One of the icons on the stone screen is St Justinian. He was a contemporary of St David and lived the later part of his life as a hermit on Ramsey Island. The harbour of St Justinian’s has a ruined chapel dedicated to the saint. Like David, Justinian was a monk in the Celtic tradition, leading an austere, harsh life devoted to praying for the world.
He is shown as a rather forbidding figure, lacking the joy we associate with David. Monks in this tradition saw themselves as being in daily battle with the forces of evil which they tackled on behalf of others. Saints were human too and Justinian’s personality may simply have been different to that of David.
The Life of St Justinian
According to legend, Justinian was a Breton noble who came to Pembrokeshire in the sixth century to live on Ramsey Island as a hermit. St David visited him and was so impressed by his holiness he invited Justinian to become his confessor (the person to whom David would tell his sins). He also made Justinian the Abbot of the monastery on the mainland.
However, Justinian did not think David’s monks lived strictly enough, so he took himself back to Ramsey with a few monks to live a more austere life. The monks he took back with him rebelled and killed Justinian, cutting off his head. According to one legend, the saint was so angry, he picked up his severed head and walked back across the water, landing at St Justinian’s harbour! The holy well there reputedly sprang up where he laid his head down. He was said to have been buried in the chapel there, although his bones were later moved to the cathedral.
Monastic life
Celtic monastic daily life was one of simplicity and strict self-denial. Compared to the daily lives of many of the ordinary people of the time, the living conditions and food would not have been so different, but many monks came from aristocratic backgrounds. Their rejection of the symbols of wealth and status would have been an important sign of their faith.
Some monks, including St David and St Justinian, would stand in the cold sea praying for hours, believing the extreme discipline of their bodies helped them focus on God.
St Justinian – an unlikely friend
St Justinian is not an especially appealing figure. He was uncompromising and stern and apparently so unpopular with his community they cut off his head! But St David was impressed by his holiness and saw him as someone who was close to God. Justinian’s strict views came from his determination not to be led astray by sin. For him, the battle against evil was everything and could not be given up.
In our world today the temptations to take the popular route, to compromise our principles for an easy life can seem overwhelming but leave us feeling hollow. Whilst we may not want to follow Justinian’s lifestyle, we can look to his example to reflect on our own priorities and how well we stick to them in times of trial.
St Justinian beyond St Davids
Like St Non, St Justinian is celebrated in other places. St Just, near Land’s End in Cornwall is named after him and the church of Llanstinan near Fishguard is dedicated to him. Another legend says that he was buried there before his body was moved to the Cathedral rather than at the port of St Justinian. He is less remembered in what was said to be his native Brittany, perhaps because he never returned there.
The Normans deliberately sought to replace Celtic (and Anglo-Saxon) saints in church dedications in England and (less successfully) Wales and in calendars of church feast days with international favourites like St George. St Justinian may have once been celebrated more widely but his popularity is likely to have been confined to the Celtic lands.
St Justinian today
The holy well at St Justinian’s and the place-names are the physical reminders left of St Justinian today. Archaeological research on Ramsey Island, now run by the RSPB and a haven for seabirds and seals, has found evidence of people living there from the Bronze Age onwards, 5000 years ago.
These traces include the lost chapel of Capel Dyfanog, a medieval chapel which looked over the water to St Davids. This may be on the site of an earlier church, perhaps even St Justinian’s monastic community.
