How the Olive Tree was blessed.

The night Christ was born was very cold. The cave was cold and the Virgin Mary did not know what to do.

Then Joseph thought of lighting a fire to warm up a little, but he could find no wood anywhere. He goes out of the cave, takes a walk, but nothing.

He goes back inside, takes some straw from the manger and lights a fire. As soon as she saw them, the Virgin Mary wept and said that they should always be golden.

But after a while the haystacks were extinguished. The cave froze again. Joseph came out again, and his feet became tangled in a dry branch. It was rosemary.

Joseph lit it and the Virgin Mary wished to smell and decorate the icons of the Saints. But the fire lasted a while and the frost grew stronger.

Then Joseph heard voices through his bag saying:

Go Joseph, to our mother the olive tree above the cave and tell her that Christ is in danger. She will be very sad that we knew about it and didn't tell her anything.

It was a handful of olives that he had stored along with some bread in time of need.

Joseph went to the olive tree and she began to break pieces of wood from her old trunk and push them towards the entrance of the cave. All night the fire burned and warmth spread around the newborn Christ.

In the morning the tree was nothing but a root stump. When the Virgin Mary saw it, she wept, bent down, stroked it and said:

My wish that you never dry out. May your oil nourish and illuminate people. In the evening, light the candle of Christ.

So it happened. By evening the olive tree became big again as it was before.

Since then, the olive tree does not age. It dries, but from its roots it sprouts again and feels again.