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A Tailcenn Will Come Over the Raging Sea

Book of Armagh, Folio 54 [ie 55]r

I wonder sometimes how St. Patrick so thoroughly won over the Irish for Christianity during his time.  It was the Holy Spirit of course, because no such thing can be accomplished by advertising or slick social media campaigns, especially not during the 5th century.

Were they expecting someone like Patrick to come?

In the book of Armagh (7th century) we find a biography of St. Patrick by Muirchu who claims King Loegaire's druids, Lochia and Luchat Mael prophesied:

"A Tailcenn* will come over the raging sea, with his perforated garment, his crook-headed staff, With his table at the east end of his house, and all his people will answer 'Amen, Amen.'"

*bald-head, referring to the Roman clerical tonsure

When St. Patrick and his missionary companions finally landed in Ireland and began their ministry, Loegaire, the High King, summoned all of his chieftains and druids to a great feast on the Hill of Tara. Patrick saw a golden opportunity to preach the Gospel and made his way toward the High King's banquet hall for the feast.  The king decreed that all fires in the kingdom should be extinguished until he lit the great signal bonfire on Tara: the Beltane fire in honor of the sun god. That same night Patrick stopped on his journey at the Hill of Slane to pray the Easter Mass and lit the Paschal fire, visible across the valley.

Did Patrick perhaps chant the Exsultet? He was ordained in Gaul, and the earliest records of this timeless Paschal hymn are found in Gallican missals:

"Be glad, let earth be glad, as glory floods her,
ablaze with light from her eternal King,
let all corners of the earth be glad,
knowing an end to gloom and darkness."



Imagine Loegaire's shock at seeing a rival fire blazing up beyond his control.  His druids counseled him: "O King", live for ever; this fire, which has been lighted in defiance of the royal edict, will blaze for ever in this land unless it be this very night extinguished."  He sends armed charioteers at once to extinguish the flames and kill those responsible. Patrick, his attendants, and the holy fire are shielded by God's protection, and they process to the King's court the next day in full vestiture to present the Gospel.

What follows next in Muirchu's account makes St. Patrick sound like Gandalf at a wizard's duel, or Elijah facing down the priests of Baal.  The druids could summon fog and snow with the help of demons but were powerless to remove it. Patrick banished them easily through the power of his prayers. The darkness of druid magic was defeated by the light of Christ before the assembly of chieftains.

"Be glad, let earth be glad, as glory floods her,
ablaze with light from her eternal King,
let all corners of the earth be glad,
knowing an end to gloom and darkness."

Sources:
Muirchu's Vita Sancti Patricii: https://www.confessio.ie/more/muirchu_english#
The Catholic Encyclopedia: "St. Patrick" https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11554a.htm


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