St. Abhay the martyr (4 c)
Ab-hay lived in the mid-fourth century under the Persian Empire. While his father who was a local ruler of royal stock, was taking part in one of the sieges of Nisibis, Abhay went off hunting, and in the region of Qelleth (45 km from Mardin in Tur`abdin, Turkey), he encountered Aday, the abbot of a monastery under whose influence he became a Christian. His father, in fury, marched against the monastery, killed his own son, together with the local bishop Krapos and a large number of Christians. His father then fell ill, but dreamed that he could be healed by soil from the place where he had shed his son's blood. He duly went to Qelleth, and in gratitude for his healing he built a monastery, naming it after his son. (The ruins of this monastery can still be visited just outside the village of Qellet.) The memory of Abhay is commemorated on 1st October.