#he put the fear of God in them before and after he converted

[orion98]

Paul, recently converted: thanks for saving me God. You probably want me to stop threatening Christian’s and scaring them, right?

God: well actually…

[animeyanderelover]

I was a fool for thinking that I would be able to get my requests done faster just because my schedule was less packed in comparison to last semester. There's so much I have to do at home.

Tw: Yandere themes, possessive behavior, obsession, delusional behavior, manipulation

Tags: @maggiequinn59

Valentine's Day Special: Adoration Prompt

"Hello? Earth on (y/n). If your thoughts keep on drifting away, you're going to fail your exam."

The light flick of a pencil against your forehead brought you back to reality. Your mind, disoriented for a split second, landed on the notes scattered across the table. Then your gaze met Light's who was sitting next to you, his head resting in his hand as he too was looking at you.

"Sorry," you muttered under your breath, grabbing your pen once more. The half-empty page of your block started to fill up as you copied his notes, though you couldn't stop your mind from drifting away ever so slowly whilst your hand continued scribbling formulas down.

His presence made you nervous. More than you wanted him to notice. Light was by no means a stranger to you. Both of you had known each other since middle school and were even attending the same college now. But this was new. Sitting here with him late at night in his room was different. Everything was different. And honestly, you were scared. Scared of the past repeating itself.

You hadn't even been aware of the way you had tightened the grip around the pen, your knuckles flexing under your skin. Not until his hand suddenly covered yours. It was warm and comforting, a stark contrast to the colder skin of yours. It was that touch that startled you and made you pause your movements.

"You're thinking about them again, don't you?"

It was a blessing and a curse at the same time to have someone who was as observant as Light. Then again, your thoughts must have been written all over your face. Again.

You couldn't say any words. The only sound that you managed to make and that converted your emotions somewhat accurately was a heavy sigh that had your shoulders deflating. You wondered if you were a bad girlfriend for thinking about someone else even when you were alone with Light.

"Hey, it's alright. I know that it hasn't been easy for you the last year."

He slowly put your hand down before he collected all the notes, putting them in a neat pile next to him. Brown eyes focused on you again after, his thumb rubbing over your knuckles.

"Let's stop studying for tonight. We've covered a lot."

"Okay... What are we going to do instead?"

"I don't know. What do you want to do right now?"

"Me?" Your heart was beating unnaturally loud within your ears in that moment. The silence of the room aside from your voices only enhanced that sound. It felt intimate which filled you with a surge of nervousness, hope and slight fear. There were lots of things that you could do with him but a wary part of your thoughts warned you to not follow those ideas. Unless you wanted to put your heart at risk again.

"We can just sit here if that makes you comfortable."

You had hesitated for too long. Now Light had been the one who had made a suggestion. Were you giving off a weird impression right now by staying so quiet?

"Wouldn't that be way too awkward?"

"What would make you comfortable the-" "I don't know!"

Now, that had been injustified. Cutting him off before he could even finish his question. You pursed your lips, feeling the hot shame for having acted so rude to Light just now. What had he done to deserve your frustration after all? A brief silence filled the space between the two of you, one that prevented your body from moving. Your heart had jumped into your throat, a bitter taste in the back of your mouth as you could only wait for his next words.

They weren't what you had expected.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pestered you so much."

Oh god. You felt tears stinging your eyes when Light apologised suddenly. Your elbows landed on the desk, your hands pressing against your eyes. It would be silly to start crying right now and so you tried to prevent your emotions from spilling out.

"Why are you the one apologising? I'm the one who has been acting like an asshole."

"That's not true. You've just gone through a lot, (y/n)."

His touch was initially delicate as if gauging if you were alright with the physical contact. When you didn't give any verbal or physical sign that you were uncomfortable, both of his hands wrapped around your form and pulled you against his chest. Just in time as the first hot tears slipped out of your eyes and silent sobs escaped your mouth.

"I'm so sorry! I'm really sorry! I-"

Your voice got lost, caving under the force of your sobs. The shame was a lot yet you leaned into Light's embrace. If he was offering it to you that meant that he wasn't angry after all. Right?

"It's fine. I'm not mad with you."

Those worda partially eased your worries. Still, the nausea gathered somewhere in the pit of your stomach was still there. Your tearfilled gaze looked up at him. You imagined that you must have looked so pathetic in that moment, begging and needy.

With your vision blurry you couldn't see the subtle twitch of the corner of his mouth, the brief flash of a victorious grin that was gone in less than the blink of an eye.

"I'm not going to leave you. Never. Your ex was a fool. I'm not. I know that you're special."

A gleam lit up in your eyes. Validation and hope came to life as his honeyed words registered within your mind. Your hold on him tightened subtly, your gaze still holding traces of old wariness.

"You promise?"

"Of course," he whispered softly, one of his hands resting on your cheeks to wipe the salty tears away that rolled down your face.

“An angel sent from the heavens descending upon earth.. only I can adore you as you deserve to be adored.”

You were oblivious to the way his face twisted into a gleeful grin as he pulled you closer to his body, obstructing your gaze on purpose. You didn’t have to know about the fate that had truly befallen your ex. Not yet at least. You weren’t quite ready.

[smolghostbot]

Patchwork Melody - Fall

Chapter 3 of 4! Things are finally taking a turn towards the blushy! As always, dashes usually denote a POV change, though their perspectives are slowly becoming more aligned...

Start here if you haven't read Spring and Summer first.

Word Count: don't... don't worry about it... (8k) (I'm sorry)

CWs: Part 4 has alcohol/drunkenness played for drama, though nothing bad happens. Part 5 has some minor transphobia.

Tag List: @gt-daboss, @reborrowing, @spikyspinachstreet (Hope that's not a presumptuous @)

=====

Part 1

About two months had passed since Patch had officially “moved in” with Melody. The little sprite had taken residence behind an unused electrical outlet on the kitchen counter, converting the space behind it into a small dwelling. Various ropes and ladders had sprang up around the apartment, giving Patch access to various places like the kitchen counter, the tables, and the bathroom sink.

Although the two had become closer, Melody soon came to realize that there was also a more destructive side to her new roommate, as he seemed to have very different ideas about the meaning of “personal property”. Melody would often come home from work to find missing buttons in her clothes, and missing office supplies from her desk, which Patch had put to use in constructing his little mechanisms. For the most part, Melody tried to let it go, as their little roommate at least had to courtesy to not take anything Mel actively used, but they couldn’t help but slightly resent his kleptomania. On several occasions, they had asked Patch if they could just buy him supplies, but he seemed almost offended at the suggestion.

Despite her desire to avoid conflict with Patch, Melody finally hit her breaking point after a long day of work, when she came home to discover one of her beloved plants was missing most of its leaves.

“Patch!” She found herself raising her voice as Patch looked at her, fear in his eyes. “You… did you seriously tear Benjamin’s leaves off?! What could have possibly made you think it was okay to tear apart my plants?! Ugh, you’re impossible sometimes!”

-

Patch cowered as Melody began to yell. Truly, the sprite had gotten hungry due to Melody not being around, and the “Benjamin” on the table was far easier to reach than trying to open the cupboard where Melody kept her food. However… it didn’t take a genius to realize that Patch had clearly made a mistake here. He knew Melody would never hurt him, they had sworn, right? Yet as their voice raised and they stared daggers at him, he couldn’t help but tear up, an involuntary panic reaction.

“And now you’re crying…” Melody put her hand against her temple before continuing, “Gods, Patch, just because I let you stay here didn’t mean I said, ‘Hey little buddy, feel free to ruin my things and kill my plants! And then make me feel like the bad guy for being upset about it!’”

Patch didn’t know what to do… apologize? How? He couldn’t exactly put the plant back right now… but Mel was clearly furious. As she continued to berate them, and Patch continued to panic, the sprite did the only thing they could think to do: they ran, leaping off of the table and hiding under the couch.

-

“Hey, hey! I wasn’t done! We’re not done here!”

Melody shouted in frustration, but knew better than to chase Patch down. Instead, she put on her shoes and shouted to Patch again, “I’m going for a walk, and when I come back, we’re continuing this! And if any of my plants are so much as touched again then��� Augh!”

Once she was outside in the cool fall air, Melody began to decompress a little bit, but was still furious. Her plants were the closest thing she had to a family anymore, and she had raised all of them from sprouts. To see one torn apart by Patch, for seemingly no reason, had made her freak out, possibly too much, by her own admission. As the chilly air bit at their nose and ears, they tried to think rationally about the situation. Although Patch could understand her, he was decidedly not human, which was easy to forget aside from his tiny size. He was… a something, they had been using the word fae, but he was something non-human, something that probably sees the world through completely different eyes. Sighing, Melody decided to try to talk to him again to get to the bottom of this.

-

Patch sat anxiously on the table next to the “Benjamin”, wondering how to apologize. Clearly, this plant was important to Melody, but they couldn’t understand why. She had so many plants around, and what else would they be for? Although, they supposed they had never seen Melody actually eat any of them, except for one plant that she kept in the kitchen area. Did this one have sentimental value? Patch struggled to think of why somebody would keep food around for sentimental value, but maybe humans are just different like that. Patch’s thoughts were interrupted as the front door opened, and Melody walked back inside, heading over to the table after seeing Patch was there. After a moment, she spoke, her voice almost a whisper.

“Okay, I’m sorry for yelling, I’m not going to yell anymore. Can we please talk about this?”

Patch nodded, and the human sat down on the couch and began to speak. “Listen, the reason… the reason I was so upset is that all of these plants,” she motioned to the variety of plants around the apartment, “These plants… before you came around, they were like… my family. And then you hurt one of them.”

Family… Patch thought. Oh. Oh no. He didn’t know that humans and plants could be friends… how did that even work? Could humans speak to plants? Immediately, he began to tear up, wondering what Melody must have heard from the “Benjamin” he had hurt.

“I just… why would you tear apart my plants like that? What possibly possessed you to do that?”

Patch bashfully put a hand to his stomach, hoping the gesture would be understood. It clearly was, as Melody’s red eyes lit up with recognition.

“You took the leaves because you were hungry, weren’t you? I know I was gone until late… you probably didn’t have anything around to eat, huh?”

Patch sheepishly nodded as Melody sighed. “That’s… my fault. I should probably leave the cupboard open for you, it’s not right that you have to wait around for me. But listen, clearly there’s some… conflict here. This is your house just as much as it is mine, but that doesn’t mean you can just… tear up my stuff, okay? It makes me feel like you’re taking advantage of me. Just… can you ask first before taking stuff from now on?”

Patch nodded again, starting to understand where Melody’s anger came from. He put a hand over his heart, hoping that the gesture would convey a promise to no longer borrow from her. Tomorrow, he would have to look for entrances to the other apartments nearby… and work to fix what he had done to the “Benjamin”.

