Saint David

Saint David (c. 520-c. 601) is the patron saint of doves, poets, and Wales. One source calls him "perhaps the most celebrated of British saints." An other gives him credit for evangelizing much of Wales. The body of information available about him today is thin in substantiated fact but rich with tradition, including even King Arthur and a sea monster. Saint David's mere existence may provide evidence that Christianity in Wales persisted in tact and uninterrupted since Roman times.

Rhygyfarch Embellished Story

Most information about Saint David comes from the writings of an eleventh-century monk named Rhygyfarch (also Rhygyvarch, Rhigyfarch, and Ricemarch), son of Bishop Sulien, of Saint David's Cathedral, Saint David's favorite of the churches he established. Rhygyfarch claimed to have gathered his information from old written sources, but those have not survived. Rhygyfarch's life of Saint David is regarded by many scholars as suspect because it contains many implausible events and because he had a stake in enhancing Saint David's history so as to support the prestige of the Welsh church and its independence from Canterbury, the center of the English church (still Catholic at the time). According to David Hugh Farmer in The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, Rhygyfarch's history of Saint David "should be treated as propaganda, which may, however, contain some elements of true tradition." Another source considers Rhygyfarch's biography "traditional, symbolic tales of a great religious leader." Saint David's existence at least does not seem to be in doubt; it is attested to in written records from earlier dates. The earliest is an Irish Catalogue of the Saints of 730. Another is an Irish Martyrology of 800.

Saint David Born

One legend says Saint David's birth was foretold to Saint Patrick (about 373-464) by an angel 30 years in advance. In the traditions surrounding Saint David, his mother is said to be a woman named Non, now Saint Non, who may have been a nun at the cloister called Ty Gwyn, near Whitesand Bay. She may also have been the daughter of a chieftain in Pembrokeshire. She is said to have been very beautiful, and it was her great beauty that is said to have driven Saint David's father, Sant, or Xantus, a local chieftain or king, perhaps related to King Arthur, to rape her. (Other traditions say Sant and Non were married, and she became a nun later in her life.) She became pregnant with Saint David. Yet another legend says that during her pregnancy she entered the church of Saint Gildas in Wales, and he was struck dumb. He realized the Welsh church must be intended for the future Saint David and left for Ireland. In any case, Non is said to have given birth during a storm (so violent as to have deterred a local ruler who planned to kill Saint David in order to eliminate a rival for power in the realm) at a spot overlooking Saint Bride's Bay, south of today's Saint David's Cathedral. The year is given variously as 454, 487, 520, 542, and 544. A medieval chapel named for Saint Non was built at the spot; it is today in ruins. Non's son was baptized at Porth Clais by Saint Ailbhe, who may have been Non's nephew. Miracles marked the event: a new spring erupted and sight was restored to a blind monk, Movi, holding the baby.

Excelled in School

Saint David went to school at a monastery called Hen Vynyw, or Henfynyw, in Cardigan. Rhygyfarch wrote, "He grew up full of grace and lovely to behold. And there it was that holy David learnt the alphabet, the psalms, the lessons for the whole year and the divine office; and there his fellow disciples saw a dove with a golden beak playing at his lips and teaching him to sing the praise of God." One source points out he would have learned Latin there and studied mathematics, astronomy, and music. After Hen Vynyw, he went to an unidentified island (one source says it was the Isle of Wight) to study for the priesthood under a Welsh scribe, Saint Paulinus. A legend says that Paulinus had gone blind from crying so much as he prayed, and that Saint David restored his sight with a gentle touch. Another legend says that an angel told Paulinus to send Saint David out to evangelize the British.

