Latest / Gadfly / 26 - Gadfly by Ethel Lilian Voynich

Transcript

26 - Gadfly by Ethel Lilian Voynich · Gadfly

0:00
Speaker 1: In troyebo odd altare. Dia Montanelli stood before the high
0:06
Speaker 1: altar among his ministers and acolytes, and read the Introit
0:11
Speaker 1: aloud in steady tones. All the cathedral was a blaze
0:16
Speaker 1: of light and color, from the holiday dresses of the
0:19
Speaker 1: congregation to the pillars with their flaming draperies and wreaths
0:24
Speaker 1: of flowers. There was no dull spot in it. Over
0:28
Speaker 1: the open spaces of the doorway fell great scarlet curtains,
0:32
Speaker 1: through whose folds the hot June sunlight glowed as though
0:37
Speaker 1: the petals of red poppies in a cornfield. The religious
0:41
Speaker 1: orders with their candles and torches, the companies of the
0:45
Speaker 1: parishes with their crosses and flags, lighted up the dim
0:49
Speaker 1: side chapels, and in the aisles. The silken folds of
0:53
Speaker 1: the processional banners drooped, their gilded staves and tassels glinting
0:59
Speaker 1: under the arches. The surplices of the choristers gleamed rainbow tinted.
1:05
Speaker 1: Beneath the colored windows. The sunlight lay on the chancel
1:09
Speaker 1: floor in checkered stains of orange and purple and green.
1:13
Speaker 1: Behind the altar hung a shimmering veil of silver tissue
1:18
Speaker 1: and against the veil and the decorations and the altar lights,
1:22
Speaker 1: the cardinal's figure stood out in its trailing white robes,
1:27
Speaker 1: like a marble statue that had come to life. As
1:31
Speaker 1: was customary on processional days, he was only to preside
1:35
Speaker 1: at the mass, not to celebrate, so at the end
1:39
Speaker 1: of the indulgentium, he turned from the altar and walked
1:43
Speaker 1: slowly to the episcopal throne, celebrant and ministers, bowing low
1:48
Speaker 1: as he passed. I'm afraid his eminence is not well,
1:52
Speaker 1: one of the cannons whispered to his neighbor. He seemed
1:56
Speaker 1: so strange. Montanelli bent his head to receive the jeweled miter.
2:01
Speaker 1: The priest, who was acting as deacon of honor, put
2:04
Speaker 1: it on, looked at him for an instant, then leaned
2:07
Speaker 1: forward and whispered softly, your Eminence, are you ill? Montanelli
2:13
Speaker 1: turned slightly towards him. There was no recognition in his eyes.
2:18
Speaker 1: Pardon your eminence, the priest whispered, as he made a
2:22
Speaker 1: genuflection and went back to his place, reproaching himself for
2:27
Speaker 1: having interrupted the cardinal's devotions. The familiar ceremony went on,
2:32
Speaker 1: and Montanelli sat erect and still, his glittering miter and
2:37
Speaker 1: gold brocaded vestments flashing back the sunlight, and the heavy
2:41
Speaker 1: folds of his white festival mantle sweeping down over the
2:46
Speaker 1: red carpet. The light of a hundred candles sparkled among
2:50
Speaker 1: the sapphires on his breast, and shone into the deep
2:54
Speaker 1: still eyes that had no answering gleam. And when at
2:59
Speaker 1: the words Benedicite powder eminentissime, he stooped to bless the incense,
3:06
Speaker 1: and the sunbeams played among the diamonds, he might have
3:09
Speaker 1: recalled some splendid and fearful ice spirit of the mountains,
3:14
Speaker 1: crowned with rainbows and robed in drifted snow, scattering with
3:19
Speaker 1: extended hands, a shower of blessings or of curses. At
3:23
Speaker 1: the elevation of the host, he descended from his throne
3:27
Speaker 1: and knelt before the altar. There was a strange still
3:31
Speaker 1: evenness about all his movements, And as he rose and
3:35
Speaker 1: went back to his place, the major of dragoons, who
3:39
Speaker 1: was sitting in a gala uniform behind the governor, whispered
3:43
Speaker 1: to the wounded captain the old cardinal's breaking, Not a
3:47
Speaker 1: doubt of it. He goes through his work like a machine.
