Saints&Reading: Saturday, January 6, 2024

december 24_january 6

The Eve of the Nativity of Christ ( according to the Julian "old"calendar).Celebrated by the Russian Church, as well as the Serbian, Georgian and some other Churches.

THE MONASTIC-MARTYR EUGENIA OF ROME (262)

The Holy Martyr Eugenia, was a Roman by birth. She lived at Alexandria, where her father Philip was sent by the emperor Commodus (180-192) to be Prefect of Egypt. Eugenia received a fine upbringing and was noted for her beauty and good disposition. Many illustrious youths sought her hand, but she did not wish to marry anyone, for she was determined to preserve her virginity.

Providentially, she became acquainted with the Epistles of the Apostle Paul. She yearned with all her soul to become a Christian, but kept this a secret from her parents. At that time, Christians were banished from Alexandria by the command of the emperor. Wishing to learn more about Christian teachings, she asked permission to visit one of the family estates outside the city, supposedly to enjoy the countryside. She left in the company of her two servants Protus and Hyacinthus, dressed in men’s clothes. She and her companions were baptized at a certain monastery by Bishop Elias (July 14), who learned about her in a vision. He blessed her to pursue asceticism at the monastery disguised as the monk Eugene.

By her ascetic labors, Saint Eugenia acquired the gift of healing. Once, a rich young woman named Melanthia turned to her for help. Seeing “Eugene,” this woman burned with an impure passion, and when she was spurned, she falsely accused the saint of attempted rape. Saint Eugenia came to trial before the Prefect of Egypt (her father), and she was forced to reveal her secret. Her parents and brothers rejoiced to find the one for whom they had long grieved.

After a while they all accepted holy Baptism. But Philip, after being denounced by pagans, was dismissed from his post. The Alexandrian Christians chose him as their bishop. The new Prefect, fearing the wrath of the people, did not dare to execute Philip openly, but sent assassins to kill him. They inflicted wounds upon Saint Philip while he was praying, from which he died three days later.

Saint Claudia went to Rome with her sons, daughter, and her servants. There Saint Eugenia continued with monastic life, and brought many young women to Christ. Claudia built a wanderers’ hostel and aided the poor. After several peaceful years, the emperor Galienus (260-268) intensified the persecution against Christians, and many of them found refuge with Saints Claudia and Eugenia.

Basilla, an orphaned Roman girl of imperial lineage, heard about the Christians and Saint Eugenia. She sent a trusted servant to the saint asking her to write her a letter explaining Christian teachings. Saint Eugenia sent her friends and co-ascetics, Protus and Hyacinthus, who enlightened Basilla, and she accepted holy Baptism.

Basilla’s servant then told her fiancé Pompey that his betrothed had become a Christian. Pompey then complained to the emperor against the Christians for preaching celibacy and denouncing idolatry. Basilla refused to enter into marriage with Pompey, and so they killed her with a sword.

They dragged Saints Protus and Hyacinthus into a temple to make them sacrifice to the idols, but just as they entered, the idol fell down and was shattered. The holy Martyrs Protus and Hyacinthus were beheaded. They also brought Saint Eugenia to the temple of Diana by force, but she had not even entered it, when the pagan temple collapsed with its idol.

They threw the holy martyr into the Tiber with a stone about her neck, but the stone became untied and she remained unharmed. She also remained unscathed in the fire. Then they cast her into a pit, where she remained for ten days. During this time the Savior Himself appeared to her and said that she would enter into the heavenly Kingdom on the day He was born. When this radiant Feast came, the executioner put her to death with a sword. After her death, Saint Eugenia appeared to her mother to tell her beforehand the day of her own death.

HEBREWS 1:1-12

1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. 5 For to which of the angels did He ever say: "You are My Son, Today I have begotten You"? And again: "I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son"? 6 But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: "Let all the angels of God worship Him." 7 And of the angels He says: "Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire." 8 But to the Son He says: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions." 10 And: "You, LORD, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. 11 They will perish, but You remain; And they will all grow old like a garment; 12 Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail."

LUKE 2:1-20

1 And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. 3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. 4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. 6 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. 8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger. 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 14 Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!" 15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, "Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us." 16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. 17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. 18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.

some SMTII and SMTIV notes

救世主 Kyuuseishu

Aleph is called the true ‚Kyuuseishu‘ (Saviour of the World). That expression is used when Jesus is portrayed in the Salvator Mundi position. Kyuuseishu is also used for all the protagonists in the Diamond Realm DLC in SMTIV Final.

聖母 Seibo Hiroko is called ‚Seibo‘ (holy mother). This expression is always used in Japanese in connection to Virgin Mary.

More on the name Aleph:

The name Aleph next to being from the Hebrew alphabet also has Christian allusions as well. Namely alluding to the expression Alpha and Omega/Aleph and Tav.

Alpha and Omega are the first and the last letters of the Greek alphabet. The first and the last letters of the Hebrew alphabet are, respectively, א (aleph) and ת (tav). The letter Aleph means “an ox” and symbolizes a sacrificial animal offered to God. The letter Tav means “a mark“. I am the Aleph and the Tav, the beginning and the end, the first and the last (Rev. 22:13).

Also the letter Aleph appears as IC in its cursive form looking similar to Jesus Christ. It‘s kinda cool since Aleph is so heavily modeled after Jesus that even his name might not just be randomly chosen.

There is also a different variant of the letter Tav ת. It looks like a cross.

Alpha and Omega is also often used in the Chi-Rho. Eli Eli lama sabachthani

(my god why have you forsaken me). Quoted by Jesus on the cross. It derives from psalm 22 supposedly written by King David. This psalm is often interpreted by Christians to have Messianic symbolism since some lines seem similar to Jesus‘ crucifixion (for example ’They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.‘ which resembles the Romans gambling for Jesus‘ clothes etc.) I have read that since Jesus quoted this psalm that means that Jesus basically claimed that psalm as his. Some spectators of the crucifixion mistakingly or mockingly thought that he is calling Elijah (who is responsible for saving innocents). Interestingly while the psalm starts dramatically it ends positively similar to the contrast between Jesus‘ crucifixion and later resurrection. Also small discourse on the relation between Jesus and David: Matthew 9 Jesus Heals Two Blind Men 27 And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” 28 When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” 29 Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.” 30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about it.” 31 But they went away and spread his fame through all that district. Jesus is often by side characters called Son of David as well. For example two blind men he heals call him that.

Another scene in which he famously is called Son of David (along with Messiah) is on Palm Sunday when he enters Jerusalem on a donkey. The Messiah is said to be from the House of David. Jesus‘ mother Mary is related to Prince Nathan a younger son of David and Bathsheba. Nathan never ruled though which is why Jesus‘ foster earthly father Joseph of Nazareth is important. Joseph is actually related to King Solomon the oldest surviving son of David and Bathsheba, who was actually king. Joseph basically adopted Jesus into the main Davidic branch. Why the adoption? Due to the curse of Jeconiah who is an ancestor of Joseph of Nazareth. Jeconiah was cursed by God meaning that a direct descendant of Solomon couldn‘t technically become the Messiah anymore. Henceforth why this is broken with Jesus being from the side Nathan branch + his virgin birth. I personally always thought that his Davidic lineage was what actually killed Jesus. The Sanhedrin gave him to the Romans. The Romans did not care about Son of God, Messiah etc. What they cared about was that there were people around saying he the Son of the House David should be king which leads to the crown of thorns mockery and INRI inscription on his cross.

If you read up on the House David it‘s also a really hot mess. David who uses his position to sleep with Uriah‘s wife Bathsheba and sends Uriah to his death to solve this problem, Amnon who rapes his half-sister Tamar, Absalom who turns against David and rapes ten concubines of David etc.

The relation of Jesus to Bathsheba is actually emphasized along with Jesus relation to Rahab ‚the whore of Jericho‘, Tamar ‚who disguised as a prostitute to sleep with her father in law’, and Ruth ‚the Moabite thus seen as Gentile by Jews‘ to precisely not only emphasize women like Sarah (Abraham‘s wife), Rebecca (Isaac‘s wife) and Leah (Jacob‘s wife) who are seen as paragons (they all appear in Jesus genealogy anyway) and to hide stuff.

מנא, מנא, תקל, ופרסין

Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin

“numbered, weighed, divided/Persia.”

“The writing on the wall”, or “the handwriting on the wall” or “Mene Mene”, is an idiom for doom and a set future.

It’s a story from the Book of Daniel (Old Testament) Chapter 5. At a banquet hosted by King Belshazzar a disembodied hand appeared and wrote on the palace wall, “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin”.

Daniel was supposed to interprete this and it was seen as the end for the Babylonian kingdom. That same night King Belshazzar was killed and Babylon fell to the Persians and Medes.

Son of Man

Daniel 7

13 “I saw in the night visions,

and behold, with the clouds of heaven

   there came one like a son of man,

and he came to the Ancient of Days

   and was presented before him.

14

And to him was given dominion

   and glory and a kingdom,

that all peoples, nations, and languages

   should serve him;

his dominion is an everlasting dominion,

   which shall not pass away,

and his kingdom one

   that shall not be destroyed.

The expression Son of Man is famously used in the book Daniel in a vision given to Daniel in which four "beasts," representing nations are judged by God. The "Ancient of Days" (God) gives dominion over the earth to "the Son of Man”.

Ancient of Days also appears in SMTIV.

Daniel as I explained in another article was chief of the Magi in Babylon (interesting to think about considering the Magi who visited Jesus) and the archangel Gabriel also appeared to him explaining the 70 weeks prophecy (which Christians believe foretold the exact timeframe in which the Messiah would appear since it fits the timeframe of Jesus)

This expression Son of Man was later used during the Second Temple era as a name for the Messiah since people understood what Jesus was referring to when he used it.

Jesus when using this term applied Daniel‘s prophecy to himself. He quoted Daniel often even supporting Daniel‘s claim that the second temple would be destroyed. It also seems like most Christians listened to Jesus’ advice regarding the temple to flee to the mountains which is why Christians abandoned Jerusalem and hid in Pella when the Temple fell.

Matthew 26:57-67

The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”

64 “You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

The most dramatic sequence in which Jesus uses this term is actually this scene.

The Sanhedrin has caught him and Caiaphas asks him to tell them whether he is the Messiah and Son of God. Jesus says that they are correct and once again makes a reference to Daniel. This makes Caiaphas so angry that he tears his clothes.

Acts 7:54-56

54 When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.“

It‘s also once referenced in the story of St. Stephen the first Christian martyr.

Another instance where it is used is in the Book of Revelation.

A Thousand Words

The request:

Author’s Notes | It took me too long, I know, but I hope you like the final result!

Universe | Vikings

Pairing | Ivar x Nomad Reader

Info | Viking Age AU, requested by @nyx-daughterofchaos98​ for 5CW7 and posted as later work.

Words | 1416

⁑ Warnings: None

Her fingers were touching everything she could reach; her eyes looking, observing, scanning everything she could touch before she could place the objects back on their original places and go to the next piece of her interest, leaving everything untouched, organized, as if she had never passed through that place. Factual proof of the story she told when he brought her into his hall.

"I'm a wanderer. A learner. I come to know, to understand, to learn, and to teach if someone wants to learn from me. I tell stories in exchange for stories, tales for tales, words for words. I fight the ones who fight me first. I kill the ones who tried to kill me first."

His men had started that fight, he was convinced.

But Ivar never saw someone dealing with so many of his men before. Of course, he had among his armies, tons of shieldmaidens that could face dozens of men at the same time as she did, but not unarmed as she was. Not using nothing but her bare hands to disarm and disable those men as if they weren't the same warriors who faced so many battles alongside him. As if they weren't the ones holding swords, shields, axes against her.

She was something more. A goddess maybe? She didn't claim to be one. Instead, she claimed to believe in many, disbelief many... A learner, she said.

"What brought you into my lands?" Ivar asked from his throne, kinda annoyed that she didn't interrupt her observation of the runes sculpted in his hall's pillars to look at him while answering his question.

Satisfied that she wasn't denying him any answers at all.

"Knowledge," she answered quickly, sliding her fingers through the pillar, feeling the runes. "Your gods... I don't know them. I know Budha, Rá, Hécate. Cernunnos, Christ, Zeus. I know Amaterasu and Oxalá. Ogum and Apolo. I know many gods. But I don't know yours yet."

Her eyes continued to slide through the runes along with her fingers.

"The names you say... Few of them are familiar to me. Who's Osalah? What is Ohgaum? What are those gods you claim to know?" Ivar asked, wrongly speaking the names, attracting her attention for a single moment, a glance before she started looking at the runes once again.

"Oxalá. Obatalá. The Iorubá creator of humanity. King of the White Cloth, purity, the beginning of everything," she explained as if it was natural for her to speak about those unknown names Ivar never heard before. "Ogum," she corrected his pronounce once again, continuously speaking with that tone of impassibility. "The lord of war, sire of fights, owner of the iron and everything that can be done from it. Gods from lands unknown to your people just like your lands are unknown to me."

"Why don't you look at me as you speak?" he finally complained, attracting her eyes once again, heavy and at the same time, empty like the sky in the middle of a clean night.

Mysterious... Inexplicable.

"Don't you respect a king when you see one?" he insisted as her eyes lost itself from his image once again into the runes sculpted on the wooden pillar.

"Crowns are nothing. Invalid pieces of twisted metal to mark the heads of leaders I saw rise and fall like the stars in the sky and the grains of the sand in your clear beaches. You're a man, like all the others under a crown. And one day you'll fall, like all the others before you."

Those words hit Ivar's chest like an arrow straight into his chest. To be confronted with his mortality, his vulnerability spoken like something so usual, so normal, so natural... It wasn't something he was used to facing every day.

"I could order your killing. Tomorrow you would be burned and it would be the end of your journey!" Ivar's voice sounded harsh.

But her expression remained unaltered, untouched by his anger or his threats.

"Others have done it before. I live, they died. And they successors gave me what I wanted before they also fell like their precursors. The fall is the fate of everything that rises, king. If I have to die by your hands, then be it. If don't, then I'll find my way out, and I'll come back for the knowledge when you're no longer ruling over these lands."

Once again, her words hit his chest and this time, Ivar got up, using his crutch to walk towards her, finally attracting her attention towards his legs.

He was ready to make a speech about how his rule would never end, how wrong she was about him, but her eyes fixedly looking at his legs infuriated him more than her impassibility in front of his threats.

"What? Something you never saw, wise one?" he mocked, looking at her with contempt.

But she lowered herself ignoring his glare or the emotions in his eyes, observing the braces in his legs the same way she was observing the pillar before.

"A beautiful work of good smithery," she said, totally disconcerting him as her fingers lifted to touch the unions and mobile parts of his braces. "Heavy metal, mobile structures to make it lighter... A magnificent way to deal with your condition, king."

Ivar was completely out of himself.

Who was that woman?

No. What was that woman?

Was she even a woman?

"Ivar," he said, looking at her. "My name is Ivar the Boneless, son of Ragnar Lothbrok. A descendant from Odin."

"Odin," she repeated, lifting herself up. "Then, you're a demigod. Many others claimed this before. I wouldn't doubt a crippled man who can walk could somehow have divine blood in his veins."

She walked away from him as his eyes followed her steps towards his table with total disbelief. She didn't refuse his claim. She didn't go against it. What was that woman after all?

She took one of his chairs and inverted it before mounting the seat, resting her face on her arms crossed over the wooden back of the chair to look straight into his eyes.

"Tell me about your ancestor. Who's Odin? And Ragnar? Are you the first human of your lineage? Tell me your answers, then, I'll answer your questions. Ask me, and I'll give you what I have. Give me what you have, and I'll leave your lands as I found. I have no intentions to destroy nor intentions to build. I don't want to conquer, nor to be conquered. A learner, I said. That's what I am. A word for a word, son of Odin."

Ivar leaned his head.

She could tell him secrets he could never have the chance to touch once again. And if she was bluffing, archers could surely put her down better than the warriors she faced, right? After all, he was a descendant from Odin! What god would be bigger than his?

"Slave!" he called, and a woman answered his call, lowering her head and receiving his words yet he didn't have stopped looking at that strange visitor in his chair. "Bring food. And mead. And prepare our visitor some good accommodations. There are tales to be told and questions to be answered, too many for a single night to hold."

Her lips curved in a smile. She would have the knowledge she came for, she could see it. Like others before him, that man in front of her was ambitious enough to give her everything for the knowledge she could hold.

"I'm Y/N," she introduced herself, knowing it would be his first answer once he had already introduced himself first. "I’m daughter of nobody, I came from nowhere, my destiny is the next step, and whatever the gods have prepared for me into it. I follow no god; I believe in all of them. I saw all lands; I belong to none of them. My home is the world, the roads, the dust. Ask, King Ivar, and you shall be answered."

Ivar pulled a chair to himself, his smile bigger on his mouth.

That woman wasn't something to be ignored. A blessing, of course. Maybe Odin itself, maybe Loki shapeshifting to mislead. Whatever she was, wasn't important.

He would want her to stay for as long as he could keep her by his side. And thank the gods his tales were as many as Yggdrasil had branches.

Luckily, he would fall before she could leave.

And Ivar wasn't planning to fall anytime soon...

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Hugo van der Goes, Portinari Altarpiece, c. 1476, oil on wood, 274 x 652 cm when open (Uffizi)Hugo van der Goes, Portinari Altarpiece, c. 1476, oil on wood, 274 x 652 cm when open (Uffizi) 

Hugo van der Goes, Portinari Altarpiece

Created by Smarthistory. By Dr. Rebecca Howard Artworks are powerful things. Hugo van der Goes’s Portinari Altarpiece caused quite a stir when it arrived in Florence—the city that was to become its permanent home. Van der Goes, master of light and minute descriptive details, is considered one of the greatest Netherlandish painters of the second half of the fifteenth century. The Portinari Altarpiece is a large triptych that was commissioned by an Italian named Tommaso Portinari, who was living in the Netherlands.

An Italian family in the North

Just as today, people in the renaissance often traveled extensively or even moved permanently for work. Portinari, his wife Maria Maddalena Baroncelli, and their children were living in Bruges at the time of this painting’s creation. Tommaso worked as a high-ranking agent of the Medici banking industry, helping to run a branch of the bank in Bruges. The Medici were one of the most powerful families in western Europe, and their lineage had developed an extremely wealthy banking, mercantile, and political family. Agents throughout Europe managed branches of their banking empire.

The Portinari family and Florence’s Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova While Tommaso had made a name for himself in Bruges, his family remained important to the history of Florence. In 1288, Tommaso’s ancestor, Folco Portinari, founded the hospital of Santa Maria Nuova, today the oldest functioning hospital in Florence. In the 1420s, the Portinari family supported further renovations to the hospital, which, by the fifteenth century had around 200 beds (up from 12). As with many hospitals today, Santa Maria Nuova had a connected church, Sant’Egidio.

The Portinari Altarpiece was commissioned for the main altar of this church, and was simultaneously a way for Tommaso to perpetuate his family’s name and importance in conjunction with the city of Florence and the hospital of Santa Maria Nuova.

The Portinari Altarpiece stands as a highlight of Tommaso’s career and the public image he hoped for his family name to retain. Unfortunately, the Portinari family fell on difficult financial times not long after this painting’s creation, as Tommaso lost the Medici family a great deal of money through loans to Charles the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy, which were never paid back in full. Hugo van der Goes and north-south exchange

Portinari’s choice of a Netherlandish artist to complete this great altarpiece to be sent back to Florence helped to effectively change aspects of Italian art. The latter half of the fifteenth century was characterized by increased artistic exchange between northern European and Italian artists. Italian artists were enthralled by Northern artists’ careful attention to individual details and still-life minutiae incorporated in architectural settings and landscapes. Hugo van der Goes was considered a master of such careful, minute details and his talent was often compared to that of Jan van Eyck, considered one of the greatest painters of the early fifteenth century. Look closely, for example, at van der Goes’s rendering of the foreground angels’ garments. It appears as though we can physically touch the gold brocade of the fabric. And the clear vessel in the foreground also flawlessly seems to capture, reflect, and refract light.

