¹ Here begins the Life of Saint Cybi, a bishop.

² Saint Cybi, whose feast is celebrated on the eighth day of November (that is, the sixth day before the Ides of November), was one of the faithful servants of the heavenly Father. He was descended from the region of Cornwall, between the two rivers Tamar and Limar. His father was Solomon, son of Erbin, son of Geraint, son of Lud. His father was a military chieftain, but Cybi himself was brought up in schooling.

³ The blessed Cybi was seven years old when he began to read. Afterwards he remained in his own country for twenty years. He then journeyed to Jerusalem to venerate the sepulchre of our Lord. After this he was with the most blessed Hilary, bishop of Poitiers, and remained there for fifty years. During this time he gave sight to the blind, cleansed lepers, and healed the paralysed, the mute, the insane, and those afflicted by demons. Afterwards he received episcopal ordination from Bishop Hilary. He was then admonished by an angel of the Lord to return to his own country, where he remained for a short time. He was asked whether he would become king of the Cornish people, but he refused to accept the power of the present world. He then went through the land with his ten disciples, who were Maelog, Libiau, Peulan, Cyngar, and others.

⁴ Afterwards Cybi came to the region of Edelygion, where King Etelic was then living. Saint Cybi went down into the king’s meadows and pitched his tent there. King Etelic sent a man to see who it was that had settled in his meadow, and on his return the man said, “They are monks.” At once Etelic rose up with his household to drive the monks from his land, but immediately Etelic fell from his horse, the horse died on the spot, and Etelic and all his household were struck blind. Then Etelic prostrated himself on his face and gave body and soul to God and to Saint Cybi, and immediately, through the prayer of Saint Cybi, Etelic himself, his attendants, and even the horse were restored to health. Etelic then granted to Saint Cybi, for ever, two churches, one of which is Llangybi and the other Llandaverguir, and there Cybi left a small variegated hand-bell. Saint Cybi then blessed King Etelic and departed from there to Menevia, the city of Saint David, where he remained for three days and three nights. From there he sailed to Ireland, to the island of Arum, where he lived for four years and built a church in honour of Almighty God. His cousin Cyngar, being an old man, Saint Cybi bought a cow with its calf for him, because on account of his age he could take no other food than milk, and there his disciples diligently cultivated the land. It then happened that one day one of Saint Cybi’s disciples, named Maelog, went to the doorway of the dwelling of Crubthir Fintam to dig the ground. Crubthir Fintam, being angered by this, came to forbid him and said, “Do not dig the ground at the door of my dwelling.”

⁵ Then Saint Cybi and Fintam went out together to the abbot of the island of Arum, who was called Enna, and he made peace between them. It happened one day that the calf of Cyngar’s cow strayed into the cornfield of Crubthir Fintam, and the disciples of Crubthir Fintam came, seized the calf, and tied it to a great tree. Saint Cybi sent one of his disciples to Crubthir Fintam, asking him to release the calf, but he refused, for Crubthir Fintam still persisted in his anger. Saint Cybi then prayed to the Lord that the calf might return to its mother, for the old man Cyngar was almost dead for lack of milk, since without the calf the cow would give none. The Lord heard the prayer of Saint Cybi and sent the calf back to its mother in a marvellous way, together with the tree to which it had been tied and its roots.

⁶ Crubthir Fintam then prayed to the Lord that Saint Cybi might be driven away from, or destroyed upon, the island of Arum, but the Lord loved him. An angel of the Lord came to Saint Cybi in his sleep and said to him, “Leave this island go to the eastern side.” Saint Cybi answered, saying, “May God destroy Crubthir Fintam from this island.” And the angel said, “So it shall be.” Then Saint Cybi went to the southern part of the region of Mida, where he remained for forty days and forty nights, and there he built a church, which to this day is called the Great Church of Mochop.

⁷ When Crubthir Fintam heard that Saint Cybi was living there, he came and said to him, “Go to another place, for this land is still mine.” Saint Cybi then fasted for three days, that God might show him what he ought to do. An angel said to Saint Cybi, “Go to the east.” Saint Cybi did so and came to the plain of Bregh, where he remained for seven days.

