Saint Apostle Tertius
of the Seventy.

Saint Tertius was called by the Lord Jesus Christ to be one of the Seventy Apostles, a select group of disciples commissioned to preach the kingdom of God. He and his fellow apostles all lived during the first century. Nothing is known of his family or childhood, but his name - Latin for "third" - suggests he may have been of Roman origin or at least familiar with Greco-Roman culture. His formation as a Christian came through direct contact with the apostolic community and the teaching of the Apostle Paul.

His skills as a trained scribe and his reliability as a believer commended him to the Apostle Paul, who engaged him to transcribe his correspondence. In his capacity as secretary, Tertius rendered invaluable service to the Church by assisting in the composition and recording of one of Scripture's most important epistles.

Terence, also known as Tertius or Terentios, was the second bishop in succession after Saint Sosipater in Iconium, where he converted many pagans to Christ through his words and deeds done in the power of the Holy Spirit, also baptizing those converted by Saint Sosipater. As bishop, he stood in the apostolic succession, inheriting the episcopal office from his predecessor and the spiritual authority to govern the Church in that city.

Saint Tertius undertook the difficult missionary work of confirming and expanding the Christian community in Iconium, which was then a pagan-majority city in Anatolia. Terence was also a Wonderworker, a Martyr and one of the Seventy Apostles, gifts and callings that equipped him for his pastoral ministry and enabled him to work miracles in the name of Christ for the conversion and healing of his flock.

According to the Synaxarion of Constantinople, he died after being pricked with thorns, perhaps by being dragged over thorns till his flesh was torn off, or beaten with a thorny branch till he bled to death. The manner of his death reflects the persecution visited upon the early Christian bishops by pagan authorities who sought to suppress the faith. Saint Tertius faced his martyrdom with the courage of a true shepherd willing to lay down his life for his flock.

His repose in Iconium, the city where he had labored as bishop, marked the culmination of his earthly service to Christ. Through his martyrdom, Saint Tertius bore final testimony to the resurrection and eternal life promised by the Lord Jesus, joining the great company of the martyrs who purchased the faith with their blood.

Saint Tertius is venerated throughout the Orthodox Church as a faithful servant of the Apostle Paul and a stalwart bishop and martyr of Iconium. The Church remembers St. Tertius on October 30 and November 10. An additional commemoration occurs on November 10 in the Eastern Orthodox tradition, where Tertius is venerated collectively with fellow apostles of the Seventy, including Erastus of Paneas, Olympas of Rome, Herodion of Patras, Sosipater of Iconium, and Quartus of Berytus.

The legacy of Saint Tertius endures in the Church's reverence for the apostolic office and the martyrs' crown. His work as scribe made him a humble instrument in the hand of God for the preservation and transmission of Sacred Scripture. His episcopate demonstrates the apostolic succession and the continuation of pastoral authority from Paul through Sosipater to Tertius himself. His martyrdom witnesses to the faith once delivered to the saints and the willingness of the early bishops to suffer unto death rather than deny Christ.