Such tiny details are found throughout the Portinari Altarpiece, and nearly all of them hold some iconographic meaning. When this painting finally arrived in Florence in 1483 for its installation in the church of Sant’Egidio, it had a direct, visible effect on artistic production in Italy. A particularly famous painting that clearly recalls the Portinari Altarpiece is Domenico Ghirlandaio’s Adoration of the Shepherds, painted in 1485—only two years after the Portinari Altarpiece arrived in Florence. In Ghirlandaio’s painting, one can see that the shepherds adoring the Christ child are rendered with such individualized detail that they feel like portraits, as in the Portinari Altarpiece. The group also takes the exact same formation as the three shepherds pictured in van der Goes’s work.

Layered iconography

Iconography, commonly used in the field of art history, is the study of the symbolic meaning of things found in works of art. In northern renaissance art, artists frequently used certain figures, objects, and even depictions of biblical or historical events to symbolize something more to period viewers than what was seen on the surface. The iconography throughout the Portinari Altarpiece is extensive and quite complex.

Triptych altarpieces like the Portinari Altarpiece would have been kept closed, except on holidays and special feast days. Therefore, the exterior of the folding side wings of such artworks were typically painted. The Portinari Altarpiece’s exterior is decorated with a depiction of the Annunciation, the biblical event when the Angel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary to tell her that she had been chosen to carry the son of God. This moment is understood in the Christian faith as the beginning of mankind’s salvation. Here, we see it essentially frozen in time, as the artist has chosen to paint these figures in grisaille. These faux sculptural figures are located in shallow architectural niches and reveal van der Goes’s incredible artistic talent in their believable naturalism.

Upon seeing the Portinari Altarpiece opened, one can imagine that any period viewer would have been stunned by the elaborate details and bright colors contained on the three panels within. In the center panel, we are privy to the quiet, magical moment just after Christ’s birth, the Nativity. Angels surround the kneeling Virgin Mary and newborn Christ child, and the three shepherds have rushed in from the countryside to bear witness to the miracle. This scene would have been instantly recognizable to any period viewer, and most would have noticed the iconographic details—certain objects and scenes that held multiple meanings.

Far in the distance, behind the heads of the shepherds, we see those very same shepherds attending to their flock on the hillside. These tiny figures make gestures of surprise as an angel appears above them. This is the moment of the Annunciation of the Shepherds, when they were told that Christ had been born. In the repetition of these shepherds in the background and again in the foreground, the artist has used what is called continuous narrative, wherein figures are repeated within the same frame of an artwork to show more than one moment of a story.

In the center are the most important figures in the scene, the Virgin Mary and the infant Christ. It may seem strange that Christ is laying naked on the bare, hard ground, and that rays of light appear to emit directly from his body. However, this imagery is drawn from the writings of a medieval visionary named St. Bridget of Sweden. By the fifteenth century St. Bridget’s vision of the Nativity had become the inspiration for many depictions of this moment. Mary kneels beside Christ on the ground, a position meant to emphasize her humility, and bends over in somber adoration of her child. And her solemn nature, in this case, is meant to foretell what is to come—that she will have to sacrifice her son for the salvation of humanity.Perhaps the most striking detail in the central panel is the group of objects in the foreground. Imagine this altarpiece in its original location, just above the altar of Sant’Egidio. The two vases would appear almost as though they were sitting on the altar itself. Notice, too, that the sheaf of wheat behind them is quite similar in color to and situated directly parallel with Christ’s body. At Mass, a priest would consecrate the Eucharist—the bread and wine—thereby turning it into the body and blood of Christ (according to Catholic tradition), which would be consumed in remembrance of his sacrifice. The hem of the red and gold brocaded vestment worn by the angel foregrounded on the right is embroidered with the repeated word “sanctus,” or holy, referencing the moment of the consecration of the Eucharist. The positioning of Christ’s body parallel to the sheaf of wheat, which in turn would be parallel to the physical bread on the altar, functioned as a stark reminder of what really took place at communion. The image masterfully creates a visual equation between the bread, the wheat, and Christ’s body.

The vases and flowers just in front of the wheat are carefully studied depictions of recognizable flowers that each held symbolic meaning for period viewers. The Spanish albarello vase on the left is a type of vessel that traditionally held herbs and ointments used by apothecaries, an artistic choice which was almost certainly meant to comment on the altarpiece’s location in a hospital’s church. The albarello vase holds two white and one purple iris, along with a scarlet lily. These flowers represent the purity (white), royalty (purple), and Passion, or tortures, (red) of Christ. This vessel is also decorated with an ivy leaf motif that resembles a grape vine, alluding to wine, and therefore, to the blood of Christ, consumed with His body during Mass. The presence of this vase also reminds us that Valencia (in Spain), Italy, and northern Europe were engaged in extensive trade during this time, and expanding their trade across the globe. Spanish lusterware, like this vase, was a popular luxury trade item in the fifteenth century, admired for its reflective surface. The luster technique derives from Islamic pottery, and it is important to keep in mind that the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) had a large Muslim population.

The clear vessel to the right holds three red carnations and seven blue columbines. The seven columbines are symbolic of the Seven Sorrows of Mary, while the three red carnations make reference to the three bloodied nails at Christ’s Crucifixion. As you can see, many of these flowers were meant to remind viewers of what was to come for Christ.The story grows, and so does the Portinari family

Having discussed the details of the central panel, let’s take a look at the two side panels. In the backgrounds of each of the side panels, we find scenes that occurred before, after, and during the primary scene of the Nativity in the center. And just as the story is expanded in the side panels, we see that Tommaso and Maria have expanded their lineage, as well. Van der Goes, a master of detailed portraiture, depicted Tommaso Portinari in the left panel, kneeling in prayer as he faces the miraculous scene in the center. Because he paid for this elaborate gift, his family’s inclusion in the altarpiece essentially guarantees that they will forever be included in the daily prayers carried out in the church. Tommaso is accompanied by their two sons (as of the creation of this painting c. 1476), Antonio and Pigello, who kneel behind him. Note that, even if Tommaso were standing, he would still be noticeably smaller than the two figures who stand behind him. This is known as hierarchy of scale, where a visible difference in size between figures indicates that larger figures are of higher status. In this case, the larger figures are saints. St. Thomas, the name saint of Tommaso, works as his intercessor, effectively “introducing” him to the scene in the center and helping to convey his prayers to heaven. Behind St. Thomas is St. Anthony, the name saint of Antonio, as well as a “plague saint” who was frequently invoked by the sick, suffering, and dying. His presence makes yet another connection to the altarpiece’s original hospital location.

In the right panel, Maria Maddalena Baroncelli kneels in a position that mirrors her husband’s, accompanied by their daughter Margarita. These two figures are joined by their name saints, Mary Magdalene and St. Margaret. Interestingly, however, it is St. Margaret who stands behind Maria, not her name saint Mary Magdalene. St. Margaret is the patron saint of childbirth, and is evoked by pregnant women and those in labor in hopes of a successful process and outcome. St. Margaret is typically depicted as emerging from the mouth of or standing atop a dragon, as seen here (her legend explains that she survived being consumed by Satan, disguised as a dragon, whose stomach then rejected her and she emerged unharmed). As such, it is speculated that this may have been a deliberate choice, as Maria’s primary role as a wife in the fifteenth century was to bear children and continue the Portinari lineage, so she felt a stronger connection to St. Margaret at this point in her life.

Just as in the central panel, the side panels also include small scenes in the background. In fact, the left panel continues the theme of childbirth already indicated by the Nativity in the center and the presence of St. Margaret in the right panel. Far in the distance behind St. Anthony’s head, we see Joseph attending to a pregnant Virgin Mary who has decided to walk rather than ride her donkey. This is a precursor to the miraculous birth that will soon occur, the Nativity. In the right panel, the landscape is populated by scenes of the three kings, the Magi, on their journey from far parts of the world to visit the newborn Christ.

What the northern painters did best

Hugo van der Goes’s Portinari Altarpiece encompasses the numerous aspects of northern renaissance painting that enthralled those in other parts of the world. This particular artwork perfectly embodies all the things that northern European painters were thought to do best—the rendering of complex landscapes that stretch far into the distance, skies that seem to capture light at different times of the day or under different circumstances, faces that appear highly individualized, even when they are not intended to be recognizable portraits, and carefully rendered, incredibly minute details throughout. Considering this triumph of artistic virtuosity, along with the work’s fascinating layers of symbolism, the direct and immediate impact of the Portinari Altarpiece on the art world of late-fifteenth-century Florence comes as no surprise. It is after this moment that we see, in particular, increased individualism in Italian faces and, perhaps even more importantly, a swift rise in the use of oil paint in Italian city-states.

Read about this painting on the Uffizi website

https://www.uffizi.it/en/artworks/adoration-of-the-shepherds-with-angels-and-saint-thomas-saint-anthony-saint-margaret-mary-magdalen-and-the-portinari-family-recto-annunciation-verso 

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/northern-renaissance1/xa6688040:hugo-van-der-goes/a/hugo-van-der-goes-portinari-altarpiece

Mini Fanfic #280: Rapunzel's Baby (Tangled the Series)

Varian: (Still Being Carried by Lance while be a tiny bit Embarrassed) You know, you... really don't have to keep carrying me around anymore. I can walk it off from here....... probably.

Lance: Kid, you got kidnapped since last night and just fell off a cliff not too long ago. Really doubt walking is good for you right now.

Varian: Yeah.... I'm starting to think walking is out of the question now. (Smiles a Little) Still, thanks for trying to find me....and catching me apparently.

Lance: (Chuckles Lightly) No problem, kiddo. What are friends for?

Kiera: (Rolling her eyes) Yeah.... Especially ones who has been looking for you night because SOMEONE didn't know what he was doing half of time. (Glares at Lance)

Lance: Why you getting fussy at me for? I found him, didn't I?

Kiera: (Crosses her arm) Sorry, but I don't think catching him a convenient spot counts as 'Finding Him'.

Lance: Better that than climbing up the mountain all night.

Kiera: (Was about to say something before Catalina place a hand on her shoulder to calm her down for a while)

Catalina: (Turns to Varian with a Sincere Smile) What Kiera and Lance meant to say is that we're really glad that you're okay, Varian.

Varian: (Chuckles Lightly) Thanks, guy. I'm just glad everything is at least settling down now-

???: (From a Distance) VARIANNNN!!!

Lance: (Surprised) What the heck kind of yell was that?

Varian: Wait.....(Starting to Somehow Recognize the voice of the sudden scream) Is that Rapunzel?

Catalina: How do you know that's her?

Varian: (Really Couldn't think of a Better Answer to that question) Reasons I guess......

Rapunzel: (Dashed out of the forest... only to Noticed Varian is in Lance's arms from a mile away) Varian?!

Varian: (Starts Waving at Rapunzel) Rapunzel! We're over here!!

Rapunzel: (Cover her mouth in shock as tears coming out of her eyes) Oh my gosh......(Immediately Rushes over to her group of friends and gives Varian a tight and worry like hug) You're okay! Oh my baby....I thought something terrible happened to you!

Varian: I-I'm okay now- Wait, your WHAT now?!

Kiera: (Eyes Widened in Disbelief) Did she.... seriously called Varian her "baby"?

Catalina: (Giggles Softly) Sounds like it. It's pretty cute.

Lance: Woah here, princess. I know you worry about the kid right now, but you didn't have to hug him that hard.

Rapunzel: I know. (Pull Away from Varian and place two hands on his cheeks) I'm just so happy that he's okay.

Varian: Ok, seriously, you think we could talk about the whole "baby" part now-

Eugene: Jesus Christ, Rapunzel! (Sprint over towards the group while losing breaths in the process) You.... could've....at least....warn me.....before... dashing over here...like a madman.....like that......('Phew') My legs are killing me right now......Is our kid's okay?

Varian: "Our Kid"?! Hey, wait a minute-

Rapunzel: (Smiles Softly at the love of her life) Don't worry, Eugene. Our baby is going to be okay.

Varian: Again with this?! Why in heck are you guys calling me that like I'm your son?!

Eugene: Oh, all of this? Yeah, that's all on blonde on this one. Back when you joined our side again, she decided to play the whole mother role towards you and girls.

Kiera: Wait WHAT?!

Catalina: Awww~ That's so sweet. Thank you, Ms. Rapunzel.

Rapunzel: (Smiles Softly) You're welcome, sweetie. Everytime I look at you guys together, I see one big happy family that I love so much.

Varian: Okay! This is getting ridiculous now, you guys! Rapunzel isn't our mom! Eugene isn't our dad! None of these people are even in our lineage!!

Rapunzel: (Scolds at Varian in a very motherly tone) Varian, it's not polite to yell at people. You need to calm for us, okay?

Varian: ('Sigh in Defeat') Okay, mom......(Eyes Begins to Widened) (Did I seriously just said that)

Eugene: Wait....Did I hear that right?

Lance: Yeah cause I could've sworn I heard you just called Rapunzel 'mom' a second ago.

Varian: (Blushes Bright Red as he begins to lie) W-Who? Me? ('Psh') Nahh! I didn't say anything.

Kiera: (Gave Varian a "Really?" Look) Varian, we all heard you.

Catalina: Plus, your cheeks are getting red.

Varian: Yeah? Well....T-That doesn't mean it really proves anything!

Rapunzel: (Heart Begins to Melt) You really think of me as your mother, Varian?

Varian: N-No! I-I mean if anything, I see you as 'Bother Figure'! (Chuckles Awkwardly) G-Get it? Because... Bother and Mother...sort of rhymes but not entirely-

Eugene: Hey, Hey! We didn't raise you to make corny jokes. And show your mother some respect, young man!

Lance: (Snickers at Varian's dispense) I'd listen to him if I were you, young man.

Varian: Guys, seriously! I did not called Rapunzel my mom!

Rapunzel: I believe you.

Varian: Finally.....Thank you, Rapunzel-

Rapunzel: (Smirks Playfully) My son~

Varian: (Eyes and Mouth begins to Widened in Disbelief)..........

Lance: (Laughs Wholeheartedly) Oh ho man! She got you good, boy.

Eugene: (Starts Laughing as well) Nice one, Blonde! Making me so proud right now...

Kiera: (Turns to Varian) You just had tp walk in on that one, didn't you?

Catalina: (Giggles Softly)

Varian: ('Groans in Utter Defeat') I give up......

Rapunzel: Varian sweetie?

Varian: ('Sigh') Yeah?

Rapunzel: (Smiles Softly as she Ruffles the top of Varian's hair) How about we go back to the castle and enjoy the rest of the party. I'm positive you'll feel better there.

Varian: Yeah.....(Smile a little) I would like that.

@keyenuta

@cyber-wildcat

@26shann

@miki-13

@lythecreatorart

To begin:

(again)

the reading of Scripture from the first book of the New Testament, the first chapter of Matthew that starts with A Family Tree:

[From Abraham to Christ]

This is the scroll of the lineage and birth of Jesus, the Anointed One, the son of David and descendant of Abraham.

Abraham had a son named Isaac, who had a son named Jacob, who had a son named Judah (he and his brothers became the tribes of Israel).

Judah and Tamar had twin sons, Perez and Zerah. Perez had a son named Hezron, who had a son named Ram, who had a son named Amminadab, who had a son named Nashon, who had a son named Salmon, who, along with Rahab, had a son named Boaz. Boaz and Ruth had a son named Obed, who was the father of Jesse, and Jesse had a son named David, who became the king.

Then David and Bathsheba had a son named Solomon, who had a son named Rehoboam, who had a son named Abijah, who had a son named Asa, who had a son named Jehoshaphat, who had a son named Joram, who had a son named Uzziah, who had a son named Jotham, who had a son named Ahaz, who had a son named Hezekiah, who had a son named Manasseh, who had a son named Amos, who had a son named Josiah, who was the father of Jeconiah.

It was during the days of Jeconiah and his brothers that Israel was taken captive and deported to Babylon. About the time of their captivity in Babylon, Jeconiah had a son named Shealtiel, who had a son named Zerubbabel, who had a son named Abiud, who had a son named Eliakim, who had a son named Azor, who had a son named Zadok, who had a son named Achim, who had a son named Eliud, who had a son named Eleazar, who had a son named Matthan, who had a son named Jacob, who was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary the mother of Jesus, who is called “the Anointed One.”

So from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the Babylonian captivity, fourteen generations, and from the Babylonian captivity to Christ, fourteen generations.

This was how Jesus, God’s Anointed One, was born.

His mother, Mary, had promised Joseph to be his wife, but while she was still a virgin she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. Her fiancé, Joseph, was a righteous man full of integrity and he didn’t want to disgrace her, but when he learned of her pregnancy he secretly planned to break the engagement. While he was still debating with himself about what to do, he fell asleep and had a supernatural dream. An angel from the Lord appeared to him in clear light and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, don’t hesitate to take Mary into your home as your wife, because the power of the Holy Spirit has conceived a child in her womb. She will give birth to a son and you are to name him ‘Savior,’ for he is destined to give his life to save his people from their sins.”

This happened so that what the Lord spoke through his prophet would come true:

Listen! A virgin will be pregnant,

she will give birth to a Son,

and he will be known as “Emmanuel,”

which means in Hebrew,

“God became one of us.”

When Joseph awoke from his dream, he did all that the angel of the Lord instructed him to do. He took Mary to be his wife, but they refrained from having sex until she gave birth to her son, whom they named “Jesus.”

The Book of Matthew, Chapter 1 (The Passion Translation)

to be accompanied by the closing verses of the same chapter in The Voice:

Years and years ago, Isaiah, a prophet of Israel, foretold the story of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus:

A virgin will conceive and bear a Son,

and His name will be Immanuel

(which is a Hebrew name that means “God with us”).

Joseph woke up from his dream and did exactly what the messenger had told him to do: he married Mary and brought her into his home as his wife (though he did not consummate their marriage until after her son was born). And when the baby was born, Joseph named Him Jesus, Savior.

The Book of Matthew, Chapter 1:24-27 (The Voice)

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is the 34th chapter of 2nd Chronicles that documents the life & times of King Josiah:

[King Josiah]

Josiah was eight years old when he became king. He ruled for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. He behaved well before God. He kept straight on the path blazed by his ancestor David, not one step to the left or right.

When he had been king for eight years—he was still only a teenager—he began to seek the God of David his ancestor. Four years later, the twelfth year of his reign, he set out to cleanse the neighborhood of sex-and-religion shrines, and get rid of the sacred Asherah groves and the god and goddess figurines, whether carved or cast, from Judah. He wrecked the Baal shrines, tore down the altars connected with them, and scattered the debris and ashes over the graves of those who had worshiped at them. He burned the bones of the priests on the same altars they had used when alive. He scrubbed the place clean, Judah and Jerusalem, clean inside and out. The cleanup campaign ranged outward to the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, and the surrounding neighborhoods—as far north as Naphtali. Throughout Israel he demolished the altars and Asherah groves, pulverized the god and goddess figures, chopped up the neighborhood shrines into firewood. With Israel once more intact, he returned to Jerusalem.

One day in the eighteenth year of his kingship, with the cleanup of country and Temple complete, King Josiah sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the mayor of the city, and Joah son of Joahaz the historian to renovate The Temple of God. First they turned over to Hilkiah the high priest all the money collected by the Levitical security guards from Manasseh and Ephraim and the rest of Israel, and from Judah and Benjamin and the citizens of Jerusalem. It was then put into the hands of the foremen managing the work on The Temple of God who then passed it on to the workers repairing God’s Temple—the carpenters, construction workers, and masons—so they could buy the lumber and dressed stone for rebuilding the foundations the kings of Judah had allowed to fall to pieces. The workmen were honest and diligent. Their foremen were Jahath and Obadiah, the Merarite Levites, and Zechariah and Meshullam from the Kohathites—these managed the project. The Levites—they were all skilled musicians—were in charge of the common laborers and supervised the workers as they went from job to job. The Levites also served as accountants, managers, and security guards.

