Lawlor — Notes on 81. Bernard's Life oj St. Mubichi/. 25/i 



1148, June (?). Malachy leaves Bangor for Clairvaux. 

 October 13 or 14. Reaches Clairvaux. 

 October 18. Taken ill. 

 November 2. Dies. 



4. The Date of Sermo i in Traiisitu S. Malachiae. 



This discourse seems to have been delivered on the day of Malachy's 

 death. The following reasons may be given for this opinion : — 



1. It was certainly preached either on the actual day, or on an anniversary. 

 Of the passages which prove this the following may be quoted : — 



§ 1. "A certain abundant blessing, dearly beloved, has been sent by the 

 counsel of heaven to you this day. . . . None can reasonably doubt that it 

 was by the good gift of heaven, and determined by divine purpose, that Bishop 

 Malachy should fall asleep among you to-day." 



§ 8. " To this wealthy place, dearly beloved, let us run with all eagerness 

 of spirit, in the fragrance of the ointments of this our blessed fathei', who 

 this day has been seen to have stirred up our torpor to most fervent desire." 



The latter of these passages appears pointless if " this day " means merely 

 the anniversary of Malachy's death. 



2. In § 5, quoting the saying " with desire I have desired to eat this pass- 

 over with you," which in Vita, § 73, is said to have been uttered with his eyes 

 fixed " on those who stood round him," St. Bernard says, " As he went he said 

 to Hs," indicating that the brothers who had tended Malachy in his illness were 

 present. On the other hand, in § 1 some details of Malachy's last visit to 

 Clairvaux are related, which could not be unknown to the brethren who were 

 in the monastery when he came. This may seem to point to a later date than 

 the day of the death. But it must be remembered that at his funeral there 

 were some who might not have known them, for example, the abbots who 

 carried him to the oratory ( Vita, § 74), and others who had come from distant 

 places (i 75). 



3. § 6. St. Bernard says that Malachy dwelt without personal property 

 among the religious communities " up to this time." The phrase could not have 

 been used long after Malachy's death. 



4. The general tone of the Sermon gives the impression that both the 

 speaker and his hearers were sorrowing for a recent loss. This will be felt 

 by anyone who observes the difference of tone in Sej'mo ii, which was certainly 

 preached on an anniversary. 



5. But perhaps the strongest argument for the date of the Sermon is that 

 which is founded on the coincidences between it and the letter in which St. 

 Bernard announced the death of St. Malachy to the brothers in Ireland 



[85-] 



