Venerable Abraham the Recluse and His Niece, Blessed Mary (†c. 360) — October 29 / November 11 (Julian Calendar)

On this day, October 29 according to the Julian Calendar (November 11 civil calendar), the Georgian Orthodox Church commemorates Venerable Abraham the Recluse and his niece, Blessed Mary.

Venerable Abraham the Recluse, a Syrian ascetic, lived in the fourth century. Though born into a wealthy family, he shut himself away in a lonely hut and spent his days in strict fasting and prayer. When his parents died, the chosen one of the Lord distributed his entire inheritance to the poor.

Some time later, at the request of the bishop of Edessa and the clergy, he accepted ordination to the priesthood and began to labour in a pagan village. For three years the holy father toiled tirelessly to enlighten the idol-worshippers, patiently enduring all their abuse and beatings. Once the godless beat the ascetic nearly to death and left him abandoned in a nearby forest, but by God’s mercy he survived. The all-good Lord looked with mercy upon His faithful servant, and his labour was crowned with success: the pagans believed in Christ and were baptized by the hand of blessed Abraham. After this the venerable father returned to his former place of struggle.

Boundless was the saint’s self-denial: all his possessions consisted of the tunic and sackcloth he wore, a bowl from which he took his food, and a rush mat on which he slept. The saint rose ever higher on the steps of spiritual perfection. The evil one, put to shame by his courage, tried to overwhelm the soul of this God-pleaser with the passion of pride. Once at midnight, as Venerable Abraham was praying in his cell, the place suddenly blazed with light and a voice was heard: “Blessed are you, blessed are you, as no other among men!” The saint perceived the enemy’s deceit and said: “I am a sinful man, but I hope in the help and grace of my Lord, and I do not fear you.”

Many people came to the saint for spiritual counsel. For his unceasing labours the Lord granted him the gifts of healing and of casting out evil spirits. Fifteen years before his repose, the now-elderly Abraham left his seclusion a second time, and only briefly, in order to save his niece Mary, who had strayed from the straight path. After more than half a century of ascetic struggle, having reached the age of seventy, the chosen one of the Lord reposed in peace around the year 360. A great multitude gathered for his burial. “Each one eagerly drew near to his holy body and took fringes from his garment, and as many of the sick as were touched with those fringes were healed.”

The account of the life of Saint Abraham the Recluse was preserved for us by his contemporary and spiritual friend, Venerable Ephraim the Syrian (commemorated January 28).

Venerable Mary, the niece of Abraham the Recluse, was seven years old when her parents died, and she was entrusted to her uncle to be raised. The holy father “ordered that she live in the outer house.” Through the small window of his cell, Venerable Abraham taught Mary “the Psalms and the other books.” The pure maiden fasted, kept vigil and chanted together with her uncle, “and strove to fulfil every virtue.” Abraham distributed his niece’s entire inheritance to orphans and the poor, and with tears he besought the Lord “that her mind might not be bound by any earthly affair or care.”

“But the devil raged against her.” A certain young man, inflamed with passion for the blessed one, succeeded in seducing the holy maiden: Mary opened the window, left her room “and was defiled with him in the snare of lawlessness.” Coming to her senses after the sin, the young woman was seized by despair. She did not dare to return home, but went away to another city and gave herself over to a dissolute life. When Abraham learned that his niece was lost, he wept bitterly and earnestly prayed to the Lord to protect her “from the mouth of the dragon.”

Two years later the holy father learned where Mary was. He left his hut, put on the clothes of a layman and set out for the city. Entering the house of ill repute, the saint asked for Mary, “the beautiful woman”: “Call her, so that I may rejoice with her today, for I have come to love her because of the great report about her.” As he spoke these words “his face was filled with tears,” but he restrained himself, “so that she would not recognize him and flee.” Then the blessed father, “who in the fifty years of his monastic life had not tasted bread nor any wine at all, ate meat and drank wine, in order to save a perishing soul.”

After the meal, when Mary had locked the door of the room, Venerable Abraham, seated upon the bed, called her to him and took firm hold of her hand so that she could not flee. Then he removed his cap, revealed himself to his spiritual daughter and said with lamentation: “My child Mary, do you not know me? I am Abraham, your father’s brother! My child, my very heart, do you not recognize me? It is I who raised you! What is this you have done, my child, and who has slain you? Where is that angelic image which you once wore? Why did you not tell me when you sinned, my child, so that I might have entreated God for you together with our beloved Ephraim? Why have you done this? Why have you abandoned me so and cast me into such great sorrow, my child?” Then he reminded the fallen one of the torments of hell prepared for unrepentant sinners, and of God’s boundless mercy toward the penitent. When Mary heard this, “she became like a lifeless stone in his hands from fear and shame.”

Abraham continued: “You give me no answer, my child Mary, and say nothing to me, my heart. Let this sin of yours be upon me, my child; I will give answer for it to God on the Day of Judgement; I will do penance for this sin of yours, my child.” Until midnight he wept, entreating and admonishing her. At last Mary said: “If you know that I am able to repent, and that God will accept my repentance and forgive me my transgressions, behold, I come, and I fall down and bow before your holiness and kiss your feet, for you have shown me such mercy and come here to lead me out of this snare of impurity.” She laid her head at the saint’s feet and, filled with repentance and boundless gratitude to God, wept the whole night through.

When day broke, uncle and niece returned to the place of seclusion. Abraham brought holy Mary into the inner cell where he himself had formerly laboured, while he settled in the outer cell. “From then on that blessed woman repented in sackcloth and ashes, with sighing and bitter tears; with early rising and great vigils, with fasting and tears, with humility and meekness she struggled zealously, repented swiftly and gave thanks unceasingly.” For her fervent struggle the Lord granted His chosen one the forgiveness of her sins and the gift of healing.

After the repose of blessed Abraham, Venerable Mary lived five more years and “struggled exceedingly, praying to God with tears day and night.” When the Lord received the soul of the holy mother as well, “her face shone like the sun.”