hich he made of himself to God
in union with that which he daily offered to him on his altars. If it be
true that he preached in Ireland in the reign of king Ammeric, he must
have made a visit to that island from Armorica, that prince only
beginning to reign in 560: this cannot be ascribed to St. Gildas the
Albanian, who died before that time. It was about the year 527, in the
thirty-fourth of his age, that St. Gildas sailed to Armorica, or
Brittany, in France:[1] for he wrote his invective ten years {308} after
his arrival there, and in the forty-fourth year of his age, as is
gathered from his life and writings. Here he chose for the place of his
retirement the little isle of Houac, or Houat, between the coast of
Rhuis and the island of Bellisle, four leagues from the latter. Houat
exceeds not a league in length; the isle of Hoedre is still smaller, not
far distant: both are so barren as to yield nothing but a small quantity
of corn. Such a solitude, which appeared hideous to others, offered the
greatest charms to the saint, who desired to fly, as much as this mortal
state would permit, whatever could interrupt his commerce with God. Here
he often wanted the common necessaries and conveniences of life; but the
greater the privation of earthly comforts was in which he lived, the
more abundant were those of the Holy Ghost which he enjoyed, in
proportion as the purity of his affections and his love of heavenly
things were more perfect. The saint promised himself that he should live
here always unknown to men: but it was in vain for him to endeavor to
hide the light of divine grace under a bushel, which shone forth to the
world, notwithstanding all the precautions which his humility took to
conceal it. Certain fishermen who discovered him were charmed with his
heavenly deportment and conversation, and made known on the continent
the treasure they had found. The inhabitants flocked from the coast to
hear the lessons of divine wisdom which the holy anchoret gave with a
heavenly unction which penetrated their hearts. To satisfy their
importunities, St. Gildas at length consented to live among them on the
continent, and built a monastery at Rhuis, in a peninsula of that name,
which Guerech, the first lord of the Britons about Vannes, is said to
have bestowed upon him. This monastery was soon filled with excellent
disciples and holy monks. St. Gildas settled them in good order; then,
sighing after closer solitude, he withdrew, an