Orthodox Saints of the British Isles: Volume One - January – March
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About this ebook
This is the first, and only, compendium to be written of the Lives of Orthodox Saints of the British Isles. Covering January through March, this first of four volumes provides an enlightening guide to over 200 of these inspiring and historic Orthodox men and women. These saints were not only key figures in the development of the Church; they are an intrinsic part of the fabric of the history of the British Isles, and by extension the entire Western world.
As St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco reminded us, the West was Orthodox for a thousand years; he believed that in whatever land an Orthodox Christian found himself, it was his responsibility to venerate and pray to its national and local Saints. Orthodox Saints of the British Isles offers readers from all backgrounds insight into the importance of these righteous men and women. Filled with the Grace of God, from the humblest monks to the most devout martyrs and powerful kings, their faith influenced the development and spread of Christianity not just in the British Isles, but throughout the western world.
Dr. John (Ellsworth) Hutchison-Hall
Dr. John (Ellsworth) Hutchison-Hall is an Eastern Orthodox Christian theologian, philosopher, historian, and cultural commentator. He served as a Field Education Supervisor for seminarians and as both a disaster response and hospital chaplain. Dr. Hutchison-Hall has lectured widely and written on pastoral care in disaster response. In addition to providing pastoral counselling, Dr. Hutchison-Hall runs support groups for people with mental illness. Dr. Hutchison-Hall has lectured widely and written on pastoral care in disaster, and compiled several service books. His latest work, Orthodox Saints of the British Isles, is the first comprehensive compendium of its kind; totalling four volumes, it will be followed by a multi-volume work of the Lives of Orthodox saints of pre-Schism Western Europe. Dr. Hutchison-Hall lives in New York City and has a Bachelor of Arts (Double Honours) in History and Philosophy with a concentration in Bio-Ethics, a Licentiate in Pastoral Theology, and a Doctorate of Ministry in Pastoral Counselling.
Read more from Dr. John (Ellsworth) Hutchison Hall
Daily Prayers for Orthodox Christians Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Akathists, Services, Canons, and Other Prayers: Volume I Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Orthodox Saints of the British Isles: Volume Four - October – December Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOrthodox Saints of the British Isles: Volume Two - April – June Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOrthodox Saints of the British Isles: Volume Three - July – September Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
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Orthodox Saints of the British Isles - Dr. John (Ellsworth) Hutchison-Hall
O GOD, Save thy People and Bless Thine Inheritance, Visit Thy World with Mercies and Bounties. Exalt the Horn of Orthodox Christians and Send Down upon us Thy Rich Mercies. Through the Prayers of Our Most Pure Lady, the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary; through the Might of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross; through the Protection of the Heavenly Bodiless Hosts, through the Protection of the Honourable, Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John; of the Holy, Glorious and All-Praised Chiefs of the Apostles, Peter and Paul, of the Holy Apostles Simon the Zealot and Aristobulus and all the Twelve and Seventy Holy Apostles; of our Holy Fathers, Great Hierarchs and Universal Teachers, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom; of our Holy Father, Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, The Wonderworker; of the Holy Martyr Alban the First Martyr of the Islands; of our Holy Fathers Gregory the Great and Augustine of Canterbury, Apostles of the English, Ethelbert, High King of the English, Laurence and Mellitus, Archbishops of Canterbury, Oswald of Heavenfield, Paulinus of York, Felix of Dunwich, Apostle of East Anglia, Aidan of Lindisfarne, Birinus and Cedd, Apostles of Wessex and Essex, Botolph of Iken, Chad of Lichfield, Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, the Wonderworker; of our Holy Mothers, Audrey of Ely, Hilda of Whitby, Mildred of Minster, Werburgh of Chester, Milburgh of Wenlock; of our Holy Fathers, Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury, Erkenwald, the Light of London, Benedict of Wearmouth, Wilfrid of York, Aldhelm of Sherborne, Guthlac of Crowland, Bede the Venerable, Clement and Boniface, Apostles to the Heathen; Swithin of Winchester, the Wonder-worker, Edmund the Martyr, King of East Anglia, Theodore of Crowland and all those Cruelly Martyred by the Northmen; of the Holy King of England, Edgar the Peaceful, of the Holy, Right-Believing King of England and Passion-Bearer Edward the Martyr; of our Holy Mother Edith of Wilton; of our Holy Fathers Ethelwold of Winchester, Dunstan of Canterbury, Oswald of York, Alphege the Martyr, Archbishop of Canterbury, of the Holy and Righteous New Martyr Elizabeth and the Newly-Revealed John, Archbishop in London, and of all the Saints who have Shone Forth in the English Land; of the Holy, Victorious George the Great-Martyr; of the Holy, Glorious Martyrs and all the New Martyrs and Confessors of all the Lands of the Earth; of our Reverend and God-Bearing Fathers, the Holy and Righteous Ancestors of God, Joachim and Anne; and of all Thy Saints, we Beseech Thee, O Most Merciful Lord, Hearken unto the Petitions of us Sinners who Make our Supplications unto Thee, and Have Mercy upon us.
