Snakes in the Rock

Lives of the Wild Saints #4

St Keyne
England. Fifth Century

Cadoc knew Arthur, and Cadoc knew Keyne. This is why I believed Cadoc.

He was old when I knew him. He was one of those men who must have always been old. I was only a young monk. We were all awed by him. Moses must have looked this way. Abraham. Lot. The great flowing beard, white like the young tines of a stag. And in his eyes … in his eyes, the great distance that is always seen in the gaze of holy men. It is the distance between God and Man. It is the distance between the garden and the earth; the vast distance we have fallen. If Christ is the bridge across this abyss, then the holy man guides us across it. Prevents us from falling as we stumble blindly over. Holds our hand so that we do not wander away.

Cadoc founded our monastery. He was a great saint of the west of Britain. Cadoc knew Arthur, and so when he came we would gather around, hoping he would tell us of him. Arthur who held off the Saxon pagans as they flooded our green land. Arthur whose shield was Christ Himself. It was said that Cadoc had once sheltered men who had killed some of Arthur’s soldiers. Arthur himself came to him, angry, demanding satisfaction. His eyes blazed. Arthur was wise but willful. Cadoc spoke to him of Christian love, and of forgiveness. Arthur accepted a herd of cattle as payment for his lost men, but when he took them away, they turned into bundles of ferns. There is no price can be put on a human soul, for each soul was made by the Father before the foundation of the world.

We hoped that Cadoc would tell us stories like this, but he would talk only of the psalms and the mass. We were monks, it is true, but we were also young men. We wanted to hear about the battles. We wanted to hear about Badon. About the rout of the vile Saxons. But it would have been an offence to talk of war and worldy struggle in the cloisters, so we would never ask. And Cadoc would tell us of other things instead; things which he hoped would gain us merit. Things which he hoped would push us on, away from the world, towards the light. He would tell us of battles that would serve us better. He would talk of the inner war.

One day, he told us about Keyne.