ONESIMO. – A fugitive slave, probably Phrygian and from Colosse (Col. 4:9), on whose behalf St. Paul wrote the Epistle to Philemon (v.). The name O. (= Useful) was very common among slaves, as if to indicate the reason for their existence. Converted, he carried the letter to Philemon. Paul presents him, with pride, to the community of Colosse as a “faithful and beloved brother” (Col. 4:9), and, when sending him to Philemon, assures the latter that O., won over to Christ and having become a brother, will not be the useless man (Philem. 16) and perhaps the thief (ibid., 19) he formerly was, but will do honor to his name.
Nothing more is known of him from the New Testament. An O. was bishop of Ephesus when St. Ignatius the Martyr wrote to that community (Ad Ephes. 1:3). Indeed, the martyrologies say that the slave converted by Paul succeeded Timothy in that see (Acta SS. Februarii, II, Antwerp 1658, pp. 856 ff.); but the name was too common for one to conclude that the person was the same. The Constitutiones Apostol. (7, 46: PC 1, 1056), on the other hand, say that he was appointed by Paul himself bishop of Berea in Macedonia. According to other sources, he is said to have preached in Spain. The accounts are no more consistent concerning the place (Rome? Puteoli?), the period (under Nero? Domitian?), and the manner of his martyrdom. O. embodies that social class to which Christianity alone has given freedom and dignity. The Latin Church commemorates him on 16 February, the Greek Church on the 15th.