1. St.

Peter the Apostle - original name Simeon or Simon, (died 64 CE, Rome Italy), disciple of Jesus
Christ, recognized in the early Christian church as the leader of the 12 disciples and by the Roman
Catholic Church as the first of its unbroken succession of popes. Peter, a Jewish fisherman, was called to
be a disciple of Jesus at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. He received from Jesus the name Cephas (from
Aramaic Kepa “Rock”); hence Peter, from Petros, a Greek translation of Kepa).

2. Saint James - also called James, son of Zebedee, or James the Greater, (born, Galilee, Palestine—
died 44 CE, Jerusalem; feast day July 25), one of the Twelve Apostles, distinguished as being
in Jesus’ innermost circle and the only apostle whose martyrdom is recorded in the New Testament.As a
member of the inner circle, James witnessed the raising of Jairus’ daughter, the Transfiguration , and
Jesus’ agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. James and John asked Jesus to let them sit, one at his right
and one at his left, in his future glory,a favour that Jesus said was not his to grant. James was beheaded
by order of King Herod Agrippa I of Judaea; according to Spanish tradition, his body was taken
to Santiago de Compostela, where his shrine attracts pilgrims from all over the world.

3. St. John the Apostle, also called Saint John the Evangelist or Saint John the Divine - (flourished 1st
century CE; Western feast day December 27; Eastern feast days May 8 and September 26), in Christian
tradition, an apostle of Jesus and the author of three letters, the Fourth Gospel, and possibly
the Revelation to John in the New Testament. He played a leading role in the early church at Jerusalem.
John was the son of Zebedee, a Galilean fisherman. John and his brother St. James were among the
first disciples called by Jesus. James and John were called Boanerges, or “sons of thunder,” by Jesus,
perhaps because of some character trait, when John and James wanted to call down fire from heaven to
punish the Samaritan towns that did not accept Jesus.

4. St. Andrew, also called Saint Andrew the Apostle - (died 60/70 CE, Patras, Achaia; feast day
November 30), one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and the brother of St. Peter. He is the patron
saint of Scotland and of Russia. Early Byzantine tradition (dependent on John 1:40) calls
Andrew protokletos, “first called.” Early church legends recount his missionary activity in the area about
the Black Sea. Apocryphal writings centred on him include the Acts of Andrew, Acts of Andrew and
Matthias, and Acts of Peter and Andrew. A 4th-century account reports his death by crucifixion, and
late medievalaccretions describe the cross as X-shaped.

5. Saint Philip the Apostle - (born, Bethsaida of Galilee—died 1st century, Western feast day May 3,
Eastern feast day November 14), one of the Twelve Apostles. Mentioned only by name in
the Apostle lists of the Synoptic Gospels, he is a frequent character in the Gospel According to John,
according to which (1:43–51) he came from Bethsaida, answered Jesus’ call (“Follow me”), and was
instrumental in the call of St. Nathanael (probably St. Bartholomew the Apostle), whom he brought to
Jesus. At the time of his call, Philip seemingly belonged to a group influenced by St. John the Baptist.
He participated in the miracle of the loaves and fishes (John 6:5–9), accounting for his symbol
in medieval art of loaves. With St. Andrew the Apostle, he brought word to Jesus that certain Greeks
had asked to see him (John 12:21–22). In John 14:8–9, Philip asked Jesus to reveal the Father, receiving
the answer, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me
has seen the Father.”

