Statue of St Gobnait at Ballyvourney County Cork Ireland
Sainte Gobnait
Abbesse en Irlande (VIe siècle)
Gobnait ou Gobnata est une des saintes les plus vénérées du diocèse de Kerry en Irlande. Elle fait partie d'un groupe de saints irlandais reconnus localement et dont la date de fête est nationale ce qui a été confirmé par la Congrégation pour le culte des saints à Rome en 1998.
Elle est entourée d'une grande dévotion dans les îles d'Aran, dans l'ouest du
comté de Kerry et près de la frontière avec le comté de Cork. Ces sites ont un
lien avec le voyage qu'elle entreprit dans sa recherche du 'lieu de sa résurrection'.
Seules restent quelques légendes sur sa vie.
(diocèse de Kerry en Irlande - site en anglais)
St. Gobnet's Church, Inisheer; although the
church is 11th century, it claims to derive from a foundation by Gobnait and to
contain the remains of her beehive hut.
Saint Gobnata
Also known as
- Abigail
- Albina
- Deborah
- Gobnat
- Gobnet
- Gobnait
Profile
Sixth century abbess of a convent at in Ballyvourney, Ireland. A holy well there that is named
for her still exists. Legend says that she found the site of the convent by chasing a white deer; an angel told her to follow it until she found a herd of nine white deer and found her house there.
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-gobnata/
MLA Citation
- Katherine I
Rabenstein. Saints of the Day, 1998. CatholicSaints.Info. 18 May 2020. Web. 25 November
2020. <https://catholicsaints.info/saints-of-the-day-gobnata-of-ballyvourney/>
Feb 11 – St Gobnait (6th century)
Among the miracles of Gobnait's prayer was the
stopping of a pestilence in her parish. She is also famed for her cultivation
of bees at Ballyvourney, Co Cork .
Summary: St Gobnait is one of Co. West Cork’s
best loved saints but only traditions surrounding her life survive today
Local traditions
connect St Gobnait with bees, with Ballyvourney, Co Cork and with
care for the sick. It is a happy coincidence that her feast
is on World Day of the Sick, 11th February, the day Our Lady appeared to
Bernadette at Lourdes. There are few historical sources for the life of St
Gobnait. Patrick Duffy summarises what the traditions are about her.
The image shows a detail of the St Gobnait window by Harry Clarke in the Honan
University Chapel at University College, Cork.
Early life
Gobnait is said to have been born in Co Clare. In her youth she went to
the Aran Islands to study monastic life with St Enda. There is a church
dedicated to her, Kilgobnet, on Inisheer. An angel told her that this was
not to be the place of “her resurrection” (her death) and that she should tour
Ireland until she found a place where she found nine white deer grazing. On her
travels she is said to have founded churches at Dunquin in Co Kerry and
Dungarvan in Co Waterford.
Ballyvourney and
bees
But it was at Ballyvourney, Co Cork, that she eventually found the nine white
deer grazing. Here she founded a monastery with the help of St
Abban. Famous among the miracles of Gobnait’s prayer was the stopping of a
pestilence by marking off the parish as consecrated ground. She is
also famed for her cultivation of bees and a
story relates how she routed an enemy by loosing her bees upon them.
Patron of ironworkers
“That Gobnait herself was originally a patron of ironworkers is indicated by
the implications of her name, which is based on the hypocoristic (=pet-name) Gobba,
from gabha, ‘smith’. Excavation at her church in Ballyvourney yielded
considerable evidence of ironworking on the site” (Pádraig Ó Riain, A
Dictionary of Irish Saints (2011).
Care of the sick
Gobnait is remembered for her care of the sick. In the church yard at
Ballyvourney many discarded crutches show that people believed they were cured
by Gobnait answering their prayers. Her well is still at
Ballyvourney and is an attraction for pilgrims.
Associations
There is a tradition that in 1602, when after the defeat at Kinsale and the
destruction of his castle at Dunboy, Donal Cam O’Sullivan Beara was
retreating with his soldiers – along with their women, children and
servants – to the territory of O’Rourke of Breifne, they stopped at
Ballyvourney to pay homage to the memory of Gobnait.
Until 1843 a 13th century wooden statue of the saint
was in the hereditary keeping of the O’Herlihy family there. The tradition is
that it was the O’Herlihy family who gave her the land to build her convent.
CatholicIreland.net © 2020. All Rights Reserved.
SOURCE : https://www.catholicireland.net/saintoftheday/st-gobnait-6th-century/
St. Gobnata of Ballyvourney, Virgin
(Gobnet, Gobnait)
11 February
6th century One of the most popular of the saints of
Munster, she was born in County Clare but had to flee from enemies and took
refuge in the Isle of Aran, where there is a church at Inisheer, Kilgobnet,
Gobnat's church. After a time an angel appeared and told her that this was not
to be the place of her resurrection but she must make a journey until
she came upon nine white deer and this would be the sign for her to settle and
build a monastery.
