Celtic and Old English Saints          31 May

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*Ss. Winnow, Mancus and Myrbad
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Ss. Winnow, Mancus and Myrbad
-------------------------------------------------
6th century. Three Irish saints who lived in Cornwall, where they have
churches dedicated to their memories (Benedictines).

Troparion of Ss Winnow, Mancus and Myrbad Tone 6
O three holy Saints who in honour of the Trinity/ left Ireland to labour
in Cornwall:/ having toiled on earth you are glorified in heaven,/
blessed Winnow, Mancus and Myrbad.


These Lives are archived at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints
*****************************************

Celtic and Old English Saints          1 June

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* St. Herve of Brittany
* St. Ruadan of Cornwall & Brittany
* St. Whyte of Dorset
* St. Wistan of Evesham
* St. Thecla of Denbighshire
* St. Ronan of Kilmaronen
* St. Caprais of Lerins
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St. Herve of Brittany, Abbot
--------------------------------------
(Harvey, Herveus, Huva)

Died 575 AD.. Saint Herve is venerated throughout Brittany but we have
few reliable particulars on him--his life was not written until the late
medieval period. All we really know is that he was a hermit in Brittany,
where he is still highly venerated and where Herve is one of the most
popular names for boys.

The story goes that a young British bard named Hyvarnion, a pupil of
Saint Cadoc, lived at the court of Childebert, king of the Franks. After
four years, desiring to return to his native land, he set off through
Brittany, where one day, riding through a wood, he heard a young girl
singing. The sweetness of her voice made him curious and, dismounting
from his horse, he made his way through the trees to where in a sunny
glade he found a maiden gathering herbs. He asked her what they were
for. "This herb,"
she replied, "drives away sadness, that one banishes blindness, and I
look for the herb of life that drives away death." Hyvarnion, forgetting
his homeward journey, in that hour loved her, and later he married her.

After three years they had a son who was born blind, and in their sorrow
they called him Herve, which means bitterness. When he was two years
old, his father died, and the mother, Rivanon, and child were left poor
and friendless. In her grief she sang to him and he grew up to love
poetry and music. When Herve was seven, Rivanon gave him into the care
of a holy man named Arthian and she became a hermit. The child wandered
about the countryside singing and begging, led by a white dog which he
held on a string. To this day the Bretons sing a ballad of the blind
child, led by his dog, singing as he shivered in the wind and the rain,
with no shoes on his bare feet, his teeth chattering with the cold.

At age 14, with his mother's approval, he sought out an uncle who was a
hermit and kept a monastic school in the forest at Plouvien. His uncle
welcomed him, and soon Herve excelled in knowledge beyond all his other
pupils. On his uncle's death, he became abbot. Every morning the
children gathered to be taught by their blind master, and every evening
they left "like a swarm of bees issuing from a hollow oak." He
instructed them in music and poetry, and, above all, in the Christian
way of life.

"When you wake up in bed," he said, "offer your hearts to the good God,
make the sign of the Cross and say with faith and hope and love, 'I give
You my heart, my body and my soul. Make me a good man.' When you see a
crow fly, think of the devil, black and evil. When you see a dove fly,
think of your angel, gentle and white. Think of God, as the sun makes
the wild roses bloom on the mountains. In the evening, before going to
bed, say your prayers that a white angel may come from heaven and watch
you till the dawn. This is the true way to live as Christians. Practice
my song, and you will lead holy lives."

In addition to teaching, Herve worked the fields near the school. He was
venerated for his holiness and his miracles. One day a wolf ate the
donkey with which he was ploughing the fields. The young child who was
Herve's guide cried out in fear, but at Herve's prayers, the wolf put
himself into the donkey's harness and finished the work to be done.

Later he decided to move the community to Leon. There the bishop wanted
to ordain him priest, but Herve humbly declined. Thus, although he was
never a priest, Herve is said to have participated in the solemn
anathematizing of the tyrannical ruler Conomor, c. 550. From Leon the
holy group travelled west. Beside the road to Lesneven is the fountain
of Saint Herve, which he is said to have caused to flow to satisfy the
thirst of his companions. Finally, they settled and Herve built a
monastery at Lanhouarneau in Finistere, which earned a great reputation.

Coming out from his monastery, where he lived for the rest of his life,
Herve would travel forth periodically to preach or act as exorcist. He
was no longer led by a white dog, but by his little niece, Kristine, who
lived near him in a cottage of thatch and wattle built for her by the
monks, and who, gay as a fairy, sang to him as she gathered flowers for
the altar. When he came to die, he said to her: "Tina, my dear, make my
bed ready, but make it not as is wont. Make it on the hard earth, before
the altar, at the feet of Jesus. Place a stone for my bolster, and strew
my bed with ashes." Weeping, she carried out his wish, and said: "May I
follow in due course, as the boat follows the ship."

As his monks watched at his deathbed, they were said to have heard the
music of the heavenly choirs welcoming him to heaven. So died the blind
Breton saint, who had taught in the school in the forest, and who all
his life, despite his blindness, had given glory to God.

Until the French Revolution, a chapel (now destroyed) near Cleder in
Finistere possessed a most unusual relics: the cradle in which Saint
Herve had been rocked (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopaedia,
Gill, White).

In art, Saint Herveus is a blind abbot telling frogs to be quiet or
being led by a wolf (Roeder) or his child guide. He is invoked against
eye problems (Delaney). Breton mothers threaten their mischievous
children with his wolf (White).

Image of St Herve
http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/sainth09.htm

St Hervп═Б└√ is thought to be the composer of the popular and moving
"kantik
ar baradoz" (an hymn to paradise) often sung at funerals. To listen to
it:
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/per.kentel/kantikou/sons/ar_baradoz.mid


Troparion of St Herve Tone l
O Herve, thou minstrel and teacher of the Faith,/ thy sweet voice
enlightened the darkness though thou wast born without the gift of
sight./ Pray that the light of Christ may ever dispel the new pagan
darkness from our lands,/ that God may be glorified.


St. Ruadan of Cornwall (of Quimper), Bishop
-------------------------------------------------------------
(also known as Ronan, Rumon, Ruadhan, Ruan)

Died 6th century. Ordained by Saint Patrick. Saint Ruadan was patron of
the abbey of Tavistock in Devonshire, as well as several places in
Cornwall and Brittany. He is important in the traditions of Brittany,
where he died, and the region of Laon. Ruadan is buried at Locronan.
Every six years the faithful make a processional pilgrimage along the
traditional 10-mile route
followed by Ruadan during his mission. Today's saint should not be
confused with the Irish Saint Ruadan (Benedictines, Encyclopaedia,
Farmer, Gill, Montague).

"Just as England has her Cornwall, so has Brittany her Cornouille, viz.
Amorican Cornwall....

" Every sixth year a 'pardon' was held in honour of the sixth century
saint S.Ronan. The Grande Tromenie is held on the second Sunday of July,
and is a mass procession that follows the route [10 miles - Fr. A]taken
by two oxen who, on the saint's death, were allowed to wander of their
own accord from his place of death to a place of burial ( the hill
outside the village of Locranon). After a service in the church nearly
15,000 worshippers climb the hill with their relics, past crosses and
other memorials. The author complained that he could only find
refreshment at the summit in drinking syrups, each stickier than the
last. How different, he complains, from the Godless hordes of England's
Epsom and Derby Day.

Extract from "The Grande Tromenie of Locronan,
in Amorican Cornwall, Seen in July 1911 and
Described by Niall, Duke of Argyll," Published London, 1914,
Society of Ss. Peter & Paul


St. Whyte (Gwen, White, Wite, Witta, Candida)
Anchoress and Martyr
------------------------------------------------------
Date unknown. We don't really know much about Saint Whyte, though there
are several possibilities according to various legends. She gave her
name to the place where she is buried, Whitchurch Canonicorum in Dorset.
Her modest shrine is the only one, other than that of Saint Edward the
Confessor, to have survived intact. There are several theories on her
identification. She may be a West Saxon of whom no other record
survives. She might be the Welsh Saint Gwen whose relics King Athelstan
gave to this church. A third theory holds that Saint Whyte is actually
the male Bishop Saint Albinus of Buraburg, also known as Saint Witta, a
companion of Saint Boniface, martyred with him and then translated back
to Wessex. William Worcestre and John Gerard both mentioned her relics.
Thomas More referred to the custom of offering cakes or cheese to the
saint on her feast--probably only at this church. In 1900, her leaden
coffin was opened. It was inscribed "Hic requiescunt reliquie sancte
Wite." The badly damaged reliquary held the bones of a small woman who
died about the age of 40, so it appears that the third theory fails
(Farmer).

Additional information: St. Whyte (Gwen) was a Saxon murdered by Danish
pirates, according to Alan Smith's book, Sixty Saxon Saints. The church
where her relics are enshrined was given by King Alfred to his youngest
son. The shrine itself is 13th
century.


St. Wistan, King of England, Martyred at Evesham
(Winston, Wystan, Wigstan)
---------------------------------------------------------
Died June 1, 849. Wistan, prince of Mercia and grandson of King Wiglaf
of Mercia (827-840), is said to have been put to death by King Bertulph
(Bertric or Brifardus) of Mercia, when he was regent of the kingdom
during Wistan's youth. Bertulph was his great-uncle, brother to Wiglaf.
The murder may have been because Wistan opposed the marriage of his
mother Enfleda, daughter of Celwulph, to Bertulph (believing it to be
incestuous) or simply because Wistan would eventually come of age and
reclaim power. Bertulph's son Berfert (or Brithfard), who would be
heir, invited Wiston to meet him at what is now Wistanstow (Wistow in
Leicestershire?). As the saint saluted his cousin with a kiss of peace,
Berfert cut off the upper part of his head with his sword. Then an
attendant stabbed him and three of his companions. Before the end of
the year, Bertulph
was deposed by King Ethelwolph.

Wistan was buried by his mother in Repton Abbey in Derbyshire near his
father Wigmund and grandfather. The site of a peculiarly extravagant
legend: According to Thomas of Marleberge, writing in the 12th century,
annually 'hair' grew from the ground at Wistanstow where the martyr
fell. The phenomenon was verified by a commission sent by Archbishop
Baldwin of Canterbury. In 1019, his relics were translated to the site
of his shrine at in Evesham Abbey at the request of Abbot Alfwaerd, who
later became bishop of London.

Some of Wistan miracles were suspected and verified twice. During the
lifetime of Blessed Lanfranc (f.d. May 24), Walter of Cerisy was abbot
of Evesham. He subjected Wistan's severed head to an ordeal by fire
from which it emerged unscathed.

Wistan had a popular local cultus at Shropshire and Evesham. There are
three ancient church dedications to Saint Wistan, including those at
Wistow and Wigston. (Attwater2, Benedictines, Farmer, Gill, Husenbeth).

In art, Wistan is a Saxon prince leaning on a sword. He is venerated at
Repton (Roeder).


St. Tegla (Thecla) of Denbighshire, Virgin
---------------------------------------------------------
Date unknown. Tegla is the titular patron of the church and holy well at
Llandegla in Denbighshire (Benedictines).


St. Ronan of Kilmaronen, Bishop
--------------------------------------------
(also known as Ruadan, Ruadhan)
Main feastday is 7 February.

Saint Ronan, a Scottish bishop of Kilmaronen, has erroneously been
identified as the Irish monk mentioned by the Venerable Bede as the
defender of the Roman calculation for the date of Easter at the Synod of
Whitby. St. Ronan's Well at Innerleithen, Peeblesshire, was popularised
by one of Sir Walter Scott's novels. According to tradition, Ronan came
into the valley and drove out the devil. This event is remembered
annually at the end of "Saint Ronan's Games" in July when a schoolboy,
given a pastoral staff, is chosen to represent the saint as he "cleeks
the devil" (Farmer).


St. Caprasius (Caprais) of Lerins, Abbot
--------------------------------------------------------
Born in Gaul; died c. 430. Saint Caprasius retired to the island of
Lerins to live as a hermit. He wasn't alone for long. Soon he was joined
by Saint Honoratus and his elder brother Saint Venantius. Together they
travelled to the East to visit the monastic colonies there. Venantius
died in Greece; the other two returned to Lerins, where Saint Honoratus
founded the famous abbey, and on his being appointed bishop of Arles, he
was succeeded by Caprasius as abbot (Benedictines, Encyclopaedia).

Lives kindly supplied by:
For All the Saints:
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/ss-index.htm

These Lives are archived at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints

Celtic and Old English Saints          2 June

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* St. Adalgis of Novara
* St. Oda the Good of Canterbury
* St. Bodfan of Abern
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St. Adalgis of Novara, Priest Hermit
(also known as Adelgis, Algise, Algis)
-------------------------------------------------
Died c. 686. Adalgis, an Irish monk and disciple of Saint Fursey
(f.d.January 16), holds a place in the folklore of northern and eastern
France. He settled with his brothers Saints Gobain (f.d. June 20) and
Etto (f.d. July 10) in the forest of Thierache and became one of the
apostles of Picardy. Venturing forth from their little cell, known as
Cellula, they evangelized in the area around Arras and Laon. The
village of Saint-Algis grew up around the small monastery he founded.

About 970, the Irish Abbot Forannan translated the relics of Saint
Adalgis to the monastery church of Saint Michael in
Thierache.(Benedictines, D'Arcy, Encyclopaedia, Fitzpatrick, Gougaud,
Kenney, O'Hanlon, Montague).


St. Oda the Good, Archbishop of Canterbury
--------------------------------------------------------
Born in East Anglia; died 959. Born of Danish parents in England, Oda
became bishop of Ramsbury (Wessex). He was with King Athelstand when the
king defeated the Danes, Scots, and Northumbrians at the Battle of
Brunanburh in 937. In 942, he became archbishop of Canterbury. He tried
to escape consecration by declaring that, unlike previous archbishops,
he was not
a monk. He only consented to accept the dignity after he had received
the Benedictine habit from the hands of the abbot of Fleury-sur-Loire in
France (reformed by another Saint Odo--of Cluny, who had died in 942).

Oda played an active role in secular as well as ecclesiastical affairs
during the reigns of Kings Edmund and Edgar and paved the way for
monastic restoration under SS. Dunstan, Oswald (Oda's nephew), and
Ethelwold. He is reputed to have performed several miracles (Attwater,
Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopaedia).


St. Bodfan (Bobouan)
------------------------------
7th century. Tradition says that Saint Bodfan, his father, and other
relatives embraced the religious life after Beaumaris Bay was formed by
a huge inundation. He is the patron saint of Abern in Carnarvonshire
(Benedictines).Bodfan (Bobouan)


Sources:
========

Attwater, D. (1983). The Penguin Dictionary of Saints, NY:
Penguin Books.

Benedictine Monks of St. Augustine Abbey, Ramsgate.
(1947). The Book of Saints. NY: Macmillan.

D'Arcy, M. R. (1974). The Saints of Ireland. Saint Paul, Minnesota:
Irish American Cultural Institute. [This is probably the most
useful book to choose to own on the Irish saints. The author
provides a great deal of historical context in which to place the
lives of the saints.]

Encyclopedia of Catholic Saints, June. (1966). Philadelphia:
Chilton Books.

Fitzpatrick, B. (1922). Ireland and the Making of Britain. New
York: Funk and Wagnalls.

Gougaud, Dom L. (1923). Gaelic Pioneers of Christianity,
V. Collins (tr.). Dublin: Gill & Sons.

O'Hanlon, J. (1875). Lives of Irish Saints, 10 vol. Dublin.

Montague, H. P. (1981). The Saints and Martyrs of Ireland.
Guildford: Billing & Sons.

For All the Saints:
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/ss-index.htm

An Alphabetical Index of the Saints of the West
http://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/saintsa.htm

These Lives are archived at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints
╓╓╓╓╓╓╓╓╓╓╓╓╓╓╓╓╓╓╓╓╓╓╓╓╓╓�\
�╓╓╓╓╓╓

Celtic and Old English Saints          3 June

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* St. Kevin of Glendalough
* St. Cronan the Tanner
* St. Glunshallaich
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St. Kevin of Glendalough, Abbot
--------------------------------------------
(Coaimhghin, Coemgen, Keivin)

Born at Fort of the White Fountain in Leinster, Ireland; died c. 618.
Kevin was born of Irish royalty, but that doesn't tell us much because
there were as many kings in Ireland as there were saints in Cornwall. He
was baptized as Kevin or Coemgen, which means the "Fair-begotten" by
Saint Cronan. As a boy he was sent to be educated at a monastery, where
he was fortunate enough to be a pupil of Saint Petroc of Cornwall, who
was then in Ireland. Kevin is best remembered as the abbot-founder of
Glendalough, County Wicklow, one of the most famous abbeys of Ireland.
After his ordination he settled as a hermit in the scenic Valley of the
Two Lakes by the Upper Lake, led there by an angel. This is at a place
now marked by a cave called "Saint Kevin's Bed," which was formerly a
Bronze Age tomb that he reused, and the Teampull na Skelling (the rock
church). After seven years as a solitary living on nettles and herbs, he
was persuaded to founded a monastery at Disert-Coemgen for the many
disciples he attracted. He made a pilgrimage to Rome and brought back
many relics for his foundation.
When the number who gathered around him became too numerous for the
site, the monastery was moved after his death (at age 120) down to the
Lower Lake. Still more churches were added to the east of the site
during the abbacy of Laurence O'Toole. Glendalough has always been a
popular pilgrimage site.

Kevin's extant vita may be based on actual facts although the earliest
was recorded about 400 years after his death. He is said to have fed his
community for some time on salmon supplied by an otter. (Unfortunately,
one of the monks wanted to make a
pair of warm gloves out of the otter's hide; the otter guessed what was
on his mind and was careful never to appear again!) He visited Saint
Ciaran of Clonmacnoise just before his death and Ciaran gave him his
bell. (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopaedia, Farmer, Gill,
Montague, White).

"Wandering by himself though lonely places, the blessed Kevin came one
day upon a glen set in a hollow of the hills and lovely with running
water. For there were two lakes, and clear streams here and there
flowing down from the mountains. And he went up the valley to the head
of the glen where it narrows; there is a lake there, and the mountains
very high above it; it lies at their feet, and they rise from its very
verge. This valley used to be called in the Irish Glen De, but now it is
called Glen da Lough, that is the glen of the two lakes. And Saint Kevin
settled himself beside the lake in a hollow tree and lived in these
strait quarters for some while. Now and then he would go out to gather a
few herbs and eat them, and drink a little water. And so he lived, for
many days.

"Now a herd from a neighbouring farm (the master's name was Bi) would
some days bring his cows to pasture in this valley, where Saint Kevin
lived as a hermit. And God, being minded to show His servant Kevin to
men, made a cow from that herd
come daily to Saint Kevin in his hollow; and it would lick the Saint's
clothes. And towards evening when she would hear the lowing of the herd
returning, sated with green grass and well watered, and the high
shouting of the herdsmen driving their beasts, she would hurry to the
front of the herd, content with her own pasture.

"And every day as the herd made its way from the lap of the mountain
into the valley, that cow would steal away from the rest, and come to
the man of God. And every day she did as on the first day. And that cow
had abundance of milk past belief, from the touch of the garments of the
man of God. And the byremen, marvelling at the rich streams of milk from
her, spoke of it to the master. And he said to the herdsman, 'Do you
know what has come to that cow?' The herd knew nothing of it and his
master said, 'Keep a close eye on her, and see where she gets her good
favour from.'

"So the next day the herdsman left his charge to the youngsters and
himself followed after the cow, wherever she went. And the cow took her
wonted track to the hollow tree, in which Saint Kevin lived. And the
herdsman, finding her licking the Saint's coat, stood agape; and then he
fell to threatening the cow, and miscalling the man of God as a
countryman might.

"And the Saint was ill-pleased, for he feared that the man would betray
his presence there. And then the herdsman drove the beasts home to the
byre. But when they had got tot he farm, the cows and calves fell into
such a frenzy that the mothers did not know their own calves and would
have killed them. The herdsman, terrified, told his master what he had
seen in the valley, and at his bidding, came straight back to Saint
Kevin, and fell on his knees and begged God's Saint to grant him his
forgiveness.

"The Saint adjured him, and he vowed not to betray him; for Saint Kevin
did not know that the story was already told. The man had his pardon,
and was given holy water; and when he sprinkled it on the cows and
calves, they recognised one another with the old love between them, and
were tame again on the spot. But the fame of Saint Kevin was carried
over the whole countryside. And it came to the ears of some of the older
saints, Eogan and Lochan and Enna, that Saint Kevin was in that deserted
valley; and they took him away with them, against his will, to his
monastery. . . ." (Plummer).

In the end Saint Kevin went back to the place where he had been a hermit
in his youth and built a monastery there for those who followed him. He
went off by himself, about a mile away, and built a hut for his
dwelling. He forbade the monks to visit him unless it was urgent. He had
the wild animals for company.

...........Kevin probably discovered this cave when he went to that area
to start a new church. When they reached the village then called Cnoc
Rua ("RedHill"), they found their way blocked by a woods, and they
stopped.
"Why did you stop?" said Kevin.
"There are trees in the way," they said.
"Don't worry," Kevin told them. "Just keep walking."
They walked toward the woods, and the trees fell down in front of them
to make a road. Kevin blessed the wood and promised "hell and a short
life to any one who should burn either green wood or dry from this wood
till doom". That is how the village got its name, Holy Wood ("Sanctum
Nemus" in medieval records), which by the 16th century became Hollywood.
It is also called "Cillнn Chaoibhнn" in Irish, which means "Kevin's
Chapel".

After seven years Kevin built himself an oratory of osiers and still
lived alone. One day the huntsmen of the King of Leinster, Brandubh,
came into the glen with hounds following a boar. The boar sought refuge
in Kevin's oratory, but the hounds did not follow him in. Instead, they
lay on their chests outside, before the gate.

"And there was Kevin praying under a tree, and a crowd of birds perched
on his shoulders and his hands, and flitting about him, singing to the
Saint of God. The huntsman looked; and dumbfounded he took his way back
with his hounds, and for the sake of the holy solitary's blessing, let
the boar go free. He told the marvel that he had seen to the King and to
all of them.
And there were times that the boughs and the leaves of the trees would
sing sweet songs to Saint Kevin, that the melody of heaven might lighten
his sore travail" (Plummer).

"Colman, son of Carbri, chief of the fourth of the men of northern
Leinster, in his youth took to wife a woman of rank, but since their
habits did in no way agree, sent her away, and took another in her
place. Now the woman thus dismissed was wise and dangerous in the magic
arts, and being passionate against her husband, Colman, the chief, she
brought to death all the children of the other by her incantations; for
as soon as she heard that a son or daughter had been born to him, she
would come from wherever she was to stand over the dun where the child
lay, and sing magic songs, until the little creature was dead.

"So, when a little son was born to him in his old age, he was
straightway baptized, lest he should die through her witchcraft
unchristened; and he was called Faolain. And then the chief his father
sent him to Saint Kevin, that he might protect him by the strength of
God from this woman, and bring him up in the ways of the world. And he
offered him to Saint Kevin, promising that he and his seed after him
should be buried by the house of Saint Kevin for ever, and should serve
him, if Faolain should escape alive.

