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.”
COMMENTARY.
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.
