14. For the sake of all the truth in which thy resurrection is recorded.
15. For the sake of thy charity, which is the head and the top of all the testaments, ut dicitur, caritas super exaltat omnia.
16. For the sake of thy royal kingdom, with all its rewards and glorious gifts and music.
17. For the sake of thy mercy, and thy forgiveness, and thy loving friendship, thy own bountifulness, which is more extensive than all wealth, that I may obtain the forgiveness and the annihilation of my past sins from the beginning of my life to this day, after the words of David, who said: Beati quorum remissæ sunt iniquitates et quorum tecta sunt peccata, id est: dispense, and give, and bestow thy holy grace and thy holy spirit to defend and shelter me from all my present and future sins; and to light up in me all truth, and to retain me in that truth to the end of my life, and that thou receive me at the end of my life into Heaven, in the unity of illustrious patriarchs and prophets, in the unity of Apostles and Disciples, in the unity of Angels and Archangels, in the unity which excels all unities, that is, in the unity of the bright, holy, all-powerful Trinity, Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit. For I can effect nothing unless I effect it in the language of the Apostle Paul, who said: Quis me liberavit a corpore mortis hujus peccati nisi gratia tua Domine Jesu Christe qui regnas in secula seculorum. Amen.
The dogmatic importance of this document is very great, as showing the belief of the Church of Ireland on many points, which are now set down by Protestants as of recent introduction.
We are struck in the first part with the invocation of the saints, whose powerful intercession is asked, not with God the Father only, but with the Son of God made man, the Mediator of God and man, Christ our Lord; and the intercession with Him is asked of the saints of the Old Testament as well as of the New.
In the nine degrees of the Church on Earth, (3) we find allusion to the four minor and three greater orders, of which the names are given by the Council of Trent; and to them are added the office of bishop, which is the completion of the priesthood, and that of psalm-singer, which, as we are told by an ancient Irish canon, was given to any clerk, not by episcopal ordination, but by delegation from a priest.
The nine choirs of blessed spirits (5) are those mentioned by Saint Gregory (Hom. 34 in Evang. ante med.), and are enumerated almost in the same order: "Novem Angelorum ordines dicimus, quia videlicet esse testante sacro eloquio scimus: Angelos, Archangelos, Virtutes, Potestates, Principatus, Dominationes, Thronos, Cherubim, atque Seraphim. Esse namque Angelos et Archangelos pene omnes sacri eloquii paginae testantur. Cherubim vero atque Seraphim saepe, ut notum est, libri Prophetarum loquuntur. Quatuor quoque ordinum nomina Paulus Apostolus ad Ephesios enumerat, dicens: Supra omnem Principatum et Potestatem et Virtutem et Dominationem. Qui rursus ad Colossenses scribens, ait: Sive Throni, sive Potestates, sive Principatus, sive Dominationes. Dum ergo illis quatuor, quae ad Ephesios dixit, conjunguntur Throni, quinque sunt ordines; quibus dum Angeli et Archangeli, Cherubim atque Seraphim, conjuncta sunt, proculdubio novem esse Angelorum ordines inveniuntur". We ought, perhaps, to add that the coincidence with Saint Gregory's enumeration is not, perhaps, altogether casual, for there is reason to believe that in the eighth century there was in Ireland a very extensive acquaintance with that great pontiff's writings.
In the verses (9, 11) St. Colga clearly shows the feeling of the ancient Church of Ireland with respect to the practice of holy virginity, and in honouring the ever blessed Mother of God. "I beseech the intercession with Thee of all thy sons of pure virginity, etc. I beseech the intercession with Thee of all the perfect virgins of the world, with the Virgin Mary, Thine own holy Mother, O Son of the truly perfect Virgin Mary".