Saint Onésime
porteur d'une lettre de
saint Paul (+ 95)
L'esclave fugitif que saint Paul renvoya à son maître Philémon, porteur d'une lettre qui fait autant d'honneur à son auteur qu'à son destinataire. La tradition veut qu'il soit mort martyr à Rome.
Lettre de saint Paul Apôtre à Philémon - Chapitre 1
Commémoraison de saint Onésime, que l’Apôtre saint Paul a recueilli esclave en
fuite, qu’il a engendré dans la foi du Christ alors que lui-même était en
prison, comme il le dit dans sa lettre à Philémon.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/654/Saint-Onesime.html
Papiro 87,
Frammento della Lettara a Filemone (fine II - inizio III secolo)
Lettre de saint Paul
Apôtre à Philémon
01 PAUL, EN PRISON
pour le Christ Jésus, et Timothée notre frère, à toi, Philémon, notre
collaborateur bien-aimé,
02 ainsi qu’à notre
sœur, Aphia, à notre compagnon de combat, Archippe, et à l’Église qui se
rassemble dans ta maison.
03 À vous, la grâce
et la paix de la part de Dieu notre Père et du Seigneur Jésus Christ.
04 À tout moment je
rends grâce à mon Dieu, en faisant mémoire de toi dans mes prières,
05 car j’entends
parler de ton amour et de la foi que tu as pour le Seigneur Jésus et à l’égard
de tous les fidèles.
06 Je prie pour que
ta communion dans la foi devienne efficace par la pleine connaissance de tout
le bien qui est en nous, pour le Christ.
07 En effet, ta
charité m’a déjà apporté beaucoup de joie et de réconfort, car grâce à toi,
frère, les cœurs des fidèles ont trouvé du repos.
08 Certes, j’ai dans
le Christ toute liberté de parole pour te prescrire ce qu’il faut faire,
09 mais je préfère
t’adresser une demande au nom de la charité : moi, Paul, tel que je suis,
un vieil homme et, qui plus est, prisonnier maintenant à cause du Christ Jésus,
10 j’ai quelque
chose à te demander pour Onésime, mon enfant à qui, en prison, j’ai donné la
vie dans le Christ.
11 Cet Onésime (dont
le nom signifie « avantageux ») a été, pour toi, inutile à un certain
moment, mais il est maintenant bien utile pour toi comme pour moi.
12 Je te le renvoie,
lui qui est comme mon cœur.
13 Je l’aurais
volontiers gardé auprès de moi, pour qu’il me rende des services en ton nom, à
moi qui suis en prison à cause de l’Évangile.
14 Mais je n’ai rien
voulu faire sans ton accord, pour que tu accomplisses ce qui est bien, non par
contrainte mais volontiers.
15 S’il a été
éloigné de toi pendant quelque temps, c’est peut-être pour que tu le retrouves
définitivement,
16 non plus comme un
esclave, mais, mieux qu’un esclave, comme un frère bien-aimé : il l’est
vraiment pour moi, combien plus le sera-t-il pour toi, aussi bien humainement
que dans le Seigneur.
17 Si donc tu
estimes que je suis en communion avec toi, accueille-le comme si c’était moi.
18 S’il t’a fait du
tort ou s’il te doit quelque chose, mets cela sur mon compte.
19 Moi, Paul,
j’écris ces mots de ma propre main : c’est moi qui te rembourserai. Je
n’ajouterai pas que toi aussi, tu as une dette envers moi, et cette dette,
c’est toi-même.
20 Oui, frère,
donne-moi cette satisfaction dans le Seigneur, fais que mon cœur trouve du
repos dans le Christ.
21 Confiant dans ton
obéissance, je t’écris en sachant que tu feras plus encore que je ne dis.
22 En même temps,
prévois aussi mon logement, car j’espère que, grâce à vos prières, je vous
serai rendu.
23 Épaphras, mon
compagnon de captivité dans le Christ Jésus, te salue,
24 ainsi que Marc,
Aristarque, Démas et Luc, mes collaborateurs.
25 Que la grâce du
Seigneur Jésus Christ soit avec votre esprit.
SOURCE : https://www.aelf.org/bible/Phm/1
Évêque d'Éphèse(+ en 95)
Saint Onésime,
disciple de saint Paul, évêque d'Ephèse et martyr. 95.
16 février.
Pape : Saint Clément.
Empereur romain : Domitien.
" Nous avons vécu en ce monde avec la simplicité du coeur et la sincérité de Dieu ; non selon la sagesse de la chair, mais selon la grâce de Dieu."
IIe aux Cor., I, 12.
Esclave d'un citoyen de Colosse nommé Philémon que saint Paul avait converti,
Onésime, après avoir mal servi son maître, le vola et s'enfuit. Lorsqu'il eut
dissipé tout ce qu'il avait pris, il vint se cacher à Rome; la bonté de Dieu
l'y amenait pour le délivrer d'une servitude plus triste que celle dont il
avait voulu s'affranchir par la fuite.
Il y rencontra saint Paul, captif. L'Apôtre, qui considérait également les
maîtres et les esclaves comme des frères rachetés en Jésus-Christ, lui montra
la gravité de sa faute, l'instruisit, le convertit et le baptisa. Depuis ce
temps-là, il le regarda toujours comme son fils, d'autant plus cher qu'il
l'avait engendré à Dieu dans les chaînes. Voulant le réconcilier avec Philémon,
il le lui renvoie avec une lettre où il demande le pardon et même la liberté du
fugitif:
"Paul, prisonnier de Jésus-Christ, et Timothée, son frère, à Philémon,
notre bien-aimé et coopérateur,... grâce à vous et paix de la part de Dieu
notre Père et de Notre-Seigneur Jésus-Christ... La prière que je vous adresse
est pour mon fils Onésime, que j'ai enfanté dans mes chaînes... Je vous le
renvoie; recevez-le comme si c'était moi-même... Et non plus comme un esclave,
mais comme un esclave, devenu un frère... J'avais pensé d'abord à le garder auprès
de moi; mais je n'ai rien voulu faire sans votre consentement... S'il vous a
fait tort ou qu'il vous soit redevable de quelque chose, mettez-le à mon
compte. C'est moi, Paul, qui vous le rendrai... Oui, mon frère, procurez-moi
cette joie dans le Seigneur... Que la grâce de Notre-Seigneur Jésus-Christ soit
avec votre esprit. Ainsi soit-il."
