Ss. Philemon and Apphia

Philemon was a Christian of Colossae whose household received the faithful. Butler’s reading centres on St. Paul’s letter to him and on the Christian charity shown within that community. Apphia, whom Butler identifies as Philemon’s wife, is addressed with the others at the beginning of the letter.

Onesimus had been enslaved in Philemon’s household and had left him. Coming into contact with Paul during the apostle’s imprisonment, he received instruction in the faith. Paul then sent him back with the letter that asks Philemon to receive him in Christian brotherhood. Butler dwells on the tenderness of this appeal and the way Paul joins affection to spiritual authority.

The account places reconciliation at the centre of the story, while also offering later traditions about what followed the letter. Those later details should be distinguished from the letter itself. Butler records the honour paid to Philemon and Apphia in both Latin and Greek calendars on November 22 or the following day, and reports the tradition of Philemon’s martyrdom without treating it as certain.