Celtic and Old English Saints 28 January =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= * St. Cannera of Inis Cathaig * St. Glastian of Kinglassie * St. Brigid and St. Maura =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
St. Cannera of Inis Cathaig, Virgin (Cainder, Conaire, Kinnera) ------------------------------------------------------ Died c. 530. Little is known of Saint Cannera except that which is recorded in the story of Saint Senan (f.d. March 8), who ruled a monastery on the Shannon River, which ministered to the dying--but only men. Cannera was an anchorite from Bantry in southern Ireland. When she knew she was dying, she travelled to Senan's monastery without rest and walked upon the water to cross the river because no one would take her to the place forbidden to women. Upon her arrival, the abbot was adamant that no woman could enter his monastic enclosure. Arguing that Christ died for women, too, she convinced the abbot to give her last rites on the island and to bury her at its furthermost edge. Against his argument that the waves would wash away her grave, she answered that she would leave that to God. Cannera told the abbot of a vision she had in her Bantry cell of the island and its holiness. Double (male and female) monasteries already existed in Ireland. Probably because Saint Cannera walked across the water, sailors honour their patron by saluting her resting place on Scattery Island (Inis Chathaigh). They believed that pebbles from her island protected the bearer from shipwreck. A 16th-century Gaelic poem about Cannera prays, "Bless my good ship, protecting power of grace. . . ." (Benedictines, D'Arcy, Markus, O'Hanlon). St. Glastian of (MacGlastian) Kinglassie, Bishop ------------------------------------------------------ Born in County Fife, Scotland; died at Kinglassie (Kinglace), Scotland, in 830. As bishop of Fife, Saint Glastian mediated in the bloody civil war between the Picts and the Scots. When the Picts were subjugated,Glastian did much to alleviate their lot. He is the patron saint of Kinglassie in Fife, and venerated in Kyntire (Benedictines, Husenbeth). St. Brigid and St. Maura -------------------------------- Daughters of a Scottish Chieftain, Martyrs in Picardy on the Way to Rome - possibly the same as Maura and Baya on November 2. See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints/message/979 Sources: ======== 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.] Husenbeth, Rev. F. C., DD, VG (ed.). (1928). Butler's Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints. London: Virtue & Co. O'Hanlon, J. (1875). Lives of Irish Saints, 10 vol. Dublin. ******************************** Suppliers of Icons of Celtic Saints for the church or the prayer corner at home. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints/message/2875 ********************************* 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 ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
