PATRICK
558
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)el()ve<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
