Dr. John (Ellsworth) Hutchison-Hall

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

            

Orthodox Saints of the Pre-Schism See of Rome

ABUNDIUS of COMO, originally from Thessalonica, Greece, St. Abundius was the fourth Bishop of Como (northern Italy). His reputation as a theologian led Pope St. Leo the Great (10th November) to appoint him Papal Legate to the Fourth Ecumenical Council in Chalcedon in 451 St. Abundius reposed in 469.

BRÓNACH (BROMANA) of GLEN-SEICHIS, (Date Unknown), We have neither dates nor particulars concerning this saint, though she is listed in the Martyrologies of Tallaght and Donegal. The Félire Óengusso (Martyrology of Ængus) lists her as the mother of St. Moeliai (23rd June). St. Bronach is sometimes called the Virgin of Glen-Seichis, Glen-Seichis being the earlier name of Kilbrony or Kilbronach in Co. Down, Ireland, which takes its present name from her. A high cross made of Mourne granite stands over the traditional site of her grave in the old cemetery.

CONSTANTINE of SCOTLAND, King St. Constantine II of Scotland was killed in battle against heathen invaders in 874, and is venerated locally as a martyr. He was buried at Iona.

LONOCHILUS (LONGIS, LENOGISIL) of MAINE and AGNOFLEDA of MAINE, St. Lonochilus was a priest-monk and founder of a monastery in Maine (present-day France), who reposed in 653. St. Agnofleda was a nun in the same area who reposed in 638. Nothing further is known of their lives.

MUSA of ROME, (Sixth Century), St. Gregory the Dialogist (3rd September) wrote of St. Muse, a child in Rome who was granted the gift of visions and mystical experiences.

NICETIUS (NIZIER) of LYONS, succeeding his uncle, St. Sacerdos (12th September), as Bishop of Lyons (present-day France) in 553, St. Niceties served that See until his repose in 573.

RUFUS of GLENDALOUGH, (Date Unknown), St. Rufus was a hermit at St. Kevin’s (3rd June) “monastic city” in Glendalough (present-day Co. Wicklow Ireland). His relics are entombed in the main church. According to the noted hagiographer and historian John Colgan O.F.M. (†c. 1657), St. Rufus was consecrated a bishop before his repose, though there is no other information extant to support this assertion.

URBAN of LANGRES, the sixth Bishop of Langres from 374 until his repose circa 390. His episcopacy coincided with a period of persecution of Christians, and at one point St. Urban was forced to hide in a vineyard. During this time he converted many of the vineyard’s workers.

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.