Pol-de-Leon (aka Paul/Pol Aurélien) is one of the seven founding saints of 'Continental
Brittany' and the city of Pol-de-Leon, of which he was the first
bishop, is a stage of the medieval pilgrimage now known as the Tro
Breizh (Tour of Brittany).
His
surname, Aurélien, is said to suggest that he belonged to the same
patrician family of which Ambrosius Aurelianus was a member. Also
known as Emrys Wledig, Ambrosius was the war-leader who led the
defence of the Bretons/Celts of the 'island of Brittany' (i.e. the
British Isles) against the Saxons between 470 and 485 C.E. , and who
is said to have been the brother of Uther Pendragon, father of
Arthur.
Pol/Paul
is believed to have been born in 490 C.E. in Glamorgan, Wales. He had
nine brothers and three sisters. Their father, Porphino (aka
Perphirius or Porphyrius meaning 'clad in purple') was a chieftan of
Penychen, who intended Pol to become an arms trader, but, faced with
Pol's obstinate rejection of this, he placed him, at the age of nine,
in the monastery of Iltud at Llantwit Major, and he then studied with
Samson, Brieuc, Malo, and Gildas, on the island of Pyrus, now known
as Caldey.
Pol
was a vegetarian (hurrah!) and drawn to solitude. At the age of
fifteen he was given the abbot's permission to become a hermit in Pen
Ohen. He was ordained priest at the age of twenty-two by the Bishop
of Winchester, and spent five years in the abbey where his sister
Sicofolla was abbess. Prompted by a vision, he then asked, and was
granted permission by King Mark, to join his cousin Gwithur in
Armorica (Brittany).
Accompanied
by 12 others, Pol landed at Porz an Ejen in 517, and settled in
Lampaul. During a stay with his cousin Gwither on the Isle of Batz,
Pol is said to have 'removed a dragon' from the island, and was given
the gift of the island, where he founded a monastery. The Frankish
King Childebert 1 (511-558) made him Bishop of Castel-Paol (now
Saint-Pol-de-Leon). In 553 he retired to the Isle of Batz, where he
died in either in 575 or 594. In 954 his relics were transferred
to Fleury-sur-Loire where they were destroyed by the Huguenots around
the year 1567. Only a bone of his arm is kept in Saint-Pol-de-Léon.
Below is a photo of his preaching stole.
If
Pol belonged to the same family as Ambrosius, uncle of Arthur, was
Pol's cousin Gwithur actually Arthur himself? And if so, who (or
what) was the dragon?!
While
this may be fanciful, it is a fact that Arthurian legends are part of
the Breton heritage. Celtic Christians from Cornwall, Wales, and
Ireland came to the Armorican peninsula in the 5th century C.E.,
changing its name into 'Lesser Brittania' as a reminder of, and as a
mark of the connection with, 'Greater Britannia' - hence Britain and
Brittany. Their leaders were adopted as Breton patron saints: Samson,
Malo, Brieuc, Tugdal, Pol, Corentin, and Patern. They brought with
them their particular brand of Celtic Christianity, but they also
assimilated the local pre-Christian/pagan deities as local holy women
and men. They built Mont-St-Michel abbey as a replica of St.
Michael's Mount in Cornwall, and, of course, they imported the legend
of Arthur - the writings of Gildas (see 29th January) are one of the
sources for the legend. And it is believed by some that an island off
Tregastel is Avalon, where Arthur still sleeps...
Arthur's
Prayer
reputed
recited by the King when he met with his Knights at
the Round Table
May
God grant us the wisdom to discover the right,
the
will to choose it
and
the strength to make it endure.
Amen.
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