Who was Saint Melangell?

Melangell (pronounced Mel-an-geth in Latin Monacella which translates to “little nun”) was a seventh or eighth century Irish princess who fled Ireland after her father set up an arranged marriage for her. Melangell wanted to live a life of prayer and solitude and found a home in what is now Wales.

Melangell lived there peacefully for fifteen years when a man named Brochwel, the Prince of Powys whose wilderness Melangell was living on, came upon her when hunting with his hounds. Brochwel’s hounds were chasing a hare who then took refuge in Melangell’s cloak. Brochwel tried to urge his hounds forward to continue hunting for the hare but they refused to go near Melangell and fled.

Having never experienced anything like this before Brochwel was moved and after hearing Melangell’s story asked her to be his wife. She refused, but Brochwel was in such awe of her story that he allowed her to take sanctuary on the land she had made a home for herself on and that no small creatures on the land would be hunted. Eventually other women found sanctuary and community with Melangell who became the Abbess of the small religious community.

Melangell spent the rest of her days there in peace helping others and after her death her tomb became a place of healing and for pilgrimage. While the abbey no longer exists a church was built in the twelfth century which became Pennant Melangell which still stands today.

Who should pray to Saint Melangell?

Saint Melangell is the patron saint of hares and small creatures, so I would say owners of hares, rabbits, and other small rodents would find some comfort in praying for their small creatures to a saint that cared about them. Since Melangell was also a woman fleeing an arranged marriage and created a sanctuary for women who may have been fleeing similar circumstances, I would say she’d accept prayers from anyone in that boat as well.

Is Saint Melangell still a saint?

Yes! Saint Melangell has two feasts days, January 31st and May 27th and is one of two female Welsh saints to have Latin hagiographies (a writing on the lives of saints). Pennant Melangell is still active and many people take pilgrimage to the site to pray to Saint Melangell.

Sources:

Bailey, Joanne. “Melangell – Saint of Hares and Rabbits.” Rabbit Retail, Rabbit Retail, 16 May 2023, rabbitretail.co.uk/blogs/news/melangell-saint-of-hares-and-rabbits?srsltid=AfmBOopCxNttjnkRAsk8QnwOY9v0O_HBZYtjkeM1Buj3zMJfXEj23FFD.

Catholic Online. “St. Melangell - Saints & Angels.” Catholic Online, www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=5057. Accessed 19 Aug. 2024.

“Home.” St. Melangell (Monacella), 29 Jan. 2017, saintspreserved.com/small_creatures/.

“Melangell and the Hare - the Story behind the Bronze Sculpture.” Mallon Ireland, mallonireland.com/pages/melangell-and-the-hare?srsltid=AfmBOopFyp7-94EB06uyXF2KYD70rrjTmH2UPYeX1xWZxW9vPdWHNd7X. Accessed 20 Aug. 2024.

“Saint Melangell - Patron Saint of Hares.” Saint Melangell Shrine Church & Centre, stmelangell.org/saint-melangell/. Accessed 19 Aug. 2024.

“Saint Melangell’s Orthodox Church.” Our Patron Saint - Saint Melangell’s Orthodox Church, www.orthodoxmanchester.org.uk/ourpatronsaints.htm. Accessed 20 Aug. 2024.

Who was Saint Lí Ban Muirgen?

Lí Ban (lee-bahn, meaning beauty or paragon of women) is an old saint, one who’s story begins in 558. She was the eldest daughter of Eochaidh (yo-HAY), the King of Ulster and a Tuatha de Danaan (TOO-ah day DAN-an), a race of people who were believed to have supernatural powers who inhabited Ireland before the arrival of the Milesians. When Eochaidh palace flooded killing all the inhabitants and forming the Lough Neagh Lake, Lí Ban and her dog were the only ones to survive.

Lí Ban and her dog found sanctuary in a cave under the new formed lake and lived there for a year. Growing tired, Lí Ban prayed to the goddess Danu and asked to be turned into a salmon so that she could swim with the fish for company. The goddess answered half of her prayer, turning her dog into an otter and Lí Ban into a mermaid.

Lí Ban swam out of the lake and into the sea where she lived for 300 years until she was captured in the nets of Beoan, a monk sent by St. Comhall with a message for Pope Gregory in Rome. Lí Ban explained that if the monks released her she would return to them on the shore in a year. Lí Ban kept her promise and St. Comhall baptized her with the name Muirgen (muh-ren, meaning sea-born). She died shortly after her baptism.

Who should pray to Saint Lí Ban Muirgen?

The Irish? Anyone who likes mermaids? I had trouble finding out who Saint Lí Ban Muirgen is the patron of, the only thing I could find was one article saying she was the “patron saint of mermaids” which checks out. Her existence is doubtful though there are records of her story in the Annals of the Four Masters as well as through generations of scéalaíocht (storytelling).

