“ இப்படியும் ஒரு குழந்தை யேசு “ “ Santo Bambino “

“ இப்படியும் ஒரு குழந்தை யேசு “ “ Santo Bambino “

இந்த உலகில் இயேசுநாதர் மனிதனாக அவதரிக்கும்போது ரோமைய சாம்ராஜியத்தின் அதிபதியாக இருந்தவர் அகஸ்டஸ் சீசர் தான். இந்த சாம்ராஜிய மக்கள் தன்னை ஒரு கடவுளாக அங்கீகரிக்கபோகிறார்கள் என்று அவர் கேள்விப்பட்டபோது அவருக்கு மிகுந்த வருத்தம் உண்டாயிற்று. எனவே அவர் மக்களின் பிரதிநிதியாக இருந்த சிபில் என்பவளை அழைத்து இதுபற்றி விசாரித்தார். கடவுளின் கிருபையால் அவளுக்கு ஒரு தீர்க்கதரிசனம் கிடைத்தது.

   அதாவது காலங்களைக்கடந்தவரும் காலங்களுக்கு அதிபதியுமானவர் இங்கே இறங்கிவரப்போகின்றார். இந்த இடம் பரலோகத்தின் வாசல் எனப்படும். எனவே அவருக்கு இந்த அரகோலி மலையின்மீது ஒரு கோயிலும் அதிலே ஒரு பலி பீடமும் கட்டுவீராக என்று இறைவாக்கு உரைத்தாள். இதே நேரத்தில் மாமன்னர் அகஸ்டச் சீசர் ஒரு காட்ச்சி கண்டார். பரலோகம் திறந்தது. மஹா பிரகாசம் அங்கே தோன்ற ஒரு பெண் தன் இடது கையில் ஒரு ஆண் குழந்தையை வைத்திருந்தாள். அவள் தலையை சுற்றி ஒரு நட்சத்திரக்கூட்டமே இருந்தது.  அவர் எண்ணியவரையில் பன்னிரெண்டு நட்சத்திரங்கள் அவள் சிரசை சுற்றி நின்றிருந்தன. அவள் தன்  கால்களை சந்திரன் மீது வைத்திருந்தாள். அவள் சூரியனை தன் ஆடையாக அணிந்திருந்தாள். அப்போது வானினின்று ஒரு குரல் “ இதுவே ஆண்டவனின் இல்லம் “ என்றது. அத்துடன் காட்ச்சி முடிவு பெற்றது.  

     அரசர்  சிபில் என்னும் அந்த தீர்க்கதரிசினியை அழைத்து “யார் அந்தப்பெண்? அவள் கையிலுள்ள குழந்தை யார்? இதைப்பற்றி எனக்கு நீ அறிவிக்கவேண்டும். நான் கண்ட அந்த காட்ச்சியின்படி அந்த மாதுக்கு இந்த அரக்கொல்லி மலையின் மீது ஒரு ஆலயம் அமைப்பேன்.அந்த ஆலயத்தில் அவள் ஆண் குழந்தைக்கும் ஒரு பலிபீடம் அமைப்பேன். இந்த இடத்தை நான் அதற்காக தேர்ந்தெடுத்திருக்கின்றேன். என்றார். அதற்கு சிபில்,” அரசே.நீவீர் தேர்ந்தெடுத்திருக்கும் இந்த இடம் ஜுபிடர் தேவனுக்கு உறியது. இந்த ஆலயத்தின் அடியில்தான்  நம் நாட்டின் பொற்காசுகள் அச்சடிக்கப்படுகின்றன. இந்த ஜூபிடர் கோயிலை இடித்தால் மக்கள் கலவரத்தில் ஈடுபடுவார்கள்” என்றாள். அதற்கு சீசர்,” நான் சொன்னால் சொன்னதே.” என்றார். அவரது ஆணையின்படி மிகவும் அழகிய தேவாலயம் கட்டப்பட்டு அது தூய மரியாளின் பெயரால் “ The church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli “என்று அழைக்கப்பட்டு வருகின்றது.  இந்த தேவாலயம் அரக்கோலி என்னும் குன்றின் மீது கட்டப்பட்டுள்ளதால் இதைக்காண்பதற்கு 214 படிகள் மேலே ஏற வேண்டும். இப்போது கதைக்கு வருகின்றேன்.

   இந்த சரித்திர நிகழ்வு நடந்த வருடம் 15 ஆம் நூற்றாண்டு. அப்போது ஜெருசலேம் என்னும் புனித பூமியில் பல முக்கியமான தேவாலயங்கள் ஃபிரான்சீஸ்கன் துறவிகளால் நிர்வாகிக்கப்பட்டும் பராமரிக்கப்பட்டும் வந்தன. ஒரு துறவி சுமார் ஒன்றரை அடி அளவிலான  ஒரு ஒலிவ மரக்கட்டையை ஒலிவ மலையில் அதாவது சுவாமி இரத்தவியர்வை வியர்த்ததும் அவரை காட்டிக்கொடுத்ததுமாகிய மலையில்  கண்டார். இந்த கட்டையை வைத்து என்ன சுரூபம் செய்யலாம் என்று அவர் நினைக்கும் போது அவர் மூளையில்  தோன்றியது குழந்தை இயேசுவின் உருவம்தான். பிறகு அவர் அந்த மரக்கட்டையில் குழந்தை யேசுவின் திருஉருவத்தை செதுக்கினார். அந்த ஒலிவ மரக்கட்டை சொரூபத்துக்கு உயிர் வந்ததுபோல சுருண்ட கேசமும் அழகிய கருவண்டு போன்ற கண்களும் சற்றே உப்பிய கண்ணங்களுமாயும் தீர்க்கமான நாசியும் அழகிய உதடுகளும் கொண்ட அந்த சொரூபத்தை பார்க்கும் யாவருக்கும் ஒரு கொழுக்மொழுக் குழந்தையைப்போல்  அதைத்தூக்கி கொஞ்சவேண்டும் என்னும் ஒரு அபிப்பிராயத்தை உருவாக்கும்.

   ஒரே நாளில் இந்த உருவத்தை செய்து முடிப்பதற்குள் பொழுது இருட்டிவிட்டது.சிற்பிக்கும் தூக்கம் வந்துவிடவே அடுத்த நாள் இந்த சிலைக்கு என்னமாதிரியான் வர்ணம் கொடுத்தால் சுரூபம் தத்ரூபமாக இருக்கும் என்ற நினைவிலேயே தூங்கிப்போனார். அப்போது ஒரு சம்மனசானவர் வந்து அந்த குழந்தை இயேசுவின் திருவுருவத்துக்கு அழகான வர்ணம் பூசி அதை அப்படியே விட்டுச்சென்றார்.. அடுத்த நாள் தான் எப்படி இந்த குழந்தை இயேசுவின்  சொரூபத்துக்கு வர்ணம் கொடுக்க வேண்டும் என்று நினைத்திருந்தாரோ அதற்கும் மேலாக அதிரூபமாக இந்த சிற்பம் இருக்ககண்டு தன் சபையின் மடாதிபதியிடம் இதுபற்றிக்கூறினார். அவரும் வியந்து இது மனிதரால் செய்யப்பட்டும் கடவுளின் தூதரால் வர்ணம் பூசப்பட்டது என்பதை உணர்ந்து ரோமிலுள்ள தன் சபையின் மடாதிபதிக்கு தெரிவித்தார். அவர் அந்த சிலையை உடனே ரோமுக்கு தக்க பாதுகாப்புடன் அனுப்பிவைக்க கட்டளையிட்டார். அதன்படி இந்த அற்புத குழந்தை இயேசுவின் சொரூபம் கப்பலில் அனுப்பிக்கப்பட்டது. இந்த கப்பல் மத்தியதரைக் கடலை கடந்து இத்தாலியில் ரோமுக்கு பயணம் செய்யும்போது பல ஆபத்துகளை சந்தித்தது. கடலுக்கடியில் பெரும் பூகம்பமும் ஜலப்பிரலயமும் ஏற்பட்டது. எனவே கப்பலில் இருக்கும் வேண்டாத சாமான்களை எல்லாம் கடலில் தூக்கி எறியும்படி கப்பலின் தலைவன் உத்திரவிட்டான். இந்த உத்திரவுக்கு இந்த குழந்தை இயேசுவின் சொரூபமும் தப்பவில்லை..

   இங்கிருந்துதான் இந்த குழந்தை இயேசுவின் மகிமை வெளிப்பட்டது. கடலில் தூக்கி ஏறியப்பட்ட இந்த குழந்தை இயேசுவின் சொரூபம் படுத்தபடி இல்லாமல் நேராக எழுந்து நின்றது. அது கப்பலின் முன்னே மிகவும் கம்பீரமாக நின்றபடியே சென்றதைக்கண்ட அனைவரும்  பயத்தாலும் பெரும் உவகையினாலும் விவரிக்க முடியாத உணர்ச்சிகளை அடைந்தனர்.. இந்த பயணிகளின் கப்பலை மடக்கினால் நமக்கு பெரும் பணம் கிடைக்கும் என்ற நப்பாசையினால் இதைக்கொள்ளையடிக்க வந்தனர் கடற்கொள்ளையர்கள். அவ்வளவுதான் . அற்புத குழந்தை இயேசுவின் திருமுகம் இந்த கொள்ளையர்களைக்கண்டு  பயங்கரமாய் முறைத்தது. அதன் கண்கள் உக்கிரத்தால் சிவந்தன. கடலில் இந்த சூறாவளிக்காற்றில் ஒரு மரக்கட்டை பொம்மை தங்களை வெறித்து நோக்கும் பார்வையால் மிறண்டுபோனான் கொள்ளையர் தலைவன் . இருப்பினும் சற்றே தைரியத்தை  வரவழைத்துக்கொண்டு,” நான் எத்தனையோ போர்களை கண்டிருகின்றேன். யாரும் என் வாள் வீசுக்கு தப்பியதில்லை. இந்த மரக்கட்டை பொம்மை என்னை என்ன செய்துவிட முடியும். இந்த ஒல்லாந்தரை நீ யார் என்று நினைத்துக்கொண்டாய். ஆகவே வீரர்களே துணிந்து தாக்குங்கள்” என்று கட்டளை கொடுத்தான்.

(அக்காலத்தில் ஒல்லாந்தர் எனப்பட்டவன் கொடும் கடற்கொள்ளையனாய் விளங்கியவன். அவனது ஆதிக்கம் மத்திய தரைக்கடலின் எல்லையிலுள்ள எல்லா நாடுகளிலும் பரவி இருந்தது. அவன் பெயரைகேட்டாலே கடலாடிகளுக்கு சிம்ம சொப்பனம்தான். இவனுடைய பெயர் பல தூர தேசங்களிலும் பரவி இருந்ததால் பல கடற்கொள்ளையர்கள் பல நாடுகளில் இவன் பெயரை வைத்தே தங்களின் கொள்ளை தொழிலில் பல காலமாக ஈடுபட்டு வந்தனர்.)

  அடுத்த நொடியில் கப்பலின் கொடி மரங்கள் அனைத்தும் தீப்பற்றி எரியத்துவங்கின. தன் கப்பல்கள் அனைத்திலும் தீ… அதுவும் எவ்வித காரணமும் இன்றி. அந்தக்காலங்களில் கப்பல் படைகள் போரில் ஈடுபடும்போது அதன் கொடிமரம் தீபிடித்தால் பெரும் அபசகுணமாக கருதப்படும். எனவே கடற்கொள்ளையன் இவ்வாறு நினைத்தான்.

ஆஹா இது ஏதோ மரக்கட்டை பொம்மையே அல்ல. இது ஏதோ தெய்வீக சக்த்தி வாய்ந்த சொரூபம். இந்த ஒல்லாந்தர் பாரம்பரியத்தில் வந்த யாவருக்கும் பயம் என்பதே கிடையாது. ஆனால் எனக்கு இப்போது பயம் ஏற்படுகின்றது. இந்த தெய்வீக சக்தியை  எதிர்த்து போரிடுவது தற்கொலைக்கு சமம் என்று எண்ணியவனாய் தன் சகாக்களுடன் அப்படியே பின்வாங்கிசென்றான்.

    இதேபோல பல சொகுசுக்கப்பல்கள் வியாபார போட்டியின் நிமித்தம் இந்த கப்பலை இடித்து மோதும்படியாக இதை நெருங்கி வந்தன. அவர்களுக்கும் குழந்தை இயேசுவின் உக்கிரமான பார்வை செலுத்தப்பட்டு அவர்களும் பயந்து பின்வாங்கிச்சென்றனர். பிறகு கடலின் சூறாவளி யாவும் அமைதிப்படுத்தப்பட்டன. ஆனாலும் யாருக்கும் இந்த குழந்தை இயேசுவின் சொரூபத்தை மீண்டும் கப்பலில் ஏற்ற துணிவு வரவில்லை. ஒருவழியாக இந்த கப்பல் லிவொமோ “ the shores of Livorno.” என்னும் இடத்தை அடைந்தது. இந்த கப்பலின் வருகைகாக காத்திருந்த ஒரு பிரான்சீஸ்கன் துறவி ஒருவர் கப்பல் வருவதற்கும் முன்பே இந்த குழந்தை இயேசுவின் சுரூபம் கறைக்கு வர அதை அவர் அப்படியே வாரி அணைத்து எடுத்துச்சென்றார்.

