Dr. John (Ellsworth) Hutchison-Hall

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

            

Orthodox Saints of the Pre-Schism See of Rome

ANDREW of FIESOLE, an Irishman who, along with his sister St. Brigid of Fiesole (1st February), studied under St. Donatus of Fiesole (22nd October). St. Andrew accompanied St. Donatus to Tuscany (central Italy), and when the later was appointed Bishop of Fiesole in Tuscany, he ordained St. Andrew to the deaconate. St. Andrew served as St. Donatus’ Archdeacon, restored the church of San Martino di Mensola and founded a monastery there as well. St. Andrew reposed shortly after St. Donatus, circa 880.

ANTONINUS of ROME, a public executioner in Rome, who proclaimed himself a Christian after having a vision of angels. As a result of his conversion St. Antoninus was beheaded in 186.

ARNULF of EYNESBURY, (Eighth or Ninth Century), There is no reliable historical information on the life of St. Arnulf, and his existence may be entirely apocryphal. One legend states that he was a hermit near present-day St. Neots, Cambridgeshire, England. Another possibility is that the existence of St. Arnulf is nothing more than a legend which grew up around a French tradition that the relics of St. Arnulf of Metz (18th July) were translated to England.

EPICTETUS, FELIX, MAPRILIS. MARTIAL, SATURNINUS, of OSTIA, often referred to as the "Pilgrim Martyrs or Martyrs of Ostia", they were a group of Christians on a pilgrimage to Rome, who were martyred at either Porto or Ostia near Rome, circa 300 either on the way to, on their return from, Rome.

ETHELGITHA of NORTHUMBRIA, St. Ethelgitha was an abbess of a convent in Northumbria, England who reposed circa 720. Nothing further is known of her life.

FABRICIAN and PHILIBERT of TOLEDO, (Date Unknown), said to have been martyrs in Toledo, Spain, however, there is no information on their lives extent.

GUNIFORT, (Date Unknown),a native of either Scotland or Ireland, St. Gunifort, his brother, and two of his sisters, left the British Isles, on a pilgrimage to Pavia in Lombardy (northern Italy). The sisters were martyred in Germany, his brother at Como (northern Italy), St. Gunifort, though injured, escaped Como, and reached Pavia, where he succumbed to his wounds. Though the exact year of his martyrdom is unknown, it has been conjectured it took place during the reign of Emperor Maximian (r. 286–305).

HIPPOLYTUS of PORTO, there are many contradictory versions of the life of St. Hippolytus. That which is enjoys the greatest acceptance amongst scholars is St. Hippolytus was born in Arabia; was a disciple of St. Irenaeus of Lyons (28th June), or more likely, Clement of Alexandria; that upon coming to Rome he was consecrated Bishop of Porto (part of Metropolitan Rome); and that he was martyred by drowning during the reign of Emperor Severus Alexander (r. 222–235).

MAURUS and COMPANIONS, St. Maurus and a group of forty-nine of fellow Christians, whose names are no longer know, were martyred for the faith at Reims (north-eastern France). Whilst traditionally their martyrdom has been said to have taken place during the reign of Emperor Valerian (r. 253–260), there is a contemporary school of thought which places their martyrdom during the reign of Emperor Diocletian (r. 284–305).

SIGFRID of WEARMOUTH, a disciple of St. Benedict Biscop (12th January) at the Abbey of St. Peter in Wearmouth (Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England). St. Sigfrid succeeded St. Eosterwine (7th March) as Abbot of Wearmouth. St. Sigfrid reposed in 688, and in time, his relics were enshrined with those of SS. Benedict Biscop and Eosterwine in the Abbey church.

SYMPHORIAN (SYMPHORIANUS) of AUTUN, (Third Century), a Christian in Autun, Burgundy (France), martyred for refusing to worship an idol.

TIMOTHY of ROME, (Date Unknown), a martyr in Rome of whom little definitive is known. The general consensus is that after protracted imprisonment and brutal scourging, St. Timothy was beheaded, near where the Papal Basilica of St. Paul's outside the Walls (Basilica Papale San Paolo fuori le Mura) in Rome now stands.

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.