Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Abercius, Bishop and Wonderworker of Hieropolis

Abercius was bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia in the 2nd century, under Marcus Aurelius. His Life tells that he smashed the idols of a pagan temple, travelled to Rome to cure the emperor's daughter Lucilla, and preached in Syria and Mesopotamia, for which he is called Equal-to-the-Apostles.

His epitaph, which he is said to have composed himself at seventy-two, survives: fragments were found in 1883 by the archaeologist William Ramsay and are now in the Vatican Museums. In veiled words it speaks of a journey to Rome and across the Euphrates to Nisibis, of a “holy shepherd” and of a “Fish” given as food with wine and bread — one of the oldest Christian inscriptions known.