Statue de Gildas près du village de Saint-Gildas-de-Rhuys (Morbihan).
Saint Gildas
Abbé en Bretagne (+ 570)
Ce noble breton voit le
jour en Écosse vers la fin du Ve siècle, l'année où les Bretons romanisés
battent les Saxons envahisseurs. D'après nombre d'hagiographes, il aurait
étudié dans un monastère du pays de Galles, sous la direction d'un disciple
de saint
Germain l'Auxerrois. Ordonné prêtre en 518, cet apôtre, surnommé
"le sage", convertit d'abord ses compatriotes par une éloquence
sacrée aussi simple qu'efficace. Avec le même succès, il passe en Irlande (saint
Colomban d'ailleurs lui rendra hommage) pour aboutir en Armorique, la
petite Bretagne continentale. D'abord installé dans l'île d'Houat, il va vivre
en ermite dans la presqu'île de Rhuys qui ferme, au sud, le golfe du Morbihan.
Il y fondera une abbaye qui porte aujourd'hui son nom et où on l'honore
toujours. Abélard, le savant théologien du Moyen Age, en sera l'abbé au XIIe
siècle. Troublé par l'effondrement de la civilisation romaine sous les coups
successifs des envahisseurs saxons, il écrit: "De la ruine de la Bretagne"
ouvrage qui connaîtra un grand succès durant tout le haut Moyen Age.
Saint Gildas, dit
"Le Sage", est né dans l'île de Bretagne; il y a reçu son éducation
dans le sud-est du Pays de Galles actuel... Il s'établit sur le continent y
fonda avec quelques compagnons l'abbaye de Rhuys, où il mourut vers 570.
L'abbaye de Rhuys a conservé son tombeau et développé son culte... Saint Gildas
est connu sous les formes bretonnes Sant Veltas ou sant Gueltas... (diocèse
de Quimper et Léon - saint Gildas)
L'abbatiale
de Saint Gildas de Rhuys abrite la sépulture du saint mort en 570 sur
l'île de Houat.
Voir aussi "l'ère
des saints": de 600 à 800 environ site
du diocèse de Vannes.
En Bretagne, l’an 570,
saint Gildas, abbé, surnommé le Sage. Il écrivit sur la ruine de la
Grande-Bretagne en déplorant les calamités de son peuple et en reprochant avec
véhémence la dépravation des chefs et du clergé. La tradition lui attribue la
fondation du monastère de Rhuys en face de l’Océan et le fait mourir à l’île
d’Houat.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/526/Saint-Gildas.html
Statue
et sarcophage de saint Gildas, dans l'abbaye de saint-Gildas de Ruys (Morbihan,
France)
Saint GILDAS
Fils d'un Seigneur d'Écosse, Gildas commence
sa formation de moine au pays de Galles sous la direction de saint Iltud. Il
évangélise le nord de l'Angleterre et de l'Irlande. D'après un calendrier des
saints de l'Eire, il compose un missel liturgique à l'usage des Celtes et saint
Colomban lui rendra hommage dans une lettre au pape Grégoire le grand. Gildas
gagne ensuite le continent. Il parvient en Armorique, dans l'île de Houat, face
à la presqu'île de Rhuys. Son unique but était de mener une vie d'ermite,
dédiée à la prière et la méditation des saintes Écritures ; mais comment une
telle flamme de vie intérieure aurait-elle pu être cachée ? Très tôt les
disciples vont affluer. Fascinés par les entretiens spirituels du moine Gildas,
les pêcheurs de Houat alertent les habitants de la Côte : ils viendront le
supplier de venir à Rhuys pour y établir un monastère. De là, il étendra son
influence spirituelle à l'ensemble de la Bretagne.
Saint Gildas, surnommé le sage , a rayonné d'une
immense popularité en Bretagne et dans tout l'Ouest dès le VIIe siècle. Il
était invoqué contre la rage, la folie, les maux de tête et de dents. Saint
Gildas est le patron du diocèse et de la ville de Vannes. Il est également
célébré ce même 29 janvier dans les Eglises de l'Orthodoxie. Gildas est un
prénom d'origine celtique pouvant correspondre au latin "algigius"
(celui qui protège).
Rédacteur : Frère Bernard Pineau, OP
SOURCE : http://www.lejourduseigneur.com/Web-TV/Saints/Gildas
Carnoët.
Vallée des Saints. Saint Gildas
Litanies de Saint Gildas
+ en 570
Fête le 29 janvier
Ce noble breton voit le
jour en Écosse vers la fin du 5ème siècle, l'année où les Bretons romanisés
battent les Saxons envahisseurs. D'après nombre d'hagiographes, il aurait
étudié dans un monastère du pays de Galles, sous la direction d'un disciple de
Saint Germain l'Auxerrois. Ordonné prêtre en 518, cet apôtre, surnommé "le
sage", convertit d'abord ses compatriotes par une éloquence sacrée aussi
simple qu'efficace. Avec le même succès, il passe en Irlande (saint Colomban
d'ailleurs lui rendra hommage) pour aboutir en Armorique, la petite Bretagne
continentale. D'abord installé dans l'île d'Houat, il va vivre en ermite dans
la presqu'île de Rhuys qui ferme, au sud, le golfe du Morbihan. Il y fondera
une abbaye qui porte aujourd'hui son nom et où on l'honore toujours. Abélard,
le savant théologien du Moyen Age, en sera l'abbé au XIIème s. Troublé par
l'effondrement de la civilisation romaine sous les coups successifs des
envahisseurs saxons, il écrit :"De la ruine de la Bretagne" ouvrage
qui connaîtra un grand succès durant tout le haut Moyen Age.
Seigneur, ayez pitié de
nous
Christ, ayez pitié de
nous
Seigneur, ayez pitié de
nous
Christ, écoutez-nous
Christ, exaucez-nous
Père Céleste, qui êtes
Dieu, ayez pitié de nous
Fils, Rédempteur du
monde, qui êtes Dieu, ayez pitié de nous
Esprit Saint, qui êtes
Dieu, ayez pitié de nous
Trinité Sainte, qui êtes
Dieu, ayez pitié de nous.
Saint Gildas, priez pour
nous
Saint Gildas, qui comme
serviteur prudent et zélé, avez été établi sur la famille du Seigneur, priez
pour nous
Saint Gildas, qui, étant
comme mort, avez mené une vie cachée avec Jésus-Christ, priez pour nous
Saint Gildas, qui avez
porté continuellement dans votre corps la mortification de la Croix de
Jésus-Christ, priez pour nous
Saint Gildas, qui avez
crucifié votre chair avec ses vices et ses mauvais désirs, priez pour nous
Saint Gildas, qui avez
été crucifié au monde, priez pour nous
Saint Gildas, qui avez
pratiqué la sobriété jusqu'à ne boire ni vin ni autre liqueur, priez pour nous
Saint Gildas, qui avez
dissipé les artifices des Démons, priez pour nous
Saint Gildas, qui avez
guéri un paralytique et qui avez fait plusieurs autres prodiges par vos
prières, priez pour nous
Saint Gildas, qui, dès
votre jeunesse, avez renoncé à tout, afin de gagner Jésus-Christ, priez pour
nous
Saint Gildas, qui avez
châtié votre corps et l'avez réduit en servitude, priez pour nous
Saint Gildas, qui avez
usé de ce monde comme si vous n'en eussiez pas usé, priez pour nous
Saint Gildas, qui avez
été revêtu de la Force du Tout-Puissant, priez pour nous
Saint Gildas, qui par la
pratique des bonnes œuvres, avez amassé sur la terre des trésors pour le Ciel,
priez pour nous
Saint Gildas, qui,
par-dessus toute chose, avez cherché le Royaume et la Justice de Dieu, priez
pour nous
Saint Gildas, qui, par
l'amour de la pureté de cœur, vous êtes avancé jusqu'à voir Dieu, priez pour
nous
Saint Gildas, qui avez
ravi le Ciel,
Saint Gildas, qui, étant
pauvre d'esprit, avez mérité de posséder Dieu, priez pour nous
Saint Gildas, qui, ayant
été doux et patient en souffrant les injures, possédez maintenant la terre des
vivants, priez pour nous
Saint Gildas, qui, ayant
eu faim et soif de la Justice, êtes maintenant rassasiés dans le Ciel, priez
pour nous
Saint Gildas, qui êtes
rassasiés de l'abondance de la Maison de Dieu et enivré du torrent de ses
Délices, priez pour nous
Saint Gildas, notre
puissant Avocat auprès de Dieu, priez pour nous
Saint Gildas, très digne
disciple de Saint Benoît, priez pour nous
Saint Gildas, notre cher
et incomparable Patron, priez pour nous
Saint Gildas, le
protecteur fidèle de tous ceux qui ont recours à vous, priez pour nous
Délivrez-nous de tout
mal, délivrez-nous en, Seigneur, par l'intercession de Saint Gildas, notre
Patron, soyez-nous favorable, Seigneur, pardonnez-nous.
Quoique nous soyons
pécheurs, écoutez-nous, soyez-nous favorable, Seigneur, pardonnez-nous.
Qu'à l'exemple de Saint
Gildas, nous soyons d'esprit et de cœur dans le Ciel, soyez-nous favorable,
Seigneur, pardonnez-nous.
Que, pour nous conformer
à l'esprit de Saint Gildas, nous méprisions toutes les richesses périssables,
soyez-nous favorable, Seigneur, pardonnez-nous.
Qu'à l'imitation de ce
grand Saint, nous fassions Votre Volonté sur la terre comme il l'accomplit dans
le Ciel; que nous imitions par Votre Grâce la vie sainte qu'il a menée sur la
terre, soyez-nous favorable, Seigneur, pardonnez-nous.
Qu'en vivant dans la
Chasteté et la sobriété, nous obtenions, par Votre Miséricorde, la paix et la
tranquillité si nécessaires, soyez-nous favorable, Seigneur, pardonnez-nous.
Que Vous nous rendiez
dignes d'avoir part à la Gloire éternelle, soyez-nous favorable, Seigneur,
pardonnez-nous.
Agneau de Dieu, qui
effacez les péchés du monde, pardonnez-nous, Seigneur.
Agneau de Dieu, qui
effacez les péchés du monde, exaucez-nous, Seigneur.
Agneau de Dieu, qui
effacez les péchés du monde, ayez pitié de nous, Seigneur.
Saint Gildas, notre
Patron, priez pour nous.
Saint Gildas, priez pour
nous,
afin que nous soyons
rendus dignes des promesses de Jésus-Christ.
Prions
Faites, Seigneur, que le
Bienheureux Abbé Saint Gildas, que l'amour d'une vie Sainte et régulière à
élevé à la Gloire éternelle nous instruise par les grands exemples de Foi qu'il
nous a donnés et nous aide par le secours puissant de ses prières. Nous Vous le
demandons par Jésus, le Christ, notre Seigneur. Amen
SOURCE : http://imagessaintes.canalblog.com/archives/2008/07/03/9801067.html
Statue
de saint Gildas, Carnoët, Chapelle Saint-Gildas, Façade ouest
Saint Gildas Le Sage
vers 490-570
Fête le 29 janvier
Saint Gildas dit "Sapiens"
("le Sage" en latin), également appelé Gweltaz en breton, était un
membre important et renommé du monde Celtique Chrétien dans l'île de Bretagne,
ou Grande Bretagne, d'abord, puis de Bretagne Armoricaine. Ordonné prêtre, il
mit sa plume au service de l'idéal monastique. D'après des fragments de ses
lettres il aurait écrit une « règle » monacale moins austère que
celle qu'écrivit son contemporain gallois Saint David, et il y propose des
pénitences moins dures en cas d'infraction à la règle. Au delà du personnage
historique existe aussi une tradition légendaire du saint.
