Mor Gabriel
| Saint Gabriel of Beth Qustan | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Bishop of Tur Abdin | |
| Born | 573/574 Beth Qustan |
| Died | 23 December 648 |
| Venerated in | Oriental Orthodox Church |
| Major shrine | Monastery of Mor Gabriel, Turkey |
| Feast | 23 December |
Saint Gabriel of Beth Qustan (Aramaic: ܡܪܝ ܓܒܪܐܝܠ: Mor Gabriel), also known as Saint Gabriel of Qartmin, was the Bishop of Tur Abdin until his death in 648. He is venerated as a saint in the Oriental Orthodox Church and his feast day is 23 December.
Gabriel was born in the village of Beth Qustan in 573/574, and became a monk at the Monastery of Qartmin in 588/589. In 593/594, he was ordained a deacon, and, in 612/613, Gabriel was elected head of the brothers at the monastery. He was ordained a priest in 618/619, and became Abbot of the Monastery of Qartmin and Archbishop of Dara on 1 May 634. Gabriel succeeded Daniel Uzoyo as abbot and bishop.
Following the Muslim Conquest of Mesopotamia in 639, Gabriel likely negotiated the rights and obligations of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Tur Abdin with the Muslim conquerors. He may also have met with the Caliph Umar. Several miracles are attributed to Gabriel during his time as bishop, including the resurrection of a boy believed dead in the tiny village of Sighun, and the resurrection of two others at the village of Olin and at the Monastery of the Cross near Hah.
After 644, Gabriel became the Bishop of Tur Abdin with authority equal to an archbishop, and he later died on 23 December 648. Gabriel's funeral was attended by the bishops Iwannis of Amida, Ignatius of Mayperqat, Gregory of Arzon, Basil of Jazira, Polycarp of Beth Araboye, Dioscorus of Singara and Haburo, Epiphanius of Nisibis, Sisinnius of Dara, John of Kfartutho, and Jacob of Sawro.
A plague in 774 led the monks of the Monastery of Qartmin to exhume Gabriel's remains to help ward off the plague. Gabriel's right had was removed and taken to Hah, and his body was reburied in a bronze coffin. Gabriel later became the patron saint of the Monastery of Qartmin, and, by the end of the fifteenth century, the monastery became known as the Monastery of Mor Gabriel.
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