Identification of two variant miracle texts on the Miracle of St Mary and the monk Isaac #LIT3592Miracle

[GueshSol]

I’ve come across a notable issue while examining the manuscripts of the ʾAkkonu Bǝʾsi-type thirty-two (sometimes thirty-three) miracles, specifically focusing on the miracle concerning Saint Mary and the monk Yǝsǝḥaq (Isaac). There seems to be a discrepancy in the content of this miracle across different manuscripts.

While the protagonist remains the same (Isaac), two thematically unrelated miracles are attributed to him. The variance is particularly noticeable in manuscripts that are illustrated with miniatures, where two different recensions of the miracle are transmitted.

First Miracle: In manuscripts like BL Or. 641, AIC 2002.4 (CIA2024, Bm ID), CCGR-001, DD-001, and BnFabb 114, among others, the commonly shared miracle involves Isaac, a devout monk who prays to the Virgin Mary for seven years, eventually receiving a vision of her and being promised to join her in heaven after three days.

Second Miracle: On the other hand, MS BL Or. 639 (f. 57va) features a miracle with the same monk, Isaac, but a different story. In this version, Isaac is a priest and abbot who celebrates the Marian feast with devotion but faces financial difficulties. After abandoning his monastery, the Virgin Mary appears to him and chastises him for leaving.

It seems that these manuscripts transmit different versions of the miracle despite featuring the same character and similar Marian themes. Could we look into this inconsistency to determine whether these variations should be consolidated, and acknowledged as distinct narrative units, or if there's any specific reasoning behind the differences?

@DenisNosnitsin1970, @eu-genia, and @thea-m (I'm asking a favor) can you help me in solving this issue i.e. do we need a separate work IDs for both or...? For clarity of my inquiry, I provided two pdf files extracted from two manuscripts (MSs CCGR-001 and BL Or. 639) concerning the miracle under discussion. MS BL Or. 639 (Mircale on the monk Isaac).pdf MS CCGR-001 (miracle on the monk Isacc).pdf

Thank you for your attention to this matter!

[eu-genia]

Have you checked how the miracles are treated by PEMM?

[GueshSol]

Dear @eu-genia, I've checked in the PEMM database as well and found that thier identification is primarily based on Budg's translation from MS B-Oslo (SCOL) 248 (ff. 13r–14r). They even wrongly identify the mircale with in the manuscript BL Or. 639 itself as "The Egyptian Monk Isaac who Prayed Every Night for Seven Years that the Virgin Mary Would Appear to Him." It appears that they might not have observed the thematic divergencies present in the different versions of the miracle.