The Sacrament Of Penance In The Early Irish Church.

The name Soul's-friend (in Irish,) was a characteristic title used in the old Irish language to designate those who are now called confessors, whose mission it is to receive the confessions of the faithful and to heal by the sacrament of penance, the spiritual wounds inflicted on the soul after baptism. “Sure we are”, writes Usher, “that it was the custom of the faithful in our ancient Church, to confess their sins to the priests, that they might be made partakers of the benefit of the keys for the quieting of their troubled consciences”—Discourse on the Religion, etc., p. 46.

Our old commentator, Claudius, more than once repeats this doctrine, and teaches that the power of forgiving sins was granted by the divine Redeemer to His apostles and their successors in the priesthood: “The power of loosing and binding”, he says, “was granted to all the apostles by our Saviour, when, appearing to them after His resurrection, He breathed upon them, and said: Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven, and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained. Even to the present day this duty devolves upon the Church in its bishops and priests, and having examined each sinner's cause, they absolve those whom they find humble and truly penitent, from the fear of eternal death, but such as they find to persist in their sins, these are bound down unto never-ending torments”—In Matth. Codex Vatican., fol. 149, b.

Elsewhere, expounding the history of the man who was sick with the palsy, he remarks: “The scribes say truly that none can forgive sins save God alone, who also it is that forgives through those to whom he has given the power of forgiving”. And again, “St. John teaches us, in regard to the remission of sins, that our Saviour after His resurrection promised to His disciples [pg 478] that those shall be bound whom they shall bind, and those shall be loosened whom they shall loosen”—In Matth. ibid., fol. 81, and Usher, loc. cit., pag. 48.

The old penitential canons of our Church will serve as a practical commentary on these texts of Claudius. Thus, in the synod held by our apostle, together with Auxilius and Isernimus, about the year 450, we find the canon:

“A Christian who has committed murder, or fornication, or gone to a soothsayer after the manner of the gentiles, for every such crime shall do a year of penance: when his year of penance is accomplished he shall come with witnesses, and afterwards he shall be absolved by the priest”.16

St. Finnian too prescribes:

“Si quis rixam faciat de clericis aut ministris Dei, hebdomadam dierum poeniteat cum pane et aqua et petat veniam a Deo suo et proximo suo, plena confessione et humilitate et sic potest Deo reconciliari et proximo suo”.17

The synodical canons de Arreis, in one decree declare as the substitute for the penance of a year:

“Tres dies cum mortuo sancta in sepulchro, sine cibo et potu et sine somno sed cum vestimento circa se, et cantatione psalmorum et oratione horarum per confessionem et votum sacerdoti”.

And in another case they enact a similar penance:

“post confessionem peccatorum coram sacerdote et plebe post votum”.18

The penitential of St. Cummian commands him who had innocently told an untruth “to confess his fault to the person whom he deceived and to the priest”.19 Again, youths before their twentieth year committing certain sins, were ordered for the first offence “having confessed, to do penance for twenty days before they should approach the holy Communion”.20

St. Columbanus is even more minute in treating of this sacrament. Thus, in canon the fourteenth, he lays down the penance for the sin of adultery, and adds that this penance being performed by the sinner “culpa illius per sacerdotem abstergatur”. Should his sin be a sin of desire, “Confiteatur culpam suam sacerdoti et ita quadraginta diebus in pane et aqua poeniteat”.21 Special diligence, too, was to be observed when preparing to approach [pg 479] the Holy Eucharist, and not only the heinous crimes, but even the venial faults were to be confessed. “Confessiones autem dari diligentius praecipitur, maxime de commotionibus animi, antequam ad missam eatur, ne forte quis accedat indignus ad altare, id est si cor mundum non habuerit”.22

In the ancient collection of canons made for the use of our Irish Church about the year 700, there is one book (the 48th) entitled de Poenitentia. The thirty-three chapters into which it is divided are for the most part moral or disciplinary: as, for instance, the twenty-fifth chapter, which enjoins that all penitents should receive imposition of hands from the priests during Lent, moreover, should carry the dead to the place of sepulture, and there inter them, and, in fine, should present themselves kneeling at all the functions of the Church from Easter to Pentecost. There are, however, some incidental passages which beautifully illustrate the idea entertained by our fathers of the necessity and advantages of sacramental confession. Thus in the third chapter the words of St. Augustine are adopted:

