"Ding Dang"

"Ding Dang"

The silence of the valley is broken by the bells of the herds, and as the weather warms up, the herders drive the herds higher up the hill day by day to nibble on the grass that has just budged from the cracks in the rocks and the new leaves of the trees. Even in the far north, farmers began to plough the land and sow wheat seeds in the leeward and sunny mountains.

However, these worldly have nothing to do with hermits who live alone on small rocky islands in the bay. The chief here had ordered that no one but him should disturb the venerable hermit. He used a wrecked ship that had been washed up on the rocky island in the wind and waves, and some other building materials, to build a house on the island where the survivors of the Abbey of Etbord could spend the winter, and erected a cross in front of the house.

The leader of the barbarians gave the hermit some clothes and other necessities, as well as a few goats to keep him company in his lonely life. There are no springs on the island, but there is a pond formed by a depression in the terrain, and as long as the weather is not too dry, the rainwater in it is enough for the hermits and goats. Before he left, he made a pact with the hermit not to ask anyone to disturb the hermit's retreat, and instructed the hermit to light a fire in front of the house if there was an emergency.

"I will command men to watch it all the time," he said, "well, I would not be separated from you if it were not for the stubbornness of my brothers...... But I'll convince them! I will tell them the deeds of the true God and influence them! ”

He drew a cross on his chest.

The hermit looked at him lovingly, "Without the will of the Lord, not even a bird will fall into a snare." He read the words. The tragic fate of being taken captive to this far north seemed to have taken on a sacred connotation, and it was the gods who had given him the task of civilizing these barbarians—the amber-eyed leader of the northerners. The sacraments have been received by his hand on this lonely island, one day. The whole northern kingdom will surely kneel before his God.

What an admirable Sunnah it is! At that time, he will be canonized.

Thinking of this, it's not too much of an unbearable thing to live alone on a small rock island. What's more, before he met this god-worshipping leader, he was tied up and lived a miserable slave life. At that time, he prayed more than once that he would die soon at the hands of these savage infidels, like his brothers. Right now. His life had improved so much and he had a promising future in the ministry, so he didn't want to die but was able to endure it.

After they had said so, the chief left with enough food for him for half a year, but he was bound to come up to the island every once in a while to receive his teachings.

"The Cathedral of Tournest was the earliest station of the Evangelists in Neustria, and its silver dome is so famous, that cathedral must be extraordinary, the closest thing to God in all of Neustria." The leader with amber eyes looked dazed. It seems that he has not yet woken up from the sacrament that has just been done, "The holy relics of all Neustria are probably concentrated there, right?" If I can go there and worship......"

"It's not like that." The hermit corrected, "The cathedral of Tourneste is truly extraordinary, and it is dedicated to St. Aubrey and many other saints. But at best, it can only compete with the Ruhrhof Cathedral. No, my child, if you have the opportunity to go to worship in the future. You should go to the Great Abbey, where the Tournest first stopped. But the Great Monastery was the place where he spent the next thirty years. ”

"The Great Abbey?"

"That was the most impressive place of God's miracle in Neustria," the hermit said to the young convert. "It has three hundred monks, many bishops, archbishops, and more than one king who has been ordained in the great monastery. Whether it is a holy relic, an offering made by princes and nobles, or a sacramental dress, there is no monastery or church in Neustria. What does that mean? The Grand Monastery has the same grandeur as it does in the Eternal City. It had countless fields, vineyards, herds, serfs, and wealthy Cheng dù more than many kings. ”

Thinking of what he saw and heard when he was young, the hermit also fell into a trance, after a long time away from home, and after a short period of time alone, it turned out that no matter how lonely a person was, he could talk endlessly, "When I went to the great monastery, I even thought that it was heaven on earth, and its altar was brilliant and brilliant, which was left over from the ancient imperial period, and the whole was pure gold, and it was inlaid with twelve kinds of precious stones......"

"Ah, I wish I could go there and worship." The leader of the barbarians said yearningly, his expression was more dazed than before, his eyes were straight, and he seemed to have wandered through the great monastery, listening to the hymns sung by the monks, watching the solemn ceremonies presided over by the abbot, and fascinated by the fragrant incense burned in the incense burner.

On another occasion, their conversation went something like this:

"The journey from Sije Klein to the Grand Abbey was fine, but it was through the domain of Count Fisher, a very conceited nobleman who always thought that the priests were merely heralds between him and the gods. He had quarreled with the bishop of St. Gonde over a forest. ”

"Forest?"

"He insisted that the forest was his, but he had no proof."

"Well, how could he be like that with a bishop?" The newly converted barbarian leader said, "He will sink his soul into eternal sin for the sake of his insignificant worldly possessions!" ”

"Yes, the Apostle of the Evangelist said that everything in this world is dung, and I only think of God in my heart, and that is the right attitude, my child." The hermit said, "Have your brothers' attitudes softened?" The sooner they convert, the sooner they will be freed from their sinful life. Compared to bathing in divine grace, money and women are just dung, and it is only right that they should be thrown into the arms of God as soon as possible. ”

At the mention of this, the amber eyes of the barbarian leader were immediately filled with sorrow, "No, but God may give me the clever tongue he gave to the evangelists, alas, I only hate my mother for giving birth to me late, so that I am the least of my brethren, and I do not have enough authority to make them astray." ”

"Do not be sorrowful, my child, for the Lord will be of help to you," the priest comforted him when he saw his sad expression, "and the Scripture says that the least will become the greatest." The Lord will bless you with victory over your brothers and make them obey you, just as you obey me. ”

"May that day come soon!" The barbarian leader said, "Ah, I can't wait! ”

He couldn't wait to loot the famous monastery. (To be continued......)