    இந்த குழந்தை இயேசுவின் திரு உருவம்  அன்று அகஸ்டஸ் சீசரின் காட்ச்சியில் கண்ட அதே உருவம்தான் என்பதற்கு பல புதுமைகள் சாட்ச்சியாய் இருந்தபடியால் இதை மேலே குறிப்பிட்ட அரக்கொல்லி மலையின் மீது அமைந்துள்ள சாந்தா மரியா பேராலயத்தில் வைத்தனர். ஒவ்வொரு கிறிஸ்த்துமஸ் பெரு விழாவின்போதும் இந்த சாந்தா மரியா பேராலையத்தில் இந்த குழந்தை இயேசுவின் சொரூபத்துக்கு பெரும் மகிமையும் விழாவும் கொண்டாட்டமும் களைகொட்டும். இந்த வைபோகம்  மூன்று ராஜாக்கள் திருவிழாவரை நிகழும். கிறிஸ்த்துமஸ் திருவிழாவின்போது இந்த அற்புத குழந்தை இயேசுவின்  சொரூபம் உச்சி முதல் பாதம் வரை மிகுந்த மகிமை பிரதாபத்துடன் பெரும் விலை உயர்ந்த தங்க நகைகளாலும் வைரங்களாலும் அலங்கரிக்கப்படும். அப்போது இந்த குழந்தை இயேசுவின் அழகை வர்ணிக்க வார்த்தைகளே இருக்காது. அலங்கரிக்கப்பட்ட இந்த குழந்தை இயேசுவின் திருசொரூபம் ஒரு மூடு துகிலால் மூடப்பட்டு இந்த தேவாலயத்தின் இடதுபுறமுள்ள  பலிபீடத்தில் பரோக்கி முறையில் அலங்கரிக்கப்பட்ட ஒரு சிம்மாதனத்தில் வைக்கப்படும். பிறகு கிறிஸ்த்துமஸ் விழிப்பு பூசையின்போது வானோர் பாடல் பாடப்படும்போது குழந்தை இயேசுவின் மூடுதுகில் அகற்றப்பட்டு முழு உருவமும் மிகப்பிரமாண்டமாய் காட்ச்சி அளிக்கும்.  பெரும் திரளான ரோமைய மக்கள் தங்களுடைய குழந்தைகளுடன் வந்து இந்த குழந்தை இயேசுவின் சொரூபத்தை தொட்டு முத்தமிட்டு ஆராதனை செலுத்துவர்.

        ஏனெனில்  குழந்தை இயேசு குழந்தைகளை மிகவும் விரும்புவார் என்றும் தம் மக்கள் குழந்தை இயேசுவுக்கு  நண்பர்களாய் விளங்க வேண்டும் என்றும் அவர்கள் குழந்தைகளூக்கு கற்றுக்கொடுப்பதால் அவர்கள் பிற்காலத்தில் நல்ல கிறிஸ்த்துவர்களாய் வாழ்வார்கள் என்பதும் அவர்களுடைய நம்பிக்கை. பிறகு இந்த குழந்த இயேசுவின் சொரூபம் கிறிஸ்த்துமஸ் ஜோடனையில் மாதாவின் மடியில் வைக்கப்படும். ஜோடனையில் வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ள சொரூபங்கள் அனைத்தும் ஒரு ஆள் உயரதிற்கு குறையாதிருக்கும். திருவிழா முடிந்ததும் மீண்டும் அதனுடைய அரியாசனத்தில் வைக்கப்பட்டு விடும். ஒவ்வொரு நாள் இரவிலும் இந்த சொரூபம் வெளியே எடுக்கப்பட்டு துணியால் சுற்றப்பட்டு இந்த ஆலயத்தின் பாதுகாவலர்களாகிய ஃபிரான்சீஸ்கன் துறவிகளின் மடாலயத்தில் வைக்கப்படும். இந்த அற்புத குழந்தை இயேசுவுக்கு உலகம் முழுவதிலிருந்தும் வரும் விண்ணப்பங்கள்  சேகரிக்கப்பட்டு அவை படிக்கப்படாமலே தீயால் எரிக்கப்பட்டுவிடும். அங்கு வந்திருக்கும் விண்ணப்பங்களை குழந்தை இயேசு படித்துக்கொள்வார் என்பது அவர்களுடைய நம்பிக்கை.தான் இதற்கு காரணம். அதி தீவிரமாக தங்கள் கோரிக்கைகளை நிறைவேற்ற வேண்டி இந்த குழந்தை இயேசுவிடம் வந்து அவரின் திருமுகத்தை உற்றுப்பார்க்கும் பக்தர்களுக்கு சில வேலைகளில் ஒரு குறிப்பு காட்டப்படுகிறதாம். அதாவது குழந்தை இயேசுவின் முகத்தில் அவரது திரு உதடுகள் சிகப்பு நிறத்திற்கு மாறினால் அவரது வேண்டுதல் நிறைவேற்றப்படுவது உறுதி  என்றும் மாறாக வெண்மை நிறமாக மாறினால் அவரது கோரிக்கை நிறைவேற்றப்படமாட்டாது என்றும், அந்த காரியம் குழந்தை இயேசுவுக்கு பிடித்தமானதல்ல என்றும் அர்த்தம். இவ்வாறக பலருக்கும் நேர்ந்திருப்பதாக இங்கு வரும் பக்த்தர்கள் தெரிவிக்கின்றார்கள்.

    சாந்தா மரியா பேராலயம் ஒரு பெரும் கலைப்பொக்கிஷம். இந்த ஆலயம் பரலோகத்தின் வாசல். இந்த கோயிலில் நுழையும்போது யாவருக்கும் சொர்க்கத்தில் நுழைவதைப்போல ஒரு உணர்வு ஏற்படும். இந்த தேவாலயத்தின் அழகை வார்த்தைகளின் வர்ணிக்க முடியாது. அகஸ்ட்டஸ் சீசரின் படுக்கை அறையில் இருந்த ஒரு பெரும் தூண் இங்கே பல தூண்களோடு நிற்கின்றது. இப்படியாக பல தூண்கள் .ஒவ்வொன்றுக்கும் ஒரு சரித்திரம் உண்டு. இந்த தேவாலயத்தினுள் பல கல்லறை தளங்கள் பளிங்கினால் பாவப்பட்டுள்ளன. இந்த தேவாலயத்துள் ரோமில் கிறிஸ்த்துவத்தை ஆட்சி மதமாக அறிவித்த கான்ஸ்டன்டைன் மன்னருடைய தாயார் புனித ஹெலினாவின்  கல்லறையும் அடக்கம்.

     சாந்தா மரியா பேராலயத்தில் ஒரு செவ்வக வடிவ

மரத்தில் வரையப்பட்டுள்ள துயரமான முகத்தோற்றத்துடன் கூடிய மாதாவின் திரு உருவப்படம் மிகவும் பிரசித்தி பெற்றது.கி.பி. 594ல் பெரிய கிரகோரியார் என்னும் பரிசுத்த பிதா இந்த படத்தை மிகுந்த ஆடம்பரமாக ரோமிலுள்ள பிரதான வீதிகளில் பவனியாக கொண்டுவந்தார். அ[ப்போது அந்த நகரில் பரவி இருந்த பிளேக் என்னும் கொடும் நோய் உடனே நின்றது. இந்த தேவாலயத்தின் மேல் விதானத்தில் தங்க இழைகளாலும் தங்க அடுக்குகளாலும் வரையப்பட்டுள்ள ஒரு பெரும் வரைபடம் அனைவராலும் பாராட்டப்படும். ஜெபமாலை மாதாவின் ஜெயம் என்னும்படியாக ஒட்டாமானிய சுல்தான் கடற்படைகளுக்கும் பாப்பரசரின் கிறிஸ்த்தவ கப்பற்படைகளுக்கும் லெபாந்த்தோ என்னும் இடத்தில் கடலில் நடந்த போரில் பாப்பரசருடைய கிறிஸ்த்துவ கப்பல்படைகள் வென்றன. இந்த வெற்றியின் நினைவாக வரையப்பட்டதுதான் அந்த மேல் விதானத்தில் வரையப்பட்டுள்ள ஜெபமாலை மாதாவின் ஜெயம் என்னும் படம். இந்த போரின் விளைவாக தாங்கள் கொண்டுவந்திருந்த தங்கங்களை வைத்தே இந்த ஓவியம் வரையப்பட்டுள்ளது. ஆக இந்த சாந்த மரியா பேராலயம் பரலோகத்தின் வாசல் என்றாலும் ஆண்டவருடைய பீடம் என்றாலும் மிகையாகாது.

Ephraim – The twin fruit

Ephraim – The twin fruit

“Hey! My dear blacky, why don’t you tell us your story once again? Your story is like a pleasant poem and every time you say it, we never get bored of it. Go ahead and tell us your story once again. It will help us while away our time.”

Oh! My,how many times you all have listened to my story and I have no more patience to tell it once again. I am fed up dear friend.”

“Don’t say like that..... Our life behind us is always a sweet memory and they are always ever green and soothe the pain in our heart and life.....”

“Of course you are right..... In the tide of time, nothing lasts except memories..... Sweet memories.....It is in the heart one locks his evergreen memories and so do I...... as well as, all i have now, at this point of time is only those pleasant memories to cling on to......” (He took a deep sigh and began his story)

I am a young prince belonging to the province of Abyssinia (the modern Ethiopia). That is my motherland. It is a great country with abundant natural wealth. The land was filled with gold and diamonds glittering everywhere in the province. Rubies and emeralds were toys for our kids. So saying he closed his eyes and said:

The land of the scorching sun, which darkens the skin of everyone,

The land of Mother Nature, providing abundant wealth for generations of the future

Gold and silver sparkle everywhere, diamonds and rubies are our kid’s toys, I swear..... (Once again he takes a deep breath and continues) Our country was beloved to the sun god and hence all the inhabitants, including me, have a dark complexion. Our complexion gained us the name “the Ethiopian blacks”. This dark complexion also serves as a protection to us. Though the whole continent of Africa is filled with people of black complexion, no one else in the continent or in this whole world have a shining dark skin as that of the people of Ethiopia. That’s our credit of which we are actually proud of. The scorching sun gave us and all our animals’ enormous strength. Even the snakes and scorpions are highly venomous, which are a unique identity for our country. The frankincense trees give the best incense with fragrance that will captivate your mind and soul.

Queen Sheba belonged to our country. According to the law of our country, if the queen marries then she will lose the ruling authority, since her husband will become the king with the ruling powers. In such a situation, the queen once heard of the great king Solomon of Jerusalem and about his mind boggling wisdom through the foreign ambassadors. She was deeply attracted by his wisdom and went all the way to Jerusalem to meet him. Though King Solomon had many wives and concubines, he remained childless. On seeing queen Sheba, he welcomed her and in the course of her stay in Jerusalem, he married her. She became the first queen to bear a child for King Solomon.... the first prince of Israel and the heir to the throne of Jerusalem. Through the king and the queen rejoiced ver this, the other queens in Solomon’s palace were filled with jealousy and hated her. Now queen Sheba was deeply worried about this, since this hatred and jealousy could even put an end to the life of the baby in her womb and also to her. So queen Sheba returned to her own kingdom with the child in her womb. Now King Solomon became the king of our country according to the law and queen Sheba ruled in his name. Then she bore a son who was named Ipna Hakkim. When he was of right age, King Solomon invited him to his country and crowned him as the prince of Ethiopia. After this, Ipna Hakkim returned to his motherland. But when he returned, he stole the Ark of  the covenant box from the famous temple of Jerusalem, which is of high reverence for the Jews along with him. King Solomon was outraged when he came to know this. But since he loved his son deeply, for he was the first born son of Solomon, he did not take it back from Ipna hakkim. Instead he sent hundreds of priests from Jerusalem to Ethiopia to offer worship and sacrifice to the covenant box. Thus the Jews mingled with the people of Ethiopia. Thus they gave birth to a new race who were called as “Black Jews”

“Oh! What a long introduction.....Now go forward to your story Blacky.....We are not bothered much of the “Black Ethiopians” or the “Black Jews”..... We are much eager to listen to your story my dear Blacky pal....” so saying he giggled and patted him on his shoulders.

“Ok, ok.... listen carefully. I too was born in the royal family of Ethiopian kings. I was married to a beautiful wife and had loving children. Though I came from the Ethiopian race, I was very much interested to follow the Ten Commandments and I knew it by heart. Hence I never turned my sight on other women, nor did I drink alcohol. I became a great businessman through the great knowledge and wisdom god had given me. I exported gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, the tusks of elephants, perfumes, incense, rare herbs to other countries as well as I imported pearls, silk clothes, gold and silver ornaments from India, which we lack in our country. Through this import and export business I earned huge profits and became wealthy day by day. I offered job opportunities to all my relatives and well wishers and helped them as much as possible.

But there were people who were jealous of my status and hence plotted to make me fall. They also won in their plans and I slowly became addicted to alcohol which led me to the company of women. With the power of my money I actually bought beautiful women and made them my slaves to fulfil my ill pleasures. Yes my enemies won and I became a slave to sin. I lost everything I had, not only my wealth and money, I also lost my precious wife, children, relatives and well wishers.

“The greatest treasures are not silver or gold,

Nor jewels, nor works of art, for they can easily be sold

For worldly things will fade away, as the seasons come and go

But the treasure of true relationships, will never lose its glow”

It was too late when I really understood the value of true treasures and pleasures, the value of character and virtue. I lost everything and here is stand before you with just myself, with deep pain and agony, cast away by the society and all mankind.”

So saying he started to weep and sob and everyone around became silent and tried not to hurt him in any way. After some time, he wiped off his tears and turned to his friend beside him and said, “Hey you Whiteee, I have completed my story, now it is your turn...... come on and unbundle your story now.” “Sure my pal. Though you are black and I am white..... Though we come from differentbackgrounds and country, my story too is somewhat closely related to yours. I don’t belong to the royal princely family, but I was equal to them in terms of money and war practice. I excelled in sword fight and have always sent a wave of fear run through the nerves of my opponents. I was a merchant. I travelled far and wide the whole world. Sometimes I sailed in the seas and sometimes I travelled on land. I had my breakfast amidst the roaring waves and company of fishes. I had my lunch with millionaires in luxurious hotels. I had tea with merchants and dinner with princes. Fame and name, money and luxury were my companions always. I came to know of the various people, places, countries and climate. I learnt a lesson from everything. I was born in Phonesia (the present-day Lebanon). The people of my country are experts in coastal trade.Though they had numerous business options, the most important of them all and the highest income generating business were the dye factories. Yes, the dyes produced in my country are the best in the world. The mode of preparing the dye is very interesting as well as very mysterious. They prepare the dye from the pigments emitted by some of the aquatic animals and they add some special chemical to prepare the vibrant colourful dyes. These dyes are more colourful and attractive than a rainbow itself. They use these dyes to prepare colourful clothes which they sell all over the world and earn huge profit. But they never disclose the secret of the dye preparation. Even a father will be hesitant to disclose the secret to his own son. I tried my best to know the secret but failed. So, I started to see those beautiful clothes in far off countries and earned good money. But soon bad time started to play in my life. My wife’s brother once came to visit me and through him I became addicted to alcohol and slowly all the evil habits became my regular habits. Slowly I lost interest in trade and became a debtor. So, I was pushed out of the ship by my partners and lost all that I had. I don’t even know what happened to my wife and children. The years have passed since this incident happened and now, I stand in front of you just like one among you.”

