Tobar Éinne (Tobar Éanna), Saint Enda's holy well on Inis Oírr
Saint Endée
Fondateur de monastères en Irlande (+ 530)
Frère de Sainte Fanchéa qui l'aurait converti, il fut l'un des premiers à fonder des monastères en Irlande, dont celui d'Inishmore. Il eut pour disciples saint Kieran et saint Brendan.
En Irlande, vers 542, saint Endée, abbé, qui fonda dans l'île d'Aran un
monastère si célèbre que l'île fut appelée l'Île des Saints.
Martyrologe romain
ST. ENDA
Feast: March 21
Enda was a young Irish warrior, intent upon war and the slaughter of his enemies; he had a remarkable sister by the name of Fanchea, the abbess of a convent who would eventually be canonized. His father was Conall Derg of Oriel, and when his father died, he succeeded him as king and went off to fight his enemies.
Coming back from a bloody battle, St. Enda stopped by
his sister's convent, the victory cries of his soldiers disturbing the convent
and distressing his sister. Fanchea faced her brother and told him his hands
were dripping with blood and that he should turn his mind to things spiritual.
He promised to amend his ways if she would give him one of the young girls in
the convent to marry, and Fanchea pretended to agree to his stipulation. Soon
after, however, the "promised" bride-to-be died, and Fanchea brought
her brother to look upon the corpse.
Faced with the reality of death, and by his sister's persuasion, Enda decided
to study for the priesthood, and Fanchea sent him to Candida Casa in Roman Britain,
a great center of monasticism in England. There he took monastic vows and was
ordained.
Enda returned to Ireland and received a grant of land in the Aran Islands from
Oengus, king of Cashel, his brother-in-law. There he founded a monastery, one
of the first in Ireland, and he is considered the patriarch of Irish monks.
Most of the great Irish saints had some connection with Aran: St. Brendan was
blessed for his voyage there; Jarlath of Tuam, Finnian of Clonard, and St.
Columba called it the "Sun of the West." Aran became a miniature
Mount Athos, with a dozen monasteries scattered over the island, the most
famous, Killeany, where Enda himself lived. There that great tradition of
austerity, holiness, and learning was begun that was to enrich Europe for the
next thousand years.
Enda died in his little rock cell by the sea around the year 530, a very old
man, and the <Martyrdom of Oengus> says that "it will never be known
until the day of judgment the number of saints whose bodies lie in the soil of
Aran."
Thought for the Day: The shortness of life strikes most people only on their
deathbeds, and they never really reflect on how fleeting life is. Those who do
think about it seriously, like St. Enda, usually end up doing something about
it and investing their time in something really worthwhile. From such thinking,
saints are born.
From 'The Catholic One Year Bible': As the sun went down that evening, all the
villagers who had any sick people in their homes, no matter what their diseases
were, brought them to Jesus; and the touch of his hands healed every one!—Luke
4:40
Taken from "The One Year Book of Saints" by Rev. Clifford Stevens published by Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, Our Sunday Visitor, Inc., Huntington, IN 46750.
Butler’s
Lives of the Saints – Saint Enna, or Endeus, Abbot
Article
His father, Conall Deyre, was lord of Ergall, a large
territory in Ulster, in which principality Enna succeeded him; but by the pious
exhortations of his sister, Saint Fanchea, abbess of Kill-Aine, at the foot of
Mount Bregh, in the confines of Meath, he left the world, and became a monk.
Going abroad, by her advice, he lived some time in the abbey of Rosnal, or the
vale of Ross, under the abbot Mansenus. At length returning home, he obtained
of Ængus, king of Munster, a grant of the isle of Arra, or Arn, wherein he
founded a great monastery, in which he trained up many disciples, illustrious
for sanctity, insomuch that the island was called Arran, of the Saints. His
death must have happened in the beginning of the sixth century. The chief
church of the island is dedicated to God in his name, and called Kill-Enda. His
tomb is shown in the church-yard of another church, in the same island, named
Teglach-Enda.
