Righteous Ones

Note: This article or section represents an Oriental Orthodox (Non-Chalcedonian) perspective, which may differ from an Eastern Orthodox (Chalcedonian) understanding.

Little is known about the Righteous Ones ('Sadqan' in Ge'ez), who are venerated by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church as early evangelizers of Ethiopia and contemporaries of the Nine Saints. Neither their names nor their total number is recorded, but it is said that they were strict ascetics 'as numerous as a royal army' and that they came to Ethiopia to preach the Gospel and escape the worldliness of the Roman Empire.

After arriving in Axum the Righteous Ones are said to have divided into smaller groups and setting out in different directions to evangelize the outlying areas of the Ethiopian Empire. They are said to have preached from the northern reaches of modern Eritrea to the central regions of modern Ethiopia.

Ethiopian Orthodox believe that some or all of the Righteous Ones were martyred for the Faith by the Beja and other pagans.

External link

• The Sadqan (Dictionary of African Christian Biography)