Intercession, Isaiah 43:16-21, Psalms 126:1-6, John 8:1-8, Pope Frances Angelus and Homily, St Patrick, Glastonburg Abbey , Armagh Ireland, Shamrock, Catholic Catechism Part One Section 2 The Creeds Chapter 3:12:5,6 Judgement Day, Everlasting Life
Good Day Bloggers! Wishing everyone a Blessed Week!
Year of Faith - October 11, 2012 - November 24, 2013
P.U.S.H. (Pray Until Serenity Happens). It has a remarkable way of producing solace, peace, patience and tranquility and of course resolution...God's always available 24/7.
The world begins and ends everyday for someone. We are all human. We all experience birth, life and death. We all have
flaws but we also all have the gift of knowledge and free will,
make the most of these gifts. Life on earth is a stepping stone to our eternal home in
Heaven. Its your choice whether to rise towards eternal light or lost to
eternal darkness. Material items, though needed for sustenance and
survival on earth are of earthly value only. The only thing that passes
from this earth to Purgatory and/or Heaven is our Soul, our Spirit...it's God's perpetual
gift to us...Embrace it, treasure it, nurture it, protect it...
"Raise not a hand to another unless it is to offer in peace and goodwill." ~ Zarya Parx 2012
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Prayers for Today: Sunday in Lent
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Papam Franciscus
(Pope Francis)
POPE FRANCIS
ANGELUS
Saint Peter's Square
Sunday, 17 March 2013
Sunday, 17 March 2013
Brothers and Sisters, good morning!
After our first meeting last Wednesday, today I can once
again address my greeting to you all! And I am glad to do so on a
Sunday, on the Lord's Day! This is beautiful and important for us
Christians: to meet on Sundays, to greet each other, to speak to each
other as we are doing now, in the square. A square which, thanks to the
media, has global dimensions.
On this Fifth Sunday of Lent, the Gospel presents to us
the episode of the adulterous woman (cf. Jn 8:1-11), whom Jesus saves
from being condemned to death. Jesus' attitude is striking: we do not
hear words of scorn, we do not hear words of condemnation, but only
words of love, of mercy, which are an invitation to conversion. "Neither
do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again" (v. 11). Ah! Brothers and
Sisters, God's face is the face of a merciful father who is always
patient. Have you thought about God's patience, the patience he has with
each one of us? That is his mercy. He always has patience, patience
with us, he understands us, he waits for us, he does not tire of
forgiving us if we are able to return to him with a contrite heart.
"Great is God's mercy", says the Psalm.
In the past few days I have been reading a book by a
Cardinal — Cardinal Kasper, a clever theologian, a good theologian — on
mercy. And that book did me a lot of good, but do not think I am
promoting my cardinals' books! Not at all! Yet it has done me so much
good, so much good... Cardinal Kasper said that feeling mercy, that this
word changes everything. This is the best thing we can feel: it changes
the world. A little mercy makes the world less cold and more just. We
need to understand properly this mercy of God, this merciful Father who
is so patient.... Let us remember the Prophet Isaiah who says that even
if our sins were scarlet, God's love would make them white as snow. This
mercy is beautiful! I remember, when I had only just become a bishop in
the year 1992, the statue of Our Lady of Fatima had just arrived in
Buenos Aires and a big Mass was celebrated for the sick. I went to hear
confessions at that Mass. And almost at the end of the Mass I stood up,
because I had to go and administer a First Confirmation. And an elderly
woman approached me, humble, very humble, and over eighty years old. I
looked at her, and I said, "Grandmother" — because in our country that
is how we address the elderly — do you want to make your confession?".
"Yes", she said to me. "But if you have not sinned…". And she said to
me: "We all have sins...". "But perhaps the Lord does not forgive them".
"The Lord forgives all things", she said to me with conviction. "But
how do you know, Madam?". "If the Lord did not forgive everything, the
world would not exist". I felt an urge to ask her: "Tell me, Madam, did
you study at the Gregorian ?", because that is the wisdom which the Holy
Spirit gives: inner wisdom focused on God's mercy. Let us not forget
this word: God never ever tires of forgiving us! "Well, Father what is
the problem?". Well, the problem is that we ourselves tire, we do not
want to ask, we grow weary of asking for forgiveness. He never tires of
forgiving, but at times we get tired of asking for forgiveness.
Let us never tire, let us never tire! He is the loving
Father who always pardons, who has that heart of mercy for us all. And
let us too learn to be merciful to everyone. Let us invoke the
intercession of Our Lady who held in her arms the Mercy of God made man.
Let us now all pray the Angelus together:
V. The Angel of the Lord brought the message to Mary,
R. And she conceived from the Holy Spirit.
R. And she conceived from the Holy Spirit.
V. Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
R. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
V. See the servant of the Lord;
R. Do to me according to your Word.
R. Do to me according to your Word.
V. Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
R. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
R. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
V. And the Word was made flesh,
R. And lived among us.
R. And lived among us.
V. Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
R. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
V. Pray for us, holy Mother of God.
R. So that we will be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
R. So that we will be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray.
Lord, through the angel's message we have come to know that Christ
your Son became human. We pray to You, pour Your grace into our hearts
so that by His cross and suffering we will be brought to the glory of
His rising from the dead, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
After the Angelus:
I address a cordial greeting to all the pilgrims. Thank
you for your welcome and for your prayers. Pray for me, I ask it of you.
I renew my embrace of the faithful of Rome and I extend it to all of
you, who come from various parts of Italy and of the world, as well as
to all those who have joined us through the media.
I have chosen the name of the Patron of Italy, St
Francis of Assisi, and this strengthens my spiritual ties with this
country where, as you know, my family comes from. However Jesus has
called us to belong to a new family: his Church, to this family of God,
walking together on the path of the Gospel. May the Lord bless you and
may Our Lady keep you. Do not forget this: the Lord never tires of
forgiving! It is we who tire of asking forgiveness.
Have a good Sunday and a good lunch!
HOLY MASS IN THE PARISH OF ST. ANNA IN THE VATICAN
HOMILY OF POPE FRANCIS
Fifth Sunday of Lent, 17 March 2013
Fifth Sunday of Lent, 17 March 2013
This is a beautiful story. First we have Jesus alone on the mountain, praying. He was praying alone (cf. Jn
8:1). Then he went back to the Temple, and all the people went to him
(cf. v. 2). Jesus in the midst of the people. And then, at the end, they
left him alone with the woman (cf. v. 9). That solitude of Jesus! But
it is a fruitful solitude: the solitude of prayer with the Father, and
the beautiful solitude that is the Church's message for today: the
solitude of his mercy towards this woman.
And among the people we see a variety of attitudes:
there were all the people who went to him; he sat and began to teach
them: the people who wanted to hear the words of Jesus, the people with
open hearts, hungry for the word of God. There were others who did not
hear anything, who could not hear anything; and there were those who
brought along this woman: Listen, Master, this woman has done such and
such ... we must do what Moses commanded us to do with women like this
(cf. vv. 4-5).
I think we too are the people who, on the one hand want
to listen to Jesus, but on the other hand, at times, like to find a
stick to beat others with, to condemn others. And Jesus has this message
for us: mercy. I think – and I say it with humility – that this is the
Lord's most powerful message: mercy. It was he himself who said: "I did
not come for the righteous". The righteous justify themselves. Go on,
then, even if you can do it, I cannot! But they believe they can. "I
came for sinners" (Mk 2:17).
Think of the gossip after the call of Matthew: he associates with sinners! (cf. Mk
2:16). He comes for us, when we recognize that we are sinners. But if
we are like the Pharisee, before the altar, who said: I thank you Lord,
that I am not like other men, and especially not like the one at the
door, like that publican (cf. Lk 18:11-12), then we do not know
the Lord's heart, and we will never have the joy of experiencing this
mercy! It is not easy to entrust oneself to God's mercy, because it is
an abyss beyond our comprehension. But we must! "Oh, Father, if you knew
my life, you would not say that to me!" "Why, what have you done?" "Oh,
I am a great sinner!" "All the better! Go to Jesus: he likes you to
tell him these things!" He forgets, he has a very special capacity for
forgetting. He forgets, he kisses you, he embraces you and he simply
says to you: "Neither do I condemn you; go, and sin no more" (Jn
8:11). That is the only advice he gives you. After a month, if we are
in the same situation ... Let us go back to the Lord. The Lord never
tires of forgiving: never! It is we who tire of asking his forgiveness.
Let us ask for the grace not to tire of asking forgiveness, because he
never tires of forgiving. Let us ask for this grace.
Reference:
- Vatican News. From the Pope. © Copyright 2013 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Accessed 3/15/2013.
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March 2, 2013 Message From Our Lady of Medjugorje to World:
“Dear children; Anew, in a motherly way, I am calling you not to be of a hard heart. Do not shut your eyes to the warnings which the Heavenly Father sends to you out of love. Do you love Him above all else? Do you repent for having often forgotten that the Heavenly Father, out of His great love, sent His Son to redeem us by the Cross? Do you repent for not having accepted the message? My children, do not resist the love of my Son. Do not resist hope and peace. Along with your prayers and fasting, by His Cross, my Son will cast away the darkness that wants to surround you and come to rule over you. He will give you the strength for a new life. Living it according to my Son, you will be a blessing and a hope to all those sinners who wander in the darkness of sin. My children, keep vigil. I, as a mother, am keeping vigil with you. I am especially praying and watching over those whom my Son called to be light-bearers and carriers of hope for you – for your shepherds. Thank you.”
February 25, 2013 Message From Our Lady of Medjugorje to World:
“Dear children! Also today I call you to prayer. Sin is pulling you towards worldly things and I have come to lead you towards holiness and the things of God, but you are struggling and spending your energies in the battle with the good and the evil that are in you. Therefore, little children, pray, pray, pray until prayer becomes a joy for you and your life will become a simple walk towards God. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
“Dear children! Also today I call you to prayer. Sin is pulling you towards worldly things and I have come to lead you towards holiness and the things of God, but you are struggling and spending your energies in the battle with the good and the evil that are in you. Therefore, little children, pray, pray, pray until prayer becomes a joy for you and your life will become a simple walk towards God. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
February 2, 2013 Message From Our Lady of Medjugorje to World:
"Dear children, love is bringing me to you - the love which I desire to
teach you also - real love; the love which my Son showed you when He
died on the Cross out of love for you; the love which is always ready to
forgive and to ask for forgiveness. How great is your love? My motherly
heart is sorrowful as it searches for love in
your hearts. You are not ready to submit your will to God's will out of
love. You cannot help me to have those who have not come to know God's
love to come to know it, because you do not have real love. Consecrate
your hearts to me and I will lead you. I will teach you to forgive, to
love your enemies and to live according to my Son. Do not be afraid for
yourselves. In afflictions my Son does not forget those who love. I will
be beside you. I will implore the Heavenly Father for the light of
eternal truth and love to illuminate you. Pray for your shepherds so
that through your fasting and prayer they can lead you in love. Thank
you."
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Today's Word: intercession in·ter·ces·sion [in-ter-sesh-uh
n]
Origin: 1400–50; late Middle English < Latin intercessiōn- (stem of intercessiō ), equivalent to intercess ( us ) past participle of intercēdere to intercede (equivalent to interced- variant stem + -tus past participle suffix, with -dt- > -ss- ) + -iōn- -ion
noun
1. an act or instance of interceding.
2. an interposing or pleading on behalf of another person.
3. a prayer to God on behalf of another.
4. Roman History . the interposing of a veto, as by a tribune.
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Today's Old Testament Reading - Psalms 126:1-6
1 [Song of Ascents] When Yahweh brought back Zion's captives we lived in a dream;
2 then our mouths filled with laughter, and our lips with song. Then the nations kept saying, 'What great deeds Yahweh has done for them!'
