Abibon Explained

Honorific Prefix:	Saint
Abibon
Birth Date:	1st century AD
Feast Day:	2 December
Venerated In:	Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy

Abibon, also known as Abibas, was the son of Gamaliel, the teacher of Paul the Apostle. He and his father are regarded as saints of the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches. The finding of their relics is celebrated as a feast day on 3 August.^[1] Other days of commemoration are observed in their honour regionally; for example 2December is especially celebrated in Pisa.

Life

Not much is known about Abibon's life. He was the second son of Gamaliel, a leading member of the Sanhedrin in the early first century. He is said by some sources to have been baptized with his father and his brother Nicodemus.^[2] After being baptized alongside his father he died at the age of twenty of natural causes.^[3]

Relics

In 415, Abibon's body was found alongside those of Saint Stephen, Nicodemus, and his father in Capergamela, a town twenty miles from Jerusalem.^[4]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Saint of the Day – 3 August – The Finding of the Relics of St Stephen, Protomartyr. . Ana St Paul . en . 3 August 2022.
2. https://books.google.com/books?id=LP4UAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA78&lpg=PA78&dq=Aberoh+and+Atom&source=bl&ots=lgTbcZoV1B&sig=ACfU3U2UMgWETernnrPgSUPwmGVfVjLMeQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiH7M-ykpWDAxW-j4kEHRHlDws4MhDoAXoECAQQAw#v=snippet&q=Abda&f=false Holweck, F. G. A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints. St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co. 1924. p. 4
3. Paton James Gloag, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on The Acts of the Apostles, Volume 1, page 191, citing Photius, Cod. 171 (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1870).
4. Web site: Finding of the relics of Righteous Saint Νikόdēmos . Orthodox Church in America .