Saint of the Day: St. Keyne

(Sixth Century)

Her life

+ We know little of the life of Saint Keyne.

+ According to older traditions, she was the daughter of Saint Brychan of Brycheiniog. A beautiful girl, she refused to marry, choosing instead to offer her life to God alone.

+ Keyne eventually left her family home and crossed the Severn River, living as a solitary.

+ It is said that Keyne later traveled throughout Wales and southern England (i.e. Cornwall) establishing shrines and chapels.

+ She eventually returned to Wales and died there, possibly at Llangeinor in Glamorgan. A miraculous spring is found near Saint Keyne’s Church in Cornwall and might mark the location of the site of one of her hermitages or an early shrine.

For prayer and reflection

“I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart… I will espouse you in right and in justice, in love and in mercy; I will espouse you in fidelity and you shall know the Lord.”—Hosea 2:16b, 21-22

Spiritual bonus

On this day, we also remember Saint Laurentia. An enslaved woman in Ancona, Italy, she is credited with bringing her mistress, Saint Palatias, to faith in Christ. Saint Laurentia died as a martyr in 302, during the persecutions of the emperor Diocletian.

Prayer

O God, who declare that you abide in hearts that are pure, grant that through the intercession of the Virgin blessed Keyne we may be so fashioned by your grace, that we become a dwelling pleasing to you. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(from The Roman Missal: Common of Virgins)

Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.