FATHER PATRICK FLEMING, O. S. F.

1631.

Father Patrick Fleming, O. S. F. (1631).-Reverend Matthew Hoare, Deacon, O. S. F. (1631).—Most Reverend Hugh MacCaghwell, Archbishop of Armagh (1626).-Right Reverend Edmund Dongan, Bishop of Down and Connor (1629).-Fathers Francis Ferrall, Malachy Fallen, Francis Fleming, O. S. F., and also many early Irish Saints, Sketches of whose Lives were preserved by Father P. Fleming in his valuable "Collectanea Sacra."

PATRICK FLEMING was born at Bel-atha-Lagain, in the parish of Clonkeen, county Louth, on the 17th of April, 1599. The ruins of his family mansion are still pointed out, close by the modern Lagan bridge, near the junction of the three counties of Louth, Meath and Monaghan. He was connected by birth with the noble houses of Slane and Delvin, but his virtues and learning, still more than his family honors, reflected a bright lustre on his name. From a short-time biographical notice which was composed by Colgan, and prefixed to Sirinus' edition of the "Collectanea Sacra," we learn that Fleming received in baptism the name of Christopher, and that from his infancy he gave proofs of that piety, sedateness and diligence, which characterized his after years. At the age of thirteen he was sent to the continent, to preserve him from the danger of proselytism, which was as imminent from the Court of Wards to the children of the Irish nobility, during King James's reign, as it is to the children of our poor from the birds' nests of the present day. The Reverend Christopher Cusack, uncle of Fleming, was at this time administrator of the Irish colleges for the secular clergy in Flanders; and, in

deed, these institutions mainly depended on his munificence for their support. Under his guidance, Fleming pursued the humanity studies in Douay, and passed thence to the College of St. Anthony, at Louvain, where, on the 17th of March, 1617, at the hands of Father Anthony Hickey, he received the habit of St. Francis, and assumed in religion the name of Patrick.

In 1623, Father Fleming, having completed his philosophical and theological course, was chosen by Hugh MacCaghwell, then Definitor-General of the Order of St. Francis, and soon after promoted to the primatial see of Armagh, to be the companion of his journey to Rome.

Passing through Paris, he contracted a close friendship with Hugh Ward, to whom he promised a zealous and devoted coöperation in searching out and illustrating the lives of the early saints of Ireland, " in the hope," says his biographer, "that, by promoting piety toward those holy men, their example might be imitated by our people, and those golden years be renewed amongst us which shed such lustre and glory on our country."

In the memoir of Father Hugh Ward, we give the letters that were addressed to him by Father Patrick Fleming as he journeyed on toward the Eternal City. His subsequent letters from Rome furnish us with additional interesting details regarding his researches in the cause of Irish history. He had passed through Bobbio, and discovered there, with other monuments of our ancient Church, the precious fragments of St. Columbanus, which were afterward published in the " Collectanea Sacra." These he forwarded without delay to Ward, and on the feast of St. Mary Magdalen, 22d of July, 1623, he wrote to him as follows:—

"Write as soon as possible, to let me know whether you have received the bundle which I sent you with the Rule of St. Columban, that we may no longer be

in anxiety about it. Should you not have received it, I will transcribe these documents again for you. The other works which I saw in Bobbio have not yet come to hand, but there are copies of them here in Rome, so that Messingham may be sure to have them for an appendix to his work; or they will suffice for a separate volume, especially as the Lives I sought for can in part be procured here. Thus, instead of one small volume, I think you may be able to publish two volumes, which will be far more becoming for our Island of Saints.

"That you might have some idea of the treasure which I hope, with the blessing of God, to send you, I went with Father Wadding (to whom you will return due thanks for all the trouble he has taken with me in this matter) to the library of the Oratorians, where Baronius composed his Annals,' and I found there the Life of St. Peregrinus, in four large manuscript sheets, from which it appears that he was a true saint, and a glorious despiser of mundane vanity. I found there, also, the Life of St. Donatus of Fiesole, with a lengthy appendix of a Benedictine monk, named Cajetan, who, amongst other things, proves him to have come from Ireland. The Life of the same saint, which is in the Minerva Library, where, however, it is hard to find anything as its books are all upside down, states that he was ex Scotia ubi nullum vivit animal venenosum, which manifestly refers to Ireland. Some other Lives as, for instance, of St. Patrick and St. Brendan, I found there also; but you do not require these. There are also some poems of St. Æmilian, but I could not find his Life. I hope, in the course of time, to find much more in this library; and rest assured I will not be slothful at the work.

"If I had a religious to accompany me in the present great heat, I would myself copy the above Lives. Father Hugh MacCagh well, however, cannot bear the heat at all, and thus I am obliged to defer this toil for the present.

There is a pretty full Life of St. Andrew of Fiesole, who is expressly called Hybernus, which Father Luke Wadding has promised to translate into Latin for me.

"I will be able to have, without much trouble, the Life of St. Frigidian, for his congregation is established at Lucca, where he founded a monastery, still so famous throughout Italy, that there are some cardinals connected with it. Our primate, Peter Lombard, saw this Life, and thinks he has a copy of it among his papers, and promises it to me.

"There are some persons in this city who celebrate St. Frigidian's office, and I am sure we will find his Acts. with some of them.

"Be careful to mark the place and library from which you receive each work, that thus your history may be the more trustworthy, for that is a very important point, as Father Luke Wadding assures me; and hence he constantly marks them in his writings. I have in my possession the commentary of our primate, Lombard, on the affairs of Ireland; but if you except the history of the last centuries, he has scarcely anything that I had not seen before. He is more full, however, than others on the question of the nomenclature, as he illustrates it copiously from Bede and other writers.

"This is the third day that the cardinals are in conclave for the election of a Pontiff. Pray to God that we may have a Pope who, by word and example, may instruct the fold of Christ."

The many Lives of our Irish Saints enumerated by Fleming in this letter are all still preserved in the Oratorian Library, at the Chiesa Nuova. The most interesting, perhaps, and at the same time the least known, is the life of St. Pellegrine, or Peregrinus, by which name our countryman is now known among the faithful of Italy.

Having made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, he chose

for himself a hermitage there in a desert place, and for several years practised in his daily life all the austerities of the early anchorets. In the first Saracen irruptions, he was made prisoner, and suffered a great deal. The leader, however, of these marauders was so struck by some miracles which the saint performed, that he restored him to liberty. The holy man then journeyed back to Italy, and chose for himself another hermitage in a mountainous and woody district on the borders of the territory of Lucca, where he soon after passed to a better life. After his death many miracles attested his sanctity. An oratory was erected over his remains, and pilgrims, to the present day, flock thither to invoke his intercession.

The St. Andrew to whom Fleming refers, was a deacon, and brother of St. Donatus. A small church, dedicated to St. Martin, situated on the declivity of the hill of Fiesole, and on the banks of the Melsola, was repaired by him, and enriched with valuable possessions. His remains are now enshrined under its high altar, and the memory of St. Andrew is cherished with warm devotion by the inhabitants of the surrounding territory.

On the 16th of September, 1623, Father Fleming again wrote to Hugh Ward, who had now passed from Paris to Louvain. He had written, he states, five letters since his interview with Ward in Paris, and had as yet received no letter in reply. A note, however, had come to hand from Messingham, to the effect that his work was hastening to a close, but that he was still ready to fulfil his promise of adding any important documents that might be forwarded to him. "It would grieve me," adds Fleming, "if, through your fault, this present opportunity should be lost to us, which, perhaps for years, may not occur again.

"The present time is specially favorable to us, for the