Daily Joke: A Couple Ask a Priest for Help with Having Kids

Our Joke of the Day tells the story of a couple who desperately wanted children and went to their parish priest for help -- and got a lot more than they bargained for.

Our Joke of the Day reminds us of the old adage that warns us to be careful of what we wish for since we might get it, in spades. This is a lesson that a couple eager to become parents learned the hard way.

Since they had been trying to conceive a child and mot succeeding, a man and his wife decided to solicit the help of their parish priest and to ask him to intervene with the Almighty through prayer that He grant them the miracle of a child.

ASKING FOR A MIRACLE

The couple went to their priest and found him packing. They explained their problem, and the priest explained that he was being sent to Rome for the next 10 years, but that he would pray for them.

In addition, he promised that he would go to the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, and light a special candle in that holiest of places, and ask God to send them the child they so longed for. He said:

“As soon as I get to Rome, I’ll immediately light a candle for you.”

HOME AGAIN

10 years later, the priest was sent back to his old parish, and he started doing the rounds, visiting his old congregation, and catching up with the news. He decided to visit the childless couple.

He knocked on the door, which was opened by a boy about 10 years old, and asked to speak to his mother. The woman came out, heavily pregnant and with a baby in her arms, and two more clinging to her skirts.

She immediately invited the priest into the house and urged him to sit down for a cup of tea. To his astonishment, the priest saw that there were 10 children in the house, ranging from the 10-year-old to the newborn.

The woman, who had so longed to become a mother, looked exhausted as she dealt with her demanding brood of squalling and bickering children. The priest, eager to make conversation exclaimed:

“Well, this is quite a pleasant surprise! It seems as though God listened to my prayer."

The woman smiled and nodded, and introduced the priest to her brood of ten, which he realized must have been born at the rate of one a year since he had left for Rome.

The priest had his tea and asked about how she was coping with motherhood. As it was getting late and he had to leave, he asked the woman:

"But where is your dear husband? I wanted to see him before I left!"

To the priest's astonishment, the woman replied:

“My husband’s in Rome.”

The priest asked, surprised:

“Rome? Why on earth would he go to Rome?”

To which the harried mother of 10 replied:

“He’s gone to blow out that candle you lit!”

As it turned out, the couple ended up with a lot more than they bargained for... If you enjoyed our Joke of the Day, find more here, and share the laughter with a friend.