Synaxis of the 70 Holy Apostles
The Seventy Disciples and Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ are those Whom our Saviour chose in addition to the Twelve and sent forth unto the work of preaching. With the passage of time, others were added to their number by the Holy Apostles, who, with the accompaniment and assistance of the Seventy, were preaching the Gospel of Christ in various lands. Although their number eventually exceeded seventy, they were all nonetheless referred to as "of the Seventy" out of reverence for the number of Apostles which the Lord chose.
The divine Apostle and Evangelist Luke describes the calling and
the sending forth of the Seventy as follows in his Holy Gospel (Luke 10:1-16):
"After these things the Lord appointed another seventy disciples, and sent
them two and two before His face into every city and place, whither He Himself
would come. Therefore said He unto them, the harvest is great, but the
labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He send
forth labourers into His harvest. Go then: behold, I send you forth as lambs in
the midst of wolves. Carry neither purse, nor bag, nor sandals: and greet no
man on the way. And into whatsoever house ye enter first say, Peace be on this
house. And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it; if not,
it shall turn to you again. And in the same house remain, eating and drinking
such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from
house to house. And into whatsoever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such
things as are set before you; And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto
them, The Kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. But into whatsoever city ye
enter, and they receive you not, go your ways out into the streets of the same,
and say, Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveeth on us, we do wipe off
against you: notwithstanding know ye this, that the Kingdom of God is come nigh
unto you. But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for
Sodom, than for that city. Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida!
for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done
in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for
you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be brought down to
hades. He that heareth you heareth Me; and he that despiseth you despiseth Me;
and he that despiseth Me despiseth Him that sent Me."
After the Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension of our Lord, and
after Pentecost, on which all the Apostles and men and women disciples of
Christ, together with the Most Holy Theotokos (some 120 in number), were
gathered in the upper chamber, they received the grace of the All-holy Spirit
and went forth throughout the ends of the world, everywhere preaching and
teaching the Gospel of Christ, and leading to the true Faith the peoples who
were sunk in the darkness of impiety and idolatry.
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