The Hazel-Branch
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.
|