Philémon reçut Onésime avec charité et le renvoya à Rome pour assister saint
Paul dont il devint le compagnon fidèle. L'apôtre lui confia, ainsi qu'à saint
Tychique, sa lettre aux Colossiens; il le nomma évêque d'Éphèse après la mort
de saint Timothée.
Onésime eut le bonheur de saluer à Smyrne, saint Ignace d'Antioche qui se
rendait à Rome pour y être exposé aux bêtes. Dans sa lettre aux Éphésiens, le
martyr loue la charité de l'évêque d'Éphèse.
Le procureur d'Asie, voyant qu'Onésime, malgré la persécution, prêchait avec
courage, le fit arrêter et l'envoya à Tertulle, gouverneur de Rome, ennemi
personnel d'Onésime. Celui-ci le soumit à la torture et le fit lapider l'an 95.
Frères des Écoles Chrétiennes, Vie des Saints, p. 72-73
Saint Onésime est le patron des serviteurs et des domestiques. Son attribut est le bâton avec lequel on lui rompit les jambes, ou bien la lapidation.
SOURCE : http://magnificat.ca/cal/fr/saints/saint_onesime.html et
Also
known as
Onesimo
Profile
Slave of
the Colossian Christians Saint Philemon and Saint Apphia.
Committed a theft and
fled from punishment to Rome where
he hid with Saint Paul
the Apostle. Paul converted him,
then sent him home carrying the canonical Letter to Philemon. He was
freed.
c.90
Name
Meaning
helpful; profitable
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Catholic
Encyclopedia: Epistle to Philemon
Catholic
Encyclopedia: Philemon
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
Short
Lives of the Saints, by Eleanor Cecilia Donnelly
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other
sites in english
images
video
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti
in italiano
nettsteder
i norsk
spletne
strani v slovenšcini
Readings
Therefore, although I
have the full right in Christ to order you to do what is proper, I rather urge
you out of love, being as I am, Paul, an old man, and now also a prisoner for
Christ Jesus. I urge you on behalf of my child Onesimus, whose father I
have become in my imprisonment, who was once useless to you but is now useful
to both you and me. I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you. I
should have liked to retain him for myself so that he might serve me on your
behalf in my imprisonment for the gospel, but I did not want to do anything
without your consent, so that the good you do might not be forced but
voluntary. – Philemon 1:8-14
MLA
Citation
“Saint Onesimus“. CatholicSaints.Info.
19 March 2024. Web. 24 August 2025. <https://catholicsaints.info/saint-onesimus/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-onesimus/
Article
(Saint) Bishop, Martyr (February
16) (1st
century) The slave in
behalf of whom Saint Paul wrote his Epistle
to Philemon. According to tradition, the Apostle afterwards
appointed him Bishop of
Ephesus in succession to Saint Timothy.
Accounts vary as to the length of his Episcopate,
but agree that he was put to death in Rome as
a Christian.
This probably happened towards the end of the first
century.
MLA
Citation
Monks of Ramsgate.
“Onesimus”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info.
15 May 2016. Web. 24 August 2025.
<https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-onesimus/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-onesimus/
Benjamin West (1738–1820), The Conversion of Onesimus, circa 1780, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
St. Onesimus
Feastday: February 16
Death: 68
Martyr and former slave.
He is mentioned in St. Paul’s Letter to Philemon as the
slave of Philemon in
Colossae, Phrygia, who ran away. Paul met Onesimus while the former was in a
Roman prison, and Paul baptized the slave and came to consider him his own son.
Paul sent Onesimus back to Philemon with the
epistle, asking Philemon to
accept him “no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a brother, beloved
especially to me, but even more so to you, as a man in
the Lord. So if you regard me as a partner, welcome him as you would me. And if
he has done you any injustice or
owes you anything, charge it to me”. In Paul’s Letter to the Colossians,
Onesimus is again mentioned as accompanying Tychicus, the bearer of the letter.
The pre-1970 Roman Martyrology incorrectly
identifies Onesimus with the bishop of Ephesus who
followed St.
Timothy as bishop of Ephesus and
who was stoned to death in Rome.
SOURCE : https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=4908
ST. ONESIMUS, DISCIPLE OF
ST. PAUL.
HE was a Phrygian by birth, slave to Philemon, a person of note of the city of
Colossi, converted to the faith by St. Paul. Having robbed his master, and
being obliged to fly, he providentially met with St. Paul, then a prisoner for
the faith at Rome, who there converted and baptized him, and sent him with his
canonical letter of recommendation to Philemon, by whom he was pardoned, set at
liberty, and sent back to his spiritual father, whom he afterward faithfully
served. That apostle made him, with Tychicus, the bearer of his epistle to the
Colossians, and afterward, as St. Jerome and other fathers witness, a preacher
of the Gospel and a bishop. He was crowned with martyrdom under Domitian in the
year 95.
REFLECTION.—With what excess of goodness does God communicate Himself to souls
which open themselves to Him ! With what caresses does He often visit them !
With what a profusion of graces does He enrich and strengthen them. In our
trials and temptations let us then offer our hearts to God, remembering as St.
Paul says, " To them that love God all things work together unto
good."
INTERCESSORY PRAYER: Ask Saint Onesimus to help us follow the teachings of Holy
Scripture and to help us with our personal needs.
SOURCE : http://jesus-passion.com/saint_onesimus.htm
St. Onesimus
St. Onesimus lived in the first century. He was a slave who robbed his master
and ran away to Rome. In Rome he went to see the great apostle, St. Paul, who
was a prisoner for his faith. Paul received St. Onesimus with the kindness and
love of a good father. Paul helped the young man realize he had done wrong to
steal. But more than that, he led St. Onesimus to believe in and accept the
Christian faith.
