ST KEW, ST JAMES, and MONMOUTHSHIRE-Part I

The picture of St Kew, taken from St Kew's Church in Cornwall is from David Hunt Nash's excellent site, which is a treasure trove of Celtic Christian information. You can take a look by cutting and pasting this link into your browser.

http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/bios/saints.html

Ciwa (St Kew) with her bear in the beautiful stained glass window in Cornwall. She is holding her church of St Kew, not Llangua.

The photos below show a variety of scenes of Llangua Church and also th site of the mill excavation on the nearby Monnow. It is an exceptionally pretty site. Please leave a donation if you go, although there is no entrance charge. Tea and cakes are served during the August opening hours.Belmont Abbey is nearby and you can book at the refectory for a superb and moderately priced Sunday lunch. The Abbey Church is currently being refurbished.Belmont is only a mile or so from Llangua-turn right to the Belmont Golf Club. The Abbey also has a bookshop with religious goods and lovely gardens.









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Today and intriguing article about the little Priory of Llankywan, known in Welsh as Llangua. Whilst the land is in the diocese of Cardiff (Belmont Abbey lies a mile up the road and used to be the Cathedral for Newport)it has somehow come into the diocese of Hereford and has been restored in recent times, so this little former Benedictine cell at least lies close to a larger Benedictine Abbey.

Later this week I will discuss its Mediaeval story, the St James features we see inside the church and the superb statue.

What I want to discuss today, is this little priory cell, which was there to administer the surrounding lands, collect tithes and serve the churches up the hill at Grosmont Castle and St Nicholas,with priests. It was here long before the Norman overlords arrived. William FitzOsbern, William the Conqueror's strongest henchman, (who did not last long as I explained in my post on the Benedictine Priory of Our Lady at Chepstow)endowed many of the religious foundations in East Monmouthshire under his Knights to whom he granted lands.

ST CIWA and the LLan or Celtic monastic settlement at Llangua

The earliest we know for certain about the little Priory of Llanciwan is that it was a ‘clas’ church and was doubtless a monastery in Celtic and Saxon times. The circular nature of the wall of the churchyard gives credence to this and Dr Piper, a historian and friend of the church was convinced that the larger stones used in the building of the Priory Church dates to earlier times.

I have already talked about the Catholic church in Celtic times, so it is possible that small wooden or mud and wattle buildings were on the site and were taken over in later times by Saxons who may have put up a stone church before The tub front of the church is Norman and the interior porch doorway is round-headed. There are a number of unrestored perpendicular windows, and a blocked priest hole. The tower is half timbered with a row of turned balusters below the pyramidal roof with a gold weather cock.

Saint Ciwa, Saint Kew(also called Ciwa, Kuet, Kywere,Kywan) Foundress-Llangua and St Kew (Landow)

So who was St Kew? If you’ve been to Cornwall (Kerniw) you probably will have seen the village and church of St Kew on the A 39 Atlantic Highway.Her brother St Docheu of Docco(of Llandogo near Tintern)would have nothing to do with her until she tamed a bear, though more recent tradition says that she inspired the locals to hunt it down and kill it).

Ciwa was thus allowed to build herself a small hermitage and chapel near her brother's, but she wisely chose to go further away to a site more protected from wildlife attacks.

She died on 8th February (year unknown)ibn the sixth century and was subsequently remembered more fondly than Dochau. The present village of St. Kew in Cornwall grew up around her church. She may have founded Llan-ciwa as her first foundation, as no doubt she died at the one at Llanow. Her monastery at St Kew was de-spoiled by King Edgar in about 958-975AD during the Saxon invasion of Cornwall.

As so many Welsh saints, she was a traveller and no doubt after her first years at Llangua,she perhaps travelled closer to her brother, down to Cornwall and took over her 'llan' at what is now St Kew, and formerly had been her brothers'foundation.It is also possible, that, as Saxons began to attack the Welsh borders, she travelled to Cornwall for safety's sake.