⁸ And Crubthir Fintam, still his enemy, came to him and said, “Go to another place.” Then Saint Cybi said, “I beg to Almighty God that he may show me what I should do.” To him the angel said, “Go to the right-hand side.” He did so and came to the region of Vobyun, where he remained for twelve days. Crubthir Fintam still followed him and said, “Cybi, go beyond the sea.” Then Saint Cybi, being angered, said to him, “All your churches are so deserted that there are not three to be found in the whole island of Ireland where there is singing at your altar.” Saint Cybi then sent his disciples into the wood to cut timber for a boat, which they did at once and built it. When the boat was finished, Crubthir Fintam came and said to them, “Enter that boat without a covering of skins, if you are servants of God.” Saint Cybi replied with a prophetic saying: “God is wonderful in his saints, the God of Israel himself, the blessed God, will give strength and power to his people” [Psalm 68:35]. Then Saint Cybi said to his disciples, “Set the boat upon the sea,” and they set it there. Saint Cybi and his disciples entered the boat without a skin covering, and immediately a fierce storm arose on the sea. His disciples were greatly afraid, but Saint Cybi prayed to God with confidence. At his prayer God split the rock in two, and the boat sprang up between the two rocks, and at last they landed on the island of Anglesey. There Saint Cybi struck the rock with his staff, and water immediately flowed forth.

⁹ From there Saint Cybi came to the place called Cyndaf and remained there for some time. He said to one of his disciples, named Caffo, “Go and bring us some fire.” Caffo went to the house of a certain smith called Magwrn. Magwrn asked the disciple, “Where have you come from?” The disciple answered, “I have come from my master Cybi.” Magwrn then asked him, “What does he want?” The disciple replied, “I wish to have fire.” Magwrn said, “I will not give you fire unless you will carry it in your bosom.” And Caffo said, “Place the fire in my bosom.” Magwrn placed it there, and immediately Caffo returned to his master Cybi, carrying the fire in his bosom without even the hem of his shirt being burnt.

¹⁰ At that time King Maelgwn was reigning over the regions of North Wales. It happened one day that he went out into the mountains to hunt, and he saw a she-goat and set his hound upon it. The goat ran swiftly to the dwelling of Saint Cybi to seek shelter, and Saint Cybi said to his disciple Caffo, “Depart from me; we cannot remain together.” Caffo went to a settlement now called Merthyr Caffo, where the shepherds of Rosiwr killed him. Therefore the blessed Cybi cursed the shepherds of Rosiwr together with their mistress.

¹¹ And the she-goat found refuge, and King Maelgwn followed it to the dwelling of Cybi. The king said to him, “Let the goat go,” but Cybi replied, “I will not let it go unless you spare its life.” The king, angered, said, “If you will not release it, I will drive you from this land.” The blessed Cybi answered, “It is not in your power to remove me from the land, but in the power of God. Nevertheless, I will release the goat to you if you will offer it as a sacrifice to Almighty God and grant to me the land over which your hound has run.” The king said, “I will willingly offer it.” Saint Cybi then released the goat, and the hound chased it all around the headland, after which it returned again to the dwelling of Saint Cybi. Afterwards a dispute arose between King Maelgwn and Saint Cybi, but the king could not prevail against the servant of God. Therefore he granted his fortress to Almighty God and to holy Cybi as a gift of perpetual alms.

¹² There Saint Cybi fell asleep in Christ with great honour, on the sixth day before the Ides of November. A multitude of angels came and carried his most holy soul to heaven, to be in the fellowship of the patriarchs and prophets, in the fellowship of the apostles and evangelists, in the fellowship of the martyrs and confessors, in the fellowship of the virgins and all the righteous saints, and in the fellowship of the heavenly Church, where there is day without night, peace without fear, and joy without end; where there are seven eternal gifts: life without death, youth without old age, joy without sorrow, peace without discord, light without darkness, health without sickness, and a kingdom without change. Blessed are those who dwell with Abel and Enoch and Noah, with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, with Moses and Aaron and Joshua son of Nun, with the twelve prophets and the twelve apostles, and with all the saints from the beginning to the end of the world, with the twenty orders of angels, with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, in peace and joy, in purity and health, without hunger and without nakedness, with abundance for the whole body, and with no evil, before a youthful, generous, fair, and eternal King. Let us pray to Almighty God that we may be found worthy to attain that blessedness, through the intercession of the blessed Cybi, for ever and ever. Amen.