Apostles Aristarchus Pudens, and Trophimus of the Seventy

Aristarchus

Aristarchus is described in the New Testament as a Macedonian of Thessalonica who accompanied the Apostle Paul. During the riot of the silversmiths at Ephesus, he and Gaius were seized by the mob and dragged into the theater (Acts 19:29). He later traveled with Paul from Greece back into Asia (Acts 20:4), and at Caesarea embarked with him on a ship bound for Myra in Lycia (Acts 27:2). Paul names him among his companions, calling him a 'fellow prisoner' and 'fellow labourer' (Colossians 4:10; Philemon 1:24).

Orthodox tradition counts Aristarchus among the Seventy Apostles and records that he served as bishop of Apamea, and that he gave up his life as a martyr under the Emperor Nero. Besides the joint commemoration on April 14, he is remembered on January 4 among the Synaxis of the Seventy and on September 27. The Roman Martyrology commemorates him on August 4.

Trophimus

Trophimus was an Ephesian, reckoned among the Seventy disciples; with Tychicus he is called an 'Asian' in the account of Paul's travels (Acts 20:4). He was among the companions who journeyed with Paul on the third missionary journey, traveling from Greece through Macedonia into Asia and onward by sea toward Jerusalem. In Jerusalem it was supposed that Paul had brought Trophimus, a Gentile, into the restricted areas of the temple, and the resulting tumult led to Paul's arrest. According to the Second Epistle to Timothy, Paul later left Trophimus at Miletus on account of illness (2 Timothy 4:20). He is commemorated with his companions on April 14 and is also remembered on December 29.

Pudens

Pudens is named in the closing greetings of the Second Epistle to Timothy, where Paul mentions him alongside Linus and Claudia (2 Timothy 4:21). Orthodox tradition numbers him among the Seventy. By tradition he belonged to a wealthy and distinguished Roman family and received baptism from the Apostle Peter, who is said to have lodged at his family's residence in Rome. He is held to have died during the Neronian persecution and, according to Roman tradition, was buried in the Catacomb of Priscilla along the Via Salaria. A church bearing his name, the titulus Pudentis, existed in Rome by the time of Pope Symmachus (around 499). He is commemorated with his companions on April 14, and in the Roman calendar on May 19.