Abel of Korazim
Abel is a leper taking refuge near Corozaïn (Chorazeïn). He survives only thanks to Samuel, a hunchback, a beggar like him, with whom he has formed a friendship.
But that day[1] Samuel rushes over all joyful: he has been healed by the "rabbi" Jésus.[2] He feeds him more than usual, with good food, not the poor scraps as usual. He announces his healing and the power of Jésus. Samuel urges Abel to have confidence, but he dare not hope: he is so chased away everywhere and his appearance is really repulsive. He is nothing but a "ghost"!
However, Samuel's communicative faith has its effect: Abel has only one eagerness, to meet Jesus. He immediately lets go of the feast, all this good food he had been deprived of for so long. And while Samuel runs to warn Jesus and bring him to this place, Abel immediately sets off, moving hidden in the ditch (it is evening), to find him in a small grove near the city, sheltered from view. "Oh! my Lord, if You want, You can purify me!" says Abel daring to kneel and stretch his skeletal arms toward Jesus.[3] The latter, moved with pity, reaches out his hand to stroke him."Do not touch me! Have mercy on Yourself!" exclaims Abel, but Jesus places his fingers on the leprosy-devoured head and says aloud, in a voice that is only love and yet commanding: "I will it, be purified!" The hand stays a few minutes on the poor head."Get up. Go find the priest. Do what the Law prescribes. Do not tell what I have done to you, but be good and do not sin again. I bless you."
"Master! Master! Master! I will never leave You again. I cannot leave You anymore!" pleads Abel.
"Do what the Law requires. Then, we shall meet again." promises Jesus.
The Character
Character and Appearance
Maria Valtorta sees Abel’s particularly repulsive appearance "with the precision of a perfect photograph":"He is truly a human ruin. I could not say how old he is, so much has the disease degraded him. Skeletal, half-naked, he shows his body reduced to the state of a shriveled mummy. His hands and feet are twisted; parts are missing from them, so that these poor extremities no longer seem to belong to a man. The disjointed and twisted hands look like the paws of some winged monster, the feet are like ox hooves, so reduced and disfigured they are. Then the head and... I think a corpse left unburied, mummified by the sun and wind, would have a head like that head [...]"[4]
Apostolic Path
A little later Jesus pays tribute to the apostolic zeal of the new disciple:"I healed him near Corozaïn (Chorazeïn) one evening long ago and then I left him. Now, I find him again. He is the one who announced me on the mountains of Nephtali. And, to confirm his words, he raises what is left of his hands, healed, but partially diminished, and he shows his healed feet, but deformed with which he nevertheless covers so much ground. People understand how ill he was from what remains and believe his words seasoned with tears of gratitude."[5]Abel and Samuel, inseparable in friendship, become so in the apostolate following Jesus. They are joined to the first core of disciples: the shepherds of the Nativity. This core will grow to form the seventy-two disciples, sent to evangelize two by two.[6]
It is Abel who sends the hemorrhaging woman from the Gospel of Matthew[7] to Jesus.[8]
His Name
The given name Abel originates from the Hebrew הֶבֶל (Hevel), which means "breath," but also "son." This word is used in the Bible, notably in Ecclesiastes, to express the fleetingness and fragility of life. It refers to the younger son of Adam and Eve, the shepherd killed by Cain his jealous brother.[9]
Historical Concordances
Abel would be the leper of Mark[10] and Luke[11], but not that of Matthew[12], although the synoptic gospels usually associate them. The three accounts present the same ritual: Jesus stretches out his hand until touching the leper. He pronounces the same command: "I will it, be purified," followed by the same instructions: not to spread this healing and to go see the priest for the usual purifications. These accounts thus resemble each other.
However, while Luke situates the event "in the town"[13] here Corozaïn, Matthew specifies that the healing takes place "coming down from the mountain"[14] Mark situates it just after the announcement of Jesus' departure for the "neighboring villages" of Capernaum, which corresponds to Maria Valtorta’s account[15], while Matthew situates it directly after the great sermon on the mountain, which is also described by Maria Valtorta in[16].
If only Mark notes that Jesus was "moved with compassion", which is very clear in Maria Valtorta's narration. He also notes that the leper "began to proclaim and spread the news." This attitude, which seems to depart from Jesus' order, is explained by the commentary Jesus makes on the apostolate of Abel, who became, with Samuel, an ardent disciple[5]...
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