42 lines
2.6 KiB
Text
42 lines
2.6 KiB
Text
The Heavenly Wedding
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A poor peasant-boy one day heard the priest say in church that
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whosoever desired to enter into the kingdom of heaven must always go
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straight onward. So he set out, and walked continually straight onwards
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over hill and valley without ever turning aside. At length his way led
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him into a great town, and into the midst of a church, where just at
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that time God’s service was being performed. Now when he beheld all the
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magnificence of this, he thought he had reached heaven, sat down, and
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rejoiced with his whole heart. When the service was over, and the clerk
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bade him go out, he replied, “No, I will not go out again, I am glad to
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be in heaven at last.” So the clerk went to the priest, and told him
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that there was a child in the church who would not go out again,
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because he believed he was in heaven. The priest said, “If he believes
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that, we will leave him inside.” So he went to him, and asked if he had
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any inclination to work. “Yes,” the little fellow replied, “I am
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accustomed to work, but I will not go out of heaven again.” So he
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stayed in the church, and when he saw how the people came and knelt and
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prayed to Our Lady with the blessed child Jesus which was carved in
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wood, he thought “that is the good God,” and said, “Dear God, how thin
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you are! The people must certainly let you starve; but every day I will
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give you half my dinner.” From this time forth, he every day took half
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his dinner to the image, and the image began to enjoy the food. When a
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few weeks had gone by, people remarked that the image was growing
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larger and stout and strong, and wondered much. The priest also could
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not understand it, but stayed in the church, and followed the little
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boy about, and then he saw how he shared his food with the Virgin Mary,
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and how she accepted it.
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After some time the boy became ill, and for eight days could not leave
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his bed; but as soon as he could get up again, the first thing he did
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was to take his food to Our Lady. The priest followed him, and heard
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him say, “Dear God, do not take it amiss that I have not brought you
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anything for such a long time, for I have been ill and could not get
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up.” Then the image answered him and said, “I have seen thy good-will,
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and that is enough for me. Next Sunday thou shalt go with me to the
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wedding.” The boy rejoiced at this, and repeated it to the priest, who
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begged him to go and ask the image if he, too, might be permitted to
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go. “No,” answered the image, “thou alone.” The priest wished to
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prepare him first, and give him the holy communion and the child was
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willing, and next Sunday, when the host came to him, he fell down and
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died, and was at the eternal wedding.
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