According to

Eastern Christian Eastern Christianity comprises Christianity, Christian traditions and Christian denomination, church families that originally developed during Classical antiquity, classical and late antiquity in the Eastern Mediterranean region or locations fu ...

tradition, Addai of Edessa ( Syriac: ܡܪܝ ܐܕܝ, Mar Addai or Mor Aday sometimes Latinized Addeus) or Thaddeus of Edessa was one of the seventy disciples of

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

Life

Based on various

traditions, Addai was a

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

born in Edessa (now Şanlıurfa,

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

). He came to

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

for a festival where he heard the preaching of

John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

(St. John the Forerunner). After being baptized in the Jordan River, he remained in Judea and became a follower of Jesus. He was chosen as one of the seventy disciples sent in pairs to preach in the cities and places."Apostle Thaddeus of the Seventy", Orthodox Church in America
/ref> After

Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 49th day (50th day when inclusive counting is used) after Easter Day, Easter. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spiri ...

and the

ascension of Jesus The Ascension of Jesus (anglicized from the Vulgate ) is the Christianity, Christian and Islamic belief that Jesus entering heaven alive, ascended to Heaven. Christian doctrine, as reflected in the major Christian creeds and confessional stateme ...

, Addai started preaching

the gospel The gospel or good news is a theological concept in several religions. In the historical Roman imperial cult and today in Christianity, the gospel is a message about salvation by a divine figure, a savior, who has brought peace or other benefi ...

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

and

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. He ordained priests in Edessa, converted many to Christianity and built up the church there. He also went to

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

to preach, and many believe that he founded a church there. The Syriac liturgy referred to as the Liturgy of Addai and Mari originated around the year 200 AD and is used by the

Assyrian Church of the East The Assyrian Church of the East (ACOE), sometimes called the Church of the East and officially known as the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East, is an Eastern Christianity, Eastern Syriac Christianity, Syriac Christian denomin ...

and the

Chaldean Catholic Church The Chaldean Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic Catholic particular churches and liturgical rites, particular church (''sui iuris'') in full communion with the Holy See and the rest of the Catholic Church, and is ...

(both of which are based in Iraq); it is also used by the Eastern Syriac Churches in India which trace their origins to

Thomas the Apostle Thomas the Apostle (; , meaning 'the Twin'), also known as Didymus ( 'twin'), was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Thomas is commonly known as "doubting Thomas" because he initially doubted the resurrection of ...

, namely, the Chaldean Syrian Church and Syro-Malabar Catholic Church . His feast is celebrated on August 5 in the Christian calendar.

Addai and the healing of King Abgar

Among the

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

faithful, Addai was a disciple of Christ sent by St. Thomas the Apostle to Edessa in order to heal King Abgar V of

Osroene Osroene or Osrhoene (; ) was an ancient kingdom and region in Upper Mesopotamia. The ''Kingdom of Osroene'', also known as the "Kingdom of Edessa" ( / "Kingdom of Urhay"), according to the name of its capital city (now Urfa, Şanlıurfa, Turkey), ...

, who had fallen ill. He stayed to evangelize, and so converted Abgar—or Agbar, or in one Latin version "Acbar" — and his people including Saint Aggai and Saint Mari. The story of how King Abgarus V and

had corresponded was first recounted in the 4th century by the church historian Eusebius of Caesarea. In the origin of the legend, Eusebius had been shown documents purporting to contain the official correspondence that passed between Abgar and Jesus, and he was well enough convinced by their authenticity to quote them extensively in his ''

Ecclesiastical History Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual side of the ...

''. According to Eusebius: The story of the healing and Addai's evangelizing efforts resulted in the growing of Christian communities in southern Armenia, northern Mesopotamia and in Syria east of Antioch. Thaddeus' story is embodied in the Syriac document, '' Doctrine of Addai,'' which recounts the role of Addai and makes him one of the 72 Apostles sent out to spread the

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

faith. By the time the

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...

had returned to

, the purported site of the miraculous

image An image or picture is a visual representation. An image can be Two-dimensional space, two-dimensional, such as a drawing, painting, or photograph, or Three-dimensional space, three-dimensional, such as a carving or sculpture. Images may be di ...

, it had been embroidered into a tissue of miraculous happenings.

Various traditions

St. Addai also appears in the '' First Apocalypse of James'' and the '' Second Apocalypse of James''.Robert Eisenman, ''James the Brother of Jesus : The key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls,'' 1997 (Viking Penguin). Especially the section "Thaddeus, Judas Thomas and the conversion of the Osrhoeans", pp 189ff. In Roman Catholic tradition, he and Saint Mari are considered patrons of Persian and

Assyrian people Assyrians (, ) are an ethnic group Indigenous peoples, indigenous to Mesopotamia, a geographical region in West Asia. Modern Assyrians Assyrian continuity, share descent directly from the ancient Assyrians, one of the key civilizations of Mesop ...

References

External links

Thomasine Church Patriarchs

* ttp://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05088a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: ''Doctrine of St. Addai'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Addai of Edessa 1st-century births 2nd-century deaths 1st-century bishops 2nd-century Mesopotamian bishops 2nd-century Christian saints Ancient apocalypticists Assyrian Church of the East saints Bishops of Edessa Christian hagiography Early Jewish Christians Patriarchs of the Church of the East Persian saints 1st-century Jews 1st-century people Saints from Roman Syria Seventy disciples Syriac Christianity Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown