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)
SEPTEMBER
1st St Drihthelm, Hermit at Melrose (c 700).
He is mentioned by St Bede as having had a vision of the afterlife, including heaven and hell, during a few hours of apparently having died. He recovered but was so shaken by his vision that, after making provision for his wife and family, he withdrew to the monastery at Melrose to live a harsh ascetic existence in the hope of being saved.
3rd St MacNis, Abbot of Kells (c 514).
Some 40 miles north-west of Dublin, Kells is most famous for the Gospel book called The Book of Kells, written in the 9th century. St MacNis was baptized by St Patrick and instructed by him. He later founded a monastery at Connor, not far from Kells; later, he founded the Monastery of Kells as a place to which to withdraw. Subsequently, Kells became much more famous than Connor.
6th St Bega (Bee), First Abbess of Copeland in Cumbria (7th).
Born in Ireland, Bega fled to England to avoid marriage and first settled as a hermit on the Cumbrian coast, founding St Bee’s Priory at Copeland, near the Cumbrian coast. Fearful of attacks by pirates, she moved to Northumbria. She was widely venerated in medieval times, and miracles were attributed to her. At Bassenthwaite in Cumbria, a church is dedicated to St Bega, and there is an Orthodox community there dedicated to St Bega, St Mungo, and St Herbert of Derwentwater.
8th King Ina of Wessex and Queen Ethelburga (8th).
King Ina and Queen Ethelburga were devout Christians, and the King was an able and wise ruler. He codified laws for his kingdom which Alfred the Great included in his laws. Ina made peace where he could with other rulers and overcame those who resisted his efforts at peace. Trade flourished, and the kingdom was prosperous. Ina did much to support the Church. Queen Ethelburga supported him in his works. In 726, Ina abdicated and he and Ethelburga went to Rome where they passed the remainder of their lives.
9th St Kieran (Ciarán in Irish) of Clonmacnoise (c 545).
One of the ‘Twelve Apostles of Ireland’, Kieran is one of the most popular saints of Ireland, and his name (in either form) is a very popular boy’s name. In 544, following the advice of St Enda of Aran, he settled at Clonmacnoise and founded the monastery there. It grew in size and became one of the most important centres of spiritual life and of learning in Ireland. The remains of the monastery are substantial.
10th St Finian of Ulster, Abbot (579).
Known as ‘of Ulster’ to distinguish him from an earlier Finian. He was ordained in Rome and then returned to Ireland. In 540, he founded the Monastery of Movilla in Co Down, Northern Ireland. The monastery was an important centre of spirituality and learning until its dissolution by the English king, Henry VIII.
11th St Deiniol, Abbot of Bangor, and Bishop in Clwyd (c 584).
He founded a monastery at Bangor in North Wales. At the height of its fame, it is said to have numbered more than two thousand monks. Deiniol was the outstanding Bishop of North Wales and is believed to have been one of the two Bishops sent to persuade David to attend the Synod of Brefi. Bangor Cathedral, built on the site of the monastery, is dedicated to him.
16th St Ninian, Bishop of Whithorn (Candida Casa) (Galloway c 432).
Called ‘Apostle to the southern Picts’ (in south-west Scotland), Ninian is mentioned briefly by St Bede. He built a monastic college at Whithorn, where he also built the first stone church in Britain, Candida Casa, the White House, dedicated to St Martin of Tours. In later life this ‘holy and reverend man’ retreated to a cell, away from the monastery, which was no more than a fissure in the mountain. After his repose it became a place of pilgrimage.
16th St Edith of Wilton, Nun (984).
Born in Kent in 961, Edith was brought, as a child, by her mother to the convent at Wilton, and was tonsured a nun at 15. Edith always observed strict fasting and abstinence, combining a life of prayer with a life of activity. She fed and clothed the hungry and strangers and tended the sick. She was known for her wisdom, her physical and spiritual beauty, and her angelic voice, and was loved by many for her generosity and compassion for animals. She died aged 23.
19th St Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury (690).
One of the great figures in the history of the Orthodox Church in England. Born in 602 in Tarsus, the home city also of Apostle Paul, Theodore studied in Constantinople and Antioch and was fluent in both Greek and Latin. He moved to Rome and lived a quiet spiritual life until he was appointed by Pope Vitalian on 26 March 668 as Archbishop of Canterbury. Though already 66 years old, Theodore journeyed to England and was extremely active in organizing the Church here. The heresy of Monothelitism was raging in the East whilst the West largely opposed it. Theodore summoned the English bishops to a synod at Hertford to see if any of them were Monothelites – none were, and Theodore was satisfied that the English were fully Orthodox. Theodore was active in his post until he departed this life on 19 September 690.
23rd St Adomnan, Abbot of Iona (704).
Born in Drumhome, Donegal, where he also became a monk. Later he travelled to Iona, becoming its ninth Abbot in 679. He travelled widely in England and adopted the Roman Calendar for Easter, which he persuaded many of the Irish similarly to adopt. He attended the Council of Birr, which defined the position of women and children in war. This became known as Adomnan’s Law. He wrote the celebrated Life of St Columba, and De Locis Sanctis, a description of sacred sites in the Holy Land.
25th St Finbar (Barry), Bishop of Cork (c 633).
Son of an artisan named Amergin and a lady of the Irish royal court, Finbar was educated at Kilmacahil monastery, Kilkenny, Ireland. He had very light hair, which led to the nickname Fionnbharr, ‘white hair’. He made many pilgrimages to Rome and visited St David of Wales on one trip. He preached throughout southern Ireland, and possibly in Scotland. He later became a hermit on a small island at Lough Eiroe and at Gougane Barra, but later founded a school at Eirce, and a monastery on the River Lee which developed into the city of Cork, of which he became first Bishop.
25th St Ceolfrid, Abbot of Jarrow (716).
Ceolfrid was a Saxon Northumbrian noble. He became a monk at Gilling, North Yorkshire, then at Ripon where he served as cook. Ordained at the age of 27 at Ripon, five years later he was invited by Benedict Biscop to join the new community at Wearmouth where he soon became Prior. In 682 Coelfrid became the Abbot of the second monastery at Jarrow. He and a young single student, St Bede, were the only survivors in this house during a regional plague outbreak. He died on the way to Rome.
28th St Lioba of Wimborne (Abbess of Bischofsheim) (c 780).
Born in Wessex, she became a nun at Wimborne whilst still young. Her relative, St Boniface, wrote to the Abbess in 748 asking for assistance for his mission in Germany. A group of 30 nuns was sent, including St Lioba, who became Abbess of Bischofsheim, Mainz, which she ruled for 28 years. She founded many other convents in Germany.
30th St Honorius, Archbishop of Canterbury (653).
He was a Roman who was chosen by the Pope to join St Theodore and St Hadrian in their mission to England. In 627, Honorius was consecrated as archbishop by Paulinus of York at Lincoln. Honorius asked the Pope to raise York to an archbishopric, and, agreeing, the Pope sent the pallium to York. Honorius was especially concerned with East Anglia and sent St Felix to do mission work there, which was very successful. Felixstowe is named for him, ‘stowe’ being an old English name meaning, ‘holy place’. Paulinus was the fifth archbishop of Canterbury from St Augustine. On his death, he was buried at Canterbury.