THE MIRACLES OF ANTICHRIST
INTRODUCTION
"When Antichrist comes, he will appear to be wholly like Christ."
I
THE EMPEROR'S VISION
At the time when Augustus was emperor in Rome and Herod was king in Jerusalem, it happened that a very great and holy night descended upon the earth. It was the darkest night that anyone had ever seen; one might almost have believed that the whole earth had chanced in under a cellar vault. It was impossible to distinguish water from land or find one's way along the most familiar road. And it could not be otherwise, for not a ray of light came from the sky. All the stars had remained at home in their houses, and the fair moon kept her face turned away. And just as deep as the darkness was also the silence and the stillness.
The rivers had ceased to flow, not a breath of wind stirred, and even the aspen leaves trembled no more. Had one walked by the sea, one would have found that the waves no longer beat against the shore, and had one walked in the desert, the sand would not have grated under foot. Everything was petrified and at rest, in order not to disturb the holy
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