Happy Feast Day of St. Patrick - 17 March

[NOTE: This is my annual St. Patrick's Day post, originally posted on St. Patrick's Day 2005]

Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Daoibh!
(Happy St. Patrick's Day!)
As a Roman Catholic of Irish descent, I am, quite predictably, a big fan of St. Patrick. Long before I became Catholic, St. Patrick - with his bishop's mitre and crozier - stood there beckoning me home to the Church of my forebears. Indeed, the first rosary I ever purchased (again, before I ever became Catholic) had a St. Patrick junction and a Celtic Cross Crucifix. St. Patrick's feast day, therefore, is a cause for great celebration in our household.

But just what is it about this British-born saint - who (1) was kidnapped as a boy from his home in Britain by Irish pirates, (2) was sold into slavery in Ireland, (3) escaped from his Irish oppressors, and (4) returned to Ireland to evangelize his former captors (the same Irish who would, a century later, with saints like Columba and Aidan, re-evangelize Britain after the Anglo-Saxon invasions) - that makes his feast day celebrated to a greater extent around the world than most other saints?

Perhaps it is because of the extent of the Irish Diaspora, which stretches from Continental Europe to North America to South America to Australia, and numbers in the tens of millions - making St. Patrick not only the patron saint of Ireland, but of all Irish all over the world. Possibly, it could be St. Patrick's contribution to Celtic Christianity, an influence that can be seen in the Lorica of St. Patrick, which has been attributed to him.

For more on the story behind why St. Patrick is such a significant personage within the Church, especially where the Irish are concerned,

go here: Patron Saints Index - Patrick,

and here: The History of St. Patrick's Day,

and here: Catholic Online - St. Patrick.

But unfortunately, I think the real reason this particular feast day has such resonance with so many people has nothing whatsoever to do with its religious significance. St. Patrick's Day, like Christmas, is a religious feast day that has lost much of its meaning due to over-secularization. Rather than a day to celebrate the life of this great British saint who evangelized the Irish, St. Patrick's Day has become just another excuse to get drunk and tell stupid Irish jokes.

Personally, one of the biggest problems I have with the secular celebrations of St. Patrick's Day is the ubiquitous presence of the leprechaun. On and around St. Patrick's Day, this little fairy creature can be seen on the front pages of major newspapers, on greeting cards, and on televisions selling used cars, credit cards, and beer in a cheesy Irish brogue accent.

Given the artistic legacy of beautiful music, poetry, literature, and liturgical art bequeathed to us by the Irish; given the indispensable contributions the Irish have made to Christianity and Western Civilization as documented by Thomas Cahill in his best-selling book How the Irish Saved Civilization; and given the steadfastness of the Irish in overcoming historical persecution - racial, cultural, economic, and religious; I find the use of the leprechaun on St. Patrick's Day as a symbol of the Irish people and their cultural contributions about as appropriate as a lawn jockey on Martin Luther King Day.

Some will think that is not an apt comparison. Sorry, but I think it quite apt. The leprechaun as a symbol of this holy feast day is just plain offensive, and should go the way of the kerchief-headed version of Aunt Jemima.

The Irish - that mystical race of warriors and poets, saints and scholars, who brought us great works of literature like Ulysses and Gulliver's Travels, early medieval illuminated manuscripts like the Books of Kells and Durrow, musicians like Turlough O'Carolan, Altan, U2 and Van Morrison, wordsmiths like W.B. Yeats and Seamus Heaney, kings like Brian Boru and ... (well, Brian's about it as far as great Irish kings go), political heroes like Daniel O'Connell and Michael Collins, and saints like Columcille (a.k.a. Columba), Brendan, Aidan, and Columbanus - deserve better on the feast day of their patron saint than to be represented by a short, ruddy (and might I add, pagan) fairy dressed in a green suit.

The University of Notre Dame is also guilty of this blood libel against the children of Erin. The University does quite a disservice to the true spirit of the "Fighting Irish" by representing that spirit in the form of a leprechaun (of course, some would argue that Notre Dame also does a disservice to Ex Corde Ecclesiae by calling itself "Catholic" while allowing such nonsense as prominent positions for Fr. Richard McBrien and Prof. Candida Moss in the Theology Department, not to mention honoring the anti-Catholic bigot and all-around pro-abort, President Obama, with an honorary law degree). Bring back the Irish Terrier to represent the Fighting Irish, as it did in the days of Knute Rockne. Just get rid of that damned leprechaun!!! (Oops! Sorry about that. That should be "damned leprechaun".)

Okay. Rant over.

Hopefully, we can try to keep in mind today (1) the spiritual legacy of Ireland's patron saint, and (2) the many cultural contributions of the people he loved so dearly as to bring them the Light of Christ - which are, after all, the primary reasons we celebrate the feast of St. Patrick. Even if the rest of the world is too deep in a drunken stupor to notice.

And so I end with the following blessing:

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh!
(St. Patrick's Day Blessing On You!)

Recommended Reading: 
Patrick: The Pilgrim Apostle of Ireland by Maire B. de Paor 
The Confession of St. Patrick by John Skinner 
How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill
Wisdom of the Celtic Saints by Edward C. Sellner
Sun Dancing by Geoffrey Moorhouse




Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
St. Patrick's Breastplate (The Deer's Cry)

Happy Feast Day of St. Patrick - 17 March (2010)

Happy Feast Day of St. Patrick - 17 March (2009)

Happy Feast Day of St. Patrick - 17 March (2008)

What I'm Listening to in Honor of St. Patrick's Day

Don't Drink Green Beer!

