From the Early Church

The Catacombs

If you are in Rome, don't miss the catacombs. The sheer size and extent is amazing. 70,000 Christians were buried there. There was a special chamber for the Popes of the 2nd-3rd centuries, which is still there.

They weren't actually called 'catacombs' by the Christians themselves, but 'The Cemeteries'. It was the Pagans who called them catacombs - 'dark caves'.

The Christians didn't hide in the catacombs. Everybody knew where they were. But being outside the city walls, the Authorities usually couldn't care less. Occasionally a new Emperor would order them rounded up, and they thought martyrdom was an honour. But they prayed. One wall has scratched on it (in bad Latin!), PAULE ED PETRE PETITE PRO VICTORE - "PAUL AND Peter, pray for Victor!" I saw another wall with the word "PEACE" written in Greek - one letter spelt wrongly, and then written over, just like a modern schoolchild!

Eventually, burial in the Roman Catacombs became a status symbol, long after the Persecutions were over.

The priest would say Mass over one of the tombs, with a lamp on each side. Generally it would be the tomb of a martyr, hollowed out above in the form of an arch, to give room. The Sanctuary in Catholic churches built from 4th to mid-20th centuries is a direct copy of a room in the catacombs - the altar against the wall, six feet wide, with relics set into the 'altar stone' in the centre, and with a candle at each end. The words, from the Last Supper and these first gatherings before the Gospels were ever written down, are word-for-word with most of the traditional Latin Mass. It is some experience to stand there now and think on these things.

Ancient Literacy

The earliest Christians treasured everything that Our Lord had said and done. Literacy was actually much more widespread than we might think, in the first two centuries A.D., and many boys (sorry, ladies, but you know how it was) throughout the Roman Empire would have had a basic training in reading and writing the universal language of Greek, not to mention Latin. Even in Rome, Mother of the Latin language, it was 'cool' to speak Greek.

At least some Jewish boys would have been taught to read the Hebrew Scriptures, even though their own language of Aramaic was as different from Hebrew as Italian is from French.

The Old Testament had long since been translated into Greek, and many of the later books were written from the first in that language: Jesus Himself and the Apostles quote mostly from the Greek version when they quote the Old Testament. In those days, popular books were written in batches of maybe fifty copies at a time, dictated to a roomfull of scribes by one reader. There was a strict code of honour: "Remember the maxim: Stick to what is written".

There was even a well-developed system of shorthand in widespread use. And memories were well trained in those days, when writing was still a highly skilled trade and writing materials expensive.

We have every reason to believe that the words and works of Our Lord were accurately recorded for us. Our Lord might even have spoken them in Greek from the beginning. If in Aramaic, they were translated for us by those who had actually been there, or who knew intimately those who had been. Never doubt that fact when you read the New Testament: As the Benedictine Prior Dom Gueránger wrote in the 19th century: «"Whilst my Beloved was speaking, my soul melted within me". If you have not such love as this, repeat at least these words: "Speak, Lord, thy servant is listening: You have the Words of Eternal Life"».

The First Manuscripts

We do not have original copies of the Gospels or Epistles. At the time of Christ, you had to be of quite high intelligence, and needed a lot of practice, to be able to read, to make sense of the page. You see it was a mass of letters all the same size and all run together. Strange as it sounds to us, they had not yet thought of Capital letters, punctuation marks, or even spaces between the words. For informal notes, people wrote with a sharpened stick on a block of wax. To erase and start over, you wiped it with the palm of your hand. For permanent work they used papyrus, which was expensive, brittle and could hardly be folded, and crumbled away after a couple of centuries. A "volume" was a long, rolled-up sheet. They were already experimenting with oblong sheets glued into a "codex" - what we think of as a book - but only a few sheets could be used for one "codex". Also, nobody ever read silently! The first person known who achieved this remarkable feat was St Ambrose of Milan in the Fourth Century. St Augustine remarks, as if with a whistle of praise: "He actually reads without moving his lips!"

Nevertheless, a system of shorthand had been invented, and skilled scribes could take dictation at normal talking speed. Many speeches and sermons from these ancient days were preserved in this way.

The style of handwriting evolved quite rapidly, which allows us to date a manuscript within a very few years.

The Rylands Fragment

We do not have original copies of the Gospels or Epistles.

The very earliest written piece of the Gospel we have is a fragment of papyrus found preserved in the bone-dry sands of Egypt. The style of handwriting in those days was evolving quite rapidly, which allows us to date a manuscript within about thirty years.

The handwriting of our fragment dates it at 125 - 150 AD. It is from the Gospel according to St John. We know that he wrote this in his old age, about 90 AD, when the other Apostles were long dead. Our fragment, therefore, could easily have been copied from the actual original. The three earlier Gospels had covered pretty much the same material. Matthew, Mark and Luke wrote very matter-of-factly, with a minimum of commentary. John's disciples came to him in his old age and said, "Master, tell us more!" John fills in many things not previously mentioned, and includes long passages reflecting on the words of Our Lord. He writes at great length about the Last Supper, and of Our Lord's interview with Pontius Pilate on Good Friday.

We could say that it was mere chance, or randomness, that decided which passage would be preserved for us in those desert sands; but there is no such thing as Chance in God's wise Providence. What we read is this, in clearly legible Greek capital letters:

"For this I was born, and for this I am come into the World, to bear witness to the Truth. All who are of the Truth hear My Voice".

These words were spoken to Pontius Pilate, but they have resonated down the ages.

The scrap of papyrus is now on display in the Rylands Library, Manchester, England.

