Day 24 of Celtic Advent: St Cynidr of Wales

December 8th St Cynidr of Wales

   St Cynidr, who is also known as Keneder, lived in the early to mid 6th century in Wales. He is somewhat overshadowed by his more famous brother, St. Cadoc. Cynidr is listed by Sabine Baring-Gould in his Lives of the British Saints as a Confessor who spent most of his time in the area around Glasbury in East Central Wales, Powys.  There were originally several churches names after him in the area, but this area was the "Marches," the border areas the kept passing between the Welsh and English.  Apparently it was a not uncommon practice for the English to re-dedicate churches who were originally named for Welsh saints and have them named after a less national saint.  This happened to all of St. Cynidr's churches which were renamed either after the Virgin Mary, or St. Peter.

     There is one story related to Cynidr and his brother Cadoc that bears repeating.  Cadoc has  granted church sanctuary to one Llyngesog the Longhand, who had apparently killed three retainers from the court of King Arthur.  Arthur demanded that Cadoc hand over the culprit, who had been kept past the usual time of sanctuary.  Cadoc sent Cynidr to handle the negotations which were carried out by the different parties across a stream, and after a fair amout of difficulties, resulting in a compensatory payment to Arthur.

     A couple of things stand out for me with Cynidr.  One was his title of Confessor.  This, in the very early church was an indication of someone who was martyed for the faith, but as Christianity became more of the dominant religion in Europe this changed.  New Advent lists the later definition as follows:

          "After the middle of the fourth century we find confessor used to designate those men of remarkable virtue and knowledge who confessed the Faith of Christ before the world by the practice of the most heroic virtue, by their writings and preachings..."

     This is a somewhat comforting view for me--which may seem odd.  Up until reading this definition, I had a sense that to be considered a "confessor" you had to be out actively grabbing people at the mall or some other public place and asking them if they had met Jesus yet.  I know some churches that send their teen groups to do just that, and, to be honest, it seems superficial. I don't pretend to have "heroic virtue," but this Celtic advent blog is my foray into making more public my beliefs and way of life.  I will leave the mall conversion efforts to people who can be more extroverted in their faith than I can.

      The other aspect of Cynidr that struck me is that he must have had some diplomatic skills, and ability to calm down people on opposite sides of an argument, otherwise Cadoc would not have chosen him to go meet with Arthur.  There is a sense in several of the very early Arthurian Welsh stories of a lack of harmony between the Church and the British War leader.  The earliest history of the British, that of St. Gildas, does not mention Arthur by name, even though Gildas does elaborate on  the major victories of the British over the Anglo-Saxons.  He does, however, rant at some length about the lack of spiritual conviction on the part of the British political leaders of the times.  If there was truly was "no love lost" between the Church and the British war force, it would have taken someone with a fair amount of skill to settle a disagreement.

      This makes me think of the early church and St. Paul...who spends a fair amount of time negotiating harmony between those people who think you have to be fully Jewish, including circumcision and diet, betore you can become Christian, and those who think that no aspect of the Jewish faith is necessary.  To bring peace and harmony to a divisive situation is obviously a very early Christian form of mnistry.

     So, as with many other of these early Celtic saints, I know a limited amount about their life details, but can surmise aspects of their character...and it is that that I wish to emulate:

     Lord, your servant Cynidr helped spread and maintain faith in You through his skills at being a confessor and by working for harmony during times of disagreement. Help me to hone these same skills, that I may walk my talk, and be a source of Your light to others.  In the name of Thy Son and of the Spirit, Amen.