Apostles of the Seventy Herodion, Agabus, Asyncritus, Rufuf, Phlegon, Hermes

Saints commemorated

Saint of the day

Apostles of the Seventy Herodion, Agabus, Asyncritus, Rufuf, Phlegon, Hermes

On April 8 the Church commemorates together six of the Seventy Apostles — Herodion, Agabus, Rufus, Asyncritus, Phlegon and Hermes — all of them named or attested in the apostolic writings and honoured as co-workers of the great Apostles and first bishops and preachers of the Church. Several are also kept on their own principal days and within the Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles (January 4).
Saint of the day

Hermes of the Seventy

Hermes was one of the Seventy Apostles whom the Lord sent out before his face (Luke 10:1), named by the Apostle Paul in the closing greetings of the Epistle to the Romans — "Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brethren which are with them" (Romans 16:14). The tradition remembers him as a bishop of Dalmatia, a labourer of the apostolic generation who carried the Gospel to the Adriatic coast. The Church keeps his memory on March 8, and again on April 8 among a company of the Seventy, and gathers him with the whole company at the Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles on January 4. Because Romans 16:14 names in one breath both a Hermes and a Hermas, he is constantly confused with Hermas of Philippopolis (kept November 5), and with the shadowy Hermas to whom the second-century work The Shepherd is ascribed; the tradition distinguishes all three.
Saint Celestine, Pope of Rome (432)

Celestine (Pope of Rome 422–432) was a defender of the Orthodox faith against the heresy of Nestorius, standing with St Cyril of Alexandria in the years before the Third Ecumenical Council of Ephesus (431) and sending his legates to confirm its condemnation of the Nestorian error. He also opposed the Pelagians and, the tradition records, sent Palladius and then Patrick toward the mission of the western isles. He is honoured among the holy hierarchs of the undivided Church.

Troparia & kontakia

Troparion — Tone 4 (common of a hierarch)

O God of our fathers, ever dealing with us according to Thy gentleness: take not Thy mercy from us, but by the prayers of Thy hierarch Celestine guide our life in peace.

Troparion — Tone 3

O holy Apostle Hermes, intercede with the merciful God, that he may grant to our souls the forgiveness of transgressions.

Troparion — Tone 3 (common of the apostles)

O holy apostles, intercede with the merciful God, that He grant to our souls the forgiveness of our transgressions.

Readings

6th Hour

Isaiah 49.6-10

⁶And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. ⁷Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee. ⁸Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; ⁹That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places. ¹⁰They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.

Vespers

Genesis 31.3-16

³And the LORD said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee. ⁴And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his flock, ⁵And said unto them, I see your father’s countenance, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father hath been with me. ⁶And ye know that with all my power I have served your father. ⁷And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me. ⁸If he said thus, The speckled shall be thy wages; then all the cattle bare speckled: and if he said thus, The ringstraked shall be thy hire; then bare all the cattle ringstraked. ⁹Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me. ¹⁰And it came to pass at the time that the cattle conceived, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the rams which leaped upon the cattle were ringstraked, speckled, and grisled. ¹¹And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I. ¹²And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ringstraked, speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee. ¹³I am the God of Beth-el, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred. ¹⁴And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him, Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house? ¹⁵Are we not counted of him strangers? for he hath sold us, and hath quite devoured also our money. ¹⁶For all the riches which God hath taken from our father, that is ours, and our children’s: now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.

Proverbs 21.3-21

³To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice. ⁴An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin. ⁵The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want. ⁶The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death. ⁷The robbery of the wicked shall destroy them; because they refuse to do judgment. ⁸The way of man is froward and strange: but as for the pure, his work is right. ⁹It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house. ¹⁰The soul of the wicked desireth evil: his neighbour findeth no favour in his eyes. ¹¹When the scorner is punished, the simple is made wise: and when the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge. ¹²The righteous man wisely considereth the house of the wicked: but God overthroweth the wicked for their wickedness. ¹³Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard. ¹⁴A gift in secret pacifieth anger: and a reward in the bosom strong wrath. ¹⁵It is joy to the just to do judgment: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity. ¹⁶The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead. ¹⁷He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich. ¹⁸The wicked shall be a ransom for the righteous, and the transgressor for the upright. ¹⁹It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman. ²⁰There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up. ²¹He that followeth after righteousness and mercy findeth life, righteousness, and honour.

Saints commemorated