Abgar V

Who they were

Abgar was ruler of Edessa. Eusebius records a tradition he firmly believed, that Abgar, suffering from an incurable illness, wrote to Jesus asking him to come and heal him; Jesus declined but promised to send a messenger, Thaddeus (Addai), with his power.

The story, told in Eusebius and in the Syriac 'Teaching of Addai', was very popular in East and West in the Middle Ages. The Catholic Encyclopedia treats the correspondence as a legend.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause; what is known of him comes from legend.

Why that counted as sanctity

Remembered in tradition as the king who sought Christ's healing and received the faith.