“You are really lucky enough to have suffered only this much in my life. My story is actually worse than yours”, said another person who stood beside the white friend. “I did not even dream of such a pitiful state of mine in which I am living now. I too was a great merchant and I come from the city of Venice. I excelled in trade and earned huge money. But I too fell into the hands of evil friends and became a slave of bad habits which marked my downfall. I lost all I had including my health. I noticed that my skin developed white patches and it started to spread all over my body. It was so bad that it changed my very identity. So once when I came to the harbour of Lebanon, the coast captain caught me and put me in prison and did a complete medical check-up. The result said that I was diseased with leprosy. So, they exiled me from the city and burnt my whole ship along with its cargo in the sea. I roamed in many places and at last came to the outskirts of Samaria and met you people and started to dwell among you. My fate was so bad that I became a beggar in a single day. People who came to know of my disease chased me like a dog and did not even come near me. After all those bitter experiences I finally got settled among you friends.”

The above conversations did not take place in any round table conference and the people who were talking so long were no longer prince or business men. They were ten lepers who were exiled from the city and sat on the outskirts of Samaria. They shared their life experiences to while away their time and tried to console each other for the current pitiable state they were in. Also each of them discussed who they would live a better life if they get a chance to get rid of this chronic disease they were suffering from. These people lived in a cave after being driven and chased out by men and they suffered without food or water.

“They were Once kings and merchants, but now wanders,

Once millionaires but now mere beggars,

Once owners of fame and money but now in great agony,

Once great warriors and sailors but now just lepers,

Once men of joy and laughter but now down with disaster,

Once great heroes of the past but now discarded lowly outcasts!!!!!!!!!!”

Hunger and pain could not make them sleep though they tried to. So, they again and again sat up and started to talk among themselves to forget their pain and agony. One of local friend them spoke up and said, “what if we get a new life….Completely rid of this chronic disease….. I mean to say if God could have mercy on us and give us a new life??? What would you do???”

“Good joke dear friend… I appreciate your sense of humour. Do you know what leprosy is? It is a disease which will disfigure you, your body will be covered with sores and you will have to live and die in deep pain. Above all this leprosy is the curse of God and so there is no remedy from the side of men. No one could cure leprosy.”

The local friend replied, “I too know all this my dear friends. But what I mean to say is apart from this if a miracle happens and all of us are cured of our disease, then what would you all do?”

On hearing this, all the other nine lepers replied in one tone, “if what you say could happen and if we are given a chance to get back to our old health and wealth, they we will surely kill the person who ever was responsible for this state of ours.”

On hearing this,a local friend replied, “No friends, this is not the way we should live the other part of our life. Though this disease is considered to be the curse of god, we are in this condition is because of our own sins. Each one of us is responsible for our sins and the after effects. Let us forgive others and think that no one else should suffer this condition ever in their life.” This leper belonged to Samaria.

On hearing this, Whiteee said, “there is no use of being good always and to everyone. That is the only reason for this present state of ours. How much we would have helped others? How much of our wealth we would have shared with our friends and relatives? We were good to them and in return they have wronged us. The whole world is operating under one basic principle, ‘for one person to live the other person should die’. It is we who did not understand this concept and now suffer the cost of being good always. It is ok. If only what our dear friend said could happen, if God could come down and stand in front of us and cure us of this disease, then it would be a golden moment in our life. So, if this has to happen then god himself will come in search of us and deliver us from this state of ours.” And this statement of Whiteeee came true the very next day.

The very day next Jesus Christ came by the way where these ten lepers lived. When the people of the city came to know that Jesus has come to their city, they immediately crowded round him on the road. When the people saw Jesus and his disciples, they shouted out saying, “Jesus, the son of David, have mercy on us, speak to us.” When Jesus tried to move forward, a small boy came to Jesus from the crowd and offered him a pomegranate and said, “Dear Lord, I don’t have anything to offer you except this pomegranate. We are of low cast and you are of high reverence. Still I love you and request you to accept this humble offering of mine.”

On hearing this Jesus was moved with compassion and said, “Dear son, no one is great or small in the creation of God. God created everyone in his own image and likeness. It is mankind who formed various casts among them. God loves everyone alike. When god created this world, he found everything to be good. But when Adam and eve sinned by the plot of Satan, the situation completely changed. Sin and death came into this world. The relationship between mankind and god was disconnected. It is the work of Satan which separates people based on cast, religion, colour, money etc. Satan is as killer and liar from the beginning. Since people do not understand this, they think that God has hated them and parted them from him. But days are coming when all people will understand the love of God and become one children of the father. I have come to seek the lost and bring them back to the love of the Father. I am the saviour of this world. I have come the show the love of God for all mankind. How will you then understand the love of God. See this pomegranate. How will you know if it is sweet of sour? Only when you taste it. But only if you know to eat this fruit you will know the actual taste of it. If you eat the skin and say it is sour then you are wrong. For the hard skin is not to taste but to protect the fruit within. But only if you taste the actual fruit within you will know the sweetness of the fruit. Also, the soft layer covering the fruit also protects the fruit. Similarly, people too have not understood or tasted the love of god for they do not know how to taste his love. This is not your fault also. Satan has blindfolded you from knowing and understanding the love of God. So pray to god to give you the spirit who will make you wise and reveal God to you, so that you will know him and his abundant love. Pray to God that your minds may be opened to see his light, so that you will know what is the hope to which he has called you, how rich are the wonderful blessings he promises his people, and how very great is his power at work in those who believe in him.

In the past Jews and Samaritans were like brothers, lovable and united but later discrimination came in and now they stand apart in terms of belief, money, colour, cast and so on. No one respects the other as a child of God. So understand that all of you, Jews or Samaritans are children of God. Get rid of anything which hinders from loving the other person as your own brother or sister. Remember the two great commandments which sum up all the Ten Commandments. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, body and soul, and the second one which says, love your neighbour as you love yourself. Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you so that you may become the sons and daughters of your father in heaven. For he makes his sun to shine on bad and good people alike and gives rain to showers who do good and to those who do evil.  You must be perfect – just as your Father in heaven is perfect!”

As Jesus was preaching and walking, he reached the cave where the ten lepers were living. When the lepers knew that Jesus was near their cave, they came out of the cave and shouted aloud saying, “Lord Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on us.” On hearing this cry, Jesus stopped and looked at them and said, “What do you want?” The ten of them replied, “Cleanse us of our chronic disease and give us new life.” Jesus replied, “Go and show yourself to the priest in the temple and do the rituals for sanctification.” So saying Jesus blessed them. Immediately the ten lepers fled to the temple. But on their way they noticed that they were completely cured of their disease. They started to leap in joy and went their way. But they never thought of returning to Jesus who cured them of their disease and thank him. But one of them returned to Jesus and fell at his feet and thanked him for curing him of his disease. He praised Jesus in a loud voice, “Lord God of all creation, thank you for cleansing me of my disease and sin. Thank you for forgiving me and giving me a new life. Though i lay here as a lowly outcast, you came in search of me and restored my health. Praise be to god in heaven and earth. Praise be to the Father who sent you to this earth to redeem and save the lost and forsaken. Praise to the Holy Spirit. Praise be to virgin mother who brought you to his world.”

On hearing this, the people around him and the apostles of Jesus commanded him not to shout aloud. They said that he was a leper and should not stand near the Lord. But the Samaritan shouted even loudly and proclaimed the praise of God saying,” how could i keep my mouth shut when God has done such a great miracle in my life? Why should i not thank the Lord who showered his abundant mercy and love on me? I was rejected and cast away by all of you. None of were able to relieve me of this bondage of disease, shame and hunger. But my Lord has done this for me,”

“If you have received the blessing then keep it with you and praise God in your heart. Do not keep shouting here and disturb us,” said the people there and the disciples of Jesus. But the man who received the blessing replied, “That is impossible. I will shout even louder and sing his praise. I can’t keep my mouth shut anymore. It is not me who is speaking. The Holy Spirit in me speaks using my tongue.  So i will sing and praise the glory of my saviour. No one can stop me. My heart leaps like a deer in joy. Why do you people stand still.. Open your mouth and praise him.”

Now Jesus replied, “It’s enough dear friends. Your faith has healed you. Go in peace and sin no more. Live the rest of your life in the path Holy Spirit leads you.” The Samaritan thanked Jesus and walked a few steps. Then he turned back to Jesus and said, “Lord Jesus I have one more petition.” Jesus replied, “What is it dear friend? I have given you all I have and all that you want. What is it you need now?” The Samaritan fell down at the feet of Jesus and said, “Lord you have given me a new life, new body and mind. I can feel everything is new in my body. When I was a leper, the disease ate up my brain. But now i can feel a new brain operating in me, which makes me understand and feel what is right. I forgot almost everything of my past and even my name. So I request you to give me a new name.”

Jesus said, “I healed you in this city. What is the name of this city? Can you tell me?”

The man replied, “The name of this city is Ephraim.”

Jesus replied, “Then you too shall henceforth be called as Ephraim. The meaning of Ephraim is twin fruit. Now did you understand the meaning of your new name? God has given you double blessing and double life, a new life. There is nothing old in you. Everything is new in you and you yourself are a new person now. So this name well suits you. There were ten of you who were healed by me..... Only you returned to glorify God. Where are the other nine of them?”

The Samaritan replied, “Lord, the moment they found out that they were cured of their disease, they were so eager to return to their old life and have gone their way. In that excitement they have completely forgotten you, who gave them this new life.” On hearing this Jesus said, “These people praise me with their lips, but stay far away from me in their soul. They want blessings from me but not me.... i pity the other nine of them. All the efforts they take to recapture whatever they have lost will eventually lead them to even greater sin and their condition will become worse than what it was before”.  Jesus continued and said, “People pour out their hearts in the presence of the Lord to receive certain blessings or deliverance, but do not use them in an honest way. This is the reason the very blessing which they receive from God turns out be a curse on them. God treats all people alike. There is no differentiation in the sight of God. He sends rain on the good and bad alike. But it the people who receive the blessing use it in the wrong way and end up in trouble. God loves everyone. I did not expect thanks from them. But thanking a person who has given you a blessing is a virtue. Also only when you come back to thank him for all the blessings he has showered upon you, you become even closer to God. You will win his acceptance.”

After hearing this, the Samaritan fell down at the feet of Jesus and said, “Lord i have one more petition, kindly do grant me this also.”

Jesus replied, “What is it you want Ephraim?”

Ephraim replied with tears in his eyes, “My lord Jesus, i have understood true love from you. I have seen good and bad times. All kinds of people. I once had people who loved me, cared for me and wanted to be in my company. But it was when i was handsome and had enough of money to spend for them also. Once i lost my beauty and wealth, the once lovable people turned their backs on me. They pushed me out of the streets and left me as an orphan. I starved for a meal a day and there was no one to have pity on me to give it for me. I longed for the love and affection of someone who would really care for me when i was in pain and agony. But my friends turned to me and said, ‘he must have done a great sin and that is why god has punished him with this curse.’ Every day i lived in shame and disgrace. But it was only you who had pity on me. You came to me and healed me. You called me by a new name. You said that my sins are forgiven. You gave me a new body and soul. You gave me a new life. This world is behind money and money is the root cause for all evil. Satan works in three ways to win a soul, they are, alcohol, women and money. These three are there everywhere in this world. They lead man to sin and sickness. I am fed up of these Lord. Also they did not give me the joy and happiness and peace. I don’t have wife or children and I live alone. So kindly accept me as you disciple and permit me to follow you.”

Jesus looked at him with compassion and said, “Ephraim, i will not assure you a life full of roses if you follow me. It will be a path of thorns and trouble. If you want to follow me, you should forsake yourself, this world, carry your cross and come behind me. For all this in this world, great will be your reward in heaven. I will give you a place in my heavenly kingdom. Come follow me. Peter this man will henceforth join us in our journey.”

On hearing this Peter understood the love and affection Jesus had on Ephraim. So he said to him, “Look here Ephraim, Jesus would have allotted you a place in his kingdom, but here on this earth I am the first disciple of Jesus. I am the head for all of you. I have the top most priority to receive the love and affection of Jesus. Did you understand? Moreover Jesus has given me only the keys to heaven. So understand this clearly and act accordingly.”

Ephraim said, “i understand sir. I request you to have mercy on me and use your key to help me to keep my one foot alone inside the gates of heaven. I will be happy with that.”

Hearing their conversation Jesus said, “Whoever considers himself great will become low and whoever humbles himself will become great in the kingdom of God. Do you remember the time when we were in a house along with my mother and I told you that you will be the head of the church but have appointed my mother as the protector of all the churches in this world?            

Step down from the post of a head and place yourself in the place of my mother and you will understand that a mother will love all her children alike. In that way Ephraim deserves my love and affection just like how you do. I love every one of you alike. Do not be jealous of him.”

Peter immediately looked up to Jesus and said, “Lord please do not mistake me. You know me and my heart. There is nothing hidden from you. I accept him as my own brother.” So saying he put his hands around the hip of Ephraim and they walked along as good friends behind Jesus. Peter said to him, “come dear friend, join us and become the citizen of heaven.”

Dear Lord Jesus

Sent from above as foretold in the past

He came to this world to seek and find the lost

Extending his hand to lift mankind from the miry clay

Preaching the good news constantly everyday

Hearing to their cry and healing them all

Enlightening every soul, to help them listen to his call

Redeeming people from sin by dying on the cross

Dear Lord, you are the true shepherd who paid for our every loss.

Notes:

A small note on the Angara cave. Angara is a small mount located in the mountain range of Ajalon which is situated in the country of Jordan. Angara cave is a cave located on the mount of Angara. This cave is converted into a church. There is a small village at the foot of this mountain in which the great prophet Elisa was said to be born.

The church which was built in this place in memory of Prophet Elisa in 6 AD, is almost in ruins. Still the beautiful mosaic flooring and the tank which was used to give baptism is still in good condition and the words stating ‘Prophet Elisa pray for us’ is engraved there.

