Ecumenical Patriarchate
Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain
The Orthodox Church of St. Cosmas & St. Damian
Ipswich Suffolk
British and Irish Saints
(Including saints having a connection with these lands)
"When the Church in the British Isles begins to venerate her own saints, then the Church there will grow" – St Arsenios of Paros. (1877)
FEBRUARY
1st St Bridget (Brigid), Abbess of Kildare (c 525).
St Brigid is the mother saint of Ireland, as St Patrick is the father saint. She is much loved and venerated in Ireland and the world-wide Irish diaspora, especially since she is said to have been acquainted with St Patrick. Since 2003, her feast day has been a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland. She established the monastery of Kill-dara, later on giving its name to the city of Kildare, which became a double monastery and gave rise to several others over Ireland. She travelled around healing the sick, driving out demons and converting sinners. Her physical appearance was said to have resembled that of the Mother of God, with her presence inspiring the love of God in the whole people.
1st St Seiriol, Abbot of Penmon, Anglesey (Ynys Môn) (6th).
A Welsh hermit and son of a king, Seiriol lived in the sixth century and laboured as a hermit on Anglesey, where his little beehive cell and holy well still exist. According to tradition, he was a close friend of another Welsh ascetic, St. Cybi, and the saintly friends used to walk round the island together in silent prayer. Extant medieval stories relate miracles performed by the men of God, Seiriol and Cybi, who lived in east and west Anglesey, respectively. They are both venerated as the patron saints of Anglesey, and it was said that their prayers wholly protected the island. Seiriol’s disciples built a monastery near Penmon on the south-eastern tip of Anglesey (Ynys Môn), and Seiriol became its first abbot. Later, Penmon was to become one of the major island monastic centres in Wales; it was dedicated to St. Seiriol, and Orthodox ascetic life flourished there until the tenth century. The church and the places associated with him still hold a special atmosphere.
3rd St Laurence of Canterbury, Bishop (619).
Laurence was one of the team of missionaries sent to England by the Pope and succeeded St Augustine as Archbishop of Canterbury circa 604. He held the position until his death. St Bede writes of the success of the mission in converting King Ethelbert of Kent, but it faced a crisis when his successor, Eadbald, abandoned the faith. However, Laurence eventually persuaded Eadbald to accept the faith. The mission did not manage to extend much beyond Kent, and the Britons and Celts retained their date for Easter.
3rd St Werburga of Chester, Abbess (c 700).
She was born in Staffordshire, the daughter of King Wulfhere of Mercia. She obtained her father's consent to enter the Abbey of Ely, which had been founded by her great aunt, Etheldreda (or Audrey), the first Abbess of Ely and former Queen of Northumbria, whose fame was widespread. Werburga was trained at home by St Chad (afterwards Bishop of Lichfield), and by her mother; and in the cloister by her aunt and grandmother. Werburga was a nun for most of her life. Werburga was instrumental in convent reform across England. She eventually succeeded her mother, Ermenilda, her grandmother Seaxburh, and great-aunt Etheldreda as fourth Abbess of Ely. In the ninth century, in view of the danger of Danish raids, her remains were translated to Chester.
4th St Aldate, Bishop of Gloucester, Hieromartyr (6th).
He was a Briton who lived in the West of England. He is recorded as having been the Bishop of Cluvium, which is thought to be Gloucester.
6th St Mael (sometimes called Mél, his Irish name), Bishop of Ardagh, disciple of St Patrick (c 488).
Mael was a nephew of St Patrick and accompanied him on some of his missions. St Patrick ordained Mael as Bishop of Ardagh, which is in Co Longford, central Ireland. Mael lived a severely ascetic life, supporting himself by his own labour and giving to the poor. He was a travelling missionary and evangelised much of Ireland.
7th St Richard of the West Saxons (720).
