Published on 15 February 2012
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“PHILEMON” is a personal letter of St. Apostle Paul to Philemon to plea for a slave, Onesimus who has stolen from his master and run away to Rome where he met Paul. Onesimus came to the faith in Christ. The letter is a masterpiece of grace and tact and a profound demonstration of the power of Christ and of the true Christian fellowship in action.
Onesimus was later made bishop of Ephesus after the death of Apostle Timothy. At the time of persecution under Trajan, Onesimus, by then an old man, was arrested and taken to Rome where he testified before the judge Tertylus, was imprisoned and finally slain. He was buried in year 109.