Celtic and Old English Saints 4 September
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* St. Monessa of Ireland
* St. Ultan of Ardbraccan
* St. Birinus of Dorchester-on-Thames
* St. Cuthbert of Lindisfarne
* St. Rhuddlad of Anglesey
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St.Monessa of Ireland, Virgin
Died 456. According to tradition, Saint Monessa was the daughter of an
Irish chieftain who was baptized by Saint Patrick. Immediately after
rising from the water, she died in a state of grace. Nothing else is
known about her
(Benedictines, Encyclopaedia, Montague).
St. Ultan of Ardbraccan, Bishop
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7th century. Ultan is a popular name among Irish saints; this one is
said to have been the first bishop of Ardbraccan (Meath), Ireland, and
apostle to the Desi of Meath. He had a special place in his heart for
children, especially orphans and foundlings for whom he provided for
founding a school, where he educated and fed them. He is also reported
to have collected the writings of Saint Brigid and wrote her vita. No
life of Saint Ultan has survived, but there is a long notice in the
Martyrology of Oengus and a poem praising him (Benedictines, Farmer,
Husenbeth).
Through the prayers of St Ultan and of all the Saints of Ireland,
Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us!
As we saw from O'Hanlon's account, Saint Ultan is said to be the author of a
hymn to Saint Brigid, Brigit Bé Bithmaith, and was believed by Colgan to be
the author of one of her Lives. Saint Ultan is only one of a number of
suggested authors for this hymn, which came into public view again in the
19th century with the publication of the two-volume work The Irish Liber
Hymnorum. This hymnbook of the early Irish church, contains a number of
hymns traditionally associated with various Irish saints, prefaced with
accounts of their supposed authorship and date. The translation below of
Brigit Bé Bithmaith and its preface are taken from Goidelica, an anthology
of texts and translations by Whitley Stokes. The preface starts by listing
four other potential authors besides Saint Ultan. The first candidate is
Saint Columcille who composed the hymn as a protection in a storm.
Alternatively, there is the possibility that three of Saint Brigid's own
monastic familia composed it as a protection against poison while travelling
to Rome, or Brocc the squinting, to whom is attributed another famous hymn,
Ní car Brigit, may have been the author. Next comes a charming tale of Saint
Brendan the Navigator, who is somewhat put out to find that Saint Brigid's
reputation for sanctity is more feared by the monsters of the sea than his
own and decides to find out why. Finally, Saint Ultan's claim is staked, and
his monastery of Ardbraccan given as the place of composition. Note that
Stokes himself calls the text 'Ultan's Hymn in Praise of Brigit'. It is
clear from the preface that no matter who the original author was, the hymn
was used a powerful lorica of protection, asking for the intercession of
Saint Brigid against the principalities and powers while praising her
burning brightness. Brigit, excellent woman! Who will argue with that?
IV. ULTAN'S HYMN IN PRAISE OF BRIGIT.
(Lib, Hymn, 166.)
The Preface
Brigit excellent woman! It may be Colum-cille that made this hymn, and in
the time of Aed son of Ainmire he made it ; in . (?) he made it. This is the
cause of making it. A great storm came to Colum-cille when he was going over
sea, and he came into Breccán's Caldron, and besought Brigit that a calm
might come unto him, and he said 'Brigit bé bithmaith'.
Or it is Brocc the squinting that made it, and at the same time as 'Ní car
Brigit' was made.
Or it is three of Brigit's family that made it. They were going to Rome and
reached Placentia, and a man of the city met them outside and asked them
whether they needed hospitality. They said that they needed it. Then he took
them with him to his house, and a student, on his way from Rome, met them
there and asked them whence they came and why they came. They said "for
hospitality." " It is a mistake," says he, "for that is the custom of this
man to kill his guests," and they asked that through the student's teaching.
So poison was given to them in ale, and they praised Brigit for the saving
of them, and they sang Brigit bé bithmaith. They drank the ale with the
poison, and it did no harm to them. So the man of the house came to see
whether the poison had killed them, and he beheld them alive, and he beheld
a comely virgin amongst them. Thereafter he came in, and was seeking the
virgin, and found her not, and he asked of them, "Why has the virgin gone?"
And they said they had not seen her at all. Then a chain was put upon them,
that they might be killed on the morrow unless they would