Happy St. David's Day!

 

(That's how you really say it.)

My own David (the Brick's first name) reminded me that today, March 1st, is HIS day.

Well, it's  named for Dewi Sant, a Welsh bishop who lived in the 6th century. 'St. David' is often pictured with a white dove (representing the Holy Spirit, I'd guess) on his shoulder. 

St. David...a hero saint of Wales. 

Celebrate his special day by pinning a leek on your shirt.  (Why leeks? Find out here.)

Or be a weenie and wear a daffodil, instead.

Then you can parade around like this:

Here's his story, according to this Welsh link:

According to Rhygyfarch (a historian, and the major source on David's life), St. David was born to St. Non, a nun and a tribesman’s daughter after she was raped by Sant, the son of the prince of Ceredigion. It is said that the birth took place upon a hilltop during a violent storm, where the Chapel of St. Non stands today. Legend also has it that an angel had predicted St. David’s birth thirty years before it occurred.

St. David’s early life was spent studying the Holy Scripture, first under St. Illtyd at Caerworgorn, and then under St. Paulinus. Upon completing his education, he became a travelling monk who established and restored twelve monasteries across Wales, Dumnonia and Brittany. He managed to convert many pagans to the Christian faith during this travels, and soon founded his own monastery at ‘Glyn Rhosyn’ in Pembrokeshire.

Life at the ‘Glyn Rhosyn’ monastery was extremely arduous for the monks residing there. The men were only allowed to consume bread with herbs, vegetables, milk and water. Indeed, St. David himself only ever drank water, giving him the name ‘Dewi Ddyfrwr’ (David the water drinker).

They were forced to pull their own ploughs without the help of animals, and were obliged to pray constantly throughout the day. Moreover, the monks were not permitted to speak amongst themselves unless in an emergency. It is thus not difficult to imagine that some monks were bitter about their austere lifestyle.

On one occasion, a group attempted to poison St. David’s food, a plot which was foiled when St. David blessed the food and ate it without coming to any harm. It was following this incident that David went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where the Patriarch anointed him Archbishop.

The above is not the only miracle St. David is said to have performed. In more than one account, David is said to have healed the blind – the first at his baptism where the blessed water was used to bestow sight upon a blind man, and the second, when he healed his blind teacher, St. Paulinus, by making the sign of the cross. It is also said he raised a widow’s son from the dead.

However, the most famous tale of St. David’s miracle-working originates at the synod of Brevi. It is said that St. David preached so loudly that the ground below him rose into a hill so all could see him.

St. David passed away on March 1st when he was over 100 years of age, apparently surrounded by angels who would take his soul to Heaven. Some texts even state that he lived to be 147, and that he had predicted the date of his death a week in advance.

At his final sermon, he called upon the monks to “do the little things” (gwneud y pethau bychain), an expression which remains inspirational to the Welsh people even today.

St. David was buried at his monastery, which is now the site of St. David’s Cathedral. It was also the destination of many pilgrimages during the Middle Ages.

Happy St. David's Day!