mons of St. Columbanus. They are peculiarly interesting, not only as illustrations of the religion of this saint himself and of his times, but also as occurring in the oldest collection extant, as far as I am aware, of Sermons by any of the early Christians of the British Isles. It should be noted that the general doctrine that runs through all the "Instructions" is of a simple, edifying, scriptural character. The most striking apparent exception to this occurs in the end of "Instruction I." where we read that "God Almighty should be implored, through the merits and intervention of His saints, to bestow on us even some little portion of His light:" a passage so unlike the general tenor of the writings of Columbanus, that we might almost suspect some very great corruption of the text, or interpolation, to have been the means of introducing it. Supposing however the words to be genuine, as there does not appear to exist any external evidence of their spuriousness, their meaning must be qualified by the two following observations. the Saints," First, the "merits of the saints" in Columbanus's day had a sense completely different from "Merits of that which we attach to the words; we in the what meant course of time having altered the meaning of thereby in this expression. For "merits" used of old to writings. signify gains or advantages, without necessarily including the idea of deserving or having a ancient sion from the life of Arnolf, bishop of Metz. claim on a thing. Merits then signified as well "gifts of grace," "privileges freely bestowed," as "earnings," and thus, meriting, in the ears of Columbanus, did not necessarily imply anything inconsistent with the deepest humility-as may be sufficiently seen from the dying words of Illustration Arnolf, bishop of Metz (A.D. 614-640, cir.) to of the use of the friends who surrounded him in his last hour, the expres- Dear and respected friends," said he, "pray to Christ in my behalf. For the day is now come for me to appear and be presented before my Judge. What shall I do? No good thing have I performed in this world. By all iniquities and sins am I narrowly hedged in; for which, I implore you, pray the Lord that I may merit pardon," i. e. obtain it, though undeserved. (Vid. Opp. Bed. iii. 254. Arnolf however is described as having been an eminently pious and saintly prelate.) Further, in respect to the meaning of the word here under consideration, Archbishop Ussher observes (in his AnArchbishop swer to a Jesuit, ch. xii. p. 478, Camb. 1835,) Ussher's ob that to merit, in the writings of the Fathers, the subject. signifies "simply to procure or to attain, without any relation at all to the dignity either of the person or the work." To follow out the inquiry how far many of the errors of the Church of Rome may have originated in the abuse of words, would be an interesting employment, but servation on not however one suitable to the sent work. of the prescope the phrase Saints" in "a banus neces plies their Secondly; "the intervention of the Saints" Whether mentioned in the first Instruction of St. Colum- "intervenbanus, may as far as I see, imply only such a tion of the use in prayer of the names of those who have de- writing of parted this life in the true faith and fear of St. ColumGod, as is allowed, and practised in the Holy sarily imScriptures; (see Deut. ix. 27; and compare mediation. Gen. xxvi. 3, 5; Lev. xxvi. 44, 45; Ps. cv. 42; cvi. 4; cxix. 132; cxxxii. 10; 1 Kings viii. 66; xi. 12, 13, 32-39; xv. 3, 4, 5; 2 Kings viii. 19; xiii. 23; xix. 34; xx. 6; 2 Chron. vi. 42; Isa. xxxvii. 35; Rom. xi. 28;) without any reference whatsoever to the antiscriptural Romish doctrine which leads men to rely for an answer to their prayers, on the agency or deservings of the departed saints of the Lord. No. VI. ST. COLUMBANUS'S INSTRUCTION OR SERMON "ON THE exhortations "In the discourses already addressed to you, we have Repeated been endeavouring in some sort to suggest [to your needful, to minds] an idea of the [kind of] contrition required [of dispel man's us], and exerting ourselves to arouse by a kind of soli- indifference loquy, the indolence of our own heart indeed in particu- to religious cular, but [besides that], of every hearer's heart also. truth. The uncer future a snare to sinners. See Eccl. viii. 11. However, as the scanty measure of [our] faith, and [our] carnal wills, influenced by the passions of the world, receive in a cold and slighting manner these lessons of correction, the same [truths] must be often repeated for if [our] faith were not of unsteady character, even a single one of the testimonies of the divine oracle already brought before our notice would abundantly suffice [to dispel our sloth.] : "Now they believe, and [yet] believe not, who netainty of the glect what they hear. For imagine that some person were to say to you-Make [good] use of to-day: for the Judge of this world means to burn you alive on the morrow, what sort of anxiety, let me ask, what sort of terror, would take possession of you? And upon hear ing such tidings, if you were allowed to have a single day free to your disposal, what exertions would you make! What cries would you utter! What persons would you appeal to! In what a lowly, what a sorrowful, dejected, style you would move about! Would you not lavish all your money upon those by whose intercession you might suppose there would be a possibility of escaping? Would you not give all that you were worth for the redemption of your soul, and reserve nothing, even though you were of a miserly and pinching disposition, but spend all, give away all, for your life. And if any one were to attempt to retard or hinder you, would you not say, 'Perish all for the sake of my salvation: let nothing remain, provided only I may live.' [And] why would you act in this way? Because there would be no doubt on your mind, but that according to the sentence of your dread and awful Judge, you should be committed to the flames. But in the existing state of matters you do entertain doubts, because you have no knowledge how soon your fate may be sealed: that it will be sealed however, you are not ignorant, although exhibiting [such] carelessness on the subject. coming of Christ. "We are called upon then to awake; to be watchful; The necesto pray in accordance with that precept of our Saviour sity of lookJesus Christ, our God, who saith, And take heed to ing for the yourselves lest haply your hearts be overcharged with sur- our Lord feiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day Jesus come upon you unawares, for as a snare shall it come upon xxi. all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch 34-36. ye therefore at all times, that ye may be counted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.' If we hear these words and believe them, our watchfulness will give evidence of our faith, and this saying of the Lord our Saviour will thrill through our senses, influencing us to shake off the torpid and sluggish lethargy of deadly indifference, that we may lay aside all mortal cares, and be at all times ready; in expectation of the advent of the last day, in which either punishment or glory shall be allotted to us [for eternity.] And [thus] shall that admonition of the Lord now addressed to us, in which He has taught us to be always watching and praying, sharpen the energy of our souls, that we may not be as if believers, and [yet] no believers, and as if paying attention, and yet not at. tending [to His word.] Ŏ [rather] let us unceasingly from the bottom of our hearts, beseech, implore, and supplicate the unspeakable compassion of our merciful and gracious God, for the sake of His Son Jesus Christ; that He vouchsafe so to inspire us with His love, as to unite and join us therein to Himself inseparably for all eternity that meanwhile, so long as we be resident in this body of death, He may raise our affections from earth, associate them with Heaven; and that we may so await His advent without blame, that when He shall appear, we may meet Him acceptably with joy, and in the strong confidence of love. "How blessed! How happy those servants, whom the St. ColumLord when He cometh, shall find watching. Blessed banus ear |