ST DOCHAU of LLAN-DOGO-Also Docco and Oudecaus-later Bishop-nephew of St Teilo


St Dochau was a hermit monk doing his ‘Green Martyrdom’ at 'Llan-Dogo' and in ancient writings said that St Ciwan came to visit him there , whilst doing her own ‘white martyrdom’. (Travelling to do the will of God wherever it took her) Dochau would not receive her until ‘he sawe a wild boar miraculously obeye her’.

We learn from Dochau that he found she had become such a pattern of goodness, humility and gentleness that she became to be revered and accepted as a saint by the local communities at Llangua and St Kew, and it is fitting that her monastic foundation in Wales is still there in the village's name to this day..

St CIWA's FEAST is on 8th February

In the Welsh Calendars, St Ciwa’s feast is on 8th of February. This is one feast day which should be remembered by the people of Llangua, and St Kew, (which used to be known for her brother in Cornish-Llandow) The little Welsh girl who came to both remote places to love and serve the Lord, where she could be at peace and grow in Christ's will, not being distracted by the ways of the world. No doubt she attracted others who felt likewise.

For fuller information on the Celtic monasteries and clas churches and Celtic Catholic traditions, please go to the blog on St Cadoc on the links to 2007 below on the left hand column.

On visiting the Church you can see that the floor of the church has been raised several times, possibly because of flooding. The Celtic Catholic religious who first built the site, would have been aware of the holiness of St Kew and would have
been inspired by her example.

Llankywan

The dedication to St James seems to have been much later-possibly in Mediaeval times, as even when Henry the VIII men came to seize this little priory,it was called the Pryorie of Llankywan in Monmouthshire. So Ciwa's name has prevailed in the name of the nearby village - Llan-gua (ciwa).

My Visit

This church has been restored by the 'Friend of Friendless Churches' and is only open one Sunday of the month for an Anglican Service at 8.30am. It is open during August every Sunday afternoon and it is an idyllic church in an idyllic spot and some very friendly people provide refreshments in the church, which is next to the river, where the monks mill site has been recently excavated.

This little church has one enormous secret, and one of which Catholics should be proud- but I'll go into that in a subsequent post!

Next: Llangua (south of Pontrilas south of Hereford on the river)

St Ia the Martyr at St Ives and the Angels Part One

The Angels of St Ives, mediaeval angels from the chancel which have been repainted and regilded in 1996.They have been photographed for the postcards all together, because each one is high up in the chancel of the church building and difficult to see in detail.

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These first images are all from Sacred Hearts and St Ia, St Ives



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St Ia, martyred Saint of Cornwall, Wales and Ireland





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(Welsh: Ia; Latin: Hia; English: Ive)

St. Ia ((Born c.AD 480)is generally thought to have been an Irish Princess and the Sister of Euny, erc and Anta.Ia would probably been named after an earlier Saint of the Church as many of the Celtic saints were.We know of other cases, King Meurig named after St Maurice (St Moritz)and Tewdrig after Bishop Theoderick. Ia, a strange name by Celtic standards, may have been named after an earlier Persian Saint Ia.She was a Persian martyr, a Greek slave slain for the faith. Ia was so successful in converting Persian woman that she was arrested and tortured by King Shapur II’s forces for several months. She was flogged to death and then beheaded. Her story like that of the hapless Saint Tecla of the Eastern Church, gave inspiration to the celtic people who named their children after them. There was still great communication with Rome and Jerusalem, with the saints visiting these places regularly.

Dinas Ia, Porth Ia

The Cornish name for St Ives is Porth Ia and both the Catholic and the ancient Anglican church in the town are dedicated to her, and both open to the public for prayer and for viewing.All the princesses are said to have been early converts to the faith by St Patrick. Later Ia decided to go on a White Martyrdom to spread the gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

She embarked in a small boat with Fingar and Piala, who hoped to get to Cornwall. They trusted that their boat- but Ia arrived late at the port only to see her friends disappearing over the horizon.She was so frustrated to stand on the beach watching them disappear. She sobbed bitterly on the sand to pray .The Legend takes over as a leaf appeared on the water and seemed to grow into a boat.She touched it with her pilgrim's staff tos see if it would sink, but the leaf appeared to grow and grow and soon it was large enough for her to climb aboard and sail to Ireland. More likely is that a small boat was found for her somehow, and she was able to sail after them and the conditions were good enough for her to reach Cerniw and West Penwith in safety, even before her friends did.It was a very Celtic thing to engage the magical in with the life of a saint. Various people beieve, however, that Ia was Welsh rather than Irish and a member of the Brycheiniog family, but at this time the general tradition was that she was Irish. However the trip from Ireland would have been a hazardous one and much further than the one from South Wales.

