1 Grimms Fairy Tales-(Without Music) By Stephanie Poppins

Our Lady's Child.
In this episode, a child is adopted by the Virgin Mary but the sent back to earth after she lies to Mary. She marries a king and the couple has three children, each of which is taken away because the girl will not admit her lie.

Note: This track is without music in the introduction.

Transcript

Welcome weary traveller.

This series is designed to transport you to a place of peace quickly and securely.

Use these tracks when you require a speedy transition into deep rest.

Perhaps that well-needed daytime nap or a necessary break from the everyday on your train or bus ride home.

This series is focused on the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen.

But before we begin,

Let's take a moment to focus on where we are now.

Take a deep breath in through your nose and let it out with a long sigh.

That's it.

Now close your eyes and feel yourself sink deeper into the support beneath you.

It is time to relax and fully let go.

Happy listening.

Our Lady's Child A fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm Read and abridged by Stephanie Poppins.

Hard by a great forest dwelt a woodcutter with his wife who had an only child,

A little girl of three years old.

They were so poor however,

They no longer had daily bread and did not know how to get food for her.

One morning the woodcutter went out sorrowfully to his work in the forest.

And while he was cutting wood,

Suddenly there stood before him a tall and beautiful woman with a crown of shining stars on her head,

Who said to him,

I am the Virgin Mary,

Mother of the child Jesus.

Thou art poor and needy,

Bring thy child to me,

And I will take her with me and be her mother.

Thou art poor and needy,

Bring thy child to me,

And I will take her with me and be her mother and care for her.

The woodcutter obeyed,

Brought his child and gave her to the Virgin Mary who took her up to heaven with her.

There the child fared well.

She ate sugar cakes and drank sweet milk and her clothes were made of gold and all the little angels played with her.

When she was 14 years of age,

The Virgin Mary called her and said,

Dear child,

I'm about to make a long journey.

So take into thy keeping the keys of the 13 doors of heaven.

12 of these thou mayest open and behold the glory which is within.

But the 13th to which this little key belongs is forbidden to thee.

Beware of opening it or thou wilt bring misery on thyself.

The girl promised to be obedient and when the Virgin Mary was gone,

She began to examine the dwellings of the kingdom of heaven.

Each day she opened one of them until she had made the round of the 12.

Each of them sat one of the apostles in the midst of a great light and she rejoiced in all the magnificence and splendor and the little angels who always accompanied her rejoiced with her.

Then the forbidden door alone remained and she felt a great desire to know what could be hidden within.

So she said to the angels,

I will not quite open it and I will not go inside,

But I will unlock it so we can see a little through the opening.

Oh no,

Said the little angels,

That would be a sin.

The Virgin Mary has forbidden it and it might easily cause thy unhappiness.

The child was silent,

But the desire in her heart was not stilled and gnawed there and tormented her.

Let her have no rest.

Once the angels had all gone out,

She thought,

Now I'm quite alone and I could peep in.

If I do it,

No one will ever know.

So she sought out the key and when she got it in her hand,

She put it in the lock and as she put it in,

She turned it around and the door sprang open and there she saw the Trinity sitting in fire and splendour.

She stayed there a while and looked at everything in amazement.

Then she touched the light a little with her finger and her finger became quite golden.

Immediately a great fear fell upon her and she shut the door violently and ran away.

Her terror too would not quit,

Let her do what she might and her heartbeat continually and would not be still.

The gold too stayed on her finger and would not go away even though she rubbed it and washed it ever so much.

It was not long before the Virgin Mary came back from her journey.

She called the girl before her and asked to have the keys of heaven back.

When the maiden gave her the bunch,

The Virgin looked into her eyes and said,

Has thou not opened the thirteenth door also?

No,

She replied,

But the Virgin Mary laid her hand on the girl's heart and felt how it beat and beat and saw right away that she had disobeyed her order and had opened the door.

Aren't thou certain thou has not done it?

She asked.

Yes,

Said the girl for the second time,

But the Virgin Mary had perceived the finger from which had become golden from touching the fire of heaven and saw very well the child had sinned and asked for the third time.

Has thou not done it?

No,

Said the girl for the third time,

But the Virgin Mary did not believe her.

Thou has not obeyed me,

She said,

And besides that,

Thou has lied,

Thou art no longer worthy to be in heaven.

