Apostolic · 1st century
Synaxis of the Twelve Apostles
Common feast of the Twelve Apostles
The day after honoring Peter and Paul, the Church gathers the whole apostolic college in one synaxis, that none of the Twelve be left without festal honor: Peter and Andrew the brothers from Bethsaida; James and John the sons of Zebedee; Philip; Bartholomew; Thomas; Matthew the former tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus; Jude also called Thaddeus; Simon the Zealot; and Matthias, chosen by lot to replace Judas Iscariot. Paul, apostle by a calling all his own, is honored with them. The joint commemoration is ancient — a church of the Holy Apostles stood in Constantinople from the fourth century, built to house apostolic relics, and the feast appears in early calendars. Where Scripture is silent about individual apostles' later missions, tradition supplies journeys to Persia, India, Scythia, and beyond; the synaxis confesses what is certain — that their preaching 'went out into all the earth.'
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