ON ST. ABRAAMES, BISHOP OF CARRHAE IN MESOPOTAMIA.
ABOUT THE YEAR 390.
PrefaceAbraames, Bishop of Carrhae in Mesopotamia (St.)
By G. H.
[1] Carrhae, an ancient city of Mesopotamia on the river Chaboras, once noted for the defeat of Crassus, but afterward more greatly distinguished by its episcopal see and holy bishops. For the Bishop of Carrhae was St. Protogenes, inscribed in the tables of the Roman Martyrology under the 6th of May, by whom the Catholic faith was vigorously defended against the heretical Emperor Valens. St. Abraames, Bishop of Carrhae in Mesopotamia, is venerated on February 14 Vitus, who succeeded him, was present at the Ecumenical Council of Constantinople in the year 381. St. Abraames succeeded Vitus, and the Greeks in their Menaia and Maximus, Bishop of Cythera, in the Lives of the Saints, report that he both flourished and died under Theodosius the Great, under this 14th of February, on which they celebrate his sacred memory and recite a certain epitome of his Life, drawn mostly from chapter 17 of the Philotheus, in which Theodoret describes his Life, which we give here, with sufficient accuracy.
[2] The same Theodoret, in Book 4 of his Ecclesiastical History, chapter 25, composing a catalogue of some of the more celebrated monks, other anchorites named Abraames mentions two named Abraames. "There were also others," he says, "at that time who shone with the splendor of the monastic life. In the wilderness of Chalcis: Avitus, Marcian, and Abraames, and others scarcely to be numbered, who in passible bodies practised an impassible life." And after several intervening names: "At Antioch again: Marian, Eusebius, Ammian, Palladius, Simeon, and Abraames, and besides these others preserving intact the divine image." "But we have committed to writing the Life of both these and those" -- in the work, namely, which he himself calls the Philotheus in the preceding chapter. The same passage was copied by Nicephorus, Book 11, chapter 41. St. Eusebius is venerated on the 24th of January, where in his Life we also treated of Marian and Ammian from chapter 4 of the Philotheus; from chapter 6 we gave the Life of St. Simeon the Elder on the 26th of January; and on the 18th of the same month, from chapter 7, the Life of St. Palladius, in which the following is read concerning Abraames: "Of the same order was the admirable Abraames, who built what they call a Paratomum, and diffused the rays of his virtue in every direction. The brightness of his life is attested by the miracles which occur after his death. For to this day his sepulchre abounds in healings of every kind, the witnesses of which are those who from it draw these abundantly through faith." These things concern that Abraames, a man altogether holy, who appears to have been different from St. Abraames the Bishop, and concerning whom perhaps Theodoret and Nicephorus, cited above, treat -- whom Rosweyde nevertheless cites in his Annotations as referring to Abraames the Bishop.
LIFE
From the Philotheus of Theodoret, chapter 17.
Abraames, Bishop of Carrhae in Mesopotamia (St.)
From the Philotheus of Theodoret.
[1] Nor is it right to pass over the memory of the admirable Abraames, on the pretext that after his monastic life he was an ornament to the pontifical see. For on this account indeed he would rightly be more worthy of commemoration: that, compelled to change his manner of life, he did not change his life itself; but having passed through the affliction of his monastic training, and beset at once by monastic labors and pontifical cares, Abraames was at once a monk and a Bishop he completed the course of his life. Now, he too is a fruit of the region of Cyrrhus. For born and raised there, he gathered the riches of the monastic virtue. Those who lived with him he subdues the body by vigils, standing, and fasting say that by watching, standing, and fasting he so subdued his body that he remained immobile for a very long time, unable to walk at all. But freed from that weakness by divine providence, he wished to undergo grave dangers for the sake of divine grace.
[2] He came, therefore, to Lebanon, having learned that a certain village was held in the great darkness of impiety; and under the guise of a merchant, concealing his monastic face, he assumes the character of a merchant, to gain others carrying baskets with those who accompanied him, as if about to buy nuts -- for this was the chief product of the village. When he had rented a house and paid a certain sum of money in advance to the landowners, he rested for three or four days. Then gradually he undertook the divine office, using a moderate voice. But when they perceived the psalmody, the town crier proclaimed it and summoned all together. There were gathered together both men and boys and women; and having blocked the doors from the outside, they heaped up a great deal of dust from above, from the roof, and threw it down. he is subjected to various injuries But when they saw them being suffocated and buried, and that they wished to do and say nothing else but only to offer prayers to God, at the admonition of the elders they desisted from their madness. Then, having opened the doors and pulled them out from the heap, they ordered them to depart immediately.
[3] But at the same time tax collectors arrived who were forcing them to pay tribute; and some of them they bound, while others they subjected to the insult of beating. But that divine man, remembering none of the things that had been done to them, imitating the Lord who, when nailed to the cross, had care for those who did it, he prays for his adversaries and stands surety begged those tax collectors to exact moderately and mercifully. When they demanded guarantors, he voluntarily assumed the surety himself, and a few days later he promised to pay one hundred gold pieces. Those who had treated them so harshly, greatly admiring the kindness of the man, asked pardon for what they had dared and begged that he become their governor; he is chosen as governor by his adversaries for the village had no lord -- they themselves were both farmers and masters. He obtained the hundred gold pieces when he went to the city (its name is Emesa) and found certain acquaintances, and borrowed them. Then, returning to the village, on the appointed day he fulfilled what he had promised.