3 Yes, Yahweh did great deeds for us, and we were overjoyed.
4 Bring back, Yahweh, our people from captivity like torrents in the Negeb!
5 Those who sow in tears sing as they reap.
6 He went off, went off weeping, carrying the seed. He comes back, comes back singing, bringing in his sheaves.
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Today's Epistle - Isaiah 43:16-21
16 Thus says Yahweh, who made a way through the sea, a path in the raging waters,
17 who led out chariot and horse
together with an army of picked troops: they lay down never to rise
again, they were snuffed out, put out like a wick.
18 No need to remember past events, no need to think about what was done before.
19 Look, I am doing something new, now it emerges; can you not see it? Yes, I am making a road in the desert and rivers in wastelands.
20 The wild animals will honour me, the jackals and the ostriches, for bestowing water in the desert and rivers on the wastelands for my people, my chosen one, to drink.
21 The people I have shaped for myself will broadcast my praises.
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Today's Gospel Reading - John 8:1-11
Jesus meets a woman about to be stoned “Let the one among you who is guiltless
be the first to throw a stone at her!” John 8:1-11
be the first to throw a stone at her!” John 8:1-11
1. Opening prayer
Lord Jesus, send your Spirit to help us to read the Scriptures with the same mind that you read them to the disciples on the way to Emmaus. In the light of the Word, written in the Bible, you helped them to discover the presence of God in the disturbing events of your sentence and death. Thus, the cross that seemed to be the end of all hope became for them the source of life and of resurrection.
Create in us silence so that we may listen to your voice in Creation and in the Scriptures, in events and in people, above all in the poor and suffering. May your word guide us so that we too, like the two disciples from Emmaus, may experience the force of your resurrection and witness to others that you are alive in our midst as source of fraternity, justice and peace. We ask this of you, Jesus, son of Mary, who revealed to us the Father and sent us your Spirit. Amen.
Lord Jesus, send your Spirit to help us to read the Scriptures with the same mind that you read them to the disciples on the way to Emmaus. In the light of the Word, written in the Bible, you helped them to discover the presence of God in the disturbing events of your sentence and death. Thus, the cross that seemed to be the end of all hope became for them the source of life and of resurrection.
Create in us silence so that we may listen to your voice in Creation and in the Scriptures, in events and in people, above all in the poor and suffering. May your word guide us so that we too, like the two disciples from Emmaus, may experience the force of your resurrection and witness to others that you are alive in our midst as source of fraternity, justice and peace. We ask this of you, Jesus, son of Mary, who revealed to us the Father and sent us your Spirit. Amen.
2. Reading
a) A key to the reading:
Today’s text leads us to a meditation on
the conflict between Jesus and the Scribes and Pharisees. Because of
his preaching and his manner of acting, the doctors of the law and the
Pharisees do not like Jesus. So they seek every possible way to accuse
and eliminate him. They bring before him a woman caught in adultery to
ask him whether they should observe the law that said that such a woman
was to be stoned. They wanted to provoke Jesus. By posing as people
concerned for the law, they were using the woman to argue with Jesus.
The same story happens time and time again. Under the pretence of
concern for the law of God, the three monotheistic religions: Judaism,
Christianity and Islam, have condemned and massacred many people. This
goes on today too. Under the guise of concern for the law of God, many
people are deprived of communion and even excluded from the community.
Laws and customs are created to exclude and marginalize certain
categories of people.
As we read John 8:1-11, it is good to consider the text as it were a mirror reflecting our own likeness. As we read, let us try to note well the attitudes, words and action of those who appear in the story: the Scribes, the Pharisees, the woman. Jesus and the people.
b) A division of the text as a help to the reader:
Jn 8:1-2: Jesus goes to the temple to teach the crowd
Jn 8:3-6a: His adversaries provoke him
Jn 8:6b: Jesus’ reaction, he writes on the ground
Jn 8:7-8: Second provocation, and same reaction from Jesus
Jn 8:9-11: Final epilogue
Jn 8:3-6a: His adversaries provoke him
Jn 8:6b: Jesus’ reaction, he writes on the ground
Jn 8:7-8: Second provocation, and same reaction from Jesus
Jn 8:9-11: Final epilogue
c) Text:
1
and Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 At daybreak he appeared in
the Temple again; and as all the people came to him, he sat down and
began to teach them. 3 The scribes and Pharisees brought a woman along
who had been caught committing adultery; and making her stand there in
the middle 4 they said to Jesus, 'Master, this woman was caught in the
very act of committing adultery, 5 and in the Law Moses has ordered us
to stone women of this kind. What have you got to say?' 6 They asked
him this as a test, looking for an accusation to use against him. But
Jesus bent down and started writing on the ground with his finger. 7 As
they persisted with their question, he straightened up and said, 'Let
the one among you who is guiltless be the first to throw a stone at
her.' 8 Then he bent down and continued writing on the ground. 9 When
they heard this they went away one by one, beginning with the eldest,
until the last one had gone and Jesus was left alone with the woman,
who remained in the middle. 10 Jesus again straightened up and said,
'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?' 11 'No one, sir,'
she replied. 'Neither do I condemn you,' said Jesus. 'Go away, and from
this moment sin no more.'
3. A moment of prayerful silence so that the Word of God may penetrate and enlighten our life.
4. Some questions
to help us in our personal reflection.
a) What struck or pleased you most in this text? Why?
b) Several persons and groups appear in this episode. What do they say and do?
c) Try to step into the woman’s shoes: how did she feel?
d) Why did Jesus begin to write with this finger on the ground?
e) What can and must our community do to welcome those excluded?
b) Several persons and groups appear in this episode. What do they say and do?
c) Try to step into the woman’s shoes: how did she feel?
d) Why did Jesus begin to write with this finger on the ground?
e) What can and must our community do to welcome those excluded?
5. For those who wish to go deeper into the theme
a) Literary context:
Scholars say that John’s Gospel grew
gradually, that is, that it was written bit by bit. Over some time, up
to the end of the first century, members of John’s community in Asia
Minor, recalled and added details to events in Jesus’ life. One of these
events, to which some details were added, is our text, the episode
concerning the woman about to be stoned (Jn 8:1-11). A little before our
text, Jesus had said: "If any man is thirsty, let him come to me! Let
the man come and drink who believes in me!” (Jn 7:37). This statement
provoked much discussion (Jn 7:40-53). The Pharisees even ridiculed the
people, considering them ignorant for believing in Jesus. Nicodemus
reacted saying: “Surely the law does not allow us to pass judgement on a
man without giving him a hearing and discovering what he is about?”
(Jn 7:51-52). After our text we come across another statement by Jesus:
"I am the light of the world!" (Jn 8:12), which again provoked
discussion among the Jews. The episode of the woman whom the law would
have condemned, but who is pardoned by Jesus (Jn 8:1-11), is inserted
between these two statements and their subsequent discussions. These
statements before and after, suggest that the episode was inserted here
to shed light on the fact that Jesus, light of the world, enlightens
the life of people and applies the law better than the Pharisees.
b) A commentary on the text:
John 8:1-2: Jesus and the crowd
After the discussion reported at the end of chapter 7 (Jn 7:37-52), all go home (Jn 7:53). Jesus has no home in Jerusalem, so he goes to the Mount of Olives. There he finds a garden where he can spend the night in prayer (Jn 18:1). The next day, before sunrise, Jesus is once more in the temple. The crowd draws near to listen. Usually, the crowd sat in a circle around Jesus when he taught. What would Jesus have been teaching? Whatever it was, it must have been great because the crowd went there before dawn to listen to him!
After the discussion reported at the end of chapter 7 (Jn 7:37-52), all go home (Jn 7:53). Jesus has no home in Jerusalem, so he goes to the Mount of Olives. There he finds a garden where he can spend the night in prayer (Jn 18:1). The next day, before sunrise, Jesus is once more in the temple. The crowd draws near to listen. Usually, the crowd sat in a circle around Jesus when he taught. What would Jesus have been teaching? Whatever it was, it must have been great because the crowd went there before dawn to listen to him!
John 8:3-6a: His enemies’ provocation
Suddenly, the Scribes and Pharisees arrive and bring with them a woman caught in flagrant adultery. They place her in the middle of the circle between Jesus and the crowd. According to the law, this woman had to be stoned (Lv 20:10; Dt 22:22.24). They ask: "Master, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery, and in the Law Moses has ordered us to stone women of this kind. What have you got to say?” This was a provocation, a trap. If Jesus said: "Apply the law", the Scribes would have said to the crowd: he is not as good as he appears to be because he orders the woman to be killed. If Jesus said: "Do not kill her”, they would have said: "He is not as good as he appears to be since he does not observe the law!" Under the appearance of fidelity to God, they manipulate the law and use a woman to accuse Jesus.
Suddenly, the Scribes and Pharisees arrive and bring with them a woman caught in flagrant adultery. They place her in the middle of the circle between Jesus and the crowd. According to the law, this woman had to be stoned (Lv 20:10; Dt 22:22.24). They ask: "Master, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery, and in the Law Moses has ordered us to stone women of this kind. What have you got to say?” This was a provocation, a trap. If Jesus said: "Apply the law", the Scribes would have said to the crowd: he is not as good as he appears to be because he orders the woman to be killed. If Jesus said: "Do not kill her”, they would have said: "He is not as good as he appears to be since he does not observe the law!" Under the appearance of fidelity to God, they manipulate the law and use a woman to accuse Jesus.
John 8:6b: Jesus’ reaction: he writes on the ground
This situation looked like a sure trap. But Jesus is neither frightened nor nervous. Rather the opposite. Quietly, like one in control of the situation, he bends down and begins to write on the ground with his finger. What does writing on the ground mean? Some think that Jesus is writing the sins of his accusers. Others say that it was just the sign of one who is in control of the situation and pays no attention to the accusations made by others. But it is possible that this may have been a symbolic action, an allusion to something much more common. If you write a word on the ground, the next morning it will be gone, swept away by wind or rain, gone! We find a similar allusion in Jeremiah where we read that the names of the attributes of God are written on the ground, that is, that they have no future. The wind and the rain carry them away (cf Jr 17:13). Perhaps Jesus is saying to those around him: the sin of which you accuse this woman, has been forgiven by God as I write these letters on the ground. From now on these sins will not be remembered!
This situation looked like a sure trap. But Jesus is neither frightened nor nervous. Rather the opposite. Quietly, like one in control of the situation, he bends down and begins to write on the ground with his finger. What does writing on the ground mean? Some think that Jesus is writing the sins of his accusers. Others say that it was just the sign of one who is in control of the situation and pays no attention to the accusations made by others. But it is possible that this may have been a symbolic action, an allusion to something much more common. If you write a word on the ground, the next morning it will be gone, swept away by wind or rain, gone! We find a similar allusion in Jeremiah where we read that the names of the attributes of God are written on the ground, that is, that they have no future. The wind and the rain carry them away (cf Jr 17:13). Perhaps Jesus is saying to those around him: the sin of which you accuse this woman, has been forgiven by God as I write these letters on the ground. From now on these sins will not be remembered!
John 8:7-8: Second provocation and the same reaction from Jesus
Faced with this quiet attitude of Jesus, it is the adversaries who become nervous. They insist and want to know Jesus’ opinion. Jesus, then, stands up and says: "Let the one among you who is guiltless be the first to throw a stone at her!" And bending down he again starts to write on the ground. He does not engage in a sterile and useless discussion concerning the law, because, in reality, the problem lies elsewhere. Jesus shifts the centre of the discussion. Instead of allowing the light of the law to be focussed on the woman so as to condemn her, he asks that his adversaries examine themselves in the light of what the law demands of them. Jesus does not discuss the letter of the law. He discusses and condemns the evil attitude of those who manipulate people and the law to defend their own interests that are contrary to God, the author of the law.