Dedication
To my children, Iain and Alexandra, with much love.
Through the prayers of the Saints of our ancestral
land may God grant you many years.
Introduction
"The Church in The British Isles will only begin to grow when
She begins to again venerate Her own Saints"
(St. Arsenios of Paros † A.D. 1877)
As I approached my baptism and chrismation into the Orthodox Church, I faced the prospect of choosing a patron saint. Though I generally go by Ellsworth, my given names are William Ellsworth Henry. I knew there was no chance there was a St. Ellsworth, but, due to the Slavo-centrism of my wonderful priest and my own ignorance, I did not know there was an Orthodox, albeit Western, St. William or a St. Henry. No information was available to support my first choice of St. Augustine of Canterbury. So I asked my priest if there was an Orthodox equivalent to Butler’s Lives of the Saints*; he told me about the Prologue of Ohrid, but that it wasn’t available in English.
In the ensuing decade and a half, including several years spent in a monastery, I served as a chaplain, and earned graduate degrees in theology and ministry. About two years ago as I was looking at the Church calendar I came across SS. Tancred, Torthred and Tova (30th September), and not recognising them decided to look them up. After several frustrating hours of research I finally found some information about them; I realised there had to be a better way. The result is this first volume of a series of books on the lives of Orthodox western saints, my blog, and the Western Saints section of my website.
I started with the saints of the British Isles simply because of my ancestry and Anglophilia. The volumes on the saints of the Continent are not far behind and their lives are just as wonderful, and inspiring to learn about.
We are now very fortunate to have available to us the Prologue of Ohrid in English. However, there is still a dearth of easily accessible information on the lives of Orthodox Western Saints. My goal in writing this book is to create a Butler’s-meets-Prologue
if you will.
Divine Providence led me to choose St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco as my patron and I could not have selected a better role model. I shall end this introduction with the wise words of Vladika:
"Never, never, never let anyone tell you that, in order to be Orthodox, you must also be eastern.
The West was Orthodox for a thousand years, and her venerable liturgy is far older than any of her heresies."
Notes
The dates in this book correspond to the Church calendar. If the reader uses the Revised Julian or New
Calendar then the dates will coincide with the civil date. For those readers who follow the traditional Julian or Old
Calendar, the dates in this book are thirteen days behind the civil calendar i.e. the listing for 1st January in this book corresponds to 14th January civil date.
Throughout the text, an asterisk* is used to denote a term or name explained more completely in Appendix I.
Acknowledgments
So many people have been instrumental in getting me through the process of researching and writing this book, that I hardly know where to start.
Thanks to:
My son Iain for his enthusiasm and encouragement.
My dearest friend Jennifer Bronwyn Leigh, éditrice extraordinaire, who took an informative text and made it enjoyable to read as well.
My dear friends Mary Lou and Margaret who have been big supporters of this project.
Kolina who has taught me more about Photoshop than she will ever realise.
Destiny Rosario for her help with the cover.
Too many hours have been spent in Starbucks stores #11649 and #14841; and I must give special thanks to the managers and staff (past and present) who have kept me well supplied with tea, hot water, the occasional pastry, and many smiles and words of encouragement as I’ve worked.
And last, but not least, The Fluffernut Gang.
1st January
Connat (Comnatan) — Sixth Century
The successor of St. Brigid (21st January) as the Abbess of Kildare, she served in this role until her repose circa A.D. 590. There is no further information on St. Connat extant.
Cuan (Mochua, Moncan) — Sixth Century
After being educated by St. Comgall (10th May) at Bangor Abbey, he founded