- See Columba (disambiguation) and St Columb (disambiguation) for other uses.
Saint Columba of Cornwall | |
|---|---|
 From a stained glass window at St Columba's Major Church | |
| Virgin & Martyr | |
| Born | unknown Lothian, Scotland probably |
| Died | 6th century Ruthvoes, Cornwall |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholicism Anglican Communion Eastern Orthodox Church |
| Major shrine | St Columba's Church, St Columb Major |
| Feast | 11 November/15 November |
| Attributes | Female carrying a palm branch and a sword, a dove hovering above |
Columba of Cornwall (Welsh, and in Latin, translated to modern English as dove), also called Columb (English),[1] was a saint from Cornwall who lived in the 6th century. She was born to pagan royalty, but became a Christian after the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, appeared to her in a vision. Her parents arranged a marriage to a pagan prince, but she refused the marriage and they imprisoned her. She escaped to Cornwall, where she was again captured and martyred. She is the patron of two churches in Cornwall, in St Columb Major and St Columb Minor, where well-developed traditions arose about her. The traditions include a tale about a spring gushing forth along the path of her blood at the site of her execution and another about a well at the site containing water that would not boil. Various dates in November have been cited as her feast day.