The Hibernensis canon law collection's 49th book, 'Concerning Relics Buried in a Remote Place,' quotes a number of unidentified sayings and precedents, including some falsely attributed to Origen and Jerome. Compiled in Latin in Ireland and/or Iona (north-west Britain), c. 690/748.
E08324
Canonical and legal texts
Collectio Hibernensis, 49, De reliquis in deserto humatis ('Concerning Relics Buried in a Remote Place')
49.1. De eo quod multi homines Dei in deserto sepulti sunt, ut ab angelis frequentarentur et a malis uitarentur
Origens ait: Moyses homo Dei in monte Fhasga sepultus est, ut ab angelis semper frequentaretur et a malis uitaretur.
Item: Aaron in monte Oor sepultus est.
Item: Paulus heremita et caeteri in deserti humati sunt, nam et Dominus ipse a malis grauatur, siue in desertum, siue in montem, siue in mare sepe fugiebat.
'49.1. That many men of God were buried in a remote place, that they might be visited by angels and avoided by the wicked
Origen said: Moses, the man of God, was buried on Mount Phasga, that he might always be visited by angels but avoided by the wicked.
Likewise: Aaron was buried on Mount Horeb.
Likewise: Paul the hermit and others are buried in the desert, for the Lord himself, being also beleaguered by the wicked, often fled either to the desert, or to a mountain, or to the sea.'
49.2. De eo quod non minus reliquiae in deserto posite frequentantur a Deo et angelis
Christus dicit: Ero uobiscum omnibus diebus usque ad consummationem.
Originis: Non tantum scimus uiuos a Deo adiuuari, sed etiam mortuos uissitari et adiuuari.
In uita monachorum legimus quosdam martires in desertis sepultos ab angelis mane et uespere uisitatos, et ad sepulchra eorum imnos cantare.
'49.2. That relics placed in a remote place are visited no less frequently by God and his angels
Christ says: I shall be with you all days, even to the consummation [of the world] [Matth. 28, 20].
Origen: Not only do we know that the living are helped by God, but also that the dead are visited and helped.
In the Life of the Monks we read that certain martyrs buried in the desert were visited by angels every morning and evening, and they sung hymns by their graves.'
49.3. De quod magis uisitantur martires in deserto humatii, quam inter malos homines
In uita patrum legimus martires inter malos sepultos ab angelis uisitari, sed tamen tristes reuersos angelos.
Inde Dominus ait: Placuerunt terrae sabbata sua.
Hironimus: Sciendum quid maius culpe est angelos aut homines fraudare.
Item: Post resurrectionem multi audisse uoces testantur dicentium angelorum: Transeamus ex his sedibus.
'49.3. That martyrs buried in a remote place are visited more than those buried among the wicked
In the Life of the Fathers we read that the martyrs buried among the wicked are visited by angels, but that the angels return sadly.
Whence the Lord said: Then the land enjoyed her Sabbaths [Levit. 26, 34].
Jerome: One must know which is more blameworthy: to defraud angels or men.
Likewise: After the resurrection many testified that they heard voices of angels saying: Let us go away from these places.'
Text: Flechner 2019, 403-4.
Translation: Flechner 2019, 776-7.
Burial site of a saint - unspecified
Burial site of a saint - other
Other (mountain, wood, tree, pillar)
Rejection, Condemnation, SceptisismCondemnation/rejection of a specific cultic activity
Non Liturgical ActivityTransmission, copying and reading saint-related texts
RelicsUnspecified relic
Bodily relic - entire body
Noted absence of relics
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesAngels
Theorising on SanctityConsiderations about the nature of relics
Source
The Hibernensis canon law collection was compiled in Ireland from a wide range of sources in the late seventh or earlier eighth century, primarily by the scholars Ruben of Munster (ob. 725) and Cú Chuimne of Iona (ob. 747). The Hibernensis' use of the probably posthumous collection of canons attributed to Archbishop Theodore of Canterbury (ob. 690) provides the work's terminus ante quem; its terminus post quem derives from its own first identifiable citation, in a Corbie canon law collection of 748. All extant manuscript witnesses of the Hibernensis were produced in continental Europe, where it had a significant influence up to the twelfth century. It survives in two distinct recensions (Hib. A and Hib. B), neither of which can be shown to have priority over the other (for this and all further discussion, see Flechner 2019 and Flechner 2021).Discussion
These excerpts are among numerous unidentified texts in the Hibernensis whose sources may be Irish; in many such cases they are attributed to 'patristic pseudonyms', chiefly Origen, Jerome, Augustine and Gregory of Nazianus (Flechner 2021, 103-110).For further evidence of contemporary Irish uncertainty over the translation of relics from remote areas, see the controversy over the burial of Patrick at Dún Lethglaisse (Down) in Muirchú's Life of the saint (E06132); Adomnán's Life of Columba similarly depicts the saint buried at a distance from the core Ionan monastic complex, but nevertheless visited by angels (E06056).
Bibliography
Edition and translationThe Hibernensis, ed. and trans. R. Flechner, 2 vols (Washington, D.C., 2019).
Further reading
R. Flechner, Making Laws for a Christian Society: the Hibernensis and the Beginnings of Church Law in Ireland and Britain (Abingdon, 2021).
Benjamin Savill
17/08/2022
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00089 | Paul, the First Anchorite | Paulus heremita | Certain | S00241 | Moses, Old Testament prophet and lawgiver | Moyses | Certain | S01427 | Aaron, first High Priest, brother of Moses | Aaron | Certain |
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