Disciplina Arcani

The earliest Christians treasured everything that Our Lord had said and done. Matthew, the former tax-collector, was first to write down a long and detailed account of His words and actions, about eight years after the Ascension. There were probably many other written pieces in circulation in the earliest years, but the status and authority of the Four Gospels, guaranteed by the apostles themselves and their nominated successors, ousted the others. Various letters sent by the apostles to particular communities - churches - were also widely copied and circulated.

A different approach was taken to the actual details of worship. Strange as it sounds to us now, it was strictly forbidden to reveal, or even to write down, the Mysteries of the Faith, including the words and actions of the Mass and the other Sacraments. This was to prevent their being mocked of profaned by unbelievers, in obedience to Our Lord’s words: “Do not cast your pearls before swine.”

Those preparing for admission to the church were sent out after the reading of the Gospel. Only the Baptised were allowed to remain for the Sacred mysteries. The words of the Creed were not taught to the catechumens until eight days before they baptism. The Lord’s prayer was always spoken in secret. This tradition is continued down to the present day among priests and religious who follow the traditional Prayer of the Church: the Our Father is said silently until the final phrase - a remarkable link with these earliest days.

There are many references in the literature to this practice.

When the Emperor Constantine adopted Christianity as the State religion of the Roman Empire in the fourth Century, the Christians were slow to change their ways, and the “discipline of the secret” was kept for another century or more. But the Missal was now for the first time written down from the carefully-treasured oral tradition.

The Writing of the Gospels

The Apostles set out - a handful of men to “teach all nations”. Their first teaching was oral. The Apostles based their authority on Our Lord’s command to ‘teach all nations’. When preaching to a Jewish community, they proved from the Scriptures - the Old Testament - that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah. To pagans, Paul simply preached the story of Our Lord’s life death and resurrection. As we see from the Epistles and the Acts of the Apostles, and from later Church history, the Christian preachers invoked the unbroken traditions from the days of Christ. They placed the eyewitness authority and word-of-mouth teaching of the apostles on the same level as the written word.

S.Jerome tells us that the first to write a Gospel was Matthew the tax-collector, writing about 8 years after the Ascension. He wrote in Hebrew, for Jewish converts, and refers often to the Prophecies that Our Lord fulfilled. He was soon translated into Greek, then the universal language, and we have no copies of the Hebrew original.

Next was Mark, Peter’s secretary. He wrote down accurately, but not in order, the vivid preaching of Peter. Mark’s Gospel has more vivid descriptions than Matthew. Somebody then sorted his collection into the same order as Matthew. Mark leaves the long discourses of Jesus to Matthew.

Later Luke, the physician and companion of Paul, wrote “an ordered account” in excellent Greek, for the Gentiles. There were already many unauthorised preachers and written accounts in circulation, and Luke is setting the record straight.

At the end of the first century John wrote his Gospel, supplementing and reflecting on Our Lord’s life, before the last of the eyewitnesses had died. “We touched Him with our own hands...And we saw His Glory...full of Grace and Truth” (1Jn:1; Jn 1:14).

The Epistle of Clement

During the First and Second centuries the Church spread quietly. The Persecutions could be trerribly cruel but they were surprisingly haphazard. From the Pagan point of view, the Christians were exposing the Empire to the anger of the gods. What could be wrong with sacrificing to the other gods as well, like everybody else?

Paul wrote, "We bear a treasure in earthen vessels". Human Nature was uplifted by the Gospel, but the Christians were still all too human. In 96AD, a faction of the Corinthians expelled their priests [our English word "priest" is simply a worn down version of the Greek "presbyteros", which became "prestre", "preost" then "priest"] and installed their own candidates. Although the Apostle John was still alive on the island of Patmos, the other Corinthians appealed to Rome, to Clement, fourth in line from Peter.

Clement wrote an epistle to the Corinthians, firstly actually apologising for his delay in responding, hinting at the Persecutions. He then immediately launches into a blistering attack on "the detestable schism with has been referred to us". He praises the Corinthians for their past glories. He then condemns those who had flouted rightful authority, speaks at length of the necessity for right order, directs them to re-instate the lawful priests, and remarks that he is sending two trusted delegates, Claudius Ephebus and Valerius Bito, to ensure that all is done, and to report back "speedily" to Rome: "that they may the sooner announce to us the peace and harmony we so earnestly desire and long for [among you], and that we may the more quickly rejoice over the good order re-established among you. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you …"

Although written within the very lifetime of the Apostle John, the authoritative tone of the fourth Pope is unmistakable.

The Generation after the Apostles

The best years of the Roman Empire were from the time of Christ, under the great Emperor Augustus, until the end of the Second Century. During the Second Century the Catholic Church spread quietly, mainly among the poorer classes of the many cities. The ordinary citizen tried to keep the gods satisfied with the correct rituals. But the gods had nothing to teach him about right conduct. The Christians, also called Catholics since the end of the First Century, were well known by the end of the Second Century as the only organisation of their kind in the Empire. They were by no means an informal scattering of independent communities, but a tight organisation with a strict code of morals and discipline, and prepared to expel those who refused to comply. From time to time an Emperor would realise that this organisation had the potential to overthrow the whole pagan Roman world from within, and a persecution would break out. By an irony of history, the very Emperors who were ablest, while they remained Pagan, led the most thorough persecutions. Thus good men would do evil things because of their false beliefs. . But "The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church". The more Christians were sent to the arena, the more converts they made. The pagans were astonished. "These Christians – see how they love one another!"

