Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles

Luke's Gospel records that the Lord appointed seventy others besides the Twelve and sent them ahead of Him two by two, saying, 'The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few.' On this day the Church gathers them into one commemoration, honouring the whole first generation of preachers who carried the Gospel from Jerusalem across the Roman world. Tradition counts among them figures named in the New Testament — Mark and Luke the Evangelists, James the Lord's brother, Barnabas, Timothy, Titus, Silas, Apollos, Aquila, and many greeted by Paul in his letters. The ancient lists of the Seventy vary and were compiled centuries later, so the exact roster is a matter of pious tradition rather than certainty. What the feast affirms is clear: the apostolic mission was always wider than the Twelve, a company of ordinary men made heralds of the Resurrection.