Chapter 3028 Fundraising
At noon, the rare winter sunshine shone on the streets of Tivian. After several consecutive days of gloomy and rainy days, the citizens of Tivian finally welcomed a day suitable for going out.
In North Tivian, in the church district, there are a lot of people coming to the church to pray while the sun is shining. On the square in the church district, people coming and going are all here to pray. They are dressed neatly and brightly. Most of them are from the northern city, the slightly wealthier citizens. The lower class people generally go to the many small churches in the southern and western city districts to pray.
On the square in the church area, among the people coming and going, there was a slightly plump middle-aged man wearing a brown suit, a small hat, and a small moustache. He looked intently at the Cathedral of the Holy Chants in front of him and walked forward with firm steps.
After walking up the long stairs step by step, the man came to the open tall door of the church. He stopped to look at the door in front of him and then walked in.
After entering the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, the man was greeted by a magnificent space, with stone pillars about ten meters high arranged in sequence. The wide ceiling and the area between the arched stone beams were filled with vivid paintings depicting religious stories. At the end of the hall, at the end of the line of sight, on the huge French windows, stained glass pieces formed an abstract huge portrait, depicting the scene of the advent of light to drive away evil. In front of the huge glass painting were three altars symbolizing the Three Saints. Behind the Three Saints altar was the smaller Savior Altar, which was farther away from the public. On both sides of the hall, rows of long benches were arranged from front to back, and citizens who came here to pray and confess sat on the benches. At the edge of the hall, priests and nuns were on duty.
This is the Church of the Holy Psalms, the largest chapel in the North Tivian Church District and the main part of the church district open to the public. In addition, there are also special churches for the Holy Father, the Holy Mother, the Holy Child, and other political and military facilities of the Tivian Church, but most of those departments are not open to the public.
The man came to the interior of the chapel, then he found an empty seat on a bench and sat down. Then he clasped his hands together and closed his eyes, looking as if he was praying devoutly.
In this way, the man prayed earnestly on the bench for a while, then slowly opened his eyes. After he slowly stood up, he came to a corner of the church where there was a large box with a simple decoration and an opening, with the words "Donation Box" written on it. From time to time, someone would go over and throw a few coins or banknotes into it. After seeing someone give money, the nun waiting on the side would look at him with a smile, and if he gave more words, she would say a few words of blessing, or even give some small gifts or tokens.
After finishing the prayer, the man slowly walked towards the "donation box". Standing in front of the box, the man took out his wallet, took out a 50-pound note with the largest denomination, and stuffed them all into the donation box in one breath. Seeing more than 300 pounds of banknotes enter the box, the nun next to him was stunned for a moment and then suddenly smiled and said to the man with an absolutely brilliant smile.
"Sir, your pious heart is so dazzling. No matter which of the three saints is in your heart, the light of your believers will surely be seen by them. Please leave your name in this offering book. We will pray to the Lord every day and pray that the glory of the Lord will be with you."
The nun said this to the man, and then pointed to a thick account book on a small table next to the donation box. On it were densely recorded the names of the donors and the amount of money they donated. At a glance, it can be found that only those who have donated a certain amount can leave their names on it. Those whose names are written on it are donors who have invested at least fifty pounds in the box.
Listening to the nun's words, the man walked to the small table, picked up a pen and wrote his name on it, John Evans, and then wrote the amount of three million pounds he had raised. This amount was already very large on the entire account book page. The nun next to him continued to smile and talk after seeing it.
"Mr. Evans? It's rare to find a believer as devout as you. If you have any needs, please let us know. We can arrange for someone to help you with confession, prayer, exorcism, and other religious matters..."
The nun said that for donors who donated several pounds at a time, their service attitude was to do it for free. After listening to the nun's words, the man named John laughed and then spoke.
"Haha, I'm afraid I won't have the chance to enjoy this help for the time being."
"No chance for the time being? Mr. Evans, has something happened to you?" Listening to John's words, the nun asked in confusion, and John answered calmly.
"Nothing. To be honest, Sister, I am a businessman. Due to business reasons, I will be going to the New World for long-term business soon. Since the time is long, our whole family will have to move there."
"The New World... But I heard recently that the situation in the New World is turbulent. Mr. Evans, if you go there to do business now... Is there any risk?"
"Risks and opportunities coexist, Sister. It is precisely because of the risks that the business opportunities there are worth my family's going there. In order to deal with possible dangers, I also hope to be blessed by the Lord. To be honest... The purpose of my donation this time is to ask for a holy emblem of the Holy Father. I often hear people say that as long as I carry the holy emblem with me, the glory of the Lord will be with me..."
John said this to the nun, and the nun nodded in response.
"You are here to ask for the holy emblem. Then Mr. Evans, please wait here for a moment. I will be back soon." After hearing John's words, the nun understood and said, then ran away quickly. After a while, she came back, but this time behind her was a priest in his forties wearing a priest's robe.
"Reverend Miller, this is Mr. Evans. He is going to the New World to do business, so he came here to ask for the Holy Father's emblem."
The nun introduced him to a middle-aged priest named Miller. After hearing what the nun said, Priest Miller smiled and said to John.
"The glory of the Lord will shine on every devout believer, no matter where or when they are. For a devout person like you, Mr. Evans, it is natural for you to want to be illuminated by more glory. May this holy emblem allow you to feel that the Holy Father is with you."
As he spoke, Priest Miller took out a small metal badge and gave it to John. On the badge was an abstract sun with two parallel strokes in it. This was the holy emblem of the Holy Father.
"grateful……"
With a slight bow, John took the holy emblem of the Holy Father from the priest's hand, looked at it carefully and put it away. Then he looked at the priest and nun in front of him and spoke solemnly.
"Father Miller, I actually have one more small thing I want to tell you. As you can see, I am a businessman. I have been wandering around doing business for half my life, so I often neglect to take care of my family. In order to take better care of my family, I plan to take them with me to the New World this time. My wife is a devout believer of the Virgin Mary, so I hope to ask for a holy emblem of the Virgin Mary for her... so that she can also be more closely bathed in the grace of the Lord in a distant place. Is that okay?"
John spoke to Miller in an earnest tone. After hearing John's words, Pastor Miller showed a trace of embarrassment, and then spoke.
"You still want to ask for the Holy Emblem of the Virgin Mary... That's not wrong, but Mr. Evans has just asked for the Holy Emblem of the Holy Father... Now you come to ask for the Holy Emblem of the Virgin Mary again. Although you are asking for it on behalf of others, it is still too frequent. This may make others think that you are pious..."
Pastor Miller spoke slowly and hesitantly. Listening to his words, John said nothing. He silently took out another 300 pounds in cash from his wallet and put it into the donation box beside him. When Pastor Miller saw it, his eyes lit up, and his slow and hesitant tone immediately became fluent and fast.
"No matter what others think, in our eyes, your piety is firm and reliable. How can we not agree to a devout person like you asking for a holy emblem for your family's safety?"
With a smile, Priest Miller took out a new holy emblem from his clothes and handed it to John. After John took it, he looked at it carefully and found that it was very similar to the previous Holy Father emblem. It was an abstract sun symbol with an inverted triangle inside. This was the holy emblem of the Virgin Mary.
John took the holy emblem with a smile, continued to look at Priest Miller, and then continued to speak.
"On behalf of my wife, I would like to thank you, Reverend Miller, but I am afraid I need to trouble you with something else. My son is fourteen years old this year, and he is very curious about the outside world. After arriving in the New World, my baby son will definitely run around because of his curiosity. I am worried that without the Son of God to protect him during his adventures, he will be in danger."
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