DESIDERIUS, (Date Uncertain), the third Bishop of Langres, in north-eastern Gaul (France). The plethora of conflicting legends about St. Desiderius have led hagiographers to conclude there must have been several saints of the same name. The year of his martyrdom has been subject to some debate with sixteenth century hagiographer and historian Laurentius Surius places it in the third century; the Gallia Christiana places it in the fourth; the general consensus is that St. Desiderius was martyred in 411, along with many of his flock, by Teutonic marauders, whilst begging their chief for mercy. The town of Saint-Dizier in north-eastern France takes its name from St. Desiderius

EPITACIUS and BASILEUS, (First Century), though there is no reliable account of their lives and purported martyrdom, SS. Epitacius and Basileus are widely believed to have been Apostolic Era Bishops and have been venerated from time immemorial.

EUPHEBIUS, (Date Unknown), a Bishop of Naples (Italy) of whose life there are no details extant. Various sources place him anywhere from the second to the eighth century.

EUTYCHIUS and FLORENTIUS, two sixth century hermits and wonderworkers who successively served as Abbots of a monastery near Norcia in Umbria (Italy).

GOBAN GOBHNENA, believed to be the St. Goban mentioned in the Life of St. Laserian (18th April) as Abbot of the monastery of Old-Leighlin, Co. Carlow, Ireland, he resigned his position to live as a hermit at Tascaffin in Co. Limerick, Ireland. Nothing further is known of this saint, including the exact dates of his life.

GUIBERTUS, a Frankish noble and soldier who withdrew from the world and lived as a hermit on his estate in Gembloux in Brabant (present-day Belgium). St. Guibertus later formed a monastery on his estate, and in turn gave the lands to the monastery. He retired to the Abbey of St. Gorgonius of Gorze (abbaye Saint-Gorgon de Gorze — Gorze Abbey) near Metz (France), where he lived until his repose 962.

MERCURIALIS, though the early records of the Diocese of Forli in Emilia-Romagna (Italy) have long been destroyed leading to questions of the veracity of the extant accounts of its bishops; it is generally accepted that St. Mercurialis was the first Bishop of Forli. He is remembered as a passionate foe of Arianism, and was one of the three to four hundred bishops in attendance at the Council of Rimini in 359. St. Mercurialis reposed circa 406.

QUINTIAN, LUCIUS, JULIAN, and COMPANIONS, (Date Uncertain), a group of nineteen martyrs in North Africa. According to the Roman Martyrology, they were martyred in the fifth century during the rule of the Arian Gaiseric, King of the Vandals (r. 428–477), however, modern scholars assert this date to be a guess at best.

SYAGRIUS (SIACRE), St. Syagrius received monastic tonsure at the Abbey of Our Lady of Lérins (abbaye Notre Dame de Lérins) just off the coast of present-day Cannes, France in the Mediterranean Sea. He spent several years there before founding and serving as first Abbot of the Abbey of Saint Pons of Nice (l'abbaye Saint-Pons de Nice). In 777 he was consecrated Bishop of Nice (France), serving that See until his repose, circa 787.

ADALAR (ADALHER) of ERFURT, fellow worker with St. Boniface of Mainz (vide infra) in the evangelisation of Friesland (northern Netherlands). St. Adalar was martyred in 755, along with St. Boniface, at Dokkum in Friesland.

Icon of St. Boniface Enlightener of Germany

BONIFACE of MAINZ, Enlightener of Germany, following education at monasteries at Exeter and Winchester (England), and numerous years as a monastic, St. Boniface, responding to a missionary calling, left England in 716 to evangelise Friesland (northern Netherlands). Several years later, Pope St. Gregory II (11th February) consecrated St. Boniface bishop (later elevating him to Archbishop, and then Metropolitan beyond the Rhine River) and charged him with the conversion of the Germanic peoples. St. Boniface established his See at Mainz (Germany), and for over twenty years, blessed by God, St. Boniface brought many to Christ. He then resigned his See and returned to Friesland to finish the work he had begun decades earlier. At Dokkum in Friesland, St. Boniface and fifty-two of his companions, including SS. Adalar (vide supra), and Eoban (vide infra), were martyred in 755 by pagans they were trying to convert. St. Boniface was interred at Fulda Abbey, in the present-day German state of Hesse.

EOBAN, an Irishman and member of SS. Willibrord of Echternach (7th November) and Boniface of Mainz's (vide supra) mission to Friesland (northern Netherlands). Appointed Bishop of Utrecht (central Netherlands) by St. Boniface, St. Eoban was one of the martyrs along with SS. Boniface (vide supra) and Adalar (vide supra) in 755 at Dokkum, Friesland.

FELIX of FRITZLAR, a monk at the Abbey of St. Peter (Kloster St. Peter) in Fritzlar (in present-day nothern Hesse, Germany) and contemporary of St. Boniface of Mainz (vide supra). St. Felix was martyred circa 790 by a pagan mob.

Let us stand fast in what is right and prepare our souls for trial. . . . Let us be neither dogs that do not bark nor silent onlookers nor paid servants who run away before the wolf.
— St. Boniface

FLORENTIUS, JULIAN, CYRIACUS, MARCELLINUS, and FAUSTINUS (Martyrs of Perugia), a group of martyrs who were beheaded in 250 at Perugia during the Decian Persecution.

MEINWERK of PADERBORN, a member of the House of Immedinger, St. Meinwerk held several ecclesiastical positions, including Chaplain to the Court of Holy Roman Emperor Otto III (r. 996–1002), prior to being consecrated Bishop of Paderborn (in present-day North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany), in 1009. During the twenty-seven years St. Meinwerk served the See of Paderborn, he undertook many construction projects, building monasteries and churches, which earned him the sobriquet ‘the Builder Bishop'. St. Meinwerk reposed in 1036, and was buried in the crypt of the church at Abdinghof Abbey in Paderborn.

SANCTIUS (SANCHO, SANCIUS) of CÓRDOBA, a life-long Christian and native of Gaul (France) captured during war with the Moors. St. Sanctius was taken to Córdoba where he was educated at the court of Emir Abd ar-Rahman II (r. 822–852) and then enrolled in the Emir’s Guards. St. Sanctius was martyred in 851 by impalement for his refusal to convert to Islam.

TUDNO of CAERNARVON, St. Tudno was a sixth century Welsh saint for whom Llandudno in Gwynedd, Wales is named. No other information on his life is extant.

WACCAR, GUNDEKAR, ELLEHER, and HATHAWULF, monks and members of the group working with St. Boniface (vide supra) they were martyred at Dokkum, Friesland (northern Netherlands) in 754.