St Minver’s Church, Cornwall
Today in the Orthodox Church we celebrate one of the holy children of Brychan Brycheiniog, Saint Mynfrewy ferch Brychan [also Menefrida, Menfre or Minver]. A Welsh hermitess who settled in Cornwall, she has been venerated there since the sixth century.
She apparently began her eremitical life early in Wales, as there are place-names like Minwear in Dyfed which attest to her presence. However, she soon moved across the Bristol Channel to Cornwall to evangelise the people of that peninsula. She landed first at Trebetherick, and then moved a little ways inland to the current stead of St Minver by Padstow, where she set up her cell.
She had a holy well there, and she would often go there to brush out her hair with a comb. One story relates that the Devil came there to try to tempt her as she was brushing her hair. To prevent him from drawing any closer, Saint Mynfrewy threw the comb at him with formidable acuity and hit him, causing him to fly off before returning to Hell through Lundy Hole.
She reposed in the Lord on the twenty-fourth of November, and was buried near her cell. Holy anchoress Mynfrewy, pray to Christ our God for us sinners!
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