Sainte Ita
Abbesse
en Irlande (✝ 577)
Deirdre, Ida, Ide,
Meda, Mida ou Ytha.
Elle est très populaire en Irlande.
Elle fonda le couvent de Hy Conaill dans le Limerick.
De nombreuses anecdotes sur sa vie sont peu plausibles.
Voir aussi sur le site St Patrick's church (en anglais)
Au monastère de Cluain Credal en Irlande, vers 570, sainte Ita, vierge, fondatrice de ce monastère.
Martyrologe
romain
Ita of Limerick V (AC)
(also known as Deirdre, Ida, Ide, Meda, Mida, Ytha)
Died c. 570. Saint Ita is the most famous woman saint in Ireland after Saint
Brigid, and is known as the Brigid of Munster. She is said to have been of
royal lineage, born in one of the baronies of Decies near Drum in County
Waterford, and called Deirdre.
An aristocrat wished to
marry her, but after praying and fasting for three days and supposedly with
divine help, she convinced her father to allow her to lead the life of a
maiden. She migrated to Hy Conaill (Killeedy), in the western part of Limerick,
and founded a community of women dedicated to God, which soon attracted many
young women. She also founded and directed a school. It is said that Bishop
Saint Ere gave into her care Saint Brendan, who would become a famous abbot and
missionary (though the chronology makes this unlikely). Many other Irish saints
were taught by her for years. For this reason, she is often called
"foster-mother of the saints of Ireland."
Brendan is supposed to have
once asked her what three things God especially loved. She replied, "True
faith in God with a pure heart, a simple life with a religious spirit, and
open-handedness inspired by charity."
An Irish lullaby for the
Infant Jesus is attributed to her. Saint Ita's legend stresses her physical
austerities. The principle mark of her devotion was the indwelling of the Holy
Trinity. Like other monastic figures of Ireland, she spent much time in
solitude, praying and fasting, and the rest of the time in service to those
seeking her assistance and advice.
She and her sisters helped
to treat the sick of the area. Many extravagant miracles are also attributed to
her including one in which she is said to have reattached the head to the body
of a man who'd been decapitated, and another which claimed that she lived only
on food from heaven.
Although her life is
overlaid by much mythical material, because she has been so popular and her
vita was not written for centuries, there is no reason to doubt her existence.
There are church dedications and place names that recall her both in her
birthplace and around her monastery. She is also mentioned in the poem of
Blessed Alcuin, and her cultus is still vibrant (Attwater, Benedictines,
Delaney, Farmer, Montague, Riain, Walsh, White).
St. Ita
Saint Ita, called the "Brigid
of Munster"; b. in the
present County of Waterford, about 475; d. 15 January, 570. She became a nun, settling down at Cluain Credhail, a place-name that has ever since
been known as Killeedy — that is, "Church of St. Ita" — in County
Limerick. Her austerities are told by St. Cuimin of
Down, and numerous miracles are recorded of her. She was also endowed
with the gift of prophecy and was held in great veneration by a large number of contemporary saints, men as well as women. When she felt her end approaching she sent for her community of nuns, and invoked the blessing of heaven on the clergy and laity of the district around Killeedy. Not alone was St. Ita a saint, but she was the foster-mother of many saints, including St. Brendan the Voyager, St. Pulcherius (Mochoemog),
and St. Cummian Fada. At the
request of Bishoper Butler of Limerick, Pope Pius IX granted a special Office and Mass for the feast of St. Ita, which is kept on 15 January.
Grattan-Flood, William.
"St. Ita." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 8.
New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 15 Jan. 2017 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08201c.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for New
Advent by Joseph P. Thomas. In memory of
Cecilia La Bombard.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil
Obstat. October 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New
York.
St Ita of Killeedy
Catholic
Communications, Sydney Archdiocese,
14 Jan 2010
The date 15 January
marks the Feast day of Ireland's St Ita of Killeedy who is revered by the Irish
and regarded second only to St Brigid.
Born in 480 AD in
the Diocese of Limerick, she was baptised Deirdre and grew up in Drum, County
Waterford. The daughter of Irish nobility and in all probability related to the
royal kings of Ireland, she showed an unusual inclination to prayer and
holiness from an early age and also was said to embody the six virtues of Irish
womanhood - wisdom, purity, musical ability, gentle speech and needle skills.
A high born noble
courted and wished to marry her. But Deirdre, now in her teens, had no wish to
marry and instead wanted to devote her life to God and become a nun. Her
highborn father was impatient with this decision and for three days she prayed
for his understanding. Her prayers were answered and with her father's blessing
she embarked on her chosen vocation. Vowing to remain single and lead a
celibate life, she made her way to Hy-Conall where she established a convent that
became known as Killeedy.
