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)
JANUARY
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1st The Commemoration of Many Martyrs (c.300).
Gildas wrote about the martyrdom of St Alban (209) and states that many other British Christians were seized and tortured or martyred. Although some managed to hide in forests, caves and in outlying areas, it is thought that a thousand were martyred near Lichfield. The name Lichfield means ‘field of the dead’, making reference to this massacre.
7th St Brannock of Braunton (6th).
Very little is known about St Brannock. He was from Wales and settled at Braunton near Barnstaple in Devon around the middle of the sixth century, an area of sand dunes and salt marsh near the estuary of the River Taw. He went on to found a church and a monastery there.
7th St Cedd of Lastingham, Bishop of the East Saxons (664).
Cedd is one of the most well-known and well-loved of English saints. He was the brother of Chad, Cynibil, and Caelin, all of whom became monks and priests, and Chad, like Cedd, a bishop. Bede writes extensively about Cedd. He was from Northumbria, was educated at Lindisfarne Abbey by St Aidan, and was ordained priest in 653. He was sent to evangelise Mercia with some success. Later, Cedd was sent to convert the East Saxons (Essex and Kent), this time with great success, due to the support of King Sigeberht. On his return to Northumbria, he was ordained bishop and sent to London. Cedd founded churches, including St Peter’s at Bradwell-on-Sea in south-east Essex (which was visited by St Sophrony the Athonite, Abbot of the Monastery of St John the Baptist at Tolleshunt Knights, Essex). Finally, Cedd was appointed abbot of the monastery at Lastingham, North Yorkshire, where he was buried. The crypt of the church is known for its spiritual atmosphere.
9th St Adrian, Abbot of St Augustine’s monastery in Canterbury (710).
He was from Africa, probably Libya, and joined St Theodore of Tarsus in the mission to England. He was renowned for his wisdom and erudition and founded a school with Theodore. Pope Vitalian intended to appoint Adrian as Archbishop of Canterbury, but Adrian declined and suggested Theodore instead. Adrian became abbot of the monastery of Saints Peter and Paul at Canterbury. He was buried at his monastery.
9th St Brihtwald, Archbishop of Canterbury (731).
Brihtwald succeeded St Theodore as Archbishop of Canterbury in 692 and held the office until his death in 731. This was a period of some turbulence in the Church, partly involving St Wilfrid of York. Brihtwald was a steadfast and dedicated shepherd of the Church, guiding his clergy and the faithful with wisdom and compassion.
11th St Ethenia & St Fidelmia, disciples of St Patrick (5th).
These were sisters who were among the first converts to the Christian faith by St Patrick. They were daughters of King Laoghaire of Connaught in the west of Ireland. St Patrick marvelled at their deep desire to be with Christ, which was evident as they both passed away soon after receiving Holy Communion from St Patrick.
12th St Benedict Biscop, Abbot of Wearmouth
(689-90).
After a visit to Rome, St Benedict favoured the Roman ways, despite being from Northumbria, which followed the Celtic ways. His desire was that the faithful there should follow his lead. His wish was granted when King Oswiu of Northumbria, at the great Synod of Whitby in 664, decided his kingdom should adopt the Roman ways. In 668, Benedict accompanied St Theodore of Tarsus to England, arriving in 669. St Theodore made Benedict Abbot of the Canterbury Abbey. He later returned home to Northumbria in 673AD and was keen to found a new monastery, after seeing how successful monastic life was under the Rule of St Benedict. King Ecgfrith, Oswiu's successor, granted him land at the mouth of the River Wear, and here he built the monastery of St Peter. For the last three years of his life Benedict was bed-ridden. He suffered his affliction with great patience and faith.
13th St Just of Cornwall (6th).
Though he is Patron of a church in Penzance, nothing is known about
St Just.
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13th St Kentigern (Mungo), first bishop of Glasgow & Strathclyde (c 612).
Also called Mungo, Kentigern established a mission in the area which is now Glasgow. However, a new king was hostile to the Christian faith, and Kentigern removed to Wales. A later king invited him back to his former mission, and he became Bishop of Glasgow. He also evangelised the area now known as Dumfries and Galloway.
15th St Ceolwulf, King and Monk, of Northumbria (764).
Though King of Northumbria, Ceolwulf’s friend, St Bede, thought him unsuited to kingship, since he really desired the monastic life. Ceolwulf abdicated in favour of his cousin, Eadberht, and retired to Lindisfarne Monastery, where he passed the remainder of his life.
