
Orthodox Saints of the Pre-Schism
See of Rome
27th September (NS) — 14th September (OS) 2024
CÆREALIS and SALLUSTIA, St. Cærealis a soldier, and his wife St. Sallustia, were catechumens of, and baptised by, Pope St. Cornelius (16th September), with whom they were martyred in 251 during the Decian Persecution (250–251).
CORMAC mac CUILENNÁIN (CORMAC of CASHEL), St. Cormac, a King of Munster (south-western Ireland), was most likely the first Bishop of Cashel in Ireland. Though the reliability of some of the traditions concerning St. Cormac is questionable, he is reputed to have been a great scholar. The authorship of the Sanas Cormaic (Cormac's Glossary), and the now-lost Psalter of Cashel, among other works, have been attributed to him. St. Cormac reposed in 908.
CRESCENTIAN of CARTHAGE, VICTOR of CARTHAGE, ROSULA of CARTHAGE, and GENERALIS of CARTHAGE, said to have been martyred circa 258 in Carthage (a present-day suburb of Tunis, Tunisia) along with St. Cyprian of Carthage (16th September).
CRESCENTIUS of ROME, according to tradition, St. Crescentius was the eleven-year-old son of St. Euthymius of Perugia (29th August). It is said that following the martyrdom of his father, St. Crescentius was brought back to Rome where, even under torture, he proclaimed his faith in Christ, and was subsequently beheaded, during the Diocletianic Persecution (303–313). However, this is all based upon a Life which dates from 1600, and hence, is of questionable veracity.
MATERNUS of COLOGNE, the first known Bishop of Cologne in the present-day German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. He founded a church at the site upon which Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom) now stands. St. Maternus reposed circa 325.
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ADHENTUS (ABDERITUS, ADERY), (Second Century), a native of Greece, he served as the second Bishop of Ravenna (northern Italy), succeeding St. Apollinaris of Ravenna (23rd July). St. Adhentus’ relics are enshrined in the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe near Ravenna.
ADOLPHUS of CÓRDOBA and JOHN of CÓRDOBA, Martyrs of Córdoba, two brothers, sons of a Muslim father and a Christian mother. SS. Adolphus and John were martyred after being caught up circa 850 in the persecutions of Christians during the reign of Emir Abd ar-Rahman II (r. 822–852) in Córdoba (southern Spain).
BARROG (BARRWG, BARNOCH, BARRY) the HERMIT, (Seventh Century), St. Barrog was a disciple of St. Cadoc of Wales (24th January), and is the namesake of Barry Island off the coast of Glamorgan, Wales, where he lived as an anchorite.
CERAUNUS (CERAN) of PARIS, the sixth Bishop of Paris. St. Ceraunus reposed circa 614, and his relics are enshrined in the church of St. Geneviève in Paris.
DEODATUS of SORA, (Date Unknown), a martyr in Sora in central Italy, whose relics were enshrined in the cathedral there in 1621. No further information on his life is extant.
FIDENTIUS of TODI and TERENCE of TODI, (Date Unknown), martyrs whose relics were discovered in the twelfth century at Todi in central Italy. There is no further information extant.
FLORENTINUS and HILARY, (Date Uncertain), two hermits martyred in present-day France during the Vandal invasion of Gaul. Though there is some debate as to most of the details of their lives, it is agreed they had their tongues were torn out before their being beheaded.
GAIUS of MILAN, (First Century), very little is known with any certainty about St. Gaius. He is thought to have been a spiritual child of the Apostle Barnabas, and was the third Bishop of Milan (north-west Italy). He served that See for twenty-four years, and is believed to have baptised St. Vitalis of Milan (28th April) and SS. Gervase and Protase (19th June).
HILTRUDE of LIESSIES, daughter of a Poitevin nobleman, who lived as a hermit near Liessies Abbey, in present-day Nord-Pas-de-Calais France, under the spiritual direction of her brother, Gunrad, who was Abbot. St. Hiltrude reposed circa 790.
MARCELLUS of ST. GALL, a native of either Scotland or Ireland who was a monk at Abbey of St. Gall (Abtei St. Gallen) in the present-day Swiss city of St. Gallen. St. Marcellus reposed circa 869.
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.