Justinian of Ramsey Island

Last updated

Saint Justinian
Confessor
Born5th century
Brittany
Died6th century
Ramsey Island, Pembrokeshire
Venerated in Eastern Orthodox church
Roman Catholic Church
Anglican Communion
Major shrine St David's Cathedral
Feast 5 December

Saint Justinian (Welsh : Stinan, Jestin, Iestin) was a 6th-century hermit who lived on Ramsey Island, near St. David's, in the Welsh county of Pembrokeshire.

Contents

Traditional life

Tradition states that he was a Breton nobleman who settled on the island of Ramsey as a hermit. Justinian would stand in the cold sea praying for hours, believing the extreme discipline helped him focus on God. He was visited by Saint David who was so impressed with his holiness that he made him his confessor and abbot of the monastery on the mainland. [1] However, Justinian became disillusioned with the poor attitude of the monks at St Davids and took himself away the short distance to remote Ramsey Island to establish a more holy spiritual community. His more loyal monks followed him. Legend has it that he was eventually murdered by some disgruntled servants or monks fed up with his strict regime, it is said by beheading him.

St. Justinians Chapel Augst 2 1810 St. Justinians Chapel Augst 2 1810.jpeg
St. Justinians Chapel Augst 2 1810

Apparently he picked up his head and crossed Ramsey Sound walking on the water carrying his head in his arms and his body was buried in the small ruined chapel which still stands on the mainland at St Justinian's, immediately opposite his island home; his bones were later moved to St Davids Cathedral. [2] [3] During the reformation, Bishop William Barlow was strongly opposed to the veneration of relics, pilgrimages, and other Catholic practices. In an attempt to suppress the cult of St David, at St David's Cathedral, in 1538 he stripped St David's shrine of its jewels and confiscated the relics of St David and St Justinian in order to counteract "superstition".

Veneration

St Just in Roseland church St Just in Roseland church.jpg
St Just in Roseland church

Justinian is listed on very ancient Welsh calendars of saints and martyrs.

Archaeological studies indicate an early medieval ecclesiastical site on the Ramsey Island. There may have been a chapel "dedicated to St Justinian and thought to have possibly been located at the southerly end of the island." [4]

St Justinian in St Davids and the Cathedral Close is named for him. St Justinian's Well (a 19th-century stone enclosure over an ancient spring) is located here. [5] The bay on which St Justinian is located is called Porthstinian.

St Just in Roseland is also named for him, and the Anglican church at Llanstinan, near Fishguard, is dedicated to him. [6] The small church at Freystrop, near Haverfordwest, is also dedicated to him.

Related Research Articles

Saint David Patron saint of Wales (c. 500 – c. 589)

Saint David was a Welsh bishop of Mynyw during the 6th century. He is the patron saint of Wales. David was a native of Wales, and tradition has preserved a relatively large amount of detail about his life. His birth date, however, is uncertain: suggestions range from 462 to 512. He is traditionally believed to be the son of Saint Non and the grandson of Ceredig ap Cunedda, king of Ceredigion. The Welsh annals placed his death 569 years after the birth of Christ, but Phillimore's dating revised this to 601.

St Davids Cathedral city in Pembrokeshire, Wales

St Davids or St David's is a city and a community with a cathedral in Pembrokeshire, Wales, lying on the River Alun. It is the resting place of Saint David, Wales's patron saint, and named after him. St Davids is the United Kingdom's smallest city in population and urban area. St Davids was given city status in the 12th century. This does not derive automatically from criteria, but in England and Wales it was traditionally given to cathedral towns under practices laid down in the early 1540s, when Henry VIII founded dioceses. City status was withdrawn in 1886, but restored in 1994 at the request of Queen Elizabeth II. St Davids is also known archaically by the name Meneva or Menevia.

Ramsey Island

Ramsey Island is an island about 1 kilometre off St David's Head in Pembrokeshire on the northern side of St Brides Bay, in southwest Wales, in the community of St Davids and the Cathedral Close. It is 259 hectares in area. Ramsey means Hrafn's island.

Deiniol

Saint Deiniol was traditionally the first Bishop of Bangor in the Kingdom of Gwynedd, Wales. The present Bangor Cathedral, dedicated to Deiniol, is said to be on the site where his monastery stood. He is venerated in Brittany as Saint Denoual. In English and Latin his name is sometimes rendered as Daniel.

Diocese of St Asaph Anglican diocese of the Church in Wales

The Diocese of Saint Asaph is a diocese of the Church in Wales in north-east Wales, named after Saint Asaph, its second bishop.

