Saint Ninian (Bishop. 5th century)
It is pleasing to tell that Saint Ninian has re-gained some popularity since the visit of Pope Benedict to Scotland a few years ago. There is an increase in the number of books and articles about different aspects of his life, but sadly, there is little or no new evidence available about this holy man of God or meaningful interaction with the primary sources. There are, however, questions, interpretations and arguments continually raised by academics about the ‘real’ identity and life of this proto-evangelist of our nation – his date and origins, his role and achievements, his means and locus of his mission and ministry.
If we are to rely on so-called 12th century ‘traditional narrative’ of Ninian’s Life by Ailred[1] containing almost everything that is in Bede,[2] and the eighth-century Miracula Nynie Episcopi,[3] then we find statements about both the fixed date for the life of Ninian and the construction of his ‘monastery’ Candida Casa. The purpose of both the Miracula (as its title shows) and Ailred's Life are not to provide all the facts of Ninian's life, but to emphasise Ninian’s holiness through his miracles. Bede’s account may be more factual (as told to him), and Clancy opines that this account is a concise later addition to Bede’s original text that suits his purpose implicitly by comparing ‘a type of ecclesiastical organisation he disliked with one of which he completely approved’, resulting in many contentious and unproven points.[4]
The story that follows, therefore, draws from the ‘traditional narrative’ and other various sources, and doing so with a conscious knowledge of some of the difficulties indicated by numerous academics and experts on our subject.[5]
The story goes that Ninian, a Briton, was born around AD 360, and his father was a British chieftain who had converted to Christianity. As the young Ninian had a strong desire to study Christianity, he travelled to Rome to further his learning. The Pope of the time welcomed Ninian and arranged that Church tradition, dogmas and doctrines were available to study0. After a period of some fifteen years in Rome, Ninian was ordained to the priesthood and episcopate by Pope Saint Siricius, and sent back to evangelise in his native country, establishing a small monastic community in the region now called Galloway before setting out to evangelise other areas of the country. He was the first missionary bishop residing in Scotland of whom there is any record.
Although Bede acknowledges Ninian’s mission to the Southern Picts who inhabited the old Roman province of Valentia south of the Forth, others consider that the early missionary activity in the Eastern and Northern reaches of Scotland were initiated by Ninian and his small band of evangelists, thereby preparing the way for the advent of Columba’s later re-evangelisation of the country. The most influential and successful were Saint Drostan and his ‘Three’, more of which elsewhere on this site.
There may be some truth in that Ninian’s recollection of the churches that he had seen during his travels on mainland Europe had inspired him to build something more substantial than the simple buildings that he found in Galloway. It may also be possible that through his contacts made in Europe, he arranged for masons from Gaul to complete the first stone church in Britain called Candida Casa, or ‘White House’, on the Isle of Whithorn peninsula.
Ninian laboured long and hard and was more than seventy years of age when he died, and was buried at the church that he had built and dedicated to Saint Martin. Later the church was renamed after Ninian and became renowned for pilgrimages from Scotland, Ireland and England. So many churches in Scotland were built and dedicated thereafter to Saint Ninian, and a pre-reformation memorial altar was endowed by the Scottish nation in the Carmelite Church at Bruges. Some would argue that the majority of places named after Ninian date from some centuries later when his cult gained popularity, or when it was pitted against Columba’s increasingly popular cult, particularly in the 8th to 12th centuries.[6]
During some restoration work at a church in Turriff, Aberdeenshire, during the 19th century, workmen discovered a piece of an old fresco with a portrait of Saint Ninian. Further west, the old ‘Burgh of Nairn’ was placed under his patronage, and many holy wells from Galloway to Orkney bore his name. Ninian’s feast traditionally held on 16th September was extended to the whole Scottish Church by Leo XIII in 1898, and continues to be celebrated on 26th August.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vita_Sancti_Niniani
[2] Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, rev. edn (London: Penguin, 1990)
[3] St Nynia. With a translation of the Miracula Nynie episcopi and the Vita NinianiBracken, Damian; MacQueen; MacQueen, John; Winifred.
