Historical Setting, 610 C.E. Besançon Fortress
Greg is thinking through his assignment to be the Brother Ezra at the church. “When I pop up through the trap door into the basilica, what if someone sees me?”
I answer, “You’ll know what to do. You have a good mind for this. You don’t have to keep it a secret that Brother Ezra found the tunnel. Tell it to anyone who sees you and wonders why a monk is coming up through the floor. Most likely it will be the Bishop who asks. He expects to find Brother Ezra waiting in the church. Tell him you noticed the door under the rug table and you went exploring and found the tunnel to the same place you had just been waiting, so you came back to wait at the church. No one will wonder why you were waiting around in the basilica. Let’s just trust Gaillard’s plan.”
Suddenly I feel like my perfectly adult sons are following me like newly hatched goslings only capable of imitating the gander.
“Like Gaillard said. ‘The most important thing is that we not be seen together. Any one Brother Ezra alone won’t stir curiosity’.”
“What if the Brother Ezra-Gabe is already meeting with the Father, and there I am at the church, waiting for the guard to take me over to his cell?”
“Just don’t let the bishop call for the guard. Instead, ask to speak with him, and you might also learn what we really need to know. What is this bishop’s opinion of the Father’s work at Luxeuil? Will he be defending the Father, or is he one of the noble Frankish bishops hoping to see him gone?” [Footnote]
“Of course. That’s why I have the sword, isn’t it?”
“Don’t use the sword. If you find him foe, detain him with your chatter. If he is a follower of Father Columbanus, ask him to pray with you for the release of the Father.
“Our prayer now, dear God, let us be your hands and feet in this work of freeing the prisoners. Amen.” So, I tell them one more time, “just don’t use the sword.”
The stench of the prisoners is thick in the tunnel now. We are reaching the end, or the beginning, depending. We extinguish the torches, and peer through the wood slats to visualize our plans, each of us to our own purpose.
[Footnote] “St. Rothadius, Archbishop of Besançon in 611, from Luxeuil” is a questionable entry to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic_Archdiocese_of_ Besançon . Searching books in English and the internet, this blogger was not able to find at what point Luxeuil provided bishops for this see.
(Continues tomorrow)
Lazarus Ink 