A small reading stand or pulpit stood beside the altar. After going to it, the priest raised his arms and began to speak the words of a prayer in which the worshipers joined. It was a strangely beautiful and simple invocation which Constantine had never heard before:
“Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done,
As in heaven, so in earth.
Give us day by day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins;
For we also forgive every one that is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation;
But deliver us from evil. Amen.”
“The prayer was given us by Jesus himself when he was on earth,” Minervina whispered to Constantine. One phrase in particular “Thy kingdom come” had struck his ears, for it seemed to imply that the Christians were begging their god to set up a kingdom on earth, an act which would constitute treason against Rome, punishable by death. Before he could ask Minervina about it, however, the priest spoke again.
“I shall read to you,” he announced, “from the sermon our Lord Jesus Christ spoke from the mountain in Galilee, as it is set down for our guidance in the Holy Scriptures:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so did they persecute the prophets who were before you.”
Jesus Christ in far off Syria Palaestina
Theognis put down the scroll from which he had been reading and began to speak. His words were simple, as were those he had been reading. Briefly, yet eloquently, he told the story of a god who, though allpowerful, had loved mankind enough to send his only son to show them the way to eternal life. He spoke of the ministry of the man called Jesus Christ in far off Syria Palaestina, how the people had thirsted for the truth he brought them, and how they had drunk deeply of his wisdom. He told how the authorities, both religious and civil, had opposed this simple teacher from an obscure town called Nazareth, and how, finally, they had brought him to trial on trumped-up charges of treason by claiming that he was the leader of a revolution against Rome. By swearing false evidence against him they had led the Roman governor of the province, Pontius Pilate, to condemn Jesus of Nazareth to the most shameful of deaths, upon a cross outside the city of Jerusalem, known to Constantine by its Roman name of Aelia Capitolina.
Read More about Considerably more austere shrines of Mithras
