¹ When a certain Constantinopolitan emperor hoped to beget offspring by the empress, named Luciria, he begot none: from where they both, being sorrowful, grieved over their common barrenness. And they began constantly to fast, to distribute alms, and trustingly and unceasingly to call upon almighty God, that the giver of all gifts might give them an adoptive son, who could succeed his begetter and, after the emperor’s death, hold the empire. And so, with majesty aiding them, the prayers of them both were heard, and the acceptable and accepted gifts of alms. After this, indeed, the most religious empress, by divine will, happily conceived, and after conception more happily gave birth. Therefore, when the birth of the boy was heard of, while his parents and compatriots rejoiced, powerful dukes, nobles, and rich men came to the imperial court, praising together unanimously and blessing the benevolence of the highest giver, because he had heard the petition requested, and had moreover brought it to perfection, both fulfilled and to be fulfilled.

² The infant, having been nourished, grew to boyhood, and by degrees the boy of good disposition flourished, tending towards youthful form. His form was beautiful and indescribable; on account of this many kings and queens desired to join such a one to their daughters. For they heard that he was a lover of generosity, and adorned with lawful manners. Meanwhile, with the consent of his parents and compatriots, the daughter of a certain most noble king was betrothed to him, with honour to both kingdoms. But he, despising perishable power, and choosing in his mind that which is everlasting, preserving his virginity inviolate beneath a humble garment, departed from the imperial court, revealing to no one what he was thinking.

³ And, consenting to no one, divinely inspired, he came to the shores of the Tyrrhenian Sea: alone he pressed on with his journey, but divine company accompanied him. When he ought to have hunted through the woods, he secretly went to the divine oratory, repeating very often the Lord’s Prayer [Matthew 6:9–13; Luke 11:2–4]; when also he was compelled by the courtiers to play at dice, he departed from them against their will, hastening to the ecclesiastical shrines: Remaining there and bending his knee, he prayed with exceptional devotion. And he was accustomed to come not to the courtly luncheon, but to the appointed supper. He practised fasting so much that all who saw and heard of the young man’s religion marvelled.

⁴ When these things had been done, after the departure of their only son, his parents mourned: and the citizens, given over to sadness, by imperial command followed the young man Cungarus as he fled, so that, if they could find him and seize him, they might capture him and bring him back unwilling to the emperor. But as they came with great haste to the seashore, look, a ship was ready to cross over. And the young man, seeing them following, and the favourableness of the winds and the prepared vessel, entered the sail-covered ship, and thus, coming prosperously to the edge of the sea, avoided the hateful pursuit. And so the natives who were searching had resolved, having been urged by the emperor, to compel the fugitive to return.

⁵ But God, foreknower and foreseer of things to come, did not wish him to be hindered from his purpose, but rather that he should fulfil the intention he had first conceived. For he had begun from boyhood to live most chastely, and to pray without ceasing, and to offend no one. And when he was invited to an equestrian contest, he would not serve as a soldier: his contest was to overcome the snares of the first adversary, and to contemplate heavenly things, and to despise transitory things. His parents and his citizens had chosen him to be the future emperor: but he himself preferred to strive towards heavenly election. And so Cungarus, the chosen servant of God, chose to leave his native land, beginning to go on pilgrimage, desiring to fulfil the evangelical commandment which you have heard, namely: “he who has not left father and mother and brothers and sisters and wife and children and fields for my sake is not worthy of me” [Matthew 10:37; Matthew 19:29; Luke 14:26]. Hearing this and not forgetting it, but firmly storing it in his breast, he did not cease until he had faithfully fulfilled it. But the most holy Cungarus, a most gentle young man, did not wish to remain in the neighbourhood of his parents, fearing that, if they heard that their son was dwelling nearby, they would without delay summon to themselves their only and dearest child.

