Poppy, was the name of the city, where revolutionary guards reached to find out a priest for the marriage. When revolution broke out in the city, all priests had escaped, except one, Father Paththiri, an old crooked man engaged in a special prayer mission, a devotional business by receiving donations from the devotees.
One day Father Paththiri told the devotees.
"My dears, I had a special holy dream from God last night that soon I will be ascending to paradise with my body and I will be the charioteer of Jesus at the divine garden in the Paradise. So before my ascending to paradise, I am going to make a holy temple for God which will be bigger than the temple of Solomon. To fulfill my dream, I need a contribution. If you wish to get a ride in the chariot of Jesus along with me, contribute a good amount to the temple of God. You can drop your money into this black coffin."
He said and pointed to a sealed black coffin placed in the prayer hall. That coffin had a tiny hole on top to drop money.
The devotees who wished to ride with Jesus in his chariot came to Father Paththiri's prayer hall and dropped donations into the black coffin. Money came like a flood. Within a few days, the number of the coffins filled with money increased.
Father Paththiri's promise, the ride with Jesus in paradise, was heard by many devotees. Hence, the flow of the money filled several coffins again.
When the number of money-filled coffins reached 40, Father Paththiri heard the firing of the revolution entered the city. Like an exploding thunderbolt, he heard it. That was a warning for him.
"Yes, that sound is the arrival of antichrist. I have to do my ascending now. Otherwise, hell flames will swallow me." He realized the coming tragedy and became ready to escape.
He had a dream to make a congregation by his name and be the Pop of the congregation. So he decided to go to Nurasia, a remote place he selected for his mission, to make a basilica for his congregation.
"Now the time has reached for my exodus. I have to move to my destination to make my basilica where I will be crowned as the Pop of Eurasia." He said himself while drinking his last wine of that prayer mission.
That night he told to the devotees gathered in the prayer hall.
"My dears, now, I can see the time has been reached for my ascending to paradise through a holy fire. Yes, if you see burning of this prayer hall, think that I am ascending to paradise, don't worry I will be there to welcome you."
"Oh our holy shepherd, take us along with you to paradise. We wish to be there with you. Please give us the privilege to reach paradise not die horribly and buried in a dark pit." Someone from the crowd begged him and everybody demanded that privilege, reaching to paradise without dying.
"My dears please listen to me," Father said. "Angel can't do that because you the normal persons, carrying sin are not blessed by the light of God. So your sin should be purified through the natural process of life and death and your body which is the sole property of the earth should be returned. I am a purified soul by God and my body is the property of paradise. That is why I am ascending to the paradise with my body."
Father Paththiri could console them with that statement.
They calmly returned and eagerly waited outside of the prayer hall to see the holy fire of Father Paththiri's paradise ascending. In the meantime, he was preparing to escape in a boat which made ready in the nearby canal.
He told to his helpers. "Just wait, we will burn the prayer hall and leave when the church bell rings 12. That would be the wake-up time of my Lord Dracula the prince of darkness."
He was waiting for his lover Sara Sorathi the wife of a city counselor whom he convinced that she would have a holy paradise life with him.
Finally, church bells rang at 12. Father Paththiri heard the footfalls of the Antichrist along with the rings of the church bell.
"Yes, that is my Lord." Father Paththiri said to his black cat. "I have made a special drink for my lord, the blood wine made with the ghost berry of crusaders graveyard in Constantinople.
The next moment he heard the door-knocking sound.
As he expected, that was not a gentle knocking.
He smelled trouble from that provoking sound.
He opened the door and found his expected friend, the Antichrist..!
Many guns pointed towards him.
He could not speak anything. As he was shivering, the troop commander told him.
"Look, many guns are surrounded you. Some of them are aimed at your head. Some of them are pointed towards your chest and the rest are peeping to your holy dick."
Father Paththiri drew a Holy Cross and said in a trembling voice.
"My dear boys, you are the fighters getting entertainment in firing and killing people. But don't forget that your fate also will be the same. One day you will be fired by your enemy's gun. So think about that bullet that will be hitting you soon. But you can save yourself by prayer which will protect all of you from the bullets of your enemies. God will deploy angels to guard you. Dedicate your body and soul to our Lord by putting down your guns. I am happy to be your shepherd to lead you to the holy garden. Come on, your confession will erase all of your sins. Come on boys….let me lead you to paradise. Be a holy soul serving God and smell the fragrance of the paradise."
Without listening to his words group leader shouted at him.
"We believe that you are a priest. So, move ahead. You have to conduct a marriage now."
"Yes, my dear boys I am a priest. I can give you holy service." Father Paththiri said and tried to smile.
He thought that the soldiers surrounding him with pointed guns were here to seek his holy service. So there is no danger, nothing to worry. He took a breath normally and continued.
"I see. Well. So you are here to invite me for a marriage? Whose marriage is this my dear boys? Some procedures should be done ahead of the marriage ceremony. Have you done those?"
"We know only one procedure." The leader said in a rude voice and made a gunfire.
He continued. "This is the procedure that we know. You got it? Before you get a shot on your holy nuts, shut up and walk." As a warning, the leader pushed him away.
"These are the apostles of Satan, they don't smell holiness." Father Paththiri said himself. He changed his tactic.
"Dear boys, please be aware that I am a custodian of the 40 coffins of holy saints. I can't move anywhere until these bodies are being buried. That is God's will which we cannot neglect."
Father Paththiri tried to escape from them. "Please come with me. I will show you those 40 coffins of the saints killed in a holy war."
He led them to the room where he kept his money-filled coffins.
"Look. These are the coffins of 40 saints. They were the martyrs of a holy war. So, God asked me to conduct 40 days of prayer for them and bury them in the graveyard of saints at Jordan River Valley. Now, I have completed 20 days of prayer. I need another 20 more days to complete the mission. This is the order of God. It must be done. So please leave me to carry out the order of God." Father Paththiri begged.
But his crooked mind reflected in his eyes.
"Now you will come with us. After you finish the marriage ceremony you may continue your prayer." Leader said.
"I should not quit this prayer hall until I finish the 40-day prayer as God instructed. God has deployed angels on me to watch. If get into any trouble, God will send a fire ball. That will burn all of us."
As a reply, Father heard a firing sound.
"Ok. First, let us bury his holy saints in the water." The commander ordered his men to throw all of the coffins into the nearby canal.
"Dear boys please don't do that. You will be burned by the flame of God." Father Paththiri cried and warned them. As he made noise, soldiers closed his mouth with a tap and tied his arms. He came to know that all of his money was going to flow. He heard the falling sound of each coffin thrown into the canal.
"Oh my Lord, I lost my money…. I lost my money….My money…. My basilica… My papacy…" He roared. But his mad voice did not come out.
After throwing the 40 coffins into the canal, the revolutionary guards took Father Paththiri along with them and burned his prayer house.
The devotees, waiting outside of the prayer hall, saw the holy fire of Father Paththiri's paradise ascending.
They roared.
"Look the holy flames….. Our shepherd, Father Paththiri, is ascending now to paradise. Praise the Lord….. Praise the Lord."
While going along with the revolutionary guards, Father Paththiri heard the roaring of his devotees. But his struggling mind was seeking another holy way to cover his loss.