Dr. John (Ellsworth) Hutchison-Hall

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

            

Orthodox Saints of the Pre-Schism See of Rome

FAUSTINUS of SPELLO, (Fourth Century), a disciple of St. Felix of Spello (18th May) a Bishop of Martano or Spello in Umbria (central Italy). St. Faustinus was St. Felix’s attendant at his martyrdom, and himself was tortured for Christ but not martyred, and later reposed peacefully in Todi in Umbria.

KILIAN of INNISCALTRA, (Seventh Century), St. Kilian was abbot of a monastery on the Island of Inniscaltra, and author of a Life of St. Brigid of Kildare (1st February). No further information on his life is extant.

LUPUS (LOUP, LEU) of TROYES, married to Pimeniola, a sister of St. Hilary of Arles (5th May), though after six years, they separated by mutual agreement. St. Lupus renounced his wealth and received monastic tonsure at the Abbey of Our Lady of Lérins (abbaye Notre Dame de Lérins) on one of the Lérins Islands in the Mediterranean Ocean off the Côte d’Azur in France. With great reluctance, St. Lupus was consecrated seventh Bishop of Troyes (north-central France) circa 426. He is often said to have been the same Lupus who accompanied St. Germanus of Auxerre (31st July) to Britain to assist in the eradication of Pelagianism. According to tradition, St. Lupus is credited with saving Troyes from sack by Attila the Hun in 453, however many modern scholars question the veracity of this. St. Lupus reposed 478.

MARTYRS of ROME, a group of Christians numbering twenty-three who were martyred in the persecutions Christians during the reign of Emperor Gallienus (r. 260–268). Aside from the names of these five, Eugene, Flora the Martyr, Lucilla, Rufo, and Theodore, there is no other information extant.

OLAV of NORWAY (OLAF, TOLA), repenting of a youth spent as a pirate, St. Olav in 1010 was baptised in Rouen, Brittany (north-western France), three years later he helped Æthelred II (the Unready), King of England (r. 979–1016) defend England against the Danes. Upon ascending to the throne in 1015, St. Olav immediately summoned missionaries, mainly from England, to enlighten his homeland. This was only partially successful, and pagans resisting this drove St. Olav from his kingdom. While fighting to recover his throne in 1030, St. Olav fell in battle at Stiklestad. Not long after St. Olav’s martyrdom, he was declared Rex Perpetuus Norvegiæ (Norway's Eternal King). St. Olav's memory is kept alive to this day in Norwegian culture; represented by the axe held by the lion in Norway’s arms, and Olsok (Olaf’s Vigil) on 29th July, is a national day of celebration.

PROSPER of ORLÉANS, an early Bishop of Orléans (north-central France), St. Prosper reposed circa 453.

SERAPIA of SYRIA, a native of Antioch who was a slave of a Roman noblewoman named Sabina. St. Serapia’s piety so moved her mistress who soon became a Christian too. In 119, during the persecution of Christians under the Emperor Hadrian (r. 117–138), St. Serapia was tortured and finally martyred by beheading.

SILIN (SULIAN), (Sixth Century), St. Silin was a brother of St. Cristiolus (3rd November), and the founder and first Abbot of a monastery at Luxulyan in Cornwall, England. There is some confusion surrounding the details of his life, and it is possible that he was either born in Brittany (north-western France), or spent time there.

SIMPLICIUS, FAUSTINUS, and BEATRIX of ROME, SS. Simplicius and Faustinus were two brothers who, during the Diocletianic Persecution circa 303, were beaten, beheaded, and their bodies thrown in to the Tiber. St. Beatrix, their sister, was strangled in prison seven months later.

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.