Saint Malachy

“ Malachy presided over that place for some time,308 by the ordinance of Father Imar,309 being at once the ruler and the rule of the brethren. They read in his life how they should behave themselves, and he was their leader in righteousness and holiness before God;310 save that besides the things appointed for the whole community he did many things of an exceptional kind, in which he still more was the leader of all, and none of the others was able to follow him to such difficult practices. ”

“ A certain woman was diseased with an issue of blood;668 and she was of noble birth and very dear to Malachy, though by reason of the nobility rather of her character than of her descent. When she was entirely failing, her strength no doubt being exhausted with her blood, and was now near the end, she sent to the man of God, in order that—the only thing that remained to be done—he might help her soul who should see her no [Pg 95] more in the body. When Malachy heard it he was troubled, because she was a woman of virtue, and her life fruitful in work and example. ”

“ The Life of Malachy was certainly written before the Synod of Kells met in March 1152; for Christian, who attended the Synod as bishop of Lismore, is spoken of in the Life as abbot of Mellifont.94 Its earliest possible date is a couple of months after Malachy's death. ”

“ So neither did pleasure hold him captive or destroy him, nor did he stand a curious spectator on the way, forgetful of his own pilgrimage.
7. Which of you, brothers, would not earnestly desire to imitate his holiness, if he dared even to hope for such an attainment? I believe, therefore, you will gladly hear, if I perchance can tell it, what made Malachy holy. ”

“ When Malachy was made bishop of Down, immediately according to his custom he was at pains to take to himself from his sons, for his comfort, a convent of regular clerics.501 And lo, again he girds himself, [Pg 64] as though a new recruit of Christ, for the spiritual conflict; again he puts on the weapons that are mighty through God,502 the humility of holy poverty, the rigour of monastic discipline, the quietness of contemplation, continuance in prayer. But all these things for a long time he was able to maintain rather in will than in deed. For all men came to him ”

“ But Malachy had no mind to spend the rest of his life at Armagh. Five years before, as the condition of his entry into the fray, he had stipulated that as soon as he had been accepted as archbishop he should resign the see and return to his beloved Bangor. So in 1137 he nominated and consecrated Gelasius as his successor in the primacy, and "returned to his former parish, but not to Connor." Let me explain this enigmatical statement. Malachy had had some years' experience of the people of the diocese of Connor, whom St. Bernard gently describes as "not men but beasts." ”

“ They, though they receive tithes and first-fruits and oblations, besides customs and tributes by the gift of Cæsar and countless other revenues, nevertheless take thought what they shall eat or what they shall drink;611 Malachy having nothing of such things, yet makes many rich612 out of the store-house of faith. Of their desire and anxiety there is no end; Malachy, desiring nothing, knows not how to think about the morrow.613 They exact from the poor that which they may give to the rich; Malachy implores the rich to provide for the poor. They empty the purses of their subjects ”

“ A man who as regards the world was honourable, as regards God devout, came to Malachy and complained to him concerning the barrenness of his soul,698 praying that he would obtain for him from Almighty God the grace of tears. ”

“ Faith increased along with power, and again faith made stronger gave in its turn increase of power. Now he was able to rise unassisted, now to walk somewhat better, now not even to perceive weariness in walking; at length, to come to Malachy without difficulty and quickly, unaided by man. He promoted him, and put him into the chair, with the applause of clergy and people. This was done without question, because neither did they dare to oppose the will of Malachy in any way, seeing the sign which he had wrought ”

“ Hence even the thought of our own advantage provides us with another motive for great joy and gladness, because so powerful a patron, so faithful an advocate has gone before us to the heavenly court.986 For his most fervent charity cannot forget his sons, and his approved holiness must secure favour with God.987 For who would dare to suppose that this holy Malachy can now be less profitable [than before] or less loving to his own? ”

“ It is quite possible that the offer of peace was made in good faith, and that Malachy and his friends were unduly suspicious when they "foresaw guile." The prince may have surrounded himself with armed men as a mere matter of prudence. ”

