Saints Agavos, Roufos, Flegon, and Asygkritos, who were among the 70 Apostles. April 8

 ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ

 Eις τον Άγαβον.

Ψυχὴν Ἀγάβου τοῦ Προφηταποστόλου,

Ὁ ψυχοσώστης προσκαλεῖται Δεσπότης.

Eις τον Φλέγοντα.

Σβέσας πλάνης φλέγουσαν ὁ Φλέγων φλόγα,

Οὓς Δαυῒδ εἶπε, πῦρ φλέγον, βλέπει Νόας.

Eις τον Pούφον.

Παῦλος καλεῖ σε, Ῥοῦφ', Ἀπόστολος μέγας.

Ἐκλεκτὸν ὄντως· ὢ ἐπαίνου ἀξίου!

Eις τον Aσύγκριτον.

Ἀσύγκριτον δὲ πᾶς ἐπαινέσει μάλα.

Τοῦτον γὰρ ἠσπάσατο Παύλου τὸ στόμα.

Ὀγδοάτῃ μετέβησαν Ἀπόστολοι, ἀγγελέες τε.

Today, April 8, our Church honors the memory of Saints Agavos, Rufus, Flego and Asygritos from the 70 Apostles.

Of these holy Apostles, Agabus was the one mentioned by the evangelist Luke in the Acts of the Apostles, who, after taking the belt of the Apostle Paul, bound his hands and feet and prophesied about him these things: "Thus says the Spirit the Saint. The man, who is not in this zone, so shall the Jews say in Jerusalem, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles" (Acts of the Apostles, k'11). Indeed, it did. For not only did the Jews bind Paul, but they also tried to kill him. Agabus, after preaching the Gospel in the place where he lived, departed peacefully to the Lord.

Paul mentions Rufus in the letter to the Romans: "Embrace Rufus, the chosen one in the Lord, and his mother and me" (Romans, verse 13). He later became bishop of Thebes in Greece.

And Phlegon (who became Bishop of Marathon) and Asygritos, after preaching the Gospel in various parts of the world, brought many unbelievers to the true faith. Eventually they were tortured in various ways by Jews and Greeks, resulting in both dying on the same day. Thus they took from the Lord the heavenly goods, reserved for the true workers of the Gospel.

Eις τον Ηρωδίων

Εὐαγγελίου τὸν καλὸν δραμὼν δρόμον,

Ἡρῳδίων κάλλιστον ἤρατο στέφος.

Eις τον Ερμή

Ἑρμῇ θανόντι τῷ μαθητῇ Κυρίου,

Ἑρμῷον ἔμπνουν ἐκ λόγων ἀναγλύφῳ.

Apostle Hermes became the Bishop of Dalmatia (honored on November 5 and March 8) and slept in peace.

The Apostle Herodius (celebrated on November 10 and March 28) belonged to the circle of the Seventy Apostles of the Lord. Following the Holy Apostles, he helped them in the preaching of Christ, offering services to all and submitting as a disciple of Christ, who said that he who wants to be first among all, let him be the servant of all and their minister. He was then ordained by them Bishop of the city of New Patras and led many Gentiles to the truth of the Gospel. But because the Jews envied him, they gathered against him together with the pagans, arrested him and tortured him mercilessly. They crushed his mouth with stones and beat his head against sticks. Then the outlaws, as wild and bloodthirsty hunters, butchered him with a knife. Thus he surrendered his blessed soul to the Lord, for whose love he suffered a martyr's death.

Λειτουργικά κείμενα

Ἀπολυτίκιον

Ἦχος γ’.

Ἀπόστολοι ἅγιοι, πρεσβεύσατε τῷ ἐλεήμονι Θεῷ ἵνα πταισμάτων ἄφεσιν, παράσχῃ ταῖς ψυχαῖς ἡμῶν.

Έτερον Ἀπολυτίκιον 

Ἦχος α’. Χορὸς Ἀγγελικός.

Ἐξάριθμος χορός, τῶν σοφῶν Ἀποστόλων, ὑμνείσθω ἱερῶς, μελωδίαις ᾀσμάτων, Ἐρμᾶς καὶ Ἀσύγκριτος, Ἠρωδίων καὶ Ἄγαβος, σὺν τῷ Φλέγωντι, καὶ τῷ θεόφρονι Ρούφω, τὴν Τριάδα γάρ, διηνεκῶς δυσωπούσιν, ὑπὲρ τῶν ψυχῶν ἠμῶν.

Κοντάκιον

Ἦχος β’. Τὰ ἄνω ζητῶν.

Ὡς μύσται Χριστοῦ, καὶ Ἀποστόλων σύσκηνοι, ἐν πάσῃ τῇ γῇ, τὴν τούτου συγκατάβασιν, Μαθηταί ἑξάριθμοι, ὡς λαμπάς ἑξάφωτος φάναντες, ἐλύσατε σκότος δεινόν, πυρσεύοντες πᾶσιν, ἀληθείας τὸ φῶς.