After St. Onesimus became a Christian, Paul sent him back to his master,
Philemon, who was Paul’s friend. But Paul did not send the slave back alone and
defenseless. He “armed” St. Onesimus with a brief, powerful letter. Paul hoped
his letter would set everything right for his new friend, St. Onesimus. Paul
wrote to Philemon: “I plead with you for my own son, for St. Onesimus. I am
sending him back to you. Welcome him as though he were my very heart.”
That touching letter is in the New Testament of the Bible. Philemon accepted
Paul’s letter and Paul’s advice. When St. Onesimus returned to his master, he
was set free. Later, he went back to St. Paul and became his faithful helper.
St. Paul made St. Onesimus a priest and then a bishop. The former slave
dedicated the rest of his life to preaching the Good News that had changed his
life forever. It is believed that during the persecutions, St. Onesimus was
brought in chains to Rome and stoned to death.
SOURCE : http://www.ucatholic.com/saints/saint-onesimus/
Onesimus M (RM)
Died c. 90. Onesimus, meaning 'helpful' or 'profitable,' was a run-away slave
who is the subject of Saint Paul's shortest letter. Onesimus had been in the
service of Philemon, to whom Paul addresses the missive. Philemon, a leading
citizen of Colossae, Phrygia, was an intimate friend of Paul; indeed, the
letter could only have been written to one with whom he was on the closest
terms of friendship. Probably he was one of Saint Paul's converts. He was
obviously a rich man, of high and generous character and given to hospitality,
for Saint Paul asks him to prepare a lodging for him, and he had a church in
his home.
Behind the letter lies a painful story. Onesimus had run away from Philemon and
over a matter of money. We can only conjecture that he had been dishonest or
had been under suspicion, for Saint Paul says: "If he has wronged you at
all or owes you anything, put that to my account. I, Paul, write it with my own
hand. I will repay it" (Philemon 1:18-19).
Whatever it was, Onesimus had been in disgrace and had run away. He had then
come under the influence of Saint Paul, now an old man, and had served him in
his imprisonment. He had confessed his fault and been converted, for Saint Paul
says he begat him in Christ, and he had become a true son of the Gospel.
Indeed, he had found him so profitable and helpful that he would like to keep
him permanently with him, but was constrained by a sense of duty, and by his
regard for Philemon, to return him. Saint Paul was thus faced with the
difficult task of writing this delicate letter.
He makes no attempt to condone the fault; on the contrary, he lays open the
whole matter. "Perhaps this is why he was away from * you for a while,
that you might have him back forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave,
a brother, beloved especially to me, but even more so to you, as a man and in
the Lord. So if you regard me as a partner, welcome him as you would me"
(vv. 15- 17).
Evidently, Onesimus went back to Philemon and, no longer in disgrace, was
accepted as a brother, because in Colossians (4:7-9) Paul mentions Onesimus
with Tychichus as the bearer of the epistle to the Colossians.
The further story of Onesimus is unknown, though Saint Jerome said that
Onesimus became a preacher of the Word and later a bishop, though probably not
the Bishop Onesimus of Ephesus who was the third successor to Timothy, showed
hospitality to Saint Ignatius of Antioch, and was stoned to death in Rome, as
stated in the Roman Martyrology. The Apostolic Constitutions account Onesimus as
bishop of Berea in Macedonia, and his former master Philemon, bishop of
Colossae. Some sources say Onesimus preached in Spain and suffered martyrdom
(Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Gill, Husenbeth, White).
Saint Onesimus is pictured at the time of his martyrdom: He is a bishop being
stoned to death (Roeder, White).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0216.shtml
Martyrdom of Onesimus.
Onesimus
Onesimus was a servant of Philemon, who was a man of love and treated his
servants with kindness. He was shown to be a bad servant, by taking advantage
of his master's kindness, stealing him, and escaping from Colloseis. He went to
Rome, where he was catechised into the Christian faith by apostle Paul, was
baptised, and became a man wonderful in virtue. From a worthless slave he
became an apostle of Christ, really useful and truly free.
Apostle Paul, was imprisoned in Rome due to the Gospel, and certainly wanted to
keep Onesimus close to him, but did not want to do so without the favourable
opinion of Philemon. That is why he sent him back Onesimus with a reference.
This is the letter to Philemon, an excelent text, now a part of the New
Testament. In his letter, he certifies Philemon about the spiritual renewal of
his servant and ask him to receive him, no longer as a slave, but as a beloved
brother. Apostle Philemon accepted him with joy, but sent him back to Rome in
order to serve apostle Paul.
After the martyrdom of Paul, Onesimus was also caught, and in the name of the
Gospel suffered horrible tortures. Finally, they broke his bones, and thus he
left this ephemeral life and went to the eternal one.
His holy memory is kept on the 15th of February.
SOURCE : http://www.ec-patr.org/list/index.php?lang=en&id=3
St. Onesimus, Disciple of St. Paul
HE was a Phrygian by birth,
slave to Philemon, a person of note of the city of Colossæ, converted to the
faith by St. Paul. Having robbed his master, and being obliged to fly, he
providentially met with St. Paul, then a prisoner for the faith at Rome, who there
converted and baptized him, and sent him with his canonical letter of
recommendation to Philemon, by whom he was pardoned, set at liberty, and sent
back to his spiritual father, whom he afterwards faithfully served. That
apostle made him, with Tychicus, the bearer of his epistle to the Colossians, 1 and
afterwards, as St. Jerom 2 and
other fathers witness, a preacher of the gospel, and a bishop. The Greeks say,
he was crowned with martyrdom under Domitian, in the year 95, and keep his
festival on the 15th. Bede, Ado, Usuard, the Roman and other Latin
martyrologists mention him on the 16th of February. 3
Baronius and some others confound him
with St. Onesimus, the third bishop of Ephesus, after St. Timothy, who was
succeeded first by John, then by Caius. This Onesimus showed great respect and
charity to St. Ignatius, when on his journey to Rome, in 107, and is highly
commended by him. 4
When a sinner, by the light and power
of an extraordinary grace, is snatched like a firebrand out of the fire, and
rescued from the gates of hell, we cannot wonder if he be swallowed up by the
deepest and most lively sense of his own guilt, and of the divine mercy; if
such a one love much, because much has been forgiven him; if he endeavour to
repair his past crimes by heroic acts of penance and all virtues, and if he
make haste to redeem his lost time by a zeal and vigilance hard to be imitated
by others. Hence we read of the first love of the church of Ephesus 5 as
more perfect. The ardour of the compunction and love of a true penitent, is
compared to the unparalleled love of Judah in the day of her espousal. 6 This
ardour is not to be understood as a passing sally of the purest passions, as a
short-lived fit of fervour, or desire of perfection, as a transient taste or
sudden transport of the soul: it must be sincere and constant. With what excess
of goodness does not God communicate himself to souls which thus open
themselves to him! With what caresses does he not often visit them! With what a
profusion of graces does he not enrich and strengthen them! It often happens
that, in the beginning, God, either to allure the frailty of a new convert, or
to fortify his resolution against hazardous trials, favours him with more than
usual communications of the sweetness of his love, and ravishes him by some
glances, as it were, of the beatific vision. His tenderness was not less, when,
for their spiritual advancement, their exercise in heroic virtues, and the
increase of their victories and glory, he conducted them through severe trials.
