Naomh An Lae - Saint Of The Day

St Samson of Dol in Brittany and Caldey Island in Wales (d. 565)

Samson of Dol is one of the seven founder saints of Brittany. Most of these were Welsh missionary saints of the sixth century who crossed over to Cornwall first and then sailed on to Brittany.

Of Welsh origin  

St Samson of Dol (died c. 565) is one of many saints of Welsh origin in the 6th century - others were Paulinus, Austell and Mean - who spent time in Cornwall on their way to Brittany.

They seem to have shared the same spirit of "wandering for Christ" that the Irish monks such as Colmcille and Columbanus had of going into exile for Christ - peregrini pro Christo.

Educated by St Illtud

Samson was of noble birth: his father was from Dyfed and his mother from Gwent. His parents placed him under the care of Saint Illtud, and he grew up in the monastery at Llaniltud Fawr. He was ordained priest by St Dubricius in 531. 

Dubricius wanted Samson to succeed him as abbot of Llaniltud Fawr, but Illtud's nephews, who were also monks in the same monastery, became envious of him and in the face of their hostility he left the monastery.

Caldey Island 

Samson retired to the island monastery of Caldey off the coast of Dyfed (Pembrokeshire), and became abbot there. 

But it was not a happy move as his predecessor, Pyr, had left Caldey in such a lax state that he was unable to control the monks and re-establish discipline.

Ireland

Samson left there also and went to Ireland, where he reformed a monastery, thought to be a religious house at Howth.

Cornwall

Samson then joined a party of Welsh churchmen including Paulinus, Austell and Mean who were going to Cornwall on their way to Brittany. 

Because of his reputation as a monastic reformer, a monk named Winniavus was dispatched to tell him tactfully that they would prefer that he went somewhere else.

Scilly Isles and Guernsey

Samson took the hint, and moved on to spend some time in the Scilly Isles, where an island now uninhabited - Samson - is named for him, and in Guernsey, where St Samson is the second port of the island. He then moved on to found his main monastery near Dol in Brittany.

Dol in Brittany

Dol was then an island on flat marshlands, though the coastline has changed, and it is now about eight kilometres inland. Mont Dol, a large flat-topped rock, had been the site of druidic sacrifices, and Samson made that his hermitage. 

The image shown above is of the altar of the Church of Saint Samson in Dol-de-Bretagne.

At the royal Frankish court in Paris

Samson is said to have made a journey to the royal Frankish court in Paris to plead for Judual, king of Brittany, who was detained there by King Childebert I. 

Here a series of incidents, in which the queen imposed a series of bizarre trials and eventually tried to poison the saint ended, when the king released Judual and confirmed the granting of land for the monastery at Dol.

Samson peccator episcopus

Samson may have had quite close relations with the Frankish clergy. He is probably the Samson peccator episcopus who signed the acts of an episcopal council in Paris in 557. He is described in Breton accounts as archbishop of Dol. 

Motiffs similar to those in the Lives of other saints, such as a dove perching on his shoulder at ordination and he capturing a dragon with his stole and throwing it over a cliff, symbolically proclaim the importance of his mission and the reverence in which he was held by his successors.

One of the seven founder saints of Brittany

Samson is revered as one of the seven founding saints of Brittany, along with Saint Pol Aurelian, Saint Tugdual (Tudwal), Saint Brieuc, Saint Malo, Saint Patern, and Saint Corentin.

Tidal wave in 709

Dol was overwhelmed by a catastrophic tidal wave in 709, and there is now no trace of the monastery. 

Samson's relics were taken to Canterbury and Ely in the time of King Athelstan of Wessex (895 –939).