St. Pat's Spat Pits Church vs. CitiesHappy Feast Day of St. Patrick - 17 March (2007)
 
"... The Slur of the Fighting Irish"
 
Happy Feast Day of St. Patrick - 17 March (2006)

Search Terms: St. Patrick's Day, Lent, Abstinence, Meat - Corned Beef, Dispensation, Indult, Catholic 

Happy Feast Day of St. Patrick - 17 March (2005)

I Arise Today ...

 Lorica of Saint Patrick 

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In service of archangels,
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs,
In preachings of the apostles,
In faiths of confessors,
In innocence of virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven;
Light of the sun,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of the wind,
Depth of the sea,
Stability of the earth,
Firmness of the rock.

I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me;
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's hosts to save me
From snares of the devil,
From temptations of vices,
From every one who desires me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone or in a mulitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and evil,
Against every cruel merciless power that opposes my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom,
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of women and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.
Christ shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that reward may come to me in abundance.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through a confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation

St. Patrick (ca. 377) 

Happy Feast Day of St. Patrick - 17 March

[NOTE: This is my annual St. Patrick's Day post, posted a couple of days early since 17 March falls on a Sunday this year, originally posted on St. Patrick's Day 2005]

Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Daoibh!
(Happy St. Patrick's Day!)
As a Roman Catholic of Irish descent, I am, quite predictably, a big fan of St. Patrick. Long before I became Catholic, St. Patrick - with his bishop's mitre and crozier - stood there beckoning me home to the Church of my forebears. Indeed, the first rosary I ever purchased (again, before I ever became Catholic) had a St. Patrick junction and a Celtic Cross Crucifix. St. Patrick's feast day, therefore, is a cause for great celebration in our household.

But just what is it about this British-born saint - who (1) was kidnapped as a boy from his home in Britain by Irish pirates, (2) was sold into slavery in Ireland, (3) escaped from his Irish oppressors, and (4) returned to Ireland to evangelize his former captors (the same Irish who would, a century later, with saints like Columba and Aidan, re-evangelize Britain after the Anglo-Saxon invasions) - that makes his feast day celebrated to a greater extent around the world than most other saints?

Perhaps it is because of the extent of the Irish Diaspora, which stretches from Continental Europe to North America to South America to Australia, and numbers in the tens of millions - making St. Patrick not only the patron saint of Ireland, but of all Irish all over the world. Possibly, it could be St. Patrick's contribution to Celtic Christianity, an influence that can be seen in the Lorica of St. Patrick, which has been attributed to him.

For more on the story behind why St. Patrick is such a significant personage within the Church, especially where the Irish are concerned,

go here: Patron Saints Index - Patrick,

and here: The History of St. Patrick's Day,

and here: The Ultimate St. Patrick.

But unfortunately, I think the real reason this particular feast day has such resonance with so many people has nothing whatsoever to do with its religious significance. St. Patrick's Day, like Christmas, is a religious feast day that has lost much of its meaning due to over-secularization. Rather than a day to celebrate the life of this great British saint who evangelized the Irish, St. Patrick's Day has become just another excuse to get drunk and tell stupid Irish jokes.

Personally, one of the biggest problems I have with the secular celebrations of St. Patrick's Day is the ubiquitous presence of the leprechaun. On and around St. Patrick's Day, this little fairy creature can be seen on the front pages of major newspapers, on greeting cards, and on televisions selling used cars, credit cards, and beer in a cheesy Irish brogue accent.

Given the artistic legacy of beautiful music, poetry, literature, and liturgical art bequeathed to us by the Irish; given the indispensable contributions the Irish have made to Christianity and Western Civilization as documented by Thomas Cahill in his best-selling book How the Irish Saved Civilization; and given the steadfastness of the Irish in overcoming historical persecution - racial, cultural, economic, and religious; I find the use of the leprechaun on St. Patrick's Day as a symbol of the Irish people and their cultural contributions about as appropriate as a lawn jockey on Martin Luther King Day.

Some will think that is not an apt comparison. Sorry, but I think it quite apt. The leprechaun as a symbol of this holy feast day is just plain offensive, and should go the way of the kerchief-headed version of Aunt Jemima.

The Irish - that mystical race of warriors and poets, saints and scholars, who brought us great works of literature like Ulysses and Gulliver's Travels, early medieval illuminated manuscripts like the Books of Kells and Durrow, musicians like Turlough O'Carolan, Altan, U2 and Van Morrison, wordsmiths like W.B. Yeats and Seamus Heaney, kings like Brian Boru and ... (well, Brian's about it as far as great Irish kings go), political heroes like Daniel O'Connell and Michael Collins, and saints like Columcille (a.k.a. Columba), Brendan, Aidan, and Columbanus - deserve better on the feast day of their patron saint than to be represented by a short, ruddy (and might I add, pagan) fairy dressed in a green suit.

The University of Notre Dame is also guilty of this blood libel against the children of Erin. The University does quite a disservice to the true spirit of the "Fighting Irish" by representing that spirit in the form of a leprechaun (of course, some would argue that Notre Dame also does a disservice to Ex Corde Ecclesiae by calling itself "Catholic" while allowing such nonsense as prominent positions for Fr. Richard McBrien and Prof. Candida Moss in the Theology Department, not to mention honoring the anti-Catholic bigot and all-around pro-abort, President Obama, with an honorary law degree). Bring back the Irish Terrier to represent the Fighting Irish, as it did in the days of Knute Rockne. Just get rid of that damned leprechaun!!! (Oops! Sorry about that. That should be "damned leprechaun".)

