An Illustrated History of Ireland from AD 400 to 1800Cusack, Mary Francis
History
An Illustrated History of Ireland from AD 400 to 1800
Cusack, Mary Francis
Ireland -- History
St. Patrick's Canons,[123] which even Usher admits to be genuine,
contain the following passage. We give Usher's own translation, as
beyond all controversy for correctness:--"Whenever any cause that is
very difficult, and unknown unto all the judges of the Scottish nation,
shall arise, it is rightly to be referred to the See of the Archbishop
of the Irish (that is, of Patrick), and to the examination of the
prelate thereof. But if there, by him and his wise men, a cause of this
nature cannot easily be made up, we have decreed it shall be sent to the
See Apostolic, that is to say, to the chair of the Apostle Peter, which
hath the authority of the city of Rome." Usher's translation of St.
Patrick's Canon is sufficiently plain, and evidently he found it
inconveniently explicit, for he gives a "gloss" thereon, in which he
apologizes for St. Patrick's Roman predilections, by suggesting that the
saint was influenced by a "special regard for the Church of Rome." No
doubt this was true; it is the feeling of all good Catholics; but it
requires something more than a "special regard" to inculcate such
absolute submission; and we can scarcely think even Usher himself could
have gravely supposed, that a canon written to bind the whole Irish
Church, should have inculcated a practice of such importance, merely
because St. Patrick had a regard for the Holy See. This Canon was acted
upon in the Synod of Magh-Lene, in 630, and St. Cummian attests the fact
thus:--"In accordance with the canonical, decree, that if questions of
grave moment arise, they shall be referred to the head of cities, we
sent such as we knew were wise and humble men to Rome." But there is yet
another authority for St. Patrick's Roman mission. There is an important
tract by Macutenius, in the Book of Armagh. The authenticity of the
tract has not, and indeed could not, be questioned; but a leaf is
missing: happily, however, the titles of the chapters are preserved, so
there can be no doubt as to what they contained. In these headings we
find the following:--
"5. De ætate ejus quando iens videre Sedem Apostolicam voluit discere
sapientiam."
"6. De inventione Sancti Germani in Galiis et ideo non exivit ultra."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account