Vitrail
du saint Aidan à la cathédrale d'Enniscorthy.
St.
Aidan's Cathedral, Enniscorthy, County Wexford, Ireland. Detail of right part
of fifth stained glass window in the east aisle (right from the nave if coming
from the main entrance in the south), depicting Saint Aidan.
Saint Maedhoc
Premier évêque de
Ferns (+ v. 630)
ou Aidan de Ferns.
Évêque et missionnaire.
Retenu otage par le roi d'Irlande, il fut relâché et étudia au Pays-de-Galles sous la direction de saint David. De retour en Irlande sur la côte de Wexford en 580, il fut nommé premier évêque de Ferns. Il est réputé pour la grande austérité de sa vie.
La cathédrale d'Enniscarthy, où se trouve maintenant le siège épiscopal, lui est dédiée.
Sa mémoire est conservée dans les liturgies irlandaises.
À Fern en Irlande, vers 626, saint Maedhoc ou Aidan, évêque, qui fonda en cet
endroit un monastère et se rendit célèbre par une extrême austérité.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/5504/Saint-Maedhoc.html
Ferns,
County Wexford, Ireland. Ferns Cathedral (Church of Ireland), as seen from
south-west.
Ferns, County Wexford, Ireland. South-east view of Ferns Cathedral.
Also
known as
Aedan
Aedh
Aidan
Edan
Maedoc
Modoc
Moedoc
Mogue
Profile
Known for his piety even
as a small child.
Studied scripture at
the monastery of Saint David in Wales.
Reported to have saved the house on several occasions by miraculously turning
back Saxon invasions He returned to Ireland in 580 and
built a monastery at
Ferns, Wexford. Bishop. Miracle worker.
Once saved a hunted stag by
making it invisible to the hounds chasing
it.
Born
miraculous portents
were reported at his birth
Died
626 of
natural causes
with a stag
Additional
Information
books
Book of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Dictionary of Saints, by John Delaney
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other
sites in english
spletne
strani v slovenšcini
MLA
Citation
“Saint Aiden“. CatholicSaints.Info.
15 November 2018. Web. 18 March 2023. <https://catholicsaints.info/saint-aiden/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-aiden/
La cathédrale Saint-Aidan
d'Enniscorthy.
A
south view of St. Aidan's Cathedral, Enniscorthy
St. Aidan of Ferns
Feastday: January 31
Death: 632
Author and Publisher -
Catholic Online
Bishop and missionary,
born in Inisbrefny, in County Cavan, circa 550, who is probably to be
identified with Aidan. As a small boy he was held as a hostage by AedhAinmire,
High King of Ireland, probably to insure the loyalty of his family. Released,
Aidan studied at Kilmuine, in Wales, a famed institute of Christian learning
conducted by St. David. In 580, he returned to Ireland, going to the coast of
Wexford. He served the area and was honored by Bran Dubh at the synod held
to celebrate victory over King Aedh. Ferns, the area in which Aidan conducted
his priestly ministry, was elevated at this time to
the status of a diocese. Aidan was appointed the first bishop of Ferns and
became Ard-Escops or Chief bishop of
the region. In time he
was called Mogue, "the beloved Aidan." The episcopal seat is no
longer in Ferns but
in Enniscarthy, where a cathedral was
dedicated to Aidan.
SOURCE : https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=1193
La cathédrale Saint-Aidan
d'Enniscorthy.
St.
Aidan's Cathedral, Enniscorthy, County Wexford, Ireland. Spire of St. Aidan's
Cathedral, as seen from the western side of the cathedral.
Aidan of Ferns B (AC)
(also known as Aedan,
Aedh, Maedoc-Edan, Moedoc, Mogue)
Born in Connaught,
Ireland; died 626.
"Give as if every
pasture in the mountains of Ireland belonged to you."
--Saint Aidan.
The Irish Saint Aidan
loved animals. His fellow Irishmen were fond of hunting. Aidan so protected
them that his emblem in art is a stag. Legend has it that as he sat reading in
Connaught, a desperate stag took refuge with him in the hope of escaping pursuing
hounds. Aidan by a miracle made the stag invisible, and the hounds ran off.