⁶ On this occasion, and by angelic exhortation, he departed from the shore of the Tyrrhenian Sea, and came to Italy, and from Italy across the Alps to Gaul, and from Gaul by sailing to Britain. For with all his effort he strove to lead a solitary life: therefore on the journey he sought out and diligently asked about places suitable for a hermit. And so, while he was trying to fulfil the intention inspired in him by God, he directed his journey to a certain part of the Britains which is called Somerset, as the inhabitants name that region. Then, warned again by angelic revelation, he came to a most pleasant place, surrounded by waters and reed-bed, afterwards named Cungresbiria after him. For among the English he was called Cungarus; among the Britons he was called Doccuinus, as if ‘teacher’. Nor undeservedly, because he sowed the streams of his teaching throughout the country, and wherever he went, he did not cease to preach the word of God according to apostolic tradition. Everything that was given to him by kings and rich men he immediately distributed to the poor. When the most holy and most reverend Cungarus came into the country which is called Somerset by its inhabitants, he resolved to persevere there.

⁷ And when by night he had given his limbs to rest, and sleep too had suspended his spirit from its customary contemplation, it was revealed to him by an angel that wherever he should see a boar on the next day, there he should build a dwelling and afterwards found an oratory. When he awoke, he rejoiced greatly at the angelic revelation and he went forth hastily; and unexpectedly he saw a boar lying in the reed-bed, and, once seen, it passed by. But the boar, terrified, fled away in its usual running course. And he, having seen the boar, according to the angelic promise, and moreover observing the pleasantness of that watery and wooded place, rejoiced, uttering speech of this kind: “This is the place which I have sought: here I shall remain, so that I may serve the holy Trinity.” [Psalm 132:14] Without delay, he built a dwelling. Thereafter he measured out a cemetery. When this had been measured out, he founded an oratory in honour of the holy and undivided Trinity. Therefore Cungarus, beloved of God, persevered in this place, clothed in haircloth, leading a blameless life, in fasts and frequent prayers, without impediment.

⁸ Every morning hour he entered the cold water, remaining there until he had repeated the Lord’s Prayer three times [Matthew 6:9–13; Luke 11:2–4]. And so, chilled, rising from the river, he returned to the church, keeping watch and begging the omnipotence of the highest creator. But at the ninth hour he used barley bread, never making use of dishes or fullness. Leanness had taken hold of his very slender body, so that those who had seen him said that he was sickly or feverish. The hermit’s life was sweetest to him, since he considered that the footsteps of Paul the first hermit and Antony were to be imitated.

⁹ This first miracle was performed through divine mercy by the most just Cungarus: the watery and reedy places which were around his cultivated land, then offering no usefulness, were turned into fields most suitable for cultivation and into flowering meadows. When this miracle had been heard of, everywhere throughout England also throughout the whole of Britain they magnified the chosen servant of God with exceptional reverence, saying such things in his praise and honour. The natives praise him, saying: “We see clearly fields with meadows, where marsh reed grew.”

¹⁰ After such and so great a miracle had passed, when on a certain day the most reverend Congarus was standing in the cemetery with his clerics standing around him, he wished that a yew might grow there, so that a shelter might be made because of the summer heat, and that the cemetery might be adorned by the spreading of its branches. And so, while he was wishing such things, holding in his hands a staff made from the yew tree, he fixed it in the ground, and could not draw it back. The next day, with all standing there and seeing it, it put forth leaves; afterwards it grew into a very broad tree, and, according to the petition and desire of the most blessed Cungarus, it was a shelter for the clerics and the people from the heat of summer. From where it was said: “The yew is here, green, not dry nor hand-held. What had been planted, a marvellous wood, puts forth leaves.”