La légende de Saint
Gildas
(D'après « Souvenirs
de Voyages en Bretagne et en Grèce », Paris, 1864)
En l'an 536 vivait au
large du Morbihan, dans l'îlot d'Houat, alors inculte et désert, un saint
ermite du nom de Gildas, qu'on disait fils d'un roi d'Angleterre. Gildas (en
breton Gweltaz) était né à Arecluda (Dumbarton) à la fin du IVe siècle, dans
une famille chrétienne. Tout jeune, il avait été confié à l'abbaye du célèbre
abbé Iltud, où il avait reçu une formation très complète. Il était venu là de
son pays pour prier Dieu dans la retraite. Les prières de ce saint étaient
puissantes au ciel, et ses conseils venaient à bien sur la terre : aussi
chacun accourait demander ses prières et ses conseils. Plusieurs même
apportaient de riches présents pour le rendre à eux plus favorable mais il leur
disait: «Remportez cela.» Et comme eux ne voulaient pas, il jetait les précieux
objets à la mer : car il n'y avait pas de pauvres dans l'île, à qui il pût
les donner.
Il y vivait tout seul,
dans une caverne, et n'avait pour se coucher qu'un lit d'herbes marines; et
pour sa nourriture, il mangeait le poisson qu'il allait pêcher ; il
n'avait qu'un mauvais bateau à demi défoncé ; mais bien qu'en ces lieux la
mer soit orageuse, il ne lui était jamais arrivé mal;: car la main de Dieu
était sur lui. Il faisait cuire le poisson sur des feuilles sèches, et une
petite source lui fournissait de l'eau;; il vivait ainsi, sans pain, ni vin, ni
viande, et depuis, quoique grand et renommé parmi le monde, il vécut toujours
aussi sobrement.
Comme l'île d'Houat est
loin de la grande terre, plusieurs faillirent se noyer en allant visiter le
saint homme, et lui, voyant cela, leur dit;: « Ne venez plus. » Mais
eux répondirent : « Homme de Dieu, nous périrons plutôt que de ne
plus vous entendre et vous voir.» Gildas alors pensa dans son cœur que mieux
valait quitter sa retraite que d'exposer à mal les âmes et les corps de tant de
gens. Il dit donc aux premiers qui vinrent le trouver: «Y a-t-il une place dans
votre bateau?» Ceux-ci répondirent qu'il y en avait une. Alors le saint leur
dit : « Je partirai avec vous. » Très réjouis de cette nouvelle,
ils bénirent Dieu de ce que le saint homme avait pris la résolution de vivre
parmi eux.
Gildas s'embarqua
aussitôt, n'emportant rien avec lui que la croix de bois qu'il avait plantée
devant la porte de sa caverne. Il traversa la mer heureusement, et vint aborder
au lieu qui s'appelle aujourd'hui de son nom Saint-Gildas-de-Rhuys. Cependant
ceux qui l'avaient amené commencèrent à rassembler tous les gens du pays
environnant, criant à tous que le saint venait habiter parmi eux. Ils en eurent
beaucoup de joie : car ils espéraient que Dieu bénirait leur pêche et
leurs poissons à cause de son serviteur Gildas.
Ils préparèrent une
grande fête à l'ermite ; mais lui, sans s'arrêter à boire ni manger avec
eux, leur dit : « Je dois aller parler au comte de Vannes : qui
de vous me veut conduire ? » Et plus de dix alors s'offrirent à le
mener : il en choisit deux, et, ayant marché la nuit entière, il arriva à
Vannes au lendemain, comme le soleil s'allait lever. Or le comte de Vannes
s'appelait Guérech ; c'était un homme juste et craignant Dieu, qui
révérait aussi ses ministres, quand ils étaient fidèles à leurs promesses,
c'est-à-dire s'ils se montraient pieux, humbles, détachés, consolateurs des
malheureux et défenseurs des petites gens, comme était Gildas. Quand le comte
apprit l'arrivée du saint, il allait partir pour chasser tout le jour dans la
forêt de Rhuys ; mais il dit : « Je n'irai point : car je
veux voir l'homme de Dieu. »
Il fit donc entrer
Gildas, et lui dit : « Que me voulez-vous, bon Père ? »
Gildas lui répondit : « Monseigneur, vous êtes le maître du
pays : donnez-moi une hutte et quelques pieds de terre au bord de la mer,
pour y vivre en priant Dieu. » Guérech lui répondit : « J'ai ce
qu'il vous faut. Reposez-vous aujourd'hui ; demain nous irons au lieu où
je vous veux mettre. » Et toute la journée ils s'entretinrent ensemble
avec un grand plaisir. Le lendemain, le comte ayant mené Gildas au lieu même où
il avait débarqué, lui dit : « Vous voyez ce château près de la mer,
et les champs qui sont autour : je veux que tout cela soit vôtre. »
Mais Gildas ne voulait
pas accepter, et il disait : « Comte, c'est trop pour moi ; si
les serviteurs de Dieu devenaient si riches, ils répandraient sur le peuple
moins de grâces que de scandale. » Le comte insista, lui disant :
« Ceci est pour vous, mais non pour vous seul : s'il y a dans ce pays
des hommes pieux qui veuillent y vivre selon une règle, avec vous, et
travailler au salut de nos âmes, vous les recevrez. Car il y a déjà des monastères
aux pays de France et d'Italie, et je veux qu'il y en ait également en ma
comté ; s'il n'y avait gens savants et pieux pour contenir les hommes
armés et leur imposer le respect, nous autres, comtes et ducs, aurions trop
beau jeu pour pressurer et vexer le pauvre peuple. » Alors Gildas accepta,
et ainsi fut fondé le monastère qui fleurit encore à l'ombre de son nom et de
ses vertus. Il en fut le premier abbé, et y vécut jusqu'à la fin de son
âge ; il fit beaucoup d'actions saintes et miraculeuses, tant après sa
mort que durant sa vie, desquelles je rapporterai une seule, qui est la plus
grande et la plus célèbre.
Le comte avait une fille,
nommée Trifine (ou Tréphine). Sa beauté était merveilleuse, et plusieurs qui
dans leurs songes avaient vu la Vierge Mère, affirmaient qu'elle n'était
presque pas plus belle que Trifine ; et celle-ci était aussi très bonne
aux pauvres et très vertueuse. Elle avait dans le saint ermite une entière
confiance, et ne prenait conseil, après son père, que de lui.
Or il arriva que Conomor,
comte de Plusigner, vit Trifine à l'église de Saint-Gildas, où l'avait attiré
le bruit des miracles du saint homme, et il fut si fort épris de sa beauté
qu'il alla tout aussitôt la demander en mariage à son père. Guérech fut alors
en très grand embarras : car Conomor était un homme féroce et violent,
connu pour ses cruautés et ses débauches ; il avait eu déjà plusieurs
femmes, et, s'en étant dégoûté, les avait fait périr : il disait alors
qu'elles étaient mortes par accident, et si quelqu'un osait le contredire, il
le tuait.
Guérech craignait
cependant, s'il refusait Trifine à Conomor, d'attirer sur elle et sur lui la
vengeance de ce méchant homme. Il demanda conseil à Trifine ; laquelle,
ayant beaucoup pleuré, dit enfin : « Répondez-lui que nous ferons ce
que le saint nous dira de faire. »
Conomor, ayant reçu cette
réponse, alla trouver Gildas et lui dit : « Homme de Dieu, si vous
dites à Trifine de m'épouser, j'agrandirai votre monastère et vos
champs. » Mais Gildas lui dit : « Je ne conseillerai point à
Trifine de t'épouser : car je sais que tu es un méchant homme, que tu as
tué déjà trois femmes que tu avais épousées. » Alors Conomor eut bien
envie de se jeter sur le saint pour le tuer ; mais comme il était
hypocrite encore plus que cruel, il se contint et dit d'une voix soumise :
« Il est bien vrai que j'ai péché, mon Père ; mais Dieu m'a converti
a lui. - Comment puis-je croire à ce que vous dites ? lui répondit Gildas.
- Imposez-moi quelque épreuve. - Eh bien, vous resterez ici comme un frère
novice, priant Dieu, pleurant vos fautes, et vivant d'herbes sauvages. »
Conomor intérieurement se
dit : c'est bien dur : mais je ferais plus encore pour avoir la belle
Trifine, et je n'ose l'enlever de force. Et durant un an tout entier, il resta
dans le monastère, et fut si doux, si pieux et si obéissant, que chacun fut
émerveillé. Gildas lui-même, ayant cru qu'il était vraiment converti, rendit
grâces à Dieu et vint dire à Trifine : « Il faut avoir pitié du
pécheur qui revient à bien : épousez Conomor, ma fille, si le veut ainsi votre
père, et achevez de le convertir. » Trifine aurait bien voulu résister,
mais elle n'osa penser autrement que le saint homme. Elle épousa Conomor, et
ils vécurent trois mois en parfaite union ; tant que Trifine elle-même
espérait qu'elle serait aimée toujours. Mais sur ce temps, il advint que
Conomor, ayant vu au pays de Quimper une autre femme, qui était aussi fille du
comte du pays, il la trouva plus belle que Trifine et commença à désirer de
l'épouser.
Pour se débarrasser de
Trifine, il employa une ruse infâme : il feignit de croire qu'elle lui
avait été infidèle ; et comme elle disait simplement :
« Montrez-moi que je suis coupable, » il répondit : « Vous
allez mourir. » Il l'enferma dans un cachot très noir, qui avait une porte
de fer et une petite fenêtre étroite. Et l'ayant laissée là sans rien lui
donner à boire ou à manger, il se réjouissait en pensant qu'elle mourrait
bientôt de faim.
Mais Trifine, ayant par
miracle réussi à briser les barreaux de la fenêtre, s'enfuit par là comme la
nuit venait, et courut bien fort vers la ville de Vannes, qui était à
vingt-cinq milles du château de Plusigner. Mais Conomor, s'étant aperçu de sa
fuite, fit seller son meilleur cheval et se mit à la poursuivre. Il pensait
bien qu'elle était allée chercher secours auprès de son père ; et ayant
tourné vers la ville, il l'atteignit comme elle était déjà en vue des
murailles. Elle, aussitôt qu'elle l'aperçut, tombant à genoux, s'écria :
« Merci, Monseigneur. » Mais Conomor, sans même lui laisser un moment
pour prier Dieu, lui plongea son épée dans le cœur, et, la laissant à terre, il
retourna vers son château.
Qui pourrait dire la
douleur et les gémissements de Guérech, alors qu'on lui apporta le corps
sanglant de sa fille. Il pleura deux jours et deux nuits, sans parler ni manger ;
et, le troisième jour, comme sa douleur était un peu apaisée, il pensa que
c'était Gildas qui lui avait conseillé de marier Trifine à Conomor, et il
conçut contre lui une terrible colère. Il le fit venir à Vannes, et, dès qu'il
l'aperçut, il l'accabla d'injures, et lui dit : « N'es-tu pas le
complice de Conomor, et n'est-ce pas toi qui m'a conseillé de lui donner
Trifine ? Je te chasserai de mes terres ; je défendrai à quiconque
tient à la vie de te donner à manger ; et si tu es vraiment l'homme du
ciel, Dieu te nourrira. » Et il pleurait amèrement, en disant :
« Je me vengerai, oui, je me vengerai, mais cela ne ressuscitera pas mon
enfant. » Alors le saint lui dit : « Ayez foi en Dieu ;
j'ai failli dans mon conseil, mais Dieu exaucera les prières de son serviteur. »
Et s'étant mis à genoux
devant le cadavre, il pria durant tout le jour ; et le soir, ayant touché
la blessure que Trïfine avait au cœur, il la guérit ; ayant touché ses
yeux, il les rouvrit ; et l'ayant prise par la main, elle commença à marcher,
et à saluer son père et tous ceux qui étaient là. Alors ils se prosternèrent
aux pieds du saint, criant « Miracle ; il a ressuscité celle qui
était morte ». Mais lui s'arracha du milieu d'eux ; et, étant sorti
son bâton à la main, il commença à faire le tour de la Bretagne. Et par toutes
les villes où il y avait des évêques, il leur disait : « Dans un mois
soyez à Vannes. » Et au jour dit, ils y furent ; car ils obéissaient
tous au saint homme, encore qu'il n'eût aucun pouvoir sur eux.
