St. Winifred
Seventh century
Feast: November 3
There is no reliable biography of this Welsh martyr. According to legend, the niece of St. Beuno rejected the unwanted attentions of a chieftain’s son, who cut off her head with a sword and was swallowed up by the earth. St. Beuno miraculously restored her to life, and she either lived out her days as a nun in Wales or traveled to Rome, returning to Britain to attend a synod on hermits. In 1138 her relics were enshrined in the Benedictine abbey at Shrewsbury, England. The site of her reputed beheading, a spring called Holywell, became a famous pilgrimage destination.
Northwest Catholic - November 2020