St Senan
Summary: St Senan, bishop, monk, anamcara, pilgrim was born near Kilrush, County Clare. His family were prosperous farmers. His vocation seems to have resulted from an experience of danger from the sea. His early studies were mainly made at the monastery of Kilnamanagh. His principal monastic foundation was on Scattery Island, near Kilrush, in the Shannon Estuary. He was anamchara to Ciaran of Clonmacnois and Brendan, and died in 544.
St Senan is associated especially with Scattery Island or Inis Cathaigh, in the estuary of the River Shannon near Kilrush, Co Clare.
Patrick Duffy gathers stories about his life from different sources.
Early life
Senan’s reputed birth-place was Moylough, about four miles east of Kilrush, Co. Clare. He received his first monastic formation locally on the peninsula of West Clare from the abbot Cassidan. He then went to the monastery of St Natalis at Kilnamanagh in Ossory. After he had acquired a reputation for holiness, Natalis sent him to make his own foundations. He went first to a green island in the River Slaney called Iniscoirithe, (the present Enniscorthy) where he had a cell. Today the parish on the east side of the River Slaney in the town of Enniscorthy (Temple-shannon = “Senan’s church”) is dedicated to him.
Pilgrimages
Senan then went on pilgrimage to Rome and on his return journey is said to have visited the shrine of St. Martin of Tours and the abbot David at Menevia. He may have been consecrated bishop before he returned to Ireland. On his return he had a church at Iniscarra near Ballincollig, Co Cork, where there is still a St Senan’s church today. He was already advanced in years when he came home to West Clare to establish his monastery on Scattery Island, then Inis Cathaigh.
Battling the monster: The Cathach of Inish Cathaigh
Cathach, means “the battler”: here it refers to a monster or péist which inhabited the island and terrorised people. When Senan arrived on the island, the Archangel Michael led him to the highest hill where Senan was able to locate the Cathach. He faced the monster and ordered it to depart from the island, which it did, but not without a struggle. A local chief hired a druid to put a spell on the saint, but when the druid landed on a nearby island, a tidal wave enveloped him and swept him to his death. That smaller island is still pointed out as Carraig an Draoi or The Druid’s Rock, which can still be seen at low tide. Some say that this cathach was the river god of the Shannon, whose powers now became invested in Senan – thus explaining his name and some of the miracles associated with him.
His visitors
Senan’s reputation spread far and wide. Brendan of Birr and Kieran of Clonmacnois came to visit him for spiritual direction. And from far-away Bantry a holy woman named Cannera resolved to visit this holy spot and, if possible end her days there. When she arrived she found that a strict rule forbade any female to enter the place, so despite her appeals she had to stay by the shore. Some say she languished there and died: others that she spoke up to Senan and said: ‘Women can enter the kingdom of heaven no less than men’ and that he let her stay.
Killeochaille
Senan is not to be easily dismissed as a misogynist. It was he who actually set up the first convent of nuns in West Clare when he gave the veil of religious life to the daughters of Naereus and established them in a place called Killeochaille (Kill-na-cailleach, ‘the church of the nuns’), in nearby Querrin.
His death and feast
Before his death Senan decided to visit and pray at the cell of the abbot Cassidan, who had directed his first steps as a monk. As he made his way home and was passing Killeochaille he was taken ill. A voice seemed to say: “Servant of God, you are being called to heaven”. His companions carried him home and he died on the feast of St David in 544. They spent eight days mourning him, so his feast is on 8th March.
Other Senans
There are many other Senans listed in Irish calendars (See Pádraig Ó Riain, A Dictionary of Irish Saints 2011, 557-560), as well as one linked with a parish in Land’s End, Cornwall, England.
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Memorable Saying for Today
The Holy Spirit illuminates the minds of people,
makes us yearn for God, takes spiritual truth
and makes it understandable to us.
~ Billy Graham~
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St John of God
Summary: John of God was a Portuguese soldier turned healthcare worker in Spain, whose followers later formed the Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God, dedicated to the care of the poor, sick and those with mental disorders.
Early life Challenges
Saint John of God was born in the village of Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal to middle-class, faith-filled parents on March 8, 1495 According to his early biographer, John was abducted from his home when he was eight years old and taken 200 miles away to the town of Oropesa, Spain. In Oropesa, John found himself homeless and alone. He met a good man named El Mayoral who gave him a job as a shepherd and a place to live. John worked hard until he was twenty-two years old.
Army life and Accusations
El Mayoral wanted John to marry his daughter, but John wanted to see the world. He joined the army of the Holy Roman Emperor and battled the French. During his service, he was assigned to guard some captured clothing that went missing. John was accused of theft and condemned to death, but others intervened and he was released. Frustrated with military life, he returned to El Mayoral’s farm where he worked for another four years before entering the army once again to fight the Turks this time for the next eighteen years.
