Saint Ninian
![[Saint Ninian]](saintn38.gif "jpg detail of a holy card illustration of Saint Ninian; please do not write to ask about the image")
- Also known as
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Dinan
Ninias
Ninus
Nynia
Ringan
Ringen
- Memorial
- 16 September
- Profile
- Son of a chieftain of the Cumbrian Britons.
His father was a convert, and Ninian was raised a Christian.
Studied in Rome for fifteen years under the direction of Pope Saint Damasus I.
Priest.
Bishop, consecrated by Pope Saint Siricus c.394.
Friend of Saint Martin of Tours.
Returned home to evanglize his region, working with the Britons and Picts, and helping lay a solid foundation for the Church in Scotland.
With help from masons from Saint Martin's abbey, Ninian built his great monastery, the White House c.397, so called because the stone work was unusual in an era of wooden churches.
It was probably the first Christian settlement in Scotland, became the centre of his work, is now known as Whithorn Abbey, and is one of the holiest places in that country.
Miracle worker, known to have cured a neighboring chieftain of blindness.
Saint Aelred wrote a biography of him, and Saint Bede mentions him in the history of early evanglization in the Isles.
His tombs, and a nearby cave where he used to retreat for prayer and meditation, are still places of pilgrimage.
- Born
- c.360 at Cumbria, Britain
- Died
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c.432 of natural causes
interred at the church at Whithorn Abbey, Scotland
relics lost during the Reformation
- Canonized
- Pre-Congregation
- Patronage
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Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada, diocese of
Galloway, Scotland, diocese of
- Representation
- bishop with crozier and book
- Additional Information
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Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate
Catholic Encyclopedia, by G Roger Huddleston
Catholic Online
Christian Biographies, by James E Kiefer
Encyclopedia Brittanica
Firth's Celtic Scotland
Google Directory
Life of Saint Ninian, by Saint Aelred
New Catholic Dictionary
Our Sunday Visitor's Encyclopedia of Saints, by Matthew Bunson, Margaret Bunson, and Stephen Bunson
Saint Ninian's Cave
Saint Ninian's Church, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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