Note 362 — Chapter X · THE CHURCH.

The Seven Churches, for instance, at Clonmacnois and Glendalough, in Ireland. According to Beda, Hist. Eccl., l. 2, cap. 2; the Welsh monastery of Bangor was divided into seven portions, each containing three hundred monks, under a prior (præpositus). This arrangement may have had some connection with the peculiarity of Seven Churches. Seven British bishops are said to have attended the conference at Augustine’s Oak, and seven bishops are said to have preached the Faith in Gaul.—(Hist. Eccl. Franc., l. 1, cap. 28).