"And so Saint Kevin took the child gladly, and brought him up as a
layman should be, even as his father had said; and he loved him dearly.
But Saint Kevin knew not where to look for new milk to feed the small
babe, because women and cows were far from his monastery; and he prayed
to God to give him some assistance in the matter. And God sent Saint
Kevin a doe from the mountain near by, and on her milk the babe Faolain
was reared. Twice a day until the child was grown, the doe would come to
Saint Kevin's monastery, and there be milked by one of the brethren, and
go back in all gentleness to her pasture.

[Another version tells us that the doe was killed by a she-wolf. When
Kevin saw this, he commanded the wolf to provide the milk and the wolf
obeyed.]

"But there came a day when the brother, milking her out of doors, set
down the vessel with the milk on the ground; and up came a greedy rook
intent upon a drink, and with its beak upset both pail and milk on the
ground. And seeing it, Saint Kevin spoke to the rook.

"'For long enough,' said he, 'shalt thou and thy race do penance for
this crime. For on the day of my departure to heaven, there shall be
much preparing of beef, and ye shall not eat thereof. And if any one of
you make so bold as to touch so much as the blood or the offal of the
cattle that shall be slain during those days, he shall die on the spot.
And everywhere shall be merrymaking, but ye on the heights of these
mountains that stand round us shall be sad, cawing and having the law of
one another for very dismalness.' And this marvel is fulfilled every
year unto this day, even as the Saint foretold" (Plummer).

"After these things the Angel of God came to Saint Kevin saying, 'O
Saint of God, God hath sent me to thee, to bring thee to the place which
the Lord hath appointed thee, to the east of the lesser lake, and there
thou shalt be with thy brethren; for in that place shall thy
resurrection be.'

"Saint Kevin said, 'If it had not displeased my Lord, in this place
where I have borne travail for Christ, I would fain have remained until
my death.'

"Then answered the Angel, 'If thou wilt go with thy monks to this place,
there shall be many of the sons of life in it until the end of the
world, and when thou art gone thy monks shall have a sufficiency of this
world's goods. And many thousands of blessed souls shall rise with thee
from that place, to the kingdom of heaven.'

"Said Saint Kevin, 'Indeed, O holy messenger, it is not possible for
monks to dwell in that valley hemmed in by the mountains, unless God
should aid them by His power.'

"Then answered the Angel, 'Hear these words, O man of God. Fifty men of
thy monks, if thou wilt have it so, shall God fill with heavenly bread,
and naught of earthly sustenance at all, if they remain of one spirit in
Christ after thy death; and to each of them that dies shall another
succeed in the fear and the love of God, in habit and in vow, until the
Day of Judgement.'

"Said Saint Kevin, 'I like it not that there should be so few monks
after me in that place.'

"Then answered the Angel, 'If thou likest it not that there should be so
few in that place, then shall many thousands live there, without stint
or poverty, God supplying their worldly store, for ever. And thou from
thy heavenly seat shalt rule thy family on earth, even as thou wilt, in
Christ. And by God's aid, thou shalt rule thy monks here and hereafter.
For this place shall be holy and revered; the kings and the great ones
of Ireland shall make it glorious to the glory of God because of thee,
in lands, in silver and in gold, in precious stones and silken raiment,
in treasures from over sea, and the delights of kings, and rich shall be
its harvest fields. A great city shall rise there. And the burial place
of thy monks shall be most sacred, and none that lie beneath its soil
shall know the pains of hell. And verily if thou shouldst will that
these four mountains which close this valley in should be levelled into
rich and gentle meadow lands, beyond question thy God will do it for
thee.'

"Said Saint Kevin, 'I have no wish that the creatures of God should be
moved because of me; my God can help that place in some other fashion.
And moreover, all the wild creatures on these mountains are my house
mates, gentle and familiar to me, and they would be said of this that
thou hast said.' And in such discourse the Angel of God and Saint Kevin
made their way
across the waters of the lake" (Plummer).

"At one Lenten season, Saint Kevin, as was his way, fled from the
company of men to a certain solitude, and in a little hut that did but
keep out the sun and the rain, gave himself earnestly to reading and to
prayer, and his leisure to contemplation alone. And as he knelt in his
accustomed fashion, with his had outstretched through the window and
lifted up to heaven, a blackbird settled on it, and busying herself as
in her nest, laid in it an egg. And so moved was the Saint that in all
patience and gentleness
he remained, neither closing nor withdrawing his hand; but until the
young ones were fully hatched he held it out unwearied, shaping it for
the purpose. And for a sign of perpetual remembrance of this thing, all
the images of Saint Kevin throughout Ireland show a blackbird in his
outstretched hand" (Giraldus Cambrensis).

Commemoration (Vespers and Matins)
of Our Venerable Father Kevin,
Abbot of Glendalough,
Wonder-worker of All Ireland
http://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/servkevi.htm


Saint Kevin is one of the patrons of Dublin. His feast is celebrated
throughout Ireland.

Troparion of St Kevin tone 8
Thou wast privileged to live in the age of Saints O Father Kevin/ being
baptized by one saint, taught by another and buried by a third./ Pray to
God that He will raise up saints in our day/ to help, support and guide
us into the way of salvation.

Icons of Saint Kevin:
http://www.allmercifulsavior.com/icons/Icons-Kevin.htm##1


Some articles and photographs of Saint Kevin's Glendalough:--

1) MONASTIC IRELAND: Glendalough Co. Wicklow
http://dublin-jubilee.com/monastic/glenda.html

2) http://ubik.virtual-pc.com/aduffy/monastic/monastic4.html

3) The Church of Saint Kevin at Glandalough
http://www.prismnet.com/~hilarion/church_kevin.html

4) The Round Tower at Glendalough
http://www.rrutledge.com/ireland/wicklow/tower.html

5) A Virtual Tour of Glendalough
http://www.wicklow.ie/tours/glen.html

6) Irish Monastic Sites in photographs
http://homepage.tinet.ie/~frduffy/monastic/monastic.html

7) St Kevin's Kitchen, etc

http://www.vitruvio.ch/arc/medieval/romanesque/ireland/stkevins.htm



For more stories about Saint Kevin you can visit
http://indigo.ie/~legends/kevin.html



St. Cronan the Tanner
------------------------------
Died 617. Saint Cronan was a disciple of Saint Kevin (Benedictines).


St. Glunshallaich
----------------------
7th century. Saint Kevin preached the Gospel and the Holy Spirit led the
heart of the Irish Saint Glunshallaich to conversion. He became penitent
for the balance of his life. He was buried at Glendalough in the same
grave as his evangelist (Benedictines).

Troparion of St Glunshallaich tone 1
O holy Glunshallaich, having been converted by the holy Abbot Kevin/
thou wast his fellow labourer and constant companion,/ not even being
parted from him in the grave,/ with him, intercede to God that our souls
may be saved.

Celtic and Old English Saints          3 June

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
* St. Kevin of Glendalough
* St. Cronan the Tanner
* St. Glunshallaich
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


Glendalough - Monastery and School
________________________________

Glendalough (the Valley of the Two Lakes) is a picturesque and lonely
glen in the heart of the Wicklow Mountains. The fame of its monastic
school is due to its founder, St. Kevin. Kevin (Irish Coemghen, the
fair-begotten) was born near Rathdrum towards the close of the fifth
century, and lived to the age of 120 years. His earliest tutor was St.
Petroc of Cornwall, who had come to Leinster about 492, and devoted
himself with considerable ardour to the study of the Sacred Scriptures,
in which his pupil also became proficient. Kevin next studied under his
uncle, St. Eugenius, afterwards Bishop of Ardstraw, who at that time
lived at Kilnamanagh in Wicklow, where he taught his pupils all the
sacred learning which he had acquired in the famous British monastery of
Rosnat.

Young Kevin was at this time a handsome youth, and had unconsciously won
the affections of a beautiful maiden, who once followed him to the
woods. The young saint perceiving her, threw himself into a bed of
nettles, and then gathering a handful scourged the maiden with the
burning weeds. "The fire without", says the biographer, "extinguished
the fire within", and Kathleen repenting became a saint. There is no
foundation for the story, which Moore has wedded to immortal verse, that
Kevin flung the unhappy Kathleen from his cave, in the face of Ludguff,
into the depths of the lake below. Kevin then retired into the wilds of
the Glendalough valley, where he spent many years in a narrow cave,
living alone with God in the practice of extreme asceticism. In the
course of time, holy men gathered round him, and induced him to build
the monastery, whose ruins still remain lower down in the more open
valley to the east. Here his fame as a saint and scholar attracted
crowds of disciples, so that Glendalough became for the east of Ireland
what the Arran Islands were for the west -- a great school of sacred
learning, and a noviciate in which the young saints and clergy were
trained in virtue and self-denial.

One of the most celebrated of the pupils of St. Kevin at Glendalough was
St. Moling, founder of the well-known monastery called from him St.
Mullins on the left bank of the Barrow in the southwest of the County
Carlow. Like his master Kevin, he was a man of learning and extreme
austerity, living, it is said, for a long time, as Kevin did, in a
hollow tree. He was also an
elegant writer both in Latin and in Irish. Several Irish poems have been
attributed to him, his prophecies were in wide circulation, and the
"Yellow Book of St. Moling" was one of those which Keating had in his
hands, but which has since been unfortunately lost.

The existing ruins at Glendalough still form a very striking scene in
that wildly beautiful mountain valley. Within the area of the original
enclosure are the great church, a cathedral, built probably in the time
of St. Kevin, a fine round tower still 110 feet in height, the building
called St. Kevin's Cro or kitchen, and the Church of the Blessed Virgin,
for whom Kevin, like most of the Irish saints, had a particular
devotion. The building called St. Kevin's kitchen was doubtless the
private oratory and sleeping chamber of the saint, the latter being in
the croft overhead, as in St. Columba's house at Kells.

HEALY, Ireland's Ancient Schools and Scholars;
LANIGAN, History of Ireland (Dublin, 1827);
PETRIE, Round Towers;
O'HANLON, Lives of the Irish Saints

Some articles and photographs of Saint Kevin's Glendalough:--

1) MONASTIC IRELAND: Glendalough Co. Wicklow
http://dublin-jubilee.com/monastic/glenda.html

2) http://ubik.virtual-pc.com/aduffy/monastic/monastic4.html

3) The Church of Saint Kevin at Glandalough
http://www.prismnet.com/~hilarion/church_kevin.html

4) The Round Tower at Glendalough
http://www.rrutledge.com/ireland/wicklow/tower.html

5) A Virtual Tour of Glendalough
http://www.wicklow.ie/tours/glen.html

6) Irish Monastic Sites in photographs
http://homepage.tinet.ie/~frduffy/monastic/monastic.html

For All the Saints:
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/ss-index.htm

These Lives are archived at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints
���������������������������������

Celtic and Old English Saints          4 June

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
* St. Petroc of Cornwall
* St. Croidan, Medan, and Degan
* St. Edfrith of Lindisfarne
* St. Breaca of Cornwall
* St. Buriana of Cornwall
* St. Nennoc of Brittany
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


St. Petroc of Cornwall, Abbot
----------------------------------------
(also known as Petrock, Pedrog, Perreux)

Died at Treravel, Wales, c. 594. Cornwall's most famous saint was the
son of a prince from southern Wales. Petroc studied theology in Ireland.
He settled at Haylesmouth in Cornwall, had an active apostolate, and
founded a monastery at Lanwethinoc (later called Petrocston, now
Padstow). After 30 years there, Petroc made a pilgrimage to Rome and
Jerusalem, at which time he is also reputed to have reached the Indian
Ocean and lived for a time on an island as a hermit. Returning to
Cornwall, he founded another monastery at Little Petherick (Nanceventon)
with a mill and chapel, and a hermitage at Bodmin, where Saint Goran met
him. After meeting the hermit, Petroc travelled south. He built a cell
for himself by the river and a monastery on the hilltop for his twelve
disciples, among which were Saints Croidan, Medan, and Degan. Like
several other hermit saints, Petroc had a special affinity with wild
animals.

Petroc was buried at Padstow, which became the centre of his cultus.
There are 18 churches dedicated to him in Devon, plus others in Cornwall
and south Wales. About 1000, his shrine and relics, including his staff
and bell, were translated to Bodmin. In 1178, his relics were stolen by
a disgruntled priest named Martin and given to Saint-Meen's Abbey near
Rennes, Brittany, but were returned to Bodmin the next year at the
request of its Prior Roger after the intervention of Bishop Bartholomew
of Exeter and King Henry II. A rib was left at Saint-Meen's. During the
reign of Henry VIII, his shrine and tomb were in the church of Bodmin on
the eastern side of the high altar. During the Reformation the fine
Sicilian-Islamic reliquary containing
Petroc's head was hidden. It was rediscovered in the 19th century and
remains in the parish church at Bodmin.

Petroc may also have evangelized in Brittany, where more than 30
churches are dedicated to him under the name Perreux. His is also the
titular saint of a church in the Nivernais. It is possible, however,
that his many disciples carried his cultus across the Channel. The
extant vitae of Saint Petroc are unreliable (Attwater, Benedictines,
Delaney, Farmer, Encyclopaedia, Husenbeth).

In art, Petroc is generally portrayed with a stag--a reminder of one he
sheltered from hunters.

- - -

Another Life of Saint Petroc

There is no Cornish Saint, and there are many, whose life story is of
greater interest to most Westcountry men than that of St. Petroc. He has
given his name, not only to the ancient town of Padstow (Petroc's -
stow) and to Little Petherick near Wadebridge, but also to the whole
Hundred of Pydar, (Petrock's shire). He was the founder of Bodmin, which
for some time was an Abbey-Bishopric, and remained the religious capital
of Cornwall up to the end of the Middle Ages. He is also one of the
chief saints of Devon and in Somerset he is the patron saint of
Timberscombe. It is clear that this pan-Celtic saint, whose cult is very
widely spread both in Wales and in Brittany, was the apostle for the
whole Kingdom of Dumnonia.

During the Reformation and the succeeding centuries all the written
'Lives' of the patron saints of the Cornish parishes were deliberately
destroyed. In Brittany there was no Reformation and numerous 'Lives' of
the Cornish saints, which have disappeared entirely in Cornwall, have
been preserved in Breton manuscripts.

A fourteenth century monk, named John of Tynemouth, made an attempt to
translate part of one of the manuscripts, the 'Vita Petroci'. His
translation was vague and did little to arouse much interest in St.
Petroc. In 1928, however, some further studies were made of the same
manuscript, which revealed many interesting facts about Cornish History,
and in particular, references to comish places and people. Some nine
years after, a discovery of great importance was made which shed further
light on the life and times of St. Petroc. The Ducal Library of Gotha,
in Eastern Germany, was found to contain a volume of forty five 'Lives'
of English and Cornish saints. It is as well to remember however, that
few of the stories recorded in any of these manuscripts were written by
contemporaries of St. Petroc and were, of course, subject to the fears
and superstitions of the Middle Ages.

Very little is known about St. Petroc, the man, his very origin and
descent being in dispute. Some say that he was of Cornish stock while
others prefer to think of him as descended from the royal house of
Wales. The Gotha document described him as being "handsome in
appearance, courteous in speech, prudent, simpleminded, modest, humble,
a cheerful giver, burning with ceaseless charity, always ready for all
the works of religion because while still a youth he had attained by
watchful care the wisdom of riper years". He is reported to have had
twenty four brothers and that after having repelled a foreign invasion,
he declined to accept the right of accession, preferring to retire from
the world. He was succeeded by one of his brothers called Winleus.

Petroc and sixty of his retainers set sail for Ireland where they
visited "as a native rather than as a stranger all the famous seats of
study and religion". Their wanderings and instruction in monastic ways
is described in the "Vita Petroci" as lasting twenty years! Their
studying completed, the whole band agreed to return to Britain and were
delighted to find the original ship, which had brought them to Ireland,
completely seaworthy. "The sails spread, the ship was borne along by the
fear of God with great rapidity, although the winds were adverse". St.
Petroc is recorded as having arrived at the mouth of the river Camel,
near Trebetherick.

Trebetherick is but a stone's throw from Padstow and it was to this
ancient seaport that St. Petroc and his monks came around 600 A.D.
There, St. Petroc and his followers established themselves in the Celtic
Monastery of Lanwethinoc, which was founded by the Bishop Wethinoc. The
monastery became known as Petrocstow, Petroc's Church. It is interesting
to note that the name Lanwethnoc remained long enough to be recorded in
the Domesday Book and referred to the Manor of Padstow.

Padstow was evidently the principal centre of Petroc's activities for
there are many street names and houses with a "taste" of Petroc to be
seen in the town. The monks of Petroc-stow acquired large amounts of
land on both sides of the Camel estuary extending west as far as
Portreath near Redruth, North east as far as Tintagel, and inland to
Lanhydrock and Bodmin. A large part of this ground forms the Hundred of
Pydar or Pydarshire, derived from Petroc-shire.

The bulk of the Gotha manuscript described the numerous pilgrimages and
wanderings of the saint. St. Petroc travelled to Rome and Brittany,
performing many miracles and healing the sick, but it is the founding of
the Priory at Bodmin, which provides us with the focal point.

The hermit St. Guron had discovered how suitable a spot Bodmin was and
he established his "cell" on the site of the present Parish Church. The
hermitage had all the natural advantages of a suitable position. It was
near running water, there was a pool, copious water springs, and the
valley, then, as now, must have been verdant and sheltered. St. Guron
became the founder

Of Bodmin. It is possible to see the Well of St. Guron in the grounds of
the Parish Church. St. Petroc came to this hermitage, from Padstow, with
three of his fellow saints, Credan, Medan and Dechan. St. Guron nobly
resigned his abode and proceeded to the south coast to a spot named
after him, Gorran.

It was not long before St. Guron's hermitage was enlarged into a Priory
of considerable size and importance. St. Petroc became the first Prior
of Bodmin; and later not only the Church at Bodmin and the Church at
Padstow, but a number of other Churches in Cornwall, Devon and Wales
were named after him. Over the two Petrockstows, for Bodmin was at first
also a Petrocstow, as well as Padstow, there have been many confusions.
A Petrocstow was burned by the Danes in 981 A.D., but it is recognised
as being Padstow, for the Danes pillaged and burned usually coastal
places. How long Bodmin was known as Petrocstow is not certain. From old
manuscripts it is evident that the name Bodmin in one or other of its
variants had been in use many years before the Anglo-Saxons, and later
the Normans, visited the place.

St. Petroc died at Padstow and his bones were placed in a "fair shrine"
placed before the high altar in the Church which he founded. His relics
and his handbell (the cimbalum) were used for ecclesiastical purposes
for at least five hundred years after his death, and, moreover, they
were preserved for upwards of another five hundred years, until the
Reformation.

It might be interesting to try to visualise what a Celtic monastery of
the sixth or seventh centuries was like. It was a simple, indeed
primitive, establishment and bore no resemblance to the magnificent
abbeys and priories of the Middle Ages. These Celtic monasteries of the
Dark Ages were usually a little church and a few huts or cells; each
occupied by one brother, protected by a surrounding wall of earth. The
Abbot lived like his subordinate brethren. In time the manuscripts
written by these monks came to be regarded as libraries. These books
were not stored away on shelves but kept in leather cases and hung on
pegs around the walls. The better equipped of these monasteries became
our first schools.

Bodmin seems to have flourished during the Anglo-Saxon period, and in
the year 938 A.D., King Athelstan is recorded as having granted the
lands of "Nywanton" to St. Petroc's monastery. The monastery had won
royal approval by conforming to Romanized-Anglo-Saxon practices. The
Cornish Church with its Celtic clergy must by that time have thoroughly
adopted Roman ways.

The fact that English influence was at work during the ninth, tenth and
eleventh centuries, is revealed in the manumissions of slaves recorded
in the Bodmin Gospels. These Bodmin Gospels, now in the British Museum,
are the only books of a Cornish monastery of the Dark Ages to survive.
Most of the owners of the slaves whose liberation is recorded appear to
have been English, but there are some whose names were Cornish and, not
all the slaves were Cornish, for some were English!

How the slavery and manummission system worked is illustrated in the two
following stories.

A certain Englishman, Aelfric, son of Aelfin, wanted to enslave a
Cornishman named Putrael. The man appealed to Boia, a priest of St.
Petroc, and it was finally agreed that Putrael should escape enslavement
if he gave Aelfric a team of eight oxen at the door of St. Petroc's
church, and paid a fee of sixty pence to the priest for his services as
mediator. The second story is about the same period. A great English
noble, the Ealdorman Aethelweard, apparently held the manor of
Lyscerruyt, from which has grown the town of Liskeard. His wife,
Aethaelflaed, wishing to liberate a slave-woman for the good of her soul
and that of her husband, but not wishing to go to Bodmin to perform the
ceremony in the usual way at St. Petroc's altar, apparently requested
that some of the clergy of Bodmin should travel to Liskeard. They were
to bring with them the saint's bell which was to sanctify the
manummission. Later, however, the Ealdorman Aethelweard himself went to
Bodmin to St. Petroc's monastery to confirm there the grant of freedom
in the presence of the Bishop of Cornwall, the Abbot of Bodmin and the
Clergy.

The relics of St. Petroc were brought to Bodmin Priory by the monks who,
it is thought, chose to move to Bodmin to be free from the perils of the
Danes. The head of the saint was placed in an ivory casket and kept in a
shrine in the church of the Priory. The Priory however suffered much
damage during the Reformation and the casket was hidden in the room over
the South porch of the Parish Church. It remained hidden until the
eighteenth century. The casket can still be seen on display in the
Church.

In 1177, one of the Canons of Bodmin, Martin, who had fallen into
disgrace with the Prior, stole the relics of St. Petroc and carried them
off to the Abbey of St. Meen in Brittany. One can imagine how
horror-struck at this sacrilege the monks and people were. The populace,
incensed at this outrage, demanded the return of the sacred bones. The
Gotha manuscript contains a long account by one, Robert de Tautona, who
accompanied the Prior of Bodmin torecover the relics. The ivory casket
was returned with "due honour, apology and homage". On the return
journey the relics were venerated by Henry II and his Court at
Winchester, and the King gave a silk pall to cover the sacred shrine.
The Bishop of Exeter accompanied the Prior and Canons of Bodmin on the
way to Bodmin which they reached on the 14th September. This date is
still celebrated in the Parish Church at Bodmin.

Disaster struck again in 1994 when thieves broke into the Church and
once again targeted St. Petroc's reliquary. The County of Cornwall was
devastated and prayers were said throughout Cornwall, and in many places
outside the Country, for the safe return of what is considered to be the
very symbol and heritage of Cornwall. Indeed, the Bishop of Truro
referred to it as "representing the spirit of everything Cornish".
Letters appeared in both local and national newspapers expressing anger
and sadness at the theft and a direct appeal was made to Her Majesty
Queen Elizabeth II to help secure its safe return.

