From: rich <richarra@gmail.com>

February 13th - St. Modomnoc O'Neil, Bishop
=C2 (Also known as Domnoc, Dominic, Modomnock)

Died c. 550. Modomnoc, descended of the Irish royal line of O'Neil,
had to leave Ireland to train for the priesthood, since he was a
student before the creation of the great Irish monasteries. He crossed
the English Channel to be educated under the great Saint David at
Mynyw (Menevia, now Saint David's) Monastery in Wales. All those who
resided in the community were expected to share in the manual work as
well as the study and worship, and there is a story which tells how
one day Modomnoc was working with another monk making a road, when he
had occasion to rebuke him for some matter. The other monk was seized
with anger and took up a crowbar, but before he could bring it down on Modomnoc, Saint David, who was witness to the incident, stayed his arm
by his spiritual powers and it remained paralysed.

Modomnoc was given charge of the bees and he loved it. And so did
everyone else--they all loved honey, but few like taking charge of the
hives. Modomnoc liked the bees almost more than he liked their honey.
He cared for them tenderly, keeping them in straw skeps in a special
sheltered corner of the garden, where he planted the kinds of flowers
best loved by the bees. Every time they swarmed, he captured the swarm
very gently and lovingly and set up yet another hive. He talked to the
bees as he worked among them and they buzzed around his head in clouds
as if they were responding. And, of course, they never stung him.

At the end of summer, they gave him much honey, so much that Modomnoc
needed help carrying it all inside. The monks never ran out of honey
for their meals or making mead to drink. The good Modomnoc thanked God
for this, and he also thanked the bees. He would walk among the skeps
in the evening and talk to them, and the bees, for their part, would
crowd out to meet him. All the other monks carefully avoided that
corner of the monastery garden because they were afraid of being
stung.

As well as thanking the bees, Modomnoc did everything he could to care
for them in cold and storm. Soon his years of study ended, and
Modomnoc had to return to Ireland to begin his priestly ministry.
While he was glad to be returning home, he knew he would be lonely for
his bees. On the day of his departure, he said good-bye to the Abbot,
the monks, and his fellow students. Then he went down to the garden to
bid farewell to his bees. They came out in the hundreds of thousands
in answer to his voice and never was there such a buzzing and
excitement among the rows and rows of hives. The monks stood at a
distance watching the commotion in wonder, "You'd think the bees
knew," they said. "You'd think they knew that Modomnoc was going
away."

Modomnoc resolutely turned and went down to the shore and embarked the
ship. When they were about three miles from the shore, Modomnoc saw
what looked like a little black cloud in the sky in the direction of
the Welsh coast. He watched it curiously and as it approached nearer,
he saw to his amazement that it was a swarm of bees that came nearer
and nearer until finally it settled on the edge of the boat near him.
It was a gigantic swarm--all the bees from all the hives, in fact. The
bees had followed him!

This time Modomnoc did not praise his friends. "How foolish of you,"
he scolded them, "you do not belong to me but to the monastery! How do
you suppose the monks can do without honey, or mead? Go back at once,
you foolish creatures!" But if the bees understood what he said, they
did not obey him. They settled down on the boat with a sleepy kind of
murmur, and there they stayed. The sailors did not like it one bit and
asked Modomnoc what he intended to do.

He told them to turn the boat back for Wales. It was already too far
for the bees to fly back, even if they wanted to obey him. He could
not allow his little friends to suffer for their foolishness. But the
wind was blowing the boat to Ireland and when they turned back, the
sail was useless. The sailors had to furl it and row back to the Welsh
coast. They did it with very bad grace, but they were too much afraid
of the bees to do anything else.

Saint David and the monks were very surprised to see Modomnoc coming
back and looking rather ashamed. He told them what had happened. The
moment the boat had touched land again, the bees had made straight for
their hives and settled down contentedly again. "Wait until tomorrow,"
advised the abbot, "but don't say farewell to the bees again. They
will be over the parting by then."

Next morning, the boat was again in readiness for Modomnoc and this
time he left hurriedly without any fuss of farewell. But when they
were about three miles from the shore, he was dismayed to see again
the little black cloud rising up over the Welsh coast. Everyone
recognised the situation and the sailors turned back to shore
immediately. Once more the shamefaced Modomnoc had to seek out David
and tell his story. "What am I to do?" he pleaded. "I must go home.
The bees won't let me go without them. I can't deprive you of them.
They are so useful to the monastery."

David said, "Modomnoc, I give you the bees. Take them with my
blessing. I am sure they would not thrive without you. Take them.
We'll get other bees later on for the monastery."

The abbot went down to the boat and told the sailors the same story.
"If the bees follow Modomnoc for the third time, take them to Ireland
with him and my blessing." But it took a long time and a great deal of
talking to get the sailors to agree to this. They did not care who had
the bees as long as they weren't in their boat. The abbot assured the
sailors that the bees would give no trouble as long as Modomnoc was
onboard. The sailors asked, if that were so, why the bees did not obey Modomnoc's command to return to the monastery. After much back and
forth, the sailors were finally persuaded into starting out again.

For the third time the boat set sail, Modomnoc praying hard that the
bees would have the sense to stay in their pleasant garden rather than
risking their lives at sea. For the third time he saw the little black
cloud rising up in the distance, approaching nearer and nearer until
he saw it was the same swarm of bees again. It settled on the boat
once more. This time it did not turn back. Modomnoc coaxed his
faithful friends into a sheltered corner of the boat, where they
remained quietly throughout the journey, much to the sailors' relief.

When he landed in Ireland, he set up a church at a place called
Bremore, near Balbriggan, in County Dublin, and here he established
the bees in a happy garden just like the one they had in Wales. The
place is known to this day as "the Church of the Beekeeper." He became
a hermit at Tibberaghny in County Kilkenny and some say he was later consecrated Bishop of Ossory(Benedictines, Curtayne).


Troparion of St. Modomnock tone 4

Pomp and splendour held no attraction for thee, O Father Modomnock./
By leaving the glitter of the world,
thou didst freely embrace thy poverty with the Waterman,/
praying for the salvation of all faithful souls.


Saint Quote:
The Lord has arrayed Joseph, like with a sun, in all which the saints
possess together in regard to light and splendor.
--St. Gregory of Nazianzus

Bible Quote:
Let your speech be, "Yes, yes"; "No, no"; and whatever is beyond these
comes from the evil one. (Matthew 5:37)

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