Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles

Life

Besides the twelve great apostles, the Lord chose seventy other, lesser apostles, and sent them to preach the Gospel, "And he sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come... Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves" (Luke 10:1, 3). But just as one of the Twelve, Judas, fell away from the Lord, so some of these Seventy abandoned the Lord not with the intention of betrayal, but through human weakness and lack of faith (John 6:66). And just as Judas's place was filled by another apostle, so the places of these were filled by other chosen ones. These apostles labored at the same task as the twelve great apostles, they were helpers to the Twelve in spreading and establishing the Church of God in the world. Many torments and afflictions they endured from men and demons, but their firm faith and burning love toward the Risen Lord made them victors over the world and heirs of the Heavenly Kingdom.

From the Hymn of Praise

O knights of the cross, sons of light,You have not yet passed away, children of the future,For you are not dead, as Christ is not,But alive with a life that never decays.