"The Legend of the Christmas Rose" is Selma Lagerlof's short story about Christian beliefs, and the positive possibilities or unfortunate outcomes when those beliefs are followed loyally or disregarded.

At the beginning of the story, a woman named Robber Mother and her five children who live in Robbers' Cave in Goinge Forest, have come into the local village to beg for food and clothing. Robber Mother's husband, Robber Father does not accompany them. He was labeled an outlaw for stealing a cow a few years ago and was banished from the town. The villagers would occasionally leave parcels outside their doorsteps for Robber Mother and the children, but would never come out of their houses to speak to the woman.

On this day, one of Robber Mother's children enters an open garden gate at the Ovid Cloister, where the monks live. Robber Mother follows the...