Columba the Virgin
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{{Infobox Saint
|name=Saint Columba the Virgin
|birth_date=very late [[5th century]] possibly
|death_date=[[6th century]]
|feast_day=[[11 November]]/[[15 November]]
|venerated_in=[[Roman Catholicism]]; [[Anglicanism|Anglican Communion]]
|image=Columba3.jpg
|imagesize= 150px
|caption=From stained glass window at St. Columb Major church
|birth_place=[[Lothian]], [[Scotland]] probably
|death_place=[[Ruthvoes]], [[Cornwall]]
|titles=Virgin & Martyr
|beatified_date=
|beatified_place=
|beatified_by=
|canonized_date=
|canonized_place=
|canonized_by=
|attributes=female carrying a [[palm branch]] and a sword, a dove hovering above
|patronage=
|major_shrine=[[St Columb Major]]
|suppressed_date=
|issues=
|prayer=
|prayer_attrib=
}}
:''See [[Columba (disambiguation)]] and [[St Columb]] for other uses.''
'''Saint Columba the Virgin''' is a female saint with dedications in [[Cornwall]] and other [[Celt]]ic regions. She probably lived in the [[6th century]].
She became a Christian when the [[Holy Ghost]] appeared to her in the form of a [[dove]]. The [[Latin]] word for dove is 'columba'.
==The Legend==
The legend of Saint Columba, the Virgin, is recorded in a manuscript in the university Library of [[Cambridge]], written by [[Rosecarrack]] in the reign of [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]] and he says he gathered it from local information.
This states that Columba was the daughter of King Lodan and Queen Manigild, both pagans, and that to escape marriage with another [[Paganism|pagan]] prince she took ship for Cornwall and was followed by the prince. She landed at [[Trevelgue Head]] and was chased through the forest which is now Porth Beach, and fled up the valley, past [[Rialton]] and [[Treloy]] until she was captured at [[Ruthvoes]], two miles south of [[St Columb Major]]. There the prince cut off her head, and where the blood fell a spring gushed forth and the water following the course of her flight made the still un-named river which empties itself at [[Porth, Cornwall|St Columb Porth]].
==Analysis==
This legend bears many parallels with the legend of [[Saint Columba of Sens]] and the Greek legend of [[Arethusa (mythology)|Arethusa]] a [[Nereids|nereid]] (a water [[nymph]]). Arethusa, like Columba was a maiden, she preferred to remain chaste. During the course of her adventures, she decided to take a dip in the welcoming water. But as soon as she entered the river, she realized that she was not alone. For the god of this particular river (who was named [[Alpheus (mythology)|Alpheus]]) was roused by the sight of Arethusa, and immediately fell in love with the nymph. Arethusa fled the advances of Alpheus. However, Alpheus was not so easily deterred - the god of the river simply assumed the form of a hunter and pursued his chosen prey. Some versions of the story say that Arethusa was chased over the sea, all the way to [[Sicily]]. Finally, she found refuge on the Island of [[Ortygia]] (which is near [[Syracuse, Italy|Syracuse]]), where she called upon the goddess [[Artemis]] to rescue her. Artemis responded by transforming the nymph into a spring or fountain. And this is how the nymph Arethusa became identified with a now legendary spring.
Columba is a popular [[Irish people|Irish]] name and [[Sabine Baring-Gould]] thought she was really a man. David Nash Ford suggests her parents, Lodan and Manigild, are corrupt forms of [[King Lot|Lot]] and [[Morgause]] of [[Matter of Britain|Arthurian legend]].
==Veneration==
Dedications to Saint Columba the Virgin include:
*[[St Columb Major]], Cornwall
*[[St Columb Minor]], Cornwall
*[[Culbone]], [[Somerset]]
and originally:
*[[Plougoulm]], Brittany
In St Columb Major and Minor, her feast day is on [[11 November|11]] and [[15 November]] respectively.
==See also==
The following [[Celtic Christianity|Celtic]] saints have similar legends in that they were all maidens who were pursued and killed by [[Paganism|pagan]]s. All suffer [[decapitation]] where springs or wells then miraculously gushed forth from the spot.
*[[Saint Columba of Sens|Saint Columba]] of [[France]]
*[[Saint Columba of Spain|Saint Columba]] of [[Spain]]
*[[Saint Eluned]] of [[Wales]]
*[[Urith|Saint Urith]] of [[Chittlehampton]], [[Devon]]
*[[Saint Winefride]] of [[Flintshire]] in [[Wales]]
For a variation of the beheading legend see Saint [[Decuman]]
==External links==
*[http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/bios/columba_virgin.html Early British Kingdoms: St. Columba the Virgin]
*[http://www.cornwall-calling.co.uk/churches/st-columb.htm Cornwall Calling: St. Columb Church, Cornwall]
[[Category:5th century births]]
[[Category:6th century deaths]]
[[Category:Breton saints]]
[[Category:Cornish saints]]
[[es:Columba de Cornualles]]