The first we know who used the word “Catholic” was Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, installed by Peter before he left for Rome.

Saint Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch

Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, was thrown to the wild beasts between 98 and 117AD. Consecrated by S. Peter himself, he undoubtedly heard the Apostles with his own ears. He is said to have been the very child that Our Lord placed in the midst saying, "Unless ye become like this child you shall not enter the Kingdom". His testimony, when Christ and the Apostles were still a living memory, is of the highest importance. Even as early as this, "the whole system of Catholic doctrine may be discovered, at least in outline, not to say in parts filled up, in the course of his epistles".

Ignatius wrote of the Catholic Church (he was the first to use this word):

“See that ye all follow the bishop, even as Jesus Christ does the Father, and the institution of priests as ye would the apostles; and reverence the deacons, as being the institution of God. Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop. Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is[administered] either by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.

I therefore, yet not I, but the love of Jesus Christ, entreat you that ye use Christian nourishment only, and abstain from herbage of a different kind; I mean heresy. For ‘they’ mix up Jesus Christ with their own poison, speaking things which are unworthy of credit, like those who administer a deadly drug in sweet wine ... leading to ... death.

Be on your guard, therefore, against such persons. [Be] not puffed up, but continue in intimate union with Jesus Christ our God, and the bishop, and the enactments of the apostles."

Roman Gods and the Son of God

The Romans had a genius for Law and Organisation, and they thought big! If they built a door to an important building, they built it fifty feet high. If they made a road, they built it so well, that it was still usable more than a thousand years later. But they felt that there were Powers greater than man, and they tried to give them their due. They all knew that “Pride comes before a fall” and believed that the Powers will have their revenge on men who get above themselves. And the Romans had become the Masters of the world. They said, “because we have bowed to the gods, therefore we rule the earth.” They adopted the Greek myths and rituals, and by the First century were accepting other cults from Asia. The more gods they pleased, the better their luck would be, they reasoned. They believed they had been selected by the Powers “to protect the humble, and to war down the proud”.

And now came people preaching that only their own God was to be worshipped. What would happen if, after all the favours the Romans had received, they turned against the other gods? And these newcomers were no ordinary sect. The devotees of the other Mystery Cults were quite happy to honour the other gods as well; the Jews were a highly intelligent race, useful in commerce who kept to themselves and had not been giving trouble; but these newcomers had a tight organisation, with duly-elected officers and priests, secret rituals that had something to do with eating the flesh of their god (and possibly of a Child), a definite list of things to believe and do, and were prepared to expel - to excommunicate - anyone who broke ranks.

The Ancient Romans were aware that “there is more to life than meets the eye”. They felt, at very special moments, especially births, marriages and deaths, but also other times, that there is an Unseen Something - or Somebody - in the story as well. What makes the crop spring from the seed? What keeps the amazing sun shining? What are those cool, remote stars? The Romans gave names to these Unseen Powers. They were not imaginative like the Greeks, and did not tell stories about the gods. But they felt instinctively that there were Powers greater than man, and they tried to give them their due. They all knew that “Pride comes before a fall” and believed that the Powers will have their revenge on men who get above themselves. And the Romans had become the Masters of the world. They said, “because we have bowed to the gods, therefore we rule the earth.” When they got to know the Greeks, they adopted their myths and rituals, and by the First century were accepting other cults from Asia. The more gods they pleased, the better their luck would be, they reasoned.

The Persecutions

The best years of the Roman Empire were from the time of christ, under the great Emperor Augustus, until the end of the Second Century. During the Second Century the Catholic Church spread quietly, mainly among the poorer classes of the many cities. The various pagan cults were becoming merged into one general hodge-podge. The Roman Citizen was expected to keep the gods satisfied with the correct rituals. For most, the gods had nothing to say about right conduct beyond this. But it was thought a serious matter to negelect the sacrifice to the gods, who ruled the fate of the empire. After the Jewish Temple was destroyed, forty years after the Crucifixion, the surviving Jews kept to themselves in scattered communities over the known world. The Christians, also called Catholics (both words being coined in the late first Century) were by no means an informal scattering of independent communities, but had a tight organisation with a strict code of morals and discipline, and prepared to expel those who refused to comply. they were well known by the end of the Second Century as the only organisation of its kind in the empire. From time to time an Emperor would realise that this organisation had the potential to overthrow the whole pagan roman world from within, and a persecution would break out.

During the Third Century the Roman Legions, which had been necessary to keep the borders safe and to maintain order, took over control of the whole empire. Local governors were very often military man of high rank. The legions began to nominate the next emperor, and chaos reigned for nearly a full century: the time of the Barrack-Room Emperors. the reign of an emperor was frighteningly short, but there was never a shortage of ambitious men willing to try for the Purple. the chaos was finally ended by Emperor Diocletan, who re-organised the apparatus of the Empire, removing the Military from political power, and also initiating the worst Persecution the Christians had yet endured.

Christian Soldiers in the Roman Empire

The Roman Empire did not support a police force separate from the Army. Discipline was ruthless but not vindictive. A career in the Army was an honourable profession. When the soldiers asked John the Baptist, "What should we do?" he did not tell them to leave the army, but simply to avoid extortion and be content with their pay.

Things became more complicated as the emperors began to demand divine honours. The old pagan religion was nothing like as thoroughly well worked out as was Christian theology by The Church. There was nothing very strange about an important personage being elevated among the gods. Even in this life, the reigning emperor was thought of as having a Power to help him - the "Genius" or Guiding Spirit of the Emperor. Soldiers were expected, as a matter of course, to offer sacrifices to The Genius of the Emperor. When Christian soldiers refused to do this, they were immediately accused of being enemies of the State, as they were likely to draw down the anger of the gods.