Okay. Rant over.

Hopefully, we can try to keep in mind today (1) the spiritual legacy of Ireland's patron saint, and (2) the many cultural contributions of the people he loved so dearly as to bring them the Light of Christ - which are, after all, the primary reasons we celebrate the feast of St. Patrick. Even if the rest of the world is too deep in a drunken stupor to notice.

And so I end with the following blessing:

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh!
(St. Patrick's Day Blessing On You!)

Recommended Reading:Patrick: The Pilgrim Apostle of Ireland by Maire B. de PaorThe Confession of St. Patrick by John SkinnerHow the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill
Wisdom of the Celtic Saints by Edward C. Sellner
Sun Dancing by Geoffrey Moorhouse




Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
St. Patrick's Breastplate (The Deer's Cry)

Happy Feast Day of St. Patrick - 17 March (2010)

Happy Feast Day of St. Patrick - 17 March (2009)

Happy Feast Day of St. Patrick - 17 March (2008)

What I'm Listening to in Honor of St. Patrick's Day

Don't Drink Green Beer!

St. Pat's Spat Pits Church vs. CitiesHappy Feast Day of St. Patrick - 17 March (2007)
"... The Slur of the Fighting Irish"
Happy Feast Day of St. Patrick - 17 March (2006)

Search Terms: St. Patrick's Day, Lent, Abstinence, Meat - Corned Beef, Dispensation, Indult, CatholicHappy Feast Day of St. Patrick - 17 March (2005)

In Memory of "The Big Fella", Michael Collins ( Micheál Ó Coileáin), Who Died 90 Years Ago Today (22 August 1922)

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.  
The Laughing Boy
by Brendan Behan

T'was on an August morning, all in the dawning hours,
I went to take the warming air, all in the Mouth of Flowers,
And there I saw a maiden, and mournful was her cry,
'Ah what will mend my broken heart, I've lost my Laughing Boy.

So strong, so wild and brave he was, I'll mourn his loss too sore,
When thinking that I'll hear the laugh or springing step no more.
Ah, cure the times and sad the loss my heart to crucify,
That an Irish son with a rebel gun shot down my Laughing Boy.

Oh had he died by Pearse's side or in the GPO,
Killed by an English bullet from the rifle of the foe,
Or forcibly fed with Ashe lay dead in the dungeons of Mountjoy,
I'd have cried with pride for the way he died, my own dear Laughing Boy.

My princely love, can ageless love do more than tell to you,
Go raibh maith agat for all you tried to do,
For all you did, and would have done, my enemies to destroy,
I'll mourn your name and praise your fame, forever, my Laughing Boy.



The death of Michael Collins from "Shadow of Béal na mBláth"
(music by Sinead O'Connor from the "Michael Collins" soundtrack)


The bark of a dog breaks the silence like a bitter last hurrah
And a raven spreads it's wings for flight over fields near Beál Na mBláth
With a rifle still clasped to his breast, but hanging low his head
A black August day in the County Cork, Michael Collins is dead

Hang out your brightest colours, his memory now recall
Each one wants a part of him but no-one wants it all

~ "The Ballad of Michael Collins" by Brendan O'Reilly



Tom Barry describes the scene in Kilmainham Jail
where he witnessed hundreds of Republican prisoners
on their knees praying for Michael Collins
after hearing the news he had been killed during the Civil War.


Historical footage of the funeral of Michael Collins
set to "Wrap the Green Flag 'Round Me" by The Wolfe Tones


Oh long will old Ireland be seeking in vain
Ere we find a new leader to match the man slain
A true son of Grainne his name long will shine
O gallant Mick Collins cut off in his prime

~ "Michael Collins" by The Wolfe Tones




“We bend today over the grave of a man not more than thirty years of age, who took to himself the gospel of toil for Ireland, and of sacrifice for their good, and who has made himself a hero and a legend that will stand in the pages of our history with any bright page that was ever written there. Pages have been written by him in the hearts of our people that will never find a place in print. But we lived, some of us with these intimate pages; and those pages that will reach history, meagre though they be, will do good to our country and will inspire us through many a dark hour. Our weaknesses cry out to us, 'Michael Collins was too brave.' Michael Collins was not too brave. Every day and every hour he lived he lived it to the full extent of that bravery which God gave to him, and it is for us to be brave as he was—brave before danger, brave before those who lie, brave even to that very great bravery that our weaknesses complained of in him.”

~ Richard Mulcahy, IRA Chief of Staff (and Collins' superior) during the War of Independence, who succeeded Collins as commander-in-chief of the Free State Irish Army, in his oration at Collins' funeral.


“. . . So tear up your mourning and hang up your brightest colours in his honour; and let us all praise God that he had not to die weakened by age and saddened by the disappointments that would have attended his work had he lived.”

~ Dublin-born playwright George Bernard Shaw in a letter of condolence to Collins' sister




‘‘He was the man whose matchless energy, whose indomitable will, carried Ireland through the terrible crisis; and though I have not now, and never had, an ambition about either political affairs or history, if my name is to go down in history I want it to be associated with the name of Michael Collins.’’