“ The most probable solution of the chronological difficulty is that through ignorance of Irish ecclesiastical affairs St. Bernard misunderstood the information supplied to him, and thus separated Malachy's tenure of the abbacy of Bangor from his episcopate, though the two were in reality conterminous. For the significance of Malachy's recall to the North, see Introduction, p. liii. f.; and for a fuller discussion, R.I.A., xxxv. 250-254.
[326] Cp. Giraldus, Top. iii. 19: "It is wonderful that this nation should remain to this day so ignorant of the rudiments of Christianity. ”

“ In a district of the northern part of Ireland a sick man lay in his house. His sickness was beyond doubt due to the evil influence of demons. For one night he heard them talking; and one said to another, "See that this wretched man does not touch the bed or bedding of that hypocrite, and so escape from our hands." The man perceived that they were speaking of Malachy, who, as he remembered, had not long before passed a night in that house. ”

“ The woman became insane by the judgement of the Lord, and crying out many times that she was being suffocated by Malachy, at length by a horrible death she expiated the sin of blasphemy. So this wretched woman, taking up against Malachy the reproach that had been made against Elisha,481 found to her cost that he was indeed another Elisha. ”

“ Malachy resolved to make request to the Pope in person for palls for the two Irish metropolitans. So he set out from Bangor for Rome.85 Of his journey it is unnecessary to say anything here.86
At Rome Malachy was received by Pope Innocent II. [Pg lxi] with great honour. He confirmed the erection of the metropolitan see of Cashel. But he politely declined to grant the palls. They must be demanded, he said, by a council of the bishops, clergy and magnates; and then they would be given. ”

“ At last she was seen, a third time, gathered in the company of the white-robed, and in bright clothing.273 You see, reader, how much the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth.274 Truly the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force.275 Does not the prayer of Malachy seem to you to have played the part as it were of a housebreaker to the heavenly gates, when a sinful woman obtained by the weapons of a brother what was denied to her own merits? ”

“ With psalms and hymns and spiritual songs899 we followed our friend as he returned to his own country.900 In the fifty-fourth [Pg 128] year of his age,901 at the place and time which he had chosen beforehand and predicted, Malachy, the bishop and legate of the holy Apostolic See, taken up by the angels,902 as it were from our hands, happily fell asleep in the Lord.903 And indeed he slept. His placid face was the sign of a placid departure. And verily the eyes of all were fixed upon him;904 but none could perceive when he departed. When dead he was thought to be alive, when alive, dead ”

“ I think it right to relate to you, briefly, a specimen of the many splendid deeds of this man, in which he is known to have gone, with no little vigour, through fire and water.1071 A tyrannous race laid claim to the metropolitan see of Patrick, the great apostle of the Irish, creating archbishops in regular succession, and possessing the sanctuary of God by hereditary right.1072 Our Malachy was therefore asked by the faithful to combat such great evils ”

“ In childhood Malachy was noted for his studious, retiring, prayerful habits. At school he outstripped all his fellows in learning. Early in life he became a pupil of Iomhar Ua-h-Aedhagan, founder of the abbey church of SS. Peter and Paul in Armagh, who lived in a cell near the church. Here Malachy gained such a reputation for sanctity and learning that the Bishop of Armagh, Kellach or Celsus, ordained him to deacon's orders, much against his will. ”

“ Many epitaphs on him are preserved, some in verse attributed to Bernard, one in prose taken from the ‘Book of Sepultures’ at Clairvaux (Menolog. Cist., 5 Nov.—Maurique) . The chronology of his life is rather tangled.
Malachy was the most eminent Irish bishop of his day. He endeared himself to the people not only by his abundant labours, but by his humility and unselfishness. He went about the country on foot, and was content to live in poverty, possessing neither house, nor property, nor servants, nor income of his own. ”

“ Malachy, St., archbishop of Armagh in the 12th century; was a friend of St. Bernard's, who wrote his Life and in whose arms he died at Clairvaux; was renowned for his sanctity as well as learning; a book of prophecies ascribed to him bearing on the Roman pontiffs is a forgery.
Maladetta, Mount (i. e. the accursed) , the name of the highest summit of the Pyrenees, 11,168 ft. high, in NE. of Zaragoza.
Malaga (132) , Spanish seaport, 65 m. ”

