medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Abibus (in transliterated Syriac: Ḥabīb) is along with Gourias and Samonas one of three saints referred to jointly since late antiquity as the confessors of Edessa ("confessor" being used in an early sense in which it is equivalent to "martyr"). They are first attested in the later fourth-century Syriac Martyrology, where Abibus occurs under 2. September and is said to have perished by fire and where Gourias and Samonas, identified as confessors, occur under 15. November and their manner of death is not specified. As the aforesaid martyrology does not style any of them "ancient", its distinguishing term for those who suffered prior to the early fourth-century Great Persecution, one may accept the testimony of their originally fourth-century Syriac Passiones (which come to us in other-language translations and in later, re-worked versions in Syriac) that they were martyred in that persecution. On the other hand, the specific years given in those texts (306/307 for Gourias and Samonas, who have a joint Passio; 308/309 for Abibus) may derive from a later chronicle tradition whose accuracy in these instances cannot be determined.
Abibus' Passio, in which that saint is said to have been a deacon, has him buried at the graves of Gourias and Samonas (who in their Passio are a recluse and a lay preacher, respectively). According to the sixth-century _Chronicle of Edessa_, after the edicts of toleration the Christians of that city built a church for themselves and also a martyrial chapel honoring these three saints (the latter, which was burned by the Persians in 530, is sometimes dated to ca. 350). Their joint cult there is reflected in a hymn by St. Ephraem the Syrian (d. 373) and in a joint feast on 15. November in various Syriac calendars (a few of which also record a celebration of Abibus on 2. September). 15. November is also the standard medieval and later feast day for all three in the Armenian, Georgian, and Greek churches, with the latter passing it on to the early medieval Latin church of Naples (assuming, as seems likely enough, that the _Samo[nae]_ of that day in the earlier ninth-century Marble Calendar of Naples stands for all three) and to Orthodox churches of other countries. They are said to have been unknown in late antique and medieval Coptic Christianity.
Following the practice of Greek synaxaries, cardinal Baronio entered all three saints in the early Roman Martyrology under 15. November. But, as their martyrdoms are said to have been distinct, he created different entries for Gourias and Samonas on one hand and for Abibus on the other. The revised Roman Martyrology of 2001, following its frequent preference for the earliest recorded feast day, moved Abibus' commemoration to today (2. September). In churches using the Byzantine Rite he continues to be celebrated on 15. November along with Gourias and Samonas.
Some period-pertinent images of St. Abibus of Edessa:
a) as twice depicted (martyrdom) in the late tenth- or very early eleventh-century so-called Menologion of Basil II (Città del Vaticano, BAV, cod. Vat. gr. 1613):
1) at right (at left, Sts. Gourias and Samonas), under 15. November (p. 183):
http://tinyurl.com/zekejca
2) separately (image better preserved), under 2. December (p. 220):
http://tinyurl.com/jsbaa2r
b) as depicted (at left) in the eleventh-century frescoes of the south chapel of the church of St. Nicholas of Myra at Demre in Turkey's Antalya province:
http://tinyurl.com/cu6qf43
c) as depicted (at bottom on the arch soffit at left; directly above him, Sts. Gourias and Samonas) in the late twelfth-century frescoes of the church of the Panagia tou Arakou in Lagoudera (Nicosia prefecture) in the Republic of Cyprus:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/7283893@N05/8914213569/
d) as depicted (image somewhat degraded) in the earlier fourteenth-century frescoes (betw. ca. 1312 and ca. 1321/22) of the nave of the monastery church of the Theotokos at Gračanica in, depending on one's view of the matter, either the Republic of Kosovo or Serbia's province of Kosovo and Metohija:
http://tinyurl.com/zpmv3pf
Detail view:
http://tinyurl.com/zvsa33e
e) as depicted in the earlier fourteenth-century mosaics (betw. 1315 and 1321) in the exonarthex of the Chora church in Istanbul:
http://www.le-flamant-rose.org/kahriye/photos_kariye_cami/abaibud_exonarthex.jpg
f) as depicted (martyrdom) in a November calendar scene in the earlier fourteenth-century frescoes (betw. 1335 and 1350) in the narthex of the church of the Holy Ascension at the Visoki Dečani monastery near Peć in, depending on one's view of the matter, either the Republic of Kosovo or Serbia's province of Kosovo and Metohija:
http://tinyurl.com/9bfo6qu
Best,
John Dillon
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