The Neglected Saints of the West

[GoingByzantine]

Just an observation, but since I converted to EO I have had multiple conversations with folks who have taken pilgrimages to places like Ireland, Scotland, and France to visit the holy sites associated with Western Saints.

What really surprised me is that many of these pilgrimages were not focused on the sites of well-known saints like St. Patrick, but rather on the sites of lesser-known saints. One lady and her sister went to the Isle of Mann to St. Maughold's Well. Another man tried to visit the site where the relics of a saint Helan (I believe?) were supposed to be kept in Brittany, only to find the church shuttered.

I don't live in Europe, but do you think it is safe to say that the Roman Church has (for the most part) forgotten about many of their less well-known saints, especially from before the schism? Have many of these sites been ignored, destroyed, or converted into secular purposes? @Anhelyna , you might have insight on this question. When I was Catholic I barely knew the names of any saints outside of the quintessential ones like St. Francis, St. Agnes, St. Joseph etc.

I certainly never would have made a pilgrimage to some of the sites that Orthodox are. But now my curiosity has been piqued.

Have any of you visited any of these sites, or made pilgrimages to the sites of lesser-known pre-schism Western Saints?

 

[Anhelyna]

The person to really ask about the Celtic Saints is Fr Seraphim Aldea - Romanian Church with a brand new Monastery on Mull - he runs Pilgrimages to places associated with the Celtic Saints

 

[ArmyMatt]

I know a lot of folks who are looking to the saints of the West. it was pushed by St John of San Francisco.

 

[All4Christ]

My patron saint is one of the lesser known Western saints - St Laura of Córdoba.

 

[JohnTh]

I don't live in Europe, but do you think it is safe to say that the Roman Church has (for the most part) forgotten about many of their less well-known saints, especially from before the schism? Have many of these sites been ignored, destroyed, or converted into secular purposes?

Yes and Yes.

Is about of changing the way of living the God's grace. Mind you, the schism isn't a quarrel happened at 1054 but an entire process of „progress” - that is departing from the tradition.

I don't want to start a (big) discussion here about Schism but since they departed from God, they naturally departed from His „sons”.

Changing the way in which one sees God, necessarily changes his entire life, including what he sees as god-like man.