Le saint leur raconta les
crimes de Conomor et sa fausse conversion, et il dit : « Il a péché
et il a feint le retour, et il a péché derechef : ne mérite-t-il pas
d'être anathème ? » Et tous les évêques s'écrièrent :
« Qu'il soit anathème. » Depuis ce jour la force de Conomor sembla
tombée ; et tous ceux qui le craignaient, s'enhardirent ; et les
voisins puissants qu'il avait outragés s'unirent contre lui, Guérech à leur
tête, et le chassèrent du château de Plusigner ; nul ne voulut le
recevoir, et il mourut misérablement. Trifine, pour se dérober à la curiosité
d'une multitude de gens qui venaient du monde entier voir en elle le miracle du
saint, se retira en l'évêché de Tréguier, au village qui porte aujourd'hui le
nom de Sainte-Tréphine. Elle y vécut dans la piété et les saintes œuvres, et
mourut longtemps après dans un âge fort avancé. Ses vertus et les grâces
particulières dont elle avait été l'objet la firent déclarer sainte après sa
mort.
Cette histoire
authentique de la vie et des miracles de saint Gildas a été composée sur les
lieux mêmes, et, d'après les traditions du pays, par deux écoliers de
l'université de Paris ; laquelle Dieu et saint Gildas aient toujours en
leur garde et protection.
Le personnage historique
Dans son De excidio
Brittaniae, Gildas mentionne le fait que l'année de sa naissance fut la même
que celle de la bataille du Mont Badonicus (où participa le roi Arthur),
c'est-à-dire aux environs de 490 (à une décennie près, car la date de la
bataille n'est pas connue avec précision). D'après David N. Dunville, Gildas
fut le mentor de Vennacius de Findbarr, qui devint lui-même celui de saint
Colomba d'Iona. Selon Thomas Stephen, saint Gildas aurait également été le père
d'Aneirin. Une biographie de Gildas fut écrite par Caradoc de Llancarfan au
XIIe siècle, et d'autres furent composées en Bretagne, notamment à Rhuys. Ces
dernières allèguent que Gildas était un des fils de Caw, roi de Strathclyde;
qu'il fut éduqué par Ilut de Llantwit à Llantwti Major, près de Cardiff; il
serait devenu fondeur de cloches de profession (il en aurait envoyé une à Saint
Bride vers 519) ; en 520, après un pèlerinage à Rome (usage suivi par
beaucoup de saints bretons) il passa sept années à l'abbaye de Rhuys en
Bretagne. Il fut un an à la tête de l'abbaye de Llancarfan au Pays de Galles,
en l'absence de son abbé, saint Cadoc. Après 528 il s'établit à Street, dans le
Somerset (près de Glastonbury) et construisit une lan (forme bretonne) ou llan (forme
galloise), ermitage comprenant église et enclos, dont le tracé serait encore
visible à Holy Trinity. Plus tard, (vers 544) il revint en Bretagne, à Rhuys,
où il demeura jusqu'à sa mort, à l'exception d'un voyage en Irlande qui aurait
eu lieu vers 565, d'après les Annales Cambrige, une chronique découverte dans
un manuscrit contenant une version de Historia Brittonus. Fuyant les
envahisseurs normands, les moines de l'abbaye, emportant les reliques du saint,
trouvèrent refuge auprès du seigneur de Déols (à côté de l'actuel Châteauroux),
Ebbes le Noble, et une nouvelle abbaye de Saint-Gildas fut érigée en ce lieu.
Celle-ci devint au début du XVIIe siècle une des plus riches du Berry,
mais, après la sécularisation du monastère en 1622, les moines furent dispersés
et l'abbaye détruite. Quelques vestiges de l'ancien cloître sont encore
visibles aujourd'hui. Il existe de nombreux mythes sur Saint Gildas, parfois
difficiles à discerner de la réalité : Caradoc, dans sa biographie, le
fait intervenir auprès du roi Arthur lorsque la reine Guenièvre se fit enlever
par Meleagan. Il aurait convaincu les deux rois de faire la paix bien que le
frère de Gildas ait été tué par Arthur. Il est difficile de savoir si cette
anecdote est vraie, étant donné qu'elle date d'un manuscrit du
XIIe siècle, et que l'existence même du roi Arthur et la nature de son
pouvoir est incertaine. On impute à Gildas la composition d'un cantique appelé
la Lorica, ou encore le Plastron. Il s'agit d'une prière pour être délivré
du mal, qui contient d'intéressants spécimens de latin hispérique (variante du
latin crée par des moines irlandais au VIe siècle, utilisé jusqu'au
XIIe siècle). Les Annales Cambriae fixent la mort de Saint
Gildas en 570 et les Annales de Tigernach en 569.
Le De Excidio
Britanniae
Le De Excidio
Britanniae (de la ruine de la Grande-Bretagne) est un sermon en trois
parties écrit par saint Gildas dans laquelle il condamne les actions des rois
contemporains, aussi bien laïcs que religieux. La première partie est une
introduction dans laquelle Gildas donne l'explication de son travail ainsi
qu'un bref résumé de la Grande Bretagne romaine, de la conquête des Romains
jusqu'à son époque. La seconde partie s'ouvre sur « La Grande-Bretagne a
des rois, et pourtant ce sont des tyrans. Elle a des juges, et pourtant peu
vertueux ». Gildas s'adresse alors à cinq de ses contemporains où il
rappelle leurs vies et leurs actions : Constantine de Dmnonie, Arelius
Caninus, Vortipor des Demetae (aujourd'hui appelé Dyfed), Cuneglasus de la
"forteresse de l'ours" (il s'agit probablement de Dinearth, près de
Llandudno), et enfin Maglocunus (Maelgwn). Il les déclare tous cruels, cupides
et pécheurs. La troisième partie commence par : « La Grande-Bretagne
a des prêtres, mais ce sont des imbéciles, de nombreux dévôts, mais sans
vergogne, des clercs, mais ce ne sont que des pilleurs ». Il continue le
reste de son œuvre en fustigeant tout le clergé, mais sans nommer personne, ce
qui rend difficile de bien comprendre l'influence de l'Église sur cette époque
en Grande-Bretagne. Le De Excidio Britanniae a longtemps représenté
la Grande-Bretagne de l'époque comme une terre dévastée par les pilleurs et au
système administratif corrompu. Cette vision soutenait en effet la thèse d'une
civilisation romaine détruite par des barbares et expliquait pourquoi la
Grande-Bretagne est l'une des rares régions de l'Empire Romain qui n'ait pas
adopté le latin (comme le fit la France, l'Espagne ou encore la Roumanie). Il
faut néanmoins garder à l'esprit qu'il s'agissait avant tout d'une sorte de
sermon que Gildas adressait à ses contemporains et non pas d'une chronique pour
la postérité. Bien que Gildas nous offre une des premières descriptions du Mur
d'Hadrien, il omet de nombreux détails quand ceux-ci ne sont pas pertinents
quant au message qu'il veut faire passer. Son travail reste pourtant
extrêmement important au point de vue des historiens et des linguistes, car il
s'agit de l'un des rares documents du VI e siècle à avoir franchi les siècles.
L'héritage de Gildas
Dans les années qui
suivirent le De Excidio, le travail de Gildas fut un modèle pour les
écrivains Anglo-saxons, que ce soit en latin ou d'autres langues. Par exemple,
l'Historia ecclesiastica de Bède le Vénérable se repose énormément sur
Gildas pour sa version des invasions anglo-saxonnes, et en tire l'implication
que la faveur divine perdue des Bretons fut retrouvée par les Anglo-saxons
après leur christianisation. À une époque ultérieure, les écrits de Gildas
devinrent le modèle d'Alcuin dans son travail sur les invasions vikings, en
particulier ses lettres sur le pillage de Lindisfarne de 793. En fait, certains
ont vu dans les travaux de Gildas l'idée que l'évangélisation et la réforme
morale pouvaient constituer un rempart contre la barbarie et les invasions.
C'est la thèse que reprend Wulfstan de York sur Gildas, dans ses sermons.
Source wikipedia
L'Abbaye de Saint-Gildas
de Rhuys
L'abbaye
Saint-Gildas-de-Rhuys a le privilège d'avoir été fondée par un de ces moines
qui ont quitté l'île de Bretagne pour l'Armorique à l'époque de la migration
des bretons fuyant les invasions saxonnes. Mais son histoire est mal connue.
Pourtant depuis quelques années, on semble de nouveau s'intéresser à ce
monastère qui laisse aujourd'hui une des plus belles églises romanes de
Bretagne.
Histoire
On peut distingues trois
périodes dans l'histoire de l'abbaye de Rhuys.
Première période
D'abord, du VI e au X e
siècle, il existe une abbaye bretonne, fondée par Saint Gildas ou par des
moines se réclamant de lui et possédant, ou prétendant posséder, ses reliques.
Cette abbaye ne laisse aucune trace ni dans les archives, rares pour cette
période, mais aussi dans les chroniques. Aucune fouille archéologie sérieuse
n'a étudié le site. On a pu douter de son existence. Mais trois faits plaident
en faveur de la réalité de l'abbaye à cette époque. D'abord parce que les
moines qui s'installent à Déols, un faubourg de Châteauroux, fuyant les
Normands vers 920, prétendaient venir de Rhuys et ont fondé une abbaye
Saint-Gildas. Ensuite parce que les moines venus de l'abbaye de Fleury en 1008
ont toujours affirmé avoir relevé à Rhuys les ruines d'une abbaye Saint Gildas
précédente. Enfin parce que l'on possède tout de même un document, l'inventaire
des livres de cette première abbaye. Il s'agit d'un parchemin, datant
vraisemblablement du Xe siècle, qui est conservé à la Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève
de Paris. Il contient une liste de livres dont les derniers auteurs sont
contemporains du départ des moines de Bretagne vers 920. On a noté depuis
longtemps dans cette liste un Textum Gildasii, un évangile de Gildas, et
deux antiphonaires (livres de chant) qualifiés de bretons.