~ Arthur Griffith
Founder and leader of the original Sinn Féin (not its modern Marxist namesake) and President of Dáil Éireann (the Irish parliament), whose work with Collins on negotiating the Treaty to end the Irish War of Independence, and whose untimely death at the age of 50 from either a heart attack or stroke just 10 days prior to Collins' assassination (thus depriving Ireland of yet another key leader in its political infancy) ensured that his name would, indeed, go down in history associated with that of Michael Collins


Michael Collins' brother, Johnny, at the rededication
of the Collins gravesite at Glasnevin Cemetery in 1939.
According to Collins and De Valera biographer, Tim Pat Coogan:
"It is a matter of record that for years Johnny Collins,
a civil servant, and thus very much at de Valera's mercy,
strove unsuccessfully to have a fitting memorial erected
over his brother, who, as the first Commander-in-Chief of
the Irish Army, lay in a military grave... Finally,
de Valera called Johnny in and stipulated that the cost
of the memorial should not exceed £300, and it should be
in limestone, not marble. He prescribed a formula of words
he wanted used on the cross and ordered that there be no
English on the front of it. The cemetery records show, that,
on July 31st, 1939, a few weeks before the world went to war,
Taoiseach de Valera took time out to sign personally the
certificate of authorisation for the design and erection of
the memorial cross over his old adversary... What the
certification does not show is the fact that de Valera forbade
Johnny to allow attendance at the dedication ceremony, either
by the press, the public, or by any member of the Collins family
apart from Johnny himself. Only the officiating priest and an
altar boy were permitted to be present. Had an outraged off-duty
gravedigger, who tended Collins's grave, not accidentally come
across the melancholy little ceremony and hailed a passing tourist
with a camera, there would have been no pictorial record of Johnny
standing alone, apart from the gravedigger, at his famous brother's graveside."

‘‘It is my considered opinion that, in the fullness of time, history will record the greatness of Michael Collins, and it will be recorded at my expense.’’

~ Eamon de Valera


For more on Michael Collins, see

General Michael Collins (website of the Collins 22 Society, of which I am a member)

Michael Collins - The Lost Leader

The Michael Collins Centre

The Michael Collins Web Page

An excellent and very comprehensive Michael Collins Site

A Man Against An Empire - History Net

Michael Collins Irish Leader - Economic Expert

Michael Collins - Military History Online

Michael Collins - University College Cork

The "Michael Collins" Official Movie Site

MICHAEL COLLINS - A Musical Drama

Michael Collins Irish Whiskey

Recommended Reading:

The Path to Freedom by Michael Collins

Michael Collins: The Man Who Made Ireland by Tim Pat Coogan

Michael Collins: A Life by James MacKay

The Big Fellow: Michael Collins & the Irish Revolution by Frank O'Connor

Michael Collins : The Lost Leader by Margery Forester

Illustrated Life of Michael Collins by Colm Connolly

Michael Collins - A Life in Pictures by Chrissy Osborne

Michael Collins and the Troubles: The Struggle for Irish Freedom 1912-1922 by Ulick O'Connor

Michael Collins's Intelligence War: The Struggle Between the British and the IRA 1919-1921 by Michael T. Foy

The Squad: and the intelligence operations of Michael Collins by T. Ryle Dwyer

Michael Collins and the Making of the Irish State by Gabriel Doherty (Author), Dermot Keogh (Editor)

"Michael Collins' Ireland: Following In The Footsteps Of The Big Fellow From Dublin To County Cork", Chicago Tribune, March 7, 1999

Recommended Viewing:

"Michael Collins"
(1996 Neil Jordan film starring Liam Neeson in the title role - can be purchased via Amazon.com)

"The Treaty"
(1991 RTE/BBC production starring Brendan Gleeson as Michael Collins, in a much better portrayal of The Big Fella than that of Neeson - difficult to find, but a DVD copy can be purchased here)

"The Shadow of Béalnabláth"
(1991 documentary on the life and death of Collins by Colm Connolly - used VHS copies available on Amazon.com)

"Hang Up Your Brightest Colours"
(1973 documentary on the life and death of Collins by Kenneth Griffith; banned for many years in both England and Ireland - a DVD copy can be purchased here)

"The Wind That Shakes the Barley"
(2006 Ken Loach film is a fictionalized drama focusing on the War of Independence and the ensuing Irish Civil War in Collins' native Cork - can be purchased via Amazon.com)

Shake Hands with the Devil
(1959 film is a fictionalized drama starring James Cagney, Michael Redgrave, and Don Murray as members of the IRA battling the "Black and Tans" in 1921 during the War of Independence - can be purchased via Amazon.com)

Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:85th Anniversary of the Death of "The Big Fella", Michael Collins

Happy Feast Day of St. Patrick - 17 March

[NOTE: This is my annual St. Patrick's Day post, originally posted on St. Patrick's Day 2005]

Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Daoibh!
(Happy St. Patrick's Day!)

As a Roman Catholic of Irish descent, I am, quite predictably, a big fan of St. Patrick. Long before I became Catholic, St. Patrick - with his bishop's mitre and crozier - stood there beckoning me home to the Church of my forebears. Indeed, the first rosary I ever purchased (again, before I ever became Catholic) had a St. Patrick junction and a Celtic Cross Crucifix. St. Patrick's feast day, therefore, is a cause for great celebration in our household.

But just what is it about this British-born saint - who (1) was kidnapped as a boy from his home in Britain by Irish pirates, (2) was sold into slavery in Ireland, (3) escaped from his Irish oppressors, and (4) returned to Ireland to evangelize his former captors (the same Irish who would, a century later, with saints like Columba and Aidan, re-evangelize Britain after the Anglo-Saxon invasions) - that makes his feast day celebrated to a greater extent around the world than most other saints?