Also the great King David, sought refuge in this cave when he was chased by his son Absolom states a historical note of reference. It is also said that it is in this cave that Jesus and his disciples along with his mother once met and it was in this cave Jesus announced that Mother Mary will be the protector of all the churches in this world. There are many caves in this mountain range. Since Jesus used to stay in these caves, it is not a confirmed point that in which of these caves Jesus appointed his mother as the protector of all churches in this world. Still taking into consideration all the events which took place in this Angara cave, one could easily conclude that it is in this cave that Jesus should have appointed his mother as the protector of churches.

There is an important incident which adds to the above said conclusion. In the year 2010, 6^th May, one of the nuns along with the local people were cleaning the church. It was then they saw a strange sight. The face of the statue of mother Mary which was kept there came alive and her eyes opened and closed. Soon after this, tears of blood rolled down from her eyes along her cheeks. The people who saw this have testified also. Many medical reports and the testimony of many great priests confirm this incident to be true. This church is under the control of the priest of Jerusalem. The Roman Catholic Church has also confirmed this incident and has announced this church as one of the holy places to be visited. The church of Mary located in the Angara cave is called as ‘Mary of the Mount church’. This place could be reached by a travel of about one and half an hour towards north, from the capital city of Jordan.

The cave where the ten lepers stayed is now called as Saint George church. This church is under the control of ancient Greek Church committee. This cave church is located in Ephraim of Samaria, in a city called Purki. In recent times this small cave church is one of the best places of pilgrim visit. If you travel north of Jerusalem towards Samaria, you could reach this small city of Purki.

Who are you ?

