St. Teilo
Teilo of Llandaff
Also known as Teilio, Teilus, Thelian, Teilan, Teilou, Dillo,
Dillon, Elidius, Eliud
Feast day: February 9
Birth: 500
Death: 560
Welsh bishop, also called Eliud, Issell, Teillo, Teilou, Dub, and Theliau. A native of Penally, Pembrokshire, Wales, he studied under Sts. Dyfrig and Dubricius. He accompanied the famed St. David
of Wales to Jerusalem and was a friend and assistant to St. Samson in Brittany, France, for seven years. Returning to Wales in 554, he was quite successful as a preacher and founded and served as abbot-bishop of Llandaff monastery in Dyfed, Wales. He was buried in Llandaff Cathedral.
Born near Penally by Tenby, Pembrokeshire; died c. 580. There is plenty of evidence, both documentary and from place names and dedications, that Saint Teilo was widely venerated in southern Wales and Brittany. His name may be spelled Teilio, Teilus, Thelian, Teilan, Teilou, Teliou, Dillo, or Dillon. He was
undoubtedly an influential churchman, whose principal monastic foundation and center of ministry was Llandeilo Fawr in Carmarthenshire; but available information on his life is late, confused, and contradictory.
Some facts are fairly certain. Teilo was educated under Saint Dyfrig Dubricius and a Paulinus, possibly Paul Aurelian through whom he met Saint David /Dewi. We are told among other things that Teilo went with Saint David and Saint Paternus on David's mythical pilgrimage to Jerusalem. It is also related that during the 'yellow plague,' so called "because it made everyone it attacked yellow and bloodless," he went to Brittany and stayed with Saint Samson at Dol. There they "planted a big orchard of fruit-trees, three miles long, reaching from Dol to Cai, which is still called after their names." After seven years Teilo went back to Wales, dying at or near Llandeilo Fawr in Carmarthenshire, the site of his chief monastery and the center of his ministry.
One of the interesting, though probably fictional, elements of his story is that his sister Anaumed went over to Armorica in 490, and upon her arrival was married to Budic, king of the Armorican Britons. Before she left her own country she promised her brother that she would consecrate her first child in a particular manner to
God.
It is said that Llandeilo, Penally, and Llandaff disputed which should have his relics. Miraculously his body multiplied into three overnight so that each should have it. This is the explanation given for the three different sets of relics for Teilo.
Much of the writing about Saint Teilo was composed in the interests of the medieval see of Llandaff, which claimed him as its second bishop. About 1130, Geoffrey /Galfridus, a priest of Llandaff, composed a vita of Teilo in the form of a sermon. A longer version of this life, altered to add importance to the diocese of Llandaff, can be found in the Liber Landavensis. Teilo is co-titular of the Llandaff cathedral with Saints Peter, Dubricius, and Oudoceus /Euddogwy. The last-named was claimed as Teilo's nephew and successor at Llandaff, but it is possible that he was a fictitious character, made up from legends about other
people.
The Gospels of Saint Chad written in southwestern Mercia about 700 AD became the property of a church of Saint Teilo; marginal notes show that in the 9th century Teilo was venerated in southern Wales
as the founder of a monastery called the Familia Teliavi. The book itself was regarded as belonging to Teilo; the curse of God and the saint is invoked on those who break the agreements contained in it.
The tomb of Saint Teilo, on which oaths are taken, is in Llandaff
Cathedral. It was opened in 1850. Inside it was a record of another opening in 1736: "the parson buried appear'd to be a bishop by his Pastorall Staffe and Crotcher." The staff disintegrated but the pewter crozier remained. Outside of Wales, Teilo's name is especially venerated in Landeleau diocese of Quimper, Brittany. His feast is still observed in the archdiocese of Cardiff and on Caldey Island .
Teilo of Llandaff
Also known as Teilio, Teilus, Thelian, Teilan, Teilou, Dillo,
Dillon, Elidius, Eliud
Feast day: February 9
Birth: 500
Death: 560
Welsh bishop, also called Eliud, Issell, Teillo, Teilou, Dub, and Theliau. A native of Penally, Pembrokshire, Wales, he studied under Sts. Dyfrig and Dubricius. He accompanied the famed St. David
of Wales to Jerusalem and was a friend and assistant to St. Samson in Brittany, France, for seven years. Returning to Wales in 554, he was quite successful as a preacher and founded and served as abbot-bishop of Llandaff monastery in Dyfed, Wales. He was buried in Llandaff Cathedral.
Born near Penally by Tenby, Pembrokeshire; died c. 580. There is plenty of evidence, both documentary and from place names and dedications, that Saint Teilo was widely venerated in southern Wales and Brittany. His name may be spelled Teilio, Teilus, Thelian, Teilan, Teilou, Teliou, Dillo, or Dillon. He was
undoubtedly an influential churchman, whose principal monastic foundation and center of ministry was Llandeilo Fawr in Carmarthenshire; but available information on his life is late, confused, and contradictory.
Some facts are fairly certain. Teilo was educated under Saint Dyfrig Dubricius and a Paulinus, possibly Paul Aurelian through whom he met Saint David /Dewi. We are told among other things that Teilo went with Saint David and Saint Paternus on David's mythical pilgrimage to Jerusalem. It is also related that during the 'yellow plague,' so called "because it made everyone it attacked yellow and bloodless," he went to Brittany and stayed with Saint Samson at Dol. There they "planted a big orchard of fruit-trees, three miles long, reaching from Dol to Cai, which is still called after their names." After seven years Teilo went back to Wales, dying at or near Llandeilo Fawr in Carmarthenshire, the site of his chief monastery and the center of his ministry.
One of the interesting, though probably fictional, elements of his story is that his sister Anaumed went over to Armorica in 490, and upon her arrival was married to Budic, king of the Armorican Britons. Before she left her own country she promised her brother that she would consecrate her first child in a particular manner to
God.
It is said that Llandeilo, Penally, and Llandaff disputed which should have his relics. Miraculously his body multiplied into three overnight so that each should have it. This is the explanation given for the three different sets of relics for Teilo.
Much of the writing about Saint Teilo was composed in the interests of the medieval see of Llandaff, which claimed him as its second bishop. About 1130, Geoffrey /Galfridus, a priest of Llandaff, composed a vita of Teilo in the form of a sermon. A longer version of this life, altered to add importance to the diocese of Llandaff, can be found in the Liber Landavensis. Teilo is co-titular of the Llandaff cathedral with Saints Peter, Dubricius, and Oudoceus /Euddogwy. The last-named was claimed as Teilo's nephew and successor at Llandaff, but it is possible that he was a fictitious character, made up from legends about other
people.
The Gospels of Saint Chad written in southwestern Mercia about 700 AD became the property of a church of Saint Teilo; marginal notes show that in the 9th century Teilo was venerated in southern Wales
as the founder of a monastery called the Familia Teliavi. The book itself was regarded as belonging to Teilo; the curse of God and the saint is invoked on those who break the agreements contained in it.
The tomb of Saint Teilo, on which oaths are taken, is in Llandaff
Cathedral. It was opened in 1850. Inside it was a record of another opening in 1736: "the parson buried appear'd to be a bishop by his Pastorall Staffe and Crotcher." The staff disintegrated but the pewter crozier remained. Outside of Wales, Teilo's name is especially venerated in Landeleau diocese of Quimper, Brittany. His feast is still observed in the archdiocese of Cardiff and on Caldey Island .
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