Pilgrimage to Rome 2017 (4) - Day 1 continued

La Maddalena
After Mass in the Sacristy Chapel of the Basilica of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva (Post 2) and following our visit to the Pantheon (Post 3), Day 1 of our Pilgrimage to Rome continued with a visit to the 'La Maddalena' the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, where St. Camillus de Lellis, also a member of the Sodality of Our Lady in his time, is buried.  As so often, the Church was closed but the riotous baroque facade provided some interest for our pilgrims.  The site was purchased by St. Camillus and his companions in 1621, with the permission of Pope Gregory XV Ludovisi, of whom more below, and construction began ten years later.  The facade was built in stages and each is attributed to a different architect.  The whole effect evokes the Rococo of Borromini, with its counter-curves across the whole, although it is the only time when such effects were used so completely for a Church in Rome.

Piazza Capranica and Piazza Montecitorio
From 'La Maddalena' it is a short walk to the Piazza Capranica.  We have visited the interior of the College and its Chapel in an earlier pilgrimage (here).  We had already visited the Capranica Family Chapel in the Minerva (Post 3).  We paused to remember Ven. Pope Pius XII, who was a student and member of the Sodality of Our Lady in the College.  Taking up another side of the Piazza is Santa Maria in Aquiro.  The facade is beautifully articulated in red brick and limestone.  The original Church was very ancient, founded as a Diaconia, and first restored by Pope Gregory III, of whom also more later.

A few steps beyond is the Piazza of Montecitorio, with the Palazzo built by Bernini for Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi, of whom more below, and completed by Carlo Fontana.  It once housed the Law Courts of the Papal States and now houses the Italian Chamber of Deputies.  The obelisk in the Piazza was brought to Rome by the Emperor Augustus and placed here by Pope Pius VI in 1789. 

A few steps more is the Piazza Colonna, containing the great Column of Marcus Aurelius, which is now surmounted by a statue of St. Paul, placed there by Pope Sixtus V during the restoration of the Column as part of his magnificent town-planning project.  Facing the Column across the Via del Corso is the Palazzo Chigi, built by Giacomo della Porta, and first inhabited by the family after the election of our good friend Pope Alexander VII Chigi, the first Sodalist of Our Lady to be elected Pope.  The Palazzo is now the offices of the Prime Minister of Italy.

Sant'Ignazio
Turning southwards we reach the Collegio Romano - founded by our good friend Pope Gregory XIII, first Pope to approve the Sodality of Our Lady in 1584 - and the Church of Sant'Ignazio, built by Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi, Vice Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church and nephew of Pope Gregory XV Ludovisi.  Inside, in the Ludovisi Chapel to the Epistle-side of the Sanctuary, are the tombs of uncle and nephew.  We have visited the Church on several previous pilgrimages (here) because this is the site of the first Sodality of Our Lady, the Prima Primaria.  In previous years we have visited the Chapel of the Prima Primaria and the rooms once occupied by Saints Aloysius Gonzaga and John Berchmans, both Sodalists (here) but confined ourselves on this visit to the Church, which contains the relics of both Saints as well as the relics of Saint Robert Bellarmine, Professor and Rector of the College.

Let us remember particularly Vittoria della Tolfa, Marchese della Valle, who donated the entire block to the Jesuits to found the College and Church.  The Church itself is the second on the site, the first dedicated to the Annunciation, a dedication that was perpetuated in the Prima Primaria.  Pope Gregory XV had been a student of the College and had canonized St. Ignatius in 1622.  Cardinal Ludovisi patronized the project.  the foundation stone was laid in 1627 and the whole building was complete in 1685.

Pilgrimage to St. Ailbe's Church, Emly

There is no doubt that St. Patrick's place as Apostle of the Irish is unassailable and it was a joy to share in the National Latin Mass Pilgrimage to his shrine at Armagh last month. However, it is equally incontrovertible that the faithful of Munster - and really of all Ireland owe a debt of gratitude to Saint Ailbe, a debt that we made some effort to repay today by means of a pilgrimage to his Church, built upon the site of his Church and monastery, at Emly, Co. Tipperary.

Our Pilgrimage culminated in the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the Extraordinary Form the Roman Rite.

