The revelation of the Seraphic Gregory found in two Indian manuscripts

The Revelation of the Seraphic Gregory - a text of Melkite origin, which could be dated to the late seventh, early eighth century - was originally written in Syriac and translated into Arabic; its Syriac original was then lost. Finally, the Arabic was in turn translated into Syriac in 1689, in India, by Mor Iyovannis Hidayat Allah, the Antiochian Syrian Orthodox missionary bishop who, de facto, introduced the Syrian Orthodox faith to India. This text, constructed on the model of the Apocalypse of Paul, describes a visionary journey through the three heavens and the diverse pockets of hell, the judgment of the souls, the heavenly liturgy, the abodes of the saints and the torments of Gehenna. It is a valuable document on the worship and the imaginaire of a Melkite community living around Edessa under Arab rule. In addition, it sheds some new light on iconic and aniconic worship in the Chalcedonian Church before the iconoclast strife.