Faced with this quiet attitude of Jesus, it is the adversaries who become nervous. They insist and want to know Jesus’ opinion. Jesus, then, stands up and says: "Let the one among you who is guiltless be the first to throw a stone at her!" And bending down he again starts to write on the ground. He does not engage in a sterile and useless discussion concerning the law, because, in reality, the problem lies elsewhere. Jesus shifts the centre of the discussion. Instead of allowing the light of the law to be focussed on the woman so as to condemn her, he asks that his adversaries examine themselves in the light of what the law demands of them. Jesus does not discuss the letter of the law. He discusses and condemns the evil attitude of those who manipulate people and the law to defend their own interests that are contrary to God, the author of the law.
John 8:9-11: Final epilogue: Jesus and the woman
Jesus’ reply upsets the adversaries. The Pharisees and the Scribes retreat shamefaced one by one “beginning with the eldest”. The opposite of what they had planned happened. The one condemned by the law was not the woman but those who believed themselves to be faithful to the law. Finally, Jesus is left alone with the woman. Jesus stands up, goes to her and says: "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you!" She answers: "No one, sir!" Then Jesus says: "Neither do I condemn you. Go away, and from this moment sin no more!" Jesus will not allow any one to use the law of God to condemn a brother or sister, when that person is also a sinner. Any one who has a plank in his eye cannot accuse the one who only has a splinter in his. “Hypocrite! Take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly to take out he splinter that is in your brother’s eye” (Lk 6:42).
This episode, better than any other teaching, shows that Jesus is the light of the world (Jn 11:12) who reveals the truth. It brings to light the hidden and most intimate things within a person. In the light of Jesus’ words, those who seemed to be defenders of the law are revealed to be full of sin. They recognise this and go away beginning with the eldest. And the woman, thought to be guilty and meriting the death sentence, stands before Jesus, absolved, redeemed, dignified (cf. Jn 3:19-21). Jesus’ action gives her new life and restores her dignity as woman and daughter of God.
c) Further information:
Laws concerning women in the Old Testament and people’s reactions
From the time of Ezdra and Nehemiah, the
official tendency was to exclude women from any public activity and to
consider them unsuitable to carry out any function in society, except
that of spouse and mother. What contributed greatly to the
marginalization of the woman was precisely the law on purity. A woman
was declared impure for being mother, spouse and daughter, for being a
woman. For being mother: in giving birth she became unclean (Lv 12:1-5).
For being daughter: a son born made her unclean for forty days (Lv
12:2-4); and worse, a daughter born made her unclean for 80 days! (Lv
12:5). For being spouse: sexual relationship made both the woman and the
man unclean for a whole day (Lv 15:18). For being woman: menstruation
made a woman unclean for a whole week and rendered others unclean. Any
one who touched a woman during menstruation had to go through a ritual
of purification (Lv 15:19-30). It was not possible for a woman to hide
her uncleanness, because the law obliged other people to denounce her
(Lv 5:3). This legislation made daily life at home unbearable. For seven
days every month, the mother of a family could not rest in bed or sit
on a chair, much less touch her children or husband so as not to
contaminate them! This legislation was the result of a mentality,
according to which a woman was inferior to a man. There are some sayings
that reveal this discrimination against women (Eccl 42:9-11; 22:3).
Marginalization became such that women were considered to be the origin
of sin and of death and the cause of all evils (Eccl 25:24; 42:13-14).
Thus the privilege and dominion of man over woman kept on being
preserved.
In the context of the times, the
situation of women in the world of the Bible was neither better nor
worse than that of other people. It was a general culture. Even today,
there are many who continue in this same way of thinking. But like
today, so also previously, from the beginning of the Bible history,
there have always been those who opposed this exclusion of women,
especially after the exile, when foreign women, considered dangerous,
were expelled (cfr. Ez 9:1-3 and 10:1-3). Women’s resistance grew at
times when their marginalization was worst. In several wisdom books we
discover the voice of such resistance: the Canticle of Canticles, Ruth,
Judith, Esther. In these books, women appear not so much as mothers or
spouses, but as persons who could use their beauty and femininity to
fight for the rights of the poor and thus defend the Covenant of the
people. These were fights not so much for the temple, nor for abstract
law, but for the life of the people.
The resistance of women against their
exclusion finds an echo and a response in Jesus. Here are some episodes
of Jesus’ response towards women:
* The prostitute: Jesus welcomes and defends her against the Pharisee (Lk 7:36-50).
* Jesus defends the woman bent double against the chief of the synagogue (Lk 13:10-17).
* The woman considered impure is welcomed without criticism and is healed (Mk 5:25-34).
* The Samaritan woman, considered a heretic, is the first to receive Jesus’ secret that he is the Messiah (Jn 4:26).
* The pagan woman is helped by Jesus and she helps him to discover his mission (Mk 7:24-30).
* The mothers with children, rejected by the disciples, are welcomed by Jesus (Mt 19:13-15).
* Women are the first persons to experience the risen Jesus (Mt 28:9-10; Jn 20:16-18).
6. Praying Psalm 36 (35)
God’s goodness will unmask hypocrisy
Sin is the oracle of the wicked in the depths of his heart;
there is no fear of God before his eyes.
there is no fear of God before his eyes.
He sees himself with too flattering
an eye to detect and detest his guilt;
all he says is malicious and deceitful,
he has turned his back on wisdom.
To get his way
he hatches malicious plots even in his bed;
once set on his evil course
no wickedness is too much for him.
an eye to detect and detest his guilt;
all he says is malicious and deceitful,
he has turned his back on wisdom.
To get his way
he hatches malicious plots even in his bed;
once set on his evil course
no wickedness is too much for him.
Yahweh, your faithful love is in the heavens,
your constancy reaches to the clouds,
your saving justice is like towering mountains,
your judgements like the mighty deep.
Yahweh, you support both man and beast;
how precious, God, is your faithful love.
So the children of Adam take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the bounty of your house,
you let them drink from your delicious streams;
in you is the source of life,
by your light we see the light.
Maintain your faithful love to those who acknowledge you,
and your saving justice to the honest of heart.
Do not let the foot of the arrogant overtake me
or wicked hands drive me away.
There they have fallen, the evil-doers,
flung down, never to rise again.
your constancy reaches to the clouds,
your saving justice is like towering mountains,
your judgements like the mighty deep.
Yahweh, you support both man and beast;
how precious, God, is your faithful love.
So the children of Adam take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the bounty of your house,
you let them drink from your delicious streams;
in you is the source of life,
by your light we see the light.
Maintain your faithful love to those who acknowledge you,
and your saving justice to the honest of heart.
Do not let the foot of the arrogant overtake me
or wicked hands drive me away.
There they have fallen, the evil-doers,
flung down, never to rise again.
7. Final Prayer
Lord Jesus, we thank for the word that
has enabled us to understand better the will of the Father. May your
Spirit enlighten our actions and grant us the strength to practice that
which your Word has revealed to us. May we, like Mary, your mother,
not only listen to but also practice the Word. You who live and reign
with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.
Reference: Courtesy of Order of Carmelites, www.ocarm.org.
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Featured Item of the Day from Litany Lane
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Saint of the Day: Saint Patrick
Feast Day: March 17
Patron Saint: Ireland, Nigeria, Montserrat, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, Boston, Rolla, Missouri (USA), Loíza, Murcia (Spain), engineers, paralegals, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne; invoked against snakes, sins, witchcraft
Attributes: staff,clover,church, snakes
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| St Patrick of Ireland |
Two authentic letters from him survive, from which come the only generally accepted details of his life. When he was about 16, he was captured from his home and taken as a slave to Ireland, where he lived for six years before escaping and returning to his family. After becoming a cleric, he returned to northern and western Ireland as an ordained bishop, but little is known about the places where he worked. By the seventh century, he had already come to be revered as the patron saint of Ireland.
Most available details of his life are from subsequent hagiographies, and these are now not accepted without detailed criticism. The Annals of Ulster state that he arrived in Ireland in 432, ministered in Ulster around 443, and died in 457 or 461. The text, however, distinguishes between "Old Patrick" (thought to mean Palladius) and "Patrick, archapostle of the Scots," who died in 492. The actual dates of Patrick's life cannot be fixed with certainty but, on a widespread interpretation, he was active as a missionary in Ireland during the second half of the 5th century. He is generally credited with being the first bishop of Armagh, Primate of All Ireland.
Saint Patrick's Day is observed on March 17, the date of his death. It is celebrated both inside and outside Ireland, as both a religious and, especially outside Ireland, secular holiday. In the dioceses of Ireland, it is both a solemnity and a holy day of obligation; outside Ireland, it can be a celebration of Ireland itself.
Background
Most modern scholars of Saint Patrick follow a variant of T. F. O'Rahilly's "Two Patricks" theory. That is to say, many of the traditions later attached to Saint Patrick actually concerned Palladius, who Prosper of Aquitaine's Chronicle says was sent by Pope Celestine I as the first bishop to Irish Christians in 431. Palladius was not the only early cleric in Ireland at this time. The Irish-born Saint Ciaran Saighir the Elder lived in the later fourth century (352–402 AD) and was the first bishop of Ossory. Ciaran the Elder along with Saints Auxilius, Secundinus and Iserninus are also associated with early churches in Munster and Leinster. By this reading, Palladius was active in Ireland until the 460s.Prosper associates Palladius' appointment with the visits of Germanus of Auxerre to Britain to suppress the Pelagian heresy and it has been suggested that Palladius and his colleagues were sent to Ireland to ensure that exiled Pelagians did not establish themselves among the Irish Christians. The appointment of Palladius and his fellow-bishops was not obviously a mission to convert the Irish, but more probably intended to minister to existing Christian communities in Ireland.[15] The sites of churches associated with Palladius and his colleagues are close to royal centres of the period: Secundus is remembered by Dunshaughlin, County Meath, close to the Hill of Tara which is associated with the High King of Ireland; Killashee, County Kildare, close to Naas with links with the Kings of Leinster, is probably named for Auxilius. This activity was limited to the southern half of Ireland, and there is no evidence for them in Ulster or Connacht.
Although the evidence for contacts with Gaul is clear, the borrowings from Latin into the Old Irish language show that links with Roman Britain were many. Saint Iserninus, who appears to be of the generation of Palladius, is thought to have been a Briton, and is associated with the lands of the Uí Cheinnselaig in Leinster. The Palladian mission should not be contrasted with later "British" missions, but forms a part of them; nor can the work of Palladius be uncritically equated with that of Saint Patrick, as was once traditional.
Saint Patrick's own words
Slemish, County Antrim, where Saint Patrick is said to have worked as a shepherd while a slave.
St. Patrick was born in Roman Britain at Banna Venta Berniae, a location otherwise unknown, though identified in one tradition as Glannoventa, modern Ravenglass in Cumbria. Calpornius, his father, was a deacon, his grandfather Potitus, a priest. When he was about sixteen, he was captured and carried off as a slave to Ireland. Patrick worked as a herdsman, remaining a captive for six years. He writes that his faith grew in captivity, and that he prayed daily. After six years he heard a voice telling him that he would soon go home, and then that his ship was ready. Fleeing his master, he travelled to a port, two hundred miles away, where he found a ship and, after various adventures, returned home to his family, now in his early twenties.
Patrick recounts that he had a vision a few years after returning home:
I saw a man coming, as it were from Ireland. His name was Victoricus, and he carried many letters, and he gave me one of them. I read the heading: "The Voice of the Irish". As I began the letter, I imagined in that moment that I heard the voice of those very people who were near the wood of Foclut, which is beside the western sea—and they cried out, as with one voice: "We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us."A. B. E. Hood suggests that the Victoricus of St. Patrick's vision may be identified with Saint Victricius, bishop of Rouen in the late fourth century, who had visited Britain in an official capacity in 396.
