cELtic MONK MaNcHaN Of OffaLy'S pOEM
“A little pool but very clear (to stand beside the place)
where all men’s sins are washed away, by sanctifying grace.”
“But know that the LORD
has set apart for Himself the Holy One;
therefore the LORD will hear me,
when I call to Him.”
-Psalm 4:3
Celtic Monk Manchan of Offaly’s Poem
Manchan of Offaly was one of St. Patrick’s Converts
Offaly is a County in Ireland. In this poem, Manchan tells how he went off to be a Hermit, but disciples gathered around him, and he found himself the leader (Abbot) of a small group of monks!
This is how Celtic monasteries often began in the time period of 500-1100 A.D. The poem describes what these early type of monastic communities were like.
They were small in number, twelve monks being considered the right size. When they reached 18 members, six of the monks would leave to begin a new monastery.
We first read this poem in the Visitor’s Center at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, where the Book of Kells is on display.
It is also found along with a wonderful stanza by stanza explanatory commentary in the book, “How the Irish Saved Civilization” by Thomas Cahill.
-Lay Monk Preston & Lay Monk Linda
CELTIC MONK MANCHAN OF OFFALY’S POEM
(Composed c. 450-550 A.D.)
__________
Grant me sweet Christ the grace to find —
Son of the Living God! —
A small hut in a lonesome spot
To make it my abode.
A little pool but very clear
(To stand beside the place)
Where all men’s sins are washed away
By sanctifying grace.
__________
A pleasant woodland all about
To shield it from the wind
And make a home for singing birds
Before it and behind.
A southern aspect for the heat
A stream along its foot,
A smooth green lawn with rich topsoil
Propitious to all fruit.
__________
My choice of men to live with me
And pray to God as well;
Quiet men of humble mind—
Their number I shall tell.
Four files of three or three of four
To give the psalter forth;
Six to pray by the south church wall
And six along the north.
__________
Two by two my dozen friends—
To tell the number right—
Praying with me to move the King
Who gives the sun its light.
A lovely church, a home for God
Bedecked with linen fine,
Where over the white Gospel page
The Gospel candles shine.
__________
A little house where all may dwell
And body’s care be sought,
Where none shows lust or arrogance,
None thinks an evil thought.
And all I ask for housekeeping
I get and pay no fees,
Leeks from the garden, poultry, game,
Salmon and trout and bees.
__________
My share of clothing and of food,
From the King of fairest face,
And I to sit at times alone,
And pray in every place.
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youR cOMMENtS: (bANdi M., SOutH AfRicA)
Greetings to all the Lay Monks of God,
A few months ago I was touched by the Lord. I have been reading the Bible ever since…I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ, and accepted God’s will.
I found your website…I enjoyed the St. Manchan’s poem greatly, I read it almost every day. There is a Bible school I want to enroll in here in South Africa; the people there obey God.
I have been praying hard…I have seen what your prayers have done for people…
Regards,
Bandi M. (South Africa)
“The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.”
_____________________
“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house.
At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised.
But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to?
The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of – throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards.
You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace.
He intends to come and live in it Himself.”
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“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.
We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us,
like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.
We are far too easily pleased.”
____________________
“I didn’t go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that.
If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.”
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“To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.”
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“He died not for men, but for each man.
If each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less.”
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-C.S. Lewis (1898-1963)
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