Saint Fursey

Saint Fursey
Saint Fursey and the monk; from a 14th-century manuscript
Born	c. 597
Died	650
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church
Feast	16 January
Attributes	depicted with two oxen at his feet; beholding a vision of angels; gazing at the flames of purgatory and hell.

Saint Fursey (also known as Fursa, Fursy, Forseus, and Furseus: died 650) was an Irish monk who did much to establish Christianity throughout the British Isles and particularly in East Anglia. He reportedly experienced angelic visions of the afterlife. Fursey is one of the Four Comely Saints.

He was born in the region of modern-day Connacht supposedly the son of Fintan and grandson of Finlog, pagan king of the area. His mother was Gelges, the Christian daughter of Aed-Finn, king of Connacht. He was born probably amongst the Hy-Bruin, and was baptised by St Brendan the Traveller, his father's uncle, who then ruled a monastery in the Island of Oirbsen, now called Inisquin in Lough Corrib. He was educated by St Brendan's monks, and when he became of the proper age he was inducted into the monastery at Inisquin (near Galway), under the Abbot St Meldan, his "soul-friend" (anam-chura), where he devoted himself to religious life. His great sanctity was early discerned, and there is a legend that here, through his prayers, twin children of a chieftain related to King Brendinus were raised from the dead. He built his own monastery in Claran outside the town of Headford in Co. Galway and he became the patron saint of the Parish of Headford.

He was said to have been something of an ascetic, wearing thin clothing year round. Aspirants came in numbers to place themselves under his rule, but he wished to secure also some of his relatives for the new monastery. For this purpose he set out with some monks for Munster, but on coming near his father's home he was seized with an apparently mortal illness. He fell into a trance from the ninth hour of the day to cock-crow, and while in this state received the first of the ecstatic visions which have made him famous in medieval literature.

In this vision were revealed to him the state of man in sin, the beauty of virtue. He heard the angelic choirs singing "the saints shall go from virtue to virtue, the God of Gods will appear in Sion." An injunction was laid on him by the two angels who appeared to restore him to his body to become a more zealous labourer for the Lord. Three nights later, the ecstasy was renewed. He was taken to the heavens by three angels who contended six times with demons for his soul. He saw the fires of hell, the strife of demons, and then heard the angel hosts sing in four choirs "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts." Among the spirits of those just made perfect he recognized Saints Meldan and Beoan. They entertained him with much spiritual instruction concerning the duties of ecclesiastics and monks, the dreadful effects of pride and disobedience, and the heinousness of spiritual and internal sins. They also predicted famine and pestilence. As he returned through the fire the demon hurled a tortured sinner at him, burning him, and the angel of the Lord said to him, "Because thou didst receive the mantle of this man when dying in his sin the fire consuming him hath scarred thy body also." Fursey's body bore the mark from that day forward. His brothers Foillan and Ultan then joined the community at Rathmat, but Fursey seems to have renounced the administration of the monastery and to have devoted himself to preaching throughout the land, frequently exorcising evil spirits. Exactly twelve months later he received a third vision. This time, the angel remained with him a whole day, instructed him for his preaching, and prescribed for him twelve years of apostolic labour. This he faithfully fulfilled in Ireland, and then stripping himself of all earthly goods he retired for a time to a small island in the ocean. After some years he founded a monastery at Rathmat on the shore of Lough Corrib which Colgan identifies as Killursa, in the deanery of Annadown.