Elishe
Udi · mortal · Udi traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Elishe is venerated by Albanian-Udi tradition as the apostolic founder of Christianity in the Caucasus. According to Movses Dasxurantsi he was a disciple of the Apostle Thaddeus who, after Thaddeus' martyrdom, returned to Jerusalem, was ordained by James the brother of the Lord, and travelled through Persia into Albania. At Gis, identified with the village of Kish near Sheki, he raised the first church, called the mother of the churches of the East, and there his relics were later honoured. He stands at the head of the Udi Christian tradition as its first enlightener, long antedating the fourth-century mission from Armenia.
Domains
- evangelism
- apostolate
Powers
- raises the first church of the East at Gis
- brings the Gospel from Jerusalem into Albania
Sources
- Elishe, a disciple of the Apostle Thaddeus ordained at Jerusalem, evangelized Caucasian Albania and built its first church at Gis, remembered as the illuminator and first hierarch of the Albanian church.: Movses Dasxurantsi, The History of the Caucasian Albanians, Book I.6, trans. C.J.F. Dowsett (Oxford University Press, 1961) (primary); The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity database, record E00130 (University of Oxford) (secondary)