Clockwise from top left: Saints Kevin of Glendalough; Moluag of Lismore; Columba of Iona; Alban, Protomartyr of Britain; Onuphrius the Great; and Audrey of Ely.
By Walt Garlington
♱ St. Kevin of Glendalough, 3/16 June
Our venerable father Kevin of Glendalough, Wonderworker of Ireland, was the founding Abbot of Glendalough and is one of the patron saints of Dublin. It is generally believed he was born in Leinster to a noble family, and was educated by St. Petroc (4th June) during the latter’s stay in Ireland. After ordination to the priesthood, St. Kevin spent seven years as an anchorite in a cave now known as St. Kevin’s Bed near Glendalough. He went on to found what grew into the famous monastery of Glendalough, parent of several other monasteries and destined to become, with its seven churches, one of the chief centres of pilgrimage in Ireland. It is said he reposed 618 at the age of one hundred and twenty.
“Ikos”
Ye lofty trees of Ireland, ever move your verdant branches,
that with the rustling of your leafs,
as with the strings of a multitude of harps,
ye may make sweet music for the King of kings;
for thus of old did ye delight His faithful servant,
the venerable Kevin, with your melodious song,
easing the severity of his ascetic life with the beauty of your hymnody,
filling his soul with exultation, and causing him to cry aloud:
Let every breath praise the Lord!
Source
A fuller account of this gentle saint’s life: longer; shorter
♱ St. Petroc of Cornwall, 4/17 June
The Gospel was brought to Cornwall in the fifth century or even earlier, and monastic life began there in 475. At that time Cornwall became known as “the land of saints” or “the Thebaid of saints.” Indeed, between the fifth and seventh centuries Cornwall produced so many saints, ascetics, hermits, abbots, missionaries, holy bishops and kings, that nearly each town and village in the region has its own patron saint. The most venerated saint in Cornwall, who is considered to be one of the main enlighteners of Dumnonia, is St. Petroc (Petrock/Peter), who together with the Archangel Michael and St. Piran, has for many years been the patron saint of Cornwall.
St. Petroc has been called “The Captain of Cornish Saints” by 17th century Church of England cleric and historian Thomas Fuller (†1661), and is one of Britain’s most illustrious saints. A native of Wales, he went to Ireland where he is believed to have studied under St. Kevin of Glendalough (3rd June). St. Petroc then went to Cornwall in England where he founded a monastery at the place now known as Padstow (Petrocstow), and a second one at Bodmin. He reposed there circa 594; later some of his relics were translated to Brittany where he is known as St. Perreux.
Source
A fuller account of his life
♱ St. Columba of Iona, 9/22 June
Our venerable and God-bearing Father Columba of Iona, Enlightener of Scotland, was born near Garton in Co. Donegal, Ireland. He received monastic tonsure at Glasnevin (neighbourhood of present-day Dublin, Ireland on the River Tolka) and was ordained to the priesthood. He was instrumental in the founding of monasteries at Derry, Durrow and several others in Ireland. Following the Battle of Cúl-drebene in 561, for which he was held partly responsible, he, along with twelve disciples, sailed from Ireland to Scotland, landing on the Island of Í Chaluim Cille (Í of St. Columba) variously spelt Hi, Hy or I, now called Iona. There he founded what would become the great monastery of Iona, which was, for the next two centuries, the nursery of many Bishops and saints. St. Columba spent the next thirty-four years evangelising the Scottish Highlands and founding monasteries and churches in Ireland and Scotland. St. Columba reposed on Iona in 597, and was initially buried there. St. Columba is counted as one of the three patron saints of Ireland, along with SS. Patrick and Brigid.
Source
“Troparion — Tone 5″
By your God-inspired life
you embodied both the mission and the dispersion of the Church,
most glorious Father Columba.
Using your repentance and voluntary exile,
Christ our God raised you up as a beacon of the True Faith,
an apostle to the heathen and an indicator of the Way of salvation.
Wherefore O holy one, cease not to intercede for us
that our souls may be saved.