Who are you ? Who are you? Where do you come from? What is your birth history? Your parents??? Ancestors??? Are you the one about whom the great prophet Isaiah foretold few centuries ago? Are you the messiah foretold by John the Baptist? Are you the king of Jews whom the wise men from the east came to see? I heard they presented you the gifts which are usually given to kings…. Is that true? How did they escape from my father? Who guided them? Who helped them to escape? Around thirty years back when my father passed an order that all the male children within the age group of two years should be killed, how did you escape? Where did you go? Who helped you escape from my father’s sight? I heard that your parents took you and ran off to Egypt, then how did you come back to my kingdom and live all these thirty-three years out of my sight? Who taught you the trick of making the dumb speak, lame walk, blind see and all the other so-called miracles which you performed? You even raised the dead man Lazarus alive, is that true? Who gave you such great powers? You even released hundreds of prisoners who were kept in fort Trisha by giving a huge amount, from where did you get so much of money? You are the son of an ordinary carpenter, jobless and you roam all over the cities and villages, then from where did you get so much of money? Why are you silent? Speak up? Are you afraid or arrogant? Are you the king of the Jews? Even last week your disciples welcomed you like a king into the city of Jerusalem, is it? They even shouted out triumphant slogans stating, “Long live the king of the Jews” … I am the king of the Jews and no one else can come to my place. From the land of Judah up to Galilee is mine and I am the king over this great region….. Then how dare you announce that you are the king of this place?  How gave you this authority? This is treason against the king and his country. Do you know the punishment for such a crime? It is death…. You will have to lose your life…… you have insulted me in front of the crowd by calling me a sly fox…. Is this the way you insult your king in front of the public??? All these are sufficient reason for me to sentence you to death. But, still I know that you are a righteous man…. A man of God…. innocent and just…..I have all the rights to set you free or sentence you to death. I just have once obligation, I want you to cure me of a secret disease I have in my body…. The next moment I will set you free… what do you say??? Here is your golden opportunity…. Don’t miss this…. All because you are a citizen of my kingdom, I am the right person who has an authority over you and for this reason Pontus Pilate has sent you to me to be judged. So, if you decide to be in good terms with me, I will reward you with priceless treasure and also release you. You need not worry about these high priests or the other priests… you can go and preach anywhere you want and anything you want. I will give you full authority to do so. So, make a quick decision and cure me of my secret disease and save your life. That will of good for you and for me” said the then King of Galilee, Herod. But Jesus Christ was not bothered about any of these statements and offers made by Herod. He did not even look up at his face for he did not wish to even look at the face of this sinner who still stood against God. Though one word from the mouth of Jesus Christ had the power to take away the very life of King Herod, Jesus was patient and calm and endured everything. There was a strained relationship between Pontius Pilate and King Herod on account of the water tank issue and King Heron wanted to use this opportunity to set right the bitter terms. So, he sent back Jesus to Pilate with a letter which accepted the conclusions of Pilate that Jesus Christ was blameless. King Herod also asked Pilate to deal with Jesus Christ as he wished and that he accepted any decisions Pilate would take in this case. So, Jesus Christ was once again taken to Pontius Pilate who further questioned Jesus in all possible ways. Finally, he looked at the crowd and said “what do you want me to do with Jesus Christ of Nazareth?” the crowd shouted back, “Crucify him! Crucify him! Crucify him on the cross!” Pilate replied, “What? Do you want me to crucify your king?” the crowd shouted even more loudly stating, “No No he is not our king. He called himself as our king. Caesar is our only king and we are his people. So, crucify Jesus for Caesar is our king” on hearing this confession from the crowd Pilate asked, “think well before you put forth your decision. All these days you refused to accept Caesar as your king and now what is the reason for this change?” but the angry crowd was not patient enough to answer the questions of Pilate. They shouted back stating, “Caesar is our king, and hence forth Caesar is our only king. Crucify Jesus and kill him.” Having failed in his attempt to save Jesus Christ, Pilate sentenced Jesus to be crucified. He sat on his judgment seat and read out the death sentence “dear folks, I came to his country as the representative of Agustus Caesar to set his rule in this country. I also took it as a challenge not to return back to my native place unless I have established the roman government in this country. After many hardships and struggle, the citizens of this country have agreed to accept Caesar as their king and welcome his rule in this place. Praise be to the name of the present roman emperor Claudius Tiberius. I accept and recognize the people of Judah as my own country citizens of behalf of Claudius Tiberius. But unfortunately, I am in an unpleasant situation to sentence Jesus Christ of Nazareth to be crucified on account of having spread wrong ideas among the people of Judah. In order to being in peace and happiness in this country, I sentence Jesus Christ to be crucified on account of having called himself as the messiah, the son of God and the king of the Jews. I have taken this judgment which matches with the laws and decision of the high priest and the public as well. So I command Jesus to be crucified on the cross and let him hang till death.” But Pilate did not expect that he would break his promise which he had made to his dear wife Claudia stating that he will not allow any harm happen to Jesus Christ the Jewish Rabbi. So, he faced shame from both sides. On one part he was not able to keep up his promise to his wife. Secondly though he knew for himself that Jesus Christ is blameless, in order to satisfy the angry Jews, he asked his men to bring a bowl of water and washed his hands off on the issue of any curse which would follow for shedding the innocent blood of Jesus. He also broke his scepter into two in front of Jesus Christ and threw the same in front of him and left the place as an indication that he could not do anything further. Jesus Christ was taken to mount Calvary and there the Roman soldiers crucified him naked on the cross. Jesus was shred of every human dignity. One could not describe in words the amount of insult and pain which the mother of Jesus would have felt while standing by the cross seeing her only son crucified naked on the cross in front of the women and public gathered there and the whole world. But Mother Mary stood by the cross with tears and prayer to the Holy Father asking him to have mercy on Jesus Christ who preached about holiness and way of good conduct, and now hung naked on the cross. At that moment, Jonathus, one of the cousin brothers of Jesus Christ, (the son of Joseph’s (foster father of Jesus) brother) ran to the cross and took a piece of cloth and tied it around the waist of Jesus and fastened it with the cross. He did this so quickly that the roman soldiers could not stop him. He also said, “Oh please permit this for this man of God, righteous but still hanging on cross, have mercy on him ‘so saying he ran away. In this way the shame of Jesus was covered. Above the head of Jesus were the letters which stated, “King of Jews”. This was mentioned on the cross as a reason for his punishment. It was twelve noon. Even nature could not see or bear to witness this cruel punishment for its creator. All of a sudden there was a loud roar of thunder, but there were no rain clouds and the sky was clear. Also hail stones fell all over Jerusalem from time to time which confused the people on account of this strange change in nature. At the time when Jesus was crucified and lifted up on the cross, one of the priests entered the church built by King Solomon and blew his trumpet to announce that it was the time of making offering for the Passover feast. The moment when the Jews heard the trumpet, they brought the animals for sacrifice and stood in a row waiting for their time to offer their sacrifice. But they did not know that Jesus Christ offered himself as a true living sacrifice on the cross on that day. Also, the rare signs which was seen in the sky set fear in the hearts of all those who saw them. As soon as Jesus Christ was lifted on the cross, red smoke rose from the ground, and spread all over, covering the whole world. Darkness was spread over the earth.  Even the sun lost its glow and became dark. The moon quickly rose up from the east and stood right on top of Mount olive. It was a full moon day. Within a few seconds the moon moved fast and stood between the sun and the earth. There was no possibility for such a natural change at that point of time. Such an incident could never happen on a full moon day. Since the sun failed to give out its light and also the moon stood right before the sun hiding the feeble light emitted by the sun, the whole earth was covered with darkness. The darkness became darker and darker. This solar eclipse stood as a witness for the tragic death of Jesus Christ. This darkness which took place at noon left the shook the whole world with fear. The cattle started to shout and the birds tried to hurry up fast to their nest. Since it was very dark they could not find their way back home and hit themselves on the tall towers and walls of Jerusalem and fell down on the ground. The birds struggled to fly which made any common man to catch them easily with their hands. But who was bothered about catching birds when their own condition was worse than those innocent birds. The people started to realize their foolishness of shouting out, “Let the curse of killing Jesus fall on us and on the heads of our generation”. The curse started to chase them right from that moment. In their fear they started to shout out, “Oh merciful Father in heaven, forgive us our sins…. We have betrayed innocent blood….we have been the reasons for the cruel death of Jesus Christ….. We have done this out of our foolishness. Forgive us Lord….. Forgive us…. Take away the curse of betraying innocent blood off our heads…..” so saying they wept bitterly on the roads of Jerusalem. The Pharisees and the Sadducees and the members of the temple  council, who spoke ill of Jesus, now observed the drastic change in nature and fear caught their hearts and they said, “Oh we have done a great mistake…. Lord forgive us and save us from this danger….. Nature is against us and Lord saves us.” So, saying, they rushed from Mount Calvary and ran into the temple in Jerusalem. For these people who thought that the temple will be their hiding place from the danger ahead of them, something worse awaited them in the temple. The curtain which hung in the holy place covered the Shekinah glory and the glory was taken away from the temple. Thus darkness entered the temple. Those who had come to the temple to offer their Passover sacrifice stopped their offering and left the temple hastily for they sensed that something was abnormal in nature. On seeing this Annas and Caiaphas lit up several Menorah lamps all over the church to bring in light. They then called the people to come and offer their sacrifice and said, “Please do come back…. There is nothing to fear…. This is just a small change in nature and there is nothing to worry about it… “Though they shouted out such slogans of bravery, fear gripped their hearts also. Deep down in their hearts they murmured, “All this is because of the Galilean, Jesus Christ….. His blood is pleading for justice…..” they feared to be alone and always stood among the crowd. But Annas feared his conscience and hid in the dark corners of the termple. This fierce change in nature sent waves of fear into the hearts of the Romans also. Pontius Pilate called the chief officials of the temple and asked them the reason for this drastic change in nature. But they said that it was a normal change in nature and there was nothing to worry about it. But Pontius Pilate’s inner conscience did not leave him easily. It pricked him of his judgment. Added to his conscious one of the members of the community by name Shaddock shouted out, “you are the one who sentenced Jesus Christ to death…. You are the cause for all this disaster….. You killed him…. You killed innocent blood…..  Though you knew that Jesus Christ was blameless still you offered him to be crucified….. Now the whole nature stands testifying the cruel act of yours…..”  Pontius Pilate replied back in fear and frustration, “Oh no you are wrong, your people shouted out asking me to crucify Jesus….. Your people took the decision…. I just executed it and it was never my own decision…. You cannot blame me like this. I am a third person…. A stranger…. Not even your country man….. Nor am I in any way related to Jesus Christ. You asked for his death and were adamant in it and I just accepted your request…. So, you can never blame me in any way for the death of Jesus Christ.” Though Pilate gave a smart reply, his conscious did not allow him to rest in peace. So he called his wife Claudia and said, “My dear wife…. I did my best to stay away from this sin of crucifying that innocent man. That is why I washed off my hands as a sign of not have any part in this death statement. But still my heart is not at peace. Make necessary arrangements to offer sacrifices to the Roman and Greek gods immediately.” He also closed his palace gates and started to worship his god Pan. But his Greek God Pan could not open its mouth and give him any reply. This Greek God Pan has the face of a man, head of a goat, body of a man up to its hip and its legs and hands were like goat. When the solar eclipse took place on the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the stars  which was close to the sun was that which resembled the goat. (Once, when Jesus Christ was travelling with his apostles through the cities of Philip Caesarea they reached a place called Panias which had many caves and waterfalls. There he made his chief apostle Peter stand at the entrance of a cave and said, “And I tell you. You are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not overpower It.” the day when Jesus Christ stepped into the city of Panias, the god of that place, Pan left the city along with its other friends. From that day, no one offered worship or sacrifice to that god in that place. This Greek god Pan which left the city of Panias, went up and started to reside among the stars which resembled the goat. During the time when Jesus suffered on the cross, the innocent blood which was shed made this Greek God Pan lose all its power. Claudia, the wife of Pontius Pilate told him, “The dream which I saw last night has come true now.  Hence forth your condition will become more worse….. Since I did not want such an unpleasant thing to happen in your life, I warned you this morning about the Jewish Rabbi, Jesus Christ. Since you promised me stating that nothing will happen to him from your part, I was at peace. But you forgot all that I warned you about and also your promise to me. You sentenced that holy man to death and in face you have written your own death statement. You can’t escape the punishment for this act of yours….. This curse will follow you all through your life hence forth. Please do not waste your time sitting in front of this Greek god Pan which has no power to save itself…… then how will it save you….. You will reap what you have sown….” Still Claudia prayed to Jesus Christ to be merciful on her husband. She looked towards the cross of Calvary and prayed with tears, “Lord please forgive my husband for he did not know what he was doing.” Also, many of the people of Jerusalem who were courageous enough to shout out, “let the curse of shedding the innocent blood of Jesus fall on us and our generations…” were now caught with fear on seeing the frightful changes in nature and the darkness which surrounded them. Now out of fear they all shouted out, “Lord please forgive us for our statement and act of shedding innocent blood….. Take away the curse from our heads…. Forgive us Lord…. Forgive us” Jesus Christ saw the tears and plea of the people and he was moved with compassion. So, Jesus looked up to his father in heaven and said, “Father forgive them for they know not what they are doing.” Two thieves were crucified on either side of Jesus. They were brothers. The elder brother’s name was Gisdass. The younger brother’s name was Thismass. A lady had come all the way from Rome to Japheth along with her daughter to see her husband. While they were going around the country, these thieves Gisdass and Thismass kidnapped them and robbed them of all that they had. Of these two brothers the elder brother Giisdass raped the mother and her daughter and killed them. But his younger brother had no part in this rape and murder. But they were caught by law for the robbery and murder and kept in prison for two years. It was later decided that they should be crucified along with Jesus one on either side of Jesus. This happened in order to fulfill the prophecy that Jesus was considered one among the thieves. Even in such a situation one of the thieves who hung on the cross looked up at Jesus and said, “You Jesus, if you are truly the son of God, save yourself and save us also from this cross.” When his brother heard this statement, he replied, “Why are you so ungrateful? Have you forgotten God altogether? What makes you give such a statement? We deserve this punishment for all the evil we have done. If you can’t bear this just and right punishment, how will you bear a punishment for not doing anything wrong? But Jesus Christ who has not done anything wrong has been crucified one among us….. He who cured me of my leprosy in my young age… he who has cured the disease of so many people wherever he went…. He, who raised the dead, fed the poor and hungry…. Spread the good news of salvation…. Made the blind see, lame walk, deaf hear….. And above all loved all of us….. Don’t you dare to speak another word ill about him….” So, saying he looked up to Jesus and said, “Lord forgive us of our sins…. Remember me when you come in your glory.” Jesus was once again moved with compassion…. He saved this sinner even while he was hanging on the cross with so much of pain and agony. He saw the heart of this thief and the trust he had on him. So, Jesus said to him, “Today you will be in paradise with me.” Though Thismass lived a sinful life, his trust in god and true repentance made him inherit paradise after his death. At the same time Pontius Pilate’s condition stated to worsen. He lost all his peace. His lost the support and love of his wife and his dear Greek God Pan had also forsaken him. Not knowing what to do, he looked at the judgment seat which was kept at a place called Gabbatha in his palace. As he looked at the judgment seat, he felt that it laughed at him seeing his condition. He also walked around the place where Jesus was mercilessly whipped by the soldiers. Pilate was ashamed, for not being able to save Jesus, though he knew that Jesus was a righteous man. Then what was the use of his power and authority? His consciousness questioned him constantly? He could not find peace wherever he went. There came his wife Claudia and said, “My dear husband… what are you looking at… trying to find out anything which is left behind…. See this blood stain of that holy man of God…. it will speak to you of your incapableness to save him….. You and your men did not consider him as God but you could have at least considered him as a human being…. You deprived him of all human dignity and treated him worse than an animal…… you were deaf to his cries and blind towards the blood he shed…. Not what else do you want to see in this place? Knowingly or unknowingly you are the cause for all this…. With your power and authority, you could have saved him. You had every right to do so and still you feared the public more than God and you gave such a judgment.” Pilate was unable to hear any more accusations from his wife and he said, “Enough Claudia…. Even you failed to understand me….. I really thought that the people would spare him after they see him being whipped so badly.  