[285] If the identification suggested in the preceding note is correct, Malachy's mother belonged to the family of O'Hanratty, which in the eleventh and twelfth centuries held the chieftaincy of Ui Méith Macha or Ui Méith Tíre, now the barony of Monaghan, in the county of the same name.
[286] Cognominabatur. This verb occurs seventeen times in the Vulgate, and almost always indicates a new or alternative name. In the present passage it certainly applies, not to Malachy's baptismal name, but to its Latin equivalent, Malachias, which he probably assumed when he became abbot of Bangor, or bishop of Down. The remark that he received it from Bangor is to be explained thus. A legend, which has a place in Jocelin's Life of St. Patrick (§ 98) and is therefore at least as old as the twelfth century, relates that Patrick, viewing the valley in which the monastery of Comgall was afterwards constructed, perceived that it was "filled with a multitude of the heavenly host." From this story, no doubt, came the name "Valley of Angels (Vallis Angelorum)," by which it was known in the early seventeenth century, and probably long before (Reeves, p. 199). If this name, or the legend on which it was based, was known to Malachy it is quite conceivable that on account of his connexion with Bangor, he adopted, as the Latin alternative of Máel Máedóc, a name which is only the Hebrew for my angel with a Latin termination. That St. Bernard was aware of the significance of the name, and liked to dwell upon it, is clear from Sermon ii. § 5. It may be added that the legend just mentioned is connected with a folk-etymology of the word Bangor (Bennchor) which explained it as "white choir." For the true etymology see Kuno Meyer, "Zur Keltischen Wortkunde," § 66 (Preuss. Akad. Sitz., 1913).
[287] Princeps. This word does not necessarily imply that the donor of Bangor was a secular chieftain. St. Bernard is somewhat arbitrary in his use of such titles; and princeps occurs very frequently in A.U. up to the tenth century as an equivalent of abbot.
[288] Comgall, who was a Pict of Dál Araide (Adamnan, i. 49), was born at Magheramorne, near Larne, co. Antrim (Reeves, p. 269), between 516 and 520. He founded the monastery of Bangor when he was about forty years old, probably in 559, and presided over it till his death in 602 (A.U.). According to his Latin Life (§ 13, Plummer, ii. 7), so great a number of monks came to him there that there was not room for them; "he therefore founded very many cells and many monasteries, not only in the district of Ulaid, but throughout the other provinces of Ireland." There were as many as 3000 monks under his rule. On the last leaf of an ancient service book of the monastery, known as the Antiphonary of Bangor (Facsimile edition by F. E. Warren, 1893, vol. ii. p. 33), there is a hymn which gives a complete list of the abbots—fifteen in number—from Comgall to Cronan († 691), in whose period of office it was written. The site of St. Comgall's monastery is beside the Rectory of the parish of Bangor, co. Down, about half-a-mile from Bangor Bay, near the entrance to Belfast Lough.
[289] Rom. vii. 4.
[290] Luanus. This is probably Lugaid, or Molua, the founder of Lismore in Scotland, who died in 592 (A.U.) and is commemorated on June 25 (Oengus, Gorman). He was a Pict and of the same tribe as St. Comgall, both being descended from Fiacha Araide (L.B. 15 c, e); and in later times was the patron saint of the diocese of Argyll (Adamnan, p. 371). He may be the Bishop Lugidus who ordained St. Comgall, and afterwards restrained him from leaving Ireland (Plummer, i. p. lix.; ii. pp. 6, 7). But there is no evidence, apart from the statement of St. Bernard, that either this bishop or Lugaid of Lismore was a member of the community at Bangor. There is a Life of Lugaid of Lismore in the Breviary of Aberdeen (Prop. Sanct. pro temp, aest. ff. 5 v. 7; summarized in Forbes, Kalendars of Scottish Saints, p. 410). His principal foundation after Lismore was Rosemarkie in Ross. Mr. A. B. Scott (Pictish Nation, 1918, p. 347 f.) mentions also Mortlach (Banffshire) and Clova (Aberdeenshire); and Bishop Forbes (l.c.) adds other sites with which his name is connected.
[291] St. Comgall himself is said to have been minded in his earlier days to go on pilgrimage to "Britain," and to have been dissuaded therefrom by Lugaid (Latin Life, § 13, Plummer, ii. 7). Seven years after the foundation of Bangor he went to Britain to visit "certain saints" (ibid. § 22, p. 11). It was probably on this occasion that he spent some time on the island of Hinba (Eilean-na-naomh?) in the company of SS. Columba, Canice and others (Adamnan, iii. 17). It was somewhat later, apparently, that St. Columba went with some companions on a mission to Brude, king of the Picts (ibid. ii. 35); and we need not question the statement that Comgall and Canice were among those who went with him, though there is reason to doubt that Comgall was the leader of the band, as his Life implies (§ 51, p. 18), and though the Life of St. Canice, which frequently refers to his visit, or visits, to Scotland (§§ 17, 19, 21, 23, Plummer, i. 158), never mentions the incident. It is probable, therefore, that the founder of Bangor took part in the evangelization of Scotland; but the memory of very few monasteries founded by him in that country, besides the community in the island of Tiree (Life, § 22, p. 11; see Scott, op. cit. p. 239), has been preserved to later ages. Mr. Scott credits members of the community of Bangor with the foundation of Paisley, Kingarth and Applecross (ibid. p. 337 ff.). See also previous note.
[292] Ps. lxv. 9, 10 (vg., inexact quotation).
[293] Luke vi. 48.
[294] Gen. xii. 2.—St. Columbanus was the greatest of the Irish missionaries on the Continent of Europe. Born in Leinster, according to Bruno Krusch (Ionae Vitae Sanctorum, p. 22) in 530, or as others hold in 543, he entered the community of Bangor not long after its foundation, and after spending "many cycles of years" there, he sailed for France about 590. His principal monasteries were Luxeuil (Luxovium) in the department of Haute Saône, and Bobbio in Lombardy. At the latter place he died, November 23, 615. His Life was written by Jonas, about 640. It was critically edited by Krusch in M.G.H. (Script. rerum Merovingic., vol. iv. 1-152) and subsequently as a separate volume (Ionae Vitae Sanctorum Columbani, Vedastis, Iohannis, 1905). The story of his labours has been told by G. T. Stokes in his Celtic Church in Ireland, Lect. vii., and by many other modern writers. See also the collection of documents in Patrick Fleming's Collectanea (Lovanii, 1667). Luxeuil is about eighty miles from Clairvaux, and less than seventy from St. Bernard's early home at Dijon. Fifty years after the death of St. Columbanus it adopted the rule of St. Benedict. It was a well-known establishment in St. Bernard's day, though by that time its glory had declined. It was suppressed in 1789 (M. Stokes, Three Months in the Forests of France, p. 67).