Orthodox Saints of the Pre-Schism
See of Rome
24th December (NS) — 11th December (OS) 2023
CIAN, (Sixth Century), a monk in Wales, who spent the last years of his life as a hermit in Caernarvonshire. In some sources, he is described as a cell-attendant of St. Peris (vide infra). There is a church dedicated to him in Llangian, Gwynedd, Wales.
DAMASUS, archdeacon to the thirty-six Bishop of Rome, St. Liberius the Confessor (27th August), and though he initially accompanied St. Liberius into exile, St. Damasus soon returned to help with the administration of the Church until St. Liberius could return. Following St. Liberius’ repose in 366, St. Damasus was elected his successor by a sizeable majority. Unfortunately, opponents supporting another candidate Ursinus irregularly consecrated him, though Antipope Ursinus spent most of the rest of his life in exile. While pope, St. Damasus defended orthodoxy against both Apollinarianism and Macedonianism, convening councils in 368 and 369 which condemned these heresies. St. Damasus appointed St. Jerome (30th September) to undertake the translation of the Bible in to Latin, the product of this work is known today as the Vulgate St. Damasus reposed in 384.
EUTYCHIUS, a fourth century martyr in either Mérida or Cádiz, of whom nothing further is known.
FIDWETEN (FIVETEIN, FIDIVITANUS), a monk and disciple of St. Convoyon (5th January) at the Abbey of Saint-Sauveur in Redon, Brittany. St. Fidweten reposed circa 888.
FUSCIAN, VICTORIOUS, and GENTIAN, SS. Victoricus and Fuscian are said to have been helpers of St. Dionysius of Paris (9th October) in his mission to the Gauls. Whilst staying in Amiens with St. Gentian, whose desire it was to be baptised, the three were arrested and beheaded circa 287. Members of the group of beheaded saints known as cephalophores (Greek for head-carrier), it is said following their beheadings, the saints picked up their heads and carried them approximately 3.2 km (2 miles) south to the location of their burial — present-day Saint-Fuscien.
PERIS, (Date Unknown), the patron saint of Llanberis in Gwynedd, Wales. Whilst there is no specific record of his life extent, he is listed in the Bonedd y Saint as ‘a Cardinal of Rome’, and in other Peniarth MSS as one of the many children of Helig ap Glannog of Tyno Helig.
SABINUS, a fifth century Bishop of Piacenza in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern present-day Italy. St. Sabinus attended the Council of Aquileia of 381, and was the envoy of Pope St. Damasus (vide supra) to Antioch to suppress the Meletian Schism. He was a friend of St. St. Ambrose of Milan (7th December), who regularly sent St. Sabinus first drafts of his writings for comment and advice. St. Sabinus reposed 420.
TRASON, PONTIAN, and PRAETEXTATUS, martyrs in Rome during the Diocletianic Persecution, who were put to death for ministering to Christian prisoners circa 302.
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ADELA, a daughter of King St. Dagobert II (23rd December) and sister of St. Irmina of Oeren (vide infra), and disciple of St. Boniface (5th June). Following the death of her husband, St. Adela received monastic tonsure and founded the monastery of Palatiolum in Pfalzel near Trier, serving as its first abbess. St. Adela reposed circa 730.
ALBERIC (ALBERT), a tenth century monk at Gladbach Abbey in the present-day city of Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
BRUNO, a monk at Ottobeuren Abbey in Bavaria who reposed circa 1050.
CARANUS, (Seventh Century), nothing is known of the life of St. Caranus aside from a commemoration in the Aberdeen Breviary, which states he laboured in the east of Scotland.
DELPHINUS, second Bishop of Bordeaux, and friend of SS. Ambrose of Milan (7th December) and Venerius of Milan (4th May). An indefatigable foe of the Priscillianist heresy, and was a key figure in the conversion of St. Paulinus of Nola (22nd June), St. Delphinus reposed circa 404.
GREGORY of SPOLETO, (Date Unknown), no reliable information on St. Gregory’s life is extant, but he is believed to have been a priest who was martyred in Spoleto during the persecutions under Maximinian Herculeus.
IRMINA, a daughter of King St. Dagobert II (23rd December) and sister of St. Adela of Pfalzel (vide supra), St. Irmina was widowed on her wedding day. She then prevailed upon her father to build a monastery for her at Oeren, where she spent the rest of her life as a nun, reposing circa 708 - 716.
MARTYRS of TRIPOLI, (Date Unknown), an unknown number of martyrs at Tripoli in Africa Proconsularis, of whom the only details still extant are the names of six of them: SS. Lucian, Metrobius, Paul, Zenobius, Theotimus, and Drusus.
TARSILA, an aunt of St. Gregory the Dialogist (3rd September), and sister of St. Emiliana (5th January). St. Tarsilla lived as a nun in her parents’ home, reposing circa 581.
VENERANDUS, consecrated Bishop of Clermont in Auvergne 385, he served until his repose in 423. St. Venerandus was a great supporter of evangelism throughout the entire region.
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.