“Why will the sinner seek to conceal what he committed in the presence of God? Why will he blush to confess those sins with which he did not blush to stain his own soul? Therefore, let him defray by confession what he has contracted by sinning; let him by satisfaction wash away the stains which defile his soul; let him by vigilance supply for his former neglect; let him for the future be a follower of Christ by virtuous deeds, as hitherto he had followed Satan by his sins; and he may rest assured that God will not punish him for those crimes which he has confessed”.

Subsequently it adopts the well-known passage from the Homilies of St. Gregory the Great:

“As the physician cannot apply his remedy unless he knows in what the malady of his patient consists, so cannot sins be healed without confession; for, with our heart we believe unto justice, but with our lips confession is made unto salvation. He who conceals his sins cannot be directed; but he who confesses them and relinquishes them all, will obtain mercy”—Collect. Hib. Canonum, xlviii. 3.

In the other fragments which are still preserved of our early literature, we find many passages connected with the same great sacrament. Thus St. Mochta, in his Apologia, amongst the other articles of faith, professes: “Poenitentiam peccatorum plenissima fide suscipimus ac veluti secundam gratiam suspicamur” (see Essays on the Early Irish Church, pag. 302); that is to say, it is the only plank that remains to him after shipwreck.

[pg 480]

Amongst the Irish MSS. preserved in the public library of Basle, in Switzerland, there is one (Ff. iii. 15) which presents a curious form of prayer to be observed by our clergy when administering the sacrament of penance. We give it in full in its original language; the reader will remark that it omits the form of absolution, for which it refers to the sacramentary, and the words which we here enclose within parentheses are written as rubric in the original manuscript:

“Incipit ordo ad poenitentiam dandam.

“Credis in Patrem et Filium et Spiritum Sanctum? Respondet: Credo.

“Credis, quod istae tres personae, quo modo diximus, Pater et Filius et Spiritus Sanctus, tres sunt, et unus Deus est? Respondet: Credo.

“Credis, quad in ista ipsa carne in qua nunc es, habes resurgere in die judicii et recipere sive bonum sive malum quod egisti? Respondet: Credo.

“Vis dimittere illis quicumque in te peccaverint, Domino dicente, si non remiseritis hominibus peccata eorum, nec Pater vester coelestis dimittet vobis peccata vestra? Respondet: Dimitto.

“(Et require diligenter; si est incestuosus, si non vult ipsa incesta dimittere, non potes ei dare poenitentiam: et si vult ipsa incesta dimittere, fac eum confiteri omnia peccata sua, et ad ultimum diecre.)

“Multa sunt peccata mea, in factis in verbis et in cogitationibus”.

(Tunc da illi poenitentiam et dic istas orationes super eum.)

“Oremus. Praeveniat hunc famulum tuum N. Domine, misericordia tua, et omnes iniquitates ejus celeri indulgentia doleat. Per, etc.

“Oremus. Exaudi, Domine, preces nostras et confitentium tibi parce peccatis ut quos conscientiae reatus accusat, indulgentia tuae pietatis absolvat.

“(Et caeteras, si tempus habueris sicut in sacramentario continentur. Si tibi non vacat, istae sufficiant. Et si homo ingeniosus est, da ei consilium ut veniat tempore statuto ad te aut ad alium sacerdotem in coena Domini et reconcilietur sicut in sacvamentario continetur. Quicquid manens in corpore consecutus non fuerit hoc est reconciliatione, exutus carne consequi non poterit. Si vero minus intelligens fuerit, quidquid ipse non intelligit in uno statu reconciliare, potes eum ita dicendo:)

“Oremus. Praesta, quaesumus Domine, dignum poenitentiae fructum huic famulo ut ecclesiae tuae sanctae a cujus integritate deviarat peccando, admissorum veniam consequendo reddatur innocens. Per Dominum.

