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The Christian Church was one Faith across the world during its
first 1,000 years of its post-Pentecost existence. During this time,
it was the Holy Spirit and His work within the Church that produced
Orthodox Saints across Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and
the known world. This article will concentrate on Orthodox Saints
within Western Europe because this is what the term Western-Rite
means.
The calendars of the Orthodox Fellowship of St. John the Baptist,
Fraternite Orthodoxe, and St. Herman list out names of Western-Rite
Saints.
The Irish Orthodox Church was particularly interesting. See the
A
Brief History of the Irish Orthodox Church Web Site. The Irish
Orthodox Church existed until the Synod of Whitby in 664 confirmed
the full Romanization of British Christianity.
A lot can be said about these Western-Rite Orthodox Saints but
let’s proceed straight into the topic of Salvation or Theosis as it
is spoken of by the Orthodox. There are many records of Western Rite
Saints reaching a very high level of spiritual life. For example,
revelations of the uncreated Divine Light (cleste lumen, divina lux)
accompanied St. Columba of Iona (a Celtic Orthodox Saint), as
recorded in the following excerpt:
“At another time when the holy man [St. Columba of Iona] was
living in the island of Hinba, the Grace of the Holy Spirit was
poured out upon him abundantly and in an incomparable manner, and
continued marvelously for the space of three days, so that for three
days and as many nights, remaining within a house barred, and filled
with heavenly light, he allowed no one to go to him, and he neither
ate nor drank. From that house streams of immeasurable brightness
were visible in the night, escaping through chinks of the door
leaves, and through the key-holes. And spiritual songs, unheard
before, were heard being sung by him. Moreover, as he afterwards
admitted in the presence of a very few men, he saw, openly revealed,
many of the secret things that have been hidden since before the
world began. Also everything that in the Sacred Scriptures is dark
and most difficult became plain, and was shown more clearly than the
day to the eyes of his purest heart. And he lamented that his
foster-son Baithene was not there, who if he had chanced to be
present during those three days, would have written down from the
mouth of the blessed man very many mysteries, both of past ages and
of ages still to come, mysteries unknown to other men, and also a
number of interpretations of the sacred books.” (37. Adomnans Life
of Columba, ed. and trans. A.O. Anderson and M.O. Anderson (Oxford:
1991), p. 209. ) 1
Although everything above talks about Western European Orthodox
Saints, what about North America – especially since North America is
viewed as one-half of the modern Western World? Are we devoid of
Saints? Certainly not! North America does lay claim to such Saints
as St. Herman of Alaska and St. John Maximovitch of San Francisco.
Although they are not Western-Rite Orthodox Saints, they are
nevertheless Orthodox Saints of the Western World.
(1)
http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/general/celtic.aspx “Celtic
Christian Spirituality” by the Reverend Monk Dr. Gorazd
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