Abraham of Nethpra (died 6th century) was a

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

of the

Assyrian Church of the East The Assyrian Church of the East,, ar, كنيسة المشرق الآشورية sometimes called Church of the East, officially the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East,; ar, كنيسة المشرق الآشورية الرسول� ...

. He was born in Beith-Nethpra in

Adiabene Adiabene was an ancient kingdom in northern Mesopotamia, corresponding to the northwestern part of ancient Assyria. The size of the kingdom varied over time; initially encompassing an area between the Zab Rivers, it eventually gained control of Ni ...

. He became a

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...

there and, after returning from

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, returned to hermeticism. He lived for thirty years in a cave before dying in the 6th century.Holweck, F. G. ''A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints''
St. Louis, Mo: B. Herder Book Co. 1924, p. 7 He changed the

religious habit A religious habit is a distinctive set of religious clothing worn by members of a religious order. Traditionally some plain garb recognizable as a religious habit has also been worn by those leading the religious eremitic and anchoritic life, ...

of the monks of the

Church of the East The Church of the East ( syc, ܥܕܬܐ ܕܡܕܢܚܐ, ''ʿĒḏtā d-Maḏenḥā'') or the East Syriac Church, also called the Church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the Persian Church, the Assyrian Church, the Babylonian Church or the Nestorian C ...

to make it easier to distinguish them from similar

Miaphysite Miaphysitism is the Christology, Christological doctrine that holds Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, the "Incarnation (Christianity), Incarnate Logos (Christianity), Word, is fully divine and fully human, in one 'nature' (''physis'')." It is a posi ...

monks. He is regarded as a saint of the Assyrian Church. 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 March 13.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abraham of Nethpra Year of birth missing 6th-century deaths Adiabene Assyrian hermits Assyrian Church of the East saints