Diocese of Monmouth Anglican diocese of the Church in Wales

The Diocese of Monmouth is a diocese of the Church in Wales. Despite the name, its cathedral is located not in Monmouth but in Newport — the Cathedral Church of St Woolos. Reasons for not choosing the title of Newport included the existence of a Catholic Bishop of Newport until 1916. This apparent anomaly arose in 1921 when the diocese was created with no location for the cathedral yet chosen. Various options were being considered, such as restoring Tintern Abbey, building from scratch on Ridgeway Hill in Newport, and upgrading St Woolos, then a parish church; in the meantime the new diocese, as it covers more or less the territory of the county of Monmouth, was named the "Diocese of Monmouth". Prior to 1921 the area had been the archdeaconry of Monmouth.

Diocese of Llandaff Anglican diocese of the Church in Wales

The Diocese of Llandaff is an Anglican diocese that traces its roots to pre-Reformation times as heir of a Catholic bishopric. It is headed by the Bishop of Llandaff, whose seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Llandaff, a suburb of Cardiff. It currently covers most of the former Welsh county of Glamorgan, but once stretched from the River Towy to the middle of the Wye Valley.

March 3 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

March 2 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - March 4

Llangynog, Carmarthenshire Small settlement in Carmarthenshire, Wales

Llangynog is a small rural community located in Carmarthenshire, Wales the main settlement of which was once called ‘Ebenezer’village. It is bordered by the communities of: Newchurch and Merthyr; Carmarthen; Llangain; Llansteffan; Laugharne Township; and St Clears, all being in Carmarthenshire. The population at the 2011 census was 492.

Llandecwyn Human settlement in Wales

Llandecwyn is a hamlet near Penrhyndeudraeth in Gwynedd, Wales.

Llandeilo Llwydarth or Llandilo is an ancient area and parish in the Preseli Hills between Llangolman and Maenclochog in the community of Maenclochog, Pembrokeshire, Wales.

Saint Teilo Early medieval Welsh Bishop and saint

Saint Teilo, also known by his Cornish name Eliud, was a British Christian monk, bishop, and founder of monasteries and churches. He was from Penalun (Penally) near Tenby in Pembrokeshire, south Wales.

Llaneilian Human settlement in Wales

Llaneilian is a village and community in the Welsh county of Anglesey. It is located in the north east of the island, 2.2 miles (3.5 km) east of Amlwch, 16.5 miles (26.6 km) north west of Menai Bridge and 12.5 miles (20.1 km) north of Llangefni. The community includes the villages and hamlets of Dulas, Llaneilian, Pengorffwysfa, Cerrig Man and Penysarn, Gadfa and Nebo, and at the 2001 census had a population of 1,192, decreasing slightly to 1,186 at the 2011 Census. The parish is crowned by its hill, Mynydd Eilian, a HuMP, popular with walkers and ramblers, and its beach, Traeth Eilian, which is popular with holidaymakers and for watersport activities. At the north easternmost point is Point Lynas,, while Ynys Dulas lies off the North East coast of the island, east of Dulas Bay.

December 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

December 4 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - December 6

Penderyn, Rhondda Cynon Taf Human settlement in Wales

Penderyn is a rural village in the Cynon Valley, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, located near Hirwaun.

St Justinian Place in Pembrokeshire, Wales

St Justinian is a coastal location of indeterminate area in the extreme northwest of Pembrokeshire, Wales, in the community of St Davids and the Cathedral Close.

Scleddau Human settlement in Wales

Scleddau is a village and a community in the county of Pembrokeshire, Wales, and is 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Fishguard on the main A40 road. The Western Cleddau river which lends its name to the village flows under the main road. There are several springs in the village.

Aelhaiarn

Saint Aelhaiarn or Aelhaearn was a Welsh confessor and saint of the British Church. He was a disciple of Saint Beuno. His feast day was usually observed on 2 November, although it is sometimes recorded as the 1st and is no longer observed by either the Anglican or Catholic church in Wales.

Llanstinan Rural parish in Wales

Llanstinan is a rural parish in the community of Scleddau, north Pembrokeshire, Wales, 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Fishguard.

St Justinians Chapel Church in Wales

St Justinian's Chapel in Pembrokeshire, Wales, is now a roofless shell; the current structure was probably erected in the 16th century on earlier foundations, which may date from the time of the 6th and 7th century Saint Justinian to whom it is dedicated. The chapel is a Grade I listed building.

References

  1. "Who is St Justinian?", St. David's Cathedral
  2. Horstman, C. (1901). Nova Legenda Angliae. Vol. II. pp. 93–95.
  3. Farmer, David (1978). Oxford Dictionary of Saints. Clarendon Press. pp. 228–229.
  4. "St Tyfanog's Chapel, Chapel Site, Ramsey Island Farm (419235)". Coflein. RCAHMW . Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  5. Cadw. "St Justinian's Well (Grade II) (12693)". National Historic Assets of Wales .
  6. "St Justinian's Church, Llanstinian (231)". Coflein. RCAHMW.