Blathmac
{{Short description|8th century Irish monk and saint}}
{{for|the 7th century High King of Ireland|Blathmac mac Áedo Sláine}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox saint
|name=Saint Blathmac
|birth_date={{circa|lk=no}} 750 AD
|death_date={{circa|lk=no}} 825
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|venerated_in=Eastern Orthodox Church
Roman Catholic Church
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|birth_place=Ireland
|death_place=Iona
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Saint Blathmac ({{langx|la|Blathmacus, Florentius}}) was a distinguished Irish monk, born in Ireland about 750 AD. He is known as "Blathmac, son of Flann", to distinguish him from the poet and monk Blathmac mac Con Brettan.
He was killed and became a martyr in Iona, about 825.{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02596b.htm|title=St. Blathmac|work=Catholic Encyclopedia}} His biography was written by Strabo, the Benedictine Abbot of Reichenau (824–849), and thus the story of his martyrdom has been handed down.{{cite web | url=http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/folklore/folklore_survey/chapter16.htm | title=A Folklore Survey of County Clare by Thomas Johnson Westropp | accessdate=11 February 2016}}{{cite web | url=http://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-saint-blathmac/ | title=Catholic dictionary | accessdate=11 February 2016}}
Early life
Blathmac, the scion of a noble family, early showed a religious turn of mind. Strabo describes him as a warrior prince, and "a future king of his people" who gave up his patrimony to enter religious life.[https://www.dib.ie/biography/blathmac-a0737 Breen, Aidan. "Blathmac", Dictionary of Irish Biography] His name was Latinized Florentius (from the Irish word bláth meaning "flower").
Career
He became the abbot of an Irish monastery, and in 824 left to join the community of monks at Iona which traced itself to Columba.[https://www.biblicalcyclopedia.com/B/blathmac-(or-blaithmaic).html The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature. (James Strong and John McClintock, eds.); Harper and Brothers; NY; 1880]{{PD-notice}}
He was serving as prior or acting abbot in the absence of Diarmait of Iona, who had taken most of the community to Kells for safety. Anticipating yet another viking raid, Blathmac had what remained of the relics of Columba hidden.
Not long afterwards the Danes ravaged the island. One morning, as he was offering mass, the Scandinavian rovers entered the monastic church. Blathmac refused to point out the relics or the Brecbannoch of St Columba, which were the object of plunder. In retaliation he was hacked to pieces on the altar steps.{{cite book |last1=Forte |first1=Angelo |last2=Oram |first2=Richard |last3=Pedersen |first3=Frederik |title=Viking Empires |date=2005 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=9780521829922 |pages=55–58}}
His body was afterwards reverently interred at the scene. Miracles are claimed to have been wrought through his intercession. The date of his death is given by the "Annals of Ulster" as 825, although Mabillon places it thirty-six years earlier.
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- [http://omniumsanctorumhiberniae.blogspot.ie/2013/01/saint-blathmac-of-iona-january-19.html Omnium Sanctorum Hiberniae]
{{Subject bar |portal1= Saints |portal2= Biography |portal3= Catholicism |portal4= Ireland}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Blathmac, Saint}}
Category:9th-century Christian saints
Category:8th-century Irish abbots
Category:9th-century Irish abbots