Maruthas of Martyropolis

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Saint Maruthas
Saint Maruthas, Bishop of Martyropolis in Mesopotamia (Menologion of Basil II).jpeg
Maruthas portrayed in the Menologion of Basil II
Father of the Syrian Church [1]
Born4th century
Diedca. 420
Venerated in Roman Catholicism
Eastern Catholicism
Eastern Orthodoxy
Oriental Orthodoxy
Feast 4 December (Roman Catholic Church) [1]

Saint Maruthas or Marutha of Martyropolis was a Syrian monk who became bishop [2] of Maypherkat in Mesopotamia (Meiafarakin) [3] for a period beginning before 399 up to around 410. He's believed to have died before 420. He is venerated as a Saint in the Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches, his feast being kept on 4 December.

He brought into his episcopal city the relics of so many martyrs that it received the surname Martyropolis.

He was a friend of Saint John Chrysostom.

He acted as an ambassador between the East Roman Emperor and the Persian Emperor. [2]

In the interests of the Church of Persia, which had suffered much in the persecution of Shapur II, he came to Constantinople, but found Emperor Arcadius too busily engaged in the affairs about the exile of St. John Chrysostom. Later Maruthas was sent by Emperor Theodosius II to the court of Persia, where, notwithstanding the Magi, he won the esteem of King Yazdegerd I of Persia by his affability, saintly life, [4] and, as is claimed, by his knowledge of medicine. [3] Marutha therefore managed to negotiate a peace between the two empires.

He was present at the general First Council of Constantinople in 381 and at a Council of Antioch in 383 (or 390), at which the Messalians were condemned. For the benefit of the Persian Church he is said to have held two synods at Ctesiphon. A great organizer, he was one of the first to give a regular structure to the church, helped in his mission by the catholicos Isaac.

His writings include:

He also wrote hymns on the Holy Eucharist, on the Cross, and on saints killed in Shapur's persecution.

Notes

  1. 1 2 "St. Maruthas". catholic.org. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
  2. 1 2 "The Armenian Life of Marutha of Maipherkat", Ralph Marcus, The Harvard Theological Review, Vol. 25, No. 1 (Jan., 1932), 47.
  3. 1 2 "The Armenian Life of Marutha of Maipherkat", Ralph Marcus, The Harvard Theological Review, 50.
  4. "The Armenian Life of Marutha of Maipherkat", Ralph Marcus, The Harvard Theological Review, 49.
  5. "The Armenian Life of Marutha of Maipherkat", Ralph Marcus, The Harvard Theological Review, 47-48.

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References

Wikisource-logo.svg This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "St. Maruthas". Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Company.