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 their passions. “But thou”,  he  continued,  “when  thou  shalt  take her, give  thyself  for  three  days  to  nothing  else  but  prayers  with her; then  the  devil  shall  be  driven  away,  and  you  shall  obtain  a blessing.”

Having entered  into  the  house  of  Raguel,  Tobias  made himself known,  and  was  warmly  received  by  Raguel,  as  the  son of an  old  friend  and  of  a most  worthy  man. At the  same  time Anna, the  wife  of  Raguel,  and  Sara,  his  daughter,  wept  for  joy. They then  prepared  a repast  for  the  travellers,  and  Raguel  prayed them to  sit  down  to  eat. Tobias told  him  that  he  would  neither eat nor  drink  till  he  promised  to  give  him  Sara,  his  daughter,  in marriage.

Raguel seemed  to  hesitate,  but  the  Angel  told  him  not  to be  afraid  to  give  his  daughter  to  the  young  man,  for  that  he feared  the  Lord. Then Raguel  consented,  and  taking  his  daughter’s right hand,  placed  it  in  that  of  Tobias,  saying:  “The  God  of Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob  be  with  you : may He  join  you  together,  and  fulfil  His  blessing  in  you.”

Then they  sat  down  to  eat. And Tobias  and  Sara  spent three days  in  prayer,  after  which  the  devil  had  no  power  to  harm them. Then, at  the  request  of  Tobias,  the  Angel  took  the  note of hand,  went  to  the  country  of  the  Medes,  collected  the  money from Gabelus,  and  returned  with  Gabelus  to  be  present  at  the wedding.

Gabelus came  with  great  joy,  and  when  he  saw  the  young husband he  wept  and  embraced  him,  saying: “The  God  of  Israel bless thee,  because  thou  art  the  son  of  a very  good  and  just man, who  feareth  God,  and  doeth  alms-deeds. And may  a blessing come  upon  thy  wife.”

The elder  Tobias  is  the  model  of  a good  father. By  word  and example he  brought  up  his  son  from  his  earliest  youth  in  the  fear  of  God. When the  time  came  that  he  expected  to  die,  he  forcibly  reiterated the most  important  points  of  his  teaching,  and  his  exhortations must have  made  all  the  greater  impression  on  the  son,  because  the father preached  nothing  that  he  had  not  himself  constantly  practised. Tobias cared  for  the  salvation  of  his  son’s  soul  more  than  anything, and therefore  he  admonished  him  above  all  things  to  avoid  sin  and especially to  cultivate  the  virtues  of  filial  piety,  the  fear  of  God,  justice, brotherly  love,  gentleness  and  a great  confidence  in  God.