St. Flannan of Killaloe: Natural Justice

Celtic Advent December 18th St. Flannan of Killaloe

St. Flannan is a 7th century Irish saint who lived and worked at the monastery of Killaloe of county Clare. Of royal blood, he made an early decision to join the monastic orders. Early in his career he was assigned the job of baking bread. He was working at the end of a 36 hour shift, in the dark, and having trouble seeing, so God caused his left hand to glow with a great light so the he could finish up the job. The abbot walked in on Finnan and was so amazed at this blessing of his young monk that he resigned his position so that Finnan could be proclaimed abbot.

The monastery flourished under Flannan's leadership, so much so that the local populace pushed for him to be made bishop. After traveling to Rome to be approved in this position, Flannan returned to Killaloe. His tenure is described one of peace and prosperity with abundance of harvests, both from the land and sea.

Near the end of his life Flannan felt his life drawing to a close. Calling in his followers he pressed on them the importance of observing natural and human justice and to pursue peace amongt the provinces. After blessing them, he then breathed his last.

Flannan's story reads like a great "local boy succeeds in life" tale: not much controversy or violence and a transfiguration like episode to start it off. What attracted my attention was his death bed admonition to his disciples. It may be an apocryphal quote added centuries later, but I love the idea of promoting natural and human justice as well as peace. Remember these are Celts we are talking about, and a good fight or battle was sometimes hard to resist.

I decided to google "natural justice" to see what I got. There is a very legal definition that has to do with avoiding bias and promoting fairness in court procedings--probably not a Celtic theme there, although I am glad it is a tenet of the courts. There is a recent book by the title of Natural Justice that promotes a theory of social morality--that seems to fit better with Flannan's words. My favorite however was a South African coalition of Lawyers by the name of Natural Justice that promotes rights for communities and the environment. Most recently they have been working with other groups in India with concerns about the escalation of violence towards women in the subcontinent. Flannan and his fellow Celtic saints would have loved that one. As I have mentioned in prior posts, the Celts had a strong affinity with nature. Their sense of local community was a key to their success, and there was little if no descrimination by gender amongst the Irish religious communities of those early centuries.

One of my other favorite Celtic saints, David of Wales, has another a great death bed quote: "Be faithful in the little things." I am really glad that both David and Flannan decided to be spiritual and eloquent in their last words and not say something like... "Rosebud." (If you don't understand that you haven't watched enough movies). Actually, when I think about it, isn't the death of Jesus the ultimate benchmark of admonitions given during the dying process: "Father forgive them for they know not what they do!"

Flannan's story has no thrilling ups and downs. There are no poisonings, no Cliffs of Despair, no Dread Pirate Roberts. Yet I love stories like Flannan's and his last words inspire me to continue to pursue "natural justice."

Lord, help the last words of your servant Flannan continue to inspire not just myself but the church as a whole. We need peace. And we need both natural and human justice. Enshrine these values in our hearts in this season before Christmas, and let them continue to grow in us throughout this next year. In Thy name. Amen.