Founded Monasteries

As a traveling priest, Saint David is said to have founded 10 or 12 monasteries. The number is disputed, but several have been authenticated. He also allegedly cleansed deadly water at Bath and turned it into a warm and healing pool. Another legend says some monks tried to poison Saint David's bread, but Saint Schuthyn rode to Saint David one night from Ireland on the back of a sea monster to warn him, and Saint David blessed the bread, counteracting the poison. There is consensus that he ended his evangelizing travels in Mynyw, or Menevia, in extreme southwest Wales (where Saint David's Cathedral is today) and founded his major abbey there, training "many great pastors and eminent servants of God," according to Father Alban Butler on the Catholic Forum website. Butler described Mynyw as "formed by nature for solitude, being … almost cut off from the rest of the island." Another source calls the site "lovely and lonely."

Wrote Strict Rule

Saint David's monks followed a very strict rule "in the spirit of penance," according to Father Butler. Others say Saint David adapted his rule from that of monks in Egypt. "Every moment of the day had its duties," wrote Amy Steedman, one interpreter of Saint David's life. Wearing animal skins, they labored in the fields, plowing without farm animals; "every man his own ox," Saint David is reported to have said. Speaking was severely restricted, and they were to pray, silently if not aloud, at all times. When not in the fields, they prayed, studied, and wrote. They ate bread, vegetables, and salt and drank only water and a little milk. Following the evening meal, the only one of the day, they prayed for three hours before going to bed, then awoke at dawn. Because he didn't allow the consumption of wine or other spirits, Saint David is nicknamed "The Waterman." The monks were to pray continuously from evening on Friday until daybreak on Sunday, with only an hour after Saturday Matins for rest. Farmer noted, "David devoted himself to works of mercy and practised frequent genuflexions and total immersion in cold water as his favourite austerities."

Father Butler wrote that if someone wished to join Saint David's monastery, he had to wait outside for 10 days, "during which time he was tried by harsh words, repeated refusals, and painful labours, that he might learn to die to himself. When he was admitted, he left all his worldly substance behind him."

Combatted Pelagian Heresy

A man who lived over a hundred years before Saint David played a role in the next major event in the traditional telling of Saint David's life. The monk Pelagius, born in Britain in about 354, visited Rome in approximately 380. Although Pelagius was not a priest, he was a popular religious leader who placed a high value on asceticism, or self-denial, as a way of drawing closer to God. The self-indulgent excess he saw in Rome shocked him, and he blamed it on the doctrine of salvation by grace, the idea that people cannot earn salvation by good works but that only God can bestow it. To counteract this doctrine, which Pelagius thought led to moral degradation, he insisted humans were responsible for their own salvation. For this he was declared a heretic and excommunicated in 417 by Pope Innocent I.

By the fifth century, Pelagius's heresy, called Pelagianism, was widespread in Britain. It was suppressed, but legend says it sprang up again in Saint David's lifetime, and a meeting of church officials, called a synod, took place at Brefi, in Cardigan, in about 519, to suppress it again. Saint David was invited to attend. Although he spoke to the assembly only reluctantly, his words were compelling, and legend says a hill rose up under his feet so that everyone could see and hear him and a white dove came and sat on his shoulder as he spoke. (He is represented in church art standing on his hill with the dove on his shoulder.) He not only put down the heresy, but was elected primate of the Cambrian, or Welsh, church unanimously. The incumbent primate, Dubricius, even resigned in Saint David's favor. Saint David accepted on the condition that the headquarters of the see be transferred to his home monastery in Mynyw (now Saint David's Cathedral). Some traditions say the legendary King Arthur approved the relocation of the see.

Made Pilgrimage to Jerusalem

Other stories of Saint David say that after a vision, he traveled to Jerusalem with two companions to aid the patriarch, and that the patriarch of Jerusalem, John III, consecrated him archbishop. Back in Wales, he allegedly assembled a Synod of Victory to officially celebrate the end of the Pelagian heresy in Britain. This synod also presumably ratified a set of rules written by Saint David for the "regulation of the British church," but Rhygyfarch maintained the writings were lost to "age and negligence, and also … the frequent attacks of pirates."

