Silas
Silas was a leading member of the early Christian community at Jerusalem, described in the Acts of the Apostles as one of the 'chief men among the brethren' (Acts 15:22). Together with Judas Barsabbas he was chosen as a leader and prophet to accompany Paul and Barnabas to Antioch following the Apostolic Council held at Jerusalem, which the synaxarion places in AD 51.
When Paul set out on his second missionary journey, he selected Silas as his companion. The two traveled through Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, and Corinth. At Philippi they were briefly imprisoned, and tradition relates that an earthquake broke their chains and opened the prison doors; for this reason Silas is sometimes depicted carrying broken chains.
Paul, Silas, and Timothy appear together as co-senders of the First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians, and Silas is named in 2 Corinthians 1:19 as having preached with Paul and Timothy at Corinth. Tradition holds that Silas became Bishop of Corinth, where he reposed in peace.
Silvanus
Silvanus preached the Word of God alongside the chief Apostles Peter and Paul. He is remembered by Peter, who in his First Epistle calls him 'a faithful brother' (1 Peter 5:12).
By tradition Silvanus became Bishop of Thessalonica, and he reposed in peace. The early apostolic lists, including that attributed to Hippolytus of Rome, name him among the Seventy as a figure distinct from Silas, though the two names are closely related in the New Testament tradition.
Crescens
Crescens is mentioned by the Apostle Paul, who writes that Crescens had departed for Galatia (2 Timothy 4:10). There he was made bishop, and afterwards he carried the preaching of the Gospel into Gaul, in the region of modern France.
The apostolic list attributed to Hippolytus associates him with the see of Galatia, naming him among the Seventy.
Epenetus
Epenetus is greeted warmly by the Apostle Paul in the Epistle to the Romans: 'Greet my dear Epenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ' (Romans 16:5). The title 'firstfruits' marks him as among the earliest converts in that region.
By tradition Epenetus was made Bishop of Carthage, and he is numbered among the Seventy Apostles in the early apostolic lists.
Veneration
The four apostles are commemorated together on July 30 in the Eastern Orthodox calendar, on the same day as the Apostle Andronicus of the Seventy. The whole company of the Seventy is also remembered collectively on January 4 as the Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles, with individual commemorations distributed through the liturgical year.
