St. Piran of Cornwall (SAE 01)

In the Early Middle Ages, Ireland was the source of many missionaries. Perhaps no Irish monk set out for his mission in a more dramatic fashion than St. Piran (Peran in Cornish; d. 480): He was thrown off a cliff in the middle of a storm with a millstone tied round his neck. Already somewhat advanced in years and with a well-deserved reputation for healing, St. Piran had incurred the jealousy of the local Irish chieftains. He did not die according to plan, however. Tradition tells us that the millstone popped up like a cork, acted as a raft, and St. Piran floated on it safely to the coast of Cornwall, England. Upon disembarking at Perran Beach, he made his first converts: a bear, a badger, and a fox. He built an oratory nearby which is, perhaps, still “the oldest place of Christian worship in England with its four walls still standing”. And, he established the Abbey of Lanpiran and several other churches, chapels, and holy wells. St. Piran died at his Oratory of natural causes on 5 March 480. + St. Piran is patron saint of Cornwall, tin miners (and, by extension, miners in general), and Piran, Slovenia. [Other than the coincidence of name, we are at a loss to explain the Saint’s patronage of the Slovene city. Rather, St. George is usually cited. Clarification welcome.] + Feast: March 5 + The figure of St. Piran is a pastiche of elements—a hand here, another hand there, etc.--primarily drawn from various Pustet devotional prints grafted onto the base figure of St. Simon Stock. St. Piran’s Oratory held in his right hand is derived from a 19th-century engraving; the chough (or palores in Cornish) perched on his left hand, from heraldry. His brooch is patterned after an Irish altar stone. + Image Credit (SAE 01): A Saints_Aplenty Exclusive.