{{Infobox saint |name=Saint Aggai |birth_date=''First Century'' |death_date=First Century |feast_day= |venerated_in=Chaldean Catholic Church<br>Assyrian Church of the East<br>Syro-Malabar Church<br>Ancient Church of the East |image= |imagesize=200px |caption= |birth_place= |death_place=Edessa, Osroene, Roman Empire |titles= Apostle of Mesopatamia |attributes= |patronage= |major_shrine= }} '''Aggai''' was a 1st-century primate of the Church of the East, and a disciple of Mar Addai, who is believed to have sat from 66 to 81. It was said that Aggai was one of the seventy apostles, and was assigned the East as far as the border of India as his mission field. Mar Addai, the traditional apostle of Mesopotamia, appointed him his successor shortly before his death. Like Addai before him, Aggai preached in various regions of the East.

==Sources== Brief accounts of the life of Aggai are given in the ''Ecclesiastical Chronicle'' of the Jacobite writer Bar Hebraeus (''floruit'' 1280) and in the ecclesiastical histories of the Nestorian writers Mari ibn Suleiman (twelfth-century), ʿAmr (14th-century) and Sliba (14th-century). These accounts differ slightly, and these minor differences are of significance for scholars interested in tracing the various stages in the development of the legend.

==Life of Aggai== The following account of the life of Aggai is given by Bar Hebraeus:

<blockquote> After Addai the preacher of the gospel, his disciple Aggai. This man used to weave Chinese cloth for Abgar, and after the death of his master Addai fled into the East. He began to preach throughout Persia, Assyria, Armenia, Media, Babylonia and in the region of Khuzistan and among the Geles, right up to the borders of India. Then he returned to Edessa, as he was afraid that the faith there might decline, because of the native superstition of Abgar's son, who had succeeded him as king. When he reached Edessa, Abgar's son ordered him to weave Chinese cloth for him as he used to do for his father. Aggai replied to him, 'When my master was feeding the flock of Christ, I used to work for your father. But now the work of feeding has descended to me, and I cannot follow another trade.' The native ruler was angry at his words, and killed him by breaking his leg bones.<ref>Bar Hebraeus, ''Ecclesiastical Chronicle'' (ed. Abeloos and Lamy), ii. 16</ref> </blockquote>

According to ''The Teaching of Addai'', Aggai was ordained by Addai to be a bishop of Edessa.<ref>[http://syriaca.org/person/1121 Jeanne-Nicole Mellon Saint-Laurent et al., “Aggai, bishop of Edessa” August 17, 2016]</ref> Aggai is said to have been murdered in church by one of the sons of King Abgar V of Edessa. Shortly before his death, Aggai is reported to have appointed Palut as his successor.

==See also== * List of Patriarchs of the Church of the East

==Notes== {{reflist|2}}

==References== * Abbeloos, J. B., and Lamy, T. J., ''Bar Hebraeus, Chronicon Ecclesiasticum'' (3 vols, Paris, 1877) * Assemani, J. A., ''De Catholicis seu Patriarchis Chaldaeorum et Nestorianorum'' (Rome, 1775) * Baumer, Christoph (2006). ''The Church of the East''. London: I. B. Tauris & Co. Ltd. {{ISBN|1-84511-115-X}}. * Brooks, E. W., ''Eliae Metropolitae Nisibeni Opus Chronologicum'' (Rome, 1910) * Gismondi, H., ''Maris, Amri, et Salibae: De Patriarchis Nestorianorum Commentaria I: Amri et Salibae Textus'' (Rome, 1896) * Gismondi, H., ''Maris, Amri, et Salibae: De Patriarchis Nestorianorum Commentaria II: Maris textus arabicus et versio Latina'' (Rome, 1899)

==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20081203095233/http://www.thomasinechurch.org/content/patriarchs.htm Thomasine Church Patriarchs]

{{s-start}} {{s-rel|Church of the East titles}} {{succession box |before= Mar Addai |title=Patriarch of the East<br/>Bishop of Edessa |years=(c. 66&ndash;c. 81) |after=Mari <br>(c. 81&ndash;c. 120) }} {{s-end}}

{{Patriarchs of the Church of the East}} {{Catholic saints - missionaries|state=collapsed}} {{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aggai 1}} Category:Mesopotamian saints

Category:Year of birth unknown Category:Year of death unknown Category:Ancient apocalypticists Category:Bishops of Edessa Category:Legendary primates of the Church of the East Category:1st-century bishops Category:Assyrian Church of the East saints