Celtic and Old English Saints 18 January =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= * St. Dicuil of Lure * St. Day * St. Dermot of Innis-Clotran =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
St. Dicuil, Abbot (Deel, Deicuil, Desle, Dichul, Deicolus), -------------------------------------------------------------- Born in Leinster, Ireland, c. 530; died in Lure, France, c. 625. Deicolus, the elder brother of Saint Gall (f.d. October 16), was one of the 12 disciples of Saint Columbanus (f.d. November 23) who accompanied him to France in 576 and helped to found the great abbey of Luxeuil. Deicolus worked with Columbanus in Austrasia and Burgundy. Though life was not easy, Deicolus was known for the peace and joy that radiated from his soul and could be seen on his face. Columbanus once asked him, "Why are you always smiling?" He simply answered, "Because no one can take God from me." When Columbanus was expelled by Thierry in 610, Deicolus succumbed to fatigue just a few miles from Luxeuil. Columbanus blessed the monk who was unable to accompany him into exile because of his age. Deicolus wandered a bit in the forest region. When he became thirsty with no water in sight, he knelt down in prayer. Miraculously, a spring gushed forth under his walking stick. He settled where the water arose at Lure (Lutra) in the Vosges. But the spring is not the only miracle attributed to Deicolus. The pastor of the nearby chapel of Saint Martin objected to the saint coming there each night to pray. He was troubled by the stranger for whom "doors opened without keys." Soon, however, a community gathered around the ancient monk. King Clothaire provided funds for the monastery he founded on the site. There Deicolus retired to live as a hermit until his death. His lonely mountain cell was the beginning of the city of Lure in northeastern France. The abbots of Lure were made princes of the Holy Roman Empire more than 1,000 years later. Deicolus's cultus is still strong around Lure, where even at the end of the 19th century children's clothes were washed in the spring because it cured childhood illnesses. Deicolus teaches us that joyful souls delight the Lord and others (Attwater2, Benedictines, Coulson, D'Arcy, Daniel-Rops, Delaney, Dubois, Encyclopaedia, Gougaud, McCarthy, Montague, Tommasini, Walsh). Saint Deicolus is pictured as a hermit. A wild boar hunted by King Clothair takes refuge at his feet. Sometimes there is a ray of light on him (Roeder). St. Day (Dye), Abbot --------------------------------------------------- Date unknown. A Cornish church is dedicated to Saint Day, otherwise, nothing is known. He may possibly be identical to Abbot Saint Deicola (Benedictines). St. Dermot (Diarmis, Diermit), Abbot of Innis-Clotran Island --------------------------------------------------- 6th century. Saint Diarmis was the spiritual director and teacher of Saint Kieran of Clonmacnois (f.d. September 9) and later abbot-founder of a monastery on Innis-Clotran Island (Benedictines). Sources: Attwater, D. (1983). The Penguin Dictionary of Saints, 2nd edition, revised and updated by Catherine Rachel John. New York: Penguin Books. Benedictine Monks of St. Augustine Abbey, Ramsgate. (1966). The Book of Saints.NY: Thomas Y. Crowell. Coulson, J. (ed.). (1960). The Saints: A Concise Biographical Dictionary. New York: Hawthorn Books. Daniel-Rops, H. (1960). The Miracle of Ireland, tr. by the Earl of Wicklow. Baltimore, Maryland: Helicon Press. 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. New York: Doubleday Image. Dubois, M. (1961). Saint Columban. Paris. McCarthy, E. L. (1927). Saint Columban. Society of Saint Columban. Montague, H. P. (1981). The Saints and Martyrs of Ireland. Guildford: Billing & Sons. Roeder, Helen. (1955). Saints and their Attributes. Chicago: Henry Regnery Company. Tommasini, Fra A. (1937). Irish Saints in Italy. London: Sands and Company. Walsh, M. (ed.). (1985). Butler's Lives of the Saints. San Francisco: Harper & Row. Walsh, W. T. (1943). 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 ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
