Rhemalogy

There is very little information about Abraham of Bulgaria except what is written in the Laurentian Codex. Which is a collection of chronicles that includes the oldest extant version of the Primary Chronicle and its continuations, mostly relating to the events in Northern Russia (Vladimir-Suzdal).

According to the chronicles Abraham of Bulgaria was born in Volga Bulgaria, amongst the Muslim Volga Bulgars in what is now Tatarstan, Russia. There is no mention of his childhood. He grew to become an Islamic merchant, and was good and kindly towards the destitute.^[3]

The life of Abraham was very different from the lives of many of his countrymen and tribesmen. He was an unusually compassionate person, merciful to the needy, spending his wealth on the needs of the suffering. Visiting Russian cities, communicating with Russian merchants, he became deeply interested in the Christian faith. According to God’s care, grace touched his heart, and, having learned the truth of the holy faith of Christ, he received Holy Baptism. 

So this Islamic merchant becomes a Christian and receives a new name, with which he is written on the pages of the book of life – Abraham. And just as before the adoption of Christianity Abraham sympathized with the calamities and hardships of his neighbors, so after accepting the saving faith of Christ, he began to be ill in spirit and grieve for the spiritual calamities of his fellow earthmen, for their ignorance of the true God of heaven and earth, revealed to us through His Only Begotten Son in the Holy Spirit, and about the disorder and disorder of morals resulting from this ignorance (John 17:3; Rom. 25:31).

Muslims insistently persuaded him to renounce Christ. But Abraham was unshakable in his faith. Having learned that he was not Russian and was not under the protection of the Vladimir-Suzdal prince, Abraham was arrested and exhorted for a long time. Seeing the unchangeable and unwavering faith of Abraham of Bulgaria, they tortured him and hung him upside down. As it is said in the annalistic mention, the holy martyr “cursed Mahomet and the Bulgarian faith “. On April 1, 1229, he was truncated with a sword ( quartered ) near the banks of the Volga.

The body of Abraham of Bulgar was buried by Russian merchants at the Christian cemetery in Bulgar. According to the chronicle testimony, soon after the city of Bulgar (Bolgar) was burnt as a punishment “for the blood of the martyr of Christ”. On the spot of the execution of Abraham of Bulgaria, a healing spring appeared. A local legend says that the first person to be healed by this source was a Muslim man.

His relics are venerated at Vladimir on the Klyazma. The Laurentian Chronicle contains the registry about this event that took place on 9 March 1230. His feast day is celebrated on March 9, the translation of relics, and is also commemorated on April 1.

References

• Святой источник (Saint spring) Archived 2018-01-09 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 28 Feb 2018
• Авраамий Болгарский
• Accessed Wikipedia.org 31 March 2020.

*Picture of Abraham of Bulgar by Artist: Vasnetsov, Viktor Mikhaylovich (1848-1926)

ALSO ON THIS DAY

1375 – Catherine of Siena, an Italian mystic and peacemaker, claims to have received the stigmata (body marks corresponding to Christ’s wounds on the cross), visible only to herself. She is known for persuading Pope Gregory XI to return to Rome and for The Dialogue of Divine Providence, written (according to friends) while conversing with God in ecstatic states. In 1970, Pope Paul VI declared her a doctor of the church.

1572 – William, Prince of Orange and leader of the Dutch resistance launched an offensive against Spanish forces in north Holland, using an army of fishermen known as the Sea Beggars. They took the city of Brielle, and William captured the northern provinces one by one until the whole of Holland was freed from Spanish power.

1787 – Richard Allen, an ex-slave, and African-American preacher organized the Free African Society, a self-help and mutual aid organization.

1860 – Jonathan Goble, a Baptist missionary, arrived with his wife at Kanagawa, Japan. Eleven years later, Mrs. Goble became ill and Jonathan determined to provide her with “gentle, outdoor exercise.” Rather than have her carried by four men, he designed a two-wheeled cart with long shafts to pull her in. His plans were stolen and soon rickshaws were in use throughout the entire Far East, providing work for thousands of men.

1956 – William Reed Newell, author of the gospel hymn “At Calvary” died and was buried in Deland, Florida.

Accessed ChristianHistoryInstitute.org and Rhemalogy.com 31 March 2020.