"The Church in The British Isles will only begin to grow when she begins to venerate her own Saints"
-Saint Arsenios of Paros (†1877)
Περίληψη στα ελληνικά: Η αγία Μελαγγέλλα (†641 μ.Χ.) είναι μια από τις μεγαλύτερες αγίες του ορθόδοξου παρελθόντος της αρχαίας Βρετανίας. Ασκήτεψε στη Βόρεια Ουαλία, όπου "ανακαλύφθηκε" από τον πρίγκιπα
Brochfael Ysgithrog, όταν ένας λαγός, που κυνηγούσαν τα σκυλιά του, τρύπωσε στη σπηλιά της και βρήκε καταφύγιο στα ενδύματά της.
Έτσι, όπως και πολλοί άλλοι άγιοι ασκητές, η αγία έγινε κυριολεκτικά ένα με τα πλάσματα και αργότερα, όταν μια ομάδα πιστών γυναικών μόνασε κοντά της και την έκανε πνευματική δασκάλα, στο μοναστήρι τους έβρισκαν καταφύγιο τα κυνηγημένα ζώα (κανένα ζώο δε σκοτώθηκε σ' εκείνο το μέρος - άρα προφανώς και οι μοναχές δεν έτρωγαν κρέας), αλλά και οι κατατρεγμένοι και κυνηγημένοι άνθρωποι. Έγινε έτσι άσυλο ζώων και ανθρώπων, που κανείς άνθρωπος της εξουσίας δεν τόλμησε να παραβιάσει. Full of Grace and Truth
SAINT MELANGELL - Celtic
landscapes have a way of stirring the human heart with their majesty
and grandeur. They bring to mind the courageous and extremely
self-sufficient saints who abandoned everything for a life of solitude
and prayer in isolated, even treacherous, environs. These saints, by
their holy and unconventional lives, conferred peace upon the land and
the creatures because they had been liberated, at least in part, from
their fallen human nature. As the Apostle Paul succinctly states: "For
the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children
of God... because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage
to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God." (Romans 8:19,21).
St. Melangell (pronounced Mel-en-geth) is one of these saints who achieved such liberty. Through her consecrated life, she helped free the people and creation in the vicinity of her struggle to attain their supreme status of beauty and completion in God.
St. Melangell (pronounced Mel-en-geth) is one of these saints who achieved such liberty. Through her consecrated life, she helped free the people and creation in the vicinity of her struggle to attain their supreme status of beauty and completion in God.
Although
the major life of St. Melangell was not written until the fifteenth
century, it is likely that her cult flourished long before a life was
written about her, so great was the esteem with which she was held by
the local populace.
The actual
era and lineage of St. Melangell are disputed. However, even in the
misty shadows of her Irish and/or Welsh genealogy, it is certain that
she was of royal or noble lineage and, thus, was expected to marry. In
response to God's call to a life of prayer and solitude, St. Melangell
renounced her royal status for the religious life. Overlooking her
boldness, her father insisted that she marry. Desiring above all things
to be devoted to God alone, she fled Ireland around 590 and settled in
Pennant, one of the most lonely and lovely areas of Montgomeryshire
(present-day Powys), at the head of the Tanant Valley in Northern Wales.
In this spot, which came to be called "Pennant Melangell", sleeping on
bare rock with a cave as her cell, she lived a hidden life of prayer for
almost fifteen years.
Around 604,
St. Melangell was "discovered" by the Welsh Prince of Pengwern Powys,
Brochfael Ysgithrog, while he was hunting in the area around Pennant. As
his hounds pursued their prey, the frightened hare ran into a bramble
thicket for safety. Searching for the hare in the thicket, the Prince
unexpectedly found St. Melangell. She was deep in prayer and had not
heard the dogs or the horn or the sound of human footsteps. The
breathless hare had hidden itself in the folds of her garment and peered
out at the fierce hounds, trusting in its holy protectress. Prince
Brochfael signaled the dogs to snatch the hare, but they dared not
approach the saint nor would they kill the hare.
Aware now of the
situation, St. Melangell bravely drove the hounds back. The Prince had
never experienced anything like this before. He was utterly amazed and
cautiously approached the anchoress for an explanation. After hearing
her story, Prince Brochfael, deeply moved by St. Melangell's beauty,
purity and love for God, had no choice but to acknowledge her sanctity.
Nonetheless, he suggested that she leave her solitude and be wedded to
him, but she adamantly refused. Impressed by her sanctity and
determination, he donated a parcel of land, which included a churchyard
and valley, to be used by her to found a monastery. The Prince expressed
his fervent wish that the area be dedicated to the service of God. He
also requested that the land be a place of refuge for people and
animals, in particular the hares she had befriended long before the
encounter with Prince Brochfael.
