THE WIDOW’S SON

THE WIDOW’S SON

Nain, a village located on the northern slope of Little Hermon, about thirty-eight kilometers from Capernaum, was the scene of one of the greatest miracles of Jesus.
It was evening. The sun was about to hide behind the mountains when the Savior, accompanied by His disciples and by a crowd that could not bear to leave Him, climbed the narrow path leading to the place.

Near the gate of the village, He had to yield the way to another procession coming out in the opposite direction. It was a funeral. On a stretcher, without a coffin, they carried the body of a young man wrapped in a shroud.
Behind him came his mother, very sorrowful and desolate, followed by relatives and friends. She was a widow, and the deceased, almost still a boy, was her only son — her only support for the future. He was dead. What would become of her now?

Learning what had happened, Jesus, ever merciful and compassionate, said to the inconsolable widow:
— Do not weep, my daughter.

Then, approaching the bier, He signaled for them to stop and set it down. Everyone crowded around the Savior. What was going to happen?
The admirers of the divine Wonderworker were used to seeing Him perform astounding miracles; but with a dead man, already being carried to his burial, what could He possibly do?

The eyes of the people, wide with curiosity, followed every movement of the Master. Looking at the lifeless youth, pale and rigid in the cold of death, Jesus commanded in an authoritative tone:
— Young man, I say to you, arise!

A shiver of emotion ran through the crowd. There was no doubt — the dead man had returned to life. All could see how the body moved, how its ashen color faded; his eyes opened and shone, his lips moved — the dead man was speaking.
He was no longer dead. He lived again — fully alive.

And Jesus, taking him by the hand, gave him back to his mother, who, shedding tears of emotion and joy, fell to the ground to give thanks to the Lord of life and death.