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The
Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew |
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CHAP. 17--And when Herod saw
that he had been made sport of by the magi, his heart swelled with rage,
and he sent through all the roads, wishing to seize them and put them to
death. But when he could not find them at all; he sent anew to Bethlehem
and all its borders, and slew all the male children whom he found of two
years old and under, according to the time that he had ascertained from
the magi. Now the day before this was
done Joseph was warned in his sleep by the angel of the Lord, who said to
him: Take Mary and the child, and go into Egypt by the way of the desert.
And Joseph went according to the saying of the angel. CHAP. 18.--And having come to a
certain cave, and wishing to rest in it, the blessed Mary dismounted from
her beast, and sat down with the child Jesus in her bosom. And there were
with Joseph three boys, and with Mary a girl, going on the journey along
with them. And, lo, suddenly there came forth from the cave many dragons;
and when the children saw them, they cried out in great terror. Then Jesus
went down from the bosom of His mother, and stood on His feet before the
dragons; and they adored Jesus, and thereafter retired. Then was fulfilled
that which was said by David the prophet, saying: Praise the Lord from the
earth, ye dragons; ye dragons, and all ye deeps And the young child Jesus,
walking before them, commanded them to hurt no man. But Mary and Joseph
were very much afraid lest the child should be hurt by the dragons. And
Jesus said to them: Do not be afraid, and do not consider me to be a
little child; for I am and always have been perfect; and all the beasts of
the forest must needs be tame before me. CHAP. 19.--Lions and panthers
adored Him likewise, and accompanied them in the desert. Wherever Joseph
and the blessed Mary went, they went before them showing them the way, and
bowing their heads; and showing their submission by wagging their tails,
they adored Him with great reverence. Now at first, when Mary saw the
lions and the panthers, and various kinds of wild beasts, coming about
them, she was very much afraid. But the infant Jesus looked into her face
with a joyful countenance, and said: Be not afraid, mother; for they come
not to do thee harm, but they make haste to serve both thee and me. With
these words He drove all fear from her heart. And the lions kept walking
with them, and with the oxen, and the asses, and the beasts of burden
which carried their baggage, and did not hurt a single one of them, though
they kept beside them; but they were tame among the sheep and the rams
which they had brought with them from Judaea, and which they had with
them. They walked among wolves, and feared nothing; and no one of them was
hurt by another. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by the prophet:
Wolves shall feed with lambs; the lion and the ox shall eat straw
together. There were together two oxen drawing a waggon with provision for
the journey, and the lions directed them in their path. CHAP. 20.-- And it came to pass
on the third day of their journey, while they were walking, that the
blessed Mary was fatigued by the excessive heat of the sun in the desert;
and seeing a palm tree, she said to Joseph: Let me rest a little under the
shade of this tree. Joseph therefore made haste, and led her to the palm,
and made her come down from her beast. And as the blessed Mary was sitting
there, she looked up to the foliage of the palm, and saw it full of fruit,
and said to Joseph: I wish it were possible to get some of the fruit of
this palm. And Joseph said to her: I wonder that thou sayest this, when
thou seest how high the palm tree is; and that thou thinkest of eating of
its fruit. I am thinking more of the want of water, because the skins are
now empty, and we have none wherewith to refresh ourselves and our cattle.
Then the child Jesus, with a joyful countenance, reposing in the bosom of
His mother, said to the palm: O tree, bend thy branches, and refresh my
mother with thy fruit. And immediately at these words the palm bent its
top down to the very feet of the blessed Mary; and they gathered from it
fruit, with which they were all refreshed. And after they had gathered all
its fruit, it remained bent down, waiting the order to rise from Him who
bad commanded it to stoop. Then Jesus said to it: Raise thyself, O palm
tree, and be strong, and be the companion of my trees, which are in the
paradise of my Father; and open from thy roots a vein of water which has
been hid in the earth, and let the waters flow, so that we may be
satisfied from thee. And it rose up immediately, and at its root there
began to come forth a spring of water exceedingly clear and cool and
sparkling. And when they saw the spring of water, they rejoiced with great
joy, and were satisfied, themselves and all their cattle and their beasts.
Wherefore they gave thanks to God. CHAP. 21. -- And on the day
after, when they were setting out thence, and in the hour in which they
began their journey, Jesus turned to the palm, and said: This privilege I
give thee, O palm tree, that one of thy branches be carried away by my
angels, and planted in the paradise of my Father. And this blessing I will
confer upon thee, that it shall be said of all who conquer in any contest,
You have attained the palm of victory. And while He was thus speaking,
behold, an angel of the Lord appeared, and stood upon the palm tree; and
taking off one of its branches, flew to heaven with the branch in his
hand. And when they saw this, they fell on their faces, and became as it
were dead. And Jesus said to them: Why are your hearts possessed with
fear? Do you not know that this palm, which I have caused to be
transferred to paradise, shall be prepared for all the saints in the place
of delights, as it has been prepared for us in this place of the
wilderness? And they were filled with joy; and being strengthened, they
all rose up. CHAP. 22.--After this, while
they were going on their journey, Joseph said to Jesus: Lord, it is a
boiling heat; if it please Thee, let us go by the sea-shore, that we may
be able to rest in the cities on the coast. Jesus said to him: Fear not,
Joseph; I will shorten the way for you, so that what you would have taken
thirty days to go over, you shall accomplish in this one day. And while
they were thus speaking, behold, they looked forward, and began to see the
mountains and cities of Egypt. And rejoicing and exulting,
they came into the regions of Hermopolis, and entered into a certain city
of Egypt which is called Sotinen; and
because they knew no one there from whom they could ask hospitality, they
went into a temple which was called the Capitol of Egypt. And in this
temple there had been set up three hundred and fifty-five idols, to each
of which on its own day divine honours and sacred rites were paid. For the
Egyptians belonging to the same city entered the Capitol, in which the
priests told them how many sacrifices were offered each day, according to
the honour in which the god was held. CHAP. 23.--And it came to pass,
when the most blessed Mary went into the temple with the little child,
that all the idols prostrated themselves on the ground, so that all of
them were lying on their faces shattered and broken to pieces; and
thus they plainly showed that they were nothing. Then was fulfilled that
which was said by the prophet Isaiah: Behold, the Lord will come upon a
swift cloud, and will enter Egypt, and all the handiwork of the Egyptians
shall be moved at His presence. CHAP. 24.--Then Affrodosius,
that governor of the city, when news of this was brought to him, went to
the temple with all his army. And the priests of the temple, when they saw
Affrodosius with all his army coming into the temple, thought that he was
making haste only to see vengeance taken on those on whose account the
gods had fallen down. But when he came into the temple, and saw all the
gods lying prostrate on their faces, he went up to the blessed Mary, who
was carrying the Lord in her bosom, and adored Him, and said to all his
army and all his friends: Unless this were the God of our gods, our gods
would not have fallen on their faces before Him; nor would they be lying
prostrate in His presence: wherefore they silently confess that He is
their Lord. Unless we, therefore, take care to do what we have seen our
gods doing, we may run the risk of His anger, and all come to destruction,
even as it happened to Pharaoh king of the Egyptians, who, not believing
in powers so mighty, was drowned in the sea, with all his army. Then all
the people of that same city believed in the Lord God through Jesus
Christ. CHAP. 25.--After no long time
the angel said to Joseph: Return to the land of Judah, for they are dead
who sought the child's life. |
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