Apostle of the Seventy
Apostle of the Seventy Jason of Tarsus
I век
Also known as: Иасон Керкирский
Apostle of the Seventy Jason of Tarsus — disciple and kinsman of the Apostle Paul, who hosted him in Thessalonica (Acts 17:5-9), later Bishop of Tarsus, who converted the island of Corcyra (Corfu) to Christ and died peacefully.
Apostle of the Seventy Jason came from Tarsus in Cilicia and was a disciple of the Apostle Paul, converted by him to Christianity. In Thessalonica, Jason hosted the apostles Paul and Silas in his home; when a mob of hostile Jews, stirred up after Paul preached in the synagogue, could not find the apostles, they dragged Jason himself before the city authorities instead (Acts 17:5-9). In Romans 16:21, Paul calls Jason his kinsman.
Paul later ordained him bishop of Tarsus. Around 63 AD, Jason and the Apostle Sosipater traveled west and reached the island of Corcyra (Corfu), where they founded a Christian community, converted many islanders including the local ruler, and built a church dedicated to the protomartyr Stephen.
The enraged ruler had the apostles thrown into a cauldron of boiling pitch, but they emerged unharmed; the ruler's successor was so struck by the miracle that he believed, was baptized with the name Sebastian, and was himself later martyred. Jason, according to tradition, died in peace. His relics rest in a church on Corfu.
His feast is kept on April 28/May 11, and also January 4/17 in the Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles.
IMPORTANT CORRECTION: category martyr→apostle_of_70 — every source titles him an Apostle of the Seventy; he himself died peacefully, not through martyrdom. The duplicate slug martyr_jasim has been merged here — no genuine saint "Iasim" was found in any source, a likely typo/corruption of the name "Jason."