Flight into Egypt
St. Anselm says the Holy Family settled in Heliopolis, now Cairo, where they lived for seven years in poverty and want, unknown and uncared for. Another tradition tells how one night they rested in a robbers’ cave, received with rough, but kind, hospitality by the captain’s wife, whose child was white with leprosy. Mary asked for water wherein to wash her Divine Child. The captain’s wife thought she perceived something remarkable about her guests, and with a kind of faith, she washed her own child in the same water, and at once his flesh became as rosy and beautiful as ever mother’s eye could wish to see!
Statue of St. Dismas, the Good Thief, in the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Zapopan (Jalisco, Mexico). Photo taken by Nheyob.
Years passed away, and this Dimas, for such was his name, was led into Jerusalem, a captive, and condemned to death. He was one of the two malefactors crucified beside Our Lord, the one who received pardon for his sins as he died, paradise for his cave’s hospitality in the past!
Stories From The Catechist by Very Rev. Canon G.E. Howe, Pg. 37-38 # 131
Short Stories on Honor, Chivalry, and the World of Nobility—no. 492
