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changed reference to 'remote' Pembrokeshire
David was born on a stormy night at or near Capel Non (Non's chapel) within a short walk of the present day city of Saint David's. The ruins of the medieval chapel are visible near the site, and a nearby well is still a site of pilgrimage. He was baptised by the Irish monk St. Elvis, and educated at the monastery of Hen Fynyw. After ordination, David was taught by the elderly monk Paulinus, whose blindness the young David healed by making the sign of the cross over the monk's eyelids.
He became renowned as a teacher and preacher, founding [[monasticism|monasteries]] in Britain and Brittany (on the west coast of modern France), in a period when neighbouring tribal regions (that were to be united as England three hundred years later) were still mostly [[Paganism|pagan]]. He rose to a [[bishop]]ric, and presided over two [[synod]]s, as well as going on [[pilgrimage]]s to Jerusalem where he was anointed as a bishop by the [[patriarch]]. [[St. David's Cathedral (St. David's, Wales)|St. David's Cathedral]] now stands on the site of the [[monastery]] he founded in a remote and inhospitable southwest Pembrokeshire; in early medieval Britain this part of PembrokeshireWales was located near several important Celtic sea routes, and was not nearly as remote as it might seem today. A shrine to Saint David, containing his bones, the bones of his spiritual father Saint [[Justinian of Ramsey Island]], and possibly those of Saint CaradogCaradoc, is located within the cathedral.
The [[Monastic Rule]] of David prescribed that monks had to pull the plow themselves without draught animals; to drink only water; to eat only bread with salt and herbs; and to spend the evenings in prayer, reading and writing. No personal possessions were allowed: to say "my book" was an offence. He taught his followers to [[fasting|fast]], especially refraining from eating meat or imbibing alcohol. His symbol, also the symbol of Wales, is the leek.