To the great delight of everyone, the casket was later "found in a field
in Yorkshire" and was handed to detectives in the Devon and Cornwall
Constabulary. Bodmin Town Council, the rightful owners of the reliquary,
received it back into the Church of St. Petroc and agreed to have it
reinstated in the Church, subject to adequate security arrangements
being made by the Church authorities. All of Cornwall breathed a sigh of
relief and a new zest for life was born throughout Cornwall.

Throughout the history of Bodmin the name of Saint Petroc can be found.
There was a Guild of St. Petroc for skinners and glovers until the end
of the 16th century, unfortunately there is no trace of these industries
today.

The relic-stealer who carried the body off to Brittany in 1177 said it
was that "of the chief of the saints of Cornwall"; Bodmin certainly owes
much to this son of a Welsh King.

Another Life, on the web site of St Petroc's church, Cornwall
http://homepages.tesco.net/~k.wasley/stpetroc.htm


Another Life
http://www.st-petroc-bodmin.co.uk/html/cross.htm


St Petroc's Reliquary
http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/stp19001.htm
http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/stp19001.jpg


St.Petroc is Patron of Saint Petroc's Orthodox Monastery, Tasmania
http://www.rocor.org.au/stpetrocmonastery/index.html


Troparion of St Petroc and his Companions Tone 2
O Petroc, Master Builder of the Faith in the West,/ who didst prefer the
heavenly warfare to thy kingly heritage and military prowess:/ with thy
companions thou didst travel through the West Country establishing
churches/ and didst include the animals in thy loving care./ In thy
monastic zeal thou didst recite the psalms in rivers:/ through thy
prayer may the flow of Christian Faith/ ever increase in our land.


St. Croidan, Medan, and Degan
--------------------------------------------
6th century. Three disciples of Saint Petroc.



St. Edfrith (Eadfrith) of Lindisfarne, Monk & Bishop
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Died 721. Edfrith's life is obscure prior to his becoming bishop in 698.
He studied in Ireland and was well-trained as a scribe, an artist, and a
calligrapher because it seems almost certain that he alone wrote and
illuminated the Lindisfarne Gospels, which can now be seen in the
British Library. His masterpiece was dedicated to Saint Cuthbert and
would have taken at least two years to complete. He welcomed the new
text of the Gospels and the new layout, both of which came to him from
Italy via
Wearmouth-Jarrow. He provided evangelist portraits as a creative artist
in a field of Mediterranean expertise, but he also excelled in insular
majuscule script and Irish geometric and zoomorphic decoration of
extraordinary delicacy and accuracy. The fusion of all these elements in
one work is a tribute to Edfrith's well-rounded education and the
merging of Roman and Irish elements in Northumbria about 35 years after
the Synod of Whitby.

The manuscript would have been enough to ensure Edfrith a place in art
history; nevertheless, he was also a good bishop. Most of his memorable
actions, however, are associated with Saint Cuthbert. The anonymous Life
of Cuthbert was dedicated to Edfrith and he commissioned Saint Bede to
write his prose Life of Cuthbert. He restored Cuthbert's oratory on the
Inner Farne Island for the use of Saint Felgild. He may also have been
the recipient of a letter from Saint Aldhelm.

Edfrith was connected with Cuthbert even in death: He was buried near
his tomb. His relics, together with those of Saints Aidan, Eadbert, and
Ethelwold, were taken with Cuthbert's in their wanderings through
Northumbria from 875 to 995, when they reached Durham. When Cuthbert's
relics were taken to the new cathedral, Edfrith's were translated, too.
Today's feast is that of the translation (Farmer).

See the British Library's web site for the Lindisfarne Gospels:
http://www.bl.uk/diglib/treasures/lindisfarne.html

A Brief Chronology of Hiberno-Saxon or Insular Manuscripts:
http://web.missouri.edu/~ahaanne/Insular.html

The Lindisfarne Gospels and the Book of Kells:
http://www1.minn.net/~wildrivr/eadfrith_studio/history.html


St. Breaca of Cornwall, Virgin
-----------------------------------------
(also known as Breague, Branca, Banka)

5th-6th century. Saint Breaca was a disciple of Saint Patrick and Saint
Brigid. Obviously not too much is known of Breaca: Some consider it a
male name; others female. She is said to have migrated with several
companions from Ireland into Cornwall (c. 460), where she landed at
Reyver on the eastern bank of the river Hayle in the hundredth of
Penrith. There she led a solitary life in great sanctity and was
honoured with a church famous for pilgrimages and miracles. Montague
claims martyrdom for the saint (Benedictines, Husenbeth, Montague).


St. Buriana of Cornwall, Virgin
-----------------------------------------
6th century. Saint Buriana was another Irish woman who migrated to
Cornwall, where Saint Buryan across from the Scilly Island perpetuates
her name. King Athelstan built a college and church there to house her
relics (Benedictines, Husenbeth).


St. Nennoc of the Tribe of St Brychan of Brecknock,
Abbess in Brittany
-------------------------
(also known as Nenooc, Nennoca, Nennocha, Ninnoc, Ninnocha, Gwengustle)

Died c. 467. Saint Nennoc is said to have been a daughter of the
prolific Saint Brychan of Brecknock. After serving God in her native
Britain, she is said to have followed Saint Germanus of Auxerre into
France, where she became abbess of one or more monasteries in Armorica.
Many miracles are ascribed to her in her legend in the monastery of the
Cross of Quimperle in the diocese of Quimper in Brittany (Benedictines,
Farmer, Husenbeth).


Lives kindly supplied by:
For All the Saints:
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/ss-index.htm

These Lives are archived at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints
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Celtic and Old English Saints           5 June

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* St. Tudno of Caernarvon
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St. Tudno of Caernarvon
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6th century. Almost nothing is known about Saint Tudno beyond the Welsh
traditions that refer to him. Llandudno in Carnarvonshire was named for
him (Benedictines).

More information from a list member, Noel at Llandudno:

Greetings, Father Emrys, for the feast of Saint Tudno, from Llandudno in
North Wales. The parish of Llandudno is an island in the ecclesiastical
sense.. Its four churches, ancient St Tudno in a hollow on the northern
slopes of the Great Orme facing the Irish Sea (two miles from the modern
town) and the town churches of St George, Holy Trinity and the church of
Our Saviour, form an enclave of the See of Bangor. Llandudno is
surrounded on the landward side by Saint Asaph's parish of Llanrhos with
its four churches (SS Sennen and Hilary, together with St Paul's Craig y
Don, St David's Penrhynside and All Saints Deganwy). Much of the modern
town was formerly marshland without roads and the medieval Bishops of
Bangor, with their palace on the Great Orme, had to visit by boat

Tudno is said to have been one of the seven sons of King Seithenyn whose
legendary kingdom in Cardigan Bay was submerged by tidal activity. Each
son in reparation for their father's neglect (so it was seen) studied in
St. Dunawd's college at Bangor Iscoed. Later Tudno established the
Church on Cyngreawdr (the great rock - the Great Orme). The Ogof Llech
(a small cave on the headland, difficult of access, but with a clear
spring of water) was his cell. His ancient church has been heavily
restored many times until nothing remains from Tudno's day. The church
does however have a medieval carved wooden emblem high above the chancel
step depicting the five wounds of Christ - such an emblem surviving in
Wales is almost unique, only one other is known and it is in the
neighbouring parish of Llanrhos. [From the Church Guide book by T.F.
Wynne]

Lives kindly supplied by:
For All the Saints:
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/ss-index.htm

These Lives are archived at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints
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Celtic and Old English Saints          6 June

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* St. Jarlath of Tuam
* St. Gudwal of Cornwall
* St. Cocca, Virgin of Kilcock
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St. Jarlath of Tuam, Bishop
---------------------------
Patron of the Archdiocese of Tuam, born in Connaught about 445; died 26
December, (al., 11 Feb.), about 540. Jarlath is regarded as the founder
and principle patron of the Archdiocese of Tuam in Galway, Ireland. He
belonged to the Conmaicne family, perhaps the most important and
powerful family in Galway during that period.

Having studied under St. Benen (Benignus), he founded a monastery at
Cluian Fois (Cloonfush), just outside Tuam, and presided over that
monastery as abbot-bishop. The monastery soon attracted scholars from
all parts of Ireland. The fame of Cluian Fois is sufficiently attested
by two of its pupils, St. Brendan of Ardfert, and St. Colman of Cloyne.

But, great teacher as he was, he went, through humility, to avail
himself of the instruction of St. Enda at Arran about 495. He removed to
Tuam about the second decade of sixth century.

St. Jarlath is included in the second order of Irish saints, and on that
account he must have lived to the year 540. The "Felire" of Aengus tells
us that he was noted for his fasting, watching, and mortification. Three
hundred times by day and three hundred times by night did this saint
bend the knee in prayer, and he was also endowed with the gift of
prophecy.

His feast is kept on 6 June, being the date of the translation of his
relics to a church specially built in his honour, adjoining the
cathedral of Tuam. His remains were encased in a silver shrine, whence
the church--built in the thirteenth century--was called Teampul na
scrÐ Ð…n, that is the church of the shrine.

Another Life...

St. Jarlath, Bishop of Tuam
(c.A.D. 550)

The archdiocese of Tuam in Galway venerates St. Jarlath as its principal
patron and as the founder of its ancient episcopal seat. This saint is
not to be identified with his earlier namesake, one of St. Patrick's
disciples, who became bishop of Armagh, and whose festival is kept on
February 11. St. Jarlath of Tuam ranks with the second class of Irish
saints, viz. those whose activities belong rather to the sixth than to
the fifth century. No traditional "acts" are available for the
reconstruction of the saint's history: only a bare outline of his career
can be derived from allusions to him in glosses of late date--allusions
which are often puzzling and do not always agree. His father is said to
have belonged to the noble Conmaicne family which dominated a large
district in Galway, and his mother, called Mongfinn, or the Lady of the
Fair Tresses, was the daughter of Cirdubhan of the Cenneans. The date
of his birth is quite unknown.

In early youth he was sent to be trained by a holy man, who eventually
ordained him and his cousin Caillin, or perhaps presented them for
ordination. St. Benignus is quoted by some writers as having been that
master, but Benignus died about the year 469, when Jarlath could
scarcely have been old enough for the priesthood. It seems probable
that the writers were confusing him with the other Jarlath, who
succeeded St. Benignus in the see of Armagh. As a priest St. Jarlath is
supposed to
have returned to his native district, where he founded a monastery at
Cluain Fois--the meadow of rest--a short distance from the present town
of Tuam. Over this community he ruled as abbot-bishop, honoured by all
for his piety and learning. In connection with the monastery he opened
a school which attained great renown. Among his pupils were St. Brendan
of Clonfert, and St. Colman son of Lenine, the "royal bard of Munster",
who went to study at Cluain Fois after he had been induced by St Brendan
and St Ita to renounce his worldly career.

St Jarlath appears to have died about the middle of the sixth century.
His feast is kept throughout Ireland.

The whole matter is very uncertain, though Colgan, "Acta Sanctorum
Hiberniae, vol. i, pp. 307-308, professes to give some account of this
saint. There are references to him in Healy, Ireland's Ancient Schools
and Scholars; J. Ryan, Irish Monasticism; and O'Hanlon, LIS. And see
"Acta Sanctorum, November, vol. iv, pp. 147-186.

From "Butler's Lives of the Saints," Complete Edition, Edited, Revised,
and Supplemented by Herbert J. Thurston, S.J. and Donald Attwater,
Christian Classics, a division of Thomas More Publications, Allen, Texas

Images of St Jarleth's church at Tuam
http://art.okstate.edu/vrl/ireland/st%20jarlathdig.htm



St. Gudwal, Abbot and Bishop in Cornwall,
Near Penzance
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St. Gudwall, Gunwall, or Gunvell, was born in Wales about A.D. 500.
Being entirely devoted to religion, he collected eighty-eight monks in a
little island called Plecit, being no more than a rock surrounded by
water. For some reason however, he abandoned this establishment, and
passed by sea into Cornwall; and from thence he went into Devonshire,
where he betook himself to the most holy, perfect, and useful state of a
solitary anchorite; at length however again emerging, he sailed into
Brittany, and there succeeded St. Malo, as bishop of that see, although
he is said even then to have dwelt in a solitary cell, and to have died
there at a very advanced age. His relics have been widely distributed,
and various places in France have been called by his name.

St. Gudwal is known to have been a prominent figure in the Breton Church
during the sixth century, from whence his relics were removed during a
period of Viking activity. They were translated with due ceremony in 959
to the abbey of Mont Blandin, Ghent, where subsequently his feast was
kept on 6 June.



St. Cocca, Virgin of Kilcock, Ireland
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These Lives are archived at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints

Celtic and Old English Saints          7 June

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* St. Colman of Dromore
* St. Meriadoc of Vannes
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St. Colman (Mocholmoc) Bishop of Dromore
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Born at Argyll, c. 516; died c. 610; he has a second feast on October
27. If you are confused by the many saints named Colman, there are 126
Irish saints bearing that illustrious name. Today's saint was the first
abbot of Muckmore, County Antrim, then chosen as the abbot-founder and
bishop of Dromore in County Down. He founded the See of Dromore, of
which he is patron and over which he presided as bishop. He set up a
small 'daub and wattle' church on this site in 510 AD. Probably thatched
with reeds from the River Lagan which flows beside it, this church site
has been, for the 15 centuries since, a location for the worship of
Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of all humanity. Little evidence is available
for the first 700 years of St. Colman's Church nor is there any
indication of either its style or size.

He studied at Noendrum (Mahee Island), under St. Mochae or Coelan, one
of the earliest disciples of St. Patrick. Many interesting stories are
told of his edifying life at Noendrum and the miracles he worked there.
To perfect his knowledge of the Scriptures St. Colman went to the great
school of Emly, c. 470 or 475, and remained there some years. At length
he returned to Mahee Island to see his old master, St. Mochae, and
remained under his guidance for a long period, acting as assistant in
the school. Among his many pupils at Mahee Island, in the first quarter
of the sixth century, was St. Finian of Moville.

Jocelin, in his life of Saint Patrick, tells us that Colman's virtue was
foretold by Patrick. Many miracles are ascribed to the bishop. This
Colman is titular saint of at least one church in Scotland, Inis
Mo-Cholmaig, and one in Wales, Llangolman (Attwater, Benedictines,
Encyclopaedia, Husenbeth, Montague).


St. Meriadoc, Bishop of Vannes
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(also known as Meriadec, Meriasek)
Died c. 688.

"Poverty is a remover of cares and the mother of holiness."
-- Saint Meriadoc.

Meriadoc, though venerated especially in Cornwall and Brittany, was
probably a Welshman who lived in the 5th or 6th century. He came to
Cornwall and founded several churches, one of which at Camborne was once
dedicated to him. He became renowned in these parts and a miracle play
in Cornish still survives, recounting his legendary exploits.

He then crossed over into Brittany, where his memory is still strong. In
the 16th-century church at Plougasnou is a reliquary containing what may
well be part of Meriadoc's skull. At Stival is preserved what is
believed to be his bell. Placed on the heads of the deaf and those
suffering migraine, it is said to heal them. Some documents state that
Meriadoc even became bishop of Vannes at a time when it was one of the
most important cities of Brittany.

Meriadoc had been a rich man. Before becoming a hermit he gave all his
money to poor clerics, distributing his lands to the needy. So great
became his reputation for sanctity that he feared he would become vain
and retired even further from the world. Instead of the silks and purple
that he once wore, Meriadoc new dressed in rags, eating simple food,
living in complete poverty.

When his relatives tried to make him leave his new life and return to
the world, he told the viscount of Rohan who had come with these
relatives that he would be better engaged extirpating the thieves and
robbers of the neighbourhood. The viscount took the saint at his word,
and a great evil was removed from Brittany.

Although Meriadoc was unanimously elected bishop of Vannes, he took the
bishopric reluctantly. After his consecration he continued a life of
abstinence and love for the poor. He died kissing his brethren and
crying, "Into your hands, Lord, I commend my Spirit" (Bentley).

Bell of Saint Meriadoc
http://www.visuf-sourd.com/regions/bretagne/cloche.htm

Troparion of St Meriadoc tone 4
O Meriadoc holy hermit,/ through thy simplicity thou didst draw many
souls to God./ Near the church of the Mother of God in Camborne/ thou
didst cause a healing well to rise./ We glorify God Who has glorified
thee.


Sources:
========

Attwater, D. (1983). The Penguin Dictionary of Saints, NY:
Penguin Books.

Benedictine Monks of St. Augustine Abbey, Ramsgate.
(1947). The Book of Saints. NY: Macmillan.

Bentley, J. (1986). A Calendar of Saints: The Lives of the
Principal Saints of the Christian Year, NY: Facts on File.

Encyclopedia of Catholic Saints, June. (1966). Philadelphia:
Chilton Books.

Husenbeth, Rev. F. C., DD, VG (ed.). (1928). Butler's
Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints.
London: Virtue & Co.

Montague, H. P. (1981). The Saints and Martyrs of Ireland.
Guildford: Billing & Sons.

For All the Saints:
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/ss-index.htm

These Lives are archived at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints
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Hi there.
I wander if anyone has depict of Saint Kevoca, Cocca, Edana, Eluned, Monessa,
Kigwe.
Thanks in advance for reply.

Celtic and Old English Saints          9 June

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* St Columcille of Iona
* St. Baithin of Iona
* St. Cumian of Bobbio
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St Columcille of Iona
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(also known as Columba, Colum, Columbus, Combs, Columkill, Colmcille)

Born in Garton, County Donegal, Ireland, c. 521; died June 9, 597.

"Alone with none but Thee, my God,
I journey on my way;
What need I fear when Thou art near,
Oh King of night and day?
More safe am I within Thy hand
Than if a host did round me stand."
--Attributed to Saint Columba.


"We know for certain that Columba left successors distinguished for
their purity of life, their love of God, and their loyalty to the rules
of the monastic life." --The Venerable Bede.

Ireland has many saints and three great ones: Patrick, Brigid, and
Columba. Columba outshines the others for his pure Irishness. He loved
Ireland with all his might and hated to leave it for Scotland. But he
did leave it and laid the groundwork for the conversion of Britain. He
had a quick temper but was very kind, especially to animals and
children. He was a poet and an artist who did illumination, perhaps some
of those in the Book of Kells itself. His skill as a scribe can be seen
in the Cathach of Columba at the Irish Academy, which is the oldest
surviving example of Irish majuscule writing. It was latter enshrined in
silver and bronze and venerated in churches.

About the time that Patrick was taken to Ireland as a slave, Columba was
born. He came from a race of kings who had ruled in Ireland for six
centuries, directly descended from Niall of the Nine Hostages, and was
himself in close succession to the throne. From an early age he was
destined for the priesthood; he was given in fosterage to a priest.
After studying at Moville under Saint Finnian and then at Clonard with
another Saint Finnian, he surrendered his princely claims, he became a
monk at
Glasnevin under Mobhi and was ordained.

He spent the next 15 years preaching and teaching in Ireland. As was the
custom in those days, he combined study and prayer with manual labour.
By his own natural gifts as well as by the good fortune of his birth, he
soon gained ascendancy as a monk of unusual distinction. By the time he
was 25, he had founded no less than 27 Irish monasteries, including
those at Derry (546), Durrow (c. 556), and probably Kells, as well as
some 40 churches.

Columba was a poet, who had learned Irish history and poetry from a bard
named Gemman. He is believed to have penned the Latin poem Altus
Prosator and two other extant poems. He also loved fine books and
manuscripts. One of the famous books associated with Columbia is the
Psaltair, which was traditionally the Battle Book of the O'Donnells, his
kinsmen, who
carried it into battle. The Psaltair is the basis for one of the most
famous legends of Saint Columba.

It is said that on one occasion, so anxious was Columba to have a copy
of the Psalter that he shut himself up for a whole night in the church
that contained it, transcribing it laboriously by hand. He was
discovered by a monk who watched him through the keyhole and reported it
to his superior, Finnian of Moville. The Scriptures were so scarce in
those days that the abbot claimed the copy, refusing to allow it to
leave the monastery. Columba refused to surrender it, until he was
obliged to do so, under
protest, on the abbot's appeal to the High King Diarmaid, who said: "Le
gach buin a laogh" or "To every cow her own calf," meaning to every book
its copy.

An unfortunate period followed, during which, owing to Columba's
protection of a refugee and his impassioned denunciation of an injustice
by King Diarmaid, war broke out between the clans of Ireland, and
Columba became an exile of his own accord. Filled with remorse on
account of those who had been slain in the battle of Cooldrevne, and
condemned by many of his own
friends, he experienced a profound conversion and an irresistible call
to preach to the heathen. Although there are questions regarding
Columba's real motivation, in 563, at the age of 42, he crossed the
Irish Sea with 12 companions in a coracle and landed on a desert island
now known as Iona (Holy Island) on Whitsun Eve. Here on this desolate
rock, only three miles long and two miles wide, in the grey northern sea
off the southwest corner of Mull, he began his work; and, like
Lindisfarne, Iona became a centre of Christian enterprise. It was the
heart of Celtic Christianity and the most potent factor in the
conversion of the Picts, Scots, and Northern English.

Columba built a monastery consisting of huts with roofs of branches set
upon wooden props. It was a rough and primitive settlement. For over 30
years he slept on the hard ground with no pillow but a stone. But the
work spread and soon the island was too small to contain it. From Iona
numerous other settlements were founded, and Columba himself penetrated
the wildest glens of Scotland and the farthest Hebrides, and established
the Caledonian Church. It is reputed that he anointed King Aidan of
Argyll upon the famous stone of Scone, which is now in Westminster
Abbey. The Pictish King Brude and his people were also converted by
Columba's many miracles, including driving away a water "monster" from
the River Ness with the Sign of the Cross. Columba is said to have built
two churches at Inverness.

Just one year before Columba's migration to Iona, Saint Moluag
established his mission at Lismore on the west coast of Scotland. There
are constant references to a rivalry between the two saints over spheres
of influence, which are probably without foundation. Columba was
primarily interested in Gaelic life in Scotland, while Moluag was drawn
to the conversion of the Picts.

While leading the Irish in Scotland, Columba appears to have retained
some sort of overlordship over his monasteries in Ireland. About 580, he
participated in the assembly of Druim-Cetta in Ulster, where he mediated
about the obligations of the Irish in Scotland to those in Ireland. It
was decided that they should furnish a fleet, but not an army, for the
Irish high-king. During the same assembly, Columba, who was a bard
himself, intervened to effectively swing the nation away from its
declared
intention of suppressing the Bardic Order. Columba persuaded them that
the whole future of Gaelic culture demanded that the scholarship of the
bards be preserved. His prestige was such that his views prevailed and
assured the presence of educated laity in Irish Christian society.

