Today is the feast of another brave Irish saint: St. Brendan. Back in '92 there was a book by Richard Shenkman entitled "I Love Paul Revere, Whether He Rode Or Not." Well, today I could say: I love St. Brendan, whether he sailed or not. Undoubtedly he did sail, but whether he actually discovered America (which is unlikely), or even the Canary Islands, and whether he was gone for 7 years, and whether he took 60 monks with him or not . . . well, it doesn't matter: he's still a saint. Of course, being of Irish extraction, I WANT to believe an Irishman discovered America (or at least Greenland) in a coracle (kind of a skin boat) back in the 6th century! There is a good chance Brendan went to one of the Argylls, anyway; but that is in the wrong direction. Perhaps he did go west, as is chronicled in the Navigatio Brendani.
In any case, he founded a monastery in Clonfert in 559 (among other places in Ireland); set down a rule (now lost), supposedly dictated by an angel; and was a complete vegetarian (along with all of his monks -- 3000 by the time he died). He fasted every day until 3 pm. (Wow.) He was educated by St. Ita, baptized and later ordained by Bishop Erc, and had a sister (also a nun) named Brig. At the end of his long life, he told his sister he was dying and she asked him: "What do you fear?" He replied: "I fear if I go alone, if the journey be dark, the unknown region, the presence of the King, and the sentence of the Judge." Let's hope it all went well for him. He is buried at Clonfert and his feast is celebrated throughout Ireland.
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