Died in Mynyw

Saint David died in his monastery at Mynyw, some say at the age of 142 or 147 (he is credited with predicting the day), and an observer watched angels carry Saint David's soul up to heaven. Saint David's last words to his monks are said to be, "Be joyful, and keep your faith and your creed. Do those little things that you have seen me do and heard about." The year of his death varies; it may have been in 560, 589, or 601.

Sanctified

In 1120 Pope Callistus II declared David a saint. Butler's Lives of the Saints casts doubt on a legend that the pope also declared that visiting Mynyw twice would be "equal to one visit to Rome" in indulgence value. Saint David's feast day is March 1 (his mother Saint Non's is March 3), and according to Butler's Lives, "There can … be no question that he was a highly popular saint in his own country. More than fifty pre-Reformation churches in South Wales are known to have been dedicated in his honour. Moreover, even in England, Archbishop Arundel in 1398 ordered his feast to be kept in every church throughout the province of Canterbury." Although the monastery Saint David built is gone, today's Saint David's Cathedral, much of it dating from the twelfth century, is Wales's largest cathedral.

Saint David Symbolized

Several symbols are associated with Saint David. William Shakespeare referred to the Welsh custom of wearing leeks or daffodils in Saint David's honor on March 1 as "an ancient tradition begun upon an honourable request," as quoted in Farmer's Oxford Dictionary. Some say the custom comes from a battle between the Welsh and the Saxons; Saint David reportedly wanted the Welsh to wear leeks in their hats so they could recognize other Welsh. Saint David's day now is marked by festivals that feature singing, dancing, and reciting, and the leek and the daffodil are national symbols of Wales.

Other symbols associated with Saint David come from yet another legend about his birth: An angel told Saint David's father, Sant, in a dream that when he went hunting the next day, he would kill a stag and find a fish and a beehive. The stag, said to eat snakes, represents Christianity's conquering Satan (the serpent); the fish represents Saint David's abstinence from liquor; and the bees represent his wisdom and spirituality.

Books

Farmer, David Hugh, The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, Oxford University Press, 1987.

Gill, Elaine, The Celtic Saints, Cassell, 1995.

Guiley, Rosemary Ellen, The Encyclopedia of Saints, Facts On File, 2001.

McBrien, Richard P., Lives of the Saints, Harper SanFrancisco, 2001.

Thurston, Herbert J., and Donald Attwater, eds., Butler's Lives of the Saints, Christian Classics, 1956.

Online

Butler, Alban, www.catholic-forum.com/saints/std08002.htm (March 1, 2003).

"David of Wales B (AC)," http://users.erols.com/saintpat/ss/0301.htm (March 1, 2003).

"Dewi of Wales," http://elvis.rowan.edu/~kilroy/JEK/03/01.html (March 1, 2003).

Halpert, Jane H., "On Being Welsh-Saint of Small Things," World and I, March 2001, http://web3.infotrac.galegroup.com (March 15, 2003).

"Pelagius," Encyclopaedia Britannica Library, 2003, CD-ROM.

"Rhigyfarch," http://www.saintdavid.org.uk/stories.htm/page11.htm (March 1, 2003).

"Saint David's," Encyclopaedia Britannica Library, 2003, CDROM.

"St. Dewi, Bishop of Mynyw," http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/bios/dewi.html (March 15, 2003).

"St. Gildas Badonicus," http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/bios/gildas/html (March 15, 2003).

Steedman, Amy, "Saint David of Wales," http://www.catholicforum.com/saints/std08001.htm (March 1, 2003).

"A Stormy Night," http://www.saintdavid.org.uk/stories.htm/page2.htm (March 1, 2003).

"Wales," Encyclopaedia Britannica Library, 2003, CD-ROM.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: patron saint of Wales (circa 520-600)
  Synonyms: David, Saint David

For other uses, see Saint David (disambiguation).

