03 Works, Today, March 16th, is St. Aristobulus's Day, With Footnotes - #74

St. Aristobulus of Britain

Aristobulus of Britannia is a Christian saint named by Hippolytus of Rome (170-235) and Dorotheus of Gaza (505-565) as one of the Seventy Disciples mentioned in Luke 10:1–24 and as the first bishop in Roman Britain. 

Aristobulus preached and died in Roman Britain. While some orthodox traditions say he "died in peace", others say he was martyred in Wales. Catholic tradition says he was martyred. The Benedictine monk Serenus de Cressy (1605–1674) maintained that Aristobulus was ordained by St. Paul and died at Glastonbury Abbey in 99.

"In Britain there was a wild people, pagan and wicked, and Aristobulus endured among them unmentionable torments, misfortunes and malice. They smote him without mercy, dragged him through the streets, mocked him and jeered at him. But in the end this holy man came to success by the power of the grace of God. He enlightened the people, baptised them in the name of Christ the Lord, built churches, ordained priests and deacons and finally died there." More on Apostle Aristobulus

Such was the Apostle Aristobulus' acclaim amongst the Brythonic Celts that a region was named after him, i.e. Arwystli, which later became a small medieval British kingdom, and continues to this day as a district within the county of Powys, Wales.

Saints of the British Isles

For more than a millennium, the British Isles were an Orthodox land. The holy Faith having first been brought to these islands by the Apostle of the Seventy, St Aristobulus, Orthodoxy found a home in the hearts of thousands who were united to Christ and sanctified by the ascetical life. Only from AD 1066 did this situation begin to change, as foreign conquest imposed alien traditions and beliefs upon an ancient Orthodox people. More on St Aristobulus

Orthodox Saints of Britain

The seventy disciples or seventy-two disciples (known in the Eastern Christian traditions as the Seventy[-two] Apostles) were early emissaries of Jesus mentioned in the Gospel of Luke.[1] According to Luke, the only gospel in which they appear, Jesus appointed them and sent them out in pairs on a specific mission which is detailed in the text.


In Western Christianity, they are usually referred to as disciples, whereas in Eastern Christianity they are usually referred to as Apostles. Using the original Greek words, both titles are descriptive, as an apostle is one sent on a mission whereas a disciple is a student, but the two traditions differ on the scope of the words apostle and disciple. More on The seventy disciples