Sosipater () is a person mentioned in the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

, in Romans 16:21. He is probably the same person as Sopater mentioned in Acts 20:4. In church tradition, he is known as Sosipater of Iconium, and is numbered among the Seventy Apostles. St. Sosipater's

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

s are on April 28 (Slavic tradition), or 29 (Greek tradition) with St.

Jason Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece is featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Med ...

; November 10 with saints Erastus, Olympas,

Herodian Herodian or Herodianus () of Syria, sometimes referred to as "Herodian of Antioch" (c. 170 – c. 240), was a minor Roman civil servant who wrote a colourful history in Greek titled ''History of the Empire from the Death of Marcus'' (τῆς με ...

, Quartus and Tertius; and January 4 with the Seventy. According to Latin tradition, the disciple of St

Paul the Apostle Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Apostles in the New Testament, Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the Ministry of Jesus, teachings of Jesus in the Christianity in the 1st century, first ...

died on the 25th of June in

Beroea Beroea (or Berea, ) was an ancient city of the Hellenistic period and Roman Empire now known as Veria (or Veroia) in Macedonia, Northern Greece. It is a small city on the eastern side of the Vermio Mountains north of Mount Olympus. The town is m ...

Legend

Sosipater was born in

Achaea Achaea () or Achaia (), sometimes transliterated from Greek language, Greek as Akhaia (, ''Akhaḯa'', ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Greece and is situated in the northwest ...

. According to legend, he was

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

in Iconium (modern-day

Konya Konya is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium. In 19th-century accounts of the city in En ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

) (prior to the Apostle Tertius) by his relative the

Apostle Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Apostles in the New Testament, Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the Ministry of Jesus, teachings of Jesus in the Christianity in the 1st century, first ...

. With the Apostle Jason he traveled to the island of

Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

where they built a church in honor of the Apostle Stephen the Protomartyr and converted many pagans to the Christian faith. Seeing this, the governor of Corfu threw them into prison where they converted seven other prisoners to the Christian faith: Saturninus, Jakischolus, Faustianus, Januarius, Marsalius, Euphrasius and Mammius, known as the Seven Robbers. The governor had those seven put to death by boiling pitch for their faith. The governor's daughter, the virgin , having watched these holy apostles being tortured and turned to the Christian faith, distributed all her jewels to the poor. The governor became angry and put her in prison, yet she would not deny Christ. So he had the prison burned, but she remained unharmed. Many people were

baptized Baptism (from ) is a Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by sprinkling or pouring water on the head, or by immersing in water either partially or completely, traditionally three ...

upon seeing this

miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divi ...

. He then had her killed with arrows while tied to a tree. Many believers fled to a nearby island to get away from the enraged governor, but as he chased them his boat sank. The new governor embraced the Christian faith and in baptism received the name Sebastian. From then on Sts. Sosipater and Jason freely preached the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

and built up the Church in Corfu until a very old age, when they gave up their souls to God.

Hymns

November 10

Troparion A troparion (Greek , plural: , ; Georgian: , ; Church Slavonic: , ) in Byzantine music and in the religious music of Eastern Orthodox Christianity is a short hymn of one stanza, or organised in more complex forms as series of stanzas. The wi ...

(

Tone Tone may refer to: Visual arts and color-related * Tone (color theory), a mix of tint and shade, in painting and color theory * Tone (color), the lightness or brightness (as well as darkness) of a color * Toning (coin), color change in coins * ...

3) :Holy Apostles, Erastus, Olympas,

, Sosipater, Quartus and Tertius, :entreat the merciful God, :to grant our souls forgiveness of transgressions.

Kontakion A kontakion (Greek , ''kondákion'', plural κοντάκια, ''kondákia'') is a form of hymn in the Byzantine liturgical tradition. The kontakion form originated in Syriac hymnography and gained prominence in Byzantium during the 6th century, ...

(Tone 2) :Illumined by divine light, O holy apostles, :you wisely destroyed the works of idolatry. :When you caught all the pagans you brought them to the Master :and taught them to glorify the Trinity.

April 28

Troparion (Tone 3) :O holy Apostles

and Sosipater, :Pray to the merciful God, :That He may grant to our souls :Remission of our transgressions. Kontakion (Tone 2) :O Jason, source of healing, :And Sosipater, glory of the martyrs of Christ: :You were enlightened by the preaching of Paul, :Both becoming a great consolation to the world through your miracles. :Thrice-holy and God-bearing Apostles and defenders of those who suffer, :Intercede with Christ God that He may save our souls.

References

Sources

*St. Nikolai Velimirovic, ''The Prologue of Ohrid'' * Martyrologium Romanum (for the Latin tradition)

External links

Apostle Sosipater of the Seventy
November 10 ( OCA)
Apostle Sosipater of the Seventy and those with him
April 28 (OCA)
Jason & Sosipater the Apostles of the 70 & their Companions
( GOARCH)
The Holy Apostles Jason, Sosipater and the Virgin Cercyra
(''Prologue of Ohrid'') {{authority control Seventy disciples Saints from Roman Greece Christian saints from the New Testament 1st-century bishops in Roman Achaea People in Acts of the Apostles People in the Pauline epistles Legendary Greek people