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 not worth pity, yet you have shown me no harshness; you have led me to repent not by threats but by gentleness and love. + 

Abraham + 

I ask only one thing, Mary. Be faithful to God for the rest of your life. + 

Mary + 

With all my strength I will persevere, and though my flesh may fail, my spirit never will. + 

Abraham + 

You must serve God with as much energy as you have served the world. + 

Mary + 

If His will is made perfect in me it will be because of your merits. + 

Abraham + 

Come, let us hasten on our way. + 

Mary + 

Yes, let us set out at once. I would not stay here another moment. + 