very day no fish is caught there. Going out from there, the holy Father Endeus came to the port which leads to the lake called Orbsen, and he asked God that, on account of the merits of this boy born there who had given him a fish, there might be an abundance of fish there.

[23] After this, the man of God arrived by prosperous voyage at a certain island in that lake which is called Echinis; and he rebukes a superstitious abstinence. and he was received as a guest by a certain wise man named Crumther Coelan, who was the Prince of that place: and when he had no other food for the holy guests, running to the plow, he took an ox from there and prepared it for the refreshment of the poor of Christ. And when all were taking food in thanksgiving, a layman who had been in the company of the saints, thinking he would transgress the commandment of abstinence if he ate of this ox, did not eat. When the holy man perceived this, by revelation of the spirit, he said: You who did not wish to take food ministered in charity with the other Brothers, you will eat of the flesh of a horse which you will steal, and in eating you will be slaughtered. All of which befell him, as the holy man had predicted. The plowmen, coming the next day to the field where they were plowing and finding one ox similar to the first, placed it under the yoke, but they did not know from where that ox had come.

[24] After this, Saint Endeus, returning to the island of Aran, from an Angel he receives consolation while mourning. remained there to a decrepit old age. But what we omitted about Saint Kieran let us add here. For when he had departed from the island with the permission of Saint Endeus, Endeus saw in the spirit all the Angels who ministered the food of spiritual life to the saints of Aran departing with Saint Kieran. From this vision Endeus was made sad, thinking that the heavenly spirits would not return again; and when he had given himself to fasting and prayer beyond his strength, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him, saying: For what reason are you sad, O man of God, and why do you afflict yourself excessively? Endeus said: The cause of my sadness is that all the Angels have left us and departed with Kieran. The Angel replied: Since Saint Kieran is most dear to God, therefore He sent His Angels in his company: do not therefore afflict yourself any more excessively; for they will return to you again; therefore break your fast in the name of the Lord. Then Endeus said: I will not break my fast until I obtain three petitions from my God. For I ask that everyone who is contrite for his sins and who chooses burial with me, the mouth of hell shall not close upon him; moreover I ask that whoever shall invoke me in his distress shall be helped by the Lord Jesus Christ: thirdly I ask that I myself may sit at the right hand of God together with the Saints. And the Angel of the Lord said to him: As you have asked, so it has been granted to you by your God.

APPENDIX

This part, which repeats anew what was said in sections 19, 20, and 24; but with circumstances not a little changed, and less prudently accepted by the compiler, as if it were a plainly different event, we give separately here, because we think that a considerably more probable narration is contained in it: and from it are absent those things which are so much shared with Saint Kieran that it is rightly doubted whether they pertain in any way to Saint Endeus.

[25] At another time also, the same Kieran returned again to the island, so that he too might make his profession as a monk there and await the end of life there. St. Endeus's vision about St. Kieran At that time also there were Abbots and Founders of the holiest life on the aforesaid island, namely Saint Endeus and the holy old man Finnian. At the time when he came to the island, Saint Endeus saw a dream worthy of interpretation. For he had seen a certain tree growing to a great height in the middle of the island, which with its extended branches reached even to the sea. Then he had seen many men approaching the tree who dug it up by the roots, and finally, lifting it up with them into the air, carried it to the bank of a great river called the Shannon, and planted it there again. He had also seen that same tree growing there to an immense height, so that its branches reached to the sea. explained to himself and the Brothers, Saint Endeus, narrating this wonderful vision before the holy old man Finnian and other trustworthy persons, said: This vision which you have just now heard, dearest friends, pertains to our brother Kieran, who will be the Father of many monasteries. And so with our blessing he ought to hasten to the place shown from heaven, and found a monastery beside the bank of the aforesaid river, from which many other monasteries will sprout like branches of a fruitful tree. When those who were present heard these words of Father Endeus, they shed abundant tears, and likewise Kieran himself, who was present, wept bitterly. When a ship for his journey

was being prepared for him: the holy Abbots, namely Endeus and Finnian, together with a multitude of monks, accompanied him to the port.

[26] and a foreknowledge of the island's desertion And when he boarded the ship with the blessing of the elders, and the Clergy of the whole island returned to their own places, Saint Endeus, withdrawing a little from the shore, again burst into tears, saying: Not without reason do I now pour out tears, my brothers, because as it has been revealed to me, today the vigor of discipline and the vigor of Religion has begun to depart from this island. When they heard this, the Brothers who were present likewise wept. Then, going forward a little more, he wept again. And when he was asked by the Brothers why he wept so much, he answered, saying: I now weep because, as my God has revealed to me, days will come when in these neighboring islands, and a foreknowledge of its restoration. not Monks will dwell religiously, but laymen and irreligious men, and men serving carnal desires. And when these words of the Prophet were heard, the disciples of the man of God were exceedingly saddened. After this, the Saint, arriving at another place, inspired by sudden joy, said: We ought to give thanks to our God, for before the consummation of the world, when iniquity shall abound and the charity of many shall grow cold, very many will come fleeing to these islands, lest they too perish with the unbelievers. After he had prophesied these and similar things about the end of the world, returning to his monastery, commending his soul into the hands of Almighty God, he breathed his last.