Rabulas of Samosata

Saint Rabulas of Samosata
Born~450 AD
Samosata
(modern-day Samsat, Adıyaman, Turkey)
Died530 AD
Venerated inRoman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church
Feast19 February

Saint Rabulas (or Rabula) of Samosata (d. 530 AD[1]) was a monk and ascetic. A native of Samosata,[1] and was educated there by a man named Baripsaba.[2][3] He learned the Syriac language.[2] Rabulas became an ascetic in the deserts and mountains, and then traveled to the Levant.[1][3]

The Emperor Zeno provided Rabulas with funds to build a monastery in the middle of the mountains (the location of which has not been identified[2]), the construction of which was supervised by Bishop John of Berytus.[1][2][3] Rabulas’ monastery became a center for converting local peoples to Christianity.[1][3] Rabulas then went to Constantinople, where the Emperor Anastasius I Dicorus supported the ascetic financially. Rabulas built more monasteries with these funds.[1][3]

  1. ^ a b c d e f "St Rabulas of Samosata". Orthodox Church in America. 2009. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d Linda Jones Hall, Roman Berytus: Beirut in Late Antiquity (Routledge, 2013), 166.
  3. ^ a b c d e Fr. S. Janos (1996–2001). "The Monk Rabula". Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox. Retrieved August 2, 2013.