MLA Citation
Father Alban Butler. “Saint Enna, or Endeus,
Abbot”. Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal
Saints, 1866. CatholicSaints.Info.
21 March 2013. Web. 6 April 2021.
<https://catholicsaints.info/butlers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-enna-or-endeus-abbot/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/butlers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-enna-or-endeus-abbot/
Saint Enda of Arran
- Enda of Aran
- Enda of Arranmore
- Éanna of…
- Edna of…
- Éinne of…
- Endeus of…
- Enna of…
The Monastic School of Aran
The three islands of Aran stretch across the mouth of Galway Bay, forming a kind of natural breakwater against the Atlantic Ocean. The largest of the three, called Aran Mor, is about nine miles in length, and little more than one in average breadth. The bluish-grey limestone of which it is entirely composed is as hard as marble and takes a fine polish. In many places it is quite bare; in others the sandy soil affords a precarious sustenance for more than three thousand people who dwell upon the island, and largely supplement the produce of their arid fields by the harvest of the stormy seas around their island home, to which they cling in good or bad times with a passionate love. During three hundred years from about 500 to 800, Aran Mor and its sister islands were a famous centre of sanctity and learning, which attracted holy men from all parts of Ireland to study the science of the saints in this remote school of the West. Before the arrival of St. Enda, Aran Mor and the neighbouring islands had long been occupied by a remnant of the ancient Firbolg race, who, driven from the mainland, built themselves rude fortresses in the strongest points of the islands, the barbaric ruins of which still excite wonder. Their descendants were still pagans at the close of the fifth century, when St. Enda first dared to land upon their shores, seeking, like so many of the saints of his time, "a desert in the ocean." The inhabitants of the islands at this time were the remnants of a great pre-historic people, whose works, even in their ruins, will outlive the monuments of later and more civilized peoples. Side by side with these magnificent remains of pagan architecture are now to be seen the remains of the churches and cells of Enda and his followers, making the Isles of Aran the most holy, as they are the most interesting spots, within the wide bounds of Britain's insular empire.
Tradition tells us that Enda came first across the North Sound from Garomna Island on the coast of Connemara, and landed in the little bay at Aran Mor under the village of Killeany, to which he had given his name, and near which he founded his first monastery. The fame of his austere sanctity soon spread throughout Erin, and attracted religious men from all parts of the country. Amongst the first who came to visit Enda's island sanctuary was the celebrated St. Brendan — the Navigator, as he is called — who was then revolving in his mind his great project of discovering the promised land beyond the western main. He came to consult Enda, and seek his blessing for the prosperous execution of his daring purpose. Thither, too, came Finnian of Clonard, himself the "Tutor of the Saints of Erin," to drink in heavenly wisdom from the lips of blessed Enda, for Enda seems to have been the senior of all these saints of the second order, and he was loved and reverenced by them all as a father. Clonard was a great college, but Aran of Enda was the greatest sanctuary and nursery of holiness throughout all the "land of Erin." Here, also, we find Columcille, who had not yet quite schooled his fiery spirit to the patient endurance of injustice or insult. He came in his currach, with the scholar's belt and book-satchel, to learn divine wisdom in this remote school of the sea. He took his turn at grinding the corn, and herding the sheep, and fishing in the bay; he studied the Latin version of the Scriptures, and learned from Enda's lips the virtues of a true monk as practiced by the saints and Fathers of the desert, and he saw it exemplified in the daily life and godly conversation of the blessed Enda himself, and of the holy companions who shared his studies and his labours. Reluctantly did Columcille leave the sacred isle; and we know, from a poem which he has left, how dearly he loved Aran Mor, and how bitterly he sorrowed when the "Son of God" called him away from that beloved island to preach beyond the seas. He calls it "Aran, the Sun of all the West," another pilgrims' Rome, under whose pure earth he would as soon be buried as nigh to the graves of Saints Peter and Paul. With Columcille at Aran was also the gentle Ciaran, the "carpenter's son," and the best beloved of all the disciples of Enda. And when Ciaran, too, was called away by God to found his own great monastery by the banks of the Shannon, we are told that Enda and his monks came with him down to the beach, whilst their eyes were dim with tears and sorrow filled their hearts. And the young and gentle Ciaran, having got his abbot's blessing, entered his currach and sailed away for the mainland. There is indeed hardly a single one of the saints of the second order — called the Twelve Apostles of Erin — who did not spend some time in Aran. It was for them the novitiate of their religious life. St. Jarlath of Tuam nearly as old as Enda himself; St. Carthach the Elder of Lismore; the two Sts. Jervis of Glendalough, two brothers; St. MacCreiche of Corcomore; St. Lonan Kerr, St. Nechan, St. Guigneus, St. Papeus, St. Libeus, brother of St. Enda —all these were there.
