March 20 St. Clement of Ireland

First a quick biography: Born in Ireland ca. 750 AD, educated as a priest in France, returned to Ireland to start educating the masses. Had such great success that Charlemagne asked him and his companion, Ailbe,  to return to France to serve the court. Started a palace school and a school in Paris. These became the seeds of the education culture in Paris that grew into the famed University of Paris. Died in 818 Ad while in retirement in Auxerre, France.

For me, there are two interesting facets of his life. One was the impact of the Irish intellect on the French Court. St. Clement and Ailbe brought intellect and logic to the forefront of the Court’s psyche. St. Clement influenced not only the current court of Charlemagne, but many future courts through his students such as Bruno, Modestus, and Candidus. His legacy of learning and thought was the foundation upon which Paris grew into a modern and urbane center of culture and learning. Yet another contribution of the Irish.

Second interesting fact: St. Clement was deposed from the priesthood for his belief that when Christ descended into Hell, he restored all the damned. This doctrine came from his belief as a Christian Universalist. CU’s believed  that all immortal souls, because of the love and mercy of God, will ultimately be ‘reconciled’ with God. Despite being removed from the priesthood, he was still made a saint.

A small side note, the first biography of St. Clement was written while he was still alive by an unnamed Irish monk and the book was dedicated to Charles The Fat.

January 28 St. James the Hermit

We have looked at St. Paul the Hermit and St. Anthony of the desert – pious men who lived long lives of devotion. St. James was nothing like them. He might as well have been called St. James the Unsettled Hermit. Or St. James the Half Devoted Hermit. Or St. James the Very Human Hermit.

After a misspent youth that was never fully described but whispered about, St. James converted to Christianity. He lived as a hermit for 15 years. Then he needed a little break and went back to his wild ways. There are rumors of wild women and possibly a murder. Steamy stuff for the early church. A friend brought him back to the church, convincing James that God forgives even the worst of sins and loves the most human of people. James lived the rest of short life in prayer and penance, living in an abandoned sepulchre. I wonder, in the today’s social and political climate swirling around the church, how forgiving we would be of such a man. Would he be allowed to continue his vows and live a life of penance and prayer?

A side note about St. James – His life story was the loose structure for Henry James’ book “The Hermit and the Wild Woman” in which Edith Wharton is the allegedly the wild woman and Henry James is allegedly St. James. I wonder why we never got to read THAT Henry James book in high school?