Part 2

Things had calmed down over the next few days, with Patch adjusting to borrowing from Mel’s neighbors instead of her. However, there was one reminder of their conflict, that being the struggling plant on the coffee table, which Melody had apparently named “Benjamin”. While Patch had tried to trust Melody with most of their secrets, there was one little “party trick” that could help, one that humans were absolutely not allowed to know about…

Patch clambered up the plant’s pot and walked over to the stem of the plant, sitting down near it, as they had done for the past few days. They closed their eyes and began to focus on the apartment as a whole, the memories contained in it, the feeling of security brought on by the shelter and the inhabitants within. Patch absorbed the feelings of safety and comfort, and prepared to channel that energy as they felt it flow to their hands. As they grabbed onto the stem of the plant, they felt heat radiating to their palm as the energy began to transfer into the plant. This would hopefully be enough life force to keep it from dying, at least.

As they began the energy transfer, their throat began to try to vibrate, an involuntary action which caused Patch to flinch in pain as a droning, scratching sound echoed out from their damaged vocal chords. Normally, this would produce a healing song, but ever since their injury, they were unable to use their power without hurting themself. However, they had to make things right and try. After a few moments, they let go of the plant, not wanting to hurt themself further. The plant still seemed to struggle, but it was the most energy Patch could afford… although they may have given a bit too much today.

Exhausted, Patch made their way back down the plant and onto the coffee table, where they decided a quick nap to recharge sounded… perfect.

-

When Melody came home, there were two things she noticed. The first was Patch, asleep on the coffee table. She really needed to figure out a way for him to get onto the couch if he was just going to nap on the table like he had been for the last few days.

The second thing she noticed only after getting close to the table, as she saw that Ben had already started to sprout a new leaf from one of the torn-off spots. Was… he growing so soon after losing his last leaves? She was absolutely not going to object to the plant recovering from Patch’s little attack, at the least.

Patch began to stir as Melody walked in, and she quickly greeted her little roommate. “Hey Patch! Guess you decided to… whoa, are you okay, dude? You look super pale right now.”

Patch seemed confused and slow to respond, as if he was lost in thought. After a long moment of staring at each other, Mel took this as a sign as they continued speaking, “Okay, permission to check your temperature?”

When Patch still didn’t respond, Mel held out one finger and slowly approached him. She put the finger to her forehead, as if to demonstrate, before slowly moving it towards her tiny roommate, who seemed uncharacteristically calm. Usually, Patch would involuntarily recoil from their hands. The fact that he didn’t made Mel even more concerned. They gently pressed the back of their finger to the sleepy fae’s head, before quickly pulling it away and beginning to speak in a panic.

“Oh shit, dude, you’re freezing! What happened? Uh, oh no, I have no idea what to do… is this like a flu? Shit, I don’t know what to do… can you give me any advice here? How do I help?”

Patch, shocked awake by Melody’s finger, weakly held up his hands in a gesture to get Mel to calm down, before miming writing something down.

“Right, right, notepad. Got it,” the human replied as they gathered the notepad and gently brought over Patch’s tiny backpack. Patch slowly dug through it for his pencil lead and began to draw after thinking for a moment.

-

How to explain… there isn’t much a human could help with… thought the sprite. Truthfully, energy drain could only be cured by somebody else giving up some of their energy, which as far as he was aware… humans couldn’t do. They would also heal over time just by resting in an inhabited home for a while, but Patch had to draw something. Thinking on what they had seen from TV as a reference, they decided that they could at least address the searing pain in their throat from the attempted healing.

After finishing the drawing, Melody practically ran over to inspect the drawing, and looked over it with an urgency the sprite had rarely seen before from the human.

“Okay… warm soup, lots of rest, fluids… this is just like a flu! Okay, don’t you worry Patch, I’ll get you back to health, you can trust me. I’m gonna run to the store to buy some soup ingredients, can I move you to the couch?”

Patch nodded, and Melody carefully lifted him and placed him on the couch before she started getting ready to head out in a clear panic. Before leaving, she turned to Patch and spoke again with an urgent tone, “I’ll help you, Patch, mark my words.”

After a short trip, Melody returned and immediately went to prepare a soup. She was hardly what anybody would call a chef, but throwing a bunch of vegetables and stock into a pot was doable, especially if it would help Patch. Truly, they were just nervous because of the mystery of it all. How long had he been sick? Sure, he had been sleepy lately, but Mel had thought nothing of it. Was he okay? Was this because of the plant? As far as she was aware, Benjamin wasn’t poisonous to anything, but she didn’t know what Patch was. Would he… no, she couldn’t think about that. All she could do was give her friend the help he asked for.

As she handed Patch a measuring cup full of soup, making sure to include a piece of broccoli and squash alongside the broth, she was already thinking of next steps. “Okay, so have some soup and rest for a while. I’ll call and see if Grant can cover my shift tomorrow so I can stay home and take care of you, okay?”

Patch shook his head no, but Melody wasn’t hearing any of it. “Nope, it’s happening, little buddy, I’m not leaving your side until you’re better.”

Patch could only sigh, accepting the human’s offer, not that they had a choice. Mel stood up, bringing Patch more soup, some water, and some tissues, though they didn’t know if he would need them.

“I don’t think I would be able to catch anything that you might have, but I’ll be careful. Do you need anything else?” she asked. When Patch once again shook his head, and curled up to fall asleep, Melody was quick to cover his little body with one of the tissues.

“Okay… I’ll let you sleep, but let me know if you need anything.”

And with that, Patch fell into a deep sleep.

The next few days were interesting for Patch, to say the least. As they drifted in and out of consciousness, their body trying to absorb as much energy from the environment as possible, their dreams were vivid and wild.

They were back there, still living in that cage. They were in the present, living in their little shelter in the wall. They were in the past, living in their hometown.

Their dreams were filled with faces they had once seen, faces they’d rather forget, faces they wish they could remember. But one face kept reappearing despite it all, the face of the human who had made it her duty to care for the sick sprite.

Right now, they were outside, like when they had first had their meetings. She was looking off in the distance, humming to herself, a sprite song used to reach out to others. Even though she wasn’t looking at them, Patch could tell she was acutely aware of where they were, and was waiting for them to join. Almost instinctively, the sprite tried to harmonize with her humming, but the pain surged through their body.

Melody turned to look at him, confusion on their face. “Patch, you okay?”

They were on the couch, covered by a tissue. Right. A dream. They looked at Mel, who repeated their question.

“You were… I dunno, it almost sounded like a creaking noise? I actually think it’s the first time you’ve ever made any sound. Are you okay?”

Patch just nodded. Melody said something, but they couldn’t make out the words.

They were in the alleyway they had lived in after escaping. But they weren’t alone. There was another sprite there, one with Mel’s face. Patch felt drawn to her, to wrap her in the biggest hug he could manage. Why? He didn’t know. The other sprite reciprocated the hug, filling them both with a radiant warmth. Warmth…

They awoke to a meal, soup broth poured into a bottle cap. Right. Dreaming again.

They dutifully sipped the broth, before sitting up and stretching.

“Good morning! Well, it’s actually like 5pm, but you know, good morning anyways!” Melody said, watching Patch with a cheerful yet worried expression.

“How are you feeling, buddy?”

Patch nodded, they were indeed feeling a little better, but the thought of standing up made them feel exhausted still.

“Good! You look a little better too, I think.”

As Melody smiled down at Patch, the sprite felt a warm feeling inside, one that was more than just the soup they had consumed.

Part 3

Once Patch’s energy had recovered to a point where they could at least wander the apartment, they began to focus on something new to get their mind off of their weakened state. One thing that had been bothering them since they moved in with Melody was their outfit. The tattered tunic was sufficient for preserving their dignity, but it reminded them too much of… the past. They used some paper scraps from their notebook to sketch some ideas for a few new clothes to wear. Luckily, they had learned to sew clothes at least enough to get a simple outfit together.

-

“Do I… even want to know where you got that stuff?” Melody asked, looking over Patch’s new outfit as he stood outside of his little room on the countertop.

The outfit was a simple orange tunic, much more form-fitting than his old one, with a small belt around the midsection held together by a small black button. The gray pants were somewhere between tights and actual pants, as they covered Patch’s legs as well as his feet. Of course, the green scarf remained, loosely wrapped around the little one’s neck just enough to cover his scars. The outfit wasn’t very fancy, but was unmistakably an upgrade over his old outfit.

Patch simply waved his hand dismissively at the question. As promised, he had stopped borrowing from Melody, aside from a few trips through her trash that he decided to keep a secret from her. Specifically, this fabric had come from Melody’s upstairs neighbor, apparently an avid fan of sewing, who surely wouldn’t miss a single fabric swatch… or the few others the sprite had borrowed for previous attempts at making a new outfit.

“Well, okay… Either way, it looks nice! And you look much more confident wearing it!” Exclaimed the human. Patch briefly posed like he was modeling, which he had learned from watching one too many TV shows, causing Melody to laugh at just how cute her little roommate was. “Yeah, work it, Patch!”

After the moment passed, Mel spoke again, “Actually… that does remind me, I wanted to ask you something.”

Patch looked inquisitively at Mel, tilting his head curiously.

“Yeah, so turns out Tara said we’re allowed to dress up for Halloween this year,” Mel began. Patch had no idea what a “Halloween” was, but he had put together previously that Tara was another human at Melody’s job. He nodded his head as she continued speaking.

“And, well, basically I found this really cute costume that I thought I could wear, but I wanted to get your opinion on it,” she finished, and Patch nodded with recognition. “Okay, stay right there, I’ll be right back.”

Melody walked into her room, and after a few minutes, came back out, fiddling with something around her ears that Patch couldn’t quite make out. Her outfit was a green dress that looked as if it was made of giant leaves, with some clearly fake butterfly wings on the back of the dress. On her forearms and ankles were some green bands, and the ensemble was completed with a flower crown on her head.

“Wow, these do not do a good job of staying on… but what do you think of the rest of it? I figured it would be cute to dress up as somebody small like you, you know?”

As the realization set in for Patch, he couldn’t help but silently start to silently laugh. An outfit made of leaves? How ridiculous! It would decay in weeks, would probably be incredibly scratchy once the leaves started to dry, and it would hardly keep somebody warm.

“Hey… don’t laugh! Geez, I didn’t think you’d be a tough crowd. Let me guess, you think it looks silly.”

Patch calmed down, and waved his hands apologetically before shaking his head no and giving the outfit a thumbs up, a gesture he learned from Melody.

“Okay, so it’s maybe not the most accurate… although I think it’s still cute!” She said, posing, which got a nod of agreement from Patch.

“I just… have to get the ears to fit… One second…” She mumbled, before turning around and walking towards the bathroom, causing confusion from Patch. Ears?

The question was answered a moment later, as an “Ah ha!” came from the bathroom, and Melody emerged with two clearly fake pointed ears worn on top of her normal ears. Patch couldn’t help but stare. One thing about humans was their off-putting rounded ears, looking more like a rat’s than a sprite’s, but with these fake ears… Patch looked at Melody in a new, slightly awkward light. Did… did her eyes always glimmer like that? Was her face always so… nice? They found themself blushing a bit as they stared at their human roommate, only to be interrupted by her speaking again.

