20. SAINT BENIGNUS OF GLASTONBURY
St. Benignus (Beonna) is not commemorated on Anglo-Saxon calendars, and it is possible that in some details of his life he has been confused with an Irish saint of a similar name. Nevertheless, there is fairly strong evidence that there was a holy man of this name living near Glastonbury.
According to our main source, William of Malmesbury, St. Benignus was born in Ireland, and was converted to Christianity together with his whole family by St. Patrick. Benignus became very attached to St. Patrick and left home to follow him. In 442 Patrick founded a monastery at Druimlias, and three years later made Benignus the abbot. He remained there for 20 years, and was then made Bishop of Armagh, dying in 468.
According to another of William's works, however, Benignus did not die in Ireland but resigned his bishopric and came to Somerset in about 460, establishing himself as a hermit at Meare (Ferramere), about three miles from Glastonbury. «How much favour he found with God is revealed by many signs and miracles; witness the marks of his presence still at Meare, the broad expanse of water granted at his prayers and the huge leafy tree that flourished from his withered staff.» He built a causeway from his hermitage to the Old Church at Glastonbury, and since his servant Pincius had to go a long way to get water he caused a spring to break out next to his cell by his prayers. He died at Meare «after endless struggles», and until about 1530 the church at Meare was called S. Bennynge. The following inscription was on his tomb:
In this tomb Father Beonnás bones are placed,
Who was father of the monks in ancient times.
He was, in all probability, Patrick's servant for a long time.
So say the Hibernians, and they call him "Beonná.
It is usually thought that St. Benignus or Beonna was an Irish hermit whom the Irish pilgrims to Glastonbury associated with St. Patrick. However, some scholars believe that he was a Saxon, since «Beonna» is a Saxon name. H.M Porter suggests that «Beon was an Irishman and that the Irish schoolmasters [of St. Dunstan, in the early 10th century] called him Beonna when talking about him to the local Saxons and further confused matters by identifying him with Benen or Benignus [of Armagh].»
In 901, St. Benignus» relics were translated to Glastonbury. According to John of Glastonbury, they were taken by boat from Mere to Glastonbury, but the boat had to berth some way from the monastery, so the relics were then carried on foot to a spot about halfway between the landing place and the monastery. There a sermon on the life of the saint was delivered, together with the reasons for the translation. After the sermon one of the bones of the saint was removed from the reliquary and the sign of the cross was made with it over the crowd, whereupon «such grace of Divine generosity flowed out upon the people that those vexed with various illnesses and those who bore the dangers of diverse infirmities, the blind, the mute, and the lame, were healed. Many, whom the agony of their internal organs tortured, vomited forth the death hidden within them.» Then the relics were taken on to the monastery, where a new church dedicated to the saint was built at the place where they rested.
In 1027 King Hardacanute donated a shrine in which, in the time of Abbot Thurstand (1100–1116) the relics of St. Benignus were placed. In 1475 and again in 1487 reference was made to the saint's church, and it is known that a church dedicated to St. Benignus stood to the west of the monastery ruins until sometime in the last century, when it was rededicated to St. Benedict.
Holy Father Benignus, pray to God for us!
(Sources: William of Malmesbury, The Early History of Glastonbury, edited by John Scott, The Bodyell Press, Woodbridge, 1981, pp. 63, 157, 170–171; Lionel Smithett Lewis, Glastonbury – Her Saints, Wellingborough: Thorsons, 1985, pp. 18–19; John Seal, The Dark Age Saints of Somerset, Lampeter: Llanerch Enterprises, 1995, pp. 87–90; H.M. Porter, The Celtic Church in Somerset, Bath, 1971, pp. 61–63)