On the other side, with what fidelity and ardour did these holy penitents
improve themselves daily in divine love and all virtues! Alas! our coldness and
insensibility, since our pretended conversion from the world and sin, is a far
greater subject of amazement than the extraordinary fervour of the saints in
the divine service.
Note
2. Ep. 62. c.
2. [back]
Note 3. Tillem. t. 1. p. 294. and note 10 on
St. Paul. [back]
Note
4. Ep. ad Ephes. [back]
Note 5. Apoc. 11. 4. [back]
Rev. Alban Butler
(1711–73). Volume I: January. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
.jpg)
Painting depicting death of Onesimus, from the Menologion of Basil II (circa 985 AD)
Апостол
от 70-ти Онисим . Константинополь. 985 г. Миниатюра Минология Василия II.
Ватиканская
библиотека. Рим.
Onesimus
Ones'imus (Ο᾿μἡσιμος,
profitable) is the name of the servant or slave in whose behalf Paul wrote the
Epistle to Philemon (Philippians 10; Col
4:9). A.D. 58. He was a native, or certainly an inhabitant, of Colosss,
since Paul, in writing to the Church there, speaks of him (Col
4:9) as ὅς ἐστιν ἐξ ὑμῶν, "one of you." This expression
confirms the presumption which his Greek name affords that he was a Gentile,
and not a Jew, as some have argued from μάλιστα ἐμοί in Philippians 16. Slaves
were numerous in Phrygia, and the name itself of Phrygian was almost synonymous
with that of slave. Hence it happened that in writing to the Colossians
(3:22-4:1) Paul had occasion to instruct them concerning the duties of masters
and servants to each other. Onesimus was one of this unfortunate class of
persons, as is evident both from the manifest implication in οὐκέτι ὠς δοῦλον
in Philippians 16, and from the general tenor of the epistle. There appears to
have been no difference of opinion on this point among the ancient
commentators, and there is none of any critical weight among the modern. The
man escaped from his master and fled to Rome, where in the midst of its vast
population he could hope to be concealed, and to baffle the efforts which were
so often made in such cases for retaking the fugitive (Walter, Die
Geschichte des Romans Rechts, 2:63 sq.). It must have been to Rome that he
directed his way, and not to Caesarea, as some contend; for the latter view
stands connected with an indefensible opinion respecting the place whence the
letter was written (see Neander, Pflanzung, 2:506). Whether Onesimus
had any other motive for the flight than the natural love of liberty, we have
not the means of deciding. It has been very generally supposed that he had committed
some offense, as theft or embezzlement, and feared the punishment of his guilt.
This is grounded upon ἠδίκησε, in Philippians 18, in connection with the
context; the meaning, however, is somewhat uncertain (see Notes in Ep. to
Philippians by the Amer. Bible Union, p. 60). Commentators at all events
go entirely beyond the evidence when they assert (as Conybeare, Life and
Epistles of Paul, 2:467) that he belonged to the dregs of society that he
robbed his master, and confessed the sin to Paul. Though it may be doubted
whether Onesimus heard the Gospel for the first time at Rome, it is beyond
question that he was led to embrace the Gospel there through the apostle's
instrumentality. The language in ver. 10 of the letter (ὃν ἐγέννησα ἐν τοῖς δεσμοῖς
μου) is explicit on this point. As there were believers in Phrygia when the
apostle passed through that region on his third missionary tour (Ac
18:23), and as Onesimus belonged to a Christian household (Philippians 2),
it is not improbable that he knew something of the Christian doctrine before he
went to Rome. How long a time elapsed between his escape and conversion we
cannot decide; for πρὸς éραν in the 15th verse, to which appeal has been made,
is purely a relative expression, and will not justify any inference as to the
interval in question'. After his conversion the most happy and friendly
relations sprung up between the teacher and the disciple. The situation of the
apostle as a captive and an indefatigable laborer for the promotion of the
Gospel (Ac 28:30-31) must have made him keenly alive to the
sympathies of Christian friendship, and dependent upon others for various
services of a personal nature, important to his efficiency as a minister of the
Word. Onesimus appears to have supplied this twofold want in an eminent degree.
We see from the letter that he won entirely the apostle's heart, and made
himself so useful to him in various private ways, or evinced such a capacity to
be so (for he may have gone back to Colossae soon after his conversion), that
Paul wished to have him remain constantly with him. Whether he desired his
presence as a personal attendant or as a minister of the Gospel is not certain
from Ι῞να διακονῇ in ver. 13 of the epistle. Be this as it may, Paul's
attachment to him as a disciple, as a personal friend, and as a helper to him
in his bonds, was such that he yielded him up only in obedience to that spirit
of self-denial, and that sensitive regard for the feelings or the rights of
others, of which his conduct on this occasion displayed so noble an example.
Onesimus, accompanied by Tychicus, left Rome with not only this epistle, but
with that to the Colossians (Col
4:9). It is believed that Onesimus, anxious to justify the confidence which
Paul reposed in him, by appearing speedily before his master, left Tychicus to
take the Epistle to the Ephesians, and hastened to Colossae, where he doubtless
received the forgiveness which Paul had so touchingly implored for him as
"a brother beloved" (Canon. Apost. 73).