Is Saint Lí Ban Muirgen still a saint?

As far as my research told me Saint Lí Ban Muirgen is still a canonized saint which I think is very cool! Her feast day is January 27th, so if you need some extra mermaid luck on your side you can always consider sending her a prayer on that day (or do something mermaid adjacent, get trapped in a monks fishing net, pray to a goddess to turn your dog into an otter. The world is your oyster!).

Sources:

“27th January Is Feast Day of St Muirgen, Patron Saint of Mermaids.” The Portugal News, Anglopress Lda and The News Group of Newspapers, 18 Feb. 2024, www.theportugalnews.com/news/2024-02-18/27th-january-is-feast-day-of-st-muirgen-patron-saint-of-mermaids/86070.

Ardincaple, E. “The Tale of Lí Ban, the Mermaid Saint of Ireland.” Medium, Fairy Tales, Myths, & Legends, 8 Feb. 2024, medium.com/fairy-tales-myths-legends/the-irish-princess-who-became-a-mermaid-l%C3%AD-ban-of-lough-neagh-9a87ce45090b.

Everwhite, Meredith. “Li Ban, the Maiden.” The Oracle of Water, Wordpress, 27 May 2024, oracleofwater.com/li-ban-the-maiden/.

Hopkinson, Elizabeth. “A Mermaid Saint.” A Mermaid Saint, Blogger, 27 Jan. 2022, hiddengroveextra.blogspot.com/2022/01/a-mermaid-saint.html.

“Lí Ban (Mermaid).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Feb. 2024, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%AD_Ban_(mermaid).

“Lí Ban.” Oxford Reference, Oxford University Press, www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100103734. Accessed 16 June 2024.

McShane, Marianne. “Ireland’s Little Known Mermaid Saint.” IrishCentral.Com, 27 Jan. 2022, www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/irelands-little-known-mermaid-saint.

Meram, Christine. “Feast of Li Ban Muirgen, the Irish Mermaid Saint.” History of Mermaids, Wordpress, 18 Dec. 2020, historyofmermaids.com/feast-of-li-ban-muirgen-the-irish-mermaid-saint/.

“Tuatha DÉ Danann.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., www.britannica.com/topic/Tuatha-De-Danann. Accessed 16 June 2024.

Valters Paintner, Christine. “Ireland’s Mermaid Saint ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess.” Abbey of the Arts, 21 Jan. 2024, abbeyofthearts.com/blog/2024/01/21/irelands-mermaid-saint-a-love-note-from-your-online-abbess/.

What Else I’ve Been Doing:

Reading: Finished Grey Dog by Elliot Gish. Currently reading All the Dead Lie Down by Kyrie McCauley.

Listening To: Chappell Roan and this playlist Spotify made for me called Granola Vibes Writing Night.

Watching: Season Two of Six Feet Under, Season Two of What We Do In the Shadows, One Pace (Little Garden).

Who was Saint Margaret?

There are a lot of Saint Margaret’s, though only one that I know of who was swallowed by a dragon. This Saint Margaret is often referred to as St. Margaret of Antioch or Saint Marina the Great Martyr (Wikipedia).

It’s hard to say when Margaret was born, she didn’t seem to be worshipped until the eighth century (Madonna Magdalene Muse), though Wikipedia lists her birth as c.289 (Wikipedia). Margaret (or Margarita or Marina depending on the version you’re reading) was born to a pagan priest Aedesius. She was nursed and raised by a Christian woman “fifteen stades away from Antioch” and by the time she was fifteen embraced Christianity, “had committed her virginity to God,” and was disowned by her father (Madonna Magdalene Muse).

Like many stories of women holy figures, it was her beauty that ended up leading to her death (and dragon battles, apparently). A Roman official named Olybrius lusted after Margaret and wanted her as his wife or as a concubine. When he learned she was Christian, he “demanded she convert, but she – refusing to betray her faith and wishing to maintain her virginity as part of her commitment to Christ – stood her ground,” (Medieval Studies Research Blog). Margaret was then sent to prison and tortured until she relented, which of course is where the dragon comes in.

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After facing numerous beatings, Margaret apparently prayed to God asking him to either “reveal her enemy to her” (Madonna Magdalene Muse) or asks for “a more tangible opponent” (Medieval Studies Research Blog) and a demon (or in some tellings Satan) appears to her in the form of a dragon and swallows her. In some versions of the story, Margaret makes the sign of the cross before she is swallowed and the dragon bursts open (Medieval Studies Research Blog), in others her crucifix irritates the dragon’s stomach and breaks open (Aleteia). Margaret is unscathed after the dragon disappears, but unfortunately that isn’t the end of her torture.

