[MR] Wikipiedia & Others: St. Melangell

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

Today Wikipedia's featured article is about an obscure church hidden deep
in a Welsh valley that possibly dates from the early 12th century. Well
sort of. Parts of the church certainly do, though the building has been
expanded, trashed in the reformation, remodeled, rebuilt, and restored so
many times it is like the proverbial sailor's jackknife: going its sixth
blade and fifth handle, but "still original". At least some of the church
is definitely 12th century, and it may be sitting on an even older pagan
shrine.

The building in question is St. Melangell's Church near the tiny village of
Pennant Melangell in Powys, Wales. According to legend, and here's where we
get to the fun part, an Irish or Scottish princess named Melangell
(Latinized to *Monacella*, meaning " Little Nun") fled an arranged marriage
to become a hermitess and holy virgin in this remote valley. In 604 CE it
had been some 15 years since she even saw a man, and the man she
encountered just happened to be a prince with the colorful moniker of
Brochwel Ysgithrog. He was hunting hares with his dogs, and a hare he was
"harrying" had taken refuge under Melangell's skirt. Recognizing
Melangell's saintliness, Brochwel backed off. He then granted the valley to
Melangell in which to found a religious community.

Even into the 20th century, residents of the parish refrained from killing
hares. Today the Catholic Church considers Saint Melangell to be the
patroness of hares, a rather slim portfolio indeed.

So much for the hagiography. Like many saints' lives, Melangell's story has
parallels with other religious figures. Although not gory, the part about
her forced marriage echoes another Welsh saint, Winefrid. And of course,
like so many other saints, both are said to be of royal stock. Hmmm!

Whatever became of her alleged convent is not known, but Melangell was
possibly buried in a simple wooden church, later replaced by the first
phase of the current stone building. Her grave became a minor pilgrim
shrine known for healing cures. In the late 20th century a nearby cottage
became a cancer center under the leadership of a priest who also began
restoration work on the church. Today St. Melangell's continues to draw
pilgrims, including cancer victims and survivors.

The story of the church and its archaeology is found at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Melangell%27s_Church .

You can read about the saint at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melangell . A
charming portrait of Saint Melangell and a bunny, is at
https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=5057 , though the text
is largely a repeat of the Wikipedia article.

Yours Aye,


Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆
Continuing a crusade to keep Merry Rose relevant and in business.