He is personally described as "A man well-formed, with powerful frame;
his skin was white, his face broad and fair and radiant, lit up with
large, gray, luminous eyes. . . ." (Curtayne). Saint Adamnan, his
biographer wrote of him: "He had the face of an angel; he was of an
excellent nature, polished in speech, holy in deed, great in counsel . ..
.. loving unto all." It is clear that Columba's temperament changed
dramatically during his life. In his early years he was intemperate and
probably inclined to violence. He was extremely stern and harsh with his
monks, but towards the end he seems to have softened. Columba had great
qualities and was gay and loveable, but his chief virtue lay in the
conquest of his own passionate nature and in the love and sympathy that
flowed from his eager and radiant spirit.

On June 8, 597, Columba was copying out the psalms once again. At the
verse, "They that love the Lord shall lack no good thing," he stopped,
and said that his cousin, Saint Baithin must do the rest. Columba died
the next day at the foot of the altar. He was first buried at Iona, but
200 years later the Danes destroyed the monastery. His relics were
translated to Dunkeld in 849, where they were visited by pilgrims,
including Anglo-Saxons of the 11th century.

The year Columba died was the same year in which Saint Gregory the Great
sent Saint Augustine of Canterbury to convert England. Perhaps because
the Roman party gained ascendancy at the Synod of Whitby, much of the
credit that belongs to Saint Columba and his followers for the
conversion of Britain has been attributed to Augustine. It should not be
forgotten that both saints played important roles.

Saint Columba left a series of predictions about the future of Ireland.
These were published in 1969 by Peter Blander under the title, The
Prophecies of Saint Malachy and Saint Columbkille (4th ed. 1979, Colin
Smythe, Gerrards Cross Buckshire).

Unsurprisingly, devotion to Columba is especially strong in Derry.
(Anderson, Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Encyclopaedia, Farmer, Gill,
Menzies, Montague, Simpson).

The following legends about Saint Columba are the gentlest things
recorded about the heroic and tempestuous abbot who founded Iona. The
countryside where he was fathered is Gartan in Donegal, at the ingoing
of the mountains and the great lake; a gentle countryside, and more apt
a birthplace for the bird than the saint. The life written about 690 by
Saint Adamnan, himself an Irishman and an abbot of Iona, is a rugged
piece of work: but the deathdays of Saint Columba, and the crowding
torches that discovered him dying in the dark before the high altar at
midnight on June 9, are one of the tidemarks in medieval prose. The work
itself owes much to Adamnan's imagination and more to unreliable
sources, but it is a primarily a narrative of the miracles worked
through Columba.

In the first story Columba bids his brother monk to go in three days to
a far hilltop and wait, "'For when the third hour before sunset is past,
there shall come flying from the northern coasts of Ireland a stranger
guest, a crane, wind tossed and driven far from her course in the high
air; tired out and weary she will fall upon the beach at thy feet and
lie there, her strength nigh gone. Tenderly lift her and carry her to
the steading near by; make her welcome there and cherish her with all
care for three days and nights; and when the three days are ended,
refreshed and loath to tarry longer with us in our exile, she shall take
flight again towards that old sweet land of Ireland whence she came, in
pride of strength once more. And if I commend her so earnestly to thy
charge, it is that in the countryside where thou and I were reared, she
too was nested.'"

The brother obeyed and all happened as Columba had foretold. "And on his
return that evening to the monastery the Saint spoke to him, not as one
questioning but as one speaks of a thing past. 'May God bless thee, my
son,' said he, 'for thy kind tending of this pilgrim guest; that shall
make no long stay in her exile, but when three suns have set shall turn
back to her own land.'" And so it happened (Adamnan; also in Curtayne).

The second story recalls how Columba's heart would be touched when he
saw a sad child. From time to time he would leave Iona to preach to the
Picts of Scotland. "Once he visited a Pictish ruler who was also a
druid, or pagan priest. When he was there he noticed a thin little girl
with a face like a ghost. He asked who she was and was told that she was
just a slave from Ireland. The way it was said seemed to mean: 'Why do
you ask such silly questions? Who cares who she is, as long as she
brushes and scrubs and does what she is told?'

"Columcille was troubled; he could see plainly that the little girl was
miserable. So he asked the druid to give her freedom and he would get
her home to Ireland. The druid refused. Columcille went away with a
picture of an unhappy little girl in his mind.

"Shortly afterward, the important druid became ill; there was nobody
near to tell him what to do to get well so he sent for the Abbot of
Iona, who had a great reputation for curing people. Columcille did not
leave Iona but sent a message back that he would cure the druid if he
let the little girl free.

"The druid was angry and again refused. 'What on earth is he troubling
himself for about that little bit of a good-for-nothing?' grumbled the
druid as he tossed about in bed. But the messenger had hardly left for
Iona with the refusal when the druid got worse; he had much pain and he
thought he would die. So he sent off another message to Columcille:
'Yes, you can have the slave-girl, only come and do something for me. I
am very bad and will die if you don't come soon.'" Columcille, however,
did not trust the priest, so he sent two of his monks to bring the girl
back. When the girl was safe, Columcille set out for the druid's house
and cured him of his sickness (Curtayne).

St Columcille's Fight with the Demons
--------------------------------------
When Padraic had banished and driven away all the evil spirits from
Cruachan Aigle that is today called Cruach Padraic, there went a throng
of them to the place that is now called Senglenn Colmcille in the region
of Conall Gulban to the north. And they were in that place from the time
of Padraic to the time of Colmcille. And they raised a fog about them
there, so that none might see the part of the land that lay beneath the
bog. And of the river that forms a boundary to the north they made a
fiery stream so that none at all might go across it. And who should
touch of that stream little or much, he should die immediately.

And the angels of God revealed this thing to Colmcille. And he went with
many others of the saints to drive away the demons and banish them out
of that place. And they made a stay beside the fiery stream we have
mentioned. And they had not been long here when the Devil hurled a holly
rod out of the fog across the stream. And it killed An Cerc, Colmcille's
servant, with that cast, so that Srath na Circe is the name of that
stream thenceforth.

At that Colmcille was exceedingly angry and he seized that same javelin
and hurled it across the stream. And the land was yielded to him for the
space the javelin went into the fog, for the fog fled before that cast
of Colmcille's.

And that javelin grew in the place where it struck the ground, so that
today it is a fresh holly-tree, and it has not withered from that time
until now, and thus shall it be till Doomsday.

Then Colmcille blessed that stream, and its venom and enchantment
departed from it. And he crossed it. And an angel brought him a round
green stone, and bade him cast it at the demons, and they should flee
before it, and the fog also. And the angel bade him throw his bell Dub
Duaibsech at them in the same way. And Colmcille did as the angel
commanded him so that the whole land was yielded to him from the fog.
And the demons fled before him to a rock out in the great sea opposite
the western headland of that region. And Colmcille cast at them that
stone that the angel had given him, and his bell Dub Duaibsech. And he
bade the demons go into the sea through the rock where they were, and be
in the form of fish forever, and to do no devilry against any
thenceforth. And by reason of the word of Colmcille they must needs do
that. And a man having on his armour might go through the hole they made
in the stone when they went through it into the sea. And lest folk
should eat them, Colmcille left a mark on them passing every other fish,
that they should be blind in one eye and red. And fishers oft take them
today, and they do naught to them when they perceive them, save to cast
them again into the sea.

Then Colmcille required of God to give back to him his bell and stone
from the sea. And lo, he beheld them coming forward him in the likeness
of a glow of fire and they fell to the ground fast by him.

And Colmcille blessed that land whence he had banished the evil spirits.
And he bestowed thereon the right of sanctuary from that time. And he
left the stone a chief treasure to do marvels and miracles. And in the
place where the bell fell, it sank deep into the earth, and it left its
clapper there. And Colmcille said the bell was none the worse without
the clapper. And he charged them, if any man should do dishonour to the
sanctuary, to put the bell in the hole where it had left its clapper, as
a token of a curse upon him, and that man should not live out his year,
and hath oft been proved.

--------
The townland of Stranakirke (named after Colmcille's servant, an Cearc)
still contains a grassy mound that is identified a Cearc's grave.
Immediately opposite, on the western bank of the river, where the legend
says Colmcille threw his javelin, a holly tree still sprouts. The
current whereabouts of the blue stone are untold. The bell *may* be in
the National Museum of Ireland, I can't remember for certain.

_________________________
"Let not the Old Glen be harmed,
The place of the slabs of heaven" ~Colmcille
_________________________


Anther story occurs in May, when Columba set out in a cart to visit the
brethren at their work. He found them busy in the western fields and
said, 'I had a great longing on me this April just now past, in the high
days of the Easter feast, to go to the Lord Christ; and it was granted
me by Him, if I so willed. But I would not have the joy of your feast
turned into mourning, and so I willed to put off the day of my going
from the world a little longer.' The monks were saddened to hear this
and Columba tried to cheer them. He blessed the island and islanders and
returned in his cart to the monastery.

On that Saturday, the venerable old saint and his faithful Diarmid went
to bless a barn and two heaps of grain stored therein. Then with a
gesture of thanksgiving, he spoke, 'Truly, I give my brethren at home
joy that this year, if so be I might have to go somewhere away from you,
you will have what provision will last you the year.'

Diarmid was grieved to hear this again and the saint promised to share
his secret. "'In the Holy Book this day is called the Sabbath, which is,
being interpreted, rest. And truly is this day my Sabbath, for it is the
last day for me of this present toilsome life, when from all weariness
of travail I shall take my rest, and at midnight of this Lord's Day that
draws on, I shall, as the Scripture saith, go the way of my fathers. For
now my Lord Jesus Christ hath deigned to invite me; and to Him, I say,
at this very midnight and at His own desiring, I shall go. For so it was
revealed to me by the Lord Himself.' At this sad hearing his man began
bitterly to weep, and the Saint tried to comfort him as best he might.

"And so the Saint left the barn, and took the road back to the
monastery; and halfway there sat down to rest. Afterwards on that spot
they set a cross, planted upon a millstone, and it is to be seen by the
roadside to this day. And as the Saint sat there, a tired old man taking
his rest awhile, up runs the white horse, his faithful servitor that
used to carry the milk pails, and coming up to the Saint he leaned his
head against his breast and began to mourn, knowing as I believe from
God Himself--for to God every animal is wise in the instinct his Maker
hath given him--that his master was soon to go from him, and that he
would see his face no more. And his tears ran down as a man's might into
the lap of the Saint, and he foamed as he wept.

"Seeing it, Diarmid would have driven the sorrowing creature away, but
the Saint prevented him, saying, 'Let be, let be, suffer this lover of
mine to shed on my breast the tears of his most bitter weeping. Behold,
you that are a man and have a reasonable soul could in no way have known
of my departing if I had not but now told you; yet to this dumb and
irrational beast, his Creator in such fashion as pleased Him has
revealed that his master is to go from him.' And so saying, he blessed
the sad horse that had served him, and it turned again to its way"
(Adamnan; also in Curtayne).

In art, Saint Columba is depicted with a basket of bread and an orb of
the world in a ray of light. He might also be pictured with an old,
white horse (Roeder). He is venerated in Dunkeld and as the Apostle of
Scotland (Roeder).

Troparion of St Colum Cille tone 5
By Thy God-inspired life thou didst embody/ both the mission end the
dispersion of the Church,/ most glorious Father Colum Cille./ Using thy
repentence and voluntary exile,/ Christ our God raised thee up as a
beacon of the True Faith,/ an Apostle to the heathen and an indicator of
the Way of salvation./ Wherefore O holy one, cease not to intercede for
us that our souls may be saved.


Icons of Saint Colmcille
http://www.allmercifulsavior.com/icons/Icons-Columba.htm

http://www.cybercom.net/~htm/images/a-313.jpg
[can be purchased as a print]
http://www.cybercom.net/~htm/mounted-c.htm


The Rule of Saint Colmcille:
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/columba-rule.html


Map in the List files of the Monasteries of Ireland in 650 AD
http://img95.imageshack.us/my.php?image=monasteries650adja2.gif

Useful orientation guide when reading the Lives of the Saints.
St Columcille's Irish monasteries are distinguished by a red dot.


The Saint Columba Site which contains
http://www.usu.edu/~history/norm/columb~1.htm

1) a picture of the Saint's Cathach

2) a picture of the renovated monastery on Iona

3) 19th-century edition: Life of Saint Columba, Founder of Hy.
Written by Adamnan, Ninth Abbot of that Monastery,
ed. William Reeves. Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas, 1874


In Honour of Saint Columba
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-archive/message/1732
An article by Thomas Owen Clancy, lecturer at the University of Glasgow
in the department of Celtic history, and author (with Gilbert Mбrkus) of
"Iona: The Earliest Poetry of a Celtic Monastery" (Edinburgh, 1995).


The Holy Island of Iona
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08090a.htm

Brief Outline of the Abbots of Iona
http://www.cushnieent.force9.co.uk/iona2.html

Another Life of St Columba
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04136a.htm

A nice site on Saint Columba
http://saintspreserved.com/Colum/St_Colum.htm


-oOo-

Prayer of Saint Columba:

Almighty Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
Eternal ever blessed God.
To me unworthy servant, to me allow
That I may keep a door in heaven.
The smallest door, the one that is least used.
But in your house, O Lord,
that I may see your glory, even from afar,
And hear your voice, O God, and know
That I am with You - You, O God.

-oOo-



St. Baithin of Iona, Abbot
-----------------------------------
(also known as Comin, Cominus)

Died c. 598. Saint Baithin, first cousin of Saint Columba, succeeded
Columba as abbot of Iona. He is said to have died on the anniversary of
his cousin's death (Benedictines, Encyclopaedia).


St. Cumian, Abbot of Bobbio
---------------------------------------
(also known as Cummian, Cummin)

Died early 8th century. Saint Cumian was an Irish bishop who in his
wanderings through Italy visited and remained in Bobbio as a monk. By
this time Bobbio was already a Benedictine abbey; Cumian himself was an
ardent advocate of the Roman observances (Benedictines).


Lives kindly supplied by:
For All the Saints:
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/ss-index.htm
Orthodox Ireland Saints
http://www.orthodoxireland.com/saints/
These Lives are archived at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints
*****************************************

Celtic and Old English Saints          9 June

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
* St Columcille of Iona
* St. Baithin of Iona
* St. Cumian of Bobbio
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


Saint Columba of Iona
-------------------------------

An article by Thomas Owen Clancy, lecturer at the University of Glasgow
in the department of Celtic history, and author (with Gilbert Mбrkus) of
"Iona: The Earliest Poetry of a Celtic Monastery" (Edinburgh, 1995).
_____________


Scion of the most powerful family in the north of Ireland, founder of
monasteries, and instigator of missions to the Picts and the English,
Columba is undoubtedly the most important saint associated with Celtic
churches.

Legends about him grew over the centuries, and many of the stories must
be treated with caution. One of the more famous paints him as a sort of
Christian sorcerer's apprentice, naughtily copying his master's precious
psalter by the light of his own hand, and thereby sparking a major
battle!

So too, hundreds of poems, some quite romantic in their descriptions of
nature, others simple devotional verses, were attributed to the saint
long after his death. Nevertheless, through the obscuring mists of his
legends, it is possible to make out an outline of this key figure in the
early Gaelic church. In fact, of all the Celtic saints, he is also the
one about whom we know the most historically.

Fox and dove
Columba was born of royal stock around 521, in northwestern Ireland's
Donegal. Although destined for the church by an early age, his noble
birth gave him insight and influence in the political world.

Legend tells us that his original name was Crimthann ("fox") and that
when he was trained as a priest he changed it to Columb, ("dove"), later
known to all as Colum Cille: "dove of the church." It has become
something of a tradition in modern times to view the saint through the
twin lenses of these names: the astute fox on the make, and the
peacemaking and peaceable dove.

He apparently took part in a battle in 561 between his near and more
distant cousins; this led to his exile and even excommunication for a
time. Yet his biographer and successor, Adomnбn, saw it differently,
glossing over his excommunication, and telling us only that: "In the
second year following the battle of C�Sl Drebene, when he was 41, Columba
sailed away from Ireland to Britain, choosing to be a pilgrim for
Christ."

Despite the skeletons in Columba's closet, his efforts in Scotland
reveal a man who had learned much in his 41 years, enough to establish a
string of monasteries in the Inner Hebridean islands off the west coast
of Scotland. This monastic system anticipated later orders such as the
Cistercians and Carthusians.

Iona, a small island off the larger Hebridean island of Mull, was the
fertile centre of this system. Remote to modern eyes, Iona was at the
hub of early medieval sea lanes that brought pottery and perishable
goods north from France and the Mediterranean. Still, Iona was intended
as a true monastery, a place set apart for Columba and his brethren.

Other island monasteries, such as one on Tiree, housed lay-folk serving
out penances for their sins. Another island housed older, more
experienced monks living as holy anchorites.

Iona, however, trained priests and bishops, and Columba's reputation for
scholarship was great when he died (though we have little of his own
work). From Iona, priests and monks ranged far and wide, founding
churches in Scotland and seeking "deserts in the ocean" (lonely, distant
islands).

Mighty monk
Columba's legends give us a flavour of both the fox and the dove. The
Life of Columba, by Adomnбn, is packed with stories about Columba
conversing with angels, sending an angel to rescue a monk falling from a
roof, and being whipped by an angel to convince him to ordain God's
(rather than his own) choice for king of the Gaelic colony in Scotland.

He is seen rapt in contemplation, seeing "with a mind miraculously
enlarged . . . the entire orbit of the whole earth and the sea and the
sky around it." From these visions, he proclaims prophecies, sends monks
to help distressed people, or prays to refresh his tired monks labouring
in the fields.

Columba holds his own with kings. Though he prays for the military
success of kings whom God has chosen, he argues with angels over their
appointment. He faces down the king of Picts through his power, blasting
him with loud psalms, throwing wide his strong oak doors, and besting
the magic of the king's druids. He even defeats wild animals: a fierce
boar drops dead on the spot, and a strange monster on Loch Ness runs
from his power.

Though Columba's power is often depicted in entertaining form, his
influence was in fact the key to winning over the kings of Gaelic
Scotland, and his legendary powers were famous enough for his monks
later to convince the Picts to convert.

After his death, Columba's political and military power became a key
element in his cult. His relics were taken into battle by minor Irish
chieftains and Scottish kings--one of his relics preceded the victorious
Scottish army at Bannockburn in 1314.

One particular appearance, decades after his death, to the English king
of Northumbria was pivotal in the history of Christianity in Britain.
That king was Oswald, who had been raised in exile in Iona. As Oswald
fought the battle in which he secured his kingship, Columba towered
above the field promising victory, as one modern scholar puts it, like
Batman over Gotham. In 635, Oswald sent for missionaries from Iona to
renew the flagging Christianity of Northumbria with their monastic
sobriety and good works.

Posthumous achievements
Columba was a poet, scholar of wide-learning, monastic founder and
leader, a visionary churchman. At the time of his death on June 9, 597,
he was already celebrated.

Though more monk than missionary, Columba established churches in
Scotland that went on, in time, to evangelize the Picts and the English.
The legacy of the monasteries he founded, which drew constantly on the
inspiration of their patron saint, multiplies many times the influence
of the man himself. Fittingly, at the end of the Life, Adomnбn has his
hero ascend the little hill near the monastery on Iona, and declare;

"This place, however small and mean, will have bestowed on it no small
but great honour by the kings and peoples of Ireland, and also by the
rulers of even barbarous and foreign nations with their subject tribes.
And the saints of other churches too will give it great reverence."

One way Columba's influence was felt after his death was the Law of
Innocents enacted by Adomnбn in 697. This law sought protection for
non-combatants (in the midst of a militarised society) and for women (in
danger from domestic violence, common abuse, and appalling labour
conditions).

Adomnбn's Law imposed strong punishments against offenders. It is a
remarkable landmark in the history of law.

Adomnбn records many tales of Columba as a protector of innocents, and
these tales reinforce the stern message of the Law. In the most famous,
Columba is a young boy, studying in a meadow with his tutor. A young
girl appears, pursued across the plain by a vicious thug, who spears her
at the very feet of the clerics. Appalled, the tutor cries, "How long,
Columba, my holy son, will God the true judge let this crime and our
dishonour go unpunished?" Columba calls down God's wrath on the killer,
who falls dead on the spot.

It is difficult to summarise his accomplishments, but one memorial
composed after his death does it better than most:

"He was learning's pillar in every stronghold,
he was foremost at the book of complex Law.
The northern land shone,
the western people blazed,
he lit up the east with chaste clerics."



------------------------------------------------------------------------


More resources:
Thomas Owen Clancy edited "Iona: The Earliest Poetry of a Celtic
Monastery" with Gilbert Markus.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0748605312/ChristianityTodaA/102-
6521517-3265712

Penguin Classics still publishes Adomnan's "Life of Columba."
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/0140444629/102-6521517-3265712

Links:
The Columba home page, includes The Life of St. Columba by Adomnбn
(English and Latin versions), a bibliography, and more.
http://www.usu.edu/~history/norm/columb~1.htm

Adomnan's Life of Columba is available elsewhere
in English http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/columba-e.html
and Latin http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/columba-l.html

Columba's famous rule is also online.
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/columba-rule.html

Iona Abbey has their own page devoted to the poet, prophet, and sage
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/iona_abbey/

Also Deacon Geoffrey O'Riada's Celtic Orthodox Christianity site
http://www.nireland.com/orthodox/Columba.htm

the Ecole Initiative
http://cedar.evansville.edu/~ecoleweb/glossary/columba.html

and the musical group Iona.
http://w3.ixs.nl/~jove/columba2.htm

There's an official site for Iona (the island)
http://www.mull.zynet.co.uk/

as well as an official Iona Community site.
http://www.iona.org.uk/index.htm

Want to go to Iona? There's plenty of travel guides out there
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/rjwinters/iona.htm

and stories from past visitors.
http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/home/scotland/tales/iona.html

To get you in the mood, here are some beautiful images of Iona today
http://www.whidbey.com/Whidbey_Institute/iona_images.html

and an article on the history of the island.
http://www.knight.org/advent/cathen/08090a.htm

Celtic and Old English Saints           10 June

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
* St. Ithamar of Rochester
* St. Illadan of Rathlihen
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


St. Ithamar (Ythamar), Bishop of Rochester
-----------------------------------------------------------
Born in Kent, England; died c. 656. In 644, Ithamar became the first
Anglo-Saxon bishop in England when he was consecrated by Pope Honorius
to succeed Saint Paulinus in the see of Rochester. The Venerable Bede
relates that "though he was a man of Kent," he equalled his predecessors
in piety and learning. In 655, Ithamar consecrated a South Saxon,
Frithona or Saint Deusdedit, as archbishop of Canterbury. Because he had
a reputation as a miracle-worker, Ithamar is titular patron of several
churches. In approximately the year 1077 Ithamar's relics were enshrined
at Rochester (Benedictines, Encyclopaedia, Farmer, Walsh).


St. Illadan, Bishop of Rathlihen
-----------------------------------------
(also known as Illathan, Iolladhan)
6th century. Bishop of Rathliphthen (now Rathlihen) in Offaly, Ireland
(Benedictines).