Enda divided Aran Mor into two parts, one half to be assigned to his own monastery of Killeany; the other, or western half, to such of his disciples as chose "to erect permanent religious houses on the island." This, however, seems to have been a later arrangement. At first it is said that he had 150 disciples under his own care, but when the establishment greatly increased in numbers, he divided the whole island into ten parts, each having its own religious house and its own superior, while he himself retained a general superintendence over them all. The existing remains prove conclusively that there must have been several distinct monasteries on the island, for we find separate groups of ruins at Killeany, at Kilronan, at Kilmurvey, and further west at the "Seven Churches." The islanders still retain many vivid and interesting traditions of the saints and their churches. Fortunately, too, we have in the surviving stones and inscriptions other aids to confirm these traditions, and identify the founders and patrons of the existing ruins. The life of Enda and his monks was very frugal and austere. The day was divided into fixed periods for prayer, labour, and sacred study. Each community had its own church and its village of stone cells, in which they slept either on the bare ground or on a bundle of straw covered with a rug, but always in the clothes worn by day. They assembled for their daily devotions in the church or oratory of the saint under whose immediate care they were placed; silently they took in a common refectory their frugal meals, which were cooked in a common kitchen, for they had no fires in their cloghauns or stone cells, however cold the weather or wild the seas. They invariably carried out the monastic rule of procuring their own food and clothing by the labours of their hands. Some fished around the islands; others cultivated patches of oats or barley in sheltered spots between the rocks. Others ground it or kneaded the meal into bread, and baked it for the use of the brethren. So, in like manner, they spun and wove their own garments from the undyed wool of their own sheep. They could grow no fruit in these storm-swept islands; they drank neither wine nor mead, and they had no flesh meat, except perhaps a little for the sick. Sometimes, on the high festivals, or when guests of distinction came on pilgrimage to the island, one of their tiny sheep was killed and the brethren were allowed to share — if they chose — in the good things provided for the visitors. Enda himself never tasted flesh meat, and we have reason to believe that many of the monks followed their abbot's example in this as in other respects. Aran was not a school of secular, but of sacred learning. The study of the Scriptures was the great business of its schools and scholars. They set small store indeed on points of minute criticism, their first object being to make themselves familiar with the language of the sacred volume, to meditate on its meaning, and apply it in the guidance of their daily lives.
Sources
COLGAN, Acta Sanctorum, Vita St. Endei; BEDE, Historia Eccles., III; HEALY, Ireland's Ancient Schools and Scholars (2d ed.), 162; O'FLAHERTY, Iar Connaugt, 162; FOUR MASTERS, Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland; SKENE, Celtic Scotland, II.
Healy, John. "The Monastic School of
Aran." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert
Appleton Company, 1907. 21 Mar. 2015 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01677b.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by John Fobian. In memory of John Eagan, S.J.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. March
1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal
Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2020 by Kevin Knight. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Enda (ook Endeus of Enna) van
Aran, Ierland; abt; † ca 540.
Feest 21 maart.