The Forty Martyrs of Armenia are commemorated on their Feast Day of March 10th. Refusing to sacrifice to the emperor, these soldiers of an Armenian Legion were cruelly frozen to death overnight on a frozen lake.

The Ending of the Persecutions: Churches, Basilicas and Altars

Under Pope St. Sylvester I, 33rd in line from S. Peter, and enjoying one of the longest of all pontificates – 21 years, the Church emerged at last from the catacombs, and the public exaltation of Christ began immediately. The Emperor donated to the Church the building inherited by the Emperors since the time of Nero in the first century. It was re-named the Basilica of the Saviour, on the Lateran Hill, one of the ancient Seven Hills of Rome. Commonly known as the Lateran Basilica, it is standing to this day and was the residence of the Popes down to the end of the Middle Ages.

Pope Sylvester decreed that henceforth the altar must always be made of marble. If the altar could not be of marble, it was forbidden to celebrate the Mass at all. Previously, when the Mass was offered in a private home it was probably celebrated on a table, while in the catacombs it was held over the grave of one of the martyrs, with a semicircle carved above it to make room for the priest. Now the altars were to be always of marble, and the layout of the church was to be modelled after the catacombs: the altar against the far wall of the church, facing East (to Jerusalem) with the relics of a martyr in the centre. The wooden altar used by S. Peter was enclosed in the marble altar of S. John Lateran, and is still there. Strictly speaking, only the Pope should offer Mass on this altar. The table of the Last Supper is now hung in honour on the wall of the Basilica of S. John Lateran (see last month), but is no longer used for Mass. In the later Middle Ages, as a concession, the law was modified to permit a wooden altar, but always with an Altar Stone in the centre containing relics of a saint. Thus the traditions of the catacombs are preserved, while using the most beautiful materials to the glory of God.

The Ending of the Persecutions: The Holy Grail

The chalice used at the Last Supper was by no means a simple pottery beaker. The cup is carved out of a single piece of semi-precious agate, and was undoubtedly a family heirloom, treasured down the centuries by a family who traced their descent from King David on both sides (Mt 1:6; Luke 1:27). It was taken to Rome and used used by the popes, from Peter down, for centuries. Notice the difference in the words of the Consecration at Mass: in the other main cities, founded by other apostles, the words of the Consecration to this day are: “… taking the chalice into his Holy and Venerable Hands”; but in Rome, the pope would say “taking this chalice into His Holy and Venerable Hands” while holding the actual chalice of the Last Supper. These are the words of the Traditional (Old Latin) liturgy to this day. A base was made from a single piece of chalcedony, joined by a midsection with side hands of gold encrusted with precious gems, producing the familiar shape of the chalice as used in the Roman Rite of Mass, but these were added in the early Middle Ages. Rome had suffered badly from the barbarian invasions, and in 258 AD Pope St Sixtus II, 24th in line from Peter, decided to send the chalice for safekeeping to Spain, which at the time was in a more settled state. After many adventures – notably to protect it from the Moors – it ended up in Valencia. In 1982 Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass with this chalice in Valencia – the first pope to do so for 1724 years. This is the Chalice known to history as the Holy Grail. A perfect replica was crafted and donated to Pope John Paul and his successors at this time, but the Basilica at Valencia has retained its treasure of the original Holy Grail, and the Vatican has respected Valencia’s right to keep the original.

The Ending of the Persecutions: The Nicene Creed.

The early Christians were not afraid to die for their Faith, but they had to be prudent, and worked quietly. Each community treasured the manuscripts passed down to them from Apostolic times (although there was no settled list of Scriptural books, let alone a complete volume of Scripture, for the first four centuries – an historical certainty that should give us pause for thought). In contrast, it was actually forbidden to write down the details of worship, for fear of their falling into the hands of the pagans (the famous “Disciplina Arcani”), but they were passed down by memory and by the actual practice of the community, especially the “Breaking of the Bread” (also known as “the Sacrifice”) and the other Sacraments. These practices were authenticated in each community through tracing an unbroken tradition from one of the Apostles.

The conversion of the Emperor Constantine in the Fourth Century caused an immediate change. The Church emerged from the catacombs. The pope fortunate to see these things was Pope St. Sylvester I, 33rd in line from S. Peter, and enjoying one of the longest of all pontificates – 21 years.

It was under Sylvester that the public exaltation of Christ began. One of the first priorities was to hold a General Council – the first since the Council of Jerusalem described in the Acts of the Apostles (Ch.15). 318 bishops attended this Council of Nicaea (in modern Turkey), and Constantine provided the full resources of the Empire to allow the transport and accommodation of the bishops. The greatest achievement of this Council was the formulation of the Nicene Creed, on the 19th of June, 325 AD. The Nicene Creed is repeated at Mass every Sunday to this day. (The form known to us as “The Apostle’s Creed”, while summarising the Faith of the Apostles, was actually written much later: the Nicene Creed was the first.)

The First Four Councils

First Ecumenical Council: Nicaea I (325)

The Council of Nicaea was attended by 318 bishops and lasted two months and twelve days. Pope Sylvester was represented by his legate, Bishop Hosius of Cordova. The Emperor Constantine was also present. It was this council that formulated The Creed (Symbolum) of Nicaea, defining that Christ is True God – of one substance (homoousios) with the Father – and the fixing of the date for keeping Easter (which had been hotly disputed).

