Orthodox Saint Silas History and Name Day Information

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The lives of the saints are no doubt an important part of Orthodox Christianity. Starting at the early days of the church, the saints have played an important role of establishing Christianity as well as spreading it throughout the world. Many of these saints have even died as martyrs for their dedication. Therefore, it is considered to be a great honor to be named after on of these saints.

Silas, also known as Silvanus or the Apostle Silas, is one of those saints who is considered to be very important to the history of the church and as a result, many are named after him. His feast day is on July 30th of each year. Here’s more information about Saint David:

About Saint Silas

Silas is one of those Apostles who was around in the early days of the Christian church. He was also not only mentioned in the Bible, but he also wrote one of the books of the New Testament. He is considered to be one of the Seventy Apostles. He traveled with Saint Paul and Saint Barnabas to Jerusalem to spread the news that Christ is the Messiah. While in Jerusalem, he helped establish the Christian Church there and is known as being one of its founding members. He was definitely a respected figure there.

It is unclear as to exactly when Saint Silas was born and where that was. However, we do know that he lost his life in Macedonia sometime before 100 A.D. The exact date of his death isn’t known.

Silas Mentioned in the Bible

Silas, along with Paul and Timothy, is considered to be one of the coauthors of the Book of Ecclesiastics in the Bible. This means that Silas was around during the early days of the church. Here are some passages where Silas is mentioned in the New Testament:

• Silas Was First Mentioned in Acts 15:22

“22Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, men who were leaders among the believers.”

• Silas Was Imprisoned With Paul (Acts 16:16-39)

¹⁹ When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. ²⁰ They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar ²¹ by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”

²² The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. (From Acts 16:19-22)

Silas was mentioned a few more times in the Bible, and the last time he was mentioned was in Acts 18.

Saint Silas’s name day is on July 30th of each year. Check the Name Day page for more information about other Orthodox Christian name days.

Sources:

OrthodoxWiki – Apostle Silas (Also Source for Photo Credit for Image Above)

Wikipedia – Silas

Apostle Silas of the Seventy

Categorized in: Greek Orthodox Religious Information

This post was written by Greek Boston