THE EPISTLE OF SAINT VELIUS TO THE KINGDOM OF MUROND: CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 3

¹Behold, I speak now unto thee not as one who rebuketh, but as a father unto a beloved son, for love constraineth me.
²The burden of this appeal is not alone for warning, but also for comfort, that thy heart may be strengthened in the hope of the life to come.
³For our Lord is merciful and gracious, long-suffering and full of compassion, and His Son, Saint Ajora, is the living wellspring of all joy.
⁴Remember thou the days when He walked among men, clothed in flesh, yet not diminished in glory; gentle among sinners, bold among deceivers, mighty among the afflicted.
⁵He opened the eyes of the blind with the breath of His lips, and made the lame to leap with a word.
⁶The leper was made clean by His touch, and the storm stilled itself at His voice.
⁷Yet more wondrous than these were the words that fell from His mouth, which quickened dead hearts and turned stone into flesh.
⁸He taught the poor with tenderness, and spake to kings without fear.
⁹He cast down the mighty in their pride, and lifted up the lowly in their need.
¹⁰His parables were as keys, opening the gates of understanding, and His silence was heavier than the counsels of princes.
¹¹With tears He prayed for them that hated Him, and with joy He walked the path of suffering.
¹²Yea, even unto the hill of the Skull did He bear His burden, that all might behold the mystery of mercy.
¹³There was He slain not for His own transgressions, but for the sins of many, and by His death was death undone.
¹⁴They sealed His tomb with stone and law, but He rose, triumphant, on the third day, to walk once more in glory.
¹⁵And in His rising is our hope; in His triumph, our assurance; in His wounds, our healing.
¹⁶He ascended unto the right hand of the Lord Most High, and from thence doth He intercede for the faithful night and day.
¹⁷He hath promised unto them that love Him a land beyond the veil, a city with foundations, whose light knoweth no setting.
¹⁸There is no grief in that place, nor sighing, nor any death, but peace unbroken and joy without shadow.
¹⁹The trees bear fruit in every season, and the waters run clear from the throne of God.
²⁰The voices of the saints are as harps in the air, and the streets are paved with the praise of the Holy One.
²¹The beasts lie down with the lamb, and the child hath no fear of the adder.
²²The heart is made whole, and the eyes see as they were meant to see.
²³There doth Saint Ajora dwell, resplendent in light, and all they who have walked in His steps dwell with Him.
²⁴This is the inheritance of the meek, the crown of the righteous, and the rest of them that labor in love.
²⁵Therefore, O King, let thy heart be steadfast, and thy feet sure upon the path of holiness.
²⁶Let not weariness turn thee aside, nor prosperity make thee forget.
²⁷Be thou the guardian of His teaching, and let thy sceptre be as a staff unto the faithful.
²⁸Watch over the churches in thy land as a shepherd watcheth his flock by night.
²⁹For wolves creep in unseen, and hirelings flee when danger draweth nigh.
³⁰Strengthen the hand of the bishops, that they may tend the flame upon the altar and keep it from going out.
³¹Let not the house of prayer fall into disrepair, nor the bell of the sanctuary be silenced by fear.
³²Appoint just men to the keeping of holy things, and let no bribe pollute the treasury of the Temple.
³³Open the doors unto the poor, the widow, and the stranger; for thus did Ajora walk among us.
³⁴Lay not heavy chains upon the faithful, nor stifle the spirit with vain decrees.
³⁵For though thou art King, the Lord is King of kings, and He hath not given thee power to bind what He hath made free.
³⁶Flourish, therefore, the churches under thy care; let them grow as lilies of the field, needing no toil of kings to bloom.
³⁷Guide them gently, but grasp them not; protect them, but claim them not.
³⁸The house of Ajora is not for thy glory, but for His; thou art steward, not master.
³⁹Woe to him that setteth his throne within the sanctuary, and calleth it his own!
⁴⁰But blessed is the king who walketh humbly, and delighteth in the fear of the Lord.
⁴¹His name shall be spoken with honor in generations to come, and his memory shall be sweet among the faithful.
⁴²The cry of the orphan shall not rise against him, nor the blood of the martyr stain his robe.
⁴³Let thy counselors be wise and devout, and let thy judgment be measured by mercy.
⁴⁴Let not envy divide the house of the Lord, nor ambition burn as fire in the courts.
⁴⁵Rebuke with patience; correct with love; build, and destroy not.
⁴⁶For even the rod of iron must be tempered with kindness, lest it crush the vessel it was meant to guide.
⁴⁷And know this: as thou carest for His house, so shall He care for thine.
⁴⁸As thou waterest the vineyard of God, so shall thy fields bring forth abundantly.
⁴⁹And the peace of Ajora, which passeth all understanding, shall be thy portion forever.

▷THE SEVEN SCRIPTURES OF THE CHURCH OF GLABADOS
    ▷THE EPISTLES OF SAINT VELIUS TO THE NEW KINGDOMS
        ▷THE EPISTLE OF SAINT VELIUS TO THE KINGDOM OF MUROND
            ▶1—2—3—4

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