Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive others, and lead us not into temptation, and deliver us from peril, Hallelujah!”
When the pope's prayer ended, the hymn sounded, and the ethereal and melodious voice echoed in the brightly lit church.
"We are here today to ask the Lord for forgiveness, to forgive our sins, to be with the Lord, to let the disease and pain go away!”The Pope opened his arms and shouted.
The chanting of the hymn reached its climax, as if it was going to lead from the spire of the church to the door of heaven.
"Boom!" Someone in the crowd suddenly fell down and knocked over the burning candle. The man who fell to the ground howled and trembled in pain. His eyes were red as if they were about to shoot out flames. His throat and tongue began to bleed and emit an unnatural stench, followed by vomiting and diarrhea.
The chanting of the hymn suddenly stopped, and someone in the frightened crowd suddenly screamed,"Satan's footsteps are here. Death is coming! Death is coming!"
Then, everyone widened their eyes and rushed towards the door in horror. The ground was burning with intense flames, as if the end of the world was coming.
This was the year 542 AD, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, Constantinople. At this moment, the smoke of death filled the sky and blocked the light of the sun.
After the 4th century, the once prosperous Roman Empire gradually split into two parts. The emperors of the Byzantine Empire, which was located in the east, had always regarded themselves as the rightful heirs of the Roman Empire. Therefore, they had been trying to recover their lost land and reunite the Roman Empire to regain its former glory. In the sixth century, Emperor Justinian of the Byzantine Empire decided to take action to realize this dream. Thus, Justinian launched a conquest of the western Mediterranean world in 533 AD. However, just as he swept through North Africa, conquered Italy, and was about to reproduce the glory of the Roman Empire, an unprecedented plague unexpectedly arrived, causing the dream of the Eastern Roman Empire to become a bubble.
In 541 AD, the plague began to break out in Egypt, which was part of the Eastern Roman Empire, and then quickly spread to the capital, Constantinople, and other areas.
At that time, many strange and terrifying scenes appeared: When people were talking to each other, they could not help but shake and fall to the ground. When people were buying things, standing there talking, or counting their change, death would come unexpectedly. The earliest victims of the plague were the poor people who slept on the streets. At the peak of the plague, 5,000 to 7,000 people, or even tens of thousands, died a day.
The officials had to report to Justinian in extreme fear. The death toll quickly exceeded 230,000. There was no place to bury them. The bodies had to be piled up on the streets, and the whole city reeked of corpses.
Even the emperor himself was almost infected with the plague. In fear, he ordered the construction of many huge tombs that could bury tens of thousands of corpses. He also hired workers to dig pits to bury the dead at a high price to stop the further spread of the plague. Thus, a large number of corpses, regardless of gender, age, and status, were buried together in nearly a hundred layers.
According to historical records, the plague killed 40% of the inhabitants of Constantinople and continued for half a century until a quarter of the Roman population died.
This disaster caused the Eastern Roman Empire to suffer a great loss and was on the verge of collapse.
As a religion that was the center of belief, those priests could only pray to God while they died.
However, they did not know…who was behind this disaster!
"Your Holiness, please don't go out. The plague is everywhere outside, it's too dangerous.”a priest advised.
"It is precisely because of this that I have to go out. My people are accompanied by death day and night. I must live and die with them!”
"Your Holiness the Pope, you can't. His Majesty the Emperor almost contracted the plague himself because he was compensating the victims.”
Pope Glade took a deep breath and made a cross in front of his chest,""The Lord will bless me."
On the streets of Constantinople, the infected people slept with the dead bodies, because they didn't know when the dead bodies had died. Death came like lightning in the heavy rain.
He distributed some medicine and food to those who needed it. When a child took the bread from his hand, he saw that the little hand that was almost bone was desperately stuffing the food into his mouth. The child's dirty face was staring at him warily.
The limited medicine and food were quickly distributed. Greder knew that these things were just a drop in the bucket. They couldn't even hinder the footsteps of the Grim Reaper.
"Your Holiness, has God abandoned us?”A man recognized Grede and pulled his robe.
"Yes, I heard that someone who prayed in the cathedral two days ago died on the spot. Is this true? Your Holiness."
"Dying in front of God?"
"Oh my god, we've really been abandoned by God. Who can save us!”
More and more people gathered. When the crowd gathered, they emitted a stench. The living people actually emitted the smell of the dead. They kept saying this, and the chaotic voices began to grow louder and louder. Everyone was asking him if God had abandoned us, why didn't God come to save us!
