'Flower of the Holy Night'

Lucinda knew how disappointed all the people in the village would be if they had to use the old blanket in the Christmas procession, so she tried to finish the new blanket by herself. But she got the yarn so tangled that even Senora Gomez could not fix it. Lucinda was heartbroken. She had ruined the blanket and believed that ruined Christmas. Now her family alone of all the families in the village would have no gift to present to the Christ child. Lucinda started to cry. On Christmas Eve Lucinda hid so that she would not have to walk in the procession or go to church. Standing alone in the darkness, she watched from afar as everyone hurried into the church, bearing the gifts they had brought for the Christ Child. Lucinda felt ashamed. While Lucinda lingered in the shadows, a mysterious old woman approached her. When the old woman asked Lucinda why she was not walking in the procession, the little girl explained that she could not, for she had no gift to give to the Baby Jesus. "Ah, but you do," the old woman replied. "Any gift is beautiful because it is given. Whatever you bring to the Baby, He will love, because it came from you." Yet, Lucinda still wondered what she had to offer. Looking around, she spotted a patch of tall, spindly weeds. Lucinda ran over and picked a big armful. "Do you think these will be all right?," she asked, but the old woman did not answer. She had disappeared. Lucinda took the weeds and walked into the church. The church was ablaze with candlelight and the children were singing the songs they had practiced. Lucinda walked down the aisle, clutching the weeds in her arms. Throughout the church, people began to murmur to each other when they noticed Lucinda.. Some laughed at the sight of the little girl bringing weeds into church. But Lucinda hastened on toward the manger where the priest had placed the figure of Baby Jesus. When she reached it, she knelt and carefully placed the green weeds around the stable. Then she began to pray. The whole congregation fell silent until a voice suddenly "Look! Look at the weeds!" Lucinda herself couldn't believe her eyes. The green, spindly weeds that moments before she had carried in her arms were now tipped with red flowers, more brilliant than the light of one hundred candles. As

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