St. Patrick and the Four Sons of Mosiah: Part One

One should never let so much time pass from having read a book, to trying to find the needed passages to quote from to prove a point.

It’s Saturday morning and I’m up early, ambitious and eager to write.  It’s a good feeling.  Now if I can just find the word threads to weave the right pattern of understanding.

Much of what I learned about St. Patrick was from the book, “How the Irish Saved Civilization” by Thomas Cahill.  His obvious respect for the Patron Saint of Ireland is blatant.  After reading his book, I admire the man too.  What he did bordered on miraculous – was miraculous.  He took a people, savage and bloodthirsty, and turned them into followers of Christ, scholars and lovers of books.

Thomas Cahill describes the people of Ireland before Patrick (circa 300-400 A.D.) as an Island of tribes, each led by a “king,” or Chieftan.  By their stories from that time period, the values held by these people lay in what you could steal from other tribes, in the battles you fought, in the slaves you took, the kings you killed and the women ravished. 

By our terms today, they were savage and barbaric, a bloodthirsty people serving bloodthirsty gods, dominated by the mother goddess and her fertility rites.  This was a land never conquered by Rome.  They produced marauding pirates that terrorized the northern seas and put fear into the hearts of those populating present day Wales and Cornwall. 

It was a band of pirates that in some raid on the Island of Britain, took a young lad from his home and bundled him off to Ireland to become a slave.  The boy’s Roman name was Patricius.  He would someday become the great St. Patrick.  But in this instance, he was nothing, a slave ordered to tend the cattle in remote areas, going months without seeing another person, never having enough to eat, never having enough to wear to keep the cold out.  It must have been absolutely miserable.

I know by my own experience that when there is nothing and no one else to turn to, you turn to God.

Patricius, by his own account, was raised a Christian in the British Isles.  His father is called a Deacon.  “…He tells us that he didn’t really believe in God, and he found priests foolish.  But now, there was no one to turn to but the God of his parents.”  This was Patrick’s fiery furnace.  Day after day, he prayed, year after year.

“Tending flocks was my daily work, and I would pray constantly during the daylight hours.  The love of God and the fear of him surrounded me more and more – and faith grew and the Spirit was roused, so that in one day I would say as many as a hundred prayers and after dark, nearly as many again, even while I remained in the woods or on the mountain.  I would wake and pray before daybreak – through snow, frost, rain…”

 

Thus was Patrick’s faith kindled, fanned and fed.  His captivity became his salvation.   At the end of six years of enslavement, a voice comes to him in the night and tells him, “Your hungers are rewarded: you are going home.  Look, your ship is ready.”  Patrick, nowhere near the sea, gets up and starts walking.  When he makes port, he finds a ship headed for the continent.  At first they reject him, but he prays, and they take him on.  Patrick makes his escape.

It takes him a few years to get back home, but by the time he does, he is – how shall I say it? – the world would call him a holy man, and that would be a good description, but I think he is more than that.  He had just experienced his own slavery in the land of Egypt, his own miraculous crossing of the sea, and a wandering in the wilderness, finally to make it back to the land of promise, his parent’s home.  Now he’s ready.  He is a true man of Christ, wholly converted. 

One night he has a dream.  He sees a man he knew in Ireland.  The man holds out to him “countless letters,” one of which says, in Latin, The Voice of the Irish.  And then he hears a voice, “We beg you to come and walk among us once more.”  He wakes. 

By his own account, he cannot get the Irish out of his mind.  He has dreams and visions, “and Christ begins to speak within him:  ‘He who gave his life for you, he it is who speaks within you.’”

Patrick returns to the land of the barbarians, not as a slave, but as a man on a mission for Christ.  As the gospel of Christ changed Patrick, it would change the nation of Ireland.  Only truth and the witness of the Holy Ghost can do that.

To be continued.

I highly recommend this book, “How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland’s Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe” by Thomas Cahill, from which much of the information of this blog was taken from.

Pelagius, the Heretic

It is difficult to write about someone who has been labeled a heretic because so little remains about them. Once labeled a heretic by the church fathers in Rome, works are burned, character is villified and destroyed. The person all but disappears.

Here’s what I know about Pelagius. His life spans from circa 354 A.D. to circa 440 A.D, give or take twenty years. He traveled around the Mediterranean, from Synod to Synod, teaching a doctrine of Free Will. Men are free to choose good or evil. And even wicked people can choose to do good things on their own.

Pelagius was apparently a gifted orator and writer and quite influential. He caught the attention of the church in Rome and of Augustine of Hippo – yes, that St. Augustine who wrote about “original sin” and “we are only saved by grace – works have nothing to do with it.”

