1 March 2026, The Second Sunday of Lent: St David’s Day,
Eldroth, Clapham
Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant Hapus – or Happy St. David’s Day! The happy incidence of St. David’s Day falling on a Sunday brings out the Liverpool-Welshness in me. I won’t dwell on that. I will, however, share a little of the life of the patron saint of Wales, through the eyes of a twentieth-century Welsh poet David James Jones, known as Gwenallt. [1]
Gwenallt’s poem in celebration of Saint David opens with a passage about the tissue-thin distance between earth and heaven, and between the saints in heaven and our modest selves.
There is no barrier between two worlds in the Church.
The Church militant on earth
Is one with the Church triumphant
in heaven,
And the saints are in this Church which is two in one.
They come to worship with us,
our small congregation…
When he wrote those words, Gwenallt probably had in mind the chapel he attended in his youth. It resonates with us, here, today, though: our small congregation, conscious that we are worshipping in the presence of the saints of the Church triumphant in heaven.
As Gwenallt tells it, the saints are this Christian nation’s oldest ancestors,
Who built Wales on the foundation
Of the Crib, the Cross
and the Empty Tomb.
These are rather like the Northern Saints who I spoke about last month: people who would “go out … to evangelise” the land north of a line drawn roughly between the Severn and the Humber. [2] Among them was David, Dewi, who Gwenallt calls “the gypsy of God”, picturing him
going from shire to shire …
With the gospel and the altar in his caravan.
Today there are 86 churches in Wales named after their patron St David. [3]
Tradition has it that David was born at Henfynyw in Ceredigion. He became renowned as a teacher and preacher, founding monastic settlements and churches in Wales, South-West England, and Brittany. St David’s Cathedral stands on the site of the monastery he founded in the Glyn Rhosyn valley of Pembrokeshire, and his Monastic Rule meant a life of austerity for the monks.
They had to pull the plough themselves without draught animals. David taught them to refrain from eating meat and drinking beer; they could eat only bread with salt and herbs, and drink only water – which got them the name “watermen”. The monks spent their evenings in prayer, reading and writing. No personal possessions were allowed: even to say “my book” was considered an offence. [4]
With David living such a simple, ascetic life, it seems appropriate that St David’s Day falls during Lent.
But despite this severe self-denial, David had a big heart and a generous spirit, his life devoted to sharing the gospel with the ordinary people of the land. Gwenallt’s poem takes a profound turn here, as he pictures St David present and active in the poet’s own place and time – post-war Britain, 1951 – the saint:
[Coming] to us in the colleges and schools
To show us the purpose of learning.
[Going] down into the pit with the coal miners
[Shining] his lamp on the coal face.
[Putting] on the goggles of the steel worker,
and [bringing] the factory people into his disreputable Church.
Gwenallt’s David “carried the Church everywhere”, and
…brought the Church into our homes,
Put the holy vessels on the kitchen table
With bread from the pantry and wine from the cellar,
And he stood behind the table like a tramp
So as not to hide from us the wonder of the sacrifice.
It is said that St David’s last words to his followers were in a sermon on the previous Sunday. As he prepared to “walk the path that our fathers had trod before”, he said, “Brothers and sisters, Be joyful, and keep your faith and your creed, and do the little things that you have seen me do and heard about.” [5]
Nicodemus asked Jesus the question, What does it mean to be born again? For David and his watermen, being born again meant living a life of self-denial and sacrifice, but a life of joyful generosity, given over to travelling the land to share God’s good news with others in their workplaces and their homes.
What does it mean to be born again? In the end David said it meant being joyful, keeping faith, and doing the little things that mean so much.
It’s a path which God can give us all grace to follow, on this saint’s day and every day.
Notes
[1] Patrick Thomas, tr. Gwenallt, Dewi Sant in A. M. Allchin, D. Densil Morgan, Sensuous Glory: The Poetic Vision of D. Gwenallt Jones.
[2] John Davies, Present in the prayer-house – Britain’s Christian heritage. Notes from a Small Vicar, 1 February 2026.
[3] Figure based on a search on the Church in Wales website, accessed 24 February 2026.
[4] Wikipedia: Saint David: Hagiography.
[5] Wikipedia: Saint David: Death.
