Prochorus (deacon)

Prochorus (Greek: Πρόχορος, Prochoros) was one of the Seven Deacons chosen to care for the poor of the Christian community in Jerusalem (Acts 6:5). According to holy tradition, he was also one of the Seventy Disciples sent out by Jesus in Luke 10.

Saint Prochorus
11th-century Eastern Orthodox fresco and icon in the Dark Church, Göreme, Turkey
Bishop of Nicomedia, Deacon, Hieromartyr
Died	1st century AD Antioch, Province of Syria, Roman Empire
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodox Church Oriental Orthodox Churches Roman Catholic Church
Canonized	Pre-congregation
Feast	9 april (Catholic) 28 July (Orthodox) 20 Tobi (Coptic)[1]
Attributes	depicted as a scribe taking dictation of the Book of Revelation from Saint John the Theologian

Tradition calls Prochorus the nephew of Saint Stephen the Protomartyr. Prochorus accompanied Saint Peter, who ordained him to be the bishop in the city of Nicomedia.^[2] He is also thought to have been a companion of Saint John the Apostle, who consecrated him bishop of Nicomedia in Bithynia. Some modern scholars dispute his having been the author of the apocryphal Acts of John,^[3] which is dated by them to the end of the 2nd century.^[4] According to the late tradition, he was the bishop of Antioch and ended his life as a martyr in Antioch in the 1st century.^[5][6]

In Orthodox iconography, he is depicted as a scribe of John the Theologian. He is one of four out of the Seven Deacons of the Seventy Apostles to be jointly celebrated on 28 July.^[7]

Gallery

• 
  John the Evangelist with Prochorus
• 
  Prochorus and St John depicted in Xoranasat's gospel manuscript in 1224.