THE RULE OF ST. CARTHACH. (OB. A.D. 636.)
Reading edition
[The learned O'Curry, in his eighteenth lecture on the MSS. materials of Irish History, when enumerating the Ecclesiastical manuscripts, gives the second place to the ancient monastic rules. He says (page 373-4):
"The second class of these religious remains consists of the Ecclesiastical and Monastic Rules. Of these we have ancient copies of eight in Dublin; of which six are in verse, and two in prose; seven in vellum MSS., and one on paper.
"Of the authenticity of these ancient pieces there can be no reasonable doubt; the language, the style, and the matter, are quite in accordance with the times of the authors. It is hardly necessary to say that they all recite and inculcate the precise doctrines and discipline of the Catholic Church in Erinn, even as it is at this day.
"It would, as you must at once see, be quite inconsistent with the plan of these introductory Lectures to enter into details of compositions of this kind; and I shall therefore content myself by placing before you a simple list of them in the chronological order of their authors, and with a very few observations on their character by way of explanation.
"The fifth in chronological order is the Rule of St. Carthach, who was familiarly called Mochuda. He was the founder of the ancient ecclesiastical city of Raithin [near Tullamore, in the present King's County], and of the famous city of Lis Mór [Lismore, in the present county of Waterford]; he died at the latter place on the 14th day of May, in the year 636.
"This is a poem of 580 lines, divided into sections, each addressed to a different object or person. The first division consists of eight stanzas or 32 lines, inculcating the love of God and our neighbour, and the strict observance of the commandments of God, which are set out generally both in word and in spirit. The second section consists of nine stanzas, or 36 lines, on the office and duties of a bishop. The third section consists of twenty stanzas, or 80 lines, on the office and duties of the abbot of a church. The fourth section consists of seven stanzas, or 28 lines, on the office and duties of a priest. The fifth section consists of twenty-two stanzas, or 88 lines, minutely describing the office and duties of a father confessor, as well in his general character of an ordinary priest, as in his particular relation to his penitents. The sixth section consists of nineteen stanzas, or 76 lines, on the life and duties of a monk. The seventh section consists of twelve stanzas, or 48 lines, on the life and duties of the Célidhé Dé, or Culdees. The eighth section consists of thirty stanzas, or 120 lines, on the rule and order of the refectory, prayers, ablutions, vespers, and the feasts and fasts of the year. The ninth and last section consists of nineteen stanzas, or 76 lines, on the duties of the kingly office, and the evil consequences that result to king and people from their neglect or unfaithful discharge".
Among the manuscripts of Professor O'Curry in the Catholic University, there are two lives of the holy author of this rule. One of these lives is in Irish; the other a translation from the Irish.
We publish to-day about one-half of the "Rule", the remainder, with any notes deemed necessary for its elucidation, shall appear in our next number.]
"Incipit the Regulum (sic) of (St.) Mochuda, Preaching the Commandments to Every Person".
1. This is the way to come to the kingdom of the Lord, Jesus, the all-powerful! That God be loved by every soul, Both in heart and in deed. 2. To love him with all your strength, It is not difficult if you be prudent; The love of your neighbour along with that, The same as you love yourself. 3. Thou shalt not adore idols, Because of the great Lord; Thou shalt not offend thy Creator By improper pride. 4. Give honour unto thy parents, Give submission to the king, And to every one who is higher And who is older in life. 5. Give honour unto the Abbot, The Son of Mary never-failing; Thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not conceal, Thou shalt not kill any one. 6. Thou shalt not be covetous of the world, Nor of ill-gotten gain; Thou shalt not bear false evidence against any one, Thou shalt bring bitterness to none. 7. What thou wouldst desire from all men For thyself, of every good, Do thou that to every one, That you may reach the kingdom. 8. What thou wouldst not desire for thyself Of injury that is evil, For no person shalt thou desire it As long as thou art in the body.
FOR A BISHOP.
9. If you be a bishop of noble order, Assume thy government in full; Be thou obedient to Christ, without guile; Let all others be obedient to thee. 10. Heal the difficult disorders By the power of the pure Lord, And conciliate the lay multitudes— Check the noble kings. 11. Be thou the vigilant shepherd Over the laity and over the Church; Be orthodox in thy teaching, Be stimulative, be pleasant. 12. To subdue the wicked, Who love the doing of evil, To magnify every truth, Is what is due of thee.
13. Thou shalt know the Holy Scripture At the time that thou takest orders, Because thou art a stepson of the Church If thou art deficient and ignorant. 14. For, every unwise man is ignorant— This is the truth and the right— Of the Lord he is not the representative, He who reads not the Law. 15. To condemn all heresy, all wickedness, To thee, of a truth, belongs; There shall not, then, be evil in thyself, In word or in deed. 16. Rising[A] shall not be made for thee, Nor shalt thou be obeyed; If you be meek with these, You will be guilty yourself. 17. For it is certain that you shall pay, When the great assemblage comes, Along with your own transgressions, The sin of every one who is under your government.
FOR THE ABBOT OF A CHURCH.
