Saint Assicus of Elphin (Lanigan)

From Lanigan's Ecclesiastical History of Ireland:

"Patrick placed Asicus at Elphin but it does not state whether he was then a bishop or not.  According to the chronology of the Tripartite Asicus would have been fixed at the place about A.D. 437 (see chap. v sction ix) at which time he could not have been a bishop. "fter some words we read in said passage: 'Assicus sanctus episcopus fuit faber acris Patricii.' Here he is called bishop; but  the addition of his having worked in brass for St. Patrick would seem to indicate that his promotion did not take place, at least, until after the foundation of Armagh, when the saint, having a permanent restidence had occasion to employ him.  Next we may suppose, that he was not made bishop of Elphin until after he had ceased to work at Armagh, as he must have resided in his diocese.  The passage referred to above may, I think, be explained in the following manner.  Ascius was placed at Elphin when a priest by St. Patrick not many years after the commencement of his mission; when Armagh was founded he was summoned thither to assist in making utensils for the use of the church; afterwards, but whether before or after the death of the saint cannot be ascertained, he became bishop of Elphin." (Vol. I, 2nd Edition, 1829, Chapt. VII, p. 343)

A wonderful account of St. Assicus can also be round here.

Saint Assicus of Elphin (Archdall)

From Mervyn Archdall's Monasticon Hibernicum:

Of St Asicus who also had a hermitage on Slieve Leagne we have ample information. The Rev. Mathew Kelly in his notices of the "Patron Saints of Ireland" writes of him:- "St Asicus Asaach bishop patron of Elphin. A disciple of St. Patrick who obtained from a Druid the land on which the church of Elphin was founded Asicus was its first bishop. Among the different members of St. Patrick's household to whom provision for all the ecclesiastical wants of the infant church was committed St. Asicus is described as an artificer in brass "faber acris Patricii." In a penitential spirit St. Asicus renounced the govemment of his diocess and retired to the mountains of Sliebh Ling, in the present county of Donegal, from which he could not be persuaded to return. He died in his retreat and was buried in the church of Rathcunga in Tirhugh Donegal. His name is in the Martyrology of Tallaght on the 26th of April. His festival is observed on the following day in the diocess of Elphin."

This notice is not so full as the one given by Colgan who writes:- "The most holy and chaste bishop Asicus when on a certain occasion it was necessary to state a certain fact uttered a falsehood having spoken without sufficient reflection. In consequence of this fault he became so great a penitent that he determined never to be seen in the place where he had given so great a scandal herefore having resigned his see and the government of the monastery in which he lived heretier to the northern parts of Ireland and on a certain mountain in the country of Tir Eoghaine called Sliabh Liag he led a solitary life for seven long years. Meanwhile his monks by their untiring exertions discovered him in that desert and implored him to return to his deserted see and monastery but he refused sternly because he considered himself guilty of a great scandal in telling a falsehood and that he therefore ought not be seen where he had given the scandal. They prevailed however on him to remove to another solitary place where he shortly after slept in the Lord and was buried by his disciples in the country of Serthe at a place called Rathcunga. Not far from this hermitage on the mountain there is in the townland of Rinnakill another holy well which is called the Well of the Female Saints. Local tradition says that a convent of nuns stood here at an early period but not a trace of it can now be seen.

Traditional Latin Mass Pilgrimage to Strokestown

A warm welcome awaited us today in Strokestown, Co. Roscommon, the home place of the late Fr. Flanagan, our first Chaplain, today for a Traditional Latin Mass for the repose of his soul in the Parish Church of the Immaculate Conception, a towering beacon in stone standing guard over the town, on the feast of St. Lawrence of Brindisi.  Our grateful thanks to the Priests and People of Strokestown for their many kindnesses.

Buildings of Ireland has a full description of the Church here.
The online Dictionary of Irish Architects has a note of the Church here.
Reports of previous pilgrimages can be found here (2013) and here (2014)

Latin Mass in Strokestown, Co. Roscommon

We are returning to Strokestown, Co. Roscommon, on Saturday, 21st July, 2018, for a visit to the graveyard followed by a Traditional Latin Mass in the Parish Church of the Immaculate Conception at 2 p.m.

Saint Assicus of Elphin (Lanigan)

From Lanigan's An Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, at chaps. v and vii.

If we are to believe the Tripartite the church of Elphin was founded about this time and the place for it is said to have been given to St. Patrick by a magus called Ono. Over this church was placed Asicus who became a bishop but certainly not as early as the time we are now treating of (84) Bronus, bishop of Caissel irra, West Cashel in Co Sligo, is spoken of also in this part of our saint's history but although a disciple of St. Patrick as was also Asicus or Asacus (85) he did not become a bishop until several years after this period. (86) 

Footnotes
(84) It is impossible in following the history of St Patrick as given in the Lives to determine the true times of the foundation of most of our ancient sees or of the first bishops It becomes therefore necessary to treat of them under a distinct head which will be found lower down
(85) Tirechan's list ap Usher p 951
(86) Bron was bishop in St Brigid's time and died AD 511. 512 Tr Th p. 176

Asacus or as others call him Asicus is one of those whom a very old tradition acknowledges as a bishop in that early period of the Irish church He was placed at Elphin and according to some accounts as bishop (50) by St. Patrick. It is however doubtful whether he was one during the saint's life time. It is related of him that through a penitential spirit he withdrew from his diocese and retired to the mountain Sliebhliag Slieve league in Donegal where after a considerable time he was discovered by his disciples. He could not be prevailed on to return to his see but went with them to a solitary place and when dead was buried at Rath cunga (51) barony of Tyrhughin said county.

