evotion: the principal is that of St. Nun, mother of St.
David, near which is a beautiful well still frequented by pilgrims.
Another chapel is sacred to St. Lily, surnamed Gwas-Dewy, that is, St.
David's man; for he was his beloved disciple and companion in his
retirement. He is honored there on the 3d, and St. Nun, who lived and
died the spiritual mother of many religious women, on the 2d of March.
The three first days of March were formerly holidays in South Wales in
honor of these three saints; at present only the first is kept a
festival throughout all Wales. John of Glastenbury[3] informs us, that
in the reign of king Edgar, in the year of Christ 962, the relics of St.
David were translated with great solemnity from the vale of Ross to
Glastenbury, together with a portion of the relics of St. Stephen the
Protomartyr.

* * * * *

By singing assiduously the divine praises with pure and holy hearts,
dead to the world and all inordinate passions, monks are styled angels
of the earth. The divine praise is the primary act of the love of God;
for a soul enamored of his adorable goodness and perfections, summons up
all her powers to express the complacency she takes in his infinite
greatness and bliss, and sounds forth his praises with all her strength.
In this entertainment she feels an insatiable delight and sweetness, and
with longing desires aspires after that bliss in which she will love and
praise without intermission or impediment. By each act of divine praise,
the fervor of charity and its habit, and with it every spiritual good
and every rich treasure, is increased in her: moreover, God in return
heaps upon her the choicest blessings of his grace. Therefore, though
the acts of divine praise seem directly to be no more than a tribute or
homage of our affections, which we tender to God, the highest advantages
accrue from these exercises to our souls. St. Stephen of Grandmont was
once asked by a disciple, why we are so frequently exhorted in the
scriptures to bless and praise God, who, being infinite, can receive no
increase from our homages. {493} To which the saint replied: "A man who
blesses and praises God receives from thence the highest advantage
imaginable; for God, in return, bestows on him all his blessings, and
for every word that he repeats in these acts, says: 'For the praises and
blessings which you offer me, I bestow my blessings on you; what you
present to me returns to