Holy Apostle Aristobulus of the Seventy, Bishop of Britain

Saint Aristobulus of the Seventy

The sixteenth of March is the feast day in the Orthodox Church of Saint Aristobulus, a Cypriot Second Temple Jew who was the brother of Saint Yousef bar-Nehmâ. Both men were among the Seventy Apostles mentioned in the Gospel of Saint Luke. Saint Aristobulus would also, by this tradition, have been the uncle of Saint Mark the Evangelist. He was a diligent servant to the Apostles Paul and Andrew, and continued their work of spreading the good news of Christ to the remotest parts of the world. He is mentioned in the Coptic martyrologies as having preached in a city called Abratabias – which may or may not have been in Britain.

Aristobulus [also Arwystli Hen in Welsh] is mentioned by name in Saint Paul’s epistle to the Romans, as the head of a certain household. We may infer from this that he was married; some sources identify his wife as Salome, one of the Myrrh-Bearing Women, and the Welsh tradition names a son he brought with him to Britain, named Manaw. He went at Saint Paul’s urgings to the Roman province of Britain to spread the Gospel there, as attested by Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos of Constantinople and Abba Dorotheos of Gaza. He preached in the Isles of Scilly and in Cornwall. These areas of Britain were inhabited, so the Greek Martyrologies tell us, by a ‘very warlike and fierce race’, and Saint Aristobulus suffered much tribulation among them. He was beaten, taken as a criminal and dragged in chains through the streets, mocked and scourged. But, strengthened by Christ, he bore all with grace, and soon even the mockers were stilled.

Certain traditions hold that he reached Glastonbury and may have briefly settled there. There is still a parish in Wales called Bro Arwystli which appears to be named for Saint Aristobulus. This parish is located in Powys, near the headwaters of the Severn. Archpriest Andrew Phillips of Orthodox England tells us that a pious tradition in Wales names this as the place of his martyrdom. Holy father Aristobulus, faithful apostle and first bishop in Britain, pray unto Christ our God that our souls may be saved!

Holy Apostles of the Seventy:
Stachys, Amplias, Urban, Narcissus, Apelles, and Aristobulus,
Entreat the merciful God
To grant our souls forgiveness of transgressions.