Happy St. David's Day - in Welsh: Dydd Gwyl Dewi

St. David - 19th century stained glass window in Jesus College Chapel, Oxford

St. David's Church -

Built in its present form 1181 - St. David's Flag

Saint David: Born in Caerfai, Pembrokeshire, Wales.

Major shrine: St David’s Cathedral, Pembrokeshire, Wales.

Patron Saint of vegetarians and poets.

Saint David's Day (Welsh: Dydd Gŵyl Dewi) is the feast day of Saint David, the patron saint of Wales, and falls on 1 March each year. The date was chosen in remembrance of the death of Saint David on that day in 589, and has been celebrated by followers since then. The date was declared a national day of celebration within Wales in the 18th century.

Every year parades are held in Wales to commemorate St. David. The largest of these is held in Cardiff.

St. David was born towards the end of the fifth century, less than a hundred years after the last Roman legions had marched out of Wales. Over fifty churches and innumerable holy wells were dedicated to him in Wales alone.

The saint was conceived through violence and his poor mother, Non the daughter of Lord Cynyr of Caer Goch, gave birth to him on a cliff top during a violent storm.

David was educated at what is usually taken to be Whitland in Carmarthenshire under Saint Paulinus of Wales. 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 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.

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. The village of Llanddewi Brefi is said to stand on the spot where the miracle occurred.

Many Welsh people wear one or both of the national emblems of Wales on their lapel to celebrate St. David: the daffodil or the leek on this day. The association between leeks and daffodils is strengthened by the fact that they have similar names in Welsh, Cenin (leek) and Cenin Bedr (daffodil, literally "Peter's leek").

The flag of Saint David often plays a central role in the celebrations, and can be seen flying throughout 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.

It is claimed that David lived for over 100 years. 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.

Happy St. David’s Day to all.

History of St. Patrick - Patron Saint of Ireland

St Patrick's Flag

Saint Patrick's Day (Irish: Lá ’le Pádraig or Lá Fhéile Pádraig) is an annual feast day, which celebrates Saint Patrick and is generally celebrated on March 17.

Even though Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland and one of the most celebrated religious figures around the world, the factual information about his life and times is quite vague.

He was born in Wales (U.K) about AD 385. His given name was Maewyn. At the age of sixteen, Patrick was kidnapped from his native land of the Roman British Isles by a band of pirates, and sold into slavery in Ireland. He remained in captivity and worked as a shepherd, during which time he began to have religious visions and became closer to God

After six years he escaped from slavery and went to Gaul where he studied in the monastery under St. Germain, bishop of Auxerre for a period of twelve years.
While back in his homeland, Patrick decided to become a priest and he planned return to Ireland after dreaming that the voices of the Irish people were calling him to convert them to Christianity.

Patrick eventually returned to Ireland as a Christian missionary and succeeded in converting the Irish to Christianity. He was quite successful at winning converts and this upset the Celtic Druids. He was arrested several times, but escaped each time. He traveled throughout Ireland, establishing monasteries across the country. He also set up schools and churches, which would aid him in his conversion of the Irish country to Christianity. He was later appointed as second bishop to Ireland.

Although there were already some Christians living in Ireland, St. Patrick was able to bring upon a massive religious shift to Christianity by converting people of power, wealth and influence. St. Patrick is credited with converting the nobles; who set an example, which the people followed.

His mission in Ireland lasted for thirty years. After that time, Patrick retired to County Down. He died on March 17 in AD 461. By the eighth century he had become the patron saint of Ireland and March 17th has been commemorated as St. Patrick's Day ever since.

One traditional icon from that era is the shamrock. This stems from an Irish tale that tells how Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the Trinity. He used it in his sermons to represent how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit could all exist as separate elements of the same entity. His followers adopted the custom of wearing a shamrock on his feast day.
Saint Patrick is also credited with bringing written word to Ireland through the promotion of the study of legal texts and the Bible. Previous to Patrick, storytelling and history were reliant on memory and orally passing down stories.

