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

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

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 deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

. He resided at the Bogoroditzkaja

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word 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-

Mongol The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member of ...

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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, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...

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 male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

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 both the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...

and the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Pope Paul III Pope Paul III ( la, Paulus III; it, Paolo III; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549), born Alessandro Farnese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death in November 1549. He came to ...

canonized him as a saint in 1549 and in the Russian Orthodox Church in the Makarev Sobor

References

External links

Saints SQPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abraham Of Smolensk 1221 deaths 13th-century Christian saints People from Smolensk Russian abbots Russian saints Russian saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church Miracle workers Year of birth unknown

Life

Sainthood

References

Further reading

External links