Apostles

See also: The Seventy-Two Disciples, disciples, Apostolate, Zeal.

---

Portrait of the twelve apostles by Lorenzo Ferri according to the indications of Maria Valtorta. Source: documentary collection of the Maria Valtorta Heritage Foundation.

The distinction between apostles (sent ones, in Greek) and disciples is present in the synoptic gospels. The apostle must have been a witness to the public life of Christ from its beginning until his Ascension. Ordinarily, the name Apostle is reserved for the group of Twelve chosen by Jesus, but sometimes, in the broad sense, some disciples are also included, Paul because he was chosen by Jesus directly, and other important disciples such as Apollos and Junias.

The Twelve only receive the name apostles after their retreat on the mountain. Jesus then institutes them, says Mark, "so that they may be with him and to send them out to proclaim the Good News with the power to cast out demons".

The apostles and the disciples

The apostles are now closely associated with the ministry of Jesus, without making it an exclusive companionship. Jesus sends the apostles on mission, but he also does the same with the seventy-two disciples and in similar terms. Matthias, chosen as apostle in place of Judas, was an early companion because he had evangelized as a disciple.

Although the presence of disciples following Jesus is attested, notably by the departure of many of them after the discourse on the Bread of Life, they do not have the constant intimacy that Jesus has with his apostles. He spends the Last Supper with them. But while all the apostles flee except John, the holy Women and some disciples remain at the foot of the Cross.

Their authority in the nascent Church

Severino Caruso - The valley of Arbel and the election of the twelve apostles. Discoveries and spiritual account, CEV 2021.

It is to them that the holy women announce the Resurrection, but they do not believe them, and Jesus reproaches them for it. It is toward them that the disciples of Emmaus come running to announce their encounter, and they do not believe them either. Their authority, willed by Jesus and established by him, is therefore independent of their humanity, especially since it has not yet been transformed by the Holy Spirit.

Saint Paul, meeting the apostles after several years of evangelization, calls them the pillars of the Church, a term not reserved solely for Peter.

The communal life of the apostles continues until their dispersion following Jesus' testament:

"Go! Make disciples of all nations: baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teach them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the world."

According to Scripture

Four sources attest to the composition of the 12 apostles:

Matthew 10,2-4. "These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, called Peter; Andrew his brother; James, son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James, son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him."

Mark 3,13-19. "Peter, it is the name he gave to Simon, James, son of Zebedee, and John, brother of James. He gave them the name 'boanerges', that is: 'Sons of thunder', Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James, son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him."

Luke 6,13-16. "Simon, to whom he gave the name Peter, Andrew his brother, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon called the Zealot, Jude son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor."

Acts 1,13. "There were Peter, John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Jude son of James." The number is incomplete because Judas killed himself and Matthias has not yet replaced him."

The case of Paul

In his epistle to the Romans, Paul presents himself as "called to be an apostle (by Christ)", set apart for the Gospel of God. Paul, with Barnabas, was in fact set apart by the Holy Spirit during his stay at Antioch. It is the community that lays hands on them. Paul proclaims, for years, a gospel received directly by revelation, however he takes care to validate it with the "pillars of the Church". Later, in his epistle to the Romans, Paul gives himself the title "apostle of the Gentiles, or of the nations". A mission officially recognized by the authorities of the Church based on the fruits produced by his evangelization.

In "The Gospel as it was revealed to me"

Their appearance

Click on an apostle to consult his biography

Here is the portrait of the twelve apostles in chronological order of their call which differs from tradition for the first three, but Jesus explains it. These portraits were executed by Lorenzo Ferri, an Italian artist who was able to make some drawings from the descriptions of Maria Valtorta and have some validated directly by her. Each portrait from this panorama (Judea) is included in the individual biographies.

