Apostle 1st century

Apostle Herodion of the Seventy

Also known as Herodion · Agabus · Rufus · Asyncritus · Phlegon · Hermes · Apostles of the Seventy

A group of Apostles of the Seventy commemorated together: Herodion (a kinsman and companion of the Apostle Paul), Agabus the prophet, Rufus, Asyncritus, Phlegon, and Hermes. They preached the Gospel in various lands and several died as martyrs.

Feast Day

April 8

Also Mar 28

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Commemorated as

The Holy and All-Praised Apostle Herodion of the Seventy

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Missionary Work

Life

Herodion (also rendered Rodion) was an apostle numbered among the Seventy and is commemorated together with a company of fellow apostles of the Seventy: Agabus, Rufus, Asyncritus, Phlegon, and Hermes. The group shares a common feast, and each member is also remembered within the wider Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles. Several of them are named directly by the Apostle Paul in the closing greetings of his Epistle to the Romans.

By tradition Herodion was a kinsman and companion of the Apostle Paul, named in Romans 16:11, where Paul greets him as a relative (Greek syngenes), a term that can denote a blood relation or, more broadly, a fellow Jew. He preached among Greeks and Jews and served as a bishop, suffering greatly before his death as a martyr.

Contributions & Legacy

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Herodion of the Seventy

The tradition records that Herodion was numbered among the Seventy Disciples and was appointed a bishop, associated in the accounts with Patras (and in some recensions with Patara or Neon Patras). In that ministry he converted Greek pagans and Jews to the faith and accompanied the Apostle Paul on many of his journeys.

The synaxarion relates that Herodion endured fierce persecution: he was beaten, stoned, and stabbed and left for dead, but rose and continued to serve the apostles. He was ultimately beheaded together with the Apostle Olympas in Rome while the two were serving the Apostle Peter, on the same day that Peter was crucified, an event traditionally placed around the year 67. Besides the shared feast, Herodion is commemorated within the Synaxis of the Seventy and on November 10 alongside Erastus, Olympas, Sosipater, Quartus, and Tertius.

The Co-Commemorated Apostles

Agabus possessed the gift of prophecy. The accounts credit him with foretelling the famine that came in the reign of the Emperor Claudius (41-52) and with prophesying the sufferings that the Apostle Paul would undergo at Jerusalem; he preached in many lands and brought many pagans to the faith.

Rufus, whom Paul greets in his Epistle to the Romans, served as bishop of Thebes in Greece and endured severe sufferings for his ministry. Asyncritus, also named by Paul in Romans, was bishop in Hyrcania in Asia Minor. Phlegon was bishop of Marathon in Thrace, and Hermes was bishop in Dalmatia. Each of these apostles of the Seventy ended his apostolic labors as a martyr.

Commemorated with Read Hide

The Seventy Apostles

Commemorated together · Jan 4

Notes

Also commemorated among the Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles (Jan 4).

Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints