AN
OLD CATHOLIC MISPRINT
Due to an unanticipated change of
plans, I must resume the devotional series, “I Will,” on this coming Monday. I thought I would end this week with a bit of
Christian humor (with preemptive apologies to my Catholic brothers and sisters)
who I hope find this story to be somewhat amusing.
In
an ancient monastery in a faraway place, a new monk arrived to join his
brothers in copying books and scrolls in the monastery’s scriptorium. He was assigned to be a replicator of books
that had already been copied by the other monks.
One day, he asked Father Florian (the rather ancient head of the scriptorium), “Does not the copying by hand of other copies allow for error? How do we know we are not copying the mistakes of someone else? Are they ever checked against the original?” Father Florian was somewhat taken off-guard by the very astute observation of this youthful monk.
“You make a very good point, my son. I will take the latest copy down to the vault and compare it to the original book manuscript.”
Father Florian went down to the vault and began his verification. After a day had passed, the monks began to worry and went down looking for the old priest. They were sure something terrible must have happened. As they approached the vault, they heard crying. When they opened the door, they found Father Florian sobbing profusely, standing near the most recent book copy and the original ancient book, both of which were opened before him on the table. It was obvious to all that this poor old man had been crying his heart out for a very long time.
“What is the problem, Reverend Father?” asked one of the monks.
“No, no, no, no!” sobbed the priest. Turning to his colleagues, he said “In the ancient book of the sacred rites of priesthood...the actual word they were using is CELEBRATE!”
One day, he asked Father Florian (the rather ancient head of the scriptorium), “Does not the copying by hand of other copies allow for error? How do we know we are not copying the mistakes of someone else? Are they ever checked against the original?” Father Florian was somewhat taken off-guard by the very astute observation of this youthful monk.
“You make a very good point, my son. I will take the latest copy down to the vault and compare it to the original book manuscript.”
Father Florian went down to the vault and began his verification. After a day had passed, the monks began to worry and went down looking for the old priest. They were sure something terrible must have happened. As they approached the vault, they heard crying. When they opened the door, they found Father Florian sobbing profusely, standing near the most recent book copy and the original ancient book, both of which were opened before him on the table. It was obvious to all that this poor old man had been crying his heart out for a very long time.
“What is the problem, Reverend Father?” asked one of the monks.
“No, no, no, no!” sobbed the priest. Turning to his colleagues, he said “In the ancient book of the sacred rites of priesthood...the actual word they were using is CELEBRATE!”
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