The Slave Onesimus Is Regarded as a Saint by Catholics

In the East, he's referred to as Onesimus, Apostle of the Seventy, and his Feast was kept yesterday. From slave, to brother, to Bishop. Quite a life!

From Aleteia

By Philip Kosloski

In his letter to Philemon, St. Paul writes about an enslaved man named Onesimus who converted to the Christian faith, and praises his service.

Relatively few people are mentioned by name in the New Testament, and those who are are often only mentioned one or two times.

Such is the case of Onesimus, who is signaled out by St. Paul when writing his letter to Philemon:

I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment … I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel; but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own free will.

Perhaps this is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back for ever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me.

We don't know much about Onesimus, but there are some ancient traditions that claim he went from slave to bishop.

Bishop Onesimus

Various traditions pick up where the New Testament left off and find Onesimus as the bishop of Ephesus, having been ordained by the apostles. However, his newfound Christian faith brought him under fire and he was arrested in Rome and sentenced to death after preaching about the beauty of celibacy. He was cruelly tortured and then beaten to death.

Part of this tradition is based on the first letter of St. Ignatius to the Ephesians, who mentions a bishop by the name of Onesimus.

Regardless of the veracity of these traditions, the Catholic Church recognizes him as a saint and appointed February 16 as his feast day, according to the Roman Martyrology:

Blessed Onesimus, of whom the holy Apostle Paul writeth unto Philemon, and whom also he ordained Bishop of Ephesus after holy Timothy, and committed unto him the preaching of the Word. In the end he was brought to Rome in chains, and there stoned to death for Christ's faith's sake. His body was first buried there, but was thence taken to the place where he had been ordained bishop.

St. Onesimus, pray for us!