6. Saint Bartholomew - (flourished 1st century AD—died unknown date, traditionally Albanopolis,
Armenia; Western feast day August 24; date varies in Eastern churches), Traditionally, Bartholomew
also served as a missionary to Ethiopia, Mesopotamia, Parthia (in modern Iran), Lycaonia (in modern
Turkey), and Armenia. The apostle is said to have been martyred by flaying and beheading at the
command of the Armenian king Astyages. His relicswere supposedly taken to the Church of St.
Bartholomew-in-the-Tiber, Rome.
7. St. Thomas - (born, probably Galilee—died 53 CE, Madras, India; Western feast day December 21,
feast day in Roman and Syrian Catholic churches July 3, in the Greek church October 6), one of
the Twelve Apostles. His name in Aramaic (Teʾoma) and Greek (Didymos) means “twin”; John 11:16
identifies him as “Thomas, called the Twin.” He is called Judas Thomas by the Syrians. Perhaps the
best-known event in his life is the one from which the phrase “doubting Thomas” developed. In John,he
was not among those disciples to whom the risen Christ first appeared, and, when they told
the incredulous Thomas, he requested physical proof of the Resurrection, fulfilled when Christ
reappeared and specifically asked Thomas to touch his wounds.

8. St. James the Less, also called James, son of Alphaeus, or James the Younger, (flourished 1st
century CE, Western feast day May 3; Eastern feast day October 9), one of the Twelve
Apostles of Jesus. Depending upon the Bible consulted, he is probably the father or brother of the
apostle St. Jude. Nothing further is known of him, and a late legend of his martyrdom in Persia is
spurious.

9. St. Matthew, also called St. Matthew the Evangelist, St. Matthew the Apostle, or Levi, (flourished
1st century CE, Palestine; Western feast day September 21, Eastern feast day November 16), one of
the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ and the traditional author of the first Synoptic Gospel. Matthew was
sitting by the customs house in Capernaum when Jesus called him into his company. Assuming that the
identification of Matthew with Levi is correct, Matthew would appear to be the Christian name of Levi
who had been employed as a tax collector in the service of Herod Antipas. Because Levi’s occupation
was one that earned distrust and contempt everywhere, the scribes of the Pharisees criticized Jesus on
seeing him eat with tax collectors and sinners, whereupon Jesus answered, “I came not to call the
righteous, but sinners”
10. St. Jude, also called Judas, Thaddaeus, or Lebbaeus - (flourished 1st century CE, Western feast day
October 28, Eastern feast days June 19 and August 21), one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He
is the reputed author of the canonical Letter of Jude that warns against the licentious and blasphemous
heretics. The devotion to him as patron saint of desperate causes began in France and Germany in the
late 18th century. Thus, since the 8th century, the Western church has commemorated them together on
October 28.
11. Saint Simon the Apostle - also called Simon the Zealot, (flourished 1st century AD—died, Persia;
Western feast day October 28, Eastern feast day June 19). In the Gospels of Mark and
Matthew.” Kananaios is the Greek transliteration of an Aramaic word, qanʾ anaya, meaning “the
Zealot,” the title given him by Luke in his Gospel and in Acts. It is uncertain whether he was one of the
group of Zealots, the Jewish nationalistic party before AD 70. Apparently the titles may have been an
attempt to distinguish him from the apostle St. Simon Peter.

12. Judas Iscariot - (died c. AD 30), one of the Twelve Apostles, notorious for betraying Jesus. Judas’
surname is more probably a corruption of the Latin sicarius (“murderer” or “assassin”) than an
indication of family origin, suggesting that he would have belonged to the Sicarii, the most radical
Jewish group, some of whom were terrorists. Other than his apostleship, his betrayal, and his death, little
else is revealed about Judas in the Gospels. Always the last on the list of the Apostles, he was their
treasurer. John 12:6 introduces Judas’ thievery by saying, “. . as he had the money box he used to take
what was put into it.”

13. Saint Matthias - (flourished 1st century AD, Judaea; d. traditionally Colchis, Armenia; Western feast
day February 24, Eastern feast day August 9), the disciple who, according to the biblical Acts of the
Apostles 1:21–26, was chosen to replace Judas Iscariot after Judas betrayed Jesus. Acts reveals that
Matthias accompanied Jesus and the Apostles from the time of the Lord’s Baptism to his Ascension and
that, when it became time to replace Judas, the Apostles cast lots between Matthias and another
candidate. Soon after his election, Matthias received the Holy Spirit with the other Apostles.