Second Ecumenical Council: Constantinople I (381)

The First General Council of Constantinople, under Pope Damasus and the Emperor Theodosius I, was attended by 150 bishops. It was directed against the followers of Macedonius, who impugned the Divinity of the Holy Ghost. This council added to the Nicene Creed the clauses referring to the Holy Ghost “who is adored and glorified” (thus certifying that the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person), and “who has spoken through the prophets” (qui simul adoratur) plus all that follows to the end. Strictly speaking, therefore, the Creed we say at Mass should be called the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed.

Third Ecumenical Council: Ephesus (431)

The Council of Ephesus, of more than 200 bishops, presided over by St. Cyril of Alexandria representing Pope Celestine I, defined the true personal unity of Christ, and declared Mary the Mother of God (theotokos) against Nestorius, Bishop of Constantinople, who had declared that Christ was a perfect human, but could not be said to be God, and therefore that Mary was not “The Mother of God”. This council renewed the condemnation of Pelagius who had taught that the first movement toward God can come from Man; the Catholic teaching is that the very first impulse must be God’s Grace. This is called pre-venient Grace: “the Grace that comes first”.

Fourth Ecumenical Council: Chalcedon (451)

The Council of Chalcedon -- 150 bishops under Pope Leo the Great and the Emperor Marcian -- defined the two natures (Divine and human) in Christ against Eutyches, who was excommunicated. With the decrees of chalcedon the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity was formulated definitively, once and for all.

Patrick on the Hill of Slane

Patrick lived in the turbulent fifth Century: the century in which the Roman Empire finally dissolved. He was of the generation to witness that collapse. His father was a high Roman official, his mother a Briton. When Patrick had escaped from slavery he resolved to bring the Faith back to Ireland, where he had been a slave. He journeyed to Rome to obtain the Pope’s permission: it was not permitted simply to go out and preach without the Holy Father’s permission, right from the beginning. he was presented with the "Bacall Íosa" The Staff of Jesus, which Our Lord had used on His journeys in the Holy Land. This was one of the foremost relics of Ireland until it was destroyed in the 17th century. Obtaining his mandate, Patrick returned … (but let the ancient Annals speak for themselves)…

Patrick journeyed to the Hill of Slane, overlooking the wide Plain of Meath, north from the great Hill of Tara whereon was the Royal court of Laoghaire the High King. When he reached the Hill, it was the night of Holy Saturday, and Patrick built the Easter Fire on the summit of Slane. Now the morrow was the birthday of the king, and the law of the land was that no fire was to be lit in Ireland until the fire was lit from the Royal Halls of Tara. Patrick indeed was unaware of this law, but had he known of it, he would have despised it. When, therefore, the King looked to the north and saw the fire on Slane, he spoke in great wrath, "Who dares to light yonder fire in defiance of our law?" His Druids, grinding their teeth, replied, "We know who it is that lit that fire, and in whose honour it is lit; and we say to thee, O King, that if it be not extinguished this very night it will never again be extinguished in Erin forevermore".

The Easter fire is re-lit every year, and the dire prophecy of the Druids was indeed fulfilled.

Eithne and Fidelma

Patrick by the Well of Cliabach

One morning early in the Fifth Century – in 432 AD – on a grey, misty dawn of Ireland, the two daughters of King Lóegaire (Leary) of Connacht came down to the Well Of Cliabach on the eastern slopes of the Fort of Cruachan, to bathe, accompanied by their guardians. They were Eithne and Fedhlimidh. Eithne was golden-haired, but Fedhlimidh was auburn. To their surprise they saw at the Well a group of strange figures, clad in grey and chanting with soft sweet singing such as they had never heard before. It was in the strange tongue of Latin. For Patrick and his companions had come to the Well before sunrise, and they were seated beside the well.

“Who are ye?” questioned Fedhlimidh, “When did ye come? Where are ye from? Are ye of the sidhe, the faerie folk?” But their leader, none other than Patrick – correcting her curiosity, replied,

“It were better for you to be asking about the True God than to be enquiring about our race. We are singing His praises."

Fedhlimidh replied with a torrent of questions…

“Who is this God? Where is he to be found? Whose God is he? Where does he live? Has your God sons and daughters, gold and silver? Is he alive and beautiful? Have many fostered his sons, and are his daughters dear and beautiful? Is he in the sky or in the earth, or in the water, in rivers, or mountains or valleys? How can he be seen and loved? Is he in youth or in old age?' Is He rich? Would he welcome the poor to His home? …”

"Sit ye here," replied Patrick. “The True God is the God of all, heaven and earth, sea and rivers, of the sun, moon and all the stars, high mountains, low valleys, above heaven, in heaven, under heaven. He breathes in all things, makes all things live . . . He has a Son, co-eternal with Him. The Son is not younger than the Father nor is the Father older than the Son, and the Holy Spirit breathes in them. The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are not separate. The Father had only one Son, who suffered and died upon a cross to save His people. He loves and welcomes the poor. And I wish to join you to the Heavenly King since you are daughters of an earthly King.”

Patrick continued with a full account of the True God.

As he spoke, the hearts of the king's daughters were turned irresistibly towards the True God. They wept when they heard of the sufferings of Christ. But their sorrow turned to joy when Patrick told them of His Resurrection from the dead, His Ascension into Heaven, and the wonderful Eternal Kingdom . They knelt on the ground, and begged to be baptised. Patrick asked,

“Do ye believe in the One God, Father of all?”

“We do.”

“Do you believe in His Only Son, God and Man?”

