Twenty Tales of Irish Saints by Alice Curtayne

Author:Alice Curtayne [Curtayne, Alice]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sophia Institute Press
Published: 2013-12-10T06:00:00+00:00

11

Modomnoc

odomnoc was one of the many Irish saints who first had to go out of Ireland to learn how to be a priest. He was a student before the great Irish schools of Bangor and Clonard and Clonfert and Clonmacnoise came into being.

Modomnoc went in a sailing boat across the English Channel to the great monastic school in Wales that had for headmaster a saint named David.

All the pupils in David’s school had to work as well as study.They helped in the fields, or in the garden, or at building. David’s monastery was such a big, busy place that every pupil in it could find something to do pleasing to his taste.

Modomnoc was given charge of the bees, and he simply loved it.The monks were glad of this because, although nearly everyone likes honey very much, not everyone likes to take charge of the bees that make the honey.

But Modomnoc happened to like the bees almost more than their honey and that is saying quite a lot.

He was most successful with his bees. He kept them in straw beehives called skeps in a special sheltered corner of the monastery garden, and all around the hives he planted the kind of flowers that he knew bees love. Every time they swarmed, he captured the swarming bees very gently and lovingly and set up yet another hive. He talked to the bees as he worked among them and they buzzed around his head in clouds as if they were talking back to him. And, of course, they never, ever stung him.

At the end of the summer, they gave him loads and loads of honey. Modomnoc had to ask the other monks to help carry it all from the garden.The monks were never without this most pleasant addition to their meals. They were able to make lots of mead, too, which is a delicious drink made of honey. And David was very glad indeed that he had put Modomnoc in charge of the bees, because never before had they given such good results in that school.

The good Modomnoc thanked God for his success, and he also thanked the bees. He would walk among the skeps in the evening and talk to them, and the bees would crowd out to meet him.

All the other monks carefully avoided that corner of the garden, walking past it in a hurry, because they were always afraid of being stung.

As well as thanking them, Modomnoc worked very hard, too, for his bees. He saw that they were left plenty of honey in the winter to keep them well fed until the spring came again. He kept them warm and comfortable in their skeps.When a storm threatened, he tied down the skeps securely.When frost and snow came, he covered them up, so that his bees would not feel the cold too much.

ell, when Modomnoc’s years of study were ended, the time came for him to return to Ireland and begin his work there as a priest. He was very happy, of course, at the thought of going home again, but he knew he would be lonely for his bees.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.