Aba I

For other uses, see Mar Aba (disambiguation).
Mar Abba the Great
Mar Abba the Great
Patriarch of Seleucia-Ctesiphon
Catholicos Patriarch
BornHala, Asorestan, Sasanid Iran
Died552
Adurbadagan, Sasanid Iran
Venerated inAssyrian Church of the East
Ancient Church of the East
Chaldean Catholic Church
Syro-Malabar Catholic Church
Major shrineThe Seminary of Mar Abba the Great El Cajon, California, United States

Aba I (or, with his Syriac honorific, Mar Aba I) or Mar Abba the Great was the Patriarch of the Church of the East at Seleucia-Ctesiphon from 540 to 552.[1] He introduced to the church the anaphoras of Theodore of Mopsuestia and Nestorius beside the more ancient liturgical rite of Addai and Mari.[2] Though his tenure as catholicos saw Christians in the region threatened during the Persian-Roman wars and attempts by both Sassanid Persian and Byzantine rulers to interfere with the governance of the church, his reign is reckoned a period of consolidation,[3] and a synod he held in 544 as (despite excluding the Diocese of Merv) instrumental in unifying and strengthening the church.[4] In 544, the Synod of Mar Aba I adopted the ordinances of the Council of Chalcedon.[5] He is thought to have written and translated a number of religious works.[3][6] After his death in February 552, the faithful carried his casket from his simple home across the Tigris to the monastery of Mar Pithyon.

Aba is a highly regarded and significantly venerated saint in the Assyrian Church of the East, the Ancient Church of the East, and the Chaldean Catholic Church.[7] He is documented in the Ausgewählte Akten Persischer Märtyrer, and The Lesser Eastern Churches, two biographies of Eastern saints. The first seminary of the Chaldean Catholic Church outside of Iraq was established in July 2008 in El Cajon, San Diego, as the Seminary of Mar Abba the Great.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Bened was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Becchio, Bruno; Johannes P. Schadé (2006). Encyclopedia of World Religions. Foreign Media Group. ISBN 1-60136-000-2.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference tcote was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Rassam, Suha (2005). Christianity in Iraq. Gracewing. p. 37. ISBN 0-85244-633-0.
  5. ^ Meyendorff 1989, p. 287-289.
  6. ^ Noort, Edward; Eibert J. C. Tigchelaar (2002). The Sacrifice of Isaac. Brill. p. 115. ISBN 90-04-12434-9.
  7. ^ "The Seminary of Mar Abba the Great". Archived from the original on 2009-08-16. Retrieved 2009-10-03.