Seconde période
La seconde période qui va
de 1008 jusqu'à la fin du XVe siècle est mieux connue, par l'église romane, ses
tombeaux, quelques archives sauvées des destructions, et des témoignages
divers. Le monastère est restauré à partir de 1008 à la demande du duc de
Bretagne Geoffroi 1er de Bretagne. Un groupe de moines venus de Fleury sur
Loire, conduits par un breton, saint Félix, relève ou reconstruit totalement
les bâtiments. Il y a en effet débat pour savoir si le nouveau monastère est
construit exactement sur l'emplacement du précédent. Le XIe siècle est marqué
par la présence d'autres saints, d'abord saint Goustan, puis un abbé mal connu,
saint Rioc. L'abbé Vital, semble être, selon Ferdinand Lot, l'auteur de la Vie
de saint Gildas, qu'il aurait écrite vers 1060. L'abbaye développe le culte de
saint Gildas, et d'autres saints qui lui sont liés, comme Saint Colomban,
sainte Brigitte et saint Armel. Elle possède un important prieuré Saint-Sauveur
à Locminé. Bientôt le monastère possède une vingtaine de prieurés. Mais
l'abbaye semble ensuite manquer de moyens et les moines cherchent un abbé
puissant capable de les aider. Ils font appel en 1125 à Pierre Abélard dont le
passage est un échec. Il décrit des moines indisciplinés, un seigneur voisin
tyrannique. Pierre Abélard doit finalement s'enfuir. Il a tout de même une
petite rue à Saint-Gildas... On ignore si l'église abbatiale a jamais été
terminée. Mais par la suite l'abbaye profite de la présence des ducs de
Bretagne au château voisin de Suscinio. En 1189, la duchesse Constance assiste
à un office et donne une charte à l'abbaye, avec une donation. Les enfants des
ducs morts à Suscinio sont inhumés dans l'abbaye. Mais les problèmes
historiques restent nombreux, du fait de la destruction des archives pendant la
Guerre de Cent Ans.
Saint Goustan
Saint Goustan est né en
Cornouaille britannique en 974. San Sten, en breton, tient son nom de l'étain.
A 18 ans, il est enlevé par des pirates. Au cours de leurs voyages, le jeune
Goustan se blesse au pied. Abandonné sur l'île d'Ossa (probablement l'île d'Houat),
il doit son salut, d'abord à la Providence qui lui fournit des poissons,
ensuite à Saint Félix qui le soigne puis le convertit au christianisme.
Saint-Goustan est souvent représenté avec un poisson à la main : c'est
l'illustration de la légende qui l'entoure.Blessé sur son île, il se serait
contenté d'une portion d'un gros poisson (un marsouin ?), en gardant
parcimonieusement pour le lendemain. Et chaque jour, le poisson se recomposait
totalement. En 1025, Goustan devient moine et fonde un prieuré sur l'île de
Hoëdic. Entre temps, il prie parmi ses frères moines de Rhuys. C'est là que
reposent aujourd'hui ses restes, dans l'abbaye de Saint-Gildas de Rhuys.
Goustan est devenu le patron des marins et des pêcheurs.
Troisième période
De la fin du XV e siècle
à la Révolution Française, les archives de l'abbaye ont été presque
intégralement conservées et constituent l'actuelle série 4H des archives du
Morbihan. L'histoire de l'abbaye peut alors éclairer celle de toute la
presqu'île de Rhuys. On peut lire à ce sujet le livre écrit par l'abbé Luco en
1869 qui a été réédité, ou celle du chanoine Le Mené dans le Bulletin de la
Société Polymathique en 1902 (téléchargeable sur le site Gallica de la BNF).
Mais ces études sont anciennes et l'histoire de l'abbaye, comme celle de son
fondateur, saint Gildas, méritent des études nouvelles. Noter enfin que le
trésor de l'abbaye, sauvé pendant la Révolution par le recteur Le Duin, dont la
tombe est toujours au cimetière de Saint-Gildas, est un des plus importants de
Bretagne.
Source wikipedia
Le culte de Saint Gildas
A Saint Gildas de Rhuys,
(canton de Sarzeau), dans le Morbihan, dans l'église, derrière le maître autel,
l'on peut voir lre tombeau de Saint Gildas, que les pèlerins viennent honorer pour
obtenir le soulagement de leurs divers maux. Mais le culte de Saint Gildas ne
s'arrête pas là, en toute la Bretagne, il est très florissant et suivi.
Dans le Finistère, à Cast
(Canton de Châteaulin, Saint Gildas est invoqué contre troutes les rages, y
compros, naturellement les rages de dents. Les demandes se font dans la
chapelle qui lui est dédiée, car la source ne reçoit plus de pèlerins
(garanties sanitaires insuffisantes).
Pour l'apaisement des
peurs, singulièrement des peurs nocturnes des enfants, il est invoqué à
Lanidult, (Canton de Ploudalmézeau), dans le Finistère. Une chapelle et une
fontaine lui sont dédiées à l'Abert Ildut, et les pèlerins se rendent toujours
à l'une et à l'autre. Les mamans, outre la guérison des peurs ou des
convulsions, demandent parfois une intervention en faveur des jeunes enfants
qui tardent à marcher.
Dans le Morbihan, Saint
Gildas était invoqué dans la commune de Gueltas (Canton de Pontivy), où une
jolie fontaine du 17e siècle lui est, consacrée, dans la rue des Fontaines. Il
semble que l'eau de cette source possèderait un pouvoir de guérison des
troubles d'origine nerveuse.
Sources: « Les
Saints qui guérissent en Bretagne » d'Hyppolite Glancel, aux Ed. Ouest
France, volumes 1 et 2
Site de l'Abbaye Saint
Gildas de Rhuys
SOURCE : http://spiritualitechretienne.blog4ever.com/saint-gildas
Statue
de Gildas portant la crosse avec la volute tournée vers
l'extérieur (symbole de l'évêque)
et
non vers l'intérieur (symbole de l'abbé)[2], chapelle Saint-Gildas de Bieuzy.
Also
known as
Badonicus
Gildas di Rhuys
Profile
Born to the English nobility.
As a child,
he was placed under the care of a nearby monastery where
he was trained by Saint Illtyd.
Friend of Saint Samson
of York and Saint Peter
Aurelian. Teacher of Saint Finnian
of Clonard, Saint Kenneth
of Wales, and Blessed Bieuzy
of Brittany. Exceptional student. Monk.
Moved to Ireland to study and
give his life over to God. Priest. Evangelist in Britain.
Founded churches and monasteries in Ireland. Abbot. Miracle worker.
Following a pilgrimage to Rome, Italy he
became a hermit,
living on the tiny island of Rhuys. He attracted followers, and his hermitage became
a monastery where
he served as its abbot. Wrote several
works aimed at monks,
encouraging them to holiness. Spiritual advisor.
After several years, he returned to England to preach in
the north, at which vocation he spent the rest of his life. Earliest British historian;
his works were used by Bede
the Venerable.
Born
c.516 at Scotland,
possibly at Clydeside
c.570 at
Houat, Brittany (in
modern France)
with a bell nearby
Additional
Information
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MLA
Citation
“Saint Gildas the
Wise“. CatholicSaints.Info. 1 October 2021. Web. 23 January 2023.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-gildas-the-wise/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-gildas-the-wise/
Gildas (Badonicus) the Wise, Abbot Bishop (RM)
Born c. 500; died c. 570
(some scholars believe he may have died as early as 554).
Gildas may have been born
in the lower valley of Clydeside in Scotland. He is often called
"Badonicus" because he was born in the year the Britons defeated the
Saxons at Bath. He may have married and been widowed, but he eventually became
a monk at Llanilltud in southern Wales, where he was trained by Saint Illtyd
together with Saint Samson and Saint Paul Aurelian, though he was much younger.
Well-known Irish monks, including Saint Finnian, became his disciples. He made
a pilgrimage to Ireland to consult with his contemporary saints of that land
and wrote letters to far-off monasteries. He seems to have had considerable influence on the
development of the Irish church.
Around 540 he wrote the
famous work De excidio et conquestu Britanniae with the purpose of making known
"the miseries, the errors, and the ruin of Britain." The work laid
bare and severely criticized the lives of Britain's rulers and clerics, blaming
their moral laxity for the triumph of the Anglo-Saxon invaders. Although the
fierceness of its rhetorical invectives has been criticized the wide scriptural
scholarship that it reveals is uncontested. It also shows that he was
knowledgeable about Virgil and Ignatius. This work was cited by Saint Bede.
He is considered to be
the first English historian. He lived as a hermit for some time on Flatholm
Island in the Bristol Channel, where he copied a missal for Saint Cadoc and may
have written De excidio. Gildas made a pilgrimage to Rome and on his return
founded a monastery on an island near Rhuys (Rhuis or Morbihan) in Brittany,
which became the center of his cult. Though he lived for a time on a tiny
island in Morbihan Bay, he gathered disciples around him and does not seem to
have cut himself off entirely from the world; he did travel to other places in
Brittany. He is said to have died on the isle of Houat, though this is
uncertain.
The De excidio, which
very influential in the early Middle Ages, may not have been written entirely
by Gildas. Some of it may have been a forgery shortly after his time. The work
serves as an example of the classical and early Christian literature that was
then available in England. Gilda's writings were used by Wulfstan, archbishop
of York, in the 11th century in his Sermon of the Wolf to the English people
during the disordered reign of Ethelred the Unready.
The chronology of
Gildas's life has been disputed. Some say that the lives of two men of the same
name have been confused. Some early Irish martyrologies commemorate his feast
as does the Leofric Missal (c. 1050) and Anglo-Saxon calendars of the 9th
through 11th centuries (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Gill, Farmer, Walsh,
White).
He is portrayed in art
with a bell near him (White).
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saints-of-the-day-gildas-badonicus-the-wise-abbot-bishop/
St. Gildas
Surnamed the Wise; b.
about 516; d. at Houat, Brittany, 570. Sometimes he is called
"Badonicus" because, as he tells us, his birth took place the year
the Britons gained a famous victory over the Saxons at Mount Badon, near Bath,
Somersetshire (493 or 516). The biographies of Gildas exist — one written by an
unknown Breton monk of
the Abbey of Rhuys in the eleventh century, the other by Caradoc, a Welshman in
the twelfth century. Both biographies contain unchronological and misleading
statements, which have led some critics to reject the lives as altogether
valueless. Ussher, Ware, Bale, Pits, and Colgan endeavour
to adjust the discrepancies by contending that there were at least two saints named
Gildas, hence their invention of such distinctive surnames as
"Albanicus", "Badonicus", "Hibernicus", "Historicus",
etc. The more general opinion, however, adopted by Lanigan,
Leland, Healy, Stingfleet, Mabilon, Bollandus, and O'Hanlon,
is that there was but one St. Gildas. The discrepancies may be accounted for by
the fact that the lives were drawn up in separate countries, and several
centuries after the saint existed.
As to Caradoc's statement that Gildas died at Glastonbury, O'Hanlon remarks
that Glastonbury appropriated more saints than
Gildas (Lives of Irish Saints,
I, 493).
Both narratives agree in
several striking details, and may thus be harmonized: Gildas was born in Scotland on
the banks of the Clyde (possibly at Dumbarton), of a noble British family.
His father's name was Cau or Nau; his brother's, Huel or Cuil. He was educated in Wales under
St. Iltut, and was a companion of St.
Samson and St. Peter of Léon. Having embraced the monastic state,
he passed over to Ireland,
where he was advanced to the priesthood.
He is said to have lived some time in Armagh,
and then to have crossed to North Britain, his teaching there being confirmed
by miracles.
On his return to Ireland,
at the invitation of King Ainmire, he strengthened the faith of
many, and built monasteries and
churches. The Irish annalists associate
him with David and Cadoc in giving a special liturgy or Mass to the second
order of Irish saints.
He is said to have made a pilgrimage to Rome.
On the homeward journey his love of
solitude caused him
to retire to the Isle of Houat, off Brittany, where he lived a life of prayer,
study and austerity. His place of retreat having become known, the Bretons
induced him to establish a monastery at
Rhuys on the mainland whither multitudes flocked (Marius Sepet, "St.
Gildasde Rhuys", Paris, s.d.). It was at Rhuys he wrote his famous epistle
to the British kings. His relics were venerated there
till the tenth century, when they were carried for safety into Berry. In the
eighteenth century they were said to be preserved in the cathedral of Vannes.
