Ninian
A.D. 431
September 16

In a significant way, Ninian of Galloway may have been the first truly Celtic saint. While many people of Celtic ethnicity had come to Christ in the first centuries of the Christian era, the ones we  may guess at, ie. the Celts of Galatia, Gaul and Spain, were thoroughly Romanized (referring to the culture of the Empire, not the Roman Church). Ninian was a Briton of the people of Strathclyde, an area that had come under the  influence of Roman culture. Like Patrick he had probably been exposed to Christianity, and perhaps raised as a Christian.

 Due to his physical stature his father, a local chieftan, had desired him to take up the life of a soldier. Ninian had other ideas and travelled to Rome to receive instruction in the Christian  faith. According to one version of his life, Ninian received ordination as a bishop from the Pope and began his journey homeward. During that journey he stayed for a while with Martin of Tours and was deeply impressed with the  life of ascetic solitude which Martin lived. As Martin had been influenced by the desert monks of Egypt, his influence on Ninian became one of the vehicles by which Eastern Christianity exercised great influence on the  development of Celtic Christianity.

 The records of Ninians life are quite misty. There is a reference to his evangelistic work among the Picts by Bede. A twelfth century life of Ninian by Aelred of Rievaulx  is more a medieval hagiography than an accurate life. From the traditions around Ninian we learn of his influence in the development of Pictish Christianity through one of his disciples, St. Serf. Serf in turn was master to Kentigern (Mungo) who evangelized the region of modern Glasgow and is patron of that city. Ninians community at Whithorn later received Finnian of Moville as a student. Finnian returned to Ireland and included among his students the twelve apostles of Ireland, a notable group that included Columba of Iona. A catechism attributed to Ninian is included in the office for his feast (Resource C12).

The Catechism of Ninian

What is best in this world?
To do the will of our Maker.

What is his will?
That we should live according to the laws of his creation.

How do we know these laws?
By study -- studying the Scriptures with devotion.

What tool has our Maker provided for this study?
The intellect which can probe everything.

And what is the fruit of study?
To perceive the eternal Word of God reflected in every plant and insect, every bird and animal, and every man and woman.