Saint Melangell, also known as Monacella, was a 7th-century Irish princess renowned for her deep compassion for animals and venerated as the Welsh patron saint of hares and small creatures.
1. Prince Brochwel & the Beautiful Virgin
According to Huw Pryce’s (1994) A New Edition of Historia Divinae Monacellae, there was once a great prince named Brochwel Ysgithrog, who also held the title of Earl of Chester. He resided in a town then known as Pengwern Powys, now called Shrewsbury. One day, in the year AD 604, the prince set out on a hunt in a place called Pennant in Welsh, within the lands of Powys. During the hunt, his hounds startled a hare, and both he and the dogs pursued it until they reached a large, thorny bramble bush. There, within the thicket, he discovered a "virgin beautiful in appearance", deeply absorbed in prayer and divine contemplation. The hare lay beneath the hem or belt of her robe, its face turned fearlessly and calmly toward the pursuing dogs.
As the prince approached, he called out, "Catch it, pups, catch it!" But the more he shouted, urging them forward, the more the dogs withdrew, fleeing from the small creature while howling in distress. Overcome with amazement, the prince finally turned to the virgin and asked how long she had lived alone in his lands, deep within such a remote wilderness.
2. A Runaway Princess
The virgin replied, "For the past fifteen years, I have not looked upon the face of a man at all during this time." The prince then asked her whose daughter she was, as well as where she had been born and from where she had come. With great humility, she answered that she was from Ireland, the daughter of the King of Iowchel. She explained, "Because my father had decided that I should be given in marriage to a great and noble man of Ireland, I fled my homeland, guided by God, and came here to serve Him and the spotless Virgin with my heart and a pure body for as long as I live."
3. The Prince’s Land Donation to Monacella
The prince then inquired about her name, to which she responded that she was called Monacella. Deeply moved, the prince said: "O most worthy virgin Monacella, I see that you are a true handmaiden of God and a most sincere worshipper of Christ. Since it has pleased the greatest and highest God to grant a courageous hare, through your merits, safe passage to this place and protection from the pursuit of fierce, biting hounds, I willingly grant and donate these lands to you for the service of God. Furthermore, in honour of your name, this place shall be a perpetual sanctuary, a refuge and a place of protection.
4. Melangelle the Abbess
Monacella, aka Melangell, remained in the same place for another thirty-seven years, establishing a community of nuns and serving as its abbess. The hares and wild creatures acted toward Melangell as though they were tame, and miracles were ascribed to them.
5. St Monacella's lambs
Welsh antiquarian Thomas Pennant, in his work Tours in Wales, described Melangell's association with hares, noting that they were nicknamed "St Monacella's lambs" (Welsh: Wyn Melangell) (Pennant 1810, p. 174; Pryce 1994, p. 35). Pennant also remarked that "till the last century, so strong a superstition prevaled [sic], that no person would kill a hare in the parish; and even later, when a hare was pursued by dogs, it was firmly believed, that if anyone cried 'God and St. Monacella be with thee,' it was sure to escape." (Pennant 1810, p. 174). As late as the year 1900, the locals of Pennant Melangell were noted for their refusal to kill hares (Thomas 1900, pp. 239–240).
6. Conclusion
The feast day of St. Melangell is May 27. While specific details about Melangell's dietary practices are scarce, her life of asceticism and harmony with nature suggests a lifestyle that may have included veganism. Her legacy endures at the St. Melangell's Church in Pennant Melangell in Powys, where her shrine continues to be a site of veneration. Let’s emulate her example and protect innocent creatures rather than (ab)using them for food, for clothing, for labour, for entertainment, etc.
References
Pennant, Thomas (1810). Tours in Wales. Vol. 3. Wilkie and Robinson.
Pryce, Huw (1994). “A New Edition of Historia Divinae Monacellae.” Montgomeryshrine Collections. 82: 23-40. https://journals.library.wales/view/1264487/1271085/45#?xywh=-755%2C-13%2C4527%2C4527
Thomas, N. W. (1900). "Animal Superstitions and Totemism". Folklore. 11 (3): 227–267. doi:10.1080/0015587X.1900.9719953. ISSN 1469-8315. JSTOR 1253113.
Thomas, William Jenkyn (1907). "Melangell's Lambs". The Welsh Fairy Book. T. Fisher Unwin. pp. 272–274. ISBN 9787250005481. OCLC 223250570. IA welshfairybook0000thom.
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