<h3><SPAN name="chap211"></SPAN>Legend 10 The Hazel-Branch</h3>
<p>One afternoon the Christ-child had laid himself in his cradle-bed and had
fallen asleep. Then his mother came to him, looked at him full of gladness, and
said, “Hast thou laid thyself down to sleep, my child? Sleep sweetly, and
in the meantime I will go into the wood, and fetch thee a handful of
strawberries, for I know that thou wilt be pleased with them when thou
awakest.” In the wood outside, she found a spot with the most beautiful
strawberries; but as she was stooping down to gather one, an adder sprang up
out of the grass. She was alarmed, left the strawberries where they were, and
hastened away. The adder darted after her; but Our Lady, as you can readily
understand, knew what it was best to do. She hid herself behind a hazel-bush,
and stood there until the adder had crept away again. Then she gathered the
strawberries, and as she set out on her way home she said, “As the
hazel-bush has been my protection this time, it shall in future protect others
also.” Therefore, from the most remote times, a green hazel-branch has
been the safest protection against adders, snakes, and everything else which
creeps on the earth.</p>
<div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />
1 of 2
2 of 2
Previous
Next
Update Required
To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.