Good Friday is the third day before Easter, Friday, and Vigil Day is the day before Easter, Saturday, which is a critical period between the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus.

But on the eve of the vigil, all candles are extinguished, and the candles in front of St. Peter's Basilica are no exception.

The problem is that these candles are all for the Archbishop of Lucca, Giulio. The Medici prayed for healing and lit it, and at first, the cardinals were still in a dilemma, if they extinguished the candle according to tradition and canon, would it be a little ...... The feared outburst of Pius III? Unexpectedly, as soon as Joshua went to say it, Pius III agreed, so they began to discuss again, did the Holy Father transfer his love for his dead disciple to another disciple? After all, it is useless for anyone to have a truly detached body from the world, and even the Pope needs an heir. Lovere is not bad, although on Good Friday he killed four people in a row to prevent the mob from storming the altar, but it was also to protect his teacher and father...... Moreover, the Holy Father also dealt harshly with the Orsini and Colonna families for him.

The cardinals gathered together, exchanging strange little glances with each other in the Vatican hall, constantly scanning the two Loveres who were standing on one side of the hall, the father and son on the blood seemed to have a bad relationship, but in any case, the big Lovere also had to endure this breath, everyone knew that in 1484, the big Lovere fought with Borgia because of the papal throne to the point of defeat, and the result was Innocent VIII, and in 1492, he was defeated by Rodrigo. Borgia, who later fled to France, "fell from his horse and lost his symbol of a man" because of Louis XII's deal with Borgia, and without those two balls he could not sit on the papal throne, and he could only count on his only son to achieve his ambitions.

At this time, St. Peter's Square was already crowded with pilgrims and blessings, and when a number of richly dressed mercenaries and monks came to open a road, they also aroused dissatisfaction, they at first thought that these people were opening the way for a duke or a king, but some intelligent people had discovered that the end of the road was actually the Vatican Palace, and they immediately became excited, and kept informing the people behind them - sure enough, after the solemn trumpet, they were dressed in white sacrificial robes, Pius III, with a crown on his head, appeared in front of the Vatican Palace, followed by the procession of the Mass - the dense crowd suddenly boiled, and even though the mercenaries crossed the spears and tried their best to stop them, the fanatical believers waved their arms desperately and leaned forward, hoping to receive the Pope's blessing at the first time.

The cardinals were a little frightened when they saw this, and they had tried to dissuade them before—the Vatican Palace had a secret passage leading to St. Peter's Basilica, and the Holy Father could have chosen a safer path—the gray and black marks left by the Borgia assassins had not been completely cleaned, and the priests had to cover them with silk carpets. Now Pius III is going to walk from the Vatican Palace to St. Peter's Basilica, although the distance is not far, but they still can't let go of that little heart.

But Pius III showed no fear, he strode slowly, raised his hands, made a gesture of blessing, and the people became even more frenzied, they stamped their feet and shouted: "Long live Pius III!" The sound rushed like a tsunami into the vast expanse of the firmament, and reverberated throughout Rome, and Pius III kept smiling, and did not tire of blessing everyone who looked at him, and they walked for a quarter of an hour on a short, mere few hundred feet, and in this quarter of an hour I don't know how many fainted with sudden happiness, and even the most hard-hearted man shed tears.

In front of the temple, Pius III blessed the new fire, and the priests presented him with a candle, on which the Holy Father carved a cross, and then wrote the first and last letters of Greek letters on the left and right sides, respectively, to commemorate the salvation of Jesus to mankind and his identity as the beginning and end of all things; Marking the year to proclaim the glory of the Lord symbolizes dedicating the time of the year to the Lord, and then pressing five frankincense nails on the candle to represent the five wounds of Yahweh's resurrection - under the ribs, on the hands, on the feet.

Pius III lit the candle in a new fire, and at this time, the clouds obscured the starlight and moonlight, leaving only darkness, and the resurrection candle in his hand became the only light in the eyes of the people. Immediately afterwards, the venerable Father carried the candle of Resurrection to St. Peter's Basilica, stopping three times in succession, each time praying and raising the candle: "Light of Christ." And the people behind him sang in unison: "Thank God." ”

It wasn't until he reached the sacred altar that Pius III finally stopped, holding the resurrection candle and turning around, his eyes blazing, but not falling on anyone. The bishops and nobles who were holding candles and wanted to be the first, or the first few to light their own candles from the candle of the Resurrection, were skillfully stopped by the friars—and they immediately understood that the first person to receive the light of faith from the Father had been chosen.

