September Saints
17. 1. Ss. Socrates and Stephen of Wales
Troparion of Ss Socrates and Stephen Tone 1
Thou didst win the crown of martyrdom,/ O noble Socrates and Stephen,/
when thou, following in the footsteps of both our nation's Patron and
our protomartyr*,/ didst resist the edict of the God-hating Diocletian./
Pray to God that we also may be given strength to be faithful, even unto
death,/ that we too may inherit eternal life.
* a reference to Saint Alban, Protomartyr of Britain
Or Wikipedia
Socrates and Stephen (both died circa 307) are a pair of Christian martyrs. Their feast day is 17 September.
They are recorded in certain martyrologies as having been martyred in Britain during the persecution of Diocletian, which took place from 303 to 311. It has been conjectured by some that what may have happened was that "in Britannia" was mistakenly written for "in Bithynia".
- ^ Butler, Alban (1799). The Lives of the Primitive Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints… vol. IX (3rd ed.). J. Moir. p. 237.
Their names are illustrious in the British martyrologies. They suffered during the persecution of Dioclesian.
- Wikipedia. 2021. Socrates and Stephen – Wikipedia. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrates_and_Stephen. [Accessed 17 September 2021].
Or Book of Saints – Socrates and Stephen
(Saints) Martyrs (September 17) (4th century) Martyrs said to have suffered in Great Britain during the persecution under Diocletian. With Saint Alban and Saints Julius and Aaron, they are the only victims registered in the Martyrologies as British. It is well known that the Caesar Constantius Chlorus, who then ruled with Imperial powers in the West, declined to carry out the edict of persecution in all its rigour. Hence, to a great extent, the British Christians were spared. Tradition puts the scene of the martyrdom of Saints Socrates and Stephen in South Wales. But this is very uncertain.
CatholicSaints.Info. 2021. CatholicSaints.Info » Blog Archive » Book of Saints – Socrates and Stephen. [ONLINE] Available at: https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-socrates-and-stephen/. [Accessed 17 September 2021].
17.2. St. Brogan-Cloen of Rostuirc
St. Brogan Cloen, Abbot of Rostuirc, in Ossory. [Seventh Century.]
Although by some, the present saint has been identified with a St. Brogan,
of Maethail-Bhrogain in Waterford , or Brocan the Scribe commemorated in the
Feilire of Oengus at the 8th of July yet is he to be distinguished, as the
author of an Irish Poem, in which are celebrated the life and virtues of the
great St. Brigid. It is possible the attribute of being a scribe, with the
accidental synonym applying to both, may have produced such an impression.
The Bollandists, apparently calling his cultus in question, still introduce
their notices of Broganus, at the 17th of September. This saint is also
called Bercan, Brechan, Brecan and Brocan. In Latin, his name is usually
written Berchanus, Broganus or Broccanus.
On this day, in the Feilire of St. Oengus, there is a festival for Bracan or
Broccan, of Ruiss or Roiss Tuircc. In a scholion appended, this place is
indicated as being in Mag Raigne in Ossory ; and, by the commentator, he is
said to have been connected with Cluain Imorchuir, for which a mysterious
derivation is given. We find, at the 17th of September, this entry, “Broecan
Rois tuiric,” in the Martyrology of Tallagh. According to the Calendar of
Cashel and Marianus O’Gorman, he is venerated on this same day. St. Brogan
Cloen was born, it has been supposed, about the close of the sixth or
beginning of the seventh century.
At the request of St. Ultan of Ardbraccan, Brogan composed the Life and Acts
of St. Brigid in an Irish poem. In it, her sanctity and miracles are
recorded. The place where this tract was written is said to have been either
at Slieve-Bloom or at the Cluainmore of St. Maidoc. These accounts are
gleaned from an anonymous writer or scholiast in a short preface ; and
Colgan places this Irish poem, with a literal Latin translation, foremost
among his six Lives of St. Brigid. He assigns its authorship to a.d. 526,
but this is manifestly too early a date for its composition, as it ranges
back to a year long previous to St. Brogan’s birth. The ” Chronicum Scotorum
” places the death of Ultan Mac Ui Conchobhair on the second of the Nones of
September in the year 653. However, as the Annals of the Four Masters give
Ultan’s age to be one hundred and eighty years, when he died on the 4th of
September, 656 ; Colgan argues, that he may have been living a.d. 526, to
assist St. Brogan Cloen in the composition of that Hymn in praise of St.
Brigid. St. Brogan is named as abbot of Rostuirc, at the year 525, by
Archdall, who rests his statement on the authority of Colgan. That early
date, however, cannot be allowed. It is said by an old scholiast, that St.
Ultan of Ardbraccan collected the Acts of St. Brigid for St. Brogan Cloen.
The same scholiast informs us, that our Saint’s poem, on St. Brigid’s
virtues and miracles, had been composed in the time of King Leogaire’s son [... ]
Source: https://turmarion.wordpress.com/2012/09/17/some-celtic-saints-for-today/