Here's a wonderful Welsh singing event on Britain's Got Talent.
The song is Calon Lân, or "Pure Heart." And you can read the lyrics here.
Thanks to fy ffrind (my friend) Joe for sending me the link.
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Dewi, Nawddsant Cymru (David, Patron Saint of Wales)
Journey through Lent: The Eighth Step
“Brothers and sisters, be joyful and keep your faith and your belief, and do the little things that you heard and saw me do.”
With these words Dewi preached his last sermon, on the Sunday before his death, March 1, 588.
Bishop Rhygyfarch of St. David’s wrote the earliest Buchedd Dewi (Life of David) around 1090.
Descended from the royal house of Cunedda, David was the son of Gwyddno Garanhir, sanctus rex ceredigionis (holy king of Ceredigion).
Garanhir, which means “long crane”— perhaps he possessed long legs, was a druidic honorific signifying spiritual accomplishment. Even so, Rhygyfarch reports that Gwyddno raped David’s mother, Non, whose feast is celebrated by the Church in Wales on March 3. David was born around 520 at St. Non’s Chapel, above St. Non’s Bay, near St. David’s.
Two renowned monastic teachers contributed to David’s education. Illtyd, a native of Brittany, founded a monastery at Llanilltyd Fawr (“the Great Church of Illtyd”), later corrupted to Llantwit Major. David also studied under Peulin (Paulinus) at Llanddeusant, in what is now Sir Gaerfyrddin (Carmarthenshire).
While still a young priest, David founded an abbey near Mynyw (Menevia) at Glyn Rhosyn, the site of today’s Cathedral of St. David. David was its first abbot, and later he was elected a bishop.
Because Glyn Rhosyn was a center for commerce and pilgrimage between Ireland and North Wales and Cornwall and Brittany, David’s monastery was a busy place. But the life of its religious, modeled on the extreme asceticism of Egypt’s desert monks, was hard, marked by farming and other manual labor, prayer, and study.
David was known as Dewi Ddyfrwr― David the Waterman, perhaps for digging so many wells for water and wells for healing; or perhaps for his pious practice of standing for hours in the cold waters of Afon Alud (the Alud River); or perhaps because he allowed his monks to drink only water at meals instead of the usual wine or mead.
According to Rhygyfarch, Peulin insisted that David attend the Synod of Llanddewibrefi in 545 to combat the heresy known as Pelagianism, which asserted that salvation may be earned by human effort apart from God’s grace.
There is a delightful story about his arrival in the town. A crowd had gathered to hear him preach. Some of the people asked him to climb a nearby hill so everyone could see and hear him, but David humbly preferred to stay on level ground. But as he preached, the ground itself began to rise and formed a hill for his impromptu congregation! It is said that he spoke with such eloquence and learning at the Synod that he was made primate of the Welsh Church.
David founded twelve monastic houses during his ministry, and thereby joined an extraordinary generation of contemporary monks and missionaries such as Dyfrig, Teilo, Illtyd, Beuno, and Cadog. Theirs has been called “The Age of the Saints” in tribute to their “purity of life and zeal for the whole Gospel of Christ” (Collect for Saint David in Y Llyfr Gweddi Gyffredin i’w arfer yn Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru [The Book of Common Prayer for use in The Church in Wales]).
Eventually David moved the center of episcopal government in Wales to Mynyw, which is now called Tŷ-Dewi (House of David).
In 1120 David was canonized by Pope Callixtus II, the only Celtic saint to achieve this status. The pope also announced that two visits to St. David’s would be equal to one pilgrimage to Rome and that three visits would equal a pilgrimage to Jerusalem! St. David’s Cathedral was built in 1181, and over time he was recognized as the Patron Saint of Wales.
There are a number of lovely legends associated with David. It is said that as a child he was taught by a dove with a golden beak, which would perch on his shoulder and fly around him playfully. This allusion to the Holy Spirit recurs in stories about David, as when a dove again alighted on him as he spoke to the Synod of Brefi, thereby testifying to the source of his inspiration.
Here is the Collect for the feast of St. David in its entirety in Welsh and English, according to the Church in Wales’ Book of Common Prayer:
Hollalluog Dduw, a elwaist dy was Dewi, yn dy gariad at dy bobl, i fod yn oruchwyliwr ffyddlon a doeth ar dy ddirgeleddau: yn drugarog caniatâ fod i ni, gan ddilyn purdeb ei fuchedd a’i sêl dros holl Efengyl Crist, dderbyn gydag ef dy wobr nefol; trwy Iesu Grist ein Harglwydd, y bo iddo gyda thi a’r Ysbryd Glân bob anrhydedd a gogoniant, byth bythoedd. Amen.
Almighty God, who in love towards your people called your servant David to be a faithful and wise steward of your mysteries: mercifully grant that, following his purity of life and zeal for the whole Gospel of Christ, we may with him receive thy heavenly reward; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with you and the Holy Spirit be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.
The Welsh Prayer Book appoints these lessons for David’s commemoration: Sirach 15:1-6; 1 Thesaloniaid 2:2b-12; Salm 16:3, 6-9; Mathew 16:24-27
The (American) Episcopal Church’s Lesser Feasts and Fasts offers this slightly altered Collect:
Almighty God, you called your servant David to be a faithful and wise steward of your mysteries for the people of Wales: Mercifully grant that, following his purity of life and zeal for the Gospel of Christ, we may with him receive our heavenly reward; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Although the American Prayer Book retains the reading from 1 Thessalonians, it appoints either Psalm 16:5-11 or Psalm 96:1-7, and a reading from Mark 4:26-29.
One appropriate way to remember St. David would be to read these passages and reflect on why they were chosen to celebrate his life and ministry.
I am indebted to several sources for this brief biography, among them A Supplement to Exciting Holiness, compiled by Patrick Thomas and Philip Morris, © 1998 Church in Wales Publications; Dewi Sant /Saint David, by Elin Meek (h) Gwasg Gomer 2001 ©; Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2000, Church Publishing Incorporated; and Wikipedia.
