Resorted to students. in the Welsh monasteries, soon equalled them in reputation, and from it issued those fathers of the Monastic Church termed the Twelve Apostles of Ireland. We are told in the life of one of them, Ciaran of Saighir, that he with other saints of Ireland went to Finnian of Clonard, renowned for his wisdom, and in his holy school used to read in the divine Scriptures, and that he lived both to learn and to hear the holy Scriptures.3 The Monastic Church of Ireland soon became so by foreign celebrated as a school of learning that students flocked to it from all quarters; and in the seventh and eighth centuries, when intercourse between it and the continental churches was renewed, it certainly occupied in this respect the first position among them. Bede tells us that, when the great pestilence devastated Ireland in the year 664, 'many of the nobility and of the middle ranks of the Anglic nation were there at that time, who, in the days of the bishops Finan and Colman, forsaking their native island, had retired thither, for the sake either of divine studies or of a more continent life; and some of them presently devoted themselves faithfully to a monastic life, others chose rather to apply themselves to study, going about from one master's cell to another. The Scots most willingly received them all, and took care to supply them gratuitously with daily food, as also to furnish them with books to read and their teaching, without making any charge;' and of Aldfrid, son of King Osuiu, who succeeded his brother Ecgfrid, when he was slain by the Picts in 685, as king of Northumbria, Bede says that 'he was a man most learned in Scripture,' 'that he at that time lived in exile in the islands 3 Iste S. Kieranus valde erat humilis in omnibus, qui multum diligebat divinam Scripturam audire et discere. Ipse cum ceteris Sanctis Hiberniæ illius temporis ad virum sanctum Finnianum Ab batem sapientissimum monasterii Cluain Eraird exivit et in divinis Scripturis in sancta schola ejus legebat.-Colgan, A.SS., p. 463. Bede, Hist. Ecc., B. iii. c. 27. of the Scots for the sake of studying letters,' and that, previous to his accession to the throne, he had for a considerable time gone into voluntary exile in the regions of the Scots, for the sake of acquiring learning, through the love of wisdom.'5 We hear, too, in the Life of Senan, of 'fifty Roman monks who came to Ireland for the purpose of leading a life of stricter discipline, or improving themselves in the study of the Scriptures then much cultivated in Ireland, and became pupils of those holy fathers who were most distinguished for sanctity of life and the perfection of monastic discipline.'" school of learning. The Monastic Church, founded by Columba in Iona, was Iona as a not behind its mother church of Ireland in this respect; and we are told by his biographer, Adamnan, that Columba 'never could spend even one hour without study, or prayer, or writing, or some other holy occupation.' He tells us, also, of a book of hymns for the office of every day in the week, which had been written by Columba, and of his transcribing the Psalter. We read also of a prefect 'learning wisdom with them.'7 Columba, too, appears to have cultivated his own language and not to have despised his native literature; for, according to a quatrain quoted in the old Irish life, Thrice fifty noble lays the Apostle made, Whose miracles are more numerous than grass : Some in Latin, which were beguiling; Some in Gaelic, fair the tale. And we learn, from the anonymous Life of Cuthbert, that when King Aldfrid of Northumbria had, before his accession 5 Bede, Hist. Ecc., B. iv. c. 27; Vit. S. Cud., c. 24. sterio quorundam sanctorum pa- 6 In ea namque navi diferebantur 50 monachi patria Romani quos vel arctioris vitæ vel Scripturarum A.SS., p. 533. peritiæ, tunc in ea multum florentis, desiderium in Hiberniam traxerat, ut ibi vivant sub magi 7 Adamnan, Vit. S. Col., Præf., B. ii. c. 8; B. iii. c. 22. Literature to the throne, resorted to the islands of the Scots for study, one of these islands was that of Iona.s The remains of the literature of this period of the Monastic Church which have come down to us bear ample testimony to the intellectual development which characterised it. Of these perhaps the most complete are the works of Columbanus. Besides his monastic rule, we possess six of his letters connected with important questions regarding ecclesiastical matters, seventeen instructions or sermons addressed to his monks, and one or two poetical pieces. They are all written in Latin, and show a mastery of that language as it was then used by ecclesiastical writers, a thorough acquaintance with the holy Scriptures, with the spirit and language of which they are indeed saturated, and a perfect knowledge of the contemporary history and literature of the church. He places the holy Scriptures as the highest standard of authority in all matters of Christian faith. As we have seen, he gives as the character of his church that it received nothing beyond the teaching of the Evangelists and Apostles;' and the same spirit is manifested in one of his instructions, when he says, Excepting those statements which either the Law or the Prophets or the Gospels or the Apostles have made to us, solemn silence ought to be observed, as far as other authorities are concerned, with respect to the Trinity. For it is God's testimony alone that is to be credited concerning God, that is, concerning himself.' Cummian's letter regarding the Easter festival, also written in Latin, shows a perfect mastery of his subject, and may compare with any ecclesi 6 8 Illa jam cito rememoravit de Alfrido, qui nunc regnat pacifice, fuisse dictum, qui tunc erat in insula quam Hy nominant.