Another demon appears, this one in the shape of a man named Beelzebub who “asserts that he has come to avenge his brother, the dragon, whom she has just killed” (Medieval Studies Research Blog). But after being swallowed by a dragon, Beelzebub is easy to get rid of, because all Margaret does is takes “him by the hair, and tramples him underfoot, beating him and interrogating him, before banishing him back to hell” (Medieval Studies Research Blog), in some versions, smashing him with a hammer (Aleteia).

But Margaret’s torture still wasn’t over. The next day, Margaret was placed in a cauldron of boiling water but as she prayed “an earthquake immediately began, freeing her from her fetters and allowing her to emerge unscathed from the cauldron as the heavenly dove descended” (Medieval Studies Research Blog).

Enraged, Olybrius ordered she be beheaded. Pitying her, the executioner allowed Margaret to pray “asking that ‘those who venerate her memory in particular ways would be freed from sins and no physically impaired child be born in their house,’” and another dove descended telling her that her prayer would be granted (Medieval Studies Research Blog). The executioner didn’t want to kill her after seeing all of this, but Margaret told him that he had too and there are implications that he died after killing her (Medieval Studies Research Blog). It’s then said that her head rose into heaven by singing angels which “tormented the demons” (Medieval Studies Research Blog).

She was fifteen when she died.

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Was Saint Margaret Real?

It’s hard to say honestly. It’s difficult to find records that Margaret existed at all. According to Madonna Magdalene Muse, “[a]lthough her story is thought to have occurred under either Diocletian or Maximian because of the widespread persecutions during this era, there are no records of her torture or death in Antioch, which is where tradition places it” (Madonna Magdalene Muse).

However, Margaret is considered one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, “a group of saints venerated together by Roman Catholic Christians because their intercession is believed to be particularly effective, especially against various diseases,” and is believed to be one of the saints that spoke to Saint Joan of Arc. (Wikpedia).

Who should pray to Saint Margaret?

Anyone who wants to be able to fight the devil when he’s disguised as a dragon. I’m kidding (but actually…), Saint Margaret is the patron saint of “kidney disease, dying people, the falsely accursed, peasants, exiles, nurses and several English and Malta towns” (Madonna Magdalene Muse). Funnily enough, Saint Margaret is also the patron saint of pregnant people and those in childbirth despite being a virgin saint, apparently described in her vita and “her dying prayer that those who invoke her aid might be healed and, specifically, that women who employ a copy of the book as a protective amulet during childbirth will be delivered of a healthy child” (The Pearl in the Dragons Belly).

Is Saint Margaret still a saint?

Saint Margaret was canonized in the Catholic Church with a feast day of July 20th, though in 1969 “due to the fantastical nature of her story, and her cult like following, the Roman Catholic Church decided to suppress her story, under the leadership of Pope Paul VI” (Madonna Magdalene Muse). So if you are or know someone getting their confirmation soon and really want to wow them, think about choosing Saint Margaret for your saint name!

Sources:

“Fourteen Holy Helpers.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Dec. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteen_Holy_Helpers.

Johnson, K. “St. Margaret and the Dragon.” The Madonna, The Magdalene, and The Muse, Wordpress, 16 Apr. 2015, https://madonnamagdalenemuse.wordpress.com/christian-saints/st-margaret-and-the-dragon/.

“Margaret the Virgin.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Mar. 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_the_Virgin.

Museum, Victoria and Albert. “St Margaret and the Dragon: V&A Explore the Collections.” Victoria and Albert Museum: Explore the Collections, https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O187332/st-margaret-and-the-dragon-statue/#:~:text=St%20Margaret%20is%20shown%20with,the%20belly%20of%20a%20dragon.&text=The%20saints%20stands%2C%20her%20hands,which%20bites%20at%20her%20robe.

Nicole. “The Pearl in the Dragon's Belly.” Medieval Studies Research Blog Meet Us at the Crossroads of Everything, University of Notre Dame, 1 Dec. 2020, https://sites.nd.edu/manuscript-studies/2015/06/04/the-pearl-in-the-dragons-belly/.

O'Neil, Anna. “This Patron Saint of Pregnancy Is Too Hardcore for Words.” Aleteia, Wordpress, 1 Sept. 2018, https://aleteia.org/2018/09/01/this-patron-saint-of-pregnancy-is-too-hardcore-for-words/.

Yes, a dog. A greyhound to be exact!

I first learned about Saint Guinefort from artist Jessica Roux’s Woodland Wardens oracle deck in which the twenty-third card, which signifies loyalty, shows a hound dog and a pear. In her description of the card, Roux tells the story of Saint Guinefort, and I was stunned to be hearing about a dog saint for the first time. Stunned, but I also couldn’t stop laughing. I mean, it’s a dog saint! I then started thinking of an alternate universe in which I had chosen Saint Guinefort as my Saint’s name instead of St. Joan of Arc (not that I actually regret choosing her, you’re the real MVP Joan!).