Home problems
He later returned home to Montemor-o-Novo to check on his parents. He found out that his mother died of heartbreak after his abduction and that his father joined the Franciscans and advanced in holiness. John response , “I no longer wish to stay in this country; but rather to go in search of a way to serve Our Lord beyond my native place, just as my father did. He gave me a good example by doing that. I have been so wicked and sinful and since the Lord has given me life, it is fitting that I should use it to serve him and do penance.”
Searching for meaning
John began an interior search for the best way he could serve God and decided to journey to Africa, to ransom himself to the Muslims in exchange for their prisoners. On the journey, he met a knight and his family who were destitute and unable to care for themselves. John gladly gave by working and giving them his earnings. When one of John’s fellow workers fled to Muslim territory and converted to Islam, John began to despair, thinking he should have done more for his friend. After seeking counsel from a Franciscan monastery, he decided to return to the mainland of Spain for the good of his soul.
New Life
Upon his arrival, John threw himself into a life of prayer, made a general confession, and tearfully went from church to church begging God for the forgiveness of his sins. To support himself, he began to buy and sell religious pictures and books as a traveling salesman. He found this to be spiritually rewarding and fruitful for the salvation of souls. Eventually, at the age of forty-six, he set up a small shop of religious items at Granada’s city gate.
Call to Repentance
St John of Ávila came to town to preach a mission. John was in attendance and was so moved by the Ávila’s sermons, and so keenly aware of his own sins, that he started running through the streets like a madman, shouting for mercy.. “Mercy! Mercy, Lord God, on this tremendous sinner who has so offended you!” Many thought John was a lunatic. Some good men brought him to Saint John of Ávila who heard his confession, counselled him, consoled him, and offered his continued guidance. But John was so deeply touched by the priest’s holy help that he wanted everyone in the town to know how sinful he was, so he ran through the streets crying out again as a sign of his sinfulness. Eventually, two ‘compassionate’ men took John to the local insane asylum for treatment.
Burying insanity
The theory of the day was that those who were insane were best cured by locking them in a dungeon and torturing them continuously until they chose to abandon their insanity, and this is what happened to John. St John of Ávila heard of this and began communicating with John, encouraging him, and guiding him. He received every beating in the asylum with joy as penance and offered each sacrificially to God.
Throughout, John exhorted the warden and other officers to treat the patients better. When John began to exude a peaceful disposition, the warden was pleased and permitted him to be freed of his shackles. John showed mercy and compassion to others, performing menial charitable tasks and spreading God’s love. He thought to himself, “May Jesus Christ eventually give me the grace to run a hospice where the abandoned poor and those suffering from mental disorders might have refuge and that I may be able to serve them as I wish.”
Fresh Start
After receiving permission to leave the asylum, John made a pilgrimage and had a vision of the Blessed Mother who encouraged him to work for the poor and infirm. Upon his return to Granada, he moved forward with his desire to open a hospital. Through begging, he was able to rent a building, furnish it, and begin seeking out the sick. He worked tirelessly to care for them, begged for food, brought priests to hear their confessions, and nursed them back to health. Among the many miracles that have been reported, the most notable was when John ran in and out of a burning hospital to rescue patients without being burned himself.
In the years following, John extended his mission of mercy to the poor, the abandoned, widows, orphans, the unemployed, prostitutes, and all who suffered. Soon, others were so inspired by the work John was doing that they joined him. His companions in the work made up what would eventually become the Order of Hospitallers. In John’s life, the group would be only an organized group of companions, twenty-two years after John’s death, the pope would approve this group of men as a new religious order.
The utter humility of John of God, which led to a totally selfless dedication to others, is most impressive. Here is a man who realized his nothingness in the face of God. The Lord blessed him with the gifts of prudence, patience, courage, enthusiasm, and the ability to influence and inspire others. He saw that in his early life he had turned away from the Lord, and, moved to receive his mercy, John began his new commitment to love others in openness to God’s love.
Death
John of God, died of pneumonia after he had plunged into a river to save a young man from drowning. It was March 8, 1550, his 55th birthday. He was canonised by Pope Alexander in 1690.
He is the Patron Saint of nurses, the sick, heart patients, printers and booksellers
Saint John of God is a shining example of God’s power. He was a sinner and was thought to be mentally ill, but God did incredible things through him. If you ever feel as though you have nothing to offer God, think of Saint John and know that the weaker you may feel, the more God can use you.
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Memorable saying for the day
No great mind ever existed without a touch of madness
…Aristotle
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