Hij was een zoon van koning Conall Derg van Oriel, de
zuidelijke helft van het huidige Ulster. Hij had nog vier zusters die eveneens
als heilig worden beschouwd van wie de oudste, abdis Fanchea van Rossory († ca
500; feest 1 januari) het meeste inlvloed op hem heeft gehad; daarnaast had je
nog Lochein van Ierland: zij was een kluizenares of kloosterzuster († eerste
helft 6e eeuw; feest 12 juni: over haar is verder niets bekend); Carecha, abdis
van Clonburren, Roscommon († eerste helft 6e eeuw; feest 9 februari), en
Darenia († eerste helft 6e eeuw; feest ?), gemalin van koning Aengus van
Cashel; zij is een tante of wellicht zelfs de moeder van Sint Colman van
Derrymore.
Fanchea had een door haar ouders gepland huwelijk met
koning Aengus van Cashel afgelsagen, omdat zij maagd wilde blijven omwille van
Christus. Zo stond zij aan de basis van een zusterklooster te Rossory (of
Ross-Oirther) aan de kust van Lough Erne in Fermanagh. Intussen koesterde zij
de hoop dat haar broer Enda zich eveneens zou toewijden aan de dienst van God,
als priester. Maar hij was intussen zijn vader opgevolgd als koning van Oriol
en volgde zijn ridderideaal van een dappere koning die zijn soldaten voorgaat
in de strijd. Toch waren het uiteindelijk haar gebeden en overtuiugende woorden
die het wonnen: Enda deed afstand van de troon en voegde zich bij zijn zus. Zij
gaf hem het eerste onderricht in gebed, nederigheid en ascese. Zo hielp hij met
eigen handen een muur bouwen rond het klooster van zijn zus; en dat voor een
koningszoon! In die tijd! Handwerk was iets voor de lijfeigenen. Adel werkte
niet. Voor een prins was dat een harde ascese.
Op haar advies verliet hij Ierland om in de leer te
gaan bij de heilige abt Manachen (= (?) Mainchín verlatijnst tot Manchanus: 14
februari) in diens abdij te Rosnet. Enkele jaren later trok hij als pelgrim
naar Rome. Daar werd hij priester gewijd. Hij schijnt daar een klooster
gesticht te hebben, waar hij zelf abt van werd. Al gauw stond hij in de wijde
omgeving bekend vanwege zijn heilige levenswandel.
Maar Fanchea miste haar broer en meende dat Ierland
hem meer nodig had dan Rome. Zij zocht hem op en wist hem over te halen naar
zijn vaderland terug te keren.
Enda's terugkeer vanuit Rome naar Ierland zou rond het
jaar 480 geplaatst moeten worden. Zijn zwager, koning Aengus van Cashel, schonk
hem de rotsachtige Aran-Eilanden om er een klooster te beginnen. In feite werd
het een zogeheten klooster-republiek: zij bestond uit elf vestigingen verspreid
over de eilandjes. Om dicht bij haar broer te zijn verhuisde Fanchea daar
naartoe en begon een nieuwe kloostervestiging te Killeany. Daar is ze
uiteindelijk gestorven.
Men meent dat het Enda geweest is die het strikte
kloosterleven invoerde in Ierland met geloften, afzondering van de
'gewone' wereld en een strenge levensregel. Daarmee is hij misschien nog wel
belangrijker geweest voor het Ierse monnikendom dan Sint Patrick. Naar het
schijnt hebben vele beroemde abten van een generatie later daar (een stuk van)
hun vorming gekregen; onder wie Sint Kieran van Clonmacnoise († 549; feest 9
september), Sint Finian van Clonard († ca 549; feest 12 december), Sint Jarlath
van Tuam († ca 550; feest 6 juni), de vermaarde Sint Brendan of Brandanus de
Zeevaarder van Clonfert († 578; feest 16 mei), Sint Finian van Maghbile (of
Moville: † 6e eeuw; feest 10 september), Sint Kevin van Glendalough († 618;
feest 3 juni) en Sint Carthag van Lismore († 638; feest 14 mei).
Enda stierf in het 540.
SOURCE : http://heiligen-3s.nl/heiligen/03/21/03-21-0540-enda.php