[4] Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, rev. edn (London: Penguin, 1990)
[5] SAINT NINIAN: SOME OUTSTANDING PROBLEMS by Alexander Boyle in Innes Review p1.
[6] Saints of Scotland, E.S. Towill (Sst Andrew’s Press, Edinburgh, 1983) p.203
If we are to rely on so-called 12th century ‘traditional narrative’ of Ninian’s Life by Ailred[1] containing almost everything that is in Bede,[2] and the eighth-century Miracula Nynie Episcopi,[3] then we find statements about both the fixed date for the life of Ninian and the construction of his ‘monastery’ Candida Casa. The purpose of both the Miracula (as its title shows) and Ailred's Life are not to provide all the facts of Ninian's life, but to emphasise Ninian’s holiness through his miracles. Bede’s account may be more factual (as told to him), and Clancy opines that this account is a concise later addition to Bede’s original text that suits his purpose implicitly by comparing ‘a type of ecclesiastical organisation he disliked with one of which he completely approved’, resulting in many contentious and unproven points.[4]
The story that follows, therefore, draws from the ‘traditional narrative’ and other various sources, and doing so with a conscious knowledge of some of the difficulties indicated by numerous academics and experts on our subject.[5]
The story goes that Ninian, a Briton, was born around AD 360, and his father was a British chieftain who had converted to Christianity. As the young Ninian had a strong desire to study Christianity, he travelled to Rome to further his learning. The Pope of the time welcomed Ninian and arranged that Church tradition, dogmas and doctrines were available to study0. After a period of some fifteen years in Rome, Ninian was ordained to the priesthood and episcopate by Pope Saint Siricius, and sent back to evangelise in his native country, establishing a small monastic community in the region now called Galloway before setting out to evangelise other areas of the country. He was the first missionary bishop residing in Scotland of whom there is any record.
Although Bede acknowledges Ninian’s mission to the Southern Picts who inhabited the old Roman province of Valentia south of the Forth, others consider that the early missionary activity in the Eastern and Northern reaches of Scotland were initiated by Ninian and his small band of evangelists, thereby preparing the way for the advent of Columba’s later re-evangelisation of the country. The most influential and successful were Saint Drostan and his ‘Three’, more of which elsewhere on this site.
There may be some truth in that Ninian’s recollection of the churches that he had seen during his travels on mainland Europe had inspired him to build something more substantial than the simple buildings that he found in Galloway. It may also be possible that through his contacts made in Europe, he arranged for masons from Gaul to complete the first stone church in Britain called Candida Casa, or ‘White House’, on the Isle of Whithorn peninsula.
Ninian laboured long and hard and was more than seventy years of age when he died, and was buried at the church that he had built and dedicated to Saint Martin. Later the church was renamed after Ninian and became renowned for pilgrimages from Scotland, Ireland and England. So many churches in Scotland were built and dedicated thereafter to Saint Ninian, and a pre-reformation memorial altar was endowed by the Scottish nation in the Carmelite Church at Bruges. Some would argue that the majority of places named after Ninian date from some centuries later when his cult gained popularity, or when it was pitted against Columba’s increasingly popular cult, particularly in the 8th to 12th centuries.[6]
During some restoration work at a church in Turriff, Aberdeenshire, during the 19th century, workmen discovered a piece of an old fresco with a portrait of Saint Ninian. Further west, the old ‘Burgh of Nairn’ was placed under his patronage, and many holy wells from Galloway to Orkney bore his name. Ninian’s feast traditionally held on 16th September was extended to the whole Scottish Church by Leo XIII in 1898, and continues to be celebrated on 26th August.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vita_Sancti_Niniani
[2] Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, rev. edn (London: Penguin, 1990)
[3] St Nynia. With a translation of the Miracula Nynie episcopi and the Vita NinianiBracken, Damian; MacQueen; MacQueen, John; Winifred.
[4] Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, rev. edn (London: Penguin, 1990)
[5] SAINT NINIAN: SOME OUTSTANDING PROBLEMS by Alexander Boyle in Innes Review p1.
[6] Saints of Scotland, E.S. Towill (Sst Andrew’s Press, Edinburgh, 1983) p.203