Saint Yves was particularly devoted to saint Tugdual. The Catholic Church celebrates the feast in 2 December, since it does not know exactly the day of his death. Normally, saints are honored the day of their death for the Church believes that they are immediately welcomed to Paradise. It is the day of their “dies natalis”, which means the day of their coming to light: the Eternal and unending Light of God.

By the way, we should remember the parallel that the last Sunday gospel made for the first Sunday of Advent about the coming of the owner of the house, that is the Lord Himself, and dawn. It clearly means that life on earth is night and death is the entrance to light. However, honestly, who does consider one’s own life as a night? On the contrary, common language uses many expressions to describe death as a deep night. But faith teaches us that life on earth is night, when death is dawn. Nevertheless, in this gospel, Christ very probably speaks more about the revelation of his invisible presence in the night of life than about His coming back. Actually, He has already come back. He is among us, especially through the Sacrament of Eucharist. Then, the last Sunday gospel explains that the end of our journey on earth means our meeting with God in order to live with Him for good. Creation will be the family house of God Himself.

We know very few about Tugdual. He founded the city of Tréguier, probably in the Fourth or Fifth century. He was a disciple of the monks of Saint Patrick: they observed the very strict rule of Saint Colombus and converted large tracts of northern Europe to Christianity, including Brittany. Actually Brittany quickly had reverted to paganism after its initial evangelization. Tugdual slew the “dragon” of pagan ignorance, as it is often symbolized in the stained glass windows of Brittany’s churches. A legend claims that after being consecrated as bishop by Saint Martin of Tours, Tugdual was elected as Pope in Rome, where he had travelled in order to receive confirmation of his appointment as the bishop of Tréguier. The legend tells that he declined the honor!