(6TH CENT.)
[There are said to have been several British saints of this name.
But that commemorated on this day is the famous author, whose
writings are extant. It is probable that Gildas, having been born
in Scotland, bred in Wales, and a monastic founder in Brittany, has
been divided into three, and some of the incidents have attached
themselves to S. Gildas the Scotchman, others to S. Gildas the
Welshman, and others again to him of Brittany. Yet these are all
easily reducible into a consecutive history, and belong, in fact,
to one man. His life was written by Caradoc of Llancarvan, about
1150; another life is by an anonymous monk of Rhys.]
S. Gildas, surnamed the Wise, was born in North-Britain near the Clyde,
in the kingdom of which Dumbarton was the capital. His father was of
princely birth; his eldest son, Howel, was a great warrior, who,
succeeding his father in the principality, was slain by King Arthur.
Mailoc, another son, was brought up to the religious life. Two other
brothers, and their sister, Peteona, in like manner left the world, and
choosing a retired place in the furthest extremity of that country,
built themselves separate oratories, where, by watching, fasting, and
fervent prayer, they continually strove to reach their heavenly country.
As to Gildas, we learn from his own writings, that he was born in the
year of the famous victory, gained (as some say, by Ambrose; or, as
others say, by Arthur,) over the Saxons at Mount Badon, near Bath, about
A.D. 520. He was, when a child, committed by his parents to the care of
S. Iltut, who brought him up in his monastery of Llan-Iltut in
Glamorganshire, instructing him in the divine Scriptures, and in the
liberal arts. These divine meditations wonderfully increased his faith
and love of heavenly things, and influenced in such a manner the whole
conduct of his life, that from his very youth he attained to great
perfection and was favoured with the gift of miracles. From S. Iltut's
school, where he had for companions S. Samson and S. Paul of Leon, both
of whom were afterwards illustrious prelates, he went over into Ireland,
for his further improvement in virtue and learning, among the disciples
of S. Patrick. There he frequented the most celebrated masters of divine
and human learning; and like the industrious bee, gathered honey from
every flower--the honey of virtue and of knowledge. In the meantime, he
failed not to chastise his body and bring it into subjection, lest, with
all his learning and preaching to others, he himself might become a
cast-away. Therefore he fasted much, and often watched whole nights,
employing that silent time in prayer.
After Gildas was ordained priest, he preached the Gospel in the northern
parts of Britain; where a great part of the inhabitants were heathen,
and those calling themselves Christians were infected with the Pelagian
heresy. God blessed his labours there with such success, that great
numbers of heathen and heretics were by his means converted to Christ;
and many miracles were wrought through him in the cure of the sick, in
confirmation of his doctrine. The reputation of his success having
reached Ireland, the king, Ainmeric, invited him over. Gildas accepted
the call, and there, by his preaching and miracles, he mightily advanced
the kingdom of God. He built churches and monasteries, established
Christian discipline, regulated the liturgy, taught for some time in the
famous school of Armagh, and was, in a word, another S. Patrick to that
nation, by which he has been ever since gratefully honoured among their
most illustrious Saints.
After these things, leaving Ireland and Britain, he sailed over into
Armorica or Brittany, and there founded the monastery of Rhys. But as he
was desirous of solitude and undisturbed contemplation, he made himself
an oratory, at some distance from that monastery, under a rock upon the
bank of the river Blavet, where he devoted his solitary hours to
prayer.[132] The exact date of his death is uncertain.