Orthodox Saint Cleopas History and Name Day Information

Written by Greek Boston in Ancient Greek History, Greek Orthodox Religious Information Comments Off on Orthodox Saint Cleopas History and Name Day Information

When it comes to the Orthodox Christian Church, the saints are honored on a regular basis. It is a fairly common practice for Orthodox Christians to be named after one of these saints and people tend to celebrate their name day as it is their own birthday. In some Orthodox countries, like Greece, the name day is celebrated even more heartily than their own birthday.

Saint Cleopas (Cleophas), also referred to as the Apostle Cleopas or Saint Cleopas, is one of these saints. He is one of the Seventy Apostles and he played an important role in the  His feast day is celebrated on October 30th of each year. Here’s more information about this Saint:

Life of Saint Cleopas

It is unknown exactly when Saint Cleopas was born, but we do know that he was alive during the 1st Century A.D. In fact, not much is actually known about his life. We do know that he was one of the disciples whom Jesus encountered on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:13-53. The passage says:

^“13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles^[a] from Jerusalem. ¹⁴ They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. ¹⁵ As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; ¹⁶ but they were kept from recognizing him.

¹⁷ He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?

They stood still, their faces downcast. ¹⁸ One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

Other than that, not much is known about Cleopas. This particular encounter in the Bible in the Book of Luke occurred a few days after the Resurrection. His companion on the road was unnamed.

What Historians Say About Saint Cleopas

Other than the above encounter, Cleopas isn’t mentioned in the Bible again. Bishop Eusebias, a church historian, does talk about Cleopas, however. It is understood that the Bishop Eusebias interviewed some people who knew Cleopas personally. He says, “After the martyrdom of James, it was unanimously decided that Simeon, son of Cleophas, was worthy to occupy the see of Jerusalem. He was, it is said, a cousin of the Saviour.”

Not much is known about the Apostle Cleopas’ life. We do know he was alive at the same time that Jesus was on the earth. We also know that he lost his life on November 10th, but we don’t know the year. We also know that his name day is on October 30th of each year. Visit the Name Day page for more information about other Orthodox Christian name days.

Sources:

OrthodoxWiki – Apostle Cleopas

Wikipedia – Cleopas

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Categorized in: Ancient Greek History, Greek Orthodox Religious Information

This post was written by Greek Boston