[PART II.]

1. O Holy Jesus

O Beautiful Friend.

O Star of the Morning.

O Full Noonday Sun.

O Resplendent.

O Noble torch of the righteous, and of the truth, and of the eternal life, and of eternity.

O Fountain ever new, everlasting.

O Heart's-love of the illustrious Patriarchs.

O Longing of the Prophets.

O Master of Apostles and Disciples.

O Bestower of the Law.

O Precursor of the New Testament.

O Judge of the Judgment Day.

O Son of the Merciful Father, without a Mother in Heaven.

O Son of the truly perfect Virgin Mary, without a father on Earth.

O true brother of the heart.

2. For the sake of thy consanguinity, hear the supplication of this poor miserable being, that thou receive the offering for all Christian Churches and for myself.

3. For the sake of the Merciful Father, from whom thou didst come unto us upon Earth.

4. For the sake of thy Divinity, which that Father modified so as to receive thy humanity.

5. For the sake of the Immaculate Body from which thou didst come (wert formed) in the womb of the Virgin.

6. For the sake of the Spirit with the seven forms, which descended upon that body in unity with thyself and with thy Father.

7. For the sake of the holy womb from which thou didst receive that body without destruction of virginity.

8. For the sake of the holy following, and the holy pedigree from which that body descended, from the body of Adam to the body of Mary.

9. For the sake of the seven things which were foretold of thee on Earth, namely, thy conception, thy birth, thy baptism, thy crucifixion, thy burial, thy resurrection, thy ascension, thy coming to the judgment.

10. For the sake of the holy tree upon which thy side was torn.

11. For the sake of the innocent blood which trickled upon us from that tree.

12. For the sake of thine own body and blood, which are offered upon all the holy altars which are in all the Christian Churches of the world.

13. For the sake of all the scriptures in which thy news is recorded.

14. For the sake of all the truth in which thy resurrection is recorded.

15. For the sake of thy charity, which is the head and the top of all the testaments, ut dicitur, caritas super exaltat omnia.

16. For the sake of thy royal kingdom, with all its rewards and glorious gifts and music.

17. For the sake of thy mercy, and thy forgiveness, and thy loving friendship, thy own bountifulness, which is more extensive than all wealth, that I may obtain the forgiveness and the annihilation of my past sins from the beginning of my life to this day, after the words of David, who said: Beati quorum remissæ sunt iniquitates et quorum tecta sunt peccata, id est: dispense, and give, and bestow thy holy grace and thy holy spirit to defend and shelter me from all my present and future sins; and to light up in me all truth, and to retain me in that truth to the end of my life, and that thou receive me at the end of my life into Heaven, in the unity of illustrious patriarchs and prophets, in the unity of Apostles and Disciples, in the unity of Angels and Archangels, in the unity which excels all unities, that is, in the unity of the bright, holy, all-powerful Trinity, Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit. For I can effect nothing unless I effect it in the language of the Apostle Paul, who said: Quis me liberavit a corpore mortis hujus peccati nisi gratia tua Domine Jesu Christe qui regnas in secula seculorum. Amen.

The dogmatic importance of this document is very great, as showing the belief of the Church of Ireland on many points, which are now set down by Protestants as of recent introduction.

We are struck in the first part with the invocation of the saints, whose powerful intercession is asked, not with God the Father only, but with the Son of God made man, the Mediator of God and man, Christ our Lord; and the intercession with Him is asked of the saints of the Old Testament as well as of the New.

In the nine degrees of the Church on Earth, (3) we find allusion to the four minor and three greater orders, of which the names are given by the Council of Trent; and to them are added the office of bishop, which is the completion of the priesthood, and that of psalm-singer, which, as we are told by an ancient Irish canon, was given to any clerk, not by episcopal ordination, but by delegation from a priest.

The nine choirs of blessed spirits (5) are those mentioned by Saint Gregory (Hom. 34 in Evang. ante med.), and are enumerated almost in the same order: "Novem Angelorum ordines dicimus, quia videlicet esse testante sacro eloquio scimus: Angelos, Archangelos, Virtutes, Potestates, Principatus, Dominationes, Thronos, Cherubim, atque Seraphim. Esse namque Angelos et Archangelos pene omnes sacri eloquii paginae testantur. Cherubim vero atque Seraphim saepe, ut notum est, libri Prophetarum loquuntur. Quatuor quoque ordinum nomina Paulus Apostolus ad Ephesios enumerat, dicens: Supra omnem Principatum et Potestatem et Virtutem et Dominationem. Qui rursus ad Colossenses scribens, ait: Sive Throni, sive Potestates, sive Principatus, sive Dominationes. Dum ergo illis quatuor, quae ad Ephesios dixit, conjunguntur Throni, quinque sunt ordines; quibus dum Angeli et Archangeli, Cherubim atque Seraphim, conjuncta sunt, proculdubio novem esse Angelorum ordines inveniuntur". We ought, perhaps, to add that the coincidence with Saint Gregory's enumeration is not, perhaps, altogether casual, for there is reason to believe that in the eighth century there was in Ireland a very extensive acquaintance with that great pontiff's writings.