But his blood did not melt their heart…. They were hard hearted like bars of iron…. They were thirsty for blood…. that too the blood of that innocent man of God…. I was helpless before that savage Jewish crowd…. Thus, not only Jesus even I became a prey for their blood thirst. I have done a great mistake in my life…. No, I have committed an unpardonable sin in my life…. I have been one of the reasons for that holy man to shed his innocent blood…. I beg your pardon Claudia… please forgive me.” Unable to find peace in his palace, Pilate left his palace and rushed towards mount Calvary to see what has happened to Jesus. But he could not even go a few steps out of his palace. There was chaos all over Jerusalem. People were involved in commotion out of fear in the drastic changes in nature and started to accept Jesus as the son of God. So, Pilate’s army general, Abiathar, stopped Pilate from going out of the palace and kept him safe inside the palace. He also quickly settled the commotion and brought back peace in the city. Right below the cross of Jesus stood Mary, with tears rushing down her cheeks. “Won’t you take me along with you dear son…? I can’t bear the pain to see you in this state” was her request to Jesus which she said in a feeble voice. As it was foretold to her in the temple of Jerusalem by Simeon, “a sword will pierce through your heart”, Mary felt the pain of it when she saw her dear son Jesus on the cross. But Jesus replied, “Woman, this is your son.” This was the third statement Jesus said while hanging on the cross. Then he looked at his disciple John and said, “This is your mother”. This was the fourth statement Jesus made while hanging on the cross. That very moment, John accepted Mary as his own mother. Mother Mary questioned herself, “Why did my son not call me as his mother and instead called me as woman in front of all gathered?” but that one word saved her life. If only Jesus would have called her mother, she would have fallen dead at his feat that very moment for her agony was so much on seeing her beloved son crucified on the cross. (at this point readers should bring to their memory Gods promise to Adam that the savior of this world will rise from his generation. He will be born of a virgin and he will save the world. That virgin will stand against Satan and stamp its head with her foot. In order to make Mother Mary and the whole world understand and know that the lady referred to in the testaments through whom the savior will be born, and the lady who will stamp the head of Satan, Jesus called his mother as Woman.) Since Jesus knew that he had to undergo all these sufferings and shed his blood to save mankind from sin and death, he willingly accepted this agony on the cross. But since he underwent these sufferings on a human body, he said these words, “Eli Eli Lama Sabactani” which means, “My Lord My Lord why did you forsake me?” this was the fifth statement Jesus said on the cross. The Pharisees caught hold of these words and mocked Jesus saying, “He is calling Elijah” another soldier man said, “Wait let us see whether Elijah is coming to save him” these words hurt the heart of Mary even more deeply. In this situation about thirty righteous men looked at all that happened to Jesus Christ and were deeply moved with compassion and cursed the city saying, “Oh Jerusalem, in which the most holy God resides in his Holy Temple….. Should such a tragedy take place in this holy city of God? Oh you Jerusalem, you condemned this righteous man of God….. You shed his innocent blood and stained your city…. You will see your fall soon…. Your days of Glory will soon fade away and you will have the right punishment for your foolish act….. Very soon your enemies will surround you and burn this city down to ashes.” Jesus suffered agony in his body and soul. All the words of the men who stood around him mocking him set deep pain in his heart which was always filled with compassion for mankind. With this pain Jesus said, “I am crushed like the grapes which are crushed for wine…. But henceforth there will be no more grapes that will be crushed for wine.” (I would like to remind the readers of an incident. One of the sons of Noah, Japath, had his vineyard in this Mount Calvary. He used to collect the excess grapes and uses an instrument which resembled the cross to crush those grapes and take wine. In this same way Jesus Christ too was crushed on the cross and his blood was taken like wine. Jesus compares himself with those grapes which were crushed by the son of Noah.) Since Jesus Christ lost a huge quantity of blood, he felt thirsty. So, he opened his mouth to ask for water. Jesus Christ who gave life giving water to the Samaritan woman and promised that He who believes in him shall have springs of living waters flowing from his heart, now looks up to those cruel traitors for a sip of water. He said, “I am thirsty…” though Jesus asked for water, there was no one to give him water. Water was denied for the person who changed water into wine and that too the best wine which the people ever had. So, Jesus said, “Is there no one to give me water? Did you forget me John, my beloved disciple?” Immediately John said that he would make arrangements to get Jesus sip of water. In this way the prophecy which was told about Jesus, “I did not have any one to quench my thirst” came true. One of the soldiers by name Abithar, took a reed of hyssop and dipped it in vinegar and offered it o Jesus. Jesus tasted it. in this way the fame of quenching the thirst of Jesus on the cross was given to Abithar. In this way the words of Jesus, by my name if you give a glass of water to my servant, you will have great reward in heaven, came true in the life of Abithar. Though Abithar was an Arabian by birth, he too became eligible for the blessing of Jesus by offering Jesus a sip of water before his death. It was around three o’clock in the afternoon and by now the solar eclipse had come to an end. Slowly the darkness gave way. The moon fell so fast as if to fall on the earth. This once again set fear in the hearts of the people of Jerusalem. There was chaos all over Jerusalem and the streets of Jerusalem was filled with the cries of fear and terror. But the quickly the moon changed its path and returned to its orbit. But the sudden close contact of the moon with the earth made the terrific waves in the seas. But everything became normal in a short time. Having tasted the vinegar, Jesus Christ spoke again saying, “When my tongue stops its speech, the tongues of the dead will begin to speak.” These words of Jesus gave another chance for the Pharisees to mock Jesus. They said, “Blasphemy! Blasphemy!” Now Jesus knew that the time of his death was nearing. Jesus started to sweat and his heart started to beat fast in an unusual way. He knew that his time has come to leave this earth. So, he gathered all his strength and said in a loud voice, “It all over.” Then he said in a loud voice, “Father I commend my spirit in your hands” So saying, he breathed his last breath. Though Jesus gathered all his strength to say those last words, still the good thief on the side of Jesus, his mother Mary and his dear disciple John were the only people who could have possible heard it. but there was great power in those words and it echoed between the earth and heaven. This set vibration through the entire solar system and the whole universe vibrated by the power of those words including the earth. Some of the planets changed their path on account of this vibration and crashed with one another and were destroyed. The earthquake which took place immediately after the death of Jesus set a partition from the foot of the cross right up to hell. Through this partition the soul of Jesus descended into hell in the form of a flame of light. This earthquake brought down many buildings in the city of Jerusalem and there were huge cracks on the ground. The Jerusalem temple was also one of the victims of this terrific earthquake. A few hours before the death of Jesus Christ, a voice was heard from the most holy place of the temple of Jerusalem which said, “Come let us leave this temple for our Lord God who is supposed to be here has already left this temple and this earth. So, there is no necessity for us to remain here. So, come let us go out.” The angels who were in that temple said these words and left the place. This voice of the angels was heard by the people who were present there in the temple at that time. After this the temple lost its glory and became a empty building without the presence of God. Two huge pillars stood at the entrance of the temple which was connected to the inner hall. The screen which was hung before the most holy place in the temple was tied to these two pillars. But due to the earthquake one of the pillars fell down and thus the screen was torn to two pieces from top to bottom and fell down. Because of this the most holy place which was kept as a secret entry point for the high priest alone was now set out for all the public to see. This indication is that the screen represents the torn body of Jesus Christ through which we are now given the privilege to enter the most holy place of the temple. This was made possible by the blood of Jesus Christ. Also, many of the secret places in the temple were now open to the eyes of the public. In few places the roof of the temple fell to the ground and in other parts of the temple the walls fell to the ground. The people ran here and there on account of such natural disaster and because of this many people died of being caught under the ruins of the huge buildings which fell to the ground. Also, the place where Jesus was made to stand for trial and judgment and the place where Peter denied Jesus also became a victim to this massive earthquake. In fact, those were the places which were severely damaged because of the earthquake. The prophetic words of Jesus Christ which stated, “The tongues of the dead will speak when my tongue stops its speech” came true.  After the death of Jesus Christ, the grave of many righteous men of the ancient times opened and their spirits roamed the cities of Jerusalem. Many people saw these spirits and testified. These righteous people had the same dress which they wore in their times and they appeared in pale yellow color. They went around the streets of Jerusalem and their feet did not touch the ground. John the Baptist appeared before Herod and said, “You cold blooded murder….. You too have a hand in the murder of Jesus Christ. You will surely be judged for this.” On seeing the spirit of John the Baptist and hearing his condemnation Herod was filled with fear and ran and hid himself in a secret place in his palace. The father of John the Baptist appeared in front of the most holy place in the temple and looked at the people who killed his son John the Baptist and also a true servant of God by name Zechariah and said, “The wrath of God has come upon you” Also, Simon who prophesized to Mother Mary and Joseph about baby Jesus when they brought him to the temple for dedication and his father who lived a hundred years before the birth of Jesus Christ appeared at the entrance of the temple and gave testimony about the Jesus Christ was God who came down in the form of a human being. They also said, “All those who have a hand in the murder of Jesus will not escape from the wrath of God.” All of a sudden prophet Jeremiah appeared and sat on the chair of the priest who used to conduct worship in the temple and said, “All the old commandments which the Lord God gave us and that which we followed has come to an end. Hence forth Gods new commandments and law is being given and will come to pass soon.” Since more than hundred righteous men came out of their graves and appeared to the people of Jerusalem testifying that Jesus was their God who had come down to save mankind, the people of Jerusalem including those who had an active part in the death of Jesus Christ, tore their clothes and also their hearts and accepted Jesus Christ and placed their trust in him. They also cursed Annas and Caiaphas who played the major role in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. They shouted out, “Oh your treacherous coverts…. It is all because of you we betrayed this righteous man and now we are under the curse of shedding his innocent blood. You tactfully used our ignorance and made us do such a mistake in our lives….. Oh, what all we said…? What have we done to our lives…. Not only our lives we have been a cause for our whole generation to be under the curse of shedding this innocent blood that righteous man…… we confessed with our own mouth stating that let the curse of shedding this man’s innocent blood fall on our head s and that of our generation… May the Lord be merciful on us and save us from this curse…. But let not God spare you both.” In this way they expressed their agony and frustration. Some people wore sack clothes and put ashes on their heads as a sign of their lamentation for what they have done. They stood in front of the Lord asking his forgiveness and mercy. Before sunset many of the spirits of the righteous men returned to their graves and some others vanished in various parts of the city. Since heaven  and the solar system was shaken, the Greek God by name Panias, who sat amidst his group of stars, which had the head of a ram and the body of a man was pushed down from his throne. He came down to earth along with his other evil spirits and hid himself in the cave’s temple located in the city of Panias. Since at that time the soul of Jesus Christ had descended into the bottom of the earth, he was not able to enter deep down into the cave. Saint Michael the arch angel stopped  Pania from entering the cave and a war broke out between Michael and the Greek God. The Greek God was defeated and Michael tried to enter hell and defeat Lucifer. But the soul of Jesus Christ stopped him and said, “Wait Michael, his time has not yet come. His work on earth is not yet complete. He has to remain in the heart of this hell for another two thousand years and until then arrest him in this place. Accordingly, Lucifer was imprisoned in the bottom of the hell.. The moment the soul of Jesus descended to abyssl, a massive earthquake spread all over the world. On account of this a huge vibration was felt at the top of Mount Hermon, which is located between Lebanon and Galilee. The snow at the summit of the mountain started to melt which lead to snow slide and this led to heavy flood in the Sea of Galilee. Because of these huge waves rose up in the Sea of Galilee and these in turn left huge cracks all over the mountain. This also led to the formation of underwater caves and the geological structure of the place and the mountain underwent a great change. We can see these changes even today. The storm in the Sea of Galilee led to heavy floods in Gerasenes. It was in this place, legion of evil spirits entered into the heard of pigs and made the shore muddy. These spirits were driven out of a man by Jesus Christ. Since after his death on the cross, the soul of Jesus entered into abyss, these spirits were not able to be there and came out from the abyss and swarmed all along the Sea of Galilee which caused high tides in the waves. These changes in the sea sent a wave of fear into the hearts of all those who saw this. Next was Gerasene ….. The drastic changes which shook this city could not be described in just words along. It was a terrific disaster. Many of the sky scrapers of those days, the tall and majestic buildings were tossed upside down. Many of those who had been in the city of Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, on returning to their city were shocked to see the whole city turned upside down. They had lost their houses, buildings and most importantly their beloved wife and children whom they had left behind. The whole city became a funeral spot and there was mourning and weeping in every house. A similar incident shook the foundations of the city of Bethsaida. “Oh you city of Bethsaida, will you be raised to the skies or be pulled down to the ground.....  If the signs and miracles which were done in your city would have been done in the city of Sodom, the people would have repented, worn sack clothes and turned away from their sins. But for you…. You will be cursed…” these were the words spoken by Jesus to the hard-hearted people of that city. This curse of Jesus came true after the death of Jesus. The tall majestic buildings of the city which stood to be the pride of the city were shattered to the ground. Many of the citizens got caught amidst the shattered buildings and lost their lives. They were the people who questioned Jesus, “how could we eat his flesh and drink his blood….? How will he give his flesh and blood to us? His teachings sound atrocious… we could not even digest his words and how could we eat his flesh and drink his blood? Does his consider us to be cannibals…… man eaters… or animals...? These teachings won’t suit us.” Many of the disciples how left Jesus saying the above reasons belonged to the city of Bethsaida. This city which bore the curse of Jesus remains with its ruins even today. The earthquake which took place when the soul of Jesus descended to abyss shook the city of Nazareth also. The temple from where Jesus delivered his sermon stating, “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me”, was heavily damaged on account of the earthquake. Many of its huge pillars fell to the ground (these ruins stand witness for the earthquake even today). The Pharisees of this city opposed Jesus more than any other Pharisees of other cities. On account of their hard heartedness of not accepting Jesus and opposing his teachings, Jesus said with a heavy heart that any prophet is not accepted in his own city among his own people. When Jesus said this statement, the Pharisees became angry and pushed Jesus to a nearby hill and tried to push him down from the hill top. But Jesus disappeared from the crowd. Even that hill from where the Pharisees tried to push Jesus down also was not spared of the earthquake. The hill split in many places and huge cracks appeared on the hill. The next is fort Trisha of Samaria. It was in this fort Jesus delivered many people who were kept as prisoners by King Herod. For this Jesus had to pay a heavy ransom of money. This fort was also split and had cracks all over. Many of its huge gateways fell to the ground and the fort walls crashed to the ground as remained as a heap of stones. The earthquake which took place after the death of Jesus Christ was felt in many parts of Asia. It left a deep impact on the city of Kabul. Also, the city of Ephesus and Greece were greatly affected by the tremor of the earthquake. It was a great natural disaster for many parts of the world. Many of the splendid architect work filled churches fell down upside down on the earth. On the day when Jesus Christ died, that is in 3rd April 33 AD, two men were discussing on an important and interesting topic in the city of Ephesus. They were Dionysius who was a great scientist in the field of astronomy and the other person was Polycarp who was a well-known Bible scholar. “My dear friend Dionysius, you are a great scientist who knows all about the changes that happen in the sky….. What do you think about the solar eclipse which has occurred today?” “Oh, my dear friend first let me know what the bible states about this solar eclipse.” “Dear Dionysius, I have very little knowledge about the depths of bible…. I always do my research based on the truth. But it is very difficult to conduct such research and I have very few evidences to support my research. I am not able to believe in all that is available and at the same time I am unable to ignore the result of my research.” “But my dear friend I know all about astronomy and the stars and sky as a whole. This solar eclipse is a full solar eclipse. Also, I am not sure whether such a solar eclipse would have taken place anywhere in the history before. I have done a lot of research on a star which occurred in the sky 33 years ago. Based on that, I found out that the star indicated the birth of a great king on this earth. On the very same day, the roman governor Augustus Caesar saw a vision in the sky which depicted the picture of a lady with a male child in her hand. This has been recorded in history and I believed it to be true. According to me that male child in the hand of that virgin must be the next great king to rule the world after Augustus Caesar. But all that has to follow this solar eclipse is yet to come to my knowledge. I have to wait patiently for time to answer all my doubts and questions. But I know one thing, nothing will happen without a reason. But at the same time a great darkness surrounded the sky. “What was that darkness? Do you know anything about it? What does it indicate? Also, can you see this darkness spreading all over our place here? It is just 4 pm but it has turned out to look like midnight. What could be the reason for this?” said Polycarp with great anxiety.  “Please wait dear friend. This is not something natural. Can you see a huge dark cloud rising up from the south western side….. look keenly at this sight.” Said Dionysius. At the same time a huge group of evil spirits flew from one end of the sky. They looked like huge bats or owls, so dark and black. They came with loud noise which sent a wave of fear on every one’s heart that saw them. They were so great in number that they hid the sun’s rays like a blanket and caused darkness everywhere. As they flew they said loudly, “woe to our lord Pan…. According to the command of the true mighty god Jesus Christ, Michael the mighty archangel killed our Lord. Jesus Christ who took the form of man according to the great plan of God, died on the cross today. Since he died and descended to  abyss our captain and Lord Panias has been killed. According to the command of Jesus Christ, we are now heading towards the sea to fall into it and be perished. So, saying, they flew swiftly towards the north. As the two men looked up in the sky the group of evil spirits fell into the sea near the city of Nichia and was drowned. Because of this incident huge waves rose up in the sea and caused great disaster on the coastal areas near the sea. Following the above-mentioned incident, many temples in the city of Ephesus fell down with great noise as if a bomb blast occurred. Among these temples the Greek temple of Aprodisa was greatly damaged. The deity of this temple was known for lust and was called as the goddess with a thousand breasts. Also, a famous temple known as the temple of snake god also split into two. The giant serpent which lived in the temple came out with a loud cry of agony and rose up to the sky and started to fly here and there. On seeing this terrible sight, the two men said, “Oh God have mercy on us…. It has begun…… hence forth everything will begin….. I do not know the reason for the fear of this giant serpent. I guess it might have come out of fear, having seen Jesus Christ. I fear great disaster to come upon this world unless someone comes forward and bind this serpent in chains.” Oh, my dear friend, do you know anything about Jesus Christ? We came to know the name of Jesus Christ from the mouth of these evil spirits. The appearance of this giant serpent, the death of lord Pan, and all the tidings of the evil spirits… the great natural disasters…. What do all these convey to us? Can you explain all these things using the knowledge you have is astronomy?” asked Polycarp. “Of course, I can to a certain extent dear Polycarp. All these incidents signal the death of a great man of God who had come to this earth and died. That great man of God is certainly Jesus Christ. But I can’t tell you anything more about Jesus Christ at present. But if God could give me another birth then I will surely tell you who this Jesus Christ is.” [Few years after the death of Jesus Christ, Apostle John and Mary the mother of Jesus came to live in the city of Ephesus. Through them Polycarp came to know about Jesus and became the disciple of John. When he was eighty years old, he died as a martyr in the city of Smyrna. The government gave orders to burn Polycarp but, fire could not do him any harm. So, the soldiers pierced him with spears as he stood among the blazing fire. The blood which poured out of his body quenched the blazing fire. His spirit left his body in the form of white dove and all those who saw that believed in Jesus Christ and accepted him as their savior.] But the great astronomical scholar Dionysius did not get the chance to know about Jesus Christ. Though many men with the name of Dionysius lived and died for Christ, there is a special mention about a person called Dionysius in history. Why is he so special? It was because even after he was beheaded his head (after being separated from the body) shared the greatness of Jesus Christ. Hence his testimony and death is of great importance in history. Some are of the opinion that the spirit of bible scholar Dionysius who lived in 33AD, should have entered the body of this Dionysius and fulfilled his wish to know about Jesus Christ and bear testimony for him. But this Dionysius who was born in the third century AD, lived a life which was pleasing to God. In the year 249 AD, King Trajan Decius became the emperor of Rome. Since he was once a senate member he was well versed in politics as well as since he had led the army in many battle fields, he knew how to handle the army. During his time Christianity flourished in places like Rome, Europe, Byzantine Empire, and Northern Africa. But the spread of Christianity caused unrest in the minds of many people of the other religions. This was because, there was less crowd in the Roman Greek temples, the priests of other religions lacked importance and honour among the public, and above all the income steadily decreased in the temples. Hence the other religion priests were quite worried about this booming religion Christianity. Now in order to regain the lost honour and glory of the Roman Greek gods, the priests and other followers decided to propaganda the greatness of their gods among the people. Also, they targeted to find fault with the Christian way of worship. Moreover, the king himself showed great interest to find ways to rejuvenate the lost glory of the art and cultural importance of the Romans. Hence the priests and other believers utilized this chance to fulfill their task. They gave false information about the Christians and made the King to believe that the reason for all his failures were the Christians. This was because the God whom the Christians worshiped, Jesus Christ was an enemy to their gods. They made the king believe that it was because of this that his gods were angry on him and that was the reason for all his failures. They also told the king that the Christians were not trustworthy people and will never be faithful to the king.  