Perhaps it is because of the extent of the Irish Diaspora, which stretches from Continental Europe to North America to South America to Australia, and numbers in the tens of millions - making St. Patrick not only the patron saint of Ireland, but of all Irish all over the world. Possibly, it could be St. Patrick's contribution to Celtic Christianity, an influence that can be seen in the Lorica of St. Patrick, which has been attributed to him.

For more on the story behind why St. Patrick is such a significant personage within the Church, especially where the Irish are concerned,

go here: Patron Saints Index - Patrick,

and here: The History of St. Patrick's Day,

and here: The Ultimate St. Patrick.

But unfortunately, I think the real reason this particular feast day has such resonance with so many people has nothing whatsoever to do with its religious significance. St. Patrick's Day, like Christmas, is a religious feast day that has lost much of its meaning due to over-secularization. Rather than a day to celebrate the life of this great British saint who evangelized the Irish, St. Patrick's Day has become just another excuse to get drunk and tell stupid Irish jokes.

Personally, one of the biggest problems I have with the secular celebrations of St. Patrick's Day is the ubiquitous presence of the leprechaun. On and around St. Patrick's Day, this little fairy creature can be seen on the front pages of major newspapers, on greeting cards, and on televisions selling used cars, credit cards, and beer in a cheesy Irish brogue accent.

Given the artistic legacy of beautiful music, poetry, literature, and liturgical art bequeathed to us by the Irish; given the indispensable contributions the Irish have made to Christianity and Western Civilization as documented by Thomas Cahill in his best-selling book How the Irish Saved Civilization; and given the steadfastness of the Irish in overcoming historical persecution - racial, cultural, economic, and religious; I find the use of the leprechaun on St. Patrick's Day as a symbol of the Irish people and their cultural contributions about as appropriate as a lawn jockey on Martin Luther King Day.

Some will think that is not an apt comparison. Sorry, but I think it quite apt. The leprechaun as a symbol of this holy feast day is just plain offensive, and should go the way of the kerchief-headed version of Aunt Jemima.

The Irish - that mystical race of warriors and poets, saints and scholars, who brought us great works of literature like Ulysses and Gulliver's Travels, early medieval illuminated manuscripts like the Books of Kells and Durrow, musicians like Turlough O'Carolan, Altan, U2 and Van Morrison, wordsmiths like W.B. Yeats and Seamus Heaney, kings like Brian Boru and ... (well, Brian's about it as far as great Irish kings go), political heroes like Daniel O'Connell and Michael Collins, and saints like Columcille (a.k.a. Columba), Brendan, Aidan, and Columbanus - deserve better on the feast day of their patron saint than to be represented by a short, ruddy (and might I add, pagan) fairy dressed in a green suit.

The University of Notre Dame is also guilty of this blood libel against the children of Erin. The University does quite a disservice to the true spirit of the "Fighting Irish" by representing that spirit in the form of a leprechaun (of course, some would argue that Notre Dame also does a disservice to Ex Corde Ecclesiae by calling itself "Catholic" while allowing such nonsense as The Vagina Monologues and Fr. Richard McBrien on campus, not to mention honoring the anti-Catholic bigot and all-around pro-abort, President Obama, with an honorary law degree). Bring back the Irish Terrier to represent the Fighting Irish, as it did in the days of Knute Rockne. Just get rid of that damned leprechaun!!! (Oops! Sorry about that. That should be "damned leprechaun".)

Okay. Rant over.

Hopefully, we can try to keep in mind today (1) the spiritual legacy of Ireland's patron saint, and (2) the many cultural contributions of the people he loved so dearly as to bring them the Light of Christ - which are, after all, the primary reasons we celebrate the feast of St. Patrick. Even if the rest of the world is too deep in a drunken stupor to notice.

And so I end with the following blessing:

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh!
(St. Patrick's Day Blessing On You!)

Recommended Reading:
Patrick: The Pilgrim Apostle of Ireland by Maire B. de Paor
The Confession of St. Patrick by John Skinner
How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill
Wisdom of the Celtic Saints by Edward C. Sellner
Sun Dancing by Geoffrey Moorhouse




Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
St. Patrick's Breastplate (The Deer's Cry)

Happy Feast Day of St. Patrick - 17 March (2010)

Happy Feast Day of St. Patrick - 17 March (2009)

Happy Feast Day of St. Patrick - 17 March (2008)

What I'm Listening to in Honor of St. Patrick's Day

Don't Drink Green Beer!

St. Pat's Spat Pits Church vs. Cities

Happy Feast Day of St. Patrick - 17 March (2007)

"... The Slur of the Fighting Irish"

Happy Feast Day of St. Patrick - 17 March (2006)

Search Terms: St. Patrick's Day, Lent, Abstinence, Meat - Corned Beef, Dispensation, Indult, Catholic

Happy Feast Day of St. Patrick - 17 March (2005)

More on St. Columba of Iona (a.k.a. Columcille)

See also my previous post: "Feast of St. Columba of Iona - 9 June"

Videos about St. Columba:

An icon of St. Columba:

(Hat tip for the icon: Sisters of the Gospel of Life)

The prayer of the feast day:

O God, you called your servant Columba
from among the princes of Ireland
to be a herald and evangelist of your kingdom to the Scottish people:
Grant that your Church,
remembering his faith and courage,
may so proclaim the gospel,
that all men will come to know your Son as their Saviour,
and serve him as their King;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

(Hat tip for the prayer: Deacon Peter Simpson of St Columba's Roman Catholic Church in Culloden, Inverness)

Go here (see also this past issue of Dappled Things) for an absolutely beautiful piece of artwork by Daniel Mitsui, which depicts St. Columba in the mediaeval Irish style, using "a decorative vocabulary taken from the great Celtic illuminated manuscripts - especially the Lindisfarne Gospels, the Book of Kells and the Book of Durrow":

St. Columba is pictured as an abbot, and holds the Cathach of St. Columba, an illuminated psalter attributed to the saint's own hand.

