Buriana

Saint

Buriana
Stained glass window of Buriana, from St Buryan's Church
Born6th century
Ireland
Died6th century
St Buryan, Cornwall
Venerated inEastern Orthodox Church
Anglican Church
Roman Catholic Church
Major shrineSt Buryan's Church, Cornwall
Feast1 May (Church of England), 4 June (Catholic Church)

Buriana, also known as Berriona, Beriana, Buryan or Beryan,[1] was a 6th-century Irish saint, a hermit in St Buryan, near Penzance, Cornwall. Baring-Gould identifies her with the Irish saint Bruinsech.

Life

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She is said to have been the daughter of an Irish king and travelled to Cornwall from Ireland in a coracle as a missionary to convert the local people to Christianity. According to the Exeter Calendar of Martyrology, Buriana was the daughter of a Munster chieftain.[2] One legend tells how she cured the paralysed son of King Geraint of Dumnonia. Buriana ministered from a chapel on the site of the parish church at St Buryan.

Veneration

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The parish church of St Buryan, St Buryan's Church, is her primary patronage. Despite her official feast being on 1 May (recorded in the Exeter Martyrology), the parish church of St Buryan celebrates her feast on the Sunday nearest 13 May, in accordance with the old May Day of the Julian calendar. In the Roman calendar of saints, her feast is kept on 4 June.[3]

References

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  1. ^ Ellis (1992), p. 6
  2. ^ Ellis, P. B. (1992) The Cornish Saints. Penryn: Tor Mark Press, p. 6
  3. ^ "St Buryan Parish Church TR19 6BA | St Buriana". www.stburyanchurch.org.uk. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
St Buryan's Church
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Media related to Buriana at Wikimedia Commons

  • Ford, David Nash (2006). "St Buriana". earlybritishkingdoms.com. Early British Kingdoms. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  • "Saint Buriana". stburyanchurch.org.uk. St Buryan parish church. Retrieved 2 May 2022.