Silvanus of the Seventy

The Holy Apostle Silvanus (Silouan) is held by Orthodox tradition to be one of the seventy apostles. His name is a Latinised form of Silas, so it is discussed whether they are the same person; the present sources distinguish them.

The Apostle Peter mentions him in his first epistle: I have written to you briefly through Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him (1 Peter 5:12), and Paul in the second epistle to the Corinthians: For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we preached among you, I and Silvanus and Timothy, was not yes and no, but in him was yes (2 Corinthians 1:19). He was a disciple of Paul and a helper of Peter, and according to some sources he wrote or transcribed their epistles. According to Orthodox tradition he became bishop of Thessalonica and died a martyr. Demetrius of Rostov says of him that he laboured with each of the chief apostles in preaching the teaching of Christ, sharing their labours and sufferings, and that at Thessalonica, after many afflictions for the faith, he went to Christ, who crowns all labours. His feast is on 30 July (12 August, new style) and on 4 January, in the Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles.