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² Here begins the Life of Saint Cronan, bishop and confessor

³ The glorious abbot Cronan was born from the province of the Mumenians. His father was called Odhran, who was born of the people of Ele. And he himself dwelt not far from the ridge of Magh in that region, and he had a wife from the people of Corco Bascynn, which is in the western region of Munster opposite the ocean; and she was called Coemri, who bore three sons to her husband. One of these is this Saint Cronan, whose life we wish to set forth to you briefly. There arose therefore a persecution from the ruler of the region of Eile against Odhran, the father of Saint Cronan, and he was driven out with his household from his inheritance. And he came with his wife and his children to the same region of Corco Bhaiscynn, because he had taken his wife from there. And dwelling there they built a certain place, which is called the cell of the sons of Odhran.

⁴ Saint Cronan, the elect of God, bore the fear and love of the Lord in his heart from the cradle. He, leaving his parents with their possessions, set out in order to read the holy Scriptures and to learn ecclesiastical discipline from the holy fathers. As a companion of his journey, the blessed Cronan had a holy and chaste man, named Mobhai, son of Cualde and of his mother’s sister. For the mother of Saint Cronan and the mother of Saint Mobhai, and the mother of Saint Mochoynne, were three sisters. Cronan therefore went into the province of the Connachta, and there he dwelt near Tullum Ruaydh. And when his religious devotion was heard of, good men came to him and made monastic profession with him.

⁵ On a certain day, when Saint Cronan was there outside in the field, he saw a certain man bound being led to death by the king. And Saint Cronan asked the king on his behalf that he might release him to him; but the proud king refused to listen to the saint of God. Then that wretched man, with feet and hands bound, was cast into the depths of Tull Ruaidh by order of the king. And when for a great part of the day he had been bound under the waters of the very deep lake, they saw him coming swiftly to the shore. Now the king and his men were still standing by the shore. Then the king asked him what had happened to him. He answered the king, saying: “Saint Cronan held me in his bosom for as long as I was under the waters; and he kept me unharmed beneath the waters, and I felt no evil there. But after an interval he lifted me up in his bosom and led me to this place, just as you see me.” When the king heard this, he came to Saint Cronan and bent his knees before him in repentance, and offered that man to him as a free man. And the holy man blessed the king; and all who were there glorified the power of Christ in his servants.

⁶ And Saint Cronan remained in the regions of the Connachta, and like a most prudent bee he gathered honey there, that is, the sweetness of religion and piety. And in that region on a certain day, as Saint Cronan was walking with his disciples, they saw a huge tomb on the road. Then the brothers, marveling at it, said: “If the man who lies in this tomb were alive and had greeted us, he could have told us great and many things about the invisible.” When Saint Cronan heard this, he said to them: “God is able to grant this to you, sons.” And Saint Cronan, blessing that tomb, commanded in the name of Christ the one lying there to rise up to him modestly. And immediately a man of wondrous size rose up to them from the tomb; and sitting before them modestly, he told them many things. Now he told them of his pagan deeds, and of the place of hell in which he was; and he asked to be baptized. And there he was baptized by the holy man, and he commanded him immediately to die there. And believing, falling asleep, he was buried there in peace.

⁷ At a certain time Saint Cronan and Saint Mobai were both in the cenobium of Saint Ciaran in the city of Cluayn meic Noys; but Saint Cronan took the remnants of his meal with him and in the name of Christ gave them to the poor. Saint Mobai, however, sent them into the common stock of the brothers. When the holy abbot of that monastery heard this, he said prophetically to all: “Between the places, namely of Cronan and of Mobai, this difference will always exist; that is, the place of Cronan will have riches and charity, but the place of Mobai will have observance of the rule and common custom.” And so it is in their places.

⁸ On another day, when in the same city, that is, Cluayn meic Noys, Saint Cronan was praying alone in a certain hut, some lepers came to him; and when the lepers saw the saint praying inside, they stood outside, because they did not wish to hinder his prayer. And Saint Cronan, knowing this, prayed for them; and at that time there was great rain. But the lepers, proved in faith, washed themselves with the water that was dripping from the roof Saint Cronan. And the prayer of Saint Cronan within greatly benefited them outside. For as the lepers washed themselves with that water, immediately there their most foul leprosy was cleansed; and their flesh became like the flesh of a beautiful youth. And seeing that their bodies were clean, they gave thanks to God and to Saint Cronan, and throughout the city they told everyone how they had been cleansed.