3:51
Speaker 1: So much the better. The captain whispered back, he's been
3:54
Speaker 1: nothing but a millstone round all our necks ever since
3:58
Speaker 1: that confounded amnesty. He did give in though about the
4:03
Speaker 1: court martial, yes, at last, but he was a precious
4:07
Speaker 1: time making up his mind. To heavens, how close it
4:11
Speaker 1: is we shall all get sunstroke in the procession. It's
4:15
Speaker 1: a pity we are not cardinals to have a canopy
4:18
Speaker 1: held over our heads all the way. Ssh, there's my
4:22
Speaker 1: uncle looking at us. Colonel Ferrari had turned round to
4:26
Speaker 1: glance severely at the two younger officers. After this solemn
4:30
Speaker 1: event of yesterday morning. He was in a devout and
4:34
Speaker 1: serious frame of mind, and inclined to reproach them with
4:38
Speaker 1: a want of proper feeling about what he regarded as
4:42
Speaker 1: a painful necessity of state. The masters of the ceremonies
4:46
Speaker 1: began to assemble and place in order those who were
4:49
Speaker 1: to take part in the procession. Colonel Ferrari rose from
4:53
Speaker 1: his place and moved up to the chancel rail, beckoning
4:57
Speaker 1: to the other officers to accompany him. When the mass
5:01
Speaker 1: was finished and the host had been placed behind the
5:04
Speaker 1: crystal shield in the processional sun. The celebrant and his
5:08
Speaker 1: ministers retired to the sacristy to change their vestments, and
5:13
Speaker 1: a little buzz of whispered conversation broke out through the church.
5:17
Speaker 1: Montonelli remained seated on his throne, looking straight before him immovably.
5:23
Speaker 1: All the sea of human life and motion seemed to
5:27
Speaker 1: surge around and below him, and to die away into stillness.
5:32
Speaker 1: About his feet. A censer was brought to him, and
5:36
Speaker 1: he raised his hand with the action of an automaton,
5:40
Speaker 1: and put the incense into the vessel, looking neither to
5:43
Speaker 1: the right nor to the left. The clergy had come
5:46
Speaker 1: back from the sacristy and were waiting in the chancel
5:50
Speaker 1: for him to descend, but he remained utterly motionless. The
5:54
Speaker 1: Deacon of Honor, bending forward to take off the miter,
5:58
Speaker 1: whispered again, hesitatingly, your eminence. The cardinal looked round. What
6:04
Speaker 1: did you say? Are you quite sure the procession will
6:07
Speaker 1: not be too much for you? The sun is very hot.
6:11
Speaker 1: What does the sun matter? Montanelli spoke in a cold,
6:15
Speaker 1: measured voice, and the priest again fancied that he must
6:20
Speaker 1: have given offense. Forgive me, your eminence, I thought you
6:24
Speaker 1: seemed unwell, Montanelli rose without answering. He paused a moment
6:29
Speaker 1: on the upper step of the throne and asked, in
6:31
Speaker 1: the same measured way, what is that The long train
6:36
Speaker 1: of his mantle swept down over the steps and lay
6:39
Speaker 1: spread out on the chancel floor, and he was pointing
6:43
Speaker 1: to a fiery stain on the white satin. It's only
6:47
Speaker 1: the sunlight shining through a colored window, your eminence, the
6:51
Speaker 1: sunlight is it so red? He descended the steps and
6:55
Speaker 1: knelt before the altar, swinging the censor slowly too. As
7:01
Speaker 1: he handed it back, the checkered sunlight fell on his
7:04
Speaker 1: bared head and wide uplifted eyes, and cast a crimson
7:09
Speaker 1: glow across the white veil that his ministers were folding
7:13
Speaker 1: round him. He took from the deacon the sacred golden
7:17
Speaker 1: sun and stood up as choir and organ burst into
7:21
Speaker 1: a peal of triumphal melody ponge lingua gloriosi, corporus mysterium
7:29
Speaker 1: senguinos gay pratteosi cam in moundi pretium fructus ventris generosi
7:38
Speaker 1: rex of fuvid gentium. The bearers came slowly forward and
7:43
Speaker 1: raised the silken canopy over his head. While the deacons