So she set out to search for the spot that God had chosen for her and she
founded churches on the way, among them Dunguin in County Kerry and Dungarven
in County Waterford. It was in County Cork that she saw three white deer near
Cloudrohid; then at Ballymakeera she saw six and going further she arrived at
Ballyvourney and found nine grazing near a wood. There she founded her
monastery.
Saint Abban of Kilabban, County Meath, Ireland, is said to have worked with her
on the foundation of the convent in Ballyvourney, County Cork, on land donated
by the O'Herlihy family, and to have placed Saint Gobnat over it as abbess.
St Gobnat had a particular calling to care for the sick and she is credited
with saving the people at Ballyvourney from the plague. She is also regarded as
the Patroness of bees. Gobnata (meaning "Honey Bee", which is the
equivalent of the Hebrew "Deborah") Of course honey is a useful
ingredient in many medicines but she is said to have driven off a brigand by
sending a swarm of bees after him and making him restore the cattle he had stolen.
In fact she seems to have been very able in dealing with brigands. Set in the
wall of the ruined church at Ballyvourney there is a round stone, which she is
said to have used as a sort of boomerang to prevent the building of a castle by
another brigand on the other side of the valley from her monastery. Every time
he began building she sent the stone across and knocked down the walls, as fast
as he could build, until he gave up in despair.
There is a field near to the village called the Plague Field commemorating the
area she marked out as consecrated ground, across which the plague could not
pass. The "Tomhas Ghobnata", which is the Gaelic for Gobnat's
measure, a length of wool measured against her statue, is still in demand for
healing, and in the church a much worn wooden statue of the thirteenth century
is preserved and shown on her festival. At Killeen there is Gobnat's Stone, an
early cross pillar that has a small figure bearing a crozier on one side.
A well still exists at Ballyvourney that is named after her. As with many Irish
saints, there are stories of wondrous interactions with nature.
Her grave in the churchyard at Ballyvourney is decorated with crutches and
other evidence of cures obtained through Gobnata's intercession. Among the
miracles attributed to her intercession were the staying of a pestilence by
marking off the parish as sacred ground. Another tradition relates that she
routed an enemy by loosing her bees upon them. Her beehive has remained a
precious relic of the O'Herlihys.
The round stone associated with her is still preserved. In art, Saint Gobnata
is represented as a beekeeper.
Troparion of St Gobnet
Tone 3
As a spiritual child of the God inspired Abban
thou didst worthily guide many into monastic virtue, most holy Gobnet.
Wherefore we entreat thee to intercede for us
that we may be guided aright
and be found worthy of the great mercy of Christ our God.
Kontakion of St Gobnet
Tone 5
Praise and honour are thy due
O physician of bodies and souls,
most pious Gobnet.
As thou, being blessed with the gift of healing,
didst bring to many the wholeness and peace of Christ,
pray now for us that our tormented souls
may come to know the joy of godly healing.
St. Gobnata at Ballyvourney
Commemorated on February 11
St. Gobnata was born in County Clare, Ireland at the
end of the fifth, or beginning of the sixth, century. An angel appeared to her
one day and told her to leave and to keep walking until she found nine white
deer. Eventually, she saw three white deer at Clondrohid, County Cork, and
decided to follow them. Then, at Ballymakeera, she saw six white deer. Finally,
at Ballyvourney, she came upon nine white deer grazing in a wood. There, she
was given land for a women’s monastery by her spiritual Father, St. Abban of
Kilabban, and he installed her as abbess. Excavations in 1951 proved that
indeed there had been an early Christian settlement on the site.
St. Gobnata was renowned for her gift of healing, and
there is a story of how she kept the plague from Ballyvourney. She is also
famous for her skill as a bee-keeper.
One day, St. Gobnata was watching from a hill
overlooking a valley as an invading chieftain and his army came through,
destroying crops and driving off cattle. She sent the bees to attack them, and
the army was thrown into such confusion that they left without their plunder.
The holy virgin St Gobnata fell asleep in the Lord on
February 11. The exact year of her death is not known, but it probably occurred
in the sixth century. Although she is regarded as the patron saint of
Ballyvourney, she is venerated throughout southern Ireland. There are churches
dedicated to her in Waterford and Kerry, and she is also revered in Scotland.
Troparion (Tone 3) –
As a spiritual child of the God inspired Abban
Thou didst worthily guide many into monastic virtue,
most holy Gobnata
Wherefore we entreat thee to intercede for us
that we may be guided aright
and be found worthy of the great mercy of Christ our
God.
Kontakion (Tone 5) –
Praise and honor are thy due
O physician of bodies and souls,
Most Pious Gobnata.
As thou, being blessed with the gift of healing,
Didst bring to many the wholeness and peace of Christ,
Pray now for us that our tormented souls
May come to know the joy of godly healing.
By permission of the Orthodox Church in America (www.oca.org)
SOURCE : http://ww1.antiochian.org/node/17505
