Kevin: Name Day and Patron Saint

St Kevin was born in Leinster in Ireland around the year 498, to a noble family of that province; his name means fair-begotten. He was baptized by a priest named Cronan, taught as a boy by St Petroc, and from the age of twelve placed under three monastic elders, with whom he studied the Holy Scriptures. Longing for solitude, he left them in secret, and an angel led him to Glendalough, the valley of the two lakes, where he lived in a hollow tree near the Upper Lake on wild herbs and water. Later he built a small cell between the mountain and the lake and lived there alone for some years. Wild animals drank from his hands, and during one Lent, as he prayed with arms outstretched, a blackbird nested in his open hand, and he held still until her chicks had hatched. Ordained a priest, he founded a monastery in the lower valley and then withdrew again into solitude, returning only when his monks begged him. So many came to him that Glendalough became a city in the desert, and for centuries pilgrims have visited its Seven Churches. He reposed on 3 June 618. The Church remembers him on 3 June (16 June on the Old Calendar), and the faithful ask his prayers for stillness in prayer and gentleness toward all God’s creatures.

What the faithful pray for

• stillness and patience in prayer
• love and gentleness toward God’s creatures
• those who seek solitude and the monastic life
• pilgrims and all who make a holy journey
• the people of Ireland