“... Hello? Are you even listening? Ground control to Major Patch? Why are you staring like that? Do they… do they look bad? Shit, is this like appropriation or something?” she mused, quickly turning anxious.

Melody was relieved as Patch shook his head “no”, waving his hands to make the point explicit. As soon as she saw Patch turn red like that, she was worried she had offended him somehow.

“Well, okay, if it’s not like… offensive or anything, I can keep them. We can be pointed ear buddies!” They said, as Patch nodded his head, face still a bit red.

“Well, not right now. The party’s not until this Friday, after all.” Melody said, before turning and walking back into her bedroom to take off the outfit, leaving Patch alone with their thoughts.

-

Stupid, Patch thought to themself as soon as they were alone. She’s a human! You can’t make things weird just because she’s nice to you and wore some… some costume!

They tried to take a few deep breaths to think things through.

Don’t worry… she’ll take them off and you’ll probably go back to feeling how you did before. Yep. Just like before, where she was just… a friend. I just… she’s nice. She’s nice to me. That’s all. You’re not used to somebody being nice to you. She’s just a friend.

Patch walked back into their little room and looked around to try and ground themself, until their eyes settled on a drawing they had done a few weeks back, of Melody. For reasons they couldn’t explain before right now, just the picture alone was a source of comfort for them. Patch put their head in their hands as they silently continued thinking to themself.

Okay… maybe… she makes me happy. Like… more than a friend. Maybe… I have… some feelings for her. Not that anything will happen, though. I mean, she’s… she’s a human!

Patch flopped down onto their bed, as they heard Melody walk back into the main room of the apartment. They needed time alone to think.

Part 4

“Okay, it’s almost time for me to go,” Melody said, as Patch nodded his head. “I’ll leave some leftover salad out for you, remember that I said I’ll be a little bit late tonight, we’re going out for a Halloween dinner after work. It’s a team-building thing Tara wants to do.”

Their little roommate continued to nod his head. Mel noticed that he was staring at her, as he did the other day when she first put on the costume, but she couldn’t figure out why. He said it wasn’t offensive, but then why would he be so flustered whenever she wore it?

“Okay… I’ll see you later then, Patch. Bye!”

And with that, Patch decided to make their way to the TV remote, to hopefully distract themself from thinking about their feelings for Melody, about how she dropped everything to care for them when he was sick, how she was so considerate of his needs despite being, well, a human.

-

Hours later, far later than Melody was usually out and about, Patch heard the door start to open. As the door opened, they instantly hid behind one of the flowerpots on the table when they realized the person walking in was not Melody. An intruder? No, there she was… being helped inside by this other human… What happened? His question was soon answered as the strange human spoke.

“God, Melody, you are impossible. We said ‘let’s get a drink as a team’, not ‘let’s get blitzed at the Applebee’s and start doing improv karaoke’”, the clearly-frustrated human said.

“H-hey, hey, shut up, Clay, they were just… just jealous of my singing. They couldn’t handle me at my best…”, Melody said, although there was something off about her voice… something familiar and off.

“Melody, I swear I don’t think you have a best. Now, go sit on the couch or something so I can go home, I only brought you back here as a favor for Tara, I’m not about to play babysitter for your drunk ass.”

“Ugh… fiiiine, you’re no fun. Thank you so much for, y’know, for bringing me home at least. I love youuuu”, Melody slurred, as they were ‘gently’ pushed onto the couch by the other human, apparently named Clay.

“Don’t mention it. Literally. Ever.”

And with that, the other human shut the door, leaving Melody on the couch. Patch cautiously peeked out from behind the pot as Melody began to look around the apartment from the couch. “Heyyy, hey Patch, he’s gone… you can come out! Sorry, I maybe haddd… like, one drink more than I planned…”

Patch recognized that tone. It was the tone they used, when they became even less predictable than usual. They knew about alcohol, and the effects it had on humans, but they had never seen Melody under its influence. Fearfully, they ducked back behind the plant as she spoke again.

“Paaaatch, I know you’re around, it’s late. Come onnn, where are youuuu? Clay’s gone… I promise…”

Where are you…? The words, spoken with that tone, activated something in Patch’s memory. Memories of them, stumbling around the room, trying to find where Patch had hidden. Wanting to stay in control of the situation, Patch decided to make their presence known, though it didn’t take long for Melody to locate them as they rounded the flowerpot.

“Heyyy! I was worried for a second. I promise, I… I promise that Clay’s a nice guy, he just… he doesn’t like me, but I’m sure he’d love you… if he met you… after all, you’re the most lovable little guy of all!”

Patch immediately regretted their decision to come closer as Melody reached for them. “Come here, I missed youuuu”, she cooed, as Patch backed away, shaking their head “no”, and praying she would listen. “No, no… please, not you too… don’t just walk away Patch, I need youuu…. Come on, let’s just… let’s hang out, just us… like friends do…”

Patch wasn’t sure what to do. This entire situation was too familiar… Do they run? Do they stay? Nervous about defying Mel while she was in this state, they nervously walked over the edge of the table and held their arms up. Melody’s face lit up in almost childlike wonder, and she wasted no time quickly, and somewhat roughly, grabbing Patch. She began to coo as she held Patch in her hands, luckily not holding onto them too roughly. “Oh Patch, you’re the… the absolute best… I just… I feel like you get me, you know?”

Patch absolutely did not “get” anything about this situation, especially as the human began to cry just moments after sounding so jovial. “I just… I love you so much, you’re… you’re one of my only friends… I thought I could impress my coworkers but I totally… I totally failed… I just made a fool of myself… What am I doing wrong, Patch?”

Patch was getting increasingly unnerved by how much this conversation was familiar… they would often drunkenly ask Patch for advice on how to fix their life… but get upset when the mute sprite couldn’t give any answers. Nervously, they patted the human’s hand with theirs, hoping maybe it would calm her down. They were instantly caught off-guard as Melody brought her hands close to her chest in what was probably meant to be an embrace. If Patch wasn’t so terrified right now, they might have blushed at the awkward position they were in, especially as Melody was still wearing the low-cut outfit from earlier, sans the wings, which must have fallen off at some point. As they strained their head to look at her face, Patch was hit with a realization that put his brief moment of attraction on ice. Even if she looked like a sprite with those fake ears, this was a human he was dealing with, and humans are unpredictable. And dangerous.

“You’re… you’re my best friend, Patch. Is that… is that weird? I feel like I’ve only known you for a few months, but, but, you’re just… you get me…”

Melody continued to cry for a bit, constantly repeating how much she loved Patch, with Patch awkwardly stuck in her grip until she eventually drifted to sleep, Patch in hand.

-

“Oh, gods, my head…” Mel said, as she woke up the next morning on the couch. “Wait… the couch… where’s… Patch!” Melody shouted, shocking her little roommate awake as he lay in her hands. “Oh geez, I’m so sorry! Are you… are you okay? Did I go overboard last night? I, uh… honestly don’t remember much…”

Patch tugged at his scarf, which Melody knew by now was a nervous tic. “Oh no… I didn’t hurt you, did I? Please tell me I didn’t hurt you, I… get huggy sometimes…”

Melody sighed with relief as Patch shook his head no. Before continuing, she gently placed Patch on the other side of the couch as she scooted away from him. “Thank the gods… Ugh, I feel terrible! And not just because of this headache… I should have warned you that I can sometimes get a bit… much after drinking with Tara… she has, uh, a much higher tolerance than I do.”

Patch just listened as Melody went on, unsure what to do in this situation.

“I promise, I’ll make it up to you, really! Um, what if I got strawberries for you? I know those are your favorite. Or, you get dibs on what’s on the TV for like, a week! Two weeks!” Melody said, clearly anxious.

Patch waved his hand dismissively… before stopping and pantomiming the shape of a strawberry, which actually sounded delicious right about now. If she was offering one as an apology anyways…

“Heh, I knew I could win you over,” Mel said, though there was an undeniable nervousness in her tone. “Let me get changed and I’ll go to the store and get you some treats to apologize. And I promise that won’t happen again, promise!”

-

At the store, Mel stocked up their cart with almost every treat they had seen Patch eat. Berries of several kinds, some candies that they knew he could eat, chocolate… Truthfully, Mel felt that simply buying food couldn’t properly apologize for how they treated their roommate, but they didn’t know what else to do.

After getting home, she prepared a giant plate with the treats, and gently called for Patch to come out of his little room, where he had apparently spent the whole time she was gone. Patch walked outside, rubbing his eyes sleepily, before they went wide at his roommate’s apology gift.

“Here, I hope this is enough… I’m really, really sorry. Please forgive me?” asked Mel, nervousness in their tone. Patch couldn’t help but smile and nod as he walked over to a tower of food taller than he was, and started picking at the food. This wouldn’t immediately resolve things, but the offering was definitely appreciated.

-

The next few days were awkward, with Melody apologizing and trying to make amends at every turn. Patch could hardly be in her presence without being asked if they needed or wanted anything, or being drowned in gifts. Patch had repeated many times that it was fine, but admittedly they were experiencing many conflicting feelings about their human roommate right now. They had spent most of the time in their little room, away from Melody, but decided after much consideration to spend a day with her, to try to prove that they weren’t mad at her.

-

“Are you sure you don’t need anything?” Mel once again asked Patch. As he had done the last time she asked, twenty minutes ago or so, he shook his head “no”.

“Oh, okay, well if you do, just let me know, okay?” Mel said, to an expected “yes” nod.

Melody knew Patch would respond that way, but couldn’t help but ask. She didn’t know how else to make him know she was sorry. She had already said the words a million times.

“So… what are you drawing?” she asked, trying to change the subject. To her surprise, Patch jumped a bit, quickly covering the tiny drawing with another piece of paper, before looking around nervously and pointing to the TV. Melody was watching a cartoon, which she knew Patch normally didn’t pay much attention to. She immediately could tell that he was lying, but decided to play it off.

“Okay. Well, um, if you want me to pause or anything to practice, just let me know, okay?” She asked, and Patch nodded affirmatively.

-

Stupid, stupid!, Patch swore to themself as they covered the drawing. It was a silly little thought experiment, just a drawing of a human… who looked remarkably like them. If they were human… what would that be like? How would their relationship with Melody change? Would they be brave enough to actually…

Frustrated with the direction their thoughts kept going, the sprite ripped up the drawing, getting a confused look from the human they were having these feelings for. Melody clearly noticed Patch’s frustration and held her hands up as she spoke.

“It’s fine, I know how it goes sometimes… I mean I haven’t drawn in ages, but sometimes you just can’t make it look right, I get it. I’m sure you’ll nail it next time!”

Patch took a deep breath before nodding and beginning to draw something else, leaving their little thought experiment behind.

