[celt-saints] 16 October #2
Celtic and Old English Saints 16 October =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= * St. Gall of Ireland * St. Kiara of Kilkeary * St. Lull of Mainz * St. Conogan of Quimper * St. Eliphius of Toul =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= St. Gall of Ireland, Abbot and Hermit, Enlightener of Switzerland Below is the text of a hymn in praise of Saint Gall, recorded by the medieval music ensemble, Altramar, in their collection, Celtic Wanderers: The Pilgrim's Road. The group have recorded a number of CDs featuring materials relating to Irish and other saints. The Celtic Wanderers disc also includes a number of selections from the Feast of Saint Killian, as well as an instrumental piece, Puella Christi, in honour of Saint Brigid, which derives from a 12th-century Austrian manuscript. I have reproduced the Latin text and translation of the Saint Gall hymn from the sleevenotes which accompany the recording. Prosa: Dilecte Deo Galle Text and Melody: Notker Balbulus "Liber Hymnorum" MS St Gall 318 (10thc.) Notker Balbulus was a monk at the monastery of St Gall, a famous centre of learning and culture in medieval Germany and Switzerland. He was the compiler of a Liber Hymnorum, a collection of medieval sequences. These were musical settings of texts called prosae, composed of double versicles, each with its own melody. Dilecte Deo Galle is written in honour of Saint Gall; like Notker's other sequences, this prosa text was set to pre-existing melodies of unknown origin. The melody is characterized by the repetition of short motives, many of which are built around the interval of a third, a trait shared by Irish chant. The fact that Notker's music teacher was an Irish monk makes this fact particularly interesting. Dilecte deo, Galle, perenni hominibusque et coetibus angelorum qui Jesu Christi oboediens arduae suasioni Praedia patris gremium matris conjugis curam ludicra nati Sprevisti pauperem pauper dominum sequens Et crucem gaudis praetulisti lubricis Sed Christus pretio centuplicatio Haec compensat ut dies iste testatur, dum tibi nos omnes filios dulci subdit affectu Sueviamque suavem patriam tibi, Galle, donavit Nection et judicem in caelis apostolorum choro junctum te fecit sedere. Te nunc suppliciter precamur, ut nobis Jesum Christum, Galle, postules favere Et locum corporis ejus pace repletas Ac tuas supplices crebra prece subleves Ut tibi debitam honorificentiam Laetabundi semper mereamur solvere O Galle, Deo dilecte. O Gallus, beloved by eternal God, by men and assemblies of angels, obeying the difficult admonition of Jesus Christ, you despised farm lands of your father, the lap of your mother the care of a spouse and the joys of a child; as a pauper you followed the Lord who was a pauper and you preferred the cross to deceitful joys, but with a hundred-fold reward, Christ will compensate you for these things, when that day is revealed, when with sweet affection He gives all of us as children to you and presents Suebia to you, Gallus, as a beloved homeland and indeed He has made you as a judge in the heavens and you are joined with the choir of apostles. Now we humbly pray to you that you, Gallus, might beseech Jesus Christ to watch over us and that you might fill the place of his body with peace and that you might lift up your suppliants with frequent prayer that full of joy we may be worthy to discharge the honour owed to you, O Gallus, beloved of God. http://brigid-undertheoak.blogspot.com/2009/10/hymn-of-notker-balbulus-in-praise-of.html -oOo- The Monastery and Library of St Gall A paper from the Ir.Ecc.Record on the Monastery and Library of St Gall. It's long but well worth reading, as the author introduces many of the scholars of St Gall and the volumes that the Library contained. He also includes some very entertaining glosses from the scribes, both complaining about their labour and warning anyone tempted to make off with their books. Below is a wonderful paper on the Monastery and Library of Saint Gall from the Irish Ecclesiastical Record of 1894. I am unable to reproduce the footnotes and some of the foreign language material, so please refer to the original volume for the complete article. The author is the journal's German expert, Father J.F.Hogan, whose paper on Saint Colman of Austria I also recently reprinted. Father Hogan contributed a series of papers on Irish monastic foundations in Germany to the I.E.R. which I am currently working my way through and hope to bring online before long. In this paper he introduces us to the successors of Saint Gall and the reputation for learning which their monastery enjoyed. Along the way we will meet some of Saint Gall's most famous sons, including the Irish scholar Moengal, the hymnographer Notker Balbulus and the physician Notker Medicus, among many others. http://brigid-undertheoak.blogspot.com/2009/10/monastery-and-library-of-saint-