Much of the Declaration concerns charges made against St. Patrick by his fellow Christians at a trial. What these charges were, he does not say explicitly, but he writes that he returned the gifts which wealthy women gave him, did not accept payment for baptisms, nor for ordaining priests, and indeed paid for many gifts to kings and judges, and paid for the sons of chiefs to accompany him. It is concluded, therefore, that he was accused of some sort of financial impropriety, and perhaps of having obtained his bishopric in Ireland with personal gain in mind.
From this same evidence, something can be seen of St. Patrick's mission. He writes that he "baptised thousands of people". He ordained priests to lead the new Christian communities. He converted wealthy women, some of whom became nuns in the face of family opposition. He also dealt with the sons of kings, converting them too.
St. Patrick's position as a foreigner in Ireland was not an easy one. His refusal to accept gifts from kings placed him outside the normal ties of kinship, fosterage and affinity. Legally he was without protection, and he says that he was on one occasion beaten, robbed of all he had, and put in chains, perhaps awaiting execution.
Murchiú's life of Saint Patrick contains a supposed prophecy by the druids which gives an impression of how Patrick and other Christian missionaries were seen by those hostile to them:
- Across the sea will come Adze-head, crazed in the head,
his cloak with hole for the head, his stick bent in the head.
He will chant impieties from a table in the front of his house;
all his people will answer: "so be it, so be it."
Death
According to the latest reconstruction of the old Irish annals, Patrick died in AD 460 on March 17, a date accepted by some modern historians. Prior to the 1940s it was believed without doubt that he died in 420 and thus had lived in the first half of the fifth century.[45] A lecture entitled "The Two Patricks", published in 1942 by T. F. O'Rahilly, caused enormous controversy by proposing that there had been two "Patricks", Palladius and Patrick, and that what we now know of St. Patrick was in fact in part a conscious effort to blend the two into one hagiographic personality. Decades of contention eventually ended with most historians[who?] now asserting that Patrick was indeed most likely to have been active in the latter half of the fifth century.[46]While Patrick's own writings contain no dates, they do contain information which can be used to date them. Patrick's quotations from the Acts of the Apostles follow the Vulgate, strongly suggesting that his ecclesiastical conversion did not take place before the early fifth century. Patrick also refers to the Franks as being pagans. Their conversion is dated to the period 496–508.
There is plentiful evidence for a medieval tradition that Patrick had died in 493. An addition to the Annals of Ulster states that in the year 553 (approximately two hundred and fifty years before the addition was made):
I have found this in the Book of Cuanu: The relics of Patrick were placed sixty years after his death in a shrine by Colum Cille. Three splendid halidoms were found in the burial-place: his goblet, the Angel's Gospel, and the Bell of the Testament. This is how the angel distributed the halidoms: the goblet to Dún, the Bell of the Testament to Ard Macha, and the Angel's Gospel to Colum Cille himself. The reason it is called the Angel's Gospel is that Colum Cille received it from the hand of the angel.
The reputed burial place of St. Patrick in Downpatrick
This tradition is also seen in an annalistic reference to the death of a saint termed Patrick's disciple, Mochta, who is said to have died in 535. According to the Annals of the Four Masters, an early-modern compilation of earlier annals, his corpse soon became an object of conflict in the Battle for the Body of St. Patrick.
Seventh-century writings
An early document which is silent concerning Patrick is the letter of Columbanus to Pope Boniface IV of about 613. Columbanus writes that Ireland's Christianity "was first handed to us by you, the successors of the holy apostles", apparently referring to Palladius only, and ignoring Patrick. Writing on the Easter controversy in 632 or 633, Cummian—it is uncertain whether this is the Cummian associated with Clonfert or Cumméne of Iona—does refer to Patrick, calling him our papa, that is pope or primate.Two works by late seventh-century hagiographers of Patrick have survived. These are the writings of Tírechán, and Vita sancti Patricii of Muirchu moccu Machtheni. Both writers relied upon an earlier work, now lost, the Book of Ultán. This Ultán, probably the same person as Ultan of Ardbraccan, was Tírechán's foster-father. His obituary is given in the Annals of Ulster under the year 657. These works thus date from a century and a half after Patrick's death.
Tírechán writes
"I found four names for Patrick written in the book of Ultán, bishop of the tribe of Conchobar: holy Magonus (that is, "famous"); Succetus (that is, the god of war); Patricius (that is, father of the citizens); Cothirtiacus (because he served four houses of druids)."Muirchu records much the same information, adding that "[h]is mother was named Concessa." The name Cothirtiacus, however, is simply the Latinized form of Old Irish Cothraige, which is the Q-Celtic form of Latin Patricius.
The Patrick portrayed by Tírechán and Muirchu is a martial figure, who contests with druids, overthrows pagan idols, and curses kings and kingdoms. On occasion, their accounts contradict Patrick's own writings: Tírechán states that Patrick accepted gifts from female converts although Patrick himself flatly denies this. However, the emphasis Tírechán and Muirchu placed on female converts, and in particular royal and noble women who became nuns, is thought to be a genuine insight into Patrick's work of conversion. Patrick also worked with the unfree and the poor, encouraging them to vows of monastic chastity. Tírechán's account suggests that many early Patrician churches were combined with nunneries founded by Patrick's noble female converts.
The martial Patrick found in Tírechán and Muirchu, and in later accounts, echoes similar figures found during the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity. It may be doubted whether such accounts are an accurate representation of Patrick's time, although such violent events may well have occurred as Christians gained in strength and numbers.
Much of the detail supplied by Tírechán and Muirchu, in particular the churches established by Patrick, and the monasteries founded by his converts, may relate to the situation in the seventh century, when the churches which claimed ties to Patrick, and in particular Armagh, were expanding their influence throughout Ireland in competition with the church of Kildare. In the same period, Wilfred, Archbishop of York, claimed to speak, as metropolitan archbishop, "for all the northern part of Britain and of Ireland" at a council held in Rome in the time of Pope Agatho, thus claiming jurisdiction over the Irish church.
Other presumed early materials include the Irish annals, which contain records from the Chronicle of Ireland. These sources have conflated Palladius and Patrick. Another early document is the so-called First Synod of Saint Patrick. This is a seventh-century document, once, but no longer, taken as to contain a 5th century original text. It apparently collects the results of several early synods, and represents an era when pagans were still a major force in Ireland. The introduction attributes it to Patrick, Auxilius, and Iserninus, a claim which "cannot be taken at face value."
Symbols and legends
St. Patrick uses shamrock in an illustrative parable
St. Patrick depicted with shamrock in detail of stained glass window in St. Benin's Church, Kilbennan, County Galway, Ireland
The shamrock had been seen as sacred in the pre-Christian days in Ireland. Due to its green color and overall shape, many viewed it as representing rebirth and eternal life. Three was a sacred number in the pagan religion and there were a number of "Triple Goddesses" in ancient Ireland, including Brigid, Ériu, and the Morrigan.
St. Patrick banishes all snakes from Ireland
The absence of snakes in Ireland gave rise to the legend that they had all been banished by St. Patrick. chasing them into the sea after they attacked him during a 40-day fast he was undertaking on top of a hill. This hagiographic theme draws on the mythography of the staff of the prophet Moses. In Exodus 7:8–7:13 , Moses and Aaron use their staffs in their struggle with Pharaoh's sorcerers, the staffs of each side morphing into snakes. Aaron's snake-staff prevails by consuming the other snakes.However, all evidence suggests that post-glacial Ireland never had snakes, as on insular "New Zealand, Iceland, Greenland and Antarctica... So far, no serpent has successfully migrated across the open ocean to a new terrestrial home" such as from Scotland at one point only eight miles from Ireland, where a few native species have lived, "the venomous adder, the grass snake, and the smooth snake", as National Geographic notes, and although sea snake species separately exist. "At no time has there ever been any suggestion of snakes in Ireland, so [there was] nothing for St. Patrick to banish", says naturalist Nigel Monaghan, keeper of natural history at the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin, who has searched extensively through Irish fossil collections and records.
The only biological candidate species for appearing like a native snake in Ireland is the slow worm, actually a legless lizard, a non-native species more recently found in The Burren region of County Clare as recorded since the early 1970s, as noted by the National Parks and Wildlife Service of Ireland, which suspects it was deliberately introduced in the 1960s. So far, the slow worm's territory in the wild has not spread beyond the Burren's limestone region which is rich in wildlife.
One suggestion, by fiction author Betty Rhodes, is that "snakes" referred to the serpent symbolism of the Druids during that time and place, as evinced on coins minted in Gaul. Chris Weigant connects "big tattoos of snakes" on Druids' arms as "Irish schoolchildren are taught" with the way in which, in the legend of St. Patrick banishing snakes; the "story goes to the core of Patrick's sainthood and his core mission in Ireland."
St. Patrick's crosses
Traditional St. Patrick's Day badges from the early 20th century, from the Museum of Country Life, Castlebar.
The cross pattée has long been associated with St. Patrick, for reasons that are uncertain. One possible reason is that bishops' mitres in Ecclesiastical heraldry often appear surmounted by a cross pattée. An example of this can be seen on the old crest of the Brothers of St. Patrick. As St. Patrick was the founding bishop of the Irish church, the symbol may have become associated with him. St. Patrick is traditionally portrayed in the vestments of a bishop, and his mitre and garments are often decorated with a cross pattée.
The cross pattée retains its link to St. Patrick to the present day. For example,it appears on the coat of arms of both the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Armagh and the Church of Ireland Archdiocese of Armagh. This is on account of St. Patrick being regarded as the first bishop of the Diocese of Armagh. It is also used by Down District Council which has its headquarters in Downpatrick, the reputed burial place at St. Patrick.
Saint Patrick's Saltire is a red saltire on a white field. It is used in the insignia of the Order of Saint Patrick, established in 1783, and after the Acts of Union 1800 it was combined with the Saint George's Cross of England and the Saint Andrew's Cross of Scotland to form the Union Flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. A saltire was intermittently used as a symbol of Ireland from the seventeenth century, but without reference to Saint Patrick.
It was formerly a common custom to wear a cross made of paper or ribbon on St Patrick's Day. Surviving examples of such badges come in many colours and they were worn upright rather than as saltires.
Thomas Dinely, an English traveller in Ireland in 1681, remarked that "the Irish of all stations and condicõns were crosses in their hatts, some of pins, some of green ribbon." Jonathan Swift, writing to "Stella" of Saint Patrick's Day 1713, said "the Mall was so full of crosses that I thought all the world was Irish". In the 1740s, the badges pinned were multicoloured interlaced fabric. In the 1820s, they were only worn by children, with simple multicoloured daisy patterns. In the 1890s, they were almost extinct, and a simple green Greek cross inscribed in a circle of paper (similar to the Ballina crest pictured). The Irish Times in 1935 reported they were still sold in poorer parts of Dublin, but fewer than those of previous years "some in velvet or embroidered silk or poplin, with the gold paper cross entwined with shamrocks and ribbons".
St. Patrick's walking stick grows into a living tree
Some Irish legends involve the Oilliphéist, the Caoránach, and the Copóg Phádraig. During his evangelising journey back to Ireland from his parent's home at Birdoswald, he is understood to have carried with him an ash wood walking stick or staff. He thrust this stick into the ground wherever he was evangelising and at the place now known as Aspatria (ash of Patrick) the message of the dogma took so long to get through to the people there that the stick had taken root by the time he was ready to move on.St. Patrick speaks with ancient Irish ancestors
The 12th century work Acallam na Senórach tells of Patrick being met by two ancient warriors, Caílte mac Rónáin and Oisín, during his evangelical travels. The two were once members of Fionn mac Cumhaill's warrior band the Fianna, and somehow survived to Patrick's time. In the work St. Patrick seeks to convert the warriors to Christianity, while they defend their pagan past. The heroic pagan lifestyle of the warriors, of fighting and feasting and living close to nature, is contrasted with the more peaceful, but unheroic and non-sensual life offered by Christianity.Saint Patrick's Bell
The Shrine of St. Patrick's Bell
The name Angels Gospel is given to the book because it was supposed that Colum Cille received it from the angel's hand. A stir was caused in 1044 when two kings, in some dispute over the bell, went on spates of prisoner taking and cattle theft. The annals make one more apparent reference to the bell when chronicling a death, of 1356, "Solomon Ua Mellain, The Keeper of The Bell of the Testament, protector, rested in Christ."
