Condensed Milk Company of Ireland Feast of St. Ailbhe, September 12
St. Ailbhe is beloved in Ireland, and how could he NOT be? I mean, some consider him a pre-St. Patrick saint...even though he died 68 years after St. Patrick. His dad abandoned him and King Cronan ordered him killed, but the King's servant left him by a big rock, where he was eventually suckled by a she-wolf. When he became Bishop of Emly an old she-wolf being chased by hunters fled to the bishop, so he took her and her family in. He baptized St. David, Patron Saint of Wales. As he approached death, he boarded " a supernatural ship came and he boarded to learn the secret of his death. After returning from the other world, he went back to Emly (Imlech) to die and be buried."
Wait! There's more!
There was a church dedicated to Saint Ailbe in the hamlet of Saint Elvis near Solva, Pembroke, Wales, UK, near St David's; it is long in ruins. There is still a shrine to St. Elvis which bears an inscription making the connection between the two variants of the name, and confirming that St. Elvis baptised St. David.
A shrine to St. Elvis!
Labels: Feast Days, Irish saints, saints
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