Saints of the Corridor

At the beginning of Easter Weekend for those on the Western calendar, and the start of Holy Week for us on the Eastern calendar, I present something I've been working on for a while now.

A hagiography of the Saints who Shined Forth in Holtzmann's Corridor.

To go with this, here is the tale of a miraculous deliverance worked by an icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

The Miracle of The Blessed Virgin of Vaasa (Kemasiik)

Vaasa is a subordinate world of Kemasiik. For many years it has been plagued by attacks from pirate & slaver gangs, sometimes carrying away entire villages. In the town of Lojotz, there lived a priest named Fr. Gervais. When Fr. Gervais heard the alarm that meant another attack was coming, he went to the church to pray. He asked God what he could do to protect his people. He was told to take the icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary from the altar, and go out to meet the raiders. He would then know what to do.

Fr. Gervais met the slavers as they landed their shuttle and reproached them for their cruelty, asking that the people be left in peace. At gunpoint he was marched onto the shuttle, to the waiting cages. Before he entered the cage, he placed the icon on the deck. Soon many of his villagers had been rounded up and herded into the shuttle. They told Fr. Gervais that the army was sending forces to capture the raiders, but that they were too far away and would not arrive in time.

When the slavers were ready to take off, they found that they could not. The ship's computer said that the shuttle was overloaded – there was too much weight aboard! This confused them, as they had conducted many similar raids without trouble. They tried several times to lift off, but the engines, even at full power could not raise the ship from the ground.

In the cargo area, a guard noticed the icon lying on the deck and made to kick it away. Instead, he broke his foot against the icon, which did not move. Other raiders came and tried to move the icon, but none could lift it from the deck. No tools could raise it and no blows could damage it.

Fr. Gervais understood, and beckoned to one of his guards. “The army is coming,” he said. “There is only one way that you can escape. If you let us go, the Blessed Virgin will let you go. She is fighting for us, against you and you cannot defeat Her.”

With the soldiers drawing nearer the raiders tried desperately to move the icon and take off, but could not. Finally the leader relented and ordered the men to release Fr. Gervais and the villagers. Fr. Gervais waited until all of his villagers were off the ship, then picked up the icon, kissed it, and holding it triumphantly aloft, walked off the ship. Immediately the raiders lifted off and fled. Fr. Gervais' village had peace from the raiders from that day.

Blessed Pascha / Happy Easter to all!