Samuel Lewis' Topographic Dictionary of Ireland tells us that the ancient geoographer Ptolomy referred to Emly in his second century writings as "Imlagh" one of the three principal towns of Ireland. St. Prosper of Aquitainerecords that Pope Celestine sent Palladius in 431 "to the Scots believing in Christ, to be their first bishop"

We know of four pre-Patrician Saints of Ireland, St. Ailbe of Emly, St. Declan of Ard More, St. Ciaran or Abban and St. Ibar. In the life of St. Declan he is "secundus Patricius et patronus Mumenie" a second Patrick and Patron of Munster.

The Rule of St. Ailbe, a rule of life for his monks, is still extant in 58 verses:

Let him be steady, let him not be restless, let him be wise, learned, pious; let him be vigilant; let him be a slave; let him be humble kindly.

Let him be gentle, close and zealous, let him be modest, generous and gracious; against the torrent of the world, let him be watchful, let him not be reproachful; against the brood of the world, let him be warlike.

The jewel of baptism and communion, let him receive it.

Let him be constant at prayer, his canonical hours let him not forget; his mind let him bow it down without insolence or contention.

A hundred genuflections for him at the Beata at the beginning of the day… thrice fifty psalms with a hundred genuflections every hour of vespers.

A genuflection thrice, earnestly, after going in past the altar rail, without frivolity and without excitement, going into the presence of the king of the angels.

A clean house for the guests and a big fire, washing and bathing for them, and a couch without sorrow.

The monastery at Emly became the seat of the Diocese of Emly in 1118 at the Synod of Ráth Breasail. The diocese was placed into the administration of the Archdiocese of Cashel after its last Bishop, Blessed Terence O'Brien, was martyred in 1651.

This place, noticed under the name of "Imlagh" by Ptolemy, as one of the three principal towns of Ireland, is of very remote antiquity, and was formerly an important city and the seat of the diocese. A monastery of canons regular was found here by St. Ailbe, or Alibeus, who became its first abbot, and dying in 527, was interred in the abbey. His successors obtained many privileges for the inhabitants. The abbey and town were frequently pillaged and burnt. King John, in the 17th of his reign, granted the privilege of holding markets and fairs in the town, which, since the union of the see of Emly with that of Cashel in 1568, has gradually declined, and is now comparatively an insignificant village, containing only 115 houses. It has a constabulary police station, and fairs are held on May 21st and Sept. 22nd.

The present Church was built about 1880 and houses a stunning collection of stained glass windows, well worth visiting.

Latin Mass in Ballyhea - Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene

We returned to the shores of "gentle Mullagh" in the lea of Ballyhoura today for the Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene. There we attended the Traditional Latin Mass celebrated in St. Mary's Church, Ballyhea.  The report of the Mass on Easter Monday can be found here.

Garret Mac Eniry's A Tale of the Munster Peasantry contained in P. W. Joyce's 1911 The Wonders of Ireland (to be found here) contains the following description of the Ballyhoura Mountains:

The Ballyhoura Mountains extend for several miles on the borders of the counties of Cork and Limerick. Commencing near Charleville, they stretch away towards the east, consisting of a succession of single peaks with lone and desolate valleys lying between, covered with heath or coarse grass, where for ages the silence has been broken only by the cry of the heath-cock or the yelp of the fox echoing among the rocks that are strewn in wild confusion over the sides of the mountains. They increase gradually in height towards the eastern extremity of the range, where they are abruptly terminated by the majestic Seefin, which projecting forwards—its back to the west and its face to the rising sun—seems placed there to guard the desolate solitudes behind it.

Towards the east it overlooks a beautiful and fertile valley, through which a little river winds its peaceful course to join the Funsheon; on the west "Blackrock of the eagle" rears its front —a sheer precipice—over Lyre-na-Freaghawn, a black heath-covered glen that divides the mountains. On the south it is separated by Lyre-na-Grena the "valley of the sun," from "the Long Mountain," which stretches far away towards Glenanaar; and immediately in front, on the opposite side of the valley, rises Barna Geeha, up whose sides cultivation has crept almost to its summit. Just under the eastern face of Seefin, at its very base, and extending even a little way up the mountain steep, reposes the peaceful little village of Glenosheen.[2]

