Holy Apostles Silas, Silvanus, Crescens, Epenetus, and Andronicus of the Seventy — July 30 / August 12 (Julian Calendar)

On this day, July 30 according to the Julian Calendar (August 12 civil calendar), the Georgian Orthodox Church commemorates the Holy Apostles Silas, Silvanus, Crescens, Epenetus, and Andronicus of the Seventy.

The holy Apostles of the Seventy — Silas, Silvanus, Crescens, Epenetus, and Andronicus — were disciples of the Savior.

In the first church of Jerusalem, Saint Silas was a man held in honor, “chief among the brethren” (Acts 15:22). After the first Apostolic Council, held in Jerusalem in the year 51, the Lord’s disciples sent a letter to the Christians of Antioch by the hands of Paul and Barnabas, informing them that Christians converted from among the pagans were not bound to circumcision or to the keeping of the Law of Moses. Silas and Judas were sent with them, for being prophets themselves, they “exhorted the brethren with many words, and confirmed them.” They remained in Antioch a long while; then Judas was sent back to Jerusalem, while Silas chose to remain, and zealously assisted the Apostle to the Gentiles in his labors of preaching. Together with Paul he traveled through Syria, Cilicia, and Macedonia.

In the city of Philippi the apostles were seized; many stripes were laid upon them, and they were shut up in prison. At midnight, as Paul and Silas prayed and glorified God with hymns, suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; at once all the doors were opened and every prisoner’s bonds were loosed. When the keeper of the prison awoke and saw the doors standing open, he supposed the prisoners had fled, drew his sword, and would have slain himself; but the Apostle Paul cried out with a loud voice: “Do thyself no harm, for we are all here.” The comforted jailer called for a light, and finding every prisoner in his place, came trembling and fell down before Paul and Silas. “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” he asked, and received the answer: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” He received these grace-filled words with faith, took the apostles into his home that very night, washed their wounds, and was baptized together with all his household (Acts 15:20–16:34).

From Philippi, Paul and Silas journeyed to Amphipolis, passed through Apollonia and Thessalonica, converted many pagans, and strengthened the churches. In Corinth, Silas was consecrated bishop. He governed his flock well and wrought many miracles, and afterward surrendered his soul to the Lord in peace.

The holy Apostle Silvanus preached the word of God together with the chief apostles Peter and Paul. In his first catholic epistle the Apostle Peter mentions him: “By Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you, as I suppose, I have written briefly” (1 Pet. 5:12). Saint Silvanus was consecrated Bishop of Thessalonica; he endured many afflictions and trials, and in the end died a martyr’s death.

The holy Apostle Crescens is mentioned by the Apostle Paul in his second epistle to Timothy, where he notes that Crescens had gone to Galatia to preach (2 Tim. 4:10). There the saint was consecrated bishop, and later he spread the teaching of the Gospel in Gaul as well. In the city of Vienne he appointed his disciple Zacharias as hierarch; having returned to Galatia, he died a martyr’s death in the reign of the Emperor Trajan (98–117).

The holy Apostle Epenetus was consecrated Bishop of Carthage. In his epistle to the Romans the Apostle Paul writes: “Salute my well-beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ” (Rom. 16:5). In the same epistle the chief apostle also mentions Saint Andronicus: “Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow-prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me” (Rom. 16:7). The holy Apostle Andronicus was Bishop of Pannonia (the memory of Saints Andronicus and Junia is also kept on May 17).