¹¹ When such miracles had been revealed and proclaimed everywhere, Ina, the most generous king of the English, generously gave to the venerable Cungarus the whole territory situated freely around Cungresbiria; and he promised that he himself would be a devoted refuge for him, lest, for as long as he reigned, he should be hindered in his prayers by the royal tumult of soldiers. But the same King Ina, after the donation of the same territory, was unwilling thereafter to visit the place now given and granted to the saint, lest by his approach he should cause trouble to the venerable Cungarus. When these things had been done, the other kings, his successors, did not dare to visit, nor even to see, the place, made venerable by the presence of Cungarus. For if it happened by chance that kings either saw or visited the place cultivated by blessed Cungarus, either they would gravely and immediately begin to fall ill, or, having seen the place, they would not have any longer span of life. And so many kings, wickedly seeing that same place and coming to a swift death, paid the just penalty for their wickedness. One day Edgar, king of the English, while hunting in a wood, unknowingly came to the place of the blessed man: and the place which it was not lawful for kings to see, he incautiously looked upon. And afterwards, when he had seen it, led by repentance he grieved from the depths of his heart, saying: “Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit: you have redeemed me, God of truth’ [Psalm 31:5; Vulgate Psalm 30:6]. Thereafter, being very much saddened, he did penance because he had looked upon the holy place, which it had in no way been permitted him to see. He gave a great part of land to God and to Saint Cungarus. He also most devoutly prayed all the clergy of that same territory that they should pour out prayers to the Lord for him, lest, for the rashness by which he had attempted to see the place, divine vengeance should drive him from this light more swiftly and while he was all too unprepared. Returning fearful from the hunt, he withdrew into the royal palace: and, oppressed by a severe illness, on the ninth day he closed his last day. And so many kings before had feared to violate the reverence and privilege of this place, and the successors of those who went before feared still more when this miracle had been heard.

¹² Therefore, since Cungarus, beloved of God, pleased both God and men by studies and virtues of this kind, he established in that same oratory of his twelve canons, who should live according to rule and should serve God most dutifully in that same temple in honour of the holy and undivided Trinity. For he had built that same temple of stones, which at first had been woven together from twigs and boards. A multitude of the sick flowed together from every side to the holy servant of God Cungarus, so that through his merits and prayers they might be cured of infirmities and various illnesses: and through the grace of God, having invoked the holy name of the Trinity, he cured them all, by whatever infirmity they were held. But the man of God, seeing that by such an occasion he was being too greatly hindered from the solitude dear to him and from the urgency of prayer, very often considered within himself departing from that place. And this at last he fulfilled in deed. For he had heard that beyond the Severn Sea there were places most suitable and most secret, which he desired not a little to see. If these should settle in his mind, he resolved to serve God in those same places, the more devoutly the more secretly. Therefore, setting out on the journey, he sought the seashore, with his clerics accompanying and escorting him, together with others of diverse sex, weeping and wailing over the departure of so great a father of theirs, and so faithful a defender.

¹³ Blessed Cungarus crossed the sea with certain clerics retained with him into the region of Glatmorgan, and landed prosperously in the port of Caerwent. Then he came to a steep mountain, not less than one stade distant from the sea. When he climbed it and saw it, he found there a very clear spring: beside it he built a dwelling and began to mark out a cemetery. Therefore, on the following night, when he had given his limbs over to rest, he was warned by an angelic vision that he should quickly leave the place which he had chosen for himself to inhabit, and should hasten quickly to seek further another place destined for him by God. He, immediately awakened from sleep, considering with anxious mind the things he had heard in the nocturnal vision, left the place which he had begun to inhabit, and, having gone not far from that same place, came to a steep mountain in every way most worthy of so great an inhabitant. He, immediately perceiving that the angelic promise had been fulfilled for him, began to speak in this manner: “Here is a spring, here are stones, here are the materials for a temple: here a riverine good is nourished everywhere by the streams. Here let my seat be: this place will prepare honours. God wills that I should dwell here, showing labour on the mountain.” [Psalm 68:16]

¹⁴ When these things had been said, he built a building, and afterwards measured out a cemetery. And when he had measured it out, he founded an oratory in honour of the holy and undivided Trinity. And so, when he had resolved to persevere there, one day the cowherd of Poulentus, king of Glamorgan, came to the place. When he had seen that blessed Cungarus had built there a hermit’s dwelling without royal permission, he became indignant and silently considered the matter with himself, saying: “It is indeed very unworthy that an unknown foreigner should inhabit the royal territories without my lord King Poulentus having been consulted. And so I shall go as quickly as possible to King Poulentus to report the cause of this matter.” He at once fulfilled in deed what he had had in mind, and reported to King Poulentus that Cungarus, an unlicensed foreign hermit, was living in the king’s little fields. When this was heard, King Poulentus burned with anger and immediately hastened with speed to see that place. And when he had arrived there and had found the matter concerning the blessed man to be certain, just as he had heard, he furiously hurled insults and other dishonourable things at the blessed man, unbridled against him. And when he had provoked the blessed man Cungarus with various kinds of insults and had ordered him to go away at a swift pace, Saint Cungarus, as he was gentle, gently answered, saying: “You are a king, but soon you will have to be held as a servant to me. I wish to remain here; I do not wish to depart because of you. You drive me unjustly: I beg that you may be corrected from on high. May God himself hear: may he turn you by seeking right things.”

