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 PATRICK

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PATRICK

leanine on his crosier, pierced with its sharp point the prince 8 foot. Aengiis bore the pain unmoved. When bt. Patrick, at the dose of the ceremony, saw the blood flow, and a.sked liim why he had been silent, lie replied, with genuine heroism, that he thought it might be part of the ceremony, a penalty for the joy- ous blessings of the Faith that were imparted. The saint admired his heroism, and, taking the chieftain's shield, inscribed on it a cro.s.s with the same point of the crozier, and proini.scd tliat that shield would be the signal of countless spiritual and temporal tri- umphs. Our apostle sjient a considerable time in the present County of Limerick. The fame of his mira- cles and sanctity had gone before him, and the inhab- itants of Thomond and northern Munster, crossing the Shannon in their frail coracles, hastened to receive his instruction. When giving his blessing to them on the summit of the hill of Finnime, looking out on the rich plains before him, he is said to have prophesied the coming of St. Senanus: "To the green island in the West, at the mouth of the sea (i. e., Inis-Cathaigh, now Scattery Island, at the mouth of the Shannon, near Kilrush], the lamp of the people of God will come; he will be the head of counsel to all this terri- tory." At Sangril (now Singland), in Limerick, and also in the district of Garryowen, the holy wells of the Baint are pointed out, and the slab of rock, which served for his bed, and the altar on which every day he offered up the Holy Sacrifice. On the banks of the Suir, and the Black water, and the Lee, wherever the saint preaclicd during the seven years he spent in Munster, a hearty welcome awaited him. The an- cient Life attests: "After Patrick had founded cells and churches in Munster, and had ordained persons of every grade, and healed the sick, and resuscitated the dead, he bade them farewell, and imparted his bless- ing to them." The words of this blessing, which is said to have been given from the hills of Tipperary, as registered in the saint's Life, to which I have just referred, are particularly beautiful : —

"A blessing on the Munster people —

Men, youths, and women;

A blessing on the land

That yields them fruit.

"A blessing on every treasure

That shall be produced on their plains,

Without any one being in want of help,

God's blessing be on Munster.

"A blessing be on their peaks,

On their bare flagstones,

A blessing on their glens,

A blessing on their ridges.

"Like the sand of the sea under ships.

Be the number of their hearths;

On slopes, on plains.

On mountains, on hills, a blessing."

St. Patrick continued until his death to visit and watch over the churches which he had founded in all the provinces of Ireland. He comforted the faithful in their difficulties, strengthened them in the Faith and in the practice of virtue, and appointed pastors to continue his work among them. It is recorded in his Life that he consecrated no fewer than 3.50 bishops. He appointed St. Jxjman to Trim, which rivalled Armagh itself in its abundant harvest of piety. St. Guasach, son of his former master, Milchu, became Bishop of Granard, while the two daughters of the same pagan chieftain founded close by, at Clonbroney, a convent of pious virgins, and merited the aureola of sanctity. St. Mel, nephew of our apostle, had the charge of Ar- dagh; St. Mar(^artlicm, who appears to have been particularly l)elve<l by St. Patrick, was made Bishop of Clogher. The narrative in the ancient Life of the saint regarding his visit to the district of Costello, in the County of Mayo, serves to illustrate his manner

of dealing with the chieftains. He found, it says, the chief, Ernasc, and his son, Loarn, sitting imder a tree, "with whom he remained, together with his twelve companions, for a week, and they received from him the doctrine of salvation with attentive ear and mind. Meanwhile he instructed Loarn in the rutliments of learning and piety." A church was erected (here, and, in after years, Loarn was appointed to its charge. The manifold virtues by which the early saints were distingui.slied .shone forth in all their perfection in the life of St. Patrick. When not engaged in the work of the sacred ministry, his whole time was spent in prayer. Many times in the day he armed himself with the sign of the Cross. He never icla.xed his penitential exercises. Clothed in rough luiir-shirt, he made the hard rock his bed. His disinterestedness is specially commemorated. Countless converts of high rank would cast their precious ornaments at his feet, but all were restored to them. He had not come to Erin in search of material wealth, but to enrich her with the priceless treasures of the Catholic Faith. F'rom time to time he withdrew from the spiritual duties of his apostolate to devote himself wholly to prayer and penance. One of his chosen places of solitude and retreat was the island of Lough Dergh, which, to our own day, has continued to be a favourite resort of pilgrims, and is known as St. Patrick's Pur- gatory. Another theatre of his miraculous povtfer and piety and penitential austerities in the west of Ireland merits particular attention. In the far west of Con- naught there is a range of tall mountains, which, ar- rayed in rugged majesty, bid defiance to the waves and storms of the Atlantic. At the head of this range arises a stately cone in solitary grandeur, about 4000 feet in height, facing Crew Bay, and casting its shadow over the adjoining districts of Aghagower and West- port. This mountain was known in pagan times as the Eagle Mountain, but ever since Ireland was en- lightened with the light of Faith it is known as Croagh Patrick, i. e. St. Patrick's mountain, and is honoured as the Holy Hill, the Mount Sinai, of Ireland. St. Patrick, in obedience to his guardian angel, made this mountain his hallowed place of retreat. In imitation of the great Jewish legislator on Sinai, he spent forty days on its summit in fasting and prayer, and other penitential exercises. His only shelter from the fury of the elements, the wind and rain, the hail and snow, was a cave, or recess, in the solid rock ; and the flag- stone on which he rested his weary limbs at night is still pointed out. The whole purpose of his prayer was to obtain special blessings and mercy for the Irish race, whom he evangelized. The demons that made Ireland their battlefield mustered all their strength to tempt the saint and disturb him in his solitude, and turn him away, if possible, from his pious purpose. They gathered around the hill in the form of vast flocks of hideous birds of prey. So dense were their ranks that they seemed to cover the whole mountain, like a cloud, and they so filled the air that Patrick could see neither sky nor earth nor ocean. St. Pat- rick besought God to scatter the demons, but for a time it would seem as if his prayers and tears were in vain. At length he rang his sweet-sounding bell, symbol of his preaching of the Divine truths. Its sound was heard over the valleys and hills of Erin, everywhere bringing peace and joy. The flocks of demons began to scatter. He flung his bell among them ; they took to precipitate flight, and cast them- selves into the ocean. So complete was the saint's victory over them that, as the ancient narrative adds, "for seven years no evil thing was to be found in Ire- land." The saint, however, would not, as yet, de- scend from the mountain. He had vanquished the demons, but he would now wrestle with God Himself, like .Jacob of old, to secure the spiritual interests of his people. The angel had announced to him that, to reward his fidehty in prayer and penance, as many of