Then the little girl fell into a deep sleep and when she awoke,

She lay on the earth below and in the midst of a wilderness.

She wanted to cry out,

But she could not bring forth any sound.

She sprang up and wanted to run away,

But whithersoever she turned herself,

She was continually held back by thick hedges of thorns through which she could not break.

In the desert in which she was imprisoned,

There stood an old hollow tree and this had to be her dwelling place.

Into this she crept when night time came and here she slept.

It was her shelter from storm and rain,

But it was a miserable life and bitterly did she weep when she remembered how happy she'd been in heaven and how the angels had played with her.

Roots and wild berries became her only food and for these she sought as far as she could go.

In the autumn she picked up the fallen nuts and leaves and carried them into the hole.

The nuts were her food in spite of the cold.

The nuts were her food in winter and when snow and ice came,

She crept amongst the leaves like a poor little animal that she might not freeze.

Before long her clothes were all torn and one bit of them after another fell off her.

As soon however as the sun shone warm again,

She went out and sat in front of the tree and her long hair covered her on all sides like a mantle.

Thus she sat year after year and felt the pain and the misery of the world.

Then one day when the trees were once more clothed in fresh green,

The king of the country was hunting in the forest and followed a roe and as it had fled into the thicket which shut in this part of the forest,

He got off his horse,

Tore the bushes asunder and cut himself a path with his sword.

When he had at last forced his way through,

He saw a wonderfully beautiful maiden sitting under the tree.

She sat there and was entirely covered with her golden hair down to her feet.

He stood still and looked at her full of surprise.

Who art thou?

He said.

Why art thou sitting here in the wilderness?

But the young woman could give no answer for she could not open her mouth.

Wilt thou go with me to my castle?

The king continued and she nodded her head a little.

So the king took her in his arms,

Carried her to his horse and rode home with her and when he reached the royal castle,

He caused her to be dressed in beautiful garments and gave her all things in abundance.

Although she could not speak,

She was so beautiful and charming,

He began to love her with all his heart.

And it was not long before they were married.

After a year or so had passed,

The queen brought a son into the world.

Thereupon the Virgin Mary appeared to her in the night when she lay in her bed alone.

If thou wilt tell the truth and confess that thou didst unlock the forbidden door,

I will open thy mouth and give thee back thy speech.

But if thou perseverest in thy sin and deniest obstinately,

I will take thy newborn child away with me.

The queen was permitted to answer then,

But she remained hard and said,

No,

I did not open the forbidden door.

And the Virgin Mary took the newborn child from her arms and vanished with it.

Next morning,

When the child was not to be found,

It was whispered amongst the people that the queen was a man-eater and had killed her own child.

She heard all this and could say nothing to the contrary.

But the king would not believe it,

For he loved her so much.

When a year had gone by,

The queen again bore a son,

And in the night the Virgin Mary again came to her.

If thou will confess that thou openedest the forbidden door,

I will give thee thy child back and untie thy tongue.

But if you continuous in sin and deniest it,

I will take away with me this child also.

But the queen was stubborn,

And again she said,

No,

I did not open the forbidden door.

So the Virgin took the child out of her arms and ran away with it to heaven.

The following year,

The queen gave birth to a beautiful little daughter,

And for the third time,

The virgin took her away.

People declared the queen was a witch,

But the king loved her so dearly,

He would not believe it.

She is a man-eater,

They cried.

She must be judged.

And the king was no longer able to restrain his counsellors.

By and by a trial was held,

And as the queen could not answer and defend herself,

She was condemned to be burnt alive.

The wood was got together,

And when she was fast bound to the stake,

And the fire began to burn around her,

The hard ice of her pride melted,

And her heart was moved by repentance.

If I could but confess before my death,

I opened the door,

She said to herself.

And all at once,

Her voice came back to her,

And she cried out loudly,

Yes,

I did it,

I opened the door.

And straight away,

Rain fell from the sky,

Extinguished the flames of fire,

And a light broke forth above her,

And the Virgin Mary descended with the two little sons by her side,

And the newborn daughter in her arms.

She spoke kindly to the queen and said,

He who repents his sin and acknowledges it is forgiven.

Then she gave the queen her three children,

Untied her tongue,

And granted her happiness for her whole life.

The end.

Reviews

Thx Stephanie for this Story. I listened as I walked. 👍😘👌🐱🐱🐨🌷