SAINTS DAYS IN MARCH
1 March St David (before 500 -589) also Dewi Sant, Patron Saint of Wales.
Not much is known about his life, his mother was St Non, daughter of Lord
Cynur of Caer Goch/Pembrokeshire, she is
supposed to have given birth on a cliff edge
during a storm. He was a pupil of St Illtud
(Llantwit Major). David was educated at
Whitland in Camarthenshire and baptised by
St Aibe, Bishop of Emly. David became
renowned as a preacher and founded
monasteries in Wales, one in Glyn Rhosyn
Valley, where now stands St David’s Cathedral .His monastic rule was ascetic,
demanding vegetarianism. He presided over 2 Synods and went on a
pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where he was anointed Archbishop by the Patriarch.
His symbol is the leek, which is part of his legend, but largely comes from
Shakespeare Henry V. He is said to have given the plant to Welsh fighters
against the Anglo Saxons to distinguish them from the enemy by their clothing.
The Daffodil is used today instead of the leek, because it has a similar flower.
St David is also depicted with a dove after a miracle at the Synod of Brefi,
where he preached against the Pelagian heresy. He died on March 1, aged
100 and was buried at St David’s Cathedral. He was canonised in 1120, music
from his ‘Office’ has been edited and inspired modern choral works.
17 March St Patrick (died 17 March 493) Patron Saint of
Ireland. He was a Romano- British missionary, born at Bonna
Venta Berniae (which may be Ravenglass in Cumbria), his
father was a deacon, his grandfather a priest. Aged 16 he was
captured in Wales by Irish Raiders and taken to Ireland as a
slave. He came home after 6 years and entered the Church,
returned to Ireland as an ordained Priest. The dates of his life
are not certain, now accepted as late 5 th century. Some
traditions attached to Patrick belong to Palladius, who was sent
to Ireland by the Pope to suppress the heresy of Pelagius. Two
letters of Patrick exist and tell of his difficult position as a foreigner in Ireland,
being accused of financial improprieties, tried and put in prison. He is said to
have been buried in Down Cathedral (Downpatrick) alongside St Brigid. There
is a modern visitors’ centre.
Legends have it that he banished all snakes from Ireland (his staff morphed
into a snake like Moses’), that he used the shamrock as a symbol for the
Trinity, although it is also a Celtic symbol for rebirth and picture of the triple
goddesses. St Patrick’s Bell, the reliquary now in Dublin Museum as an
example of Celtic Art, was part of his relics. He was never formally canonised.
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