One day, one pastor began to spread rumors among parishioners about his unprecedented holiness. To prove it, he came up with this trick: he ordered the servant to catch a dove, tie its wings and take it to the attic of the church. A hole was made in advance in the canopy above the pulpit, through which the dove would then be released.
One Sunday, the pastor announced from the pulpit that the next Sunday the holy spirit would visit him and whoever wanted to see this for himself should come to church.
The next Sunday the church is packed.
Of course!
No sooner had the pastor ascended the pulpit than he began to boast of his holiness. Finally he preached a sermon, and then the holy spirit was supposed to appear. The pastor delayed the last word as long as he could, and waited for the servant to release a dove to him. But there is no dove.
Seeing that the holy spirit does not come on its own, let the pastor call him:
- Holy spirit, appear, holy spirit, appear!
And he’s still not there. The servant got into trouble - the ferret strangled the pigeon at night.
The servant shouts to the pastor that the ferret ate the Holy Spirit, but he doesn’t hear and calls out louder:
- Holy spirit, appear, holy spirit, appear!
The servant could not stand it, collected the pigeon feathers along with the dust and threw them on the pastor, and he himself shouted:
- They tell you that the ferret ate the Holy Spirit!
The parishioners saw pigeon feathers flying through the air and they were about to believe in the holiness of the pastor, but then he began to curse the servant at all costs and thereby betrayed and disgraced himself.
Then everyone saw how holy the pastor was, and from then on no one believed him anymore.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru