St Mael and St Sulien Church in Corwen had a remarkable visit by an Ecuadorian family in September 2022, writes the priest in charge, Revd Helen Gheorghiu Gould.  They had come to pay homage to St Mael.

Nelson Javier Gonzalez and his mother, Sonia Maria Gonzales, from Ecuador, came to see the church after Sonia had a spiritual encounter with the 6th century patron saint of Corwen church.  Both now live in Canada, where Nelson had moved for work. His mother followed in 2011 but found herself feeling very alone because they have no relatives there, she had no friends and could not speak English.

In her sadness, one night Sonia heard a voice that identified himself as St Mael. She was familiar with several saints from South America, France, Spain, Italy, but not from the UK.  She and Nelson Googled him and found that St Mael was a sixth century Breton saint who lived as a hermit in Wales.

‘I told her that and she understood as she was basically living like a hermit here in Canada,’ said Nelson. ‘She felt relieved, and she believed St. Mael gave her advice and comfort.  She has been constantly praying since then.”

When Sonia became a Canadian citizen she was free to travel to the UK, so Nelson brought her on a special holiday to celebrate her birthday. He then surprised her with a visit to Corwen in September, where they enjoyed afternoon tea with a few of the church team and looked around the church.

St Mael and St Sulien were said to be companions of the Breton Saint Cadfan (c. 530- 590), who led a group of missionaries to Western Wales with Saint Tydecho, a cousin, and Saint Cynllo, a friend. They were accompanied by nine children of Ithel Hael o Lydaw, who was a prince of Armorica – the Gaulish region. His children Baglan, Flewyn, Gredifael, Tanwg, Twrog, Tegai, Trillo, Tecwyn and Llechid all became saints in the calendar of the Welsh church. One of them, St Trillo, founded the church at nearby Llandrillo.

Sonia’s encounter with St Mael in her own words, has been translated into English from Spanish by her son, Nelson:

My name is Sonia Alvarado, I was born in Ecuador, South America in 1947. As my son Nelson lives in Newmarket, Canada, I went to visit him for a long period in 2011. One night while I was praying before going to sleep, I heard a voice that said “Mael, Mael, Mael”.  The first thing I felt was fear, but then I calmed down, kept praying, covered myself with the blanket and tried to sleep. I did not  hear that voice anymore that night.

The next day I told my son Nelson what had happened to me and he searched the internet for the name I heard. He found that it was a saint who had lived as a hermit in Wales in the fifth century. That night I decided to pray to Saint Mael, and I asked him for advice about what I should do in Canada because I don’t speak English, I don’t have family nor friends in Canada, I only have my son Nelson; while I was with my eyes closed I heard him telling me “Be in constant prayer”. I was very overwhelmed and went to sleep.

The next night my granddaughter Andrea called me to say hello from Australia and I told her what had happened to me. I have a small table in my bedroom that I use for my prayer, and there I have a small lamp. While I was chatting with my granddaughter and telling her about Saint Mael, the light came on for a moment and then went out. I was shocked and called my son, he came to my bedroom and checked the lamp, he was somewhat incredulous about what I had told him, but he did not find any defect in the lamp.

Since that day I feel very happy because I am following what  Saint Mael had told me. I am practically a hermit here in Canada  and every day I get closer to God and I have peace in my heart.  I pray  constantly.

Finally in this year 2022, I had the great joy of being able to visit with my son the Church of Saint Mael in Corwen, Wales, and we shared a very happy and spiritual moment with the members of the Church: Reverend Helen, and also Eileen and Beci.