Malachy untiringly devoted himself to the one great object likely to be successfully accomplished — the Ro- manizing of the Irish Church. To accomplish this ob- ject— the greatest task which could have been under- taken by any person in his day, and which in conse- quence has made the name of Jlalachy one of the most prominent connected with the ecclesiastical annals of Ire- land— he first travelled extensively in his own country, and then all the way to the Imperial City, where he was affectionately received by the pope (Innocent II), bishops, and cardinals, all vying with each other iii their atten- tions to him. The pallium, or pontifical investure, how- ever, for which he had come, the pope refused to grant until a request for union with Rome should come from one of the Irish spiods. Malachy received, however, a sure proof of the pleasure of his holiness with the proposed scheme in his appointment to the legateship for all Ire- land, and returned to his native land expectant of the immediate realization of his life-long dream. On Ins way homeward he became intimately acquainted with Bernard of St. Clairvaux, whom he had already vis- ited on his way towards the Eternal City, and so charmed was he v.ith the order and rule of the Cister- cian monastery that he determined to establish the or- der also in his country, and in 1}42 opened the first Cistercian monastery in Ireland. In the mean time, however, JMalach}^ busily employed himself, his legative power also, in behalf of union, and in 1148 at last suc- ceeded in moving a synod to make the request which Rome demanded previous to the bestowal of the pallium on the Irish clergy. It is, however, not a little remark- able that the synod from which this very important re- quest emanated was not one convened in anj^ province or principal city. It was held in Inis Padrig (Pat- rick's Island), a small, inconsiderable island near the Sherries, in the northern channel of Ireland (Haverty's History of Ireland [New York, 1866], p. 161). Could no more conspicuous place be found ? From this and other internal evidences there is abundant reason to infer that the Irish clergy were not then in favor of union with Rome. The request, however, was issued, and St. IMal- achy set off immediately with it, expecting to meet the pope (now Eugene III) at Clairvaux; but, having been long delayed in England by the jealousy of king Ste- phen, iMalachy, to his sore disappointment, did not reach there till the pope had left. Shortly afterwards he was taken ill, and died (1148) in the arms of his friend and future biographer, St. Bernard. Although Malachy did not personally obtain the cherished wish of his heart, he yet inaugurated and put in train the measures which brought the pallium a few years later.
St. JIalachy was by far the most prominent and pow- erful native ecclesiastic of Ireland in her early days. "His personal influence," says Todd {Iriith Ch. p. 116), " was so great that he was able to direct the minds of his countrymen as he saw fit;" and for this he was ad- mirably fitted by his descent, his learning, his eloquence, and his fascinating address. In A.D. 1152 St. Bernard wrote his Life in elegant mediajval Latin. Previous to an acquaintance with the Irish saint. Bernard had writ- ten many hard things against the Irish, calling them "a stiff-necked, intractable, and ungovernable race;" but, in reference tt) IMalachy, he declared that he could not find words to express his admiration of the saint.
MALAGRIDA
676
MALAN
A curious ProiTihecy concermmj the Future Roman Pon- iiffa is extant under the name of MaJachy. It designates, by a few brief phrases, the leading characteristics of eacli successive reign, and in some instances these descriptive characteristics have proved so curiously appropriate as to lead to some discussion. The characteristic of Pio Nono, Ci'ux de Cruce (cross after cross), was the subject of much speculation. That the prophecy really dates from the time of St. IMalachy no scholar now supposes ; it was unknown not only to his biographer, St. Bernard {Liber de vita S.Mai.), but neither does any other au- thor allude to this work until the beginning of the 17th century. It may be a sufficient indication of its worth to state that neither Baronius nor any of his continu- ators deemed it deserving of attention. It is now sup- posed to have been prepared in the conclave of 1590 by the friends of cardinal SimonccUi, who is clearly de- scribed in the work (comp. DoUinger, Fables respecting the Popes of the Middle A rjes, edited by Prof. H. B. Smith [Dodd and Mead, N, Y., 1872, 12mo"], p. 150 sq.). See Menestrier, Traite sur les p)ropheties attrihuees u saint 3Ialachie ; John Germano, Vita gesti e predizioni deljiadre san Malachia (Naples, 1670, 2 vols. 4to) ; Bre- nan, Eccles. Hist, of Ireland, p. 2C7 sq. ; Todd, Hist, Anc. C/i. in Ireland, p. 106-117 ; Inett, Origines Anglicance (see Index) ; Jahrh. dcutsch. Theol. 1871, p. 56-1. (J. H. W.)
Malagrida, Gabriele, an Italian theologian and preacher, who flourished in Portugal in the first half of the 18th centurj-, was born in the jMilanese in 1689. He entered the Order of the Jesuits, removed to Portugal, and became popular as a pulpit orator and a theological writer. In 1758, when an attempt at assassination was made on Joseph I, the then reigning monarch of Portu- gal, the Jesuits were charged witli the crime (they were shorth^ after expelled from the kingdom) ; Malagrida was suspected of complicity, and arrested forthwith. Freed from this charge, he was accused of spreading heretic doctrines, and suffered death at the stake in 1761. A list of his Avritings is given in Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, vol. xxxii, s. v. See Platel, Relazione delta Condemna ed Esecuzione del Gesuifa G. Medagrida (1761).