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Part 11: The Paradise of Birds

When they were sailing near the island where they had spent the three days, and came to the western edge of it, they saw another island almost joining it, separated only by a small channel. There was plenty of grass on it; it had groves of trees and was full of flowers. They started circling it, looking for a landing-place. As they were sailing on its southern side they found a stream flowing into the sea and there they put the boat in to land. As they disembarked, Saint Brendan ordered them to draw the boat with ropes up along the river-bed with all their might. The width of the river was about the width of the boat. The father sat in the boat. So they carried on for about a mile, until they came to the source of the stream. Saint Brendan spoke:

"Our Lord Jesus Christ has given us a place in which to stay during his holy Resurrection."

And he added:

"If we had no other supplies but this spring, it would, I believe, alone be enough for food and drink."

Over the spring there was a tree of extraordinary girth and no less height covered with white birds. They covered it so much that one could scarcely see its leaves or branches. When the man of God saw this, he began to think and ponder within himself what it meant or what was the reason that such a great multitude of birds could be all collected together. He was so tormented about this that the tears poured out and flowed down upon his cheeks, and he implored God, saying:

"God, who knows the unknown and reveals all that is secret, you know the distress of my heart. I implore your majesty to have pity and reveal to me, a sinner, through your great mercy your secret that I now look upon with my eyes. I rely not on what I deserve or my worth, but rather on your boundless pity."

When he said this within himself and had taken his seat again, one of the birds flew from the tree, making a noise with her wings like a hand-bell, and took up position on the side of the boat where the man of God was sitting. She sat on the edge of the prow and stretched her wings, as it were as a sign of joy, and looked with a peaceful mien at the holy father. The man of God immediately concluded that God had listened to his plea, and spoke to the bird:

"If you are God's messenger, tell me where these birds come from or for what reason they are congregated here."

She replied immediately:

"We survive from the great destruction of the ancient enemy, but we were not associated with them through any sin of ours. When we were created, Lucifer's fall and that of his followers brought about our destruction also. But our God is just and true. In his great judgment he sent us here. We endure no sufferings. Here we can see God's presence. But God has separated us from sharing the lot of the others who were faithful. We wander through various regions of the air and the firmament and the earth, just like the other spirits that travel on their missions. But on holy days and Sundays we are given bodies such as you now see so that we may stay here and praise our creator. You and your brothers have now spent one year on your journey. Six still remain. Where you celebrated Easter today, there you will celebrate it every year. Afterwards you will find what you cherish in your heart, that is, the Promised Land of the Saints."

When she said this, she lifted herself off the prow and flew to the other birds.

When the hour of Vespers had come all the birds in the tree chanted, as it were with one voice, beating their wings on their sides:

"A hymn is due to thee, O God, in Zion, and a vow shall be paid to you in Jerusalem."

They kept repeating this versicle for about the space of an hour. To the man of God and his companions the chant and the sound of their wings seemed in its sweetness like a rhythmical song.

Then Saint Brendan said to his brothers:

"Repair your bodies, for today our souls are filled with divine food."

When supper was over they performed the divine service. When all was finished, the man of God and his companions gave repose to their bodies until midnight. Waking, the man of God aroused his brothers for the vigil of the holy night, beginning with the versicle:

"Lord, open thy lips."

When the holy man had finished, all the birds responded with wing and mouth, saying:

"Praise the Lord, all his angels; praise him, all his powers."

So it was as for Vespers — they chanted all the time for the space of an hour.

When dawn rose they chanted:

"May the radiance of the Lord, our God, be upon us!" — with the same tune and for the same length of time as at Matins and Lauds. Likewise at Terce they chanted the versicle:

"Sing praises to our God, sing praises! Sing praises to our king. Sing praises in wisdom."

At Sext they chanted:

"Shine your countenance, Lord, upon us, and have mercy on us."

At Nones they chanted:

"How good and pleasant it is that brothers live together as one!"

In this way, day and night, the birds gave praise to the Lord. And so Saint Brendan refreshed his brothers with the feast of Easter until the Octave day.

When the days of the octave were over he said:

"Let us take supplies from the spring. Until now we had no need of water except to wash our hands and feet."

When he said this, the man, with whom they had previously spent the three days before Easter and who had given them food for the feast of Easter, came to them in his boat which was full of food and drink. He took all of this out of the boat, stood before the holy father and said:

"Men, brothers, here you have enough until the holy day of Pentecost. Do not drink from the spring here. It is strong to drink. I shall tell you what kind it is: if a man drinks it, sleep will overpower him and he will not awaken for twenty-four hours. It is only when it is outside of the spring that it has the taste and quality of water."

When he had received the holy father's blessing, he returned to his own place.

Saint Brendan remained where he was until the beginning of the octave of Pentecost. For the chanting of the birds revived their spirits. On Pentecost, however, when the man of God had sung Mass with his brothers, their steward came, bringing with him whatever was necessary for the celebration of the feast day. When they had sat down together for the meal, the steward spoke to them, saying:

"You have a long journey ahead of you. Take the full of your vessels from the spring here and dry bread which you can keep until next year. I shall give you as much as your boat can carry."

When all this had been finished, he received the holy father's blessing and returned to his own place.

After eight days Saint Brendan had the boat loaded with all the things the steward had brought to him, and had all the vessels filled from the spring. When all was assembled at the shore, the same bird with speedy flight came and sat on the prow of the boat. The man of God understood that she wanted to tell him something. Then in a human voice she said:

"Next year you will celebrate with us the holy day of Easter and the time you have just spent with us. And where you were this year on Maundy Thursday, there you will be next year on that day. Similarly you will celebrate the vigil of Easter Sunday where you formerly celebrated it, on the back of Jasconius. After eight months you will also find an island which is called the Island of the Community of Ailbe and there you will celebrate Christmas Day."

When she had said this, she returned to her own place. The brothers stretched the sail and steered out into the ocean, while the birds chanted, as it were with one voice.

"Hear us, God, our saviour, our hope throughout all the boundaries of the earth and in the distant sea."

< PART 10. JASCONIUS | PART 12. THE COMMUNITY OF AILBE

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