Doctor in Ragsby Louise A. Vernon |
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"A fast moving story of a 12-year-old boy who is influenced by the famous physician Paracelsus and the Hutterites to become a medical missionary. The setting is in Moravia during the 16th century. Excellent to introduce young people to the Hutterite Brethren, their way of life and beliefs. Also brought out in the story is the way the doctors of that century—the bloodletters and the miracle Doctor Paracelsus, through herbs and belief in God—cured many people. Very good!" —Church and Synagogue Libraries
Michael Bruhn, his younger sister Gudryn, and their widowed mother live in a castle in Moravia. Madame Bruhn’s field workers had fled two months before when her husband died, fearing he had the plague. She now illegally welcomed Hutterites to her estate to farm the land, giving them permission to build a Bruderhof because she felt they worshiped God in the right way.
When a doctor wearing ragged clothing appeared at their gate, Michael thought he, too, must be a Hutterite. He learned later that this was the famed doctor, Paracelsus. When Michael’s sister, Gudryn, became ill, this ‘doctor in rags’ was able to help her. Michael was impressed and began to plan when he could be a doctor.
And then tragedy struck the Bruhn household. They were arrested along with the Hutterites. Their land was taken by King Ferdinand. Michael was put into chains with the Hutterites to become a galley slave.
Through an exciting escape Michael found Paracelsus. He decided to become both a Hutterite and a missionary doctor all because of Paracelsus, a ‘doctor in rags,’ who helped people.
About the Author
In her series of religious-heritage juveniles, Louise A. Vernon re-creates for children events and figures from church history in Reformation times. She has traveled in England and Germany, researching firsthand the settings for her fictionalized real-life stories.