There were several Irish
saints named Aidan but this one seems to have been the most important. As a
youth he spent some time in Leinster but, 'desirous of becoming learned in holy
Scripture,' Aidan went to Wales to study under Saint David (Dewi) at Menevia in
Pembrokeshire for several years. His only difference from his fellow monks is
that he brought his own beer from his native land.
The inspiration of Saint
David caused him to return to Ireland with several other monks to built his own
monastery at Ferns, County Wexford, on land given to him by Prince Brandrub
(Brandubh) of Leinster together with the banquet halls and champions' quarters
of the royal seat of Fearna. He also founded monasteries at Drumlane and
Rossinver, which disputed Ferns' claim to his burial site. In addition to
abbeys, Aidan is credited with founding about 30 churches in Ireland. One
source claims that Aidan became the first bishop of Ferns (which is not that
unlikely because many abbots were treated as bishops during the period), which
displaced Sletty of Fiach as the bishop's seat. .
Later in life he returned
to Saint David's for a time, and it is said that Saint David died in the arms
of Aidan. Welsh tradition maintains that Aidan succeeded David as abbot of
Menevia, and on that basis Wales later claimed jurisdiction over Ferns because
a Welsh abbot founded it. In fact, in Wales they regard Aidan as a native and
provide him with a geneaology that includes Welsh nobility. There his great
reputation for charity still survives, for he taught his monks to give their
last bits of food to those in need.
The written vitae of
Saint Aidan are composed mostly of miracles attributed to him. His is
attributed with astonishing feats of austerity, such as fasting on barley bread
and water for seven years, as well as reciting 500 Psalms daily. An odd tale is
related in another. Some spurious beggars hid their clothes, donned rags, and
then begged for alms. Knowing what they had done, Aidan gave their clothes to
the poor and sent the impostors away with neither their clothing nor alms.
One story reports that he
bequeathed his staff, bell (Bell of Saint Mogue), and reliquary to his three
monasteries of Ferns, Drumlane, and Rossinver. All have survived the fates of
time. The staff can be found in the National Museum in Dublin; the other two in
the Library of Armagh cathedral. The bell had been in the hereditary keepership
of the MacGoverns in Templeport, County Cavan. Another of his personal
belongings, the Breac Moedoc, is in the National Museum. This stamped leather
satchel and shrine that encased the relics of Saint Laserian of Leighlin was
brought from Rome and given to Aidan, who placed it in the church of Drumlane.
A bronze reliquary that contained his remains in the 11th century is preserved
in Dublin. In addition to having a cultus in Ireland and Wales, Saint Aidan was
venerated in Scotland in the 12th century.
He is represented in art
by a stag because of the story related above (Attwater, Attwater2,
Benedictines, Bentley, Coulson, D'Arcy, Delaney, Farmer, Husenbeth, Kenney,
Montague, Neeson, Porter, Stokes).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0131.shtml
Church
of the Assumption, Wexford, County Wexford, Ireland. Detail of the right light
of the stained glass window titled The Madonna with Sts Aidan and Adrian by Harry
Clarke (1889–1931), depicting the Saint Aidán.
St. Maedoc
(MOEDHOG, MOGUE, ÆDDAN FOEDDOG, AIDUS, HUGH)
First Bishop of Ferns, in Wexford, b.
about 558, on an island in Brackley Lough, County Cavan; d. 31 January, 626. He
was the son of Sedna, a chieftain of Connaught, and of his wife, Eithne. Even
in his early years the fame of his sanctity was
widespread and, when many came to the young man and desired to become his
disciples, he fled from Ireland to Wales. Here he became
the pupil of St.
David and is named as one of his three most faithful disciples.
