Magyar Egyház, 1986 (65. évfolyam, 1-6. szám)
1986-11-01 / 6. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 11. oldal with himself: if he loved Jesus who was born the Prince of Peace he must follow Him. So David made peace at last, drew back into the Highland of the Scots and cared for the welfare of his people, body and soul. The faithful called him, too, a saint and truly, in his court he would tell many times those stories about the Baby Jesus. One of his listeners who clung on his words was a young man called Ailred. So much so that he begged the king to let him exchange his knight’s vizor with a monk’s hood and go to the new monastery in Rye Vale. Ailred, of course, took the stories of Jesus’ life along with him. Here in Rye Vale, called Rievaulx in French for the monks came from Clairvaux in France, Ailred was the brightest and the kindest of all monks. 1147 was the year when Ailred was chosen abbot of Rye Vale to lead his monks in sacred learning as well as in educating the people to rightly till the land so to yield the best fruit of soul and soil. Even in his high position Ailred he kept on telling the lovely stories about the Baby Jesus. And here the ray of light in our search for a precious stone rests on the legend of Jesus and Dismas, the robber — as told by Ailred to his monks reconstructed from the fragmentary records preserved from his writings. When the three kings had gone away, so the Gospel by Matthew in the Holy Book tells, behold an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph, ‘Rise,’ he said, ‘and take the little child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the little child, in order to kill him.’ So he arose and took the little child and his mother by night and went away into Egypt. Ailred, in his story, warned his monks: ‘Do not in your meditation pass over the gifts of the Magi: nor leave him without company he flees into Egypt.” The journey to Egypt was just as rough for the young mother and the newborn child — hut a few weeks old — as their previous pilgrimage from Galilee to Bethlehem where the baby was born. Joseph, however, knew that what the angel of the Lord said about Herod’s murderous plans was true so they had to go. Joseph also knew that the Lord would protect them and give them strength. The gifs of the three kings would help them, too. As a matter of fact, Joseph bought another donkey right next day so with the faithful animal which carried Mary to Bethlehem they now had transportation for all of them. Even so it wasn’t easy. Joseph didn’t want to use the public road lest Herod’s men track them down. And the pathless region was really rough: steep hills and no water, the wind blew7 sand into their eyes by day and the nights were chilly. After the first few harried days, however, they reached the seashore. The weather became milder and the sight of the Mediterranean brought calm into their hearts — they were out of Herod’s land, out of danger. It would still take many days to get through the desert land of the Sinai peninsula. Joseph had no definite plans. He thought he would just get into a big city in Egypt where he could get lost in the crowd. Carefully, not to draw attention to the small fortune they had from the three kings’ gifts, he would gradually open up a shop — after all he was a master carpenter — and they would live peacefully, a young couple with a baby, submerged among the many craftsmen, until the angel of the Lord would come again with the Lord’s new command. Day after day they made nice progress and Joseph was confident. Mary was oblivious of all that happened around her; she was fully enwrapped in the beauty of her baby. She would look at him for hours not taking her eyes off him; and she thought she saw a light shining from the baby’s face which lit up the darkest night. But danger came from where they did not expect it — Ailred continued his story —; think that to be true which is told that he was captured by robbers in he way. At a calm night’s rest trampling of hooves of horses filled the quiet air. A band of four riders descended on the oasis where Joseph and Mary and the child were staying. Two men got hold at once of Joseph and Mary holding daggers directed to their hearts; a third wrenched the baby from Mary’s arms. They were frightened, of course, but Joseph knew he shouldn’t fight back: he had no weapon and Mary and the baby were in the hands of the bandits. In a strange way he was curious: what is the Lord going to do now? For Joseph was sure, if the Lord made him flee from Bethlehem and escape the soldiers of King Herod, He couldn’t let them perish now. They might kill him but the baby would be safe. Maybe his calmness and that he didn’t put up a fight startled the bandits. The fourth one, apparently their chief, said: T don’t care who you are and where you go. We are interested in gold. If you have gold give it up and you can go. I even leave your measly donkeys to you.’ His voice was rough and pressing: ‘Do you hear me? Give up your gold. Where is it?’ There was nothing else to do but to obey. Joseph said: ‘It is among the baby’s swaddling clothes.’ The chief called to the man holding the baby: ‘Take it, Dismas.’ Upon which the man ripped the baby’s clothes and a leather sack dropped to the ground. The baby cried out and Mary saw that the man shuddered. She also saw that the man was but a young lad apparently the son of the chief bandit. The chief opened the sack, it was full of gold all right. ‘You’re lucky. You just bought your lives.’ He called to his companions: ‘Let’s go. Come on, Dismas.’ And they jumped on their horses. “You see,” Ailred went on in his story to the monks, “the youth was the son of the chief of the robbers,” and when he got possession of his prey, such splendor of majesty appeared in the baby’s lovely face that the youth, not doubting that he was more than man, inflamed with love embraced him and said, “0 most blessed of children, if ever there comes a time for having mercy on me, then remember me and forget not this hour.” Nobody but Mary heard the youth’s whisper. A moment and they were gone. “Oh, I hope we will never see them again,” so Mary sighed picking up her precious baby from the ground where the youth gently laid him before getting on his horse. Their journey was eventless from then on. The bandits took the gold only, the precious frankicense and myrrh were still with them and fetched enough money for the rest of the trip and also helped them to settle in Egypt. The youth’s words, however, were imprinted on Mary’s mind. “Were they just words prompted by the enthrallment of the youth or did they have some meaning for the future?” Mary wondered. Ever since the announcement of the Lord’s angel at the house of her cousin Elizabeth about the baby’s birth everything was so mysterious; this just couldn’t be without a meaning either. Then, as the years passed, Mary forgot all about it. Verily, the angel of the Lord appeared again after some time and told them to return to their homeland. The baby Jesus grew big and strong and full of wisdom; he learned his father’s trade; the family lived in peace in Nazareth. But then the day came when Jesus stepped forth with his piercing call: “The time has come; the kingdom of God is upon you; repent, and believe the Gospel.” Three wonderful and awful years came for Mary: her son drew big crowds unto himself with his beautiful words about God’s