-Vit. S. Cuth. auct. anon.; Bede, Opera minora, p. 274. 9 Et exceptis his, quæ aut Lex, aut Prophetæ, aut Evangelium, aut Apostoli loquuntur, grande debet esse ab aliis de Trinitate silentium. Dei enim tantum de Deo, hoc est, de seipso credendum est testimonium.-Migne, Patrologia, vol. xxxvii.col. 233. When Columbanus goes on to say, 'Cæterum disputatio, seu ingenium humanum, aut astic document of the time. Then we have the Latin lives of Columba by two of the abbots of Iona; and, besides Adamnan's Life, we also possess his tract on the Holy Places, works which give proof of his classical attainments as well as his acquaintance with ecclesiastical writings. teries. The seventh century, which had seen the church distracted The Scribhnidh, or by the Easter controversy, the withdrawal of the Columban scribes in monks from Northumbria, and the conformity of the church the monasof the northern Scots of Ireland to Rome, likewise witnessed some other changes in its intellectual life. One was the appearance, in the end of this century, of a functionary in the monasteries, termed in Irish Scribhnidh, or Scribhneoir, and in Latin 'Scriba,' a learned man among the monks, who was selected for the purpose not only of transcribing and preserving the ancient records of the monastery, but likewise of exercising the functions of teacher and public lecturer.10 One of the earliest monuments of their industry is the Ms. termed the Book of Armagh. It was compiled by Ferdomnach, 'a sage and choice Scribhnidh of the church of Armagh,' at the instance of Torbach, abbot of Armagh, who had himself been a scribe and lector of the church; and, as he was only one year in the abbacy, and died in the year 808, this fixes the date of the compilation of the book at the year 807.11 The contents of this MS. will show somewhat of the litera- The Book of Armagh. aliqua superba sapientia, quæ vel mundi in ratione fallitur, de Deo magistra esse non potest, sed sacrilega et impia in Deum præsumenda est,' it is hardly possible to avoid the suspicion that it was intended as a protest against the Athanasian Creed and its metaphysical definitions, which probably made its appearance about this time in the Church. 10 See for an account of these scribes Colgan, Tr. Th., p. 631, where a list of them during the eighth and ninth centuries is given. The first men- 11 A.D. 807 (808) Torbach mac Gor- 844 (845) Feardomhnach eagnaidh agus Scribhnidh toghaidhe Ardamacha decc.-A. F. M. See Proc. R. I. A., vol. iii. p. 316, 356, for papers by Rev. Charles Graves, now bishop of Limerick, on the date of the Book of Armagh. ture of the church at the time. The volume commences with certain memoirs of St. Patrick, which are the oldest we now possess, and they are followed by the Confession of St. Patrick, an undoubtedly genuine work. After this comes St. Jerome's Preface to the New Testament; and then the Gospels in their usual order. In the enumeration of the apostles in the Gospel of St. Matthew, the name of Judas has opposite to it, on the margin, the Irish word trogaun or wretch, and at the end of the Gospel is the following prayer of the writer, in Latin :— 'O God, whose mercy is unbounded, and whose holiness passeth speech, with humble voice have I boldness to implore that, like as Thou didst call Matthew to be a chosen Apostle, from being a receiver of customs; so, of Thy compassion, Thou wilt vouchsafe to direct my steps during this life into the perfect way; and place me in the angelic choir of the heavenly Jerusalem, that, on the everlasting throne of endless joy, I may be deemed worthy to join with the harmonious praises of archangels in ascribing honour to Thee; through Thy only-begotten Son, who liveth with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, throughout all ages. Amen.' After the Gospels follow St. Paul's Epistles, to which are prefixed prefaces chiefly taken from the works of Pelagius. Between the Epistle to the Colossians and the First Epistle to Timothy is inserted the spurious Epistle to the Laodiceans, which is found in a great variety of Latin MSS. of the New Testament; and in the First Epistle of St. John the passage concerning the witnesses (v. 7) is omitted, as it also is in the oldest copy of the Vulgate. The Epistles are followed by the Apocalypse, after which comes the Acts of the Apostles, an order peculiar to this MS.; and the Book of Armagh closes with the Life of St. Martin of Tours, written by Sulpicius Severus, and with a short litany, or intercession, on behalf of the writer.12 This MS., compiled at Armagh in 807, probably 12 The Book of Armagh by Dr. Reeves; first published in the Swords Parish Magazine, 1861. |