⁹ Then Saint Cronan departed from that city, and from the beginning of his life until his death he undertook to build places in the honour of the Lord. And almost all of those he left, with all their possessions, to other saints seeking places, because of his very great charity. And he came to that place which is called Lus Madh, that is, the vegetable field; and there he remained for a long time, and there he performed many miracles.

¹⁰ On a certain day, when the servant of God Cronan was in the forest near that place, he saw a stag passing by and called it to him. And the stag came very gently to Saint Cronan, and from the bosom of the saint the stag ate apples in a familiar way. And with the permission and command of the saint, the stag departed soberly on its way.

¹¹ The blessed father Cronan asked a certain scribe to write for him the four Gospels. Now the scribe was called Dymma, and he was unwilling to write for the saint except for one day. And the saint said to him: “Write without ceasing, until the sun sets for you.” This the scribe promised; and the saint appointed for him a seat for writing. But by the grace of Saint Cronan and by divine power, he caused the ray of the sun to remain always in that very place for forty days and forty nights. And the scribe was not weary for so great a time, nor did he have tedium, nor was he burdened by desire for food or drink or sleep. He thought that the space of forty days and nights had been a single day. And in this time he wrote the four Gospels; and on that day he felt nightfall and hunger. And when religious men bore witness with Saint Cronan that he had written for the space of forty days and nights without darkness, he gave thanks to the power of Christ, and others who were there did likewise.

¹² In the same place, that is, Lus Madh, which is in the region of Muscraige Thíre, there was an innumerable multitude of demons, and they filled the whole place as if it were their own dwelling, so that no one had been able to live there before Saint Cronan. With them the holy father Cronan bravely joined battle in the name of almighty God; and by the grace of Christ he cast them out of that place until the end of the world. And from that day they neither harm nor appear there.

¹³ At a certain time Saint Mobai wished to go from Saint Cronan, who was then dwelling in the monastery of Lus Madh, to his own cell, which is in the borders of the Laigin. To him Saint Cronan said prophetically: “Do not depart from here, dear one in Christ; for you will not come alive to your place, but in the place where your feet now stand you will die after a few days.” And so it was fulfilled. For afterward Saint Mobai began to fall ill, and in the same place he passed over to Christ. His blessed little body was carried by Saint Cronan to the borders of the Laigin, to his cell.

¹⁴ At another time a certain deaf man, named Ossanus, came to Saint Cronan and in the name of Christ asked hearing from him. And as Saint Cronan prayed for him, immediately his ears were opened and he received hearing. He, magnifying the grace of God in Saint Cronan, withdrew with joy on his way.

¹⁵ In the springtime, when the brothers of Saint Cronan did not have a horse or oxen with which they might cover with earth the seed cast into the field, the holy father Saint Cronan himself, pulling beyond his strength, began to cover the seed with earth. Then the Lord, having mercy on him, caused two horses of the king of Tara to come of their own accord to him for the completion of that work. But the drivers of the horses came after them and brought them back to the king. Again, however, the horses fled back and returned to Saint Cronan. When the king of Tara heard this, he offered those horses to Saint Cronan. Seeing that this was a gift of God, the holy man gave thanks to the Saviour.

¹⁶ In a certain year, when the monks of Saint Cronan had no provisions for the Paschal feast, they said to him: “Father, ask for us from the Lord, in his holy Paschal solemnity, a meal.” To whom the saint said: “The Lord our God is rich, and he himself, sons, will provide us with what is necessary.” And this was truly fulfilled. For the kinsmen of Saint Cronan came on Holy Saturday from their territories with alms to Saint Cronan. And when they were on the way at some distance from the cell of Saint Cronan, they heard the sound of the bell at the Paschal vespers; and there they sat upon the bank of the river Brosnach, not far from the cell of Saint Cronan, until the second feria, so that they would not travel after the Paschal vespers nor on Sunday. And on the second feria they came to Saint Cronan and offered him as alms what sufficed for the saint of God with his disciples and guests until Pentecost.

