Holy Apostle Carpos of the Seventy (St. Justin Popovich)

 

By St. Justin Popovich

The Holy Apostle Carpos, one of the Seventy Apostles, was a companion and servant of the Holy Apostle Paul; he distributed his epistles to those for whom they were intended. Striving much with the Apostle Paul in preaching the gospel of Christ, Saint Carpos suffered many temptations. He was then appointed Bishop of the city of Beroea in Thrace by the Apostle Paul. Saint Carpos also made an effort to preach the gospel of Christ on the island of Crete. There he received Saint Dionysius the Areopagite into his home. There he also saw the Lord who appeared to him in a vision, when Carpos begged Him to punish two sinners, and he heard the voice of the Lord saying to him: "Strike me, because I am ready to be crucified again for the salvation of men."

The Life and Passion of the Holy Apostle Onesimus, One of the Seventy (St. Justin Popovich)

St. Onesimus the Apostle (Feast Day - February 15)

 By St. Justin Popovich

In the Phrygian city of Colossae was a distinguished nobleman named Philemon. He believed in Christ, and later was honored with the episcopal rank. He would also be included among the Holy Seventy Apostles. Before his apostleship, Philemon had a slave named Onesimus. He sinned against his master and, fearing punishment, fled from him and traveled to Rome. In Rome he found the Holy Apostle Paul in chains, and heard a holy sermon from him. And having learned the holy faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, he was baptized by the apostle, and served him in Rome with Saint Tychicus. His service to the apostle was also of great benefit.

Homilies on Holiness and the Saints - The Apostles (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

  

The Apostles

 

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

Among the saints are the Apostles of Jesus Christ. These are the twelve disciples of Christ, whom Christ called to the Apostolic office, who after Pentecost ran throughout the world and founded the local Churches. The Apostles include the Apostle Paul, who did not know Christ while He was alive, but knew Him by the Holy Spirit and that is why He is also an Apostle and in fact a Foremost one, together with the Apostle Peter.

The word apostle comes from the verb "send" and denotes one who is sent by someone to fulfill a mission.

Saint Onesimus the Apostle Resource Page

 

St. Onesimus (Feast Day - February 15)

Verses

Onesimus laid out his legs to be broken,
Legs which bravely ran on roads to Paul.
On the fifteenth the legs of Onesimus were crushed.

 

Synaxarion of the Holy Apostle Onesimus of the Seventy

 

The Life and Passion of the Holy Apostle Onesimus, One of the Seventy (St. Justin Popovich)

 
Holy Apostle Onesimus as a Model for our Lives

 

February: Day 15: Holy Apostle Onesimus

 

Holy Apostle Onesimos in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church 

Slavery and Saint Onesimus

The Church of the Holy Apostle Onesimos in the Exokionion Quarter of Constantinople

The Mystery of the Apostle Onesimus

 

Synaxis of the Holy Seventy Apostles: Epistle Reading

 

 

Synaxis of the Holy Seventy Apostles

January 4

 Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. Mode Plagal 4.
Psalm 18.4,1
Their voice has gone out into all the earth.
Verse: The heavens declare the glory of God.

The reading is from St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians 4:9-16

English

Brethren, God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are ill-clad and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become, and are now, as the refuse of the world, the off-scouring of all things. I do not write this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me.

Did the Apostle Luke Ever See or Hear Christ in Person?

 

 

By St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite

 

There is a disagreement among historians regarding Luke the Evangelist.  Leo the Wise in his eothinon, and Christopher the Patrician in his iambic verses, and Theophanes the Graptos in his asmatic canon, and in the manuscript of the Synaxaristes, among others, reply that this divine Luke went to Jerusalem and saw Christ the Master alive, and he served Him. He was present at the miracles He performed. He was also at the Passion and the Resurrection. After the Resurrection he also conversed with Him and with Cleopas. He saw Him ascend into the heavens. He was also found worthy of the arrival of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Chrysostom in his first discourse on Acts and his fourth homily on Matthew, as well as Theophylact of Bulgaria in his interpretation at the beginning of the Gospel of Luke the Evangelist, and the published Synaxaristes, as well as others, say that Luke was never an eyewitness and disciple of the Lord, nor did he ever see Him alive on earth. Rather, he was a disciple of the Apostle Paul, who he met and came to believe in Christ through at Thebes of Boeotia. This is confirmed by the words of Luke himself. At the beginning of his Gospel he testifies as follows: "...just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the Word" (Lk. 1:2). This confirms that he did not see the Lord on earth.

