This story is about the Wonders of Saint Berach, from Abbie Farwell Brown’s collection. Apparently Saint Berach was a member of a parish in Ireland, and one of his duties was to watch the cows. This is what the story is based on.
Reading Notes
- Ireland was apparently a wild country at the time (this was like 600 AD)
- Berach liked to tend to the cows, and was especially fond of a cow called Bel, who had a calf.
- One day, as he was watching them from the window of his cell, he saw a wolf approaching Bel and her calf, who had strayed from the herd.
- Berach ran to the field, but he was too late; the wolf had killed and eaten the calf.
- Berach was angry at first, because he hated to see how distressed Bel was at the death of her calf.
- However, Berach thought about it, and realized that the wolf was probably hungry and didn’t know any better since he hadn’t been raised properly.
- Berach was pretty good with animals, and he called out to the wolf in a stern voice to come to him.
- Sure enough, the wolf did, and Berach spoke kindly to the wolf as the wolf crouched at his feet.
- He also went to Bel and took her over to the wolf, talking calmly so they wouldn’t freak out.
- He told the cow that the wolf would be her son now, and she was to treat him as she did her calf; he told the wolf that the cow would be his mother, and he was to listen to her and follow her wisdom.
- The cow and wolf lived together after that, and the wolf protected both Bel and the rest of the herd from other predators.
- After this, in the winter, a child who was schooled at the monastery became ill, and begged for apples and other juicy things.
- The Abbott trusted that Berach would be able to find something.
- Berach prayed in his room, then went to the field and found a tree; when he pronounced a blessing, the snow melted from the tree and apples grew and fell from it.
- Berach took the apples back to the monastery, and the child grew well after eating them.
A glass image of St. Berach (Source)
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