The first year that St. Patrick's Day was celebrated in the United States was in 1737 in Boston, Massachusetts. The first official St. Patrick's Day parade was held in New York City in 1766.

In Great Britain, Queen Mary, the Queen Mother, used to present bowls of shamrock flown over from Ireland to members of the Irish Guards, a regiment in the British Army consisting primarily of soldiers from both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

The tiny island of Montserrat, known as "Emerald Island of the Caribbean" due to its foundation by Irish refugees from Saint Kitts and Nevis, is the only place in the world apart from Ireland and the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador in which St Patrick's Day is a public holiday. The holiday commemorates a failed slave uprising that occurred on 17 March 1798.

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all!

Stonehenge, Wiltshire, England

When I recently returned to  England one of the first places that I wanted  to visit was Stonehenge. My cousins live about 30 miles from the area and we usually make the sojourn together. I am always filled with wonder at the mystery of this place.

STONEHENGE

The image above depicts the archaeological version of what Stonehenge 

looked like two thousand years ago.

Stonehenge is a powerful reminder of the once-great peoples of the late Stone and Bronze Ages. Erected between 3,000 BC and 1,600 BC, a number of the stones were carried hundreds of miles over land and sea, while antlers and bones were used to dig the pits that hold the stones their ultimate purpose remains a fascinating and enduring mystery.

 Here we have an ariel view, by National Geographic,

 of  Stonehenge today.

Mystery surrounds this 5,000 year old monument in the centre of the World Heritage Site. When you visit this prehistoric  site it is hard to decide whether Stonehenge was a place of sun worship, a healing sanctuary, a sacred burial site, or something different altogether! 

Stonehenge stands as an enduring testimony to the people who built it, in several phases between 3,000 and 1,600 BC. An amazing feat of engineering and arguably the most sophisticated stone circle in the world.

They provide a complimentary audio tour which tells you all about the history of the site.

Every time I visit I learn a little more than the time before. This is one of the most intriguing sites in the British Isles.

The surrounding landscape is also fascinating. It contains huge prehistoric monuments, stretching over several miles. Many of the earthen monuments have been eroded away and often, only traces remain above ground. 

The stones were built by three different cultures, Windmill, First Wessex and the Beakers - so named because when they buried their dead they had their pots interred with them.

The Bluestones are the smaller inner stones, which originate from Preselli mountains in Wales, and when they become wet they turn blue.

Stonehenge is not the largest stone circle in the world but it is the only one that has lintels around the top, making this unique. 

There is no explanation as to why this site was chosen. Various theories have been put forward but no conclusive evidence has been found to support them.

A common complaint is that there are now ropes erected around the stones to prevent people climbing on them. They were put in place in 1978 to help protect the stones from further damage.

 A lot of the original stones have been taken by our ancestors to build their houses and roads. Also, a lot of stones have been chipped away by visitors and taken away as souvenirs over the past couple of hundred years, therefor there has to be some protection in place to preserve the site. 

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I never fail to enjoy this visit.  I have written about the  history here, but there is another aspect of  this place that is easier to experience than to accurately write about. I am referring to the feeling that comes over myself and most visitors as we are standing looking at the sacred circle. 

It is hard to imagine the ancient  people who mapped the course of the sun and moon to build this monument. To view the burial mounds where they buried their leaders. This place is the center of one of the world's earliest cultures. They actually continued to build this for over two thousand years. They didn't give up until it was finished. 

They dragged the larger stones, 30 Sarsens (sandstone uprights), from the Marlborough Downs , 19 miles away. Each one weighing over 25 tons. The smaller stones, known as the Bluestones, are from the mystical Preseli Mountains in Wales, 240 miles away. 

What was their technology? How did they do that? What was their motivation to keep at it for so many years? As the tour guides say "It still remains a mystery today."

While we were there we met some colorful people. 

 More about this site soon..................

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photos (unless indicated) by peacesojourner