Mar Marutha, the Bishop of Maypherqat (Miyafarkin), a Christian centre in the Eastern Roman Empire bordering the Persian Empire, was already renowned as an accomplished physician even before assuming this ecclesiastical office, which he held from AD 399 to 410. His participation in the First Council of Constantinople in AD 381 and the subsequent Council of Antioch was noteworthy.

Emperor Theodosius II of the Roman Empire sent Mar Marutha as an envoy to the Persian Empire. His gentleness, holiness, and profound knowledge of medicine earned him the great esteem of the Persian emperor Yazdegerd I. Mar Marutha thus became a link of peace between the Eastern Roman and Persian Empires. His close relationship with the Persian emperor was particularly significant for the Christian communities that were undergoing severe persecution in Persia. Yazdegerd’s attitude towards Christians became more favourable, and relations between the two empires grew stronger.

In AD 410, with the permission of the Persian emperor, Mar Marutha and Isaac, the then Bishop of Seleucia, convened the Synod of Seleucia-Ctesiphon. It was at this synod that the Persian Church officially accepted the decisions of the Council of Nicaea. Mar Marutha brought to Maypherqat, the centre of his eparchy, the relics of martyrs who had been put to death during periods of religious persecution under the Persian emperors. Consequently, Maypherqat also became known by the Greek name Martyropolis, meaning “City of Martyrs.”

Mar Marutha compiled an account of the martyrs, describing the severe persecutions endured by Christians in the Persian Empire. He is also believed to have been among those who translated the canons of the Council of Nicaea into Syriac. He died in AD 420 and is venerated as a saint in various Catholic and non-Catholic Christian traditions.

Rev. Dr. Alex Sebastian Kollamkalam