Celtic and Old English Saints 5 February =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= * Ss. Indract and Dominica of Glastonbury * St. Buo of Ireland * St. Fingen of Metz * St. Vodalus =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
St. Indract and St. Dominica of Glastonbury, martyrs ------------------------------------------------ Died c. 708-710. An old legend makes Indract an Irish chieftain, who became the 21st abbot of Iona. About 854, Indract and his sister Dominica (Drusa) set out from Cornwall or Somerset on a pilgrimage to Rome. On their return from Rome, they were killed by heathen Saxons together with nine of their Irish comrades near Glastonbury. A strong cultus arose immediately. Their relics were enshrined at Glastonbury Abbey, which legend connects to Saints Patrick, Brigid, and Benignus (f.d. November 9) because it was first dedicated to Blessed Mary and Saint Patrick and was served by Irish monks as late as the 10th century. A still later legend has made Indract and Dominica contemporaries of Saint Patrick (Benedictines, D'Arcy, Encyclopaedia, Fitzpatrick, Kenney, Montague, Moran, O'Kelly). Another Life: The Irish Saints at Glastonbury c.700 On this day in the Old English Calendar commemorated SS Indractus, Dominica and their Companions. We have to rely on William of Malmsbury for information about these Martyrs, who were venerated at Glastonbury Abbey. Indractus was an Irish chieftain, who had been to Rome on pilgrimage with his wife, Dominica, and nine others, and on their return journey they decided to visit the "Second Rome", as Glastonbury was called, because of its holy associations. There is a tradition that both S.Patrick and S.Bridget spent some time at Glastonbury, and there is a district called Beckery, where Bridget is supposed to have founded a Convent at the foot of Weary-all Hill. It was at Mass in the Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene there, according to the History of John of Glastonbury, that King Arthur had the vision of the Cross and Our Lady with the Holy Child, which is commemorated in the Arms of the Abbey. Another Irish Saint claimed as a visitor to Glastonbury is Benignus, locally known as S.Bennings, who was servant and successor to S.Patrick. He settled at Meare three miles to the west, where he died, and his body was translated to the Abbey in 901, some four hundred years later. These Irish connections may well have been an added attraction to Indractus and his fellow pilgrims, who settled in the district of Shapwick. The local people were heathen and thought the party were wealthy merchants, whereas their scrips only contained parsley and other seeds to be taken back to Ireland, and their pilgrim staves were tipped with brass and not gold. When they had killed them, the natives threw their bodies into a deep pit, but a column of light appeared by night revealing the grave of the Christian martyrs. Their bodies were taken up and buried in the Abbey in the eighth century during the restoration under King Ina. St. Buo of Ireland --------------------------------------------------- Died c. 900. In the 7th and 8th century, Irish missionaries were working in Iceland and the Faroe Islands, before the discovery of the islands by the Norwegians in 860. When they arrived they found Irish bells, books, and staffs. The Irish geographer Dicuil in "De mensura orbis terrae" notes that "certain clerics remained on the Iceland Island from February 1 until August 1." Saint Buo was one of the distinguished missionaries who evangelized the province around Esinberg, while he was still a very young man (D'Arcy, Fitzpatrick2, Little, Neeson, O'Hanlon, Toynbee). St. Fingen of Metz, Abbot ------------------------------------------------------ Died c. 1005. Saint Fingen, a celebrated Irish abbot, migrated to the kingdom of Lothaire, where he acquired a reputation for restoring old monasteries. One of them, Saint Symphorien's, was given over to him about 991 by Bishop Saint Adalbero (f.d. December 15) and an Irish community. At the insistence of the dowager Empress Saint Adelaide (f.d. December 16), Pope John XVII issued a charter that declared that only