Plays

complaint. Mary Oh, that I had died three years ago before I came to this! Abraham I came here to make love to you, not to weep with you over your sins. Mary A little thing moved me, and I spoke foolishly. It is nothing. Come, let us eat and drink and be merry, for, as you say, this is not the place to think of one’s sins. Abraham I have eaten and drunk enough, thanks to your good table, Sir. Now by your leave I will go to bed. My tired limbs need a rest. Innkeeper As you please. Mary Get up my lord. I will take you to bed. Abraham I hope so. I would not go at all unless you came with me.

Scene VII

Mary	Look! How do you like this room? A handsome bed, isn’t it? Those trappings cost a lot of money. Sit down and I will take off your shoes. You seem tired.
Abraham	First bolt the door. Someone may come in.
Mary	Have no fear. I have seen to that.
Abraham	The time has come for me to show my shaven head, and make myself known! Oh, my daughter! Oh, Mary, you who are part of my soul! Look at me. Do you not know me? Do you not know the old man who cherished you with a father’s love, and wedded you to the Son of the King of Heaven?
Mary	God, what shall I do! It is my father and master Abraham!
Abraham	What has come to you, daughter?
Mary	Oh, misery!
Abraham	Who deceived you? Who led you astray?
Mary	Who deceived our first parents?
Abraham	Have you forgotten that once you lived like an angel on earth!
Mary	All that is over.
Abraham	What has become of your virginal modesty? Your beautiful purity?
Mary	Lost. Gone!
Abraham	Oh, Mary, think what you have thrown away! Think what a reward you had earned by your fasting, and prayers, and vigils. What can they avail you now! You have hurled yourself from heavenly heights into the depths of hell!
Mary	Oh God, I know it!
Abraham	Could you not trust me? Why did you desert me? Why did you not tell me of your fall? Then dear brother Ephrem and I could have done a worthy penance.
Mary	Once I had committed that sin, and was defiled, how could I dare come near you who are so holy?
Abraham	Oh, Mary, has anyone ever lived on earth without sin except the Virgin’s Son?
Mary	No one, I know.
Abraham	It is human to sin, but it is devilish to remain in sin. Who can be justly condemned? Not those who fall suddenly, but those who refuse to rise quickly.
Mary	Wretched, miserable creature that I am!
Abraham	Why have you thrown yourself down there? Why do you lie on the ground without moving or speaking? Get up, Mary! Get up, my child, and listen to me!
Mary	No! no! I am afraid. I cannot bear your reproaches.
Abraham	Remember how I love you, and you will not be afraid.
Mary	It is useless. I cannot.
Abraham	What but love for you could have made me leave the desert and relax the strict observance of our rule? What but love could have made me, a true hermit, come into the city and mix with the lascivious crowd? It is for your sake that these lips have learned to utter light, foolish words, so that I might not be known! Oh, Mary, why do you turn away your face from me and gaze upon the ground? Why do you scorn to answer and tell me what is in your mind.
Mary	It is the thought of my sins which crushes me. I dare not look at you; I am not fit to speak to you.
Abraham	My little one, have no fear. Oh, do not despair! Rise from this abyss of desperation and grapple God to your soul!
Mary	No, no! My sins are too great. They weigh me down.
Abraham	The mercy of heaven is greater than you or your sins. Let your sadness be dispersed by its glorious beams. Oh, Mary, do not let apathy prevent your seizing the moment for repentance. It matters not how wickedness has flourished. Divine grace can flourish still more abundantly!
Mary	If there were the smallest hope of forgiveness, surely I should not shrink from doing penance.
Abraham	Have you no pity for me? I have sought you out with so much pain and weariness! Oh shake off this despair which we are taught is the most terrible of all sins. Despair of God’s mercy⁠—for that alone there is no forgiveness. Sin can no more embitter His sweet mercy than a spark from a flint can set the ocean on fire.
Mary	I know that God’s mercy is great, but when I think how greatly I have sinned, I cannot believe any penance can make amends.
Abraham	I will take your sins on me. Only come back and take up your life again as if you had never left it.
Mary	I do not want to oppose you. What you tell me to do I will do with all my heart.
Abraham	My daughter lives again! I have found my lost lamb and she is dearer to me than ever.
Mary	I have a few possessions here⁠—a little gold and some clothes. What ought I to do with them?
Abraham	What came to you through sin, with sin must be left behind.
Mary	Could it not be given to the poor, or sold for an offering at the holy altar?
Abraham	The price of sin is not an acceptable offering to God.
Mary	Then I will not trouble any more about my possessions.
Abraham	Look! The dawn! It is growing light. Let us go.
Mary	You go first, dearest father, like the good shepherd leading the lost lamb that has been found. The lamb will follow in your steps.
Abraham	Not so! I am going on foot, but you⁠—you shall have a horse so that the stony road shall not hurt your delicate feet.
Mary	Oh, let me never forget this tenderness! Let me try all my life to thank you! I was