What Happened to the Apostles After Pentecost (Part four)

St. Simon

St. Simon the Zealot was one of the original followers of Jesus. Story-traditions from the West say that he preached in Egypt, and then went on to Persia with St. Jude Thaddeus. Both of them suffered martyrdom in Persia. Another tradition, this time from the East, tells a different story. It reports that St. Simon died peacefully at Edessa. Other story-traditions say that St. Simon also went in his missionary journeys to Libya and into present-day Tunisia. And there is also evidence that this apostle took the gospel with him to Britain, where Christianity took root because of him, before Britain became a colony of Rome in 42 A.D. The most popular tradition commonly believed by many, is that Simon died a martyr together with St. Jude Thaddeus. The two were stoned to death by a mob led by pagan leaders.

St. Jude Thaddeus

St. Jude was a relative of Jesus. He preached the gospel in Judea, Samaria, Idumaea, Syria, Mesopotamia, Armenia, and Libya. He is the author of a New Testament epistle bearing his name. As he preached in many places, he strongly attacked the heresies of the Simonians, Nicolaites, and Gnostics. It was in Armenia (which was under Persian rule) where he suffered martyrdom. His death as a martyr however bore much fruit, because Armenia was finally converted to Christianity in the third century A.D. St. Jude is known to have performed many miracles. These were due to his powerful intercession. He has been made the patron saint of lost causes and hopeless cases.

St. Matthias

We all know what happened to Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Jesus to the chief priests. After the Ascension of Jesus, St. Peter addressed the assembly of Christ's followers and said that someone must take the place of Judas Iscariot to fulfill the Scripture. At first, the choice was narrowed down to two: Joseph Barsabbas and Matthias. After the whole assembly prayed for guidance before drawing lots, Matthias was selected. A story-tradition handed down by historians Clement of Alexandria, Eusebius, and St. Jerome, report that St. Matthias first preached in Judaea, then to Cappadocia, and to the shores of the Caspian Sea. In his preaching, he was remarkably insistent upon the necessity of mortifying the flesh to subdue temptations - an important lesson he learned from Jesus and which he himself practiced faithfully. Because of this, he suffered great persecutions and ill-treatment and was eventually martyred in Colchis.

Summary and conclusion

Writers have repeated many times in their works that Jesus is not a myth nor a legend but walked with the people of His time and became part of human history. One truth that attests strongly to what these writers report, is the zeal by which the apostles preached the Gospel, and their readiness to suffer even death for their love of Christ. After this era of the apostles, the early Christians who knew the apostles likewise did what the apostles have taught them by both word and deed. The first centuries of early Christianity were marked by strong martyrs who sacrificed their lives, in the same spirit as Jesus, so that the Good News of salvation may be brought to as many people as possible. This tradition of martyrdom that began with the apostles, continues to this day. Those who are called by God to witness to the saving power of Jesus, through death as martyrs, are all great gifts to the Church - influencing the Church to become stronger in their faith in God.

Resources of these blog posts

• Dictionary of Saints, by John J. Delaney
• A Year with the Saints, by Don Bosco Press, Inc.
• Saints for Our Times, by Ed Ransom

Memorial of Saints (June 5)

St. Boniface was influenced early in life to commit himself to God. After his ordination, he became a very inspiring preacher. In 718 A.D., Boniface was authorized by the Pope to be a missionary to Germany. Boniface had to convert the people from pagan superstitions. He built new churches and new convents all over Germany. He was then named Bishop of Mainz and Primate of Germany. In 754 A.D., while quietly reading in his tent, he was killed by a band of pagans. St. Boniface is known in Catholic tradition as the Apostle of Germany (died ca. 754 A.D.).

St. Dorotheus of Tyre was a scholar and a priest who was exiled during Emperor Diocletian's persecution of Christians. After the persecutions ended, Dorotheus returned and was made bishop of Tyre. He was able to attend the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D., but had to flee again, this time to Varna in Bulgaria, because of another wave of persecutions. St. Dorotheus was arrested there at Varna and died of the beating he received (died ca. 362 A.D.).

St. Sanctius was born at Albi, France, and was captured by the Moors as a young boy. He was brought to Cordova where he was trained to be a member of the Turkish infantry corps. He however decided to declare his Christian faith. Because of this declaration, he was condemned by the authorities, was tortured and then impaled to death as a martyr for Christ (died ca. 851 A.D.).

What Happened to the Apostles after Pentecost (Part three)

St. Philip

St. Philip is listed among the apostles awaiting the Holy Spirit in the upper room - as mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles 1:13. After Pentecost, one story-tradition reports that Philip preached in Greece, and was crucified upside down (like St. Peter), in Hierapolis under Emperor Domitian. Another tradition says that Philip brought the gospel to Phrygia and Hierapolis, in Asia Minor and was crucified there. After his martyrdom, stories say that his remains were eventually brought to Rome and have been preserved in the basilica of the Apostles since the time of Pope Pelagius (ca. 561 A.D.).

St. Bartholomew

The Roman Martyrology says the apostle Bartholomew (called "Nathanael" in the gospel of John), preached in India, Mesopotamia, Persia, Egypt and Greater Armenia, where he was flayed and beheaded by King Astyages. The place of his martyrdom was at Abanopolis on the West Coast of the Caspian Sea. There are proofs that St. Bartholomew preached in India according to St. Pantaenus, who found there a copy of the gospel of Matthew in Hebrew in the 3rd century A.D. The peoples St. Bartholomew preached the gospel were the most barbaric in the East, so much so, that when war was declared on the new Christian communities formed by him, St. Bartholomew was beaten, his skin cut into strips and removed, leaving the apostle agonizing with his flesh open and bleeding for a long time. The dreadful manner of his martyrdom explains why in sacred art, St. Bartholomew is shown holding a knife in one hand, with his skin draped over his other arm.

St. Matthew

To Matthew was given the holy task to write one of the gospels. One story-tradition says that after Pentecost, Matthew preached in Judea and then in Ethiopia were he suffered martyrdom. Another tradition states that he preached in Persia and it was there that he was martyred. Many scholars believe that St. Matthew wrote his gospel around the year 70 A.D., in Antioch, Syria. Because of his profession in accounting, before Christ called him to be one of His Twelve apostles, Matthew's written account of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, is the most precise, complete, and accurate. It is no wonder therefore that St. Matthew has been made the patron saint of accountants, bankers, and bookkeepers.

To be continued.