The bell was encased in a "bell shrine", a distinctive Irish type of reliquary made for it, as an inscription records, by King Domnall Ua Lochlainn sometime between 1091 and 1105. The shrine is an important example of the final, Viking-influenced, style of Irish Celtic art, with intricate Urnes style decoration in gold and silver. The Gaelic inscription on the shrine also records the name of the maker "U INMAINEN" (which translates to "Noonan"), "who with his sons enriched/decorated it"; metalwork was often inscribed for remembrance.
The bell itself is simple in design, hammered into shape with a small handle fixed to the top with rivets. Originally forged from iron, it has since been coated in bronze. The shrine is inscribed with three names, including King Domnall Ua Lochlainn's. The rear of the shrine, not intended to be seen, is decorated with crosses while the handle is decorated with, among other work, Celtic designs of birds. The bell is accredited with working a miracle in 1044 and having been coated in bronze to shield it from human eyes, for which it would be too holy. It measures 12.5 × 10 cm at the base, 12.8 × 4 cm at the shoulder, 16.5 cm from base to shoulder, 3.3 cm from shoulder to top of handle and weighs 1.7 kg.
St. Patrick and Irish Identity
St. Patrick features in many stories in the Irish oral tradition and there are many customs connected with his feast day. The folklorist Jenny Butler discusses how these traditions have been given new layers of meaning over time while also becoming tied to Irish identity both in Ireland and abroad. The symbolic resonance of the St. Patrick figure is complex and multifaceted, stretching from that of Christianity’s arrival in Ireland to an identity that encompasses everything Irish. In some portrayals, the saint is symbolically synonymous with the Christian religion itself. There is also evidence of a combination of indigenous religious traditions with that of Christianity, which places St Patrick in the wider framework of cultural hybridity. Popular religious expression has this characteristic feature of merging elements of culture. Later in time, the saint becomes associated specifically with Catholic Ireland and synonymously with Irish national identity. Subsequently, St. Patrick is a patriotic symbol along with the colour green and the shamrock. St. Patrick's Day celebrations include many traditions that are known to be relatively recent historically, but have endured through time because of their association either with religious or national identity. They have persisted in such a way that they have become stalwart traditions, viewed as the strongest "Irish traditions".Sainthood and modern remembrance
The neo-gothic St Patrick's Cathedral in New York City, as seen from Rockefeller Center.
For most of Christianity's first thousand years, canonisations were done on the diocesan or regional level. Relatively soon after the death of people considered very holy, the local Church affirmed that they could be liturgically celebrated as saints. As a result, St. Patrick has never been formally canonised by a Pope; nevertheless, various Christian churches declare that he is a Saint in Heaven (he is in the List of Saints). He is still widely venerated in Ireland and elsewhere today.
St. Patrick is honored with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA) and with a commemoration on the calendar of Evangelical Lutheran Worship, both on March 17. St. Patrick is also venerated in the Orthodox Church, especially among English-speaking Orthodox Christians living in Ireland, the UK and in the USA. There are Orthodox icons dedicated to him.
St. Patrick is said to be buried at Down Cathedral in Downpatrick, County Down, alongside St. Brigid and St. Columba, although this has never been proven. Saint Patrick Visitor Centre is a modern exhibition complex located in Downpatrick and is a permanent interpretative exhibition centre featuring interactive displays on the life and story of Saint Patrick. It provides the only permanent exhibition centre in the world devoted to Saint Patrick.
References
- Brown, Peter (2003). The rise of Western Christendom : triumph and diversity, A.D. 200-1000 (2nd ed.). Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-22138-7
- Bury, John Bagnell (1905). Life of St. Patrick and his Place in History. London
- Byrne, Francis J. (1973). Irish Kings and High-Kings. London: Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-5882-8
- Cahill, Thomas (1995). How the Irish Saved Civilization. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-41849-3
- Charles-Edwards, T. M. (2000). Early Christian Ireland. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-36395-0
- Dark, Ken (2000). Britain and the end of the Roman Empire. Stroud: Tempus. ISBN 0-7524-2532-3
- De Paor, Liam (1993). Saint Patrick's World: The Christian Culture of Ireland's Apostolic Age. Dublin: Four Courts Press. ISBN 1-85182-144-9
- Duffy, Seán,, ed. (1997). Atlas of Irish History. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan. ISBN 0-7171-3093-2
- Dumville, David (1994). "The Death date of St. Patrick"". In Howlett, David. The Book of Letters of Saint Patrick the Bishop. Dublin: Four Courts Press. ISBN 1-85182-136-8
- Fletcher, Richard (1997). The Conversion of Europe: From Paganism to Christianity 371–1386 AD. London: Harper Collins. ISBN 0-00-686302-7
- Hood, A. B. E (1978). St. Patrick: his Writings, and Muirchú's Life. London and Chichester: Phillimore. ISBN 0-85033-299-0
- Hughes, Kathleen (1972). Early Christian Ireland: Introduction to the Sources. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-16145-0
- Iannello, Fausto (2008). "Note storiche sull'Epistola ad Milites Corotici di San Patrizio". Atti della Accademia Peloritana dei Pericolanti, classe di Lettere, Filosofia e Belle Arti 84: 275–285
- Moran, Patrick Francis Cardinal (1913). "St. Patrick". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- McCaffrey, Carmel (2003). In Search of Ancient Ireland. Chicago: Ivan R Dee. ISBN 978-1-56663-525-7
- MacQuarrie, Alan (1997). The Saints of Scotland: Essays in Scottish Church History AD 450–1093. Edinburgh: John Donald. ISBN 0-85976-446-X
- Ó Cróinín, Dáibhí (1995). Early Medieval Ireland: 400–1200. London: Longman. ISBN 0-582-01565-0
- O'Loughlin, Thomas (1999). Saint Patrick: The Man and his Works. London: S.P.C.K.
- O'Loughlin, Thomas (2000). Celtic Theology. London: Continuum
- O'Loughlin, Thomas (2005). Discovering Saint Patrick. New York: Orbis
- O'Loughlin, Thomas (2005). The Capitula of Muirchu's Vita Patricii: do they point to an underlying structure in the text?. . Analecta Bollandiana 123: 79–89
- O'Loughlin, Thomas (2007). Nagy, J. F.. ed. The myth of Insularity and nationality in Ireland. Dublin: Four Courts Press. pp. 132–140
- O'Rahilly, T. F. (1942). The Two Patricks: A Lecture on the History of Christianity in Fifth-Century Ireland. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
- Stancliffe, Claire (2004). "Patrick (fl. 5th cent.)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/21562. Retrieved 2007-02-17.
- Thomas, Charles (1981). Christianity in Roman Britain to AD 500. London: Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-1442-1
- Thompson, E. A.; G. B. Caird, Henry Chadwick (ed.) (1980). "St. Patrick and Coroticus". The Journal of Theological Studies 31: 12–27. doi:10.1093/jts/XXXI.1.12.
- Wood, Ian (2001). The Missionary Life: Saints and the Evangelisation of Europe 400-1050. London: Longman. ISBN 0-582-31213-2
- Yorke, Barbara (2006). The Conversion of Britain: Religion, Politics and Society in Britain c.600–800. London: Longman. ISBN 0-582-77292-3
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Today's Snippet I: Glastonburg Abbey
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| Glastonbury Abbey, Somerset England |
Glastonbury Abbey was a monastery in Glastonbury, Somerset, England. The ruins are now a grade I listed building, and a Scheduled Ancient Monument and are open as a visitor attraction.
The abbey was founded in the 7th century and enlarged in the 10th, before a major fire in 1184 destroyed the buildings. It was rebuilt and by the 14th century was one of the richest and most powerful monasteries in England. The abbey also controlled large tracts of surrounding land and was instrumental in major drainage projects on the Somerset Levels. The abbey was suppressed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under King Henry VIII of England and the last Abbot Richard Whiting (Whyting) was hung, drawn and quartered as a traitor on Glastonbury Tor in 1539.
From at least the 12th century the Glastonbury area was frequently associated with the legend of King Arthur, a connection promoted by medieval monks who asserted that Glastonbury was Avalon. Christian legends have also claimed that the abbey was founded by Joseph of Arimathea
in the 1st century.
History
Suggestions that Glastonbury may have been a site of religious importance in Celtic or pre-Celtic times are referred to as dubious by the historian Ronald Hutton. In 1955 Ralegh Radford's excavations uncovered Romano-British pottery at the west end of the nave.[2] The abbey itself was founded by Britons, and it dates at least to the early 7th century. Later medieval Christian legend claimed that the abbey was founded by Joseph of Arimathea in the 1st century. This fanciful legend is intimately tied to Robert de Boron's version of the Holy Grail story and to Glastonbury's connection to King Arthur, which dates at least to the early 12th century.Glastonbury fell into Saxon hands after the Battle of Peonnum in 658. The Saxons under Cenwalh of Wessex conquered Somerset as far west as the River Parrett, perhaps with the intention of gaining control of the valuable abbey. However, Cenwalh allowed the British abbot, Bregored, to stay in power, a move perhaps intended as a show of good faith to the defeated Britons. After Bregored's death in 669, he was replaced by the Anglo-Saxon Berhtwald, but British monks remained for many years.
Saxon era
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| One of the earliest surviving manuscripts, now at the Bodleian Library, telling that Dunstan the abbot gave orders for the writing of this book. |
The first Glastonbury Canal was built about the middle of the 10th century to link the River Brue with Glastonbury Abbey, a distance of about 1.75 kilometres (1,900 yd). Its initial purpose is believed to be the transport of building stone for the abbey, but later it was used for delivering produce, including grain, wine and fish, from the abbey's outlying properties. Much of the stone came from the abbey's own quarries at Doulting, allowing access by way of the River Sheppey at Pilton. From the 11th century onwards Glastonbury Abbey became the centre of a large water-borne transport network as further canalisations and new channels were made in the region, including the diversion of the Brue to afford access to the important estate at Meare and an easier route to the Bristol Channel. In the 13th century the abbey's head boatman is recorded as using the waterways to take the abbot in an eight-oared boat on visits to the abbey's manors in the area.
Medieval era
Norman conquest
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| Photochrom image taken around 1900, showing the unrestored interior of the Lady Chapel |
Early drainage work on the Somerset Levels was carried out in the later years of the 12th century, with the responsibility for maintaining all the watercourses between Glastonbury and the sea being placed on named individuals among whom were Ralph de Sancta Barbara of Brentmarsh. In 1129, the Abbot of Glastonbury was recorded as inspecting enclosed land at Lympsham. Efforts to control flooding on the Parrett were recorded around the same date. In 1234, 722 acres (2.9 km2) were reclaimed near Westonzoyland and, from the accounts in the abbey's rent books, this had increased to 972 acres (393 ha) by 1240. In the 14th century a Fish House was built at Meare for the chief fisherman of the Abbot of Glastonbury that was also used for salting and preparing fish. It is the only surviving monastic fishery building in England. At the time of the Dissolution in 1540, Meare Pool was said to contain a great abundance of pike, tench, roach and eels. In 1638 it was owned by William Freake, who described it as "lately a fish pool". The importance of this industry is illustrated by a series of acrimonious disputes between Glastonbury and the Dean and Chapter of Wells Cathedral. The Abbey required fish on Fridays, fast days and during Lent. As many as 5000 eels were landed in a typical year.
