Onesiphorus

ONESIPHORUS, of whom mention is made by St. Paul, in his second Epistle to Timothy, cap. i. v. 16. He came to Rome in the Year of Christ 65, while St. Paul was in Prison there for the Faith, and at a Time when almost every one had forsaken him¹. He arrived there from Asia, where he had already been very serviceable to the Church; and having found St. Paul in Bonds, after that he had sought him for a long time, he often assisted him to the utmost of his Power. For which Reason the Apostle wishes all sort of Benedictions both on himself and his Family. The Greeks place his Festival on the 29th of April and the 8th of December. On the 29th of April they make him Bishop of Colophon in Asia; and on the 8th of December they make him Bishop of Cesarea, without distinguishing which Cesarea they mean. They place him in the Order of the seventy Disciples, and seem to ascribe Martyrdom to him. The Roman Martyrology on the 16th of December says he suffered Martyrdom on the Hellespont,where he went to preach the Gospel along with Porphyrius: That having been apprehended by the Command of the Proconsul Adrian, and carried into a Temple dedicated to Idols, there to offer Incense to them, which he courageously refused to do; he was cruelly whip’d with Rods, and then tied to a Horse’s Tail, and drawn about till he expired.

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