Renaissance . To know , to meet and to dialogue with the various cultures is , today , necessary for the Europe of peoples and for the action of Christians in an always more globalized world , especially in this moment of crisis that the EU is experimenting .
In the meeting of these cultures we find the Culture as foundation of all values and then of the person with his / her freedom and supreme dignity in a world of justice , solidarity and peace , all equal as human beings , united by the deep-rooted sense of belonging to a common intellectual and spiritual tradition , respecting diversity .
The Irish monks , true missionaries , like St . Columbanus or St . Cathaldus , had an important task in promoting the reality of this Culture and in developing it during the snoozing of Middle Ages . To them we owe a lot , as an essential part of our DNA . Infact , immediately after the fall of the Roman Empire ,
in 476 A . D ., in a Europe , devastated by the lack of moral values , barbaric invasions and famine , a wave of re-evangelization and moral and cultural renewal , true work of spiritual and civic re-unification of the whole of Europe , starts from Ireland .
They brought an Irish style of Christianity to Europe and had an important role in preserving their indigenous cultural heritage . So , while the Roman Empire was fading , literary culture was blooming in Ireland in places such as Armagh , Inis More , Kildare , Clonard , Clonmacnoise , Bangor , Clonfert , Durrow , Derry , Glendalough , Lismore … that made Ireland , the land of “ Saints and Scholars ”.
The secret of their work came from a small church at the centre of their monastery , “ where , over the white Gospel page , the Gospel candles shone ”. The White learning , which made the Irish monks famous , was the learning and teaching based on the Bible . Meditation and concentration on the Word of God , studying and teaching it , assimilating and communicating it , became the soul of this White learning . The words of the Gospel : The Spirit of the Lord is upon me , because He anointed me , to bring glad tidings to the poor . He sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blinds , to let the oppressed go free were St . Patrick ’ s and later the Irish monks ' message .
The monastery became in this way a place for faith and of meeting people , scriptorium where to gather epic poems , love stories , elegies of everyday life , passed on generation to generation , and the Irish monastic centres developed , from the 5th century onwards , into villages , hostels for pilgrims , hospitals for the sick , university citadels , work places or cultural centres for all , true oases of peace and prayer , meditation and contemplation , learning and teaching .