King Arthur's tomb
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| Purported site of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere's tomb beneath the high altar |
If pilgrim visits had fallen, the discovery of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere's tomb in the cemetery in 1191 provided fresh impetus for visiting Glastonbury. A contemporaneous, though not an eyewitness account was given by Giraldus Cambrensis in his De principis instructione ("Instruction of a Prince," ca. 1193) and recollected in his Speculum Ecclesiae, ca. 1216 according to which the abbot, Henry de Sully, commissioned a search, discovering at the depth of 16 feet (5 m) a massive hollowed oak trunk containing two skeletons. Above it, under the covering stone, according to Giraldus, was a leaden cross with the unmistakably specific inscription Hic jacet sepultus inclitus rex Arthurus in insula Avalonia ("Here lies interred the famous King Arthur on the Isle of Avalon").
According to Geraldus, the digging for the tomb was prompted by the intelligence obtained by Henry II from an aged British (Welsh) bard (Latin: historico cantore Britone audierat antiquo). On the other hand, Ralph of Coggeshall writing somewhat later, states more prosaically that they came upon the older tomb by chance while removing the earth to bury a certain monk who had expressed strong desire to be buried there. Both Giraldus and Ralph say that the spot lay in between two pyramids in the abbey. William of Malmesbury does not refer to Arthur's tomb but elaborates on the pyramids of varying height, upon which were statues with inscriptions "Her Sexi, and Bliserh... Pencrest, Bantomp, Pinepegn, etc."
Annexation to Bath and Wells
Five years later, in 1197, Savaric FitzGeldewin, Bishop of Bath and Wells, traded the city of Bath to the king in return for the monastery of Glastonbury. Savaric secured the support of Pope Celestine III for the takeover the abbey as the seat of his bishopric, replacing Bath. The plan was that Savaric would be bishop of Bath as well as abbot of Glastonbury. In his support, Savaric obtained letters from various ecclesiastics, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, Hubert Walter, that claimed that this arrangement would settle longstanding disputes between the abbey and the bishops. The monks of Glastonbury objected to Savaric's plan, and sent an appeal to Rome, which was dismissed in 1196. But King Richard, no longer imprisoned in Germany, sided with the monks, and allowed them to elect an abbot, William Pica, in place of Savaric, who responded by excommunicating the new abbot. With the succession of John as king in place of his brother Richard in 1199, Savaric managed to force his way into the monastery and set up his episcopal see within the abbey. The monks appealed to Innocent III, the new pope.At first, Innocent took the side of the monks, and lifted Pica's excommunication. While the newest appeal was taking place, Pica and a number of his supporters, who had travelled to Rome to appeal in person, died in Rome in 1200, and some of the monks alleged this was by poison administered on the orders of Savaric. Meanwhile, Innocent had changed his mind, and reinstalled Savaric as abbot, ordering some English clergy to judge the specifics of the case, and allot the revenues of the abbey between Savaric and the monks. Savaric then attempted to secure more control over other monasteries in his diocese, but died before he could set the plans in motion.
The bishops continued to use the title Bishop of Bath and Glastonbury until finally renouncing their claim to Glastonbury in 1219. Services in the reconsecrated Great Church had begun on Christmas Day, 1213, most likely before it was entirely completed. King Edward I and Queen Eleanor attended the magnificent service at the reburial of King Arthur's remains to the foot of the High Altar in 1278.
14th and 15th centuries
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| The Abbot's Kitchen |
The George Hotel and Pilgrims' Inn was built in the late 15th century to accommodate visitors to the Abbey. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building. The abbey also held lands outside the town serving large parts of Somerset and including parts of neighbouring counties. Tithe barns were built to hold the crops due to the abbey including those at Doulting and Pilton.
Dissolution of the Monasteries
At the start of the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536, there were over 800 monasteries, nunneries and friaries in England. By 1541, there were none. More than 15,000 monks and nuns had been dispersed and the buildings had been seized by the Crown to be sold off or leased to new lay occupiers. Glastonbury Abbey was reviewed as having significant amounts of silver and gold as well as its attached lands. In September 1539, the Abbey was visited by Richard Layton, Richard Pollard and Thomas Moyle, who arrived there without warning on the orders of Thomas Cromwell. The abbey was stripped of its valuables and Abbot Richard Whiting (Whyting), who had been a signatory to the Act of Supremacy that made Henry VIII the head of the church, resisted and was hanged, drawn and quartered as a traitor on Glastonbury Tor on 15 November 1539.Decline
After the Dissolution, two of the Abbey's manors in Wiltshire were sold by the Crown to John Thynne and thereafter descended in his family, who much later became Marquesses of Bath. The Thynnes have preserved many of the Abbey's Wiltshire records at Longleat up to the present day. The ruins of the abbey itself was stripped of lead and dressed stones hauled away to be used in other buildings. The site was granted by Edward VI to Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset who established a colony of Protestant Dutch weavers on the site. When Seymour was Attaindered in 1551 the abbey site reverted to the crown, however the weavers remained until the reign of Queen Mary. In 1559 Elizabeth I granted the site to Peter Carew and it remained in private ownership until the beginning of the 20th century. Further stones were removed in the 17th century, so that by the beginning of the 18th century it was described as a ruin. The only building to survive intact is the Abbott's Kitchen which served as a Quaker meeting house. Early in the 19th century gunpowder was used to dislodge further stones and the site became a quarry. The Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882 stopped further damage to the site and lead to the first historical and archaeological surveys.Modern history
The ruins of Glastonbury Abbey were purchased by the Bath and Wells Diocesan Trust in 1908. The ruins are therefore now the property of the Church of England. On acquiring the site the Church appointed Frederick Bligh Bond to direct an archaeological investigation. He was dismissed by Bishop Armitage Robinson in 1921, because of his use of seances and psychic archaeology.A pilgrimage to the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey was held by a few local churches in 1924. Pilgrimages continue today to be held; in the second half of June for the Anglicans and early in July for the Catholics and they attract visitors from all over Western Europe. Services are celebrated in the Anglican, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions. The abbey site is visited by over 100,000 a year.
Architecture
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| Lady Chapel interior |
The Abbots Kitchen is described as "one of the best preserved medieval kitchens in Europe". The 14th century octagonal building is supported by curved buttresses on each side leading up to a cornice with grotesque gargoyles. Inside are four large arched fireplaces with smoke outlets above them, with another outlet in the centre of the pyramidal roof. The kitchen was attached to the 80 feet (24 m) high abbot's hall, although only one small section of its wall remains.
Work is still underway to analyse the results from excavations during the 20th century, and a new geophysical survey, which may help to specify exactly the size of different buildings and where they were situated. Early work has identified a Saxon enclosure ditch and, potentially the earliest cloister in Britain.
Library
The Abbey library was described by John Leland, King Henry VIII's antiquary who visited it, as containing unique copies of ancient histories of England and unique early Christian documents. It seems to have been affected by the fire of 1184, but still housed a remarkable collection until 1539 when it was dispersed at the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Around 40 of the manuscripts from Glastonbury are known to have survived after the dissolution.Abbey Retreat House
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| Retreat House |
The Tudor Gothic house was built between 1829 and 1830 by John Buckler, from the stones of the Abbey ruins for John Fry Reeves. It was altered and extended between 1850 and 1860 with further alterations in 1957.
Glastonbury Thorn
A specimen of Common Hawthorn found at Glastonbury, first mentioned in an early sixteenth century anonymous metrical Lyfe of Joseph of Arimathea, was unusual in that it flowered twice in a year, once as normal on "old wood" in spring, and once on "new wood" (the current season's matured new growth) in the winter.This tree has been widely propagated by grafting or cuttings, with the cultivar name 'Biflora' or 'Praecox'. The custom of sending a budded branch of the Glastonbury thorn to the Queen at Christmas was initiated by James Montague, Bishop of Bath and Wells during James I's reign, who sent a branch to Queen Anne, King James I's consort. Trees survive from earlier grafts to perpetuate the Glastonbury legend, among them two other Holy Thorns in the grounds of St John’s. The blossom sent to the Queen now comes from one of these.References
- Abrams, Lesley; Carley, James P. (1991). The Archaeology and History of Glastonbury Abbey: Essays in Honour of the ninetieth birthday of C.A.Ralegh Radford. Boydell Press. ISBN 978-0-85115-284-4.
- Ashe, Geoffrey (1960). From Caesar to Arthur. Collins.
- Bond, Frederick Bligh (1920). An Architectural Handbook of Glastonbury Abbey with a Historical Chronicle of the Building. ISBN 978-1-4179-7776-5.
- Carley, James P. (1988). Glastonbury Abbey: The Holy House at the Head of the Moors Adventurous. Guild Publishing. ISBN 0-85115-460-3.
- Carley, James P.; Townsend, David (2009). Chronicle of Glastonbury Abbey An Edition, Translation and Study of John of Glastonbury's Cronica sive Antiquitates: An Edition, Translation and Study ... Sive Antiquatates Glastoniensis Ecclesie. Boydell Press. ISBN 978-0-85115-859-4.
- Carley, James P. (2001) (preview). Glastonbury Abbey and the Arthurian Tradition. D.S.Brewer. ISBN 978-0-85991-572-4.
- Crake, A.D. (1915). The Last Abbot of Glastonbury. A R Mowbray.
- Dowling, John (1845). The history of Romanism: from the earliest corruptions of Christianity to the present time:.
- Gasquet, Francis Aidan (1908). Last Abbot of Glastonbury and Other Essays. Kessinger Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-7661-6289-1.
- Harris, Kate (1992). Glastonbury Abbey Records at Longleat House: A Summary List. Somerset Record Society. ISBN 978-0-901732-29-3.
- Havinden, Michael (1981). The Somerset Landscape. The making of the English landscape. London: Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-20116-9.
- Hill, Rosemary (2009). Stonehenge. Profile Books. ISBN 978-1-86197-880-6.
- Hollinrake, Charles; Hollinrake, Nancy (2007). "Glastonbury's Canal and Dunstan's Dyke". In Blair, John. Waterways and Canal Building in Medieval England. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-921715-1.
- Knowles, David (2004). The Monastic Order in England: A History of its Development from the Times of St Dunstan to the Fourth Lateran Council 940–1216. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-54808-3.
- Knowles, David; Brooke, C. N. L. and London, Vera C. M. (2005). The Heads of Religious Houses England and Wales, I 940–1216. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-511-02872-4.
- Lance, Ron W.; O'Kennon,Robert J. and Phipps, James B. (2003). Hawthorns and Medlars (Royal Horticultural Society Plant Collector Guide). Timber Press. ISBN 978-0-88192-591-3.
- Rahtz, Philip; Lorna Watts (2003). Glastonbury: Myth and Archaeology. The History Press Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7524-2548-1.
- Rouse, Robert Allen; Rushton, Cory (2005). The Medieval Quest for Arthur. The History Press Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7524-3343-1.
- Searle, Muriel V. (2002). West Country History: Somerset. Bristol: Venton Publications. ISBN 1-84150-802-0.
- Williams, Michael (1970). Draining Somerset Levels. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-07486-X.
- Willis, Robert (1866). The architectural history of Glastonbury abbey. Deighton, Bell, and co.,.
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Today's Snippet II: Armagh, Ireland
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| Open-air market on Market Street |
Although classed as a medium-sized town,[3] Armagh was given city status in 1994 and Lord Mayoralty status in 2012, both by Queen Elizabeth II. Its population of 14,590 (2001 Census) makes it the least-populated city in both Northern Ireland and on the island of Ireland and the fourth smallest in the United Kingdom.
