ICONOGRAPHIE CHRÉTIENNE: Saint ASAPH de LLANELWY, moine, évêque et confesseur

Stained glass window ( 1909 ) by Shrigley & Hunt showing Saint Asaph. St.David's ( Wales ). Cathedral, Thomas Becket chapel

Buntglasfenster ( 1909 ) von Shrigley & Hunt mit Darstellung des heiligen Asaph. St.David's ( Wales ). Kathedrale, Thomas-Becket-Kapelle

Saint Asaph

Moine puis évêque au Pays de Galles (+ 600)

Moine puis évêque au Pays de Galles, il attachait beaucoup d'importance à la prédication qui était à ses yeux la condition essentielle de la connaissance de la foi qui pouvait conduire son troupeau au salut, parce qu'elle était le Chemin de la Vérité pour recevoir la Vie de Dieu.

À Llanelwy, au pays de Galles, au VIe siècle, saint Asaph, qui fut disciple de saint Kentigern, puis abbé et évêque du lieu qui prit ensuite son nom.

Martyrologe romain

SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/6735/Saint-Asaph.html

Ffenest liw: Sant Asaff. Eglwys Sant Dogfan, Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant, Powys, Cymru SY10 0JL. Soniwyd am yr eglwys yn 1254, er fod yma eglwys Geltaidd gynharach.

Stained glass window: Saint Asaph. Grade: II* Church of St Dogfan, Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant, Powys, Wales. Date Listed: 1 April 1966. It is thought to be of monastic (clas) origin; St Dogfan's was mentioned in 1254 as 'ecclesia de Llanrhaeadr'.

Saint Asaph of Llanelwy

Also known as

Asaph of Llan-Elwy

Asaph of Wales

Asa…

Asaf…

Assa…

Assad…

Memorial

1 May

5 May (Wales)

11 May on some calendars

Profile

Related to Saint Deiniol of Bangor and Saint Tysilo. Hermit near Tenegal, Wales. Servant to and spiritual student of Saint Kentigern. Second bishop of the Welsh diocese now known as Saint Asaph. At Tengenel, near Holywell, Wales, there are an ash-tree, well, and valley that tradition says belonged to Asaph.

Died

c.550 of natural causes

Canonized

Pre-Congregation

Additional Information

Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate

Calendar of Scottish Saints

Catholic Encyclopedia

Dictionary of National Biography

Lives of the Saints, by Father Alban Butler

Menology of England and Wales

New Catholic Dictionary

Roman Martyrology, 1914 edition

Saints of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein

books

Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints

other sites in english

Britannia Biographies

Catholic Online

Celtic and Old English Saints

Diocese of Saint Asaph

Early British Kingdoms

Liturgy Office of England and Wales

Terry Morgan

Wikipedia

images

Wikimedia Commons

webseiten auf deutsch

Wikipedia

sitios en español

Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición

sites en français

fonti in italiano

nettsteder i norsk

MLA Citation

“Saint Asaph of Llanelwy“. CatholicSaints.Info. 10 June 2020. Web. 12 December 2024. <https://catholicsaints.info/saint-asaph-of-llanelwy/>

SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-asaph-of-llanelwy/

St Asaph Cathedral, Eglwys Gadeiriol Llanelwy, Denbighshire, North Wales

St. Asaph

Feastday: May 1

Patron: of St Asaph

Death: 600

First bishop of Asaph in Wales,also called Asa. He is believed to have lived in a hemitage near Tenegel, near Holywell. He is also described in a life of St. Kentigern, or Mungo. While still young, Asaph served Kentigern. Asked to bring Kentigern a piece of wood for the fire, Asaph brought live coals in his apron, an event that alerted Kentigern to Asaph's sanctity. When Kentigern left the area in 573, Asaph was consecrated a bishop. Asaph's relatives, Deiniol, Tysilo, and others were honored as saints.