He is known for his deep faith and devotion to Christ. When his little son, Willibald, became seriously ill, he placed him at the foot of a Cross, and prayed for his recovery, which did happen. Wishing to go on pilgrimage to Rome, Richard set off with Willibald and another unnamed son. When they reached Lucca in Italy, Richard fell ill and passed away. It is said that Willibald continued the pilgrimage and even reached Jerusalem. Many miracles occurred at the site of St Richard’s tomb in St Ferdiano’s church. He was widely venerated.
8th St Cuthman, hermit of Steyning (8th).
He was born in southern England, and it is thought that he may have been a shepherd. He was known to be a travelling hermit and looked after his widowed and paralysed mother by transporting her in a sort of specially made carriage. When she became too frail, he settled in Steyning in Sussex, where he built a cottage with an added chapel. He was the source of many miracles both during his life and after his death.
9th St Teilo, Bishop (Llandaff & Llandeilo Fawr 6th).
He is said to have been a relative of St David of Wales. In 540 he went to Brittany (a Celtic part of France, Welsh and Breton being mutually intelligible to a limited extent). After seven years, St Teilo returned to Wales and became Bishop of Llandaff, which is north-west of Cardiff. He was much venerated in his lifetime and became a popular saint in south Wales.
11th St Caedmon of Whitby, Monk (c 680).
The account of St Caedmon was once one of the most popular stories in England and was told to young schoolchildren. Caedmon was a monk who was illiterate and could not sing. He cared for the animals of the great monastery at Whitby. There was a custom that at a feast, the harp would be passed to each person in turn to sing a song, but Caedmon, being ashamed that he could not sing, slipped away before the harp came to him, and fell asleep in the cowshed. While asleep, he had a dream in which ‘someone’ approached him and asked him to sing ‘the beginning of created things.’ After first refusing to sing, Caedmon subsequently produced a short poem praising God, the Creator of heaven and earth. Upon awakening the next morning, Caedmon remembered everything he had sung and added additional lines to his poem. He told his foreman about his dream and gift and was taken immediately to see the abbess, St Hilda of Whitby. She and her counsellors asked Caedmon about his vision and, satisfied that it was a gift from God, gave him a new commission, this time for a poem based on ‘a passage of sacred history or doctrine’, by way of a test. When Caedmon returned the next morning with the requested poem, he was invited to take monastic vows. The abbess ordered her scholars to teach Caedmon sacred history and doctrine, which after a night of thought, Bede records, Caedmon would turn into the most beautiful verse. Only one short hymn of Caedmon’s has survived.
12th St Ethelwold of Lindisfarne (740).
A Northumbrian who became a monk at Melrose, Ethelwold was a disciple of Cuthbert and became Prior, and later, Abbot of Melrose. On the death of Edfrith, Bishop of Lindisfarne and scribe of the Lindisfarne Gospels, Ethelwold was chosen as his successor. His interest in Edfrith’s work is shown by his patronage of the hermit Billfrith, who made, at his request, a binding for it of gold and precious stones (now lost). His reputation for sanctity is shown by his relics being removed from Lindisfarne, with those of St. Cuthbert, whose travels he shared.
15th St Oswy, King of Northumbria (670).
As King of Northumbria, St Oswy’s main claim to fame is his part in the Synod of Whitby (664) which determined that the Church in these lands should abandon Celtic practices for those of Rome and the rest of the Orthodox Church. St Oswy was himself a follower of the Celtic practices but humbly accepted the decision of the Synod. Oswy’s brother, Oswald, had been king of Northumbria but was killed in battle fighting the pagan king, Penda. Thus, Oswy succeeded his brother as King. Events turned out such that Oswy became the dominant king in England. As such, he was visited by St Theodore of Tarsus in 669 and discussed with St Theodore making a pilgrimage to Rome. However, Oswy fell ill and died on 15 February 670. Being known for his deep faith and his efforts to advance the faith, he was soon acknowledged as a saint.
17th St Finan, Bishop of Lindisfarne (661).
