| Abadir and Iraja (Ter and Erai) | |
| Titles: | Saint |
| Death Date: | Roman era |
| Death Place: | Antinoe |
| Venerated In: | Coptic ChurchRoman Catholic Church |
| Major Shrine: | Asyut, Egypt |
| Feast Day: | September 25 (Gregorian Calendar), October 8 (Julian Calendar) |
Abadir and Iraja are saints in the Coptic Church and the Roman Catholic Church.
They are reported to have been children of the sister of Basilides, "the father of kings".[1] According to their legend, Abadir and Iraja fled from Antioch to Alexandria. They were arrested there and brought to Antinoe in Upper Egypt, where they were beheaded along with Cluthus, a physician and priest, and another 3,685 companions.[2] These included the following priests:
Abadir and Iraja had a church dedicated to them in Asyut in Egypt. Their feast day is on September 25 (Gregorian Calendar) and October 8 (Julian Calendar). The text of their Passion exists in both Sahidic and Bohairic Coptic and fragments can be found at the National Library, Vienna, Wiener Papyrussammlung, K2563 a-l, ed.Orlandi, 1974, the National Library, Paris, Copte 129.16.104 and the Vatican Library, Rome, Copti 63, fols. 1-65, ed. Hyvernat, 1886–1887.[3]
A summary of their lives, commemorated on Tout 28 (October 8), can be found in the Copto-Arabic Synaxarion.[4]
Hagiographer and church historian Frederick George Holweck considers the story "spurious".[5]