Book of Saints – Onesimus

illustration of Saint Onesimus returning to Philemon, the letter from Saint Paul the Apostle in his hand; taken from 'Pictorial Lives of the Saints', 1892, artist unknownArticle

(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. 21 April 2021. <>