Many miracles are
recorded of St. Maedoc, both in his childhood and during his sojourn in Wales. After many years
he returned to Ireland accompanied
by a band of disciples, and settled at Brentrocht in Leinster. He founded
several monasteries in
that district, the greatest being Ferms, which was built on land given to him
by Brandubh, King of Leinster. Here a synod was held, at
which he was elected and consecrated bishop, about 598. St.
Maedoc of Ferns must
not be confounded either with St. Madoc (or Maidoc), the son of Gildas (28 Feb.)
who also lived in the sixth century and was the founder of Llanfadog in Wales; or with St. Modoc
the Culdee, who
lived in the third or fourth century.
Sources
Acta SS., Jan., II,
1111-20; BOASE in Dict. Christ. Biog., s.v. ; KILMADOCK, St. Mogue's or St.
Ninian's Island in Notes and Queries, 8th series, IV, 421; Lives of the
Cambro-British Saints, ed. REES (Llandovery, 1853), 232-50; MCGOVERN, St.
Mogue's or St. Ninian's Island in Notes and Queries, 8th series, V, 151-2;
STANTON, Menology of England and Wales (London, 1887) 42; Vitae Sanctorum
Hiberniae, ed. PLUMMER (Oxford, 1910), I, lxxv-lxxvii, II, 141-63, 295-311.
Toke,
Leslie. "St. Maedoc." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.
9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 18 Mar.
2023 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09520a.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Joseph P. Thomas.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1910. Remy Lafort,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2021 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09520a.htm
HOLY HIERARCH AIDAN
(MOEDOC), BISHOP OF FERNS
Commemorated: January
31/February 13
There are a number of later Lives of this saint,
written several centuries after his death, however, earlier traditions
associated with him are more reliable. He is mentioned in many
early annals and calendars and also in Lives of other contemporary saints.
According to one version,
St. Aidan (also Maedoc, Mogue, Aedh) was born in the mid-sixth century in the
ancient Irish kingdom (and later province) of Connacht in the west of what is
now the Republic of Ireland. According to another version, his birthplace was
an isle (now called St. Mogue’s Island after him) in the Templeport Lake in
what is now county Cavan in the north of the Republic of Ireland which then was
the south of the kingdom of Ulster. The saint was of a noble origin: his
father’s name was Setna and mother bore the name Eithne, while one of his
cousins was a saint with the name Dallan Forgail, a prominent Irish poet, who
composed a touching panegyric on St. Columba and who for part of his life was
blind (he was finally martyred by pirates in 598 and is celebrated on January
29/February 11).
It was said that some
time before St. Aidan’s birth there was a vision of a bright star descending at
night from heaven and falling on each of his parents while they were sleeping,
and it was a sign of the greatness of their future son. An ancient tradition
relates that there was no boat on the isle to deliver the newborn Aidan to
mainland Ireland so that he could be baptized. Then he was miraculously brought
to the Irish shore on a stone and was successfully baptized. Local residents
believe that the baptismal font of a parish church of the neighboring Bawnboy
(meaning “cattle-enclosure”) village in county Cavan is made from that very
stone.
In his youth St. Aidan
was foretold that in the future he would become a bishop. As a young man Aidan
spent some years in the kingdom (later province) of Leinster in southeastern
Ireland. There he obtained his education and read the Scriptures almost
perpetually. He also probably studied at the most famous Monastery of Clonard,
founded by St.
Finian. After that, as the saint’s biographers wrote, “guided by a strong
desire to gain deeper knowledge of the divine sciences,” Aidan moved to Wales
where he was tonsured a monk and lived the ascetic life at Mynyw (now St.
Davids) in Pembrokeshire together with St. David, the patron
saint of that country. St. Aidan continued his studies under St. David for
several years before returning to Ireland in about 580.
In the year 597 St. Aidan
became the first bishop of Ferns (which means “alder trees”) in what is now
County Wexford in Ireland. The holy hierarch was so loved and esteemed by
everybody that with time he became the main bishop of the whole of Leinster. On
lands endowed by a local ruler in Ferns, St. Aidan built a monastery which
became very famous, and served as its first abbot. The man of God undertook a
large-scale mission and church-building activity across several regions of
Ireland. Thus, he founded Drumlane Monastery in Cavan (although, according to
another version, this monastery was established by St. Columba), Rossinver in
Connacht (now in County Antrim) as well as no fewer than thirty churches in
Ireland. The foundation of a monastic community at his supposed birthplace on
St. Mogue’s Island in Cavan is attributed to him as well.