Irish monks would administer the abbey as long as they could be found. She obtained a similar charter from Otto III in 992. Fingen's final work, with the help of seven of his Irish monks, was the restoration of Saint-Vannes in Verdun. By 1001, Saint-Vannes was attracting distinguished applicants, such as Blessed Frederick of Arras (f.d. January 6), count of Verdun, and his friend Blessed Richard (f.d. June 14), dean of the diocese of Rheims, who later became abbot of Saint-Vannes. Fingen's relics can be found in Saint-Clement's Church in Metz, where the necrology highly praises him (D'Arcy, Fitzpatrick2, Gougaud, Kenney, Montague, O'Hanlon, Tommasini). St. Vodalus (Vodoaldus, Voel), Hermit ------------------------------------------------ Died c. 725. Vodalus was an Irish or Scottish monk who crossed over to Gaul and settled near Saint Mary's monastery, which was governed by Saint Adalgard. Following a misunderstanding, Vodalus returned home, but was later divinely guided back to serve as a missionary. He died a recluse near Soissons (Attwater2, Benedictines, Coulson, D'Arcy). Sources: ======== Attwater, D. (1983). The Penguin Dictionary of Saints, 2nd edition, revised and updated by Catherine Rachel John. New York: Penguin Books. Attwater, D. (1958). A Dictionary of Saints. New York: P. J. Kenedy & Sons. [Attwater 2] Benedictine Monks of St. Augustine Abbey, Ramsgate. (1947). The Book of Saints. NY: Macmillan. Bentley, J. (1986). A Calendar of Saints: The Lives of the Principal Saints of the Christian Year. NY: Facts on File. Bowen, Paul. When We Were One: A Yearbook of the Saints of the British Isles Complied from Ancient Calendars. Butler, A. (1953). Lives of the Saints: With Reflections for Everyday in the Year. NY: Benziger Brothers. Coulson, J. (ed.). (1960). The Saints: A Concise Biographical Dictionary. New York: Hawthorn Books. D'Arcy, M. R. (1974). The Saints of Ireland. Saint Paul, Minnesota: Irish American Cultural Institute. [This is probably the most useful book to choose to own on the Irish saints. The author provides a great deal of historical context in which to place the lives of the saints.] Delaney, J. J. (1983). Pocket Dictionary of Saints, NY: Doubleday Image. Encyclopaedia of Catholic Saints, October. (1966). Philadelphia: Chilton Books. Farmer, D. H. (1997). The Oxford Dictionary of Saints. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Fitzpatrick, B. (1922). Ireland and the Making of Britain. New York: Funk and Wagnalls. Fitzpatrick, B. (1927). Ireland and the Foundations of Europe. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. Gougaud, Dom L. (1923). Gaelic Pioneers of Christianity, V. Collins (tr.). Dublin: Gill & Sons. Husenbeth, Rev. F. C., DD, VG (ed.). (1928). Butler's Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints. London: Virtue & Co. Kenney, J. F. (1929). Sources for Early History of Ireland, vol.1, Ecclesiastical. New York: Columbia University Press. Little, G. A. (1946). Brendan the Navigator. Dublin: Gill & Son. Montague, H. P. (1981). The Saints and Martyrs of Ireland. Guildford: Billing & Sons. Moran, P. (1879). Irish Saints in Great Britian. Neeson, E. (1967). Book of Irish Saints. Cork: Mercer Press. O'Hanlon, J. (1875). Lives of Irish Saints, 10 vol. Dublin. O'Kelly, J. J. (1952). Ireland's Spiritual Empire. Dublin: M. H. Gill. Ryan, J. (1931). Irish Monasticism. Dublin: Talbot Press. Roeder, H. (1956). Saints and Their Attributes, Chicago: Henry Regnery. Tabor, M. E. (1908). The Saints in Art with Their Attributes and Symbols Alphabetically Arranged. London: Methuen & Co. Tommasini, Fra A. (1937). Irish Saints in Italy. London: Sands and Company. Toynbee, A. J. (1951). Study of History (vol. II). New York: Oxford Press. Walsh, M. (ed.). (1985). Butler's Lives of the Saints. San Francisco: Harper & Row. White, K. E. (1992). Guide to the Saints, NY: Ivy Books. For All the Saints: http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/ss-index.htm An Alphabetical Index of the Saints of the West http://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/saintsa.htm These Lives are archived at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
