Church commemorates Apostles Prochor, Nicanor, Timon and Parmen
The Church remembers four members of the Seven Deacons and the Seventy Apostles together today.
Today the Orthodox Church commemorates the four apostles Prochor, Nicanor, Timon and Parmen, who are numbered among the Seven Deacons and the Seventy Apostles. The other three deacons were Stephen, Philip and Nikolai; the proto-martyr Stephen is celebrated separately on December 27, and Philip on October 11. Nikolai did not enter among the saints because of heresy.
These four do not have separate feast days of their own; they are remembered together on this day by the Church.
Lives and martyrdoms
Prochor was ordained by the Apostle Peter as bishop of Nicomedia. He served for a time alongside John the Theologian, and on the island of Patmos noted the revelations he heard from John’s mouth.
Afterward Prochor returned to Nicomedia and devoted significant effort to converting people to the faith. He ended his life as a martyr in Antioch, where he was killed by unbelievers.
Nicanor suffered in Jerusalem on the same day as the archdeacon Stephen; shortly after him, some two thousand other Christians were killed by evil Jews, according to the traditional accounts.
Timon served as a bishop in Arabia and was martyred for Christ on a cross. Parmen died before the eyes of the apostles; they lamented him and buried him.
Photo: Светите апостоли Прохор, Никанор, Тимон и Пармен
