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Brendan epitomizes the bittersweet Celtic path of peregrinatio, the passion for pilgrimage piercing the longing for home and family. Even his appellation, naming one of the communities he established, Clonfert, and the title he earned, Navigator, captures this dichotomy.

Though we know for certain that he was a prominent Celtic leader and a wanderer, most accounts of his adventures come to us through the Voyage of Brendan, written five centuries after his death. There we read that Brendan's travels, in the company of numerous fellow-monks, took him to many earthly and heavenly places, and ultimately to "the Land of Promise."

One account tells us that, as Brendan roamed uncharted seas, he encountered Judas Iscariot, temporarily released from his tortures on Sundays and feast days. Some even wonder if Brendan's travels took him across the Atlantic to North America. Extravagant as some of these tales are, Brendan's questing life symbolizes the spiritual yearning for the dwelling place of God.

"Be joyful, brothers and sisters. Keep your faith and do the little things that you have seen and heard from me."

With these words, David (called holy Dewi by those who loved him) gave his final blessing to a city gathered to say goodbye. David typified the early Welsh attraction to the Eastern monastic traditions, and his story is one of renunciation.

In their ascetic path of restraint, he and his followers made sure their journey into holiness would not be tripped up by the "little things." Poverty, physical labor, and long hours of prayer characterized David's life and that of his monks. His nickname, the Waterman, came from his abstinence from alcohol. It may also be tied to the legend that, at Bath, he purified its contaminated water and bestowed upon its springs perpetual warmth for bathing.

Though severe, David's life, legend tell us, was replete with the miraculous. Angels foretold his birth, directed his work, served as his companions, appeared in his dreams, spoke to him of his impending death, and sang as they escorted him to heaven.

When Findbarr, a fellow abbot, was returning to Ireland via Wales, David gave him his horse and his blessing. These two simple gifts enabled Findbarr to cross the sea on horseback. Brendan, most impressed by Findbarr's account of David's blessing, exclaimed, "Wonderful is God in his saints!" and planned to seek out this great saint. (Brendan and Findbarr met at sea, the one on horseback and the other residing temporarily on the back of a whale.)

In typical Welsh fashion, David reportedly traveled to Jerusalem, where the patriarch ordained him archbishop. This legend enabled his followers to promote his see in Wales against that of Canterbury as the seat of Britain's archbishop.

David's gift of spiritual acumen, revealed to his father 30 years before he was born, was recognized by all the British people and he became the model for godly living. At the council he called at Caerleon, he led the opposition to the Pelagian heresy (which held that people can take the first important steps toward salvation by their own efforts without Divine grace).

Early Celtic art shows David on a hill with a dove resting on his shoulder, symbolizing both the wisdom and the prominence accorded him. If even half the events reported of him are historical, David was a passionate and pious Welshman whose leadership skills and spiritual gifts deeply influenced early British culture.

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