Dr. John (Ellsworth) Hutchison-Hall

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

            

Orthodox Saints of the Pre-Schism See of Rome

AICHARDUS (AICARD, ACHARD), the son of a military officer at the Court of Clotaire II, King of the Franks (r. 613–629). It was his father wish that St. Aichardus follow in his foot steps with a career in the military. However, St. Aichardus wanted to enter monastic life, and, with the support of his mother, he eventually was tonsured at the Abbey of St. Jovinus (abbaye Saint-Jouin de Marnes) in the present-day French city of Saint-Jouin-de-Marnes. St. Aichardus went on to serve as Abbot of the Abbey of St. Benedict (abbaye Saint-Benoît de Quinçay) at Quinçay near Poitiers, and then succeeding St. Philibert of Jumièges (20th August) as Abbot of the Abbey of St. Peter (abbaye Saint-Pierre de Jumièges) in Jumièges, Normandy (north-western France). St. Aichardus was known throughout his life as a model of prayer, austerity, and observance of Religious Rule, he reposed in 687.

ALBINUS (AUBIN, ALPIN) of LYONS, The successor of St. Justus of Lyons (2nd September, and 14th October) as Bishop of Lyons, though the exact length of his Episcopate is unknown, it is believed to have been from circa 380 to circa 390. St. Albinus reposed circa 390.

APRUS (APER, APRE, EPVRE, EVRE) of TOUL, a native of Trier in the present-day German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, who began life as a lawyer and acquired great fame on account both of his legal skills as well as his scrupulous integrity. After many years he left the law to become a priest, and circa 500 was selected to serve as the seventh Bishop of Toul (north-eastern France). St. Aprus reposed in 507, following an episcopate during which he was deeply loved by his flock.

BOND (BALDUS) of SENS, a seventh century hermit in Sens (north-central France). Some sources say he was a disciple of St. Artemius of Sens (28th April).

EMILAS of CÓRDOBA and JEREMIAH of CÓRDOBA, Martyrs of Córdoba, two young martyrs in Córdoba (southern Spain). St. Emilas, a deacon, and St, Jeremiah, a layman, were imprisoned and then beheaded, during the reign of Emir Abd ar-Rahman II (r. 822–852).

EUTROPIA of AUVERGNE, there is no information on St. Eutropia in any of the old martyrologies, and other than a mention by St. Sidonius Apollinaris (21st August) nothing about her life is known with any certainty. According to tradition, St. Eutropia was a holy woman in Auvergne (south-central France), who is believed to have flourished in the fifth century.

HERNAN (Sixth Century), a native of Britain, who fled to Brittany (north-western France) during the Anglo-Saxon conquest of England. There St. Hernan lived as a hermit at a place which came to be called Locarn, and of which he is also the patron-saint.

LEOBINUS (LUBIN) of CHARTRES, born near Poitiers (west-central France) to a family of peasants, he received monastic tonsure at the Abbey of St. Martin (abbaye Saint-Martin de Ligugé) at Ligugé in Vienne (south-western France), and became an anchorite in early life. St. Leobinus was later ordained to the priesthood, then made Abbot of Brou and finally consecrated Bishop of Chartres (circa 544). As Bishop, St. Leobinus participated in the Fifth Council of Orleans in October 549, and the Second Synod of Paris (551/2). St. Leobinus reposed circa 557.

MAMILLIAN of PALERMO, a Bishop of Palermo in Sicily during the era when the Arian Vandals dominated the island. Exiled by the the Arian Gaiseric, King of the Vandals (r. 428–477), St. Mamillian reposed circa 460 in Tuscany, his relics were later translated to Palermo.

MIRIN (MERINUS, MEADHRAN) of BANGOR, as with many of his contemporaries, it is almost impossible to separate fact from fiction in the limited amount of information that remains on the life of St. Mirin. He is commonly believed to have entered Bangor Abbey while still a youth, where he was a disciple of St. Comgall of Bangor (10th May), serving at one point as Prior. St. Mirin journeyed to Scotland where he founded the monastic community that became Paisley Abbey. Present-day Paisley, Renfrewshire in Scotland, grew up around the Abbey, and St. Mirin is the patron saint of both the town, and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paisley. St. Mirin reposed circa 620.

NICOMEDES of ROME, (Date Uncertain), nothing certain is known of St. Nicomedes, the Roman Martyrology and St. Bede the Venerable (25th May) list him on this date, however, the first three manuscripts of the Martyrologium Hieronymianum make no mention of him, though he has been added to later recensions. It seems safe to say he was an early martyr of the Roman Church. According to most legends St. Nicomedes was a priest, and was martyred at the end of the first century, though there are some sources which place his martyrdom during the reign of the Emperor Maximian (r. 286–305).

PORPHYRIUS the MARTYR, an actor who was performing before the Emperor Julian the Apostate (r. 361–363) on the Emperor’s birthday in either 361 or 362. One of the scenes in the play mimicked the sacrament of baptism; St. Porphyrius was immersed, and the baptismal formula recited. However, as St. Porphyrius emerged, he declared himself to be a Christian. Emperor Julian immediately ordered that St. Porphyrius be tortured and then beheaded.

RIBERT, a seventh century Abbot of the Abbey of St. Valery (abbaye de Saint-Valery-sur-Somme) in present-day Saint-Valery-sur-Somme in northern France. It is possible St. Ribert was a bishop, and if so, it would have been as a regional bishop of Normandy and Picardy.

RITBERT of VARENNES, a monk and disciple of St. Audoenus of Rouen (24th August). St. Ritbert also served as abbot of a monastery in Varennes in Lorraine (north-eastern France) before reposing circa 690.

VALERIAN of CHÂLON-SUR-SAONE, one of the group of fifty Christians, including St. Photinus of Lyons (2nd June), imprisoned at Lyons (east-central France) in the persecution of Christians during the reign of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius (r. 161–180). St. Valerian managed to escape and was able to spend some time evangelising in what is now the Burgundy region of France. Unfortunately, he was captured circa 178 and put to death near Châlon-sur-Saone.

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.