From: rich <
richarra@gmail.com>
October 29th - St. Colman of Kilmacduagh, Bishop
Born at Corker, Kiltartan, Galway, Ireland, c. 550; died 632; cultus
approved in 1903. Son of the Irish chieftain Duac, Colman was educated
at Saint Enda's (f.d. March 21) monastery in Aran. Thereafter he was a
recluse, living in prayer and prolonged fastings, at Arranmore and
then at Burren in County Clare. With King Guaire of Connaught he
founded the monastery of Kilmacduagh, i.e., the church of the son of
Duac, and governed it as abbot-bishop. The "leaning tower of
Kilmacduagh," 112 feet high, is almost twice as old as the famous town
in Pisa. The Irish round tower was restored in 1880.
There is a legend that angels brought King Guaire to him by causing
his festive Easter dinner to disappear from his table. The king and
his court followed the angels to the place where Colman had kept the
Lenten fast and now was without food. The path of this legendary
journey is called the "road of the dishes."
As with many relics, Saint Colman's abbatial crozier has been used
through the centuries for the swearing of oaths. Although it was in
the custodianship of the O'Heynes of Kiltartan (descendants of King
Guaire) and their relatives, the O'Shaughnessys, it can now be seen in
the National Museum in Dublin (Attwater, Benedictines, Carty, D'Arcy,
Farmer, MacLysaght, Montague, Stokes).
Other tales are recounted about Saint Colman, who loved birds and
animals. He had a pet rooster who served as an alarm clock at a time
before there were such modern conveniences. The rooster would begin
his song at the breaking of dawn and continue until Colman would come
out and speak to it. Colman would then call the other monks to prayer
by ringing the bells.
But the monks wanted to pray the night hours, too, and couldn't count
on the rooster to awaken them at midnight and 3:00 a.m. So Colman made
a pet out of a mouse that often kept him company in the night by
giving it crumbs to eat. Eventually the mouse was tamed and Colman
asked its help:
"So you are awake all night, are you? It isn't your time for sleep, is
it? My friend, the cock, gives me great help, waking me every morning.
Couldn't you do the same for me at night, while the #### is asleep? If
you do not find me stirring at the usual time, couldn't you call me?
Will you do that?"
It was a long time before Colman tested the understanding of the
mouse. After a long day of preaching and travelling on foot, Colman
slept very soundly. When he did not awake at the usual hour in the
middle of the night for Lauds, the mouse pattered over to the bed,
climbed on the pillow, and rubbed his tiny head against Colman's ear.
Not enough to awaken the exhausted monk. So the mouse tried again, but
Colman shook him off impatiently. Making one last effort, the mouse
nibbled on the saint's ear and Colman immediately arose--laughing. The
mouse, looking very serious and important, just sat there on the
pillow staring at the monk, while Colman continued to laugh in
disbelief that the mouse had indeed understood its job.
When he regained his composure, Colman praised the clever mouse for
his faithfulness and fed him extra treats. Then entered God's presence
in prayer. Thereafter, Colman always waited for the mouse to rub his
ear before arising, whether he was awake or not. The mouse never
failed in his mission.
The monk had another strange pet: a fly. Each day Colman would spend
some time reading a large, awkward parchment manuscript prayer book.
Each day the fly would perch on the margin of the sheet. Eventually
Colman began to talk to the fly, thanked him for his company, and
asked for his help:
"Do you think you could do something useful for me? You see yourself
that everyone who lives in the monastery is useful. Well, if I am
called away, as I often am, while I am reading, don't you go too; stay
here on the spot I mark with my finger, so that I'll know exactly
where to start when I come back. Do you see what I mean?"
So, as with the mouse, it was a long time before Colman put the
understanding of the fly to the test. He probably provided the insect
with treats as he did the mouse--perhaps a single drop of honey or
crumb of cake. One day Colman was called to attend a visitor. He
pointed the spot on the manuscript where he had stopped and asked the
fly to stay there until he returned. The fly did as the saint
requested, obediently remaining still for over an hour. Colman was
delighted. Thereafter, he often gave the faithful fly a little task
that it was proud to do for him. The other monks thought it was such a
marvel that they wrote it done in the monastery records, which is how
we know about it.
But a fly's life is short. At the end of summer, Colman's little
friend was dead. While still mourning the death of the fly, the mouse
died, too, as did the rooster. Colman's heart was so heavy at the loss
of his last pet that he wrote to his friend Saint Columba (f.d. June
9). Columba responded:
"You were too rich when you had them. That is why you are sad now.
Great troubles only come where there are great riches. Be rich no
more."
Troparion of St Colman of Kilmacduagh tone 8
Rejecting the nobility of thy birth, O Father Colman,
/thou didst seek God in the solitude of desert places.
/ Thy virtue, like a beacon, drew men unto thee
/ and thou didst guide them into the way of salvation
/ Guide us also by thy prayers, that our souls may be saved.
Saint Quote:
In times of desolation, God conceals Himself from us so that we can discover for
ourselves what we are without Him.
--St. Margaret of Cortona
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Hail Mary of Gold
Hail Mary, White Lily of the Glorious and always-serene Trinity.
Hail brilliant Rose of the Garden of heavenly delights:
O you, by whom God wanted to be born and by whose
milk the King of Heaven wanted to be nourished!
Nourish our souls with effusions of divine grace. Amen!
At the hour when the soul which has thus greeted me
quits the body I will appear to them in such splendid
beauty that they'll taste, to their great consolation,
something of the joys of Paradise.
--- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
* Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)