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Actually there are three renditions...

The 1st version goes like this...God was impressed with the Donkey's humility, devotion, and service to Mary (carrying her across the desert), and later Jesus (when he rode an Ass to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday) the He wanted to do something special for the Ass to comemorate the occasions and help mankind remember the donk's good deeds. So after some thought, He decided to put the sign of the cross (dorsal plus withers stripe) along the donkey's back, where they've remained to this date.

The 2nd version is a little more practical in nature, and claims rather, that the way the Donkey got the markings originally was because one day while Joseph & Mary were traveling, the newborn infant (Jesus) wet on the donkey's back. Thus the "stains" remained throughout the poor little donkey's life.

The 3rd version comes from by way of a fellow cyber reader, Barbara Zeiger, who learned it from a friend taught in a religious school setting while growing up on some islands. Basically it goes: A mule was carrying Jesus across a stream but became agitated and threw him off into the water about midway across. Just then, a donkey happened along and took pity on the soaking man, deciding to pick Jesus up and carry him the rest of the way. This is why mules are sterile and donkeys blessed with a cross on its back as an important reminder.

(This Page last updated: November 30, 2000)