Dr. John (Ellsworth) Hutchison-Hall

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

            

Orthodox Saints of the Pre-Schism See of Rome

ÆTHELNOTH (ETHELNOTH, EGELNOTH) the GOOD, once a monk at Glastonbury, in Somerset, St. Æthelnoth went on to serve as Dean of the monastery of Christ Church Priory, at Canterbury. He then served as a Chaplain to Cnut (Canute) the Great, King of England, of Denmark, and of Norway (r. 1016–1035), as well as Dean of Canterbury, prior to being consecrated the thirty-second Archbishop of Canterbury. St. Æthelnoth ruled the See of Canterbury from 13th November, 1020 until his repose circa 29th October, 1038. Often called ‘the Good’, St. Æthelnoth was famed both for his wisdom, and the great skill with which he governed the English Church. Although the Bollandists list St. Æthelnoth in the Acta Sanctorum, and he appears on several other lists of saints, there is no evidence of a cultus ever developing at Canterbury or elsewhere.

ARILDA, (Date Unknown), St. Arilda was a holy virgin who lived in Oldbury-on-Severn, Gloucestershire, England, in the fifth or sixth century. Information on her life is scarce, however, according to tradition, St. Arilda was martyred by a youth named Municus while defending her chastity from him. Two churches in Gloucestershire are dedicated to St. Arilda, one at Oldbury-on-Severn, and the second at Oldbury-on-the-Hill. A shrine to her at St. Peter’s Abbey, Gloucester (the present-day Gloucester Cathedral) was destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in England and Wales (1536–1540) by Henry VIII, King of England and Ireland, (r. 1509–1547).

CLAUDIUS of LÉON, LUPERCUS of LÉON, and VICTORIUS of LÉON, Martyrs of León, three brothers who are said—most likely apocryphally—to have been the sons St. Marcellus the Centurion (vide infra). SS. Claudius, Lupercus, and Victorius were martyred in León (north-western Spain), during the Diocletianic Persecution (303–313).

EUTROPIA of NORTH AFRICA, (Date Unknown), there is no reliable information on St. Eutropia extant. However, she is commonly believed to have been martyred in North Africa, most likely during the Valerian Persecution (257–260).

GERMANUS of CAPUA, a friend of St. Benedict of Nursa (11th July), who served as Bishop of Capua (southern Italy) for over 20 years. St. Germanus also served as the Legate of Pope Hormisdas (†523) to Emperor Justin I (r. 518–527), in 519 with a view to ending the Acacian Schism. St. Germanus reposed circa 545, St. Benedict at the moment of St. Germanus' death was blessed with a vision of St. Germanus' soul being carried to heaven.

HERBERT (HABERNE, HERBERN) of TOURS, an Abbot of Abbey of Marmoutier (abbaye de Marmoutier) in Tours (western central France) who later served as an Archbishop of Tours. There is no other information on his life extent.

LUCANUS of LAGNY, all that is known of St. Lucanus is that he was martyred during the fifth century at Lagny, just east of Paris.

MARCELLUS, a Roman centurion stationed at Tingis, Mauretania Tingitana (present-day Tangiers, Morocco), who declared himself to be a Christian and refused to take part in the pagan rituals in honour of the birthday of the Emperor Maximian (r. 286–305). St. Marcellus then removed his belt, weapons, and military insignia. He was immediately arrested and brought to court where he was sentenced to death. This sentence so outraged the court reporter, St. Cassian of Tangiers (3rd December), that he revealed himself to be a Christian as well and was arrest and soon after martyred. As noted above SS. Claudius, Lupercus, and Victorius (vide supra), are said to have been sons of St. Marcellus, however, this is most likely apocryphal.

MARTYRS of NORTH-WEST AFRICA, (Date Unknown), some one to two hundred Christians martyred in Africa Proconsularis during one of the early persecutions of Christians. No further information on their lives is extant.

NANTERIUS (NANTIER, NANTÈRE) of SAINT-MIHIEL, an Abbot of the Abbey of St. Michael (abbaye Saint-Michel de Saint-Mihiel) in Saint-Mihiel (north-eastern France). St. Nanterius reposed circa 1044.

SATURNINUS of CAGLIARI, martyred at Cagliari in Sardinia during the Diocletianic Persecution (303–313). There were reports of extant manuscripts of his Acts as late as the sixteenth century, but none exist today. It is traditionally thought St. Saturninus was beheaded during a pagan festival of Jupiter.

TALARICAN of SCOTLAND, (Sixth or Seventh Century), a missionary bishop in Scotland, working primarily in Aberdeenshire. The Aberdeen Breviary relates an old tradition, which says that whilst St. Talarican was on a pilgrimage to Rome he was consecrated to the episcopacy by St. Gregory the Dialogist (3rd September). Several churches were dedicated to him, none of which has survived, in what is now the Diocese of Moray, Ross, and Caithness of the Scottish Episcopal Church. Nothing further is known of St. Talarican’s life, though Adam King’s Kalendar calls him “bishop and confessor”.

THEONESTUS of PHILIPPI, the most common version of St. Theonestus' life says he was a Bishop of Philippi in Macedonia who was forced into exile by the Arians. He joined with St. Alban of Mainz (21st June) and companions who were sent to enlighten the area around Mainz (Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany). There, the group was forced to flee in the face of a Vandal invasion, however, the Vandals caught up with them and St. Theonestus was martyred in Altino in Abruzzo (southern Italy). A less common version is that following St. Alban's martyrdom (circa 400), St. Theonestus fled to Abruzzo where he was consecrated Bishop of Altino, and was in 425 martyred by the Arians.

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.