At the bottom of the drawing are depicted three events from his life, as retold by Adamnan of Iona ...

Definitely check it out. The artwork is available for purchase (NOTE TO SELF: add to Father's Day/Birthday/Christmas wish list).

Finally, finding a patron saint medal for St. Columba is danged nigh impossible. I've been looking for years, but have never been able to locate one. (If I have any readers in Ireland or Scotland who know how to obtain a patron saint medal depicting St. Columba - at a relatively affordable price, please contact me.)

In the meantime, for those who are interested, the Ulster Heritage Magazine blog has information regarding a Saint Columba Medal designed by American-born Celtic metal worker and artist, Garth Duncan, who now lives on the Isle of Skye:


For more information on the Saint Columba Medal, try Duncan's website.

Feast of St. Columba of Iona - 9 June

My Druid is Christ, the son of God,
Christ, Son of Mary, the Great Abbot,
The Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.

~ St. Columba of Iona
O Columba spes Scotorum
nos tuorum meritorum
interventu beatorum
fac consortes angelorum. Alleluia.

O Columba, hope of Scots,
By your merits' mediation.
Make us companions
of the blessed angels. Halleluia.

~ The Inchcolm Antiphoner, C13th

St. Ephrem may get all the glory in the Roman Calendar, but in the Anderson household, the saint of the day on June 9 is St. Columba of Iona, also known as Columcille.

Columba is my patron saint. Studying the life of this great saint (as well as honeymooning in Scotland, where we visited many sites associated with him) piqued my interest in the early Church and the spread of Christianity in the British Isles, and thus eventually led to my coming home to the Church. When Sarah and I entered the Church 7 years ago this month, I chose "Columba" as my Confirmation name.

Among St. Columba's claims to fame - in addition to evangelizing the Picts in the land that eventually became Scotland, and creating on his monastic island of Iona a base of operation whereby Britain was re-evangelized after the native Celts were conquered by the pagan Anglo-Saxons - is that he is credited with the first recorded sighting of the Loch Ness Monster.

The following history of St. Columba provides more insight into his colorful life (online source no longer available):

Columba was born into Irish royalty on or around 521A.D.. It is told there was a dispute over the name he was to be given. His mother choosing to name him Columcille (dove), and his father, Crimthan (wolf). Columcille, or Columba as his name was latinized, went at a very young age to study in the monastery at Moville. There he was brought up in the traditional monastic life of the celts. While studying in the monastery, he gained an appreciation for the arts, music (psalters), poetry, and writing. He was said to have been one of the best scribes of his time, writing many Psalters and poems. In 546 Columba founded the monastery in Derry, and later the one in Durrow (556). Columba came into a dispute with his former master Finian in 561, over a dispute of ownership of a copy of the Gospel. Apparently Columba had made his own copy of Finian's original, and when he would no release ownership, the case was taken before king Diarmot. Diarmot was a local King, from a rival clan of Columba's. When the case went before him, Diarmot made the now famous quote "To every cow it's calf, and to every copy it's original". Shamed and insulted by this, Columba called upon his father to rally his clan for possession of the book. What followed was one of the most bloody battles in Irish history "the battle of the books". Three thousand died in Culdrevne, and Columba won the book, but it cost him dearly. As a result, he was exiled by the church from Ireland as a penance for a monk taking up arms.

***
Columba leaving Ireland in 563, with twelve fellow monks, landed on the isle of IONA. It was there, out of sight of beloved Ireland that he established his monastery in which he based his evangelical missions. Having established his monastery and removing the druid priests that were on the Island, by performing a miracle of healing on a crippled girl, he purposed to begin evangelizing what is now known as Scotland. Leaving in 564 and travelling up through the great Scottish Loches towards Inverness, he spread the gospel to all that would hear. Working his way to Inverness to witness to the pictish King Brude, he was once again confronted by druadic priests. The priests demanding that Columba take his God and his twelve fellow monks back to Ireland, declared that theirs was the true religion, and that Christ conflicts with the nature cycle. Claiming that the druid was said to have drawn the life circle in the sand. Columba in response took his staff and drew an intersecting cross within the circle promptly stating that God does not conflict with nature, but being the creator of it, compliments it. Stumped by this and frustrated because they could not shake Columba's faith they departed.

Saint Columba then proceeded through Loch Ness, where his successor St. Adoman wrote of him : “At another time, when the saint stayed for several days among the Picts, he came to the shores of the River Ness. Reaching the shore, he saw some locals in the midst of burying some unfortunate man. They told him that they had seen a water beast snatch the man and maul him as he was swimming. Some of the men had set out in a small boat to try to rescue the man, but they were too late. They used hooks to retrieve his corpse from the waters. Columba, after being told this story, amazed the crowd by telling his companion Luigne to swim across the water and bring back a boat that was on the far shore. Luigne obeyed the saint without hesitation, removed his clothes except for a tunic, and dove into the water. The beast was at the bottom of the water, its appetite merely whetted by its first victim. Sensing the water stirring above by Luigne’s swimming, it suddenly rushed towards the swimmer with a great roar, its wide mouth open to its prey. The crowd on the shore, both Columba’s men and the locals, watched in terror. The blessed Columba raised his hand and made the sign of the cross, and calling on the name of God, spoke to the monster: ‘Halt! Do not harm the man! Retreat at once!’ The sound of the saint’s voice caused terror in the beast, and it fled so swiftly that it appeared dragged under with ropes. It had been but the length of a pole away from Luigne. Columba’s companions were amazed when Luigne returned to them in the boat, unharmed and safe." This incidentally is the first report of Nessie.

