This morning was a midweek communion... I always look at "Exciting Holiness" for the day's saint!
I try to get a bit of interest going if possible ! To keep them awake if nothing else!
Today was St Tydfil. So as an opportunity to demonstrate my less than plausible welsh accent that was who I talked about.....only a couple of minutes mind. Not a sermon.
This lady had been a very holy early Christian.....she had had eleven sons....make of that what you will. She was killed on her way to visit her father by pagans, thus getting herself sainted because of her martyredom. Her burial took place where Merthyr Tydfil now stands...so far so good...we were all getting interested...
Unfortunately the writer of this piece then ruined the whole thing! The information was taken from a Welsh romantic writer called Iolo Morganwg. It may contain some elements of local tradition but might also just be a bit of speculation about local place names he thought.
So why include it in the first place? In a book of exciting holiness it was a bit of a let down!
It did give this morning's congregation a laugh though ..Especially the bit about the saint having given birth to eleven sons .so it wasn't all bad news.
Posted with Blogsy
3 comments:
Is saintliness equated with celibacy then Jean?
Just asking!
Nice post.
It's an interesting point Ray.....I am sure it was in the old days....but no I don't believe you have to be celibate to be spiritual....
Tydfil was obviously thought to be holy despite or possible because of her prolific off spring!
It's a well known fact that the more ancient the female saint the more likely she is to become a born again virgin after martyrdom. This is closely related to all holy women being given male gender in heaven.
Post a Comment