While the money that had been given for The Temple of God was being received and dispersed, Hilkiah the high priest found a copy of The Revelation of Moses. He reported to Shaphan the royal secretary, “I’ve just found the Book of God’s Revelation, instructing us in God’s way—found it in The Temple!” He gave it to Shaphan, who then gave it to the king. And along with the book, he gave this report: “The job is complete—everything you ordered done is done. They took all the money that was collected in The Temple of God and handed it over to the managers and workers.”

And then Shaphan told the king, “Hilkiah the priest gave me a book.” Shaphan proceeded to read it out to the king.

When the king heard what was written in the book, God’s Revelation, he ripped his robes in dismay. And then he called for Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, Shaphan the royal secretary, and Asaiah the king’s personal aide. He ordered them all: “Go and pray to God for me and what’s left of Israel and Judah. Find out what we must do in response to what is written in this book that has just been found! God’s anger must be burning furiously against us—our ancestors haven’t obeyed a thing written in this book of God, followed none of the instructions directed to us.”

Hilkiah and those picked by the king went straight to Huldah the prophetess. She was the wife of Shallum son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, who was in charge of the palace wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter. The men consulted with her. In response to them she said, “God’s word, the God of Israel: Tell the man who sent you here, ‘God has spoken, I’m on my way to bring the doom of judgment on this place and this people. Every word written in the book read by the king of Judah will happen. And why? Because they’ve deserted me and taken up with other gods; they’ve made me thoroughly angry by setting up their god-making businesses. My anger is raging white-hot against this place and nobody is going to put it out.’

“And also tell the king of Judah, since he sent you to ask God for direction, God’s comment on what he read in the book: ‘Because you took seriously the doom of judgment I spoke against this place and people, and because you responded in humble repentance, tearing your robe in dismay and weeping before me, I’m taking you seriously. God’s word. I’ll take care of you; you’ll have a quiet death and be buried in peace. You won’t be around to see the doom that I’m going to bring upon this place and people.’”

The men took her message back to the king.

The king acted immediately, assembling all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem, and then proceeding to The Temple of God bringing everyone in his train—priests and prophets and people ranging from the least to the greatest. Then he read out publicly everything written in the Book of the Covenant that was found in The Temple of God. The king stood by his pillar and before God solemnly committed himself to the covenant: to follow God believingly and obediently; to follow his instructions, heart and soul, on what to believe and do; to confirm with his life the entire covenant, all that was written in the book.

Then he made everyone in Jerusalem and Benjamin commit themselves. And they did it. They committed themselves to the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors.

Josiah did a thorough job of cleaning up the pollution that had spread throughout Israelite territory and got everyone started fresh again, serving and worshiping their God. All through Josiah’s life the people kept to the straight and narrow, obediently following God, the God of their ancestors.

* * *

The Book of 2nd Chronicles, Chapter 34 (The Message)

my personal reading of the Scriptures for Wednesday, march 3 of 2021 with a paired chapter from each Testament of the Bible, along with Today’s Psalms and Proverbs

A post by John Parsons that reflects upon this week’s Torah portion:

Our Torah portion this week (Ki Tisa) states that God endowed a man named "Betzalel" with the Spirit of God (רוּחַ אֱלהִים), and with wisdom (חָכְמָה), understanding (תְּבוּנָה), and knowledge (דַּעַת) - the same attributes used to describe God as the Creator of the Universe (Exod. 35:31; Prov. 3:19-20). Indeed, the name Betzalel (בְּצַלְאֵל) means “in the shadow of God” (from בְּ [in] + tzel [צֵל], “shadow” + El [אֵל], “God”) who "foreshadowed" Messiah in that 1) he was from the kingly tribe of Judah, 2) he was a young carpenter, 3) he was unusually "filled with the Spirit of God," 4) his father's name (Uri) means "my light" (James 1:17), 4) his assistant was called Oholiav (אָהֳלִיאָב), a name that means “my Father’s tent,” and 5) it was Betzalel (rather than Moses) who actually built the Mishkan, which was the pattern for the spiritual House of God (Heb. 3:3-6; 1 Pet. 2:5). Indeed, as the one who fashioned the “Ark of the covenant” where the blood would be presented for our atonement, Betzalel foresaw the message of the redemption of Messiah. [Hebrew for Christians]

3.2.21 • Facebook

and another post about faith:

Faith sees the invisible light, the truth of love that overcomes all the powers of darkness, hate, and fear. "I believe. I believe in the sun even when it is not shining; I believe in love even when feeling it not; and I believe in God, even when God is silent" (from an anonymous poem found on the wall of a cellar in Cologne, Germany, where some Jews hid from the Nazis).

The spirit testifies that there is "unfinished business," that there is more than meets the eye, that evil will not have the last word, and that tears will one day forever be wiped away. Despite the ambiguity, faith “hopes against hope” that the LORD God will intervene and bring everlasting healing to us all. As it says, "Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the Name of the LORD (יִבְטַח בְּשֵׁם יְהוָה) and rely on his God." [Hebrew for Christians]

3.2.21 • Facebook

Today’s message from the Institute for Creation Research

March 3, 2021

Living in the Real World

“For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.” (Isaiah 65:17)

People often think they are being practical when they place material values ahead of spiritual, emphasizing that we have to “live in the real world.” The fact is, however, that we are not living in the real world at all but in a world that is dying and will soon be gone. “The world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:17). This is not even the world that God created, for that world was “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Because “sin entered into the world, and death by sin” (Romans 5:12), therefore, “the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” (Romans 8:22). In fact, this world is not even as it was soon after God’s curse, for “the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished” (2 Peter 3:6).

The present, post-Flood world is now under the dominion of Satan, who is “the prince of this world” (John 12:31) and of “all the kingdoms of the world” (Matthew 4:8). The Lord Jesus Christ came to “deliver us from this present evil world” (Galatians 1:4). As our text says, this world shall not even “be remembered, nor come into mind.” It “shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21).

Therefore, we must “be not conformed to this world” (Romans 12:2). We must “live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:12-13). In the meantime, our true citizenship, if we have been born again in Christ, is in the real world to come, and we are His ambassadors to an alien land (2 Corinthians 5:20). HMM

There was a monk, before the establishment of this [Dominican] order, which was ravished in spirit and saw the Blessed Virgin- our Lady, Saint Mary- kneeling, with her hands joined, praying her son for the human lineage. And he oft withstood her request, and at the last he said to her that so busily required him: Mother, what may I do more for them? I have sent to them patriarchs and prophets, and little have they amended them. After, I came to them myself, and after that I have sent to them apostles, and they have slain them. I sent to them also martyrs, confessors, and doctors, and they accorded not to them, nor to their doctrine, but because it appertaineth not to me to withsay thy request, I shall give to them my preachers, by whom they may be enlumined and made clean, or else I shall come against them myself if they will not amend them. And another saw a like vision that same time when the twelve abbots of the order of Citeaux were sent to Toulouse against the heretics. For when the son had answered to his mother as is above said, the mother said to him: Fair son, thou oughtest not to do to them in accordance with their malice, but after thy mercy. To whom the son, vanquished by her prayers, said: I shall yet do to them mercy at thy request, for I shall send to them my preachers that shall warn and inform them. And if then they correct them not, I shall spare them no more.

A friar minor, that long time had been fellow with Saint Francis, recounted to many of the friars of the order of the preachers, that when Saint Dominic was at Rome for the confirmation of his order of the pope, he saw on a night Jesu Christ in the air, holding three spears in his hand, and brandishing them against the world, and his mother ran hastily against him, and demanded him what he would do. And he said to her: All the world is full of vices, of pride, of luxury, and of avarice, and therefore I will destroy them with these three spears. Then the Blessed Virgin fell down at his feet and said: Dear son, have pity, and tarry thy justice by thy mercy. And Jesu Christ said to her: Seest thou not how many wrongs and injuries they do to me? And she answered: Son, attemper thy wrath and tarry a little, I have a true servant and a noble fighter against the vices, which shall run over all and vanquish the world, and subdue them under thy signory, and I shall give to them another servant into his help that shall fight as he doth. And our Lord, her son, said: I am appeased and receive thy prayer, but I would see whom thou wouldst send in so great an office. And then she presented to him Saint Dominic, and Jesu Christ said: Truly this is a good and noble fighter, and shall do diligently that thou hast said. And then she showed to him and offered to him Saint Francis, and he praised him as he did the first. And Saint Dominic considered diligently his fellow in that vision, for he had never seen him before, and he found him on the morn in the church, and knew him by that he had seen him in the vision without otherevidence, witness and began to kiss him, and said: Thou art my fellow, thou shalt run with me, and we shall be together, and none adversary shall surmount us. And then he recounted to him all by order the said vision, and from then forth on they were one heart and one soul in our Lord, and commanded that this love should be kept to them that should come after perdurably.

Jacobus Voragine; The Golden Legend

The Desire of Ages, pp. 43-49: Chapter (4) Unto You a Saviour

This chapter is based on Luke 2:1-20.

The King of glory stooped low to take humanity. Rude and forbidding were His earthly surroundings. His glory was veiled, that the majesty of His outward form might not become an object of attraction. He shunned all outward display. Riches, worldly honor, and human greatness can never save a soul from death; Jesus purposed that no attraction of an earthly nature should call men to His side. Only the beauty of heavenly truth must draw those who would follow Him. The character of the Messiah had long been foretold in prophecy, and He desired men to accept Him upon the testimony of the word of God.

The angels had wondered at the glorious plan of redemption. They watched to see how the people of God would receive His Son, clothed in the garb of humanity. Angels came to the land of the chosen people. Other nations were dealing in fables and worshiping false gods. To the land where the glory of God had been revealed, and the light of prophecy had shone, the angels came. They came unseen to Jerusalem, to the appointed expositors of the Sacred Oracles, and the ministers of God's house. Already to Zacharias the priest, as he ministered before the altar, the nearness of Christ's coming had been announced. Already the forerunner was born, his mission attested by miracle and prophecy. The tidings of his birth and the wonderful significance of his mission had been spread abroad. Yet Jerusalem was not preparing to welcome her Redeemer.

With amazement the heavenly messengers beheld the indifference of that people whom God had called to communicate to the world the light of sacred truth. The Jewish nation had been preserved as a witness that Christ was to be born of the seed of Abraham and of David's line; yet they knew not that His coming was now at hand. In the temple the morning and the evening sacrifice daily pointed to the Lamb of God; yet even here was no preparation to receive Him. The priests and teachers of the nation knew not that the greatest event of the ages was about to take place. They rehearsed their meaningless prayers, and performed the rites of worship to be seen by men, but in their strife for riches and worldly honor they were not prepared for the revelation of the Messiah. The same indifference pervaded the land of Israel. Hearts selfish and world-engrossed were untouched by the joy that thrilled all heaven. Only a few were longing to behold the Unseen. To these heaven's embassy was sent.

Angels attend Joseph and Mary as they journey from their home in Nazareth to the city of David. The decree of imperial Rome for the enrollment of the peoples of her vast dominion has extended to the dwellers among the hills of Galilee. As in old time Cyrus was called to the throne of the world's empire that he might set free the captives of the Lord, so Caesar Augustus is made the agent for the fulfillment of God's purpose in bringing the mother of Jesus to Bethlehem. She is of the lineage of David, and the Son of David must be born in David's city. Out of Bethlehem, said the prophet, “shall He come forth ... that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from the days of eternity.” Micah 5:2, margin. But in the city of their royal line, Joseph and Mary are unrecognized and unhonored. Weary and homeless, they traverse the entire length of the narrow street, from the gate of the city to the eastern extremity of the town, vainly seeking a resting place for the night. There is no room for them at the crowded inn. In a rude building where the beasts are sheltered, they at last find refuge, and here the Redeemer of the world is born.

Men know it not, but the tidings fill heaven with rejoicing. With a deeper and more tender interest the holy beings from the world of light are drawn to the earth. The whole world is brighter for His presence. Above the hills of Bethlehem are gathered an innumerable throng of angels. They wait the signal to declare the glad news to the world. Had the leaders in Israel been true to their trust, they might have shared the joy of heralding the birth of Jesus. But now they are passed by.

God declares, “I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground.” “Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness.” Isaiah 44:3; Psalm 112:4. To those who are seeking for light, and who accept it with gladness, the bright rays from the throne of God will shine.

In the fields where the boy David had led his flock, shepherds were still keeping watch by night. Through the silent hours they talked together of the promised Saviour, and prayed for the coming of the King to David's throne. “And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”

At these words, visions of glory fill the minds of the listening shepherds. The Deliverer has come to Israel! Power, exaltation, triumph, are associated with His coming. But the angel must prepare them to recognize their Saviour in poverty and humiliation. “This shall be a sign unto you,” he says; “Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”

The heavenly messenger had quieted their fears. He had told them how to find Jesus. With tender regard for their human weakness, he had given them time to become accustomed to the divine radiance. Then the joy and glory could no longer be hidden. The whole plain was lighted up with the bright shining of the hosts of God. Earth was hushed, and heaven stooped to listen to the song,—“Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, good will toward men.”

Oh that today the human family could recognize that song! The declaration then made, the note then struck, will swell to the close of time, and resound to the ends of the earth. When the Sun of Righteousness shall arise, with healing in His wings, that song will be re-echoed by the voice of a great multitude, as the voice of many waters, saying, “Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.” Revelation 19:6.

As the angels disappeared, the light faded away, and the shadows of night once more fell on the hills of Bethlehem. But the brightest picture ever beheld by human eyes remained in the memory of the shepherds. “And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.”

Departing with great joy, they made known the things they had seen and heard. “And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God.”

Heaven and earth are no wider apart today than when shepherds listened to the angels’ song. Humanity is still as much the object of heaven's solicitude as when common men of common occupations met angels at noonday, and talked with the heavenly messengers in the vineyards and the fields. To us in the common walks of life, heaven may be very near. Angels from the courts above will attend the steps of those who come and go at God's command.

The story of Bethlehem is an exhaustless theme. In it is hidden “the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God.” Romans 11:33. We marvel at the Saviour's sacrifice in exchanging the throne of heaven for the manger, and the companionship of adoring angels for the beasts of the stall. Human pride and self-sufficiency stand rebuked in His presence. Yet this was but the beginning of His wonderful condescension. It would have been an almost infinite humiliation for the Son of God to take man's nature, even when Adam stood in his innocence in Eden. But Jesus accepted humanity when the race had been weakened by four thousand years of sin. Like every child of Adam He accepted the results of the working of the great law of heredity. What these results were is shown in the history of His earthly ancestors. He came with such a heredity to share our sorrows and temptations, and to give us the example of a sinless life.

Satan in heaven had hated Christ for His position in the courts of God. He hated Him the more when he himself was dethroned. He hated Him who pledged Himself to redeem a race of sinners. Yet into the world where Satan claimed dominion God permitted His Son to come, a helpless babe, subject to the weakness of humanity. He permitted Him to meet life's peril in common with every human soul, to fight the battle as every child of humanity must fight it, at the risk of failure and eternal loss.

The heart of the human father yearns over his son. He looks into the face of his little child, and trembles at the thought of life's peril. He longs to shield his dear one from Satan's power, to hold him back from temptation and conflict. To meet a bitterer conflict and a more fearful risk, God gave His only-begotten Son, that the path of life might be made sure for our little ones. “Herein is love.” Wonder, O heavens! and be astonished, O earth!

July 22nd Morning Tweets...

July 22nd Morning Tweets...

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America is the nation that took everything from me. It wasted my physical and mental health, brought chaos to my home life, coerced my parents into following the directives of abuse towards their son, restricted job ability and opportunity, separated me from time with my sibling and filled their mind with cr*p, put humanity as a whole on one team in belief/practice vs. me…

To the nations misled by America, who take part in this endeavor allegedly”for” me, but which was actually “towards/against me.” :

The Americans are all about pleases and thank yous on the surface, but they lack a culture. Ask what their values/principles are? Ask them specific questions, ask them to elaborate…it’s in their nature to take advantage of lack of interest in detail. The ones that have principle, probably can trace it back to their Greek or Irish or whatever origins. Hitler is blunt and obvious with gas chambers towards the Jews. But the American? They play a long convoluted game, placating the masses for their agenda, so that those in power can continue to exert god like authority at a high salary. I’m supposed to collapse or be mentally ill for their purposes. You have no idea all the angles to this "situation", that the Americans put together, to make this phenomena happen…it is an incomprehensible evil...words cannot express my mind's stomach upset/indigestion with processing the details of evil men like these - not even Satan himself is this clever...where is this coming from, you'll ask? That is because you don't know what is going on, in its entirety.

In Luke 13:31-32

Jesus says,

At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.”

He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’

So American government, law enforcement, and military:

you, in not stopping for a decade, imply you want me to collapse? You want to make me a martyr for a God-less nation? Need a modern day Christ example people can relate to? You blasphemers. If Herod was the fox, you are the swine you eat, as it is you who projected, “you are what you eat.”

In Luke 16:19-31,

It is said:

19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.(A) 20 At his gate was laid a beggar(B) named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table.(C) Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham,(D) have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’(E)

25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things,(F) but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.(G) 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them,(H) so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses(I) and the Prophets;(J) let them listen to them.’

30 “‘No, father Abraham,’(K) he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Weak minded swine of orchestrators…if a respected 2000+ year old lineage and history can’t be a role model to your nation, and my explanations/elaborations/correlations don’t suffice, then your nation is hopeless, cannot he woken up or guided. The swine want to create a cool martyr that suffered mind reading/mind control? First you fix yourselves, before misleading ur children of a nation and piling on their sins onto yourselves for misleading them. As the last verse of the Story of the Rich Man and Lazarus goes:

30 “‘No, father Abraham,’(K) he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them,

(Like maybe if they’re depicted as cool and suffered something futuristic like mind reading/mind control, …)

they will repent.’

(I.e. under the thinking that The nation will wake up, live a better life through a role model.)

31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

(Not convinced if someone rises from the dead is equivalent to me dying from/overcoming mind reading/mind control, for your “at the surface” public P.R. Image of the “soon-to-become” thought police from “1984.”)

In order protect their grimy a*ses, the orchestrators want to make the entire “situation” about a nice guy or some cr*p…what about in the Old Testament? I have no desire to be the golden calf for the metaphorical Israelites, who were seeking “to create something to 'follow/idealize.' ” Moses wasn’t happy, and Americans, based on what is at the root/heart of this present “situation” - (the destruction of an individual and sanctity of mind, ruining of a family) - I don’t think God wants to be your bandage or coverup, for what is towards the end of your government project and it’s resulting bleeding from the leprosy of sin.

Orchestrators, waste someone else’s time.

To finish my earlier point:

So why stay in America, some may ask? I LEFT this horrid, “drunkedness-in-thinking”country for a year, and the orchestrators brought me back to this unclean place to inflict their sadistic behavior, for, 8+ years?! more…

I’m the guy you work for, orchestrators. Using ur p*ssy psychology as a weapon against me, to enslave me, in action: by denying me my rights as a citizen, is quite something.

Years ago, while upstate by “that” University, I said remember this:

Psalm 3, not words of solace, but a promise. A promise.

