
Orthodox Saints of the Pre-Schism
See of Rome
18th September (NS) — 5th September (OS) 2024
ACONTO, HERCULANUS, NONNO, and TAURINO, Martyrs of Porto Romano, four Christians martyred in Porto near Rome during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius (r.161–180). No further information on their lives and martyrdom is extant.
BERTIN (the GREAT), a monk at the Abbey of SS. Peter and Paul of Luxeuil (abbaye Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul de Luxeuil) in Burgundy (east-central France). St. Bertin served as an assistant to St. Omer (9th September), Bishop of Thérouanne (northern France), and then as second Abbot of the Abbey of St. Peter / abbaye Saint-Pierre (later the Abbey of St. Berin / l'abbaye Saint-Bertin de Saint-Omer) in Sithiu (present-day Saint-Omer, France). Under St. Bertin the Abbey became one of the leading monastic centres in the north of Europe. St. Bertin reposed circa 709.
GENEBALD of LAON, a relative of St. Remigius of Reims (1st October), possibly through marriage, who appointed St. Genebald the first Bishop of Laon (northern France). Tenth-century chronicler, historian, and Canon of Reims, Flodoard (†966) relates in Flodoardi Historiae Remensis Ecclesiae, that St. Genebald spent seven years living in a small cell, eating nothing but bread and water, as penance for engaging in marital relations with his wife after his episcopal consecration. St. Genebald reposed circa 555.
OBDULIA, (Date Unknown), a nun whose relics are enshrined at Toledo in Spain, where she enjoys a cultus. There are no further details of her life extant, and it has been conjectured that St. Obdulia is actually St. Odilia of Alsace (13th December) and her relics translated to Spain not long after her repose.
QUINTIUS, ARCONTIUS, and DONATUS, Martyrs of Capua, (Date Unknown), martyrs who are venerated in Capua and other places in the south of Italy. However, no details of their lives are extant.
VICTORINUS of COMO, the seventeenth Bishop of Como (northern Italy), St. Victorinus was known for his fervent opposition to Arianism. St. Victorinus reposed in 644.
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EUSTORGIUS of MILAN, a native of Greece traditionally believed to have been an official of Emperor St. Constantine the Great, elected Bishop of Milan in 315 as successor to either St. Maternus of Milan (18th July), or perhaps St. Mirocles of Milan (3rd December). From a letter of St. Athanasius the Great we learn that St. Eustorgius seems to have to have suffered for the Faith, and to have written in defence of orthodoxy against the Arians. St. Eustorgius is also credited with the acquisition of the relics of the Three Magi, which were later transported to Cologne in the present-day German state of North Rhine-Westphalia by Frederick I Barbarossa, King of Germany (r. 1152–1190) and Holy Roman Emperor (r. 1155–1190). St. Eustorgius reposed in 331.
FERREOLUS the TRIBUNE, an illustrious Martyr of Vienne (south-eastern France); St. Ferreolus was an officer in the Imperial Roman army, who when in 304 was discovered to be a Christian, was brought to trial, scourged, and in the end beheaded.
FERRÉOL (FERREOLUS) of LIMOGES, Bishop of Limoges from 579 until his repose in 591. While Bishop, St. Ferreolus assisted at the third Synod of Macôn which was held in 585.
HIBALD (HYGBALD), an abbot (perhaps at Bardney) in Lincolnshire, England. What little we know of him comes from mention in the Lives of his better-known contemporaries, SS. Egbert (24th April) and Chad (2nd March). St. Bede the Venerable calls him ‘an abbot in Lindsey (present-day Lincolnshire) and a friend of Saint Chad’. There are several churches dedicated to him, most notably at the village of Hibaldstow, which also takes its name from him. St. Hibald reposed circa 690, and his relics are enshrined at Hilbaldstow, Lincolnshire, England. His shrine was a place of pilgrimage, until it was destroyed by Protestants following the Reformation.
RICHARDIS of ANDLAU, the wife of Charles III (the Fat) Holy Roman Emperor (r. 881–887) and foundress of Andlau Abbey (abbaye d'Andlau) at Andlau (Alsace, eastern France). St. Richardis was well-known for her holiness of life. Charles’ increasing madness coupled with a bid to oust his despised Archchancellor Liutward, led Charles to accuse St. Richardis of adultery with Liutward. Despite repeated denials and even submitting to ordeal by fire, Charles continued his accusations, so St. Richardis withdrew to Andlau and received monastic tonsure. In time she succeeded her niece Rotrod as abbess. St. Richardis reposed between 894 and 896, at Andlau and was buried there.
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.