Aba I
Patriarch of the Church of the East at Seleucia-Ctesiphon
b. 6th century · d. 552
29th Catholicos of the East (Seleucia-Ctesiphon) · c. 540–c. 552
Offices
- Catholicos of the East (Seleucia-Ctesiphon) № 29 · c. 540 – c. 552
Aba I or Mar Abba the Great was the Patriarch of the Church of the East at Seleucia-Ctesiphon from 540 to 552. He introduced to the church the anaphoras of Theodore of Mopsuestia and Nestorius beside the more ancient liturgical rite of Addai and Mari. Though his tenure as catholicos saw Christians in the region threatened during the Perso-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, and a synod he held in 544 as instrumental in unifying and strengthening the church. In 544, the Synod of Mar Aba I adopted the ordinances of the Council of Chalcedon. He is thought to have written and translated a number of religious works. After his death in February 552, the faithful carried his casket from his simple home across the Tigris to the monastery of Mar Pithyon.
Related people
- Thomas of Edessa disciple of · traditional
- Abraham of Beth Rabban disciple of · traditional
- Paul succeeded · inferred
- Qiyore of Edessa teacher of · traditional
- Thomas of Edessa teacher of · traditional
- Cosmas Indicopleustes teacher of · traditional
- Cyrus of Edessa teacher of · traditional
- Joseph preceded · inferred
Commemorated
Places
- Veh-Ardashir death
How we know
Recorded as a historical figure.
- Maris, Amri et Slibae De Patriarchis Nestorianorum Commentaria (the Book of the Tower) 1 claim — Maris, De Patriarchis Nestorianorum Commentaria (ed. Gismondi)
- Chronique de Michel le Syrien 1 claim — t. III, pp. 520-521 (Appendice VI, no. VII)
- Synodicon Orientale 1 claim — synod of Mar Aba (544)