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It is believed those who share in the lineage, those who are a branch of the vine, are priests, prophets, and kings as the Christ figure. While divinity of this figure is questioned amongst different people, it is a fact that this was a man, who served God, tried to get people of the time to “”wake up and was a descendant in the line of King David - priest, prophet,  king. It is also said, Jesus is the truth, the way, and the life. Many believers unfortunately restrict this to meaning salvation - whatever that word may embody - and those of their respective faiths think salvation is meant only for those under the label of Christian, if they be Christian, Muslim, if they be Muslim, and so forth. Which is better, the mere LABEL of Christian/Muslim/Jew, or those who live in the footsteps of the Christ figure? Words/labels are human constructs. What’s more important is the meaning behind them. Someone, merely because, they don’t fall under your label, is not bad, and that judgement is not a right reserved to any human being, with respect to another, his/her equal... For those looking to walk in a straight line, find peace, and achieve salvation, you must be priest prophet & king in nature. As a priest you serve something much greater - not out of an enslaved mentality in thinking of the word "serve" - but as a loving father to son or a loving son to a The Father, you should serve with love. From that, can be derived, you serve each other, because that is part of serving something greater. By the priest mentality, you are humble in attitude, understand there is something greater, that the world isn’t about what you want. You understand there are rules, but their purpose is not to restrict, but to give structure. Growing up/living life is like making jello. To make jello, it needs some kind of container to take shape, as it is flavored water in the beginning. Without a container, its just a mess that spills everywhere. Rules to abide by are our container. That's where the guidelines of religions were supposed to help, but those lacking in insight, turned what was for structure/a path to success to something geared toward restrictions for a life. We are the flavored water in jello to take shape under the structure of "good words/good advice/good principles/good values." There are many containers, as there many religions, giving us jello, merely the illusion of a different shape. What matters is that we have a shape and aren’t messes that spill everywhere…then we’d just be wasted flavored water. Don’t see rules as restrictions. They are there for us to maintain form. Rules at times need to be bent, but that should be out of understanding its purpose and following it with your heart vs. your mind. Nothing is absolute. A container holding jello can be molded to different shapes. But be careful. Mold it for selfish gain and you risk bending the container to such an extent, flavored water and even firm jello can fall out. What prevents this is, following rules with you heart, out of love, for something greater - in which case you’d just changing the angles of the edges or something small like, that with respect to the container, so that nothing loses form or is wasted, with respect to working with rules or adapting them to do what is appropriate for your life. Don’t restrict the concept of priest to celibate people, shaving their heads and/or living in a monastery all the time. Christians believe they are priest, prophet, and king in one being, as we share in the spiritual lineage of Christ, who traces His lineage to King David, and Abraham, the father of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. As a prophet it is your job to awaken &  teach each other truths. You are to stand up for what you believe in, with respect to the free will of another. Don’t bother with the whole "the end is near speeches.” When you start reading a book or watching a movie, the end begins to be near. Sometimes there are sequels depending on the Author’s favor. But no one knows when the ending is, because we don’t know what the Author is thinking. Since the stories of our existence started, the end has been near. It is just the nature of things. There may be a sequel or there may have been sequels. The characters in books and movies don’t bother with such details. They just fulfill their roles in the story and so should it be with you. And finally, as a king, you should live with honor respect and integrity. Kings don’t waste their lives 'in its entirety,' throwing ping pong balls into cups while inebriated. You are a leader. You should make decisions and act in ways that are just and right, for your are a king. Be the best version of yourself. Priests, prophets, and kings, are what we are, and should be.

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A person's societal or life role, or lifestyle, adopts the illusion of better/worse class or no class…behind the labels/that role/that position/that lifestyle, behind or through all these things, everyone is living... These things are simply under the illusion of a different form, in a setting/a world/a time, that has the potential of bringing out the best of them. To further elaborate, lifestyle roles/positions in life are quadrilaterals. Quadrilaterals are 4 sided figures. These include, but are not limited to, squares rectangles trapezoids rhombuses rhomboids…all a bunch of shapes that look different to our eyes…they’re illusions…but the truth behind them is that they all have four sides. Such is the nature of a person’s role and different lifestyles…As we are all quadrilaterals, no one shape or person is better or worse. These are just tricks for the mind from our reality. Take pride in who you are, what you do. Things look really different, and maybe seem better, in the life of another, but it’s just a look. Everyone is still doing the same thing: still living. People by default see only the different shapes or differences amongst each other, so that they may never be happy. Such is part of our default nature. We need to willfully rise above it. Systems like the caste system were put into place to preserve order, to force people to carry out their respective roles in society. There were the Brahmins i.e. the priestly class, the Ksatriyas: the warrior class, the Vaishyas, who were the farmers, then there were the Shudras(the laborers/craftsman). It was believed that the societal roles were inherited from merits or lack of them, in past lives. So that eliminates the "why am I this/doing that" thinking. In getting past that, you can now focus on moving forward, on bigger/better things. These systems like the caste system of old seem rigid and they are. But they closed people’s minds to what wasn't their concern or closed off jealousy/envy into other people's lives i.e. closed off to what was outside the realms of their concern. In a sense, by restricting a mind's passion for everything, they brought in focus into what could be changed or what the individual potential left the individual with. These old systems like the caste system are like a parent disciplining a child when they’re young. To get the ball rolling, to get the discipline established, you need to be a stern with it, or perhaps, practice rigidity. On a different note, in Islam, there are harsh punishments for crimes, harsh regulations for women...I mean as Islam in Islamic countries is not just a religion, but a system of law giving structure to society (as all religions aimed to do, going back ages, in uniting a primitive/animalistic/disorganized people, scattered across the world), you have people getting their hands chopped off for theft or some crime. It severely discourages the action. To avoid temptation for men, people of a millennia or two, ago, decided to hide women in long gowns and face/head coverings, where their faces are only visible to their families. Now that the ball is rolling, "we have time to think". Now that people are not as primitive/animalistic/disorganized, you really need to second guess these practices of old...understand why they were put in place, and ask yourselves if somethings just boils down to a weak mind that needs better guidance/training...Religion came into the world so that people would stop eating each other, killing each other, by realizing it as sin...(today, the immature ones amongst humans, have taken it from eating/killing each other, to mind reading/mind controlling others...imagine if these idiots used their intellects for the Golden Rule, to help their fellow man, to help just one of "the least of" His "brothers and sisters"...but I digress...)Religion told people, ultimately aim for a man and woman becoming one in marriage, promoting family structures and support systems for men and women and their offspring, in times where you have people screwing everyone all day/everyday and having kids that weren't taken care of, and a bunch of other chaos like diseases, etc. So, before my tangent, I said: "People by default see only the different shapes or differences amongst each other, so that they may never be happy. Such is part of our default nature. We need to willfully rise above it. Systems like the caste system were put into place to preserve order, to force people to carry out their respective roles in society." It’s expected that people think about, and hopefully understand: why things were done the way they were done. Even a child in passing years, in his/her older years, understands why the parent was hard in the beginning. As years have gone by, since what was implemented ages ago, you need to look at the meaning behind the roles. They close what’s irrelevant in minds, so that there isn’t chaos, and you don’t get distracted, in place of focusing on what lies ahead. Indeed how lucky we are today. The people to whom such systems originated, had it much harder. With respect to such big things affecting everyone, time isn’t measured as it is with the lifetime of a child. It’s measured across generations. Those people the systems and practices originated around, were the children. We are those children as they’re getting older. Despite this, we still have some severe versions of immaturity... With the passage of time, there are evolved teachings. You hear Christ say that each man(yes women too. saying man and woman or human, in place of man, as a term combining everyone, just doesn’t flow…i  know in Spanish,  when referring to men and women, they usually stick with the masculine form of the words…but I digress...anyway…) … you hear Christ say each man is priest(priestess) King(Queen) and prophet(prophetess) (—see what I mean…takes the flow out of writing and speaking). With respect to the older teaching of Brahmins Ksatriyas Vaishyas  & Shudra - those were the four main divisions. There was another role that was outside the system of favored roles, and that was the role of the Untouchable. They handled all the dirty jobs in life. But the truth is, each man is a priest, warrior, farmer, laborer, 'and above all' untouchable ( i.e. untouchable for the sake of a label, because of the nature of their role, by the "perceived as" higher castes in society). Each human being has the responsibility of all those roles, in this day and age, where humanity is older. People are like analog signals. They don’t have fixed states like digital 1’s and 0’s or electrical charges. Roles are like ladders. You can go up and down. But doing the equivalent of jumping up, rushing out of place, risks the ladder falling down on you...or you breaking some of the steps on the ladder with your abrupt move, leading to you wounding yourself. The roles of old are themselves, nothing.

What I'm getting at is, do what all these Hindu and Christian roles represent. Follow the duties of "all those roles." Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty, like a Hindu Untouchable. At the same time, remember you are a king (going back to the Christian notion of priests/prophets/kings) who loves his neighbor to the extent that you are willing to be his servant in concept. By King, you have integrity and should act with it. Don’t let labels go to your head and don’t let them hurt/inflate your ego. Regarding societal roles or jobs, Everyone has to do something. It’s what keeps the world going. Why squares are squares or trapezoids are trapezoids, is a waste of energy. We’re like seeds in a field. Why it rains in some areas, why the sun shines more in others, who knows…they just do… say there’s a seed growing in an extremely hot area…maybe the surrounding plants that were already growing around it or that it found to be planted amongst, gave it shade and allowed it to prosper in an area where seeds usually get scorched by too much sun…maybe the seed kept rolling in the dirt and strayed from nourishment… to think of such "why’s" can only prevent you from "focusing on what’s ahead" as well as hinder your growth. Wherever & whatever your role is, there is no small, there is no big. Focus on your duty to God, self, others, in life. Focus on carrying out your duty. Be all that you are, to the best of your ability in life, while treating everyone else the way you would like to be treated, in each day, each situation, life throws at you.

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so another thought...

Life is like a field and we are all seeds in that field, trying to sprout, grow, and become something. Why it rains in some areas, more than others, who knows. Why it doesn't rain in some areas at all, who knows. Why the earth under some seeds is more fertile.. who knows. Everyone has something and nothing going for them. As a friend once said, “I’m thankful for the things that I have, but also the things I don’t have. It’s what makes me, me.” Don’t waste time hating someone for what you perceive as them having and not having, because whatever it is you have/don’t have, are the tools you need to sprout, grow, and become something. After all, seeds do not waste time wondering what other seeds are doing.

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Saints&Reading: Sat., July 24, 2021

July 25 ( old cal.) _July 11 ( new cal.) 

 St OLGA of KIEV,  EQUAL-TO-THE-APOSTLES (969)

Saint Olga, Equal of the Apostles, was the wife of the Kievan Great Prince Igor. The struggle of Christianity with paganism under Igor and Olga, who reigned after Oleg (+ 912), entered into a new phase. The Church of Christ in the years following the reign of Igor (+ 945) became a remarkable spiritual and political force in the Russian realm. The preserved text of a treaty of Igor with the Greeks in the year 944 gives indication of this: it was included by the chronicler in the “Tale of Bygone Years,” under the entry recording the events of the year 6453 (945).

The peace treaty had to be sworn to by both the religious communities of Kiev: “Baptized Rus”, i.e. the Christian, took place in the cathedral church of the holy Prophet of God Elias (July 20); “Unbaptized Rus”, i.e. the pagans, in turn swore their oath on their weapons in the sanctuary of Perun the Thunderer. The fact, that Christians are included in the document in the first place, indicates their significant spiritual influence in the life of Kievan Rus.

Evidently at the moment when the treaty of 944 was being drawn up at Constantinople, there were people in power in Kiev sympathetic to Christianity, who recognized the historical inevitability of involving Rus into the life-creating Christian culture. To this trend possibly belonged even prince Igor himself, whose official position did not permit him personally to go over to the new faith, nor at that time of deciding the issue concerning the Baptism of the whole country with the consequent dispersal throughout it of Orthodox Church hierarchs. The treaty therefore was drawn up in the circumspect manner of expression, which would not hinder the prince to ratify it in either the form of a pagan oath, or in the form of a Christian oath.

But when the Byzantine emissaries arrived in Kiev, conditions along the River Dneipr had essentially changed. A pagan opposition had clearly emerged, at the head of which stood the Varangian voevoda (military-leader) Svenel’d (or Sveinald) and his son Mstislav (Mtsisha) to whom Igor had given holdings in the Drevlyani lands.

Strong also at Kiev was the influence of the Khazar Jews, who could not but be displeased with the thought of the triumph of Orthodoxy in the Russian Land.

Unable to overcome the customary inertia, Igor remained a pagan and he concluded the treaty in the pagan manner, swearing an oath on his sword. He refused the grace of Baptism and was punished for his unbelief. A year later, in 945, rebellious pagans murdered him in the Drevlyanian land, cut down betwixt two trees. But the days of paganism and the lifestyle of the Slavic tribes basic to it were already numbered. The burden of government fell upon the widow of Igor -- the Kiev Great-princess Olga, and her three-year-old son Svyatoslav.

The name of the future enlightener of the Russian Land and of her native region is first to be met with in the “Tale of Bygone Years,” in the phrase where it speaks about the marriage of Igor: “and they brought him a wife from Pskov, by the name of Olga.” She belonged, so specifies the Joakimov Chronicle, to the lineage of the Izborsk princes, -- one of the obscure ancient-Russian princely dynasties, of which in Rus during the 10th-11th Centuries there numbered no less than twenty, but who were all displaced by the Rurikovichi or merged otherwise with them through marriage. Some of them were of local Slavic descent, others -- Varangian new-comers. It is known, that the Scandinavian Viking “koenigs” (kinglets) called to become princes in the Russian cities -- invariably assimilated to the Russian language, and often, they soon became genuinely Russian with Russian names and lifestyle, world-outlook and even physical appearance of attire.

Thus, Igor’s wife also had the Varangian name “Helga,” which in Russian is pronounced Olga. The feminine name Olga corresponds to the masculine name “Oleg” (Helgi), which means “holy” [from Germanic “heilig” for “holy”]. Although the pagan understanding of holiness was quite different from the Christian, it also presupposed within a man a particular frame of reference, of chastity and sobriety of mind, and of insight. The fact that people called Oleg the Wise-Seer (“Veschi”) and Olga the Wise (“Mudra”) shows the spiritual significance of names.

Rather later traditions regard her a native of a village named Vybuta, several kilometers from Pskov up along the River Velika. They still not so long ago used to point out at the river the Olga Bridge, the ancient fording place, where Olga was met by Igor. The Pskov geographic features have preserved several names connected with this great descendent of Pskov: the village of Ol’zhinets and Ol’gino Pole (Olga Field); the Olga Gateway, one of the branches of the River Velika; Olga Hill and the Olga Cross near Lake Pskov; and the Olga Stone at the village of Vybuta.

The beginning of the independent rule of Princess Olga is connected in the chronicles with the narrative about her terrible revenge on the Drevlyani, who murdered Igor. Having sworn their oaths on their swords and believing “only in their swords”, the pagans were doomed by the judgment of God to also perish by the sword (Mt. 26: 52). Worshipping fire among the other primal elements, they found their own doom in the fire. And the Lord chose Olga to fulfill the fiery chastisement.

The struggle for the unity of Rus, for the subordination to the Kievan center of mutually divisive and hostile tribes and principalities paved the way towards the ultimate victory of Christianity in the Russian Land. For Olga, though still a pagan, the Kiev Christian Church and its Heavenly patron saint the holy Prophet of God Elias [in icons depicted upon a fiery chariot] stood as a flaming faith and prayer of a fire come down from the heavens, and her victory over the Drevlyani—despite the severe harshness of her victory, was a victory of Christian constructive powers in the Russian realm over the powers of a paganism, dark and destructive.

The God-wise Olga entered into history as a great builder of the civil life and culture of Kievan Rus. The chronicles are filled with accounts of her incessant “goings” throughout the Russian land with the aim of the well-being and improvement of the civil and domestic manner of life of her subjects. Having consolidated the inner strengthening of the might of the Kiev great-princely throne, thereby weakening the influence of the hodge-podge of petty local princes in Rus, Olga centralized the whole of state rule with the help of the system of “pogosti” (administrative trade centers). In the year 946 she went with her son and retinue through the Drevlyani land, “imposing tribute and taxes”, noting the villages, inns and hunting places, liable for inclusion in the Kiev great-princely holdings. The next year she went to Novgorod, establishing administrative centers along the Rivers Msta and Luga, everywhere leaving visible traces of her activity. “Her lovischa (hunting preserves) were throughout all the land, the boundary signs, her places and administrative centers, wrote the chronicler, and her sleighs stand at Pskov to this very day, as are her directed places for snaring of birds along the Dneipr and the Desna Rivers; and her village of Ol’zhicha stands to the present day.”

The “pogosti” established by Olga, as financial-administrative and law-court centers, represented sturdy props of great-princely power in these places.

Being first of all, and in the actual sense of the word, centers of trade and exchange (the merchant as “guest”) gathered together and became organized around the settlements (and in place of the “humanly arbitrary” gathering of tribute and taxes, there now existed uniformity and order with the “pogosti” system). Olga’s “pogosti” became an important network of the ethnic and cultural unification of the Russian nation.

Later on, when Olga had become a Christian, they began to erect the first churches at the “pogosti”; from the time of the Baptism of Rus the “pogost” and church (parish) became inseparably associated. (It was only afterwards with the existence of cemeteries alongside churches that there developed the current meaning of the Russian word “pogost” to nowadays signify “parish graveyard”.)

Princess Olga exerted much effort to fortify the defensive might of the land. The cities were built up and strengthened, Vyshgorod (or Detintsa, Kroma) they enclosed with stone and oak walls (battlements), and they bristled them with ramparts and pallisades. Knowing how hostile many were to the idea of strengthening the princely power and the unification of Rus, the princess herself lived constantly “on the hill” over the Dneipr, behind the trusty battlements of Kievan Vyshgorod (“Verkhna-gorod” or “Upper-city”), surrounded by her faithful retainers. Two thirds of the gathered tribute, as the chroniclers testify, she gave over for the use of the Kiev “veche” (city-council), and the remaining one third went “to Olga, for Vyshgorod” -- for the needs of building fortifications. And to the time period of Olga, historians note the establishment of the first state frontiers of Russia -- to the west, with Poland. Heroic outposts to the south guarded the peaceful fields of the Kievans from the peoples of the Wild Plains. Foreigners hastened to Gardarika (“the land of cities”), as they called Rus, with merchandise and craftwares. Swedes, Danes, Germans all eagerly entered as mercenaries into the Russian army. The foreign connections of Kiev spread. This furthered the development of construction with stone in the city, the beginnings of which was initiated under Olga. The first stone edifices of Kiev -- the city palace and Olga’s upper enclosure -- were discovered by archaeologists only but in this century. (The palace, or more properly its foundations and remains of the walls were found in excavations during the years 1971-1972).

But it was not only the strengthening of the civil realm and the improvement of domestic norms of the manner of life for people that attracted the attention of the wise princess. Even more urgent for her was the fundamental transformation of the religious life of Rus, the spiritual transfiguration of the Russian nation. Rus had become a great power. Only two European realms could compare with it during these years in significance and might: in Eastern Europe -- the ancient Byzantine empire, and in the West the kingdom of Saxony.

The experience of both empires, connected with the exaltation in spirit of Christian teaching, with the religious basis of life, showed clearly, that the way to the future greatness of Rus lay not through military means, but first of all and primarily through spiritual conquering and attainment. Having entrusted Kiev to her teenage son Svyatoslav, and seeking grace and truth, Great-princess Olga in the Summer of 954 set off with a great fleet to Constantinople. This was a peaceful “expedition”, combining the tasks of religious pilgrimage and diplomatic mission, but the political considerations demanded that it become simultaneously a display of the military might of Rus on the Black Sea, which would remind the haughty “Romaioi” [Byzantine Greeks] of the victorious campaigns of Askold and Oleg, who in the year 907 advanced in their shields “to the very gates of Constantinople.”

The result was attained. The appearance of the Russian fleet in the Bosphorus created the necessary effect for the developing of Russo-Byzantine dialogue. In turn, the southern capital struck the stern daughter of the north with its variety of beauty and grandeur of architecture, and its jumbled mixture of pagans and peoples from all over the world. But a great impression was produced by the wealth of Christian churches and the holy things preserved in them. Constantinople, “the city of the imperial Caesar,” the Byzantine Empire, strove in everything to be worthy of the Mother of God, to Whom the city was dedicated by Saint Constantine the Great (May 21) in 330 (see May 11). The Russian princess attended services in the finest churches of Constantinople: at Hagia Sophia, at Blachernae, and others.