There is but little to
add to this account, when we pass beyond the limits of the New Testament. The
traditionary notices which have come down to us are too few and too late to
amount to much as historical testimony. Some of the later fathers assert that
Onesimus was set free, and was subsequently ordained bishop of Bercea, in
Macedonia (Constit. Apost. 7:46). The person of the same name mentioned as
bishop of Ephesus in the first epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians (Hefele,
Patrum Apost. Opp. p. 152) was a different person (Winer, Realw. 2:175). SEE
ONESIMUS, ST. It is related also that Onesimus finally made his way to Rome
again, and ended his days there as a martyr during the persecution under Nero.
His name is found in the Roman martyrology under date of March 2, 95.
We mistake if we consider that the occasion on which Paul interfered was really small. Throughout the Roman empire the number of the enslaved was perhaps seven times the number of the free. It was important that a practical exemplification should be given by Paul himself of the meaning of his own language, that in the new creation there is "neither bond nor free, but Christ is all and in all." There is no violent interference with the prescriptive rights of ownership which Philemon had acquired; Paul gently states that while his natural impulse was to retain Onesimus for the sake of his services (Philippians 13), yet, apart from Philemon's consent, he would forego the comfort which the presence of such a Christian brother was able to impart. Yet the language in which Paul speaks of Onesimus clearly shows that Philemon could no longer maintain those rights without forfeiting his Christian character. Slavery is nowhere expressly condemned in Scripture any more than polygamy; the duty of emancipating slaves is not expressly inculcated any more than the duty of family worship. The influence of vital Christianity implicitly forbids the permanency of a system which defeats the apostle's injunction: "Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal, knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven." Where the owner is Christianized, the bondsman is enfranchised. The interference of Paul in behalf of Onesimus may thus be considered a divine act of emancipation, illustrating the legitimate and necessary influence of Christian principle. Amid all the defects and corruptions of the Christian Church we can discover proofs of its divine origin in every age and in every clime, by its tendency to build the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke; the Church has very generally felt that the command, "He who loveth God should love his brother also," strikes at the root of a system which severs the domestic relations of husband and wife, of parent and child, while it blasts the oppressor with the blinding and hardening effects of arbitrary rule and irresponsible power.
SEE PHILEMON.
⇒Bible concordance for
ONESIMUS.
⇒See also the
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia.
SOURCE : https://www.biblicalcyclopedia.com/O/onesimus.html
Philemon
A citizen of Colossæ, to
whom St. Paul addressed
a private letter,
unique in the New
Testament, which bears his name. As appears from this epistle, Philemon was
his dear and intimate friend (verses 1, 13, 17, 22), and had been converted
most probably by him (verse 19) during his long residence at Ephesus (Acts 19:26; cf. 18:19), as St. Paul himself
had not visited Colossæ (Colossians 2:1).
Rich and noble, he possessed slaves; his house was a place of meeting and
worship for the Colossian converts (verse 2); he was kind, helpful, and
charitable (verses 5,7), providing hospitality for his fellow Christians (verse
22). St. Paul calls him his fellow labourer (synergos, verse 1), so that he
must have been earnest in his work for the Gospel, perhaps first at Ephesus and
afterwards at Colossæ.
It is not plain whether he was ordained or not.
Tradition represents him as Bishop of Colossæ (Const.
Apost., VI, 46), and the Menaia of 22
November speak of him as a holy apostle who, in company with Appia, Archippus,
and Onesimus had been martyred at Colossæ during the
first general persecution in
the reign of Nero.
In the address of the letter two other Christian converts,
Appia and Archippus (Colossians
4:17) are mentioned; it is generally believed that Appia was Philemon's
wife and Archippus their son. St. Paul, dealing exclusively in his letter with
the domestic matter of a fugitive slave, Onesimus, regarded them both as deeply
interested. Archippus, according to Colossians 4:17, was a
minister in the Lord, and held a sacred office in the Church of Colossæ or in the
neighbouring Church of Laodicaea.
The Epistle to Philemon
Authenticity
External testimony to the
Pauline authorship is considerable and evident, although the brevity and
private character of the Epistle did not favour its use and public recognition.
The heretic Marcion accepted it
in his "Apostolicon" (Tertullian, "Adv.
Marcion", V, xxi); Origen quotes it
expressly as Pauline ("Hom.", XIX; "In Jerem.", II, 1;
"Comment in Matt.", Tract. 33, 34); and it is named in the Muratorian Fragment as
well as contained in the Syriac and old Latin Versions. Eusebius includes
Philemon among the homologoumena, or books universally undisputed and
received as sacred. St.
Chrysostom and St. Jerome, in the
prefaces to their commentaries on the Epistle, defend it against some
objections which have neither historical nor critical value. The vocabulary (epignosis,
paraklesis tacha), the phraseology, and the style are unmistakably and
thoroughly Pauline, and the whole Epistle claims to have been written by St.
Paul. It has been objected, however, that it contains some words nowhere else
used by Paul (anapempein, apotinein, achrmstos, epitassein, xenia, oninasthai,
prosopheilein). But every epistle of St. Paul contains a number of apax
legomena employed nowhere else, and the vocabulary of all authors changes
more or less with time, place, and especially subject matter. Are we not allowed
to expect the same from St. Paul, an author of exceptional spiritual vitality
and mental vigour?
Renan voiced the common opinion of the critics when he wrote: "St. Paul
alone, it would seem, could have written this little masterpiece" (St.
Paul, p. xi).
Date and place of writing
It is one of the four
Captivity Epistles composed by St. Paul during his first imprisonment in Rome (see
COLOSSIANS; EPHESIANS; EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS;
Philem., 9, 23). Colossians, Ephesians, and Philippians are closely connected,
so that the general opinion is that they were written and despatched at the
same time, between A.D. 61-63. Some scholars assign the composition to Caesarea
(Acts 23-26: A.D. 59-60), but both
tradition and internal evidence are in favour of Rome.
