M

…tinguished her in life was attested by miracles after death: for the rector of the church of Dunbar, attempting to carry off her relics, encountered so great a storm that he was o

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November 9 · Virgins

Sts. Maura and Baya

Sts. Maura and Baya

…tinguished her in life was attested by miracles after death: for the rector of the church of Dunbar, attempting to carry off her relics, encountered so great a storm that he was o

Traditional feast

November 9
1914 / pre-1969 calendar, per Baring-Gould (1897)

Current feast

Not verified yet

Represents

Virgins

Early life

The book says little or nothing about early life. This is how the account begins.

Thin entry · the 1897 book gives only 63 words. We have not filled the gap with invented detail.

…tinguished her in life was attested by miracles after death: for the rector of the church of Dunbar, attempting to carry off her relics, encountered so great a storm that he was obliged to desist The chapel still exists in Little Cumbrae, near the top of the hill, a little north of the castle. It is thirty-three feet long by eighteen feet wide.

What they represent

How they teach us to live

Drawn from themes in the original account

Keep their day. Remember them on November 9 with a short prayer, and ask for their help.

Read more

The full original · 63 words

Read Baring-Gould’s full account

Baring-Gould’s sources: The Aberdeen Breviary on Nov. 3. Adam King’s Kalendar gives Maura on Nov. 2, and “ Baye, virgin in Scotland under King Donald,” on Nov. 1. It is probable that Baya has been confounded with Begha or Bees, Nov. 1. There were two S. Beghas, and Baya — only another form of Begha— is a third, distinct from the other two. Dempster, in his Scottish Menology, gives Bay, virgin, friend to Donald VI., on Nov. 1, S. Maura (Maur) was a solitary who lived at Killmaur in Ayrshire, in the reign of Donald VI. (893-904). S. Baya (Begha), who was intimate with the King, is said to have inhabited the island of Cumbrae, where she lived in solitude, surrounded by beasts and birds, and where she received the visits of S. Maura. What S. Maura learnt from this holy woman she taught to the virgins associated with her in the religious life. Nothing could exceed the austerity of these saints. S. Maura finished her life at Killmaur where she had lived. S. Baya died in her island, where a chapel was raised over her remains. The love of solitude that disNot. a.] S. WiUebold of Berkheim.

…tinguished her in life was attested by miracles after death: for the rector of the church of Dunbar, attempting to carry off her relics [the bodily remains of a saint, or objects they used, kept with honor], encountered so great a storm that he was obliged to desist The chapel still exists in Little Cumbrae, near the top of the hill, a little north of the castle. It is thirty-three feet long by eighteen feet wide.

Feast days

Feast: November 9

Nine days · Free

Pray the novena
with us.

One short email a day for nine days. The day's prayer, a line from Sts. Maura and Baya's story, and a nudge to keep going.

Also on November 9
S

St. Salaun

November 9 · Confessor
St. Victorinus

St. Victorinus

November 9 · Bishop, Martyr
T

St. Theodotus of Laodicea

November 9 · Bishop
← All 1726 saints in the library
Sources & notes

Feast-day sources

Sources

Credits

From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new edition in 16 vols. (London: John C. Nimmo, 1897–98); text from the Internet Archive scan (OCR, lightly cleaned; errors possible). Public domain.

From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new edition in 16 vols. (London: John C. Nimmo, 1897–98); text from the Internet Archive scan (OCR, lightly cleaned; errors possible). Public domain in the United States. Reproduced unedited, except for short bracketed notes in grey that we added to explain names and terms (“S.” is the old abbreviation for Saint). Some history and judgments reflect 19th-century scholarship.