St David of Wales!

The post below is courtesy of A Reluctant Sinner:

The following short, but sweet, passage from Gerald of Wales’s twelfth century Description of Wales reminds us of that nation's great Catholic heritage -- now often denied or simply forgotten by many, especially after four centuries of Protestantism.

On this his feast day, may St David help bring back his people of today to that Catholic faith, which once sustained their ancestors with such joy. The Welsh continue to rejoice in their patron saint -- please God, may they one day come to share again in that faith which David begged them to keep. (For more on the patron saint of Wales, please see here.) 

In ancient times, and about two hundred years before the overthrow of Britain, the Welsh were instructed and confirmed in the faith by Faganus and Damianus, sent into the island at the request of king Lucius by pope Eleutherius, and from that period when Germanus of Auxerre, and Lupus of Troyes, came over on account of the corruption which had crept into the island by the invasion of the Saxons, but particularly with a view of expelling the Pelagian heresy, nothing heretical or contrary to the true faith was to be found amongst the natives. But it is said that some parts of the ardent doctrines are still retained. They give the first piece broken off from every loaf of bread to the poor; they sit down to dinner by three to a dish, in honour of the Trinity. With extended arms and bowing head, they ask a blessing of every monk or priest, or of every person wearing a religious habit. But they desire, above all other nations, the episcopal ordination and unction [i.e., Confirmation], by which the grace of the spirit is given. They give a tenth of all their property, animals, cattle, and sheep, either when they marry, or go on a pilgrimage, or, by the counsel of the church, are persuaded to amend their lives. This partition of their effects they call the great tithe, two parts of which they give to the church where they were baptised, and the third to the bishop of the diocese. But of all pilgrimages they prefer that to Rome, where they pay the most fervent adoration to the apostolic see. We observe that they show a greater respect than other nations to churches and ecclesiastical persons, to the relics of saints, bells, holy books, and the cross, which they devoutly revere; and hence their churches enjoy more than common tranquillity. For peace is not only preserved towards all animals feeding in churchyards, but at a great distance beyond them, where certain boundaries and ditches have been appointed by the bishops, in order to maintain the security of the sanctuary. But the principal churches to which antiquity has annexed the greater reverence extend their protection to the herds as far as they can go to feed in the morning and return at night. If, therefore, any person has incurred the enmity of his prince, on applying to the church for protection, he and his family will continue to live unmolested; but many persons abuse this indemnity, far exceeding the indulgence of the canon, which in such cases grants only personal safety; and from the places of refuge even make hostile irruptions, and more severely harass the country than the prince himself. Hermits and anchorites more strictly abstinent and more spiritual can nowhere be found; for this nation is earnest in all its pursuits, and neither worse men than the bad, nor better than the good, can be met with.

Happy and fortunate indeed would this nation be, nay, completely blessed, if it had good prelates and pastors, and but one prince, and that prince a good one.

Gerald of Wales, The Description of Wales (Book I: XVIII); see here for full text

In this passage, the brilliant medieval cleric, Gerald, highlights that great zeal for the eremitic life which seems to have been an important aspect of Catholicism in Wales throughout the centuries. This longing for the silence of the cell, for penances, and for joyful simplicity, still haunts the Welsh soul. In fact, the above description by Gerald of Wales rings true for many of those Welsh people who still adhere to the old Faith in our own day – see Fr David Jones’s website. This is possibly one of the reasons why Celtic-fringe Catholicism is so often misunderstood by those who prefer a more sophisticated or urbane form of Christianity?

St David, pray for us!