SAINT GILDAS THE WISE (or Gildas of Rhuys)
Abbot
(c. 500-570 or 581)
St. Gildas was a 6th-century British monk. He learned, from the instructions and examples of God's servants, to emulate what seemed most perfect.
His renowned learning and literary style earned him the designation Gildas Sapiens (Gildas the Wise).
He wrote eight canons of discipline, and a severe invective against the crimes of the Britons, called De Excidio Britanniae; and he also wrote an invective against the British clergy, whom he accused of sloth and of seldom sacrificing at the altar.
St. Gildas passed away in 570 or in 581.
I was amazed and appreciative to see that this now "canonized" saint wrote, criticized, and chastised the clergy of his time as well as the those in the Church. This is refreshingly honest and forthright, as well as he was certainly following in Christ's teachings and His own speaking out and chastising many in the clergy of His own time on earth. I am sure He suffers and weeps over the Church today.
We all must wake up, open our eyes and ears, and do what we can to ourselves follow Christ's teachings and consider just what is His Church: those who love, obey, and follow Jesus, believe in Him, uphold God's Law of Love, and look to Christ as Head of the Body, His Church.
