Dr. John (Ellsworth) Hutchison-Hall

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

            

Orthodox Saints of the Pre-Schism See of Rome

ANACHARIUS (AUNACHARIUS, AUNACHAIRE, AUNAIRE) of AUXERRE, Born near Orléans (north-central France), he was educated at the court of Guntram, King of Burgundy, (r. 561–592). St. Anacharius became a disciple of St. Syagrius of Autun (27th August), and on the repose of St. Ætherius of Auxerre (27th July) St. Anacharius was chosen as his successor and consecrated eighteenth Bishop of Auxerre in 572. As bishop he restored clerical discipline, supressed popular pagan customs, and convoked the First Council of Auxerre, held in either 578 or 585. St. Anacharius reposed in 604.

AURELIA of MACERATA and NEOMISIA of MACERATA, (Date Unknown), believed to have been originally from Asia, SS. Aurelia and Neomisia went on a pilgrimage to Syria, the Holy Land, and Rome. They were taken prisoner and tortured at Capua (southern Italy) by local pagans but were able to escape during a thunderstorm. SS. Aurelia and Neomisia took shelter at Macerata (central Italy), where they reposed.

BARR (FINBAR, BARROCUS), (Sixth Century), St. Barr was born in Connaught in Ireland and after completing his studies and receiving monastic tonsure, he is said to have returned to his home where his lived on a small island. St. Barr is believed to have founded several small churches in the surrounding area. The culmination of his life’s work was the founding of a monastic school at Lough Eire, which became the foundation of the city of Cork where he served as first Bishop. St. Barr reposed at Cloyne, Co. Cork, after serving as Bishop of Cork for sixteen years, though the exact dates of his life are not known.

CAIAN of TREGAIAN, there is little more to support the existence of St. Caian than the presence of a church dedicated to him at Tregaian in Anglesey, Wales dating from the fourteenth century. The name Tregaian is Welsh for "Caian’s settlement". We are unsure as to the time St. Caian might have lived as some sources place him in the sixth century, whilst others, which are the most credible, claim St. Caian lived in the fifth century, and was either a son or grandson of the great Welsh king St. Brychan of Brycheiniog (6th April).

CEOLFRITH (CEOLFRID, CEUFROY, GEOFROY, GEOFFREY), a native of Northumbria, St. Ceolfrith received monastic tonsure at Gilling Abbey in Yorkshire, England. He spent some time at Ripon Abbey, before settling at Wearmouth-Jarrow where he succeeded St. Benedict Biscop (12th January) as Abbot of that great monastic centre. St. Ceolfrith is remembered as the teacher of St. Bede the Venerable (25th May), and for producing the Codex Amiatinus, the oldest surviving one-volume copy of St. Jerome’s (30th September) Vulgate. St. Ceolfrid reposed at Langres (north-eastern France) in 716 whilst on his way to Rome to deliver the third and finest volume of the Codex Amiatinus, monks accompanying St. Ceolfrith finished the journey. His relics were later translated to Wearmouth-Jarrow where they were enshrined.

EGELRED of CROWLAND, St. Egelred was a monk at Crowland Abbey in Lincolnshire, England, and is numbered amongst the countless brethren martyred during the sack of the Abbey by the heathen Danes in 870.

ERMENFROY (ERMENFRIDUS) of LUXEUIL, a disciple of St. Waldebert of Luxeuil (2nd May) at the Abbey of SS. Peter and Paul of Luxeuil (l'abbaye Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul de Luxeuil) and was later the Founding-Abbot of an abbey at Cusance (south-western France). St. Ermenfroy reposed circa 670.

FIRMINUS (FERMIN) of AMIENS, a native of Pamplona in Navarre (northern Spain) who was converted by St. Saturninus of Toulouse (29th November), and later served as the first Bishop of Amiens. According to tradition St. Ferminus was martyred in 257, by being tied to a bull, and dragged to death.

FYMBERT, (Seventh Century), a bishop in the west of Scotland. St. Fymbert is said to have been consecrated by Pope St. Gregory the Dialogist (3rd September). There is no further information on his life extant.

HERCULANUS the SOLDIER, (Second Century), a Roman soldier who is said to have embraced Christ at the martyrdom of Pope St. Alexander I (3rd May), and soon after was martyred himself.

LUPUS of LYONS, Archbishop of Lyons (east-central France) from 535 until his repose in 542. St. Lupus is likely the first prelate of Lyons to use the title of Metropolitan. St. Lupus is said to have suffered greatly during the political upheaval following the martyrdom of St. Sigismund (1st May), King of Burgundy (r. 516–523).

MEWROG, (Date Unknown), St. Mewrog was a Welsh saint, the details of whose life have not survived.

PRINCIPIUS (PRINCE, PRINCIPE) of SOISSONS, the twelfth Bishop of Soissons (northern France) from circa 474 until his repose in 505. He assisted his brother St. Remigius of Rheims (1st October) at the baptism in 508 of Clovis I, King of the Franks, (r. 481–511).

SOLEMNIS (SOLEINE) of CHARTRES,the fourteenth Bishop of Chartres (north-central France) from circa 490 until his repose circa 511. His brother, St. Aventinus of Chartres (4th February), succeeded him as Bishop of Chartres.

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.