ST. DWYNWEN'S DAY
Welsh celebrate St. Valentine's Day in the same way as everybody else on February 14th; however, there is special welsh patron - saint of lovers, Dwynwen. January 25th is the day when St. Dwynwen's Day or Dydd Santes Dwynwen is celebrated.
Who was St Dwynwen?
Dwynwen - the patron saint of Welsh lovers - lived in the 5th Century and was one of the prettiest of king Brychan Brycheiniog's 24 daughters.She fell in love with a prince - Maelon Dafodrill, but unfortunately her father had already arranged that she should marry someone else.
Dwynwen was so upset that she begged God to make her forget him. After falling asleep, Dwynwen was visited by an angel, who appeared carrying a sweet potion designed to erase all memory of Maelon and turn him into a block of ice.
God then gave three wishes to Dwynwen. Her first wish was that Maelon be thawed; her second that God meet the hopes and dreams of true lovers; and third, that she should never marry. All three were fulfilled, and as a mark of her thanks, Dwynwen devoted herself to God's service for the rest of her life.
She founded a convent on Llanddwyn, off the west coast of Anglesey, where a well named after her became a place of pilgrimage after her death in 465AD. Visitors to the well believed that the sacred fish or eels that lived in the well could foretell whether or not their relationship would be happy and whether love and happiness would be theirs. Remains of Dwynwen's church can still be seen today.
So why wait until St Valentine's Day to make your romantic feelings known, when you can wish your loved one 'dwi'n dy garu di ' (I love you) three weeks earlier?
