Saint Teilo of Carmarthen
Today in the Orthodox Church we commemorate another great sixth-century saint of Wales who, along with Saints Dewi and Padern, has a particular and intimate connexion with the Orthodox East. The ninth of February is the feast-day of the celebrated disciple of Saint Dyfrig, Saint Teilo of Carmarthen.
Saint Teilo [also Eliud, Teliau, Théleau, Dillon or Teliarus] was born around the year 500 in Penally in the commote of Penfro in Dyfed. His parents, Ensig and Gwenhaf, were devout Christians, and they raised young Teilo accordingly. He was the great-grandson of Ceredig King, and thus a cousin on his father’s side as well as friend to the aforementioned Dewi Sant. He was tutored by a certain Paulinus who was likely Saint Peulin at a school in Whitland, and later by Saint Dyfrig himself in Hentland on the River Wye – now on the English side of the border. It was at Whitland where he first met and befriended his kinsman Dewi Sant. He would later spend some time in Mynyw together with Saint Dewi and Saint Máedóc of Ferns. Saint Dewi and his disciples were harassed at Mynyw by a pagan druid named Bwya who tried repeatedly to cause them to stumble into sin, to drive them out and to kill them – this tale is related in the hagiography of Dewi himself.
The hagiographic legend also relates a story about Teilo and Máedóc themselves. The two youngsters were sent by Dewi Sant to go to the woods and fetch wood for the monastery. Grumbling that they had been taken from their studies, Teilo and Máedóc prayed as they shouldered their axes that they would not spend long at their task. When they got to the wood, they found a pair of wild stags before them, which allowed themselves to be approached as if tame. The two stags helped the two young students haul in firewood for the monastery.
Saint Teilo left Mynyw to found a monastic church of his own at Llandeilo Fawr, which became the hub of Saint Teilo’s archpastoral ministry. Under Saint Teilo’s guidance, Llandeilo Fawr would become one of the great centres of learning and of monasticism in South Wales, rivalling both Mynyw and Llantwit Major. A fitting testament to the monastic life at Llandeilo Fawr is this: over one hundred years after Saint Teilo’s repose, this monastery would produce the beautiful eighth-century illuminated Llandeilo Fawr Gospels, a sublime national treasure of Wales’s artistic heritage which is still on display to the public at St Teilo’s Church there.
Saint Teilo was also present and active in educational and missionary activity at Llandaff – where he founded a church and monastic school – though whether he was actually bishop there seems to be a matter of some debate. At its height, Saint Teilo’s monastery in Llandaff was home to a thousand monks. Saint Teilo also founded a monastery and church in the village of his birth, Penally in Penfro, where Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker of Myra is – fittingly so for a nautical town with sailors in need of protection against the elements – co-patron. His cultus is still active and his memory is still honoured in all three localities.
In the wake of a plague that struck southern Wales and Cornwall in 549, Saint Teilo together with Saint Samson undertook a mission to Brittany in Gaul. The two of them were guided to Dol by an angelic vision. Once they reached Dol they preached the Word of God, and also planted orchards of fruit trees. Patiently they laboured, and in the end their orchard came to be three miles long. In Brittany, hagiographical tales exist of Teilo slaying a winged dragon, and exorcising a devil from a king’s hall, which stalked and killed his servitors. These tales are testimony to the fact that heathenry was still very much existent among the Bretons of this time, and that Saint Teilo was active in his opposition to idolatrous practices.
Together with Dewi Sant and Saint Padern, Teilo was one of the three who undertook the pilgrimage from Wales to the holy sites in al-Quds. The three of them undertook the voyage as equals, and each one took turns serving the others. They worked a number of wonders together on their travels to al-Quds. Once there, they met with the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Peter. Sayyidnâ Peter was a most gracious host. He gave the three travellers the seats of honour in his church once they had visited the Holy Places, and was eager to listen to accounts of the Britons’ homeland and travels. At last when they departed, over the objections of the hospitable Greek Patriarch, his parting gift to them was to lay hands upon them and ordain them as bishops, giving each of them a precious omophorion and a crozier.
Saint Teilo returned to Wales after this and settled in South Wales – either in Llandaff or in Llandeilo Fawr. He worked a number of wonders in his later years. He healed men of nervous disorders and disabilities, and even raised a man from the dead. He was revered as a living saint by the people of Dyfed and Morgannwg within his own lifetime. The extent of the reverence paid him by the people of southern Wales is witnessed in the argument that arose at once after his blessed repose in the Lord on the ninth of February, 560. All three of the monastic communities and sæcular commote authorities in Penally, in Llandeilo Fawr and in Llandaff claimed his relics for themselves, and they very nearly came to a bitter contention over them. At last an agreement was made that the monks from each community would hold vigil and pray to the Lord for one night so that a solution would be presented. On the following morning, there was a wonder to behold – there was not one body of Saint Teilo, but three: one for each of the communities which claimed him! The monks of Penally, Llandeilo and Llandaff each went back to their monasteries content with the relics they sought.
At Llandaff, Saint Teilo was considered the primary founder of the bishopric, even though his connexions with the see were occasionally exaggerated. For example, Saint Euddogwy is listed as the direct disciple and successor of Saint Teilo, though this is chronologically unlikely to say the least. He may certainly be counted as a spiritual successor to Saint Teilo’s monastery in Llandaff, however, and it’s very likely that Saint Euddogwy was indeed kin to Teilo.
After his cousin Dewi Sant, Saint Teilo is the most broadly-venerated of the Welsh holy men of the Age of Saints. Over twenty-five churches and chapels in Wales alone are dedicated to his memory. Including the three most significant ones aforementioned, there are also churches dedicated to Saint Teilo in Cardiff, Llandeloy, Newport, Merthyr Mawr, Llantilio Pertholey, Llantilio Crossenny, Portmead, Bishopston and Mynyddygarreg. Holy wells ascribed to Saint Teilo still exist in Llandaff, Cardiff and Llangolman.
In addition to this, an active cultus of Saint Teilo – locally known as Teliau or Théleau – is still observed in Brittany. Landeleau in Finistère is named for the saint, as is Saint-Thélo in the Côtes d’Armor. There are numerous other church dedications to the saint. Holy hierarch and wonderworker Teilo, patient workman in the orchards of Christ, pray unto Him who loves mankind for our salvation!
As a fountain of the true Faith,
Thou didst issue forth the life-giving waters of salvation, O Hierarch Teilo.
Wherefore, we implore thee,
Intercede with Christ our God
That our souls may be saved.
St Teilo’s Church, Llandeilo Fawr, Wales
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