Saint Almedha

Also known as: Aled
Electa
Elined
Ellyw
Filuned
Memorial: 1 August
Profile: A princess, the daughter of King Brychan. A pious girl, she made a private vow of chastity, and dedicated her life to Jesus. When her family tried to force her into an arranged marriage for political reasons, she fled her father's kingdom. Fearing Brychan's revenge if they helped her, villages turned her away. At Brecon she acquired a small hut, and lived there briefly as a prayerful hermitess. However, Brychan found her and demanded that she return home to be married. When she refused, standing by her vows, he killed her. Legend says that a healing spring of water appeared at the site of her death, and that the villages that had turned her away were beset with disasters. She is the Luned of the "Mabinogion" and the Lynette of Tennyson's "Gareth and Lynette."
Born: Welsh
Died: beheaded in the 6th century by her father at Brecon, Wales
Canonized: Pre-Congregation
Additional Information: Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate
Catholic Online
New Catholic Dictionary
Our Sunday Visitor's Encyclopedia of Saints, by Matthew Bunson, Margaret Bunson, and Stephen Bunson
Translate: español | français | deutsch | italiano | português