He is the patron of several churches and monasteries in
Brittany and elsewhere. His feast is
locally observed on 29 January; another feast, 11 May, commemorates the
translation of his relics.
The authentic work of St.
Gildas, "De excidio Britannae liber querulus", is now usually divided
into three parts: (1) The preface; (2) A sketch of British history
from the Roman invasion to his own time; (3) An epistle of severe invective
addressed to five petty British kings — Constantine, Vortipor, Cyneglas, Cynan,
and Maelgwn. In the same epistle he addresses and rebukes the clergy whom
he accuses of sloth and simony.
His writings are clearly the work of a man of no ordinary culture and sanctity,
and indicate that the author was thoroughly acquainted with the Sacred
Scriptures.
Gildas is regarded as the
earliest British historian and is quoted by Bede and Alcuin.
Two manuscripts copies
of his writings are preserved in Cambridge
University library.
Edmonds, C. (1909). St.
Gildas. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton
Company. Retrieved November 22, 2015 from New
Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06557c.htm
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Joseph P. Thomas.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. September 1, 1909. Remy Lafort,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2021 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06557c.htm
_%C3%89glise_Notre-Dame_Int%C3%A9rieur_09.JPG)
St. Gildas the Wise: Monk and Missionary
The
saint of the day for January 29th is St. Gildas the Wise, a sixth century
British monk.
Gildas was born in Scotland around the year 516 to a noble British family. He
was educated in Wales under St. Iltut, and was a companion of St. Samson and
St. Peter of Léon. Sometimes he is called "Badonicus" because
his birth took place the year the Britons gained a famous victory over the
Saxons at Mount Badon, near Bath, Somersetshire.
Noted for his piety, Gildas was well-educated, and was not afraid of publicly
rebuking contemporary monarchs, at a time when libel was answered by a sword,
rather than a Court order.
He lived for many years as a hermit on Flatholm Island in the Bristol Channel.
Here he established his reputation for holiness through acts of self-denial. He
also preached to Nemata, the mother of St David, while she was pregnant with
the Saint.
Around 547 he wrote De Excidio Britanniae (The Ruin of Britain). In
this, he writes a brief tale of the island from pre-Roman times and criticizes
the rulers of the island for their lax morals and blames their sins (and those
that follow them) for the destruction of civilization in Britain. The book was
written as a moral tale.
He also wrote a longer work, The Epistle. This is a series of sermons on
the moral laxity of rulers and of the clergy. In these, Gildas shows that he
has a wide reading of the Bible and of other classical works.
Gildas was an influential preacher, visiting Ireland and doing missionary work.
He was responsible for the conversion of much of the island and may be the one
who introduced anchorite customs to the monks of that land.
He retired from Llancarfan to Rhuys, in Brittany, where he founded a monastery.
Of his work on the running of a monastery (one of the earliest known in the
Christian Church), only the so-called Penitential, a guide for Abbots in
setting punishment, survives.
He died around 571, at Rhuys. The monastery that he had founded became the
center of his cult.
St. Gildas is regarded as being one of the most influential figures of the
early English Church. The influence of his writing was felt until well into the
Middle Ages, particularly in the Celtic Church.
Gildas is the patron of churches and monasteries in Brittany (modern day
France) and other locations. He is regarded as the earliest British historian.
Copies of his writings are preserved in the Cambridge University Library.
SOURCE : https://catholicfire.blogspot.com/2015/01/st-gildas-wise-monk-and-missionary.html
January 29
St. Gildas the Wise, or
Badonicus, Abbot, Native of England
HE was son to a
British Lord, who, to procure him a virtuous education, placed him in his
infancy in the monastery of St. Iltutus in Glamorganshire. The surname of
Badonicus was given him, because, as we learn from his writings, he was born in
the year in which the Britons under Aurelius Ambrosius, or, according to
others, under king Arthur, gained the famous victory over the Saxons at Mount
Badon, now Bannesdown, near Bath in Somersetshire. This Bede places in the
forty-fourth year after the first coming of the Saxons into Britain, which was
in 451. Our saint therefore seems to have been born in 494; he was consequently
younger than St. Paul, St. Samson, and his other illustrious school-fellows in
Wales: but by his prudence and seriousness in his youth he seemed to have
attained to the maturity of judgment and gravity of an advanced age. The author
of the life of St. Paul of Leon calls him the brightest genius of the school of
St. Iltut. His application to sacred studies was uninterrupted, and if he
arrived not at greater perfection in polite literature, this was owing to the
want of masters of that branch in the confusion of those times. As to improve
himself in the knowledge of God and himself was the end of all his studies, and
all his reading was reduced to the study of the science of the saints, the
greater progress he made in learning, the more perfect he became in all
virtues. Studies which are to many a source of dissipation, made him more and
more recollected, because in all books he found and relished only God whom
alone he sought. Hence sprang that love for holy solitude which, to his death,
was the constant ruling inclination of his heart. Some time after his monastic
profession, with the consent, and perhaps by the order of his abbot, St. Iltut,
he passed over into Ireland, there to receive the lessons of the admirable
masters of a religious life, who had been instructed in the most sublime maxims
of an interior life, and formed to the practice of perfect virtue by the great
St. Patrick. The author of his Acts compares this excursion, which he made in
the spring of his life, to that of the bees in the season of flowers, to gather
the juices which they convert into honey. In like manner St. Gildas learned
from the instructions and examples of the most eminent servants of God to copy
in his own life whatever seemed most perfect. So severe were his continual
fasts, that the motto of St. John the Baptist might in some degree be applied
to him, that he scarcely seemed to eat or drink at all. A rough hair-cloth,
concealed under a coarse cloak, was his garment, and the bare floor his bed,
with a stone for his bolster. By the constant mortification of his natural
appetites, and crucifixion of his flesh, his life was a prolongation of his
martyrdom, or a perpetual sacrifice which he made of himself to God in union
with that which he daily offered to him on his altars. If it be true that he
preached in Ireland in the reign of king Ammeric, he must have made a visit to
that island from Armorica, that prince only beginning to reign in 560: this
cannot be ascribed to St. Gildas the Albanian, who died before that time. It
was about the year 527, in the thirty-fourth of his age, that St. Gildas sailed
to Armorica or Brittany in France: 1 for he
wrote his invective ten years after his arrival there, and in the forty-fourth
year of his age, as is gathered from his life and writings. Here he chose for
the place of his retirement the little isle of Houac, or Houat, between the
coast of Rhuis and the island of Bellisle, four leagues from the latter. Houat
exceeds not a league in length; the isle of Hoedre is still smaller, not far
distant; both are so barren as to yield nothing but a small quantity of corn. Such
a solitude, which appeared hideous to others, offered the greatest charms to
the saint, who desired to fly, as much as this mortal state would permit,
whatever could interrupt his commerce with God. Here he often wanted the common
necessaries and conveniencies of life; but the greater the privation of earthly
comforts was in which he lived, the more abundant were those of the Holy Ghost
which he enjoyed, in proportion as the purity of his affections and his love of
heavenly things were more perfect. The saint promised himself that he should
live here always unknown to men; but it was in vain for him to endeavour to
hide the light of divine grace under a bushel, which shone forth to the world,
notwithstanding all the precautions which his humility took to conceal it.
Certain fishermen who discovered him were charmed with his heavenly deportment
and conversation, and made known on the continent the treasure they had found.
The inhabitants flocked from the coast to hear the lessons of divine wisdom
which, the holy anchoret gave with an heavenly unction which penetrated their
hearts. To satisfy their importunities St. Gildas at length consented to live
amongst them on the continent and built a monastery at Rhuis, in a peninsula of
that name, which Guerech the first lord of the Britons about Vannes is said to
have bestowed upon him. This monastery was soon filled with excellent disciples
and holy monks. St. Gildas settled them in good order; then, sighing after
closer solitude, he withdrew, and passing beyond the gulf of Vannes, and the
promontory of Quiberon, chose for his habitation a grot in a rock, upon the
bank of the river Blavet, where he found a cavern formed by nature extended
from the east to the west, which on that account he converted into a chapel. However,
he often visited this abbey of Rhuis, and by his counsels directed many in the
paths of true virtue. Among these was St. Trifina, daughter of Guerech, first
British count of Vannes. She was married to count Conomor, lieutenant of king
Childebert, a brutish and impious man, who afterwards murdered her, and the
young son which he had by her, who at his baptism received the name of Gildas,
and was god-son to our saint: but he is usually known by the surname of
Treuchmeur, or Tremeur, in Latin Trichmorus. SS. Trifina and Treuchmeur are
invoked in the English Litany in the seventh century, in Mabillon. The great
collegiate church of Carhaix bears the name of St. Treuchmeur: the church of
Quimper keeps his feast on the 8th of November, on which day he is commemorated
in several churches in Brittany, and at St. Magloire’s at Paris. A church
situated between Corlai and the abbey of Cœtmaloen in Brittany is dedicated to
God under the invocation of St. Trifina. 2
St. Gildas wrote eight
canons of discipline, and a severe invective against the crimes of the Britons,
called De Excidio Britanniæ, that he might confound those whom he was not able
to convert, and whom God in punishment delivered first to the plunders of the
Picts and Scots, and afterwards to the perfidious Saxons, the fiercest of all
nations. He reproaches their kings, Constantine, (king of the Danmonians, in
Devonshire and Cornwall,) Vortipor, (of the Dimetians, in South Wales,) Conon,
Cuneglas, and Magloeune, princes in other parts of Britain, with horrible
crimes: but Constantine was soon after sincerely converted, as Gale informs us
from an ancient Welch chronicle. 3 According
to John Fordun 4 he resigned
his crown, became a monk, preached the faith to the Scots and Picts, and died a
martyr in Kintyre: but the apostle of the Scots seems to have been a little more
ancient than the former. 5 Our saint
also wrote an invective against the British clergy, whom he accuses of sloth,
of seldom sacrificing at the altar, &c. In his retirement he ceased not
with tears to recommend to God his own cause, or that of his honour and glory,
and the souls of blind sinners, and died in his beloved solitude in the island
of Horac, (in Latin Horata,) according to Usher, in 570, but according to Ralph
of Disse, in 581. 6 St. Gildas
is a patron of the city of Vannes. The abbey which bears his name in the
peninsula of Rhuis, between three and four leagues from Vannes, is of the
reformed congregation of St. Maur since the year 1649. The relics of St. Gildas
were carried thence for fear of the Normans into Berry, about the year 919, and
an abbey was erected there on the banks of the river Indre, which was
secularized and united to the collegiate church of Chateauroux in 1623. St.
Gildas is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology on the 29th of January. A
second commemoration of him is made in some places on the 11th of May, on
account of the translation of his relics. His life, compiled from the ancient archives
of Rhuis by a monk of that house, in the eleventh century, is the best account
we have of him, though the author confounds him sometimes with St. Gildas the
Albanian. It is published in the library of Fleury, in Bollandus, p. 954, and
most correctly in Mabillon, Act. SS. Ord. St. Bened. t. 1. p. 138. See also Dom
Lobineau, Vies des Saints de Bretagne, (fol. an. 1725.) p. 72. and Hist. de la
Bretagne, (2 vol. fol. an. 1707.) and the most accurate Dom Morice, Mémoires
sur l’Histoire de Bretagne, 3 vol. fol. in 1745, and Hist. de la Bretagne, 2
vol. fol. an. 1750.
