St. Gildas the Wise
The saint of the day for January 29th is St. Gildas the Wise, a sixth century British monk. Gildas was born in Scotland around the year 516 to a noble British family. He was educated in Wales under St. Iltut, and was a companion of St. Samson and St. Peter of Léon. Noted for his piety,Gildas was well educated, and was not afraid of publicly rebuking contemporary monarchs, at a time when libel was answered by a sword, rather than a Court order. He lived for many years as an ascetic hermit on Flatholm Island in the Bristol Channel. Here he established his reputation for that peculiar Celtic sort of holiness that consists of extreme self-denial and isolation. At around this time, according to the Welsh, he also preached to Nemata, the mother of St David, while she was pregnant with the Saint. In about 547 he wrote De Excidio Britanniae ( The Ruin of Britain ) . In this he writes a brief tale of the island from pre-Roman times and criticizes the rulers of the island for their l...