SOURCE : https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=1568

Asaph of Wales B (RM)

Died c. 600; feast day formerly on May 1. The small town of Saint Asaph in northern Wales was once the scene of a busy and thriving monastery of Llanelwy founded by Saint Kentigern of Scotland by the riverside. Kentigern was probably built it after returning from a visit to Saint David. With him was Asaph, his favorite pupil, whom he left behind at Llanelwy as abbot to consolidate his work. Others say that it was Saint Asaph who founded the abbey after having been trained by Kentigern--the truth is shrouded by time. There is, however, certainty that Saint Asaph founded the church of Llanasa in Flintshire.

An interesting account exists of Llanelwy's establishment. "There were assembled in this monastery no fewer than 995 brethren, who all lived under monastic discipline, serving God in great continence." A third of these, who were illiterate, tilled the ground and herded the cattle; a third were occupied with domestic tasks inside the monastery; and the remainder, who were educated men, said the daily offices and performed other religious duties.

A distinctive feature was its unbroken continuity of worship, for, like the Sleepless Ones, the monks of Llanelwy divided themselves into groups and maintained an unceasing vigil. "When one company had finished the divine service in the church, another presently entered, and began it anew; and these having ended, a third immediately succeeded them." So that by this means prayer was offered up in the church without intermission, and the praises of God were ever in their mouths."

Among them, we are told, "was one named Asaph, more particularly illustrious for his descent and his beauty, who from his childhood shone forth brightly, both with virtues and miracles. He daily endeavored to imitate his master, Saint Kentigern, in all sanctity and abstinence; and to him the man of God bore ever a special affection, insomuch that to his prudence he committed the care of the monastery." A later medieval writer penned about Asaph's "charm of manners, grace of body, holiness of heart, and witness of miracles." Still little is actually known about him.

The story has been handed down to us that one bitter night in winter when Kentigern, as was his custom, had been standing in the cold river reciting from the Psalter, and had crawled back to his cell, frozen and exhausted, Asaph ran to fetch hot coals to warm him. Finding no pan, however, and being in great haste, fearing that the shivering abbot might die, he raked the glowing coals into the skirt of his monk's habit, and ran with them, at great risk and discomfort, and cast them on the hearth of the saint.

That story is typical of his spirit, for he was devoted both to his master and to the welfare of his monks. We are not surprised that Kentigern, with every confidence, left the monastery in his care. Under Asaph's leadership it flourished, and when Asaph was made bishop, it became the seat of his diocese. The goodness of one man spread and infected many others with holiness, including many of his kinsmen, e.g., Deiniol (September 11) and Tysilo (November 8). Today on the banks of the River Elwy stands the cathedral that bears his name (Attwater, Benedictines, Gill).

SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0511.shtml

Llanasa - Eglwys Sant Asaff a Chyndeyrn, Llanasa, Sir y Fflint.

Llanasa- Church of SS Asaph and Kentigern, Llanasa, Flintshire, Wales

Llanasa - Eglwys Sant Asaff a Chyndeyrn, Llanasa, Sir y Fflint.

Llanasa- Church of SS Asaph and Kentigern, Llanasa, Flintshire, Wales

Llanasa - Eglwys Sant Asaff a Chyndeyrn, Llanasa, Sir y Fflint.

Llanasa- Church of SS Asaph and Kentigern, Llanasa, Flintshire, Wales

Llanasa - Eglwys Sant Asaff a Chyndeyrn, Llanasa, Sir y Fflint.

Llanasa- Church of SS Asaph and Kentigern, Llanasa, Flintshire, Wales

Llanasa - Eglwys Sant Asaff a Chyndeyrn, Llanasa, Sir y Fflint.

Llanasa- Church of SS Asaph and Kentigern, Llanasa, Flintshire, Wales

St. Asaph

(Or Asa).