¹⁷ At another time the raft which the monks of Saint Cronan had was sunk in the depths of the river Shannon. And Saint Cronan did not wish his monks to raise the raft from the depths with naked bodies, avoiding impropriety. Then, as nine laymen were standing on the bank of the river, Saint Cronan asked them to raise the raft by swimming. But they, acting proudly, refused to obey the saint, except for one only. On that very day those proud soldiers were slain by their enemies who rushed upon them, except that one who obeyed Saint Cronan. For when his enemy had raised his hand with a sword against him unawares, to cut off his head, the fearful man said to him: “In the name of Saint Cronan, let me go away unharmed.” And immediately that man’s hand withered without movement; and thus the same man escaped from that peril, the others having been killed; and he came to Saint Cronan, and remained with him in the holy habit until his death.

¹⁸ After these things certain holy monks, seeking a place to dwell, came to Saint Cronan. Then the holy abbot Cronan, according to his custom, as we have said, for the sake of charity gave them his place, Lus Madh, with all that was there. And when Cronan was departing for a little while with the monks from the same place, he said to his brothers: “Which of you has stolen something from our place?” Then a certain brother confessed that he had taken a hoe with him from the place. To him Saint Cronan said: “Return with your hoe to that place, and remain there until the day of your death.” And that brother, grieving over the absence of his holy abbot Cronan, because of obedience returned to that place, and remained there until his death. Then Saint Cronan came to the eastern region of Munster, to his own native land, that is, Ele, and he stayed near the marsh of Lurgan opposite the land of Osraige, which is the western region of the Laigin. He therefore built a cell near the lake Cree, in which there is a small island, on which there is a monastery of monks always religious, and that cell is called Sean Ross. In that cell Saint Cronan was now for a long time; and very many miracles were done there through him.

¹⁹ On a certain day also good men came to Saint Cronan to spend the night in his hospice; and seeking his place with much effort, they could not find it. For the cell of the man of God was remote from the main road. And those guests remained on the road without food and without shelter that night. When Saint Cronan heard this on the following day, he was greatly saddened by the wandering and cold endured by those guests. Then the holy father, burning with charity, called a certain boy to himself, who used to carry vessels to the dairy, to carry milk and butter to the cell in a cart upon a horse; and he asked him to lead him secretly to the royal road. And Saint Cronan, with his consent, entered the cart and hid himself among the vessels. And with no one else knowing, the boy carried him to the place where on the previous night the same guests had been on the royal road; and there he sat, saying to the boy: “Return to your work; but I will remain here.” When his monks heard this, they went out after him and begged him to return to his place. To them the holy abbot Cronan said: “I will not be in a remote place where guests and the poor cannot easily find me; but here on the public road I will remain, where they can find me. And in this place I will serve my Lord Christ, the King of kings.” His monks wished to remain more securely in the cell. And they went to Saint Furseus the bishop, so that, coming with them, he himself might ask Saint Cronan to return to his place. To them the blessed bishop Furseus said: “From the place which your holy abbot has chosen, I will not move him. For just as bees in a summer day attend around their dwellings, so the visitation of angels does not cease to come around that place; and over that place the gate of heaven is opened. Go rather to your abbot, and obey him.” Then the brothers of Saint Cronan came to him, and carried furnishings from the cell of Sean Ross and some garments on their shoulders to the same place. In that place the holy elder Cronan built a great monastery; and there grew a famous city, which is called Roscrea; in which, after many miracles, the holy old man Cronan rested in Christ.

²⁰ At one time the people of Osraige came to lay waste the people of Ele; and that people fled to Saint Cronan as a refuge, that he might defend them. And so the monks of Saint Cronan were greatly afraid; and Saint Cronan said to them: “Do not be afraid; for this army of enemies will do no evil here, although it will seem to itself that it is acting.” And so it was fulfilled. For that army, as it thought, killed many men, laid waste the people, burned villages, and returned to their own land with great victory and jubilation. But a very wonderful thing was done there by the power of God through the merits of Saint Cronan; for after they returned to their own land, the whole people of Ele was found unharmed: for no house was burned there, nor did any livestock perish, and they killed no one except one only, who with the others did not come to Saint Cronan. Not only did the grace of God defend the place of Saint Cronan, but also the whole people for whom the saint himself prayed. For a phantom appeared to the people of Osraige while they were laying waste. From this the name of Saint Cronan was widely spread through various regions.

