Dr. John (Ellsworth) Hutchison-Hall

Eastern Orthodox Christian theologian, historian, philosopher, and cultural commentator.

            

Orthodox Saints of the Pre-Schism See of Rome

ATTO of OCA, a monk at Oña in Old Castile (Spain), where he was a disciple of St. Iñigo (vide infra). St. Atto later served as Bishop of Oca-Valpuesta (Spain), reposing circa 1044.

CAPRASIUS of LÉRINS, a hermit on the Île de Saint-Honorat, one of the Lérins Islands in the Mediterranean Ocean off the Côte d’Azur in present-day France. There he was joined there by SS. Venantius (30th May) and Honoratus (16th January). Later all three spent time living and studying in monastic communities in Greece, Egypt, and the Holy Land. St. Caprasius succeeded St. Honoratus as Abbot of the Abbey of Our Lady of Lérins (abbaye Notre Dame de Lérins) when St. Honoratus was consecrated Bishop of Arles (southern France). St. Caprasius reposed circa 430.

CLARUS (CLAIR) of AQUITAINE, (Fifth Century), the first Bishop of Aquitaine (south-western France). All that is known of this saint is based upon pious legends as there is no contemporaneous documentation of his life. St. Clarus was martyred whilst attempting to convert the local pagans. His relics are enshrined in the Cathédrale Saint-Gervais-et-Saint-Protais de Lectoure (Lectoure Cathedral) in present-day south-western France.

CRESCENTIUS (CRESCENTIAN), said to have been an Imperial Roman soldier and convert to Christianity, who was martyred by pagans in 303 near Città di Castello in Umbria (Italy), during the Diocletianic Persecution (303–313). However, it is highly possible St. Crescentius is entirely apocryphal.

FELINUS and GRATIAN, two soldiers in the imperial army who were martyred in 250 at Perugia during the Decian Persecution (250–251).

FORTUNATUS of SPOLETO, a parish priest near Spoleto in Umbria (Italy), and wonderworker. St. Fortunatus was also known for his skills as a pastor, and care for the destitute. He reposed circa 400.

GAUDENTIUS of OSSERO, consecrated Bishop of Ossero in Istria (present-day Croatia) in 1030. Having been slandered by some of the area’s nobility, St. Gaudentius went to Rome to defend himself against the charges. As he was returning to his See, St. Gaudentius fell ill in Ancona in the Marches (Italy). After recovering he resigned his See (1032) and spent the rest of his life as a monk, reposing in 1044.

IÑIGO (EÑECO), the second Abbot of the Monastery of Holy Saviour of Oña (Monasterio de San Salvador de Oña), in the Kingdom of Castile (Spain). Known for his sanctity of life and wonderworking, St. Iñigo served as Abbot from 1038 until his repose in 1057.

Icon of St. Justin the Philosopher

Icon of St. Justin the Philosopher

JUSTIN the PHILOSOPHER (JUSTIN MARTYR), raised a pagan in the Holy Land, as an adult St. Justin was a philosopher who, about the age of thirty, converted to Christianity from his reading of the Scriptures and observing the strength and stoicism of martyrs. He went to Rome where he opened a school and turned his philosophical training to Christian Apologetics, resulting in a plethora of important works. Though most of his writing hasn't survived, his still extant books Dialogue with Trypho and Apologies are amongst the most important Christian writings of the second century Alas, his prominence as a defender of the Faith attracted the attention of the authorities who beheaded him circa 165.

JUVENTIUS, (Date Unknown), a Roman martyr of whom nothing is known.

PROCULUS of BOLOGNA, the Bishop of Bologna from 540, until he was martyred by Ostrogoths in 542. St. Proculus is also commemorated on 12th July.

"Is this not the task of philosophy to enquire about the divine?"
—St. Justin the Philosopher.

PROCULUS the SOLDIER, generally believed to have been a Roman officer martyred circa 304 in Bologna during the Diocletianic Persecution. The relics of St. Proculus are enshrined in the Church of San Procolo, Bologna.

REVERIANUS, PAUL, and COMPANIONS, Martyrs of Autun, a bishop and priest respectively who seem to have been sent to Gaul (France) by Pope St. Felix I (30th May) to enlighten the Autun region during the reign of Emperor Aurelian (r. 270–275). Aurelian persecuted Christians with great enthusiasm and ruthless efficiency. SS. Reverianus and Paul could not escape the slaughter, and they were arrested circa 273, along with ten laymen, subjected to dreadful tortures and then beheaded.

RONAN, (Date Uncertain), the life of St. Ronan is inextricably linked to that of St. Rumon (30th August) and another St. Ronan (of Locronan in Brittany, present-day France) (also 1st June) who was an Irish missionary in Brittany. The two saints may be the same person. This St. Ronan seems to have been an early bishop of an unknown See who preached in Cornwall, England and perhaps Britany where the village of Locronan (place of Ronan) memorialises him. St. Ronan(s) are venerated at Tavistock in Devonshire and elsewhere in England, as well as Brittany.

Tomb of St. Simeon of Trier

Tomb of St. Simeon of Trier

SECUNDUS of AMELIA, there is no verifiable historical record of his existence. According to pious tradition, St. Secundus of Amelia in Umbria (Italy) was martyred in 304 by drowning during the Diocletianic Persecution (303–313).

SIMEON of SYRACUSE or TRIER, a native of Syracuse in Sicily, who was educated in Constantinople. St. Simon went to the Holy Land as a pilgrim, where he then received monastic tonsure and ordination to the Diaconate at Bethlehem. After some time in Bethlehem, St, Simeon went to live as a hermit on the Jordan River, and then settled as a hermit on Mt. Sinai. The Abbot of Mt. Sinai dispatched St. Simeon to Normandy (northern France) to solicit funds from the Duke of Normandy. St. Simeon settled near Trier in the present-day German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, where he lived as a hermit under the direction of the Abbot of St. Martin’s Abbey (Abtei St. Martin) where he remained until he reposed in 1035.

Orthodox Icon of English Saint, Wite of Whitchurch 171x300px

Icon of St. Wite of Whitchurch

WISTAN (WINSTON) of EVESHAM, St. Wistan was a Mercian Prince who was martyred in 850 for zealously upholding Church discipline at a location now known as Wistanstow in Shropshire, England. He was buried at Repton Abbey in Derbyshire, England; his relics were later translated to Evesham Abbey in Worcestershire, England 84km / 52mi to the south of Repton.

WITE, (Date Unknown), St. Wite (also called St. Candida in an attempt to Latinise her name) was an anchoress who was martyred by the Danes in Dorset in England. Her relics were enshrined at the Church of St. Candida and Holy Cross in Whitchurch Canonicorum, Dorset, England. They remain there to this day, the only relics to survive in a parish church in England. Her holy well is at the nearby village of Morcombelake Dorset.

Prior to the Schism the Patriarchate of Rome was Orthodox, and fully in communion with the Orthodox Church. As Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco +1966 said “The West was Orthodox for a thousand years, and her venerable Liturgy is far older than any of her heresies”.

Details of British Saints excerpted from Orthodox Saints of the British Isles.
Details of continental saints from these sources.

In many cases there are several spelling versions of the names of saints from the British Isles. I use the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography version as the primary version with the more prevalent version in parenthesis e.g. Ceadda (Chad) of Lichfield.