At this time, there was a small commotion in the crowd again, and from far to near, the people who were rubbing shoulders again got out of the way, but this time, most of them were also willing. The cardinals tiptoed over and saw a small crowd coming from the direction of the Vatican Palace, surrounded by a man dressed only in a modest monk's robe, or even a hat or shoes, heading straight for St. Peter's Basilica.

The first hundred steps, Julio. The Medici still needed the support of the monks, but when he reached the steps of St. Peter's Basilica, he stood on his own, and then, slowly, step by step, everyone held their breath and watched him go all the way to Pius III and kneel.

"The Lord has blessed you." Pius III said loudly and firmly, "Thank the Lord. ”

He leaned down from the Resurrection Candle in his hand and lit the candle that Giulio was holding.

While all eyes were on Giulio, Pius III did not immediately let the Resurrection Candle go, but it was the thickness of a child's arm, and Giulio's candle reflected each other, bringing light as well as surging heat - suddenly someone screamed, pointing at Giulio's naked neck, "Look! She cried out, "Behold, stigmata, that's stigmata!" ”

More people crowded up to see for themselves—Pius III nimbly pulled Giulio up and made him stand below himself and above the people, and in the bright flame of the Resurrection Candle, many pairs of eyes saw with their own eyes how the crimson stigmata came out of nothing—they shouted again.

"God willing! God willing! God willing! ”

When Pius III lowered the candle of the Resurrection, there were people who flocked to the Father to light the candle, but there were also many people who knelt in front of Giulio and took fire from his candle, and they even kept reaching out to touch his bare feet, his robe, and kissing him on the mouth.

Juliano. Della. Cardinal Lovere's face was more ugly than ever, especially when he saw his son, when Pius III raised his hand to summon him, forgetting all his unpleasantness, and rushing forward to light his own candle from his hand, he clung to it and almost broke it.

The ignorant people do not know, do they not understand the tricks?

A man touched his lower back slightly, and Cardinal Grand Lovere turned his head angrily, but was stunned when he found out who had come - it was Cardinal Amboise of France, "That's perfectly understandable, Cardinal Lovere," said Cardinal Amboise, Archbishop of Rouen, who had a distinctly Gallic face, red hair, soft face, and a short body, and looked like a good old man, but his heart was much more vicious than his countenance: "Fathers always love their children. ”

Cardinal Grande Lovere guessed for a few seconds whether he was talking about him and Joshua, or Pius III and the Medici, "Don't think that the Medici is Picomini's cub," he said through gritted teeth, "if his bloodline is really so worthy of respect, why would Picromini spend so much of his mind?" ”

Cardinal Amboise smiled: "I don't think it's true or not, it's irrelevant. As he spoke, he glanced at the Holy Father and the ......, who were surrounded by the crowd in front of the altar Medici.

Just when Cardinal Grande Lovere thought he was about to say something, Cardinal Amboise took his hand and led him in the direction of the altar: "It's time for us to light candles, too." He said.

Cardinal Grande Lovere was furious, but he could not do anything, and although these fools had delayed for some time because of their agitation, when this step was completed, it would be too conspicuous for them to be the only ones who had not lit the candle, and perhaps it would have become a reason for the enemy to attack them, so he had to follow Cardinal Amboise and lit his own candle in Pius III's hands with great anger.

Pius III had seen them, but he had already had a way to deal with these two people, but now his whole mind was on Julio—his little disciple was a little feverish. Although he knew that it would be difficult to walk from the Vatican Palace to St. Peter's Basilica with a candle and barefoot in single clothes from the clutches of Canterella, there was no better time than tonight, just as the miracle outside Lucca had forced Alexander VI to suspend the attack on Giulio, and after tonight, no one could make any reproach against Giulio in terms of faith.

——————

A noble lady stood in addition to Pius III, far from Giulio. The nearest place for the Medici, although many people crowded over, several men around her held her place firmly, not allowing anyone to get close to her.

She had been the first to notice the stigma that stretched from behind the ear of the pious bishop to his neck, and it was she who cried out—her very tight and neat bun had been spread out, and the dark purple cashmere shawl was barely on one end of her shoulders and the other under her feet, but she didn't bother with the expensive gold-like fabric, and looked up to the saint in her heart—a living saint! She cried out inwardly, reaching out to touch his noble and beautiful feet, and pressing them tightly to her lips, trying to tear a piece of fabric from his linen robe with her fingernails and teeth, and almost let Julio go.

She was so fanatical that the monks had to pull her away from Julio when it came time to proceed with the next procedure.

"Who's that?" One person asked.

"Juana, daughter of Fernand II of Aragon and Isabel I of Castile." The other replied.