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The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary by Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich
6. OCCURRENCES DURING THE BIRTH OF CHRIST IN EGYPT.
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I saw also in Egypt an event which proclaimed the birth of Christ. Far
away in the country beyond Matarea, Heliopolis, and Memphis a great
idol, which until then had uttered oracles of many kinds, fell suddenly
silent. The king then ordered that great sacrifices should be offered
throughout the country in order that the idol might explain its
silence. The idol was thereupon obliged by God to say that it was
silent and must give way because a virgin had given birth to a son, to
whom a temple would here be erected. On hearing this, the king of that
country decided to build a temple in his honor near the temple of the
idol. I cannot clearly remember what happened, but I know that the idol
was taken away and a temple was built here in honor of the virgin with
the Child whom it had proclaimed, and that she was there honored after
their heathen fashion.
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