In her heart the wise Olga found the desire for holy Orthodoxy, and she made the decision to become a Christian. The sacrament of Baptism was made over her by the Constantinople Patriarch Theophylactus (933-956), and her godfather was the emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitos (912-959). At Baptism she was given the name Helen in honor of the holy Equal of the Apostles Helen (May 21), the mother of Saint Constantine, and she also had been the discoverer of the Venerable Wood of the Cross of the Lord. In an edifying word spoken at the conclusion of the rite, the Patriarch said: “Blessed are you among Russian women, for you have forsaken the darkness and have loved the Light. The Russian people shall bless you in all the future generations, from your grandson and great-grandson to your furthermost descendants.” He instructed her in the truths of the Faith, the churchly rules and the rule of prayer, he explained the commands about fasting, chastity and charity. “She, however,” says the Monk Nestor, “bowed her head and stood, literally like a sponge absorbing water, listening to the teaching, and bowing down to the Patriarch, she said, “By your prayers, O Master, let me be preserved from the wiles of enemies”.

It is in precisely this way, with a slightly bowed head, that Saint Olga is depicted on one of the frescoes of the Kiev Sophia cathedral, and likewise on a Byzantine miniature contemporary to her, in a manuscript portrait of the Chronicles of John Scilitius in the Madrid National Library. The Greek inscription, accompanying the miniature, terms Olga “Archontissa (i.e. ruler) of Rus,” “a woman, Helga by name, who came to the emperor Constantine and was baptized”. The princess is depicted in special head attire, “as a newly-baptized Christian and venerable deaconess of the Russian Church.” Beside her in the same attire of the newly-baptized -- is Malusha (+ 1001), the future mother of the Equal of the Apostles Saint Vladimir (July 15).

For one who had originally so disliked the Russians as did the emperor Constantine Porphyrigenitos, it was no trivial matter for him to become the godfather to the “Archontissa of Rus”. In the Russian chronicles are preserved narratives about this, how resolutely and on an equal footing Olga conversed with the emperor, amazing the Greeks by her spiritual depth and wisdom of governance, and displaying that the Russian nation was quite capable of accepting and assimilating the highest attainments of the Greek religious genius, the finest fruition of Byzantine spirituality and culture. And thus by a peaceful path Saint Olga succeeded in “taking Constantinople”, something which no other military leader before her had ever been able to do. According to the witness of the chronicles, the emperor himself had to admit, that Olga “had given him the slip” (had outwitted him), and the popular mind, jumbling together into one the traditions about Oleg the Wise and Olga the Wise, sealed in its memory this spiritual victory in the bylina or folk-legend entitled “Concerning the Taking of Constantinople by Princess Olga”.

In his work “About the Ceremonies of the Byzantine Court,” which has survived to the present day in just one copy, Constantine Porphyrigenitos has left us a detailed description of the ceremony surrounding the stay of Saint Olga at Constantinople. He describes a triumphant reception in the famed Magnaura palace, beneath the singing of bronze birds and the roars of copper lions, where Olga appeared with an impressive retinue of 108 men (not counting the men of Svyatoslav’s company). And there took place negotiations in the narrower confines of the chambers of the empress, and then a state dinner in the hall of Justinian. And here during the course of events, there providentially met together at one table the four “majestic ladies”: the grandmother and the mother of holy Equal of the Apostles Saint Vladimir (Saint Olga and her companion Malusha), and the grandmother and the mother of Saint Vladimir’s future spouse Anna (the empress Helen and her daughter-in-law Theophano). Slightly more than half a century would pass, and at the Desyatin church of the Most Holy Theotokos at Kiev would stand aside each other the marble tombs of Saint Olga, Saint Vladimir and “Blessed Anna”.

During the time of one of these receptions, as Constantine Porphyrogenitos relates, the Russian princess was presented a golden plate inset with jewels. Saint Olga offered it to the vestry of the Sophia cathedral, where at the beginning of the thirteenth century it was seen and described by the Russian diplomat Dobrynya Yadeikovich (who afterwards was to become the Novgorod archbishop Anthony): “The large golden official plate of Olga of Russia, when she took it as tribute, having come to Constantinople; upon the plate be precious stones, and upon it is written in these stones the name Christ”.

Moreover, the wily emperor, after reporting such details as would underscore how “Olga had given him the slip”, also presents a difficult riddle for historians of the Russian Church. This is it: Saint Nestor the Chronicler relates in the “Tale of Bygone Years” that the Baptism of Olga took place in the Biblical year 6463 (955 or 954), and this corresponds to the account of the Byzantine chronicles of Kedrinos. Another Russian Church writer of the eleventh century, Yakov Mnikh, in his work “Eulogy and Laudation to Vladimir... and how Vladimir’s Grandmother Olga was Baptized”, speaks about the death of the holy princess (+ 969) and he notes that she lived as a Christian for fifteen years, and he places the actual date of Baptism as the year 954, which corresponds within several months to the date indicated by Nestor. In contrast to this, describing for us the stay of Olga at Constantinople and providing the precise dates of the receptions given in her honor, Constantine Porphyrogenitos has us to understand in no uncertain terms that all this occurred in the year 957.

To reconcile the cited chronicles, on the one hand, with the testimony of Constantine on the other hand, Russian Church historians are led to suppose one of two things: either Saint Olga made a second journey to Constantinople in the year 957 to continue negotiations with the emperor, or she was not baptized at Constantinople, having previously been baptized at Kiev in 954, and that she was merely making a pilgrimage to Byzantium, since she was already a Christian. The first supposition is the more credible.

As for the immediate diplomatic outcome of the negotiations, there were basic matters for Saint Olga that had been left unsettled. She had gained success on questions concerning Russian trade within the territories of the Byzantine Empire, and also the reconfirmation of the peace accord with Byzantium, concluded by Igor in the year 944. But she had not been able to sway the emperor on two issues of importance to Rus: the dynastic marriage of Svyatoslav with a Byzantine princess, and the conditions for restoring an Orthodox metropolitan to Kiev as had existed at the time of Askold. The evidently inadequate outcome of her mission is detected in her answer, when she had already returned home, which was given to emissaries sent out by the emperor. To the emperor’s inquiry about promised military aid, Saint Olga curtly replied through the emissaries: “If you had spent time with me at Pochaina, as I did at the Court, then I would send the soldiers to help you.”

Amidst all this, in spite of her failed attempts at establishing the Church hierarchy within Rus, Saint Olga, after becoming a Christian, zealously devoted herself to efforts of Christian evangelization among the pagans, and also church construction: “demanding the distressing of demons and the beginning of life for Christ Jesus”. She built churches: of Saint Nicholas and the church of the Holy Wisdom at Kiev, of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos at Vytebsk, and of the Holy Life-Creating Trinity at Pskov. Pskov from that period has been called in the chronicles the Domicile of the Holy Trinity. The church, built by Olga at the River Velika at a spot pointed out to her from on high, according to the chronicler, by a “light-beam of the Thrice-Radiant Divinity”, stood for more than one and an half centuries. In the year 1137 holy Prince Vsevolod-Gabriel (February 11) replaced this wooden temple with one made of stone, which in turn in 1363 was rebuilt and replaced finally with the presently existing Trinity cathedral.

Another very important monument of Russian “Monument Theology”, as Church architecture frequently is termed, connected with the name of Saint Olga, is the temple of the Wisdom of God at Kiev, which was started soon after her return from Constantinople, and consecrated on May 11, 960. This day was afterwards observed in the Russian Church as a special Church feastday.

In the Mesyatseslov (calendar supplement)of a parchment Epistle-book from 1307, under May 11 is written: “On this day the consecration of Saint Sophia took place at Kiev in the year 6460.” The date is indicated in the so-called “Antiochian” rather than generally-accepted Constantinople chronology, and it corresponds to the year 960 from the Birth of Christ.

It was no mere coincidence that Saint Olga received in Baptism the name of Saint Helen, who found the Venerable Wood of the Cross at Jerusalem (March 6). The foremost sacred item in the newly built Kiev Sophia temple was a piece of the Holy Cross, brought by this new Helen from Constantinople, and received by her in blessing from the Constantinople Patriarch. The Cross, by tradition, was hewn out from an entire piece of the Life-Creating Wood of the Lord. Upon the Cross-Wood was inscribed: “The Holy Cross for the Regeneration of the Russian Land, Received by Noble Princess Olga.”

Saint Olga did much to memorialize the first Russian confessors of the Name of Christ: over the grave of Askold the Saint Nicholas church was built, where according to certain accounts, she herself was afterwards interred. Over the grave of Dir was built the afore-mentioned Sophia cathedral, which stood for half a century and burned in the year 1017. On this spot Yaroslav the Wise later on built a church of Saint Irene in 1050, but the sacred items of Olga’s Sophia temple were transferred into a stone church of the same name now standing as the Kiev Sophia, started in 1017 and consecrated about the year 1030. In the Prologue of the thirteenth century, it says about the Olga Cross: “for It is now at Kiev in Saint Sophia in the altar on the right side.” The plundering of Kiev’s holy things, which after the Mongols was continued by the Lithuanians who captured the city in 1341, did not spare even this. Under Jagiello in the period of the Liublin Unia, which in 1384 united Poland and Lithuania into one state, the Olga Cross was snatched from the Sophia cathedral and carried off by the Catholics to Lublin. Its further fate is unknown.

But even in Olga’s time there were at Kiev among the nobles and retainers no few people who, in the words of Solomon, “hated Wisdom”, and also Saint Olga, for having built Wisdom’s temple. Zealots of the old paganism became all the more emboldened, viewing with hope the coming of age of Svyatoslav, who decidedly spurned the urgings of his mother to accept Christianity, and even becoming angry with her over this. It was necessary to hurry with the intended matter of the Baptism of Rus. The deceit of Byzantium, at the time not wanting to promote Christianity in Rus, played into the hands of the pagans. In search of a solution, Saint Olga looked to the west. No contradiction here yet existed. Saint Olga (+ 969) belonged still to the undivided Church (i.e. before the Great Schism of 1054), and she had scant possibility to study the theological points involved between the Greek and Latin Creeds. The opposition of West and East presented itself to her first of all as a political rivalry, of secondary importance in comparison with her task, the establishment of the Russian Church and the Christian enlightenment of Rus.

Under the year 959, the German chronicler named “the Continuant of Reginon,” records: “to the king came emissaries of Helen, queen of the Russes, who was baptized in Constantinople, and who sought for their nation to have bishop and priests” King Otto, the future founder of the German Empire, willingly acceded to Olga’s request, but he urged that the matter not be decided in haste. It was only on Nativity of the following year 960, that there was established a Russian bishop Libutius, from the monastery brethren of Anatolius Alban am Mainz. But he soon died (March 15, 961). In his place was ordained Adalbert of Trier, whom Otto “generously furnishing all needs” finally sent to Russia. It is difficult to say what would have happened, had the king not delayed for so long a while, but when in 962 when Adalbert showed up at Kiev, he “did not succeed in the matter for which he had been sent, and did consider his efforts to be in vain.” Furthermore, on the return journey “certain of his companions were murdered, and the bishop himself did not escape mortal danger.”

It turned out that after the passage of years, as Olga indeed had foreseen, matters at Kiev had twisted ultimately in favor of paganism, and Rus having become neither Orthodox nor Catholic, had second thoughts about accepting Christianity. The pagan reaction thus produced was so strong, that not only did the German missionaries suffer, but also some of the Kiev Christians who had been baptized with Olga at Constantinople. By order of Svyatoslav, Saint Olga’s nephew Gleb was killed and some of the churches built by her were destroyed. It seems reasonable, that this transpired not without Byzantium’s secret diplomacy: given the possibility of a strengthened Rus in alliance with Otto, the Greeks would have preferred to support the pagans, with the consequent intrigues against Olga and various disorders.

The collapse of the mission of Adalbert had providential significance for the future Russian Orthodox Church, escaping papal dominion. Saint Olga was obliged to accede to the humiliation and to withdraw fully into matters of personal piety, handing over the reigns of governance to her pagan-son Svyatoslav. Because of her former role, all the difficult matters were referred over to her in her wisdom of governance. When Svyatoslav absented himself from Kiev on military campaigns and wars, the governance of the realm was again entrusted to his mother. But the question about the Baptism of Rus was for a while taken off the agenda, and this was ultimately bitter for Saint Olga, who regarded the good news of the Gospel of Christ as the chief matter in her life.

She meekly endured the sorrow and grief, attempting to help her son in civil and military affairs, and to guide matters with heroic intent. The victories of the Russian army were a consolation for her, particularly the destruction of an old enemy of the Russian state—the Khazar kaganate. Twice, in the years 965 and 969, the armies of Svyatoslav went through the lands of “the foolish Khazars,” forever shattering the might of the Jewish rulers of Priazovia and lower Povolzhia. A subsequent powerful blow was struck at the Mahometan Volga Bulgars, and then in turn came the Danube Bulgars. Eighteen years were spent on the Danube with the Kiev military forces. Olga was alone and in worry: it was as though, absorbed by military matters in the Balkans, Svyatoslav had forgotten about Kiev.

In the Spring of 969 the Pechenegs besieged Kiev: “and it was impossible to lead out the horses to water, for the Pechenegs stood at the Lybeda.” The Russian army was far away, at the Danube. Having sent off messengers to her son, Saint Olga herself headed the defense of the capital. When he received the news, Svyatoslav rode quickly to Kiev, and “he hugged his mother and his children and was distressed, with what had happened with them from the Pechenegs.” But after routing the nomads, the warrior prince began anew to say to his mother: “It does not please me to sit at Kiev, for I wish to live at Pereslavl’ on the Dunaj (Danube) since that is the center of my lands.”

Svyatoslav dreamed of creating a vast Russian holding from the Danube to the Volga, which would unite all Rus, Bulgaria, Serbia, the Near Black Sea region and Priazovia (Azov region), and extend his borders to those of Constantinople itself. Olga the Wise understood however, that all the bravery and daring of the Russian companies could not compare against the ancient Byzantine Empire, and that the venture of Svyatoslav would fail. But the son would not heed the admonitions of his mother. Saint Olga thereupon said, “You see that I am ill. Why do you want to forsake me? After you bury me, then go wherever you wish.”

Her days were numbered, and her burdens and sorrows sapped her strength. On July 11, 969 Saint Olga died: “and with great lament they mourned her, her son and grandsons and all the people.” In her final years, amidst the triumph of paganism, she had to have a priest by her secretly, so she would not evoke new outbursts of pagan fanaticism. But before death, having found anew her former firmness and resolve, she forbade them to make over her the pagan celebration of the dead, and she gave final instructions to bury her openly in accord with Orthodox ritual. Presbyter Gregory, who was with her at Constantinople in 957, fulfilled her request.

Saint Olga lived, died, and was buried as a Christian. “And thus having lived and well having glorified God in Trinity, Father and Son and Holy Spirit, having worshipped in the blessed faith, she ended her life in the peace of Christ Jesus, our Lord.” As her prophetic testament to succeeding generations, with deep Christian humility she confessed her faith concerning her nation: “God’s will be done! If it pleases God to have mercy upon my native Russian Land, then they shall turn their hearts to God, just as I have received this gift.”

God glorified the holy toiler of Orthodoxy, the “initiator of faith” in the Russian Land, by means of miracles and incorrupt relics. Yakov Mnikh (+ 1072), a hundred years after her death, wrote in his work “Memory and Laudation to Vladimir”: “God has glorified the body of His servant Olga, and her venerable body remains incorrupt to this day.”

Saint Olga glorified God with good deeds in all things, and God glorified her. Under holy Prince Vladimir, ascribed by some as occurring in the year 1007, the relics of Saint Olga were transferred into the Desyatin church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos and placed within a special sarcophagus, such as was customary to enclose the relics of saints in the Orthodox East. “And hear ye concerning a certain miracle about her: the grave of stone is small in the church of the Holy Mother of God, this church built by the blessed Prince Vladimir, and in the grave is the blessed Olga. And an opening was made in the tomb to behold Olga’s body lying there whole.” But not everyone was given to see this miracle of the incorrupt relics of the saint: “For whoever came with faith, the aperture opened up, and there the venerable body could be seen lying intact, and one would marvel at such a miracle -- the body lying there for so many years without decay. Worthy of all praise is this venerable body: resting in the grave whole, as though sleeping. But for those who did not approach in faith, the grave aperture would not open up, and they would not see this venerable body, but only the grave.”

Thus even after death Saint Olga espoused life eternal and resurrection, filling believers with joy and confounding non-believers. She was, in the words of Saint Nestor the Chronicler, “a precursor in the Christian land, like the dawn before sunrise or the twilight before the light.”

The holy Equal of the Apostles Great Prince Vladimir, himself giving thanks to God on the day of the Baptism of Rus, witnessed before his countrymen concerning Saint Olga with the remarkable words: “The sons of Rus bless you, and also the generations of your descendants.”

LUKE 7:36-50 

36 Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee's house, and sat down to eat. 37 And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, 38 and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, "This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner." 40 And Jesus answered and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." So he said, "Teacher, say it."41There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.42And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?43 Simon answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more." And He said to him, "You have rightly judged." 44 Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.45 You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. 46 You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. 47 Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.48 Then He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." 49And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" 50 Then He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you. Go in peace."

2 CORINTHIANS 6:1-10

1 We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 For He says: In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you." Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 3 We give no offense in anything, that our ministry may not be blamed. 4 But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, 5 in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings; 6 by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, 7 by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, 8 by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; 9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

Regarding Partiality

A major theme throughout the Bible, especially the New Testament, is the rejection of partiality. For centuries, the Jewish community relished their status as the chosen people and created ethnic divides without understanding the purpose of Old Testament instruction. During Christ’s life and after His accession the topic was thrust again into the spotlight. But in light of the cross there was a different conclusion—a unanimous decree that there is no room for partiality in the Christian faith (Ephesians 2:15-18).

In the gospel of John we see one of the earliest examples of this in Christ's engagement with the woman at the well:

A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) (John 4:7-9)

The lady was shocked that a Jewish man would speak to her. In this encounter, Jesus flies in the face of the cultural norms. This interaction exemplifies the context of the time and reveals how controversial the parable of the Good Samaritan would have been.

In the gospel of Luke, Jesus is asked, “who is my neighbor?” In order to answer, He tells the now-familiar story about a man who fell among robbers and was stripped, beaten, and left half dead. A Jewish priest and a Levite walked by and crossed to the other side of the street and continued on their way. Finally, a Samaritan came by and helped the guy. Not only did he bandage the beaten Jew; but he took him to safety and paid for his lodging until he recovered. Ultimately, Jesus ends the parable by asking the questioner a pointed question:

Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” (Luke 10:36-37)

This parable teaches that partiality based on race (i.e. “the chosen people”) is not okay. Jesus was speaking out against the most confirmed cultural norm. The parable of the Good Samaritan is like the ‘you are the father’ episode of the Maury Show in its level of shock value when viewed in its context.

Another detail revealed by Jesus’s conversation with the lady at the well is that the Samaritan’s believed in the one true God:

“Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” (John 4:12)

Identifying as part of Jacob’s lineage establishes that Samaritans knew about the One true God. And so we see how the teaching against partiality is important even within the body of Christ. There are many believers who do not have it all correct—they are still your brother or sister and should be viewed as full-fledged members in the body of Christ.

The book of James also comments forcefully on the topic of partiality. Unlike the partiality by race, James speaks out against partiality between social classes:

My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? (James 2:1-4)

This type of partiality is subtly done and typically not thought twice about. An example I recently heard concerns a denominational convention. Each church has to pay for its member to attend which can be costly. This creates a dynamic where only the "haves" can attend and influence the direction of the denomination. (By no means am I saying I have all the answers, but an issue is an issue.)

