__NOTOC__ Abercius of Hieropolis (Greek , died c. 167) was a bishop of Hierapolis at the time of

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good ...

, also known as Abercius Marcellus. He was supposedly the successor to Papias. Abercius is said to have evangelized

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 ...

and

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

, and is on that basis referred to as one of the Equals-to-the-Apostles. He was imprisoned under Marcus Aurelius, and died about 167. Abercius'

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 celebrated on 22 October (for those churches which follow the

Julian Calendar The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandr ...

, 22 October occurs on the

Gregorian Calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...

date of 4 November). Several works are ascribed to Abercius: # ''An Epistle to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius'', of which

Baronius Cesare Baronio (as an author also known as Caesar Baronius; 30 August 1538 – 30 June 1607) was an Italian cardinal and historian of the Catholic Church. His best-known works are his ''Annales Ecclesiastici'' ("Ecclesiastical Annals"), whi ...

speaks as extant, but he does not produce it # A ''Book of Discipline'' (Greek ) addressed to his clergy; this too is lost. Abercius is also the subject, and probable author, of the

Inscription of Abercius The inscription of Abercius is the Greek epitaph of Abercius, Bishop of Hieropolis (died ca. 167), in Phrygia. It is an important example of early Christian epigraphy. Archeology and context About the middle of the 2nd century, Abercius left h ...

, preserved in the

Vatican Museums The Vatican Museums ( it, Musei Vaticani; la, Musea Vaticana) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of ...

William Ramsay Sir William Ramsay (; 2 October 1852 – 23 July 1916) was a Scottish chemist who discovered the noble gases and received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904 "in recognition of his services in the discovery of the inert gaseous element ...

said that "Abercius was bishop of

Hieropolis Hierapolis (; grc, Ἱεράπολις, lit. "Holy City") was originally a Phrygian cult centre of the Anatolian mother goddess of Cybele and later a Greek city. Its location was centred upon the remarkable and copious hot springs in classica ...

in the valley of Sandukli and not of

Hierapolis Hierapolis (; grc, Ἱεράπολις, lit. "Holy City") was originally a Phrygian cult centre of the Anatolian mother goddess of Cybele and later a Greek city. Its location was centred upon the remarkable and copious hot springs in classica ...

in the Maeander valley, for the latter was in Phrygia Magna, or Pacatiana." He said, "The confusion of the two towns Hierapolis and Hieropolis has produced much error in early Christian history. ... Hierapolis of Salutaris must always be interpreted as the Hieropolis in the valley of Sandukli: Hierapolis near Laodicea is ''always'' assigned in the Byzantine authorities to Pacatiana." J. B. Lightfoot said that "the city of Abercius was not Hierapolis on the Mæander but this Hieropolis near Synnada." ''

The Catholic Encyclopedia The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...

'' notes that Ramsay "discovered at Kelendres, near Synnada, in Phrygia Salutaris (Asia Minor), a Christian ''stele'' (inscribed slab) bearing the date of the year 300 of the Phrygian era (a.d. 216). The inscription in question recalled the memory of a certain Alexander, son of Anthony. De Rossi and Duchesne at once recognized in it phrases similar to those in the epitaph of Abercius. On comparison it was found that the inscription in memory of Alexander corresponded, almost word for word, with the first and last verses of the epitaph of the Bishop of Hieropolis; all the middle part was missing. Mr. Ramsay, on a second visit to the site of Hieropolis, in 1883, discovered two new fragments covered with inscriptions, built into the masonry of the public baths. These fragments, which are now in the Vatican Christian Museum, filled out the middle part of the ''stele'' inscribed with the epitaph of Abercius. It now became possible, with the help of the text preserved in the ''Life'', to restore the original text of the epitaph with practical certainty."

References

Citations

Sources

* Holweck, F. G., ''A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints''. St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co., 1924. *

External links

St Abercius the Bishop and Wonderworker of Hieropolis, Equal of the Apostles
Orthodox

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...

and synaxarion
Saint Abercius, Equal to the Apostles
from the ''Prologue from Ochrid'' by Bishop

Nikolai Velimirovich Nikolai or Nikolay is an East Slavic variant of the masculine name Nicholas. It may refer to: People Royalty * Nicholas I of Russia (1796–1855), or Nikolay I, Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855 * Nicholas II of Russia (1868–1918), or Nik ...

Bishop Abercius Marcellus
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abercius Of Hieropolis Year of birth unknown 167 deaths 2nd-century bishops in Roman Anatolia 2nd-century Christian saints Saints of Roman Phrygia

See also

References

Citations

Sources

External links