Today this island is
still a very quiet place. The ruins of an early church are visible here to this
day. Many residents wished to be buried on this holy spot down the centuries so
the local cemetery grew very big. It is believed that clay or simply earth from
among the church ruins protects people from fires and drowning. Some Irish
people like to keep clay from this island in their homes. A truly remarkable
historical example is the miracle that happened to Mary McGovern (1890-1957), a
native of County Cavan, who in 1912 was one of the passengers on the Titanic
and survived, according to her own evidence, only due to the miracle-working
power of soil from St. Mogue’s Island, some of which she had wrapped and taken
with her on her journey. Later this woman returned to her native Ireland and
lived there until her death, always keeping the “St. Mogue’s clay” with her.
St. Aidan of Ferns is
also credited with founding a monastery in what is now County Waterford in the
former province of Munster (southeast Ireland) and another monastery in the
Limerick region in southwest Ireland. For some time he may also have ruled the
monasteries of Kilkenny and Fiddown in what is now County Kilkenny in Leinster.
He was greatly venerated in all these places, as in other regions of the
country. According to much later versions of his Life, after many years of
illustrious labors in Ireland St. Aidan went back to Wales where he most
probably founded a monastery. The Holy Hierarch David of Mynyw, according to
tradition, died in the arms of Aidan. Some of his biographers claimed that
Aidan even succeeded St. David as Abbot of Mynyw Monastery.
Let us now say a few words on the personal qualities
of St. Aidan. He was noted for his learning, obedience and humility,
inclination to asceticism, fine abilities as an abbot and administrator, and loving
care for others; however, he could be very strict when needed. The saint always
taught his monks to share all, even their last bits of food, with the poor and
hungry: “Give as generously as if you possessed all the pastures in the
mountains of Ireland,” he used to say. The holy man had a special fondness of
animals and always protected them, reproving hunters who killed them not out of
necessity. It is known that once due to his prayers a deer became invisible and
thus was saved from its pursuers. That is why St. Aidan is often depicted with
a deer.
It was also said that the
saint loved the austere ascetic life so much that over whole seven years his
diet consisted of only barley bread and water. Meanwhile, he often managed to
read the whole Psalter several times in a single day. As was the case with St.
Columba and other Irish saints, St. Aidan could see what was happening to his
disciples even at great distances and saved them by his prayer from imminent
death (thus he saved one monastery worker who fell before a plow dragged by
oxen and many others). Once the saint took pity on a poor servant who was
laboring for his master in a field under extremely harsh conditions. He gave
the servant half a measure of barley, which at once turned into gold. The poor
man rushed to his master, offered him this gold and was at once freed.
Once a group of cheats
decided to deceive St. Aidan: They dressed in paupers’ clothes and started
begging in the saint’s presence. But Aidan saw in spirit that they were
resorting to trickery—he ignored them and ordered to give out the alms that he
had with him to those who really needed it. On several occasions St. Aidan even
brought dead people back to life by his prayers and in many cases protected the
oppressed. There is a touching story of how St. Aidan blessed the hands of one
unskilled but pious man named Goban before building Ferns Monastery, and the
latter at once became a brilliant architect, who soon built an excellent church
in Ferns as well as many other beautiful churches in Ireland.