Another example is the cost of seminary. Are only kids from well-off families called to ministry? The steep cost is essentially an invitation only to the upper middle class to upper class—unless a guy is willing to mortgage his future. These examples do not mirror the examples that James explains, but it is similar. James makes it abundantly clear that preferences based upon money or status are sin and not acceptable in the church. In a capitalistic society, the quest to increase revenue masks the favoritism provided to the wealthy in contrast to other segments of society.

Another type of partiality discussed in Scripture is between the self-perceived pious and a known sinner:

Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” (Luke 7:39)

This statement occurs as Jesus is eating at a Pharisee's house. A lady with a questionable track record approached Jesus (Luke 7:36-50) and washed Jesus’ feet with expensive oil and tears. This moment in the life of Jesus shows that the self-righteous and the one struggling are both loved by our Lord. The fact of the matter is that Jesus came for sinners:

“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:17)

Scripture does not argue that rejecting partiality makes obedience unimportant. Rather, from the most pious to the addict struggling, we all need Jesus and there is no partiality in that. To that point, much of the book of Acts is centered on reconciliation and the realization that Jesus is Christ for everyone.

Many people attempt to make the main theme of Acts be things like tongues, healing, or just a history tracing the early church—all of these are themes in the book of Acts—but the major consistent theme throughout the book is reconciliation and removing partiality in the body of Christ. An early example of this is Peter's revelation after God gave him a vision:

“You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean.” (Acts 10:28)

Peter’s eyes were opened by God to realize this beautiful truth that had been lost among the brethren—God is the God of all, not just the God of a certain people group. Later in the same chapter, Peter flushes out the premise even more:

So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” (Acts 10:34-35)

To drill the point home, the Holy Spirit revealed to Peter the purpose of the sign of tongues (displayed three times in the book of Acts). The Apostle Peter does not conclude that the people who have spoken in tongues have a special anointing or that they are temporarily more filled with the Holy Spirit than another believer. No! The Apostle Peter concludes:

And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” And he commanded them to be baptized. (Acts 10:45-48)

The statement “who can withhold baptism” establishes equality in the body of Christ. After this Peter proclaimed this truth at the first Church Council which affirmed partiality was not to be tolerated. Unlike many Protestant traditions that view baptism as a minor thing or symbol, the historic church viewed it as God literally washing sins away and God applying Christ’s finish works to the person. Therefore, this statement by Peter is no minor thing. It also makes the Apostle Peter being rebuked for partiality a huge thing.

In the book a Galatians, the Apostle Paul rebukes the Apostle Peter for showing partiality to the Jewish believers. One of the most interesting parts of this exchange between the two Apostles is that Paul established that this is a gospel issue:

To them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. (Gal 2:5)

 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel (Gal 2:14)

As discussed earlier, there was no civility between Samaritans and Jewish people. This attitude was little different towards Gentiles for the most part. To break bread with a Gentile was not acceptable. You couldn't even step into their house. (Even our Lord and Savior referred to a Gentile as a Gentile dog (Matthew 15:25-28)—the people not of Hebrew lineage were viewed as inferior for the most part.)

The examples of partiality being addressed are numerous in the New Testament. Many Christians attempt to ignore the issues of partiality which impact modern society by placing their freedom in Christ against the biblical narrative to seek justice, care for the less fortunate, and fight for oppressed. Instead of just stating how unScriptural this is I’ll provide a Bible passage:

Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;

remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;

cease to do evil,

learn to do good;

seek justice,

correct oppression;

bring justice to the fatherless,

plead the widow’s cause. (Isaiah 1:16-17)

Jesus is the key to salvation, but that does not remove commands for believers. Having no concern for the poor, the helpless, the oppressed is a serious matter:

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. (1 John 4:20-21)

We may disagree on solutions, but partiality that leads to disdain or lack of empathy for our neighbor is not a Christian posture. We are called to love the rich, poor, and middle class. We are called to care about the widows and the orphans. We are called to relieve the oppressed. This is how we are to be salt and light to the world. Showing partiality based on prestige, social status, or ethnicity is not ok. In practice, a person will never be able to address, help, or even be aware of all societal ills in the world. But when one of the ills is at your door you should care. God has placed each of us in certain regions, certain communities, and we can make an impact there.

My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory…But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. (James 2:1, 9)

Love, Mercy, Peace,

Lex

(via A Call To Stand Apart)

Chapter 1—Beginnings

Christ, the heavenly merchantman seeking goodly pearls, saw in lost humanity the pearl of price. In man, defiled and ruined by sin, he saw the possibilities of redemption. 1 CSA 4.1Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins. CSA 4.2Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name Jesus. Matthew 1:18-25. CSA 4.3And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. CSA 4.4And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. Luke 2:8-20. CSA 4.5The Saviour’s coming was foretold in Eden. When Adam and Eve first heard the promise, they looked for its speedy fulfillment. They joyfully welcomed their first-born son, hoping that he might be the Deliverer. But the fulfillment of the promise tarried. Those who first received it died without the sight. From the days of Enoch the promise was repeated through patriarchs and prophets, keeping alive the hope of His appearing, and yet He came not. The prophecy of Daniel revealed the time of His advent, but not all rightly interpreted the message. Century after century passed away; the voices of the prophets ceased. The hand of the oppressor was heavy upon Israel, and many were ready to exclaim, “The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth.” Ezekiel 12:22. CSA 5.1But like the stars in the vast circuit of their appointed path, God’s purposes know no haste and no delay. Through the symbols of the great darkness and the smoking furnace, God had revealed to Abraham the bondage of Israel in Egypt, and had declared that the time of their sojourning should be four hundred years. “Afterward,” He said, “shall they come out with great substance.” Genesis 15:14. Against that word, all the power of Pharaoh’s proud empire battled in vain. On “the self-same day” appointed in the divine promise, “it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.” Exodus 12:41. So in heaven’s council the hour for the coming of Christ had been determined. When the great clock of time pointed to that hour, Jesus was born in Bethlehem. 2 CSA 5.2The King of glory stooped low to take humanity. Rude and forbidding were His earthly surroundings. His glory was veiled, that the majesty of His outward form might not become an object of attraction. He shunned all outward display. Riches, worldly honor, and human greatness can never save a soul from death; Jesus purposed that no attraction of an earthly nature should call men to His side. Only the beauty of heavenly truth must draw those who would follow Him. The character of the Messiah had long been foretold in prophecy, and He desired men to accept Him upon the testimony of the word of God. CSA 5.3The angels had wondered at the glorious plan of redemption. They watched to see how the people of God would receive His Son, clothed in the garb of humanity. 3 CSA 5.4Angels attend Joseph and Mary as they journey from their home in Nazareth to the city of David. The decree of imperial Rome for the enrollment of the peoples of her vast dominion has extended to the dwellers among the hills of Galilee. As in old time Cyrus was called to the throne of the world’s empire that he might set free the captives of the Lord, so Caesar Augustus is made the agent for the fulfillment of God’s purpose in bringing the mother of Jesus to Bethlehem. She is of the lineage of David, and the Son of David must be born in David’s city. Out of Bethlehem, said the prophet, “shall He come forth ... that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from the days of eternity.” Micah 5:2, margin. But in the city of their royal line, Joseph and Mary are unrecognized and unhonored. Weary and homeless, they traverse the entire length of the narrow street, from the gate of the city to the eastern extremity of the town, vainly seeking a resting place for the night. There is no room for them at the crowded inn. In a rude building where the beasts are sheltered, they at last find refuge, and here the Redeemer of the world is born. 4 CSA 5.5Above the hills of Bethlehem are gathered an innumerable throng of angels. They wait the signal to declare the glad news to the world. Had the leaders in Israel been true to their trust, they might have shared the joy of heralding the birth of Jesus. But now they are passed by.5 CSA 6.1In the fields where the boy David had led his flock, shepherds were still keeping watch by night. Through the silent hours they talked together of the promised Saviour, and prayed for the coming of the King to David’s throne. “And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” CSA 6.2At these words, visions of glory fill the minds of the listening shepherds. The Deliverer has come to Israel! Power, exaltation, triumph, are associated with His coming. But the angel must prepare them to recognize their Saviour in poverty and humiliation. “This shall be a sign unto you,” he says; “Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” CSA 6.3The heavenly messenger had quieted their fears. He had told them how to find Jesus. With tender regard for their human weakness, he had given them time to become accustomed to the divine radiance. Then the joy and glory could no longer be hidden. The whole plain was lighted up with the bright shining of the hosts of God. Earth was hushed, and heaven stooped to listen to the song,— CSA 6.4“Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, good will toward men.” 6 CSA 6.5As the angels disappeared, the light faded away, and the shadows of night once more fell on the hills of Bethlehem. But the brightest picture ever beheld by human eyes remained in the memory of the shepherds. “And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.” 7 CSA 6.6Heaven and earth are no wider apart today than when shepherds listened to the angels’ song. Humanity is still as much the object of heaven’s solicitude as when common men of common occupations met angels at noonday, and talked with the heavenly messengers in the vineyards and the fields. To us in the common walks of life, heaven may be very near. Angels from the courts above will attend the steps of those who come and go at God’s command. CSA 6.7The story of Bethlehem is an exhaustless theme. In it is hidden “the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God.” Romans 11:33. We marvel at the Saviour’s sacrifice in exchanging the throne of heaven for the manger, and the companionship of adoring angels for the beasts of the stall. Human pride and self-sufficiency stand rebuked in His presence. Yet this was but the beginning of His wonderful condescension. It would have been an almost infinite humiliation for the Son of God to take man’s nature, even when Adam stood in his innocence in Eden. But Jesus accepted humanity when the race had been weakened by four thousand years of sin. Like every child of Adam He accepted the results of the working of the great law of heredity. What these results were is shown in the history of His earthly ancestors. He came with such a heredity to share our sorrows and temptations, and to give us the example of a sinless life. 8 CSA 6.8

Arrangements

Author’s Notes | Being honest, I didn't find a way to have a Saxon princess being sent to Kattegat due to the fact Christians were pretty more sexist and unless she was already negotiated for marriage or some kind of deal with the Vikings, hardly the Saxons would trust a woman to go among Vikings and prevent a war, but yet, I found a way to adapt your idea and I really hope you like the final work!

What if Ubbe's deal with the Saxons had gone right...

Universe | Vikings Pairing | Ubbe x Saxon Princess! Reader Info | Viking Age AU, requested by @cris101071 for 5CW4  Words | 4698 ⁑ Warnings: NSFW, SMUT included, romance.

"Við viljum kröfu landið okkar."

The voice of that Norseman was strange. A low tone you didn't have heard anywhere before.

The two men in front of the table where your older brother and your father were sitting alongside Bishop Heahmund were totally different from anything you have ever seen.

Their hairs were braided and long, they were taller and that one who spoke had eyes of intense blue you could almost say were pieces stolen from the sky on a sunny day.

They were beautiful. Both of them. A wild beauty you couldn't deny, but yet, both of them were scary for you.

For a long time, you saw your father and your brother speaking to those men and more than once, you saw the older of them looking at you. Your father also mentioned your name sometimes, so as that strange man - yet he couldn't speak your name properly, sounding strange in his strong accent.

The two Norsemen were dismissed for a moment and your father, Alfred and the bishop started to deliberate in between them, not really minding your presence into the tent: you were there just because your mother asked you to serve some drinks to your father's table while she was too busy taking care of Aethelred's wounds after the last battle against the Norsemen in York. You were about to leave when those two arrived and so, the curiosity kept you into the tent.

"They want peace," your father said, causing you to smile.

It was a good thing, after all, right?

"Two sons of Ragnar Lothbrok into my camp, after taking one of my towns, and they want peace."

Your smile kinda vanished. It was something good, but your father and the bishop didn't seem to be leaned to accept their proposal.

"It's a good deal, you must admit," Alfred said "We could settle them out of York and recover the power over the city they stole from us. The lands my grandfather promised to them are idle anyway. With the right way to work with them, we could turn this into something good for us," he insisted "The lands would start to produce, more tributes would be taken to the crown and we must admit their military skills are better than ours or we wouldn't be here after all," Alfred wisely settled, "Giving up on these lands for them could mean a good alliance that could include teaching our men their ways to fight. It would make us stronger."

"They're heathens, my lord," Bishop Heahmund stated, trying to sound respectful when his voice was only sounding arrogant to your ears. "We could have nothing to learn from pagans like them."

"I believe they're just... Into the dark," Alfred said, trying to argue with the bishop, "Which just make the situation a little more favorable to us: we could take the chance of convivence to show them the way of our Lord and open their eyes to the light. How many of them could we earn to our Lord Jesus Christ and turn into fellow Christians, my Lord Bishop? Think about it: to end a war, spare the lives of our men, make our military stronger, take lands out of idleness, and maybe earn some souls to Our Lord. I don't see where it could be a bad deal for us, of course, if we keep control over this situation. We have what they want... Set conditions they shall not deny. Rules that shall not be broken."

"They won't trust us," it was the time of your father to doubt, causing the bishop to sigh relieved.

You could see Bishop Heahmund didn't want that deal to happen. But how many of your father's men would have to die until that stupid man could give up on his pride? Wasn't pride a terrible sin under the eyes of your God?

"Then give them something that will make us trustable. If you want to be trusted, then, earn their trust, father," Alfred said "Ubbe has a good proposal, after all. It seals our bloodlines together in a way you shall not lose the hand of the royalty over those lands, in the end."

"Forgive me, my lord, but this would be stupidity."

Should you say how much the voice of that bishop was bothering you?

Nah. You shouldn't even be there!

But you kept your silence, paying attention to what they were talking, wanting to know the destiny of that conflict that had taken you from your home and almost took your brother's life.

"To mix your bloodline with the impure blood of the heathens would only condemn your family and expose Wessex to their lineage." the bishop continued, causing some shivers down your spine...

What exactly did he mean by "mixing your lineage to theirs”?

"My father has two heirs to the throne of Wessex, my Lord Bishop. They wouldn't be able to claim anything over two lines before them unless our Lord decides to take both lives, mine and my brother's, to let in their hands the crown of my father. And yet, it would be our Lord's will, proved in front of our eyes. We shall trust our God's will, shall we not?"

You started to make the math in your head.

Were they thinking about...

"Are you suggesting we should marry my Lady Y/N to that heathen and accept their absurd proposal peacefully, my Lord Alfred?"

"What?!" you squealed, unable to hold back your voice when the bishop delivered the whole conversation in a single sentence.

Your eyes went large to Alfred's and then to your father's.

"Should we be talking about this in front of your sister like that? Y/N, go see if your mother finished her work with Aethewulf and bring me news about my son." your father ordered.

As if you weren't completely paralyzed by the news you just discovered.

Married...

To a heathen?

To a son of Ragnar?

To which one of those men you saw?

The youngest one?

No. He didn't look at you one single time...

The oldest?

Was Alfred speaking seriously about this?

"Y/N!" your father's voice caused you to jump from your chair "Go. Now!" he ordered again and you bent before leaving the tent.

Your heart racing into your chest, your mind disoriented...

You weren't even paying attention to your way. Your steps were automatically following the way to the other tents as your mind was diving into all those questions once again.

Would you have to live among them?

The heathens?

Those some of your people called demons?

Would this be the sacrifice you would have to do to see your people finally free from the horrors of that war?

What about the horrors that could be waiting for you in those men hands?

Lost in thoughts and questions, you weren't able to see the two of them stopped in the middle of the way and your steps took you straight to that man's back: you stumbled and hit the oldest of those Norsemen in the middle of your way.

Your surprised squeal caused your men to unsheathe swords, all of them pointed to the two Norsemen in the middle of the circle of soldiers formed around them by your men, all ready to protect their princess from the two heathens they were being obligated to receive into their camp.

The youngest one among them also unsheathed his sword, ready to defend himself, denouncing how nervous and tense he was - maybe as tense as your soldiers were with their presence.

However, calmer, the older one just helped you to straighten your position after preventing you to fall straight to the muddy ground.

You lift your face to see those blues looking straight into your eyes. It was like he was able to read your soul, but also, it was like his eyes were windows to his and you didn't see fierceness or fire in his eyes... Instead, you saw kindness when he helped you to find your balance one more time.

What was that man?

"I'm sorry..." you mumbled and he nodded before Alfred, your father, and Bishop Heahmund invaded the circle, probably warned by the sound of swords being pulled.

"What is happening here?" your father started, already alarmed.

But you answered him before it could put the two Norsemen into a bad situation - they were outnumbered... The more the Norsemen were skilled and devilish, yet, it would be a massacre.

"I fell. And he prevented me to hit the ground and helped me to stand once again, my father. It was just a misunderstood for he acted too fast and the soldiers were scared by his fast reaction. He just helped me. Once again, I'm sorry. And thank you." you said, politely bending your head in a respectful greeting towards the Norseman.

Your father ordered the men to sheath their swords and you saw that man touching the younger's shoulder, in a mute ask for him to sheath his sword as well, what he did without question.

"Come back into my tent. I think we already have a counter-proposal for you," your father said, inviting those men into his tent once again.

And you observed as the older one kept his eyes on you until they were inside the tent that was closed, preventing you to see or hear anything else about that deal.

You went to your mother, to fulfill your father's orders and the hours passed until you were finally allowed to get into the main tent to speak to your father once again.

"Come near," he called.

Those two Norsemen were still there, but the tension into the tent was different now.

Bishop Heahmund wasn't there anymore, probably unsatisfied with whatever decision was made that was making your brother Alfred to keep a small smile on his lips, victorious.

You stood next to your father and spoke in a low voice, kinda feeling strange with everyone in the room looking at you as if they were waiting for something to happen.

"Aethelred is getting better. Mother said his fever is diminishing and she believes he'll soon start to heal the wound in his shoulder."

Your father sighed in relief: his precious son would be recovered soon.

But then, the expression in his face became tense once again.

"Y/N, these are Ubbe and Hvitserk, sons of Ragnar and leaders of the army that came into our lands to avenge their father's death, murdered b King Aelle. With my father's cooperation..." he sighed as you looked at them, noticing that man he named Ubbe was still looking straight at you. "They came for a deal and we negotiated with them the best way to settle peace for our people and give them what..." he sighed "What your grandfather granted to them before he... Passed away."

So, as you, Ubbe seemed to be attentively listening to the words your father was saying.

So as Bishop Heahmund, the one he named Hvitserk seemed to be unsatisfied with whatever they dealt with your father but, unlike the bishop, he stood in his position, not leaving like a spoiled child.

"Your grandfather granted their people the lands of East Anglia and I shall warrant his words are kept and his desires are accomplished. However, it is pleasing to us to keep those lands closer to the crown of Wessex so..." your father's voice failed for a second.

He wasn't pleased with that decision, but you could see he was doing it for he had no other choice and he had to admit Alfred's plan was perfect for all the involved parts.

"We shall celebrate an alliance among us and the Norsemen. Ubbe agreed in being baptized and as soon as it happens, we shall celebrate your marriage to him, as a symbol of the union of our people and the friendship among the crown of Wessex and the new crown to rise at East Anglia. Meet your soon-to-be husband. I'll see my son." your father got up, leaving the tent in a rush.

He was completely annoyed with the situation, but his way to speak seemed to amuse the older Norseman and Ubbe opened his lips on a beautiful smile that caught you for a moment.

"Your father is too easily irritable," Ubbe said, using your language almost with perfection, despite the strong accent that was making his voice even hoarser. "As he said, I'm Ubbe. And it's a pleasure to meet you, princess Y/N."

He extended his hand to yours and you landed your hand on his, accepting his court when he gently kissed the back of your hand, tickling your skin with his beard.

Smiling he was even more handsome than with that frowned expression he came at the first moment. However, his brother was still frowned, seeming to be very annoyed with the interaction in between the two of you.

"It doesn't seem your brother is too different from him," you said, looking at Ubbe.

Attracting the pissed glare from the younger one.