First Bishop of the Welsh See of that name (second half of the sixth century). No Welsh life of him is extant, but local tradition points out the site of his ash tree, his church, his well, and his valley, Onen Asa, Fynnon Asa, Llanasa, Pantasa. All these sites are in Tengenel, near Holiwell indicating probably that the saint once had hermitage in that neighbourhood. The want of a Welsh life, however, is in part compensated for by Jocelyn of Furness's life of St. Kentigern, or Mungo, the founder of the Diocese of Glasgow. This saint during his exile (c. 545) betook himself to Wales and there founded the Celtic Monastery of Llanelwy (the church on the Elwy), as the Welsh still call the town of St. Asaph. Of the building and government of few Celtic monasteries do we know so much as about Llanelwy. The church was built "of smoothed wood, after the fashion of the Britons, seeing that they could not yet build of stone". The 965 disciples, of whom Asa was one, were divided into three groups: 300 of the unlettered farmed the outlying lands, 300 worked in the offices around the monastery, and 365 (the number corresponds to the days of the year) attended to the divine services. Of these the oldest assisted Kentigern in the government of the diocese, and the rest were subdivided into three choirs. "As soon as one choir had terminated its service in church, immediately another entering commenced it: and that again being concluded another entered to celebrate." The founder, after the manner of other Celtic saints, used frequently to pray standing in the icy cold river, and once, having suffered very severely under this hardship, he sent the boy Asa, who was then attending him, to bring a fagot to burn and warm him. Asaph brought him live coals in his apron, and the miracle revealed to Kentigern the sanctity of his disciple. So when the old man was recalled to Strathclyde, after the battle of Ardderyd, in 573 (the only definite date we have in the life), Asaph was consecrated bishop to succeed him, and became the first Welsh bishop of the see. The feast of his deposition is kept on 1 May, but we possess no further details of his life, nor do we know the year of his death.

Pollen, John Hungerford. "St. Asaph." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 11 May 2016 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01766a.htm>.

Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Joseph P. Thomas.

Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.

SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01766a.htm

Book of Saints – Asaph

Article

ASAPH (ASA) (Saint) Bishop (May 1) (6th century) The first Welsh Bishop of Llanelwy, now Saint Asaph’s, in Flintshire. He entered the monastery built by Saint Kentigern of Glasgow, at the confluence of the Elwy and the Clwydd (A.D. 545), and was appointed his successor as Abbot and Bishop when Saint Kentigern returned to Scotland (A.D. 573). Saint Asaph governed a monastery of nearly one thousand monks, some of whom preached and officiated in the church, while the rest laboured for the sustenance of the community and for the civilisation of the neighbourhood. The exact date of Saint Asaph’s death is not known.

MLA Citation

Monks of Ramsgate. “Asaph”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info. 1 August 2012. Web. 12 December 2024. <http://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-asaph/>

SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-asaph/

Calendar of Scottish Saints – Saint Asaph, Bishop

Article

A.D. (about) 590.

Saint Asaph was one of the most eminent of the disciples of Saint Mungo (Kentigern). When the latter was driven from Scotland he took refuge in Wales and there founded a monastery, which attracted a great number of disciples desirous of placing themselves under his guidance. It was to Asaph that Saint Mungo resigned the government when he himself was allowed to return to Glasgow. Owing to the sanctity and renown of the new abbot the monastery eventually bore his name. Saint Asaph was consecrated Bishop about A.D. 650, and his diocese has retained the name of Saint Asaph’s for thirteen centuries. Some writers have maintained that Saint Asaph accompanied his master to Scotland, but it seems more probable that Scottish devotion to him originated in his close connection with the “beloved” saint of Glasgow. Many traces of this devotion still survive. In the island of Skye is a ruined chapel dedicated to him called “Asheg.” In that island is also an excellent spring of clear water known as Tobar Asheg, or Saint Asaph’s Well. Kilassie, an old burial ground near Loch Rannoch, also takes its name from him.

The most interesting of these remains is a ruin in the island of Bearnarey, in the Sound of Harris. It is evidently a chapel of the saint and is called Cill Aisaim. Near it once stood an obelisk about eight feet high, bearing sculptured symbols, and in comparatively recent years this was surrounded by heaps of coloured pebbles, coins, bone pins, and bronze needles, which were probably pilgrims offerings. The obelisk was broken up some years ago and its materials used for building, but a Scottish antiquarian managed to gain possession of a fragment.

