hom the great St.
Kilian holds a distinguished place. The spirit of devotion to the Holy
See seems almost to be an heirloom in the little island of the western
sea. True to the instincts of his native land, the martyr-saint would
not undertake his mission in Franconia, great as was its necessity,
until he knelt at the feet of the Vicar of Christ to obtain his
permission and blessing. Thus fortified, he commenced his glorious race,
so happily crowned with the martyr's palm. His bold rebuke of the open
scandal given by the conduct of the ruling prince, was the immediate
cause of his obtaining this favour. St. Kilian was assassinated at
midnight, while singing the Divine Office, with two of his faithful
companions. Their remains were interred in the church of Wurtzberg,
where St. Kilian is still revered as its patron and apostle.

We can but name St. Mailduf, from whom Malmsbury has been named; St.
Livin, who converted the inhabitants of Flanders and Brabant; St.
Cataldus and his brother, St. Donatus, the former patron of the
metropolitan see of Tarentum, and whose name is still preserved in the
little town of _San Cataldo_, the latter Bishop of Lecce, in the kingdom
of Naples, and both famous for miracles and sanctity of life; St.
Virgilius, called in the ancient annals "Ferghil the Geometer," and by
Latin writers Solivagus,[185] or the "solitary wanderer," who died
Bishop of Saltzburg, distinguished for literary fame; St. Fridolin, "the
traveller," son of an Irish king, who evangelized Thuringia, and was
appointed by the Pope Bishop of Buraburgh, near Fritzlar, in the year
741; St. Sedulius the younger, who wrote commentaries on Holy Scripture,
and assisted at a council held in Rome, in the year 721, under Gregory
II. It is noticeable that this saint was consecrated Bishop of Oreto, in
Spain, while in Rome. When he entered on the mission thus confided to
him, he wrote a treatise to prove that, being Irish, he was of Spanish
descent; thus showing that at this period the idea of a Milesian origin
was common to men of learning in Ireland.[186]

But if Ireland gave saints and martyrs to foreign lands, her charity was
in some measure repaid in kind. True, she needed not the evangelic
labours of other missionaries, for the gospel-seed had taken deep root,
and borne a rich harvest on her happy shores; still, as the prayers of
saints are the very life and joy of the Church, she could not choose but
rejoice in the hundreds of pu