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Patron Saint of St. David's B.N.S.
Few details of St. David's life can be ascertained. Tradition has David's birth at St. Non's bay (where some believe that St. Patrick as also born). Dewi is said to have been of royal lineage. His father, Sant, was the son of Credig, who was Prince of Ceredigon, a region in South-West Wales. His mother, Non, was the daughter of a local Chieftain. Legend has it that Non was also a niece of King Arthur. She appears to have worked as a nun in both Cornwall and Brittany after the death of Sant. The first biography was written near the end of the eleventh century, about 500 years after St. David's death, by Rhygyfarch (pronounced Ricemarchus), a son of the then Bishop of St. David's. It was supplemented by Geraldus Cambrensis around 1200. Many legends surround David, one such being thirteen years before David was born. An angel appeared to Sant in a dream, telling him that one day he would have a son who would grow into a good and wise man. The angel instructed Sant to prepare gifts of a stag, a fish and honeycomb. The honeycomb symbolised his wisdom, the fish his simple life of bread and water and the stag his power to stamp out evil such as Pelagain Heresy.
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Wile David was being baptised the marvellous power that he possessed was first shown. The man Paulinus, who held the baby David, was blind and after David was dipped in the spring, the Monk sprinkled his own face with the same spring water and gradually his sight came back.
David was educated in a monastery called Hen Fynyw. He studied under Saint Illtyd, was ordained and then spent 10 years with Paulinus who also had been Illtyd's pupil and a contemporary of St. Gildas.
One day David was invited to sing to the people living in Vallis Rosina. It was late in the year and very cold and in order to keep the people warm, David built a big bonfire. The smoke from the fire rose high into the air.
An Irish Chieftain, named Boya, who was hunting with his men looked up
and saw a huge cloud of smoke drifting over head. "Look up, men"
called Boya. "Do you see that smoke ?". "Can you see that
it is in the form of a man's face ?".
When Boya's wife heard about the cloud of smoke, she said "Boya,
you must go and kill the man who made the fire as no man can be greater
than you". So Boya, with some of his men, set out to kill David.
Having tracked down David, they were about to kill him when a strange fever engulfed them, causing them to shiver uncontrollably and therefore were unable to harm David. David said "Go on your way in peace. You are not meant to harm me".
When Boya returned home he was met by his wife "A terrible thing has happened" she cried, "All our sheep and cattle have died". Boya and his wife went to Villis Rosina to seek out David. "Please take pity on us" they pleaded. "Pray restore our animals to life and you shall live in peace". When Boya and his wife returned to Ireland, they found all their animals alive and healthy.
David founded a monastery at Glyn Rhosyn (Villa Rossina / Rose Vale) on the banks of the small river Alun where the Cathedral city of St. David stands today. The monastic brotherhood that David founded was strict with the Brothers having to work very hard. They celebrated early morning mass and then cultivated and ploughed the land. Many crafts were taught, bee-keeping in particular was very important. The monks had to feed themselves as well as many pilgrims and travellers seeking refuge. They also had to feed and clothe the poor in their neighbourhood.
There are many stories regarding David's life. The bees on the farm were cared for by Modommoc. One day he set off on a journey to Ireland taking a message from David to Boya. He headed for the coast where the ship was anchored. About a mile down the road, he thought he heard a buzzing sound. He looked over his right shoulder to see a swarm of bees. "My goodness", he said "they're the bees from the monastery. I will have to turn around and go back".
With the bees safely in the hives he set off once again. Soon the bees followed him again. This happened three times. The third time he went to David and asked "what am I to do with this swarm of bees, which keep following me ?". David turned to the bees and said "Go with Modommoc and prosper in your new land". From that day, it is said, that Ireland has been rich in bees and honey.
David spent a short period of his life, travelling in the Holy Land. He visited Bethlehem, Nazareth and Jerusalem. On his return to Wales a great meeting which included all the Welsh bishops was held at Mandwei-Brefi. It is said, David was so humble that he refused three times to attend the Synod of Brefi. The Synod may been been called to counter a revival of the so-called "Pelagain Heresy" named after the Fifth Century monk, Pelaginus, who dismissed the idea of original sin and the consequent need for redemption. Eventually Paulinus suggested sending two saints, Deiniol and Dyfrig, to persuade David to come. It is said that when David addressed the Synod, a snow white dove descended from heaven to sit on his shoulder, while the ground on which he stood was miraculously raised into a hill so that he could be better seen and heard. Unsurprisingly, it was decided, very shortly afterwards, that David would be Archbishop.
David's eloquence was such that he was pressed to become Primate of the welsh church, an office he only accepted on condition that the primatial seat be moved to Mynyw. This may have been an act of prudence, for the traditional seat at Caerleon on the river Usk was much further east and exposed to the risk of pagan incursions from England.
David travelled far on his missionary journeys through Wales, where he
established several churches. He also travelled to the South and West
of England and Cornwall, as well as Brittany. In 731, the great English
Churchman and Historian Bede wrote :
that David is credited with founding religious centres at Glastonbury
and Croyland.. Bede, however claimed that the Welsh had no desire to christianise
the pagan English ; subsequently, this task was left mainly to the Irish
missionaries and later to Saint Augustine.
He attracted pupils from many walks of life, including retired Monarchs like St. Constantine of Dumnonia.
St. Aeddan travelled from Mynyw (St. David's) across the Irish sea and founded the Monastery of Ferns from where a premonition warned him that David was about to be poisoned. He sent his companion, Ysgolan, to save the great Saint David from assasination, which he did. Other Irish visitors included Bishop Barre to whom David lent a miraculous horse, which carried him home across the sea.