MLA Citation

Father Michael Barrett, OSB. “Saint Asaph, Bishop”. The Calendar of Scottish Saints, 1919. CatholicSaints.Info. 26 May 2014. Web. 12 December 2024. <https://catholicsaints.info/calendar-of-scottish-saints-saint-asaph-bishop/>

SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/calendar-of-scottish-saints-saint-asaph-bishop/

Dictionary of National Biography – Asaph

Article

Asaph, or, according to its Welsh forms, Assad, Assa, or Asa (fl. 570), Welsh saint, was the son of a North Welsh prince named Sawyl (in old Welsh, Samuil) Benisel, son of Pabo. The epithet Benisel (‘of the low head’) applied to Pabo’s son, was changed in all the later genealogies into Benuchel (‘of the high head’), thus confounding Asaph’s father with a Glamorgan chieftain of the name of Sawyl Benuchel, who is described in the Welsh triads as one of ‘the three overbearing ones of Britain’. The genealogies also represent Asaph as nephew of Dunawd, founder of Bangor Iscoed, and cousin of Deiniol, first bishop of Bangor in Carnarvonshire. His mother, Gwenassed, was granddaughter of Cunedda Wledig, being the daughter of Rhun ‘Hael’ (or the generous) of Reinuc or, as he is elsewhere called, Rhufawn of Rhyfoniog, which was the name of the cantrev in which Saint Asaph is situated. He himself was probably a native of the adjoining cantrev of Tegengl, which corresponds to the western half of the main portion of the modern Flintshire, a district where many places still bear his name, such as Llanasa (his church), Pantasaph (his hollow) near Holywell, Ffynnon Asa (his well) at Cwm, and Onen Asa (his ash-tree).

The saint, who is said to have been ‘particularly illustrious for his descent and beauty,’ is first heard of in connection with the missionary efforts of Cyndeyrn or Kentigern, the exiled bishop of the northern Britons of Strath Clyde, who about 560 established a monastery at the confluence of the rivers Clwyd and Elwy in what is now Flintshire. The site may indeed have been selected owing to the cordial welcome which the house of Sawyl seems to have extended to Kentigern, as the person named Cadwallon, who invited Kentigern to the place, is probably to be identified with a nephew of Asaph and a grandson of Sawyl, Sawyl’s own attachment to Christianity may also doubtless be inferred from his epithet of Benisel. Asaph himself became a disciple of the missionary, ‘imitating him in all sanctity and abstinence,’ and, according to the legend, succouring him on one occasion by carrying in his woollen habit some burning charcoal to warm his shivering master. On his return to Strath Clyde about 570, Kentigern, who ‘bore ever a special affection’ for Asaph, appointed him his successor. It is surmised that it was in Asaph’s time that the monastery was elevated into a cathedral foundation, and that, though Kentigern was the founder of the monastery, Asaph was in fact the first bishop of the see. The name of Kentigern does not seem to have ever been associated with the nomenclature of either cathedral or diocese, which, though originally known by the Welsh name of Llanelwy, has since about 1100 also borne the English name Saint Asaph, both which names co-exist to the present day. ‘Bangor Assaf’ is also a name applied to the cathedral in one manuscript. The old parish church of Saint Asaph, however, consists of two equal and parallel aisles, known respectively as Eglwys Cyndeyrn and Eglwys Asaph, and in this respect served as the model for most of the churches of the Vale of Clwyd. The dedication of this church and that of Llanasa (which is similar in form) is to Saint Asaph in conjunction with Saint Kentigern.

The anniversary or wake of the saint used to be celebrated by a fair held at Saint Asaph on 1 May, on which day he is believed to have died, probably about 596. He was buried, according to tradition, in the cathedral. He is said to have written a ‘Life of Saint Kentigern,’ which, though not now extant, probably formed the basis of the life compiled in 1125 by Jocelyn of Furness. A saying attributed to him has, however, survived— ‘Quicunque verbo Dei adversantur, saluti hominum invident’ (Capgrave). ‘Myn bagl Assa’ (‘By Asaph’s crosier’) appears as a mediæval oath.