Note 1. Armorica,
which word in the old Celtic language signified a maritime country, comprised
that part of Celtic Gaul which is now divided into Brittany, Lower Normandy,
Anjou, Maine, and Touraine. Tours was the capital, and still maintains the
Metropolitan dignity. By St. Gatian about the middle of the third century, the
faith was first planted in those parts: but the entire extirpation of idolatry
was reserved to the zeal of British monks. Dom Morice distinguishes three
principal transmigrations of inhabitants from Great Britain into Armorica: the
first, when many fled from the arms of Carausius and Allectus, who successively
assumed the purple in Great Britain: Constance made these fugitives welcome in
Gaul and allowed them to settle on the coast of Armorica about the year 293. A
second and much larger colony of Britons was planted here under Conan, a
British prince, by Maximus, whom all the British youth followed into Gaul in
383. After the defeat of Maximus, these Armorican Britons chose this Conan,
surnamed Meriedec, king, formed themselves into an independent state, and
maintained their liberty against several Roman generals in the decline of that
empire, and against the Alans, Vandals, Goths, and other Barbarians. Des
Fontaines, (Diss. p. 118.) and after him Dom Morice, demonstrates that Brittany
was an independent state before the year 421. The third transmigration of
Britons hither was completed at several intervals whilst the Saxons invaded and
conquered Britain, where Hengist first landed in 470. Brittany was subjected to
the Romans during four centuries: an independent state successively under the
title of a kingdom, county, and dutchy, for the space of about eleven hundred
and fifty years, and has been united to the kingdom of France ever since the year
1532, by virtue of the marriage of king Charles VIII. with Anne, sole heiress
of Brittany, daughter of duke Francis, celebrated in 1491. This province was
subdued by Clovis I. who seems to have treacherously slain Budic, king of
Brittany. This prince left six sons, Howel I., Ismael, bishop of Menevia, St.
Tifei, honoured as a martyr at Pennalun, St. Oudecee, bishop of Landaff, Urbian
or Concar, and Dinot, father of St. Kineda. Brittany remained subject to the
sons of Clovis, and it was by the authority of Childebert that St. Paul was
made bishop of Leon in 512. But Howel, returning from the court of king Arthur
in 513, recovered the greater part of these dominions. See Dom Morice, Hist. t.
1. p. 14. Howel I. often called Rioval, that is, king Howel, was a valiant
prince, and liberal to churches and monasteries. Among many sons whom he left
behind him, Howel II. succeeded him, and two are honoured among the saints,
viz. St. Leonor or Lunaire, and St. Tudgual or Pabutual, first bishop of
Treguier. See Morice, t. 1. p. 14, and 729. Howel III. alias Juthael, recovered
all Brittany. King Pepin again conquered this country, and Charlemagne and
Lewis le Debonnaire quelled it when it thrice rebelled. The latter established
the Benedictin rule at Landevenec, which probably was soon imitated in others:
for the monastic rule which first prevailed here was that of the Britons in
Wales, borrowed from the Orientals. After the struggles made by this province
for its liberty, Charles the Bald yielded it up in 858, and some time after
treated Solomon III. as king of Brittany. See Morice, Des Fontaines,
&c. [back]
Note 2. In this
church-yard stands an ancient pyramid, on which are engraved letters of an
unknown alphabet, supposed to be that of the Britons and Gauls before the Roman
alphabet was introduced among them. Letters of the same alphabet are found upon
some other monuments of Brittany. See Lobineau, Vies des Saints de la Bretagne,
in St. Treuchmeur, p. 8. Dom Morice endeavours to prove that the Welsh, the old
British, and the Celtic are the same language. (Hist t. 1. p. 867.) That they
are so in part it unquestionable. [back]
Note 3. Mr. Vaughan,
in his British Antiquities revived, printed at Oxford in 1662, shows that there
were at this time many princes or chieftains among the Britons in North Wales,
but that they all held their lands of one sovereign, though each in his own
district was often honoured with the title of king. The chief prince at this
time was Maelgun Gwynedth, the lineal heir and eldest descendant of Euneda, who
flourished in the end of the fourth, or beginning of the fifth century and from
one or other of whose eight sons all the princes of North Wales, also those of
Cardigan, Dimetia, Glamorgan, and others in South Wales, derived their descent.
The ancient author, published at the end of Nennius, says Maelgun, began his
reign one hundred and forty-six years after Cunedha, who was his Atavus, or
great grandfather’s grandfather. Maelgun was prince only of Venedotia for
twenty-five years before he was acknowledged in 564, after the death of Arthur,
chief king of the Britons in Wales, whilst St. David was primate, Arthur king
of the Britons in general, Gurthmyll king, and St. Kentigern bishop of the
Cumbrian Britons. “He had received a good education under the elegant
instructor of almost all Britain,” says Gildas, pointing out probably St.
Iltutus. Yet he fell into enormous vices. Touched with remorse, he retired into
a monastery in 552; but being soon tired of that state, re-assumed his crown,
and relapsed into his former impieties. He died in 565. Gildas, who wrote his
epistle De Excidio Britanniæ, between the years 564 and 570, that of his death,
hints that Verulam was then fallen into the hands of the Saxons: which is
certain of London, &c. The other princes reprehended by Gildas were lesser
toparchs, as Aurelius Conon, Vortipor, Cuneglas, and Constantine. These were
chieftains, Vortopor in Pembrokeshire, the rest in some quarter or other of
Britain, all living when Gildas wrote. Constantine, whom Gildas represents as a
native of Cornwall, and as he is commonly understood also as prince of that
country, did penance. The chief crime imputed to him is the murder of two royal
youths in a church, and of two noblemen who had the charge of their education.
These Carte imagines to have been the sons of Caradoo Ureich-Uras, who was
chief prince of the Cornish Britons in the latter end of king Arthur’s reign,
as is attested by the author of the Triades. The prelates whom Gildas reproves,
were such as Maelgun had promoted: for the sees of South Wales were at that
time filled with excellent prelates, whose virtues Gildas desired to copy. Carte,
t. 1. p. 214. [back]
Note 4. Scoti-chron.
c. 26. [back]
Note 5. Gildas’s
epistle De Excidio Britanniæ, was published extremely incorrect and incomplete,
till the learned Thomas Gale gave us a far more accurate and complete edition,
t. 3. Scriptor. Britan., which is reprinted with notes by Bertrame in Germany,
Hanniæ imp. an. 1757, together with Nennius’s history of the Britons, and
Richard Corin. of Westminster, De Situ Britanniæ. Gildas’s Castigatio Cleri is
extant in the library of the Fathers, ed. Colon. t. 5. part 3. p. 682. [back]
Note 6. Dom Morice
shows that about one hundred and twenty years were an ordinary term of human
life among the ancient Britons, and that their usual liquor called Kwrw, made
of barley and water, was a kind of beer, a drink most suitable to the climate
and constitutions of the inhabitants. See Dom Morice, Mémoires sur l’Histoire
de Bretagne, t. 1. preface; and Lemery, Diss. sur les Boissons. [back]
Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73). Volume
I: January. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : https://www.bartleby.com/210/1/293.html
Carnoët, chapelle Saint-Gildas : statue de saint Gildas, représenté avec un chien et un porc car il était invoqué pour les maux de dents et les morsures de chiens enragé
The Life of Gildas by Caradoc of Llancarfan, ca.
1130-1150
1. Nau [Caw--MJ],
the king of Scotia, was the noblest of the kings of the north. He had
twenty-four sons, victorious warriors. One of these was named Gildas, whom his
parents engaged in the study of literature. He was a boy of good natural
disposition, devoted to study, and distinguished for his talents. Whatever he
heard from his master he would repeat most diligently, and forgetfulness did
not harm him. He eagerly and diligently studied among his own people in the
seven arts until he reached the age of youth; when, on becoming a young man, he
speedily left the country.
2. He crossed the
Gallic Sea and remained studying well in the cities of Gaul for seven years;
and at the end of the seventh year he returned, with a huge mass of volumes, to
greater Britain. Having heard of the renown of the illustrious stranger, great
numbers of scholars from all parts flocked to him. They heard him explaining
with the greatest acuteness the science of the seven rules of discipline,
according to which men, from being disciples, became masters, under the
master's office.
3. The religion of
the very wise teacher was magnified and extolled to such a degree by the
inhabitants of Britain, in that his equal was neither found, nor could be
found, owing to superior merits. He used to fast like the hermit Antony: most
thoroughly devoted to religion, he used to pray clad in goat's skin. If
anything was given to him, he would forthwith expend it upon the poor. He
abstained from milk-foods and honey: flesh was hateful to him: fresh-water
herbs were rather a favourite dish with him: he ate barley-bread mixed with
ashes, and drank spring water daily. He used not to take a bath, a habit very
much in favour by this nation. Thinness appeared in his face, and he seemed
like a man suffering under a very serious fever. It was his habit to go into
the river at midnight, where he would remain unmoved until he had said the
Lord's Prayer three times. Having done this, he would repair his oratory and
pray there on his knees unto the divine majesty until broad daylight. He used
to sleep moderately, and to lie upon a stone, clothed with only a single
garment. He used to eat without satisfying his wants, contented with his share
of the heavenly reward; the longing of his heart was after heavenly rewards.
4. He warned men to
contemn, he advised them to scorn mere transitory things. He was the most
renowned preacher throughout the three kingdoms of Britain. Kings feared him as
a man to be feared, and obeyed him after hearing his acceptable preaching. In
the time of king Trifinus, he preached every Lord's day in his church by the
sea-shore, in the district of Pepidiauc, with a countless number of people
listening to him. And when he was once just beginning to preach, the words of
the preaching were checked in the preacher himself; and the people were struck
with amazement at the wonderful retention. On finding this, St. Gildas bade all
who were present to go out, that he might be able to know whether it was owning
to one of them that this impediment to the divine preaching was caused; and
yet, even after their withdrawal, he could not preach. He then asked whether
there was any man or women hiding in the church. Nonnita, who was with child,
and was destined to become the mother of the most holy boy, Dewi, answered him:
I, Nonnita, am staying here between the walls and the door, not wishing to
mingle with the crowd.. Having heard this, he bade her to go out; and when she
had gone out he called the people. They were called, and came to listen to the
preaching of the gospel. At the close of the sermon, he asked the angel of God
the purport of the above-mentioned matter, to wit, why when he had begun to
preach he had failed to proceed to the end. And he revealed the matter to him
in such words as these: Nonnitta, a saintly woman, remains in the church, who
is now with child, and is destined, with great grace, to give birth to a boy
whom thou couldst not preach, the divine power withholding thy speech. The boy
this is to come will be of greater grace: no one in your parts will equal him.
"To him will I leave
this part of the country: he will quickly grow and flourish form one period of
life to another. For an angel, the messenger of God declared to me this as my
true destiny." Whence it happened that the most holy preacher Gildas
crossed over to Ireland, where he converted a great number of people to the
Catholic faith.
5. St. Gildas was
the contemporary of Arthur, the king of the whole of Britain, whom he loved
exceedingly, and whom he always desired to obey. Nevertheless his twenty-three
brothers constantly rose up against the afore-mentioned rebellious king,
refusing to own him as their lord; but they often routed and drove him out from
forest and battle-field. Hueil, the elder brother, an active warrior and most
distinguished soldier, submitted to no king, not even to Arthur. He used to
harass the latter, and to provoke the greatest anger between them both. He
would often swoop down from Scotland, set up conflagrations, and carry off
spoils with victory and renown. In consequence, the king of all Britain, on
hearing that the high-spirited youth had done such things and was doing similar
things, pursued the victorious and excellent youth, who, as the inhabitants
used to assert and hope, was destined to be king. In the hostile pursuit and
council of war held on the island of Minau, he killed the young plunderer.
