Showing posts with label Finnian of Clonard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Finnian of Clonard. Show all posts

Thursday, February 29, 2024

St. Ninian, Apostle to the Southern Picts

Aelred of Rievaulx (c.1110-1167) wrote several works, including biographies, one of which was about a saint from several centuries earlier, Ninian. The Vita Sancti Niniani ("Life of Saint Ninian") exists in two early manuscripts.

Our first reference in history to Ninian (c.360 - c.432), is from the 8th century when Bede mentions him as the first Christian missionary among the Picts in Scotland. Supposedly he was a son of a Briton chieftain who made a pilgrimage to Rome, was made a bishop, and then headed home through Gaul where he met Martin of Tours. Modern scholarship supports the idea that in 397 he built a whitewashed stone church at what is now called Whithorn ("White House"; in Latin it was called Candida Casa) in Caledonia, which became a leading Anglo-Saxon monastic center.

He was considered a miracle worker. In one instance, sitting to dine with the monks, he remarked that there were no vegetables on the table and called the monk in charge of the gardens, who informed Ninian that he had just planted the garden that morning and nothing had yet grown. Ninian sent him to the garden, whereupon the monk found that there were plenty of full-grown leeks and other herbs. In another anecdote, the traveling Ninian blesses a herd of cows and draws a circle in the field with his staff to keep them contained and safe for the night. Thieves who attempt to steal the herd find their leader gored to death by the bull and the rest made mad. Ninian in the morning prays to God to restore the dead man and restore the others. Ninian's prayer is successful.

St. Patrick, whose missionary work followed Ninian's by a few decades, refers to the Picts in his "Letter to Coroticus" as "apostates" (people who revert from their faith), suggesting that Ninian's seeds did not take permanent root:

Soldiers whom I no longer call my fellow citizens, or citizens of the Roman saints, but fellow citizens of the devils, in consequence of their evil deeds; who live in death, after the hostile rite of the barbarians; associates of the Scots and Apostate Picts; desirous of glutting themselves with the blood of innocent Christians, multitudes of whom I have begotten in God and confirmed in Christ.

The northern Picts were converted by St. Columba, and Christianity was still strong there. The "apostate" label would have to apply to the southern Picts, so Patrick clearly was aware that there had been missionary attempts there before him. 

He may have got the name wrong, however. Archeology and anthropology suggest that the story of Ninian by Bede and others may actually be the story of Finnian of Clonard, or Finbarr of Cork, or Finnian of Movilla. The fact that Ninian is referred to as Ringan in Scotland and Trynnian in Northern England also suggests that exact identification of a bishop who built the first stone church at Whithorn has its difficulties. Aelred's source for the name "Ninian" is actually a scribal error from "Ninia," which (according to one modern scholar) was itself a scribal error from early records of St. Finnian (of Movilla) spelled Uinniau.

You can read Aelred's Life of Ninian in English here. Ninian's image appears in stained glass in a church in Galloway (see illustration).

But why was Aelred so interested in this obscure saint from seven centuries earlier? During Aelred's life, Whithorn was revived as a bishopric. Did he have a reason to draw attention to the newly resurrected bishopric? It may have been a political favor. I'll explain that tomorrow.

Sunday, November 20, 2022

The Quest to Spread Christianity

Christianity came to Britain early. Tertullian and Origen, writing in the early 3rd century, mention Christian figures there. What is now Christian doctrine was not fully formed, however, and so some practices differed from what was happening around the Mediterranean. Pelagius, for example, was born there, whose heretical ideas prompted St. Jerome to call him "stuffed with Scottish porridge." The Synod of Whitby pitted the practices of Irish/Celtic/British Christianity against Roman Christianity.

The Christianity developing in the British Isles may have developed differently, but the fervor with which missionaries felt it should be spread was the equal of any 1st century apostle. Missionaries such as Patrick and Finnian of Clonard christianized Ireland, the Irish then christianized the Picts, then St. Columba focused on Scotland. (In all this, the Anglo-Saxons seem to have been left alone. The counties stories of the spread of Christianity in the first several centuries don't include anyone going on missions to southern England, until Pope Gregory I sends Augustine of Canterbury in 597 to preach to them.)

With all the islands converted, Irish missionaries looked for farther goals...and there was a whole continent waiting. One of the most successful Irish missionaries was Columbanus (543 - 615). He first went to Burgundy, establishing schools until he was exiled from there by Theuderic II. He went to Austria and established an abbey there. When Theuderic took over that part of the continent, Columbanus fled to Italy and established a scholar Bobbio.

His schools raised hundreds of Christians with the same philosophy of mission work, establishing monasteries in Belgium, France, Germany, and Switzerland. The legacies of St. Gall and the Scots Monastery can be traced back to Columbanus and his schools.

The Íslendingabók ("Book of the Icelanders") written between 1122 and 1133 mentions Irish priests already in Iceland when the Norse arrived.

The 14th and 15th centuries saw a decline in the number of Irish monks traveling to Europe and joining the monasteries. Monasteries in Nuremberg and Vienna were given over to German groups. The Scots Monastery was handed to a Scottish congregation in 1577 by papal decree.

Enough about missions from Great Britain. What happened when a mission came to Great Britain? Did Augustine have an easy time of it, with the Christians nearby? We'll find out tomorrow.

Friday, August 19, 2022

St. Columba

One of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland who studied under Finnian, Columba is best known for his time spreading Christianity in Scotland (you can see him preaching to the Picts in the illustration), and for defeating the Loch Ness monster.

