Resurrection Eve – Glory To The Most High (34)

January 7, 2017

The sun was setting and Alliona whispered in Gabriel’s ear, “Husband, it is time to begin the Resurrection Eve Miracle. Oh darling, such a special and Holy Night it shall be. Thank you for everything. Every time, the Miracle recurs, I feel the love that the young wife must have felt for her husband. I do understand her desire to give to her husband a child.”

Alliona took Gabriel’s right hand, bringing it to her lips to kiss. Later, everyone watching agreed that a golden halo of light appeared and shone above her head for several minutes.

Gabriel put his arm around Alliona and announced, “Dearest Friends, our celebration for Resurrection Eve will begin soon. So please stand and bow your heads as we offer a prayer of thankfulness to Our Holy Father and Holy Mother. I will recite one line at a time and then you shall repeat it:

Great Father-Mother, our Fountain,
Who liveth within our hearts eternal,
Sacred is Thy Name,
for in Thy Name all of existence arises and passes,
returning to Thee at the exigent of ends.

Provideth us this day,
life-sustaining nourishment,
both material and supernal.

Forgiveth us our ignorance in action,
our misunderstandings, our aggressive moments,
encouraging us evermore to make peace with our neighbor.

Help us disregard the voice of the Tempter,
not matter how sweet and melodious it sounds,
by reminding us that we are your Children and not His.

For Thy Home is our mansion,
Thy Goodness our goodness,
Thy Knowing our knowing,
Thy Being our being,
Thy Observing our observing,
Thy Intending our intending.

For it shall come to be, someday,
that our Land is as a Heaven,
ruled by Mercy and Justice,
Forever and forever.

As the group recited this wondrous prayer, the stardust upon the Resurrection responded by twinkling most brilliantly.

Gabriel began the story, “Once, a very long time ago, a young couple lived in a village in the dark forests. The man was a doctor and his young wife was a herbalist. They had no children as his wife had broken her pelvis as a young girl and so could not give birth. She walked with a rather bad limp and her husband had to carry her sometimes for she experienced episodes of deep pain.

The man had met her once in a much larger village where she had gone because of her pain. She fell in love as soon as she met him and he did the same. He treated her pain and she was much better and so could be a herbalist for the surrounding villages.

He would travel often to her village to see how she was doing and to suggest certain herbal potions.

One day the doctor asked her to marry him. She told the young doctor, ‘I love you with all of my heart, but I cannot bear children because of my accident. You will be repulsed, when you see my deformed, twisted, bony pelvis. I am so ugly below my waist. I am unable to do hard labor and would not be the wife, a fine man, as you should have.

The doctor said, ‘I will marry you and if you are unable to do something, I will do it for you. I don’t care about your pelvis or your limp, I care about your heart. Anyway, no Djinn lady is as beautiful and as kind as you. Yes, my love, I will marry you.”

And dear Friends, this is exactly what they did and he moved to her village and was the best doctor the village ever had. The old grannies were very sorry for both of them as they had no other family members and would have no children to take care of them when they grew old. But, as grannies are apt to do, they took turns on holidays to bring the couple to their homes. But there is more to come. Now, the miracle will be related.”

A clangor was heard and Gabriel and Alliona went to open the front door to the Inn. But, as they approached the door the clothes they wore changed and they were no longer Gabriel and Alliona, but another couple.

A great blizzard was blowing and everyone felt the cold air entering into the room with the open door Standing in the threshold, bent over and wearing fur hats, fur mittens, fur hats, and fur boots, were two elderly Djinn.

The elderly man said, in a shaky voice, “Please, kind lady and kind sir, my beloved wife is so cold and so tired. May we warm ourselves by your hearth? We were banished from our church three nights ago and everyone is so afraid to help two elderly Djinn because of the War. We have no more food. I will gladly remain outside, but please take Grandmother into your home?”

The young wife replied, “Damn those Djinn. We are not afraid of them. Please, Grandmother and Grandfather come inside. We are not rich in goods, but we love Holy Father and Holy Mother and do Good Works in their Name. My beloved husband is a wonderful doctor. I am a herbalist.”

The two householders helped Grandfather and Grandmother into their home. They removed Grandmother’s and Grandfather’s wet outerwear, sat them side- by-side on a bench close to the fire.

The doctor examined their hands and feet and announced that they had no frost bite. “Beloved get some of the ointment you made the other day and I will rub it on their hands and feet and they will be fine.”

The young wife handed them mugs of spiced honey mead. She said, “Do not talk, just drink your mead so to warm your insides. My Precious, my Husband, go to the kitchen and bring some of my little poppy seed and honey buns for our guests. The ointment is in the cupboard. I am sorry, but my pelvis has been hurting very much, but I did not want to complain.”

He hurried to the kitchen and returned with the ointment and the buns and some soft butter. He spread the butter on some buns and hand one to each to eat. Grandfather and Grandmother ate quite a few buns, as they were hungry.

The young husband rubbed the ointment into the hands and feel of the elderly Djinn. He knew that his wife was in much pain and his heart ached so very much for her.

