From Diocese of Sourozh
Establishment of the synaxis of the saints of Britain and Ireland
The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church has blessed the institution of the Synaxis of All Saints who have shone forth in the lands of Britain and Ireland.
The question of the veneration of the ancient British and Irish saints was considered at the recent session of the Holy Synod, chaired by His Holiness Patriarch Alexis of Moscow and All Russia, which took place in Moscow on 21 August. The proposal, was presented by His Eminence Juvenaly, Metropolitan of Krutitsy and Kolomna, the chairman of the Synodal Commission for the Canonisation of Saints. Metropolitan Juvenaly reported that a petition to His Holiness Patriarch Alexis of Moscow and All Russia and the Holy Synod was received from the Diocesan assembly of the Diocese of Sourozh on 3 March 2007, in which a blessing was sought to establish a day for the corporate commemoration of the saints of Great Britain and Ireland.
In connection with this, the Holy Synod resolved:
- To bless the celebration of the Synaxis of All Saints who have shone forth in the lands of Britain and Ireland on the third Sunday after Pentecost.
- To consider in due course the inclusion of the names of the ancient saints of the undivided church who have shone forth in the lands of Britain and Ireland in the calendar of the Russian Orthodox Church after the necessary hagiographical and historical records detailing the Saints’ Christian witness, together with the accounts and circumstances of their glorification and veneration have been received.