Lives kindly supplied by:
For All the Saints:
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/ss-index.htm
These Lives are archived at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints
*****************************************

Celtic and Old English Saints          11 June

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
* St. Blitharius of Seganne
* St. Herebald of Brittany
* St. Tochumra of Kilmore
* St. Tochumra of Tuam
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


St. Blitharius (Blier) of Seganne
-------------------------------------------
Born in Scotland and died in France in the 7th century. Saint Blitharius
migrated to France with Saint Fursey, and settled at Seganne in
Champagne, where he is still held in great veneration (Benedictines).


St. Herebald (Herband) of Brittany
----------------------------------------------
Born in Britain 8th century. Herebald embraced the solitary life in
Brittany, where a church is dedicated to him (Benedictines).


St. Tochumra of Kilmore, Virgin
-------------------------------------------
Date unknown. Tochumra is a virgin venerated in the diocese of Kilmore,
Ireland, and is invoked by women in labour (Benedictines, Husenbeth).


St. Tochumra of Tuam, Virgin
----------------------------------------
Date unknown. This Tochumra was titular saint of Tochumracht parish in
the diocese of Killfenora (Benedictines, Husenbeth).


Lives kindly supplied by:
For All the Saints:
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/ss-index.htm
These Lives are archived at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints
*****************************************

Celtic and Old English Saints          12 June

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
* St. Ternan of Culross
* St. Cunera
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


St. Ternan, Bishop of Culross
----------------------------------------
5th century. Saint Palladius consecrated Ternan as an early missionary
bishop among the Picts of Scotland. He is said to have lived at
Abernathy and is the reputed founder of the abbey of Culross in
Fifeshire (Benedictines, Encyclopaedia, Husenbeth).

St Ternan is commemorated at Banchory-Ternan in the lower Dee valley and
at Arbuthnott, among other places in Scotland. He is also commemorated
in the Irish martyrologies as Torannan where he is said to have been a
sixth-century saint from Scotland. The Martyrology of Donegal states
that he was abbot of Bennchor and of Tulach Foirtceirn in Leinster. It
is also suggested that he was an older contemporary of Colum-Cille (St
Columba).

Another set of sources gives St Ternan as one St Ninian's successors and
third abbot of Candida Cassa (Whithorn). Ternan is said to have followed
the short abbacy of St Caranoc the Great; Ternan himself being succeeded
by Nennio, the little monk. This story must be a serious contender for
the truth since it would explain why Ternan travelled to the north-east
..... in the steps of his master St Ninian. It would, however, suggest a
much earlier date for him, i.e. mid to late fifth-century. What is, of
course possible, is that we are dealing here with two separate people -
one who lived in the fifth century (Tervanus or Ternan) and one who
lived and worked in the sixth century (Torannan or Ternan). However, one
writer (Scott), somewhat less charitably has the following to say about
the Roman fabulists' work in which they tried to gloss over the true
history of St Ternan in order to show a Roman genesis for the
Brito-Pictish Church. He says, "they began their perversions by
bestowing on him (Ternan) the unwarranted and anachronistic title
Archbishop of the Picts." At least one Roman hand, however, held more
closely to the truth. In the Martyrology of Aberdeen, which bears
evidence of a Moray scribe's hand, St Ternan is titled "Archipraesul"
which, in this instance, means president of the chief and parent
community (Candida Casa).

The truth ... ? Well, this is what I would humbly suggest as being
Ternan's true history, as drawn from the original sources. There was but
one Ternan. He was a Pict of the Mearns in Alba who was converted during
St Ninian's Pictish mission, he was educated at Candida Cassa, he was
baptized in early manhood by that disciple of St Ninian whom the Roman
writers confused with Palladius, whose native name is Pawl Hen or Paul
the Aged. Paul was a missionary, a Briton, and worked with St Ninian. He
survived into the early years of the sixth century and thus lived long
enough to meet St David, but he could not see him because he was blind
with old age.

Ternan, having been third abbot of Candida Cassa, founded a banchor
(place of Christian learning) where is today the town of Banchory and,
indeed, there are remains of a celtic foundation to be seen in a number
of carved stones close by the old grave-yard.

It was here that St Ternan is said to have taught his convert, the Pict
St Erchard. If the reader ever wishes to understand how culture in
Pictland suffered from the invasions of the Danes and Vikings, simply
visualise Banchory and other like places in the fifth century with their
schools, their manuscripts, and active missionary teachers, spreading
the Gospel and Christian civilisation; and then think of the state of
these places five hundred years later!

What was thought to be Ternan's skull, and his copy of St Matthew's
Gospel in a case richly adorned with gilt and silver, are said to have
been preserved at Banchory until the 16th Century. So also was his bell
called Ronecht, said by tradition to have been given to him at Rome by
the pope, and to have miraculously followed him to Alba. It was under
the care on an hereditary keeper, as in the case of similar relics
associated with Celtic saints. Its dewar or keeper, in virtue of his
office, had a piece of land known as the Deray Croft of Banquhori-terne.
During the construction of the old Deeside Railway a small square
cast-iron bell was dug up by the workmen, but, sadly it was eventually
lost sight of. This may have been Ternan's Ronecht, so carefully
preserved in medieval times.

An image of Ternan, (dressed in archepiscopal robes no less!), is
preserved in one of the great treasures of Alba - the fifteenth-century
Arbuthnott Missal.

Besides the churches at Banchory-Ternan and Arbuthnott, that at Fordoun
was dedicated to St Ternan and there was also a chapel bearing his name
at Findon in Banchory-Devenick parish. The latter was built upon a rock
and had near it a spring known as St Tarnan's Well. A chapel to St
Ternan once stood in Belhelvie parish, to the north of Aberdeen,
standing close to a piece of land called St Ternan's land. The parish of
Slains in Aberdeenshire had the saint as patron with another St Ternan's
Well lying in the garden of the manse.

"The Pictish Nation, its Prople and its Church", Archibald B. Scott,
T.N. Foulis of London, 1918. To the enthusiast, this must be one of the
soundest sources of information regarding the early church in Pictland
of Alba.

A photograph of St. Ternan's handbell:
http://www.cushnieent.force9.co.uk/ternan.html#bell


Troparion of St Ternan, tone 5:
At Candida Casa/ among the throng of saints/ the flame of faith
enkindled thee, O holy father Ternan./ Thy missionary labours/ among the
Picts have shone with glory/ as did thy monastery of Culross in Fife./
Pray to Christ our God to save our souls.



St. Cunera, Virgin
------------------------
Date unknown. Cunera is particularly venerated in Germany, but is said
to have been of British birth. No trustworthy records of her life
survive (Benedictines).



Lives kindly supplied by:
For All the Saints:
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/ss-index.htm
These Lives are archived at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints
*****************************************

Celtic and Old English Saints          13 June

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
* St. Damhnade of Ireland
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


St. Damhnade, Virgin
------------------------------
Date unknown. Saint Damhnade was an Irish virgin, venerated in Cavan and
Fermanagh. Some have identified her with Saint Dymphna of Gheel,
Belgium. There is, however, no certain knowledge about her
(Benedictines, Husenbeth).


********************************
Suppliers of Icons of Celtic Saints for the church
or the prayer corner at home.
Please see:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints/message/2875
*********************************


Lives kindly supplied by:
For All the Saints:
http://users.erols.com/saintpat/ss/ss-index.htm
These Lives are archived at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints
*****************************************

Celtic and Old English Saints          14 June

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
* St. Brendan the Navigator
* St. Cearan the Devout
* St. Dogmael of Pembroke
* St. Nennus of the Isle of Arran
* St. Psalmodius of Limoges
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


Translation of the Relics of St. Brendan the Navigator,
Abbot and Founder of Clonfert, Ireland, Who Sailed to America
------------------------------------------------------------
See his Life , 16 May, archived at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints/message/2679

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints/message/2681


Troparion of St Brendan tone 4
The Divine Likeness has been perfected in thee, O holy Father Brendan,/
for taking up the Cross thou hast followed Christ,/ and by thy deeds
thou hast taught us to disdain the flesh for it passes away,/ but to
cultivate the soul for it is immortal:/ wherefore, O holy father, thy
spirit rejoices with the Angels.


St. Cearan the Devout, Abbot of Bellach-Duin,
County Meath, Ireland (Ciaran)
-----------------------------------------------------
Died 870. Cearan was an Irish abbot of Bellach-Duin (Castle- Keerant),
County Meath (Benedictines).


St. Dogmael, Hermit of Pembroke, Wales
------------------------------
(also known as Docmael, Dogfael, Dogmeel, Dogwel, Toel)
Early 6th century. A Welsh monk of the house of Cunedda, Dogmael founded
several cells in Pembrokeshire, Brittany, and Anglesey. Under the name
Toel, he is titular saint of a church in Trequier in Brittany, and is
probably identical to Dogmeel who has a considerable cultus in Brittany,
where he is invoked to help children to learn to walk (Benedictines,
Farmer, Husenbeth).


St. Nennus, Abbot of the Isle of Arran, Scotland
-------------------------------------
(also known as Nenus, Nehemias)
7th century. Nennus, born into the O'Birn family, succeeded Saint Enda
as abbot of the monasteries of the Arran and Bute isles in 654
(Benedictines, Encyclopaedia, Husenbeth).


St. Psalmodius, Hermit of Limoges, France, Disciple of Saint Brendan
------------------------------------------------
(also known as Psalmet, Sauman, Saumay)

Died c. 690; second feast on August 6. Psalmodius, of Irish or Scottish
descent, became a disciple of Saint Brendan. About 630, he took
Brendan's advice and migrated to France where he lived as a hermit in
the forest of Grie near Limoges. In France, he placed himself under the
direction of Bishop Saint Leontius of Saintes, who helped him progress
still further in
Christian virtue. His relics are kept in a silver shrine in the
collegiate church of Saint Agapotus in Languedoc (Benedictines,
Husenbeth).


Sources:
========

Benedictine Monks of St. Augustine Abbey, Ramsgate.
(1947). The Book of Saints. NY: Macmillan.

Encyclopedia of Catholic Saints, June. (1966). Philadelphia:
Chilton Books.

Farmer, D. H. (1997). The Oxford Dictionary of Saints.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Husenbeth, Rev. F. C., DD, VG (ed.). (1928). Butler's
Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints.
London: Virtue & Co.

For All the Saints:
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/ss-index.htm

Orthodox Ireland Saints
http://www.orthodoxireland.com/saints/

An Alphabetical Index of the Saints of the West
http://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/saintsa.htm

These Lives are archived at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints
*****************************************

Celtic and Old English Saints          15 June

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
* St. Trillo of Llandrillo
* St. Vauge of Cornwall
* St. Vouga of Lesneven
* St. Edburga of Winchester
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=



St. Trillo, Abbot of Llandrillo, Wales, Companion of Saint Cadfan
(Drillo, Drel) of Wales
-----------------------------------------
6th or 7th century. Trillo, son of a Breton chieftain, migrated to Wales
with Saint Cadfan. He is the patron of two places named Llandrillo in
Denbighshire (now Gwynedd) and Monmouth. At Gwynedd there is an ancient
oratory in the Irish style built over a spring that is used for baptisms
named after him. Another Llandrillo in Merionethshire (now Gwynedd) had
a well where rheumatism was cured. A third church at Lladrygarn in
Anglesey still celebrates his feast today in accordance with early Welsh
calendars (Benedictines, Farmer).


St. Vauge (Vorech)
--------------------------
Died June 15, 585. Vauge, a holy priest of Armagh, Ireland, fled to
Penmarch, Cornwall, when it appeared he was to be consecrated
archbishop. There he built himself a hermitage. But that doesn't mean
that he kept to himself: He often preached to the local people and
instilled the desire for Christian perfection in their breasts. Vauge
appears to be the titular saint of Llanlivery in Cornwall under the name
of Saint Vorech (Husenbeth).


St. Vouga, Bishop of Lesneven
-------------------------------------------
(also known as Vougar, Veho, Feock, Fiech)
6th century. Saint Vouga, an Irish bishop, settled in Brittany, where he
lived as a hermit in a cell near Lesneven (Benedictines).


St. Edburga, Abbess of Winchester, Virgin
-----------------------------------------------------------
Died 960. Saint Edburga was a granddaughter of King Alfred and the
daughter of Edward the Elder. It is reported that, while she was still a
young child, her royal father offered her precious jewels in one hand
and a penitential habit in the other. Edburga chose the latter joyfully.
At that her parents placed her in Saint Mary's Convent, which was
founded by Alfred's widow, Alswide, at Winchester, finished by her own
father, and placed under the direction of Saint Etheldreda. Having
finished her education, Edburga became a nun and later the abbess of the
foundation. After Edburga died of a fever, Bishop Saint Ethelwold placed
her remains in a rich shrine, which Abbess Saint Elfleda covered with
gold and silver. When the Earl Egilwald of Dorsetshire sought relics for
his newly rebuilt foundation of Pershore in Worcestershire after its
pillage by the Danes, the abbess give him part of Edburga's skull, some
of her ribs, and other bones, which were enclosed in a rich case. She
was especially venerated at Pershore in Worcestershire, where these
relics were enshrined and many miracles have taken place, and at Saint
Mary's in Winchester (Attwater, Benedictines, Husenbeth).



Sources:
========

Attwater, D. (1983). The Penguin Dictionary of Saints, NY:
Penguin Books.

Attwater, D. (1958). A Dictionary of Saints. New York:
P. J. Kenedy & Sons. [Attwater 2]

Benedictine Monks of St. Augustine Abbey, Ramsgate.
(1947). The Book of Saints. NY: Macmillan.

Benedictine Monks of St. Augustine Abbey, Ramsgate.
(1966). The Book of Saints. NY: Thomas Y. Crowell.

Farmer, D. H. (1997). The Oxford Dictionary of Saints.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Husenbeth, Rev. F. C., DD, VG (ed.). (1928). Butler's
Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints.
London: Virtue & Co.

For All the Saints:
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/ss-index.htm

An Alphabetical Index of the Saints of the West
http://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/saintsa.htm

These Lives are archived at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints
*****************************************

Celtic and Old English Saints          16 June

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
* St. Cettin of Oran
* St. Colman McRoi
* St. Curig of Wales
* St. Ismael of Wales
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


St. Cettin, Bishop of Oran
-----------------------------------
(also known as Cethach, Cethagh)
5th century. Saint Cettin was consecrated by Saint Patrick as an
auxiliary bishop. Some authorities distinguish Cethagh and Cettin, but
they appear to be the same person. His shrine at Oran was a pilgrimage
centre for 13 centuries (Benedictines, Montague).


St. Colman Mac Roy, Deacon, Abbot and Founder of Reachrain
Near Dublin, Ireland
-----------------------------------
6th century. The deacon Saint Colman was a disciple of Saint Columcille.
He founded and governed the abbey at Reachrain (now called Lambay
Island) in Dublin (Benedictines).

Troparion of St Colman McRoi tone 6
Disciple of Saint Colum Cille,/ thou didst return to his native land and
found a monastery at Dublin./ As thou dost now stand before Christ with
the Angels/ pray, O Colman, that those who hymn thee may obtain His
great mercy.


St. Curig, Bishop of Llanbadarn, Wales
---------------------------------------
6th century. There is a confusion of many saints with similar names to
Curig. Nevertheless, he is believed to have been bishop of Llanbadarn,
Wales, where several churches are dedicated to his honour
(Benedictines).


St. Ismael (Ysfael, Osmail), Bishop of Menevia, Wales
-------------------------------------------------------
6th century. Saint Ismael, according to the Life of Oudoceus (Teilo),
was a disciple of Saint Teilo, who consecrated him "bishop of Menevia"
to succeed Saint David. We are told that he was the son of Prince Budic
of Cornouaille, who was forced into exile in Dyfed. Budic returned to
Brittany, but his sons later returned to Wales where each became the
disciple of another saint. There are several churches in Wales
(Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire) dedicated to his honour
(Benedictines, Farmer).


Lives kindly supplied by:
For All the Saints:
http://users.erols.com/saintpat/ss/ss-index.htm

These Lives are archived at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints
*****************************************

Celtic and Old English Saints          17 June

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
* St. Herve of Brittany
* St. Moling of Wexford
* St. Adulf
* St. Botulph of Boston
* St. Nectan of Hartland
* St. Briavel
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


St. Herve of Britanny
------------------------------------------
See
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints/message/2316


St. Moling of Wexford (of Ferns), Bishop
------------------------------------------
(also known as Molling, Mullins, Myllin, Molignus, Dairchilla) Born in
Wexford; died 697. Saint Moling is said to have been a monk at
Glendalough. Later he was founder and abbot of Aghacainid (Teghmolin,
Saint Mullins) in County Carlow beside the Barrow River on which he is
reputed to have established the ferry service which continues to today.
For a time he lived in a nearby hermitage. Afterwards he succeeded Saint
Aidan as bishop of Ferns, which included the entirety of Leinster.

Moling was a singular benefactor to his country. In 693, he persuaded
King Finacta to release the people of Leinster from the heavy tribute of
oxen which had been imposed by king Tuathal Techmar. He resigned his see
some years before his death. In addition to his eminent sanctity,
manifested by the gifts of prophecy and miracles, this saint is
celebrated in Ireland for the abundant Gaelic poetry he wrote--more than
any other saint except Columba. At his death Moling was interred in his
own monastery of Teghmoling.

The Book of Mulling is a 9th-century Book of the Gospels, which was
probably copied from Moling's autograph as its colophon suggests. It was
described by Gerald of Wales (c. 1200) and survives in a splendid
jewelled shrine in Trinity College library in Dublin. It is especially
noted because of its plan for Moling's monastery; some crosses on the
plan probably indicate places of sanctuary. The cultus of Moling was
early and widespread (Benedictines, Farmer, Husenbeth, Montague).

Below is a sample from the many stories that arose around Moling's pet
fox.

"The blessed bishop Moling used to keep animals both wild and tame about
him, in honour of their Maker, and they would eat out of his hand. And
among these was a fox. Now one day the fox stole a hen that belonged to
the brethren and ate it. The brethren brought their complaint, and the
man of God scolded the fox and accused him of being perfidious above
other animals.

"The fox, however, seeing his master wroth with him, gazed upon him with
solicitude, and made off to a convent of nuns that were under Saint
Moling's care, captured a hen by guile, and bringing her to his lord,
presented her safe and sound. And the Saint, smiling, said to him: 'Thou
hast offered rapine to atone for theft. Take back this hen to her
ladies, and deliver her to them unharmed; and hereafter do thou live
without stealing, like the rest of the animals.' Hearing this, the fox
took the hen between his teeth and deposited her unharmed in her ladies'
cloister. And those who saw so great a marvel wrought in either place,
made merry over it and blessed God.

"Another time another fox stole a book from the brethren, and carried it
off to hide it in one of his earths, intending to come back shortly and
gnaw it there. But on his return to the monastery, he was found stealing
and eating a honeycomb. Whereupon the brethren laid hold on him and
brought him to Saint Moling, and accused him of stealing the book.

"And the holy man bade the brethren to let him go free. And when he was
released, the Saint said to him, 'O wise and crafty one, be off, and
bring me back that book unharmed, and quickly.' At that, off went the
fox, and hastened to bring the book from his cave, and set it down dry
and unharmed before the holy bishop.

"And then he lay upon the ground before the man of God, as if seeking
forgiveness. And the Saint said, 'Get up, you wretch, and fear naught;
but never touch a book again.' And the fox got up rejoicing, and
fulfilled in marvellous wise the Saint's behest; for not only did he
never touch books again, but if any one would show him a book in jest,
he took to flight" (Plummer).


St. Adulf (Adolph, Adulph)
-----------------------------------
Died c. 680. The relics of the noble Saxon, Saint Adulf, together with
those of his brother of Saint Botulph, were translated to Thorney Abbey
by Saint Ethelwold about 972. They have long been venerated there. While
the hagiographer Folcard is probably wrong in identifying this Adulf as
the bishop of Maestricht, famous for his teaching and almsgiving, it
explains the reason today's saint is often honoured as a bishop
(Benedictines, Farmer).


St. Botulph, Abbot of Ikanhoe, Boston, England
-------------------------
(also known as Botulf, Botolph)
Died c. 680; feast of his translation is December 1. Botulph and his
brother, Saint Adulph, were two noble English brothers at the dawn of
Christianity on that island. They were probably born in East Anglia. At
some point they travelled into Belgian Gaul to learn more about
Christian discipline in a monastery because they were then scarce in
England. They progressed in the spiritual life to the point that Adulph
is said to have been raised to the episcopate, though this is
questioned. Botulph is said to have been chaplain to the convent where
two of his king's sisters lived, possibly at Chelles. (Liobsynde, the
first abbess of Wenlock (Salop), was from Chelles and Wenlock was
initially dependent on Ikanhoe.)

Botulph returned to England with the treasure he had found and begged
King Ethelmund of the South Saxons for land on which to set it. The king
gave him the wilderness of Ikanhoe (Icanhoh), formerly thought to be
near Boston (Botulf's stone) in Lincolnshire but now believed to be Iken
in Suffolk. (Others relate that the land was provided by the king of
East Anglia, either Ethelhere, 654, or more likely Ethelwold, 654-64.)
There he built an abbey and taught the assembled brethren the rules of
Christian perfection and the institutes of the holy fathers. He became
one of the foremost missionaries of the 7th century.

Everyone loved Botulph: He was humble, mild, and affable. He always
practised what he preached, finding an upright example far more
important than sermons. Nevertheless, Saint Ceolfrid travelled all the
way from Wearmouth to converse with this man "of remarkable life and
learning" before joining Saint Benedict Biscop at Wearmouth. Botulph
thanked God in good times and in bad, knowing that God works all things
to the good of those who love Him. He lived to a venerable age and was
purified by a long illness before his happy death

Although his monastery was destroyed by the Danes, his relics were
carried to Ely (the head) and Thorney Abbeys. It is said that when
Ethelwold sent his disciple Ulfkitel to collect the relics of Botulph
for Thorney Abbey, he found that he could not move them without also
taking those of Adulph as well. Saint Edward the Confessor gave some of
them to Westminster and others are at Bury Saint Edmunds. More than 70
English churches were dedicated to Saint Botulph, including four
parishes in London. Name other place names also recall his sanctity
including the town of Boston in Lincolnshire and Botulph's bridge, now
Bottle-bride, in Huntingdonshire (Attwater, Benedictines, Farmer,
Husenbeth).

In art, Saint Adulph, bishop, and Saint Botulf, abbot, hold the Abbey of
Ikanhoe, Suffolk, England. The four gates of the City of London are
dedicated to them (Roeder).

A Service to our Righteous Father Botolph of Boston
http://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/serstbot.htm


Icon of St. Botulf
http://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/botolph.htm
http://www.allmercifulsavior.com/icons/Icons-Botulf.htm##1



St. Nectan (Nighton) of Hartland, Martyr
---------------------------------
6th century. The Welsh saint Nectan has always been venerated as a
martyr killed by robbers, although we have no details about his life. He
is the patron of Hartland, Devonshire, which is near the site of his
hermitage. The fullest surviving vita dates only to the 12th century in
the Gotha manuscript.

