Sabbas the Persian

Holy Martyr Sabbas the Persian was one of the martyrs of Persia, with the holy brothers Jonas and Barachisius, in the time of King Shapur (310-331), a fierce persecutor of Christians.

Being Christians, the brothers Jonas and Barachisius lived in the village of Yasa in Persia. Learning that in the city of Vara-⁠Voh Christians were being tormented, they went there, found in prison the martyrs Zanithas, Lazarus, Maruthas, Narses, Elias, Mares, Abibus, Sembeth and Sabbas, and urged them to hold fast to the Christian faith to the end. The brothers were seized and brought to the judgment of the Persian princes Masdraf, Siroph and Marmisius, who forced them to bow to the sun, fire and water. The holy martyrs firmly confessed their faith in Christ and refused, for which they were subjected to cruel torments.

Jonas suffered first: they tied him to a tree and beat him long, then dragged him over the ice of a frozen lake, cut off the fingers of his hands and feet and his tongue, flayed the skin of his head and at last sawed him in two and threw his body into a ditch. On Barachisius they put fetters heated red-⁠hot on his hands, poured molten tin into his nose, ears and mouth, and tormented him bound to a turning wheel; he gave his soul to God after boiling pitch was poured into his mouth. The bodies of the martyrs Jonas and Barachisius and of the others were buried by a pious Christian named Abdisot.

The name of Sabbas is not found in the present calendar of the Russian Orthodox Church. He is commemorated on 10 April, in the new style.