Baring-Gould’s sources: Confounded by the Greek Menologists with Jude Lebbseus or Thaddseus. Authority: — Eusebius i. cc. 12, 13, and the apocryphal letters of Abgarus, and the “Doctrine of Addaeus the Apostle ” in Syriac, edited by Cureton, “Ancient Syriac Documents.”] Eusebius says that there was one of the seventy disdples of the Lord called Thaddaeus.

“The divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ being famed abroad,.... Abgarus, who reigned over the nations beyond the Euphrates, and had been afflicted with an incurable disease, when he heard the name of Jesus frequently mentioned, and His miracles attested, sent a suppliant message to Him by a letter-carrier, entreating a deliverance from his disease. But though Christ did not yield to his call at the time, He nevertheless wrote him a letter, and sent him one of His disciples to heal him, at the same time promising salvation to him and all his relatives. And it was not long before the promise was fulfilled. After the Resurrection and His return to heaven, Thomas, one of the Twelve, sent Thaddaeus, who was one of the seventy disciples, to Edessa, as a herald and evangelist of the doctrines of Christ; and by his agency all the promises of our Saviour were fulfilled. Of this we have the evidence, in a written answer, taken from the public records of the city of Edessa, under the government of the king. For in the public registers there, which embrace the ancient history and the transactions of Abgarus, these circumstances respecting him are found still preserved down to the present day.”

Eusebius [Eusebius of Caesarea (d. c. 339), the first historian of the Church] proceeds to transcribe the two apocryphal letters forming the correspondence between the king of Edessa and Christ.

He goes on to relate, “To these letters was also subjoined in the Syriac language: After the ascension of Jesus, Judas, who is also called Thomas, sent him Thaddaeus the Apostle, one of the seventy; who, when he came, remained at the house of Tobias, the son of Tobias. When the report was circulated concerning his arrival, and he became known by the miracles he wrought, it was communicated to Abgarus that an apostle of Jesus had arrived, as He had promised. Thaddaeus, therefore, began in the power of God to head every kind of disease and infirmity; so that all were amazed. But when Abgarus heard the great deeds that were done,... he sent for Tobias and said, ‘ I have heard that a mighty man from Jerusalem is staying in thy house, and is performing many wonders. Bring him to me.’ Tobias then returning to Thaddaeus, said to him, ‘ Abgarus the king has bidden me conduct thee to him, that thou mayest heal his disorder/ And Thaddaeus replied, ‘ I will go, since I have been sent with authority to him/ Tobias, therefore, arose early next day, and taking Thaddaeus with him, came to Abgarus, who was surrounded by the nobles. And the king, seeing something extraordinary in the countenance of Thaddaeus, did him reverence.” A conversation ensues, after which Thaddaeus lays his hand on the king, and heals him; and also a certain Abdas, son of Abdas, afflicted with the gout After this the king believed, and would have given Thaddaeus money, but the apostle refused it, saying, “ If we have left our own goods, how shall we take the things that belong to others ? ”

Abgar Uchamo, or the Black, of whom this legend is told, was contemporary with Augustus and Tiberius. He was the fourteenth king of Edessa, and one of the Arsacidae. The name Abgar (Armenian Awghair), signifying Exalted or Mighty, was a title of the princes of Edessa; the last, Abgar Bar Muanu, a Christian, reigned a.d. 200-216. Ephraem S. ThadcUeus.

Syrus (d. 378) alludes to the story of the embassy, when he praises Edessa. Count Darius, writing to S. Augustine, alludes to the letters.1 The letter of Christ was dismissed as apocryphal by the Council of Rome in 494.

The story was very much amplified and improved by later writers, who make Abgarus healed by a miraculous portrait of Christ. The king of Edessa, says S. John Damascene, desiring to see and hear Christ, sent a message to Him, requesting Him to visit his little state. And should He not be able to come, or refuse, then the king required his messenger to obtain a portrait of the Messiah for the gratification of his curiosity. But He who knows all things, perceiving the desire of the ambassadors, took a piece of linen, and holding it to His face, imprinted on it, by that act, the true image of His sacred countenance.2 Another work of the same author tells the tale somewhat differently. Abgarus does not send messengers to Christ to invite him to Edessa, but a painter, who is to take his portrait The artist vainly attempts to execute his master's command, for the dazzling brightness of the Saviour's countenance confuses his senses. Then the Lord, compassionating him and his master, presses his mantle to his face, and lo! on it is fixed the true representation of the divine countenance. This He sends to the king, who is at once converted.3 Leo, lictor of the Church of Constantinople, asserted, before the second Council of Nicaea, that he had seen this eikon in the city of Edessa, where it was honoured and worshipped by the inhabitants, as an image not made by mortal hands. Evagrius relates a miracle wrought by it.4 Far richer details are obtained from a tract by the Emperor Constantine Porphyrogeneta (d. 959), in whose reign this sacred relic was translated to Byzantium, along with the letters of Abgarus and Christ (a.d. 944). The 1 Migne, Patrol, t xxxiii. col. 1022. 3 Johan. Damasc. “De Imagin.” lib. i. 1 Johan. Damasc. “ De Fide Orthodoxa,” lib. iv. c. 17. 4 H. E. lib. iv. c. 27. [Oct.* festival of its reception is celebrated in the Graeco-Sclavonic Calendar on the 16th of August. The emperor gives us the following account of the picture: — “ Abgarus, King of Edessa, lay grievously sick. His servant, Ananias, to relieve the tedium of sickness, entertained him with accounts of the miracles of our Lord, of which he had heard during a recent journey to Palestine. The king caught at the hopes thus afforded him of recovering from his disease, and he sent Ananias with a letter to Christ, enjoining on his messenger that he must either bring back with him the Saviour or His portrait. Ananias was a painter. He arrived in the presence of our Lord whilst He was engaged in preaching to a vast multitude in the open air. As he was unable to push his way through the compact throng, he ascended a rock, sat down, fixed his eyes on Jesus, and began his sketch. Our Lord, who knew in spirit what was being done, sent Thomas to bring Ananias to Him. Then He wrote the answer to Abgarus which has been preserved by Eusebius, and gave it to the servant. But, perceiving that the man was only half satisfied, and that he was troubled at not being able exactly to accomplish his master’s requirements, Christ washed His face in water, and, whilst drying it on a towel, left the impress of His features thereon. Then He handed the linen to Ananias and bade him give it to the king, whose curiosity it would satisfy, as well as cure him of his disease.”

