Armchair Pilgrim: Wales’ Enduring Spirit

“Croseo i St. Asaph! Welcome to St. Asaph!” our guides Myra and Ann greeted us as we embarked on visit to the smallest ancient cathedral in Britain.

Founded in the 7th century by Scottish monk Kentigern, the cathedral was entrusted to his student, Asaph, and has survived fires, floods and civil wars. 

One longtime parishioner, Ann, shared stories of the cathedral’s history, often beginning with, “We don’t have this story in writing . . .” demonstrating the legacy of oral storytelling that is a hallmark of the Welsh spiritual tradition. Today’s theme was legacy; ironically, it was the writing down of stories in St. Asaph’s that ensured the legacy and survival of the Welsh language. 

Queen Elizabeth I commissioned then-Bishop William Morgan to translate the Bible into Welsh, an endeavor that took him nearly a decade. Morgan even traveled to London to oversee the typesetting to ensure there wouldn’t be any spelling errors in the printed text. 

The afternoon found us sitting in the dark sanctuary of St. Dyfnog’s church, built as a place of worship for pilgrims visiting the nearby holy well, once one of the most visited pilgrimage sites in north Wales. Again, longtime parishioner, June, shared stories of the church and the holy well, recently cleared and restored by members of the local community. 

The highlight of the church itself is their Jesse window, said to be the finest stained glass in Wales. As Cromwell’s forces moved into north Wales — leaving desecrated churches and shattered religious art in their wake — members of the church removed the window panels and hid them away until it was safe for them to be reinstalled at the war’s end. Nearly 400 years later, the brilliant reds, greens and blues of  medieval glass glowed in the afternoon sun, illuminating the community of 21st century pilgrims.