Order of Calling by Jesus

1. John of Zebedee the Apostle (boanerges) – Galilean from Bethsaida, fisherman, single.
2. James of Zebedee the Apostle (the elder) – his brother, Galilean from Bethsaida, fisherman, single.
3. Andrew the Apostle of Jonas – Galilean from Bethsaida, fisherman, brother of Peter, single.
4. Simon of Jonas (Peter). – Galilean from Bethsaida. Married to Porphirea, fishing boat owner, without children.
5. Philip – Galilean from Bethsaida, married to Mary, father of two daughters.
6. Bartholomew (Nathaniel) the Apostle (Bartholomew) – Galilean from Cana, married to Anne, father of two daughters.
7. Thomas (Didymus, the twin) – Judean from Ramah (Judea), goldsmith, single.
8. Simon (the Zealot) – Judean probably from Jerusalem or Bethany, rentier, single.
9. Jude of Alphaeus (Thaddaeus). – Judean by his father and Galilean by his mother, born in Nazareth, cousin of Jesus, single.
10. Judas of Kerioth (the Iscariot) – Judean from Kerioth, "functionary" of the Temple, single.
11. James of Alphaeus the Apostle (the younger) – Judean by his father and Galilean by his mother, born in Nazareth, cousin of Jesus, single.
12. Levi (Matthew) the tax collector. – Galilean from Capernaum, tax collector, single.

Matthias (Tobias) - Judean from Bethlehem, shepherd, single. Called by the Holy Spirit to replace Judas.

All will die as martyrs, according to Jesus’ prediction, except Judas Iscariot who will commit suicide.

Training and mission of the apostles

The retreat mountain, by Lorenzo Ferri, from the book “Valtorta and Ferri”

After having successively called them in the first months of His Public Life, Jesus makes the choice of the apostles at the end of a long period of observation. Jesus uses the summer months of the first year to begin their instruction:

"During these months of presence and absence I have weighed you up and studied you. I have known you and I have known the world with the experience of a man. Now I have decided to send you into the world. But before I must teach you, I must make you capable of facing the world with the kindness and wisdom, the calm and perseverance, the conscience and science necessary for your mission."

The following autumn, Jesus begins with them the communal life according to John 3,22 at The Clear Water, a property of Lazarus. In the following winter, after a week of spiritual retreat, Jesus proceeds to their election according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

"As from today you are no longer My favourite disciples, but the apostle, the chiefs of My Church. All the hierarchies of the Church, throughout centuries, shall descend from you [...] I have chosen you instead of the shepherds who have been My disciples since I was born. Why did I do it? Because it was right to do so. Amongst you there are Galileans and Judaeans, learned and unlearned, rich and poor people. And that is because of the world, that it may not say that I have chosen one category only. But you will not be sufficient for everything there is to be done. Neither now, nor later."

Between the calling of the first apostle (March 27) and the election of the twelve (February 28), a year has passed, which is one-third of the public life of Jesus according to Maria Valtorta. One of the recommendations Jesus gives them calls for a balance between requirement and mercy:

"It is essential to possess two things to be true masters and wor­thy of being masters. The first thing: an austere life for oneself, so that one may judge without the hypocrisy of condemning in other people what one forgives oneself. The second thing: patient mercy to give souls the time to recover and fortify themselves. Not every soul recovers instantaneously from its wounds. Some do so by successive stages, which are often slow and subject to relapses. It does not befit a spiritual doctor to reject, condemn, frighten them."

A deliberately imperfect group

Phrases of Jesus about the choice of His apostles:

• "If I chose everything perfect, how could the poor diseased souls dare hope to become My disciples?"
• "Who are you? Men of every social condition, of different age, from everywhere. I preferred to choose those who are not indoctrinated, because it will be much easier to instil My doctrine into them [...] Exactly: brothers. I want you to call and to consider one another as such. [...] Be united. Love one another. You must love one another to help one another."
• "You also can be compared to the winter earth: barren, naked, ugly looking: arid, barren, rough. [...] And you have received the seed and the tillage because you are willing to bear fruit in the work of God."
• "[...] you who are the better ones [...] you are honestly. willing."
• "I turned cowardly, quarrelsome, usurious, sensual, incredulous people into martyrs, saints and evangelizers of the world. Only those who did not want, did not change."
• "The apostles [...] very imperfect, rough, ignorant, violent, but with goodwill."

Their occupation

For the apostles whose profession is not determined, one should seek in this phrase of Jesus, said at the beginning of the Public Life, when neither James son of Alphaeus, nor Matthew-Levi (tax collector) had yet been called:

"[...] humble fishermen without culture, and you merchants or sons of merchants, and you officials or sons of officials, and you wealthy people or sons of wealthy people"

And in this one:

"Among you there are some fishermen, some landowners, some own a workshop, and the Zealot had a servant. Now then. When the boat servants, or the men who helped you like servants in the olive grove, in the vineyard, or in the fields, or apprentices in the workshop, or even the faithful servant who looked after the house and meals, finished their work, did you begin to serve them?"