[4] When they saw his zeal for their welfare, they urged him to it more vehemently. he builds a church When he had promised to do so on condition that they promised to build a church, they asked that work should begin at once, and they brought the blessed man, pointing out to him the more suitable sites, with one praising this location and another that one. When he had chosen the better site and laid the foundations, he put on the roof in a short time. When the building was completed, he ordered that they admit a priest. But when they said they would choose no one else, and begged to have him as both Father and Pastor, he accepted the grace of the priesthood. A Priest is ordained After he had lived with them for three years and had nobly guided them in divine matters, having arranged for one of those who were with him to be appointed in his place, he returned to his monastic dwelling.
[5] And lest, if I narrate all his deeds, I employ too lengthy a narrative -- when he had shone in these things, he becomes Bishop of Carrhae he was made Pontiff of Carrhae. Now that city was beset by the intoxication of impiety and had given itself over to the frenzy of demons; but when it was deemed worthy of his cultivation, and received the fire of his teaching, it remained free from its former thorns and now brings forth an abundant harvest of the Spirit, offering sheaves of ripe fruits to God. But the divine man did not carry out this cultivation without labor; rather, employing innumerable labors and imitating the art of those who heal bodies, he instructs his subjects partly applying sweet exhortation, partly using sharp remedies, sometimes even cauterizing and cutting, he effected this healing. Moreover, the lights of his life supported his teaching and other diligence; for, illuminated by them, they both heard what was said and willingly accepted what was done.
[6] he tastes neither bread nor water For the entire time that he was Bishop, bread was superfluous to him, water likewise unnecessary, a bed useless, and the use of fire superfluous. At night he completed forty hymns he chants forty hymns at night which they recite by speaking and responding to one another, doubling the number of the intervening prayers; the rest of the night he sat in his chair, allowing his eyelids to rest a little. And that man does not live by bread alone, Moses the contemplator of God indeed said Deuteronomy 8; and the Lord too recalled this saying when refusing the provocation of the devil Matthew 4. But that one can also live without water, we have learned from no passage of divine Scripture. For even the great Elijah first drew water from a torrent, and then, when he had come to the widow of Zarephath, he first commanded water to be brought to him, then bread. But this admirable man, during the entire time of his pontificate, ate neither bread, nor legumes, nor vegetables that had been brought near fire; he lives on lettuce nor did he drink water, which by those who are considered learned in these matters is esteemed the first of the elements for use. Rather, he took lettuces, endives, celery, and the like as both food and drink, showing the arts of bakers and cooks to be superfluous; and in the autumn season, fruits served him in their place. These things he took after the evening office.
[7] While he thus wore out his body with such labors, he was insatiable in caring for others; for when guests arrived, he was entirely ready, generous to guests and excellent select bread was offered to them, and fragrant wine, fish, vegetables, and whatever accompanies them. Indeed, he himself also sat with those who dined at noon, offering portions of what was set before them to each, imitating the Patriarch Abraham giving each one cups, bidding them drink, and imitating him who bore the same name as himself -- the Patriarch, I mean, who ministered to his guests but did not dine with them.
[8] During the day, occupied with the lawsuits of those who quarreled and contended with each other, he persuaded some to be reconciled with one another, and compelled others who did not obey gentle and mild instruction. No unjust man departed he procures just judgments having prevailed by his audacity against the just man. For always lending his support to the injured party on the side of justice, he rendered him unconquerable and superior to the one who wished to inflict injury. He was like an excellent physician who always restrains the humors that overflow and ensures that there be an equality among the bodily elements.
[9] The Emperor also desired to see him summoned by the Emperor Theodosius (for fame had been carried to him, which easily communicates all things both good and evil) and summoned him to himself; and when he came, he greeted and received him, and considered that rough haircloth more excellent than his own purple. he is honored Indeed, the choir of Empresses also grasped his hands and his knees; and they entreated a man who could not even understand the Greek language. So greatly does the pursuit of the ascetic life appear to kings and all men as a thing worthy of honor and reverence. And indeed, when those who are its lovers and followers die, they attain even greater glory. And this can indeed be known from many other examples, but most especially from what befell this divine man.
[10] For after he died and the Emperor learned of it, he wished to lay him to rest in some sacred shrine; when dead, he is carried away to be buried among his own people but when he understood that it was pious and right that the body of the Pastor should be returned to his flocks, he himself both preceded it as escort and the choir of Empresses followed behind, together with all the magistrates, the people governed by them, soldiers, and private citizens. in the retinue of the Emperor With such eagerness was he received by the city of Antioch and the cities that followed it, until it reached that great river. On the bank of the Euphrates, both citizens and strangers flocked together, and farmers as well; indeed, even those from neighboring regions hastened to enjoy his blessing. while the people tried to seize cloths for relics Many lictors followed the bier, striking and terrifying those who attempted to strip the body of its garments and who desired to take cloths from it. And one could hear some singing psalms and others lamenting. For one woman, weeping, called him Governor; another, Nourisher; another, Pastor and Master; one man, weeping, named him Father; another, Helper and Healer. he is buried And with so many praises and lamentations they committed that holy and sacred body to the tomb.
[11] I, however, having admired the fact that although he changed his manner of life, he did not change his life along with it, and that while he was Bishop he did not embrace a relaxed and dissolute manner of living, but rather increased the labors of his monastic training, the author seeks his blessing have included him in the history of the monks; nor have I departed from the order which pleased him, desiring also his blessing.
Annotations"In deed the same, in appellation he has the greater part -- Since that one is Abraam by kinship, this one Abraames."