dimanche 31 janvier 2016

Saint MAEDHOC ou AIDAN de FERNS, évêque et missionnaire

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


La cathédrale Saint-Aidan de Ferns, consacrée à saint Aidan († v. 6321).

Ferns, County Wexford, Ireland. Ferns Cathedral (Church of Ireland), as seen from south-west.


La cathédrale Saint-Aidan de Ferns, consacrée à saint Aidan († v. 6321).

Ferns, County Wexford, Ireland. South-east view of Ferns Cathedral.


Saint Aiden

Also known as

Aedan

Aedh

Aidan

Edan

Maedoc

Modoc

Moedoc

Mogue

Memorial

31 January

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, WexfordBishopMiracle worker. Once saved a hunted stag by making it invisible to the hounds chasing it.

Born

c.550 in Connaught, Ireland

miraculous portents were reported at his birth

Died

626 of natural causes

Canonized

Pre-Congregation

Representation

with a stag

Additional Information

Catholic Encyclopedia

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

Catholic Online

Catholic Online

Celtic Saints

spletne strani v slovenšcini

Svetniki

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

Dmitry Lapa

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

Dmitry Lapa

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


Ruines de l'ancienne abbaye de Ferns, où fut rédigée la première version de l'hagiographie d'Aidan.


Sant' Aidano (Medhoc) di Ferns Vescovo

31 gennaio

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

https://iafs.ie/ferns/