Karp was a follower of Christ and a disciple of St. Paul. Although there is little information about his life, his name is immortalized in the New Testament. St. Paul asks another disciple, Timothy, to bring him the clothes and books that the apostle left with Carp. So we learned that Karp was a member of the inner circle of the apostles, one of the 70 earliest followers and disciples. He served in Beria, a locality in Thrace, and was a missionary in Crete. There he saw Saint Dionysius the Areopagite. He recorded a vision of St. Carp.
One day, the apostle resented two people. One of them only believed, and the other tempted him with worldly pleasures. Usually a peace-loving and forgiving Karp was very resentful and angry at both. After a restless sleep, Karp got up for a midnight prayer.
He saw a blizzard from which the serpents hissed, and now and then their mouths were opened. The serpents tried to reach up to two sinners who were angry with Karp and drag them into the abyss. So great was Karp’s indignation against them that he wanted them to fall as soon as possible. Suddenly, he looked up and saw Christ extending a helping hand to sinners. “I would die again to save them as I died to save you,” Jesus said. Who do you choose to be with, the serpents in the abyss, or Christ and the angels? There is only room for love here.
Needless to say, after such a vision, Karp repented of his condemnation and began to pray with renewed force for these sinners.
Remembrance days
January 17 — Cathedral of the 70 Apostles
June 8
The Holy Land Charitable Foundation
Lives of Saints