They also challenged the king to test and see for himself and then believe their statement. Based on all this false counsel the king concluded which put the lives of many Christians at stake. King Trajan Decius announced an official decree in the year 250 AD. According to that, for the welfare of the King and the country, every citizen of the Roman Empire has to worship their ancestral god Jupiter and also worship the statue of the King himself. By doing this they will prove their loyalty to the King and the country. This was implemented all over the towns and cities which come under the rule of the Roman Empire. The people had to do this worship in their respective districts at the time and date allotted to them to show their loyalty. Those who fail to do so will lose their citizenship and all the benefits thereof. Also, failure to abide by the royal decree will lead to death penalty, or be thrown in prison and tortured, lose their wealth and status in the society and may also be banished from the city. The next minute of the enforcement of this royal decree, the seventh persecution in Christian era began. According to the Christian historical calculation, the persecution period ranges from the tyrant King Nero who began the persecution up to King Thiyclosian. Altogether there were ten famous persecution periods in history. Among this the persecution started by King Trajan in 250 A.D was the worst ever recorded in history during which many Christians were mercilessly killed. Thus, many Christians across the country were killed; some of them ran for their lives and hid themselves. Not only the ordinary followers of Christ, but even priests and nuns ran for their lives for the punishment and torture was so severe. Seprian was considered a great Christian monk during that time and even he ran and hid himself. Still there were Christians who stood strong in faith and faced death for the love they had for Christ. Holy Father Fabian was one among the brave martyr. But at the time of our story the Pope was Fabian. He was not intentionally selected as Pope, he did not even stand in the election for being appointed as Pope. Many priests and bible scholars were nominated for this post. But at the time of election, a dove descended from heaven and sat on the shoulders of Fabian. On seeing this, the election committee understood that it was the will of the Holy Spirit and elected Fabian as Pope. During those days there was a requirement for teaching biblical lessons in France. So, Pope Fabian called for Bishop Denise to go to France to teach bible lessons. Bishop Denise belonged to Italy. Details of his birth, childhood, family background, how he became a Bishop are not known. Pope Fabian called Denise and said, “Denise, are you willing to take few more men along with you and go to France and serve as bishop there?” Bishop Denise replied, “Holy Father, if it is the will of God and yours then I am willing to go.” So, saying he took 6 other Bishops and left for France. After this Pope Fabian died as a martyr. Even today his grave remains in the Kalista cave. In those days France came under the control of Rome, hence the royal decree of King Trajan was in force in France also. With this decree in hand, the official representative and governor over France, Pessenyuis cesinuis tortured the people with an iron hand. Because of this many people feared to become Christians. The fear of severe punishments and torture made people flee from Jesus Christ. The other Christians who feared their lives could not stand before the government and proclaim their faith. And hence they ran for their lives and lived as secret Christians. It was at this critical situation Bishop Denise came to Paris along with his fellow bishops. Within a few days of their arrival many miracles happened in the church. By their powerful preaching’s and the countless number of miracles, they were able to rebuild the faith of the Christians. This gave new strength to the Christians to bravely stand for Christ and proclaim their Christian faith. When people started to courageously proclaim their Christian faith, it rekindled the sleeping faith of many other people and slowly people started to stand for Christ without fear. But this sent a wave of fear in the heart of the governor. “How is this possible? How are these people standing for Christ in spite of all the breathing tortures I have implemented? Who gave them this courage? Who is the reason for bringing back Jesus Christ back to the people? Let me see…. I will show them who I am”, said the tyrant Synius. So, he commanded his men to arrest Bishop Denise and his fellow bishops. Then he decided to accompany them left to arrest the bishops. At that time the dear friends of Bishop Denise, Eleutherius and Rusticus were not in the city. The soldiers of the governor had come there to arrest Bishop Denise and his co bishops. At time Bishop Denise [the short form of Dionysius is Denise] was offering mass in his church. It was time for the sermon. In his sermon he said, “I bless you all in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. My dear sheep, today I being to you the good news of to taste and see that the Lord is good. He is a good god, strong and mighty, true God and never speaks lies, he does what he has promised, from him all good things come. He is the door of heaven and it is only through him we can reach heaven and eternal life. For he has said, “I am the way, truth and life”. Let me now tell you the many qualities of Jesus….”. So, saying our bishop began his sermon. At the same time an authoritative voice echoed saying, “stop your nonsense teaching Dionysius” Bishop Denise looked at him and said calmly, “Oh it is our governor who has come all the way to our church today. Please do come in and sit-down sir. I will continue and complete my sermon.”  The governor replied, “I have not come here to listen to your nonsense teachings, I have come here to arrest you and put you in prison. I have no time to waste and sit in this church. “So, saying he turned to his soldiers and said, “Why are you standing like dead people…. go and arrest him” But Bishop Denise calmly said, “I do not consider your visit to this church as a great honour or a disgrace. My Lord God alone is worthy of all glory and honour. You’re a representative of the emperor of Rome and I am the representative of almighty God. So, let us not talk much about it. Now sit down calmly and allow me to finish this sacred mass. Do not create a chaos here for the church is the house of God, his holy place where he is present.  Let us not disturb the presence of God. Once the mass is over I will come and surrender to you.” “I am not ready to listen to any of your requests or sermon. I have come to arrest you and I don’t want to delay anymore. I am not bothered about your mass or sermon. Don’t try to fool me using the name of God. Our God is different.  According to the information I received, there are seven of you altogether…. Five of you are here, where is the other two…. Are they afraid? Have they run for their lives? Tell me their hiding place?” roared the governor in anger. “You are right; we are seven of us altogether. Two of our friends have gone out. They have gone on ministry and have not run away to save their lives. There is no need for us to hide anything” said Bishop Denise. “That is ok; they can never escape from me. I will get them later. Now all of you move to prison. I have no more time to waste” said the governor. Once again Bishop Denise requested saying, “Kindly give me time to complete the sermon I have begun. After that I will come and surrender myself.” The governor was furious at this request and said, “You insolent priest….. Don’t you understand what I am saying? Or are you pretending that you have not understood? I have come to stop your sermon, your ministry, the faith that is spreading in the hearts of people about Jesus Christ….. Don’t you understand? Then how are you asking me permission to carry on your sermon? But if you still insist to preach, I will give you time when your head goes off your body. You can preach at that time. Now walk to the prison immediately.” So, saying he laughed aloud in pride. So, Bishop was arrested with his mass dress and his scepter and was put in jail along with his other bishops. The next day the governor met him in prison. “Oh the great bishop….. How is this place and how was our hospitality? Are you comfortable with this place and the food?” asked the governor with a cunning smile. Bishop Denise replied, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures and leads me beside still waters…… of course sir, I had a comfortable stay and good food provided from my master.” Truly the Lord had provided them food in prison. “This is the reason I do not intend to talk to you for you always tell fairy tales…. Now tell me where are the other two bishops? Tell me their hiding place; they can never escape from me. Up to the time they come and surrender, you will continue to have good treatment in this prison….” said the governor. “Once again I would like to remind you that none of my disciples have run away for fear of their lives or the tortures you have announced. Jesus is our life, death is our gain. We never fear you men who could destroy only our body…. But we fear the almighty god who can destroy both body and soul in hell….. They have gone out on ministry. But I wish they never come back for they have to continue the ministry after us.” said Bishop Denise.  The governor laughed aloud and said, “Oh so is this plan? It will never happen as long as I live. I have asked my men to search every nook and corner in the city and they can never escape. Let them come and then I will punish you.” Five days passed by. During those five days, Bishop Denise and his other disciples went through immense tortures and punishments. They were tortured to tell the details of the hiding place of the other two bishops. A historical note says that they used hot iron rods and pierced it through their ears. In the meantime, the other two disciples came and surrendered to the governor. They too were put in prison and all the tortures which Bishop Dennis and the four disciples underwent during the five days were given to the two disciples in one day. But that very night, Jesus Christ appeared to them and gave them heavenly manna and filled them with strength. The next day Bishop Dennis and his disciples were set free….. Free from this earth….. Free form their body…. Out of the physical body they were set free to go to heaven….. The next day, Bishop Dennis and his disciples were brought before the governor for trial in Paris. The governor began his speech, “Bishop Dennis I give you one last chance. Forsake your God and save your life. You will be set free.” Bishop Dennis  looked up at the governor and said, “Respected Governor, I am not a person who is afraid of death. Just like how my Lord Jesus Christ said in front of Pontius Pilate, I tell you if you are not given authority from heaven you can’t even touch my hair of the hem of my garment.  Go ahead and fulfill your wish. I am ready.” “Now look here Dennis  being a citizen of Rome, you have to abide by the rules and regulations laid down by the Roman government. Accordingly, you have to follow the gods of our ancestors and not incline to worship of any other foreign god.  This is the order of the King and as a true citizen you have to abide by it. if not then it is like you are not loyal to the King and the country. The punishment for such an act is death…. Cruel death…. That cruel death is waiting for you…. what is preventing you from worshiping the gods of Caesar? You are insulting the King as well as the roman gods roared the governor impatiently. “Governor Sissy’s, I want you to understand one thing clearly. The rules and regulations of the government can control the physical activities of a person. They are subject to the mind of a person. But religion and God related issues are associated with the soul of a person. No one can dominate it. Moreover, Caesar is a man, just like you and me and all the other citizens of this empire. He too is a creation of God and not the creator. Man has to worship the creator and not the creation. Also, we worship only the true living God and not statues made of stone or wood which cannot see of speak, which requires the help of men to even move from one place to another. Above all none of the statues have life…. Our Lord has told us that there shall be no other god before him in heaven and earth. So, this is the reason we do not worship Caesar or the other gods whom you mention.” The disciples of Bishop Dennis also gave the same answer to the governor. So, the governor sentenced them to death…. They had to be beheaded and killed. So, Bishop Dennis and his disciples were taken to a nearby hill for the execution of the punishment. That hill was known as Mount Mercury which was located in Paris. On top of the hill there were temples for God Mercury and Mars. This hill was situated 10 kilometers from Paris. All through the 10-kilometer journey to the hill, Bishop Dennis  and his disciples were beaten, tortured and badly insulted by the soldiers. This was similar to the journey of our Lord to Mount Calvary.  In spite of all these tortures Dennis and his disciples prayed to the Lord saying, “Lord have mercy  on them for they know not what they are doing. Do not punish them but save them. We offer our lives to your perfect will.” Many people gathered all around the hill to see the execution of the punishment of Bishop Denise and his disciples. Among them there were many secret Christians also. Satan worked through the governor to make Bishop Dennis and his disciples betray the true God and worship him. As one last tries, the governor said, “Bishop Dennis,  I have nothing against you except your God and your worship. Why don’t you just take a pinch of salt and a drop of honey and sprinkle it on the Gods in the temple and go your way. I will take care of the rest. There is absolutely no difficulty in this. Ask your disciples also to do the same. I will set you free and also give you the citizenship. This persecution will last only for some time and then you will be free to do what you want. Why risk you precious life for this. Shall I take the salt and honey and give it to you?” Bishop Dennis who was calm and spoke with due respect for the governor now lost his patience and said angrily, “You foolish governor, you thought I am an ordinary man is it? I am the representative of almighty god…. he is a true living God. I was born of water [baptism], grew up in fire [confirmation] and I am living in the spirit [the anointing of the Holy Spirit]. I will never worship the false and evil goddesses. The Lord is my shepherd and I am his sheep. I will listen to my master’s voice and follow him alone, for he gave his life for me and set me free from sin and death. I will give my life for him and please him. What did you think? You still think your false gods are here in this temple in this mountain. The moment my disciples and I stepped on this hill your gods have fled away from this place for the presence of god has come down on this hill. No one can stand the presence of the Lord, for in his presence even mountains will melt like wax. Not only in this hill and your gods will no longer find a place anywhere in this city. This city is now filled with the presence of God. This city will one day become a Christian city, but I pity you….  You and your king who persecute Christians will soon perish.  But all those who give their lives for the sake of Christ will receive eternal life. For that is the promise of Jesus Christ, “He who saves his life will lose it and he who give his life for my sake will receive eternal life.” My Lord has said, “Happy are you when people insult you and persecute you and tell all kinds of evil lies against for my names sake. Be happy and glad for a great reward is kept for you in heaven.” So, I am looking forward for my reward which is kept in heaven. You do whatever you want and never expect me to give in to your cunning thoughts.” The governor could not stand to see that he was insulted by Bishop Dennis in front of all his men and the common people. So, he announced saying, “since Bishop Dennis and his disciples failed to worship our ancestral gods Mercury, Venus, Apollo and Mars, I hereby sentence them to be beheaded and killed. I give all praise and glory to our great king Trajan.” Then he looked at Bishop Dennis and said, “Deninis it is ok if you did not worship our gods and offer them sacrifices. I am here to offer good sacrifice to our gods, and that sacrifice is you and your disciples…. Your lives…. And the first one is you.” Accordingly, Bishop Dennis  was beheaded first. But as the soldier was about to cut off the head of Bishop Deninis he missed his aim and the axe cut off only the top part of the head of Bishop Dennis This aggravated the governor. He yelled at the solider saying, “Are you a man? You are fit for nothing…. Shame on you, by now his head should have gone rolling on the ground…. He is the first sacrifice to our god and god will not accept such a mistake. Your next aim should roll down his head down this mountain, ok?” Accordingly, the soldier took a sharp aim and this time off went the head of Bishop Dennis rolling on the ground. In the same way the rest of the disciples of Bishop Dennis were beheaded. The governor laughed with pride for having executed the official order of persecution in a perfect way. But this happiness did not last long. He started to mock and speak with pride saying, “Oh! What a pity…. Dear Bishop Deninis …at last I have won and my gods have won…. you and your god Jesus are losers…. Ha ha ha…. You believed in a god who died on the cross and today you too have lost your life. Your god is a false god…. he could not save himself and today he has not come to save you…. I pity you for having trusted a dead god…. Even after your death I will keep up my promise to you, now I give you full freedom to continue your sermon…. I will not interrupt you nor will I prevent or punish anyone who listens to your sermon…. Come on go ahead ….” The public gathered there could not bear to see seven bishops beheaded on the same day at the same time. They were all filled with sorrow and many of them beat their breasts as a sign of pity. At that moment something which no one expected happened. Bishop Dennis who was dead rose and his headless body picked up its head and held it in his hands. The head spoke saying, “Praise be to the name of Lord Jesus Christ.” All those who were gathered were overjoyed and praised god for bringing back Bishop Dennis alive and shouted aloud, “praise be to god”. The governor could not believe his eyes and stood speechless. Slowly he confirmed that it was true and asked, “Bishop Dennis is this you?” Bishop Dennis  replied with his head held in his hands, “Yes, it is me, Bishop Dennis . You, who proudly said that you and your gods have won, now tell me who the winner…is. My god is a true living god, he rose from the dead and as he promised, “he who believes in me will live even after death” has given me life. But you, though you are still alive, remain dead for you have still not known the true god who can give you eternal life. You speak about life on earth but I desire for life after death. Have you ever seen anyone who spoke to you after they have been beheaded? Holding their head in their hands? Now see for yourself and know the greatness of god, for nothing is impossible for my god. My life is in the hands of my god. My god has given me life, to  be a witness for him, to speak of his greatness, and to proclaim the good news to the people. Though the top portion of my head has been chopped off, my memory is still great. All those who are thirsty to listen to the word of god, now listen to me. You are gifted to see this testimony and listen to all the good news I am going to share right now. Our god is a great god. he who gave life to my dead body is the only true god. As the lord has commanded me I am here to speak his words. All the sheep who belong to Jesus Christ, listen to my words. Holding his head and the chopped off part of his head along with it, Bishop Denise started to walk down Mount Mercury. He continued his sermon saying, “My God who is beyond all knowledge and wisdom, I praise you for your glory. Your ways are beyond understanding. Your hold my hands and lead me in the right path. My god who is the alpha and omega, I worship you. Lord you have examined me and you know me. You know everything I do; from far away you understand all my thoughts. You see me, whether I am working or resting; you know all my actions. Even before I speak you know what I will say. You are all around me on every side. You protect me with your power. Your knowledge of me is too deep; it is beyond my understanding.  