Saints and Saintliness

It sounds like the novel Jane Austen never got to write! But on this day dedicated to St Dwynwen, the Welsh patron saint of lovers, Azim Ahmed looks at what makes a saint in both medieval and modern times.

In this panel discussion, four experts compare stories from Catholic, Anglican, medieval and Islamic traditions. Dr David Callander has studied Welsh saints' lives in both Latin and Welsh, and fills in some of the scant detail on the life of Dwynwen, whose cult was based at Ynys Llanddwyn in Anglesey. Father Sebastian Jones of Cardiff Oratory presents the contemporary Catholic view of saints, whilst Bishop Mary Stallard, Bishop of Llandaff, gives shares her insights into the Anglican tradition. Saints are not unique to Christianity, and Professor Mark Sedgwick, based at the University of Aarhus in Denmark, explains about saints in Islam and gives some fascinating glimpses of saints in Sufi practice.