Greder was speechless because he didn't know how to answer these people who were on the verge of death.
The noise was like the violent vibration of a volcanic eruption, and Greder's ears were buzzing.
Suddenly, everything fell silent, as if the sound had never existed. He saw those people with their mouths wide open, he saw the wind blowing the tattered flag, he saw crows flapping their wings and flying, but he could not hear any sound.
And then! He finally heard a sound. It was the sound of footsteps knocking heavily on the ground. He heard even the most microscopic sound when the dust rose.
Finally, his gaze passed through the crowd and he saw a person in a golden robe outside the crowd. That person seemed to have turned his head to look at him, but he could not see the person's face hidden in the golden robe.
It was only for a brief moment that all the voices returned. He heard the noise of the people again, the sound of the flag fluttering in the wind, and the sound of the crow's wings flapping.
Only the sound of footsteps knocking on the ground could no longer be heard.
Who was that person?
He was like an angel, but also like a devil!
The dark night gave humans black eyes, but it made it impossible for humans to find light.
Pope Greder prayed all night in front of the cross. The glory of the Eastern Roman Empire was gradually dimming, not because of war or poverty, but because of the punishment of the heavens and the breath of the demons!
Pope Greder stroked the silver cross hanging in front of his chest and kept chanting prayers.
"Our Lord lives in heaven, and in the name of holiness, heaven descends and leaves the secular world, as if he is in heaven.”
Greder's prayer suddenly stopped because he felt a flame boiling in his body. He felt very thirsty and desperately wanted to drink water. He even had the urge to drink the holy water in front of him. He couldn't touch his body. Once he touched it, his entire body would tremble.
He knew that the Grim Reaper's scythe had already grabbed his head, and he was infected with the plague.
All of a sudden, the feeling that he had felt on the street during the day appeared again. Everything seemed to have slowed down, so slow that it was as if it did not exist.
He could hear the sound of fiery oil dripping on the white candle, feel the slight vibration of holy water in the container, sense the subtle changes in every corner of Constantinople, including the sound of rats gnawing corpses.
Then, he heard footsteps.
The familiar footsteps seemed to have been amplified a million times, making his soul tremble.
In the end, he turned around and saw the golden robe, shining like the sun. The light filled the entire cathedral, and the demon of the night peeked out the window.
He still couldn't see the face hidden in the robe.
"Who are you?" He stood up and asked.
"If you are willing, I will be you!”It was that person's voice. He was surprised to find that the person's voice was exactly the same as his.
"Me? Why are you me?"
"Because you need me, I will come to you. Because I'm standing here now, I'll be you!”
"You said…I need you?" Greder asked in surprise.
The voice seemed to be smiling." Your heart is calling me, calling me non-stop. Can't you feel it yourself?”
"My heart…is calling out to you?”
"You called me to save you!" The man took a few steps forward and suddenly stretched out his hands from his golden robe." Come, I will give you what you need. Then, you will be me!"”
Greder saw that person raise his head. Under the golden robe, a face that was exactly the same as his was revealed.
The darkness outside the window all fled in fear. In front of Pope Greder of the Eastern Roman Empire stood a man in a golden robe, and behind him was Jesus, who was nailed to the cross to suffer for the world.
Then, he stretched out his hands.
The man in the golden robe raised his head and looked at the statue of Jesus behind him. Suddenly, he grinned. A drop of blood flowed out of Jesus 'eyes.
Everything that should have rotted had rotted, everything that should have died had died, and those who were still alive had their wounds healed.
In the sky of Constantinople, huge clouds turned into vortexes, bright lightning became pillars, and then light pierced through the darkness of dawn.
"Our Lord lives in heaven, and in the name of holiness, heaven descends and leaves the secular world, as if he is in heaven.”
In the church, Grader bent down to pick up the golden robe on the ground. The sand that flowed out of the robe was instantly blown away by the wind that came from somewhere.
Grader put on the golden robe, and then the door of the church opened.
Five long black figures appeared in the light.
"We are here to welcome you." A person in a white cloak said," Welcome to the team.”
A smile appeared on Greder's face, and he put the cross on his chest into his clothes.
The most famous plague in history, the Great Plague of Justinian, suddenly stopped, and the people of Constantinople were cured.
When the whole city was cheering, the priests found that Pope Glade had disappeared…
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