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HERE lived  in  Caesarea  a man  named  Cornelius,  a Roman centurion, a devout  and  God-fearing  man,  who  gave  much alms to  the  poor,  and  prayed  continually. One day  an  angel appeared to  him  and  said: “Thy  prayers  and  thy  alms  have ascended for  a memorial  in  the  sight  of  God. Send men  to  Joppe , and call  hither  one  Simon,  who  is  surnamed  Peter. He will  tell thee what  thou  must  do.”  Then  the  angel  disappeared,  but Cornelius sent  three  men,  who  feared  the  Lord,  to  Joppe.

On the  following  day,  as  these  men  were  drawing  near  the city, Peter,  waiting  for  his  mid-day  meal,  went  up  to  the  housetop to  pray. During his  prayer  he  was  rapt  in  ecstasy. He saw heaven  opened,  and  behold,  a great  sheet,  as  it  were,  was let down  by  the  four  comers  from  heaven  to  earth. In the  sheet there were  all  manner  of  four-footed  beasts,  and  creeping  things of the  earth,  and  birds  of  the  air. Then a voice  came  from heaven, saying :  “Arise,  Peter,  kill  and  eat!”  Peter  replied: “Far be  it  from  me,  Lord,  for  I have  never  eaten  any  common and unclean  thing.”  But  the  voice  spoke  to  him  again:  “That