Saints of Switzerland

Over the last hundred years, the Eastern Orthodox Church has been rediscovering Her western heritage, spurred on by large migrations from traditionally Orthodox countries to regions divided from the Church since the Great Schism. One key to this ressourcement has been the compilation and addition into the church's menologion (liturgical calendar) of western saints of the first millennium. In the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, this effort was spearheaded by a contemporary saint in his own right – St John (Maximovitch) of Shanghai and San Francisco. The land of Helvetia, modern-day Switzerland, can herself boast of a great legacy of zealous followers of Christ. At St John's urging, ROCOR added ancient Helvetian saints like Columbanus, Gall, Fridolin, and Clotilde to its official calendar. Over time, the Church has added to this list with the aim of encouraging wider appreciation and veneration of local saints. Here, we present brief lives of these early saints as an aid for pilgrims, travelers, and all who wish to deepen their understanding of the Church as truly Universal. Also included are troparia to individual saints, a liturgical Service to the Synaxis of the Saints of Switzerland and an akathist to the same. AUTHOR: Claude Lopez-Ginisty is a retired professor of English and French literature with an interest in spirituality and hagiography. He has written on Fools for Christ, Saints Seraphim of Sarov and Saint Silouan the Athonite, and Abraham of Natpar. He serves the Orthodox Christian Church as a subdeacon. 15 b/w illustrations, 2 maps