“(Si infirmus est homo, statim reconciliare eum debes.)”

Thus terminates this curious fragment of the ritual observances of our early Church. Another Irish manuscript of the same library in Basle contains a long penitential prayer, the language of which has a striking resemblance with the prayers of St. Colgu [pg 481] and Aileran, already published in the early numbers of the Record. It thus begins:

“De conscientiae reatu ante Altare,

“Domine Deus omnipotens, ego humiliter te adoro,

“Tu es Rex Regum et Dominus Dominantium,

“Tu es arbiter omnis saeculi,

“Tu es redemptor animarum,

“Tu es liberator credentium,

“Tu es spes laborantium,

“Tu es paraclitus dolentium,

“Tu es via errantium,

“Tu es magister gentium,

“Tu es creator omnium,

“Tu es amator omnis boni,

“Tu es princeps omnium virtutum,

“Tu es amator virginum,

“Tu es fons sapientium,

“Tu es fides credentium,

“Tu es lux lucis,

“Tu es fons sanctitatis,

“Tu es gloria Dei Patris in excelsis,

“Tu sedes ad dexteram Dei Patris,

“In alto throno regnans in saecula.

“Ego te peto ut des mihi remissionem omnium peccatorum meorum, Deus meus Jesu Christe.

“Tu es qui neminem vis perire sed omnes vis salvos fieri et ad agnitionem veritatis venire.

“Tu es qui ore tuo sancto et casto dixisti: in quacumque die conversus fuerit peccator, vita vivet et non morietur.

“Ego revertor ad Te....

“Ideo confiteor tibi Domine Deus meus, qui solus sine peccato es: et obsecro te, Jesu Christe, Deus misericordiarum per passionem et per effusionem sanguinis tui, atque per signum ligni salutiferi crucis tuae ut concedas mihi remissionem omnium peccatorum meorum, non secundum meum meritum, sed secundum magnam misericordiam tuam”.

The “Rule for the Celi-De”, composed by St. Maelruan about the year 780, reckons “the divulging of confession, so as to say, this is what the man did”, as so heinous a crime “that it is not penanced in the land of Erinn”.23 It also contains several regulations connected with the sacrament of penance. Thus, on the eve of the chief festivals, all feasting is prohibited, “because of going under the hand to-morrow”. To which words Dr. Reeves adds the following note: “The priest raises his hand in the absolution, whence the modern expression going under the hand of the priest denotes going to confession” (pag. 202). Subsequently the Rule enacts:

[pg 482]

“When they do not go to hand (i.e. to confession) on Sunday, they go on the Thursday after; it would be too long to wait till the Sunday following for the person who habitually goes to hand every Sunday, because these two days are always special with them at Mass.

“It is not necessary to delay minute confessions of thoughts and idle notions, and abuse and anger, till Sunday, but to confess them immediately as they occur.

“He who makes his confession to a soul-friend, if he performs the penance according to his directions, need not confess them to another soul-friend, but only what has subsequently occurred. Frequent confession is not profitable when the transgressions are frequent too”.

Some instructions are also given for the guidance of the confessor:

“Difficult, indeed, is the duty of the soul-friend, because if he gives the proper remedy, it is oftener violated than observed; but if the soul-friend does not give it, its liability falls upon himself; because several are satisfied with making the confession without doing the penance; but it is better to proclaim their welfare to them, though they do not respond to the penance enjoined by the confessor. Another soul-friend may be gone to, if necessary, after the permission of the first soul-friend.

“It is right to refuse the confession of a person who does not perform penance according to the soul-friend, unless there happens to be a soul-friend near, whom he considers more learned in rules, in the ways of the Scripture, and in the practices of the saints. Let him heed what he receives from the learned soul-friend whom he first met, to whomsoever he may reveal his confession each time, and let penance be enjoined him according to the rules of frequent confession”.

