Easter Stories

Classic Tales for the Holy Season

Compiled by Miriam LeBlanc

Plough Publishing House, 2015

383 pages, $18

To order: plough.com

 

The editors at Plough Publishing House have released another collection, Easter Stories: Classic Tales for the Holy Season. As in the previous compilation, the tales in this new volume have been chosen for their literary quality and include short stories by well-known authors such as Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov and Oscar Wilde, as well as excerpts from longer works by reputable authors — a chapter from Ben Hur, a portion of a novel by Alan Paton and a section from The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis.

Many of the stories are by authors unfamiliar to American readers. One of my favorites is a translation of Selma Lagerlof’s 1908 story Saint Veronica’s Kerchief. It’s a wonderful piece of historical fiction that fleshes out the life of St. Veronica, Pontius Pilate and his wife and people who encountered Our Lord during his public ministry. In Lagerlof’s tale, Veronica is a servant of the Roman emperor. After the emperor is stricken by leprosy, Veronica hears the testimony of a person cleansed of the disease by a great prophet from Galilee. She sets out in search of this Healer, hoping to bring him back to her emperor. But she is too late. She encounters Jesus on the road to Calvary, and all she can do for him is the small act of comfort and compassion for which she is famous.

But it’s enough: “She spread the kerchief out before the emperor, and he saw delineated thereon the shadowy likeness of a human face. … He bent down closer and closer to the picture. The face stood out clearer and clearer. From out of the shadow-like outlines, all at once, he saw the eyes sparkle as with hidden life. And while they spoke to him of the most terrible suffering, they also revealed a purity and sublimity which he had never seen before.

“‘You are Man!’ said he. ‘You are that which I never dreamed I should see.’ And he pointed to his disfigured face and destroyed hands. ‘I and all others are wild beasts and monsters, but you are Man.’ He bowed his head so low before the picture that it touched the floor. ‘Have pity on me, you Unknown!’ he sobbed, and his tears watered the stones. ‘If you had lived, your glance alone would have healed me.’

“Then the emperor looked up. And lo! His features were transformed, and he was as he had been before the illness. It was as if his illness had had its root and sustenance in the contempt and hatred of mankind which had lived in his heart; and it had been forced to flee the very moment he had felt love and compassion.”

This thoughtfully curated collection is remarkable for its range and breadth. The stories come from all over the world and represent many genres, such as parables, animal fables, historical fiction, fairy tales and Christian fantasy. Most of the stories are from the first half of the 20th century, but the earliest is from an 1857 edition of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, and the most recent selections were written in 2015.

Definitely read these stories at Easter, but keep the book close and pull it out whenever you and your family need a reminder of the great Easter themes of transformation, reconciliation and the triumph of life over death.

Clare Walker writes from

Westmont, Illinois.