His well, Ffynnon Asa, in the parish of Cwm, is a natural spring of great volume, described as ‘the second largest well in the principality.’ It was formerly supposed to have healing powers, and down to some fifty years ago, if not later, persons bathed in it occasionally. It is now chiefly noted for its trout. At Saint Asaph ‘the schoolboys used to show . . . the print of Saint Asaph’s Horseshoe when he jumpt with him from Onnen Hassa (Asaph’s Ash-tree), which is about two miles off’.

MLA Citation

Daniel Lleufer Thomas. “Asaph”. Dictionary of National Biography, 1885. CatholicSaints.Info. 8 April 2019. Web. 12 December 2024. <https://catholicsaints.info/dictionary-of-national-biography-asaph/>

SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/dictionary-of-national-biography-asaph/

St. Asaph

(c.AD 535-601)

(Welsh: Asa; Latin: Asaphus; English: Asaph)

Prince Asaph was the son of King Sawyl Benuchel (the Arrogant) of the Southern Pennines. He was still a lad when he fled to North Wales with his father. From Tegeingl he was sent as a disciple to his distant cousin, St. Kentigern at Llanelwy (St. Asaphs). One day, after Kentigern had been reciting the psalter naked in an icy lake, he asked the young Asaph to bring him some burning coals in order to warm himself. Asaph arrived carrying them in the skirts of his robe with not a sign of burning. Ever afterward the two saints would argue over who the Lord was honouring with such a miracle. When Kentigern was summoned back to Strathclyde, Asaph was appointed Bishop of Llanelwy by popular demand. In later years he founded a second monastery at Llanasa in Powys. He died there on 1st May AD 601.

Records of St. Asaph date back to the 12th century. He is generally considered historic.

SOURCE : https://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/bios/asaphpn.html

Menology of England and Wales – Saint Asaph, Bishop, Confessor, c.600

Article

When Saint Kentigern was driven from his See of Glasgow, he took refuge at Llan-Elwy, in North Wales, where he established a very large and fervent community of monks. Asaph was one of his most eminent disciples. When yet a boy, so perfect was his obedience, that at his master’s bidding he filled the skirt of his tunic with burning wood from the furnace, without harm to himself or the dress he wore. Such was his beginning in the religious life, and as time went on he grew in sanctity, and became a model of what the monastic spirit should produce. When Saint Kentigern was recalled to his own See, with the glad consent of the community, he named Asaph his successor in the monastery, and, moreover, consecrated him Bishop, to preside over the Christian flock in that region. Saint Asaph was a zealous preacher, and also wrote certain canons or ordinances for the government of his church, and, as it is said, a life of his beloved master, Saint Kentigern. The love of his people for the Saint is shown by the change of the name Llan-Elwy into Saint Asaph, and the dedication to him of various churches in the neighbourhood, as well as the naming of hamlets.

Saint Asaph is called the first Bishop of that See, but several centuries elapsed before a successor was appointed. In the modern English Calendar he is commemorated on the day of his deposition; and in Saint Asaph, by a Rescript of Pope Pius IX, the Sunday following is observed as a double of the second class.

MLA Citation

Father Richard Stanton. “Saint Asaph, Bishop, Confessor, c.600”. Menology of England and Wales, 1887. CatholicSaints.Info. 20 April 2015. Web. 12 December 2024. <https://catholicsaints.info/menology-of-england-and-wales-saint-asaph-bishop-confessor-c-600/>

SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/menology-of-england-and-wales-saint-asaph-bishop-confessor-c-600/

