MALACHY, iNT (1095-114q).
An Irish prelate and reformer. Ile was born probahly in Armagh. of the noble family of O'Morgair, educated by a hermit named Iornhar.
and ordained priest in 1119. lie made further studies at the famous school of Lismore, but re turned to Armagh to throw himself heartily into the movement for the reformation of the Celtic Church. He was chosen Bishop of Down and Connor in 1125. When Ce!sus, Archbishop of Ar magh, was dying, he charged his clergy and peo ple not to elect, according to the prevalent cus tom. a member of his family, but to choose :Mal achy. The election was disputed by a kinsman of the late prelate. and it was not till five years later, in 1134, that Malachy was able to enter into undisputed possession of his see, which. however. he resigned in 1137 to return to the smaller dio cese. Ile still retained a great influence over the development of the whole Irish Church. He visit ed Rome during the pontificate of Innocent 11.. stopping on his way at Clairvaux. where he made the acquaintance of his future biographer Saint Bernard. The Pope invested him with extraor dinary powers as legate in lirland. Leaving home once more in 1148 to visit Pope Eugenics III. at Clairvaux, he died in the arms of Saint Bernard, was buried there, and canonized in 1189.
A singular document passes under the name of the Prophecy of Saint Malachy. which pro fesses to give a list of 141 appropriate mottoes for all the popes from 1143 to the end of time.
Saint Bernard, though he ascribes to Malachy the gift of prophecy. mentions nothing like this; and no earlier (late for its existence can be au thenticated than 1595. in which year it was print ed at Venice. As a matter of fact, however, the mottoes for popes later than that date are often singularly appropriate, either to the char acter, history, or sometimes to the armorial bearings of the various pontiffs. Thus that of Pius VI. was Peregrines aposto/icus: Pius VII., Aquila rapax: Pius IX., Crux de erucc—the cross of Savoy was indeed a heavy cross to him; Leo XIII., Lumen in ece/o—the 'light in heaven' has been referred both to the general enlight ened policy of his reign and to a blazing comet which appears in chief in his family arms. The few remaining mottoes are: Ignis ardrns: depopulate; Fides intrepida; Pastor angelicas; Pastor et 'auto; Flos floram; De medietate lunar; be labore soils; Gloria olirw. "Then," the prophecy concludes, "a second Peter shall sit upon the seven hills, and Christ shall return to judge the world by fire." For further details, consult an article by Lord Bute, "On the Proph ecy of Saint Malaehy," Dublin Rreirfr (Dublin, 1885) ; O'Brien, Historical and Critical Account of the So-Caned Prophecy of Saint .1Iulachy (Dublin, ISSO) ; and his Life by O'llanlon (ib., 1859).