After the murder the victorious Arthur returned, rejoicing greatly that he had
overcome his bravest enemy. Gildas, historian of the Britons, who was staying
in Ireland directing studies and preaching in the city of Armagh, heard that
his brother had been slain by King Arthur. He was grieved at hearing the news,
wept with lamentation, as a dear brother for a dear brother. He prayed daily
for his brother's spirit; and, moreover, he used to pray for Arthur, his
brother's persecutor and murderer, fulfilling the apostolic commandment, which
says: Love those who persecute you, and do good to them that hate you. [Luke
vi, 27]
6. Meanwhile, the
most holy Gildas, the venerable historian, came to Britain, bringing with him a
very beautiful and sweet-sounding bell, which he vowed to offer as a gift to
the Bishop of the Roman Church. He spent the night as a guest honourably
entertained by the venerable abbot Cadocus, in Nant Carban. The latter pointed
out the bell to him, and after pointing to it, handled it; and after handling
it wished to buy it at a great price; but its possessor would not sell it. When
king Arthur and the chief bishops and abbots of all Britain heard of the arrival
of Gildas the Wise, large numbers from among the clergy and people gathered
together to reconcile Arthur for the above-mentioned murder. But Gildas, as he
had done when he first heard the news of his brother's death, was courteous to
his enemy, kissed him as he prayed for forgiveness, and with a most tender
heart blessed him as the other kissed in return. When this was done, king
Arthur, in grief and tears, accepted penance imposed by the bishops who were
present, and led an amended course, as far as he could, until the close of his
life.
7. Then the
illustrious Gildas, a peace-making and Catholic man, visited Rome, and
presented the afore-mentioned bell to the Bishop of the Roman Church; but when
the bell was shaken by the hands of the bishop, it would give forth no sound.
Therefore, on seeing this, he thus said: O thou, man beloved of God and men,
reveal unto me what happened unto thee on thy journey to make this
presentation. And he revealed that the most holy Cadoc, abbot of the church of
Nancarvan, had wished to buy the bell, but that he had refused to sell what he
had vowed to offer to the apostle St. Peter. When the Apostolic bishop heard
this, he said: I know the venerable abbot Cadoc, who seven times visited this
city, and Jerusalem three times, after countless dangers and incessant toil. I
consent that, if he comes again and wishes to possess it, thou mayst give it to
him. For, in consequence of this present miracle, it has been decreed that he
should have it. Gildas, therefore, took back the bell after it was blessed, and
returned; he brought it back and bestowed it gratutitously upon St. Cadoc. When
received by the hands of the abbot and struck, it forthwith sounded, to the
surprise of all. Then it remained as an asylum for all who carried it throughout
the whole of Gwalia (Gualiuam), and whosoever swore illegally throughout that
land, he was deprived of his tongue, or if an evil-doer would straightaway
confess the crime.
8. Cadoc, the abbot
of the church of Nancarban [aka Llancarfan], asked the teacher Gildas to
superintend the studies of his schools for the space of one year; and one being
requested, he superintended them most advantageously, receiving no fee from the
scholars except the prayers of the clergy and scholars. And there he himself wrote
out the work of the four evangelists, a work that still remains in the church
of St. Cadoc, covered all over with gold and silver in honour of God, of the
holy writer, and of the Gospels. The inhabitants of Wales (Walenses) hold this
volume as the most valuable possession in their oaths, neither dare to open it
in order to look into it, nor confirm peace and friendship between hostile
parties, unless it be present, specifically placed there for the purpose.
9. At the close of the
year, and when the scholars were retiring from study, the saintly abbot Cadoc
and the excellent master Gildas, mutually agreed to repair to two islands,
viz., Ronech and Echin. Cadoc landed on the one nearer to Wales, and Gildas in
the one that lies over against England. They were unwilling to be hindered in
the church offices by the conflux of men; and on this account, they could think
of no better plan that to leave the valley of Carvan and resort to the secrecy
of an island. Gildas founded there an oratory in honour of the holy and
indivisible Trinity, and close by it was his bed-chamber. It was not in it,
however, that he had his bed, but placed on a steep cliff, where, upon a stone
he lay until midnight, watching and praying to Almighty God. Then he would
enter the church quite faint with cold; but, for God's sake, the cold was sweet
and endurable to him. He used to take some small fish in a net, and eggs from
bird's nests; and it was on this, which sufficed him for nourishment, that he
lived. The one used to visit the other. This mode of living lasted for the
space of seven years.
10. The supreme
Creator, seeing that his chosen servant, Gildas had no constant supply of water
beyond the drops of rain which fell upon stones and were caught as they
trickled down, caused a stream to flow out from a steep cliff -- and out it
flowed, and still flows out, and will remain constant without exhaustion. While
St. Gildas was thus persevering, devoting himself to fasting and prayers,
pirates came from the islands of Orcades, who harassed him snatching off his
servants from him when at their duties, and carrying them off to exile, along
with spoils and all the furniture of their dwelling. Being thereby exceedingly
distressed, he could not remain there any longer: he left the island, embarked
on board a small ship, and, in great grief, put in at Glastonia, at the time
when king Melvas was reigning in the summer country. He was received with much
welcome by the abbot of Glastonia, and taught the brethren and the scattered
people, sowing the precious seed of heavenly doctrine. It was there that he
wrote the history of the kings of Britain. Glastonia, that is, the glassy city,
which took its name from glass, is a city that had its name originally in the
British tongue. It was besieged by the tyrant Arthur with a countless multitude
on account of his wife Gwenhwyfar, whom the aforesaid wicked king had violated
and carried off, and brought there for protection, owing to the asylum afforded
by the invulnerable position due to the fortifications of thickets of reed,
river, and marsh. The rebellious king had searched for the queen throughout the
course of one year, and at last heard that she remained there. Thereupon he
roused the armies of the whole of Cornubia and Dibneria; war was prepared
between the enemies.
11. When he saw
this, the abbot of Glastonia, attended by the clergy and Gildas the Wise,
stepped in between the contending armies, and in a peaceable manner advised his
king, Melvas [Melwas or Melegant], to restore the ravished lady.
Accordingly, she who was to be restored, was restored in peace and good will.
When these things were done, the two kings gave the abbot a gift of many
domains; and they came to visit the temple of St. Mary and to pray, while the
abbot confirmed the beloved brotherhood in return for peace they enjoyed and
the benefits which they conferred, and were more abundantly about to confer.
Then the kings reconciled, promising reverently to obey the most venerable
abbot of Glastonia, and never violate the most sacred place nor even the
districts adjoining the chief's seat.
12. When he had
obtained permission from the abbot of Glastonia and his clergy and people, the
most devout Gildas desired to live a hermit's life upon the bank of a river
close to Glastonia, and he actually accomplished his object. He built a church
there in the name of the holy and indivisible Trinity, in which he fasted and
prayed assiduously, clad in goat's hair, giving to all an irreproachable
example of a good religious life. Holy men used to visit him from distant parts
of Britain, and when advised, returned and cherished with delight the
encouragements and counsels they had heard from him.
13. He fell sick at
last, and was weighed down with illness. He summoned the abbot of Glastonia to
him, and asked him, with great piety, when the end of his life had come, to
cause his body to be borne to the abbey of Glastonia, which he loved
exceedingly. When the abbot promised to observe his requests, and was grieved
at the requests he had heard, and shed copious tears, St. Gildas, being now
very ill, expired, while many were looking at the angelic brightness around his
fragrant body, and angels were attending upon his soul. After the mournful
words of commemoration were over, the very light body was removed by the
brethren into the abbey; and amid very loud wailing and with the most befitting
funeral rites, he was buried in the middle of the pavement of St. Mary's
church; and his soul rested, rests, and will rest, in heavenly repose. Amen.
14. Glastonia was of
old called Ynisgutrin, and is still called so by the British inhabitants. Ynis
in the British language is insula in Latin, and gutrin (made of glass). But
after the coming of the English and the expulsion of the Britons, that is, the
Welsh, it received a fresh name, Glastigberi, according to the formation of the
first name, that is English glass, Latin vitrum, and beria a city; then
Glastinberia, that is, the City of Glass.
Caradoc of Nancarban's
are the words;
Who reads, may he
correct; so wills the author.
SOURCE:
Two Lives of Gildas by a
monk of Ruys and Caradoc of Llancarfan. Hugh Williams, translator. First
published in the Cymmrodorion Record Series, 1899.
SOURCE : http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/gildas06.html
St. Gildas the WiseFeast day: Jan 29
St. Gildas was probably born around 517 in the
North of England or Wales. His father's name was Cau (or Nau)
and, came from noble lineage, and he most likely had several brothers and
sisters. There is writing which suggests that one of his brothers, Cuil
(or Hueil), was killed by King Arthur (who died in 537 AD), and it also appears
that Gildas may have forgiven Arthur for this.
There are two accounts of
the life of St. Gildas the Wise, neither of which tell the same story.
He lived in a time when
the glory of Rome had faded from Britain. The permanent legions had been
withdrawn by Maximus, who used them to sack Rome and make himself Emperor.
Gildas was noted in
particular for his piety and good education, and was not
afraid to publicly rebuke contemporary monarchs at a time when libel was
answered by a sword rather than a Court order.
Gildas lived for many
years as a very ascetic hermit on Flatholm Island in the Bristol Channel. There
he established his reputation for that peculiar Celtic sort of holiness that consists
of extreme self-denial and isolation. At around this time, according to the
Welsh, he also preached to Nemata, the mother of St David, while she was
pregnant with the Saint.
In about 547 he wrote a
book De Excidio Britanniae (The Destruction of Britain). In this he writes a
brief tale of the island from pre-Roman times and criticizes the rulers of the
island for their lax morals and blames their sins (and those that follow them)
for the destruction of civilization in Britain. The book was avowedly written
as a moral tale.
He also wrote a longer
work, the Epistle, which is a series of sermons on the moral laxity of
rulers and of the clergy. In these Gildas shows that he was well
read in the Bible and some other classic works.
He was also a very influential
preacher. Because of his visits to Ireland and the great missionary work
he did there, he was responsible for the conversion of many on the island,
and may be the one who introduced anchorite customs to the monks of that land.
From there he retired from
Llancarfan to Rhuys, in Brittany, where he founded a monastery. Of his works on
the running of a monastery (one of the earliest known in the Christian Church),
only the so-called Penitential, a guide for Abbots in setting punishment,
survives.
He died around 571, at
Rhuys.
He is regarded as being
one of the most influential figures of the early English Church. The influence
of his writing was felt until well into the middle ages, particularly in the
Celtic Church. He is also important to us today as the first British writer
whose works have survived fairly intact.
SOURCE : https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-gildas-the-wise-131
St. Gildas the Wise,
Abbot Bishop (Badonicus)
29 January
Born c. 520; died c. 570 (some scholars believe he may
have died as early as 554).
Gildas
may have been born in the lower valley of Clydeside in Scotland. He is often
called "Badonicus" because he was born in the year the Britons
defeated the Saxons at Bath. His father was of the ruling family of a small
kingdom on the borders of Northumbria with its capital at Dumbarton but he was
sent from the banks of the Clyde to the monastery of Llaniltut or Llantwit. in
southern Wales, where he was trained by Saint Illtyd (f.d.
November 6) together with Saint Samson (f.d.
July 28) and Saint Paul
Aurelian (f.d. March 12), though he was much younger. Well-known Irish
monks, including Saint
Finnian (f.d. December 12), became his disciples. He made a pilgrimage
to Ireland to consult with his contemporary saints of that land and wrote
letters to far-off monasteries. He seems to have had considerable influence on
the development of the Irish church.