Part 5

Something was off with Melody. Despite the human claiming things were fine, Patch could tell from the energy in the apartment that Melody was feeling upset. At first, Patch assumed it was the cold weather, as the first snowfall of the year was a few days ago, but that probably wasn’t it, as her mood had actually gone up on that morning. Granted, it was mostly because she could call out of work, but still, the human seemed to enjoy the snow.

It was an ordinary afternoon, with Patch sitting on the couch watching TV, and Melody sitting on the other end of the couch reading a book, when suddenly Mel’s phone began to vibrate. She only looked at the phone before a look of disgust showed on her face, and she looked back at the book. After a moment, the phone went quiet, only to begin to vibrate again a moment later.

“Ugh!” cried Mel, as she reached over and pressed a button, causing the phone to stop. She looked over at Patch, who was watching the entire thing with confusion.

“Sorry… that was, uh… a number I didn’t want to answer,” said Melody.

Patch continued his staring, tilting his head again to make it clear that he wanted to ask a follow-up question.

“I said it was nobody!” snapped Mel, before she continued reading, as the phone vibrated again. Patch was a bit taken aback, Melody almost never snapped like that, especially not without something big happening.

Patch had to get to the bottom of this. With a determined look, they pointed to the phone again, as it began to vibrate once more. Melody sighed in frustration, and finally grabbed the phone.

“Fine, she gets one chance,” was all Mel said as she pressed on the screen, and a voice came out. Patch couldn’t help but eavesdrop, and heard a name that was decidedly not Melody’s before the human hung up just as quickly as she had answered.

“Aaaand that was her chance.”

Patch was still curious, and mimicked holding a phone to their ear.

Melody put her head in her hands before speaking. “Ugh, fine. That was… my mother.”

Her mother? Patch was instantly curious, but more than that, a bit envious. The human has a chance to speak to her mother, no matter where they are, and she chooses to ignore them? Patch couldn’t help but look at Melody with a scolding glare, hands on his hips.

“What’s with the face?” asked Mel, but she knew the answer. “I know, I know what you’re thinking. Mel, why would you ignore your mom? Well, it’s complicated. She, uh, doesn’t really like me. To say the least.”

This only confused Patch further. Why would she be so insistent on reaching out, then? Patch pointed at the phone, and mimed picking it up again, before pointing at Mel, which seemed to frustrate her.

“I’m not answering the phone to a woman who won’t even use my name!” snapped Melody. “She does this every year around the holidays, calling and begging and pleading for her son to come back to them and be a family again, but it’ll never happen! I’m on my own now, and I’m happier this way, and I don’t need anybody else!”

Despite how confident she sounded, tears were forming on her face. Patch realized they may have misunderstood the situation, and walked over, placing a gentle hand on the side of Mel’s thigh. The human sighed, before speaking again in a calmer voice, “Well, that’s not true. I have my cool little roommate, and I definitely don’t know what I’d do without you. At least you like me for who I am… I think.”

Patch nodded affirmatively, and Mel smiled. “Thanks, dude. Maybe… maybe at some point I’ll tell you the whole story, but you don’t need to worry about it… or me. I’m okay, I promise.”

At that, Patch simply nodded.

“You know, I guess I never asked about your parents. I mean, I guess I’m assuming you have them?” Melody asked, suddenly curious.

It didn’t take long for her to notice Patch’s uncomfortable expression, though.

“Oh shit, are they, uh…” the human said, her voice trailing off.

Patch simply shrugged.

“Oh… I’m sorry I brought it up. I, uh, guess that explains why you were so adamant about me answering the phone. I… I’m sorry.”

There was a moment of silent tension between the two, which was finally broken by the phone vibrating again.

“Yep, it’s her.”

Patch walked over to the phone and kicked it, getting a small giggle from Mel.

“Thanks, buddy. That’ll show her.”

Part 6

The holidays were always tough for Melody, ever since she had left her family. Normally, she would just spend them like any other day, maybe taking up shifts at the library when they were open. But this year, something was different, she had a roommate.

“So… I guess it’s a weird question to ask, but do you have any, like, winter holidays?” Melody asked one day, after seeing the first holiday commercial of the season (Several weeks before December, of course).

-

Patch seemed to light up, and nodded his head yes. One of the few holidays that sprites celebrated was on the winter solstice, when the night was the longest.

“Oh, that’s so cool! I’d love to learn more about it… maybe we could celebrate together! When is it? What do you do?” Melody asked, instantly excited by the prospect of learning about a different culture’s customs, especially a non-human one.

Patch nodded, and motioned a sign that Mel had come to understand as “Let me try to draw it”.

“Okay! Got it, let me go get your notepad.” Patch went to work trying to draw what he was able to express. On the Solstice, inspired by the humans’ celebrations around that time, sprites would exchange gifts and try to watch the stars when they could, which were believed to be the ancestors of the sprites watching them from the heavens. They would use that time to huddle for warmth and share stories of their ancestors, to keep traditions alive.

Of course, all of that was a bit complicated to draw without using a single word. Patch had slowly been introducing Melody to their written language, drawing objects and what their names looked like, but Melody still wasn’t able to read much.

“Okay, okay, let me try to figure this out…” they said, looking over the drawings once Patch had finished.

“Okay, we have… a drawing of day and night… then a shorter day and longer night… then a moon… oh, that word means moon, right! Longer night, moon… the longest night of the year?” She deduced, and Patch nodded approvingly.

“So, the winter solstice… that would make sense, a lot of cultures have holidays around then… Okay, more drawings… somebody giving something to somebody else… that makes sense, like Christmas. Then we have… one of your kind watching the stars… that’s a really good drawing, actually.” Mel continued, as Patch blushed at the compliment.

“So, gift giving, stargazing… I don’t know what this one means, though,” said Melody as she looked at the final part of the drawing, being a triangle of stylized faces with Patch’s distinct pointy ears.

Patch thought for a minute, before beginning to pantomime speaking.

“Talking… speaking… telling a story? Yes! Telling stories about… each other?” Patch shook their head. Struggling to think of how to clarify, they thought back to the conversation a few days ago, and pointed to Melody’s phone. After a moment of thinking, she seemed to get the message.

“... Mom. Telling stories about family, huh?”

Patch noticed Mel’s mood turned downwards, but nodded.

“Okay… I think I’m getting the picture now. It’s a time for family, just like our holidays, huh?”

Patch nodded again, and Melody seemed thoughtful.

“Well… obviously I’m not talking to my family… and you said you don’t know where your parents are… I guess we can celebrate together, though. I can teach you about our holidays, and we can celebrate yours, ooh, this is exciting actually! I could be the first human to celebrate your holiday! Isn’t that a cool thought?”

-

Before long, the night was upon them. Melody had set up a countdown to both holidays, the winter solstice and Christmas day. At Patch’s instruction, Melody prepared a nice meal, although the meal was far more lavish than anything Patch’s kind would have been able to prepare.

After sharing a meal while watching a holiday special (Since there was nothing else on this close to Christmas), Melody began to prepare for the exciting part, to her.

“Gift time!” They announced, and Patch seemed to light up as well. Melody brought Patch back to his room, where he disappeared behind the fabric door.

When he emerged, there was a small box in front of the door that Mel had wrapped in a ribbon.

“I know normally you turn down gifts, but I figured this was my chance to help you out,” Mel said, as they gently pushed the box a little closer to Patch.

Meanwhile, Patch stood there with something hidden behind his hands. He placed the object, a small piece of wood about the size of a coin, down on the counter, face down, before gently pushing it towards the human.

“Oh?” said Mel in confusion. Truthfully, they weren’t sure what to expect as a gift from Patch, but they excitedly flipped the small wooden object over to reveal a tiny painting of Melody.

“A… Patch, how did you even get… Nevermind that, this is wonderful!” They exclaimed, as Patch blushed slightly. Truthfully, the detail was incredible for such a small piece. The colors were slightly odd, but Mel was more surprised that Patch was able to find any kind of dyes to work with at his small size.

“Well, yours was super from the heart, and mine was just from the store… I hope you like it anyways,” Mel said, suddenly feeling a bit inadequate. Patch opened the box, and Mel saw his eyes light up and ears perk at the box of paper clips they had prepared as a gift.

“I know you use them a lot for your little rope ladders and stuff… I figured it would be a useful gift…”

Patch smiled wide at Melody before pushing the box into his room, and she knew that the gift was appreciated.

-

After receiving the generous gift from Melody, Patch pointed to the window. It was time to watch for stars.

“Right, right. Luckily, my window has a pretty nice view of the sky, and it looks clear enough, we might see a few stars!”

After holding her palm up, she gently lifted Patch and moved herself and her little roommate over to the windowsill. Mel placed Patch down as she leaned her elbows on the other side, watching Patch look up at the sky. He seemed lost in thought.

“... I wish I could hear your stories… I’m sure you have lots to share,” Melody mused. “I only know a few words of your language, though… not nearly enough. Maybe by next year…”

Silence filled the room for a moment as both parties watched the sky.

“Oh, is that- No, sorry, that’s a plane…”

More silence filled the room.

Breaking the silence in the best way they could, Patch gently tapped on Mel’s arm, before pointing at her and then the sky, with one or two stars breaking through the city’s lights.

“Me? Oh… my stories, yeah.” Melody said, but her attitude seemed withdrawn.

“Um… I don’t really know what to say about my family. They’re kind of… not in my life anymore. There’s my mom and my brother, Archie, but… like I said, there isn’t much to talk about.”

Patch nodded, taking in the new information. They knew Melody has a mother, but the sibling was new information.

“Do you have any siblings?” Melody asked.

Patch shook their head, before holding up one tiny finger.

“Ah… okay.”

Once more, awkward silence draped over the two of them, though Patch seemed content to watch the sky.

“You know, there’s so much I want to know about you, buddy. Your past, your family… your name. I feel like I should know more about you by now.” Melody mused.

“Do your people have anything like New Year’s Resolutions?” she asked.

Patch looked at her in confusion, so she began to elaborate.

“It’s basically when you’re really determined to do something in the next year. I don’t usually do them, but I think… I think my goal is to learn your language, really focus on it… maybe even teach you mine while I’m at it. That way, I can finally learn more about you.”

Patch smiled and nodded, a determined look on his face. If he was going to live with Melody, they needed to be able to communicate better.

“I’ll take that as a yes. I’m warning you, I’m far from the best teacher, but I’m sure I could find some library books that could help…” Melody trailed off, already lost in thought planning how to start the lessons. She was interrupted by a small feeling on her arm. Looking down, she saw that Patch was sitting on the windowsill, leaning up against her arm as he watched the sky.

Learning could wait. Tonight, they were watching the stars.

[infamouzsky]

How did life in the cult looked like before Narinder was killed and Lamb ascended?

Were they a benevolent leader or a cruel one?

And has anything changed since Lamb ascended?

