St Asaph
A miracle or a stroke of luck?
The smallest cathedral in Britain is that of St Asaph (Llanelwy) in Flintshire, North Wales.
Asaph was a 6th-century bishop who was said to have shone with “virtue and miracles from the flower of his earliest youth”.
A legend tells how Nest, the beautiful wife of Maelgwn, King of Gwynedd, lost a precious ring as she bathed in a river pool. Nest was overcome with grief, for the ring had been given to her by Maelgwn and was the traditional ring always worn by the Queens of the North.
She went to Asaph, hoping that he might be able to help her. The bishop invited the royal couple to eat with him the following evening. When they arrived, he told Maelgwn what had happened, but the king refused to believe his wife’s story, and grew furious with her. Asaph immediately prayed to God that the ring might be found and the three of them then sat down to eat. The meal began with fish, caught in the River Elwy on the same day; when Maelgwn cut into his fish the ring fell out on his plate.
As miracles go, this one might more likely be ascribed to a stroke of luck!
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