When Gildas graduated from Llantwit he went to Ireland to continue his studies,
moving from one monastic centre to another. Possibly he was ordained priest in
Ireland and went back to the North of Britain, teaching and preaching in the
land of his nativity. The fame of his successful ministry made Ainmeric, a King
in Ireland, invite him back to restore the discipline and ordered Liturgy in
the monasteries and he taught for a time in the School of Armagh.
On returning to Britain, he assisted S. Cadoc at Llancarven and accompanied him
when he went to Brittany, or Armorica as it was called at that time. Gildas
also went on pilgrimage to Rome and there is a story that he visited Cadoc on
the way. He brought with him a leather pouch and when he opened it he produced
a bell, shaped like a square cap. The bell was made of beaten metal, a mixture
of silver and copper, and had a very sweet tone so that Cadoc desired it for
the monastery he was building at that time. Gildas however told him that it was
destined for St Peter's at Rome but when he presented it to the Pope on his
arrival in the Holy City, the bell gave no sound at all. On his way back he
called on Cadoc again and gave him the bell which now sounded as sweet as ever.
From this incident Gildas learnt that his labours should be among his own
people.
He is best remembered in Britain for his history of the church in that land
from the departure of the Romans to the invasion of the Saxons. It was probably
written at Glastonbury about 540 and is entitled De Excidio et Conquestu
Britanniae, The Ruin of Britain, which he says came upon the British through
the decadence of their rulers and clergy. The work laid bare and severely
criticised the lives of Britain's rulers and clerics, blaming their moral
laxity for the triumph of the Anglo-Saxon invaders. Although the fierceness of
its rhetorical invectives has been criticised the wide scriptural scholarship
that it reveals is uncontested. It also shows that he was knowledgeable about
Virgil and Ignatius (f.d. October 17). This work was cited by Saint Bede (f.d. May
26).
He is considered to be the first English historian. He lived as a hermit for
some time on Flatholm Island in the Bristol Channel, where he copied a missal
for Saint Cadoc (f.d.
September 25) and may have written De excidio. Gildas, upon returning from
his pilgrimage to Rome, founded a monastery on an island near Rhuys (Rhuis or
Morbihan) in Brittany, which became the centre of his veneration. Though he
lived for a time on a tiny island in Morbihan Bay, he gathered disciples around
him and does not seem to have cut himself off entirely from the world; he did
travel to other places in Brittany.
The De excidio, which very influential in the early Middle Ages, may not
have been written entirely by Gildas. Some of it may have been added shortly
after his time. The work serves as an example of the classical and early
Christian literature that was then available in England. Gilda's writings were
used by Wulfstan (f.d.
January 19), archbishop of York, in the 11th century in his "Sermon of the
Wolf" to the English people during the disordered reign of Ethelred the
Unready.
He did spend some time as a hermit on the island of Flatholm in the Bristol
Channel but he eventually moved to Brittany where he founded a monastery at a
place which bears his name St Gildas-de-Rhuys which according to Peter Abelard
who was later abbot there was not a very salubrious spot. His tomb is behind
the altar in the present church and there are relics in the Sacristy.
Some early Irish martyrologies commemorate his feast as does the Leofric Missal
(c. 1050) and Anglo-Saxon calendars of the 9th through 11th centuries (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Gill, Farmer, Walsh, White).
He is portrayed in art with a bell near him (White).
Troparion of St Gildas the Wise Tone 8
Truly thou art surnamed 'The Wise', 0 righteous Gildas,
for in thy monastic solitude thou didst use thy God-given gift of words for His
greater glory.
Teach us to despise nothing, that all our talents, however small, may be
employed in God's service, for the salvation of our souls.
Kontakion of St Gildas the Wise Tone 2
As one learned in the art of writing
0 wise Gildas,
thou didst not hide thy talent, but brought it forth to glorify thy Creator.
Singing praise to thee, we pray for grace to follow thee in offering everything
to God for His glory alone.
Medieval Sourcebook
The Works of Gildas:
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/gildas-full.html
SOURCE : https://celticsaints.org/2014/0129a.html
_%C3%89glise_Saint-Gildas_Baie_02.JPG)
Vitrail
de l'église Saint-Gildas de Magoar :
Saint-Gildas
(la volute de la crosse tournée vers lui) et Notre-Dame-des-Victoires.
San Gildas di Rhuys Abate
Gran Bretagna, V sec. –
Houat (Bretagna, Francia), 29 gennaio 570 ca.
Nacque verso la fine del
V sec, sulle rive della Clyde, in Gran Bretagna, da una famiglia principesca.
Fin dalla prima infanzia fu affidato al santo abate Iltud e fu condiscepolo dei
santi Paolo di Lèon, Sansone di Dol e Lunario. Ordinato prete verso il 518,
decise di ricondurre alla fede, attraverso la sua predicazione, le regioni
settentrionali della Gran Bretagna in cui il Cristianesimo era quasi scomparso.
Poco più tardi, chiamato da S. Brigida, passò in Irlanda, dove la Chiesa era in
piena decadenza dopo la morte di san Patrizio. Gildas ristabilisce la
disciplina nei monasteri, opera numerose conversioni. Terminata la sua missione
torna in Inghilterra e si ritira in solitudine nell’isola di Houat, in pieno
Oceano. Ma i pescatori dei dintorni non tardano a scoprirlo e così circondato
da una numerosa schiera di discepoli egli deve ben presto stabilirsi nella
vicina penisola di Rhuys dove fonda un monastero. In quello stesso luogo
avrebbe risuscitato S. Trifida, madre di S. Tremoro, assassinata dal marito, il
tiranno di Conomor. In seguito percorre la Cornovaglia predicando e fondando
monasteri. Ritorna a Rhuys, ma muore ad Houat, dove amava isolarsi, il 29
gennaio del 570. Il corpo, per suo espresso desiderio, affidato al mare in una
barca, fu ritrovato sulle coste di Rhuys l’11 maggio seguente e inumato nella
chiesa del monastero.
Emblema: Bastone
abbaziale, campanella
Era circa il 1060, quando
Vitale, abate del monastero di Rhuys, situato sulla riva del mare nella regione
di Vannes, scrisse la ‘Vita’ del fondatore del monastero, san Gildas.
L’autore stesso, assicurò
che si era ispirato ad antichi documenti e tradizioni, ma nello stesso tempo
egli ampliò il suo racconto con episodi e dati edificanti o folcloristici,
secondo la tendenza degli agiografi del tempo; fatto sta, che oggi è impossibile
distinguere fra le parti storiche e quelle leggendarie.
Gildas nacque verso la
fine del V secolo in Gran Bretagna sulle rive della Clyde, fiume scozzese, da
una famiglia principesca.
Fin dalla prima infanzia,
fu affidato al santo abate Iltuto († 540 ca.), fondatore del monastero di
Llanilltud Fawr nel Galles, celebre centro culturale con molti discepoli; ebbe
come condiscepoli i santi celtici Sansone vescovo di Dol, s. Paolo di Léon e s.
Lunario.
Verso i 20 anni, Gildas
si trasferì nel Galles “per raccogliere le dottrine di altri studiosi sulla
filosofia e le divine lettere”; fu ordinato sacerdote nel 518 e decise di fare
opera missionaria, e attraverso la sua predicazione ricondurre al Cristianesimo
quasi scomparso, le regioni settentrionali della Gran Bretagna.
Poco più tardi, fu
chiamato da santa Brigida di Kildare († 525 ca.) in Irlanda, per rivitalizzare
la Chiesa locale, che dopo la morte del vescovo evangelizzatore san Patrizio (†
461), era in piena decadenza.
Gildas ristabilì la disciplina
nei monasteri e fra l’altro fondò la celebre scuola di Armagh, operando
numerose conversioni.
Ritornato in Inghilterra,
insieme a due studiosi bretoni David e Cadoc, compose una “Messa nuova” per le
Chiese celtiche; poi si ritirò nel sud del territorio francese dell’Armorica
(l’antico nome della Penisola della Bretagna, detta Britannia dai bretoni che
vi si rifugiarono nel V secolo), vivendo in solitudine nell’isoletta di Houat
in pieno Oceano.
Ma la sua presenza
orante, sebbene nascosta e isolata, fu ben presto notata dai pescatori dei
dintorni e la notizia si diffuse, tanto che numerosi discepoli si aggregarono a
lui.
Per questo Gildas ritenne
necessario fondare un monastero per accoglierli, edificio che fu costruito nel
luogo di un’antica fortezza romana, nella vicina penisola di Rhuys, striscia di
terra della Francia settentrionale, di fronte all’isola di Houat.
Dopo qualche tempo però,
riprese a condurre vita solitaria insieme a san Bieuzy, altro santo eremita
bretone, sulle rive del Blavet ai piedi del picco di Castennec. In questo luogo
avrebbe scritto il “De Excidio et conquestu Britanniae”, che gli procurò il
soprannome di “Saggio”.
E sempre in prossimità di
questo luogo, avrebbe resuscitato santa Trifida, madre di san Tremoro, che era
stata uccisa dal marito, il tiranno di Conomor.
In seguito percorse la
Cornovaglia armoricana, sempre predicando, facendo conversioni e fondando
monasteri; poi chiamato da re Ainmir, ritornò in Irlanda.
Infine si recò di nuovo a
Rhuys, ma in uno dei suoi ritiri nell’isoletta di Houat, morì il 29 gennaio del
570 ca. Per suo espresso desiderio, il suo corpo deposto su una barca, fu
affidato al mare, rituale spesso usato dalle popolazioni costiere nordiche.
Ma la barca fu poi
ritrovata arenata sulla costa di Rhuys, l’11 maggio seguente; il corpo fu così
inumato nella chiesa del suo monastero.
Verso il 919, per timore
delle scorrerie dei Normanni, i monaci di Rhuys trasferirono il corpo del
fondatore san Gildas, a Bourg-Dieu presso Châteauroux (Indre) nell’interno
della Bretagna, dove fu edificata una chiesa in suo onore; l’abbazia di Rhuys
all’inizio dell’XI secolo, fu rilevata da s. Felice e divenne il centro della
spiritualità di tutta la regione; tomba di numerosi figli dei duchi di Bretagna
e fu conservata intatta fino alla Rivoluzione Francese.
Oggi il monastero è
occupato dalle Suore della Carità di S. Luigi, dette del Padre Eterno, e nel
coro romanico della chiesa abbaziale, oggi parrocchia, si venera ancora dietro
l’altare maggiore, la tomba e qualche reliquia del santo abate Gildas.
Finché durò l’abbazia,
tutte le parrocchie della penisola di Rhuys, furono obbligate a compiervi
pellegrinaggi in occasione delle principali feste: il 29 gennaio per la morte
di Gildas, il 30 settembre per la dedicazione della chiesa abbaziale e
soprattutto per le Rogazioni, in cui si ricordava la scoperta del corpo del
santo.
Attualmente esiste solo
la festa del 29 gennaio, spostata al 30 con Ufficio e Messa propri.
San Gildas gode in
Bretagna di un culto molto sentito; nella sola diocesi di Vannes, è patrono di
otto parrocchie, ben nove chiese e dieci cappelle gli sono dedicate; varie
località portano il suo nome.
È raffigurato in vesti di
monaco, col bastone abbaziale e spesso con una campanella, che ricorda la
leggendaria campana fusa dallo stesso s. Gildas, che non volle suonare quando
fu donata al papa, perché era stata dapprima promessa all’amico san Bieuzy.
Autore: Antonio
Borrelli
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/Detailed/92215.html
Voir aussi : http://orthodoxievco.net/ecrits/vies/synaxair/janvier/gildas.pdf
