It is related of St. Kevin that after he had been seven years at
Glendalough, a weariness of life came over him, and a longing to hear
the voice of man once more. Then Satan came to him in the form of an
angel, bright and beautiful, and persuaded him that he should quit
the valley and travel abroad and see the world, while yet his youth
was left to him. And St. Kevin was near yielding to the words of the
tempter, when fortunately St. Munna came by that way, and he at once
saw through the trick, and showed to St. Kevin that the advice was from
the devil, and not from God. And St. Kevin promised St. Munna that he
would never leave the valley till his death. However, God, not willing
that the saint should eat his heart away in idleness, bade him build a
monastery on the east of the lake, the place where the resurrection was
to be; and he sent his angel to show him the exact spot.
But St. Kevin, when he saw the place so wild and rude, could not help
telling the friendly angel that it was very rugged and difficult to
build on; and the stones were heavy and hard to be moved. Then the
angel, to prevent any difficulty in the building, rendered the stones
light and easy to move, and so the work of building went on to the
glory of God; and St. Kevin rejoiced in the task set before him.
And the monk who tells the story adds, that from that day in all the
place which the angel appointed for the building, there is now no stone
that cannot be lightly moved and easily worked all through the valley
of Glendalough.