A poor peasant boy once heard a priest say in church that whoever wished to enter the kingdom of heaven must always go straight onward. So he set out, walking straight ahead over hill and valley without ever turning aside. Eventually, his path led him into a great town and into the midst of a church, where a service was being held.
When he beheld all the magnificence, he thought he had reached heaven. He sat down and rejoiced with his whole heart. After the service, when the clerk asked him to leave, he replied, "No, I will not go out again. I am glad to be in heaven at last." The clerk told the priest there was a child in the church who refused to leave, believing he was in heaven.
The priest said, "If he believes that, we will let him stay." He went to the boy and asked if he wished to work. "Yes," the boy replied, "I am used to work, but I will not leave heaven again." So he stayed. Seeing people kneel and pray to a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary with the child Jesus, he thought, "That is God." He said, "Dear God, how thin you are! The people must be letting you starve. I will give you half my dinner every day."
From then on, he shared half his meal with the statue daily, and the statue seemed to enjoy the food. After a few weeks, people noticed the statue growing larger, stouter, and stronger, and wondered greatly. The priest, also puzzled, stayed to observe and saw how the boy shared his food with the Virgin Mary and how she appeared to accept it.
Some time later, the boy fell ill and was bedridden for eight days. As soon as he could rise, his first act was to take food to the statue. The priest followed and heard him say, "Dear God, do not take it amiss that I have brought you nothing for so long. I have been ill and could not get up." Then the statue answered, "I have seen your goodwill, and that is enough. Next Sunday, you shall go with me to the wedding."
The boy rejoiced and told the priest, who begged him to ask if he too might go. "No," answered the statue, "you alone." The priest prepared the boy by giving him Holy Communion. The next Sunday, when the host was given to him, the boy fell down and died, and was at the eternal wedding.