Bede quote
The southern Picts … had … long before forsaken the errors of idolatry, and received the true faith by the preaching of Bishop Ninias. This most revered and holy man of the British nation ...

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ABOUT

SAINT NINIAN

   

The story of Whithorn Priory is inextricably linked with Saint Ninian. Ninian has been described in many ways: missionary, saint, mystical healer, bishop, scholar, teacher.


Ancient traditions about the saint
Ninian was said to come from the Solway region in the south-west of Scotland.

He trained in Rome and returned to Galloway as bishop and missionary.  He died around 431 and was buried in his church on the hilltop at Whithorn.


Notable records on Ninian

In the 700s, a Northumbrian monk and scholar named Bede wrote that Ninian built a white painted stone church at Whithorn which became known as Candida Casa, 'the white house', in Latin.

In the eighth century, a monk at Whithorn wrote a poem titled 'The Miracles of Bishop Nynia'. The poem describes wonders performed by Ninian during his life including healing the sick, growing food and staying dry in the rain while reading his prayer book.
   Saint Ninian  
The poem was written as part of a campaign to embrace and promote the cult of Saint Ninian. It was translated into Anglo-Saxon in the 800s and was widely circulated. Only one copy, discovered in Germany, has survived.

The miracles in the poem are also echoed in a twelfth century biography of the saint.