TRANSLATION: The Beloved Disciple

Ancient astronomers referred to the five planets visible to the human eye: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter as wandering stars or The Wanderers. In 1793 BC, the conjunction of two wandering stars - Saturn and Jupiter - appeared as one during the winter solstice. This cosmic spectacle heralds the birth of the great prophet, Zoroaster.

Zoroaster creates a religion based on belief in a single god; by acts of Good Deeds, a person can achieve everlasting life for their soul, and good will triumph over evil. He established a sect of priests called the Magus; individually, they are known as Magi. Zoroaster, the first Magi, prophesized that a Messiah would be born of a virgin when the two wandering stars aligned again. Over the centuries, the Magi that followed Zoroaster studied the skies, awaiting the Star to return and lead them to the messiah's birth.

By the time of Caesar Augustus, Zoroastrianism was the dominant religion in Persia, the Eastern Roman Empire, and North Africa. The Star returned in 5 BCE, emblazoning the birth of Jesus. Three Zoroastrian Magi, Balthazar, Kaspar, and Melchior, cognizant of Zoroaster's prophecy and the Star's import, follow its path to Bethlehem and the birth of Jesus.

During His life, Jesus foretells that He will come again. After His resurrection, Jesus again prophesized that He would return and, with His final words in the Gospel of John, Jesus proclaimed that John the Evangelist, the Beloved Disciple, might not die.

In 2020, the world is in lockdown as the Covid-19 pandemic rages. Boredom propels two improbable retired protagonists, Mouse and Papa, to decipher their DNA results and family tree to establish an ancestral link to a fourth-century Bishop, Nicolas of Myra, known to most as Saint Nicolas. While adjusting to new routines imposed by COVID-19, the two grandparents receive a mysterious ancient manuscript. With the manuscript as bait, Mouse and Papa undertake a Quixotesque journey where they meet John, an old Spanish monk living on the Camino de Santiago. The Camino de Santiago is the famous Christian pilgrimage road that leads to Saint James' grave. Saint James is John, the Evangelist's older brother.

The manuscript is a biblical-era story of an orphaned Greek girl, Hessulah, from Ephesus, the capital of Rome's Asia Minor on the Anatolian Peninsula (modern Turkey). Mouse and Papa are engrossed in Hessulah's story of murder, revenge, prophets, prophesies, kings, and Pharaohs, while the Spanish Monk leads them on a new Biblical adventure.

During the 2020 winter solstice, the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn returned for the third time in 4,000 years. Now, this conjunction bears the name of the Star of Bethlehem, and our modern-day Magi follow the Star to a remarkable Nativity.

Against the backdrop of the Hellenization of the eastern Mediterranean world, the Wonders of the Ancient World, and the Roman Empire, The Book of Hessulah tells the tale of a fearless girl seeking revenge for the murder of her father. Hessulah meets and falls in love with Melchior, and together pursue Melchior's quest while her past is closing in on her. They eventually settled in Myra, named for myrrh, a resin produced from an indigenous tree. Their famous descendant, Nicolas of Myra, was born 250 years later.

Both stories culminate in a stunning biblical journey of faith and hope.

TRANSLATION, The Beloved Disciple is the first book of The Nicolas Legacy,is a fascinating retelling of the Nativiy. Subsequent books chronicle the stories of Saint Nicolas, Santa Claus, Kris Kringle, Father Christmas, Father Frost and the Ice Maiden.