​16th St Sigebert, King of the East Angles, Martyr (635).
The kingdom of East Anglia comprised Norfolk and Suffolk and so was small compared to Northumbria, whose king was one of the most powerful rulers in England. To the south was Kent, also a Christian kingdom by then. Sigeberht converted to the Christian faith. St Felix of Burgundy was sent by the Pope to help establish the faith in East Anglia, and he set up a school for teaching Latin to young men who would become clergymen. Later, a Mercian army attacked East Anglia, and the nobles appealed to Sigeberht to leave his monastic seclusion and lead the army into battle. He refused, but was taken anyway, and was killed in the battle. The Church, as Sigeberht had hoped, survived until the invasion of East Anglia by the Danes in the 860s.
16th St Fursey of Burgh Castle, Enlightener of East Anglia (650).
Fursey was Irish and was baptised by the St Brendan the Voyager. When still young, he entered Inisquin Monastery and became very devout. With his two brothers, he left Ireland and for some time helped establish the faith in East Anglia under King Sigeberht. Fursey established a monastery in the enclosure of the Roman fort at Burgh Castle near Great Yarmouth. He subsequently travelled to France where he died. Fursey was known for his ecstatic visions.
19th St Branwalader (Breward) of Cornwall & the Channel Islands (6th).
Branwalader is also known as Branwallader, Branwalator, Brelade, Breward. It is likely that the name ‘St. Brelade’ is a corruption of St Branwalader’. In Cornwall he has feast days on February 9 and June 6; January 19 may be the day of the translation of his relics. Branwalader was a Celtic or Welsh monk, who is said to have been a Bishop in Jersey, although at the time, Jersey would have been part of the ancient diocese of Dol. However, it is believed that Branwalader worked with Saint Samson in Cornwall and the Channel Islands, where he is remembered on Jersey in the Parish name of St Brelade and in Cornwall in the Parish name of St Breward. He may also have travelled with Samson to Brittany in northern France.
22nd St Brihtwold of Ramsbury (1045).
Brihtwold was a monk at Glastonbury Abbey, before being made Bishop of Ramsbury and Sonning in Wiltshire in 1005. There are no records of his administration, although he presided over the diocese for forty years and witnessed all but one of King Canute's charters. He was evidently very well regarded by that monarch. He was buried at Glastonbury, to which abbey, as also to that of Malmesbury, he had been a very liberal benefactor.
26th St Conan, Bishop (Sodor and Man 648).
We know that Conan certainly lived, but all else is uncertain. He was probably from Scotland or Ireland, where he is said to have been a model of piety from his infancy. He apparently lived and worked in the Hebrides, Scotland, and the Isle of Man, where he finished the evangelization of the people begun by Saint Patrick, because various places bear his name. He was consecrated Bishop of the Isle of Man, where he made a great impression on the people there. He is venerated as the first Bishop of Sodor, which is a Viking term denoting 'southern islands’, as distinct from the Shetlands and Orkneys, which were 'northern islands’. He died on the Isle of Man in 648. Veneration of St Conan continued in the Hebrides after the Reformation.
29th St Gildas the Wise, Abbot (Llanilltud and Brittany c 570).
Gildas was born in the Clyde area of Scotland, and as a young man, he was sent to a monastery in South Wales. He went on pilgrimage to Rome, and on his return, he settled on the small island of Flat Holm in the Bristol Channel. It was here that he wrote his well-known ‘De Exidio et Conquestu Britanniae’ (On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain), a denunciation of the British clergy and secular kings. He blamed the laxity of the clergy and the secular rulers for the collapse of Romano-British civilisation, and in so doing he laid the foundation of the great monastic upsurge that was to take place a half-century or so later. In 560 he returned to Ireland at the invitation of King Ainmeric to reorder the monasteries, restoring discipline and liturgy. While there he taught in the great School of Armagh and visited the great monasteries of Bangor and Clonard. St Bede and Alcuin used Gildas’s ‘De Exidio’ in their writings.
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31st St Aidan (Maedoc), Bishop of Ferns (626).
St Aidan was born in Ireland, but educated at Leinster and St David’s school in Wales. Later, he returned to Ireland and founded a monastery at Ferns, County Wexford. His life was noted for its austerity. He said the psalms continually and nourished himself on bread and water. Besides Ferns, he founded two other monasteries.