About Saint Melangell - Patron Saint of Rabbits and Small Animals
In the 6th century, a prince named Brochwel Ysgithrog was hunting hares in the Tanat Valley in Wales when one of them ran to a young woman sitting alone in the forest and hid under her cloak. His hunting dogs stopped at her feet and would not move. His hunting horn fell silent. The prince dismounted.
The woman was Melangell, an Irish princess who had fled her homeland rather than accept an arranged marriage, choosing instead to live as a hermit in that Welsh valley. She had been there for fifteen years. Nobody knew she existed.
Brochwel gave her the valley. She lived there for another 37 years, never leaving, creating what is now recognized as the first recorded animal sanctuary in the history of Britain. The hares of the valley lived around her freely and were called "Melangell's lambs" by the local people for centuries after her death.
Saint Melangell's feast day is May 27. She served as abbess of her sanctuary until her death. Her shrine at Pennant Melangell in Powys, Wales, has been a place of pilgrimage for 1,400 years. The hares still live in that valley.
Her Patronage
She is the patron saint of hares, rabbits, and small animals. People who work in animal rescue, wildlife rehabilitation, and rabbit sanctuaries have claimed her as their own. So have the people who simply love a rabbit the way Brochwel's hare loved her - without reservation, without explanation.
Saint Melangell is sought by rabbit owners, animal rescue workers, wildlife advocates, and anyone asking for protection over a small animal in their care. She is also invoked for people facing situations where they need refuge - her original act was one of shelter and protection given to something vulnerable that had nowhere else to run.
The Saint Melangell Medal
This medal depicts her in profile, holding a rabbit against her chest, looking down at it with quiet attention. The natural gold or silver of the metal forms the illustration itself - black ink is applied to the pendant surface and the metal shows through as the image. A shatterproof liquid glass coating seals the surface. The rabbit is held the way she held the hare in the valley - not as a symbol, but as something alive that came to her and stayed.
Personalization and Engraving
The optional engraving on the reverse is rendered in Tangerine cursive. Two lines, up to 20 characters each. Most people engrave a rabbit's name, a date, or their own name. People who have lost a rabbit engrave its name the same way Saint Gertrude buyers engrave the names of cats they have lost.