[celt-saints] 16 October
Celtic and Old English Saints 16 October =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= * St. Gall of Ireland * St. Kiara of Kilkeary * St. Lull of Mainz * St. Conogan of Quimper * St. Eliphius of Toul =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= St. Gall of Ireland, Abbot and Hermit, Enlightener of Switzerland Born in Ireland; died at Arbon, Switzerland, c. 640. Saint Gall studied at Bangor under Saints Comgall (f.d. May 11) and Columban (f.d. November 23), became versed in Scripture, and was ordained. He was one of the 12 who accompanied Saint Columban to Gaul (France) and helped him found the abbey of Luxeuil. He continued to follow Columban into exile in 610 and then to Austrasia, where he preached with little success in the region around Lake Zurich, and for two years in the area near Bregenz. When Columban went to Italy in 612, Gall remained behind because of ill health and on his recovery became a hermit on the Steinach River, attracting numerous disciples. In time, Saint Gall Monastery occupied this site and during the Middle Ages was a leading centre of literature, the arts, and music. According to one story Columban and Gall parted ways because the leader suspected Gall of malingering, and imposed on him a penance, which Gall faithfully observed, of not offering the Holy Sacrifice during the continuance of Columban's life. Reputedly he was twice offered bishoprics by King Sigebert, whose betrothed he had freed of a demon. He is also reported to have been offered the abbacy of Luxeuil on the death of Saint Eustace (f.d. March 29) but declined, to remain a hermit. He died sometime between 627 and 645 at Arbon, Switzerland, and is considered the apostle of that country (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopaedia). In later times many legends grew up about him which had little basis in fact. He was not, for instance, the founder of the renowned monastery which bore his name; this was inaugurated about a century after his death, on the site of his settlement, and is now represented by the cathedral at Sankt Gallen and the very famous monastic library there (Attwater, Encyclopaedia, Joynt). In art, Saint Gall is portrayed as an abbot blessing a bear that brings him a log of wood. He may be shown holding a hermit's tau staff with the bear or carrying a loaf and a pilgrim's staff (Roeder). Gall is venerated as an apostle of Switzerland and as the patron of geese and poultry (Roeder). Troparion of St Gall tone 8 As a companion of the great Columban,/ thou didst travel throughout the lands of the Franks, O Father Gall,/ thy ascetic life contrasting with that of the worldly prelates whom thou didst encounter./ Open to us, we pray thee, the treasures of sacrifice and struggle,/ that we too may attain the joy of eternal salvation. Icons of Saint Gall http://www.allmercifulsavior.com/icons/Icons-Gall.htm##1 St. Kiara (Chier, Ciara) of Kilkeary, Virgin - Died c. 680. An Irish maiden, directed in the religious life by Saint Finian (f.d. October 21). She lived near Nenagh, County Tipperary, at a place now called after her: Kilkeary (Benedictines). St. Lull (Lullus) of Mainz, Bishop Died at Hersfeld, 786. Probably a native of Wessex, England, he was educated at Malmesbury Monastery, where he became a deacon. At 20 he travelled to Germany, where he laboured as a missionary, noted for his learning, under Saint Boniface (f.d. June 5), who ordained him. He was sent to Rome on a mission to Pope Saint Zachary (f.d. March 15) by Boniface, was consecrated his coadjutor when he returned, and succeeded to the see of Mainz on Boniface's death. He was a most worthy successor, a good pastor and zealous missionary. Letters to and from him show that he was anxious to form a good library, and he in turn was asked to send books to other people. He became involved in a long jurisdictional dispute with Saint Sturmi (f.d. December 17), abbot of Fulda, deposed him, but saw him restored and the abbey declared independent by King Pepin. This led to Lull refounding the monastery of Hersfeld in Hesse c. 768, where he retired late in life (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney). St. Conogan (Gwen, Albinus) of Quimper, Bishop --- Died 460. This is one of those saints that is next to impossible to locate. Conogan is one spelling of 'Gwen,' which means 'white,' and so in turn is translated into the Latin 'Albinus.' Conogan was the successor to Saint Conentin (12-12) in the see of Quimper, Brittany. His memory is still held in great veneration there (Benedictines). St. Eliphius (Eloff) of Toul, Martyr --- Died 362. An Irishman--or Scot--by birth, Saint Eliphius preached the Gospel of Christ in Toul, France, and won about 400 souls for Christ. Eli
