At one time in his life this saint dwelt in the {54} Cunningham
district of Ayrshire, where his name survives in the Abbey of
Kilwinning (Church of Wynnin or Finian). He is said to have come
there from Ireland with a few companions and to have established
monastic life in that place, which was afterwards the site of a
famous Benedictine Abbey. A like miracle is related of him here. He
is said to have changed the course of the river Garnoch. He seems to
have preached the Faith at Dairy, in Ayrshire, also; for a hill hard
by is called Caer-winning, and there, as at Kilwinning, is a holy
well bearing the saint's name. An annual fair, still known as "St.
Wynnin," is held at Kilwinning.
The saint departed this life at Lucca, where his body is venerated in
the church of St. Frigidian. His feast occurs in March in some
calendars, and in others in September. By some writers the names of
Finian, Wynnin, and Frigidian have been considered as representing
distinct persons; but modern research has pronounced them to be
merely different forms of the same name and to refer to the same
saint. {55}
30--St. Olaf or Olave, King and Martyr, A.D. 1030.
He was the son of Harald, King of Norway, and became a Christian at
an early age. Exiled from his country after his father's death by
powerful enemies, he spent many years of his life in piratical
warfare. Having embraced the Christian Faith himself, he resolved to
deliver his country from the usurping power of the Swedes and Danes,
and establish the Christian religion, together with his own lawful
sovereignty. Success crowned his efforts, and he was enabled to
release his people not only from foreign domination but also from the
thralls of paganism, many of them embracing Christianity. His
enemies, however, proved too strong for him, and he was again exiled
and took refuge in Russia. Returning soon after, he raised an army to
recover his kingdom, but was slain by his infidel and rebellious
subjects in a battle at Drontheim.
A just and brave ruler, zealous for the Christian religion, though
not altogether free from grievous offences against its laws, Olaf, by
his unswerving faith, his devotion and penance, {56} won the title of
saint and martyr. He was buried at Drontheim, and a magnificent
cathedral arose over his remains. His body was found incorrupt in
1098, and again in 1541 when the shrine was plundered by the
Lutherans. On that occasion the heretics treated the body with
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