rship in the Church in
his day. It is clear the early teachers faithfully maintained the Holy
Scriptures as the rule of faith, and used the version of the Bible
prepared by S. Jerome. There are substantial reasons for believing that
they also possessed a vernacular version, if not of all, of some of the
books of the Bible, the Greek portions of which were studied by the more
famous evangelists, like S. Brendan. A liturgy was also used, and, from
surviving fragments, it appears to have been related to the 'Ephesine,'
rather than to the 'Petrine' family of liturgies--that is to say, it was
different from the Roman, and if not identical with the Gallican liturgy,
was similar to it. Of the co-equality of the Trinity they had no doubt.
In the 'Tripartite Life,' Baptism and Eucharist are mentioned as
sacraments, but penance, marriage, holy orders, and extreme unction are
not referred to as sacraments; while confirmation, if not accepted as of
divine institution, was esteemed to have an imperative importance. There
is only a slight trace of the honours paid to the Virgin Mary in the same
work. According to the editor, 'The Blessed Virgin Mary is never
mentioned either by Patrick, or Secundinus, Muirchu, or Tirechan.'
Communion was partaken of in both kinds, the wine being mixed with water
in the chalice, and sucked through a fistula. Prayers and fasting on
behalf of the dead were indulged in, and much virtue was attached to
severe fastings and ascetic mortifications of body and soul. Every day
was consecrated to unremitting labours in the Gospel. Sunday was,
indeed, a day of worship, divided into eight watches, like the other days
of the week, and was fully observed in the saying of mass, the chanting
of the 150 psalms, and preaching to the people. The clergy--deacons,
presbyters, and bishops--were married. A notable feature of consecration
of bishops was the practice of consecration by a single bishop, sometimes
at a leap, without the candidate having received orders as a deacon or
priest. Priests and virgins had a 'roving commission' to 'sing and say'
over the land. It is interesting to find that the catacombs in Rome have
preserved the monuments of 'virgines peregrinae,' like those of the
Celtic Church. The size, importance, and influence of a complete
ecclesiastical establishment (_muintir_), such as that presided over by
S. Patrick, may be inferred from the functions of the 24 persons who were
in office along