History
Foundation
Eamhain Mhacha (or Navan Fort), at the western edge of Armagh, is believed to have been used as an ancient pagan ritual or ceremonial site. According to Irish mythology it was once the capital of Ulster, until it was abandoned during the 1st century. The site was named after the goddess Macha, and as the settlement grew on the hills nearby, it was also named after the goddess — Ard Mhacha means "Macha's height". This name was later anglicised as Ardmagh, which eventually became Armagh.According to tradition, when Christianity spread to Ireland during the mid-400s, Armagh became the island's "ecclesiastical capital", as Saint Patrick established his principal church there. Saint Patrick was said to have decreed that only those educated in Armagh could spread the gospel. According to the Annals of the Four Masters, in the year 457:
Ard Mhacha was founded by Saint Patrick, it having been granted to him by Daire, son of Finnchadh, son of Eoghan, son of Niallan. Twelve men were appointed by him for building the town. He ordered them, in the first place, to erect an archbishop's city there, and a church for monks, for nuns, and for the other orders in general, for he perceived that it would be the head and chief of the churches of Ireland in general.
Medieval era
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| St. Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh (Church of Ireland) |
The Book of Armagh came from the monastery. It is a 9th century Irish manuscript now held by the Library of Trinity College, Dublin (ms 52). It contains some of the oldest surviving specimens of Old Irish.
Brian Boru is believed to be buried in the graveyard of the St. Patrick's Church of Ireland cathedral. After having conquered the island during the 990s, he became High King of Ireland in 1002, until his death in 1014.
In 1189, John de Courcy, a Norman knight who had invaded Ulster in 1177, plundered Armagh.[6]
Modern era
Armagh has been an educational centre since the time of Saint Patrick, and thus it has been referred to as "the city of saints and scholars". The educational tradition continued with the foundation of the Royal School in 1608 and the Armagh Observatory in 1790. This was part of the Archbishop's plan to have a university in the city. This ambition was finally fulfilled, albeit briefly, in the 1990s when Queen's University of Belfast opened an outreach centre in the former hospital building.Three brothers from Armagh died at the Battle of the Somme during World War I. None of the three has a known grave and all are commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme. A fourth brother was wounded in the same attack.
On 14 January 1921, during the Irish War of Independence, a Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) sergeant was assassinated by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in Armagh. He was attacked with a grenade as he walked along Market Street and later died of his wounds.[7] On 4 September 1921, republican leaders Michael Collins and Eoin O'Duffy addressed a large meeting in Armagh, which was attended by up to 10,000 people.[8]
Climate
Armagh has, like most of Ireland, a temperate maritime climate (Cfb) according to the Köppen climate classification system. The nearest Met Office standard weather station, at Armagh Observatory, provides long term weather data back to 1844. During that time, the highest temperature to be recorded was 30.3 °C (86.5 °F) on 10 July 1934.[9] The lowest temperature was −15.1 °C (4.8 °F) on 7 February 1895.[10] Typically, the warmest day of the year will reach 26.1 °C (79.0 °F),[11] and 3.7 days a year should attain a maximum temperature of 25.1 °C (77.2 °F) or above.[12] Typically the coldest night of the year should fall to −6.8 °C (19.8 °F)[13] and 40.4 nights should register an air frost.[14] All averages refer to the 1981-2010 observation period.Notable buildings
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| Armagh Observatory |
The Observatory is located close to the centre of the city of Armagh, adjacent to the Armagh Planetarium in approximately 14 acres (57,000 m2) of landscaped grounds known as the Armagh Astropark, and was founded in 1789 by Richard Robinson, Archbishop of Armagh.
Ernst Julius Öpik (grandfather of Lembit Öpik MP) was based here for over 30 years and among his many contributions to astrophysics he wrote of the dangers of an asteroid impacting on the Earth.
There are scale models of the Solar System and the Universe, two sundials and historic telescopes, as well as telescope domes and other outdoor exhibits. The Human Orrery, launched in 2004, is located close to the main Observatory building. The Observatory's specialist library and archives, and collections of scientific instruments and artefacts associated with the development of modern astronomy, represent one of the leading collections of its kind in the British Isles.
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| St. Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh (Roman Catholic) |
Armagh has a Georgian area of heritage importance. Perhaps one of the more well known of the buildings is the former women's prison.[16] The construction of Armagh Gaol began in 1780 and was extended in the 1840s and 1850s; the front façade of the prison being built in the Georgian style, while the later development, based on the design of Pentonville (HM Prison), is Victorian.[16] For most of its working life it was a women's prison although not exclusively so. Armagh Gaol was the primary women's prison in the north of Ireland. In 1986 the prison closed and its prisoners were transferred to the new prison at Maghaberry (HM Prison).[16]
The city is home to the Armagh Observatory, founded in 1790, and to the Armagh Planetarium, established in 1968 to complement the research work of the Observatory. The palace of the Archbishop of Armagh is now the local council offices and, along with the archbishop's private chapel, is open to the public. The Palace Stables heritage centre is a reconstructed stable block dating from the 1700s, which was once part of the Archbishop's estate.
Among the city's chief glories is the public library on Abbey Street. Founded in 1771 by Archbishop Richard Robinson (later Lord Rokeby), using his own library as its nucleus, it is especially rich in 17th and 18th century English books, including Dean Jonathan Swift's own copy of the first edition of his Gulliver's Travels with his manuscript corrections.
Armagh Market House was built in 1815 as a two-storey five-bay building, and is currently used as a library.
References
- ^ Ulster-Scots guide to Moira Station – Department of the Environment
- ^ North-South Ministerial Council: 2010 Annual Report in Ulster Scots
- ^ Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Information Service
- ^ Placenames Database of Ireland (see archival records)
- ^ Hill, George. The Fall of Irish Chiefs and Clans; The Conquest of Ireland. Irish Roots Cafe, 2004. p.114.
- ^ DeBreffny, D & Mott, G (1976). The Churches and Abbeys of Ireland. London: Thames & Hudson. pp. 60–61.
- ^ Dublin City University. Chronology of Irish History 1919 - 1923: January 1921
- ^ Dublin City University. Chronology of Irish History 1919 - 1923: September 1921
- ^ "Daily Maximum Temperatures". Retrieved 2011-09-22.
- ^ "Daily Minimum Temperatures". Retrieved 2011-09-22.
- ^ "Annual average warmest day". Retrieved 2011-09-22.
- ^ ">25c days". Retrieved 2011-09-22.
- ^ ">Annual average coldest night". Retrieved 2011-09-22.
- ^ ">Annual average frost incidence". Retrieved 2011-09-22.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Three Gaols: Images of Crumlin Road, Long Kesh and Armagh Prisons; Author: Robert Kerr. Publisher: MSF Press, [2011] ISBN 978-0-9568069-0-1
- ^ Armagh College of Further and Higher Education
- ^ Hajducki, S. Maxwell (1974). A Railway Atlas of Ireland. Newton Abbott: David & Charles. map 8. ISBN 0-7153-5167-2.
- ^ Hajducki, op. cit., page xiii
- ^ McCutcheon, Alan (1969). Ireland. Railway History in Pictures. 1. Newton Abbott: David & Charles. pp. 104, 105. ISBN 0-7153-4651-2.
- ^ Hajducki, op. cit., map 39
- ^ Baker, Michael H.C. (1972). Irish Railways since 1916. London: Ian Allan. pp. 153, 207. ISBN 7110 0282 7.
- ^ Ulster Place-name Society: Illustrations of townlands in maps
- ^ Placenames NI
Further Reading
- Biddle, M, Lambrick, G, and Myres, J. N. L. "The Early History of Abingdon, Berkshire and its Abbey" Medieval Archaeology xii 1968
- Stenton, F. M. Early History of the Abbey of Abingdon Oxford, 1913
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Today's Snippet III: Shamrock
The results show that there is no one "true" species of shamrock, but that Trifolium dubium (Lesser clover) is considered to be the shamrock by roughly half of Irish people, and Trifolium repens (White clover) by another third, with the remainder split between Trifolium pratense, Medicago lupulina, Oxalis acetosella and various other species of Trifolium and oxalis. None of the species in the survey are unique to Ireland, and all are common European species, so there is no botanical basis for the widespread belief that the shamrock is a unique species of plant that only grows in Ireland.
Early references
The word shamrock derives from seamair óg or young clover, and references to semair or clover appear in early Irish literature, generally as a description of a flowering clovered plain. For example, in the series of medieval metrical poems about various Irish places called the Metrical Dindshenchus, a poem about Tailtiu or Teltown in Co. Meath describes it as a plain blossoming with flowering clover ( mag scothach scothshemrach). Similarly, another story tells of how St. Brigid decided to stay in Co. Kildare when she saw the delightful plain covered in clover blossom (scoth-shemrach). However, the literature in Irish makes no distinction between clover and shamrock, and it is only in English that shamrock emerges as a distinct word.Writing soon after in 1596, was the English Elizabethan poet Edmund Spenser who described his observations of war-torn Munster after the Desmond Rebellion in his work A View of the Present State of Ireland. Here shamrock is described as a food eaten as a last resort by starving people desperate for any nourishment during a post-war famine: "Anatomies of death, they spake like ghosts, crying out of theire graves; they did eat of the carrions .... and if they found a plott of water cresses or shamrockes theyr they flocked as to a feast for the time, yett not able long to contynewe therewithall."
The idea that the Irish ate shamrock is repeated in the writing of Fynes Moryson, one-time secretary to the Lord Deputy of Ireland. In his 1617 work An itinerary thorow Twelve Dominions Moryson describes the 'wild Irish', and in this case their supposed habit of eating shamrock is a result of their marginal hand-to-mouth existence as bandits. Moryson claims that the Irish: "willingly eat the herbe Schamrock being of a sharpe taste which as they run and are chased to and fro they snatch like beasts out of the ditches." The reference to a sharp taste is suggestive of the bitter taste of wood sorrel.
What is clear is that by the end of the sixteenth century the shamrock had become known to English writers as a plant particularly associated with the Irish, but only with a confused notion that the shamrock was a plant eaten by them. To a herbalist like Gerard it is clear that the shamrock is clover, but other English writers do not appear to know the botanical identity of the shamrock. This is not surprising, as they probably received their information at second or third hand. It is notable that there is no mention anywhere in these writings of St. Patrick or the legend of his using the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity . However, there are two possible references to the custom of 'drowning the shamrock' in 'usquebagh' or whiskey. In 1607 the playwright Edward Sharpham in his play The Fleire included a reference to "Maister Oscabath the Irishman ... and Maister Shamrough his lackey". Later, a 1630 work entitled Sir Gregory Nonsence by the poet John Taylor contains the lines: "Whilste all the Hibernian Kernes in multitudes,/Did feast with shamerags steeved in Usquebagh."
Link to St. Patrick
|
| St. Benin's Church, Wicklow, Ireland |
The first written mention of the link does not appear until 1681, in the account of Thomas Dineley, an English traveller to Ireland. Dineley writes:
The 17th day of March yeerly is St Patricks, an immoveable feast, when ye Irish of all stations and condicions were crosses in their hatts, some of pinns, some of green ribbon, and the vulgar superstitiously wear shamroges, 3 leav'd grass, which they likewise eat (they say) to cause a sweet breath.
There is nothing in Dineley's account of the legend of St. Patrick using the shamrock to teach the mystery of the Holy Trinity, and this story does not appear in writing anywhere until a 1726 work by the botanist Caleb Threlkeld. Threlkeld identifies the shamrock as White Field Clover (Trifolium pratense album ) and comments rather acerbically on the custom of wearing the shamrock on St. Patrick's Day:
This plant is worn by the people in their hats upon the 17. Day of March yearly, (which is called St. Patrick's Day.) It being a current tradition, that by this Three Leafed Grass, he emblematically set forth to them the Mystery of the Holy Trinity. However that be, when they wet their Seamar-oge, they often commit excess in liquor, which is not a right keeping of a day to the Lord; error generally leading to debauchery.