Columba eventually reached Inverness, and gained audience with the king, and while it was not recorded that king Brude was converted, he did institute Christianity over druidism. Columba gained a measure of favor with Brude, and involved himself to some extent in the politics of Scotland. Although exiled, Columba returned to Ireland many times to involve himself with the politics of home. Once returning to quench a suppressing of the bards by the Irish nobles. Columba died on his Island of IONA in [597]. Below is a prayer attributed to him.

***

A traditional prayer for God's light

O Lord, grant us that love which can never die, which will enkindle our lamps but not extinguish them, so that they may shine in us and bring light to others. Most dear Savior, enkindle our lamps that they may shine forever in your temple. May we receive unquenchable light from you so that our darkness will be illuminated and the darkness of the world will be made less. Amen.

The Cathach of St. Columba

Shrine of the Cathach
Additional information from the Patron Saints Index:

COLUMBA
Also known as:
Apostle of the Picts; Colmcille; Colum; Columbkille; Columbus; Columcille; Columkill; Combs

Memorial:
9 June

Profile:
Irish royalty, the son of Fedhlimidh and Eithne of the Ui Neill clan. Bard. Miracle worker. Monk at Moville. Spiritual student of Saint Finnian. Priest. Itinerant preacher and teacher throughout Ireland and Scotland. Spiritual teacher of Saint Corbmac, Saint Phelim, Saint Drostan, and Saint Fergna the White. Travelled to Scotland in 563. Exiled to Iona, he founded a monastic community there and served as its abbot for twelve years. He and the monks of Iona, including Saint Baithen of Iona and Saint Eochod, then evangelized the Picts, converting many, including King Brude. Attended the Council of Drumceat, 575. Legend says he wrote 300 books.

Born:
7 December 521 at Donegal, Ireland

Died:
9 June 597 at Iona, Scotland, and is buried there

Canonized:
Pre-Congregation

Patronage:
against floods; bookbinders; diocese of Derry, Ireland; diocese of Dunkeld, Scotland; floods; Ireland; Pembroke, Ontario; diocese of Raphoe, Ireland; poets; Scotland

See also the quite extensive entry on the life of St. Columba of Iona at http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0609.shtml (scroll down to get to the entry):

Ireland has many saints and three great ones: Patrick, Brigid, and Columba. Columba outshines the others for his pure Irishness. He loved Ireland with all his might and hated to leave it for Scotland. But he did leave it and laid the groundwork for the conversion of Britain. He had a quick temper but was very kind, especially to animals and children. He was a poet and an artist who did illumination, perhaps some of those in the Book of Kells itself. His skill as a scribe can be seen in the Cathach of Columba at the Irish Academy, which is the oldest surviving example of Irish majuscule writing. It was latter enshrined in silver and bronze and venerated in churches.

About the time that Patrick was taken to Ireland as a slave, Columba was born. He came from a race of kings who had ruled in Ireland for six centuries, directly descended from Niall of the Nine Hostages, and was himself in close succession to the throne. From an early age he was destined for the priesthood; he was given in fosterage to a priest. After studying at Moville under Saint Finnian and then at Clonard with another Saint Finnian, he surrendered his princely claims, he became a monk at Glasnevin under Mobhi and was ordained.

He spent the next 15 years preaching and teaching in Ireland. As was the custom in those days, he combined study and prayer with manual labor. By his own natural gifts as well as by the good fortune of his birth, he soon gained ascendancy as a monk of unusual distinction. By the time he was 25, he had founded no less than 27 Irish monasteries, including those at Derry (546), Durrow (c. 556), and probably Kells, as well as some 40 churches.

Columba was a poet, who had learned Irish history and poetry from a bard named Gemman. He is believed to have penned the Latin poem Altus Prosator and two other extant poems. He also loved fine books and manuscripts. One of the famous books associated with Columbia is the Psaltair, which was traditionally the Battle Book of the O'Donnells, his kinsmen, who carried it into battle. The Psaltair is the basis for one of the most famous legends of Saint Columba.

It is said that on one occasion, so anxious was Columba to have a copy of the Psalter that he shut himself up for a whole night in the church that contained it, transcribing it laboriously by hand. He was discovered by a monk who watched him through the keyhole and reported it to his superior, Finnian of Moville. The Scriptures were so scarce in those days that the abbot claimed the copy, refusing to allow it to leave the monastery. Columba refused to surrender it, until he was obliged to do so, under protest, on the abbot's appeal to the High King Diarmaid, who said: "Le gach buin a laogh" or "To every cow her own calf," meaning to every book its copy.