Saint David
19th century stained glass window in Jesus College Chapel, Oxford.
Bishop
Born	N/K, Caerfai, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Died	1 March probably 589, St David's, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church; Anglican Communion; Western Rite Orthodox Communities
Major shrine	St David's Cathedral, Pembrokeshire, Wales: shrine largely extant, controversial bones in casket
Feast	1 March
Attributes	bishop with a dove, usually on his shoulder, sometimes standing on a raised hillock
Patronage	Wales; Pembrokeshire; vegetarians; poets
Controversy	The earliest of the supposed bones of Saint David and Saint Justinian housed in a casket in the Holy Trinity Chapel of St David's Cathedral have been carbon-dated to the 12th century.

Saint David (c. 500–589) (Welsh: Dewi Sant) was a church official; he was later regarded as a saint and as the patron saint of Wales. In contrast with the other national patron saints of the British Isles, Saints George, Andrew and Patrick, David is a native of the country of which he is patron saint, and a relatively large amount of information is known about his life. However, his birth date is still uncertain, as suggestions range from 462 to 512.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Monasticism 2.1 Connections to Glastonbury 3 Death 4 Reputation 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

Early life

Rhygyfarch, the late 11th century author of the saint's life story (see below), wrote that David was the son of sanctus rex ceredigionis, where Sanctus has been interpreted as a proper name and its owner honoured by Welsh Christians as Sandde, King of Ceredigion. However, this Latin phrase can equally well mean simply "holy king of Ceredigion". The king of Ceredigion around the time of David's birth would have been Usai. According to Rhygyfarch, Sandde was his brother, so probably only a king of part of Ceredigion. They were sons of King Ceredig, founder of Ceredigion. The saint was conceived through violence and his poor mother, Non (possibly just 'a nun'), the daughter of Lord Cynyr of Caer Goch (in Pembrokeshire), gave birth to him on a cliff top during a violent storm. The site is marked by the Chapel of St Non. David was educated at what is usually taken to be Whitland in Carmarthenshire under Saint Paulinus of Wales and was baptised by St. Ailbe.^[1]

Monasticism

He became renowned as a teacher and preacher, founding monastic settlements and churches in Wales, Cornwall and Brittany in a period when neighbouring tribal regions (that were to be overrun by Anglo-Saxon or Frankish tribes over the following three hundred years) were still mostly pagan. He rose to a bishopric, and presided over two synods, as well as going on pilgrimages to Jerusalem (where he was anointed as an archbishop by the Patriarch) and Rome. St David's Cathedral now stands on the site of the monastery he founded in the remote and inhospitable valley of 'Glyn Rhosyn' in Pembrokeshire.

The Monastic Rule of David prescribed that monks had to pull the plough themselves without draught animals; to drink only water; to eat only bread with salt and herbs; and to spend the evenings in prayer, reading and writing. No personal possessions were allowed: to say "my book" was an offence. He lived a simple life and practiced asceticism, teaching his followers to refrain from eating meat or drinking beer. His symbol, also the symbol of Wales, is the leek.

St. David as teacher of St. Finnian in a stained glass window at Clonard

The best-known miracle associated with Saint David is said to have taken place when he was preaching in the middle of a large crowd at the Synod of Llanddewi Brefi. When those at the back complained that they could not see or hear him, the ground on which he stood is reputed to have risen up to form a small hill so that everyone had a good view. A white dove was seen settling on his shoulder—a sign of God's grace and blessing. John Davies notes that one can scarcely "conceive of any miracle more superfluous" in that part of Wales^[2]—a more mundane version of this story is that he simply recommended that the synod participants move to the hilltop. Though miraculously producing a platform on which to preach is not irrelevant. In works of art, David is frequently shown with a dove on his shoulder. The village of Llanddewi Brefi is said to stand on the spot where the miracle occurred.