OKAY SO MILDLY LONG RESPONSE UNDER THE CUT bless chu for these questions mwehe love me rambling .w. 💜

Before Narinder was killed and Lambert was still his vessel, everyone was pretty much living a regular routine The only thing that changed over time on all the followers was their growing "weirdness" due to the Lamb's influence as their Leader xD

When Narinder was defeated and Lamb became the new God of Death, life carried out pretty normally afterwards, but now with the followers being much more devoted to the Lamb! Many who were once skeptical to their ways were converted too Im still questioning on whether the followers should be aware of who Nari used to be or not since- well they did see the whole ass fight in the game so I think itd be natural for them to know LMAO BUT IF THEY DO KNOW WHO NARI WAS, theres a chance some would make fun of him either on his face or on his back for what he is now: a follower just like them. Some would probably praise the Lamb at him, most would likely leave him alone........theres many possibilities, but overall theyd get used to his presence like any other fellow cult-mate x'D

Lamb has always been a kind, just leader who tried their best to make everyone comfortable in their new home at the cult, but that is not to say that when shit would get serious They Would Be Serious. Many difficult dissenters have already perished on their hands or were tortured to conversion While some followers felt a sense of familiarity with Lamby and treated them like a close friend, others were too scared or shy to approach despite knowing how nice they were Lambert never seemed to care much what others thought of them, but did try to put in the effort to at least leave a respectful and trustworthy image in their minds as their Leader At the beginning they never searched to develop stronger bonds with their followers, but as time went by after living with the same faces for a while, it just- happened xD

Once the Lamb's ascension started in order to become an official God, the cult slowly got more and more scared of their Leader, either for fear of who they were becoming or worry for who they were losing Many followers and Disciples that grew closer to the Lamb became overly concerned about their well-being, making sure to constantly check in whenever they noticed something was off The closer Lambert got to divinity, the more distance they started to place between them and the followers. Not because they wanted to, but because they were no longer able to relate to them and they to the Lamb (like friends growing apart for being interested in different things yk) Naturally, theyd feel lonely LOL and cling more onto Narinder since he is the only one who knows what they are going through (for the most part at least-)

ONE DAY ILL GET A GOOD AMOUNT OF COMICS AND A TIMELINE SET UP TO ILLUSTRATE THESE BETTER for now thats it </3

[salllzy]

Sal's snippets #23 (cont #2)

Sarah sighed as she finished her patrol around the forest and like she had assumed more mortals had entered the forest. No doubt looking for their new house guests, it had been easy enough to kill them, not that her papa would complain. As the God of Justice, he was well-versed in taking a life to save another and as the Goddess of Nature, she wasn't always merciful and kind, before the fall of the Old Gods many had assumed, wrongly so, that she was kinder than her papa. She wasn't. Far from it. Papa's justice was quickly delivered and even if the guilty party ended up dead? They weren't suffering any more. The same couldn't be said about her. But that was neither here nor there, right now she had a job to do. She shifted her appearance to look more mortal, it wasn't the first time that she had interacted with mortals and it wouldn't be the last. After all, it was her that they prayed to for a good harvest.

The rise of the new faith and the lack of worshippers had killed off the majority of the Old Gods before any of them realised what was happening. By the time they had? It had been far too late to stop what was happening, the majority of the Old Gods lost their followers to the new faith. A lack of faith, or belief wasn't enough to truly kill an Old God, but it was enough to weaken them until they began to fade, it was a cruel death. Very few towns and cities still practised the old ways, the new faith was slowly killing them off. Anyone who didn't convert was killed and their bodies were left to rot as an example to others. The town that they were close to still practised the old ways. But she knew that it wouldn't be long until they were either converted or killed. But so long as they kept believing in her and her papa? Then she had nothing to fear, but she knew how fickle mortals could be. She entered the town and looked around, the town was fairing well. Bountiful crops, lack of diseases and there were children running around. The town worshipped them and in turn? They looked after them. A reward for their worship and a reminder that they were watching, not that the mortals would see it as that. But it helped to see if their belief was wavering, she passed the altar and it was filled to the brim with offerings. She made a mental note to come by later on and collect them, with two new guests they would need more food than normal. While she may grumble and complain, she wouldn't turn them away, not when it was clear that they needed help. Despite the lack of faith and belief in them, their powers had diminished, not like the other Old Gods. Perhaps it was due to their domains. Nature and Justice weren't something that could easily be killed off. Once she was done with her errands she returned to their cabin in the forest. Laughter floated on the breeze and she caught sight of her papa with the mortal baby, she knew that he had always wanted more children. But it had never happened, Old Gods were created differently. It wasn't that they couldn't have children of their own, they could, it was just difficult. Most Old Gods took life mates and when their mate passed? They didn't take another. She looked at the baby in her papa's arms, he looked happy, genuinely happy and not the fake smile that he put on when he went to visit the mortal town. Her mind wandered as she remembered the old stories. Stories of mortals ascending and becoming Old Gods themselves, it was rare but it did happen. She also knew how to do it as well, as she was one of the ones who would oversee the rituals. Perhaps. Perhaps.

[orthodoxydaily]

SAINTS&READING: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2024

october 6_october 19

HOLY AND GLORIOUS APOSTLE THOMAS (1st.c.)

The Holy and Glorious Apostle Thomas was born in the Galilean city of Pansada and was a fisherman. Hearing the good tidings of Jesus Christ, he left all and followed after Him. The Apostle Thomas is included in the number of the holy Twelve Apostles of the Savior.

According to Holy Scripture, the holy Apostle Thomas did not believe the reports of the other disciples about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ: “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe” (John 20:25).

On the eighth day after the Resurrection, the Lord appeared to the Apostle Thomas and showed him His wounds. “My Lord and my God,” the Apostle cried out (John 20:28). “Thomas, being once weaker in faith than the other apostles,” says Saint John Chrysostom, “toiled through the grace of God more bravely, more zealously and tirelessly than them all, so that he went preaching over nearly all the earth, not fearing to proclaim the Word of God to savage nations.”

Some icons depicting this event are inscribed “The Doubting Thomas.” This is incorrect. In Greek, the inscription reads, “The Touching of Thomas.” In Slavonic, it says, “The Belief of Thomas.” When Saint Thomas touched the Life-giving side of the Lord, he no longer had any doubts.

According to Church Tradition, the holy Apostle Thomas founded Christian churches in Palestine, Mesopotamia, Parthia, Ethiopia and India. Preaching the Gospel earned him a martyr’s death. For having converted the wife and son of the prefect of the Indian city of Meliapur [Melipur], the holy apostle was locked up in prison, suffered torture, and finally, pierced with five spears, he departed to the Lord. Part of the relics of the holy Apostle Thomas are in India, in Hungary and on Mt. Athos. The name of the Apostle Thomas is associated with the Arabian (or Arapet) Icon of the Mother of God (September 6).

MARYTS CAPITOLINA AND EROTEIS OF CAPPADOCIA

Saints Capitolina (Καπιτωλίνη) and Eroteis (Ερωτηίς) lived during the reign of Emperor Diocletian, when Zilikinthios (Ζιλικίνθιος) was the magistrate of Cappadocia (ca. 304).

Capitolina was a noble and wealthy lady, but she had no regard for riches. Therefore, she divided all of her property among the poor, and freed her slaves. When she was arrested as a Christian and appeared before Zilikinthios, she confessed her faith in Christ. He ordered her to be thrown into a nearby prison, and she was beheaded the next day.

Eroteis who was Capitolina’s servant, picked up some stones and threw them at the magistrate. Outraged, he commanded his guards to beat her mercilessly with sticks. By the grace of Christ, however, the Saint remained unharmed. Then he ordered them to behead her with a sword. In this manner, both of these Saints, the lady and her servant, died by the sword, thereby winning imperishable crowns of glory from Christ.

1 Corinthians 14:20-25

20 Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature. 21 In the law it is written: "With men of other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people; And yet, for all that, they will not hear Me," says the Lord. 22 Therefore, tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; prophesying is not for unbelievers but those who believe. 23 Therefore, if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind? 24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all and convicted by all. 25 And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you.

John 20:19-31

19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained. 24 Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” 26 And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” 27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” 28 And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

[iwonderwh0]

Vampire AU again

How would Connor even end up being Perkins's decoy for luring Markus out? I know how (and I should probably mark this post with violence label)

During their past work together, Perkins once mentioned that the "poison" that turns you vampire has an antidote, and that he had to only use it once during his career. A strategically planted trap from his side that he put there month or even years ahead, just in case. He had probably already done it before – had desperate newly-converted, not yet fully transitioned vampires coming to him for help.

I imagine him first mentioning it like

"It's part of my job to help. As you can see, it's not all elimination, often times I'm here to prevent the widespread of this...disease. An ailment, really, if you treat it right and in time. It has been curable for years, and yet..."

He sighed and reclined on his seat.

"Vampirism is a choice. Those who refuse the remedy will face the consequences, simple as that. They know the rules, yet they still hope to become an exception, thinking they'll be able to outplay the world, become God. Really, they had it coming, they all had it coming for them the moment they decided not to seek treatment. It's their choice."

So fighting his own personal dislike towards Perkins, Connor knows that although they parted ways, he'll still get help from him in this case. It's part of his job, after all – he said it himself and was really proud and vocal about it. Connor has a bad feeling about the whole thing, but mostly because for Perkins it'll serve as a proof of his superiority. Coming to him for help is humiliating. He can almost hear his voice telling

"Look what happens to those who don't listen to their superiors and question their authority. I hope you've learned your lesson"

but he has only been feeling panic since he got bitten and it's not the right time to let his personal feelings stand in front of doing the right thing. For his own sake and for the sake of others. It feels like the race against time already as he's running a fever and has his whole body aching, screaming about rapid changes happening inside. He has already lost two days (not sure why tho, maybe I'll figure it out later) and hopes it's not too late.

So he swallows his pride and comes to Perkins.

And gets rewarded with a bullet.

"My job is to prevent the spread of vampirism, and what's better way to do that than destroy it at its root before it has a chance to spread any further?"

And then it clicks with Connor that he's not even the first one to fall for it.

"You lied to me."

"And it worked perfectly. The ends justify the means, Connor. Lie is just a tool."

The anger that fills him is overshadowing his despair, it gets stronger than fear, and when he realises that not only Perkins lied to god knows how many people before him, not only Connor managed to be so painfully naive, navive again, and not only is Perkins intending to kill him, he's going to use him as a bait. To kill Markus as well. This realisation blinds him with so much anger, it becomes stronger than pain.

He curses Perkins, promising to kill him, shaking from fury as despair and guilt tear their way out of him until he chokes on them and sob.

In response to the threats Perkins only smiles and tosses him a gun, then stands calmly in front of him as Connor find out that it's not loaded. Perkins then pulls out a few bullets from his pocket and throws them on the floor in a few metres from Connor, knowing that if he wants to reach them, he'd have to crawl to first get close enough. With that, he goes to take his waiting spot with his crossbow upstairs. Unless Connor magically follows him two stairways up, there's no way for him to hit him even armed.