Where could I go to escape from you? Where could I get away from your presence? If I went up to heaven, you would be there; if I lay down in the world of the dead, you would be there. If I flew away beyond the east or lived in the farthest place in the west, you would be there to lead me; you would be there to help me. I could ask darkness to hide me or the light round me to turn into night, but even darkness is not dark for you, and the night is as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you. My father, son and the Holy Spirit; though you are three you are one. Just like the sun gives forth heat and light, my Father you are the sun and the light which comes forth from you is the son, Jesus Christ and the heat which comes from you is the Holy Spirit. Just like how the sun, its light and heat and one so all three of you are one. Who can understand this great truth? Only those who are filled with your grace and wisdom can understand and I thank you for giving me the grace and wisdom to understand you Lord. All three of you are eternal beings and you have no beginning or end. You are not created but you are the creator. When the Father God said “Let there be light” that word was Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit gave the formation for the word. So, Jesus Christ is the human form of the father and the Holy Spirit is the driving power working through Jesus Christ. They are the same; no one is greater of smaller to the other person. They are one in spirit and action. Though they appear as Father, Son and Holy Spirit but they are one in spirit, glory, power, eternity, wisdom and holiness. So, this is the trinity of God. One should really have the grace of god to understand this secret and truth. I thank god for making me understand this truth. The Father feels the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Son feels the Father and the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit feels the Father and the Son. I could feel the greatness of this trinity. How they are united in glory and love. They are beyond this natural realm. They are supernatural beings. They are not bound by time and space. No one could stop them from what they want to do. Nothing is a hindrance for them. Our god can roll this sky like a curtain and keep it aside. He is the maker of all things. All are created through him and for him. I am gifted to have the grace to see this great god. I saw the Lord just like prophet Isaiah, the Lord was sitting on his throne, high and exalted, and his robe filled the whole Temple. Round him flaming creatures were standing, each of which and six wings, each creature covered its face with two wings, and its body with two wings, and used the other two for flying. They were calling out to each other: “Holy! Holy! Holy! The Lord Almighty is Holy! His glory fills the world.” Their glory, holiness, their appearance, is beyond description. Pg 36 They are one in spirit and one in glory. In the Old Testament when the power of the Lord came down on Mount Sinai, god said to Moses that not even an animal should touch the foot of the mountain. If it does so then the animal has to be killed. Such a god with unmatched glory came down in the form of a man and was born in the cow shed just because he loved us and wanted to save us from sin and death. Apostle Paul explains this nature of Jesus Christ saying, “he always had the nature of God, but he did not think that by force he should try to become equal with God. Instead of this, of his own free will he gave up all he had, and took the nature of a servant. He became like man and appeared in human likeness. He was humble and walked the path of obedience all the way to death – his death on the cross. For this reason, God raised him to the highest place above and gave him the name that is greater than any other name. And so, in honour of the name of Jesus all beings in heaven, on earth, and in the world below will fall on their knees and all will openly proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” But Jesus did not stop here; he wanted to give this glory to us. Jesus said, just like how the Father and I are always together, so do I want you all to be with us. He wanted us to be with him for eternity. That is the promise he gives to all those who believe in him. He has gone to get ready a place for us in heaven. As he has promised he will come again in glory and take all those who believe in him to be with him forever in heaven. What prevent us from enjoying this eternal life are our sins. For this reason, he shed his blood on the cross and redeemed us to eternal life. Not only Jesus all the three persons in the trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are involved in this process of winning us to eternal life. Jesus has explained this in the form of parables. He has given me the revelation of the parables also. In the parable of the lost sheep, Jesus Christ came as a good shepherd to this world to save the lost sheep and get it back to the flock. The sheep are mankind, you and me, whom he came to save from sin and death. In the parable of the old woman who loses one coin out of the ten, lights up the lamp, sweeps the house and finds the one lost coin. This is the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit lights up the lamp of the word of God in our hearts and sweeps away all the thoughts of sin and thus redeems us to eternal life. In the parable of the prodigal son, the Father waits patiently for the son / daughter who have away not understood the love of the Father.  Even today the Father is waiting for you and me to come back to him understanding his love. So open your hearts to Jesus Christ the true God. Be firm in your faith. Do not be afraid of the persecutions. The Holy Spirit, the lord the giver of faith, who proceeds from the father and the son, will strengthen you. He is the comforter whom Jesus had promised to us and he will guide you. Stand up for Christ and you too will enjoy eternal life. God is always ready to make us understand him. This shows the greatness, mercy and holiness of God. The very creation shows the magnificent power and awesome capacity of god. Who can understand the concept of whole creation? The sun, the ball of fire above, the gravitational force which pulls us down towards the earth, the light from the sun and the moon are all amazing creations which shows the greatness of god. Every creation is unique and independent. All these revelations which God has given me, I am not worthy of it, I am just a worthless worm. But I would analyze the heart of God in two different stages: 1.       It is how perfect will and mercy which makes him explain such great truth to worthless people like me and also to anyone who desires to know the same. 2.       Since the whole creation was created for him and through him, his immense love for the creation makes him to reveal himself to the whole creation. The vast sky above us, the planets which revolve in their set orbits, the countless number of stars that shine in the sky, are above our imagination. But what is greater that this is the countless number of blessings which he showers on us. This is more than the sand on the beach or the starts in the sky. But our sins prevent us from enjoying these countless blessings. Oh! Our sin, our grave sins, is the ones which prevents us from receiving these blessings. In order to save us from sin and to make him known to us, Jesus came down in the form of man, with body, soul and spirit. The time when Jesus Christ decided to come down in the form of man, is the time when man gets the chance to know the creator, understand him, love him and worship him. Just like how King David sang, “the river gives happiness to the city of God” my heart too is filled with happiness now. The woman whom God chose to come in the form of a man, our beloved Holy virgin, Mother Mary too understands this time. Yes, Virgin Mary was the first in the perfect will of God to bring forth Jesus Christ as man into this world. She is blessed above all women to bear God in her womb and bring him into this world. Thus, she fulfilled the great will of God. Mary was destined for eternity. I am amazed at this great decision of God. I wonder the greatness of Virgin Mary. If not for my faith, I would not have been able to understand the great importance of the will of God to select Mary as the mother of Christ. My eyes are filled with tears of joy and my heart longs to be in the perfect will of God. There are much greater truths which are yet to be unrevealed by God. If I have to say that Mary is a great piece of work by God then the God who created her is greater than her. So, the creator is always greater than any creation. Every creation of God exhibits the greatness of God and Mother Mary reveals the greatness of God in a very special way. God led Mary or helped Mary to be holy and pure for the holy conception to take place in her. It is said that God had to wait for 4000 years to find a woman like Mary, so holy and pure and obedient to God. The whole universe waited for that one word from Mary, “Behold the handmaid of God, be it done to me according to your will”. She delivered the savior child to this world who delivered the whole world from sin and death. Mary was the way for God to come into this world as man. Jesus who became man is the king of the whole universe. With the birth of Jesus, the whole universe is getting ready to welcome the King and his eternal kingdom. Jesus Christ creates the angels under three categories and assigns them twelve different tasks. They are to glorify God, to know and love him, to glorify and be obedient to Jesus Christ, to accept Mary and obey her, to bear Jesus and Mary in their hands wherever they go. Through Jesus Christ grace and mercy is poured on all of his creation. The Father makes Jesus the King of the universe and all the angels to be obedient to him.  At the same time, he separated the angels who fell because of their pride.  The Lord discerns all his creations. He knows those who accept him, love him and obey him and also, he knows those who are against him and do not accept him as Lord. So, he created the heaven for the heavenly bodies and the earth for us and hade for the rebellious angels and sends them there. God created man in his own image and likeness. He created them for him. He created them to be loved and worshiped by them.  He is the lamb which is worthy of all glory, honour, praise and worship. (When Adam was created he was in the form of a man at the age of 33 years and he resembled Jesus. Similarly, Eve was created like a girl of fifteen years of age and she resembled Mary). But Man sinned and lost the likeness of God. In order to reconcile the lost relationship with man, God came down from heaven in the form of man, as the Messiah to save mankind from sin and death. He undertook the punishment for our sins and bore all the iniquity. He delivered us from sin and with his precious blood cleansed us and made us holy. He restored the lost likeness and image which man lost because of sin. All those who accept Jesus as their savior will be saved and accepted by Christ. God wants everyone to know him and accept him and be saved. This is the perfect will of God. God gave man the full freedom to use his free will to know and do what is good and bad. He has the free will to sin or to refrain from sin. He has the free will to reconcile or go ahead with his sinful life. God never interferes in the free will of man. At the same time, god never hinders his grace of mercy to those who ask for it. He is not a partial god. He treats everyone alike. So, God is ready to reveal himself to mankind and it we who do not pay heed to know him or listen to him. Man does not have the thirst to know god. Lord God, I am not worthy even to look up at you. But you revealed all these great truth to me and I have now preached all those divine revelations to the people gathered here. I am not worthy to see your glory, but through your grace and mercy you have revealed yourself to me. Lord you are my light. You are the lamp to my path. I know how I was and I know how I am and I know how I would be for you have revealed everything through your holy spirit. So, I do not fear of life after death. My dear people who are gathered here, behold the time has come for me to leave this earth. This time was given by God and I have completed the task he had given me.” On hearing the last words of Bishop Denise, the people gathered there shouted aloud, “our dear Bishop Denise, please do give us good counsel whom we have to follow to receive eternal life” So Bishop Denise looked at the crowd and said, “My dear people, the sheep of my flock, listen to my words. Jesus Christ is the good shepherd who willingly gave his life for his sheep (us). Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. As the Father knows me and I know the Father, in the same way I know the sheep and they know me. And I am willing to die for them. There are other sheep which belong to me that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them, too; they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock with one shepherd.” So we are the sheep who are scattered all over this world. Jesus died for our sins also. Believe in him and confess with your tongue that he is God and you will be saved. As Jesus rightly said, “the thief comes only in order to steal, kill and destroy. I have come in order that you may have life – life in all its fullness.” So Satan is the thief. Do not fear him. He has come only to kill and destroy just like these persecutors. Satan works through these persecutors. But believe in Christ and he will give eternal life. He is a merciful God. Plead for his mercy. Worship only him and no other god. Say like how King David said, “Be merciful to me, O god, because of your constant love. Because of your great mercy wipe away my sins! Wash away all my evil and make me clean from my sin! Create a new heart in me, O God, and put a new and loyal spirit in me. Do not banish me from your presence and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.” Sin separates man from God. So confess your sins and do not sin again. You will receive the mercy of God. Jesus is the light of this world. Go to him and you will be saved from the darkness of this world. Through his mother, Virgin Mary, God has sent forth this light to this world. Many do not understand or know Jesus Christ or his mother and hence they are still in the darkness. Satan has tied the spiritual eyes in such a way that they do not realize the love of God. Just like Apostle Paul, pray that your minds may be opened to see his light, so that you will know what is the hope to which he has called you, how rich are the wonderful blessings he promises his people, and how very great is his power at work in us who believe. So, if you fail to believe in Christ and his promises and fail to love him and accept him as Lord, he will forsake you on the Day of Judgment. Jesus is the door through whom we can go to the father. He is the way, truth and life. Those who are adamant, ignorant, sinful will soon be taken away by Satan into the world of darkness. So, wake up for this is the time. Time once lost cannot be regained. So, make use of this time. Look up to Mother Mary and go to Jesus. Be saved and receive eternal life. Ask for the Holy Spirit who is the comforter Jesus Christ has promised us. Holy Spirit will correct you and give you good counsel of your sins, judgment and the righteousness of God. He will strengthen you and make you cling on to your faith till the end. The time which god gave me to preach my last sermon is over. Yes I can feel darkness fill my eyes. I am going to be one with the Lord. Hope to see you soon in the eternal world.” At the end of this sermon, Bishop Denise had reached the banks of Seine River in Paris. He washed his head in the river. Then he walked a few distance and died once again. They built a tomb in that place where he fell dead for the second time and later a splendid church has been built around the tomb. Later, the kings who ruled France built their grave around this church. The famous kings, Louis 15 and Louis 16 built their grave inside this church. The church of Saint Denise, situated in France is very famous all over the world. The architecture of this church is a challenge to the present-day engineers and architects. This church was built with just ordinary materials which were easily available around the place. People built this church with bare hands. No machines or technology was used in building this church. In the year 451 AD, Hunans, a notorious tribal race, under the leadership of Attila, took control of Europe. They were a pain in the neck for the rulers and people of Europe. When the people of France came to know that the Hunans are fast approaching to invade France, they started to vacate the country and move to places of safety. But a lady prophet by name Genevieve prophesied stating, “Attila will never set foot on Paris. Do not fear and return to the city.” In the same way, Attila turned his attention on the southern regions of France and did not enter Paris. This prophet Genevieve had changed the heart of the then ruler of France, Clovis, and made him accept Christ. With the help of this king and the public, a great church was built for Bishop Denise and the other bishops who were beheaded. The church was built on the Mount Mercury where they were beheaded. The church honoured the prophetess Genevieve by giving her the title of Saint. The people of France have erected a statue near the bridge over the River Sane. Bishop Denise is the first martyr in France. Hence, he is known as the first Apostle of France and also regarded as the patron saint of France. The church of Bishop Denise and the church on Mount Mercury, has been regarded as pilgrim places. The church honoured the seven Bishops who died as martyrs by giving them the title of saints. The names of the seven bishops were, Bishop Saint Denise, Bishop Saint Eleutherius, Bishop Saint Rusticus, and these are the names mentioned in history. Though it is said that forty disciples were with Bishop Denise, their names have not been mentioned in history. The name and fame of our dear Bishop Denise spread all through Europe and from there it spread all over the world. Eleutherius and Rusticus The church celebrates the martyr day of these saints every year on 9th October; since it was on 9th October 250 AD these saints were beheaded. Since many other believers were also killed on this Mount Mercury, this mountain is now being called as Martyrs mount. Some churches are of the opinion that the other Bishops who died along with Bishop Denise were not Bishops but were only the helpers or disciples of Bishop Denise, and also some churches are of the opinion that there were only five disciples and not six of them. Amidst these controversies the universally accepted truth accepted by all churches is the life and death of Bishop Denise. Before the death of Bishop Denise, the words he told to the governor stating, “Your status and the status of your Emperor will soon change” came true. The persecution which stated in the year 250 AD by the great Emperor Trajan Design was completed in the year 251 AD.  This was because the Emperor and his son were killed in a war against the Carthaginians. Though this persecution time period was a very short one which lasted for just one year, it was one of the most terrible persecutions against the Christians. The sermon of Bishop Denise gave the right answer for the question which King Herod asked Jesus Christ many years ago, “Who are you?” Yes, he is the savior who came to save this world from sin and death. He is the second person in the Holy Trinity who came down in the form of man into this world. Our dear Bishop Denise who gave your head to bear witness for our true living God, pray for us. Amen. Note: The ceiling of St. Mary’s Cathedral, in Trichy, is adorned with the paintings of many of the martyrs and how they died. Of this there is a painting of our dear saint, Bishop Denise. This painting won my heart and had motivated me to write this historical story. But I got only very few information about this saint when I wanted to write the story. The only information which I got was that, Saint Denise held his head in his hand and walked for nearly ten kilometers, preaching all the way from Mount Mercury up to the river bank of Sane and once again died there. There is no information or evidence about what he could have preached during his journey holding his head in his hand. I almost wanted to drop the idea of writing this story but I couldn’t. At this time, I got a very valuable book called ‘THE MYSTICAL CITY OF GOD’ written by Saint Agritha of Hispania. She is a saint with the gift of revelation. In this book the chapter about the secret truths about the trinity of God inspired me and hence I quoted the same concept along with the path of salvation which Saint Denise would have preached all through his ten kilometers walk. I owe my heartfelt gratitude to my dear friend, Rev Fr.Zacharias who is a well-known phychiatrist, who translated this passage in Tamil for me. Also, the book by name ‘Passion of Christ’ which is also written by Saint catherin emmarick of Germany on account of her gift of revelation, helped me to write all the historical events which took place from the time King Herod asked Jesus, ‘Who are you?’ up to the time of the death of Jesus on the cross and all the events which followed after the death of Jesus Christ. So, I have done my part which is a small step from my side to make known such rare true stories to the world. Do not break this chain; do let someone whom you know also know these stories. “Behold our saint with his head in his hands Beheaded bare footed he walked the streets of France Not afraid of the emperors threatening word Nor stopped by the sharp two-edged sword He unfolded great truths about the Holy Trinity He preached with the revelations from god Almighty Warning the crowd about sin and repentance Ways to reconcile and receive god’s acceptance He stood as a witness even when clothed with the death shroud Knowing your love for God makes all mankind feel proud” who are you.docx 64K View as HTML Scan and download