Occasion and purpose
Onesimus, most likely
only one of many slaves of Philemon, fled away and, apparently before his
flight, defrauded his master, and ran away to Rome, finding his way to
the hired lodging where Paul was suffered to dwell by himself and to receive
all that came to him (Acts
28:16, 30). It is very possible he may have seen Paul, when he accompanied
his master to Ephesus. Onesimus became the spiritual son of St. Paul (verses 9,
10), who would have retained him with himself, that in the new and higher
sphere of Christian service
he should render the service which his master could not personally perform. But
Philemon had a prior claim; Onesimus, as a Christian, was obliged to make
restitution. According to the law, the master of a
runaway slave might treat him exactly as he pleased. When retaken, the slave
was usually branded on the forehead, maimed, or forced to fight with wild
beasts. Paul asks pardon for the offender, and with a rare tact and utmost
delicacy requests his master to receive him kindly as himself. He does not ask
expressly that Philemon should emancipate his slave-brother, but "the word
emancipation seems to be trembling on his lips, and yet he does not once utter
it" (Lightfoot, "Colossians and Philemon", London, 1892, 389).
We do not know the
result of St. Paul's request,
but that it was granted seems to be implied in subsequent ecclesiastical tradition,
which represents Onesimus as Bishop of Beraea
(Constit. Apost., VII, 46).
Argument
This short letter,
written to an individual friend, has the same divisions as the longer letters:
(a) the introduction (verses 1-7); (b) the body of the Epistle or the request
(verses 8-22); (c) the epilogue (verses 23-25).
1. Introduction (1-7)
The introduction contains
(1) the salutation or address: Paul, "prisoner of Christ Jesus, and
Timothy" greets Philemon (verse 1), Appia, Archippus, and the Church in their house
(verse 2), wishing them grace and peace from God our Father and
the Lord Jesus
Christ (verse 3); (2) the thanksgiving for Philemon's faith and love (verses 4-6),
which gives great joy and
consolation to the Apostle (verse 7).
2. Body of the Epistle
The request and appeal on
behalf of the slave Onesimus. Though he could enjoin Philemon to do with
Onesimus that which is convenient (verse 8), for Christian love's sake,
Paul "an aged man and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ"
(verse 9) beseeches him for his son Onesimus whom he had begotten in his bonds
(verse 10). Once he was not what his name implies (helpful); now, however, he
is profitable to both (verse 11). Paul sends him again and asks Philemon to
receive him as his own heart (verse 12). He was desirous of retaining Onesimus
with himself that he might minister to him in his imprisonment, as
Philemon himself would gladly have done (verse 13), but he was unwilling to do
anything without Philemon's decision, desiring that his kindness should not be
as it were "of necessity but voluntary" (verse
14). Perhaps, in the purpose of Providence, he was separated from thee for a
time that thou mightest have him for ever (verse 15), no longer as a slave but
more than a slave, as a better servant and a beloved Christian brother
(verse 16). If, therefore, thou regardest me as a partner in faith, receive him as
myself (verse 17). If he has wronged thee in any way, or is in they debt, place that to my
account (verse 18). I have signed this promise of repayment with my own hand,
not to say to thee that besides (thy remitting the debt) thou owest me
thine own self (verse 19). Yea, brother, let me have profit from thee (sou
onaimen) in the Lord, refresh my heart in the Lord (verse 20). Having
confidence in thine obedience, I have written to thee, knowing that thou wilt
do more than I say (verse 21). But at the same time, receive me also and
prepare a lodging for me: for I hope that through your prayers I shall be
given to you (verse 22).
3. Epilogue (23-25)
The epilogue contains (1)
salutations from all persons named
in Colossians 4 (verses
23-24), and (2) a final benediction (verse 25). This short, tender, graceful,
and kindly Epistle has often been compared to a beautiful letter of the Younger
Pliny (Ep. IX, 21) asking his friend Sabinian to forgive an offending freedman.
As Lightfoot (Colossians and Philemon, 383 sq.) says: "If purity of
diction be excepted, there will hardly be any difference of opinion in awarding
the palm to the Christian
apostle".
Attitude of St. Paul
towards slavery
Slavery was universal in
all ancient nations and the very economic basis of
the old civilization. Slaves were employed not only in all the forms of manual
and industrial labour, but also in many functions which required artistic
skill, intelligence, and culture; such as especially the case in both the Greek
and the Roman society.
Their number was much greater than that of the free citizens. In the Greek
civilization the slave was in better conditions than in the Roman; but even
according to Greek law and usage, the slave was in a complete subjection to the
will of his master, possessing no rights, even that of
marriage. (See Wallon,
"Hist. de l'Esclavage dans l'Antiquité", Paris, 1845, 1879; SLAVERY.)
St. Paul, as a Jew,
had little of pagan conception
of slavery; the Bible and
the Jewish civilization led him already into a happier and more humane world.
The bible mitigated slavery and enacted a humanitarian legislation respecting
the manumission of slaves; but the Christian conscience of the
Apostle alone explains his attitude towards Onesimus and slavery. One the one
hand, St. Paul accepted slavery as an established fact, a deeply-rooted social
institution which he did not attempt to abolish all at once and suddenly;
moreover, if the Christian
religion should have attempted violently to
destroy pagan slavery,
the assault would have exposed the Roman empire to a servile insurrection,
the Church to
the hostility of the imperial power, and the slaves to awful reprisals. On the
other hand, if St. Paul does not denounce the abstract and inherent wrong of
complete slavery (if that question presented itself to his mind, he did not
express it), he knew and
appreciated its actual abuses and evil possibilities
and he addressed himself to the regulations and the betterment of existing
conditions. He inculcated forbearance to slaves as well as obedience to masters
(Ephesians 6:5-9; Colossians 3:22; 4:1; Philemon 8-12, 15, 17; 1 Timothy 6:1; Titus 2:9). He
taught that the Christian slave
is the Lord's freedman (1 Corinthians 7:22),
and vigorously proclaimed the complete spiritual equality of slave and freeman,
the universal, fatherly love of God, and the Christian brotherhood
of men:
For you are all the
children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as
many of you as have been baptized in Christ,
have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there
is neither bond nor free: there is neither male nor female. For you are all
one in Christ Jesus.
