Saint Abraham the Poor (also Saint Abraham the Child and Abraham the Simple) was a fourth-century

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

ian

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite ( adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a C ...

and a saint.

Life

Born in the town of Menuf, he became a disciple of

Saint Pachomius Pachomius (; el, Παχώμιος ''Pakhomios''; ; c. 292 – 9 May 348 AD), also known as Saint Pachomius the Great, is generally recognized as the founder of Christian cenobitic monasticism. Coptic churches celebrate his feast day on 9 May, ...

, who founded

cenobitic monasticism Cenobitic (or coenobitic) monasticism is a monastic tradition that stresses community life. Often in the West the community belongs to a religious order, and the life of the cenobitic monk is regulated by a religious rule, a collection of prec ...

, in the Delta region of the

Nile River The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest ri ...

. He remained a disciple of Saint Pachomius for 23 years, after which he spent the following seventeen years as a cave hermit. His nicknames of "the poor" and "the child" refer to his simple life and simple faith. His feast day is celebrated on 27 October.

Notes

References

Holweck, F. G. Frederick George Holweck (born Friedrich Georg Holweck; 29 December 1856 – 15 February 1927) was a German-American Catholic parish priest and scholar, hagiographer and church historian. Monsignor Holweck contributed some articles to the ''Catho ...

, ''A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints''. St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co. 1924.

External links

*myspace.com/abrahamthepoor {{DEFAULTSORT:Abraham The Poor 4th-century births 372 deaths Saints from Roman Egypt 4th-century Christian saints