An unfortunate period followed, during which, owing to Columba's protection of a refugee and his impassioned denunciation of an injustice by King Diarmaid, war broke out between the clans of Ireland, and Columba became an exile of his own accord. Filled with remorse on account of those who had been slain in the battle of Cooldrevne, and condemned by many of his own friends, he experienced a profound conversion and an irresistible call to preach to the heathen. Although there are questions regarding Columba's real motivation, in 563, at the age of 42, he crossed the Irish Sea with 12 companions in a coracle and landed on a desert island now known as Iona (Holy Island) on Whitsun Eve. Here on this desolate rock, only three miles long and two miles wide, in the grey northern sea off the southwest corner of Mull, he began his work; and, like Lindisfarne, Iona became a center of Christian enterprise. It was the heart of Celtic Christianity and the most potent factor in the conversion of the Picts, Scots, and Northern English.

[More]

Iona Abbey, Isle of Iona, Argyllshire, Scotland
And finally, here is more on St. Columba from the Medieval Saints Yahoo Group:

St. Columba of Iona, Abbot, missionary

Also known as Colum, Columbus, Combs, Columkill, Columcille, Colmcille

Died 597 at Iona, and is buried there

Commemorated June 9ST. COLUMBA or COLUMCILLE 521-597

St Columba is a saint who still, after fourteen hundred years, exerts an appeal upon our imaginations. Born in Ireland, in Donegal in the year 521, he was of the blood royal, and might indeed have become High King of Ireland had he not chosen to be a priest. His vital, vigorous personality has given rise to many legends, and it is a little hard to sift fact from what is more probably fiction. We do know that he was a man of tremendous energy, probably somewhat headstrong in his youth, but with his tendency to violence curbed by a gentle magnanimity.

It seems certain that he left Ireland as an act of penance, although it is less certain how far this was connected with his quarrelling over a copy of the Gospels he had made, a dispute that led to a bloody battle. He came from Ireland to Scotland, to the colony of Dalriada founded on the west coast by his fellow Irish Scots who were at that time somewhat oppressed by the dominant Picts. With twelve companions he founded his monastery on Iona in the year 563. These Celtic monks lived in communities of separate cells, but Columba and his companions combined their contemplative life with extraordinary missionary activity. Amongst his many accomplishments, Columba was a splendid sailor. He sailed far amongst the islands and travelled deep inland, making converts and founding little churches. In Ireland he had already, it is said, founded a hundred churches.

Of all the Celtic saints in Scotland, Columba's life is much the best documented, because manuscripts of his Life, written by St Adamnan, one of his early successors as abbot of Iona, have survived. Iona itself remains a place of the greatest beauty, a serene island set in seas that take on brilliant colors in the sunshine, recalling the life and background of this remarkable man whose mission led to the conversion of Scotland and of the north of England, and indeed carried its influence far further afield. It later became the site of a Benedictine Abbey and of a little cathedral. These were dismantled by the Scottish reformers in 1561, and part of Columba's prophecy was fulfilled:

In Iona of my heart, Iona of my love,
Instead of monks' voices shall be lowing of cattle,
But ere the world come to an end
Iona shall be as it was.

When Dr Samuel Johnson visited the island in 1773 he observed, 'That man is little to be envied, whose patriotism would not gain force upon the plain of Marathon, or whose piety would not grow warmer among the ruins of Iona!'

Columba was a poet as well as a man of action. Some of his poems in both Latin and Gaelic have come down to us, and they reveal him as a man very sensitive to the beauty of his surroundings, as well as always, in St Adamnan's phrase, 'gladdened in his inmost heart by the joy of the Holy Spirit.' He died in the year 597.----------------

More on St. Columba at:

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04136a.htm

http://islesproject.com/2009/01/13/563-597-saint-columba-the-loch-ness-monster-and-the-picts-the-written-word-and-celtic-christianity-spread-to-the-highlands/

http://www.allsaintsbrookline.org/celtic_saints/columba.html

Adomnan's Life of Columba is available elsewhere

in English

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/columba-e.html

and Latin

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/columba-l.html


Columba's famous rule is also online

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/columba-rule.html

And an article on the history of the island of Iona

http://www.knight.org/advent/cathen/08090a.htm

Iona Abbey

The Iona Community

Historic Scotland - Iona Abbey

Historic Scotland - Iona, St. Columba Centre

Saint Columba Novena and Litany

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The Monymusk Reliquary, or "Brecbennoch" as it was called, dates from c. 750, and purportedly enclosed the bones of St. Columba, the most popular saint in medieval Scotland. It was carried by the Scots into the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.

______________________

Recommended Reading:
Life of Columba by Adamnan of Iona
The Life of Colum Cille by Manus O'Donnell
Colum Cille and the Columban Tradition by Brian Lacey
The World of Colmcille, also known as Columba by Mairead Ashe FitzGerald
The Illustrated Life of Columba by John Marsden
Iona, Kells, and Derry: The History and Hagiography of the Monastic Familia of Columba by Maire Herbert
The Legend of St. Columba by Padraic Colum
Columba by Nigel Tranter
The Magnificent Gael by Reginald B. Hale
The Cathach of Colum Cille (available on CD-Rom)
Patron Saints Index Entry for St. Columba

How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill
Wisdom of the Celtic Saints by Edward C. Sellner
Sun Dancing by Geoffrey Moorhouse

Children's Books About St. Columba:
The Man Who Loved Books by Jean Fritz
Across a Dark and Wild Sea by Don Brown
Saint Colum and the Crane by Eva K. Betz

Music:
"Columba, Most Holy of Saints - Medieval Scottish Plainchant"
~ Performed by Capella Nova, Alan Tavener
"In Praise of Saint Columba"
~ Performed by the Choir of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge
"The Pilgrim - A Celtic Suite for Orchestra, Soloists, Pipe Band and Choir"
~ Composed by Shaun Davey