The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1902-03-22
Tale of the
AnnuDCiafjOn

IL minica Ferri sat musinS and wishing
lie that he had something to offer the
h Blessed Virgin on that day. He was 50
10 fond of her that he wished to give her
=, some little gift that was all his own.
But, he was very poor. He and his
= little sister, Lucne. had been left or
g phans. His father and mother died of
malignant fever, within a week OF
4 each other. and had LETT the children
to the care of old Margeretta, the herb
woman, who was their grandmother.
. Now he was II years Old, and his sis
y ter was 10. AS long as he could re-
= member he had loved the Blessed Vir-
gin, calling her 'Madre Mia" from the
time he was able to talk. And when he
was a little child of between and ;.
he would sit beside his grandmother
= during the whole service of the mass
looking at the face of the statue of the
Blessed Virgin with such wise and
wistful expression, that people Won
dered if he saw strange things there.
1t was no wonder, then, that when
he grew older he drew her picture even
on the rocks when he went up into the
hills to gather herbs for his grand
mother But he always drew her with
such sad face, that his little compan-
ions joked and laughed at him for try
ing to make the blessed mother cry,
as they thought
Dominica lived in a picturesque little
village in the mountains famous for
the beautiful scenery surrounding it,
He loved to roam over the hills and
gather herbs for his grandmother, who
was too feeble to climb now; she made
them into medicine and poultices for
the village folks. Sometimes she got
pay and sometimes she did not but she
never complained. Never mind she
used to say the good Master will
reward us And he did. She had been
| inclined to murmur, and considered it
a great cross when the two children
| were left to her care. one 4 years old |
and the 0theT 2. 1t was g great strug- !
| gle for few years, as she was so poor |
and not very strong; but they soon |
proved to be great blessing to her in !
many ways, especially Dominica, who |
helped her all he could
He grows more and more like my
poor Lucy" she said one day to the
good priest; and he has inherited her
love for the Blessed Virgin, too
"A great Inheritance, Margeretta! A
great inheritance. May the blessed
mother be kind to him" said the priest.
and he shall have the finest pair of
beads that L have"
With these very beads in his pocket.
Dominica would go up into the hills
and kneel before the crude picture of
the Blessed Virgin which he had
drawn, and say his rosary sometimes
three or four times. 1t was after one
of these excursions into the mountains
that we find him at the opening of our
sto4y, so detected and unhappy. He
wanted to honor his blessed mother
on her feast day, but had not the
means. He always honored her by
prayers, but his little heart was so
filed with love for her that he wanted
to do more
cit I
he stood up, and with q determined | !
look on his face, he made his way to I
the home of Andre, the blind artist, as
the villagers called him. He was not
blind, but was nearly so. Marie, the
artists little granddaughter was the
constant companion and playmate of /
Lucine and her brother; so it was to
the old artist that Dominica went to
confide his trouble. and with whom he h
was a great favorite :
Whatever their conference was, they n
arrived at a satisfactory termination a
because, when half an hour later Do :
minico made his appearance, it was f
with a happy light in his eyes, and Il
bounding step. that he went on his II
way homeward. After that Dominica =
made visit every day to the old il
artist. g
And So on the eve of the "Annuncia- =,
ion" after the altar was dressed and Il
every one had gone home Dominica r.
came hurrying into the church with ir
under his little jacket, which =
he guarded carefully. He walked di- f.
ectly to the altar of the Blessed Vir-
rim and laid it at the foot of the statue W
1t was a picture of the divine infant, al
)eautiful in expression, with the same ~
10Y sadness that he had given to the 81
Mothers face. Perhaps it was the Ii
hadOw of the cross, the suffering that w
vas to come. that he depicted there 81
kneeling down beside the altar. he re-
lasped his little hands and said: Ma tn
re Mai Take your little baby-it is
he best I can do! And, Madre Mia!
Dominica loves you! Take that, too" II
With a sigh of relief he took his va
eads from his pockets and began to s11
ray. Oh, how fervently he prayed! TT
he time passed so swiftly that he had ws
OF noticed the darkening of the sha- Sc,
ows around him. Now that the strain We
the last few weeks was over, he was th
red out, and the little form crept on
oser to the altar, till he almost leaned Ell
sainst it, "Madre Mia" he prayed, a
Don't forget grandmother's ankle to- ha
orroW, and remember that Lucine no!
nd me wants to learn to read a
He prayed for all his companions ma
Id at last, as the tired head leaned the
sainst the altar and the dark eyes be- VIII
IN to close, he said, 'Madre Mia, you bla
ust help Andres eyes, he was so good ha,
OF
The beads fell from his fingers and hin
a moment he was asleep, asleep and yOI
canning. He dreamed that the statue fac
I'd become g = and that the Blessed Pri
other reacL. down and kissed it, cur
en- handed it to tall gentleman VIZ
anding near the altar. rise
He aWoke with a start, Strengthened No
and looked to see if his picture was rep
here he had placed it. Satisfied that at
erything was all right, he went n
me- o.
The next morning was as bright and wei
autiful as could be wished for even sea
der Italian skies. For miles the viii VeI
gers came trooping down the roads OIL
ding to the church. all dressed in Eu'
lday attire. 1t was a pretty sight Ses
e girls and women with gay colored orI'
on their heads the pic
'esque costumes of the men. the en-
shing dark eyes and laughing faces. M
were coming in their simple, happy nee
y to honor Our Lord and his blessed ooo
ther. den
he church, too-had taken on a hoH- A,oV'
7 appearance. The affairs were laden dpiN
n wild blossoms from the hills, and nor =
n sweet-scented shrubs. Numerous ana
hands had done al +g,o+ eo,,,5 ioE9 stee
,e to make the nlaca haa',.if,'i o essa
1's neace bovere5 49,. III si-e SO
When rnass WIS o,,a,.i al neet
pie came forward to pray at the foot -
the Blessed Virgins altar Among oe -
m was MISUNDERSTANDING gem I'm
nan, stranger evidently, for he me-
neither the manner nor dress of dutI