Martyr Abraham Of Bulgaria

Martyr Abraham was a wealthy merchant from Volga Bulgaria (capital: the city of Bulgar, near modern Kazan), a Muslim by birth. Through contact with Russian Orthodox merchants he converted to Christianity, continuing his trade and becoming known for charity to the poor.

During a trading trip to the city of Bulgar he openly confessed and began preaching the Christian faith among his own countrymen. For refusing to renounce his new faith he was tortured (according to tradition, his hands and feet were cut off) and executed — quartered and beheaded — on April 1, 1229.

According to tradition, miraculous healings began at his grave; the subsequent fire that burned the city of Bulgar is linked in tradition to his execution as a sign of divine judgment. There is a tradition of a healing spring at the site of his execution, whose miracle, according to the account, was shown even to a Muslim — tradition especially emphasizes this as testimony to the saint's intercession extending beyond a single faith.

Russian merchants (according to tradition, from Murom) reported the miracles at his grave to Grand Prince George (Yuri) Vsevolodovich of Vladimir; the martyr's relics were translated to Vladimir and placed in the Dormition church of the Knyaginin (Nativity of the Theotokos) Convent on March 6, 1230. Later, on May 11, 1711, a second translation of the relics took place within the cathedral, commemorated on the movable Sunday of the Paralytic (4th Sunday after Pascha). He is included in the Synaxis of Vladimir Saints.

His feast is kept on April 1/14 (martyrdom) and March 6/22 (translation of relics, 1230).

IMPORTANT CORRECTION: the impossible dating "c. 2000 BC" — a gross error mistakenly identifying the 13th-century martyr with the Old Testament patriarch Abraham — has been removed; the correct date of death, April 1, 1229, has been established. The former date "October 9/22" found no confirmation in any source and has been replaced with the correct dates.