By age, from oldest to youngest

NB: Maria Valtorta, recipient of visions, estimates ages by appearance, except when an age is given by one of the characters.

1. Bartholomew (Nathaniel) the Apostle (Bartholomew). The oldest of the apostles.
2. Simon the Zealot (Apostle).
3. Philip, about the same age as Peter.
4. Peter (Simon) "He appears about forty-five years old"
5. Matthew (Levi), "about the same age as Peter."
6. Andrew the Apostle.
7. Thomas (± 38 years old).
8. James of Zebedee the Apostle (around thirty)
9. James of Alphaeus the Apostle, but younger than his brother below. "slightly older than Jesus".
10. Jude of Alphaeus "He seems to be about thirty years old".
11. Judas, probably in his twenties.
12. John (around 20 years old).

By groups

The sibling groups

There are three sibling groups (instead of the two explicitly indicated by the Gospels):

1. John and James, sons of Zebedee and Mary Salome, mother of the apostles John and James.
2. Andrew the Apostle and Simon (Peter), sons of Jonas, probably deceased, and of an unnamed mother.
3. James and Jude, sons of Alphaeus and Mary (daughter) of Cleophas.

The couples

Three apostles are married: Simon-Peter (+ Porphirea) - Philip (+ Mary) – Bartholomew (Nathaniel) the Apostle/Bartholomew (+ Anne).

Places of origin

1. Seven Galileans: John and James, sons of Zebedee - Simon-Peter and Andrew the Apostle - Philip and Bartholomew - Matthew (Levi).
2. Three Judeans: Thomas - Simon the Zealot (Apostle) - Judas Iscariot the Apostle. Judas is replaced by another Judean: Matthias.
3. Two Judeo-Galileans: James and Jude, sons of Alphaeus (born of Galilean mother and Judean father).

Key passages

Choice of the apostles

• Is he [John] My favourite? Yes, he is.
• I know what you are worth. [...] I chose you. You did not choose yourselves.
• Reasons for the choice of apostles and disciples.
• Election of the twelve apostles, mountain of Arbela near Tiberias - The function of apostle and that of disciple.

Mission of the apostles

• The apostles were humiliated by their desertion of Christ. At this moment, all the branches of corrupt humanity took over in them and again all that disturbs man seized, shook, and excited them. They then understood that the fact that they had become different was not due to their own merit alone, but because they were with Jesus.
• The task of the apostles and disciples will still be the same as the task of the priests and levites of Hezekiah: to perform the rites of the cult, to demolish idolatries, to purify hearts and places, to preach God and His Word.
• The dispersion of the apostles to make disciples of all nations.
• Man can believe man, the man he sees. But it is difficult for man, who has fallen so low, to believe in God, Whom he does not see. [...] But when you are transformed into masters and you are like an example, a witness, like yeast among men, they wIll no longer be able to say: “They are gods who have descended among men and we cannot imitate them”. They will have to say: “They are men like us. [...]"

Moral and spiritual qualities to be an apostle

• Following Jesus as apostles.
• To what compare the apostolic formation? [...] Leaving one’s family.
• "Good grace is the shrewdness of an apostle, perseverance is his weapon, his example and prayers for those to be converted are his success."
• Spiritual requirements to be an apostle.
• Training of the apostles: Jesus takes them on retreat on the mountain of Arbela before the definitive call.
• GRM 169 : this episode, which inaugurates the Sermon on the Mount, broadly addresses the spirituality for the apostleship of the apostles and disciples.

In other works by Maria Valtorta

Notebooks 1944

• Catechesis of January 2: Throughout the day I had been seeing the Apostolic College […] Now I shall tell you what I saw. (Physical and moral details).

Noteworthy points

In the Acts of the Apostles, Jude is called "son of James", which Maria Valtorta disputes, making him a brother of James of Alphaeus the Apostle and a cousin of Jesus.

It should be noted that the filiation with a James, totally unknown otherwise, is an interpretative translation, since the Vulgate says "Iudas Iacobi", which translates as "Jude of James" with the possibility to validly interpret either "son of James" or "brother of James" which Maria Valtorta supports. Moreover, in his epistle, Jude presents himself well as "servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James." James son of Alphaeus was bishop of Jerusalem and cousin of the Lord.

Name given to the first three Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) because of their common framework.

The Gospel as Revealed to Me (Maria Valtorta).