Saint Onesimus

Life story

Onesimus appears in two letters of Paul. According to the Letter to Philemon, he was the slave of Philemon, a Christian in the Colossae region, and had left his master's household, perhaps owing him some loss that Paul offers to repay. He met Paul while the apostle was imprisoned and became a believer through him. His name means useful, and Paul plays on that meaning in the letter.

Paul sent Onesimus back with that short letter, asking Philemon to receive him no longer as a slave but as a dear brother. The letter does not report the outcome, and scholars disagree whether Philemon freed him. In the Letter to the Colossians, chapter 4, Onesimus is called a faithful and beloved brother, one of the Colossians, travelling with Tychicus to carry news there.

Everything else is tradition. The Apostolic Constitutions (book 7) say he became bishop of Beroea in Macedonia. Ignatius of Antioch, in his letter to the Ephesians, mentions a bishop named Onesimus, and some ancient writers identified the two men, but this is uncertain since the name was common. The Roman Martyrology marks him on 15 February; ancient sources tell different stories about where and how he died.

Works and witness

• Slave of Philemon who fled and met Paul in prison
• Sent back by Paul with the Letter to Philemon
• Called a faithful and beloved brother in Colossians 4:9
• According to tradition, bishop of Beroea in Macedonia
• Possibly the bishop Onesimus named by Ignatius of Antioch

Saints from the same country

Saint Paul, Saint Luke, Saint George, Saint Nicholas

References

• New Testament – Letter to Philemon
• New Testament – Letter to the Colossians
• Martyrologium Romanum

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.