“We do.”

“Do you believe in the One Church?”

“We do”.

And so there, within sight of the palace of Cuachan, Patrick baptised them with the waters of the Well of Cliabach.

Eithne and Fidelma remained for a while on their knees, deep in prayer. A rough stone altar was made ready and Patrick prepared to say Mass. Before the Mass began the two girls came forward again, saying,

"We wish to consecrate ourselves as Spouses of Christ."

Patrick received their vows and placed over them the Veil – the first consecrated virgins in Ireland.

Then they wished to see the Face of Christ. But Patrick replied,

“You cannot do that, until you have tasted the Sacrifice and passed through the Door of Death”.

“We desire these things,” they replied. Patrick offered the Sacrifice and gave them the Holy Eucharist. Then they closed their eyes, and then they died. Patrick buried them in the sweet turf of Ireland, while their souls flew to Heaven to intercede for her conversion.

Feidlimidh is known by her Latin name of Fidelma “The Faithful One”: We know them as S. Eithne the Fair and S. Fidelma the Red. In God's Providence, Fidelma's fair hair represented their purity and Fidelma's red hair represented their Faith.

Their Feast Day is 12 January.

The Conversion of Clovis, King of the Franks

In the depth of the Dark Ages, S. Martin de Porres (S. Patrick's uncle) craftily took the King to the church at midnight, during the actual Easter Vigil - during the 'Lumen Christi' ceremony where each congregant lights a candle from the Easter fire, and a wave of light travels up the church as the Paschal Candle is carried in procession from the back porch. At the end, the entire church is ablaze with the unique warmth and glow of candlelight. Then, by the light of the Paschal candle, the deacon intones the Exsúltet... King Clovis whispered, "Is this, then, the Kingdom of Heaven?" "No," replied Martin with a smile, "but it is the vestible of the Kingdom". The following year, Clovis was in his pew on Good Friday for the reading of S. John's Gospel. When it came to the Arrest at Gethsemane, the King could not contain himself and sprang out into the aisle, sweeping out his sword, and crying out, "By God, if I'd been there with five thousand of my Franks they'd never have got away with that!" He was quietly escorted back to his place and the Liturgy was resumed.

The Golden Age of Ireland

After the conversion of Ireland in the 5th century, the country enjoyed a period of peace and prosperity that has passed into legend as “The Golden Age of Ireland” – “the Land of Saints and Scholars”. This lasted until the Viking invasions of 9th century.

We forget how much more fortunate the island of Ireland was during these times. The two centuries after the collapse of the Roman Empire in the 5th century are what is commonly called the Dark Ages in mainland Europe and Great Britain. Almost no historical records remain of these two hundred years, but life settled down at a new, bedrock level that was tolerable and perhaps a happier way of life than the slave empire that it had replaced. Many farming communities were populated by the descendants of slaves, who at first did not necessarily know anything much about farming. Germs were unknown until the nineteenth century, but it was always known that standing water was unsafe to drink. On the continent and in Great Britain, thin beer or wine, depending on the district, was the normal drink from weaning onwards. Grass stopped growing in winter and cattle had to be slaughtered and preserved. This led to a shortage of manure and low yield of crops. The average family could keep only one cow, because of the problems of growing, cutting and storing winter fodder. Barbarian raids at unpredictable times required fortified settlements – all requiring effort and manpower. Ireland by contrast was like a Paradise. The grass grew all year round in the mild climate, so there was plenty of food for cattle. The normal freeman’s family had seven milk cows plus other livestock. There was more than enough milk and cheese, and the normal drink was whey or buttermilk, also used for cooking. Thus there was an abundance of animal (and human!) manure, hence the crops were abundant. There was a culture of peace, and there were probably no large standing armies. Cattle raids were a popular pastime among the youthful lads (and lassies if they were inclined!) but an actual serious injury or death was considered a calamity, leading to a court case and compensation. Outside Ireland, it was the norm for girls to marry from age twelve upward, and the life expectancy was in the early twenties. The Irish population, by contrast, was six inches taller than the European, and the lifespan was twenty years longer. Marriage at age thirty was common in Ireland. There was leisure for music, poetry and prayer: leisure to develop one of the richest civilisations the world has seen.

The Dark Ages of Europe

Introductory Comments

As a very approximate rule of thumb, it may be said that, of the 20 Centuries since Christ, the first five were of the Roman Empire; the next five of the Dark Ages, or of the Early Middle Ages; the next five of the Middle Ages proper; and the next five the development of the post-Mediaeval, or Modern, world.

The period of the Dark Ages is a difficult one to define; it represents the period between the fading away of Central Administration and culture of the Old Roman Empire, and the resumption of the vigorous cultural life of the Mediaeval Period. This process was not simultaneous all over Europe and the former Roman Empire, and in fact Ireland underwent her greatest cultural achievements precisely during the period generally known elsewhere as The Dark Ages.

Were men happier in these ancient ages? This question cannot be answered in any very definite way, for the very important reason that people’s expectations are different in different generations. When we learn of this or that fact of history, it is well to remember that our ancestors might have attached a very different importance to it than do we. Surely there have been happy and unhappy people in every century. Yet I would meintain that the question is not utterly unanswerable - simply more difficult than might meet the eye. Let us leave this problem for the time being.

Let us recall a basic principle of historical study, one that is deceptively difficult to really apply. It is, that the men of the days we study did not know what was going to happen next, any more than we can describe the twenty-second century. Thus the men of the Dark Ages were emphatically not trying to become Modern Twentieth-Century Man. They simply lived their lives as prudently and as wisely as they could, as do we ourselves. We must not read into their actions a prescience that they did not possess.