²¹ When at one time Saint Mochoemog, who ruled the monastery of Liath, had come with many others to Saint Cronan, Saint Cronan made for him a great supper from small resources. Now Saint Cronan himself was very generous and charitable, and he kept nothing back of his goods. And the cellarer of the monastery that night had nothing except one jar of ale, and a moderate vessel of butter, and a small amount of flour. And when these were presented to Saint Cronan, he blessed them in the name of Christ and ordered them to be prepared and served to the community and to the guests. And at that supper, as these increased through the blessing of Saint Cronan, one hundred and twenty men were filled as much as they wished. And as they feasted far into the night, a certain convert said with a loud voice: “Now I perceive that the morning praise will not be celebrated in this place this neart.” To whom Saint Cronan said: “Brother, Christ is received in the guest; therefore we ought to rejoice and feast at the coming of Christ. But if you had not said this, already the angels of God would have prayed here for us this neart.” And afterward the banquet was ended, and the saints gave thanks to God, blessing his gifts.

²² At a certain time Colman, son of Midgni, became very sick in the fortress which is called Raith Edhyn; and he sent to Saint Cronan that he might come to his end. And Saint Cronan set out to him, but before his arrival that lord Colman had died; and he had been lifeless for a day and a night before the saint came there. Then Saint Cronan, having sent everyone else out, prayed alone where the cold body lay. And immediately Colman rose from death, healthy, to Saint Cronan, and greeted him. And when the people saw him alive, a cry arose in praise of God. And for a full year that same Colman lived in the body, and he offered himself and his offspring after him forever to God and to Saint Cronan.

²³ Another man, who was called by the same name, that is, Colman, Saint Cronan raised up, who had been killed by his enemies. This miracle the holy elder Cronan performed before the gate of the fort which is called Raith Fidhalta. For while Saint Cronan was praying for that slain man, he himself at once rose from the dead, strong and healthy, before all. And afterward he lived seven years in the body, and, blessing his Saviour, he offered himself to Saint Cronan.

²⁴ When once the holy old man Cronan was going seated in a cart, and one charioteer with him in the territory of Corco Mochene, the charioteer saw a great tree lying across the road; and he said to the elder: “What shall we do, father? for we cannot draw the cart through the road because of the tree.” To him Saint Cronan said: “Place, my son, your head meanwhile in my lap.” And when he had placed his head in the lap of the old man, the tree suddenly rose up on high. And it did not fall again until after many years, when, having rotted, it collapsed. This miracle nine laymen of the seed of Aildibuir were secretly watching from the side of the road. And they came to Saint Cronan, and offering themselves to him and to God forever, they became monks.

²⁵ On a certain day guests came to Saint Cronan, and he ordered the brothers to give them food and beer. And a certain brother said to him: “Our beer, father, which we now have, certainly is not yet fermented, nor can we draw it off below.” To him Saint Cronan said: “The upper lips of the cask are surely wider than the lower opening. Therefore take drink for Christ’s guest from the cask; the Lord is already able to give strength at once to the liquid.” Then the vessel was filled with beer from above out of the cask; and immediately, by divine nod, the great liquid was fermented. And the guests, drinking that beer, were very much intoxicated. For the charity of the man of God made the beer, which was without fermentation, to be more quickly filled with power and to intoxicate men. And those who knew this gave praises to Christ.

