Introduction
Saint David
Saint David's Cross, St Davids, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Saint David, or Dewi Sant as he's called in the Welsh language, is the patron saint of Wales. His day is 1st March.
His influence is shown in the number of churches dedicated to him in Wales and the celebrations each Saint David's Day.
Saint David factfile
There aren't many facts about St David; but here are the only undisputed ones.
- He really existed
- He was at the heart of the Welsh church in the 6th century
- He came from an aristocratic family in West Wales
- His mother was a saint, Saint Non
- His teacher was also a saint, St Paulinus
- He founded a large monastery in West Wales
- He was one of the early saints who helped to spread Christianity among the pagan Celtic tribes of Western Britain
- He became Archbishop of Wales, but remained in his community at Menevia (now called St Davids)
- He was active in supressing the Pelagian heresy
- His shrine became a great place of pilgrimage; four visits to the shrine at St David's were considered the equivalent of two to Rome, and one to Jerusalem!
The most famous story about Saint David tells how he was preaching to a huge crowd and the ground is said to have risen up, so that he was standing on a hill and everyone had a better chance of hearing him.