After they were warmed and full, Grandmother turned to Grandfather with tears in her eyes saying,” Grandfather, I told you, Goodness and Compassion still lives in this World. All is not lost.”

Grandfather replied, “It is true Grandmother, it is true.”

Grandmother said, “Sweet Child, I see that it is not so easy for you to move about and you have a limp. I also see that your husband’s heart suffers silently for you. Child, his love for you could not be any purer than it is.”

The young wife said, taking her husband’s hand into her own, “Yes Grandmother, I broke my pelvis when I was a child and it did not heal properly, so one side is shorter that the other so I must limp. My pelvis is very deformed and twisted and I hate to be seen naked. But, my Husband always tells me that I am the most beautiful Djinn he ever met and he desires me. I do not see how this can be so, but it does not matter for we can make love and we are satisfied. I do know that the Holy Father and Holy Mother found me the most decent and loving husband ever. So I am thankful for my accident for I know he loves me more than he loves himself. And dearest Grandmother, I love him, but still I wish that I could give him a child.”

“It is true Grandfather and Grandmother, she is the prettiest and kindness wife in the world and I love her very much,” finished the husband. “Enough, of us. Please tell us your tale.”

Grandfather began to tell what had happened to them, “The evil Djinn had come to our village for provisions. A young officer walked into our village church where I am Pope. He said he had orders to burn the church and dispose of us. He was alone and told us that he is forced to obey orders, but he will not kill innocent children and grandparents.”

“I must burn the church, but I do not have to kill you, the orders said to dispose of you. Grandmother, go to your kitchen and pack cheese and bread. Grandfather, go and get your fur coats, mittens, hats, and boots. Bring everything back here as fast as you can.”

We followed his directions and he told us to dress and tie our food inside our coats so it would not freeze. He said to Grandmother, “Your scarf is not warm enough, here take mine. You must walk far from here and look for some people to take you in, your neighbors are too afraid to help.”

Then, he shooed us out the door and burned the church. As we watched the church go up in flames, Grandmother said, “Grandfather, he is not a bad boy, just confused.”

We have walked for three days and you are the only Djinn willing to help us.

The young wife had big tears in her eyes and hugged Grandmother, “I am so sorry, Grandmother. It was not like this in the beginning when Lord Gabriel saved all of the Djinn. My Husband and I do not have parents or grandparent and you may stay, as part of our little family. Right, Honey.”

“Of course, Beloved. We cannot have children because of your broken pelvis, but we can have Grandparents to love.”

Grandmother and Grandfather looked at each other smiling. Grandfather said, “Grandmother, we have found them. These are the special Djinn. It is time for our Miracle.”

The young couple did not understand, at first. But, a golden light began to emanate from both of the guests and soon all the couple could see were two light forms. The young wife said, “Husband, it is the Holy Father and the Holy Mother, they are in our home.” Both bowed very deeply.

Holy Mother spoke in the kindest of voices saying, “On the small table rest two seeds. The golden seed is to be swallowed by you, grandson. The silver seed is to be swallowed by you, grand daughter. Drop your gown, daughter, show your beloved that you are no longer crippled and are more beautiful than ever. All is repaired and you are fertile.”

The wife dropped her robe and looked at herself in a large mirror which appeared from nowhere.

She saw her misshaped pelvis in the mirror and felt so ashamed of her ugliness. She tried to hide her deformity but she was unable to do so. She started to cry. Her husband grabbed her into his arms and turned her face away from the mirror saying, “Honey, when I look at you I have always seen you perfect. You are the only wife I ever wanted and we shall be together for all our lives. Please, Holy Mother don’t make her look into the mirror again.”

Holy Mother replied, “Doctor, turn your wife to the mirror. It is my demand.”

The young husband turned his wife and himself so to look into the mirror. Holy Mother said, “Observe the power of the unconditional love you possess for the other. Sufficient Love works miracles. Grandfather, look how very beautiful our little granddaughter is. She is no longer crippled and all is repaired. She will make a wonderful grandchild for us to love.”

Her pelvis and lower body were as they would have looked without the accident. She turned all the way around to see. She was without pain and had no limp. She called to her husband, “Oh, Husband, I can give to you a child. I am fully happy at long last.”

Holy Father said, “Take the seeds as my Beloved instructed you. For these seeds will combine with your own seeds so to prepare a vessel for our Holy Daughter, Bitya. She is a Savior and will end this needless war and banish evilness to a place where it will remain.”

The two ingested his or her respective seed with some spiced honey mead. When, they looked up, Holy Father and Holy Mother had vanished into the cold night leaving all the outerwear. The young wife said, “Come Husband, I am whole and I want to be with you.”

The young doctor was again Gabriel and the young wife was again Alliona.  Alliona finished the story, “The husband and wife left to their bedroom and a beautiful girl was born nine months later. She was named Ariel, the Lioness. And it is her Holy Conception, as a Djinn, that we celebrate on Resurrection Eve.”

TO BE CONTINUED