Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 428 Chaos
Even though medieval Christianity had two hundred days of festivals throughout the year, only a few were truly important.

Compared to Christmas, Easter has a much stronger religious significance.

This is especially true for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Twelve hundred years ago, the Heavenly Brother emerged from the tomb beneath this church, announcing his rebirth to the world.

And the doctrines of Christianity are structured around the resurrection.

It can be said that without the resurrection, there is no theology of the church.

Even though Jerusalem is now declared heretical by Rome, the Venetians and the Kingdom of Jerusalem still ensure the safety of pilgrims as much as possible.

Compared to the dangers of the previous two Crusades in breaking through Asia Minor, the pilgrimage from Italy to Jerusalem today is simply a matter of a boat ticket.

Moreover, with Jerusalem's assistance, Venetian passenger ships were made quite comfortable, and everyone from royalty and nobility to commoners could find their own room or bed on board.

If you really don't have the money, as long as you're willing to sign a three-year employment contract, the banks in Jerusalem are willing to cover the ship fare.

With a small amount of money, about six months of time, or even just a few years of working, one can travel to the place where the Heavenly Brother was resurrected and experience a real Easter.

If you are unwilling to do this, then you are certainly not devout enough.

Therefore, not only do local Jerusalem believers celebrate Easter, but many pilgrims from afar also gather here.

Pilgrims come from all directions to the square outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Before dawn, some people would lie prostrate on the stone slabs, their foreheads touching the ground, praying again and again.

When the priest began his sermon, the church was already packed with people, and many crowded outside the door, hoping to catch a glimpse and perhaps even get a taste of his teachings.

And just as the sermon ended and the ashes were about to be applied.

Outside the church, a small procession was taking place.

There were seven or eight people in total. The leader was dressed in a magnificent sacrificial robe, while a servant beside him carried a silver jar. Behind them were some deacons carrying ceremonial regalia.

Such a style of travel, along with his attire, easily leads one to associate him with a bishop.

Shortly after his appearance, some pilgrims forced their way through the crowd, knelt down in front of the bishop, and stood directly down.

The bishop took some ash from a silver jar held by a servant and sprinkled it on the man's forehead.

"Man, remember that you are dust and to dust."

This quote in the Bible comes from what the Father said to Adam and Eve after they made a mistake.

When these words were spoken, the crowd in the square erupted in cheers from the deacons.

Compared to crowding into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, they seemed more likely to receive ashes from the bishop.

Led by others, they formed a crowd and surged towards that direction.

Immediately afterwards, someone started shouting: "The place for ash-casting has changed; it's outside the church! The archbishop himself is ash-casting it!"

Those who were unaware of what was happening, along with the people at the church entrance, also started acting rashly.

This is not in line with the original plan of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

In a sense, the grassroots churches of the Middle Ages were the most organized system under the feudal system.

In terms of coordinating large-scale human actions alone, many lords are no match for the church.

How to guide a large number of believers smoothly through the process was planned in advance. A passageway was reserved among the believers to move forward towards the altar, and there were exits on both sides of the altar with deacons to guide them.

What happens first and what happens later, it all comes down to a step-by-step process.

Once the crowd starts to surge in the opposite direction, it deviates from the plan, and even the church is affected.

Adding to that the claim that the archbishop was spreading ashes outside is utter nonsense.

After all, Jerusalem has effectively abolished the Catholic episcopal system.

Nowadays, the title of Bishop of Jerusalem is more of an honorific.

But many of the pilgrims from Italy were unaware of this.

In fact, many of them still believe that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is completely controlled by the Catholic Church.

And that's the fascinating moment in communication studies.

Seeing that things were not going well, someone inside the church quickly shouted, "Wrong! Wrong! It's not outside!"

The people in the church were shouting loudly, but the louder they shouted, the more confused the believers became.

People inside wanted to go out, and people outside wanted to come in. With people crowding together, this sacred moment and sacred place lost all its sacredness, leaving only sweat, shouts, and various incomprehensible languages.

In the midst of the chaos, the group of people who had been applying ashes outside vanished without a trace, leaving behind a large crowd of bewildered people, much to the dismay of the priests and deacons inside the church.

However, the church is not without contingency plans. In such situations, the key is to quickly put the sacred objects that were shown to the believers during the previous ceremony back into the iron cabinet in the side room of the altar to prevent anyone from taking advantage of the chaos to steal them.

The two pageboys beside the priest, taking advantage of their small size, squeezed through the crowd and led the priest, who had been preaching earlier, all the way to the side room of the church.

Two guards were already on high alert, watching out for anyone who dared to approach.

Ordinary churches, generally speaking, do not have this level of security.

But this is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the place where the Brother of Heaven was resurrected, and here lies the most sacred thing in the Christian world—the True Cross.

There are many theories about the True Cross, such as that it was discovered by Saint Helena, or that it was discovered by the 1st-century Queen Protonica, which is purely fictional.

There are even more rumors about the whereabouts of the true cross.

One explanation that is relatively more considerate of the feelings of believers is that in the 4th century AD, not long after the True Cross was discovered, it was cut into several parts and scattered throughout the Mediterranean.

This is why churches in many regions, such as Constantinople, Jerusalem, and Cyprus, claim to have the true cross.

Perhaps many churches claim to possess a portion of the fragments.

However, everyone still feels that the section at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the most sacred.

……

Garys was somewhat troubled; things were more complicated than he had thought.

He met Alan a few days ago, but that was just a side story. What he was really concerned about was the beggar, who wasn't a cripple but pretended to be one.

He didn't go up and question them directly, but instead planned to hand the matter over to the police department.

After all, he can't do everything himself, so what's the point of him building systems?

However, upon investigation, the response was that no such person could be found.

(End of this chapter)