Abdecalas, also known as Abdelas, was a

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

and

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, 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 external party. In ...

, who together with another priest called Ananias, and about a hundred other Christians, was killed under the Persian ruler

Shapur II Shapur II ( , 309–379), also known as Shapur the Great, was the tenth King of Kings (List of monarchs of the Sasanian Empire, Shahanshah) of Sasanian Iran. He took the title at birth and held it until his death at age 70, making him the List ...

Good Friday Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary (Golgotha). It is observed during ...

, 345. One of these others was also named Abdecalas.

Simeon Simeon () is a given name, from the Hebrew (Biblical Hebrew, Biblical ''Šimʿon'', Tiberian vocalization, Tiberian ''Šimʿôn''), usually transliterated in English as Shimon. In Greek, it is written Συμεών, hence the Latinized spelling Sy ...

, bishop of Seleucia, had been arrested by order of Sapor, king of Persia. He refused to adore the sun and was thrown in a narrow prison and remained there for a long time together with other 100 Christians, such as bishops, priests and clerks. The following day, which was a Good Friday, all his companions were strangled in his presence and he was beheaded. Abdecalas and Ananias, his priests, were martyred with him. They were the persons of distinguished merits. The historian

Sozomen Salamanes Hermias Sozomenos (; ; c. 400 – c. 450 AD), also known as Sozomen, was a Roman lawyer and historian of the Christian Church. Family and home Sozoman was born around 400 in Bethelia, a small town near Gaza, into a wealthy Christia ...

estimates the number of Christians

martyred A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' 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 external party. In colloquial ...

during the forty-year reign of Shapur as close to 16,000. The feast day for Saint Abdecalas is 21 April.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abdecalas Year of birth unknown 345 deaths Persian saints Assyrian Church of the East saints 4th-century Christian martyrs People executed by the Sasanian Empire Christians in the Sasanian Empire