(Galatians 3:26-28;
cf. Colossians
3:10-11)
These fundamental Christian principles
were the leaven which slowly and steadily spread throughout the whole empire.
They curtailed the abuses of slavery and finally destroyed it (Vincent,
"Philippians and Philemon", Cambridge, 1902, 167).
Sources
In addition to works referred
to, consult Introductions to the New Testament. CATHOLIC: TOUSSAINT in
VIGOUROUX, Dict. de la Bible, s. vv. Philemon; Philemon, Epître à; VAN
STEENKISTE, Commentarius in Epistolas S. Pauli, XI (Bruges, 1896); ALLARD, Les
esclaves chrétiens (Paris, 1900); PRAT, La Théologie de S. Paul (Paris, 1908),
384 sq.; NON-CATHOLIC: OLTRAMARE, Commentaire sur les Epitres de S. Paul aux
Colossiens, aux Ephesiens et a Philémon (Paris, 1891); VON SODEN, Die Briefe an
die Kolosser, Epheser, Philemon in Hand-Commentar zum N.T., ed. HOLTZMANN
(Freiburg, 1893); SHAW, The Pauline Epistles (Edinburgh, 1904); WOULE, The
Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon (Cambridge, 1902).
Camerlynck,
Achille. "Philemon." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.
11. New York: Robert Appleton
Company, 1911. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11797b.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Thomas M. Barrett. Dedicated to
the memory of slaves who were slain.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. February 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2023 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11797b.htm
Sant' Onesimo Martire
Frigia (Asia Minore), Primo secolo dopo Cristo
Di lui non si hanno quasi notizie. Fu un giovane schiavo che viveva a Colosse e che, derubato il padrone Filemone, scappò a Roma. Qui, incontrò s. Paolo, prigioniero, che lo convertì e battezzò. Abbiamo queste notizie proprio da s. Paolo, che scrisse una lettera a Filemone, offrendosi di restituire quanto rubato e chiedendo il perdono e la liberazione per lo schiavo. Il “Martirologio Romano” parla del suo martirio, raccogliendo una tradizione per cui Onesimo, consacrato vescovo da S. Paolo che lo lasciò ad Efeso come sostituto di Timoteo, sarebbe morto a Roma lapidato, sembra sotto Domiziano.
Emblema: Palma
Martirologio Romano: Commemorazione del beato Onesimo, che san Paolo Apostolo accolse quale schiavo fuggiasco e generò in catene come figlio nella fede di Cristo, come egli stesso scrisse al suo padrone Filémone.
Onesimo, in greco, significa “utile”, “giovevole”. L’uomo così chiamato viveva in Frigia (Asia Minore) come schiavo del cristiano Filemone, amico di Paolo apostolo. Ma poi è fuggito (forse ha pure derubato il padrone) e guai a lui, se lo prendono: può finire per sempre ai lavori forzati, con la lettera “F” (Fugitivus) impressa a fuoco sulla fronte. Giorni e giorni di cammino, di nascondigli, di terrore.
Infine, eccolo cercare scampo presso Paolo a Roma. L’apostolo è in prigionia sotto custodia militaris in una casa, quasi sempre legato con la catena a un soldato, ma libero di ricevere visite. Qui Onesimo trova pronto rifugio, cerca di rendersi utile nelle occorrenze quotidiane, ascolta i colloqui di Paolo con tanta gente; l’uomo in catene chiama tutti a entrare "nella libertà della gloria dei figli di Dio".
E chiama anche Onesimo, naturalmente, che un giorno si ritrova cristiano, tenuto da Paolo come un figlio "generato nelle catene". Poi l’apostolo lo rimanda al vecchio padrone Filemone. A costui Paolo scrive di suo pugno una lettera stringata e vivace, chiarendo un punto capitale: Onesimo, fuggito come schiavo, ora ritorna come un "fratello carissimo in primo luogo a me, ma quanto più a te, sia come uomo, sia come fratello nel Signore". Altri pensino ad abrogare la schiavitù con le leggi; Paolo la cancella dal cuore dell’uomo nel nome di Cristo. E se l’ex schiavo aveva derubato Filemone, pronto l’apostolo garantisce: "Pagherò io!".
Parte Onesimo con Tichico, fedelissimo collaboratore di Paolo, che porta sue lettere ai cristiani di Efeso e di Colossi. E così Paolo lo presenta ai Colossesi suoi compaesani: "Con Tichico verrà anche Onesimo, il fedele e caro fratello, che è dei vostri. Essi vi informeranno su tutte le cose di qui". Così l’ex schiavo è già diventato collaboratore dell’evangelizzazione. Poi ha trovato di certo Filemone, consegnandogli la lettera, che ha potuto giungere fino a noi perché chissà quanti l’avranno via via letta dopo il destinatario, copiandola e divulgandola.
La Chiesa lo ricorda tra i suoi santi, ma non trovano conferma antichi accenni a un Onesimo vescovo di Antiochia o di Berea (Siria?). Così come non è sicura una tradizione che lo vorrebbe martire a Roma o a Pozzuoli.
Autore: Domenico Agasso
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/Detailed/41200.html
Filemone
1 Paolo, prigioniero di Cristo Gesù, e il fratello Timòteo al nostro caro collaboratore Filèmone,
2 alla sorella Appia, ad Archippo nostro compagno d'armi e alla comunità che si raduna nella tua casa:
3 grazia a voi e pace da Dio nostro Padre e dal Signore Gesù Cristo.
4 Rendo sempre grazie a Dio ricordandomi di te nelle mie preghiere,
5 perché sento parlare della tua carità per gli altri e della fede che hai nel Signore Gesù e verso tutti i santi.
6 La tua partecipazione alla fede diventi efficace per la conoscenza di tutto il bene che si fa tra voi per Cristo.
7 La
tua carità è stata per me motivo di grande gioia e consolazione, fratello,
poiché il cuore dei credenti è stato confortato per opera tua.