-------------------

Markus will end up shooting the arrow into Perkins neck from his own crossbow after the chandelier (shot down by Connor) will fall right onto him as he steps under it, thinking that Markus is his only active opponent, forgetting that Connor exists at all, assuming he's dead or as good as dead.

[troybeecham]

Today the Church remembers St. Pontius of Rome, Martyr.

Ora pro nobis.

St. Pontius lived during the third century AD, the son of the pagan Roman senator Marcus and his wife Julia. While with child, Julia had gone with her husband to the temple of Jupiter. Upon seeing the pregnant Julia, the pagan priest suddenly shouted out that the boy in Julia’s womb would destroy Jupiter and his pagan temple. When the boy was born, his mother wanted to kill him out of fear of the prediction, but his father opposed this and the child was left to live. He was named Pontius, and he grew up sharp of mind and eager for study.

On his way to the pagan school, Pontius happened to go past a house, where Christians were attending the morning services. Hearing the words of the Psalm which the Christians were singing: “the idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the works of men’s hands” (Ps. 114/115: 4 and Ps. 134 /135: 15 ). Pontius became very interested in this verse and he paused at the gate.

Saint Pontian, who was celebrating the service, invited Pontius and his companion Valerian to come in. After the service, the bishop talked for a long while with the youths, revealing to them the Gospel teachings, and after a certain while he baptized them. Saint Pontius, in turn, converted his father to Christ, whom Saint Pontian also baptized, together with his whole household.

After the death of his father, Saint Pontius, then 20 years old, was appointed by the emperor Severus Alexander (222-235 AD) as a senator, to take the place of his deceased father. In the Senate and the surroundings of the emperor, Saint Pontius enjoyed universal esteem for his good nature, sound sense, and fairness. When emperor Severus died, a period of profound instability wracked the Roman empire, known as the Crisis of the Third Century, which included nearly fifty years of civil war, foreign invasion, and the collapse of the monetary economy.

Under the successor to the emperor Alexander Severus, Maximinus’ brief rule (235-238 AD) was marked by chaos. In 238 AD (which came to be known as the Year of the Six Emperors), a senatorial revolt broke out, leading to the successive proclamation of Gordian I, Gordian II, Pupienus, Balbinus, and Gordian III as emperors in opposition to Maximinus. Maximinus advanced on Rome to put down the revolt, but was halted at Aquileia, where he was assassinated by disaffected elements of the Legio II Parthica. It was in this period of chaos that any who were deemed disloyal to the emperor or to the stability of Roman life were singled out. Christians, in particular, we’re accused of being disloyal for abandoning the ancient traditions of Rome. St. Pontian was accused of being a Christian, and therefore an enemy of the state. When put on trial, he was offered the opportunity to recant his Christian Faith and to te-embrace the gods of Rome. He steadfastly refused to renounce Jesus. Saint Pontian finished his life as a martyr, being condemned to death by beheading c. 237 AD.

Almighty God, who gave to your servant Pontius boldness to confess the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world, and courage to die for this faith: Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us, and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

[bills-bible-basics]

PRIDE AND HUMILITY -- KJV (King James Version) Bible Verse List #Scriptures #BibleStudy #BibleVerses "The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts." Psalm 10:4, KJV "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate." Proverbs 8:13, KJV "When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom." Proverbs 11:2, KJV "Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom." Proverbs 13:10, KJV "In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride: but the lips of the wise shall preserve them." Proverbs 14:3, KJV "The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility." Proverbs 15:33, KJV "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud." Proverbs 16:18-19, KJV "A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit." Proverbs 29:23, KJV "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30, KJV "At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:1-4, KJV "And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them, When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room. But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." Luke 14:7-11, KJV "But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble . . . Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up." James 4:6, 10, KJV "Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:" 1 Peter 5:5-6, KJV "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." 1 John 2:16, KJV If you would like more info regarding the origin of these KJV Bible verse lists, go to https://www.billkochman.com/VerseLists/. Thank-you! https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/index.php/pride-and-humility-kjv-king-james-version-bible-verse-list/?PRIDE%20AND%20HUMILITY%20--%20KJV%20%28King%20James%20Version%29%20Bible%20Verse%20List

[yhwhrulz]

Charles Spurgeon's "Morning & Evening" Devotional for September 26

Morning

“Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of.”

Mark 10:32-45

Mark 10:32-34

Like a brave captain the Lord led the way, and like brave followers his disciples, despite their fears, kept close to their leader. It is well if, when we experience any alarm, we have faith enough still to press forward where Jesus points out the road.

Mark 10:32-34

The Lord was very explicit, and gave more of the details of his sufferings and death than he had ever mentioned before. He was very familiar with his friends, and told them all things; he was very honest with them, and plainly warned them of the evils which would happen to him, lest they should follow him with mistaken expectations. Jesus familiarised his disciples with his death before it happened, and much more would he now have it before our minds, since its bitterness is past, and the fruits of it are surpassingly precious.

Mark 10:36

He would not grant them a request thus put to him in the dark. He wisely allowed them to go on with their suit, that, upon further consideration, they might be made ashamed of it.

Mark 10:37

When he should take his kingdom, they desired to be the first peers in his realm. Not, perhaps, because they wished to be above their brethren, but because they loved him so well that they desired to be very near and dear to him, and to enjoy the same distinguished position which he had in some measure given to them already, when with Peter they had formed a favoured trio upon the mount of transfiguration.

Mark 10:38-40

Our ignorance of ten shows itself in our prayers. We ask for a crown when we ought to pray for grace to bear our cross.

Mark 10:41

This was very natural, but it did not last long. Partly through the influence of our Lord’s words, and partly through the humble and loving conduct of these two gracious brethren, all jealousy subsided, and we do not detect even a trace of it in the after history of the apostles.

Mark 10:42-44

shall be your minister or servant

In the church of God, he is greatest who renders most service, and is willing to take the lowest place for the good of the rest. Those who are really eminent have to work harder and endure far more reproach than their less honoured brethren, and so it should be, since thus it was with our Lord.

Mark 10:45

He gave up all and took the lowest service for our sakes; thus teaching his followers not to look for honour or service from their fellow Christians, but to stand ready to be the servants of all. Lord, teach us to serve, and save us from the pride which would expect others to pay us homage.

Evening

“Today I must abide at thy house.”

Luke 19:1-10

Luke 19:5

Here was sovereign, free, effectual grace. Jesus sought the heart which else would never have sought him. The eternal purpose had rendered it necessary that Zacchæus should be saved; there was a divine must in the way, and therefore called and saved he was, though apparently one of the most unlikely of converts.

Luke 19:6

Oh that each one of us might with equal willingness receive Jesus, who is now calling us to himself. May the mighty word of everlasting love make us willing in the day of its power.

Luke 19:7

Not only the Pharisees, but others also were astonished at the Saviours visit to this member of the tax-collecting band, for the publicans were despised and hated by all their countrymen. Free grace thus delights to astonish men by choosing and calling the base things of this world.

Luke 19:8

Thus he gave evidence of a change of heart by a change of way. Restitution is first due to all whom we may have wronged, and then, over and above that, charity to the poor becomes our duty. Zacchæus attended to both obligations, he was just as well as generous. Thus by his righteous and liberal conduct he cleared the Saviour from all charges of conniving at sin. The Lord had not winked at his conduct, but had made him repent of it, and for ever turn from it, to become an honourable man.

Luke 19:10

A publican was looked upon as a lost man, who had forfeited his privileges as a son of Abraham; but Jesus restored the lost one, and raised him to a higher position than that which he had occupied by birth. Sin has not lost us so much as Jesus gives us.

Mark 10:46-52

Mark 10:46 , Mark 10:47

Though he could not see, he could hear and speak, and he earnestly used what power he had. Some who are unsaved neglect the use of the means which are within their power, and do not ask for salvation.

Mark 10:48

When a soul is really anxious it cannot refrain from prayer. It must and will cry for mercy.

Mark 10:50

He cared no more for his old cloak, he expected to receive his sight. The hope of mercy makes all other things seem trivial.

Mark 10:51 , Mark 10:52

How quick the cure. The man believed and prayed, and Jesus spake the healing word. Exercise such faith each one of you, and the like healing shall be yours.

Copyright Statement This resource was produced before 1923 and therefore is considered in the "Public Domain".

[thelibraryofeyonthee]

Wow. I Am So Through.

I am exhaling for a moment because this time period has been so exhausting. I've literally been holding my breath trying to handle it all. So, I just want to dump out everything that has been in my mind and my heart to say. There's been a huge lesson and an even huger transition for me and I believe it worthwhile to document it for me and for you dear reader.

I recently had a huge move-out on Wednesday, January 31, 2024. It was expectedly -unexpected because I had assumed where I was living would be a place of refuge and somewhere I could stay until I got back on my feet –well if anything I was probably better off before I arrived and exiting was saving me from further damage.

Originally, when I went to this place, it was marketed as a place for people to get back on their feet. A shared living space no doubt, with the Christian goal of providing low-cost living, for those needing a helping hand. . . or so it seemed. The first host, Bert, one an older gentlemen in his early 70s, White, seemingly God-fearing, a man put on this earth with his self-proclaimed purpose to help house the houseless, primarily youth and young adults. A self-proclaimed poor millionaire who owned a few properties with this purpose in mind, saying that he hadn't set out to be a millionaire but God willed it for this overarching purpose. Ironically, my departure from said establishment was the complete opposite of the his stated purpose, but I'll get to that later.

The second host, Hamilton, was a young gentlemen in his early 30s, Black, a creative who used to purpose a singing career, who now found himself pursing a degree to work in the medical field. Also, a young God-fearing man who shared the same sentiments of helping as his older counterpart. They'd done this many of times and felt drawn to one another for this mission. Bert was the owner of the property, where Hamilton was able to live too, as Hamilton had fallen on hard times and Bert showed up to save him, allowing his to live in his personal home. On the property, there were 2 homes, the main house where the tenants lived and Bert's private home. Bert was renting out the 3 rooms in the main house and Hamilton was living with Bert -such a kind gesture.

When a space became available for Hamilton to live in the main house he did. Bert was even so gracious as to help Hamilton convert the one of the 3-bedrooms into an airbnb rental to help Hamilton increase his income. The pair had been living with way for a while. So when I entered the picture, especially after hearing these stories, I knew this was a place that would certainly provide a helping hand for me. Originally, I was an airbnb guest when I'd moved to this new town. I found the pair to be exactly what I needed, God-fearing, and queer, and interesting mixture that I myself had not truly interacted with. They'd let me know that they would have an opening in the house if I needed a more permanent stay of which I obliged.

They assisted my move-in and were always there if I needed help or had a question. They wanted to create a new system and myself and another roommate (Hamilton's mother), were going to be their first test subjects. They wanted to create 1-year leases, offer below market rent for a room, but most importantly, help those who needed to get on their feet by providing all they had. They were seemingly a Godsend. Thus, I began my journey with them in April 2023, working doubly hard to make sure the rent was on time to show my appreciation, trying to find employment after I'd been let go at the end of 2022, working 12hr days driving for Lyft & Uber, and all around trying to keep my head above water living in LA.