¹⁵ And when he had rebuked the king’s ignorance with words of this kind, that same king was immediately punished by the loss of his sight. Then, without delay, brought to account for so great an injury inflicted upon the holy man, whom he had previously violently rebuked, he soon threw himself at the knees of the same man and begged pardon for the wrong he had brought upon him, and asked that, concerning his curse, which he had justly deserved, he would seek pardon from the merciful Lord. But Saint Cungarus, by his innate piety fully pitying the turbulent king, yet now humble and gentle through the grace and visitation of God, sought from God the grace which the king himself had asked of him in honour, and restored the king’s eyes to their former light, so that, much more brightly illuminated, he saw than before he had been blinded. And King Pontus, seeing so great a miracle performed in him through the grace of God, gave to blessed Cungarus the whole territory around the place which he had chosen: and he built a dwelling, in which with all security and peace he most devoutly served God. And in that same place he built an oratory in honour of the holy and undivided Trinity, in which, as also at Cungresbiria, he appointed twelve canons who, living according to rule, should serve God. But he himself, as a solicitous and most holy father, bore the care of both monasteries, and more frequently refreshed them by his own presence.

¹⁶ A certain prince named Pebian wished to take away from Saint Cungarus, who was also called Doccuinus among the Welsh because he taught them the way of the Lord; he wished, I say, to take away a great part of the land which, both by the gift of the king and by the attestation of the neighbours, belonged to his church. But blessed Cungarus, with his conscience bearing witness for him, yielded not at all to so unjust an exaction, but took care by every means that a fixed day should be appointed, on which, with sure and faithful judges appointed on both sides, each person should be given what was his concerning the same portion of land. But on the appointed day on which a just inquiry was to be made concerning this, a multitude of neighbours assembled, so that, by the command of King Poulentus, to whose power and right the same portion of land belonged, it might be most diligently decided. But the same prince named Pebian, surrounded by a great abundance of witnesses, when by force and fraud he strove to inflict injury on blessed Cungarus in the same case, was melted away and reduced to nothing in the sight of all who were present, after the manner of wax melting at the heat of fire. Seeing this, all were troubled with fear, and glorified God, who, judging a just judgement, delivered the innocent man from the hand of the powerful wicked man, rendering upon his own head what he had deserved. From this time onwards blessed Cungarus was held in honour and veneration by all people who had heard of his fame and holiness, and he was honoured and venerated by all as if an angel of God.

¹⁷ Therefore, since blessed Cungarus was adorned with all virtues, and at the same time was made illustrious by the same and other innumerable miracles as a divine man, and since he saw both monasteries, namely the one in Cungresbiria and the one he had founded in Wales, walking and bearing fruit in the fear of God, a purpose came divinely into his mind, namely of going to the thresholds of the most blessed Peter and Paul, and of imploring their intercessions for obtaining divine mercy. Then he also had this in his vows: that, after visiting the sacred pledges of the apostles, he would also visit the land of Jerusalem and kiss the holy places in which the Lord’s feet had stood [Psalm 132:7; Vulgate Psalm 131:7]. And so, having received the permission and blessing of Dubricius, bishop of Llandaff, and likewise of the monasteries over which he presided as father, and also of the parishioners of the neighbouring churches, he set out on the journey which he had had in his vows. And, piously and most devoutly fulfilling this, after he had visited at Rome the most sacred thresholds of the holy apostles and had implored the intercessions of innumerable other saints sleeping there, he went on to Jerusalem. Having travelled through and visited the holy places, in that same city, for the merits of his life, he was translated from transitory things to the heavenly kingdoms, with our Lord Jesus Christ granting it, to whom are honour and glory for infinite ages of ages.