Rabban Hormizd (Saint)
Encyclopedia
Saint Rabban Hormizd, or Rabban Hormizd the Persian, (rabban is the Syriac
for monk) was a monk of the Nestorian tradition who lived in the seventh century Iraq
. He founded the Rabban Hormizd Monastery
, named after him, which has been the main monastery of the Church of the East
and later of the Chaldean Catholic Church
.
In the Chaldean Church, Rabban Hormizd is commemorated on the second Sunday after Easter
.
(Persia) from a rich Christian family, and at the age of eighteen he started to travel towards Scetes to became a monk
there. On the way he met three monks of the monastery of Bar Idta who urged him to became an inmate of their monastery, and he did so. He lived a hard, stern life and performed many miracles, as to have raised a dead youth to life, and to have turned water into oil. Hormizd lived in and near the Monastery of Bar Idta for thirty-nine years and in the monastery of Abba Abraham of Risha for six or seven years.
When Hormizd was sixty-five or sixty-six, he left the monastery and passing out of the
country of Marga went and settled down in the mountain of Beth 'Edhrai near Alqosh. When he had been there some little time the people in the neighbourhood offered to build him a monastery, the present Rabban Hormizd Monastery
. The following part of the life of Rabban Hormizd is marked by episodes in which the saint opposed the monks of the Mar Mattai Monastery (which belonged to the rival Syrian Orthodox Church), charged of immoral life and of idolatry.
Syriac language
Syriac is a dialect of Middle Aramaic that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent. Having first appeared as a script in the 1st century AD after being spoken as an unwritten language for five centuries, Classical Syriac became a major literary language throughout the Middle East from...
for monk) was a monk of the Nestorian tradition who lived in the seventh century Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. He founded the Rabban Hormizd Monastery
Rabban Hormizd Monastery
Rabban Hormizd Monastery is an important monastery of the Chaldean Church. It is carved out in the mountains about 2 miles from Alqosh, Iraq, 28 miles north of Mosul...
, named after him, which has been the main monastery of the Church of the East
Church of the East
The Church of the East tāʾ d-Maḏnḥāʾ), also known as the Nestorian Church, is a Christian church, part of the Syriac tradition of Eastern Christianity. Originally the church of the Persian Sassanid Empire, it quickly spread widely through Asia...
and later of the Chaldean Catholic Church
Chaldean Catholic Church
The Chaldean Catholic Church , is an Eastern Syriac particular church of the Catholic Church, maintaining full communion with the Bishop of Rome and the rest of the Catholic Church...
.
In the Chaldean Church, Rabban Hormizd is commemorated on the second Sunday after Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
.
Life
According to The histories of Rabban Hormizd the Persian and Rabban Bar-Idta, a text written by his disciple Simon before the 12th century, Hormizd was born at the end of the sixth or beginning the seventh century at Beth LapatGundeshapur
Gundeshapur Gundeshapur Gundeshapur (Persian گندیشاپور, Gund-ī Shāh Pūr, Gondeshapur, Jondishapoor, Jondishapur, and Jondishapour, Gundishapur, Gondêšâpur, Jund-e Shapur, Jundê-Shâpûr, etc...
(Persia) from a rich Christian family, and at the age of eighteen he started to travel towards Scetes to became a monk
Monk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
there. On the way he met three monks of the monastery of Bar Idta who urged him to became an inmate of their monastery, and he did so. He lived a hard, stern life and performed many miracles, as to have raised a dead youth to life, and to have turned water into oil. Hormizd lived in and near the Monastery of Bar Idta for thirty-nine years and in the monastery of Abba Abraham of Risha for six or seven years.
When Hormizd was sixty-five or sixty-six, he left the monastery and passing out of the
country of Marga went and settled down in the mountain of Beth 'Edhrai near Alqosh. When he had been there some little time the people in the neighbourhood offered to build him a monastery, the present Rabban Hormizd Monastery
Rabban Hormizd Monastery
Rabban Hormizd Monastery is an important monastery of the Chaldean Church. It is carved out in the mountains about 2 miles from Alqosh, Iraq, 28 miles north of Mosul...
. The following part of the life of Rabban Hormizd is marked by episodes in which the saint opposed the monks of the Mar Mattai Monastery (which belonged to the rival Syrian Orthodox Church), charged of immoral life and of idolatry.