8 Per questo, pur avendo in Cristo piena libertà di comandarti ciò che devi fare,
9 preferisco pregarti in nome della carità, così qual io sono, Paolo, vecchio, e ora anche prigioniero per Cristo Gesù;
10 ti prego dunque per il mio figlio, che ho generato in catene,
11 Onesimo, quello che un giorno ti fu inutile, ma ora è utile a te e a me.
12 Te l'ho rimandato, lui, il mio cuore.
13 Avrei voluto trattenerlo presso di me perché mi servisse in vece tua nelle catene che porto per il vangelo.
14 Ma non ho voluto far nulla senza il tuo parere, perché il bene che farai non sapesse di costrizione, ma fosse spontaneo.
15 Forse per questo è stato separato da te per un momento perché tu lo riavessi per sempre;
16 non più però come schiavo, ma molto più che schiavo, come un fratello carissimo in primo luogo a me, ma quanto più a te, sia come uomo, sia come fratello nel Signore.
17 Se dunque tu mi consideri come amico, accoglilo come me stesso.
18 E se in qualche cosa ti ha offeso o ti è debitore, metti tutto sul mio conto.
19 Lo scrivo di mio pugno, io, Paolo: pagherò io stesso. Per non dirti che anche tu mi sei debitore e proprio di te stesso!
20 Sì, fratello! Che io possa ottenere da te questo favore nel Signore; da' questo sollievo al mio cuore in Cristo!
21 Ti scrivo fiducioso nella tua docilità, sapendo che farai anche più di quanto ti chiedo.
22 Al tempo stesso preparami un alloggio, perché spero, grazie alle vostre preghiere, di esservi restituito.
23 Ti saluta Epafra, mio compagno di prigionia per Cristo Gesù,
24 con Marco, Aristarco, Dema e Luca, miei collaboratori.
25 La grazia del Signore Gesù Cristo sia con il vostro spirito.
SOURCE : https://www.laparola.net/wiki.php?riferimento=Fm&versioni[]=C.E.I.
Den hellige Onesimos
slaven ( -~90)
Minnedag:
16. februar
Skytshelgen for mannlige
hustjenere og gårdsgutter
Den eneste kilden til den
hellige Onesimos' liv er den hellige apostel Paulus' brev
til Filemon,
det mest personlige og levende brevet han skrev. Fortellingen om slaven og
tyven som ble en helgen, rører ved hjertene også i dag, nesten to tusen år
senere.
På den tiden bodde i
Kolossae i Frygia en velstående og aktet mann som hette Filemon. Under en av
sine misjonsreiser hadde Paulus omvendt ham sammen med hustruen Appia og sønnen
Arkippos, og de ble nære venner. Som andre rike familier hadde også de flere
slaver i sin tjeneste. En av disse het Onesimos, på gresk «den nyttige». I
virkeligheten var han lat, udugelig og uærlig. Etter å ha bestjålet sin herre,
ble han redd for straffen og flyktet.
Men Paulus' innflytelse
var stor også på ham. Helt uventet dukket han opp i Roma, der han oppsøkte
apostelen i fengselet. Han bekjente sin synd og lovte å forbedre seg. Derfor
døpte Paulus ham, slik som han tidligere hadde døpt hans herre. Dermed gjorde
Paulus ham til Filemons bror i Kristus. Paulus hadde i Onesimos funnet en
hengiven og nyttig tjener, som han gjerne hadde beholdt hos seg, men han ville
ikke gjøre urett mot Onesimos' rettmessige eier og sendte ham tilbake til
Filemon.
Brevet som Onesimos fikk
med seg til sin herre, er det korteste i Bibelens samling av Paulus' brev.
Tross sin korthet er det et viktig dokument når det gjelder den eldste kirkens
holdning til det da så selvsagte slaverisystemet. Kristendommen avskaffet ikke
slaveriet med en gang og med moralsk tvang, men gjennom å be de kristne eierne
om å behandle sine slaver, først og fremst de døpte, som brødre, og gjennom å
gi dem det rådet å om mulig frigi dem. Enda mindre oppfordret den slavene til
opprør, men tvert i mot til tålmodig lydighet og til å tjene sine herrer som om
det var Kristus. Flere og flere slaveeiere lyttet til Kirkens råd og friga sine
slaver, til hele systemet på 600-tallet i praksis var avskaffet.
Paulus kjærlighetsfulle,
taktfulle brev nådde sitt mål. Filemon tilga sin slave og ga ham friheten, slik
at han som fritt menneske kunne vende tilbake til Roma, der han frivillig
tjente Paulus frem til apostelens død. Paulus nevner ham igjen i brevet til
kolosserne (Kol 4,7-9), sammen med Tykikos som ble sendt med brevet til
kolosserne. Hans videre skjebne er ukjent, men i følge den hellige Hieronymus ble
Onesimos en forkynner av Ordet og ble senere biskop.
Men han er trolig ikke
den biskopen som den førkonsiliære utgaven av Martyrologium Romanum blander ham
sammen med. Den andre hellige Onesimos ble
prest og senere biskop i Efesos som den hellige Timotheos'
tredje etterfølger, før han ble ført i lenker til Roma og steinet.
De apostoliske
Konstitusjoner beskriver Onesimos som biskop av Beroea i Makedonia (i dag
Verroia i Hellas) og hans tidligere herre Filemon som biskop av Kolossae. Noen
kilder sier at Onesimos forkynte i Spania og led martyrdøden. Hans minnedag er
16. februar og hans navn står i Martyrologium Romanum. Han fremstilles som
biskop som blir steinet til døde. Han står som nr. 19 på biskop Dorotheus av
Tyrus liste over «Jesu
Sytti disipler» i henhold til Den ortodokse kirkes tradisjon.
Kilder:
Attwater/Cumming, Benedictines, Delaney, Bunson, Engelhart, Schauber/Schindler,
KIR, CSO, Patron Saints SQPN, Infocatho, santiebeati.it, Viq - Kompilasjon
og oversettelse: p. Per
Einar Odden - Opprettet: 2000-02-07 20:55 -
Sist oppdatert: 2006-08-11 12:09
Linken er kopiert til
utklippstavlen!
SOURCE : https://www.katolsk.no/biografier/historisk/onesimus
Saint du jour * 15
Février : Saint Onésime, Évêque d'Éphèse(† 95) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80uBR3oFROM&ab_channel=RadioMariaLibreville99Fm