Legend has it that at the time David died in Mynyw about 601, the sun shone brilliantly on his mourners as he uttered his final words "Noble brothers and sisters, be joyful and keep the faith and persevere in the little things you have heard and learnt together with me".
David's body was buried in the grounds of his own monastery, where the cathedral of St. David now stands. John of Glastonbury informs us that in the reign of King Edgar in the year 962, the relics of St. David were transferred with great solemnity from the Vale of Ross to Glastonbury, together with a portion of the relics of St. Stephen the First Martyr. After his death, his influence spread far and wide - first through Britain, along what was left of the Roman roads.
St. David's Day, as celebrated today, dates back to 1120, when David
was canonised by Pope Callactus II, and from the early 12th Century, the
church named after him at Ty Dewi (St. David's) became a place of pilgrimage.
Pope Callactus declared that two pilgrimages to St. David's equalled in
merit one visit to Rome ! Three visits to St. David's equalled one to
Jerusalem itself !!!
In 1398, Archbishop Arundel ordained that March 1st, the Feast day of St. David's, be kept by every church in the Province of Canterbury. Signified by the wearing of a leek (some wear a daffodil), it is solemnly celebrated by Welsh people all over the world. For many centuries, St. David's remained one of the most important and most visited sacred places in the whole of the British Isles. Even the Norman overlord of the whole of Britain, William the Conqueror, went to St. David's to worship.
To this day, St. David is a very important figure to the Welsh. Naturally, then, St. David's Day is a time of great celebration in Wales. Societies all over Wales celebrate with special meetings and events.
St. David's emblem is a dove, the bird of peace. Legend has it that St. David instructed Welsh soldiers to wear leeks in their hats in a battle against the Saxons, so they could distinguish their own troops from that of their enemies.
The daffodil or Lent Lily originated with the Lily of France, as Welsh soldiers are thought to have brought it back after taking part in the French Battles of Henry V.
St. David's Monastery has suffered the ravages of time and human folly. The Cathedral building itself, the largest and most impressive among its Welsh counterparts, sits in a hollow (Glen Rhosyn) though which runs the river Alun. It is believed by many that the placing of the Cathedral was to hide it from the Viking raiders as it cannot be seen from the sea. However, the founding of the religious settlement dates back much later than the time of the Norsemen.
IN 1088, despite the secluded, half hidden situation, the little settlement suffered the indignity of being ransacked by Vikings, raiding up and down the Welsh coast at will ; at various times in later years it also suffered grievous damage from earthquakes. No traces remain from the early founding, however, much of the present church dates back only to 1180. Less than forty years later, the central tower collapsed, destroying the transepts and choir, which were later re-built.
Bishop Gower (1328-1342), the remains of whose magnificent palace can be visited on the cathedral grounds, added much to the church, including decorated windows and part of the restored central tower. He is also responsible for the magnificent rood screen and is buried inside the church.
During the English Civil War, Cromwell's troops were busy in their usual iconcolastic manner destroying much of the cathedral and its contents and it was necessary for rebuilding programmes undertaken by John Nash in the late 18th Century and by Sir Gilbert Scoll in the 19th. Neither Architect was able to do much about the slope in the floor which rises 14 feet from the West door up to the high altar (local legend says the slope was deliberately planned to get the congregation nearer to Heaven).
The entrance to the Cathedral is through an impressive, ruined gateway and down a steep flight of stone steps known locally as the '39 Articles'. There is much to see and ponder over at St. David's and thus a guide book is essential. The Cathedral contains the shrines of St. Caradog and St. Justinian as well as St. David (though the latter may not be buried there, according to recent scientific tests of the bones). It also houses one of the only surviving medieval Bishop's thrones in Britain.
Edmund Tudor, father of Henry VII is also commemorated in St. David's by an impressive altar-tomb. In addition to the remains of Bishop Gower's opulent residence, the cathedral grounds also contain the ruins of St. Mary's College, for secular priests, which John of Gaunt helped found in 1377. Bishop Gower built his palace in 1340 ; two hundred years later, another bishop had the lead from the roof slowly stripped away to provide dowries for his five daughters - all of whom married later Bishops !
Before leaving the area of the Cathedral, you should visit the ruined chapel and holy well of St. Non, reputed to be David's mother. To get there, you must travel about a mile up a narrow lane to the very edge of the steep cliffs skirted by the pathway that is part of the Pembrokeshire Coast. From an ugly grey building that serves as a religious retreat, in a field usually full of cattle or horses, are the scanty remains of the ancient chapel. Nearby, almost hidden in the undergrowth is St. Non's well. Standing idle, filled with muddy water, the well was an important place of pilgrimage for many centuries; its' supposed healing powers were second only to those at St. Windifred's at Holywell in North Wales.
Also on the coast, not far from the city of St. David's, wedged into a tiny crevice in a steep cliff is another sacred spot, the tiny chapel of St. Govan, built in the 13th century on the site of the cell of a 6th century Celtic monk. Here the hermit St. Govan from Wexford in Ireland, reportedly hid from his pagan persecutors in a niche in the rock that miraculously opened and closed behind him. The modern visitor who is slim enough to turn around in the niche is assured of good luck and the fulfilment of his wishes. A former well on the chapel floor was supposed to cure many diseases. On the way down to the tiny chapel, a steep flight of stone steps has to be navigated. Legend has it that the number counted going down never matches the number reached on the way up. The whole experience is one of mystery; the site being almost inaccessible from land and sea (especially now that the Government uses much of the land approaching the shrine as a firing range for the military).
Perhaps as we go through life, we should remember St. David's last words,
DO THE LITTLE THINGS