Abraham, concerned about the fate of his eight-year-old niece Maria, seeks the advice of his neighbor and fellow hermit Effrem. Together they visit Maria and teach her that her name means stella maris or "the star of the sea," which guides sailors. By embracing a celibate life, she will likewise become a guide equal to an angel. God grants Maria wisdom beyond her years, and she vows to deny herself in order to deserve heavenly joy. Abraham houses her in a cell with a small window, through which he teaches her godly truths.
Twenty yeas later, Abraham revisits Effrem with the sad news that Maria is gone. Having succumbed to the temptation of a lover who visited her in a monks disguise, she has lost all hope of heavenly joy and chosen to embrace the world and its pleasures. Abraham confesses that he dreamed of a dragon swallowing a dove. This dream should have warned him about Maria's fate, but he misinterpreted it as a forewarning of a coming persecution of the church. He prayed for insight about the dream, and on the third night dreamed again. This time he saw the dragon crushed under his feet and the dove blazing as a light. After the dream, he realized that he had not heard Maria's voice for some time and, peering into her cell, he discovered that she had gone. After this confession, Abraham tells Effrem that a friend is searching for Maria. If she is found, Abraham will disguise himself as a man of the world to seek her and persuade her to return to the hermitage.
Two years later, Abraham's friend brings the news that Maria is a whore in the nearby town. With Effrem's agreement, Abraham plans to temporarily abandon some of his vows in order to restore Maria. Disguised as a courtier, he visits the inn where Maria works and requests her company. She joins him at the table and kisses him. As she does so, she catches the perfume of the cloister and is reminded of her earlier life. Abraham persists in his disguise, however, until the two are locked in a bedroom. When Maria realizes who Abraham is, she is overcome with remorse and grief. Abraham reminds her that none are without sin except the Christ and that while it is human to sin, persisting in sin is surrender to the devil. To reassure Maria in her despair, Abraham reminds her of God's grace. She fears her ability to do adequate penance for her sin, but Abraham promises to take some of it on himself.
Maria leaves behind her possessions and the money she has earned from her sinful occupation and returns with Abraham to the hermitage. Arriving at the cell she once inhabited, she recoils from the site of her sin and takes up residence in a windowless cell where she wears a hairshirt and observes fasts and vigils for many years. She becomes an example of repentance for those who sinned with her. Abraham and Effrem praise God for His grace toward repentant sinners.
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The Dramas of Hrotswitha of Gandersheim
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