It was quite a debate in the 5th century. At first, St. Augustine called Pelagius a ‘saintly man,’ but later used Pelagius to launch his own career – writing in opposition to his teachings . St. Augustine won the debate and for centuries, the church in Rome followed Augustinian philosophy as their dogma. The doctrine of free will fell into obscurity.

But some things are coming to light. I read this in Wikipedia:

"However, more recently some have defended Pelagius as a misunderstood orthodox:[1]

"Recent analysis of his thinking suggests that it was, in fact, highly orthodox, following in the tradition established by the early fathers and in keeping with the teaching of the church in both the East and the West. ... From what we are able to piece together from the few sources available... it seems that the Celtic monk held to an orthodox view of the prevenience of God's grace, and did not assert that individuals could achieve salvation purely by their own efforts..."

Yup. Celtic. Pelagius was from the British Isles. Here’s this guy, traveling around the Roman world, teaching about Christ and free will together, and utterly denying the concept of original sin.

This is basic Mormonism. It’s right there in our Articles of Faith, #2. “We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adams transgression.”

And from Doctrine & Covenants 58:27. “Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness.”

The doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are nothing new. They were taught hundreds of years ago. I hold up the likes of Pelagius to confirm that idea. That he hails from the British Isles, the home of my ancestors, is something I find utterly fascinating.

Next time: St. Patrick and The Four Sons of Mosiah

Notes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelagius
1. ^ Bradley, Ian (1993) The Celtic Way. London: Darton, Longman and Todd; p. 62

The Renaissance King of Korea

Just recently I purchased a Roku box, which allows me to stream content on my TV from the internet. I discovered the Cruncyroll.com application and started watching Korean drama programs. The first program I wastched was "Princess Hours," a fictional what if... What if the Korean Monarchy was still in place? What if a common girl was married to the crown prince? It was fun and interesting and ended after 24 episodes. It piqued my curiosity and I found I really liked this kind of stuff. So I then plunged into the 60 episode historical drama "Dong Yi." What fun that was! I was totally taken by the costumes and the portrayals of life in a completely different culture. I could tell this was highly fictionalized, but it was fun anyway. I followed up with "Jewel In The Palace." And then I took a deep breath and launched into the 77 episodes of "Yi San," based on the life of King Jeungjo, or Chungso - depending on which translator is spellling it.

Once again I was completely enthralled with the pageantry, the costumes, the high emotional drama and court complications and wondered how much of it was true. I wanted to know more about King Jeungjo. He ascended the throne in 1776 and died in 1800 at the age of 48 years.

I want to know more about this king, because he seemed to be quite a visionary. His early years were marred by the death of his father, Crown Prince Sado, at the hands of his father, King Yungjo. Yet, he became one of the few Korean kings given the honorific, "great." (http://www.transparent.com/korean/korean-princes-and-kings/)

King Jeungjo apparently worked very hard at reforming the royal court and Korean society. He seemed to take to heart his title, "Father of the Country," paying attention not only to the nobles and wealthy merchants, but to the lower classes as well. In what I have been able to find out, he cared more about a person being smart and capable than their birth status, and he worked hard to make life more bearable for the lower classes, the people who had no priveleges at all.

Innovative, reformative and hard-working, he is considered one of the most effective rulers of the Josean Dynasty. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeongjo_of_Joseon)

And here is what I find remarkable. On the other side of the world, in 1776, the same year King Jeungjo took the throne, there was a shot heard round the world that he knew nothing of. The world was changing and a new experiment in government was being undertaking during those same years, 1776 to 1800. Our founding fathers in the Americas were struggling to find a way to stop exploitation, to give people a chance to improve their lot in life, to allow them to achieve great things by their own will, courage and ability.

And there, in this tiny country, with no great influence, a tributary to China, stood a king who struggled to do the same thing, stop exploitation, give people a chance to improve their lot in life and allow them to achieve great things by their own will, courage and ability.

How remarkable is that?

I have no illusions. King Jeungjo was not perfect. He was no King Benjamin and his reign had it's own share of treachery and blood, but I believe he was a king who tried, and he came at a time when the world was changing. He was just one step ahead.

And I just find that interesting.

The Celtic Christian Church

My absence has been almost a full year. There are times in our lives when we have to take a step off to the side and look at the path we are on. Where have we been? Where are we now? Is that really where I want to go?

It’s taken me a whole year and I’ve come full circle with a determination to continue on the path I’m on, neither deviating to the right or the left. And so, to quote Samwise Gamgee, from the Lord of the Rings, “Well, I’m back.”

So, where were we? The Arthurian tales and all that. As I read books from libraries, because the internet wasn’t much to speak of then, I kept coming across the phrase, “Celtic Christian Church.” With further reading I discovered this Church had no relationship to Rome nor did it want it.

