[764] Luke x. 19 (quotation not exact).
[765] Ps. cxlix.
[766] See § 13.
[767] This remark proves that the building of the oratory was begun after Malachy's return from France. The same conclusion follows from the words "We are Scots, not Gauls," lower down.
[768] St. Bernard is speaking, not of stone churches in general, as has sometimes been assumed, but of stone oratories, which may have been unknown in "that land," i.e. the district about Bangor (see p. 32, n. 3). The innovation would naturally cause dissatisfaction among a conservative people. Indignation may also have been excited by the unusual size of the building; for it was "a great oratory" (§ 63). But on the other hand, its ornate style cannot have contributed to the opposition which the project aroused; for it commenced when the foundations were being laid. Indeed, however "beautiful" it may have been (§ 63), it was probably, like the churches of the Cistercians, of simple design and devoid of ornament. See St. Bernard's Apologia ad Guillelmum, § 28 ff. (P.L. clxxxii. 914 f.). The only relic of the medieval monastery of Bangor is a rudely built wall, once pierced by a door and a window, now built up. It seems to be later than the twelfth century. About 120 yards to the south-west of it is "The Abbey Church," still used for worship. The main part of this structure dates from the seventeenth century. But the core of the tower appears to be much earlier, and may be on the site of St. Malachy's oratory.
[769] Job xv. 35 (vg.); Ps. vii. 14 (vg.).
[770] Lev. xix. 16.
[771] Ps. ci. 5.
[772] Acts xiv. 12.
[773] Ps. lxxiv. 21.