This work describes Nectan as the oldest of the 24 children of Saint
Brychan of Brecknock. It tells us that Nectan was already a monk when he
and his many relatives sailed from southern Wales to northern
Devonshire. Seeking solitude, he settled in the dense forests. His
family would meet him at his hermitage the last day of each year. After
several years he found an even more remote valley with a spring. There
he helped a swineherd find his pigs; later the owner rewarded Nectan
with a gift of two cows, which were stolen. Nectan found them,
remonstrated with the thieves, and tried to convert them to Christ. They
rewarded his efforts by cutting off his head. After his death, we are
told, he carried his head for half a mile to the spring by his hut.

Nectan's cultus was substantial in the West Country. Bishop Lyfing of
Crediton (1021-1046) provided treasures for the church at Hartland,
including bells, lead for the roof, and a sculpted reliquary. Nectan's
staff was decorated with gold, silver, and jewels. Manors were built
around the church to give it some protection from against Danish
invaders. Hartland has had other illustrious benefactors: King
Harthacnut, Earl Godwin, and Godwin's wife. Canons restored the church,
which was in their care until the Reformation.

Five churches are dedicated to Nectan in Devon and Cornwall and possibly
two Breton placenames may be connected with him. His feast is
commemorated at Launceston, Exeter, Wells, and elsewhere. The date of
his death is thought to be May 18; December 4 is the date of his
translation (Benedictines, Farmer).

-oOo-

Another Life, by Vladimir Moss:

Our holy Father Nectan was born in the fifth century, being the oldest
child of Prince Brychan of Brecon in Wales and his wife Gladys. Before
begetting Nectan, Brychan went off to live the ascetical life in Ireland,
but then repented of abandoning his wife, and on his return begat a large
family of sons and daughters - one for every year that he had unlawfully
forsaken the company of his wife. Several of these sons and daughters later
founded churches on the North Devon and Cornwall coasts.

Inspired by St. Athanasius' Life of the great Egyptian hermit, St. Anthony,
Nectan decided to abandon his father's house and lead an ascetical life in
a foreign land. So, going down to the sea-coast, he entered a boat and
committed himself to the Providence of God. Eventually the boat landed on
the North Devon coast near Hartland. Nectan soon found a convenient site
for his hermitage, in a wooded, north-sloping valley next to a waterfall,
which is now called St. Nectan's Kieve, near Tintagel. There he constructed
a hut out of the branches and bark of trees, and set about living a
hermit's life, eating only herbs and acorns and such-like things. Soon news
of the holy hermit spread, and his brothers and sisters set out to look for
him. Having found him, they spread out along the coast, and each built for
him or herself a cell in which to live the heremitical life.

But every year they all assembled in St. Nectan's cell on the eve of the
Feast of the Circumcision of Christ (January 1). There they conferred
together on spiritual subjects and strengthened each other in their zeal
for the Heavenly Kingdom. And afterwards they each returned to his cell
mutually edified and rejoicing greatly. Now there lived not far from the
saint's hut a pious man named Huddon. He was a swine-herd, and one day as
he was wandering in the woods looking for his lord's breeding sow with her
young, he came upon the hut. Astonished at the sight of the saint, he was
at first afraid to approach him. But then, plucking up courage, he went up
and spoke to him. He asked him whether he knew anything about the sow and
her young. Nectan told him where they were, and the swineherd took the
animals and returned them to his master, telling him everything that he had
seen and heard. When his master heard the story, he was filled with
compassion for the saint in his poverty, and went and
offered him two good milk-cows. St. Nectan accepted the offering
gratefully, allowing himself to depart a little from his voluntary poverty
so as not to offend the giver.

One day, as the cows were wandering through the woods, seeking richer
pastures, two robbers came upon them and stole them. Then the saint set out
in search of them, and came upon the robbers at a place called Newton. He
began speaking to them about the Faith of Christ, but was cut short when
they attacked and beheaded him. But then a great miracle took place. For,
taking his head up in his hands,the saint carried it for about half a mile
to his hermitage and laid it all blood-stained on a stone. The traces of
the blood shed by the martyr can still be seen on the stones of the stream
in the little valley leading to his hermitage, which is called St. Nectan's
glen.

Meanwhile, the robber who had beheaded him went completely mad, and after
tearing his flesh with his nails and biting off his tongue with his teeth,
he perished miserably. And the other robber, his accomplice, immediately
went almost totally blind. But then, feeling his sight failing, and
witnessing the terrible retribution meted out to his companion, he came to
repentance. And following as best he could after the martyr as he held his
head in his hands, and gathering up the blood from the holy body as it fell
to the ground, he felt the progression of his blindness arrested.
Glorifying God, he took the body and reverently buried it in the hut near
the waterfall.

There is a tradition that shortly before his death St. Nectan threw his
chapel-bell into the waterfall and prophesied that later, when the true
faith will have returned to the land, a boy would find it. Much later,
sometime in the nineteenth century, some people were drilling through the
rock of the waterfall, hoping to find a hidden treasure with the bell. But
then they heard a bell tolling and a voice which told them to go no
further, because the boy who would find the bell had not yet been born...

In about the year 937, a young peasant from Hartland was called up to serve
in the army of the pious King Athelstan against an invasion from the north
led by Olaf, the Viking king of Dublin, and Constantine, king of the Scots.
In the night before the battle which has gone down in history as the Battle
of Brunanburgh (which was probably in what is now the Wirral), the young
man was lying in his lord's tent, near the king's pavilion, when he
suddenly felt himself seized by the bubonic plague, which at that time was
sweeping through the English army. Terrified, he began to weep and groan
and call upon God and St. Nectan. So loud were his cries that he disturbed
the king and the others who were sleeping in the adjoining tents so that
they could not sleep. After midnight St. Nectan appeared to the young man
and gently touched the part of his body that was affected. The sick man was
immediately cured. In the morning an inquiry was made who had disturbed the
king's rest, and the young man was discovered and brought before the king.
When the king saw how frightened he was, he told him not to be afraid but to
tell him why he had been shouting so loudly.

Then he said: "I felt that this pestilence which is raging among the
people had affected me, and I was possessed by uncontrollable grief,
thinking that I would die unexpectedly on an expedition in a foreign land.
And I began sorrowfully to call upon God, and to invoke again and again,
among other saints, St. Nectan. And I was heard; for he came to me when I
invoked him, touched the part affected by the disease, and drove the whole
illness away from me."

The king asked him to recount the life of the martyr. The peasant told the
story, and then, plucking up courage, said:
"Begging your pardon, my lord king, I want to say that I trust in our Lord
Jesus Christ and in the help of His martyr, which I have often experienced.
And if you devoutly invoke him and commit yourself to his patronage, by his
prayers you will obtain victory over the enemy and drive away the
pestilence which is destroying the people."

The king accepted the wise advice of the young man, and promised that he
would give the honour to the Lord and St. Nectan if he won the victory and
returned safely with his men. God hearkened to the king's faith, gave him a
great victory over his enemies, and removed the deadly plague which had
been threatening his army. And so, when he first came to Devon, and was
informed by his bailiffs that his manor at Hartland was reckoned to contain
twenty hides, he gave two hides to the church of the blessed martyr Nectan,
and as long as he lived had a special trust in his intercession.

During the period of the Danish monarchy, in the early eleventh century,
God decreed that the relics of the holy martyr should be revealed. The
revelation was made to Brictric, the devout priest of St. Nectan's church,
in the following way. One night, while the priest was sleeping, there
appeared to him an angelic man surrounded on every side with glorious
light, who said to him:

"When it dawns tomorrow, take with you some religious and worthy men and
enter the basilica of the blessed martyr Nectan, and in the part which
faces north you will find the body of the holy martyr buried. Lift it out
of the ground and put it in a more conspicuous position, so that it can
given the highest honour and due reverence by posterity."

The priest awoke and, being a simple soul, waited a little in order that he
might prove whether that voice had come from God... And on the following
night the angelic man again appeared to him in his dreams, shining with
heavenly light, and warned him to fulfil the command which had been given
him.

Then Brictric asked and obtained from the Lord that the heavenly vision
should appear to him a third time. And so on the third night, as he rested
in bed, the heavenly messenger appeared to him again, and first reproved
him for not having obeyed. Then he showed him by a sign clearer than that
given before where the sepulchre of the holy martyr was. Brictric joyfully
went to his local bishop, Livyng of Crediton (1021-1046), and told him the
whole story of his vision. But the bishop, despising the poverty of the
priest, did not pay any attention. However, Brictric was not to be put off.
With unquenched zeal he returned to his church, and summoned all the older
persons of both sexes who lived in the parish to come together at that
church. And so when a considerable multitude both of clergy and people had
assembled, he told them the whole story and ordered that a solemn three
days' fast be observed, in order that God might make his purpose plain to
all.

At length, the three days' fast completed, Brictric together with the other
priests and a devout multitude of either sex took candles in their hands
and went with the banner of the Cross at their head towards the place
indicated in the vision. On arrival, the whole congregation prostrated
itself in prayer. Then they arose, cleared the dust away from the pavement
and the priests began digging while the rest of the clergy led the people
in prayer.

For a long time they laboured without result, and all the priests except
Brictric went away to rest a little, as if doubting whether their labour
would be rewarded. But Brictric, who was taking the leading part in the
work, did not leave, but, inspired by most fervent love, zeal and devotion,
began digging still more eagerly. Finally, the holy treasure was opened to
him that knocked. For by the will of God he found a stone sculpture with
figures inscribed on it, which was later placed on the altar built in
honour of the martyr near his grave. Then, having taken away the stone
which blocked the indenture, he smelled such a sweet fragrance arising from
the sepulchre that one would have thought that all the spices and perfumes
in the world were contained within it. At the same time a brilliant light
suddenly shone down on them from heaven, dazzling the eyes of all who were
present. Then, to the accompaniment of hymns and spiritual songs, they
approached the sarcophagus, lifted the holy body from the earth, and placed
the holy relics upon the altar consecrated in the name of the martyr. This
uncovering of the relics of the holy martyr took place on December 4.

Now when Bishop Livyng heard the news, he repented of his unbelief and
donated two bells and an immense amount of lead sufficient to roof the
whole church, together with a most beautifully worked door. In the
sarcophagus, close to the martyr's body, they found his staff, which the
people decorated in gold and silver and precious stones, and a bone seal
depicting the bust of the martyr and with the letters SIGILLUM NECTANI
inscribed upon it.

At the moment of the uncovering of the relics, a blind woman who was
nearby, hearing the chanting of the psalms, ran up and asked that she might
be led to the holy body. As soon as she put her eyes to the relics of the
martyr, she recovered her sight and thanked God. Many other miracles were
wrought at that time in the presence of the holy relics.

After the death of King Canute in 1035, his son Hardacanute succeeded him
on the throne of England. For services rendered in battle, Hardacanute gave
the royal manor at Hartland to Earl Godwin. (Godwin was the father of the
last English Orthodox king, Harold II, who died at Hastings in 1066, and
grandfather of Gytha, the wife of Great-Prince Vladimir Monomakh of Kiev.)
However, Hardacanute's courtiers whispered against Godwin, accusing him of
fraud and treason. And so the king decided to destroy Godwin by a cunning
stratagem. He gave him some a sealed letter and asked him to take them to
Swein, sub-king of Galway. Now while Godwin was on his way to Swein, in
the middle of the Irish sea, a great tempest arose. The passengers called
upon God and His saints, and each implored the help of his special patron.
But as soon as Godwin called on the name of St. Nectan, the sea became
calm. Then the earl vowed to pay special honour to the martyr in future.
Meanwhile, Godwin's servant, a very prudent man, approached him and said:

"I have long been silently thinking my lord, that perhaps we are bearing
Uriah's letters with us on this journey." The earl replied that he could
not imagine such a thing of the king. But his servant replied:
"With your permission, I will examine the letters in such a way as neither
to break the king's seal nor to smudge the writing."

The earl agreed. The letter read as follows:
"King Hardacanute to his relative Swein, greeting. When you have received
this letter, take its bearer, Earl Godwin, who has been guilty of devising
treachery against me, and secretly put him to death."

At the request of the earl, the servant wrote another letter with the
king's seal:
"King Hardacanute to his relative Swein, greeting. I command and entreat
you to give the bearer of these presents, my great friend Earl Godwin, the
fairest and best of my nieces as a wife."

And so, when Godwin landed, he went to the sub-king, gave him the letter,
and within a month married Gytha, and brought her back to England with him.
The king was greatly astonished at this outcome, but he went to meet him and
greeted him with the kiss of peace. He bestowed many presents upon his niece
and treated the earl with the greatest respect as long as he lived.

Godwin gave the church of St. Nectan, among other gifts, a mark of gold,
with which the martyr's staff was gilded. And his wife, Countess Gytha,
greatly honoured the church, giving it silk palls. She introduced the
clerics Ailman and Lemann and gave them the manor at Hartaton as a place to
keep the valuables of the church safe from the ravages of the Irish
pirates.

During the Second World War the Monophysite Emperor Haile Selassie, who was
in exile in England, made the long journey to Hartland in order to pray to
St. Nectan.

Several local traditions concerning the saint have been preserved to the
present day. One of these records that the saint once asked God that if
anyone used the name of God in vain in his region, he would be punished in
the following way. He would bite on his tongue, the tongue would swell up
and nearly choke him, and the swelling would not go down for twelve hours.
This gift was granted to him, and there is one recent instance of its
exercise.

In 1972, Mrs. Olga Mount was staying at her cottage near Hartland with her
eldest son and some of his student friends. She told them the story of St.
Nectan, and the gift he had received from God to punish those who used the
name of God in vain. The next day the students went sightseeing to St.
Nectan's church and holy well, coming back in the evening. The next
morning, they were all having breakfast with the exception of one student.
Suddenly this student appeared at the top of the stairs, and gestured to the
others that he could not speak because his tongue was swollen. The other
students laughed, because, as they explained, this student had the previous
day mocked St. Nectan's well and used the name of God in vain. The student
then motioned for a piece of paper and wrote down how he had bitten on his
tongue during the night. It had swollen quickly, waking him up and nearly
choking him. He came out in cold sweat and was thinking of waking up one of
the others in his panic when he remembered his idle words of the previous
day. Struck with fear, he sat up in bed and meekly asked God to forgive
him. The swelling at once ceased to grow, and he sat for the rest of the
night waiting for it to go down. The students laughed, but one remarked
that he had been very careful with his language the previous day and had
been surprised at the other student's carelessness. After several hours the
swelling went down and the suffering student was able to eat his lunch.

St. Nectan is commemorated on June 17. His translation took place on
December 4.

Holy Monk-Martyr Nectan, pray to God for us!
(Sources: 12th century Gotha manuscript translated by G.H. Doble, The
Saints of Cornwall, Truro: Holywell Press, part 5, pp. 59-79; R. Pearse
Chope, Presidential Address, Devonshire Association Transactions, vol. 58,
1926, p. 52; Robert Hunt, Popular Romances of the West of England, London:
Chatto & Windus, 1930, pp. 280-82; Mrs. Olga Mount)


Troparion of St Nectan tone 4
O holy Father Nectan thou didst follow the bidding of the Lord/ and
didst leave thy father and mother for His sake to embrace the hermit's
life./ Faithful follower of Christ unto death pray that He may save our
souls.

Icons of St. Nectan
http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?FSM=6&FSD=17


St. Briavel (Brevile), Hermit in Gloucestershire
-------------------------------------
Date unknown. Nothing is known of Saint Briavel's life, which was not
recorded until 1130, but he is the titular patron of a parish in the
Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire. He seems to have been a Celtic saint,
whose name, according to Ekwall, dates from the Old Celtic Brigomagls
(Benedictines, Farmer).


Translation of the Relics of Columcille (Columba),
Abbot of Iona, Apostle to Scotland
-----------------------------------------------------


Lives kindly supplied by:
For All the Saints:
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/ss-index.htm

An Alphabetical Index of the Saints of the West
http://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/saintsa.htm

These Lives are archived at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints
*****************************************

Celtic and Old English Saints          18 May

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
* St. Conval of Strathclyde
* St. Feredarius of Iona
* St. Elgiva of Shaftesbury
* St. Merililaun
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


St. Conval of Strathclyde
---------------------------------------------------------
6th century. Despite the efforts of Protestant reformers to eradicate
the memory of Conval, archdeacon to Saint Kentigern (f.d.January 14),
there is a church still in Glasgow dedicated to his memory. He was
active throughout the region of Strathclyde, south of Glasgow,
especially in Renfrewshire (Montague).


St. Feredarius of Iona, Abbot
---------------------------------------------------------
Born in Ireland; died after 863. Saint Feredarius was chosen abbot of
Iona in 863. During his abbacy the relics of Saint Columba (f.d. June
9) were removed to Ireland for fear of the invading Danes
(Benedictines).


St. Elgiva of Shaftesbury, Queen & Widow
(Aelgifu, Algyva, Aelgytha)
---------------------------------------------------------
Died 971. As the mother of Kings Edwy and Saint Edgar the Peaceful
(f.d. July 8) and wife of King Edmund of Wessex (921-46), Saint Elgiva
was "the adviser and ennobler of the whole kingdom." On the death of
her husband, Elgiva retired to the convent of Shaftesbury, where she
ended her days and which is the centre of her cultus. William of
Malmesbury praised her for her generosity, wise counsel, and the gift of
prophecy. He also wrote about the miracles wrought at her intercession
(Benedictines, Farmer, Gill).


St. Merililaun (Merolilaun, Merolitain) Martyr
---------------------------------------------------------
8th century. Merililaun was a British/Scottish pilgrim who met his death
violently near Rheims on the shore of the river Aisne while he was on
pilgrimage to Rome. His relics were secretly buried, and later discovered
through a heavenly revelation. His relics were in the Saint-Symphorian
church in Rheims. (Petits Bollandiste", 7th edition, Bar-le-Duc,1876)


Sources:
========

Benedictine Monks of Saint Augustine Abbey, Ramsgate.
(1947). The Book of Saints. NY: Macmillan.

Farmer, D. H. (1997). The Oxford Dictionary of Saints.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Gill, F. C. (1958). The Glorious Company: Lives of Great
Christians for Daily Devotion, vol. I. London:
Epworth Press.

Montague, H. P. (1981). The Saints and Martyrs of Ireland.
Guildford: Billing & Sons

For All the Saints:
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/ss-index.htm

An Alphabetical Index of the Saints of the West
http://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/saintsa.htm

These Lives are archived at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints
���������������������������������

Celtic and Old English Saints          18 June

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
* St. Theneva of Glasgow
* St. Edburga and St. Edith of Aylesbury
* St. Goneri of Brittany
* St. Minnborinus of Cologne
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


St. Theneva of Glasgow, Mother of St. Kentigern Mungo
--------------------------------------------
(also known as Dwynwen, Thaney, Thenaw, Thenog, Thenova)
7th century. Saint Theneva was a British princess. When it was
discovered that she had conceived out of wedlock, she was thrown from a
cliff. Unharmed at the bottom, she was then set adrift in a boat on the
Firth of Forth. It was expected that she would die at sea, but God
protected her and kept her alive. She landed at Culross, where she was
sheltered by Saint Serf and gave birth to Saint Kentigern, named Mungo
("darling") by his foster-father, Serf. She gave her name to Saint
Enoch's Square and Railway Station in Glasgow, Scotland, where she is
co- patron together with her son (Benedictines, Delaney).



Sts. Edburga and Edith of Aylesbury, Virgins
------------------------------------------------------------
(also known as Edburga and Edith of Bicester)
Died c. 650. The sisters Edburga and Edith were Anglo-Saxon princesses,
supposedly of King Penda of Mercia, who became nuns at Aylesbury
(Benedictines).


St. Goneri of Brittany
----------------------------
6th century. Saint Goneri was exiled from Britain to Brittany, where he
was a hermit near Treguier (Benedictines).


St. Minnborinus of Cologne, Abbot
-----------------------------------------------
Died 986. Saint Minborinus led a group of Irish missionaries to Cologne,
Germany, where the archbishop installed them in Saint Martin's Abbey
with Minborinus as abbot, where he governed from 974 to 986. Because the
monastery was declared an Irish Abbey, many churches in the area were
dedicated to Irish saints, including five churches and seven chapels
under the patronage of Saint Brigid (Benedictines, Montague).


********************************
Suppliers of Icons of Celtic Saints for the church
or the prayer corner at home.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints/message/2875
*********************************

Lives kindly supplied by:
For All the Saints:
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/ss-index.htm

An Alphabetical Index of the Saints of the West
http://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/saintsa.htm

These Lives are archived at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints
*****************************************

Celtic and Old English Saints          20 June

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
* St. Fillan of Munster
* St. Edburga of Caistor
* St. Goban
* St. Govan of Wales
* St. Edward of England
* St. Oswald of Northumbria
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


St. Fillan of Munster, Missionary to Loch Earn, Scotland
(Foelan, Foellan, Foilan, Foillan, Fulan)
---------------------
Early 8th century; in Ireland his feast is celebrated on January 9. (And
in some places January 19.)

The Irish Fillan, son of Feriach, grandson of King Ceallach of Leinster,
received the monastic habit in the abbey of Saint Fintan Munnu. Then he
accompanied his mother, Saint Kentigerna, and his uncle, Saint Comgan,
to Scotland, where he became a missionary monk. He was perhaps a monk at
Taghmon in Wexford and a hermit at Pittenweem, Fife, before being chosen
as abbot of the nearby monastery, which he governed for some years. He
retired to Glendochart in Perthshire, where he lived a solitary life and
built a church. There he died and was buried at the place now called
Strathfillan in his honour. Until the early 19th century, the mentally
ill were dipped into the pool here and then left all night, restrained,
in a corner of Fillan's ruined chapel. If they were found loose the next
morning, they were considered cured.

Further north, in Ross-shire, there are dedications to his memory and
that of his uncle (Kilkoan and Killellan). Both Irish and Scottish
martyrologies recorded his sanctity, and the Aberdeen Breviary relates
some extraordinary miracles performed by him.

History also records that Robert the Bruce put his hopes of victory at
Bannockburn into the hands of Saint Fillan. It is reported that he
brought an arm relic of the saint into battle having passed most of the
night praying for his intercession. Not surprisingly, the Scottish
victory at Bannockburn revived and perpetuated his cultus, and his feast
is still kept in the diocese of Dunkeld (Attwater2, Benedictines,
Coulson, Farmer, Gill,
Montague).

The bell and staff of Saint Fillan still exist.
The outer covering of his staff (crosier) can be seen at
http://www.cushnieent.force9.co.uk/photogallery1.html


St. Edburga, Virgin of Caistor in Northamptonshire
-----------------------------------------
(also known as Idaberga, Edburge, Eadburh)

Died late 7th century. It is odd that a pagan, King Penda of Mercia,
should have born so much fruit for the Kingdom of God. He was a staunch
opponent of Christ, yet four of his daughters, including Edburga, rank
among those in the heavenly court. Her sisters by blood and faith were
Saints Kyneburga (wife of King Alfred of Northumberland), and Kyneswide
and Chinesdre, who consecrated their virginity to God when they entered
the convent of Dormundcastor or Caistor in Northamptonshire. Edburga
also seems to have made her vows and was buried there.