Now, here's where the facade slips and true intentions come to light. September 2023, the small gig I had gotten was undergoing layoffs, I couldn't do Uber & Lyft as my insurance lapsed due to my income lessening. I then applied for unemployment to supplement for rent and all of my living expenses, but of course it wasn't enough. During this time, I drew up a proposal to let them know about my income change and to see how we might work together, or if I could provide services or resources to help supplement due to my income change. They were doing construction to expand the home and provide more space for their mission people needing help and a home. My thoughts were that they'd been so kind and helping before so surely we could come up with a plan that could help them and me –boy was I wrong.

They told me that there was nothing they could do. That they weren't here to save people from drowning (Hamilton's words). Bert said if rent is not paid then he has to go out and give massages/side gigs and do random handyman work to make ends meet, which was counter to this millionaire persona he upheld from the beginning. Almost talking down on people who went to school and got a degree. He seemed to loath people who were 9 to 5 workers because he would exclaim how much he wanted to be in charge of his time, so he never would take a day job. Little did I know, he was no better off than the rest of the working world, he just knew how to make it sound different –as though he was an entrepreneur who God had wildly blessed with properties and real estate that allowed him to have more than enough. However, they both were dependent upon the low-cost housing tenants, such as myself to make ends meet, so the switch-up in their energy towards me made sense because I was interrupting their flow.

They drew up a new contract that said my 1-year lease had been shortened from April 2023 - April 2024, down to April 2023 to December 2023, they'd take off $120 from monthly, and instead of rent being due monthly, it was now due weekly. The utter shock; that was not what I expected, but it was their home and their rules. I thought, wow, I didn't see that coming, as it wasn't that I couldn't pay the rent it was moreso my income was shifting and I was trying to get ahead of it and hoping together we could find a solution that allowed us to all win. I was hoping to leave in a better condition than when I'd gotten there, which again, was what their mission entailed. Their mission: to provide below market-rent for people needing help and/or to be housed. However, that statement was only true under-condition. The condition being, they weren't truly there to help, they were only there to look like help.

It was in September that I realized the switch and change in their attitude and behavior towards me, once they were helpful and asked me to come to them if I needed anything, but now there was cold and distance. I truly believed they had my back, as they had dealt with all types of people in the past and allowed them to live in the house until they got on their feet. Even Bert, would look for homeless people to house in his home, so of course I'm thinking surely someone like me, who is a hard worker, and had just fallen on hard times could receive the help that they offered.

As December 2023 was upon us, I was trying to figure out my next moves, I still hadn't found decent income, my unemployment was nearing its end, and trying to find new housing was impossible. I'd told them if they had other resources or knew a place where I could go –no was the answer. I couldn't seem to understand why they didn't seem to care that I was alone and needed help. Why the mission they'd stated from the beginning of being a helping hand for the houseless seemed so far from what I was experiencing.

Then, one day Hamilton came to me, and said because December 31 was coming soon, if I would like to stay until January 31, and I wasn't sure because of my income situation and the lack of housing, what I should do. He gave me about 3days to answer, and now I can only question if I was asked that because they needed the money. Oddly enough, they were doing construction inside and outside of my room. Adding a beautiful bathroom onto my room, so I was living in a construction zone from September - January, sometimes until late at night. I even inquired about a construction schedule and for them to define hours because myself, along with the other tenant, literally couldn't be in the home sometimes due to the noise and huge drilled holes on the floor in the common room, right outside my bedroom door. I could tell there had been zero preparation or thought about how this would affect our living condition. They truly did not give a damn, what was important was building what they wanted to build so they could make more money.

I'd been paying rent to help them further their housing expansion, while spending my last unemployment money, barely having enough for food, living expenses, etc., and yes they were aware of this, but were fine with continuing to take. I did not matter.

Finally, the day is coming for me to move-out and I was so ready to leave, because I hated being there. Zero boundaries, Bert would always walk into the house to do random fixes to the construction, as if we the tenants weren't paying to live there. Oh and all hours of the night too, just zero regard for others, although this was his whole mission, seemingly living for others' benefit as Jesus did. But, I digress, its hard for me to have lived it and not be totally put off by the hypocrisy of it all. Now, I have a heavy bed, a temperpedic, with the adjustable base, and a bed frame, all queen-sized (super heavy). Boxes of my items ranging from small to large. Would you believe never once did they ask if I needed help moving or if I had found a place to live? I told them I hadn't found a space and didn't know where I'd live; zero concern or care for me. Thankfully, friends were able to send me funds so I could get a storage unit & a van to move my heavy bed, but between my car & a small van, I moved my entire self to a small storage unit. And on the night of my move-out after I was all done, Bert, who originally helped me move my bed in his moving van, yes he owns a moving van, had the nerve to ask me "how were you able to move your bed?" Of course, I said by myself. All of those items, I had to move alone. Two adults that didn't even lift a finger to help. It's also noteworthy, that a week prior, Bert didn't even recall helping me move my bed originally, he tends to get selective amnesia, (he claims he can't remember a lot of things after he began taking care of his mother), however on this night, he seemed to remember that I had a bed and that it must have been heavy enough for him to question how I moved it –wow what a selective memory.

Hamilton also wanted to extend a helping hand by stating that if things got bad and I had to live in my car, that I could park on the lot and sleep in my car and I could ask to come in and shower. These two are quite the generous pairing. Just, wow. I don't even need to comment on that part.

A friend commented saying "hmm seems like you were paying for their generosity."

[orthodoxydaily]

SAINTS&READING: FRIDAY, MAY 30, 2025

may 30_may 17

Afterfeast of the Ascension. Fast. Fish Allowed

APOSTLE ANDRONICUS OF THE SEVENTY AND HIS FELLOW LABORER JUNIA (1st c.)

Saint Andronicus Apostle of the Seventy and Saint Junia were relatives of the holy Apostle Paul. They labored much, preaching the Gospel to pagans. Saint Paul mentions them in his Epistle to the Romans: “Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and fellow prisoners, who are of note among the Apostles, who also were in Christ, before me” (Romans 16:7).

Saint Andronicus was made Bishop of Pannonia, but his preaching also took him and Saint Junia to other lands, far from the boundaries of his diocese. Through the efforts of Saints Andronicus and Junia the Church of Christ was strengthened, pagans were converted to the knowledge of God, many pagan temples closed, and in their place Christian churches were built. The service in honor of these saints states that they suffered martyrdom for Christ.

In the fifth century, during the reign of the emperors Arcadius and Honorius, their holy relics were uncovered on the outskirts of Constantinople together with the relics of other martyrs at the gate of Eugenius (February 22).

It was revealed to the pious cleric Nicholas Kalligraphos that among the relics of these seventeen martyrs were the relics of the holy Apostle Andronicus. Afterwards, a magnificent church was built on this spot.

GREAT-MARTYR NICHOLAS OF SOFIA (1555).

Saint Nicholas was born in 1510 in Thessaly, in the city of Ioannina. His parents were Albanians, but their names (Martin and Euphrosyne) indicate that they were Christians. He received a good upbringing and education, and was a handsome, intelligent young man.

After the death of his parents, he worked as a shoemaker. After a while, desiring to be a pilgrim for Christ's sake, he began to wander and arrived in Serdets (now Sofia), where he settled and led a holy life. At the insistence of some friends, he got married. But one night, he hid from everyone, even from his wife, he set off on new journeys.

After crossing the Danube, he settled in Ugro-Wallachia and took up his former trade, thus fulfilling the vows he had made previously to God. Since he was a skilled shoemaker, he soon became known in the ruler's palace and even to the ruler Mircea Cioban, who invited him to work at the court.

Life in the palace was burdensome to the gentle Nicholas, especially since the ruler Mircea was an angry and cruel man, devoted to all sorts of iniquities, and without the fear of God. Having no wish to witness the ruler's crimes any longer, Nicholas found a convenient opportunity, and in 1554 he returned to Serdets, where he was reunited with his family. After some time, his two sons died.

One day the Muslims invited him to visit and gave him a good deal of wine (1) then circumcised him in order to convert him to Islam in such a treacherous way This treachery outraged and saddened Nicholas.

The Saint spent an entire year in solitary continuous prayer, trying to atone for his sin. On the day after the Feast of the Ascension, a Turk came to him and asked why he did not observe the precepts of Islam. Nicholas said that he had never betrayed the Orthodox Faith and that he remained a Christian, which greatly outraged the Turks.

Then he He was beaten, tortured and put on trial. Since there was no evidence of the defendant's free acceptance of Islam, the qadi (judge) tried to acquit him, but the crowd demanded the blood of the "apostate."

On May 17, 1555, the Muslims stoned him outside the city at the place of the "Three wells". A certain Christian, who watched the execution, was able to save part of the Saint's relics. Then the Turks burned his body near the place called "Tarnitsata", and his ashes were scattered.

The local Metropolitan James convened a diocesan council, at which the Holy New Martyr Nicholas was canonized.

1 According to another version, they drugged grape juice with a sleeping potion.

Source: Orthodox Church in America__OCA

Acts 19:1-8

1 And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples 2 he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" So they said to him, "We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit." 3 And he said to them, "Into what then were you baptized?" So they said, "Into John's baptism." 4 Then Paul said, "John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus." 5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. 7 Now the men were about twelve in all. 8 And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God.

John 14:1-11

1 Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know. 5 Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?" 6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7 If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him. 8 Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us." 9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. 11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.

[almaqead]

"Whistlers and Clappers." From Surah Al Anfal, "The Spoils."

Ramadan Day 25

The Quran is the only religious document attempts to synthesize a variety of social, religious, and legal paradigms into one scripture. As the name implies Quran al Kareem lifts the most ideal spiritual thinking at the time in order to put an end to all the bloody conflict caused by differences in between.

In the following passages Muhammad says why we should try to do this as well:

8:27-35:

O believers! Do not betray Allah and the Messenger, nor betray your trusts knowingly.

And know that your wealth and your children are only a test and that with Allah is a great reward.

O believers! If you are mindful of Allah, He will grant you a decisive authority, absolve you of your sins, and forgive you. And Allah is the Lord of infinite bounty.

And ˹remember, O  Prophet,˺ when the disbelievers conspired to capture, kill, or exile you. They planned, but Allah also planned. And Allah is the best of planners.

Whenever Our revelations are recited to them, they challenge ˹you˺, “We have already heard ˹the recitation˺. If we wanted, we could have easily produced something similar. This ˹Quran˺ is nothing but ancient fables!”

And ˹remember˺ when they prayed, “O Allah! If this is indeed the truth from You, then rain down stones upon us from the sky or overcome us with a painful punishment.”

But Allah would never punish them while you ˹O Prophet˺ were in their midst. Nor would He ever punish them if they prayed for forgiveness.

