Further Details:What is the criteria for the different sections of the website?
Saints are categorized by their ecclesiastical, cultural, and geographic homeland. It’s important to echo the words of Archpriest Fr. Andrew Louth, who said that the Western Saints are not categorized by their race or ethnicity, but by their belonging to a certain Church in the Orthodox communion. For example, saints found on England’s page are Saints of England, not English saints. Some of the greatest saints of the English territory came from all over the Christian world, such as St Aidan (Irish), St Alban (Romano-Briton), St Augustine of Canterbury (Italian), Saint Sophrony of Essex (Russian) and St Theodore of Tarsus (Greek/Syrian).
I am interested in aiding the Western Orthodox project, what resources do you need?
We are always looking for help from iconographers and hymn writers. You do not need to be a master. Is there a saint of the West that means a great deal to you and needs icons or hymns written for them? With prayer, fasting, and love for God’s saints, perhaps you may be called to paint an icon or write hymns to glorify the work of God’s saints. We would be grateful for the help!
Are all the saints here Orthodox?
All the saints on The Orthodox West are “pre-schism” (before the year 1054 a.d.) or are modern Orthodox saints, such as Saint Sophrony of Essex, who lived and served in the West recently. All of the saints here lived and died in communion with the Orthodox Church. As many wise Orthodox faithful know, the year 1054 is somewhat of an overly simplified date by which we determine the schism of Rome from the Orthodox Church. Ongoing debate continues among scholars and clerics as to when Rome truly drifted away–was it sooner or later than 1054? Were different self-governing Churches in the West more or less Orthodox around the 11th century? Did other Orthodox Patriarchates (such as Antioch) continue to commune Latins into the 12th century? These questions are beyond our scope, of course. It is important to be cautious, and so 1054 a.d. is currently the accepted date of a sunder in communion that we will use.
Are the creators of this website faithful Orthodox?
Yes, the creators and editors of this website are Orthodox Catholic Christians living in the British Isles, Western Europe, and the United States under canonical Bishops and Metropolitans.