died c. 68
A disciple of Saint John the Theologian, Antipas served as bishop of Pergamum during the persecution under Nero and was martyred for refusing to offer sacrifice to idols.
The Holy Hieromartyr Antipas, Bishop of Pergamum
Antipas was an early bishop of Pergamum in Asia Minor and, by tradition, a disciple of the Apostle John the Theologian, who is said to have ordained him to the episcopate. He is distinguished as the only saint named directly by Christ in the Book of Revelation, where he is called a faithful witness slain in the city. The Church commemorates him as a hieromartyr on April 11.
According to the synaxarion tradition, Antipas led the Christian community of Pergamum during a period of persecution, generally placed in the reign of the emperor Nero (54-68), though some accounts assign his martyrdom instead to the reign of Domitian. When the pagan priests of the city demanded that he cease preaching Christ and offer sacrifice to the idols, he refused, professing his faith in the Lord Almighty.
The tradition relates that the enraged priests dragged Antipas to the temple of Artemis and cast him into a red-hot bronze bull, the heated vessel in which sacrifices to the idols were customarily consumed. As he died he is said to have prayed aloud, imploring God to receive his soul and to strengthen the faith of the Christians. His body was reported to have remained untouched by the fire, and Christians of Pergamum buried him in the city.
His tomb became a noted site of pilgrimage, remembered in the tradition as a source of miracles and of healing from various ailments. He is widely invoked for relief from toothache and diseases of the teeth, and on this account is regarded as a patron of dentists and of those who suffer dental afflictions.
Antipas is identified with the figure named in Revelation 2:13, in the message addressed to the church of Pergamum: 'Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.' He is the only individual saint named in that book, and the verse is the principal scriptural anchor of his veneration. The phrase 'where Satan dwelleth' has traditionally been associated with Pergamum's prominence as a center of pagan cult.
The tomb of Antipas at Pergamum was venerated as a font of healings. A tradition records holy oil, sometimes described as the 'manna of the saints,' being secreted from his relics. He is venerated in both the Eastern Orthodox and the Roman Catholic traditions, with his feast kept on April 11.
Mentioned in Revelation 2:13 as Christ's faithful witness. Widely invoked for the healing of toothache and dental ailments.