11
May 602 A.D. Likely
date of death for Comgall--Irish Missionary, Evangelist, Teacher and Monastic
Graves, Dan. “Irish Abbot Comgall.” Christianity.com. Apr 2007.
http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/601-900/irish-abbot-comgall-11629719.html. Accessed 10 May 2014.
It seems that everyone has heard of St. Patrick,
the missionary who more than anyone else was responsible for converting Ireland
to Christianity. But there is another founder of
great importance to the Islands whose feast is observed on this day, May 10.
St. Comgall founded Irish monasticism. As a consequence, he was indirectly
responsible for the conversion of much of Europe to Christianity.
Comgall's most famous monastery was Bangor, founded
about 552. This is where Columba studied--the Columba (or Columbanus) who
became a renowned missionary. Unlike Patrick, who was born in Britain, Comgall
was Irish-born. After serving in the military, he studied under St. Finnian and
St. Ciaran, then joined with some friends in living a strict monastic life on
an island in Ulster. They were so harsh on themselves that seven of them died
of cold.
Comgall wanted to leave Ireland, but his bishop
talked him into staying. And so Comgall became an apostle of monasticism in his
homeland. By his death, about 3,000 monks were under his authority. He wrote
their rule, of which this is thought to be a scrap of it: "This is the
most important part of the rule; Love Christ; hate wealth."
Bangor was a severe place. Comgall himself ate only
once a day. And yet he urged his monks to maintain close friendships, saying,
"A man without a soul-friend is a body without a head."
Miracles are claimed for Comgall. For example, it
is said he once healed a blind man by smearing saliva on his eyes. Another
time, he caused blindness to fall on some thieves.
Among those who sat at his feet was St. Gall, who
later conducted mission work in Switzerland. Indeed, it was Irish monks who
carried the gospel to Britain and the Continent during the sixth and seventh
centuries. They also preserved much of the lore of the west, so that they saved
precious knowledge during the barbarian invasions. We have Comgall to thank for
this.
After terrible suffering, the Irish monk died May 11, probably in 602, at the Bangor
monastery he had founded, first receiving the bread and wine of Christ's body
and blood one last time.
Bibliography:
1. Cahill, Thomas. How the Irish
saved civilization: the untold story of Ireland's heroic role from the fall of
Rome to the rise of medieval Europe. New York: Nan A. Talese, Doubleday, 1995.
2. "Comgall, St." The
Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Edited by F. L. Cross and E. A.
Livingstone. Oxford, 1997.
3. MacCaffrey, James. "St.
Comgall." The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.
4. Mould, Daphne Desiree Charlotte
Pochin. The Irish saints ; short biographies of the principal Irish saints from
the time of St. Patrick to that of St. Laurence O'Toole. Dublin, Clonmore and
Reynolds, 1964.
5. Various encyclopedia and internet
articles.
Last updated May, 2007.
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