And why should Allah not punish them while they hinder pilgrims from the Sacred Mosque, claiming to be its rightful guardians? None has the right to guardianship except those mindful ˹of Allah˺, but most pagans do not know.

Their prayer at the Sacred House was nothing but whistling and clapping. So taste the punishment for your disbelief.

Commentary:

The Quran is not outspoken as to what is supposed to happen as a result of its course of study. We know Muhammad prayed to Allah that mankind would wake up and acknowledge His mastery of the worlds instead of listening to cabbages, but that never happened during his lifetime.

No matter how we do this or by what means, the goal of religion is as Muhammad said, the same: the transformation of this place into a Sacred Mosque. Anyone who says otherwise is not a real prophet or pilgrim of God.

The Values in Gematria for verse 34 explains: The Number is 9348, טג‎דח‎ "The hammer."

And verse 35: The Number is 6700, and zepes zepes "time is like a fire that consumes itself."

The culmination of any creative activity ends with a final blow. The finishing blow for Masjid, the end of all fear and violence in the world will not happen if a cabbage, a person who converts others to their faith just to clone themselves is leading the way. So at some point, the banging away has to stop, the fire has to go out, and Masjid has to begin before it is too late. And it is always too late...

The Rab says the only way to avoid losing or wasting time with hammers and fires is to put reality back the way it is supposed to be and keep it that way. After this, a condition called Shabbat, history will never recount a time mankind did not obey God or follow the Quran, and God's authority will at last be sacrosanct.

This is the objective of the religion and the reason we were given the Holy Season are the same- to convince us to finish the Masjid.

[princeofgod-2021]

LIGHT OF LIFE 489

John 1:4

DIVINE ORDER 54: Law Of The Tree Of Knowledge 2

Gen 2:16-17 But the LORD told him, "You may eat fruit from any tree in the garden, EXCEPT THE ONE THAT HAS THE POWER TO LET YOU KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RIGHT AND WRONG. IF YOU EAT ANY FRUIT FROM THAT TREE, YOU WILL DIE BEFORE THE DAY IS OVER!" CEV

EASY LAW

It’s baffling that many times, the things that end up implicating Men are the simplest things.

1Jn 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and HIS COMMANDMENTS ARE NOT GRIEVOUS. KJV

If you were freshly employed by a Company and they took you round and read you the “dos & don’ts”, it can’t be about harming or hurting you, right? Otherwise, they don’t want people to work with them then.

The RULES are to help put you at your best in productivity.

Psa 19:7-9 The LAW of the LORD is PERFECT, CONVERTING the soul: the TESTIMONY of the LORD is SURE, making WISE the simple. The STATUTES of the LORD are RIGHT, REJOICING the heart: the COMMANDMENT of the LORD is PURE, ENLIGHTENING the eyes. The FEAR of the LORD is CLEAN, ENDURING for ever: the JUDGMENTS of the LORD are TRUE and RIGHTEOUS altogether. KJV

It is very fascinating to discover more and more why David is called a “Man after God’s heart”.

This is a portion of scriptures where you see a Man express excitement in the Divine Laws. He observed the Law and found it to be extremely beneficial.

What about you?

Psa 19:10 MORE TO BE DESIRED ARE THEY THAN GOLD, YEA, THAN MUCH FINE GOLD: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. KJV

Do you read this scripture often, beloved? Can an average Christian “swear” that seeking God’s Commandments and Laws is more precious to him than the best form of Gold & Honey?

I don’t think so.

With the kind of Gospel we hear today, that is clearly far from our Focal Point.

This is what an average human/Christian wants; God showed us clearly…

1Ki 3:10-11 THE LORD WAS PLEASED that Solomon had asked for THIS, and so he said to him, "Because you have asked for the Wisdom to rule justly, INSTEAD OF LONG LIFE FOR YOURSELF OR RICHES OR THE DEATH OF YOUR ENEMIES, GNB

Many Christians wants to live long to enjoy abundant riches, and wants all enemies who would hinder them from getting and enjoying those riches in peace, to “die by fire”.

True or False? (100 marks).

King David discovered that to seek [arduously] the Divine Laws and statutes that WARNS you, is far better than seeking things that give you vague pleasures.

Psa 19:11 MOREOVER by them is thy servant WARNED: and in KEEPING of them there is GREAT REWARD. KJV

“Moreover” means besides all the blessings mentioned earlier. Do you think the “Great Reward” is talking about Riches still?

Well I think reward mentioned here is that of drawing closer to God and enjoying the Pleasures of His Divine Presence always and forever.

John 14:21,23 The person who has my commandments and obeys them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I WILL LOVE HIM AND WILL REVEAL MYSELF TO HIM.”…Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my word, and my Father will love him, and WE WILL COME TO HIM AND TAKE UP RESIDENCE WITH HIM. NET

Of course, if indeed the reward of keeping God’s commandment is getting rich and famous, then all Christians will be keeping it, won’t we?

So, what was the “great” Law that God gave to Adam that was found [too] difficult to keep please?

Gen 2:16-17 The LORD God commanded the man. He said, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden. But YOU MUST NEVER EAT from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because when you eat from it, you will certainly die." GW

When you are given total freedom and space to do what you like but are only restricted from just a tiny portion of the space and from tasting what is no more tastier than all other free food you have been given, how could that have been a difficult Commandment please?

Deu 4:8 Or what other great nation has SUCH FAIR LAWS AND RULES as all these teachings I am giving you today? GW

May God’s Commandments never be difficult for your family to keep, IN JESUS NAME.

Come back on Friday, as we proceed in digging into this inspiring Subtopic.

Brother Prince

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

08055125517; 08023904307

[troybeecham]

Today the Church honors Saints Eulampius and Eulampia and Companions, Martyrs.

Orate pro nobis.

Saints Eulampius and Eulampia are venerated as early 4th c. AD Christian martyrs. According to tradition, they were brother and sister, and natives of Nicomedia who were executed during the reign of Roman emperor Maximian.

According to tradition, after reading the decree of the emperor Maximian (AD 284-305, 306-308, 310) sentencing all Christians to execution, Eulampius was horrified that the emperor was taking up arms against his own subjects rather than fighting the enemies of his country. Rather than going into hiding with many other Christians, Eulampius was arrested by the Roman authorities after buying supplies for Christians who were hiding in caves on the outskirts of Nicomedia.

The youth was brought to trial and commanded to renounce the Christian Faith. When he refused, they first raked him with iron hooks, and then placed him upon a red-hot bed of coals. All of a sudden the sufferer expressed a wish to visit the pagan temple. The judges were delighted, supposing that they had turned him from Christianity. In the pagan temple of Mars the saint approached the idol and cried out, “In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I command you to fall to the floor and crumble into dust!” The idol immediately crashed down to the floor and was destroyed.

After Eulampius was then whipped, his sister Eulampia was arrested after she identified herself by emerging from a crowd to embrace and comfort him.

The people exclaimed, “The Supreme God is the Christian God, Who is great and mighty!” Saint Eulampius was again taken away for torture. This time his sister, Eulampia, appeared before the judges and declared that she also was a Christian. Eulampius told her, “Sister, do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul” (Mt.10:28).

The martyrs were tortured and thrown into a red-hot furnace, but the Lord protected them from the fire. Finally, they beheaded Eulampius, but Eulampia died from her torments before she could be beheaded.

Two hundred observers of their trials and torments were converted to Christ after seeing the miracles of Saint Eulampius and Saint Eulampia as they were being tortured. They were also put to death and received the crown of martyrdom.

Almighty God, who gave to your servants Eulampius, Eulampia, and Companions boldness to confess the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world, and courage to die for this faith: Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us, and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

[hiswordsarekisses]

Absolutely amazing - convicting - inspiring - beautiful - I love it so very much!!!!!

From Lynette Hughes:

Intercessory prayer is done most often in private when no one is looking except God. Intercessory prayer is offered on behalf of others and intercessors rarely get any recognition in the church. The men that have been the most heroic for God have been the men with the greatest prayer life. America has produced some of the greatest prayer warriors in the world.

John Nelson Hyde was one of them. He was a missionary to Pakistan through whom millions of people accepted Jesus Christ. They say it was just awesome when this man went into prayer. There's a little book out on him called "Praying Hyde" that would be well worth your reading.

Edward Payson, {1783-1827} a Congregational pastor, better known as Praying Payson of Portland, Maine, was another great prayer warrior. He used to kneel at the side of his bed and pray, and pray, and pray. When they washed his body for burial, they found calloused pads on his knees like a camel.

Tradition says that Apostle James had camel's knees, but it's a living fact that Payson had them. When they were washing him, somebody said, "What abnormal knees. They're heavy with callouses." That's because he used to pray at the side of his bed with energy - and he wore two deep grooves about six or seven inches long into that hard floor where he prayed and made intercession. His prayers brought revival and during the 20 years of his ministry, his church witnessed more than 700 converts who came to saving faith in Jesus Christ.

Or what about Rees Howells? {1879-1950} one of the most effective intercessors of the 20th century and founder of the Bible College of Wales. Leonard Ravenhill met his widow Mrs. Rees Howells. They stood on the terrace of her home and she turned and said to him, "Do you see the room there?" He said, "Yes, I see that room." "That door?" "Yes." "Rees went through that door at six o'clock in the morning and he stayed there until six o'clock at night every day for 11 months except the one day that his mother died."

David Brainerd was an American missionary to Native Americans, especially the Delaware Indians of New Jersey,k who died at the age of 29. David had terminal tuberculosis and only weighed about 95 pounds. An entry from his diary reads: "I got up this morning and the Indians were still committing adultery and drinking and beating their tom-toms and shouting like hell itself. I prayed from a half hour after sunrise to a half hour before sunset. There was nowhere to pray in the Indian camp. I went into the woods and knelt in the snow. It was up to my chin."

No, he didn't have a heater with him or anything else. He was just there in the frigid snow, tuberculosis and all. He continued, "I wrestled in prayer until a half hour before sunset, and I could only touch the snow with the tips of my fingers. The heat of my body had melted the snow."

What amazing intercessory prayer! It was prayer which gave to his life and ministry their marvelous power. It was prayer that gave him an awareness and abhorrence of personal sin. It was prayer that centered his heart in God. It was prayer that made him long for more of Jesus. It was prayer that motivated his service.

David Brainerd, Praying Payson of Portland, John Hyde, and Rees Howells - when God puts the fire to their prayer life, I don't think there will be anything lost. It won't be flammable wood, hay or straw; it will be highly prized, gold, silver, and precious stones.

When Jesus examines our prayer life, will we receive a reward or will we experience loss? Well, God pity us. We can't even get people together long enough to pray for a half-hour; and we have velvet cushions on the chairs, central heating and air conditioning, and soft fluffy carpets on the floor. Brothers and Sisters, are you prepared to stand before the judgment seat of Christ? We may not have to fear the Lake of Fire, but will we need to fear the eyes of Christ that can be like fire piercing through all our hypocritical religiosity and pretense?

Lynette Hughes