In the old days Ireland had excellent schools. What did they go through in them? And even the poorest poor man then possessed more knowledge than any gentleman in our time. As for the priests, they excelled in science, and for this Ireland became famous throughout the world. Many foreign kings sent their sons to Ireland to be educated in Irish schools.
And it was in one of these schools that a young man was studying then, just a boy. He amazed everyone with his extraordinary intelligence. His parents were simple workers and, of course, poor people. But although he was still small and very poor, neither the son of a lord nor a king could compare with him in knowledge. Even teachers sometimes had to blush in front of him: when they tried to teach him something, he suddenly told them something that they had never heard of, and exposed their ignorance.
But he turned out to be completely invincible in the argument. He could argue and argue with you until he proved that black is white, and then, when you gave in, no one could beat him in an argument! - he argued the opposite and proved to you that white was black.
His parents were so proud of him that they firmly decided to make him a priest, even though they were very poor. And finally they achieved this, although they almost died of hunger while saving money for this.
Needless to say, in those days Ireland did not know another equally learned man, and he remained the greatest debater: no one could resist him. Even bishops tried to talk to him, but he immediately proved to them that they understood absolutely nothing.
In those days there were no school teachers yet, and priests were in charge of teaching. And since this man was considered the smartest in Ireland, all the foreign kings sent their sons to him, as long as there were enough rooms for them in the college. And gradually he became proud and even began to forget from what bottom he had risen, and - what was worst of all - he began to forget even God, who had made him so smart.
Pride took possession of him so much that from one argument to another he went so far as to prove that there is no purgatory, no hell, no heaven, and therefore no God, and, finally, even that a person does not have a soul, that a person is just like a dog or a cow - if he dies, he no longer exists.
- Has anyone seen the soul? - he asked. “If you can show it to me, I will believe in it.”
To this, of course, no one could answer him.
In the end, everyone thought like this: if there is no other world, then everyone can do whatever they want in this world. The priest himself set the first example by taking a young girl as his wife. And since it was impossible to get either a priest or a bishop to marry them, he performed the service for himself. It was an unheard of shame, but no one dared to say a word to him, because all the royal offspring were on his side: they would have killed anyone who tried to interfere with their wild life.
Poor young men! They all believed in him and believed that every word he said was the truth.
Thus, his ideas began to spread wider and wider. The world was heading towards destruction. And then one night an angel descended from heaven and announced to the priest that he had only twenty-four hours to live. The priest began to tremble, he began to beg to extend his life at least a little.
But the angel was relentless and said that this was impossible.
- Why do you need life, you sinner? - he asked.
- Oh sir, have mercy on my poor soul! - the priest prayed.
- No no! Do you really have a soul? Tell me please! And how did you discover this?
“It beats within me from the moment you appeared,” answered the priest. “And what a fool I was for not thinking about her earlier.”
“A complete fool,” agreed the angel. “What was all your teaching worth if it didn’t tell you that you have a soul?”
“Ah, my lord,” said the priest, “if I am destined to die, tell me, will I soon go to heaven?”
“Never,” was the angel’s answer. - You denied heaven.
- Oh my lord, will I end up in purgatory?
You also denied purgatory. You're going straight to hell! - said the angel.
- Yes, my lord, but I also denied hell! - the priest objected. “So you can’t send me there either.”
The angel was slightly puzzled.
“Okay,” he said. - I'll tell you what I can do for you. Choose: either you will remain to live on earth for at least a hundred years and enjoy all earthly joys, but then you will fly to hell forever, or in twenty-four hours you will die in terrible agony, but then you will end up in purgatory and will remain there until the Last Judgment. True, this will only be possible if you can find a believer, and then his faith will serve as a guarantee of your forgiveness, and your soul will be saved.
Less than five minutes had passed before the priest made a decision.
“Let me die in twenty-four hours,” he said, “as long as my soul is saved.”
Then the angel gave him all the instructions on what to do and flew away. The priest immediately entered the large hall where all his disciples and the king's sons were sitting, and addressed them.
- Tell me the truth, and let none of you be afraid to contradict me! Tell me, do you believe that man has a soul?
