July 8

Mael-Ruain (d. 792) monk

Mael-Ruain, an abbot of the Irish monastery of Tallaght, died on July 7, 792. He had been at the helm of a monastic reform that strongly influenced the Irish Church in the following centuries.
Mael-Ruain belonged to an ascetic movement that had begun in the second half of the eighth century, and whose mmbers called themselves Céli dé (companions of God). Their intention was to renew Irish monasticism by restoring the evangelical purity that had characterized it at the time of its origins.
In 774, Mael-Ruain founded the community of Tallaght, and then went on to become the spokesperson of the Céli dé movement in all of Ireland. He encouraged monks to rediscover the basic elements of their life: celibacy, spiritual guidance, prayer, work, and study. In an era in which the ancient Celtic custom of peregrinationes pro Christo had degenerated, Mael-Ruain taught monks the importance of perseverance and stability in the community in which they had made a commitment to live.
He dedicated the last eighteen years of his life to offering spiritual counsel to an enormous number of disciples, and to writing rules and instructions inspired by Eastern monasticism.

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THE CHURCHES REMEBER...

COPTS AND ETHIOPIANS (1 abib/hamle):
Febronia of Nisibi (d. ca. 304), martyr (Coptic Church)

LUTHERANS:
Kilian (d. 689), evangelist and martyr in the Mein area

MARONITES:
Procopius of Caesarea (d. 303), martyr

ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN AND GREEK CATHOLICS:
Procopius of Caesarea, megalomartyr
Epictetus and Astion of Almiride (3rd cent.), martyrs (Romanian Church)