The Disciples of Mar Okeen

Saint Mar Okeen had many disciples, numbering seventy, the number of the disciples of the Lord Christ, to Him be glory (Luke 10). We have not been able to learn all their names, but we remember some of them, such as Mar Ologh al-Sab’i, Mar Thomas, Mar Zacharias, Mar Elisha, Mar Serapion, Mar Isaiah and Mar Habib.

Lives of Some of the Disciples

• Mar Ishaya of Aleppo, son of the governor of Aleppo, who left his bride Hanna for the ascetic life.
• Mar Mikha of Nuhadra, founder of the monastery and school of Alqosh.
• Mar Malki of Clysma, the son of Saint Mar Okeen’s sister.
• Mar Yadt of Alexandria, a monk of the Monastery of Anba Pakhom who joined the saint’s company.
• Mar Ologh the Copt, companion of the lion, the hermit whom a lion led to Saint Mar Okeen.
• Mar Jacob, Bishop of Nisibis, the saint’s friend, whose election as bishop the saint foretold.
• Mar Habib the Bishop.
• Mar Michael, writer of the Life of Mar Okeen preserved in Manuscript 297 at the El-Sourian Monastery.

May the blessing of their prayers be with us. Amen.

Sources

• The Life of Saint Mar Okeen, by His Grace Anba Matthaeus, Bishop and Abbot of the Monastery of the Virgin Mary (El-Sourian)