Venerable
Venerable Abraham the Recluse (of Kidunaia)
IV в., † ок. 360
Also known as: Авраамий Затворник (Хиданский), Авраамий Затворник, Аврамий затворник, пресвитер, Авраамий Кидунайский, Abraham of Kidunaia
A fourth-century recluse near Edessa and contemporary of St Ephrem the Syrian, who left his marriage for the ascetic life, converted a pagan village and brought his niece Mary to repentance.
Saint Abraham the Recluse lived in the fourth century near Edessa in Mesopotamia; church tradition links him with the village of Chidana (Kidunaia). His Life is attributed to his contemporary and fellow countryman, St Ephrem the Syrian.
Born to wealthy parents, Abraham agreed to marry at their insistence but left on the seventh day of the wedding feast and settled in an empty cell two miles from the city, walling up the door and keeping only a small window for food. When his parents died ten years later he had his inheritance given to the poor and orphans.
The bishop ordained him a priest and sent him to a large pagan village nearby. Abraham built a church and destroyed the idols; for three years he was beaten and driven out, until the villagers accepted the faith and he baptized them. After another year he secretly returned to his cell.
He raised his orphaned niece Mary, teaching her through the window of his cell. When she was seduced and fell into a life of sin in another town, he went there disguised as a soldier and brought her to repentance. Abraham died about 360 at the age of seventy, after fifty years of ascetic life. Feast: 29 October (11 November), together with Blessed Mary.