Icon from here
St.
Melangell is reputed to have lived some thirty-seven years after the
hunting incident. The area did indeed become a sanctuary under the
anchoress' guardianship. During her life, no animal was ever killed on
her land. A known haven of safety not just for hares, but for all
creatures, even wild animals living in the area became tame.
Humans,
too, sought asylum from persecution, confident that neither prince nor
chieftain would set foot upon Pennant Melangell in an attempt to
violently seize them or demand unjust tribute. In time, St. Melangell
became abbess of a community of virgins who had been drawn to her holy
example, seeking their freedom as daughters of God.
The Church
of Pennant Melangell is located near Llangynog in Powys. From its first
foundation in the seventh century, it was a regular place of worship for
the local farming community. For centuries no one would kill a hare in
the church or vicinity of Pennant Melangell. Also, if anyone shouted at a
hunted hare "God and Melangell be with thee", it was sure to escape. To
this day, in honour of the saint, the hares are respected by the local
hunters and are never harmed. After her death, St. Melangell became the
tutelary saint of hares. Today, she is recognized as the Celtic
patroness of [hares, other small] animals and of the natural
environment.
Through her
resolve to maintain her spiritual focus at any cost, St. Melangell
reached a life of "glorious liberty" in which she truly participated as a
daughter of God. Local tradition holds that St. Melangell was specially
called by the Lord Himself to restore the Pennant Valley to Paradise.
Hence, her very presence imbued the land, creatures and people with joy,
peace and security. Her community imitated and memorialized her life,
bequeathing the essence of sanctity to the area forever.
(From here)
St. Melangell the Righteous of Wales (From here)
Mil engyl a Melangell (Melangell with a thousand angels)
Trechant lu fyddin y fall. (Triumphs over all the powers of evil.)
A Troparion for St Melangell in Tone 8
Preferring the rigours of monasticism to worldly status and marriage, O pious Melangell, thou wast fifteen years on a rock, emulating the example of the Syrian Stylites. Wherefore, O Saint, pray to God that He will give us strength to serve Him as He wills, that we may be found worthy of His great mercy.
(taken from here)
Ἀπολυτίκιον Ὁσίας Μελλαγέλας τῆς ἐρημίτιδος (570-641). Ἦχος α´. Τῆς ἐρήμου πολίτης.
(Ποίημα Ἰσιδώρας Καθηγουμένης Ἁγιεροθεϊτίσσης)
Τοῖς
ὁσίοις σου τρόποις, τῷ Θεῷ εὐηρέστησας, καὶ ἀγγελικὴν πολιτείαν,
Μελαγγέλα ἐπέδειξας· εὐγένειαν παρεῖδες πατρικήν, καὶ πλοῦτον καὶ τιμὴν
βασιλικήν, καὶ εἰς ἔρημον ἐλθοῦσα μοναστριῶν, παρθένων μήτηρ γέγονας.
Χαίροις της Ἰρλανδίας ὁ βλαστός, χαίροις Κελτῶν τὸ καύχημα· χαίροις τῆς
Βρεττανίας ἡ λαμπάς, τὸ κλέος Οὑαλίας τε.
Μεγαλυνάριον.
Χαίροις
βασιλόπαις θαυματουργέ, ἄνθος τῆς ἐρήμου, τῶν παρθένων ἡ καλλονή,
χαίροις ἐλεῆμον Ὁσία Μελαγγέλα· ἡ δόξα Οὑαλίας ἡ πολυσήμαντος.
(From here)
Apolytikion in the First Tone (amateur translations below)
(written by Abbess Isidora Agierotheitissa)
Through
your righteous ways and angelic life, you pleased God and were proved, O
Melangella, for you abandoned your noble birth, and royal riches and
honor, and came to the desert, becoming a mother to virgin nuns. Hail, O
root of Ireland, hail, O boast of the Celts, hail, O lamp of Brittany
and the pride of Wales.
Megalynarion
Hail,
O wondrous daughter of kings, the flower of the desert, and the
adornment of virgins, hail, O merciful Melangella the Righteous, the
most-notable glory of Wales.
Additional hymns to St. Melangell in English available here.
Click: The Saints and the animals
A visual overview of Orthodox Saints and Martyrs of the British Church
The Spirituality of the Celtic ChurchA visual overview of Orthodox Saints and Martyrs of the British Church
St. Melangell the Righteous of Wales (from here)
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