Saint Ninian

St Ninian was a Bishop and the first Apostle of the Christian Church in Scotland. He was first mentioned in the 8th century as being an early missionary among the Pictish peoples of what is now Scotland and for this reason he is known as the Apostle to the Southern Picts. There are numerous dedications to him in those parts of Scotland with a Pictish heritage, throughout the Scottish Lowlands, and in parts of Northern England with a Northumbrian heritage.

The earliest account of his Life comes from the Venerable Bede who wrote:  "the southern Picts received the true faith by the preaching of Bishop Ninias, a most reverend and holy man of the British nation, who bad been regularly instructed at Rome in the faith and mysteries of the truth; whose episcopal see, named after St Martin the Bishop, and famous for a church dedicated to him and is commonly called the White House [Candida Casa], because he there built a church of stone, which was not usual amongst the Britons ."

A later Life of Ninian, written in the 12th cent by St Aelred, gives a more detailed account of his life. He records that while he was building his church at Candida Casa, Ninian heard of the death of St Martin and decided to dedicate the building to St Martin of Tours.

St Martin died around the year 397, so we can deduce that the mission of Ninian to the southern Picts must have begun towards the end of the fourth century. St Ninian founded a Monastery at Whithorn which became famous as a school of monasticism within a century of his death.

St Ninian built his church in Wigtonshire on the shores of the Solway Firth in the south west of Scotland. His church has been excavated by archaeologists and partially restored. From his base at Galloway, he took the Gospel throughout southern Scotland, and north to an area south of the Grampian Mountains in the north east. He also embarked on missions among the Picts in the north of Scotland, travelling as far north as the Moray Firth. A stone bearing a simple Cross was found on the shores of Loch Ness, at Temple Pier at Glenurquhart, which is now part of the altar in the nearby church dedicated to his name at Glenurquhart.

St Ninian died around the year 432 and was buried in his church at Whithorn in Wigtownshire.

Prayer to Saint Ninian

O God,
who by the preaching
of your blessed Apostle and Bishop, Ninian,
caused the light of the Gospel to shine in this land:
Grant, we pray,
that having his life and labors in remembrance,
we may show our thankfulness
by following the example of his zeal and patience;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

The Feast Day of St Ninian is 16th September