Cinderella (Aschenputtel)

While various versions of this tale abound, the Brothers Grimm tell the grim tale of a life made hard for a young girl by her stepmother and stepsisters. While her stepsisters prepare for a ball, Cinderella is left at home to sort seeds or lentils by the fire. She receives help from a pair of pigeons, who direct her to the tree she planted by her mother's grave. From this tree, Cinderella receives all she needs to be transformed into a beautiful princess. When she disappears from the ball the second night, she leaves behind a golden slipper. Her stepsisters go to gruesome lengths to make the shoe fit, but the pigeons help lead the prince to discover that the girl sitting in the ashes is the right bride.

Virtues and Themes:

• Perseverance in Prayer (CCC 2742-43, Eph. 6:18)
  • Cinderella does not fail to trust that help will come to her.
  • She asks for what she desires with complete childlike trust.
  • She goes to her mother's grave, asking for her intercession.
• The Dignity and Vocation of Woman (CCC 369, 2334, Gen. 1:27, Gal. 4:4)
  • Though treated poorly, Cinderella behaves like a queen.
  • The prince discovers in the purity and simplicity of Cinderella his true bride.

Suggested version: Rough-Face Girl

By Rafe Martin

Illustrated by David Shannon

Note: If you use the story of the "Rough-Face Girl," you may draw a comparison to St. Kateri Tekakwitha, "The Lily of the Mohawks," whose face was scarred from smallpox when she was a young child. At her death, the scars vanished from her face, just as Rough-Face Girl's disappear when she goes to meet her bridegroom.