A saintly lesson, which speaks to us all

As the regular reader of this blog will know, I tend to write about politics and current affairs, leavened with favourite recipes and some Christian themes. To my shame, I find that I have written little devotional material for quite a while.

So, as we stand on the eve of a feast day in the church calendar on 10th February, here's a heart-warming tale from 7th century France. It is the story of St Austrebertha.  

One day, this pious lady went out to look for the donkey which carried the dirty laundry of the monks back to her convent, for the nuns to wash.  On her way she encountered a wolf.

Such was the holiness of this dear lady that the wolf was stricken with guilt and immediately confessed to having killed the donkey, so depriving the monks of their door-to-door laundry service. However, the wolf pleaded for forgiveness, which the saintly lady readily granted. 

As a penance, Austrebertha commanded him to carry the washing himself. So great was the depth of his contrition that the wolf carried out this task faithfully to the end of his days. 

The lesson here is very plain and I think any commentary from me would be superfluous. 

Happy St Austrebertha's Day.