²⁶ At another time Fingen, king of Munster, went into the region of Hele and pitched camp in the settlement which is called Raith Bechain. And a certain robber came from the region of Meath and stole two horses of the king. From this the king, greatly angered, wished to inflict an intolerable punishment upon that place, thinking that its inhabitants had stolen his horses. When Saint Cronan heard this, being asked by many, he went to the king in order to calm his anger. And the king’s prefect there was seized by great pain and was grievously tormented, and could not in any way sleep, but was always howling. For his belly was greatly swollen and distended. Then the friends of the king asked the holy old man Cronan on his behalf. And Saint Cronan sent him his belt. As soon as the saint’s belt was placed around the loins of that sick man, the swelling of his belly immediately vanished. And in the same hour that prefect came before the king, healthy and unharmed. When King Fingen heard and saw this, he remitted to Saint Cronan all the debts of the same inhabitants of Rath Becayn, who had been bound to guard the king’s horses. But Saint Cronan wished to make satisfaction to the king. And look, two bluish horses with golden bridles came out of Lake Cree straight to Saint Cronan, and stood gently before him. And Saint Cronan gave them to the king, and those excellent horses placed their tamed necks beneath the king’s chariot. And the king rejoiced greatly there in the gifts and blessings of the holy old man Cronan.

²⁷ The same King Fingen had a son named Moenach, who was mute and deaf. And he was brought privately, by the command of his father the king, to Saint Cronan, that he might bless him. The holy father greeting and blessing him, that man at once, hearing well, spoke, giving thanks to his Saviour. Then the king and his princes honoured the holy old man Cronan and his place.

²⁸ At another time a Gospel book, opened by Saint Cronan, fell into Lake Cree, and it was in the depth of the lake for forty days and forty nights. And over this Saint Cronan grieved greatly. For on the same island, which is in Lake Cree, the holy old man Cronan used often to dwell. And when that Gospel was found, not even one letter in it perished by divine will, through the grace of the man of God, though it had been so long under the waters. And that Gospel remains to this day honourably in the monastery of Saint Cronan.

²⁹ A golden apple was once found in the settlement which is called Cluain Herc, with two golden chains hanging from it. And the inhabitants of that place, knowing that it was a royal gift, made another bronze apple like it with two chains, and it was carefully gilded on the outside. For they feared the king of Cashel, lest he should take it from them by his right. When the king heard this, he sent his prefect to them, and he said to them: “Where is the royal gift that was found among you? Give it to the king, that he may have his due account from it.” Then they gave him that bronze one which they themselves had made, and it was handed over to the king. In those same days the holy old man Cronan was with the king in the city of Cashel. Now the eyes of the most blessed father Cronan, because of old age, then saw nothing at all. And when that bronze object was passing through the king’s palace from hand to hand, and men were looking at it, it was given into the hand of the holy old man Cronan. And as Saint Cronan handled it, he prophetically said before all: “This is not what was found in the settlement of Cluain Herc; for this is bronze. The finders, namely, deceitfully made a gilded bronze one in place of a golden one.” Then the king, testing that prophecy, found it to be so, just as the saint had said. For when the bronze was broken, the king again sent to the inhabitants of the same settlement; and compelled by the messengers they handed over the royal gift. The king now knowing this, and all the others, marveled at the grace of Christ in his holy old man Cronan. Afterward the aged and decrepit old man Cronan, full of piety, returned with honour from the king and from all the people from the city of Cashel to his own city, Ros Cree.

³⁰ These few things about the virtues of our most holy old man Cronan, and a few things about the miracles which Christ worked through him, I have written to your dignity, dearest brothers. He himself also, the servant of Christ, incredibly toward us who are lukewarm, by mercy, patience, modesty, fastings, prayers, humility, and, greater than the rest, charity, keeping the divine commandments, burned more fully from his birth even to decrepit old age.

³¹ When therefore his last day drew near, that father Cronan, weak in body but strong in mind, called his people to himself, and teaching them exhorted them that, always holding unity and peace, they should remain steadfast to the end in the good which they had begun. And lifting up his hand, he blessed them and his place; and having received the divine sacrifice, in most venerable old age, on the fourth day before the Kalends of May, he fell asleep in peace; and in that same his city, Ross Cree, where miracles are at all times worked by God from his relics, he was buried with due honour. He himself indeed, our Saint Cronan, passed among the choirs of angels with ineffable joy and most sweet songs to Christ, to whom is honour and glory with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, to ages of ages. Amen.

³² Here ends the Life of Saint Cronan, Abbot and Confessor