Gentle reader, go if you can on some sunny morning in summer or autumn—let it be Sunday morning if possible—to the bottom of the valley near the bank of the little stream, and when you cast your eyes up to the village and the great green hill over it, you will admit that not many places even in our own green island can produce a prettier or more cheerful prospect. There is the little hamlet, with its whitewashed cottages gleaming in the morning beams, and from each a column of curling smoke rises slowly straight up towards the blue expanse. The base of the mountain is covered with wood, and several clumps of great trees are scattered here and there through the village, so that it appears imbedded in a mass of vegetation, its pretty cottages peeping out from among the foliage. The land on each side rises gently towards the mountain, its verdure interspersed by fields of blossomed potatoes laughing with joy, or of bright yellow corn, or more beautiful still, little patches of flax clothed in their Sunday dress of light blue.[3] Seefin rises directly over the village, a perfect cone; white patches of sheep are scattered here and there over its bright sunny face; and see, far up towards the summit, that long line of cattle, just after leaving Lyre-na-Grena, where they were driven to be milked, and grazing quietly along towards Lyre-na-Freaghawn.

The only sounds that catch your ear are, the occasional crow of a cock, or the exulting cackle of a flock of geese, or the softened low of a cow may reach you, floating down the hill side; or the cry of the herdsman, as with earnest gestures he endeavours to direct the movements of the cattle. But hear that merry laugh. See, it comes from the brow of the hill where the women of the village are just coming into view, returning from Lyre-na-Grena after milking their cows. Each carries a pail in one hand and a spancel in the other, and as they approach the village, descending the steep pathway—the "Dray-road," as it is called—that leads from "The Lyre," a gabble of voices mingled with laughter floats over the village, as merry and as happy as ever rung on human ear. Observe now they arrive at the village, the group becomes thinner as they proceed down the street, and at length all again is quietness.

Happy village! Pleasant scenes of my childhood! How vividly at this moment do I behold that green hill-side, as I travel back in imagination to the days of my boyhood, when I and my little brother Robert, and our companions—all now scattered over this wide world—ranged joyful among the glens in search of birds' nests, or climbed the rocks at its summit, eager to plant ourselves on its dizzy elevation. Why did ambition tempt me to leave my peaceful home?

Why did I abandon that sunny valley, where I might have travelled gently down the vale of life, free from those ambitious aspirations, those struggles with fortune that only destroy my peace? But though exiled far from my home, my heart shall never cease to point to its loved retirement; and ever, as release from business grants me the opportunity, I shall return to wander over the scenes of my infancy, to hold communion once again with the few companions of my boyhood that remain, and to think with feelings of kindly regret on those that are gone. And when weary from the incessant struggles of life, I seek an asylum from its turmoil, grant me, oh, kind Providence, to spend my declining years in that beloved valley, and to rest at length my aged head in the grave of my fathers on the green hill of Ardpatrick.[4]

About a century and a-half ago, that part of the valley where the village now stands was almost uninhabited. It was covered with a vast forest of oaks, which not only clothed the valley, but extended more than half way up to the summits of the surrounding hills; and to this day the inhabitants will tell you, in the words of their fathers, that "a person could travel from Ardpatrick to Darra (about five miles) along the branches of the trees." No human habitation relieved the loneliness, save only one small cottage that stood near the base of the hill. It was inhabited, from times too remote for even the memory of tradition to reach, by a family named MacEniry, descendants of that princely sept that once possessed the Ballyhoura Mountains with many miles of the surrounding country. About three acres of land just in front of the house, and a small garden in the rear, had been rescued by some of the early dwellers from the grasp of the forest; the produce of these, with the assistance of a cow or two, and a few sheep and goats that browsed on the mountain side, afforded each succeeding family a means of subsistence; and they lived as happy as the days are long in the quiet of their mountain solitude.

[2] See "Sir Donall" and "The White Ladye" in Robert Dwyer Joyce's "Ballads of Irish Chivalry" for all these places commemorated in verse.
[3] Flax was grown there then (1845); but there is no flax now (1911).
[4] All this sentiment was natural enough for a young man, homesick, after leaving his native place; but sixty years or more will bring changes of feeling (April, 1911).

Pilgrimage to Emly, Co. Tipperary

On 22nd July, the feast of St. Mary Magdalene, our Association will make a pilgrimage to the ancient See of Emly in honour of St. Ailbe, the Proto-Saint of Munster. You are cordially invited to attend a Traditional Latin Mass including Gregorian Chant and Traditional Hymns in the Church of St. Ailbe, Emly, Co. Tipperary, at 3 p.m. on Saturday, 22nd July, 2017.