Abibus of Nekressi ( ka, აბიბოს ნეკრესელი, tr) (fl. 6th century) was one of the thirteen Assyrian apostles of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and the

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

Nekresi Nekresi ( ka, ნეკრესი) is a historic and archaeological site in eastern Georgian region of Kakheti, between the town of Qvareli and the village of Shilda, at the foothills of the Greater Caucasus mountains. It is home to the still-fu ...

who arrived in Georgia under the leadership of St. Ioane of Zedazeni (John of Zedazeni). He began his activity as bishop in a village which was located in the hills in the eastern region of

Kakheti Kakheti ( ka, კახეთი ''K’akheti''; ) is a region (mkhare) formed in the 1990s in eastern Georgia from the historical province of Kakheti and the small, mountainous province of Tusheti. Telavi is its capital. The region comprises eigh ...

. According to the chronicle Life of Kartli, he was spreading Christianity not only among Georgians but also among the mountain tribes such as the Dagestani/Didoians, the ancient predecessors of modern

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; rus, Дагеста́н, , dəɡʲɪˈstan, links=yes), officially the Republic of Dagestan (russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н, Respúblika Dagestán, links=no), is a republic of Russia situated in the North C ...

.Loosley Leeming, Emma (2018). "Architecture and Asceticism: Cultural Interaction between Syria and Georgia in Late Antiquity". ''Texts and Studies in Eastern Christianity'', Vol. 13. Brill. 2018, p. 44 At that time there was a dark period of Persian rule in eastern Georgia. The main religion of Persians was

Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion and one of the world's History of religion, oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian peoples, Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a Dualism in cosmology, du ...

- worship of fire. St. Abibos is said to have doused a sacred Zoroastrian flame with water. He was captured by the pagan priests, was tied up and beaten before be brought to the

marzban Marzbān, or Marzpān (Middle Persian transliteration: mrzwpn, derived from ''marz'' "border, boundary" and the suffix ''-pān'' "guardian"; Modern Persian: ''Marzbān'') were a class of margraves, warden of the marches, and by extension militar ...

Simeon the Stylite Simeon Stylites or Symeon the Stylite syc, ܫܡܥܘܢ ܕܐܣܛܘܢܐ ', Koine Greek ', ar, سمعان العمودي ' (c. 390 – 2 September 459) was a Syrian asceticism#Christianity, Christian ascetic, who achieved notability by living ...

of the Wonderful Mountain sent him a letter, an

eulogia The term eulogia ( grc, εὐλογία, ''eulogía''), Greek for "a blessing", has been applied in ecclesiastical usage to "a blessed object". It was occasionally used in early times to signify the Holy Eucharist, and in this sense is especially f ...

(probably a piece of prosphoron) and a staff to strengthen his soul. He was stoned to death by

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic on ...

Persians The Persians are an Iranian ethnic group who comprise over half of the population of Iran. They share a common cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language as well as of the languages that are closely related to Persian. ...

at Rekhi and his body was dragged from the city and cast to the beasts. In spite of the stringent prohibition to take his body the priests and monks of Rekhi stole it. They buried it with great honor at Samtavisi Monastery (located midway between

Mtskheta Mtskheta ( ka, მცხეთა, tr ) is a city in Mtskheta-Mtianeti province of Georgia. It is one of the oldest cities in Georgia as well as one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the World. Itis located approximately north of T ...

and Gori). During the rule of Prince Stepanoz of

Kartli Kartli ( ka, ქართლი ) is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari (Kura), on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial role ...

, the relics of St. Abibos were relocated from

Samtavisi Samtavisi ( ka, სამთავისი) is an eleventh-century Georgian Orthodox cathedral in eastern Georgia, in the region of Shida Kartli, some 45 km from the nation's capital Tbilisi, near Igoeti village. The cathedral is now one of t ...

Samtavro Monastery Samtavro Monastery ( ka, სამთავროს მონასტერი) is a Georgian Orthodox Christian monastery complex that combines Samtavro Transfiguration Church and Nunnery of St. Nino in Mtskheta, Georgia (country), Georgia. Bui ...

in Mtskheta. They were buried under the holy altar at Samtavro Church.About Sights – Nekresi Monastery
Retrieved on 21 Feb 2018 His

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

had been kept on November 12 through 1700, but later changed to December 12 on the Gregorian calendar and November 29 on the Julian calendar correspondingly.

References

Sources

* Holweck, F. G. ''A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints''. St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co. 1924. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abibus Of Nekressi Year of birth unknown 6th-century bishops Saints of Georgia (country) 6th-century Christian saints Year of death unknown Deaths by stoning