ST BARRUC

Ia became a disciple of St. Barruc (our St Barruc who gave his name to Barry-and his settlement to Barry Island) and was soon joined by other Welsh saints, Elwyn and 777 companions. Hunt Nash writes

She founded the church of Pen Dinas (Dinas Ia, part of St. Ives) and her holy well, the Venton Eia (or Ffynnon Ia) was nearby at Porthmeor. She also set up a chapel at Troon in Camborne area, near another well, the Fenton Ear (or Ffynnon Ia). She may have also made sojourns to Brittany, where Plouyé near Carhaix is named after her.

Ia was a tricky person

Ia could be quite strident in her preaching and denunciations of local rulars and their morality and this did not make her popular.The local king, another King Tewdar and she eventually made him so uncomfortable that he had her murdered on Connor Downs with some of her companions and so she joined the long list of Christian Martyrs and was buried at Porth Ia (St Ives) and her feast day on 3rd February.

The iconography represents Ia clothed in white wool, as an Irish Abbey, with a white veil, sometimes crowned (with a Martyrs' crown) and holding a leaf.

HIC IACET ARTORIVS REX QVONDAM REXQVE FVTVRVS

The Death of Arthur following the furious and ferocious Battle of Camlann, most likely at Slaughterbridge on the River Camel in Cornwall near Camelford is commemorated in a sixth century inscribed stone in the River.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, being a poet whose feelings were touched by these stories arrived to write his famour tales of Arthur at the Hanbury Arms Inn on the Usk at Caerleon, remaining for quite some time. In spite of the romanticised setting he does capture the sadness and agony of Bedwyr, Arthur's trusted friend that all is over. This is the end of the Island of Britain as they knew it. The Welsh were the remnants of a larger nation, who until Arthur could not learn to live together for the common good. There is the realisation, that his wife did not care for him, his beloved friends were dead and he could not have been sure if it was all woth it. It is his cousin Morgan who accompanies him to Glastonbury-the former lake village, the beautiful orchards of apples and meadows, where his later tomb stone read

HIC IACET ARTORIVS REX QVONDAM REXQVE FVTVRVS

Here lies Arthur, the once and future King

So all day long the noise of battle rolled
Among the mountains by the winter sea;
Until King Arthur's table, man by man,
Had fallen in Lyonnesse about their Lord,
King Arthur: then, because his wound was deep,
The bold Sir Bedivere uplifted him,
Sir Bedivere, the last of all his knights,
And bore him to a chapel nigh the field,
A broken chancel with a broken cross,
That stood on a dark strait of barren land.
On one side lay the Ocean, and on one
Lay a great water, and the moon was full.
Then spake King Arthur to Sir Bedivere:
"The sequel of today unsolders all
The goodliest fellowship of famous knights
Whereof this world holds record. Such a sleep
They sleep -the men I loved. ……
Then loudly cried the bold Sir Bedivere,
"Ah! my Lord Arthur, whither shall I go?
Where shall I hide my forehead and my eyes?
For now I see the true old times are dead,
When every morning brought a noble chance,
And every chance brought out a noble knight.
Such times have been not since the light that led
The holy Elders with the gift of myrrh.
But now the whole ROUND TABLE is dissolved
Which was an image of the mighty world;
And I, the last, go forth companionless,
And the days darken round me, and the years,
Among new men, strange faces, other minds."
And slowly answered Arthur from the barge:
"The old order changeth, yielding place to new,
And God fulfils Himself in many ways,
Lest one good custom should corrupt the world.
Comfort thyself: what comfort is in me?
I have lived my life, and that which I have done
May He within Himself make pure! but thou,
If thou shouldst never see my face again,
Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer
Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice
Rise like a fountain for me night and day.
For what are men better than sheep or goats
That nourish a blind life within the brain,
If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer
Both for themselves and those who call them friend?
For so the whole round earth is every way
Bound by gold chains about the feet of God.
But now farewell. I am going a long way
With these thou seest -if indeed I go -
(For all my mind is clouded with a doubt)
To the island-valley of Avilion;
Where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow,
Nor ever wind blows loudly; but it lies
Deep-meadowed, happy, fair with orchard-lawns
And bowery hollows crowned with summer sea,
Where I will heal me of my grievous wound."

