Tychicus

Saint Tychicus the Apostle was a Christian of Asia, companion of the Apostle Paul on his journeys and in prison, counted among the Seventy apostles. Paul calls him in his epistles a beloved brother, faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. The Orthodox Church commemorates him on 8 December, with other disciples of the Seventy, and the Roman Martyrology on 29 April.

In the New Testament His name occurs five times. The Acts of the Apostles (20:4) says that he was from the province of Asia and names him, with Trophimus, among those who accompanied Paul on his last journey from Macedonia toward Jerusalem. Some manuscripts show that he was from Ephesus.

From prison, in Rome, Paul sent him with the epistles to the Ephesians and the Colossians. In the Epistle to the Colossians he writes that Tychicus will tell them all about him, to comfort them and strengthen their hearts, and sends him together with Onesimus. Saint John Chrysostom notes that Paul does not put everything in his epistles, only what is needed, and leaves some to be told by the one sent, which also shows the trust he had in him. The Colossians wished to learn the apostle's condition in chains, and Tychicus brought word that he enjoyed some freedom and could receive whom he wished.

Tychicus appears again in the Epistle to Titus (3:12), where Paul says he will send either Artemas or Tychicus, so that Titus can come to him at Nicopolis. The last mention is in the second Epistle to Timothy (4:12), written from Rome not long before Paul's death: “Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus.” Tychicus could thus take Timothy's place at Ephesus and let him return to the apostle.

Later traditions Traditions make him bishop of Colophon, of Chalcedon or of Neapolis in Cyprus. A list of the Seventy attributed to Hippolytus of Rome names him twice, as bishop of Chalcedon and as bishop of Colophon. The Orthodox Church regards this as an error and holds that it is the same person, commemorated on 8 December with Sosthenes, Apollos, Cephas, Epaphroditus, Caesar and Onesiphorus. The Serbian synaxarion says that he shepherded Colophon after the Apostle Sosthenes.

The current Roman Martyrology commemorates him on 29 April, quoting Paul's words in the Epistle to the Colossians.