Dr. John (Ellsworth) Hutchison-Hall

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

            

Orthodox Saints of the Pre-Schism See of Rome

ÆTHELRED of BARDNEY, as King of Mercia, St. Ethelred was known as a pious and righteous man, who made many grants of land to the church. He befriended St. Wilfrid of York (12th October) during the latter’s exile, making him Bishop of the Middle Angles. Following the murder of St. Ethelred’s wife Osthryth (†697), he abdicated his throne and became a monk at Bardney Abbey in Lincolnshire, England. In time, he served as Abbot there, and reposed 716.

ANTONY du ROCHER (ANTONIUS of ROCHER), (Sixth Century), sent to evangelise in Gaul by his spiritual father, St. Benedict of Nursa (11th July), St. Antony founded the Abbey of St. Julian in Tours (abbaye de Saint-Julien de Tours). Towards the end of his life, St. Antony withdrew to the nearby location of La Rocher, present-day Saint-Antoine-du-Rocher France. St. Antony spent his final years there as a hermit.

CONLETH of KILDARE, a metal worker, copyist, illuminator, and hermit at Old Connell (present-day Newbridge) Co. Kildare in Ireland. St. Conleth served as spiritual father to St. Brigid of Kildare (1st February) and her nuns, later was the first Bishop of Kildare. St. Conleth reposed circa 519, and along with St. Brigid is patron saint of Kildare.

CUNEGUND of REGENSBURG, a nun at the Abbey of St. Erhard of Regensburg — Niedermunster (Klosterstift St. Erhard von Regensburg — Niedermünster) in Regensburg, Bavaria. St. Cungund reposed circa 1052.

CURCODOMUS of AUXERRE, a third century deacon in Rome who was sent to Auxerre in Burgundy (France) by Pope St. Sixtus II (6th August) to assist that area’s first bishop, St. Peregrinus (16th May), with his mission.

CYRIACUS (QUIRIACUS) of ANCONA, (Date Unknown), most likely a Bishop of Ancona in the Marches (Italy) who was martyred whilst on pilgrimage in the Holy Land during the persecutions under Julian the Apostate (r. 361–363). However, there are those who posit St. Cyriacus was a Bishop of Jerusalem who was martyred during the reign of Emperor Hadrian (r. 117–138). Regardless of which of these theories is correct, his relics are enshrined at the Cathedral of Saint Stephen in Ancona, Italy.

FLORIAN of LORCH, in the opening years of the fourth century, St. Florian was a senior Roman officer serving as Chief of Staff to the military administrator of Noricum (most of present-day Austria), and a secret Christian. During the Diocletianic Persecution (303–313), St. Florian was ordered to execute a group of Christians, he refused and revealed himself to be a Christian. He was then scourged, flayed alive, and then thrown into a river with a stone tied to his neck. His body was retrieved by Christians at Lorch (Baden-Württemberg, Germany) who gave him a Christian burial. St. Florian is said to have saved a village from fire by praying and throwing a single bucket of water on the blaze; hence his association with firefighters.

GOTTHARD (GODEHARD, GODEHARDUS) of HILDESHEIM, a Bavarian whose father was a lay employee at the Abbey of St. Maurice — Niederaltaich (Abtei St. Mauritius — Niederaltaich) in Lower Bavaria, Germany. Following the completion of his studies at the Abbey, St. Gotthard received monastic tonsure, and soon was appointed Prior. St. Gotthard was amongst the monastics who re-introduced the Rule of St. Benedict at Niederaltaich, which then sent monks to Tegernsee, Hersfeld, and Kremsmünster Abbeys, all in Bavaria, where they served as Abbots and revived the Benedictine Rule. In 1022 St. Gotthard was consecrated fifteenth Bishop of Hildesheim in present-day Lower Saxony, Germany, and served that See until his repose in 1038.

HILSINDIS, a widowed noblewoman who, according to most sources, founded Abbey of St. Michael (Thorn Abbey / abdij van Thorn / Stift Thorn) in Limburg (present-day Netherlands). Other sources attribute the founding of the Abbey to St. Ansfrid (3rd May). St. Hilsindis received monastic tonsure there and later served as its Abbess. St. Hilsindis reposed in 1028.

MONICA, born to a Christian family in Carthage, Africa Proconsularis (present-day Tunisia), and given in marriage to a pagan with an explosive temper. St. Monica’s humility and prayerful life influenced her husband who, in time, became a catechumen, and then baptised, though he reposed soon thereafter. The marriage produced three children, one of whom was the future St. Augustine of Hippo (28th August). His life of wanton debauchery gave St. Monica no end of sorrow, but through prayer and example St. Augustine repented of his ways. St. Monica reposed 4th May 387 at Ostia, the ancient port of Rome, as she was returning to Carthage.

NEPOTIAN of ALTINO, a high-ranking officer of the Praetorian Guard of the Imperial Roman army, who left his position to become a priest. St. Nepotian was ordained by his nephew, St. Heliodorus (3rd July), Bishop of, the no longer extant, See of Altino near Venice (Italy). St. Nepotian reposed in 395.

PAULINUS of COLOGNE, (Date Unknown), a martyr whose relics are enshrined in Cologne (Germany), and of whom no further information is extent.

PAULINUS of SINIGAGLIA, a Bishop, and now patron saint, of Senigallia, in Ancona (Italy). St. Paulinus reposed in 826, no further information is extant.

PORPHYRIUS, a priest who evangelised in Umbria, and was martyred in 250 by beheading during the Decian Persecution (250–251).

SACERDOS (SARDOT, SADROC, SARDOU, SERDON, SERDOT) of LIMOGES, a monk and founding-abbot of Calabre Abbey at Calviat in Aquitaine (present-day Calviac-en-Périgord, France). St. Sacerdos was consecrated Bishop of Limoges (west-central France) in 711, shepherding the flock of his See until his repose circa 720.

VENERIUS of MILAN, believed to have been ordained to the deaconate by St. Ambrose of Milan (7th December), there is no information on his life until his consecration as Bishop of Milan (Italy) circa 400. During his episcopate, St. Venerius was a great supporter of St. John Chrysostom (13th November), as well as the Council of Carthage of 411. St. Venerius reposed in 409.

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.