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THE FIFTH MONTH IN THE NAME
OF THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT, On this day died the holy father Abba Abraham. The father of this saint was a merciful man, and he loved the poor. And in his days there was a great famine in the land of Egypt, and he gave all his money to the poor; now he was a very rich man. And because of his integrity and his trustworthiness, all the crops of all the fields of every village which were round about his city, and all the crops of his own fields were entrusted to his care, and they were all in his hands. When the famine came he gave all the grain which he had by him to the poor and needy. And God placed compassion in the hearts of the rulers and noblemen, who sent to him and demanded from him the grain which they had deposited with him. And he went to them, and they said nothing whatsoever to him about the grain, and they wrote him a paper to the effect that he had brought to each of them their grain. Now his mother was a God-fearing woman, and Satan was jealous of her, and he brought great tribulation upon her. And he entered into the heart of a certain evil man, and he gave information against her to the men of Persia, and they made her captive and carried her off to Persia. And one night she saw a vision wherein the man who had laid information against her was bound with a chain of fire in Sheol, and one said unto her, “Dost thou see what God hath done, and how I have taken vengeance on the man who laid information against thee?” And she said unto him who was showing her this, “My lord, I do not wish suffering and tribulation to come upon him, for he died, and went to Sheol.” And he who was showing her this vision said unto her, “As for thee, thou shalt certainly return to thy country, and dwell in thy house”; and this actually came to pass. And when her husband died, and Saint Abraham was an orphan, his mother wished to get him married, but he did not wish this to happen at all; and she rejoiced in him exceedingly. And when he sought to go and become a monk, she went with him outside the city to set him on his way and to bid him farewell, and she lifted up her hands to heaven, and prayed, and she committed her son to God, and said, “O my Lord, accept from me this offering.” And Abba Abraham departed and traveled through the desert of Scete, and came to the monastery of Saint Abba Macarius, in the days of Abba John, the Abbot of the desert of Scete; and he came to him and was to him as a beloved son, and he fought a great and a good fight. And one day the roof split open, and he saw our Lord Christ, Who came down to him sitting upon the throne of the chariot of the Cherubim, who were singing his praises. And he was afraid and trembled, and made haste and bowed down to Him and our Lord blessed him, and went up into heaven with great glory. And the miracle of the split roof of the house through which our Lord Jesus Christ came down is remembered unto this day. And Abraham’s abode was near that of his spiritual father, Abba John, the abbot, and it is called to-day “Begbig.” And the angel of God used to summon him frequently, and he would reveal unto him many mysteries. And then Abba Abraham, and he continued in that illness for eighteen years. And when his death drew nigh he asked them to administer to him the Holy Body and Honorable Blood of our Lord Christ, and they administered to him in the spirit, and told him, saying, “Behold, God inviteth thee to the great marriage-feast”; and then he died in peace, his days being eighty years. And their house existeth to this day, and their tombs are known to this day. Salutation to Abraham. Salutation to thee, O thou who dost hide in the city of Nazareth. And on this day also are commemorated the holy fathers George, and Nosmes, and Diskres (Dioscurus). Glory
be to God Who is glorified in His Saints.
Amen. |
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