The fruitful ministry of
St. Aidan of Ferns in Wales and Ireland lasted for over fifty years; the saint
converted many people to Christ, gained hundreds of disciples, established many
churches and monasteries and worked countless miracles. Most scholars believe
that St. Aidan reposed in Ireland, near the Rossinver Monastery he had founded,
on January 31 (according to the old calendar), 632 (though some annals give
624, 625 and 626), reaching a very advanced age. Yet other late sources suggest
that he reposed in Wales. After his death his holy relics were venerated in
Ferns, and possibly Drumlane and Rossinver—the three monasteries that were
closely connected with him. The veneration of St. Aidan in Wales was as popular
as in Ireland. This holy bishop is also venerated in Scotland; there he is
recalled in such place-names as St. Madoes village in the Perth and Kinross
area (where there is a parish church and an early Pictish stone cross with the
same name).
According to tradition,
the man of God bequeathed his personal handbell and staff (crozier) to his
monasteries, which was a common practice of many Celtic saints. By a miracle of
God, all these relics associated with him survive to this day—his staff is kept
in the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin,1 and his bell and earliest
reliquary are in the library of Armagh Cathedral. Among the spiritual heirs of
St. Aidan of Ferns let us mention St. Moling, the second Bishop of Ferns and
founder of St. Mullins Monastery in county Carlow (feast: June 17/30). It was
St. Moling who blessed a holy well in honor of St. Aidan in Ferns.
Today, the Anglican Cathedral (Church of Ireland) in
the Irish town of Ferns is dedicated to St. Aidan. It
is considered to be the smallest Cathedral in Western Europe. It stands on the
site where our saint built his first, Orthodox monastery, in the late sixth
century. A Catholic Cathedral appeared on this site in 1230. In 1575 this
Cathedral was destroyed and a Protestant Cathedral was subsequently built in
the same place. The present Cathedral, officially dedicated to “St. Edan”,
claims the saint’s bodily relics. Apart from this cathedral there are many
other notable Christian sites in this quiet town (which once was the capital of
Leinster and has ever been a holy place): an Augustinian abbey of the twelfth
century, some ruins of the ancient cathedral, a number of early crosses, St.
Peter’s Church, St. Aidan’s modern Catholic Church, a modern Catholic Convent
of St. Aidan and the Adoration, and a holy well of “St. Mogue”.
The magnificent nineteenth-century Roman Catholic
Cathedral in the Irish town of Enniscorthy in County Wexford is dedicated to
our saint. The Cathedral was built according to the design of the
prominent English architect Augustus Welby Pugin (1812-1852) and contains,
among other treasures, a well-known stained glass image of St. Aidan and many
other windows.
The holy hierarch is the
patron of Ferns and the parish of Templeport in County Cavan. The small village
of Bawnboy, mentioned above, annually celebrates St. Aidan’s memory as well. A
parish church situated nearby bears the name of St. Aidan (Mogue) and local
residents make annual pilgrimages to the lake isle where he was born, according
to one version of his Life.
There is a village of
Milltown in County Cavan. The famous Drumlane Monastery, mentioned above, was
located just to the south of it. This monastery was closely associated with St.
Columba of Iona (before his move to Scotland), St. Aidan of Ferns and many
other saints. The first wooden Irish Orthodox monastery was founded here in the
sixth century. Austin canons came here in the twelfth century and built their
stone Catholic abbey. The latter, however, was largely destroyed in 1260. Today
a church, a fine Celtic round tower (the most splendid in the county) along
with monastic ruins can be found there.
“Aidan” is still a popular boys’ baptismal name in
County Cavan. This saint should not be confused with Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne,
the Wonderworker and Apostle of Northumbria, who bore the same name, was an
Irishman, and is venerated particularly on Lindisfarne in Northumberland in
northeastern England. He is also one of the greatest Celtic saints and is
feasted on August 31/September 13.
There is a village with the name Llawhaden (perhaps
meaning “Aidan’s monastic enclosure”) in the Welsh county of Pembrokeshire in
the west of the country. The village has a parish church of St.
Aidan near the Eastern Cleddau River. St. Aidan may have founded this church;
his name is also connected with the settlements of Nolton and Haroldston West
nearby with their churches dedicated to “St. Madoc” who is identified with our
saint. Thus the memory of the fact that St. Aidan of Ferns was a disciple of
St. David, the patron of Wales, is preserved here.