"He's bothered by the fact I accepted the baptism under your God. Formalities... He forgets my father was also baptized under the Christian God, and also my uncle Rollo. So, it's not something new among our family."

Hvitserk sighed, bothered again. But Ubbe smiled at you a little bigger.

"Don't bother yourself about him. Hvitserk will understand. However, I fear we won't have too much time to talk with each other for now, my lady. I must return to my own camp to warn my brother Ivar about our deal and start the preparations for my men can be moved to the new lands." his eyes went to your brother and Alfred smiled at him when he continued. "At the rise of three suns we shall be ready to leave and York shall be given back to your hands, young prince. But keep my words, Alfred: our fathers had a friendship and your grandfather and my father might have negotiated with each other. But I'm not my father. And I won't accept to see my people treated the way that happened before. Keep your word and I shall keep mine. Break your word and things will be done according to my brother Ivar's will."

Alfred knew what he was talking about.

Despite you couldn't understand exactly what he was saying, something told you that his brother Ivar's will was something really bad for you and your people, enough for Alfred to agree with his words readily.

"As you said, our ancestors had relationships, but you aren't Ragnar Lothbrok, nor I am King Ecbert. Our ancestor's mistakes shall not haunt our steps."

Ubbe nodded, satisfied, turning himself to you with a soft smile.

"I'll see you soon, my bride," he said, kissing your hand one more time before touching Hvitserk's shoulder and leaving the tent with him.

"It won't be so bad, you shall see, Y/N," Alfred came, with a tone that sounded as if he was trying to console you.

However, his expression changed when his eyes found yours and he leaned his head, smiling.

"Or maybe it will be better than I thought. You liked him, don't you, sweet sister?"

Your face became instantly red as a tomato and you pushed your brother's chest, causing him to laugh.

"Stop it, Alfred! What do you mean by liking him? I'm just... I'm just accepting my face humbly as our Lord tells us to do! A woman's fate belongs to her father and brothers to decide and after then, to her husband to rule. It is my..."

"I know. I know, sweet Y/N," he cut you, touching both of your shoulders, with a calm smile in his face, "I know. Don't worry. I was just playing with you, my sister. But listen to me closely, if he ever hurt you or does something you think it's wrong, you can always pick up a horse and come back to me. I'll find a way to help you, ok?"

You smiled.

After all, your sweet brother would always be there for you.

"Thank you, Alfred."

He smiled and kissed your forehead, respectfully.

"Now come... Let us see Aethelred. He must be awakening soon."

  The following days were strange. You didn't see Ubbe or any signs of his brothers, however, the watchers your father settled around York warned the Norsemen were really moving. Some of them were preparing the boats to leave. Some were preparing packages and chariots to move.

At the end of three days - as Ubbe promised - the caravans were ready. However, the Norsemen that weren't moving with him were still there to protect the ones that decided to stay: the trust in between your people was thin.

You had a heavy-weight in your shoulders: to make that trust thicker and to strengthen the bonds that deal was forming among your people and your fiancé's.

Despite the clear unsatisfaction of Bishop Heahmund, your father kept his word and the men were taken to the lands of East Anglia where the Princes were settled into the empty castle that should be prepared for you and your future husband to occupy soon after your marriage. Like the bishop, Ubbe's brothers were unsatisfied as well, but as your father, Ubbe kept his word and accepted the baptism rite, denying his false gods and accepting your Lord in order to become a fellow Christian and seal the alliance in between your nations with your marriage to come.

A huge celebration was prepared to seal the marriage and settle his people on the new lands that would be properly divided to receive the new farmers to come from his lands as well.

You watched as a nation was about to be born when you got into the church of Wessex - where your marriage was to be celebrated before your husband could take you back to your new home.

The more he was a Christian now, Ubbe was still looking like a Norseman: cleaner than the men around him, his hair still long and braided with beads you never saw before so as his beard was combed and well straightened. Everything in him was different from the rest of the men you ever knew. And you had to admit your future husband was hella attractive.

He respected the rites of your church, sealing your marriage to him with a chaste kiss that barely allowed you to taste his spicy flavor. Something that changed drastically when the two of you arrived the feast his people had prepared in his lands to celebrate the new lands conquered, the new settlement and, of course, their prince's marriage, converting him from a prince into a King to his people.

There were mead and music and despite the mood of his younger brothers - that settled their departure back home to the day after your marriage party - the party was really full of happiness. Soon, Hvitserk got drunk and you saw your husband laughing alongside his brother who left the moody ways of his younger brother Ivar and started celebrating for real, mocking your husband for being collared now and joking in their native language, sometimes leaving you out of the contagious laughs they were having together.

However, you observed the more his brothers were drinking, Ubbe was keeping control over the amount of alcohol he was drinking and at some point, he stopped drinking from his cup, just smiling and laughing when Hvitserk joked or throwing some words away with his hand all the time around your waist, keeping you near him as if he wanted you to feel safe despite everything was so different around you now.

At some point in the party, Ubbe leaned his face towards you and spoke almost whispering into your ear.

"Come. Let them celebrate..."

You knew that moment would come, but you didn't imagine you would be so nervous when he took you inside the castle, away from the feast and the music, inside the room the two of you would share from that day on.

He locked the door and sat beside you on the bed, caressing your face, straightening your hair, softly sliding his fingers on your cheek.

"Don't worry... I won't hurt you."

"I don't know what to do," you confessed causing him to smile.

"I know. Just follow me. I'll teach you everything."

His face came closer and his lips covered yours, but this time, there wasn't the same chastity of the church. Ubbe's hands brought you closer to the warmth of his body and you saw yourself involved by his scent as his spicy taste was spreading all over your mouth.

His tongue touched your lips and you softly opened them, feeling the way he deepened the kiss, exploring your mouth, degusting your reactions as if it was some kind of delight to him.

His hands started running your body slowly, searching for breaches in your dress, finding your skin in some points, causing you to shiver against his chest. Somehow, it seemed to be what he wanted, for soon he found a way to sneak his hands into your skirt, touching your skin where nobody dared to touch you before.

But he was your husband...

He should be allowed to slide his hands in between your thighs like that, right?

His lips should be allowed to run the skin of your neck in a warm and humid trail of kisses as he was doing, right?

Your mother told you it would happen. She never really raised you like the other women or like your father wanted you to be raised - completely chaste or pure. She knew how the men's world worked so, she taught you about the way men were pleased by the touches of your hands or the flavor of your skin. So, it wasn't such a surprise when his voice became a hoarse grunt in the back of his neck after your hands reached his skin into his shirt Ubbe helped you by taking out of your way.

His hands started untying the knots of your dress and you felt your heart racing into your chest.

You never had been naked in front of a man before. But the sight of your nakedness made his eyes to glow with a different color. The beautiful blues you saw before became darkened as they ran over your curves and Ubbe smiled.

"You're more beautiful than your dresses allow us to see, sweet wife," he said, causing your cheeks to burn, red once again. "Don't be ashamed... You shall get used to being praised very soon, for I couldn't be more satisfied with the wife I was blessed with."

His kisses became deeper. His touches, firmer. Soon your body was arching against the bed as you were trying to deal with the huge amount of different new sensations his lips, beard, and fingers running your body were making you feel, all at once. He seemed to know exactly what to do, where to touch, to take out your self-control and cause your voice to fill the room in sounds you never thought you were able to produce.

So, as you never thought a mouth was made for the things he showed you he could do with his tongue, running your nipples, your breasts, your bellybutton, and places of your body you never thought could be licked or kissed.

Your mother told you your husband would want to take your chastity. And she told you about the pain it would bring at the first moments. She just forgot to tell you how delicious it was to ride a man as if he was a wild horse under your body or how higher were the notes your voice could reach while your walls were pulsating around his hardness, taking smiles from your skilled husband due to the several times he was able to send you to heaven and above.

You were always taught men were touched by the sin of lust and heathens were demons that would lure you into hell. However, at the end of that night, it was you who was still mounting Ubbe like an Amazon, your belly full of his seed, but not enough he couldn't come into you one more time, growling the way you took a single night to learn it was your favorite tone of his voice.

Some few movements more and you collapsed in pleasure into his embrace. Tired, Ubbe leaned back at the bed, laying with your body over his; your skins glued by the sweat and fluids of a whole night of lust and pleasure.

For the first time since it all begun, you felt a little bit ashamed.

"I should be the one to lead you into heaven's way... And here am I, luring you into hell with the sin of lust... I must pray for our souls, husband. This way, we shall be lost to paradise," you mumbled, causing him to giggle, caressing your back that delicious way with his fingertips sliding through your skin from your nape to your hips and back, causing good shivers to spread all over your body.

"Then we shall feast in Valhalla instead," he said, causing you to look up at his face, seeing his beautiful smile. "It's not like the baptism really changes something in a man like me, wife. I mean... I saw Odin with my bare eyes and I was surely blessed by a Freya with one of her mares to be my wife. I might have accepted your terms, but my gods are still with me and if your god will punish us for being happy with our marriage, then I shall stick to the ones who will happily turn my seed in a child into your womb to celebrate what we become tonight, my dear wife."

His words making a sinful sense in your head.

"I should thank Alfred for this plan..." you said, smiling at him.

Ubbe came up to be a terrific thing in your life, after all.

However, he giggled.

"I suggested the marriage, sweet wife," he said, surprising you. "Your brother really cooperated a lot with my idea, but the initial idea of a marriage was mine. I saw you in that tent and I knew you should be mine... So, I asked the king if you were his daughter. If you were his servant, I would have bought you from him. But since you were his daughter, then I saw the perfect chance to seal the deal among us and having you mine the way I wanted."

You looked at him, surprised and impressed.

So, it wasn't a plan from your brilliant brother, but something your husband showed himself very smart and kinda audacious in trying.

"It seems my people were right and you are devilish minds, after all, sweet husband," you joked.

Ubbe held your waist, swirling the two of you in bed to put his body upon yours before pecking your lips and smiling against them.

"Devilish, you say. Smart, I call. One way or another, I have exactly what I wanted: Lands to my people, the end of this war and my beautiful wife, right where I wanted to have her."

You giggled.

"An evil mind... Poor me, married to such an evil man." you joked and he smiled.

"I didn't even start torturing you yet."

His fingers ran your belly, tickling your skin, and you laughed, oversensitive from the pleasure of moments before.

It all ended in a loving and passionate kiss before you smiled at your brand-new husband.

After all, the bishop and people of your lands were wrong about those men. And you couldn't be happier with your marriage.

You would pray your God for his words to be right. Or maybe you would pray his gods as well. But it would be good to think one of them would hear your prayers and make a child from his seed in your belly.

It would be good to see his offspring growing into you and put some more of those beautiful smiles on his lips.

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Feast of the Holy Innocents - Martyrs - December 28th - Both Calendars

O God, Whose praise the martyred innocents did this day proclaim, not by speaking, but by dying: Destroy in us all the malice of sinfulness, that our lives may also proclaim thy faith, which our tongues profess. Through our Lord. Amen.

***

During the octave of Christmas, the church celebrates the memory of the small children of the neighborhood of Bethlehem who were put to death by Herod. These innocent lives bear witness to Christ who was persecuted from the time of His birth by a world which would not receive Him. It is Christ Himself who is at stake in this mass-murder of the children; already the choice, for or against Him, is put clearly before men. But the persecutors are powerless, for Christ came to perform a work of salvation that nothing could prevent; when He fell into the hands of His enemies at the time chosen by God, it was to redeem the world by His own blood. Our Christmas joy is tempered on this day by a feeling of sadness. But the church looks principally to the glory of the children, of these innocent victims, whom she shows us in heaven following the Lamb wherever he goes.

***

The Holy Innocents (AKA Childermas) are called such for three reasons. First, by cause and reason of life; Second, by reason of pain; and Third, by reason of innocence. They are innocent by reason of life because they had an innocent life. They grieved nobody, neither God, by in obedience, nor their neighbors by untruth, nor by conceiving of any sin. It is said in the psalter that the innocents and righteous have joined them to me by their life and righteousness in the faith. They are innocent by reason of pain, for they suffered death innocently and wrongly, wherein David said: “They have shed the blood of innocents by reason of innocency.” In this martyrdom, they were baptized and made clean of the original sin, of which innocence is said in the psalter: “Keep thou innocency of baptism and see equity of good works.” This is the third reason for their innocents.

***

The Massacre of the Holy Innocents is recorded in the second Chapter of the Book of Matthew. It recalls an event when Pharaoh instructed the midwives during the time Israel was enslaved in Egypt: “And the king of Egypt spoke to the midwives of the Hebrews of whom was called Sephora, the other Phua, commanding them: when you shall do the office of midwives to the Hebrew women, and the time of delivery is come: if it be a man child, kill it: if a woman, keep it alive...Pharaoh therefore charged all his people, saying: Whatsoever shall be born of the male sex, ye shall cast into the river: whatsoever of the female, ye shall save alive . (Exodus 1:15-16, 22)

Moses was saved from this murder when his mother placed him in a little ark and floated him in the river. Moses' sister watched from afar as the Pharaoh’s daughter found the child (Exodus 2). The massacre from which Moses was spared is a type, a foreshadowing, of the massacre of the holy innocents that took place soon after Christ was born.

***

In the Gospel of St. Matthew (2: 16-18) we read: “Herod perceiving that he was deluded by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and sending soldiers, killed all the men children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the borders thereof, from two yeas old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: A voice in Rama was heard, lamentation and great mourning; Rachel bewailing her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.”

***

In order to understand which Herod it was that so cruelly put so many children to death, we must first understand that there were three Herod's. All three were cruel tyrants, and in their time of great fame, were known for their great malice.

The first was Herod Ascalonita, he reigned in Jerusalem when our Lord was born. The second was Herod Antipas, to whom Pilate sent Jesus Christ in the time of His passion, and who also beheaded Saint John The Baptist. The third was Herod Agrippa, who beheaded Saint James . (The first Apostle to be martyred) and sent Saint Peter to prison.

It was Herod Ascalonita, the first Herod, who killed the innocents. He had served the Roman emperor Julian with such great distinction, that Julian gave him the realm of Jerusalem to rule. This resulted in the Jewish kings losing their lineage, and fulfilled the prophecy of the birth of our Lord.

When the three Magi's came to Jerusalem seeking the king of the Jews that had just been born, Herod had a great dread, fearing that anyone born of the true lineage of the kings of the Jews, and being a true heir, would chase him out of his realm. He demanded to know from the three Magi's how they had knowledge of this new king. They answered by a star being in the air, which was not naturally fixed in the heaven as were the others. He then asked the magi's to return after they had worshiped the new king, so that he might also go and worship the child.

After the three magi's departed without bringing him any news, he decided to slay all the newborn children in Bethlehem and its surroundings. He could not immediately carry out his plan, because the emperor sent him a citation to come to Rome to answer accusations by his sons. He spent more than a half a year traveling to and from Rome to answer the accusations, meanwhile, Jesus was on his way to Egypt.

When Herod returned from Rome and feeling secure that the emperor had again confirmed his realm, he again decided to kill the children. Since more than a year had passed since the three magi's went to see him, he decided to slay all the children that were of the age of two years.

***

REFLECTION

That the Holy Innocents may be invoked to be preserved from illusion is the Church’s belief. Herod’s illusion of threat from the newborn King cost their lives...How few, perhaps, of these innocent little ones, if they had lived, would have escaped the dangers of the world. From what snares, what sins, what miseries were they preserved. Surely they rejoice now in their fate. We often lament, as misfortunes, many accidents which in the designs of Heaven are the greatest mercies.

***

Blessing of Children on Holy Innocents Day

The feast of the Holy Innocents is a good time to teach the children about their special patrons. There is also a traditional children’s blessing for the feast of the Holy Innocents that can be performed by the parents in the absence of a priest’s blessing at church.

The father leads everyone present in the Our Father. Then he says the vesicles, “O Lord, hear my prayer,” and all respond, “And let my cry come unto You. The father proceeds with this prayer taken from the blessing for children:

Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, once You embraced and placed Your hands upon the little children who came to You, and said: “Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, and their angels always see the face of my Father!” Look now with fatherly eyes on the innocence of these children and their parents’ devotion, and bless them this day through our ministry. (The father signs the forehead of each child with the sign of the cross.) In Your grace and goodness let them advance continually, longing for You, loving You, fearing You, keeping Your commandments. Then they will surely come to their destined home, through You, Savior of the world. Who lives and reigns forever and ever.

All answer: Amen.

Then the father says to the children: “May God bless you. And may He keep your hearts and minds - the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost.”

All answer: Amen.

The father then sprinkles the children with holy water.

(The Church’s official blessing of children is included in the Roman Ritual.)

Prayer source: Twelve Days of Christmas, The by Elsa Chaney, The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN, 1955.

Jamie’s POV of Chapter Six: Tuesday’s Chid.

I posted Chapter Six on Mother’s Day and I just realized I finished Jamie’s POV right in time for Father’s Day! I totally planned that.

A QUICK SIDE NOTE BEFORE YOU READ The residents of Beauly, with a few token exceptions, don’t speak English. I’ve gone back and forth about how to write this chapter and how to portray that. Mrs Gordon, the midwife, speaks to Jamie in Gaelic. I didn’t write her dialog in a way that it sounds (looks?) like she has a Scottish accent because she isn’t speaking English. I thought about italicizing what would be in Gaelic, but that kind of conflicts with my formatting style and using bold just looks like she’s shouting all the time to me. This is something I’m sure I’ll develop more as we spend time in the 1540s with the Frasers… for right now, this is what we got.

You can catch up on previous chapters of this AU here.

Mid-day, November 22nd, 1543; Beauly, Scotland. Jamie.

“I made a nice broth for your wife, Jamie, lad.” Beauly’s cook and resident mother hen, as well as one of the midwives, handed me a tray brimming with food. “Any day now, aye?”

I accepted it and smiled warmly, thanking her. “Your spoil us, Mrs Gordon and, aye, the bairn could come any day. Sooner rather than later if his parents have any say in the matter.”

“You don’t,” she chortled, shooing me out of her kitchens.

My bringing meals to share in our rooms had become a necessity after a close call on one of the stone staircases last month. Fortunately, I had been there to steady Claire before she actually fell, but it was enough to scare us both into a change of routine. Mrs Gordon had heartily approved and leapt at the opportunity to dote on my heavily expectant wife.

Knocking soft enough as to not wake Claire should she be asleep, but loud enough to be heard should she be awake, I eased my way into our rooms.

I noticed bed held an occupant as I quietly set the tray on the table. Claire hadn’t been sleeping well of late and I had hoped she would be able to rest while I was away. I turned to see a mass of wild curls emerge from the bedclothes, telling me she was awake but possibly not fully alert.

“Oh good, I’m glad ye were able to sleep for a time, mo nighean donn. Mrs Gordon made ye a tasty broth an’ a fresh batch of bannocks to go wi’ it. She asked of ye, wonderin’ how ye fare wi’ the bairn so near. Lady Janet too, tho I dinna ken wha’ she was about. I didna like the gleam in her eye.” I shook my head, thinking of the Laird’s often devious wife.

I had witnessed Lady Janet stir up trouble on many occasions, with only a word or a single expression.The woman was not to be trusted.

A muffled response came from the bed, something that sounded like “good morning,” as Claire’s arms reached over her head in a slow stretch. She shifted in her burrow, making her look very much like bear coming out of hibernation. She stared at me, blinking slowly, her brows drawn together in confusion. “Are you within the castle today?”

The bairn made waking fully a cumbersome affair for Claire, as was the way with everything she did at present, and seeing my wife in such a state never ceased to make me smile. I had learned the hard way that she didn’t find the humor in her struggle to wake, so I turned from the bed and began to dish up our meal in order to enjoy the moment.

“Nae, back to the stables wi’ me as soon as we’re done eatin’.”

My conscience twinged.

What if she needed me and I didn’t get the message in time? I tried to shove the thought aside, calling to mind Claire’s words when I voiced the very question.

It’s not like foaling, Jamie, it usually takes a while.

