Coemgen makes erenaghs
Of the seed of the fair kings;
He did not forsake them, though it was lawful;
They were the true foundation of his church.
– The Monk Solomon, Life of Coemgen
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
– Matthew 28.18-20
Monastic beginnings
Once Coemgen received his calling to come out of the solitude in which he delighted to a ministry of teaching and preaching, he wasted no time. He went among the villages and farms nearby and taught the people about Jesus. After a while, some men began to walk with him as he taught, to look forward eagerly to his coming back, and, finally, to join him as he began to build the monastic community of Glendalough.
Among those who came to him were certain “seed of the fair kings”. In Coemgen’s day, in the generation after Patrick, Ireland was still ruled by kings, hereditary rulers of families and related tribes, spread out over the whole island. Their kingdoms were not large, the biggest being about the size of a county. The kings lived in the center of their people in a large wattle hut or rath surrounded by a circular wooden fence. The people they ruled lived in huts around the center rath, and they made up a kind of family community, neighbors and relations who lived, worked, and warred together.
This “rath arrangement” became a template for monastic development, especially as kings’ sons began to be drawn to the work of the Gospel. Kings would bless men like Coemgen and grant them land on which to build their communities. In some instances, the king of the rath fort simply gave his community to a holy man, and a monastery quickly arose.
In Coemgen’s case, it would take a bit more time to build his community between the lakes. But even as he worked to build it, he never lost sight of his primary calling: make disciples.
Making disciples
Early Irish Christianity was built on this “rath” structure, and, as the awakening spread throughout the island, many monasteries based on this model began to appear. These communities would need leaders, and Coemgen had the vision and commitment to help make that possible.
Solomon tells us, “Coemgen makes erenaghs”. An erenagh was the head of a monastery. Later on, they would come to be called abbots, following the Roman Catholic model. But in the early days of the 6th century, they were erenaghs, and they needed to be trained in how to lead and develop and care for a monastic community. Coemgen set himself to this task.
Kings’ sons would be good candidates for this role, as they already knew something about how communities worked, and they were eager to learn the Scriptures and how to shepherd such a community. We can be sure that many of these likewise took up the duty of training erenaghs and sending them out to begin their own monasteries or spiritual communities. We note, too, that Solomon mentions the churches of Ireland being built on the foundation of these monasteries. Irish missionaries and leaders followed the cultural template which a rath suggested, but they soon began to make churches central to community life.
Coemgen had a vision not only for making disciples but for making disciple-makers. Where is that vision, or where is that kind of training in churches today? Jesus’ mandate has not changed. As we are going about whatever we are going about to do, we are to make disciples. If we find that hard to imagine it simply shows that our model of the church and what it should be and how to build it has drifted far from the model that Jesus taught, the apostles followed, and the early Church used to win much of the Roman Empire to the Lord.
Making disciples is what churches should do, and what we, as members of local church bodies, should do as well.
For Reflection
1. How is the Lord using you to make disciples?
2. What is your church doing to make disciples?
Psalm 119.50-54
(Wyclif: All for Jesus)
This my comfort in affliction, this my comfort in all strife:
that Your Word is my redemption, giving me eternal life!
Though the proud deride and taunt me, I will trust Your faithful Word.
Let Your judgments from of old be all my comfort, holy LORD.
Indignation grips me, Savior, for those who forsake Your Word.
All Your statutes, all Your favor, I will sing with joy, O LORD!
T. M. Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Other columns of interest: This week: In our ReVision series on “The Kingdom Economy” we are investigating the values that we expect to see in God’s economy. Our Read Moore podcast begins working through Joy to Your World!. The focus of our Scriptorium daily study is Ephesians 6. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
