Abraham of Smolensk (; 1150 or 1172 - 1222) was a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

and

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

. He resided at the Bogoroditzkaja

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

and was regarded as a miracle worker. He engaged in extensive preaching and biblical studies and is viewed as a notable figure in the pre-

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Life

Abraham was said to be born either in 1150 or 1172 to nobles; he was orphaned in his childhood and then decided to abandon his fortune to pursue the austere and poor religious life. He is described as being a man of stern and militant character who kept the idea of the

Last Judgement The Last Judgment is a concept found across the Abrahamic religions and the '' Frashokereti'' of Zoroastrianism. Christianity considers the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to entail the final judgment by God of all people who have ever lived, res ...

in the minds of himself and others. He was popular among the faithful as he worked for the sick and the troubled. He was noted for his tenderness with those coming to him for his help and his advice. He was less popular with the other priests who were jealous of his successes. This tension led to several moral and theological charges being brought against him and it led to the local bishop taking action against him which cast a cloud over his character for some time and an order for him to stop preaching. But his withdrawal made him no friends either for there were clerics who kept on viewing him with suspicion. The bishop later reopened the case against him and acquitted him against the charges leveled against him while making him the

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

of the smaller and impoverished convent of the Mother of God in the area. He spent the rest of his life there and died there circa 1222. His disciple Ephraem's biographical account of Abraham has survived.

Sainthood

He is venerated as a saint in the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

. The Russian Orthodox Church canonized him as a saint at the 1549 Makaryev Sobors.

References

External links

Orthodox Church in America

Unveiling the Life of Abraham of Smolensk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abraham Of Smolensk 1221 deaths 13th-century Christian saints People from Smolensk Russian abbots Eastern Orthodox saints from Kievan Rus' Christian miracle workers Year of birth unknown

Life

Sainthood

References

Further reading

External links