Once again, I had assumed this part of human reproduction to be something similar to what I had experienced in the stables. Also, bairns, unlike foals, did not come feet first on principle, although Claire told me Jenny’s wee Maggie had.

A rustle from the bed brought me back to the present and I asked, “Shall I bring ye anything special from the kitchens for dinner?”

Claire responded with a deep sigh, then added, “I really wish you wouldn’t.”

This gave me pause.

“No’ hungry?” I turned and studied her more closely. Something was off, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was. “Ye should eat somethin’, mo nighean donn, or the bairn will complain, aye?”

She didn’t look at me. Her eyes darted about the room, desperate to land on anything besides my face as she whispered, “I don’t think he’ll complain, he seems to be packing his bags at the moment.”

Packing his bags? He can’t exactly go anywhere.

A dhia, he isn’t going, he’s coming.

“Sh-should I fetch the midwife?” I asked around a quickly constricting throat.

Claire visibly flinched and slid deeper into the covers, shouting “No!”

I couldn’t stand being this far from her. Crossing the room in two bounds, I collapsed onto the floor beside the bed. Her eyes were scrunched shut, her brows bunched together in fear.

Please, my soul offered up in silent petition to my God, that she might be safe in the hours to come.

“Tha mi duilich,” I whispered as I tucked a stray curl behind her ear.

That they might be safe, she and the bairn.

Claire relaxed slightly at my touch, her hand catching mine. “I think I’m having contractions,” her eyes opened slightly, cloudy with self doubt, “but I’m not really sure.”

Leaning close, I asked “Wha’ can I do?”

“Will you hold me?” Her chin quivered with the request, tears threatening. .

I took the greatest care as I crawled into the bed beside her, easing myself beneath the covers. My arm slipped around her as I drew closer. I didn’t want to disturb the position she was in, knowing how difficult it was for her to find a comfortable one. Gently curving my body around hers, I placed a kiss just behind her ear.

I’m here, mo chridhe, my touch whispered.

I drew slow circles with my thumb on the back of her hand until her shoulders lost their rigidity. Slowly, I felt all of the tension leave her body as her breath evened out in sleep. My hands drifted to the swell of her abdomen.

Soon, I would hold my child in my arms.

What would he look like? Would he favor me or his mother?

The thought brought a smile to my face as one bairn looked much like another to me. I knew Claire held a much different opinion of the wee creatures and often commented on their unique features.

We had been referring to the bairn as a “him” since we knew he existed, and, while my heart hoped he would be a son to carry on my name and lineage, I knew without a doubt I would love a daughter just as much… maybe more.

A daughter who had her mother’s amber eyes, unruly hair, and untamable spirit.

Yes, I thought as I buried my face in Claire’s hair, maybe more.

…

Dusk.

It seemed like Claire’s pains were growing closer together, but she wouldn’t let me keep track with my father’s pocket watch. Not yet, she’d told me, it would drive her crazy. I felt completely useless just sitting here waiting for something to happen.

“You’re pacing, Jamie,” Claire’s voice interrupted my tumultuous thoughts.

I turned to find her laughing at me without actually laughing out loud. It was a great skill of hers. I tried to think of what I had done or said to set her off this time, but came up blank.

“I suppose tha’ I am,” a sheepish grin spread across my face. Whatever it was, I’d do it again, just to see her smile. “Am I botherin’ ye? Should I pace in the other room?”

Her eyes narrowed as the smile disappeared, “If you so much as touch that door handle, James Fraser…”

“I willna.” I raised my hands in mock surrender before I placed them reassuringly on her shoulders.

Claire’s focus faded away and her brows furrowed in an expression I was becoming to know well: another pain was starting. She seemed to need something different with each one. My gentle touch with the last, a massage with the one before, and I couldn’t even get close to her with the one before that.

I hadn’t the foggiest idea what it would be this time.

“Promise?” Her voice shook.

“Aye, I promise,” I slid my hands down her arms and entwined my fingers in hers. “I promise I willna leave until ye tell me to an the midwife will have to tear me awa’ from yer side even then.”

“No,” She tried to move away from me, but I held fast. “I need you to stay with me the whole time.”

She didn’t mean while the bairn was coming in earnest, right? I had heard tales from other husbands and from what they said, I would be the last person on earth Claire would want to see.

“Ye willna want me here when–” I tried to explain but she cut me off and practically shook me as she tried to make her point.

“I can’t do this alone, Jamie! Not again!” Her eyes were wide with fear, plunging a knife straight into my heart. Not again. I hadn’t been there for the birth of our first child and we had lost her, our precious Faith. “I can’t – I won’t – do this without you. Please don’t ask me to, Jamie!”

I kissed her, my lips stemming her flow of words with the assurance of my presence. “If that is what ye wish, mo chridhe,” I murmured, “nothing on this earth or hell below will move me.”

…

Around midnight.

Claire’s hands gripped the back of the room’s only chair, her knuckles turning white as she tried to breathe normally. The air came and went from her mouth in short puffs and I thought she might tip over if she didn’t take a deep breath soon.

“How long was that?” She asked thru gritted teeth.

The pains were noticeably closer together now, and I checked the pocket watch. Half past eleven. “Ten minutes since the last one.”

Claire groaned; whether it was out of pain or frustration, I didn’t know. I moved to stand behind her, running my thumbs over the taut muscles.

She melted into me, murmuring, “Right there.”

We stood this way, swaying together, for a good moment or two before she rounded on me, face contorted in pain. Claire buried her face on my chest and dug her fingers into my upper arms.

A dhia, she was strong.

“Jesus H Roosevelt Fucking Christ, this bloody hurts,” she spat.

Placing a kiss atop her head, I supported her as she leaned further into me. “I’m sending for the midwife after this one is done, mo nighean donn.”

Her head moved against me, telling me she agreed.

I let out a sigh of relief as I remembered that wee Michael MacNeil was sleeping in the passageway outside the door just for that purpose.

I would not have made it to Mrs Gordon’s rooms behind the kitchens and back in less than ten minutes, even in the daylight and her expecting me. Now that it was well after dark and she’d be asleep? No. I knew I wouldn’t want to leave Claire alone for that long and had assigned the task to my favorite stable lad.

My eyes slid shut, my nose still buried in her hair.

We swayed back and forth as the vice-grip of her contraction eased. The motion reminded me of our bairn’s cradle, which sat waiting in the corner. A lullaby my mother used to sing, one that Jenny had used with her own bairns, slowly came back to me. I sang it to Claire, to our unborn child, until her movements slowed and stopped all together.

“Jamie?” her voice was breathless, but regaining the strength that was truly Claire.

“Mhmm?”

“I love you,” She tilted her head up to look at me, a smile playing on her lips, “but you are a terrible singer.”

…

Claire was between pains and had wanted to rest for a bit on the bed. I silently rejoiced for the opportunity to lay down. I wasn’t about to say it, but I thought the whole ordeal was just about as hard on me as it was her. I couldn’t stand to see her in pain like this and not be able to do something.

My inability to spare her from this, something that I had caused, was slowly sucking the strength from me like a leech. If I could take her pain upon myself and fight this battle for her, I would do it without a moment’s hesitation. But I couldn’t. I lay beside her utterly powerless against the ebbing and flowing of her womb’s tides.

Claire was asleep now, in the shallow slumber that was all her body would allow in the minutes between contractions. Her face was utterly serene as I lay beside her, my nose inches from hers. I thought we must be near the end of all of this. Something had to happen soon or I wasn’t sure how Claire would manage.

She had started to contradict her wishes with the last pains, almost as if she didn’t know herself what she wanted. She’d ask me to be close, but when I tried to touch her she growled at me. She’d say didn’t want me near her, but when I gave her space she dissolved into a puddle of tears.

It seemed couldn’t do anything right in my wife’s eyes.

A knock sounded at the door, signalling the arrival of the midwife, and Claire jolted awake.

“Jamie, don’t leave me,” she said in complete panic. Her pupils were dilated wide in the dim room and it only added to her look of sheer terror.

“Shh, mo chridhe, I willna,” whispered in her ear, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze and trying to will her back into the peace she had just moments before, “but I do have to let her in, aye?”

She set her jaw firmly, “No, you don’t. I know how this works. We can do it. I don’t want that woman touching me or my baby.”

A shudder ran thru me as I realized she was completely serious. “I have nae doubt ye could do it, Sassenach, but dinna ken tha’ I can.”

My stomach dropped at the thought of delivering a bairn, let alone my bairn and by myself.

“You’ve delivered foals before. It’s not terribly different.” Claire pulled me closer, wrapping her arms tightly around my neck.

Giving minor assistance to a laboring horse and delivering my child solo were far from the same thing and I told her as much.

Before she could reply, another knock sounded and we could hear Mrs Gordon call out in Gaelic, “‘Tis me, Mrs Gordon, Jamie lad. May I come in?”

The fact that Claire could hold only the simplest of conversations in the language and Mrs Gordon couldn’t speak a word of English or French hit me like a bolt of lightning. How much of the midwife’s instructions would she understand when she was in considerable pain and scared out of her mind?

I could do something. I could help Claire.

I planted a kiss on Claire’s forehead and somehow got her to let go of me. There was a spring in my step as I crossed the room, for I now had something to do that would maybe ease Claire’s pain: I could translate.

A midwife’s job was to help women give birth, aye?

Then it stood to reason that by helping the midwife, I was helping Claire.

…

“This is all happening as it should, aye?” I asked Mrs Gordon a bit uneasily.

“Yes, lad.” She gave me a smile and a reassuring pat on the arm. “Things tend to take a while with the first bairn.” I flinched and she immediately apologized.

“I’m sorry, Jamie. We remember the ones we lost as we hold tight to the ones we have, aye?”

Claire’s anxious voice asked from behind me, “What did she say, Jamie?”

Covering Mrs Gordan’s weathered hand in mine, I patted it in understanding and turned to my wife, “She says all is well.”

“Maybe somewhere in there, but not the last part,” she responded with a cold look to the midwife, seeing right thru my attempt to smooth things over.

“She spoke wi’out thinking, mo nighean donn. Dinna hold it against her,” I said gently.

Her face fell as she whispered, “Faith.”

“Aye, ‘twas her we were speaking of,” I kissed Claire gently between her brows. “I gave ye my promise, and I still ken it to be true, this time will be different.”

…

About 4:00am

I wasn’t sure, but I thought we were wearing a pathway into the floor. We made the same loop again and again as Claire’s pains continued to grow closer and closer together. She clung fiercely to my right arm to steady herself as we slowly moved about the room

Without warning, she came to a sudden halt. A sort of breathless gasp escaped her lips as I heard something drip onto the floor. Claire pulled up the hem of her shift, muttering, “Damn, here we go.”

I looked down to see a small puddle growing between her feet. Quickly stepping out of the liquid’s path, I commented wryly, “Ye havena used tha’ one in a while, Sassenach.”

Fuck, as usual, had been her curse of choice in the last few hours.

Mrs Gordon shuffled over to us, commenting on the color and quantity of Claire’s waters. While this wasn’t exactly the same in foaling, I had a vague idea that this was a good sign and patted Claire reassuringly on the shoulder.

Another pain seemed to overtake Claire on the heels of the last and she pulled me towards her, groaning as she buried her face in my chest. Claire had two fistfuls of my sark that she was making good use of. Her forehead pressed against my sternum, almost as if she were headbutting me.

I wouldn’t blame her. I had gotten her into all of this, after all. It would only seem fitting that she use me in such a way

I ran my hands up and down her back, remembering how she had liked a gentle massage with some of her other pains. “I ken, a ghraidh, I’ve got ye,” I whispered soothingly in her ear.

She stiffened and before I realized what she was aiming for, she had a firm grasp of my clipeachd. I let out an undignified yelp and quickly pulled away from her.

“Smart lass.” Mrs Gordon cackled as she moved about the room, “She knows what she’s about. I’m surprised she’s waited this long to do that to you.”

I stared down at my wife in mute astonishment as the creases of pain started to smooth across her brow and a small smile began to form. Not risking another go at this, I held her away from me at arm’s length. She couldn’t reach me, but I could reach her.

“What was that?” She asked, slightly panting as she tried to catch her breath.

“She says she’s surprised ye havena done tha’ wi’ every pain,” I translated.

Mrs Gordon was still grinning as she arranged her necessary items for the fourth time on the table and I wondered how much trouble the two of them could get into if they spoke the same language.

Claire’s voice pulled me back to her, “You hadn’t said anything stupid enough to warrant it before now.”

All I had said was ‘I ken’ and ‘I’ve got ye!’ I’d reassured her many times with the second phrase, so I assumed she had taken offense to the first… I suppose I didn’t really know what she was going thru.

“You are the first husband I’ve ever had attend his bairn’s birth.” The midwife turned to me, hand on her hip as she looked me up and down. Her eyes were filled with amusement and satisfaction. “You must be quite the lover if she wants you here, being she knows well ‘tis your lovemaking that got her into this mess. I’m impressed, most men run for the heather at the first opportunity. A master ironmonger himself couldn’t have made a created a stronger set than yours.”

She winked at me and added, “Very impressed indeed, Jamie lad.”

I was still trying to decide whether I should ignore her comment or reply when Claire half laughed, half groaned. Looking down, I found the corners of her lips tugging upwards thru her pain.

“You have to tell me what she said to make you blush like a schoolgirl.”

Rubbing the back of my neck in embarrassment, I gave her the rough idea of what Mrs Gordon had said. A full smile broke out across Claire’s face as leaned into me. “She’s right about one thing,” she whispered, copying how I rolled my ‘r’s. “You are a verra good lover, indeed.”

I smiled ruefully, wrapping my arms around her. She loved to mimic my burr and I loved to hear her try it.

“But,” she paused, her eyes soft, “It’s your heart of gold that’s keeping you here.”

She pulled my lips to hers in a kiss warm with affection, one that spoke of the emotions and desires we weren’t able to put into words.

…

Around 6:00 am

I gently lifted Claire onto the bed, my heart breaking as I watched her desperately search for a comfortable position. Her brow was permanently furrowed now, the lines of pain never really relaxing between contractions. She became more and more agitated by the second, prompting me to perch beside her on the mattress.

“Please,” Claire looked to me as she grabbed hold of my arm, “Sit behind me.”

Carefully and slowly, I inched my way between her and the pillows. I backed up against the headboard to give me as much room behind her to adjust in as possible, then slid my arms about her. She melted into me immediately as her body touched mine.

“I’m here, mo chridhe.”

She nodded, her eyelids lowering as she concentrated on what her body was telling her.

I looked up as Mrs Gordon slid nimbly onto the bed. She lifted the hem of Claire’s shift up and placed a calm, reassuring hand on her thigh as she, presumably, checked how things were going. “You’re doing wonderful, lass.”

A small measure of relief washed thru me as I heard the words.

This woman had brought half of Beauly into the world. If she said things were going well, then I had no reason to doubt her. I gently placed my hand atop the swell of the bairn to tell Claire the woman’s words when another pain began to build. I felt the muscles of Claire’s abdomen contract, astonishing me with the strength and force of it.

Her eyes flew open and she pressed her shoulders into me. “I don’t want to do this, Jamie!” she cried.

I met Mrs Gordon’s gaze and she smiled, assuring me that all was well.

“Aye, a graidh, I ken ye dinna,” I crooned in her ear as I helped her shift into a more comfortable position, “but ye must. The bairn will be here soon.”

Her voice was unlike I had ever heard it, so completely overwhelmed in her pain and fear. “No!” she insisted.

I carefully turned her in my arms until she could see me. She looked past me, fixated on a spot behind my head on the wall. I lifted my hand to her cheek and gently brushed away her tears as I lowered my lips to hers. “We’ll do this together, aye?” I whispered, “I’ll be yer strength when ye need me.”

Her lips quivered as she replied, “I always need you.”

…

“I can’t push anymore, Jamie,” Claire whimpered in my arms, “I think he’s stuck.”

Claire had responded with the strength of ten men to her body’s urge to push again and again. The midwife praised her with every effort and so, in turn, had I, but she was quickly becoming discouraged.

“No, mo nighean donn, the bairn is big but the midwife says he is almost here.” I murmured, “All is well.”

“I want to be done. I just want to hold my baby, Jamie,” Claire begged as she lifted her hand to my cheek.

I took hold of it, kissing it gently, then moved it lower to show her the miracle that I could now begin to see. Brushing her fingertips against the small bulge that was starting to emerge, I whispered. “He will be here soon, mo chridhe.”

A low, guttural sound came from Claire as she started to bear down once more.

“That’s the way, lass,” Mrs Gordon encouraged as she took hold of Claire’s feet, eyes fixated between my wife’s legs. Claire dug her fingers into my thighs, tipping her head back as she let out a sound that made the very blood within me run cold.

I relayed the midwife’s instructions with half a brain, translating to the best of my abilities as I realized that was my child’s head exiting my wife’s body.

“Well done, verra well done!” I praised as slowly, but steadily, the bairn’s head was born. “Jest one more an’ he’ll be here, mo ghraidh.”

…

The midwife beamed as she announced “You have a beautiful daughter!”

“She’s a lass, Claire,” I whispered, finding it hard to breathe as Mrs Gordon placed the her in Claire’s outstretched arms.

The bairn out another lusty wail as she told us just what she thought of being born.

“Shh, love.” Claire crooned, “Mama’s here.”

I have a daughter.

My hand shook as stroked my bairn’s cheek for the very first time, “Oh God, Claire, she’s beautiful.”

A Grace Given Capacity

Isaiah 54:1–8 (ESV)

“Sing, O barren one, who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married,” says the Lord. “Enlarge the place of your tent and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left, and your offspring will possess the nations and will people the desolate cities. “Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. For the Lord has called you like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off, says your God. For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In overflowing anger for a moment, I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord, your Redeemer.

 Have you ever sat down and wholeheartedly considered the everlasting love which God has for us? And for you, in particular? God’s great gracious heart is so ready to give. Isaiah continues:

  Isaiah 54:9–10 (ESV)

“This is like the days of Noah to me: as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you and will not rebuke you. For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

 God may not like what he sees in our lives. The ambience and direction of our lives may resemble the days of Noah to him. At the time of the flood, everyone did what was right in their own eyes. And sin and lawlessness abounded. But God has determined that he will not deal with us after our sin nor our iniquities. Not with the full consequences of his justice, but rather with loving and compassionate discipline, he deals with us:  

 Psalm 103:10–13 (ESV)

He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

 God is free to so deal with us this way because he has made a covenant of peace with himself for us. He has satisfied his own justice for us through the death of his son. His blood does all the speaking that needs to be done in that regard. Our victory comes through remembering his work on our behalf. Our capacity expands as we learn to think with him in grace, worship him in spirit and truth, and live for him in gracious obedience. We need to learn from others, get built up in wisdom by fellowship with others, and develop self-sufficiency in Christ so that we remain consistent beyond the walls of church and family. So that we will express our grace-given capacity on a 24/7 basis. So that we remain consistent in our walk with God.

 When Cain murdered his brother Abel, Adam and Eve lost two sons. Abel was killed. And Cain was banished from the godly role he was to play in the family of mankind. He lost his livelihood and the blessing of God on his life:

  Genesis 4:10–14 (ESV)

And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”

 Cain found no room for repentance in his life. He saw no substitute for his sin. He brought no acceptable offering to God for himself. He withdrew from the presence of God. He lost divine blessing on his work in the ground. He became a fugitive and a wanderer. He fell from operational grace and it affected his entire lineage thereafter. He had no capacity for godliness in his life.

 Drawing near to God and his people will require us to continue to develop our capacity for the work of Grace in our lives. Are we ready? Am I ready? Do we want more or are we content to be sustained at this level? How much better it is to be rooted and planted than to be a fugitive and wanderer while here on the planet.

 Lord Jesus, thank you that we have an abundance of grace to be rooted and planted in, because of your finished work and the blessings that result from it. We choose to draw near to you and your throne today. Amen!!!