ST DERFEL: 6th Century Saint Feast Day 5th April and his connection to St John Forest (whose feast day is 22nd May).
ST DERFEL: 6th Century saint Feast Day 5th April (This post ties in to St John Forest whose feast day is 22nd May). The Remains of the Statue to St Derfel - the Stag Derfel Gadarn (“mighty”, “valiant”, “strong”) was a 6th century Welsh monk. His story reads like the mythical tales of the ancient Celts such as the Ulster cycle, and the qualities with which he is described, bravery, valour, chivalry, strength in battle, are those that were particularly prized by the ancient pagan Celts, but in this context, they were coupled with the additional qualities of the Christian code of chivalry: gentleness and grace. His Feast Day is 5th April, and he was reputedly born around 566 AD. He was said to be one of the 7 warriors who survived the Battle of Camlann –the legendary final battle of King Arthur against Mordred in the 6th century, which is argued by some scholars to have been a genuine battle based on a cattle raid (in similar terms to the Irish legends of Ulste...