The document that contains much of the traditional tales about David is Buchedd Dewi, a hagiography written by Rhygyfarch in the late 11th century. Rhygyfarch claimed it was based on documents found in the cathedral archives. Modern historians are sceptical of some of its claims. One of Rhygyfarch's aims was that his document could establish some independence for the Welsh church, which was risking losing its independence following the Norman invasion of England in 1066. It is significant that David is said to have denounced Pelagianism during the incident before the ground rose beneath him. Rhygyfarch's Life states that David was anointed as an archbishop by the Patriarch in Jerusalem, a position Rhygyfarch said was confirmed at the Synod of Llanddewi Brefi by popular acclaim. ^[3] This claim of St David's Metropolitan Status as an archbishopric (and thus of the same status as Canterbury) was later supported by Bernard, Bishop of St David's, Geoffrey of Monmouth, and Gerald of Wales.

Connections to Glastonbury

Rhygyfarch stated that Glastonbury Abbey was amongst the many churches David founded.^[4] Around forty years later William of Malmesbury believing the Abbey was older than this, said that David visited Glastonbury intending only to rededicate the Abbey, as well as to donate a travelling altar including a great sapphire. He had a vision of Jesus, who said that "the church had been dedicated long ago by Himself in honour of His Mother, and it was not seemly that it should be re-dedicated by human hands". So David instead commissioned an extension to be built to the abbey, east of the Old Church. (The dimensions of this extension given by William were verified archaeologically in 1921). One manuscript indicates that a sapphire altar was among the items King Henry VIII confiscated from the abbey at its dissolution a thousand years later. There are unverifiable indications that the sapphire may now be among the Crown Jewels.

Death

The Flag of Saint David.

St David's Cathedral, built in its present form 1181

It is claimed that David lived for over 100 years, and he died on a Tuesday 1 March (now St David's Day). It is generally accepted that this was around 590, making the actual year 589. The monastery is said to have been 'filled with angels as Christ received his soul'. His last words to his followers were in a sermon on the previous Sunday. Rhygyfarch transcribes these as 'Be joyful, and keep your faith and your creed. Do the little things that you have seen me do and heard about. I will walk the path that our fathers have trod before us.' 'Do the little things in life' ('Gwnewch y pethau bychain mewn bywyd') is today a very well-known phrase in Welsh, and has proved an inspiration to many.

David was buried at St David's Cathedral where his shrine was a popular place of pilgrimage throughout the Middle Ages.

Reputation

David's popularity in Wales is shown by the Armes Prydein Vawr c.930, a popular prophetic poem in which the poet prophesied that in the future, when all might seem lost, the Cymry (the Welsh people) would unite to follow David as their leader: A lluman glân Dewi a ddyrchafant (And they will raise the pure banner of Dewi) and defeat the English.

Unlike many contemporary 'saints' of Wales, David was officially recognised by Pope Callixtus II in 1120 thanks to the work of Bernard, Bishop of St David's. Music for his office has been edited by O.T. Edwards in Matins, Lauds and Vespers for St David’s Day: the Medieval Office of the Welsh Patron Saint in National Library of Wales MS 20541 E (Cambridge, 1990)

David's life and teachings have inspired a choral work by Welsh composer Karl Jenkins, Dewi Sant. It is a seven-movement work that is best known for the classical crossover series Adiemus, which intersperses movements reflecting the themes of David's last sermon with those drawing from three Psalms. An oratorio by another Welsh composer Arwel Hughes, also entitled "Dewi Sant", was composed in 1950.

See also

• Christian vegetarianism
• St David's Cathedral

References

1. ^ Toke, Leslie (1908). "St. David". The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York City: Robert Appleton Company (print); New Advent (web). 
2. ^ Davies, John (1993/2007). A History of Wales. London: Penguin. pp. 74. 
3. ^ Rhygyvarch's Life of St David. A.W. Wade-Evans's (Ed.) sections, 48, 53. ISBN 978-1889298030
4. ^ Rhygyvarch's Life of St David. A.W. Wade-Evans's (Ed.) section 13. ISBN 978-1889298030

External links

• Early British Kingdoms: St. Dewi, Bishop of Mynyw
• Statue of Saint David
• St Davids Festival in Swansea

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