Patrick placed Asicus at Elphin. But it does not state whether he was then a bishop or not. According to the chronology of the Tripartite, Asicus would have been fixed at that place about AD 437 (see Chap v sect ix) at which time he could not have been a bishop. After some words we read in said passage "Assicus sanctus episcopus fuit faber acris Patricii" Here he is called bishop but the addition of his having worked in brass for St. Patrick would seem to indicate that his promotion did not take place until after at least the foundation of Armagh, when the saint having a permanent residence had occason to employ him. Next we may suppose that he was not made bishop of Elphin until after he had ceased to work at Armagh, as he must have resided in his diocese. The passage above referred to may, I think, be explained in the following manner. Asicus was placed at Elphin when a priest by St. Patrick, not many years after the commencement of his mission when Armagh was founded, he was summoned thither to assist in making utensils for the use of the church afterwards but whether before or after the death of the saint cannot be ascertained he became bishop of Elphin.   Next to Asacus is mentioned Bitheus concerning whose episcopacy some doubts might be entertained were he not mentioned in quotations from old documents as a bishop and contemporary with Bronus and Asacus who was his uncle (52) This last circumstance is sufficient to show that he did not beeome a bishop until after St Patrick's death for if it is doubtful whether the uncle was one at so early a period we may conclude that the nephew was not. Where his see or church was I cannot rightly discover (53) He is said to have been buried at Rath cunga (54) where his uncle's remains had been deposited.

Footnotes
(51) Tripart L 2 c 40 Archdall makes Rathcunga an abbey founded by St. Patrick and refers to Colgan But neither he nor the Tripartite mentions St. Patrick founder of an abbey there. At most they attribute to him the erection of a church at Rath cunga See Chap vi n But whatever was the religious house in that place it owed its origin at the earliest to the followers of Asicus.
(52) Tripart L 2 c inr Compare with ib c 39 and 43
(53) The Tripartite has L 2 c 52 St Bronius S Biteus de Caissel ira Bronius was certainly bishop of that place but do these words mean that Biteus was also bishop thereof. If so he was not appointed to it until at the earliest AD 512 the year in which Bronius died and accordingly must have been very young when a disciple of St Patrick. Or is there a transposition in the text so as that it should be read St Bronius de Caissel ira S Biteus &c
(54) Tripart L 2 c iii

Traditional Easter Ceremonies

The Easter Ceremonies in the Gregorian Rite:

Holy Thursday

4 p.m. - Holy Mass: Silverstream Priory, Stamullen, Co. Meath
6 p.m. - Holy Mass: Sacred Heart Church, The Crescent, Limerick City
6 p.m. - Holy Mass: Ss. Peter and Paul's Church, Paul Street, Cork City
7 p.m. - Holy Mass: St. Kevin's Church, Harrington Street, Dublin 8.
7.30 p.m. - Tenebrae: Silverstream Priory, Stamullen, Co. Meath

Good Friday

12 noon - Stations of the Cross: Ss. Peter and Paul's Church, Paul Street, Cork City
3 p.m. - Liturgy of the Passion: Sacred Heart Church, The Crescent, Limerick City
3 p.m. - Liturgy of the Passion: Silverstream Priory, Stamullen, Co. Meath
5 p.m. - Liturgy of the Passion: St. Kevin's Church, Harrington Street, Dublin 8.
6 p.m. - Liturgy of the Passion: Ss. Peter and Paul's Church, Paul Street, Cork City
7 p.m. - Stations of the Cross: St. Kevin's Church, Harrington Street, Dublin 8.
7.30 p.m. - Tenebrae: Silverstream Priory, Stamullen, Co. Meath

Holy Saturday

12.30 p.m. - Tenebrae: Ss. Peter and Paul's Church, Paul Street, Cork City
8 p.m. - Easter Vigil: Silverstream Priory, Stamullen, Co. Meath
8.30 p.m. - Easter Vigil: Ss. Peter and Paul's Church, Paul Street, Cork City
9 p.m. - Easter Vigil: Sacred Heart Church, The Crescent, Limerick City
9 p.m. - Easter Vigil: St. Kevin's Church, Harrington Street, Dublin 8.

Easter Sunday

9 a.m. - Holy Mass: St. Mary's Church, Ballyhea, Co. Cork
9 a.m. - Holy Mass: St. Mary's Church, Chapel Street, Newry, Co. Down
10 a.m. - Holy Mass: St. Patrick's Church, Drumkeen, Co. Donegal
10 a.m. - Holy Mass: Silverstream Priory, Stamullen, Co. Meath
10.30 a.m. - Holy Mass: Sacred Heart Church, The Crescent, Limerick City
10.30 a.m. - Holy Mass: St. Kevin's Church, Harrington Street, Dublin 8.
12 noon - Holy Mass: Ss. Peter and Paul's Church, Paul Street, Cork City
1.30 p.m. - Holy Mass: Holy Cross Church (O.P.), Tralee, Co. Kerry
2 p.m. - Holy Mass: St. Columba's Church, Longtower, Derry City
4 p.m. - Holy Mass: St. Therese's Church, Somerton Road, Belfast City
5 p.m. - Holy Mass: St. Patrick's Church, College Road, Kilkenny City
5.30 p.m. - Holy Mass: Blessed Sacrament Chapel, Our Lady's Shrine, Knock, Co. Mayo

Beannachtaí na Cásca oraibh go léir!
A happy and holy Easter to one and all!