We hear no more of St. Virgil for four hundred years, until near the end of the twelfth century, when his Life was written by one who was himself a witness of many of the facts which he relates. “In the year of our Lord’s Incarnation, A.D. 1171,” he says in the opening paragraph:—
“On the fourteenth day before the Kalends of March, in the twenty-first year of the Pontificate of our Lord Pope Alexander III., the most Serene Prince Frederic being august Emperor of the Romans, and Otto of Witelenspach, most renowned Duke of Bavaria; when the edifice of the aforesaid monastery of St. Peter, which had some years before been destroyed by fire, was being rebuilt at the expense and by the command of the illustrious Pastor Chunrad, Archbishop of Salzburg, Legate of the Apostolic See in Germany, and Cardinal Priest of St. Marcellus, through the co-operating grace of the Holy Spirit, and the suffragant clemency of the Divine Majesty, it came to pass that the body of the blessed Virgilius, which had been hidden from all persons for many centuries, was wonderfully brought to light.”
“It happened on a certain day that some stones having fallen from the wall, gave an opportunity to the passers-by to look into the opening, in which they noticed signs of a hollow space, and the outlines of an ancient picture were observed drawn in gold. Thereupon the canons of the church made an investigation; and upon further opening the wall, the tomb and image (depicta imago) of St. Virgilius, eighth Bishop of Salzburg after St. Rudbert, was discovered, with the following inscription:—‘Virgilius templum construxit schemate pulchro.’ And moreover the day of his death was marked, the fifth before the Kalends of December (27th Nov.) Anno 781.”
Then the writer goes on to narrate how the archbishop and the clergy, and all citizens, crowded to the tomb to venerate the sacred relics; and he gives a long list of most extraordinary miracles which were daily performed at the tomb, but which we cannot stay to transcribe.
The name of St. Virgilius is not found in the Roman Martyrology, says Basnage, but he is always spoken of as a saint in the Annals of the Benedictines; and in the Canons of a Council of Salzburg, held in A.D. 1274, the assembled prelates declare that they recognise Rudbert, Virgil, and Augustine, as the patrons of that church, and command, under penalty of excommunication, their feast days to be kept as holidays. It is hardly necessary to add that the festival of Virgilius, Bishop and Confessor, is celebrated by the Irish Church on the 27th November.[424]
II.—Sedulius, Commentator on Scripture.
Another eminent Irish scholar of the Dispersion was Sedulius, the Commentator on Scripture. Sedulius the Elder, of whom we have already spoken at length, is known as the Poet; the present Sedulius is, for the sake of distinction, commonly called Sedulius the Younger, or the Commentator.
Of his personal history unfortunately we know only two facts—first, that he was an Irishman; and secondly, that he was, as his writings abundantly prove, a most distinguished scholar. We cannot even identify him for certain amongst the many Irish scholars, who are known to have borne this name during the eighth and ninth centuries.
There was a Sedulius, who is supposed to have been Bishop of Strathclyde in Scotland, and who was certainly present at a Council held in Rome, A.D. 721.[425] He describes himself under his own hand as a British Bishop of Irish birth;[426] and he was accompanied by another prelate who calls himself Fergustus Episcopus Scotiae Pictus—that is a Pictish Bishop of Scotia, which at that time must mean a Bishop of the Irish Picts. Both happened to be in Rome together, and were invited to assist at this Council and subscribe their names. It is another of the many proofs that indicate the close union between Rome and the Celtic Churches at this period.
The Four Masters, A.D. 785 (recte 789), make mention of the death of Siadhal, or Sedulius, ‘Abbot of Dublin.’ The same entry (A.D. 789) is in the Annals of Ulster, but in the Martyrology of Donegal he is described as Bishop of Dublin, and in the Tallaght Martyrology on the same day (12th Feb.) he is simply called ‘Siadal Bishop;’ but nothing more is known about him. If there was a Bishop in Dublin, there certainly was no See of Dublin at this period; for the See was certainly of Danish origin.