From “History of the Christian Church” by Philip Schaff, Book 2, I found this little tidbit on pg. 16. “According to Tertullian Britain also was brought under the power of the cross towards the end of the second Century. The Celtic Church existed in England, Ireland, and Scotland, and independently of Rom, long before the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons by the Roman mission of Augustine.”

Tertullian is an ancient historian, and the Augustine mentioned here is not to be confused with the famous Church Father, St. Augustine of Hippo. This Augustine conquered England for Christ and the Roman church around 600 A.D.

Schaff tells us that the Celtic Church took its origins from Gaul and Italy. However, legend traces the Celtic Church to St. Paul and other Apostolic founders. The Venerable Bede, another ancient historian, says that a British King, Lucius, knew about Christianity and applied to Rome for assistance. And in 314 A.D. at the council of Arles in Gaul (France), three bishops from Britain were in attendance.

Obviously, Christianity was thriving in the British Isles long before the church in Rome finally took over in the 7th century A.D. I truly appreciate those novelists and film makers who rightfully make Arthur and his court Christian. All the historical facts point to it. And from this rocky soil, sprang some very great holy men.

Next: Pelagius.

Who was Mordred?

I apologize for the long absence. I’ve been rather occupied with a yeast cleanse diet that has had my brain addled for the past few weeks.

So here we go again. Who was Mordred? Good question. Most accounts agree that he is the son of king Arthur’s sister. Some call her Morgan le Fey, but Morgan is a man’s name, and it means, mor – or “meer” – meaning water. Gan – or guy – or man: water man! Others call Mordred’s mother Morgause and place her as the eldest daughter of queen Ygrain, Arthur’s mother. I like to call her Morguase, the faithful. Recall my earlier blogs about the word Fairy, the Spanish Fe, the Latin Fidelus? Fey is faith.

All we really know about Mordred is that he was a member of the royal family and appeared to be crown prince. He died at the Battle of Camlann, as did Arthur, though it is not specified in the earliest accounts if they were on the same side, or on opposing sides. Also, he had a wife named Guenivere. Some of the later accounts of Mordred claim he abducted Arthur’s queen Guenivere and tried to rule in his stead – usurpation by abduction. But I think it’s this whole thing about titles instead of names that seems to create the greatest amount of confusion.

It’s all possible, of course. But I can’t help thinking of an exhibition I attended during a trip to California some years ago that was about king Arthur. They made the claim that Arthur actually had three wives and they were all named Guenivere. As close as I can tell in my studies, the name means “White Priestess.” And all queens seemed to bear this title. So Arthur had a queen Guenivere and Mordred had a queen Guenivere. So should that make Mordred a bad guy? I don’t think so.

I think he was a legitimate son of Arthur’s sister, Morguase, the throne princess after her mother Ygraine. He had every right to the royal title of prince, and every right to marry a woman of importance, land and property, a Guenivere.

Here I end my speculations about the Celtic culture and the Legends of King Arthur, though I have much much more, and who knows, maybe one day I’ll get around to speculating some more.

Now I’m ready to move on to the real meat, what the search for Arthur finally led me to: The Celtic Christian Church and its great churchmen, Pelagius, Patrick & Gildas. These three are worthy of greater study by our LDS Scholars than they have been. These three kept a light burning through the dark ages of Europe and laid a foundation for the emergence of and thirst for truth that began with our Pilgrim Fathers and continues around the globe today.

Next: The Celtic Christian Church.

The Birth of Arthur

I have given much thought to the birth of Arthur and there are a couple of things that puzzle me.

1. Who was Ygain? What made her so desirable as to go to war over her?
2. Why was it necessary to take the baby Arthur and hide him until king Uther’s death?

All right – we left off with Merlin and his prophecies. One of his prophecies is that the sons of Constantine would come and destroy Vortigern. According to the annals, this is precisely what happened. The two boys who had been whisked away to the mainland, Aurelianus and Uther, returned with an army and chased Vortigern into south Wales, where they were able to trap him. Vortigern’s keep burned to the ground with him in it. Aurelianus, being the older of the two boys, became king.

Aurelianus was considered among the finest kings the Bretons had had. He was brave and good. He made it a point to rebuild all the churches in the land and keep the Saxons at bay. Sadly, he only reined for 10 years before he was assassinated. Upon his death, his brother Uther takes the throne.

Apparently, it’s at Uther’s coronation that he is introduced to the king of Cornwall and his wife Ygerna, or Ygrain. She is considered quite beautiful and desirable, insomuch that Uther is willing to go to war over her.