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Not that the church would ever let any young confirmandi choose Guinefort as their saint’s name. Let’s look into why that is.

The story goes that in the 12th or 13th century, near Lyon in France, a knight or nobleman left his home one day and trusted his dog, Guinefort, to watch his infant son. When he returned home he discovered the baby missing, his cradle upturned, and Guinefort’s mouth covered in blood. The knight/nobleman assumed the dog had killed his son and in a fit of rage killed Guinefort with his sword. When he returned to his home after killing the dog, the knight/nobleman found the baby safely alive under the crib and a dead snake mauled with dog bites. It soon became clear the Guinefort had protected the baby from the venomous viper, putting himself at risk. Guilty, the nobleman/knight buried Guinefort with a marker of stones and planted trees around the dog’s grave to honour him. There were then rumours that God avenged Guienefort’s death by destroying the nobleman/knight’s home (The Greyhound Saint).

The story of Guinefort spread and locals sainted the dog without the Vatican’s permission, as it was easier in those days to saint someone. According to The Greyhound Saint, “The Holy See was not designated as the sole authority over both beatification and canonization until the 17th century” (The Greyhound Saint).

Stephen de Bourbon, one of the first Inquisitors, was passing through the area and wanted to know more about who Saint Guinefort was. When Stephen de Bourbon made inquiries, he learned that not only was Guinefort a dog and that people prayed to him, but that many mothers would perform a changeling ritual with their infants to Saint Guinefort at his shrine and nearby forest:

Stephen de Bourbon didn’t “discipline the locals for their heresy of venerating a dog as a saint, or punish the mothers for the changeling ritual” but did “ha[ve] the dog’s bones disinterred and destroyed, and the trees which served as St. Guinefort’s shrine burned down,” (The Greyhound Saint). He then banned anyone from praying to Saint Guinefort with a penalty of “the seizure and sale of one’s possessions for anyone caught violating the ban,” (The Greyhound Saint). Stephen de Bourbon left and then retold all of this in his written word De Supersticione, and the locals did stop the changeling ritual but instead began performing a “healing rite” where people “would knot tree branches in St. Guinefort's Wood to symbolically bind a child’s ailment, thus curing the illness” a practice that continued for many centuries afterward, including the last known visit to the site for aid in the 1940s (The Greyhound Saint).

The story and honouring of Saint Guinefort can best be understood as an example of Folk Catholicism, which can be defined as “any of various ethnic expressions of Catholicism as practiced in Catholic communities. Practices identified by outside observers as folk Catholicism vary from place to place and may sometimes contradict the official teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. In general, when aspects of folk religion intermingle with Catholic beliefs in an area, folk Catholicism will result,” (Folk Catholicism (slife.org)).

Since Saint Guinefort was only recognized as a saint by the people aware of the story, he is a folk saint and not recognized as a canonized saint by the Catholic Church. So sadly, you won’t be able to choose him as your Saint’s name, but his legacy lives on, ironically, in Stephen de Bourbon’s condemnation of him, as well as the long persistent loyalty of the locals who kept his memory alive.

So here’s to Saint Guinefort, the dog saint who saved a baby and won the hearts of locals nearby. From De Supersticione to an oracle deck, to blog posts and an Etsy shop, it’s clear there are many people who still want to keep this good boy’s memory alive and his loyalty known.

The Saint Guinefort website also includes a prayer to the beloved canine, and I can think of no better way to end this post then with it:

Sources:

Association Saint Guignefort - Accueil, https://www.association-saint-guignefort.fr/.

“Folk Catholicism.” The Spiritual Life, 8 Sept. 2022, https://slife.org/folk-catholicism/.

Halsall, Paul. “Medieval Sourcebook: Stephen De Bourbon (d. 1262): De Supersticione: On St. Guinefort.” Internet History Sourcebooks Project, 8 Sept. 2000, https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/guinefort.asp.

Roux, Jessica. Jessica Roux Illustration, https://www.jessica-roux.com/.

Saint Guinefort, https://stguinefort.com/.

“Saint Guinefort.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Sept. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Guinefort.

“Saintguinefortstore.” Etsy, https://www.etsy.com/shop/SaintGuinefortStore.

“Stephen of Bourbon.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 17 Apr. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_of_Bourbon.

TheGreyhoundSaint.com, https://www.thegreyhoundsaint.com/.

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This is purely for fun. I have no idea how often it will be updated or if this whole idea will die a slow, painless death. Either way it’s here for now, and something to have fun with for however long it lives.