(From Lohsa)
Translated by Ed Bernthal

Everyone pay attention and listen
To a wonderful legend,
That happened once
In a city in Hungary.

The commander at Grosswarden
Had begotten a little daughter,
A daughter so chaste and clean,
Theresia was her name.

As she came to the age of understanding
She dedicated herself wholly to Jesus:
She wanted only to be his bride,
Dedicated to him in Holy Baptism.

She was so lovable and beautiful,
The likes of her you could not find;
A noble lord asked to marry her,
He wanted her to be his wife.

He asked her parents for permission,
They gave their consent to him,
The mother said to the daughter,
‘O my dear, don’t leave this one.”

The daughter started to cry:
“Jesus, he is my bride groom
I promised him completely
To carry my virginity.”

The father said, “That can not be,
My child, don’t even imagine that,
Where will you stay at the time,
Since we both are already very old.”

The noble lord will soon come,
For the wedding has been set,
Everything was prepared before;
The bride was full of sorrow.

She went out into the green garden
There she fell down on her knees,
Called to Jesus, her bridegroom,
Who at once came to her.

He came to her with a loving greeting,
But she was very frightened,
She looked down to the ground in full shame,
But quickly went to him for refuge.

She had recognized him right away,
And her soul was aflame for him;
She forgot all about her sorrow,
And thought no more about the wedding.

When Jesus started to speak,
He honored her with a golden ring:
‘See my beloved! Here for you hand
Is a deposit of my love.’

The young woman brought roses,
Gave them to her bride groom and said:
“I love you, only you alone,
This shall be a sign of this.”

Then the two betrothed ones walked
And picked all kinds of flowers.
He said to her, ‘Now come here,
And look at my garden.’

Then he took the young woman
By the hand and into the kingdom
Of his father he led her,
Into a garden, where many roses where blooming.

She heard music and singing,
The time was never long enough.
The silver white brook,
Flowed there very clear and clean.

He said, ‘You are my dear bride!
You have now seen the garden.
I will now accompany you
To your house, for it is now time.’

The young woman left him in sadness,
And came to the city in a short time
The watchman asked her, ‘Where to?’
“I want to go to the house of my father.”

‘Who is your father?’ he asked her
“The commander of the city,” she said.
But the watchman thereupon said,
‘The commander does not have a child.’

She was recognized by her dress
That she was a woman of very high standing.
The watchman led her
Before the honorable city council.

The young woman kept saying,
That the commander was her father.
And that only two hours before
She had left through the gateway.

The council wondered greatly.
One asked her where she had been,
Her father’s name and relatives,
That she needed to explain.

Then they searched the old records
And found that it was true:
That four hundred twenty years ago
A bride had been lost.

And still this bride
Looked so young and white and red,
And her forehead glistened so clear
As if she were only fifteen years old.

Thereby, the council actually recognized,
This was a work from the hands of God.
They gave the young woman food and drink,
From which she immediately became pale and sick.

She said, “I don’t need anything right now,
Only bring me a priest,
So that I can receive before my end
The dear Jesus sacrament.

As soon as this was done,
And many people saw it.
She brought, without any pain of death
Her angelic pure heart.

Therefore, whoever wants to inherit life,
The dear Lord will grant faithfully and quietly.
So that the Lord after this time
Will give him heavenly glory.


No Music.