Holy Apostles of the Seventy Archippus and Philemon, and the Martyr Apphia, Equal to the Apostles (I)

The holy Apostles of the Seventy, Archippus and Philemon, and Apphia, Equal to the Apostles, were disciples and fellow labourers of the Apostle Paul. At the beginning of his Epistle to Philemon he writes: “Unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellowlabourer, and to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellowsoldier.”

The Apostle Archippus was Bishop of the Phrygian city of Colossae, while Philemon was a distinguished citizen of the same city. The Christians gathered in his house to celebrate divine services. The Apostle Paul consecrated him bishop as well. His wife Apphia sheltered wanderers and the infirm in their house and served them with love. She faithfully supported her husband in his apostolic labour.

During the persecution under the Emperor Nero (54–68), the Apostles Archippus and Philemon and Apphia, Equal to the Apostles, were handed over for punishment to the head of the city, Artocles, for preaching Christianity. Saint Archippus was savagely slashed with knives, while Philemon and Apphia, after savage torture, were buried in the ground up to their waists and stoned.