Even though each one of the Twelve Great Apostles has their own special day of celebration throughout the year, nevertheless the Church has set aside this day (June 30) as a festal assembly of all the apostles together and with them, Paul. These are the names and the separate days of the celebrations of the Holy Twelve:

SAINT PETER June 29 and January 16

SAINT ANDREW November 30

SAINT JAMES, THE SON OF ZEBEDEE April 30

SAINT JOHN THE THEOLOGIAN September 26 and May 8

SAINT PHILIP November 14

SAINT BARTHOLOMEW June 11 and August 25

SAINT THOMAS October 6

SAINT MATTHEW THE EVANGELIST November 16

SAINT JAMES, THE SON OF ALPHAEUS October 9

SAINT THADDEUS OR JUDE, THE BROTHER OF JAMES June 19

SAINT SIMON THE ZEALOT May 10

SAINT MATTHIAS August 9

SAINT PAUL June 29

Let us also mention how each one of these most holy and most beneficial men in the history of the world ended their earthly life:

Saint Peter was crucified upside down.

Saint Andrew was crucified.

Saint James, the son of Zebedee was beheaded.

Saint John the Theologian died in a miraculous manner.

Saint Philip was crucified.

Saint Bartholomew was crucified, scrapped and beheaded.

Saint Thomas was pierced with five spears.

Saint Matthew the Evangelist was burned alive.

Saint James, the son of Alphaeus was crucified.

Saint Thaddeus or Jude, the Brother of James was crucified.

Saint Simon the Zealot was crucified.

Saint Matthias was stoned and then was beheaded after death.

Saint Paul was beheaded.

REFLECTION

 Concern for the good of all people! That concern filled the exalted spirits and noble hearts of the holy apostles. Writing about the Apostle Paul, St. John Chrysostom calls him: “The universal father of the world.” “As though he”, says Chrysostom, “gave birth to the entire world that he anxiously labored and tried to being all into the Kingdom.” Indeed, most exalted is this title: “Universal father of the world” and if this title could be attributed to anyone, other than God, it could only be attributed to the apostles of Christ. By their parental concern for the entire world, they in truth, were “the universal fathers of the world.” There are many mothers in the world who care less about their own children then the apostles were concerned about the good of their persecutors and adversaries. The Apostle Peter twice saved his most bitter adversary, Simon the Magician, from death: once when the people wanted to burn him and another time when a dog wanted to tear him to pieces. Just think, how the world repaid these their benefactors! As if they were the greatest robbers and criminals. O how true are the words of St. Cyril who says: “As long as we are in the body, the same occurs to us Christians as to pagans, the difference is only in the spirit.”

by Saint Nikolai Velimirovich