But, according to another version given by Constantine, the story offers a close resemblance to that of Veronica. As Christ was on His way to Calvary, bearing His cross, the blood and sweat streaming from His brow obscured His eyes. Then taking from one of His disciples a piece of linen, He wiped His face, and left thereon His sacred portrait S. Thomas preserved the towel, with the features of the suffering Christ upon it, till after the Ascension, when he gave the S. Thaddaus.

miraculous picture (rr/v 6.\tipoypa.<pov ctcpopfacnv) to Thaddaeus, who bore it to Edessa. There he lodged with a Jew named Tobias. He began to work miracles in the name of Christ Abgarus, hearing of his works, sent for him. As Thaddaeus entered the chamber of the sick king, he elevated above his head the sacred eikon, and at the same time such a blaze of light shot from the face, that Abgarus could not endure the splendour, and, forgetful of his sickness, leaped out of bed. Then he took the linen, covered his head and limbs with it, and was forthwith made whole. Nicephorus Callistus (ob. 1341) relates the circumstances much as does the Emperor Constantine Porphyrogeneta. King Abgarus, desirous to see Christ, sends an accomplished artist to take His portrait. The painter stands on an eminence and begins his picture; then finds all his attempts in vain, for a divine light streams from the sacred countenance and dazzles him. The Lord, thereon, takes a piece of linen, with a pressure of His face fixes His true portrait upon it, and sends it to Abgarus.1 How it was that this venerable picture passed into the hands of the Emperor of Constantinople we learn from the Arabic historian El Matzin. He says that in the year 331 of the Hegira, that is A.D. 953 — he is consequently wrong as to the date — the Romans (i.e. Greeks) besieged the city of Edessa, then in the hands of the Saracens [medieval Christian name for Arab and Muslim peoples], and demanded the surrender of the holy picture and the accompanying letters of Abgarus and the Saviour in exchange for the captives they had made. The treasured relics [the bodily remains of a saint, or objects they used, kept with honor] were handed over to the Christians and were brought to Byzantium, where they were placed in a befitting shrine in the church of the Eternal Wisdom.2 What became of the picture when Constantinople fell into the hands of the Mussulmans we do 9 Elmacini, Hist. Sarac. Lugd. Bat. x6a 5, p. 267. not know. But it is certain that about this time, or at least shortly after it, either the picture itself or copies of it were to be found in Italy.

The Venetians claimed to have brought it to Rome, and to have presented it to the church of S. Sylvester, and many old copies of this exist with the inscription attached: — “Imago salvatoris nostri Jesu Christi ad imitationem ejus quam mi sit Abgaro, quae Romse habetur in monasterio Sancti Silvestri.”

Johannes Horatius Scoglius, the ecclesiastical historian (fl. 1640), asserts that this portrait in S. Sylvester’s is the original Abgarus picture, translated from Constantinople to Rome; but no trustworthy and contemporary historians are found to give authority to this claim. What the portrait is like it is difficult now to ascertain. “ I do not know why Rome should persist in being a city of mystery,” writes Canon de Montault; “ there are relics in it such as these, which art and piety may demand to be made acquainted with, but which, unfortunately, one may either not see, or only see indistinctly. They ought to be brought to the light of day, and not withheld from fear of scoffing incredulity and sceptical ignorance. If these relics be really genuine, truth will be elicited, like a spark at the stroke of science. With all my heart I desire a discussion of them, pious, consecutive, conscientious. Piety may believe without seeing, but Reason must see to believe.” 1 The Genoese, on the other hand, lay claim to the possession of the sacred portrait, and say that it was brought by Leonard de Montalto in 1384 to their city, and by him presented to the Armenian church of S. Bartholomew, where it is still preserved, and exhibited once a year.2 The Syriac work, “ The Doctrine of S. Thaddaeus,” gives for October, 2867.

full — but fabulous — particulars of his missionary work at Edessa. It relates that he died of old age at Edessa, and was buried there. The son of Abgarus, it says, persecuted the Church.