The Rev Threlkeld's remarks on liquor undoubtedly refer to the custom of toasting St. Patrick's memory with 'St. Patrick's Pot', or 'drowning the shamrock' as it is otherwise known. After mass on St. Patrick's Day the traditional custom of the menfolk was to lift the usual fasting restrictions of Lent and repair to the nearest tavern to mark the occasion with as many St. Patrick's Pots as they deemed necessary. The drowning of the shamrock was accompanied by a certain amount of ritual as one account explains:
"The drowning of the shamrock" by no means implies it was necessary to get drunk in doing so. At the end of the day the shamrock which has been worn in the coat or the hat is removed and put into the final glass of grog or tumbler of punch; and when the health has been drunk or the toast honoured, the shamrock should be picked out from the bottom of the glass and thrown over the left shoulder.
The shamrock is still chiefly associated with Saint Patrick's Day which has become the Irish national holiday, and is observed with parades and celebrations worldwide. The custom of wearing shamrock on the day is still observed and depictions of shamrocks are habitually seen during the celebrations.
Symbol of Ireland
 |
| First Magherafelt Volunteers Medal |
Among the Volunteers, examples of the use of the shamrock include its appearance on the guidon of the Royal Glin Hussars formed in July 1779 by the Knight of Glin, and its appearance on the flags of the Limerick Volunteers, the Castle Ray Fencibles and the Braid Volunteers.[27][28] The United Irishmen adopted green as their revolutionary colour and wore green uniforms or ribbons in their hats, and the green concerned was often associated with the shamrock. The song The Wearing of the Green commemorated their exploits and various versions exist which mention the shamrock. The "Erin Go Bragh" (Ireland Forever) flag was used as their standard and was often depicted accompanied by shamrocks, and in 1799 a revolutionary journal entitled The Shamroc briefly appeared in which the aims of the rebellion were supported.
1801 Act of Union between Britain and Ireland
Since the 1801 Act of Union between Britain and Ireland the shamrock was incorporated into the Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom, depicted growing from a single stem alongside the rose of England, and the thistle of Scotland to symbolise the unity of the three kingdoms. Since then the shamrock has regularly appeared alongside the rose, thistle and (sometimes) leek for Wales in British coins such as the shilling and crown, and in stamps. The rose, thistle and shamrock motif also appears regularly on British public buildings such as Buckingham Palace.
Throughout the nineteenth century the popularity of the shamrock as a symbol of Ireland grew, and it was depicted in many illustrations on items such as book covers and St. Patrick's Day postcards. It was also mentioned in many songs and ballads of the time. For example a popular ballad called The Shamrock Shore lamented the state of Ireland in the nineteenth century. Another typical example of such a ballad appears in the works of Thomas Moore whose Oh the Shamrock embodies the Victorian spirit of sentimentality. It was immensely popular and contributed to raising the profile of the shamrock as an image of Ireland:
Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the shamrock continued to appear in a variety of settings. For example, the shamrock appeared on many buildings in Ireland as a decorative motif, such as on the facade of the Kildare Street Club building in Dublin, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh (Roman Catholic), and the Harp and Lion Bar in Listowel, Co. Kerry. It also appears on street furniture, such as old lamp standards like those in Mountjoy Square in Dublin, and on monuments like the Parnell Monument, and the O'Connell Monument, both in O'Connell Street, Dublin. Shamrocks also appeared on decorative items such as glass, china, jewellery, poplin and Irish lace. Belleek Pottery in Co. Fermanagh, for example regularly features shamrock motifs
References
- Colgan, Nathaniel (1892), 'The Shamrock: an attempt to fix its species' The Irish Naturalist: a monthly journal of general Irish natural history, Vol. 1, No. 5, pp 95–97
- Colgan, Nathaniel (1893), 'The Shamrock: a further attempt to fix its species' The Irish Naturalist: a monthly journal of general Irish natural history, Vol. 2, No. 8, pp 207–211
- Nelson, E. Charles; Loughin, Bernard (1991). Shamrock: Botany and History of an Irish Myth: A Biography of the Shamrock in History, Literature, Music and Art. Boethius Press. ISBN 0-86314-199-4.
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Catechism of the Catholic Church
Part One: Profession of Faith, Sect 2 The Creeds, Ch 3:12:5,6
CHAPTER THREE
I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
Article 12
"I BELIEVE IN LIFE
EVERLASTING"
V. The Last Judgment
1038
The resurrection of all the dead, "of both the just and the
unjust,"Acts 24:15 will precede the Last Judgment. This will be "the
hour when all who are in the tombs will hear [the Son of man's] voice and come
forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who
have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment."Jn 5:28-29 Then Christ
will come "in his glory, and all the angels with him .... Before him will
be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a
shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his
right hand, but the goats at the left.... and they will go away into eternal
punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."Mt 25:31
1039
In the presence of Christ, who is Truth itself, the truth of each man's
relationship with God will be laid bare.Jn 12:49 The Last Judgment will
reveal even to its furthest consequences the good each person has done or
failed to do during his earthly life:
All that the wicked do is
recorded, and they do not know. When "our God comes, he does not keep
silence.". . . he will turn towards those at his left hand: . . . "I
placed my poor little ones on earth for you. I as their head was seated in
heaven at the right hand of my Father - but on earth my members were suffering,
my members on earth were in need. If you gave anything to my members, what you
gave would reach their Head. Would that you had known that my little ones were
in need when I placed them on earth for you and appointed them your stewards to
bring your good works into my treasury. But you have placed nothing in their
hands; therefore you have found nothing in my presence."St. Augustine, Sermo 18, 4: PL 38, 130-131; cf. ⇒ Ps
50:3
1040
The Last Judgment will come when Christ returns in glory. Only the Father knows
the day and the hour; only he determines the moment of its coming. Then through
his Son Jesus Christ he will pronounce the final word on all history. We shall
know the ultimate meaning of the whole work of creation and of the entire
economy of salvation and understand the marvellous ways by which his Providence
led everything towards its final end. the Last Judgment will reveal that God's
justice triumphs over all the injustices committed by his creatures and that
God's love is stronger than death.Song 8:6
1041
The message of the Last Judgment calls men to conversion while God is still
giving them "the acceptable time, . . . the day of
salvation."2 Cor 6:2 It inspires a holy fear of God and commits them to
the justice of the Kingdom of God. It proclaims the "blessed hope" of
the Lord's return, when he will come "to be glorified in his saints, and
to be marvelled at in all who have believed."Titus 2:13;
⇒ 2 Thess 1:10
VI. Hope of the New Heaven and the New Earth
1042
At the end of time, the Kingdom of God will come in its fullness. After the universal
judgment, the righteous will reign for ever with Christ, glorified in body and
soul. the universe itself will be renewed:
The Church . . . will receive
her perfection only in the glory of heaven, when will come the time of the
renewal of all things. At that time, together with the human race, the universe
itself, which is so closely related to man and which attains its destiny
through him, will be perfectly re-established in Christ.629LG 48; Cf. ⇒ Acts 3:21;Eph 1:10; ⇒ Col 1:20;
⇒ 2 Pet 3:10-13
1043
Sacred Scripture calls this mysterious renewal, which will transform humanity
and the world, "new heavens and a new earth." 2 Pet 3:13 It will be
the definitive realization of God's plan to bring under a single head "all
things in [Christ], things in heaven and things on earth."Eph 1:10
1044
In this new universe, the heavenly Jerusalem, God will have his dwelling among
men.Rev 21:5 "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death
shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more,
for the former things have passed away."Rev 21:4
1045
For man, this consummation will be the final realization of the unity of the
human race, which God willed from creation and of which the pilgrim Church has
been "in the nature of sacrament."Cf. LG 1 Those who are united
with Christ will form the community of the redeemed, "the holy city"
of God, "the Bride, the wife of the Lamb."Rev 21:2, 9 She will not be
wounded any longer by sin, stains, self-love, that destroy or wound the earthly
community.Rev 21:27 The beatific vision, in which God opens himself in an
inexhaustible way to the elect, will be the ever-flowing well-spring of
happiness, peace, and mutual communion.
1046
For the cosmos, Revelation affirms the profound common destiny of the material
world and man:
For the creation waits with
eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God . . . in hope because the
creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay.... We know that the
whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now; and not only
the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan
inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our
bodies.Rom 8:19-23
1047
The visible universe, then, is itself destined to be transformed, "so that
the world itself, restored to its original state, facing no further obstacles,
should be at the service of the just," sharing their glorification in the
risen Jesus Christ.St. Irenaeus,
Adv. haeres. 5, 32, 1 PG 7/2, 210
1048
"We know neither the moment of the consummation of the earth and of man,
nor the way in which the universe will be transformed. the form of this world,
distorted by sin, is passing away, and we are taught that God is preparing a new
dwelling and a new earth in which righteousness dwells, in which happiness will
fill and surpass all the desires of peace arising in the hearts of
men."
1049
"Far from diminishing our concern to develop this earth, the expectancy of
a new earth should spur us on, for it is here that the body of a new human
family grows, foreshadowing in some way the age which is to come. That is why,
although we must be careful to distinguish earthly progress clearly from the
increase of the kingdom of Christ, such progress is of vital concern to the
kingdom of God, insofar as it can contribute to the better ordering of human
society."GS 39 #2
1050
"When we have spread on earth the fruits of our nature and our enterprise
. . . according to the command of the Lord and in his Spirit, we will find them
once again, cleansed this time from the stain of sin, illuminated and
transfigured, when Christ presents to his Father an eternal and universal
kingdom."GS 39 # 3 God will then be "all in all" in eternal
life:1 Cor 5:28
True and subsistent life
consists in this: the Father, through the Son and in the Holy Spirit, pouring
out his heavenly gifts on all things without exception. Thanks to his mercy, we
too, men that we are, have received the inalienable promise of eternal
life.St. Cyril
of Jerusalem, Catech. illum. 18, 29: PG 33, 1049
IN BRIEF
1051 Every man receives his
eternal recompense in his immortal soul from the moment of his death in a
particular judgment by Christ, the judge of the living and the dead.
1052 "We believe that
the souls of all who die in Christ's grace . . . are the People of God beyond
death. On the day of resurrection, death will be definitively conquered, when
these souls will be reunited with their bodies" (Paul VI, CPG # 28).
1053 "We believe that
the multitude of those gathered around Jesus and Mary in Paradise forms the
Church of heaven, where in eternal blessedness they see God as he is and where
they are also, to various degrees, associated with the holy angels in the
divine governance exercised by Christ in glory, by interceding for us and
helping our weakness by their fraternal concern" (Paul VI, CPG # 29).
1054 Those who die in God's
grace and friendship imperfectly purified, although they are assured of their
eternal salvation, undergo a purification after death, so as to achieve the
holiness necessary to enter the joy of God.
1055 By virtue of the
"communion of saints," the Church commends the dead to God's mercy
and offers her prayers, especially the holy sacrifice of the Eucharist, on
their behalf.
1056 Following the example of
Christ, the Church warns the faithful of the "sad and lamentable reality
of eternal death" (GCD 69), also called "hell."
1057 Hell's principal
punishment consists of eternal separation from God in whom alone man can have
the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs.
1058 The Church prays that no
one should be lost: "Lord, let me never be parted from you." If it is
true that no one can save himself, it is also true that God "desires all
men to be saved" (⇒ 1 Tim 2:4), and that
for him "all things are possible" (⇒ Mt
19:26).
1059 "The holy Roman
Church firmly believes and confesses that on the Day of Judgment all men will
appear in their own bodies before Christ's tribunal to render an account of
their own deeds" (Council of Lyons II [1274]: DS 859; cf. DS 1549).
1060 At the end of time, the
Kingdom of God will come in its fullness. Then the just will reign with Christ
for ever, glorified in body and soul, and the material universe itself will be
transformed. God will then be "all in all"
(⇒ 1 Cor 15:28), in eternal life.
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