The Dark Ages

This memorable phrase has not always been applied to the same period of time. Certain hostile writers have tried to extend it from the time of Constantine in the fourth century right up to the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries, or even later (certain newspapers seem to date it up to about 1992, for example) - a polemical contention that can arise only from a profound ignorance of history.

The fifth and sixth centuries can be seen as the time when the material side of civilisation went into a remorseless decline throughout all the territory of the Roman Empire. (Saint Jerome noted that, had the Empire only embraced the revitalising message of the Catholic Faith in time, her institutions would have survived). There followed a period of three to five hundred years wherein Western civilisation held its own against a series of mortal military threats, while the arts of civilisation went through a prolonged period of stasis. Only from the tenth century is there a re-awakening of the questing and energetic cultural life that has characterised Europe. These four centuries - sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth - may be characterised the Dark Ages. Alternatively, the sixth and seventh centuries are notably deficient in historical records; this time period may rightly be characterised as ‘dark’, in the sense of ‘unknown’, for most of Europe.

The Golden Age of Ireland

Yet, paradoxically, the sixth to eighth centuries marked the Golden Age for Ireland. The Irish experience during these centuries was entirely different from the rest of Europe. With the taming of the pagan warrior heroes, Irish life experienced a Springtime of Christendom that was yet virile and adventurous. The efforts of the Irish missionaries throughout so much of Britain and Continental Europe were directed to preaching, preserving and transmitting “the Faith Once Given”. The arts of penmanship reached a level never equalled before or since in known history, and with the characteristic Irish genius for exquisite clear detail on a small scale, luxurious as a tangle of vines. In Ireland, learning and literature revolved around texts and commentary on Holy Scripture, the recording of the Ancient Irish sagas, and the recording of history. In bringing the Light of the Faith to faraway lands the missionaries were indeed successful. Yet in continental Europe they had to teach the people how to plough as well as how to read. The fifth century was a turning point for European civilisation. There was a gradual decline in the power of the central monarchy, an increasing use of auxiliary barbarian troops in the army upon which Roman society was founded, until at last, during the course of the fifth century, authority, though Roman in every detail of its form, gradually ceased to be exercised from Rome or Constantinople, but fell imperceptibly into the hands of a number of local governments. The administration of these local governments usually devolved on the chief officers of the auxiliary barbarian troops, who were also, as a rule, their chieftains by some kind of inheritance. This was the origin of the hereditary kingships of the local states of Christendom. The regional kings were, however, never conceived as absolute monarchs. This did not become an important idea until the sixteenth century. In Ireland, the introduction of the Faith to an already well-developed culture greatly strengthened its institutions, power and prosperity. Ireland continued to develop the only civilisation in Europe not directly descended from the Roman Empire. It was organised on a different pattern from the rest of Christendom; the Irish language and Irish patterns of government and education were maintained at a very high level, while the Latin and Greek alphabets and languages became common property of the educated.

With the ending of the line of Emperors in the West, the Pope became for a while the de facto secular ruler of Rome, while the Eastern Emperor of Constantinople strove to restore order in the West as well as maintaining continuity in the East. Thus the Eastern coast of Britain was reconquered for civilisation and the Faith by the efforts of St Augustine, on his mission from Pope Gregory the Great. The Irish expanded into Western Britain, but never established a full-scale conquest. The Vandal pirate-state in Africa was recaptured for the direct rule of the Emperor, as was Italy and the South of Spain. By the end of the seventh century the territory of what was in the future to be called Christendom has again been re-united.

What followed was a whole series of generations in which the forms of civilisation were set and crystallised in a few very simple, traditional and easily appreciated types. The whole standard of Europe was lowered, as it were, to the level of its fundamentals. The primary arts upon which we depend for our food and drink, and raiment and shelter, survived intact. The secondary arts reposing upon these failed and disappeared; the less directly they were connected with the necessities of physical survival, the more thoroughly they were forgotten. Thus history became no more than a simple chronicle. Letters, in the finer sense, almost ceased. The vast medical knowledge of Antiquity was utterly submerged, leaving a very few traditional remedies and a mass of superstition. Four hundred years more were to pass before Europe was to reawaken from this sort of sleep into which her spirit had retreated, and the passage from the full civilisation of Rome through this period of simple and sometimes barbarous things may properly be called the Dark Ages.

Those half-hidden centuries may be compared to a lake into which the activities of the old world flowed and stirred and then were still, and from which in good time the activities of the Middle Ages, properly so called, were again to flow.

Again, one may compare the Dark Ages to the leafmould of a forest. It is formed by the disintegration of an antique florescence. It is the bed from which new florescence shall spring.

The Ancient Pagan world had corrupted its own thought with the unclean fantasies of Paganism. The Pagans had grown weary of the world, and there was no refreshment for the spirit even from contemplating the sky, the garden, or the soil, for all these too were wrapped up in unhealthy mythology and memories. Civilisation needed to rest and forget. “That kind is driven out only by prayer and penance”.

Six points are notable:

1. The Dark Ages were a period of intense military action.

Europe was just barely saved. It was saved by the sword and by the intense Christian ideal which gave nerve to the sword arm. The barbarian incursions of the sixth and seventh centuries were from bands few in number and eager to enjoy the benefits of civilisation; to accept the faith and customs of Europe. The mighty struggles of the eighth, ninth, and especially the tenth centuries - of the Dark Ages - were a very different matter.

