The Sacred Snakes of Kefalonia
Once a year, regular as clockwork, the little snakes slither into the convent for a Feast of the Virgin Mary.
1705
Ottoman Empire 1453-1922
Once a year, regular as clockwork, the little snakes slither into the convent for a Feast of the Virgin Mary.
1705
Ottoman Empire 1453-1922
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.
ONE day in 1705, the nuns of a convent on Kefalonia heard that pirates were toiling up the hill, intent on rape and plunder. So they hurried to their chapel, where they kept a miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary. This icon had been found, many years before, at the foot of a charred tree, though neither the icon nor the neighbouring trees were even scorched. As it obstinately refused to move, the chapel had been built around it.
Here the nuns prayed for protection. Presently, dozens of small snakes started slithering into the grounds of the convent. The pirates arrived, took one look, and fled.
To this day, every August, between the Transfiguration of Christ on the 6th and the Dormition of Mary on the 15th,* the snakes’ descendants return. Warm and silky to the touch, with a little cross-shaped mark on their heads, they are normally shy and aggressive, but during this period they become positively sociable.
Unless, presumably, you are a pirate.
The Transfiguration commemorates the events described in Mark 9:2-8. The Dormition, meaning ‘falling asleep’, commemorates the death of the Virgin Mary, whom the Greek Church calls the Theotókos (‘God’s birthgiver’). This feast is one of the highest days of the Church year.
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Why did the nuns run to their chapel?
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
The nuns went to pray before a miraculous icon. They kept it in their chapel. It was an icon of the Virgin Mary.