Saint Brendan the navigator (original) (raw)

I have just finished reading the life of one of my favourite Irish Saints, Brendan the Navigator. In all existent texts about him (including Sellner's adaptation), the true account of his life is so closely interlaced with legends, that sometimes one can hardly discern them from one another. These legends, in spite of being beautiful and poetic, may seem unnecessary at first sight. We must, however, remember that ancient and medieval hagiography was not strictly biographic in the modern sense of the world, but often used symbols and symbolic narrative passages to reveal the deep theological meaning of the Saint's life. The legends about St. Brendan is a striking example of this.
The most prominent legend of the narrative is that of St. Brendan's journey to Paradise. We are told that the Saint, accompanied by brethren from his monastery in Cluain Ferta, set out into the ocean in search of the Blessed Land. The travelers sailed westwards for ten days, but could not find any land, until St. Brendan told his companions to lay down the oars and entrust themselves to God's will. After having done so, they reached an island where they met a hermit. The holy man told the travelers that they should continue travelling westwards, where they would find many other islands. They should not, however, get distracted by their new experiences, but should continue observing a yearly Liturgical cycle: every year, they should celebrate the Lord's Supper with the hermit, Easter on the island that was really the back of a sea monster, Pentecost on the Island of Birds, and Christmas and Candlemas on the Island of Ailbe (all these islands they would discover in due course). At the end of the seventh year they would reach Paradise and stay there for forty days.
St. Brendan and his companions obeyed the hermit. They continued their journey, observing the yearly routine that the holy man had taught them, and eventually reached Paradise. They wanted to stay there for ever, but it was not possible, because their life on earth was not completed yet; thus, after forty days they departed from the Blessed Island and returned to Ireland.
Now, if we take this story in its literal sense, it will seem extremely naive and improbable to us: we know that Paradise is not situated on Earth, and it is not possible to reach it by mere sailing. But if we look deeper and interpret this legend as a symbolic passage, we will discover a deep theological meaning behind it. Does not the story tell us that one can only reach Paradise (that is, to save one's soul) by obedience, patience, self-discipline and, what is most important, by entrusting one's life to God? If we let His will steer our boat, He will lead us safely through the stormy ocean of this world to the Land of Eternal Life: this is the message of this beautiful passage...

The Journey (Imram in Irish) of St. Brendan has been a source of inspiration for many poets and writers throughout centuries. J.R.R.Tolkien was among these authors; he composed a beautiful poem entitled "Imram" (or "The Death of Saint Brendan"), which describes the Saint's journey over the ocean and ends in the following words:
In Ireland, over wood and mire, in the tower tall and grey, the knell of Cluain Ferta's bell was tolling in green Galway. Saint Brendan had come to his life's end under a rainclad sky, and journeyed whence no ship returns, and his bones in Ireland lie.

You can read the whole poem here:
First part
Second part
And here is a photo of the monastery that St. Brendan founded in Cluain Ferta (Clonfert): the photo is here (It is a page from the_green_land, created by my sister Anna. You are all invited to join it).