The Girl Who Played the Violin

I am going to share a story that Fr. Haney used in his homily today. Now Fr. Haney likes to use a lot of stories and I'm not sure what this had to do with today's readings. But I liked the story anyway and I might even turn it into a short story for fun.


There was a very wealthy man, who had been born into luxury. He had everything his heart desired from the time he was born. But he had come into the world with a birth defect, and his face was hideous. He lived in a huge mansion on a lake. He was afraid to go out of his home, lest anyone should see his deformity, so he stayed inside all the time. When he did go out, it was to work in his garden, surround by a tall brick wall.


Well, one night he had gone out to walk beside the lake in the dark. There in the cool of the night, rang out the most beautiful music he had ever heard. Hiding himself behind a large tree, he spotted a lovely young lady playing the violin. His heart was touched. Three more nights he went out to listen, never letting the young lady know he was there.



He paid a visit to his financier, and arranged for the young lady to go to the finest music school in all of Europe. Three years later, the young lady finshed her training and was brought to meet her mysterious benefactor. She was driven past the lake, up to the mansion, through the imposing gate. The man with the hideous face was standing on the stairs in front of his home. She ran up to him, threw her arms around his neck, and said "I love you, I love you!!"

"But how could you love someone so ugly?" he asked.

"Oh, sir," she answered, "I am blind."

It made me cry.