In fine, it is also decreed that the bishop “who confers noble orders upon any one who is not able to instruct in religion and reading, and soul-friendship, and who has not a knowledge of laws and rules, and of the proper remedy for all sins in general, is an enemy to God and man; for that bishop has offered an insult to Christ and His Church, and hence shall do penance for six years, and he shall pay seven cumhals in gold as a penalty to God.24”

The Rule of St. Carthage (who was familiarly called Mochuda) has already been published in full in the December and January numbers of the Record. Frequent mention is made in it of the holy sacrament of penance, and as St. Carthage died before the year 640, we are thus enabled to trace back the Catholic tenets of our fathers even to the beginning of the seventh [pg 483] century. At page 116, among the duties of a priest is commemorated:

“If you go to give communion

At the awful point of death,

You must receive confession

Without shame, without reserve.

Let him receive your sacrament

If his body bewails.

The penitence is not worthy

Which turns not from evil....

If you be anybody's soul-friend,

His soul thou shalt not sell;

Thou shalt not be a blind man leading the blind;

Thou shalt not allow him to fall into neglect;

Let them give thee their confession

Candidly and devoutly”.

Whilst confession was thus enjoined on the faithful, it was not less necessary for the religious themselves:

“When you come unto the mass—

It is a noble office—

Let there be penitence of heart, shedding of tears,

And throwing up of the hands, ...

With confession of vices,

When you come to receive”.

And again, when laying down special rules for monks, St. Carthage commands them to exercise modesty and meekness:

“With inculcation of every truth;

With denunciation of every wickedness;

With perfect frequent confessions,

Under the directions of a holy abbot”.25

The testimony of these religious rules is of great importance: they not only convey to us the teaching of individuals remarkable for their piety and learning, but they moreover record for our instruction those disciplinary enactments which received the solemn sanction of the greatest saints of our ancient Church, and which guided in the paths of perfection thousands of our countrymen whose virtues and miracles won for our island a wide-spread fame for sanctity throughout the sixth and succeeding centuries.

We may now refer to facts connected with these sainted fathers of our Church which throw much light on the practice of confession, from the earliest period of faith in our island. Thus, of St. Adamnan we read that, being troubled about some sin of his early youth “he resorted to a priest from whom he hoped to learn the way of salvation, and confessing his fault [pg 484] prayed for such counsel as might enable him to flee from the avenging anger of God”.26

In the life of St. Columba, too, it is recorded that one day an Irishman from Connaught, by name Ildran, landed on the beach of Iona and proceeded to the guest-house of the monastery. On the following morning he made known to the saint the object of his journey, viz.: to do penance for his sins, and “at the same hour he confessed all his sins and promised to fulfil the laws of penance”.27 On another occasion St. Columba was visited by a person named Fiachna, who, being touched with remorse for some crime, fell at the saint's feet and “confessed his sins before all that were there present”, whereupon the holy man weeping embraced him, and said, “Arise, my son, and be comforted; thy sins are forgiven thee, for, as it is written, the contrite and humble heart God doth not despise”.28

In the case of a chieftain named Suibhne, it is mentioned that, though truly penitent, he was ordered by St. Pulcherius to confess his sins.29 We find also St. Maidoc of Ferns earnestly soliciting to have a wise confessor divinely destined for his guidance. St. Molua of Clonfert-molua was the person chosen by him, and hence, amongst other titles given to this last-named saint, is “Father of the Confession of Maidoc”.30 Again, in the life of St. Finbar it is mentioned that a young man from Leinster went to Iona to be guided by Columba: being obliged soon after to return to his native country, he thus affectionately addressed the holy abbot: “O sancte Dei! quomodo in patria mea vivam et tibi confitear peccata mea?”31

