ONE DAY IN HEAVEN, our Good Lord wanted to take a walk and took all his Apostles and Saints with him, leaving only St. Peter behind. The Lord ordered him to not let anyone in while he was gone, and St. Peter gladly obeyed the order by guarding the gate. Only a few minutes later, however, and a tailor appeared in front of him.

Peter asked him who he was.

"I am but a poor tailor and I want to be admitted in Heaven, as I was always honest and diligent on Earth, never to steal from anyone".

"Diligent and honest you were indeed", admitted St. Peter. "But there were times that your hand reached out for more fabric than your customers trusted you with. You will not enter Heaven. The Lord forbids entry until his return".

"Please have mercy on me", cried the tailor. "These small pieces of fabric that fell off the table do harm to no one, and nobody ever complained to me. Spare me, I feel cold and my feet are tired from walking. If you let me in, I'll do all the hard work. I will watch after the small angels, change their diapers, keep their playground clean and mend all their torn clothes".

St. Peter was moved by his answer, so he opened the Gates of Heaven to let him in, giving him a strict warning not to cause any trouble before the Lord came back. As soon as he was in, he did all the chores: he cleaned the benches the angels were sitting on, then changed their diapers. Then, will all the scraps of fabric he had stolen from his work on earth, he patched their clothes.

When at some point he thought of having a break, he started wandering around. After a while he reached a big room with beautiful chairs made of pure gold, as well as a huge Throne, in front of which a footrest was to be found. This was our Lord's Throne, from which he could oversee everything that happened on Earth.

As the tailor approached the Throne, he was struck with a vision of every sin he had committed in his life, along with the lives of his friends and relatives. So awe-struck was he by his vision, that he accidentally fell on the footstool, moving it out of position. Then he started crying, and so as not to draw others' attention, he hid behind a chair.

When the Lord with his Apostles came back, they didn't notice the tailor that was hiding, but rather the footstool that was slightly out of alignment with the Throne. Our Lord then summoned St. Peter and asked him whether anyone had gotten through the gates of Heaven while he was taking his walk.

St. Peter then replied: "I only know of a tailor who hides behind that corner as we speak".

The Lord then asked for the tailor and demanded to hear the reason why he had entered in his absence.

"My Good Lord", answered the tailor with tears in his eyes, "before walking through the Gates, I thought I was diligent and honest, so I asked St Peter to pardon me. As soon as I set my eyes on your Throne, however, I realized that this was far from the truth, and that my sins were great and grave".

Then the Lord replied: "Now you know that one needs to not only be diligent and honest, but also humble as to walk through the Gates". And with those words ordered St. Peter to let the poor tailor stay forever, so as to mend the small angels' clothes.