Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate was offended by a harmless quip from an old schoolfellow, Basil, Bishop of Caesarea, and threatened to destroy his whole town. Basil raised as much money as possible to buy him off, but while the town fasted and prayed, Mary appeared to Basil and told him to fetch a martyr buried in a nearby church.

As Basil prayed before an icon of the saint Mary had named, he noticed that the spear he carried was tipped with blood. The signfiicance hit him when he heard that a mysterious stranger had slain the Emperor with a spear. Basil tried to return the town’s money, but the people preferred to endow a new monastery.

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