St. Kavin's Blessings

Hundreds of years ago in Glendalough village there lived a holy man named Kavin. Kavin preferred the humble life, living as a hermit near the lake to become closer to God. He lived this way for quite some time and became known as a very wise man to whom many traveled seeking guidance and wisdom. Over time, Kavin acquired a good number of disciples who wanted to live as he did and so he created the first monastery of Glendalough. During the course of his life, due to his wisdom and God's intervention, he was able to perform miracles and provide the people with answers to all their questions. Since his death he has safeguarded the village of Glendalough and guided and blessed those that were pure of heart.

It had been a long time since St. Kavin had made his presence known in the Glendalough area. Few people outside of the royal family still paid him homage and perhaps that is the only reason Prince Lyn was able to embark on his quest. Today, hundreds of years later, Prince Lyn took on the task of searching all of Glendalough and even the nearby mountains to pray for forgiveness and to ask a favor of St. Kavin.

You see, a week prior, Prince Lyn had made a horrible mistake. He had come back from a hunting trip to be greeted by his favorite and most ferocious, yet gentle, greyhound at the entrance of his compound. Normally he would be excited to see Caemgen but today he quickly realized something was amiss. He was already suspicious of the dog since it hadn't come to him to go on the hunting trip even though he called out his name several times. Now that he looked closer, he realized that Caemgen had dried blood all over his fur and some still clung to the fringes of his mouth and dropped to the floor with every other pant.

The prince feared for the worst and sprinted upstairs to check on his son with Caemgen in pursuit. He rushed into the room panting with exhaustion from the run and frantically scanned for signs of his child. The room was in shambles but most concerning was the sight of the crib thrown on its side with all of the torn and bloody rags strewn about. Prince Lyn assumed the worst and in anger shoved a spear through the heart of poor Caemgen. As the greyhound yelped in pain and collapsed, he thought he heard the cry of a baby. Prince Lyn whirled around to face the direction of the sound. Upon further inspection he noticed that a large wolf was tangled up in the cloth! The wolf suffered several lacerations around its body and appeared to have died from a deep wound to the nape of the neck. The fabric began to move and the prince dashed towards it, lifted up the cloth and was relieved to discover his son was unharmed! However, the excitement was short-lived. The prince realized that his favorite greyhound hadn't ignored his call to go hunting to harm his child, but to protect it from the wolf menace. The prince was distraught. He sat down to help dampen the pangs of regret and tried to think about how he could remedy his mistake. He knew he had only one choice: to seek out St. Kavin and pray that he could bring Caemgen to life.

The prince set off the next morning with a determined look and a small bag of supplies. First he visited the monastery asking the monks about how he might encounter St. Kavin. The abbot informed him that St. Kavin was known to be rather fond of animals and often spent much time at his hermitage, although no one has been able to find it for hundreds of years. Upon hearing this, the prince knew he would find what he was looking for in that cave.

Once he arrived at the lake he sat upon a tall rock to scan the shores in search of a crevice or some indication that a cave might be near. Prince Lyn couldn't find any promising spots from his current vantage point so he decided it would be best to go ahead and walk around the shore. He was determined not to leave without finding the grotto.

It was now days since he began his journey. He had seen every bit of accessible shoreline. The prince sat on a large bit of driftwood to take a break and catch his breath. A sense of despair set in and the prince began to doubt the success of his venture for the first time. Just as the idea of failure snaked its way into his thoughts, the prince heard the foliage behind him rustle. He jumped to his feet and whirled around to confront the source of the noise! He caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a dog, strikingly similar to Caemgen, trotting off deeper into to brush.

Prince Lyn cautiously crept up to where he believed the dog walked into the shrubs and stepped through to find an old, worn down path. He followed it a short distance up the hill to discover a wall of vines covering the entrance to a grotto. He had found the place of St. Kavin's hermitage! He removed the vines to allow the sunlight to filter in and brighten up the room. As the rays of sun penetrated the darkness he made out the outline of a man and a dog. It was St. Kavin and the spirit of Caemgen.

"I've been wanting to meet you for some time now, Prince Lyn", said St. Kavin.

The prince fell to his knees in prostration as he was suddenly overcome by the aura St. Kavin radiated. "I need your help, St. Kavin. I've made a terrible mistake and killed my most faithful friend and companion. If you can, I would ask that you restore him to me so that I can pay him the respect he is due for saving my son."

"I must admit I was a little disappointed to see that you returned my dog to me so quickly, Prince Lyn. Caemgen is a fine animal and I knew he would be able to serve you well one day as your character was worthy of such a creature. Because of your faith and your persistence in arriving at this sacred place, I will grant you what you ask. Once you return home you will find Caemgen awaiting you, just as he always does. Remember what your faith has rewarded you with today."

With that Saint Kavin was gone as quickly as he had appeared. The prince was able to make it back home safely to find Caemgen waiting for him, just as the saint had said. Prince Lyn was able to live a long and prosperous life and the loyal dog Caemgen was able to serve his family for generations to come as he was blessed by St. Kavin.

Author's Note

This story is heavily influenced by the story of King O'Toole and His Goose and is my addition to the tale of Beth Gellert from the Celtic Fairy Tale Unit. In the original story the prince returns from his hunting trip and kills his favorite dog Gellert because he suspected him of killing his infant. As soon as he kills the dog he realizes his infant was actually safe and the dog had protected it similarly to my rendition. However, in the original story the tale ends with Gellert simply receiving a monument built for him. Since I had read about the healing powers of St. Kavin from the King O'Toole story I thought I should bring him into this story to bring back Gellert. And so my rendition has the prince set off on a quest to rid himself of his grief and regret by trying to find the Saint that was known to be present in that region and request that he heal his dog. I thought it was fitting to throw in the fact that Gellert belonged to St. Kavin a long time ago because when I did some extra research on the Saint it said that animals were very fond of him due to the amount of time he spent in nature. The name that I gave Gellert in my story was Caemgen which I found was an old Irish spelling of the Saint's name.

Bibliography

King O'Toole and His Goose --- here

Beth Gellert --- here

More information about St. Kavin --- found on Wikipedia

Image Information

Grotto in the Woods --- found here

Banner Image: Irish Hills --- found on pixabay