Source
A fuller account of this mighty saint’s life: longer; shorter
Hymns to the saint
The cell of St. Columba has likely been found
♱ St. Cyril, Archbishop of Alexandria, 9/22 June
St. Cyril, Archbishop of Alexandria, a distinguished champion of Orthodoxy and a great teacher of the Church, came from an illustrious and pious Christian family. He studied the secular sciences, including philosophy, but most of all he strove to acquire knowledge of the Holy Scriptures and the truths of the Christian Faith. In his youth Cyril entered the monastery of Macarius in the Nitreia hills, where he stayed for six years. Theophilus (385-412), the Patriarch of Alexandria, ordained him as a deacon, numbered him among the clergy and entrusted him to preach. Upon the death of Patriarch Theophilus, Cyril was unanimously chosen to the patriarchal throne of the Alexandrian Church.
A fuller account of the life of this remarkable theologian
“Kontakion — Tone 6″
You have openly poured out upon us the depth of the teachings of theology,
drawing from the well-springs of the Savior;
you drowned heresies
and saved your flock unharmed from triple waves.
Blessed and venerable Cyril,
you are shown to be a guide for all lands, revealing things divine.
Source
♱ St. Onuphrius the Great (+4th century), 12/25 June
St. Onuphrius had lived in complete isolation in the wilds of the wilderness for sixty years. In his youth he had been raised at the Eratus monastery near the city of Hermopolis. Having learned from the holy Fathers about the hardships and lofty life of the desert-dwellers, to whom the Lord sent help through His angels, St. Onuphrius longed to imitate their exploits. He secretly left the monastery one night and saw a brilliant ray of light before him. St. Onuphrius became frightened and decided to go back, but the voice of his Guardian Angel told him to go into the desert to serve the Lord.
After walking six or seven miles, he saw a cave. At that moment the ray of light vanished. In the cave was an old man. St. Onuphrius stayed with him to learn of his manner of life and his struggle with demonic temptations. When the Elder was convinced that St. Onuphrius had been enlightened somewhat, he then led him to another cave and left him there alone to struggle for the Lord.
A fuller account of this holy ascetic of the African desert
♱ St. Alban, the first martyr of Britain, 22 June/5 July
Circa 303, he was venerated as the Protomartyr of Britain. He was a citizen of Verulam, now in England, converted by a persecuted priest whom he had sheltered in his house. He was executed on Holmhurst Hill and on this site was built the monastery of St. Alban’s, by which name Verulam has since been known.
Source
A much fuller account of this important saint
A service to the saint
♱ St. Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, 22 June/5 July
Pontius Meropius Amcius Paulinus was born in Bordeaux in France, the son of a Roman patrician. Appointed prefect of Rome, after the death of his only child in 390 he left the world and went to Spain, where the people of Barcelona forced him to accept the priesthood. Finally he settled as a hermit near Nola in Campania in Italy and there the people chose him as their bishop (400). He proved to be one of the finest bishops of his age. He suffer greatly during the invasion of Campania by the Goths under Alaric. Most of his writings survive. St. Paulinus was one of the most distinguished Christian Latin poets of his era.
Source 1
Source 2
In his pedigree, both by the father and mother’s side, was displayed a long line of illustrious senators, and his own father, Pontius Paulinus, was præfectus prætorio in Gaul, the first magistrate in the western empire. But the honours and triumphs of his ancestors were eclipsed by his superior virtues, which rendered him the admiration of his own and all succeeding ages, and excited St. Martin, St. Sulpicius Severus, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Jerom, St. Eucherius, St. Gregory of Tours, Apollinaris, Cassiodorus, and others to vie with each other in celebrating his heroic actions, and to become the publishers of his praises to the corners of the earth.
A fuller account of this blessed saint: longer; shorter
♱ St. Audrey (Etheldreda) of Ely, the most venerated English woman saint, 23 June/6 July
Circa 679, she was born in Suffolk in England and was a daughter of King Anna of East Anglia and a sister of Sts. Saxburgh, Ethelburgh and Withburgh. Twice married, she remained a virgin. She became a nun at Coldingham and then went to Ely where she became abbess. She lived a life of great holiness and simplicity. Her body remained incorrupt after death and her hand-relic survives in Ely to this day.
