209 



veneficos," and the same canon in its censure, adds fortune-telling 

 "more gentilium;" the eighth treats of usury, avarice, &c., and the 

 twentieth canon forbids fraud, " ritu gentilium ;" the ninth chapter 

 refers to sins of anger and envy, the tenth of sloth, and the eleventh 

 of pride and heresy : prayer, abstinence, and fasting, are the sanction 

 by which these offences are sought to be controlled, excommunica- 

 tion being the last resort in cases of incorrigible impenitence ; the 

 twelfth chapter regulates the due observance of the sabbath, and the 

 thirteenth and last the performance of mass,* (" solemnitatis missee," 

 " sacrificium missae," " si quis permiserit haeretico missam suam cele- 

 brare in ecclesia catholica, &c.")-t' So Adamnan speaks of celebrat- 

 ing mass, " sacrae eucharistiae mysteria conficientem,"J " sacrificiale 

 mysterium;" and even in stronger terms " Christi corpus ex more con- 

 ficere."§ (See to the same conclusion, Cogitosus, Vita Saint Brigid, 

 c. 35; Sedulius, Carm. Pasch. lib. 4; and Lanigan's Ecclesiastical 

 History, vol. 3. p. 305, &c., and other evidences from the Leabhar 

 Dhimma, preserved by Sir William Betham in his "Antiquarian 

 Researches," pp. 56, 57.) While it may be inferred from Bede, that 

 in all points of difficulty, the Irish were accustomed to consult the 

 Romish See, (Eccl. Hist. b. 2. c. 19,) and to submit to its decisions, 

 (Id. b. 3. c. 3,) and Cumian, in his letter to Segienus, says, that, to 

 obtain the judgment of the Holy See, "misimus, quos novimus sapi- 

 entes esse, velut natos ad matrem."ll 



The establishment of monasteries was quickly followed by t^at of 

 nunneries; Saint Patrick mentions "mulieres religiosas,'' but the first 

 regular institution of that nature appears to have been that of Saint 



* See post, Period 3. sect. 3. f Cumian's Essay, c. 1 1 . 



+ Vita S. Columb. lib. 1. c. 40.— Id. lib. 2. c. 1.— Id. lib. :'. cs. 12 and 17. 



§ Vita S. Columbse, lib, 1. c. 44. |1 Usser, Syllog. Ep. p. 34. 



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