The Mystery of the Apostle Onesimus

We read about Onesimus in Saint Paul's Epistle to Philemon, where we read that he had fled to Paul while he was in prison probably in Rome to escape punishment for a theft of which he was accused. After hearing the gospel from Paul, Onesimus converted to Christianity. Paul, having earlier converted Philemon to Christianity, sought to reconcile the two by writing the letter to Philemon. Some believe Onesimus was a servant of Philemon, and since Philemon was converted by Paul, Onesimus fled to Paul to mediate on his behalf.

The Church of the Holy Apostle Onesimos in the Exokionion Quarter of Constantinople

In the 10th century Book of Ceremonies (Bk. 1, Ch. 17) by Emperor Constantine Porphyrogennetos we read that on the feast of Mid-Pentecost, which landed on a Wednesday, the Emperor would lead a procession from his palace in Constantinople to the Church of Saint Mokios. There we have a reference to a church dedicated to Saint Onesimos, which the procession would pass when they entered the Exokionion district, and when they arrived at this church, they turned right and passed the Church of Saint James the Persian. This is the earliest reference to a church in Constantinople dedicated to this disciple of the Apostle Paul and slave of Philemon, who is commemorated in the Synaxarion of Constantinople on February 15th.

Second Homily on the Seventy Apostles of the Lord (St. Cyril of Alexandria)

By St. Cyril of Alexandria

(Commentary on Luke, Sermon 61)

Luke 10:3. Go; behold, I send you as sheep among wolves.

All those who praise the divine and sacred Word correctly, and without error, are, we affirm, the allies of the doctrines of truth, and its host teachers; well knowing how to guide whosoever wish to advance in Christ, rightly unto every good work, and to the life incorruptible, and to participation in the blessings bestowed upon us. Of these most wise Paul also declares, that they are "the lights of the world, holding the word of life."

Did the Apostle Paul Pray for the Dead? The Case of Onesiphoros

St. Onesiphoros the Apostle

Saint Onesiphoros (Sept. 7) is listed among the Seventy Apostles of the Lord, and is mentioned by the Apostle Paul with gratitude in his second epistle to Timothy: "May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphoros, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day. You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus" (2 Timothy 1:16-18).

Holy Apostles Mark, Aristarchus and Zenon of the Seventy

Sts. Mark, Aristarchus and Zenon of the Seventy (Feast Day - September 27)

Verses

To Mark.

He who is boastfully called John and Mark,
Excelled on the path of the Apostles.

To Aristarchus.

Aristarchus was an excellent initiate of the Word,
Beginning in excellency and living the life of a stranger.

To Zenon.

Zenon preached the Word of the living God,
Reviving very many who were dead in error.

Holy Apostles Silas, Silouan, Epainetos, Crescens and Andronikos of the Seventy

Holy Apostles Silas, Silouan, Epainetos, Crescens and Andronikos (Feast Day - July 30)

Verses

To Silas and Silouan.

Your proclaimers Silouan and Silas,
Died O Savior, how can I not proclaim it?

To Epainetos.

The great Paul who loved you historicized you,
The good official of all Achaia.

To Crescens and Andronikos.

Crescens and Andronikos the initiates of the Word,
Now behold the face of God the Word.

On the thirtieth four initiates of God died.

Holy Hieromartyr Terence, Bishop of Iconium

St. Terence of Iconium (Feast Day - June 21)

Verses

You were taken from the earth generous Terence,
By your death you found a blessed beginning.

Terence, also known as Tertius or Terentios, was the second bishop in succession after Saint Sosipater (Nov. 10; Apr. 29) in Iconium, where he converted many pagans to Christ through his words and deeds done in the power of the Holy Spirit, also baptizing those converted by Saint Sosipater.

