Saints Priscilla and Aquila
The tentmaking couple who were close co-workers of Paul
- Rank
- Saint
- Kind
- Missionary, Layperson, Biblical figure
- Feast
- 8 July
- Countries
- Italy, Greece, Türkiye
Life story
The firmest information about them is in the New Testament. Acts 18 says Aquila was a Jew born in Pontus. He and his wife Priscilla (also called Prisca in some letters) had recently come to Corinth from Italy because the emperor Claudius ordered Jews to leave Rome. Paul met them there, found they shared his trade of tentmaking, and stayed and worked with them.
When Paul sailed from Corinth to Ephesus, the couple travelled with him and remained in the city. Acts 18 reports that they met Apollos, a learned Jew from Alexandria, and explained the Way to him more accurately. In 1 Corinthians 16, Paul passes on their greetings along with those of the church that met in their house at Ephesus. Later, Romans 16 greets the pair in Rome, saying they had risked their necks for him and that a church met in their home. Second Timothy 4 also names them. It is often noticed that Priscilla's name is placed before her husband's in several passages.
Scripture does not say how they died. Scripture does not say how they died. According to later tradition they were martyred, perhaps in Rome, but this is not reliable evidence. An ancient church on Rome's Aventine hill bears the name Prisca, yet whether it refers to the Priscilla of the New Testament is disputed. Some have guessed that one of the couple wrote the Letter to the Hebrews, but this is only a conjecture with no proof.
Works and witness
- Tentmakers who took Paul into their home in Corinth (Acts 18)
- Left Rome when Claudius expelled the Jews
- Taught Apollos the faith more fully at Ephesus
- Hosted Christian gatherings in their homes at Ephesus and Rome
- Praised by Paul as having risked their necks for him (Romans 16)
Saints from the same country
References
- New Testament – Acts of the Apostles
- New Testament – Letters of Paul (Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Timothy)
- Martyrologium Romanum
Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.