 The bishop tried to persuade him to become a monk , but Dunstan was doubtful whether he had a vocation to a celibate life . The answer came in the form of an attack of swelling tumours all over Dunstan 's body . This ailment was so severe that it was thought to be leprosy . It was more probably some form of blood poisoning caused by being beaten and thrown in the cesspool . Whatever the cause , it changed Dunstan 's mind . He took Holy Orders in 943 , in the presence of Ælfheah , and returned to live the life of a hermit at Glastonbury . Against the old church of St Mary he built a small cell five feet long and two and a half feet deep . It was there that Dunstan studied , worked at his handicrafts , and played on his harp . It is at this time , according to a late 11th @-@ century legend , that the Devil is said to have tempted Dunstan and to have been held by the face with Dunstan 's tongs . 