The convent, the
ruins of which still stand, would be her home for the rest of her life.
Taking the religious
name of Ita, she was joined in her convent by other sisters and a short time
later, founded a school for boys nearby.
Among those she
taught was St Brendan, also known as Brendan the Voyager after his voyage
across the Atlantic where legend has it he visited the Americas. As a student
of St Ita's, Brendan is believed to have asked her what three things God loved
best.
"True faith in
God and a pure heart, a simple life with a religious spirit and open-handedness
inspired by charity," she answered.
Over the centuries
many extravagant miracles have become associated with St Ita including the
healing of a man who was decapitated. Although such stories seem unlikely, her
faith, devotion to God and her work as a healer and educationalist is
unquestioned.
As with many of
Ireland's ancient Saints, St Ita was canonised by her local bishop but during
the twentieth Century, the Bishop of Limerick formalised her sanctification
when he received permission from Pope Pius IX to observe a feast day in her
name on January 15 each year.
She is also the
official Patron Saint of the Diocese of Limerick.
SOURCE : http://www.sydneycatholic.org/news/latest_news/2010/2010114_1631.shtml
St. Ita,
or Mida, Virgin of Ireland, Abbess
SHE was a native of Nandesi, now the barony of Dessee in the county of
Waterford, and descended from the royal family. Having consecrated her
virginity to God, she led an austere retired life at the foot of the mountain
Luach, in the diocess of Limerick, and founded there a famous monastery of holy
virgins, called Cluain-cred-hail. By the mortification of her senses and
passions, and by her constant attention to God and his divine love, she was
enriched with many extraordinary graces. The lesson she principally inculcated
to others was, that to be perpetually recollected in God is the great means of
attaining to perfection. She died January 15, in 569. Her feast was solemnized
in her church of Cluain-cred-hail, in the whole territory of Hua-Conail, and at
Rosmide, in the territory of Nandesi. See her ancient life in Bollandus, Jan.
xvi. and Colgan, t. 1. p. 72, who calls her the second St. Bridget of Ireland.
Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73). Volume I: January. The Lives of the Saints. 1866
Sant' Ita (Ida) Vergine
Nata presso Drum (contea di Waterford) Ita fu battezzata con il nome di
Derthrea (Deirdre) o Dorotea. A circa quattordici anni si consacrò a Dio, probabilmente nelle mani di
Declan di Ardmore. Migrò quindi nel territorio di Hy-Conaill, qualche miglio a
Sud-Ovest di Limerick, fondando un monastero a Cluain Credail (Killeedy,
baronia di Glenquin, contea di Limerick) ai piedi dello Sliabh Luachra. In
seguito aprí una piccola scuola per bambini e si dice che san Erc le affidò il
futuro san Brendano di Clonfert. Nota con l'appellativo di «Bianco sole delle
donne del Munster» fu celebre per il suo ascetismo e per la pazienza nella
malattia. Chiamata spesso la «seconda Brigida» di Irlanda, si fa menzione della
sua morte nel 571, negli Annali di Inisfallen (ca. 1092) con la seguente frase:
«Morte di Ita di Cluain, madre adottiva di Gesú Cristo e di Brendano». (Avvenire)
Martirologio
Romano: Nel monastero di Clúain Credal in Irlanda, santa Ita, vergine,
fondatrice di quel monastero.
Nata
presso Drum (contea di Waterford) Ita fu battezzata con il nome di Derthrea
(Deirdre) o Dorotea. A circa quattordici anni si consacrò a Dio, probabilmente
nelle mani di Declan di Ardmore. Emigrò quindi nel territorio di Hy-Conaill,
qualche miglio a Sud-Ovest di Limerick, fondando un monastero a Cluain Credail
(Killeedy, baronia di Glenquin, contea di Limerick) ai piedi dello Sliabh
Luachra. In seguito aprí una piccola scuola per bambini e si dice che s. Erc le
affidò il futuro s. Brendano di Clonfert.
Nota con l'appellativo di "Bianco sole delle donne del Munster" fu
celebre per il suo ascetismo e per la pazienza nella malattia.
Chiamata spesso la "seconda Brigida" di Irlanda, si fa menzione della
sua morte nel 571, negli Annali di Inisfallen (ca. 1092) con la seguente frase:
"Morte di Ita di Cluain, madre adottiva di Gesú Cristo e di
Brendano". Gli Annali riferiscono inoltre che nel 553 fu vinta una
battaglia per le sue preghiere.
La festa di Ita si celebra il 15 gennaio in tutti i calendari.
Autore: Leonard Boyle
