Animal Stories

The sly cat hatches a plan to get all the benefits of domestic life without any of the responsibilities.

In this short tale by Rudyard Kipling, we learn how the Cat tried to get all the comforts of domestic life without doing any work in return.

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A monk of the Egyptian desert helped a desperate mother, and was richly rewarded.

Macarius (301-391) was a disciple of St Anthony, the first Christian monk. Here, he does a favour for a friend in need.

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A hungry monk thought he had got away with the tastiest of crimes, but St Cuthbert kept his promise to his beloved birds.

St Cuthbert the Wonderworker of Lindisfarne (?634-687) is one the the most famous of all English saints. He lived in solitude on Inner Farne off the coast of Northumberland, surrounded by the birds he loved, and promised to take care of them even after he was gone.

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A bird of prey shattered the peace of St Cuthbert’s island, and was taught an unforgettable lesson.

St Cuthbert (?634-687) loved the many birds of his island retreat, and before he died the saint promised them ‘St Cuthbert’s Peace’: that if they lived in harmony with one another, no man or beast would disturb them and go unpunished. Five centuries later, monk Bartholomew (?-1193) saw for himself the saint’s determination to keep a promise.

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Once a year, regular as clockwork, the little snakes slither into the convent for a Feast of the Virgin Mary.

Every August, on a great feast of the Virgin Mary, small snakes slither into the chapel of a tiny village on the Greek island of Kefalonia. There is a curious story behind it, going back to the days when Greece was under the Ottoman Empire, and pirates roamed unchecked among the islands.

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A very unusual monastery with some very unusual protectors.

When the Empress Helen founded the monastery of St Nicholas in the 4th century, she had no idea that this pleasant corner of Cyprus was plagued by venomous snakes.

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