St Cred of Devon and Cornwall-Holiday for Mary

Today I have diverted away from Monmouthshire,or Gwent/Glamorgan to take and incursion into Devon and Cornwall and the Celtic monastic settlement begun by St Credan or St Cred.Form there we will have a look at how the town was overrun by Saxons, causing the inhabitants to flee, yet how this comunity gave birth to one of the giants of the Church of the first milennium. Today we will just look at the British settlement,the remains of the original settlement having been found from British times. So many early churches were built of mud and wattles or of wood that nothing survives of these early times except a farmstead. The strongest evidence being, as in Wales -the name of the town itself is evidence for a community founded byt the Irish Saint being founded there before the Saxon incursion. The name of the town is said to have been 'Kirgton' of the town with the church which probably was the original church of Cred 'ton' being the name for 'settlement'.

Crediton in Romano British Times

Before the Anglo Saxons came to Britain, such small monastic settlements were in place all over Britain.We have heard gow groups of monks from all over Britain and Ireland travelled amongst each other, reported to Rome-Cadoc going seven times to visit seven popes!' Indeed sixth century Britain was known as ‘The Age of the Saints’. The impression is given that there were no Christian Britons here before the Anglo Saxons, that the Anglo Saxons actually founded the churches in England, instead of having driven out the original Romano British churches and forced the people to flee to Wales and Cornwall. We have evidence of the accounts of the settlements in Wales for example , of the large number of refugees driven West, and this may have been why King Meurig of Gwent fought so hard to keep the Saxons out of Monmouthshire.

British Settlement Remains

The foundations of a Roman British farmstead or home have been found just outside the east end of the town and this may well have been the site of an original monastic settlement. This little settlement could well have had a mud and wattle church or a wooden church destroyed by the Saxons as they came in and plundered it, taking over the rich and fertile land. Many of these Anglo Saxon settlements built in England stood on former sites. Further this taking of British lands meant, that when Pope Gregory was desirous of the early branch of the British Church evangelising or Christianising the British Church, such was the hatred and mistrust of the Saxons who had overrun ancient Britain and snatched many of these ancient lands, killing the people and burning their monastic settlements, that they refused to do so, prompting the Pope to send St Augustine.

St Cred or Credan of Ireland

So who may have been the original Celtic founder of the settlement at Crediton? Since the remains of such a settlement have been found , this s worthy of consideration. The most likely person is Credan.He was the son of Illadhan or Iolladan and also called Cred amongst other names. Of course there are Latin, Irish and Cornish forms of these names, and indeed Cred was the nephew of the King of Leinster in Ireland (Cairbre Dubh-who died in 546) So we imagine that Cred died in or about 580 AD. Leland says Cred was buried at Bodmin but also gave his name to Sancreed Church (Saint Cred). There was a story about Cred that there was a tradition that St Cred accidentally killed his own father. Racked by guilt, he abandoned the world , he became a swineherd and lived in such an exemplary way with humility and fasting and almsgiving, that he was acclaimed a saint by the ordinary people.

Sancreed Church

Indeed Cred appears in Bishop Grandisson’s Register of 1331 and 1332 as the dedicatee of Sancreed. So holy was his life, he eventually left abd went back to Ireland abd settled in Aghamanach in Moyne in Co Wicklow. In the Taxation of Pope Nicholas he is known as St Credus.He eventually settled in Ireland in ‘The plain of the monks’ and in a highly romantic situation. It is possible he left the area because of early Anglo Saxon incursions and felt he would return to his native land. It would be some time before St Augustine , sent by Pope Gregory would Christianise the English.