Holy Hieromartyr Mark, Bishop of Apollonia

St. Mark of Apollonia (Feast Day - June 16)

Verses

You balance Mark the weight of the stones,
Your hands as scales were hanging down.

This Mark is usually identified with Mark the cousin of the Apostle Barnabas. According to Hippolytus, in his work On the Seventy Apostles, Mark the cousin of Barnabas (Col 4:10; Phlm. 24) is distinct from John Mark the Bishop of Byblos (Acts 12:12, 25; 13:5, 13; 15:37) and Mark the Evangelist (2 Tim. 4:11). They all belonged to the Seventy Apostles of Christ (ranked #56, #65, and #14, respectively), who were sent out by Jesus to saturate Judea with the gospel not long before His crucifixion (Luke 10:1). Hippolytus says that Mark the cousin of Barnabas was a leader of the apostolic Church and the Bishop of Apollonia. (There are various possible sites for this place, including some in Greece, some in Italy, one in Thrace, one in Bithynia and one in Cyrenaica.)

Holy Apostles Fortunatus, Achaicus and Stephanas of the Seventy

Sts. Fortunatus, Achaicus and Stephanas the Apostles (Feast Day - June 15)

Verses

To Fortunatus.

Fortunatus was the boast of the Apostles,
And of the Athletes, for he was beheaded.

To Achaicus.

You were released from hunger and thirst all-blessed one,
For you said like the Master from the wood "I thirst".

To Stephanas.

The work of Stephen I perceive in Stephanos,
Wearing the crown as a prize for labors.

Holy Apostles Aristarchus, Pudens and Trophimus of the Seventy

Sts. Aristarchus, Pudens and Trophimus (Feast Day - April 14)

Verses

To Aristarchus.

I honor Aristarchus as excellent,
Who was excellent until the sword.

To Pudens.

Where were you transported, having been beheaded, Pudens?
Where was he transported, to whom is directed incorruptible praise?

To Trophimus.

Trophimus extremely longs for the nourishing delights of heaven,
Which he approaches through the sharp sword.

On the fourteenth the disciples were carried away.

Holy Apostle Archippus of the Seventy

St. Archippus the Apostle (Feast Day - February 19)

Verses

Archippus longed for the extreme angle of stones,
He was crushed with stones for his longing,
On the nineteenth Archippus was killed by large stones.

Archippus was one of the Seventy Apostles. The Apostle Paul mentions him in his Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon: "And tell Archippus, 'See that you fulfill the ministry that you received in the Lord'" (Colossians 4:17); "To Archippus our fellow soldier" (Philemon 1:2). In the town of Colossae, the center of Christianity was in the home of Philemon. Here Christians gathered for prayer. In writing to Philemon, the Apostle Paul called this "the church at your house" (Philemon 1:2). At that time, the apostles ordained their disciples as bishops; some of them in permanent places and others as missionaries traveling to various places. Philemon was one of the latter. Apphia, Philemon's wife, hosted and served in the domestic church.

Church of the Apostle Tychicus in Inner Galata of Cyprus

Today's Church of the Apostle Tychicus was built next to the ruins of an old church of the Saint, in the village known today as Inner Galata, covered by dense orchards.

According to tradition, at this place, the Apostles Paul, Barnabas and Mark met up during their first apostolic missionary journey, together with Saint Heracleidius, which is why it is called "apostle-trodden".

Church of the Apostle Tychicus in Paphos of Cyprus

The village of Masana in Paphos has celebrated the Holy Apostle Tychicus, who is mentioned five times in the Epistles of the Apostle Paul, for centuries, as testified by the Roman Martyrology. One tradition even has him as being the first Bishop of Neapolis in Cyprus.

Holy Apostle Cleopas of the Seventy

St. Cleopas the Apostle (Feast Day - October 30)

Verses

Cleopas does not see you as before O Word,
But now he sees clearly, delighting in your vision.

Cleopas appears in Luke 24:13-27 as one of two disciples walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Cleopas is named in verse 18, while his companion remains unnamed though he is traditionally identified with the Apostle Luke.