Abdas from Susa

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Abdas (also Abda , Abdias and Audias ; † around 420 AD) was a Christian martyr under the Persian King Yazdegerd I and is venerated as a saint in the Christian Church .

Life

According to the report of a now mutilated Syrian manuscript (12th century) about Christian martyrs, Abdas was a bishop of Hormizd Ardašir in Husistan, and when a priest named Hašo admitted the burning of a fire altar in 420 AD, not only this, but also Abdas and his brother Papa, the priest Isaac, the secretary Ephram, the subdeacon Papa and the lay people Daduk and Durtan executed on the orders of the Persian King Yazdegerd I. The church historians Theodoret and Socrates Scholastikus state that Abdas, Bishop of Susa , burned one of their fire temples consecrated to Ahura Mazda after a dispute with the Zoroasters in 420 AD . On the orders of Yazdegerd I, who was otherwise friendly to Christians, Abdas was supposed to restore the temple at his own expense. Since the bishop refused, the king had him executed and all Christian churches in Persia destroyed, and there was persecution of the followers of this religion, which soon ceased, but under Yazdegerd's son Bahram V (ruled 420-438 AD .) was resumed and brutally carried out; the total duration of the persecution is said to have been 30 years. Theodoret counts the Christians Hormisdas, Suenes and Benjamin among the victims under the rule of Bahram. Together with Abdas, they are venerated as saints in the liturgical calendar of the Orthodox Church on September 5 and October 17. One can deduce from an Armenian version of this martyr's story that it goes back to a no longer existing source, which connected the person of Abdas with Hormisdas and his fellow sufferers. Abdas is probably also mentioned in the Byzantine calendar of saints as Bishop of Ergol. Socrates Scholastikos also reports about Abdas that he is said to have helped Bishop Maruthas to cast out a demon from Yazdegerd. In the Catholic Church, the feast day of Abdas is September 5 or May 16.

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ Church history 5:39
  2. ↑ Church history 7, 8
personal data
SURNAME Abdas from Susa
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Abdas; From there; Audias
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bishop of Susa and martyr
DATE OF BIRTH 4th century
DATE OF DEATH at 420