“ There are few things, however, that cannot be carried in a popular assembly when a small band know exactly what they want, and work together in order to obtain it. The synod accordingly agreed to ask for the palls, and Malachy himself undertook to go to France, where the Pope was at the time, and present the petition in person. Death came to him before he could accomplish his mission. ”

“ The prophecy of S. Malachy is one in respect to which there is great difference of opinion. We give our own for what it is worth, after some reading on the subject, in its favor. After these come the prophecies of persons of recognized sanctity, which have gained credit with judicious and well-informed persons competent to form an enlightened opinion. The most valuable and trustworthy of these are from the V. Holzhauser, the V. Anna Maria Taigi, the V. Curé of Ars, F. Necktou, S.J., Jane le Royer, Sœur de la Nativité, and Mary Lataste. ”

“ By-and-by Malachy was recalled to the north of Ireland, where he became head of the abbey of Bangor, co. Down. Some time before it had been destroyed by pirates, but its site and property were now in the hands of an uncle of Malachy, who had offered them to him that he might re-establish the abbey. He accepted nothing but the site, and here, taking with him ten brethren from Armagh, he in a few days built an oratory (Bernard, Vita, cap. vi. p. 665) , Malachy himself handling the axe among the workmen. ”

“ That goal was the Mountain of Mercy, as the Muslims love to call the Hill of Arafat, and thus the pilgrimage was to him an act of penance, a penitential journey: every breath he drew was a token of his remorse and his every step, a proof of his yearning to gain salvation. The Malays, if I may judge from my observations of these specimens of the race, are lacking in the gift of self-restraint on the spur of their emotions. They never attempt to assume the virtues which they do not possess. If they are afraid, they lay bare their souls, and are not ashamed of their cowardice. ”

“ I was not able to walk straight even to the cathedral, or from the cathedral to the castle of Gibralfaro, or to the other places, nor could I form an idea of the beauties of Malaga without seeing them double and unsteadily, as some spiteful person might suppose.
On our walk my friend talked to me about the famous Republican people of Malaga, who are every moment doing something on their own account. They are a very fiery people, but fickle and yet tractable, like all people who feel much and think little; and they act upon the impulse of passion rather than the strength of conviction. ”

“ Malachy during his campaign for reform, and from the action of the Pope in sending Cardinal Paparo to the national synod at Kells (1152) to bestow the palliums on the Archbishops of Armagh, Dublin, Cashel, and Tuam. ”

“ It is a singular coincidence that within the span of one human life the Spaniard should have finished the secular labor of breaking the power of the Moslem in Spain and have checked his advance in the islands of the antipodes. The religion of the prophet had penetrated to Malacca in 1276, had reached the Moluccas in 1465, and thence was spreading steadily northward to Borneo and the Philippines. ”

“ The inconstant soul of the Malay knows nothing of that rigid adherence to some centralising truth which often forms the heart of a living faith, and his religious history is an age-long record of failure, change, desertion, and oblivion, repeated in varying cadences, and inscribed in unmistakeable characters on the ruined sanctuaries of old Mataram. ”

“ MALAY. Of all these, with the exception of the Europeans, the Malays are by far the most conspicuous and important. They comprise, indeed, no inconsiderable portion of the inhabitants, and are, moreover, distinguished for their industry and sobriety. Many of them are exceedingly well off, and, not unfrequently, keep their carriages and horses. They profess the Mohammedan religion, and have their own clergy and places of worship. Two thirds of the week they work hard, and devote the remainder to pleasure, spending much of their time and money on their dress, more especially the women. ”

“ MALAGA. VIEW FROM THE HARBOUR
If you ask me, "What is Malaga to-day?" I can reply with truth, "The noisiest town in Spain." Like all places in the south it is a babel of street-cries, only a little more so than any of the others. The seranos, or night-watchmen, disturb one's rest as they call out the hour of the night, or whistle at the street corners to their comrades. A breeze makes hideous the hours of darkness by the banging to and fro of unsecured shutters. ”