Chapter I: The Homiletic Introduction

1. _Omnia quaecumque uultis ut faciant homines uobis, ita et uos faciatis illis, haec est enim lex et prophetae:_ "Every good thing that ye wish to be done unto you by men, let it be likewise that ye do to them, for that is Law and Prophecy."

Now He Who prohibiteth every evil, Who proclaimeth every good, Who reconcileth God and man, Jesus Christ Son of the Living God, the Saviour of the whole world, He it is Who spake these words; to teach His apostles and His disciples and the whole Church concerning the covenant[1] of charity; that men should do of good and of charity to their neighbour as much as they would do unto themselves. To that end saith Jesus, _Omnia quaecumque uultis_. Now Matthew son of Alphaeus, the eminent sage of the Hebrews, one of the four who expounded the Gospel of the Lord, he it is who wrote these words in the heart of his Gospel, saying after his Master Jesus, _Omnia quaecumque_.

_Si ergo uos, cum sitis mali, nostis bona data dare filiis uestris, quanto magis Pater uester celestis dabit bona petentibus Se:_[2] That is, "If ye being men _[sic]_ give good gifts to your children, much more shall the Heavenly Father give good to His children who ask Him." It is after these words that Jesus spake this counsel, _Omnia quaecumque,_ etc. For Law and Prophecy command us to give love to God and to the neighbour. _Finis enim precepti caritas est, quia caritas propria et specialis uirtus est Christianorum. Nam caeterae uirtutes bonis et malis possunt esse communes; caritatem autem habere nisi perfecti non possunt. Vnde Iesus ait, "In hoc cognoscent omnes quod discipuli Mei estis, si dilexeritis inuicem."_ "For the roof and summit of divine doctrine is charity, because charity is the especial virtue of the Christians. For the other virtues may belong to good and to evil men alike; but none hath charity save good men only. Wherefore Jesus saith, 'Hereby shall all men recognise that ye are of My folk, if each of you loveth his fellow as I have loved you.'"[3] _Et iterum dixit Iesus: Hoc est preceptum meum ut diligatis inuicem sicut dilexi uos._ "And thus said Jesus further: 'This is my counsel to you, that each of you love his fellow as I have loved you.'"

Many of the children of life, apostles and disciples of the Lord, have thenceforward fulfilled with zeal and with piety the counsel that Jesus gave them as to fulfilling charity; as _he_ fulfilled and loved charity especially beyond all virtues, to wit the noble glorious apostle, the father confessor, the spark-flashing, the man through whom the west of the world shone with signs and wonders, with virtues and with good deeds, _Sanctus Ciaranus sacerdos et apostolus Dei_, the archpresbyter and apostle Saint Ciaran, son of the wright. Now he was son of the Wright Who formed heaven and earth with all that in them is, according to his heavenly genealogy; and son of the wright who used to frame carriages and all other handiworks beside, according to his earthly genealogy.

The date which the Faithful honour as the feast-day of this noble one is the fifth of the ides of September according to the day of the solar month, and this day to-day according to the day of the week.

Accordingly I shall relate a short memoir of the signs and wonders of that devout one, for a delight of soul to the Faithful; and of his earthly generation, and of his mode of life,[4] and of the perfection which he gave to his victorious course in the earth. A man held greatly in honour of the Lord was this man. A man for whom God reserved his monastery, fifty years before his birth; a man whom Christ accounteth in the order of apostles in this world, as Colum Cille said--

_Quem Tu Christe apostolum mundo misisti hominem._

A lamp was he, shining with the light of wisdom and doctrine, as Colum Cille said--

_Lucerna huius insulae lucens luce mirabili._

A man who established a cathedral from which was drawn the effectiveness of rule, and wisdom, and doctrine, for all the churches of Ireland, as the same man of learning said--

_Custodiantur regmina adcessione edita Diuulgata per omnia
sanctorum monasteria_[5]--

that is, "Let the rules and doctrines and customs which have been received from the master, from Ciaran, be kept by the elders of these monasteries; thus, these are the rules and customs that have been distributed and received of all the monasteries of saints of Ireland." For it is from her [Clonmacnois] that are carried rules and precepts throughout Ireland.

He is a man whom the Lord accounteth of the order of chief prophets in this world, as the same prophet said--

_Propheta qui nouissimus fuerit praesagminibus,_[6]

for it was by reason of his nobility and his reverence before the Lord that he was foretold of prophets long before his birth, as Isaac was foretold, and John the Baptist, and Jesus, which is something yet nobler.[7] First Patrick son of Calpurn prophesied of him in Cruachan Aigli, after the tree had closed around his relics in the place where that settlement is now. Brigit prophesied of him when she saw the fire and the angel, fifty years before Ciaran, in the place where the Crosses of Brigit are to-day. Becc mac De prophesied, saying there--

Son of the wright
with choruses, with choirs,
In comely cloak,
with chariots, with chants.

Colum Cille prophesied in Ard Abla to Aed son of Brandub (or of Brenainn).