Holy Hierarch Aidan of Ferns, pray to God for us
2/13/2017
1 There
are also a host of other precious relics from the Irish Orthodox Celtic past
kept at the National Museum in Dublin. Among them are: a part of the crozier of
St. Colman of Kilmacduagh; a silver and brass shoe-relic of St. Brigid of
Kildare, set with jewels; the early Clonmacnoise Monastery’s crozier; the
famous bell of St. Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland, with its shrine, along with
his tooth; the crozier of Durrow Monastery which supposedly belonged to St.
Columba; the Faddan More Psalter (c. 800 AD); early crosses, chalices, patens
etc.
SOURCE : https://orthochristian.com/101012.html
Sant' Aidano
(Medhoc) di Ferns Vescovo
Etimologia: Aidano =
splendido capo, dall'antico normanno
Martirologio
Romano: A Ferns in Irlanda, san Maedóc o Aidano, vescovo, che fondò in
questo luogo un cenobio e rifulse per la grande austerità di vita.
Il nome primitivo Aed sembra che in origine significasse fuoco. Le varie forme del nome derivano dall'aggiunta del suffisso diminutivo an, oppure dall'aggiunta contemporanea del suffisso diminutivo oc e del prefisso possessivo-affettivo mo (Mo-áed-oc). E' molto problematico ricavare gli elementi oggettivi dalla leggenda sorta attorno alla figura di Aidano e parimenti è impossibile giungere a determinare accuratamente la cronologia della sua vita. Sembra sia appartenuto alla gente dei Connaught. La sua nascita va collocata nella seconda metà del sec. VI. Anche per Aidano, l'immaginosa agiografia irlandese ci parla di un fantastico sogno presago dei genitori. Alla madre di Aidano infatti, nella stessa notte della concezione. parve di vedere la luna caderle in bocca. Il padre a sua volta sognò di vedere una stella cadere in bocca alla sposa. Ed una grande luce si sarebbe diffusa nel luogo della nascita di Aidano. La sua Vita, pervenutaci sia nella redazione latina che nella redazione irlandese, si presenta come una narrazione di miracoli spesso fantastici e strani che si dicono compiuti dal santo fin dall'infanzia in ogni occasione. Consacratosi ben presto a Dio, Aidano condusse una vita di preghiere e di austerità nei territori del Leinster. Divulgatasi la fama della sua santità e dei suoi prodigi, Aidano, per fuggire i pericoli della popolarità e per dedicarsi allo studio delle Sacre Scritture, si portò nel Galles e fu accolto da san David di Menevia tra i suoi monaci. Anche nel monastero i prodigi attribuiti al santo sono numerosissimi. Nelle lotte tra Gallesi e Sassoni viene presentato un intervento di Aidano che con la sua benedizione avrebbe posto in fuga questi ultimi. Quindi Aidano riattraversò il mare tornando in Irlanda dove continuò la serie dei prodigi. Nella Vita di san David poi, si narra che un angelo apparve ad Aidano per avvertirlo del rischio che san David correva di essere avvelenato da alcuni suoi monaci. Ed allora Aidano avrebbe inviato nel Galles per sventare la trama un suo díscepolo, il quale avrebbe attraversato il mare portato sul dorso da un mostro marino. Aidano frattanto in un terreno donatogli dal re Brandubh aveva fondato un monastero secondo la regola da lui praticata nel Galles. La sua azione di abate ebbe rilievo anche fuori del monastero, e così Aidano divenne il primo vescovo di Ferns nel Leinster meridionale. Morì nel 626. La sua festa è celebrata il 31 gennaio in tutta l'Irlanda, dove numerose chiese sono a lui dedicate. E' patrono della diocesi di Ferns. Nel Museo Nazionale di Dublino sono esposti un suo reliquiario, la sua campanella e la sua bisaccia.
Autore: Gian Michele Fusconi
SOURCE : https://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/39215
Voir aussi : https://www.libraryireland.com/biography/SaintAedanMaedocorMogue.php