18. If you be the chief of a church, It is a noble distinction; It shall be well for you if you worthily assume The representativeship of The King. 19. If you be the chief of a church, It is a noble distinction; Administer with justice the church, From the least to the greatest. 20. That which Christ, the All-pure, commands, Preach unto them in full; And what you command unto others, Be it what you perform yourself. 21. The same as you love your own soul, Do you love the souls of all others; 'Tis thine to promote all good, And to banish all evil. 22. Not like a candle under a bushel, Shall be thy learning without cloud; Thine it is to heal all thy hosts, Be they weak, or be they powerful. 23. It is thine to judge each according to his rank, And according to his deeds, That they may accompany thee at the Judgment, In the presence of The King. 24. It is thine to exhort the aged, Upon whom have fallen disease and grief, That they beseech the Son of The King With torrents of gushing tears. 25. It is thine to instruct the young people, That they come not to evil— That the dark demon drag them not Into the stinking death-house. 26. It is thine to return thanks To every one in turn Who performs his work In the holy, pure Church. 27. It is thine to reprove the silly, To rebuke the hosts, To convert the disorderly to order, And the stubborn wretched ignorant. 28. Patience, humility, prayers, Fast and cheerful abstinence, Steadiness, modesty, calmness, From thee besides are due. 29. To teach all men in truth Is no trifling achievement; Unity, forgiveness, purity, Rectitude in all that is moral. 30. Constant in preaching the Gospel For the instruction of all persons; The sacrifice of the body of the great Lord Upon the holy altar. 31. One who does not observe these Upon this earthly world, Is not the heir of the Church, But he is the enemy of God 32. He is a thief and a robber: So declares The King; It is through the side of the Church, Should he enter into it. 33. He is wild, like unto a doe, He is an enemy all hateful; It is he that seizes by force The Queen of the Great King. 34. After having seized her by force, It is then he devours her; He is the enemy of truth; He is manifested in his concealment.
35. I do not myself think (It is true, and no falsehood) That the land of the living he shall reach, He who gives her unto him. 36. It were better for the young priest To seek the pure Christ; He cannot be in unity with us Until he submits to obedience and law. 37. Those who are of one mind To violate the king, Shall be together punished in the pains of hell Unto all eternity.
OF THE DUTIES OF A PRIEST.
38. If you be a priest, you will be laborious; You must not speak but truth; Noble is the order which you have taken, To offer up the body of The King. 39. It is better for you that you be not unwise; Let your learning be correct: Be mindful, be well informed In rule and in law. 40. Let thy baptism be lawful— Such does a precious act require; Noble is thy coöperative man, The Holy Spirit from heaven. 41. If you go to give communion At the awful point of death, You must receive confession Without shame, without reserve. 42. Let him receive your Sacrament, If his body bewails: The penitence is not worthy Which turns not from evil. 43. If you will assume the order— For it is a great deed— Thy good will shall be to all men In word and in deed. 44. Excepting unrighteous people, Who love their evil ways; To these thou shalt never offer it Until the day of thy death.
OF THE DUTIES OF A SOUL'S FRIEND WHO TAKES UNTO HIM PENITENTS HERE.
45. If you be any body's soul's friend, His soul thou shalt not sell; Thou shalt not be a blind leading a blind, Thou shalt not allow him to fall into neglect. 46. Let them give thee their confessions Candidly and devoutly; Receive not their alms If they be not directed by thee. 47. Though you receive their offerings, They [the offerings] abide not in thy love; Let them be as if fire upon thy body, Until you have distributed them in your might. 48. Of fasting and praying Pay thou their price; If you do not you shall pay For the sins of the host. 49. Teach thou the ignorant, That they bend to thy obedience; Let them not come into sin In imitation of thyself. 50. For sake of gifts be not false, By denial, by penuriousness; For thy soul to thee is more precious By far than the gifts. 51. You will give them to the strangers, Be they powerful, or be they weak; You will give them to the poor people, From whom you expect no reward. 52. You will give them to old people, To widows—'tis no falsehood; You will not give them to the sinners, Who have already ample gifts. 53. You will give them in real distress, To every one in turn, Without ostentation, without boasting, For 'tis in that their virtue lies. 54. To sing the requiems Is thine by special right, To each canonical hour, In which the bells are rung. 55. When you come to the celebration, The men of earth in all faith You will there contemplate, And not each in turn. 56. Mass upon lawful days, Sunday along with Thursday, If not upon every day, To banish every wickedness.
57. It is lawful, too, in solemnities— I should almost have said The feast of an apostle or noble martyr, The festivals of pure believers. 58. Masses for all the Christians, And for all those in orders; Masses for the multitudes, From the least unto the greatest. 59. For every one who merits it, Before you offer it for all, And who shall merit From this day until the Judgment comes. 60. When you come unto the Mass— It is a noble office— Let there be penitence of heart, shedding of tears, And throwing[B] up of the hands, 61. Without salutation, without inquiry, With meekness, with silence, With forgiveness of all ill-will That is, shall be, or has been; 62. With peace with every neighbour, With very great dread, With confession of vices, When you come to receive. 63. Two hundred genuflexions at the Beata Every day perpetually; To sing the three times fifty Is an indispensable practice. 64. If you are desirous of preserving the Faith Under the government of a pure spirit, You shall not eat, you shall not sleep With a layman in a house. 65. There shall be no permanent love in thy heart But the love of God alone; For pure is the Body which thou receivest, Purely must thou go to receive it. 66. He who observes all this, Which in the Scripture is found, Is a priest—it is his privilege; May he be not privileged and unworthy.
[TO BE CONTINUED.]