CHAPTER II.

ST. MALACHY FOUNDS MELLIFONT.

"Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer Than this world dreams of. Wherefore let thy voice Rise like a fountain for me night and day, For what are men better than sheep and goats, That nourish a blind life within the brain, If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer Both for themselves and those who call them friend? For so the whole round earth is every way Bound by gold chains about the feet of God." (_Lord Tennyson._)

At the time that Saints Robert, Alberic, and Stephen Harding were laying the foundation of the Cistercian Order, in the dense forest of Cistercium, or Citeaux, whence the Order derives its name, or to be more precise, in 1098, a lovely little boy eight years old, with golden hair and dove-like eyes, and with nobility of birth stamped in every lineament of his features, was playing in his father's chateau at Fontaines, near Dijon, in France. This child of predilection was the great St. Bernard, who is justly styled the Propagator of that Order which was then in a struggling condition. It has become a proverb, "that the child is father of the man," and a very clever writer exclaims--"Blessed is the man whose infancy has been watched over, kindled, and penetrated by the eyes of a tender and holy mother." It was St. Bernard's singular privilege to have such a mother, one who sedulously watched over his youthful days, and inspired him with a love of all virtues. Hence we are told, that even in early childhood, he evinced a love of piety that was remarkable, and that he constituted his mother the grand model which he was bound to copy. He considered it the summit of his ambition to do all things like his mother--to pray like her, to give alms and visit the sick poor like her; for this noble lady was wont to go along the roads unattended, carrying medicine and nourishment to the indigent. He distinguished himself at the public school where he received his education, and returned to the paternal mansion where he soon after experienced his first great sorrow in the death of his loving mother. He was now approaching manhood, and he must needs select a state of life befitting his high birth. At that time, only two professions were worthy of the consideration of young noblemen--the Church or the Army. With Bernard's distinguished talents, a bright and rosy future presented itself before his youthful imagination, and then the eloquent persuasions of his relatives, who promised him their powerful patronage, were not wanting to arouse his ambition; but, the image of his saintly mother dispelled all dreams of promotion, and her pious instructions, which sank deep into his young heart, acted as potent antidotes against the allurements of worldly pomp and short-lived honours. After much reflection he made up his mind to renounce all honours, and to become a monk. By his irresistible pleadings he gained over his four brothers, with other relatives and friends, to the number of thirty, and at their head, presented himself at the gate of the Abbey of Citeaux, where St. Stephen Harding joyfully admitted them. Two years later we find him leaving that monastery as the Abbot of a new colony, on his way to found Clairvaux, being then in his twenty-fifth year. Here, his light could no longer remain hidden, but burst forth into a luminous flame whose splendour aroused and powerfully influenced the whole Christian world. The Bishop of Chalons, in whose diocese Clairvaux was situated, was the first to discover the transcendent abilities and eloquence of the youthful Abbot. At his request, St. Bernard consented to deliver a course of sermons in the churches of his diocese, which were productive of incalculable good, and spread the fame of the zealous preacher. Priests as well as laymen, attached themselves to him and accompanied him to Clairvaux on his return from those missions. One of the Saint's biographers cries out--"How many learned men, how many nobles and great ones of this earth, how many philosophers have passed from the schools or academies of the world to Clairvaux to give themselves up to the meditation of heavenly things and the practice of a divine morality." His fame reached even to Ireland, and we are told that in this country the little children were wont to ask for the badge of the Crusaders which the Saint distributed. In a word, his voice was the most authoritative in Europe. Kings and princes dreaded him, and accepted him as arbitrator in their quarrels. Even Popes themselves sought his counsel. In his lifetime, his own disciple, Bernard of Pisa, occupied the Chair of Peter, as Eugenius III. It may be truthfully said, that St. Bernard reformed Europe and infused a new spirit into the monastic orders. Even Luther does not hesitate to place him in the forefront of all monks who lived in his time; of him he writes: "Melius nec vixit nec scripsit quis in universo coetu monachorum."

