Saint Sulien

Saint Sulien, Sulian, or Silin was the reputed 6th-century founder-abbot of a monastery at Luxulyan ("Chapel of Sulien")^[1] in Cornwall. His feast day is 29 July. He is likely the same as the Saint Sulien of Cornouaille and Domnonée.^[2][3] The prefix "lux" is equivalent to "loc" which means place. It is common in Brittany, but not in Cornwall, which suggests this is a Breton foundation.^[4]

Saint Sulien
Born	c. 6th century
Died	c. 6th century probably Luxulyan, Cornwall
Venerated in	Christianity
Feast	29 July

Etymology

Sulien is a Welsh variant of the given name "Julian," but has also been interpreted as being derived from the Welsh sul, meaning "sun" + geni, meaning "born," Sulien being the name of a Celtic solar deity.^[5]

There have probably been other Christian Celtic saints with the same (or similar) name, and a variant of it is also used as an alias of Saint Tysilio.

Other Saint Suliens

Confusion has arisen between different legends of Celtic saints with the name Sulien (in a variety of spellings). The most commonly encountered are:

• Saint Sulien the Wise, bishop of St Davids.^[6]
• Saint Sulinus of East Brittany – feast day 1 October.
• Saint Suliau (of Wales) or Saint Tysilio, a Welsh prince – feast day 8 November.
• Saint Sulien and his brother (or cousin Saint Maël) of Corwen in mid-Wales.

See also

• SS Mael and Sulien's Church, Corwen

References

• Cornwall portal

1. Orme, Nicholas. The Saints of Cornwall, OUP Oxford, 2000, p. 23 ISBN 9780191542893
2. "Sulian", The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, 5th ed. (David Farmer, ed.) OUP, 2011 ISBN 9780199596607
3. Rees, Elizabeth. Early Christianity in South-West Britain, Oxbow Books, 2020, p. 208 ISBN 9781911188582
4. Rees, Elizabeth. Dictionary of Celtic Saints, The History Press, 2012, no pagination ISBN 9780752490175
5. Doble, G. H. (1970) The Saints of Cornwall: part 5. Truro: Dean and Chapter; pp. 104–126
6. Davies, W. H., "Sulien, ' Sulgenus ', surnamed ' The Wise '; 1011 - 1091, teacher and Bishop of St David's". Dictionary of Welsh Biography,(1959)

Sources

• "Saint Sulian: founder of Luxulyan church (?)" in: G. H. Doble, The Saints of Cornwall; part 5: Saints of Mid-Cornwall. Truro: Dean and Chapter, 1970, pp. 104–26