Saints Zinovij and Zinovia, plus Cleopas and other Seventy Apostles, remembered on November 12

On November 12 the Orthodox calendar remembers a group of saints celebrated for charity, healing and steadfast faith: the martyr-bishop Zinovij and his sister Zinovia, together with several of the Seventy Apostles.

Charity, miracle and martyrdom

Zinovij and his sister came from the town of Aegea in Cilicia. They inherited both sincere faith and notable wealth from their parents, but chose to distribute their fortune to the poor rather than keep it for themselves. Their generosity, the tradition says, was followed by a gift of healing: Saint Zinovij was reputed to cure illnesses by the touch of his hand and was later appointed bishop of Aegea.

During the persecutions of Christians he was arrested and brought before Judge Lisij. The judge told him, "I offer you two things — life and death. Life if you bow to the gods, death if you do not." Zinovij answered, "Life without Christ is not life but death, and death for the sake of Christ is not death but life." His sister stepped forward to share his fate, saying, "I want to drink the cup of sufferings also, and to be crowned with such a crown." After being subjected to severe tortures — including burning in fire and scalding pitch — both were killed by the sword around the year 285 and are venerated as martyrs.

The church's troparion for them asks the Lord, through their intercession, to show mercy on those they protected in life and to save many from ruin.

Alongside them the calendar commemorates several from the circle of the Seventy: Cleopas, who met the risen Lord on the road to Emmaus; Tertius, who wrote down Paul’s greeting in Romans (Romans 16:22) and later suffered as bishop of Iconium; Mark (also called John), son of the devout Mary whose house sheltered the apostles and early Christians and who served as bishop in the Samaritan city of Apolloniada; Justus, son of Joseph, who was considered with Matthias for Judas Iscariot’s place and later died for the Gospel in Eleutheropolis; and Artem, who was bishop in Lystra of Lycaonia and rested there peacefully.

The troparion for these apostles praises their evangelizing work and asks them to pray that the faithful may have even a mustard-seed faith and surrender their lives to Christ through their prayers.

Photo: Fejsbuk