Holy Apostles of the Seventy: Sosthenes, Apollos, Cephas, Tychicus, Epaphroditus, Caesar and Onesiphorus (I)

The holy Apostles of the Seventy, Sosthenes, Apollos, Cephas, Tychicus, Epaphroditus, Caesar and Onesiphorus, were chosen by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself some time after the choosing of the twelve apostles, and were sent to preach the word of the Gospel (Luke 10:1–24). Afterwards all of them except Onesiphorus reposed in peace. The Church also commemorates Sosthenes, Cephas, Caesar and Epaphroditus on 30 March, and information about them is included in the readings for that day. Saint Tychicus, a disciple and travelling companion of the Apostle Paul, was from Asia Minor. During the first imprisonment of the chief of the apostles it was Tychicus who carried his epistles to the Ephesians and the Colossians.

Saint Onesiphorus completed his apostolic labour with martyrdom in the city of Parium, near Ephesus (for him, see the readings for 7 September).