In the verses (9, 11) St. Colga clearly shows the feeling of the ancient Church of Ireland with respect to the practice of holy virginity, and in honouring the ever blessed Mother of God. "I beseech the intercession with Thee of all thy sons of pure virginity, etc. I beseech the intercession with Thee of all the perfect virgins of the world, with the Virgin Mary, Thine own holy Mother, O Son of the truly perfect Virgin Mary".

In verse (14) our saint seems to allude to the special honour in which Saint Germanus of Auxerre was held in Ireland, perhaps on account of his close connection with our holy Apostle, Saint Patrick. Saint Colga invokes him along with some of the most distinguished saints of the early Church; and as if to mark the great labours of that apostolic man, the holy men with whom he joins him are all martyrs.

The honour to be shown to the monastic state is indicated by associating (15) with all the holy monks who made battle for thy sake throughout the whole world, the great names of Elias and Eliseus under the Old Law, and of John the Baptist, Paul, the first hermit, and Anthony, the first founder of the monastic state, in the New Testament.

In the next eight verses the prayer follows a chronological order: our Saint first invokes the early patriarchs: Abel, Seth, etc., to Jacob. He then calls upon the chosen of the written Law, including Moses, Josue, etc., and the chosen of the law of the Prophets—Elias, Eliseus, David, and Solomon. He then passes to the New Testament, begging the intercession of thine own holy Apostles, and all the saints to the end of the world. Saint James, "Frater Domini", is then mentioned as first bishop of Jerusalem, which was the earliest of the Churches; then follow all the holy bishops who founded the ecclesiastical city in Rome. After them mention is made of Mark the Evangelist, the founder of the Church of Alexandria. And then, as if to sum up under one heading the whole Church of Christ on Earth, and to indicate its chief foundation and corner-stone after our Lord Himself, our Saint, still addressing the Son of God, exclaims "I beseech the intercession with Thee of all the holy bishops who founded the ecclesiastical city, after them, with the Apostle Peter". Were it not for this special invocation of Saint Peter, it might seem strange that his name was omitted when invoking the holy bishops of the Church of Rome; but our Saint seems to wish to call upon him here, not in connection with any particular Church, but in his relation to the whole ecclesiastical edifice, the city of God, which is the Church.

In indicating the holy bishops who founded the ecclesiastical city in Rome, St. Colga follows the order of the Canon of the ancient Roman Liturgy: Linus, Cletus, Clement, showing by this the close connection of our ancient Church with the other churches of Europe, and especially with the Church of Rome. Whether this be really the chronological order, is (as all are aware) a vexata questio among ecclesiastical historians. Nearly all the monuments and authorities bearing on this point set down Saint Linus as the immediate successor of the Prince of the Apostles; and, although Saint Augustine (Epistola ad Generosum) and Saint Optatus of Milevi (Lib. 2, adv. Parmenianum, cap. 3) give Saint Clement as next in order to Saint Linus, still the weight of testimony is in favour of the order followed by our Saint. Eusebius (Hist. Eccles. lib. 3, cap. 16), says: "Per id tempus Clemens Romanam adhuc gubernabat Ecclesiam, qui post Paulum et Petrum Episcopalis illius dignitatis gradum obtinuit: Linus primus erat, secundus Anacletus". From the concurrent testimony of almost all the ancient writers, Saint Irenaeus, Eusebius, Saint Epiphanius, Saint Optatus, Saint Augustine, etc., Anacletus and Cletus were one and the same person. A confirmation of this ancient tradition, regarding the immediate successors of Saint Peter, has been found within the last three years in the excavations made by our indefatigable fellow-countryman, Father Mullooly, O.P., under the actual church of Saint Clement in Rome, of which he is prior. In one of the frescoes which adorned the old church over which the present basilica is raised, we find a picture of Saint Clement enthroned by Saint Peter. The apostle has one foot on the step of the throne upon which he is placing his disciple, while Saint Linus and Saint Cletus stand by, as if assisting at the installation of one who was their successor, as well as Saint Peter's. These paintings were executed in the ninth century, during the pontificate of Pope Nicholas I., of whom mention is made in another part of them. In this representation of the enthronement by Saint Peter of Saint Clement, although not his immediate successor, we seem to have a confirmation of Tertullian's assertion: That Saint Clement was consecrated bishop by the Prince of the Apostles. "Edant ergo", he says, speaking of the heretics of his day, "edant ergo origines Ecclesiarium suarum evolvant ordinem Episcoporum ita per successionis ab initio decurrentem, ut primus ille Episcopus aliquem et Apostolis, vel Apostolicis viris, qui tamen cum Apostolis perseveraverit, habuerit auctorem et antecessorem. Hoc enim modo Ecclesiae Apostolicae census suos deferunt, sicut Smyrnaeorum Ecclesia Polycarpum ab Joanne conlocatum refert, sicut Romanorum Clementem a Petro ordinatum itidem, perinde utique et ceterae exhibent, quos ab Apostolis in Episcopatu constitutos Apostolici seminis traduces habeant" (Lib. de Praescript. cap. 32). Linus, Cletus, and Clement were, therefore, the founders of the ecclesiastical city of Rome after Peter, and as such are invoked by our Saint; while Peter is the representative, the first of all the holy bishops who founded the Church throughout the world; the chief of that episcopacy, of which Saint Cyprian says: "Episcopatus unus est, cujus a singulis in solidum pars tenetur".