This, to me, this is déjà vu the Trojan War! As the story goes, Paris abducts Helen (later known as the face that launched a thousand ships) from Macedonia and takes her off to Troy. There is some indication that the Trojans and the Greeks have their cultural basis in the middle-east. So, was it really the face that launched a thousand ships, or was Helen a woman of land, wealth and royal connections? Paris hauling her off was marriage by abduction. By “marrying” her, he controlled her lands and trade routes and who knows what else! Now that makes sense to go to war over. In the end, the king of Macedonia gets Helen back, but then he’s murdered, if I remember right. The whole thing is just tragic.

Back to Breton. Uther goes to war against the king of Cornwall. However, for a long time he is unsuccessful in managing to get his hands of Ygrain. According to later stories, Uther has Merlin enchant him to look like the king of Cornwall. With this subterfuge, he is able to enter the castle and rape and abduct Ygrain. Meanwhile, the king of Cornwall is killed in battle. Uther gets his prize. He marries Ygrain.

If we accept that the Bretons held to Matrilinial rights of inheritance, Uther was simply trying to consolidate his right to rule by marrying a throne princess, a woman of land, wealth and royal connections. Uther had been raised on the mainland by his Roman relatives and had Roman ideas. He would know that to keep his crown he needed to marry a throne princess, but he would want an heir of his body to succeed after him.

Up to this point, Ygrain has anywhere from two to four daughters already. Each were eventually married off to kings. Or did the men become kings because they married these daughters. It’s a right puzzle, just because we don’t really know and I’m only reading between the lines.

This we know, Ygrain then gives birth to a baby boy, and almost immediately that boy is taken by Merlin and hidden so that no one knows where he is.

That brings us to point two. Why? According to some, this was done to preserve the boy against Saxons who would kill the baby. But surely Uther would have some resources to protect his children! And why is it that the boy is not brought forward until AFTER Uther’s death some 15 years later?

Here is my theory! Ygrain was indeed a throne princess, next in line after the sister of Aurelius and Uther. (The brothers would not be so readily accepted as kings without that matrilineal right to be king, either as the brothers of the Throne Princess, or as the husband of the Throne Princess.) But what if Ygrain was already with child by the king of Cornwall? Ah, now, that would put the child in danger. Uther would want a man child of his own to be king, but if Ygrain has already given birth to a boy, then yes, that would mean Uther would have no male heir to take the throne. So, Merlin hides the child, not from the Saxons, but from Uther. Ygrain, being royal and diplomatic, marries Uther, who is now, without question, king. However, he and Ygrain only succeed in having a daughter, Anne.

If you bring in the middle-eastern matrilineal rights of inheritance into the picture, then, for me, the birth and hiding of Arthur begins to make sense. At the death of Uther, the boy, aged 15, is brought forward. Both Merlin and Ygrain vouch for his rights. The boy is hailed battle commander and given the sword Excaliber. Thus begins the rein of Arthur.

It’s just a theory, but I like it.

Next: And so, who was Mordred?

The Prophecies of Merlin

In the book, “The Once and Future King,” Merlin the magician has a wonderful knowledge of the future because, it is said, he has lived life backwards. This is an interesting concept when you consider, by LDS doctrine, all great prophets have received the vision of all things past, present and future.

According to Norma Lorre Goodrich’s research, she states in her book, “Merlin,” published by Harper Perennial, 1988, “Not only was Merlin descended from royalty, but his mother was a nun,… As Son-of-the-Nun he was not only priestly, but high born, and would have been highly educated.’

As Ms. Goodrich grapples with Merlin’s identity, a few things become clear. His importance is based more on the identity of his mother than of his father. He has an enormous roll to play in establishing the royal house of his time and in directing its future course. He is Christian, as Arthur is Christian, and he has many prophecies attributed to him.

The Prophecy of Merlin as contained in The History of the Kings of Britain, by Geoffrey of Monmouth is long and complicated. It’s also available in print if you want to look it up. To me, it doesn’t make much sense, but little is known of the history of the time and what we have was written down hundreds of years before it was finally preserved by Geoffrey of Monmouth. So no one knows what it could have originally said. However, the consensus seems to be that the Prophecy of Merlin is based on older, more Hebraic, or Old Testament forms of writing. That’s quite a claim, I know, but I find the following prophecy attributed to Merlin to be quite interesting.

“The noble cleric Merlin says: ‘For [it is] certain That Britons at the last shall have this land again.’”
(Chronicle, Peter de Langtoft and Robert of of Brunne, edited by Thomas Hearne, 1725, Vol 1, Chap XXII, p. 7.)

According to all historical chronicles of the British Isles, the Saxons eventually forced the Bretons to leave their lands and scatter to Brittany and Normandy in the north of France. But I like this hopeful prophecy, it is reminiscent of some other prophecies you may be aware of.

Judah, from the Holy Bible, has been promised she shall have Jerusalem again. The children of Lehi, from the Book of Mormon, have been promised they shall have their lands of inheritance in the New World again.

I just find that interesting.

Next: The birth of Arthur