"Columba" was not his given name, about which there is some debate. For the first five years of his life he lived in the village of Glencolmcille. The Abbot of Iona, Adomnán, who wrote a biography of Columba, believed Colmcille was his given name, and the village was later named after him. Other sources state that his given name was Crimthann ("fox"). "Colmcille" is Irish for dove; when writing about him in Latin, "Columba" is chosen because it also means dove.

He studied at a few different places before winding up, in his twenties, at Clonard under Finnian, where he became a monk and was eventually ordained a priest. Returning to Ulster years later, Columba became known for his powerful speaking voice. He founded several monasteries. He also planned a pilgrimage to Rome, but only got as far as Tours, whence he brought back a copy of the Gospels that had supposedly rested on the bosom of St. Martin for a century.

Columba's interest in holy literature turned into a controversy. He made a copy of manuscript in the scriptorium of Movilla Abbey, a place he had studied before his time at Clonard. The head of the Abbey, Finnian of Movilla, disputed his right to keep the copy he had made. Anecdotally, this led to a battle, the Battle of Cúl Dreimhne.

Another controversy in which he became embroiled concerned the concept of sanctuary. Prince Curnan of Connacht was a relative of Columba. When Curnan accidentally killed a rival in a hurling match, he sought sanctuary in the presence of his ordained relative, Columba. King Diarmait of Cooldrevny's men forcibly dragged Curnan away from Columba and killed him. Columba decided he should leave Ireland.

Columba went to Scotland in 563 with twelve companions where he started preaching to the Picts. For his founding of one of the most important centers of Christianity in Western Europe, and his conflict at Loch Ness, come back tomorrow.

Thursday, August 18, 2022

The Teacher of Irish Saints

Finnian of Clonard was an Irish cleric who built schools, monasteries, and churches to spread Christianity. His schools thrived for centuries after his death.

Born about 470CE in the Kingdom of Leinster, he was placed at an early age under the care of a bishop. He is said to have studied at the monastic center of Martin of Tours. Later, after spending 30 years in Wales, he returned to Ireland.

Around 520, he was led by a vision of an angel to Clonard, where he built a chapel of wattle and daub, and a small hermit's cell for himself. His reputation for learning and piety drew pilgrims wishing to see and scholars wishing to learn. He established a monastery at Clonard, known (based on the Martin of Tours system) for strictness and asceticism. It drew great numbers: at one time supposedly had 300 students in the school.

Finnian's brilliant teaching of Scripture and reputation for asceticism inspired a generation of students, among them a group known as the "Twelve Apostles of Ireland." The Twelve were not designated during his lifetime that we know of; their names were gathered in the 1600s, although this might have been based on earlier unwritten tradition. One was St. Brendan, called the Navigator. The rest were also saints, and many of them were bishops. The list has one fluctuation: Finnian himself is the first of them in some versions; in others, it is St. Ciarán of Saigir.

He is said to have died during the Plague of 549-50. The School lived on, and Clonard grew as a town, becoming the diocesan center of East Meath in the 12th century.

One of the Twelve who went on to become well-known in his own right was St. Columba, who provides us with the earliest sighting of the Loch Ness monster; but that can wait until next time.

Wednesday, August 17, 2022

St. Brendan

Brendan of Clonfert was born 484CE in County Kerry, southwest Ireland. Fostered by a nun, at the age of six he was sent to St. Jarlath's monastery and tutored by Finnian of Clonard, whose students were so well-received that they include the "Twelve Apostles of Ireland."

Ordained at 26, he embarked on a series of voyages to found monasteries and monastic cells, traveling to the Aran Islands, Argyll, Wales, and Brittany. His most famous voyage is recorded in Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis (Voyage of Saint Brendan the Abbot), written over 300 years after his death (in 577). In it, he heads into the Atlantic with several followers (numbers vary in different manuscripts).

The voyage takes seven years and visits many odd islands: the Isle of Birds, Isle of Sheep, the Island of Strong Men, an island with silent monks. The first island they come across is uninhabited, but one of his companions dies there (two others will die at different locations).

One interesting stop they make is on an island where everything seems calm and peaceful. When they light a fire, however, the island starts to move; they realize the "island" is actually the back of an enormous fish that has been floating on the surface of the ocean long enough for plants to grow on its back. The narrative calls this monster "Jasconius." It is a common legendary encounter in classical and medieval literature, but by a different name.

Was any of this narrative based on fact? Well, Brendan did voyage to islands to spread Christianity. The Navigatio says that Brendan finally reached the Promised Land for Saints before returning to Ireland. One of the places he found in 512 is referred to as St. Brendan's Isle: a land of thick vegetation where the sun never set, surrounded by a thick mist. He spent 15 days there. This island was put on future maps. The Portuguese prince known as Henry the Navigator (1394 - 1460) claims to have landed there, and later sailors reported seeing it.

A theory arose that St. Brendan's Isle where it was always day may have been Greenland, where the summer months see 24 hours of sunlight. There is a Saint Brendan Society that claims Brendan discovered North America, and at least one writer believes the details of the voyage prove that Brendan discovered Brazil! A man named Tim Severin proved that a boat like the one Brendan used could make the voyage from Ireland to Greenland.

Post-voyage, he continued to found monasteries, as well as a convent in Annaghdown for his sister, Briga. It was during a visit there to see his sister that he died. He was interred in Clonfert Cathedral. The Catholic Church recognizes his sainthood, and celebrates his feast day on 16 May. He is the patron saint of sailors and travelers.

Brendan is remarkable for the account of the legendary voyage ascribed to him many years later. A more remarkable figure in that time was Finnian of Clonard, about whom you'll learn more tomorrow. See you then.