Temple Sword

Chapter 49 The Cross

1305th of the Month of the Virgin, 29

Dubica, Slavonia

monastery of the knights templar
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In front of the church of the monastery stood two master and apprentice knights. They were the first to arrive. After standing outside the door for a while, the other attendants began to walk in slowly.

A total of 12 attendants, wearing plain white hoods, came to accept the most sacred ceremony of christening.Everyone is ready to take three oaths and join the Knights.On this dank dawn of Holy Virgin month, only those wishing to join Christ's Order of the Poor Knights and achieve immortality, both physical and spiritual, entered the chapel of the Dubica Monastery.

The door of the church opened after the bell rang, and a servant in a shabby black robe came to welcome the people gathered in front of the door.

"Remember," William whispered in the boy's ear before he entered, "everything here is symbolic, so no matter what happens, don't be afraid! You must never tell anyone what you see or hear there .Neither to the king, nor to your fellow knights, nor even to me, you can't tell what you went through in the church. You must keep this secret until the day you die, do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand."

"Then go, God be with you."

Antar entered the hall of the Lord with his head bowed, his face like the others, hidden by a loose hood, telling them that all were equal.William, like most knights, told his disciples on the way that the twelve knight candidates corresponded to the twelve disciples of Jesus.The servant who opened the door for them and then closed it again after they had entered represented the devil and was therefore clothed in black.

William also told him that the service would be presided over by three priests of the Temple, apparently representing the Holy Trinity.He and other attendants sat in the first row of seats, and found that the faces of the three priests in front of him were also covered.

He didn't know whether the windows of the church were sealed or covered, but in any case, it was almost completely dark inside, only the candlelight gave them some light.Perhaps, Antal thought, it was to keep him from seeing other people, and to let him forget all other thoughts and immerse himself in it completely.

The three priests stopped in front of the altar, only the one in the middle did not make the sign of the cross, and he began to speak in a loud voice.

"The following are words unknown to the living Jesus, and Decymus Judas Thomas recorded them. He said, 'Whoever understands these words will not taste death.'"

Antar shuddered at the words, and he believed that the others were not indifferent to what they heard.

The priest standing on the left side of the altar continued to preach: "Jesus said: those who seek, do not stop looking until they find it; when they find it, they will be distressed; have."

Then the person on the right spoke: "Jesus said: If your leaders say to you, 'Look, the kingdom of heaven is in the sky', the birds of the sky will enter before you. If they say, 'The kingdom of heaven is in the sea ', so that the fish will enter before you. However, the Kingdom of Heaven is within you and outside you. When you know yourself, you will be known, and you will know that you are the children of the living Father. But If you do not know yourself and live in poverty, you are poor."

Only then did Antal realize that these people were reciting these difficult sentences.He had never heard any priest mention this, he lowered his head, trying to concentrate, what he heard was not just a sentence, but a thread that wove into a complete holy picture.

"Jesus said: The elders will not hesitate to ask the seven-day-old baby where the life is, and he will still live. Because many who were first will be behind, and they will all become one."

"Jesus said: Pay attention to the things that are before you, and the things that were hidden from you will be revealed to you; for there is nothing hidden that will not be seen."

"Jesus said..."

"His disciples said to him, 'When will the Kingdom of Heaven come?' Jesus said, 'It is not for you to wait, for no one will say 'Look, here!' or 'Look, there!' On the contrary, The kingdom of the Father has filled the earth, but it has not been seen by man.'”

"Simon Peter said to them, 'Let Mary go away from us. For a woman does not deserve life'. Jesus said, 'Behold! I will lead her, and make her a man, that she also may be a living spirit, Like you men. Every woman who transforms herself into a man shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven.'”

After four sentences at 110, the priests fell silent.Now only one person made the cross, and then all three turned and retreated into the darkness.The attendants began to talk to themselves, trying to understand what they had just heard, and where the priests who hadn't made the sign of the cross had gone, and they waited motionless.

After a while, a priest returned and gently took the boy by the arm who was sitting on the edge of the bench.

Antal stumbled and followed the masked man in front of him. He thought they were going to the sacristy room, but the priest led him into the underground burial chamber, which sent a chill down the boy's spine.

There were only five candles burning in the tomb, and their faint flames revealed a faint light in the center of the narrow corridor, while the corners and walls were completely dark, and Antal felt that he was standing in nothingness.

The priest who had brought him stood beside his two other companions and ordered Antar to kneel on the bare stone slab.The knight obeyed and then recited all three oaths in Latin as directed.

Just when Antal felt that the ceremony was complete, the priest standing in the middle took out a small wooden cross from under his loose robe and held him tightly.

"In the name of the Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, in the name of the Holy Spirit, in the name of all angels and saints, and in the name of our founder, the holy and exalted Hugo de Pain, I command you, Servant of the Church of Jesus and Our Lady, reject the terrible instrument of torture upon which our Savior died!"

Antal frowned in surprise, he was a little scared.Reject the cross?Why didn't William tell him this?He told himself a bunch of unimportant details without mentioning his rejection of the cross?

"Spit on the cross," commanded the priest, "and Christ will take you in his arms!"

He could hold off no longer, and either obey this dreadful order or be cast out of the Order forever, never to be a Templar again.He could feel the three pairs of eyes under the hood staring at him, the air in the tomb became thinner and thinner, and the darkness made the nervous boy almost suffocate.His hands were clenched into fists, and he knew something had to be done, something had to be done.

"The choice is yours," one of the priests assured him, but he knew he had no choice.

In fact, he never had a choice.

Antal closed his eyes and spit on the cross.

(End of this chapter)