Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume VIII/Apocrypha of the New Testament/The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew/Chapter 19

Chapter 19.

Lions and panthers adored Him likewise, and accompanied them in the desert.&#160; Wherever Joseph and the blessed Mary went, they went before them showing them the way, and bowing their heads; and showing their submission by wagging their tails, they adored Him with great reverence.&#160; Now at first, when Mary saw the lions and the panthers, and various kinds of wild beasts, coming about them, she was very much afraid.&#160; But the infant Jesus looked into her face with a joyful countenance, and said:&#160; Be not afraid, mother; for they come not to do thee harm, but they make haste to serve both thee and me.&#160; With these words He drove all fear from her heart.&#160; And the lions kept walking with them, and with the oxen, and the asses, and the beasts of burden which carried their baggage, and did not hurt a single one of them, though they kept beside them; but they were tame among the sheep and the rams which they had brought with them from Jud&#230;a, and which they had with them.&#160; They walked among wolves, and feared nothing; and no one of them was hurt by another.&#160; Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by the prophet:&#160; Wolves shall feed with lambs; the lion and the ox shall eat straw together. &#160; There were together two oxen drawing a waggon with provision for the journey, and the lions directed them in their path.