When her brother Wulhere finished Peterborough, her relics with those of
her three sisters were translated to the new foundation. About 1040, the
monk Balger carried all their relics and some of those of Saint Oswald
to Berg Saint Winnoc in
Flanders, probably by the authority of King Hardecanute of England, son
of Emma, who had lived in Flanders in his youth. The relics of Saints
Oswald, Edburga, and Lewin were lost in a great fire at the abbey in
1558. Yet an inscription there informs us that some of their dust still
remains in the tomb (Benedictines,Husenbeth).


St. Goban (Gobain, Govan, Gavan), Martyr
---------------------------------------------------------
Born in Ireland; died c. 670. Goban was ordained priest in his native
land. Then he became a monk under and disciple of Saint Fursey at Burgh
Castle in Suffolk. He accompanied his abbot on his mission to evangelize
East Anglia. Both saints then crossed to France. For a short time Goban
lived at Corbeny, before the abbey was built, and later they settled
together as hermits at Laon. From there they withdrew into the forest on
the Oise. There Goban founded a stately church dedicated to Saint Peter,
now called Saint Gobain, on land given to him by King Clotaire III. Here
Goban was beheaded by thieves at a place now called Saint-Gobain and
previously known as Le Mont d'Hermitage. His relics were lost during the
Thirty Years War, except for his head which is still in his church
(Benedictines, Encyclopaedia, Farmer, Husenbeth). He is venerated in
Burgh (Suffolk) and Saint Goban (Oise) (Roeder).


St. Govan of Wales
(Goven, Cofen)
----------------------------------------------------------

6th cent. A hermit who lived halfway down a cliff at St Govan's Head in
Dyfed in Wales where his stone hut can still be seen. He is probably buried
under the altar in the hut, which later became a small chapel. Govan was
probably a disciple of St Ailbe.

A Pilgrimage to Saint Govan's Chapel

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/orthodoxchurch/Pilgrimage%20to%20Saint%20Govan.ht
m


St Govan's Head - St Govan's Chapel
http://www.britainexpress.com/wales/az/churches/churches14.htm

On St Govan's Head, near Bosherton. St. Govan's Chapel is a small medieval
church clinging to the ragged rock halfway down the cliffs of a secluded
headland. It is difficult to imagine a more strikingly situated church in
all of Britain. St. Govan was a sixth century hermit who established a cell
for himself on this lonely spot, in the fashion of early Celtic Christian
monks, who tended to live in isolated places. Legends sprang up about the
saint, and about the curative properties of the natural spring which used to
rise just inside the door of the chapel.
During the medieval period the holy well and cell became a place of
pilgrimage for cripples seeking a cure, and the original cell was rebuilt as
a small chapel in the 13th century. The chapel is a very simple rectangular
building with a steeply pitched roof and bellcote. Access is by way of 52
stone steps from the top of the cliffs.

Legend has it that the chapel was founded when St. Govan hid in a rocky
fissure of the cliff to escape from pirates. A further legend states that
King Arthur's knight Sir Gawain lies buried beneath the stone altar of the
chapel.

St. Govan's Chapel is contained within the Pembrokeshire National Park, and
the Pembrokeshire Coast National Trail runs along the nearby cliffs. The
area is far enough off the beaten track that even today it retains an air of
secluded beauty.



Elevation of the Relics of St. Edward,
King and Martyr of England
---------------------------------------------
THIS Edward was chosen, being only thirteen years old, to succeed his
father Edgar A.D. 975, before which time the West Saxon kingdom had
grown into that of the English generally. He appears to have been a
good young king, and beloved by his people. After a four years' reign
he was cruelly murdered, probably by the contrivance of his stepmother
AElfthryth [Elfrida], whose son Ethelred was then elected king at the
age of ten. The English Chronicles under the year 987 lament the crime
without naming the criminal. "Here was Eadweard king slain at eventide
at Corfes-gate, on xv. kal. Apr., and men buried him at Waerham without
any kingly worship. Never was done worse deed among Englishmen that
this since first they sought Britain. Men murdered him, but God
honoured him. He was in life an earthly king, he is not after death a
heavenly saint," etc... The Sarum Breviary dwells much on his goodness,
and he was popularly considered to have died a martyr... Under the year
980 the Chronicles say, "Here in this year S. Dunstanus and AElfere
ealdorman fetched the holy king S. Eadward's body at Waerham, and
carried it with mickle worship to Scaeftesbryig" [Shaftesbury].
Florence of Worcester [anno 979] says that the body was incorrupt
(Blunt).

Service to St Edward
(under Liturgica, right-hand column)
http://www.orthodoxengland.org.uk/

Icons of St. Edward
http://www.allmercifulsavior.com/icons/Western.html
http://www.odox.net/Icons-Edward.htm##1
http://htmadmin.phpwebhosting.com/images/a-297.jpg


Translation of the Relics of St. Oswald,
Missionary and Martyred King of Northumbria
----------------------------------------


Sources:
========

Attwater, D. (1958). A Dictionary of Saints. New York:
P. J. Kenedy & Sons. [Attwater 2]

Benedictine Monks of St. Augustine Abbey, Ramsgate.
(1947). The Book of Saints. NY: Macmillan.

Blunt, J.H. (1893) Annotated Book of Common Prayer.

Coulson, J. (ed.). (1960). The Saints: A Concise Biographical
Dictionary. New York: Hawthorn Books.
Green & Co.

Farmer, D. H. (1997). The Oxford Dictionary of Saints.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Husenbeth, Rev. F. C., DD, VG (ed.). (1928). Butler's
Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints.
London: Virtue & Co.

Montague, H. P. (1981). The Saints and Martyrs of Ireland.
Guildford: Billing & Sons.

Roeder, H. (1956). Saints and Their Attributes, Chicago: Henry
Regnery.

For All the Saints:
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/ss-index.htm

An Alphabetical Index of the Saints of the West
http://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/saintsa.htm

These Lives are archived at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints
*****************************************

Celtic and Old English Saints          21 June

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
* St. Mewan of Brittany
* St. Corbmac of Durrow
* St. Engelmund of Vebsen
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


St. Mewan of Brittany, Abbot
-------------------------------------
(also known as Maine, Mevenus, Meen. Melanus)

Born in Gwent, South Wales; died at Gael, Brittany, c. 617.
Traditionally the Cornish Saint Meen is said to have been born to a rich
and noble family. He mother was related to Saints Magloire (f.d.
October 24) and Samson (f.d. July 28). Accompanied by his reputed
godson Saint Austell (f.d. June 28), he followed Saint Samson from Wales
to Brittany. Samson used him to preach to the people on their way. As
they passed through Cornwall they founded adjoining parishes called
Saint Mewan and Saint Austell.

In Brittany Meen evangelized the Broceliande district which figures in
the Arthurian romances. He acquitted himself so well as a preacher that
he was given land and goods by Count Caduon and Count Guerech I of
Vannes to found a monastery. With their assistance he founded one
monastery near Rennes, Saint John the Baptist of Gael, now called
Saint-Meen's. With Meen as abbot, the monastery gained renown for its
sanctity and regularity. When King Saint Judicaeel (f.d. December 17)
renounced his throne c. 616, he received the monastic habit from Saint
Meen.

Then he founded another monastery near Angers, which was later called
Saint-Meen or Saint-Meon, which he populated with monks from Gael.

The cultus of Saint Meen spread throughout France and there were
numerous pilgrimages to his shrine at the monastery. At Gael there was
a fountain whose water was renowned for healing skin diseases. The
abbey was converted into a Lazarist seminary in 1640.

His extant _vita_, in which he is called Conard-Meen, was written there
500 years after his death. In England he is the patron of Saint Mewan
and perhaps Mevagissey in Cornwall. Some of his relics are claimed by
Glastonbury; others were translated to Saint-Florent's abbey near
Saumur. His name is found in a 7th-century English litany and in
pre-Conquest missals. His feast is kept in Cornwall and Exeter
(Attwater, Attwater2, Benedictines, Coulson, Encyclopedia, Farmer,
Husenbeth).


Troparion of St Mewan tone 7
Holy disciple of Saint Samson of Dol,/ thou didst persevere in thy
resolve and enter a monastery in Brittany./ Thou didst press on in thy
holy struggle/ and establish thine own monastery./ O holy Mewan, pray
for us to Christ our God/ that our souls may be saved.


St. Corbmac of Durrow, Abbot
------------------------------------------
6th century. Saint Corbmac was a disciple of Saint Columba, who
appointed him abbot of the monastery he founded at Durrow
(Benedictines).


St. Engelmund of Vebsen, Abbot
---------------------------------------------
Born in England; died c. 739. Engelmund was educated in England and
became a monk at an early age, then priest, and abbot. He migrated to
Friesland, where he was a successful evangelist with Saint Willibrord,
at Velsen near Haarlem (Benedictines). In art, Saint Engelmund is
depicted as a pilgrim abbot with a fountain springing under his staff
(Roeder). He is venerated in Friesland and invoked against toothache
(Roeder).


Sources:
========

Attwater, D. (1983). The Penguin Dictionary of Saints, NY:
Penguin Books.

Attwater, D. (1958). A Dictionary of Saints. New York:
P. J. Kenedy & Sons. [Attwater 2]

Benedictine Monks of St. Augustine Abbey, Ramsgate.
(1947). The Book of Saints. NY: Macmillan.

Coulson, J. (ed.). (1960). The Saints: A Concise Biographical
Dictionary. New York: Hawthorn Books.
Green & Co.

Encyclopaedia of Catholic Saints, June. (1966).
Philadelphia: Chilton Books.

Farmer, D. H. (1997). The Oxford Dictionary of Saints.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Husenbeth, Rev. F. C., DD, VG (ed.). (1928). Butler's
Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints.
London: Virtue & Co.

Roeder, H. (1956). Saints and Their Attributes, Chicago: Henry
Regnery.

For All the Saints:
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/ss-index.htm

Orthodox Ireland Saints
http://tinyurl.com/ysvzbh

An Alphabetical Index of the Saints of the West
http://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/saintsa.htm

These Lives are archived at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints
*****************************************

Celtic and Old English Saints          22 June

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
* St. Alban, First Martyr of Britain
* St. Heraclius the Soldier
* St. Aaron of Brittany
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


St. Alban, Proto-Martyr of Great Britain
------------------------------------------------
3rd or 4th century. There were probably already Christians in the
British Isles in the first century. In fact, by the end of the second
century a great many of the inhabitants of southern England were
Christians. However, Alban is the first recorded Christian martyr of the
island. The traditional date of his death is 304, during the persecution
under the Emperor Diocletian; but many scholars now date it as early as
209, during the persecution under the Emperor Septimus Severus. This
date was derived from a study of the Turin manuscript of a "Passio
Albani."

The first known reference to him, outside the Turin manuscript, is in
the 5th century life of Saint Germanus of Auxerre. Gildas, writing
c.540, gives the core of the tradition. Saint Bede gives an amplified
account, which includes a lively description of the beheading and more
details of signs from heaven.

Alban was a pagan, a Roman soldier, who, during the persecution of
Diocletian, took pity on a fleeing Christian priest and sheltered him in
his own home. When he saw that the priest spent day and night in prayer,
he was moved by the grace of God. They spent several days talking
together and Alban was so impressed by the priest's sanctity and
devotion that he became a Christian and wanted to imitate the piety and
faith of his guest. Encouraged and instructed by the priest, Alban
renounced his idol worship and embraced Christ with his whole heart.

He was a leading citizen in the old Roman city of Verulamium (Verulam),
Hertfordshire, England, now called Saint Albans. The town was originally
a collection of huts of wattle and daub that stretched along Watling
Street, and later destroyed by the army of Boadicea, the warrior queen.

The history continues that the Roman governor of the city, hearing a
rumour that a priest was hiding in the house of Alban, sent a search
party of soldiers to find him. Seeing them approach, Alban took the
priest's cloak and put it over his own head and shoulders, and helped
him to escape. Thus disguised, Alban opened the door to the soldiers and
was arrested in mistake for the priest. He was bound in fetters and
brought before the governor, who was attending a sacrifice to the pagan
gods. When the cloak was removed and his true identity was discovered,
the governor was furious. He then declared himself to be a Christian,
whereupon the governor angrily ordered him to be taken before the altar.
He was threatened with all the tortures that
had been prepared for the priest if he did not recant.

Alban faced his anger calmly and, ignoring his threats, declared that he
could not sacrifice to the gods. Upon Alban's refusal to deny his faith,
the governor enquired of what family and race he was. "How can it
concern you to know of what stock I am?" answered Alban. "If you want to
know my religion, I will tell you--I am a Christian, and am bound by
Christian obligations." When asked his name, he replied: "I am called
Alban by my parents, and I worship and adore the true and living God,
who created all things." He was then commanded to sacrifice to the Roman
gods, but he refused and was cruelly scourged. Alban bore the punishment
with resignation, even joy. When it was seen that he could not be
prevailed upon to retract, he was
sentenced to decapitation.

On the way to his execution on Holmhurst Hill, the crowds that gathered
to honour his heroism were so great that his passage was delayed because
they could not reach the bridge over the river. Alban, who seemed to
fear that any delay might deprive him of the martyr's crown, decided to
cross at another point, and going down to the water's edge he prayed to
God and stepped into the river which he then forded without difficulty.
Both Gildas and Bede have accepted the tradition that this was a miracle
and that the waters dried up completely in answer to the saint's prayer.

They add that a thousand other people crossed over with him, while the
waters piled up on either side, and that this miracle converted the
appointed executioner. Still accompanied by a huge throng of people,
Alban climbed the hill to the place of execution. But, on his arrival
there, the executioner threw down his sword and refused to perform his
office. He said that if he were not allowed to take Alban's place then
he would share his martyrdom. Confessing himself to be a Christian, the
soldier was replaced by another. Then he took his stand beside Alban,
and they faced death together. Alban was beheaded first, then the
soldier, Saint Heraclius, was baptized in his own blood to share the
glory of martyrdom. The third martyr was the priest, who when he learned
that Alban had been arrested in his place, hurried to the court in the
hope of saving Alban by turning himself in.

According to Bede, the governor was so impressed by the miracles that
followed Alban's martyrdom that he immediately ended the persecutions,
and Bede states that these miracles were still occurring in his lifetime
at the intercession of England's protomartyr.

On the hill where these martyrdoms took place a church was later
erected, and, 400 years later, Offa, the king of Mercia, founded on the
same site the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Albans. According to
Constantius of Lyons, Saint Germanus of Auxerre, at the end of a mission
to England to combat the Pelagian heresy, chose the Church of Saint
Alban as the place in which to thank God for the success of his mission.
He brought back from England a handful of earth from the place where
Alban, the soldier, and the priest were martyred (Attwater,
Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopaedia, Gill, Morris).

The Proto-Martyr of England is portrayed in art as a warrior with a
cross and shield. He may be depicted (1) crowned with laurel; (2) with a
peer's coronet, holding a crossing; (3) with his head cut off; (4) with
his head in a holly bush; (5) spreading his cloak under the sun; or (6)
as his executioner's eye drops out (Roeder). Alban is especially
venerated in Saint Albans and Angers (Roeder).

The Story of Saint Alban
as recounted in the
Ecclesiastical History of the English People
by the Venerable Bede [672 - 735]
http://www.stalbansva.org/alb.htm


Troparion or St Alban tone 4
Thy holy martyr Alban in his struggle/ has gained the crown of life, O
Christ our God;/ for strengthened by Thee and with a pure heart/ he
spoke boldly before worldly judges,/ giving up his sacred head to Thee,
the Judge of all.

Homily for the Feast of St. Alban from Aelfic's Lives of the Saints:
http://web.archive.org/web/20010219025644/www.nireland.com/orthodox/alban.ht
m
http://tinyurl.com/aezwa

Service of Commemoration of the Holy Alban of Verulamium,
Protomartyr of Britain
http://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/servalb.htm

Icons of St. Alban:
http://www.allmercifulsavior.com/icons/Icons-Alban.htm##1
http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?FSID=101785
http://www.cybercom.net/~htm/images/a-247.jpg
( Homesite:. http://www.cybercom.net/~htm/ )

Shrine of Saint Alban:
http://www.cushnieent.force9.co.uk/alban.html


Sr Alban's relics were enshrined at his abbey at St Albans from the late
eighth century until its suppression in the sixteenth. In the later tenth
century relics said to be his were deposited in Kцln's church of St.
Pantaleon, which has them still (less a bone transferred to St Albans in
2002) in the late twelfth-century reliquary shown here:
http://www.pantaleon-koeln.de/Galerie/Kirche/alban.JPG
http://www.pantaleon-koeln.de/Galerie/Kirche/alban1.JPG
http://www.pantaleon-koeln.de/Galerie/Kirche/alban2.JPG
http://www.pantaleon-koeln.de/Galerie/Kirche/alban3.JPG
http://www.pantaleon-koeln.de/Galerie/Kirche/alban4.JPG

A few views of St Albans Abbey:
http://www.pbase.com/ohsharonho2/image/24304225
http://www.newgreens.demon.co.uk/sta2.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ishida/154612997/
http://tinyurl.com/3bn7ka
The Abbey's "Virtual Visit":
http://www.thegrid.org.uk/learning/re/virtual/cathedral/
One of a fifteenth-century pair of doors made for the Abbey:
http://tinyurl.com/ysvpsp


St. Heraclius the Soldier
------------------------
Martyred at Verulamium in Hertfordshire, together with Saint Alban and
the holy priest-martyr who taught St. Alban, Amphibalus (commemorated
25 June.)


St. Aaron of Brittany, Abbot
-------------------------------------
Died after 552. The Briton Saint Aaron crossed into Armorica (Brittany)
and lived as a hermit on the island of Cesambre, called Saint Aaron
until 1150 and now Saint Malo. The island was separated from Aleth by an
arm of the sea, which the tide at low water left dry twice daily.
Eventually Aaron was joined by a group of disciples and became their
abbot. Among the disciples was Saint Malo, who arrived from Wales about
the middle of the 6th century and was warmly welcomed. A parish church
in the diocese of Saint Brieuc bears Aaron's name (Benedictines,
Husenbeth).


Sources:
========

Attwater, D. (1983). The Penguin Dictionary of Saints, NY:
Penguin Books.

Benedictine Monks of St. Augustine Abbey, Ramsgate.
(1947). The Book of Saints. NY: Macmillan.

Delaney, J. J. (1983). Pocket Dictionary of Saints, NY:
Doubleday Image.

Encyclopaedia of Catholic Saints, June. (1966).
Philadelphia: Chilton Books.

Gill, F. C. (1958). The Glorious Company: Lives of Great Christians
for Daily Devotion, vol. I. London: Epworth Press.

Husenbeth, Rev. F. C., DD, VG (ed.). (1928). Butler's
Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints.
London: Virtue & Co.

Morris, J. (1968). Hertfordshire Archaeology, vol. 1.

Roeder, H. (1956). Saints and Their Attributes, Chicago: Henry
Regnery.

For All the Saints:
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/ss-index.htm

An Alphabetical Index of the Saints of the West
http://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/saintsa.htm

These Lives are archived at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints
*****************************************

Celtic and Old English Saints          23 June

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
* St. Mochaoi of Nendrum
* St. Etheldreda of Ely
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


St. Mochaoi, Abbot of Nendruim, Baptised by Saint Patrick
(Moeliai, Moelray, Melray)
-------------------------------------------------------
Born in Ireland; died c. 493. Saint Moeliai was baptized by Saint
Patrick, who appointed him abbot over Nendrum, where he had Saints
Finian and Colman among his disciples (Benedictines).

________
St Mochaoi has been anglicised as St Mahee pronounced Mah hee with the
stress on the ee.

His monastic site is at Nendrum on Mahee Island. Mahee island is now
linked to another island and to the mainland by
causeways that can take a single car. It is a lovely drive there, the
hedgerows are in bloom with wild flowers and fuscias and the clear water
of Strangford lough was smooth and windless.

The Nendrum monastic site has a small carpark for about 8 cars. The
first thing you realise is how high it is up the island which is itself
a submerged drumlin - the advancing iceflows rounded the landscape to
make this part of Ireland look like a basket of eggs - and this egg
along with others got flooded.

The monastery is on the highest peak and is surrounded by an outer wall
or cashel and an inner cashel. There is a causeway bridge up to the
first level between the two cashels and it is believed that this would
have been a hive of activity. Although the monastery is quiet today, in
the 5th century the waterways of Ireland were the main roads so the
monastery was likely to
have been a thriving community.

To enter the inner cashel one has to walk in single file through a small
passageway, probably this was some form of defence as was the round
tower of which only the stump remains. The remains of the church are
clearly seen and face due east. At the South west corner the old sundial
has been reconstructed. There is a graveyard just beyond the west door
and if you go beyond the inner cashel wall again on the west side there
are the foundations of many round monastic cells.

Various photographs of the island and of the church, round tower, etc
http://www.ehsni.gov.uk/nendrum.shtml

http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/product.aspx?ProductID=2877



St. Etheldreda (Audrey), Queen of Northumbria,
Abbess of Ely's Double Monastery
-------------------------------
(also known as Audrey, Athelthryth, Ethelreda, Edilthride, Ediltrudis,
Edeltrude)

Born in Exning, Suffolk, England; died at Ely, 679.

"Now Etheldreda shines upon our days,
Shedding the light of grace on all our ways.
Born of a noble and a royal line,
She brings to Christ her King a life more fine."
--The Venerable Bede

To her friends and family, this once most famous female Anglo-Saxon
saint was Etheldreda. To poor people she was Audrey, and the word
"tawdry" originally came from the cheap necklaces that were sold on the
feast of Saint Audrey and which were believed to cure illness of the
throat and neck. This was because Etheldreda had suffered from neck
cancer, which she attributed to divine punishment because she was once
vain enough to wear a costly necklace. She had a huge tumour on her neck
when she died, but, according the Saint Bede, when her tomb was opened
by her sister Saint Sexburga, her successor as abbess at Ely Abbey, ten
(or 16) years after her death, her body was found incorrupt and the
tumour had healed. Etheldreda was a woman of noble birth, the daughter
of King Anna of East Anglia, and sister to Saints Sexburga, Ethelburga,
Erconwald, and Withburga. She was born in a time when the religious were
uncompromising in their desire for complete conversion of their lives to
God. To Etheldreda prayer, Holy Communion, and works of mercy were
essential features of her faith in Jesus Christ. From her youth she
devoted herself to piety, purity, and humility. Though she seemed
destined for the cloistered life, twice Saint Etheldreda was married and
released from these unwelcome ties.

At the age of 14, Etheldreda was married to Tonbert. Now some saints
have run away from marriage when they felt called to the vowed religious
life, but Etheldreda trusted in God. She accepted the wedding calmly and
found that Tonbert was equally devout and was happy that they should
live in continence. After three (or five) years together, Tonbert died.