In the Martyrology of Donegal, St. Meallan of Loch Oirbsen, in Connaught, is styled the Anmehara of St. Furse, who since the middle of the seventh century is venerated as patron of Peronne in France (pag. 40, I.A.S., 1865). In the Felire of Aenghus, St. Donnan of Eigg is also said to have gone to St. Columcille “to make him his soul's friend” (Reeves' Columba, p. 305). This title of Anmchara is given to the divine Redeemer himself by St. Aileran, in the beautiful prayer printed in the Record, [pg 485] pag. 64, and, as we have already said, was the name given by the faithful in our early Church to those who in the Latin records are styled Confessarii, or Patres Confessionis. The Book of Fenagh in one of its most ancient records states, that “Columba plus venit ad S. Kilianum et ei confessus est peccata sua” (I.A.S. Miscellany, vol. i., pag. 118). Of St. Finbarr it is also recorded that, on the death of his spiritual director, he went to St. Olan to make him patrem confessionis suae, or at least to be directed by him as to the person whom he should select; and the legend adds that St. Olan replied: “Christ Himself will be your confessor, and He will receive your hand”; meaning, probably, that the hour of his death was come, for the next fact mentioned in St. Finbarr's life is his happy passage to eternity (Life of St. Finbarr, edited by R. Caulfield. London, 1864, pag. 21).

Probus, in the life of our great Apostle (chap. 20), mentions that one of the chief petitions which he made to God, during the time of his penitential retirement on Croaghpatrick, was: “Ut unusquisque homo fidelis Hibernorum per poenitentiam et confessionem Deo satisfaciens licet in extremo vitae suae spatio, ab ipso elementer suscipiatur”. It was to become sharer of this great privilege that St. Cormac, Bishop and King of Cashel, baying foretold his death, summoned to him St. Macsuach, Abbot of Castledermot, to whom he made his confession, and received from his hands the holy sacrament of the Eucharist. (I.A.S. 1860. Annals, pag. 203).

The confession even of venial faults was especially dwelt upon by St. Molua. One of his religious was negligent on this head, and St. Molua took occasion to correct him by his own example. As they were journeying together on a certain day, St. Molua said to him: “Peccavi vere hodie quia confessionem alicui seniori non feci de his quae egi hodie: me igitur hic sustine modicum donec vadam illuc et confitear”. The religious was struck with terror, and asked “would it not suffice to confess these sins to God alone?” but the saint replied that unless we confess even our venial transgressions, we can only obtain pardon for them by severe penitential deeds here and hereafter, and added the well-known illustration: “Sicut pavimentum domus scopâ quotidie tergitur, ita anima quotidianâ confessione”. The ancient life concludes; “Hoc audiens monachus a suo sancto Abbate, promisit confiteri sua offendicula; et confitebatur fideliter, et sanatus est ille frater a sua praeterita audacia” (Vita ex Vet. Cod. Armac., edited by Fleming, cap. 32.)

There is only one document to which the enemies of our holy faith can appeal as evidencing a disregard for the sacrament of penance in our early Church: it is a letter of Alcuin, addressed, in the text of Canisius, dilectissimis viris fratribus et patribus [pg 486]in provincia Scotorum, in which he mentions the rumour which had reached him, that the laity had refused “confessionem sacerdotibus dare”. Here (writes Dean Murray) is a clear rejection of Popery. However, antiquarians have long since decided that this text has no reference to sacramental confession (see Lanigan, iv. 67): and as the good Protestant dean had given his citation from Usher, he should have added that in Usher's opinion the title of this letter of Alcuin was erroneous, and that it was addressed to some faithful quite distinct from our old Celtic forefathers. This opinion no longer admits of any doubt. Canisius himself remarked “that in the MS. from which he published this letter, it was addressed de dilectissimis, etc. in provincia Gothorum”, and he merely substituted the word Scotorum, as a conjecture, not knowing that there were any people in the days of Alcuin who still retained the name of Gothic. Later discoveries, however, have proved that the very province of Languedoc, in which territory Alcuin lived for a long time, was designated by this name. The learned Quercetanus discovered a letter of Alcuin himself (ep. 99), addressed to the faithful “in diversis Gothiae partibus”; and Baluzius, in his Miscellanea (i. 377), published another letter of the same Alcuin, “iis qui sunt in Gothiae partibus”. The errors of Felix Urgellitanus, which are here referred to, fix more and more the district to which this letter was addressed; for whilst they had begun to creep in amongst the faithful of France, they were wholly unheard of in the Island of Saints.