In God's Garden: Stories of the Saints for Little Children — John Shaqi
In God's Garden: Stories of the Saints for Little ChildrenSteedman, Amy
Religion
In God's Garden: Stories of the Saints for Little Children
Steedman, Amy
Christian saints -- Juvenile literature
And Christopher knelt on there in the darkness with a great joy in his
heart, for he had seen the face of his King, and had found his Master at
last. He knew that his search was ended, and that henceforth he would
serve only the highest. And all the trouble and perplexity had vanished
away, for he understood now that in ministering to others he would
always be serving his King, even if the work seemed but small and mean.
So Christopher learned to be Christ's true soldier and servant even unto
death, and because he fought manfully under His banner unto his life's
end, he is called a saint. His old name of Offero has been long
forgotten, and we know him only by that new name which the Christ-child
gave him that stormy night, and call him Saint Christopher.
SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA
As the years pass by Father Time makes many changes in the busy town and
quiet country, but there are some places he seems to have forgotten or
passed over so lightly that they look very much the same to-day as they
did hundreds of years ago.
One of these places, which Time has dealt so gently with, is in the
heart of Italy, built high upon a hill. It is a town whose towers and
palaces and steep, narrow streets are little changed from what they were
five hundred and more years ago, when Catherine, the saint of Siena, was
born there.
To-day if you climb the steep winding road that leads up to the city,
and make your way through the gates and along the steepest of the narrow
streets, you will come to a house with a motto written over the door in
golden letters--'Sposæ Christi Katharinæ domus,' which means 'The house
of Katherine, the bride of Christ.' And if you go in you will see the
very room where Saint Catherine used to live, the bed of planks on which
she slept, her little chapel, and the rooms which her brothers and
sisters used.
It all looks just as it did when Benincasa, the dyer of Siena, lived
there with his wife Lapa. They had more than twenty children, but each
one was welcome, and when at last Catherine and a twin sister were born,
there still did not seem one too many. The little sister lived only a
few days, and perhaps that made the parents love Catherine all the more,
and it was not only her own family who loved her. She was the favourite
of all the neighbours, and however busy they were they would always find
time to stop and talk to her as they passed. It was not that she was
very beautiful, or even very clever, but she had a way of making every
one feel happy when she was near them, and she had the sunniest smile
that ever dimpled a baby's face. It was like a sunbeam, lighting up
everything near it, and it shone in her eyes as well, so that ere long
the people found a new name for her, and called her 'Joy' instead of
Catherine.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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