Abdisho and Abda were two successive bishops of Kashkar who were

martyred A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

along with 38 companions in 376 during the Forty-Year Persecution in the

Sasanian Empire The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

. Accused by his nephew of being a spy for the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

, Abdisho was arrested by the Sasanian authorities along with the priest Abd Alaha. They were tortured on the orders of Ardashir, viceroy of Adiabene, who then sent them on to Gondeshapur, where King

Shapur II Shapur II ( pal, 𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩 ; New Persian: , ''Šāpur'', 309 – 379), also known as Shapur the Great, was the tenth Sasanian King of Kings ( Shahanshah) of Iran. The longest-reigning monarch in Iranian history, he reign ...

had them pressed between boards until their limbs were broken. According to the

hagiography A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...

, they refused food that had been sacrificed to idols and were fed by a pious widow.

Jean Maurice Fiey Jean Maurice Fiey (30 March 1914 – 10 November 1995) was a French Dominican Father and prominent Church historian and Syriacist. Biography Fiey was born in Armentières on 30 March 1914, he entered the Dominican Order at an early age and rece ...

, ''Saints Syriaques'' (Darwin Press, 2004), pp. 18–19. In Abdisho's absence, a new bishop was appointed, Abda, who was soon also accused of spying for Rome. He was arrested with 28 others and seven virgins and all were led in chains to Gondeshapur. According to the hagiography, they refused to worship the sun and each received one hundred lashes. Two Christian brothers, Barhadbshabba and Samuel, voluntarily joined them. All but the virgins were beheaded on 15 May 376. The next day, Abdisho and Abd Alaha were dealt the same fate. Roman slaves from a nearby village took the bodies. The virgins were executed on 22 May. There may have been a political aspect to the persecution, since the king was attempting to establish Mazdaism as the state religion and judged Christians as the natural allies of the Romans. The historian

Sozomen Salamanes Hermias Sozomenos ( grc-gre, Σαλαμάνης Ἑρμείας Σωζομενός; la, Sozomenus; c. 400 – c. 450 AD), also known as Sozomen, was a Roman lawyer and historian of the Christian Church. Family and home He was born aro ...

wrote about 22 martyrs who were tortured together. He mentions Abdas and Abdisho in 15th and 16th places in his list of martyrs. This information is worth trusting because it was written less than 100 years after their death. Their feast day is 16 May in the

Church of the East The Church of the East ( syc, ܥܕܬܐ ܕܡܕܢܚܐ, ''ʿĒḏtā d-Maḏenḥā'') or the East Syriac Church, also called the Church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the Persian Church, the Assyrian Church, the Babylonian Church or the Nestorian C ...

and according to the ''

Martyrologium Romanum The ''Roman Martyrology'' ( la, Martyrologium Romanum) is the official martyrology of the Catholic Church. Its use is obligatory in matters regarding the Roman Rite liturgy, but dioceses, countries and religious institutes may add duly approv ...

'', the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...

, and the

Syriac Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = syc , image = St_George_Syriac_orthodox_church_in_Damascus.jpg , imagewidth = 250 , alt = Cathedral of Saint George , caption = Cathedral of Saint George, Damascus ...

38 companions

The biographical text '' Ausgewählte Akten Persischer Märtyrer'' by Oskar Braun also mentions the names of several of the other martyrs, including:Saints and Feasts
Retrieved on 8 Feb 2018 ;Priests (16) *Abd Alaha *Simeon *Abraham *Aba *Ajabel *Joseph *Han *Ebedjesu *Abdallah *John *Ebedjesu *Maris *Berhadbesciaba *Rozichaeus *Abdallah *Ebedjesu ;Deacons (9) *Eliab *Ebedjesu *Marjab *Maris *Abdias *Berhadbesciaba *Han *Simeon *Maris ;Monks (6) *Papa *Evolesus *Ebedjesu and three others ;Unnamed virgins (7).

References

Sources

*Holweck, F. G. ''A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints''. St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co., 1924. *Fr. Joseph Irvin ''Vespers: Orthodox Service Books - Number 6''. Lulu Press, Inc, 28 September 2017. *Fr. Joseph Irvin ''The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom: Orthodox Service Books - Number 1'', Lulu Press, Inc, 8 July 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:Abda And Abdjesus Year of birth missing 376 deaths 4th-century Christian martyrs 4th-century bishops Persian saints People executed by the Sasanian Empire Christians in the Sasanian Empire Groups of Christian martyrs