Whilst the Church in France was reaping the benefit of the holy Abbot's preaching and example, a zealous Irish prelate was actively and successfully engaged in eradicating vice which sprang up in this country, as a consequence of the long-protracted wars with the Danes, and the demoralising effects of intercourse with that people. Nevertheless, Ireland had then its saints and scholars, and the ancient seats of learning, such as Armagh, Bangor, Lismore, Clonard, and Clonmacnoise were once more inhabited by numerous communities. This saintly prelate was St. Malachy, who, being on his way to Rome, heard of the sanctity of the great St. Bernard, and would fain pay him a visit. This visit would St. Malachy have gladly prolonged; for then and there sprang up a mutual affection, which, writes our own Tom Moore, "reflects credit on both." St. Malachy was so enamoured with what he witnessed at Clairvaux, and particularly with the wise discourses of the learned Abbot, that he determined to become one of his disciples. Innocent II., who then ruled the flock of Christ, on the Saint seeking his permission to retire to Clairvaux, would not hearken to his request, but giving him many marks of his esteem, appointed him his Legate in Ireland, and commanded him to return thither. If St. Malachy might not live at Clairvaux in the midst of the fervent men whom he there beheld earnestly intent in the great work of mortification and expiation, he resolved, at least, to have a colony of them near him in his own country, that by their prayers and example, they might promote God's glory, and in a measure, repeat the glorious traditions of the ancient monastic ages in Ireland. In furtherance of this happy project, he singled out four of his travelling companions, whom he gave in charge to St. Bernard, with these words: "I most earnestly conjure you to retain these disciples, and instruct them in all the duties and observances of the religious profession, that, hereafter they may be able to teach us." On receiving an assurance of a hearty compliance from St. Bernard, he took cordial leave of his friend and returned to Ireland. Not long after he sent more of his disciples to join those whom he had already left at Clairvaux, and on their arrival, St. Bernard wrote as follows: "The Brothers who have come from a distant land, your letter and the staff you sent me, have afforded me much consolation in the midst of the many anxieties and cares that harass me.... Meanwhile, according to the wisdom bestowed on you by the Almighty, select and prepare a place for their reception, which shall be secluded from the tumults of the world, and after the model of those localities which you have seen amongst us." The place selected by St. Malachy as the site of the future monastery, was the sequestered valley watered by the River Mattock, situated about three and one half miles from Drogheda, Co. Louth, and much resembling Clairvaux, which, too, was located in a valley, shut in by little hills on all sides. Donogh O'Carroll, Prince of Oriel, the lord of the territory, freely granted the site to God and SS. Peter and Paul, munificently endowed the monastery with many broad acres, and supplied wood and stone for the erection of the buildings. This grant was made in either 1140 or 1141. The charter of endowment by O'Carroll has not been found.

It would appear from another letter of St. Bernard to St. Malachy, that he had sent some monks from Clairvaux to make preparations for those who were to immediately follow, and that already their number was augmented at Mellifont by the accession of new members from the surrounding district, who had joined them on their appearance in that locality. In this same letter St. Bernard writes: "We send back to you your dearly-beloved son and ours, Christian, as fully instructed as was possible in those rules which regard our Order, hoping, moreover, that he will henceforth prove solicitous for their observance." This Christian is commonly supposed to have been archdeacon of the diocese of Down. He was certainly first Abbot of Mellifont, and his name shall turn up in connection with important national events later on. With Christian came a certain Brother Robert, a Frenchman, a skilful architect, who constructed the monastery after the model of Clairvaux.

That these were the pioneers of the Cistercian Order in Ireland cannot for one moment be doubted, both from the very important fact, that the Abbot of Mellifont took precedence of all the Abbots of his Order in this country, and also, because it is an historical fact, that St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin, the other claimant for priority, did not exchange the Benedictine for the Cistercian Rule till, at earliest, 1148, when the Abbot of Savigni in France, with the thirty houses of his Order (Benedictine) subject to his jurisdiction, were admitted into the Cistercian family by Pope Eugenius III., who presided at the General Chapter of the Cistercians that year. St. Mary's was founded from Buildewas, in Shropshire, and this latter was subject to Savigni.

Various reasons are assigned for the adoption by these ancient monks of the name Mellifont, which signifies "The Honey Fountain." Some are of opinion it had a spiritual signification, and had reference to the abundance of blessings which would flow, and be diffused over the whole country from this centre, through the unceasing and fervent intercessory prayer of its holy inmates; for next to their own sanctification, their neighbour's wants claimed and received their practical sympathy. Like divine charity it gushed forth from hearts totally devoted to God's service and interests, and this zeal would be halting and incomplete did it not embrace the spiritual and temporal concerns of their fellow mortals. Others derive the name from a limpid spring which supplied the monks with a copious, unfailing stream of sweet water, which had its source in Mellifont Park about one quarter of a mile distant, and which was conducted by pipes through the various parts of the monastery. This seems a very plausible account, and as the spring rose at a high level, it had sufficient pressure to obviate the necessity of a cistern as was erroneously supposed in connection with the Lavabo.

It was customary with the old Irish Cistercians to give their monasteries symbolical names at their foundation, and these names often denoted some local feature or peculiarity. Thus, Newry was called of the "Green Wood," from the abundance of yew trees around the monastery there; Corcomroe, Co. Clare, was known under the title of the "Fertile Rock;" Baltinglas, Co. Wicklow, as the "Valley of Salvation," etc.

It is said that the "Honey Fountain" had its source in Mellifont Park, but it seems that few of the present generation living in the vicinity of Mellifont know or appreciate its virtues. In the Ordnance Survey, it is stated that it rose in Mellifont Park, which was formerly a wood, and that to the north of the well, a few trees still remained at the time of the Survey, when the farm belonged to a Mr. James Curran.