Source
Prayer, taking Communion, meekness and charity were the most essential elements of the Christian life for Etheldreda. Abbess Etheldreda gave up wearing garments of thin linen cloth and wore only those of woolen cloth. At that time in England it was the custom to take hot baths, but Etheldreda despite her royal origins preferred to bathe only in cold water, allowing herself hot water only on the feasts of Easter, Pentecost and the Baptism of the Lord. But even on these festivals she showed true humility and used the water left after other sisters. The holy woman ate only once a day and kept this rule throughout the year, breaking it only during illness or on great festivals. Very often she stayed up for the whole night, fervently praying in church on her knees right till the morning. She lived very modestly and in solitude. Many of her friends, relatives and former courtiers followed her example and chose the path of monasticism and service to God. Some of them remained at her monastery or entrusted their daughters to her loving care. Many of the faithful and even clergy flocked to her for advice and asked her to become their spiritual mother.
A much fuller account of her life and legacy
A service to St. Audrey
♱ St. Moluog of Lismore, one of the most venerated saints of Scotland, 25 June/8 July
St. Moluog (also known as Moluoc, Moluag, Molua, Molloch, Lugaidh and under other forms) was an Irishman destined to become one of the most venerated saints in Scotland. He was born in about 530 in what is now Northern Ireland to a noble family. His first monastery was Bangor in Ireland; and about the year 562 he crossed the Irish Sea and founded a monastery on the Scottish isle of Lismore. According to tradition, the rock on which the saint stood on the Irish shore miraculously separated itself from the mainland and drifted towards Scotland, delivering Moluog right to the isle of Lismore. It is recorded that another Irish saint, St. Comgall, who was Moluog’s spiritual father, came to Scotland together with him. Moluog became the first abbot of Lismore, and made this monastery the center of his mission in Scotland. Lismore was also the long time burial place of the Pictish kings.
From there the saint made missionary trips to the Isle of Skye (the most northerly island in the Inner Hebrides), to the Outer Hebrides group and to the Great Glen in the east. He mainly preached in the areas which were predominantly Pictish; as we see, the saint travelled far and wide, visiting islands around Scotland and the Scottish mainland alike. The holy missionary established Christian communities and settlements at Fort Augustus in Inverness and in the glen called Glen Urquhart near Loch Ness, preaching also in the Black Isle peninsula in the Highlands. Due to Moluog’s efforts, the preaching of Christianity in eastern Scotland was very fruitful, and churches were founded in a number of districts there. Moluog may have also been a bishop in Scotland, possibly in Lismore itself.
The saint’s two other principle monastic foundations, along with Lismore, were the Monastery of Rosemarkie in Ross and Cromarty, and the Monastery of Mortlach in Moray—both in northern Scotland. (Mortlach, like Lismore and Rosemarkie, later had a bishop’s see. Today, the name of this tiny town is Dufftown). The saint in fact established three main monastic centers and then founded countless smaller dependent churches and communities in districts adjoining each of them. He arranged the Church life of the newly-baptized Picts in such a way that both pastoral care and education at a high level would be provided first of all to every community. One late source claimed that Moluog “founded one hundred monasteries in Scotland;” obviously this is an exaggeration, but all the same it is indicative of the extremely influential missionary and teaching activities of this saint of God in the country. No doubt through his disciples 100 monasteries were established.
Much more about this wonderful saint
For complete lists of Orthodox saints of our Southern forefathers of Africa and Western Europe for June, visit Dr. John Hutchison-Hall and Fr. Andrew Phillips’ Orthodox England.
Walt Garlington is a chemical engineer turned writer and editor of the website Confiteri: A Southern Perspective. This longtime Southern Baptist, then Anglican, was united to the Orthodox Church in 2012 and makes his home in Louisiana where he attends a GOA parish.
