Thank you to my friend Sam for providing the saint for this reflection.
St. Derfel-Gadarn was a prince of Wales in the 6th century. Growing up he became a soldier with great skill in the battlefield. He was one of the only survivors of the great Battle of Camlann, but the bloodshed he saw turned him towards religion. He then became a hermit and then became a monk and was elected Abbot. He died in 660, and almost 100 years old.
Reasons you should like St. Derfel-Gadarn (in descending order).
5. He discovered religion after witnessing violence. Think of it, when things got bad, he turned to religion to get him through. It is an example for us to turn to our faith in times of trouble.
4. He was so inspired by this religion that he devoted the rest of his entire life to his faith and living out that faith in a radical way. No, we are not all called to be monks, but we can be witnesses to our faith in everything we do.
3. He was faithful to God for his long life. Like, really long life. And he was faithful till the end of his days.
2. He's not really well known, but was just an ordinary solider who did an extraordinary thing. How cool is that?
1. His name is amazing. Just say it out loud. St. Derfel-Gadarn. He has a cool name. Yes, this is reason #1. After all, this is how my friend discovered this saint. She was looking at the saints for the day of April 6th, and was amazed at the name St. Derfel-Gadarn. You don't need another reason. It doesn't need to be super spiritual or inspirational. A weird name can be all that can bring you to an awesome saint.
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