[celt-saints] 16 October
Celtic and Old English Saints 16 October =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= * St. Gall of Ireland * St. Kiara of Kilkeary * St. Lull of Mainz * St. Conogan of Quimper * St. Eliphius of Toul =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= St. Gall of Ireland, Abbot and Hermit, Enlightener of Switzerland Born in Ireland; died at Arbon, Switzerland, c. 640. Saint Gall studied at Bangor under Saints Comgall (f.d. May 11) and Columban (f.d. November 23), became versed in Scripture, and was ordained. He was one of the 12 who accompanied Saint Columban to Gaul (France) and helped him found the abbey of Luxeuil. He continued to follow Columban into exile in 610 and then to Austrasia, where he preached with little success in the region around Lake Zurich, and for two years in the area near Bregenz. When Columban went to Italy in 612, Gall remained behind because of ill health and on his recovery became a hermit on the Steinach River, attracting numerous disciples. In time, Saint Gall Monastery occupied this site and during the Middle Ages was a leading centre of literature, the arts, and music. According to one story Columban and Gall parted ways because the leader suspected Gall of malingering, and imposed on him a penance, which Gall faithfully observed, of not offering the Holy Sacrifice during the continuance of Columban's life. Reputedly he was twice offered bishoprics by King Sigebert, whose betrothed he had freed of a demon. He is also reported to have been offered the abbacy of Luxeuil on the death of Saint Eustace (f.d. March 29) but declined, to remain a hermit. He died sometime between 627 and 645 at Arbon, Switzerland, and is considered the apostle of that country (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopaedia). In later times many legends grew up about him which had little basis in fact. He was not, for instance, the founder of the renowned monastery which bore his name; this was inaugurated about a century after his death, on the site of his settlement, and is now represented by the cathedral at Sankt Gallen and the very famous monastic library there (Attwater, Encyclopaedia, Joynt). In art, Saint Gall is portrayed as an abbot blessing a bear that brings him a log of wood. He may be shown holding a hermit's tau staff with the bear or carrying a loaf and a pilgrim's staff (Roeder). Gall is venerated as an apostle of Switzerland and as the patron of geese and poultry (Roeder). Troparion of St Gall tone 8 As a companion of the great Columban,/ thou didst travel throughout the lands of the Franks, O Father Gall,/ thy ascetic life contrasting with that of the worldly prelates whom thou didst encounter./ Open to us, we pray thee, the treasures of sacrifice and struggle,/ that we too may attain the joy of eternal salvation. Icons of Saint Gall http://www.allmercifulsavior.com/icons/Icons-Gall.htm##1 St. Kiara (Chier, Ciara) of Kilkeary, Virgin - Died c. 680. An Irish maiden, directed in the religious life by Saint Finian (f.d. October 21). She lived near Nenagh, County Tipperary, at a place now called after her: Kilkeary (Benedictines). St. Lull (Lullus) of Mainz, Bishop Died at Hersfeld, 786. Probably a native of Wessex, England, he was educated at Malmesbury Monastery, where he became a deacon. At 20 he travelled to Germany, where he laboured as a missionary, noted for his learning, under Saint Boniface (f.d. June 5), who ordained him. He was sent to Rome on a mission to Pope Saint Zachary (f.d. March 15) by Boniface, was consecrated his coadjutor when he returned, and succeeded to the see of Mainz on Boniface's death. He was a most worthy successor, a good pastor and zealous missionary. Letters to and from him show that he was anxious to form a good library, and he in turn was asked to send books to other people. He became involved in a long jurisdictional dispute with Saint Sturmi (f.d. December 17), abbot of Fulda, deposed him, but saw him restored and the abbey declared independent by King Pepin. This led to Lull refounding the monastery of Hersfeld in Hesse c. 768, where he retired late in life (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney). St. Conogan (Gwen, Albinus) of Quimper, Bishop --- Died 460. This is one of those saints that is next to impossible to locate. Conogan is one spelling of 'Gwen,' which means 'white,' and so in turn is translated into the Latin 'Albinus.' Conogan was the successor to Saint Conentin (12-12) in the see of Quimper, Brittany. His memory is still held in great veneration there (Benedictines). St. Eliphius (Eloff) of Toul, Martyr --- Died 362. An Irishman--or Scot--by birth, Saint Eliphius preached the Gospel of Christ in Toul, France, and won about 400 souls for Christ. Eli
