Saint Canna lived in the sixth century as a mother of saints and afterward as a nun in south Wales. Two churches in Wales are dedicated to her memory.
According to the traditional writings associated with Iolo Morganwg, Canna was a daughter of King Tewdwr Mawr of Armorica (Brittany) and Cornwall. She is remembered as the mother of the saints Crallo and Elian. Tradition holds that she was sister-in-law and cousin of Saint Illtud, and that she may have established the church at Llangan, near Llantwit, because of its nearness to him. She married Sadwrn, described as her first cousin or uncle. Together they accompanied Saint Cadfan to Britain and founded two churches, one in Carmarthenshire and another in Anglesey.
At St Canna's Church in Carmarthenshire there once stood a holy well below the old church, called Ffynnon Ganna. Its water was believed to have curative properties and drew pilgrims for many centuries; the well itself is no longer extant. Nearby, in a field by the churchyard, stood a stone known as Canna's Chair, bearing an undated inscription that may read CANNA. Her name also survives in two Cardiff districts: Canton, the English form of the Welsh Treganna (Saint Canna's Town), and Pontcanna (Canna's Bridge).
Her feast day is celebrated on 25 October. Tradition places her death about the year 501.
May Saint Canna obtain for us a generous love of family and of the Church, and help us found our lives on prayer and holy places today.