Saint Abraham (
Cyrrhus, Syria, 350–
Constantinople, 422) (also known as Abraames, Abraham of Charres and Abraham the Apostle of Lebanon was a
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
n
hermit and
bishop of
Harran.
Life
Abraham was born and educated at
Carrhae (modern Harran) in Syria, and preached the
Gospel in the valley of
Mount Lebanon
Mount Lebanon ( ar, جَبَل لُبْنَان, ''jabal lubnān'', ; syr, ܛܘܪ ܠܒ݂ܢܢ, ', , ''ṭūr lewnōn'' french: Mont Liban) is a mountain range in Lebanon. It averages above in elevation, with its peak at .
Geography
The Mount Le ...
, where he lived as a
hermit. His life was described by
Theodoret of Cyr (393-466 A.D.), the Bishop of Cyrrhus, who named him among the other thirty holy men and women in his book "Historia Religiosa" (Religious History).
He spent the first part of his life in the desert of
Chalcis
Chalcis ( ; Ancient Greek & Katharevousa: , ) or Chalkida, also spelled Halkida (Modern Greek: , ), is the chief town of the island of Euboea or Evia in Greece, situated on the Euripus Strait at its narrowest point. The name is preserved from ...
where he lived an ascetic life, he tried his body by fasting and still standing and was so exhausted that could not move. But then he left for Lebanon as a merchant and helped the inhabitants of the village where he stayed to pay the taxes with the help of his friends. The name of the village is not known but it is believed to be ''
Aqura-
Afka
Afqa ( ar, افقا; also spelled ''Afka'') is a village and municipality located in the Byblos District of the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate, northeast of Beirut in Lebanon. It has an average elevation of 1,200 meters above sea level and a total la ...
''. "It was probably located in ''Aqura'' near the
river Adonis." He was asked by the villagers to become their tutor and he accepted providing they would build the Christian church. He stayed in this village for three years as a priest and then returned to his ascetic life as a hermit.
[Theresa Urbainczyk, "Theodoret of Cyrrhus: The Bishop and the Holy Man", University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, 2002. p.74]
He was later elected bishop of Harran in Mesopotamia (Carrhae), where he worked vigorously to reduce the existing abuses. He died in Constantinople in 422 after going there to consult with
Theodosius II, although some argue that it may have instead occurred in 390 under Theodosius II's predecessor,
Theodosius I. His body was transferred back to Harran, to the city of Antioch where he was buried. 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 ...
is 14 February.
According to
Alban Butler,
See also
*
Abraham River
*
Afqa
*
Aqoura
Aqoura ( ar, عاقورة, also spelled ''Aaqoura'', "Akoura") is a mountainous village in the Byblos District of Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate, Lebanon. It is 68 kilometers north of Beirut. Aqoura has an average elevation of 1,600 meters above sea ...
References
External links
*
*
Holweck, F. G.
Frederick George Holweck (born Friedrich Georg Holweck; 29 December 1856 – 15 February 1927) was a German-American Catholic parish priest and scholar, hagiographer and church historian. Monsignor Holweck contributed some articles to the ''Catho ...
, ''A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints''. St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co. 1924.
Abraham at ''Patron Saints Index''St. Patrick's Church list of 14 February saints
{{Authority control
350s births
422 deaths
Mesopotamian saints
Maronite saints
4th-century Christian saints
Year of birth unknown
4th-century Mesopotamian bishops
5th-century Mesopotamian bishops
People from Harran