The Holy Fools

My Friends,
I'm afraid all is not well in this land, or at home.  A great shadow hangs over us all, and it seems the world as we know it may fall into chaos.  It seems only yesterday that the Golden Hordes of the Mongols swept through, leaving blood and fire in their wake.  Many of the friends I have made since my arrival are simply gone, lost forever out on the fields of battle.  May God avenge their souls upon these heathens.  I have heard and told tales of valour, and of great men in battle, but never have I been so close to the event itself.

A depiction of the Mongol Invaders

Even more troubling, I have received news that my own home in Byzantium has been invaded.  The Ottomans have destroyed my home.  Nothing remains to which I can return.  A grand piece of the world has been lost.   It is strange to think that everything I know back home is gone.  I have seen my city for the last time.  I have made my peace with these troubling times, but it was not long past that I questioned how God would let this happen.
Almost in answer to my questions, I came across a holy fool along my path.  He was naked and dirty, but as close to God as any man I have ever met.  Holy fools were not uncommon in my home (Poulakou-Rebelakou, et al., 2014), and his presence reminded me of the home I had lost. The comfort this has brought me has given me the strength to live on in this strange new world, and provides some hope for the future.
For those of you who have never met one of these great men, I should take a moment of your time to discuss what makes someone a holy fool.  The lives of the holy fools are marked by odd, seemingly insane behavior.  They adopt these behaviors ostensibly to draw attention to themselves and to show their love of Christ (Poulakou-Rebelakou, et al., 2014).  Their strange behavior can range from marrying an adulterer to wandering naked through the woods, as was the stranger I met along the way.

A Holy Fool

This man, one of many such fools, was called Procopius.  I met him outside the small town of Utsyug, and he begged some food from me.  He then told me that God would protect me as long as I remained with the Russian people, and that the love of God would once again fill my heart if I endured this suffering with the patience of Christ, after which he rubbed mud on my forehead and ran off back into the woods.
When I later spoke with some of the locals, they recounted to me a story in which Procopius prayed and altered the course of stars falling towards the town (Poulakou-Rebelakou, et al., 2014).  I have rarely heard of a man so close to God so as to be able to change the heavens themselves.  However, not many of the towns-folk seem to appreciate his madness, as many of them treat him with disdain.
I, for one, am glad that I took the time to share my meal with this unusual guest.  I hope his blessing holds though this turbulent time.  Who knows but that we will meet again.

Poulakou-Rebelakou, E., et al. "Holy Fools: A Religious Phenomenon of Extreme Behaviour." Journal of Religion & Health, vol. 53, no. 1, Feb. 2014, pp. 95-104. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s10943-012-9600-2.