Abel of Korazim
Abel is a leper taking refuge near Chorazin (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 runs up all joyful: he has been healed by the "rabbi" Jesus.[2] He provides him with more than usual, with good food, not poor leftovers as usual. He announces his healing and the power of Jesus. Samuel encourages Abel to have trust, but he dares not hope: he is chased from everywhere and his appearance is really repulsive. He is nothing but a "ghost"!
However, Samuel’s communicative faith produces its effect: Abel has only one wish, to run to Jesus. He immediately drops the feast, all that good food from which he had been deprived for so long. And while Samuel runs to warn Jesus and bring him to this place, Abel immediately sets off, walking Hidden in the ditch (it is evening), to meet him in a small nearby wood, away from prying eyes. "Oh! my Lord, if You want, You can cleanse me!" says Abel daring to kneel and stretch his skeletal arms toward Jesus.[3] The latter, moved by pity, reaches out his hand to touch him."Do not touch me! Have pity on Yourself!" cries Abel, but Jesus places his fingers on the head devoured by leprosy and says aloud, with a voice full of nothing but love yet commanding: "I will it, be cleansed!" The hand remains on the poor head for a few minutes."Rise. Go find the priest. Fulfill what the Law prescribes. Do not speak of what I have done to you, but be good and do not sin anymore. I bless you."
"Master! Master! Master! I will not leave You. I cannot leave You anymore!" implores Abel.
"Do as the Law requires. Then, we will meet again," promises Jesus.
The character[edit | edit source]
Character and appearance[edit | edit source]
Maria Valtorta sees Abel’s particularly repulsive appearance "with the precision of a perfect photograph":"He is truly a human ruin. I cannot say what Age he is, so much has the illness degraded him. Skeletal, half-naked, he shows his body reduced to the state of a desiccated mummy. His hands and feet are twisted, parts are missing from them, so these poor extremities no longer seem to belong to a man. The dislocated and twisted hands resemble 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 without burial, mummified by sun and wind, would have a head like that head [...]"[4]
Apostolic journey[edit | edit source]
A little later Jesus pays tribute to the apostolic zeal of the new disciple:"I healed him near Chorazin on a night long past and then I left him. Now, I find him again. He is the one who announced Me on the hills of Naphtali. And, to confirm his words, he raises what remains of his hands, healed but partially impaired, and shows his healed but deformed feet with which he nonetheless travels so far. People understand how ill he was by 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 until forming The Seventy-Two Disciples, sent to evangelize two by two.[6]
It is Abel who sends the hemorrhaging woman of the Gospel of Matthew[7] to Jesus.[8]
His name[edit | edit source]
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 correspondences[edit | edit source]
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 to touch the leper. He pronounces the same command: "I will it, be cleansed," followed by the same instructions: not to spread news of this healing and to go see the priest for the usual Purifications. These accounts are therefore similar.
However, while Luke places the event "in the town"[13], here Chorazin, Matthew specifies 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 Mount, which is found 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 contravene Jesus' order finds its explanation in Jesus' commentary on Abel's apostolate, who became, with Samuel, a fervent disciple[5]...
Where is it mentioned in the work?[edit | edit source]
GRM 63GRM 230 GRM 250 GRM 275 GRM 276 GRM 277 GRM 278
GRM 404 GRM 405 GRM 446 GRM 466
GRM 535
Notes and references[edit | edit source]
Note: Quotations from the work of Maria Valtorta on this page currently use machine-translated text and will gradually be replaced by the official English translation. Until then, the official translation may be consulted through the reference link provided with each quotation.