“Teacher,” they answered, “we once believed that man has a soul, but, following your teaching, we no longer believe in it.” There is no hell, no heaven, no god! This is what we know because you taught us this.
The priest turned pale with fear and shouted:
- Listen! I taught you falsely. God exists, and the human soul is immortal! Now I believe everything that I myself denied before.
However, the priest's voice was drowned in a burst of laughter, as the students decided that he was testing their ability to argue.
- Prove it, teacher! - they shouted. - Prove it! Has anyone seen God? Has anyone ever seen a soul?
And the whole hall shook with laughter.
The priest rose to answer them, but could not get out a word. All his eloquence, all the force of his arguments left him. And he found nothing better than to raise his hands to the sky and cry:
- There is a God! God exists! Lord, forgive my sinful soul! But everyone began to make fun of him and repeat his own words that he taught them:
- Show it to us! Show us your god!
And he fled from them in mortal fear, convinced that none of them believed anymore. How can he save his soul now?
Then he remembered his wife. “She already believes,” he decided. “Women never give up on God.”
And he went to her. But she said that she believed only what he taught her, that a good wife should believe only her husband, him alone and no one else, neither in heaven nor on earth.
Then he was overcome by despair, he rushed out of the house and began asking everyone he met if they believed. But the answer was still the same: “We believe only what you taught us,” because his teachings spread throughout the country.
He almost lost his mind with fear, because his last hours were running out. And he threw himself on the ground in some deserted place and began to sob loudly in horror that the hour of his death was so quickly approaching.
At this time, a little boy walked past him.
- May God help you! - said the boy.
The priest jumped up.
- Do you believe in God? he asked.
“Yes, I came from distant countries to find out everything about him,” answered the child. “Would you do me a favor by sending me to the best school here?”
“Both the best school and the best teacher are nearby,” said the priest and said his name.
“Oh no, not him,” the child objected. - After all, they told me that he denies God and heaven and hell, and even the human soul, because it is invisible. However, I can quickly refute it.
The priest looked at the child with seriousness.
- But how? he asked.
“Yes, very simple,” answered the child. “I would ask him to show me his life, if he believes it exists.”
“But he couldn’t do that, my child,” said the priest. - A person's life cannot be seen. It exists, but only invisible.
“Then if human life exists, although we do not see it, the human soul can also exist, albeit invisible,” answered the child.
When the priest heard this answer, he fell on his knees in front of the child and cried with joy, because he knew that now his soul was saved. At last he met a man who kept the faith. And he told the child his whole story - about his depravity and pride, about criminal blasphemy and how an angel came down to him and told him about the only way of his salvation.
“Now,” he said to the child, “take this knife and hit me in the chest with it, and tear my flesh until you see the pallor of death on my face.” And then, if I died, something living should fly away from my body, this is a sign for you that my soul has appeared before God. And when you see this, run quickly to my school and call all my students so that they come and make sure that the soul of their teacher has left his body, and everything he taught them was a lie, for there is a God and he punishes the sinner, and there is heaven and hell, and man has an immortal soul, which is destined for either eternal happiness or eternal torment.
“I will pray,” said the child, “to gain the courage to fulfill your request.”
And he knelt down and began to pray. Then he stood up, took a knife and plunged it straight into the priest’s heart, and again, and again, until his flesh was torn to pieces. And yet the priest is still alive, although his suffering was terrible. But until the twenty-four hours were up, he could not die.
Finally the torment ended, and the peace of death was reflected on his face. And then the child saw a lovely living creature with four snow-white wings, which rose into the air from the dead body and fluttered over the boy’s head.
He rushed after the students. And as soon as they saw this creature, they immediately realized that it was the soul of their teacher. They watched her in wonder and awe until she disappeared from view behind the clouds.
This was the first butterfly to be seen in Ireland. And now people know that butterflies are the souls of the dead, who are waiting to be allowed into purgatory in order to find purity and peace through torment.
Yes, but after this incident, schools in Ireland were completely empty. People reasoned like this: is it worth sending children to school if even the most learned person in Ireland has been mistaken all his life?
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru