Святая Двинвен

St Dwynwen's day is celebrated in Wales on 25 January and commemorates the patron saint of friendship and love. It is the equivalent of Valentine’s Day for the Welsh. Dwynwen was the lovely daughter of a 5th century king, Brychan Brycheneiniog. She fell in love with a prince named Maelon, but had already been pledged to another. Maelon, in a fit of rage over not being able to marry Dwynwen, had relations with her against her will then left her. Dwynwen was so distraught and depressed over the series of events that she prayed that God would erase her memory of Maelon. As she drifted to sleep, an angel visited her and gave her a potion to forget Maelon forever. But it also caused Maelon to be frozen. The angel also granted her three wishes. Those wishes were:

1) She wished to never marry anyone.

2) She wished to become the patron saint of lovers where she could console lovers suffering in pain.

3) She wished for Maelon to be unfrozen.

All three wishes were granted and Dwynwen spent her days serving God and consoling lovers as the Welsh Saint of Love. Now, every January 25, people in Wales get together to celebrate love and St. Dwynwen. She founded a convent on Llanddwyn, off the west coast of Anglesey, where a well named after her became a place of pilgrimage after her death in 465AD. Visitors to the well believed that the sacred fish or eels that lived in the well could foretell whether or not their relationship would be happy and whether love and happiness would be theirs. Remains of Dwynwen's church can still be seen today.

from  www.historic-uk.com/

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