For a time she enjoyed the solitude of the island of Ely, which had been
part of her dowry, but for reasons of state she married again. Her
second husband, Egfrid, son of King Oswy of Northumbria, was just a boy
at the time. Etheldreda, though still young herself, treated him as her
son or brother, rather than as a husband. She taught him the catechism
and directed his spiritual growth, clearly trying to prepare him to
accept a marriage of continence.

But after 12 years of this relationship, Egfrid, grown to manhood, tried
to make her his wife in fact as well as in name. This alarmed
Etheldreda, who then sought the counsel of Archbishop Saint Wilfrid of
York. He released her from her marriage and advised her to withdraw to
the Benedictine abbey of Coldingham. At last she was able to fulfil her
heart's desire. She took the veil at Coldingham under Saint Ebba.

At first Egfrid tried to persuade Wilfrid to order his wife to return to
him, but without success. In 672, she founded a double monastery, where
the present Ely Cathedral now stands, and ruled it as abbess. Egfrid
dispatched armed men to Ely in an attempt to force her to return, but
the expedition was unsuccessful.

After the time she founded Ely, Etheldreda ceased to wear clothing of
fine linen and dressed only in woollen garments. Except at Easter,
Pentecost, and Epiphany, she washed only in cold water. Only when she
was ill or on great church festivals did she eat more than one meal a
day. She prayed for those who did not pray and often kept vigil in the
church from midnight until dawn. Seven years after the foundation of Ely
Abbey, she died of the plague.

Saint Bede wrote a long hymn in praise of Etheldreda who, judging from
the number of churches dedicated to her and calendars containing her
name, must have been the most revered of all Anglo- Saxon women saints.
This is partly due to the number of miracles that resulted from her
intercession, which made Ely an important pilgrimage site (Attwater,
Benedictines, Bentley, Encyclopaedia).

In art, St. Etheldreda is crowned, holding a crosier, book, and a
budding staff. Sometimes she may be pictured (1) asleep under a
blossoming tree; (2) with a book and lily; (3) as a fountain springs at
her feet; and (4) as the devil flees from her (Roeder). Etheldreda is
the patroness of Cambridge University (Roeder), and those suffering from
throat and neck ailments
(Bentley).

Service to our Holy Mother Audrey, Abbess of Ely
http://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/saudrey.htm


A 20th-century banner with her image on a University of
Pennsylvania page:
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~rs2/Images/Christian/ely.jpg


Sources:
========

Attwater, D. (1958). A Dictionary of Saints. New York:
P. J. Kenedy & Sons. [Attwater 2]

Benedictine Monks of St. Augustine Abbey, Ramsgate.
(1947). The Book of Saints. NY: Macmillan.

Bentley, J. (1986). A Calendar of Saints: The Lives of the
Principal Saints of the Christian Year, NY: Facts on File.

Encyclopaedia of Catholic Saints, June. (1966).
Philadelphia: Chilton Books.

Roeder, H. (1956). Saints and Their Attributes, Chicago: Henry
Regnery.

For All the Saints:
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/ss-index.htm

An Alphabetical Index of the Saints of the West
http://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/saintsa.htm

These Lives are archived at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints
*****************************************

Celtic and Old English Saints          24 June

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
* St. Gerome of Germoe
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

St. Gerome, Bishop and King
----------------------------------------------
(also Germoe, Germoc, Germanus Mac Guill)

Bishop (died 596 ?). Patron of Germoe (Cornwall), he was probably one
of a party of Irish monks who settled in Cornwall before most of them
moved on to Gaul. But Germoe, says Leland, was buried at Germoe; his
chair was in the churchyard and his well a little outside it. The Legend
of *Breage, however, makes Germoe a king; a 15th century fresco
representing him with crown and sceptre survives in Breage church.

Baring-Gould identifies him with the founder of a chain of churches in
Brittany. Possible patron of Saint Gerrans in Cornwall and Saint Geran
in Brittany. But see Saint Geraint, 10 August
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints/message/529


Germoe's feast-dates correspond to this historical uncertainty: William
Worcestre dates his feast as on 'die S. Johannis in festo natalis**',
leaving it to the reader to interpret this as either 24 June or 27
December; Irish martyrologies commemorate him on 30 July, but The
Cornish Church Kalendar places his feast on the 'Sunday after the first
Saturday in May'.

J. Leland, Itinerary, i.188; William Worcestre, pp. 28-9; Baring-Gould
and Fisher, iii.80-1. - DH Farmer, Oxford Dictionary of the Saints,
New Edition.

*Breage is sometimes Breace. It is the name of a village in Cornwall,
some ten miles from Penzance, and of the woman Saint who came there
along with this group of Irish Saints mentioned above.

**I think the St John William of Worcester refers to is certainly the
Baptist.


Troparion of St Gerome tone 6
O holy Gerome who didst count monastic poverty/ far more glorious than
thy previous kingship/ and didst not fear the death of the body/ when
thou couldst win souls for Christ:/ as thou didst thank and praise the
Saviour in thy church in Cornwall,/ pray that we all may be saved.


Details of this Life kindly supplied by
Father Alexander Haig
St Helen's Orthodox Parish, Colchester, Essex, UK
Web site: www.aspects.net/~orthodox/

These Lives are archived at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints
*****************************************

Celtic and Old English Saints          25 June

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
* St. Amphibalus of Saint Alban's
* St. Moloc of Mortlach
* St. Adalbert of Egmond
* St. Milburga of Much Wenlock
* St. Solomon of Brittany
* St. Solomon III of Brittany
* St. Molonachus of Lismore
* St. Kenneburga of Gloucester
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


St. Amphibalus ("of the Cloak"), Priest-martyr of Verulam
in Hertfordshire, England, Who Taught Saint Alban
----------------------------------------------------------
See 22 June
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints/message/2338


St. Moloc of Mortlach, Bishop
----------------------------------------
(also known as Lua, Luan, Lugaidh, Moloag, Molluog, Molua, Murlach)

Born in Scotland; died at Rossmarkie, c. 572. Saint Moluag was educated
in the monastery school of Bangor in Ireland and then returned to his
native land as a missionary. (Some say that he was actually from Ulster
and may have been an O'Neill.) The Cistercian Bernard of Clairvaux in
his biography of his close friend Malachy of Ireland tells us that the
monk Moluag of Bangor was the founder of 100 monasteries in Scotland. In
fact, Moluag ranked alongside Saint Columba as a missionary: While
Columba was the apostle to the Gaels; Moluag evangelized the Picts. His
main work as a bishop was the evangelization of the Hebrides.
Inevitably, legends have grown around his name according to which there
was a rivalry between Moluag and Columba, but it appears that they
worked among to distinct national groups.

Moluag actually arrived about a year before Columba in Scotland. He was
accompanied by Saint Comgall, an Irish Pict, who presented him to King
Brude to obtain his authority for the mission. Columba, incidentally,
had Comgall perform the same service for him. It is possible that King
Brude preferred Moluag to Columba, and that is what led Moluag to
concentrate more on the Picts. It would be quite natural that the
Pictish king might have some reservations about the Ulster prince
Columba, who was a natural leader of the Gaelic people in Scotland.
Whatever happened, the two missionaries gradually brought an end to the
armed conflict between the two nations.

The blackthorn crosier (Bachuill Mor) of Saint Moluag is in the
possession of the Campbells, dukes of Argyle, who traditionally carried
it with them into battle. His shrine was at Mortlach. On the island of
Lewis, the custom persisted, despite the Scottish reformers' attempts to
stop it, until the 19th century of conducting a ritual service of
intercession to Moluag at his titular church Teampall Mo Luigh. Although
the cultus of Moluag decreased together with the power of the Pictish
people he evangelized, there are many memorials to Moluag in the form of
ancient churches and placenames. Kilmoluag is a common example. The name
"Luke," which is very common among men in Scotland, is reliably stated
to be derived from Moluag.

Saint Moluag is invoked against insanity and his intercession sought to
heal wounds (Benedictines, Montague)


Another Life
http://www.cushnieent.force9.co.uk/stmoluag.html

One of the Celtic Giants.

Died: 592AD
Also known as Lugaidh and Molloch, Moluag was born c.530AD of the clan
Dalaraidhe, in northern Ireland where he became a monk of Bangor. Many
consider his true name to have been Lugaidh (pronounced Lua) and the
form of Moluag, used in the Annals of Tigernach, is simply an
affectionate form - Mo-Luoc, "my Lugaidh". St Moluag's plan for working
Pictland was to organize three great muinntirs or communities to be the
centres of education and ministerial supply for the Churches in their
respective districts; and, of course, for the maintenance of these
central communities he had the reserves of the mother church of Bangor
in Eire.

He first organised the great community of Lismore in Lorn about 562AD.
Moluag's settlement was in the north of Lismore, close to a megalithic
site surmounted by a high cairn which once marked the funeral pyres of
Pictish Kings. This island was the sacred island of the Western Picts,
and continued to be the burial-place of their kings who reigned at
Beregonium. The Churches dependent on Lismore, still traceable, are
Teampul Mor in Lewis; the Church of Pabay, that is, Isle of the papa;
Cill Moluag in Raasay; Teampull Mholuig, "Moluag's Chapel", at Europie
in Ness; Cill Moluag in Skye; Cill Moluag in Tiree; Cill Moluag in Mull;
'Kilmalu' in Morvern; 'Kilmalu' of Inverary; and Cill Moluag at
Ballagan, Inverfarigaig.
St Moluag's second central community is said to have been organised at
Rosemarkie on the northern shore of the Inverness Firth (however, see
below). Many of the churches founded from this centre were afterwards,
in the Roman Catholic period, dedicated to Roman saints, and they cannot
now be definitely distinguished as St Moluag's; but there was an old
church in the strath of the Peffray (Strathpeffer) whose temporalities
are still called Davoch-Moluag, and the submerged Church of Cromarty was
evidently one of St Moluag's foundations.
His third central community was at Mortlach in Morayshire. Dependant
upon it was the smaller community at Clova or Cloveth near Lumsden
village. The foundations that still bear St Moluag's name in this part
of Scotland are at "Maol-Moluag's", now New Machar, at Clatt in the
Garioch and at Migvie and Tarland. Another of St Moluag's known
foundations was at Alyth in Perthshire.

Site of Moluag's muinntir at Cloveth.
St Moluag continued to labour in Pictland until his death on the 25th
June 592 AD. Some sources give that he died at Ardclach in Nairnshire.
According to the other old traditions he died while visiting his
churches in the Garioch and was buried at Rosemarkie. In the Martyrology
of Oengus, under his entry on June 25th, is a comment which is typical
of the warm esteem with which he is commemorated in the Irish calendars:

"The pure, the bright, the pleasant,
the sun of Lismore;
that is Moluoc,
of Lismore in Alba".

His crozier, Bacchuill Mor, "the great staff", a piece of blackthorn 34
inches long and originally covered in a gilded copper case, is preserved
on Lismore in Bachuil village in the care of the Livingstone family;
having been for some time in the custody of the Dukes of Argyll. Because
of their associations with the Bacchuill Mhor this Livingstone family
holds the ancient title of Barons of Bachuil.
Of course, it will not escape the attention of the reader that St
Moluag's three main foundations at Lismore, Rosemarkie and Mortlach in
time became the seats of the ancient medieval Roman Sees of the Isles,
Ross and Aberdeen.
It must not be supposed that the trained clergy from Bangor and from St
Moluag's own centres kept themselves apart from the Britonic and the
native Pictish clergy who were at work in Pictland at this time; because
there is evidence that the Bangor clergy assisted in manning Churches
founded long before their arrival as well as looking to the care of
congregations gathered by themselves. The only sign of want of
co-operation between the Celtic clergy, as might be expected from the
political relations of the time, was between the Picts and the Gaidheals
or Scots, in the territory occupied by the Scotic colonists in Dalriada.
There was certainly no co-operation between the Pictish ecclesiastics
and the Gaidhealic ecclesiastics in the island of Tiree!
There is some discrepancy with regard to St Moluag's burial place. Until
recent times the tradition on Lismore itself was that Moluag died at
Ardclach and that his body was born back to Lismore by twenty-four of
the most stalwart islanders. This tradition is very much in keeping with
the Celtic tradition of burying a saint in his main or oldest
foundation. Another source gives that the story of Moluag being buried
at Rosemarkie is false and repeats the story that his body was taken to
Lismore. It goes further by relating that there was a later Moluag, a
colleague of St Boniface, and that he was a great preacher. It is said
that it is this second Moluag, who died over a hundred years after the
first, that was buried in Boniface's chapel at Rosemarkie. It has to be
said that, if one is to accept the first Moluag's association with the
district round Rosemarkie then it is surprising that there are so very
few churches which bear his name. Even where original Celtic saints
names were replaced with Roman ones, it is rare for the original to
completely disappear. This story of a second Moluag may have an essence
of truth in it!

The Islanders talk about Moluag as if they had just recently met him out
shopping on the mainland - and they are mostly presbyterian !

His Abbatal Bell is in Edinburgh and his Stone Chair is nestled in the
rocks at Lismore (Lios-mor - Big Garden) and a flower is named for him.
There are not many dedications of churches in his name: There is one
of them at Kentallen-by-Duror - and there is another in the Outer Isles.

Holy Father Moluag - Pray for us.

A Modern Pilgrim's Pilgrimage to Lismore
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CeltList/message/32513



St. Adalbert of Egmond
--------------------------------
Born in Northumberland, England; died c. 740. Saint Adalbert, a prince
by birth, became a monk at Rathmelgisi and accompanied Saint Willibrord
as one of his deacons to Friesland. He laboured especially around
Egmont, of which
Benedictine abbey he is the patron (Benedictines). Adalbert is venerated
in Friesland. Depicted as a deacon with a crown and sceptre at his feet;
sometimes in dalmatic, crowned, and holding the sceptre (Roeder).


St. Milburga, Abbess of Much Wenlock, England
(also known as Milburgh)
--------------------------------------------------
Died c. 700 or 722; This is the feast of the translation of her relics.
The ruins of Wenlock Abbey in Shropshire, dating from the 11th century,
remind us of Saint Milburga, whose name still lingers in that area. She
was one of a family of eminent saints and belonged to the royal house of
Mercia.

How often a good mother is blessed in her children! Her mother Domneva
(Domna Ebba or Ermenburga), princess of Kent, had three daughters:
Milburga, Mildred, and Mildgytha, each of whom grew up to follow the
pattern of her mother's faith, and each, after a life wholly devoted to
Christ, was recognised as a saint.

Those were the days when the daughters of kings were proud and eager to
dedicate their wealth and talents in Christian leadership and to pour
out their youth and strength in the service of the Church. They founded
and ruled great abbeys, taught the young, cared for the sick, and
relieved the poor.

Milburga, like her mother before her, surrendered her high estate,
forsook the luxury and comfort of her home, and counted it her highest
privilege to serve God in a consecrated Christian life. Helped by her
father, Merewald, an Anglian chieftain, and her uncle Wulfhere, king of
Mercia, she founded the monastery of Wenlock, which was placed under the
direction of Saint Botulf of East Anglia. Its first abbess was
Liobsynde, a French nun from Chelles. Its second was Milburga, who was
consecrated abbess by Archbishop Saint Theodore. It was no ordinary
monastery; everything about it reflected the grace and fragrance of her
own pure spirit. The gardens were full of the choicest flowers, the
orchards bore the sweetest fruits, and within its walls was found, we
are told, the very peace of heaven.

By her sheer goodness Milburga converted many to the Christian faith,
and this in a dark and primitive age when, outside the monastery walls,
the countryside was wild and remote, and full of unknown dangers. One
day, for example, on one of her errands of mercy, she was terrified by a
neighbouring princeling who, wishing to marry her, intercepted her with
a band of soldiers, but she providentially escaped. In her flight she
crossed a small stream called the Corve, and he, following, found when
he reached it that the waters had risen and his plan was thwarted. The
place where it happened it called to this day Stoke Saint Milburgh.

She loved flowers, birds (over which she had a mysterious power),
country life, and country people, to sit and work in the sun and tend
the herbs in her garden, and to visit in the villages around. People
came to her with their troubles and ailments and even ascribed to her
miraculous cures. Milburga was venerated for her humility, holiness, the
miracles she performed, and for the gift of levitation she is said to
have possessed.

According to Boniface, the famous Vision of the Monk of Wenlock occurred
during Milburga's abbacy. Goscelin also preserved her testament, which
is a long, apparently authentic list of lands that belonged to her at
her death.

When she was on her deathbed, she said to her followers, "I have been
mother to you. I have watched over you like a mother, with pious care.
And in mercy, I go the way of all flesh. A higher call invites me." One
by one they said farewell, gave her the holy sacraments, and after her
death buried her body near the altar of the abbey.

Her tomb was long venerated but its site was unknown when the Cluniac
monks from La-Charite-sur-Loire refounded Wenlock in 1079. The church
had a silver casket that contained her relics and documents describing
the site of her grave, near an altar then unknown. Apparently, the
church was destroyed by the Danes.

After consulting Anselm, the monks excavated an old, disused church.
Thus, centuries later, two boys who were playing among its ruins fell
through the pavement by the broken altar, as a result of which her tomb
was rediscovered. When opened, according to legend, there came from it a
heavenly sweetness, and the lost garden of the monastery seemed filled
again with the fragrance of the flowers she had planted.

Among the miracles documented were the healing of lepers and the blinds,
and, the vomiting of a worm that had caused a wasting disease. Goscelin
wrote her vita in the late 11th century. Her feast was common in English
calendars from the Bosworth Psalter (c. 1000) onwards (Attwater,
Benedictines, Delaney, Farmer, Gill, Husenbeth).

In art, Saint Milburgh holds the abbey of Wenlock. There may be geese
near her. She is venerated at Stoke (Roeder).


St. Solomon of Brittany, Martyr
-----------------------------------------
Born in Cornwall; died 434. King Solomon of Brittany was the husband of
Saint Gwen and father of Saints Cuby and Cadfan. He was murdered by
heathen malcontents among his subjects (Benedictines, Encyclopaedia).


St. Solomon (Selyf) III, Martyr
----------------------------------------
Died 874. Several centuries after the death of Solomon I of Brittany,
this saint was born to be king of Brittany during a brutal time. He was
a warrior against the Franks, Norsemen, and his own rebellious subjects,
which has made him a hero among the Bretons. During his early years he
committed many crimes, but later did penance for them. When he was
assassinated, his people immediately acclaimed him a martyr
(Benedictines).


St. Molonachus of Lismore, Bishop
------------------------------------------------
7th century. Molonachus, a disciple of Saint Brendan, became bishop of
Lismore in Argyle (Benedictines).


St. Kenneburga, Virgin and Martyr of Gloucester, England
-----------------------------------------------------------


Sources:
========

Attwater, D. (1983). The Penguin Dictionary of Saints, NY:
Penguin Books.

Benedictine Monks of St. Augustine Abbey, Ramsgate.
(1947). The Book of Saints. NY: Macmillan.

Delaney, J. J. (1983). Pocket Dictionary of Saints, NY:
Doubleday Image.

Encyclopaedia of Catholic Saints, June. (1966).
Philadelphia: Chilton Books.

Farmer, D. H. (1997). The Oxford Dictionary of Saints.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Gill, F. C. (1958). The Glorious Company: Lives of Great Christians
for Daily Devotion, vol. I. London: Epworth Press.

Husenbeth, Rev. F. C., DD, VG (ed.). (1928). Butler's
Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints.
London: Virtue & Co.

Montague, H. P. (1981). The Saints and Martyrs of Ireland.
Guildford: Billing & Sons.

Roeder, H. (1956). Saints and Their Attributes, Chicago: Henry
Regnery.

For All the Saints:
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/ss-index.htm

These Lives are archived at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints
*****************************************

Celtic and Old English Saints          26 June

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
* St. Brannock of Braunton
* St. Babolenus of Fosses
* St. Corbican of Ireland
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


St. Brannock, Abbot of Braunton
(also known as Barnoc, Brannoc)
----------------------------------------

6th century. Saint Brannock appears to have migrated from southern Wales
into Devon. Some say that he floated over from Ireland in a stone
coffin. He founded a monastery at Braunton, near Barnstaple in
Devonshire, where William Worcestre and Leland say he was buried. The
traditions concerning him are confused. Some hagiographers identify him
as the 6th-century Welsh missionary Saint Brynach (Bernach or Bernacus).
Because there are two separate feasts at Exeter on April 7 and January 7
for the respective saints, it is unlikely that they are the same person
(Benedictines, Farmer).

The parish of St. Brannock's is a legacy of St.Brannock who first
founded the church in the sixth century. The church was built in a
wooded valley away from the main Celtic settlement, near to the
trackways which came through gaps in the river Caen and went onwards to
the saltpans of nearby Saunton or to cross the river Taw/Torridge
estuary and on down towards Cornwall. Tradition has it that St Brannoc
first built his church on a hill overlooking Braunton but it fell down,
and in a dream he was told to look for the sow and her piglets and there
to build his church. The story is still commemorated in one of the
stained glass windows and one of the roof bosses of the present St
Brannocks where if you look carefully you will see the sow and her
litter.

Three churches have been built on the site and the present church dating
from the 13th century contain elements of the church of 837 AD. The
exact locality of Saint Brannoch's tomb is now unknown, but some of his
relics are in the church and it is a place of pilgrimage for Greek
Orthodox from London.

Later the church became a minster, giving the name Brannocminster to the
Saxon settlement which grew up on both sides of the river Caen. By the
time of the conquest, the village was a royal manor of importance, equal
to Barnstaple.

Troparion of St Brannock of Braunton tone 1
Righteous tutor of the children of Brychan and great wonderworker, O
Father Brannock,/ thou didst win many souls for Christ by thy tireless
endeavours./ As Braunton's church may yet hold thy precious relics,/
Pray that we, being ever mindful of our Orthodox heritage,/ may never
deviate from the true Faith/ and, thereby, receive the reward of the
blest.



St. Babolenus of Fosses, Abbot
--------------------------------------------
Died c. 677. Babolenus migrated to France, where he became a monk at
Luxeuil under Saint Columbanus. Later he was appointed the first abbot
of Saint Peter's near Paris, which was renamed Saint-Maur-des-Fosses
when the relics of Saint Maurus where brought there from Anjou. He was
helped by Saint Fursey in the erection of many churches and hospitals in
the diocese of Paris. Together they served the whole diocese under
Bishops Audebert and Saint Landry (Benedictines, Husenbeth).


St. Corbican of Ireland, Confessor in the Low Countries
-----------------------------------------------------------------
8th century. Corbican was an Irish recluse in the Low Countries who
spent part of his day helping and instructing the peasants
(Benedictines).

Sources:
========

Benedictine Monks of St. Augustine Abbey, Ramsgate.
(1947). The Book of Saints. NY: Macmillan.

Farmer, D. H. (1997). The Oxford Dictionary of Saints.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Husenbeth, Rev. F. C., DD, VG (ed.). (1928). Butler's
Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints.
London: Virtue & Co.

For All the Saints:
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/ss-index.htm

An Alphabetical Index of the Saints of the West
http://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/saintsa.htm

These Lives are archived at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints
*****************************************