2. The development of Feudalism.

The feudal system developed naturally from the fading away of the central administration and the disappearance of the Roman troops. It was natural that the inhabitants of a farming community would agree with a local military leader to exchange the promise of farm work and limited military service for the pledge of his own protection of themselves in times of civil disturbance. This relationship was close and personal. the word “lord” itself comes from “loaf-ward”; “he who puts the bread on the table”. The Lord pledged “fealty” to a greater lord, who had under him not individuals but a series of lords and villages.and the chain went upwards to a shadowy overlord, even the Emperor himself. In Ireland and the parts of Great Britain under Celtic control the equivalent role was played by the development of the Clan system. Originally of common descent, the members of a clan were pledged to mutual loyalty and support. Smaller clans made alliances with larger, and loyalty was owed to a regional Rí (king) who in turn was pledged (in theory) to the High-king or Ard-Rí. In practice the highest levels of authority had only as much support as they could enforce.

3. The curious fixity of morals, of traditions, of the forms of religion, and of all that makes up social life.

The civilisations of the East have always exhibited this fixity. But in the general history of Europe, it has been otherwise. There has been a perpetual flux in the outward form of things, in architecture, in dress, and in the statement of philosophy as well (though not in its fundamentals). In this mobile surface of European history the Dark Ages form a sort of island of changelessness. There is an absence of any great heresies in the West, and, save in one or two names, an absence of speculation. It was as though men had no time for any other activity but the ceaseless business of arms and of the defence of the West. Religion settled and consolidated. The last vestiges of the antique and Pagan civilisation of the Mediterranean were absorbed. A habit of certitude and fixity was formed in the European mind. What we have called ‘The Faith’ was taken for granted as the underpinning of all thought and of the action that proceeds from thought.

4. The fourth characteristic of the Dark Ages was a material one. The external forms of things stood quite unchanged. The arts were saved but not increased, and the whole of the work that men did with their hands stood fast in mere tradition. No new town arises. No new roads were laid. The old Roman system of highways was was kept up and repaired, though with declining vigour. Not only were all these forms enduring, they were also few and simple. One type of public building and church, one type of writing, everywhere recognisable, one type of agriculture, with very few products to differentiate it, alone remained.

5. Yet paradoxically, the Dark Ages constituted the point during which there very gradually germinated and came into outward existence things which still remain among us and help to differentiate our Christendom from the past of classical antiquity. In horsemanship the spur, the double bridle, the stirrup; in letters the codex or bound book instead of the roll. The ruthlessly straight Roman Roads were modified; waterlogged areas were skirted by a section of new road that keeps to the higher and drier regions, rejoining the Roman road later on. This pattern of roads is the basis of our transport down to the present day. In matters of the mind, the Dark Ages set a mould wherein the European mind grew. Two forms of legend developed. One was something older than history, older than the Roman order, something Western re-appearing with the release of the mind from the rigid accuracy of a high civilisation - for example, the legend of Tristan; the other was that legend which preserves historical truth in the form of a colourful story, embroidered with fascinating but fanciful details. The Pope was obliged to forbid such story-weaving around the lives of the Saints for fear the real facts would be submerged. In this closed crucible of the Dark Ages crystallised also - by a process of which we now have but glimpses - that rich mass of jewels, the customs of Europe, and even the local dress which differentiates one place from another, when the communications of a high material civilisation break down. In all this the Dark Ages are a comfort to the modern man, for he sees by their example that the process of increasing complexity reaches its term; that the strain of development is at last relieved; that humanity sooner or later returns upon itself; that there is an end in repose and that the repose is fruitful.

6. The last characteristic of the Dark Ages is that which has most engrossed, puzzled, and warped the judgment of non-Catholic historians of European development: it was the segregation, the homogeneity of and the dominance of clerical organisation. The hierarchy of the Catholic church remained absolute above the social disintegration of the time. It was the chief institution carrying out civil administration. side by side with it grew up the monastic institution, uniting Celtic fervour with Roman temperance and prudence in the Benedictine monasteries, which formed a framework of living points upon which was stretched the moral life of Europe. The monasteries swiftly took on a life of their own, preserved what could be preserved of arts and letters, drained the marshes and cleared the forests, and formed the ideal economic unit for such a period: almost the only economic unit in which ‘capital’ could then be accumulated and preserved.

Europe did awaken from its long sleep. In the eleventh century, three great forces - Pope Saint Gregory the Seventh, the Race of the Normans, and the Crusades - drew out of the darkness the enormous vigour of the early Middle Ages.

Ref: For this section "The Dark Ages", some material is my own, some is taken and adapted from “Europe and the Faith” Ch.6 'the Dark Ages' by Hilaire Belloc; and by G.K.Chesterton’s reflections on history, e.g. in his Life of St Francis of Assisi.

I do have a few personal comments on his books. Belloc emphasises the role of the Roman Empire and its aftermath, but shows no knowledge of the role played during this critical period by the Irish missionaries and the Irish culture. Indeed, in his desire to trace every detail of modern civilisation from the Roman Empire, he himself confesses in his writings that Ireland and Poland do not belong in the scheme. Yet he refuses to retreat from his attempt to equate civilisation with the Roman Empire. The reality is that the Catholic Church acted as a civilising influence in its own right. It adapted and borrowed from the Roman Empire, but it was not wholly dependent on or derivative from it. It “baptised” those cultures beyond the Empire that it encountered before the spread of Roman ways into any particular region, and it was already spreading beyond the boundaries of the Empire long before the central authority had faded away.