Volume 2

Wonderful Conversion
143
animals began to grow faint and exude matter from which
were formed worms that turned and gnawed their flesh,
now become red and raw. The sight was so disgusting that
the crowd, which had pressed forward through curiosity,
began to turn away with expressions of horror, and this
all the more as the old Jew, turning pale and perfectly
yellow, became shrunken on one side.
At this miracle the people set up a frightful noise and
clamor, and the old Jew bewailing himself acknowledged
his error and implored Jesus for mercy. There was so
great a tumult that the Governor of the city, who had
returned home, had to be called to quell the disturbance.
As for the old Jew, he loudly proclaimed his fault and
confessed that he had indeed tampered with the truth.
In consideration of the man's vehement sorrow and his
entreaties to all present to pray for him that he might be
cured, Jesus blessed the fruits and animals that had been
brought to Him. All were immediately restored to their
first state, including the man himself, who cast hinlself in
tears at Jesus' feet, giving thanks.
He was so truly converted that he became one of the
most faithful of Jesus' followers and the instrument of
many other conversions. In a spirit of penance, he shared
with the poor a great part of the magnificent fruits of his
garden. This miracle made a deep impression upon all
that had now returned from the city, whither they had
gone to take something to eat. And indeed such a miracle
was necessary here; for these people, as is often the case
among nations of mixed origin, were obstinate in maintaining
opinions that had been proved to them to be erroneous.
They sprang from Samaritans who had entered
into mixed marriages with heathens, and who had, in consequence,
been banished from Samaria. They were fasting
today not on account of the destruction of the Temple of
Jerusalem, but on account of their own expulsion from
Samaria. They, indeed, acknowledged and lamented their