Saint Molaise of Leighlin, also Laisrén or Laserian (died ca. 639), was an early Irish saint and abbot of Lethglenn or Leithglenn, now

Old Leighlin Old Leighlin (), also Oldleighlin, is a village, civil parish and townland in County Carlow, Ireland. The village is west of Leighlinbridge. The site was at one time one of the foremost monastic houses in Leinster, with 1,500 monks in residen ...

in County Carlow, who is supposed to have lived in the 6th and 7th centuries. In Scotland, he is known as "Molaise" while in Ireland he is revered as "Laserian".

Life

Born in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, Molaise was said to have been of noble birth. He was raised in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, as a young man he lived the life of a

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Chr ...

on Holy Isle (off the

Isle of Arran The Isle of Arran (; ) or simply Arran is an island off the west coast of Scotland. It is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde and the seventh-largest Scottish island, at . Counties of Scotland, Historically part of Buteshire, it is in the ...

). He then went to Rome, where he was ordained by

Pope Gregory I Pope Gregory I (; ; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great (; ), was the 64th Bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 until his death on 12 March 604. He is known for instituting the first recorded large-scale mission from Ro ...

."St Laserian", Ask About Ireland
/ref> He later entered the monastery at Old Leighlin in

where he became

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

and possibly

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

. He adapted Church discipline in accordance with the practices of

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. He introduced or advocated the Roman method of dating the celebration of Easter. When Molaise was in his late 50s, he went back to Rome and was consecrated bishop by

Pope Honorius I Pope Honorius I (died 12 October 638) was the bishop of Rome from 27 October 625 to his death on 12 October 638. He was active in spreading Christianity among Anglo-Saxons and attempted to convince the Celts to calculate Easter in the Roman fa ...

. According to

Kuno Meyer Kuno Meyer (20 December 1858 – 11 October 1919) was a German scholar, distinguished in the field of Celtic philology and literature. His pro-German stance at the start of World War I in the United States was a source of controversy. His brothe ...

, he is the Laisrén who is depicted in the

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic (, Ogham, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ; ; or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic languages, Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive written texts. It was used from 600 to 900. The ...

prose narrative ''The Vision of Laisrén'', one of the earliest vernacular pieces of vision literature in Christian tradition. The extant fragment shows him leaving the monastery of Clúain (possibly Clonmacnois or Cloyne) to 'purify' the church of Clúain Cháin (unidentified) in Connaught. After a three nights' fast, his soul is taken up by two angels, who escort him to Hell to show him the horrors that await unredeemed sinners. The angels explain to one devil eager to take Laisrén from them that their guest is granted the vision in order that "he will give warning before us to his friends." Molaise probably died circa 639. His

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

is celebrated on 18 April. In a note added to the ''Félire Óengusso'', Molaise is said to have pulled out a hair from St Sillán's eyebrow which had the special property that anyone who saw it in the morning died instantly. Having thereby saved others, Molaise died. Because of the fiery connection between sunrise and Molaise's name, from ''lasair'' "flame", the anecdote has been interpreted as relating to solar mythology. His monastery thrived and gave its name to the

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

established in 1111 at the

Synod of Ráith Bressail A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...

. A large two piece statue of the saint from the medieval time is now located in the

National Museum of Ireland The National Museum of Ireland () is Ireland's leading museum institution, with a strong emphasis on national and some international archaeology, Irish history, Irish art, culture, and natural history. It has three branches in Dublin, the arch ...

. Until modern times the statue had been preserved in the Church of St. Molaise on the island of

Inishmurray Inishmurray ( or ''Inis Muireadheach'' meaning 'Muireadheach's island') is an uninhabited island situated off the coast of County Sligo, Ireland. Geography The island, which is approximately long and wide, is in area. It is from the c ...

, County Sligo.

References

Early Irish texts on St. Molaise

* *Short

text in the

Book of Leinster The Book of Leinster ( , LL) is a medieval Irish manuscript compiled and now kept in Trinity College Dublin. It was formerly known as the ''Lebor na Nuachongbála'' ("Book of Nuachongbáil"), a monastic site known today as Oughaval. In 2023 ...

and

Book of Lismore The Book of Lismore, also known as the Book of Mac Carthaigh Riabhach, is a late fifteenth-century Gaelic manuscript that was created at Kilbrittain in County Cork, Ireland, for Fínghean Mac Carthaigh, Lord of Carbery (1478–1505). Defectiv ...

about Molaise and his sister, tentatively dated to the early 10th century, ed. Julius Pokorny, " ltirische texte:Molaisse und seine Schwester." ''

Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie The ''Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie'' is an academic journal of Celtic studies, which was established in 1897 by the German scholars Kuno Meyer and Ludwig Christian Stern.Busse, Peter E. "''Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie''." In ''Ce ...

'' 9 (1913): pp. 239–41
Available from CELT
*''The Vision of St Laisrén'' (visionary text in Rawlinson B 512), ed. and tr. Kuno Meyer, ''Stories and Songs from Irish Manuscripts''. London, 1899. Reprint from ''Otia Merseiana'' 1 (1899), pp. 113–28
Available from CELT
See also: Grosjean, Paul. "Un fragment des Coutumes de Tallaght et la Vision de Laisrén." ''Analecta Bollandiana'' 81 (1963): pp. 251–9.

Secondary sources

*Chadwick, Nora. ''Studies in the Early British Church''. Cambridge, 1958.

Life

See also

References

Early Irish texts on St. Molaise

Secondary sources

Further reading