Commemorated on August 21
The Holy Apostle Thaddaeus was not part of the original twelve apostles, but was one of the Seventy. St. Thaddaeus first encountered St. John the Baptist and received baptism from him. He then found the Lord Jesus Christ and followed him. The Lord numbered him among the Seventy Lesser Apostles, whom he sent out two by two before His face. (Luke 10:1) After His glorious Resurrection and His Ascension, the Lord sent Thaddaeus to Edessa, Thaddaeus’s birthplace, according to the promise He gave to Prince Abgar when He returned Abgar’s towel with the image of His face on it. (The Icon of our Lord “Not made with Hands which is commemorated on August 16)
Buy kissing the towel, Abgar was healed of leprosy, but not completely. When St. Thaddaeus appeared to Abgar, he received him with great joy. The Apostle of Christ instructed him in the true Faith, and after the prince was baptized. When Abgar arose out of the baptismal water, he was completely healed. Glorifying God, Prince Abgar also determined that his people should know the true God and glorify Him. The prince assembled all the citizens of Odessa before the Holy Apostle Thaddaeus to hear his teaching about Christ. Hearing the words of the apostle and seeing their prince miraculously healed, the people. Rejected their former idolatry and unclean living, embraced the Christian faith and were baptized.
Thus the city of Odessa was illumined by the Christian Faith. Prince Abgar brought much gold and offered it to the apostle, but Thaddaeus said to him : “Since we left our own gold, how can we receive the gold of others?” Saint Thaddaeus preached the Gospel throughout Syria and Phoenicia. He reposed in the Lord in the Phoenician city of Beirut.
Troparion & Kontakion
Troparion — Tone 4
O holy Apostle Thaddaeus, witness of God, / Who appeared in the flesh for our sake, / you brought the light of saving grace to those in darkness / and were revealed as an excellent physician to those in Edessa. / Wherefore shelter those who fervently seek you.
Kontakion — Tone 4
The Church has acquired you as a brilliant star, / and is ever enlightened by your miracles, O Apostle Thaddaeus. / Save those who in faith honor your memory.