May 1

St. Asaph, Bishop and Confessor

ST. KENTIGERN, bishop of Glasgow, in Scotland, being driven from his own see, founded a monastery and episcopal chair on the banks of the river Elwy, in North Wales. Bishop Usher writes, from John of Tinmouth, that, in this abbey, nine hundred and sixty-five monks served God in great continence. Three hundred who were illiterate, this holy abbot appointed to till the ground, and take care of the cattle: other three hundred to do necessary work within the monastery; and three hundred and sixty-five he deputed to celebrate the divine office. These last never went out of the monastery, unless upon some urgent necessity, but attended continually in God’s sanctuary, being divided into companies, one of which began the divine office in the choir as another had finished it, and went out, as among the Acæmetes, at Constantinople: by this means the divine praises suffered no interruption in the church. Among these monks St. Asaph shone as a bright light, most illustrious for his birth, virtues, and miracles. When St. Kentigern was called back to Glasgow, he appointed St. Asaph, the most distinguished for learning and piety among his disciples, abbot and bishop at Llan-Elwy. Our saint was a diligent preacher, and had frequently this saying in his mouth: “They who withstand the preaching of God’s word, envy the salvation of men.” St. Asaph wrote certain canons or ordinances of his church, the life of St. Kentigern, and some other works. He died about the close of the sixth century; for he flourished about the year 590. From him the see of Elwy took the name of St. Asaph’s: though it continued long vacant; for we find no mention of any other bishop of St. Asaph’s before the twelfth century, when Geoffrey of Monmouth was advanced to that episcopal chair.—Wharton gives him a predecessor named Gilbert. See Le Neve’s Fasti, p. 20; Dr. Brown Willis, and principally Leland de Script. Angl.

Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73). Volume V: May. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.

SOURCE : https://www.bartleby.com/lit-hub/lives-of-the-saints/volume-v-may/st-asaph-bishop-and-confessor

Eglwys Sant Chad, Hanmer, Wrecsam.

Saint Chad's Church, Hanmer, Wrexham, Cymru, Wales

Sant' Asaf (o Asaph) Vescovo

Festa: 1 maggio

, ma è però citato in quella di San Kentigern. Quando questi lasciò la Scozia, designò Asaf quale abate del suo monastero nel Galles settentrionale. Secondo fonti successive, in tale luogo si celebrava alternativamente la liturgia onde lodare Dio continuamente. La principale zona che godette dell’impegno pastorale di Asaf fu il Flintshire. Alla partenza di Cyndeyrn per la Cumbria, verso il 590, divenne il nuovo vescovo. Morì verso l’anno 610. Alla sua memoria furono dedicate numerose chiese e fontane e nel dì della sua festa la sua città organizzava una fiera. Le fonti che accertano tali notizie consistono in calendari tardo medioevali. Il suo culto dal Galles si estese anche alla Scozia, per i suoi legami di amicizia con San Kentigern.

Martirologio Romano: A Llanelwy in Galles, sant’Asafo, abate e vescovo della sede poi insignita del suo nome.

Le informazioni su Sant'Asaf, vescovo e abate del VI secolo, sono purtroppo frammentarie e lacunose. Non possediamo agiografie antiche che ne raccontino la vita in dettaglio, sebbene il suo nome sia menzionato nella biografia di San Kentigern.

Sappiamo che Asaf venne nominato abate del monastero di San Kentigern nel Galles settentrionale dopo la partenza di quest'ultimo dalla Scozia. Fonti successive descrivono un monastero in cui la liturgia era officiata ininterrottamente, con turni di cantori e sacerdoti.

L'opera pastorale di Asaf si concentrò principalmente nella regione del Flintshire. Alla partenza di Cyndeyrn per la Cumbria intorno al 590, Asaf ne assunse il ruolo di vescovo. La sua morte è datata intorno al 610.

Numerose chiese e fontane furono dedicate a Sant'Asaf in segno di venerazione. La città di Llanelwy, dove egli operò, organizzava una fiera annuale in suo onore nel giorno della sua festa. La memoria di Asaf si diffuse anche in Scozia, grazie al suo legame con San Kentigern.

Le informazioni su Sant'Asaf provengono principalmente da calendari tardo medievali. La mancanza di fonti coeve rende difficile ricostruire una biografia dettagliata del santo. Il Martirologio Romano lo commemora il 1° maggio.

Autore: Franco Dieghi

SOURCE : https://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/92747

Eglwys o'r 13eg ganrif yw Sant Cyndeyrn, sef Eglwys y Plwyf, Llanelwy, Sir Ddinbych. Yma mae bedd Dic Aberdaron.