His feast Day is May 11th.

We have spoken about how the early Romano British saints travelled around from ‘White Martyrdom’ to ‘green martyrdom’ (see earlier posts) and no doubt Cred’s father clearly a younger son of the royal Leinster line had embarked on such a thing, arriving in a fertile land, easy to farm and live in, until the arrival of the invaders. It seems to have been such an important settlement from early days and even with the British driven out, it was some time before the arrival of Augustine, who was faced with the rather fruitless task of ‘marrying together’ the ancient original Roman Church already existent in the British Isles which had been battered and bruised by the arrival of pagan invaders and the newly Christianised invaders themselves.

Ancient British Celts were not savages

It is wrong to consider the ancient British people as woad streaked savages. The Emperor Claudius reception of Caractacus at this court, his nobility and strength of character and admiration of Rome was enough to ensure his freedom and the bringing up of his Christian daughter Eurgain as ‘Claudia Rufina’ who later married Lucius Pudens former governor of Britain. Caractacus younger son Linus, born after the arrival of the Gwentian Royal Family in Rome, also grew up in a Roman foster home in Tuscany. Both children appear to have been Christianised , unusual in the upper classes of Rome, because most Christians were of the slave classes, and often found among Jewish people. Claudia and Linus and later Pudens were friends with Peter and Paul and mentioned at the end of 2 Timothy. When Nero became Emperor, Pudens had disappeared, Claudia/Eurgain and her son Timotheus arrived back in Britain and founded a monastic settlement at Winchester.

Et resurrexit tertia die secundum scripturas-He is risen!!!

So Christ has risen. We have just returned from the Vigil Mass. The bonfire was a bit small but lovely when the church was lit with candles as the priest held up the Easter (Paschal Candle) and celebrated :The LIght of Christ! The service had several parts, readings, renewal of baptismal promises, Litany of the Saints and finally the Eucharist and its return to the Tabernacle. I had used to go to the tiny church of St Materiana, but the final rump of people now went to another church and I was only accompanying my husband and then used to do Mass on Easter Morning.

The little church of St Paul the Apostle in Tintagel is sadly a new building pained ble inside, which I always feel is cold, especially with a florescent light over the altar. The monks of Buckfast Abbey made the stained glass, overwhelmingly blue colour, makes it feel cold. Nevertheless the priest was warm and welcoming and afterwards there was much wishing everyone a happy Easter!

LAOS-Christian Persecution

58 Christians Arrested, While 9 Church Leaders Sentenced to Prison

On February 22, Laotian officials arrested 15 Hmong Christian families in Bokeo district, Laos. According to Compass Direct News, the arrests occurred a day before a court sentenced nine Hmong church leaders to 15 years in prison for 'conducting Christian ministry and meetings that had grown beyond acceptable levels for Communist officials.'


"The day before the sentencing, Laotian authorities arrived in Bai Sai Janrern village in Bokeo district with six trucks in which they hauled away eight Christian families. Authorities also arrested at least seven families from Fai village three miles away." The arrested families make up a total of 58 Hmong Christians. Compass added, officials have warned Hmong Christians they will return to the area to round up believers who have moved from other districts in Laos. "They have been told that the officials will be sending them back to their home districts. Many Hmong in Bokeo district have married Hmong from other districts, so this will create tremendous hardship for the families," the source told Compass.

The nine Christian leaders sentenced to 15 years in prison for Christian ministry were arrested in July 2007, during a police and military raid of suspected rebels that left 13 innocent Christians

Pray for them, the persecuted and all the Martyrs.

Padstow

Today I visited Bascastle and Padstow ,where I visited St Petroc's Church.

I have then gone along the cliffs to the Glebe Cliff and looked at Tintagel Castle and Merlin;s Cave and finally went to Tintagel Church of St Materiana where I did a soundseeing tour which I will be editing when I return home and putting up on the MaryinMonmouth Podcast (available iTunes, Juice, Winamp etc)

It was so bitterly cold this wind, nevertheless the hotel is lovely, warm, bed is soft