Molaise of Leighlin

Saint Molaise^[4] of Leighlin, also Laisrén or Laserian (died ca. 639), was an early Irish saint and abbot of Lethglenn or Leithglenn, now Old Leighlin in County Carlow, who is supposed to have lived in the 6th and 7th centuries. In Scotland, he is known as "Molaise" while in Ireland he is revered as "Laserian".^[5]

Molaise of Leighlin
Wooden statue of Laserian in Carlow County Museum
Born	c.566[1] Ireland
Died	639[2] Ireland
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church Anglican Communion (Church of Ireland)
Feast	18 April[3]

Saint Molaise's cave on Holy Isle, Firth of Clyde, decorated with Tibetan Buddhist prayer flags.

Life

Born in Ireland, Molaise was said to have been of noble birth. He was raised in Scotland, as a young man he lived the life of a hermit on Holy Isle (off the Isle of Arran). He then went to Rome, where he was ordained by Pope Gregory I.^[1]

He later entered the monastery at Old Leighlin in Ireland where he became abbot and possibly bishop. He adapted Church discipline in accordance with the practices of Rome. He introduced or advocated the Roman method of dating the celebration of Easter.^[6] When Molaise was in his late 50s, he went back to Rome and was consecrated bishop by Pope Honorius I.

According to Kuno Meyer, he is the Laisrén who is depicted in the Old Irish prose narrative The Vision of Laisrén, one of the earliest vernacular pieces of vision literature in Christian tradition.^[7] The extant fragment shows him leaving the monastery of Clúain (possibly Clonmacnois or Cloyne) to 'purify' the church of Clúain Cháin (unidentified) in Connaught. After a three nights' fast, his soul is taken up by two angels, who escort him to Hell to show him the horrors that await unredeemed sinners. The angels explain to one devil eager to take Laisrén from them that their guest is granted the vision in order that "he will give warning before us to his friends."^[8]

Molaise probably died circa 639. His feast day is celebrated on 18 April.^[9] In a note added to the Félire Óengusso, Molaise is said to have pulled out a hair from St Sillán's eyebrow which had the special property that anyone who saw it in the morning died instantly. Having thereby saved others, Molaise died.^[10] Because of the fiery connection between sunrise and Molaise's name, from lasair "flame", the anecdote has been interpreted as relating to solar mythology.^[11] His monastery thrived and gave its name to the diocese established in 1111 at the Synod of Ráith Bressail.^[12]

See also

• St Goban — predecessor of Molaise as abbot of Leighlin.

References

1. "St Laserian", Ask About Ireland
2. "Feast of St Laserian/Molaise Day, Old Leighlin Cathedral", Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin, 18 April 2022
3. Saints at a Glance
4. Also Molaisse, Mo Laise, Mo Laisse or Molios. This church on Arran uses Molios
5. Kenny, Colum. Molaise, Morrigan, 1998ISBN 0907677673
6. Chadwick, Studies in the Early British Church, p. 53
7. Meyer, Otia Merseiana, p. 114.
8. The Vision of Laisrén, ed. and tr. Meyer.
9. Félire Óengusso, 18 April, ed. and tr. Stokes, p. 106-107 and manuscript notes, pp. 116-7.
10. Félire Óengusso, 11 September (Sillán's feast-day), ed. and tr. Stokes, pp. 206-207.
11. Plummer, Vita sanctorum Hiberniae. Vol 1. Oxford, 1910, p. cxl.
12. O'Byrne, Daniel. Ecclesiastical History of the Bishops of the Dioceses of Kildare and Leighlin, Dublin, John F. Fowler, 1867, p. 38

Early Irish texts on St. Molaise

• Óengus of Tallaght (1905). Stokes, Whitley (ed.). The Martyrology of Oengus the Culdee. Henry Bradshaw Society. Vol. 29. London.
• Short Old Irish text in the Book of Leinster and Book of Lismore about Molaise and his sister, tentatively dated to the early 10th century, ed. Julius Pokorny, "[Altirische texte:] Molaisse und seine Schwester." Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie 9 (1913): pp. 239–41. Available from CELT.
• The Vision of St Laisrén (visionary text in Rawlinson B 512), ed. and tr. Kuno Meyer, Stories and Songs from Irish Manuscripts. London, 1899. Reprint from Otia Merseiana 1 (1899), pp. 113–28. Available from CELT. See also: Grosjean, Paul. "Un fragment des Coutumes de Tallaght et la Vision de Laisrén." Analecta Bollandiana 81 (1963): pp. 251–9.

Secondary sources

• Chadwick, Nora. Studies in the Early British Church. Cambridge, 1958.

Further reading

• Feeley, Joseph M. and J. Sheehan. "Old Leighlin monastery and cathedral, 5th to 15th century", Carloviana 52 (2003): pp. 9–15.
• Hayden, Margaret. "The district of Leighlin Lasarian's country", Carloviana 2:29 (1981): pp. 4–6.
• Kenny, Colum. "Molaise's water of truth." Carloviana 47 (1999). pp. 31, 36.
• Kenny, C. "Old Leighlin after Laserian: division and reconciliation." Carloviana 47 (1999): pp. 22–30.
• Kenny, C. "Molaise. Abbot of Leighlin and hermit of Holy Isle. The life and legacy of Saint Laisren in Ireland and Scotland". Morrigan Books, Killala, County Mayo. (1998)