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When we think of the monastery at Bangor, Saint
Columbanus is the most obvious character who, springs to mind.
The founder, however, was a man called Comgall, who served
under Fintan of Clonenagh in Co Laois. Fintan was the father
of the most austere tradition in Irish monasticism, and his
ideals passed undiluted into the Rule of Bangor.
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we encounter Bangor in the age of Comgall and Columbanus,
it is no more than a collection of wooden huts built around
a small church, with a surrounding embankment. In Ireland
at this time, the monastery means the community of people
rather than the buildings. |
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monks live two to a cell, with the older monks - the seniores
- helping in the direction of the community and the training
of the novices. The abbot is assisted by a private secretary
known as the minister; in Comgall's case, a man named
Crimhthann.
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The daily life of the monks is a constant
round of prayer, manual labour, study and mortification.
They work on the farm, ensuring the self-sufficiency
of the monastery. They attain a high standard of Latin,
less so of Greek. The monks are deeply versed in the
scriptures.For nourishment, the brethren have bread,
vegetables and water.
They wear sandals and a long white tunic,
covered by a coarse woollen outer garment and hood.
It is hardly an easy life, and yet its uncompromising
nature is just what attracts so many idealistic young
men.
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Iron
discipline is cultivated through fasting, silence, and
curtailment of sleep, and prayer for prolonged periods
with arms outstretched. Corporal punishment is administered
with a leather strap on the palm of the hand. As a regime,
it is recognised as one of the hardest of any Irish
monastery.
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And yet for all its harshness, it is
successfully exported to continental Europe, through
the tireless work of Columbanus. For modern day readers,
the real heritage of Bangor lies in France and Italy,
rather than the northeast of Ireland.
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