Finan was appointed to Lindisfarne in 651 to succeed St Aidan. Originally from Ireland, he built a cathedral ‘in the Irish fashion’, using oak, with a thatched roof. Archbishop Theodore of Tarsus dedicated it to St. Peter. Finan also founded other monasteries. Bede is the main source for Finan's life, and Bede notes that Finan played an important part in the conversion of the northern Saxons. He was a man of venerable life, a bishop of great sanctity, an eloquent teacher and remarkable for his training in virtue and learning but devoted himself chiefly to good works. Finan ordained St. Cedd Bishop of the East-Saxons, having called two other bishops to assist at his consecration. The Abbey of Whitby, his chief foundation, was the scene of the Synod of Whitby, which resulted in the withdrawal of the Irish monks from Lindisfarne.
18th St Colman, Bishop of Lindisfarne (676).
St Colman was an Irishman and succeeded St Finan as Bishop of Lindisfarne. He led the Celtic party at the Synod of Whitby in 664 and could not accept the Synod’s decision to move to Roman practices. As a result he left England, along with other Irish monks, and settled on the Isle of Iona. He later moved to Inishbofin off the west coast of Ireland where he established a monastery, the ruins of which still exist.
23rd St Boisil (Boswell), Abbot of Melrose (664).
All we know about this saint is from St Bede. Boisil was prior at Melrose and educated St Cuthbert. Three years beforehand, he foretold the great pestilence of 664, and that he himself should die of it, but that Eata the Abbot, should outlive it. When in the great pestilence Cuthbert was stricken down, Boisil declared he would certainly recover. Somewhat later Boisil himself, as he had foretold three years before, fell victim to this terrible epidemic, but before the end came he predicted that Cuthbert would become a bishop and would effect great things for the Church.
23rd St Milburga, Abbess of Wenlock (715).
Wenlock is an area of hills in Shropshire, celebrated in a series of poems by A E Houseman and set to music by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Princess, abbess and miracle worker, St Milburga lived when the peoples of Anglo-Saxon England were being converted to Christianity. Educated in France, Milburga was noted for her humility, and, according to popular stories, was endowed with the gift of healing and restored sight to the blind. She organised the evangelisation and pastoral care of south Shropshire. As the second Abbess of Wenlock, she was one of a number of princesses who ruled over monasteries in the 7th century and, in her case, a community of both monks and nuns. She was well-connected not only across Anglo-Saxon England but also abroad. Following her death circa 716, Milburga was soon venerated as a saint, and years later many miraculous cures were attributed to her.
24th St Cumein, Abbot of Iona (c 669).
Born in Ireland, he served as Abbot of Iona. He also wrote about the life of St Columba of Iona.
25th St Ethelbert, King of Kent (616).
As King of Kent, Ethelbert was ‘Bretwalda’, or Britain-ruler, overlord in the east of England as far north as the river Humber. The marriage agreement that he made when he married Bertha, a French princess, allowed her to continue to practise her Christianity although Ethelbert was then a pagan. He received St Augustine with hospitality giving him permission to preach in the kingdom. Ethelbert himself was baptised by him. With Ethelbert’s authority Augustine placed his Archbishop’s throne at Canterbury, not in London as ordered by Pope Gregory. As King, Ethelbert devised new laws which were a significant improvement on previous laws. Ethelbert was the grandfather of St Eanswythe.
28th St Oswald, Archbishop of York (992).
He was born in England to a noble Danish family. King Edgar, having been made aware of Oswald’s holy life, appointed him to the See of Worcester. Together with St Ethelwold of Winchester, he became the foremost supporter of St Dunstan, who had succeeded to Canterbury, and had a great and successful scheme for the revitalisation of the church in the country. He was also appointed to the See of York but did not relinquish the See of Worcester, where he preferred to be. He died, still on his knees, after his daily ministration to twelve poor people, by washing their feet. He was known for his gentleness and kindness and was greatly loved by the people. After twelve years, when his grave was opened, ‘his stole remained in all its freshness and beauty.’ Many miracles took place at his shrine.