7:47
Speaker 1: of honor stepped to their places at his right and left,
7:51
Speaker 1: and drew back the long folds of the mantle. As
7:54
Speaker 1: the acolyte stooped to lift his robe from the chancel floor,
7:58
Speaker 1: the lay fraternities, letting the procession, started to pace down
8:02
Speaker 1: the nave in stately double file, with lighted candles held
8:06
Speaker 1: to left and right. He stood above them by the altar,
8:10
Speaker 1: motionless under the white canopy, holding the Eucharist aloft with
8:15
Speaker 1: steady hands, and watched them as they passed. Two by
8:19
Speaker 1: two with candles and banners and torches with crosses and
8:24
Speaker 1: images and flags. They swept slowly down the chancel steps,
8:28
Speaker 1: along the broad nave, between the garlanded pillars, and out
8:33
Speaker 1: under the lifted scarlet curtains into the blazing sunlight of
8:37
Speaker 1: the street, and the sound of their chanting died into
8:41
Speaker 1: a rolling murmur, drowned in the peeling of new and
8:45
Speaker 1: newer voices. As the unending stream flowed on and yet
8:49
Speaker 1: new footsteps echoed down the nave. The companies of the
8:53
Speaker 1: parishes passed with their white shrouds and veiled faces. Then
8:58
Speaker 1: the brothers of the miss c Zeri Cordia black from
9:01
Speaker 1: head to foot, their eyes faintly gleaming through the holes
9:05
Speaker 1: in their masks. Next came the monks in solemn row,
9:10
Speaker 1: the mendicant friars with their dusky cowls and bare brown feet.
9:15
Speaker 1: The white robed grave Dominicans then followed the lay officials
9:19
Speaker 1: of the district, dragoons and carabineers, and the local police officials.
9:25
Speaker 1: The governor in gala uniform with his brother officers beside him.
9:30
Speaker 1: A deacon followed, holding up a great cross between two
9:33
Speaker 1: acolytes with gleaming candles, and as the curtains were lifted
9:38
Speaker 1: high to let them pass out at the doorway, Montanelli
9:42
Speaker 1: caught a momentary glimpse from where he stood under the
9:45
Speaker 1: canopy of the sunlit blaze of carpeted street and flag
9:50
Speaker 1: hung walls, and white robed children scattering roses ah the roses,
9:56
Speaker 1: how red they were. On and on, the procession paced
10:00
Speaker 1: in order, form, succeeding to form and color to color.
10:05
Speaker 1: Long white surplices grave and seemly gave way to gorgeous
10:09
Speaker 1: vestments and embroidered pluvials. Now passed a tall and slender
10:14
Speaker 1: golden cross borne high above the lighted candles, now the
10:19
Speaker 1: cathedral cannons stately in their dead white mantles. A chaplain
10:24
Speaker 1: paced down the chancel with the crozier between two flaring torches.
10:29
Speaker 1: Then the acolytes moved forward in step, their censers swinging
10:34
Speaker 1: to the rhythm of the music. The bearers raised the
10:37
Speaker 1: canopy higher, counting their steps one two, one, two, and
10:42
Speaker 1: Montanelli started upon the way of the cross, down the
10:46
Speaker 1: chancel steps, and all along the nave. He passed under
10:50
Speaker 1: the gallery, where the organ peeled and thundered, under the
10:54
Speaker 1: lifted curtains that were so red, so fearfully red, and
10:58
Speaker 1: out into the glaring street, where the blood red roses
11:02
Speaker 1: lay and withered, crushed into the red carpet by the
11:05
Speaker 1: passing of many feet. A moment's pause at the door,
11:09
Speaker 1: while the lay officials came forward to replace the canopy bearers.
11:14
Speaker 1: Then the procession moved on again, and he with it,
11:17
Speaker 1: his hands clasping the eucharistic sun, and the voices of
11:21
Speaker 1: the choristers swelling and dying around him, with the rhythmical
11:25
Speaker 1: swaying of censers and the rolling tramp of feet. Verbum
11:30
Speaker 1: caro panem verum verbokarnum efficit sitke singua's christi merum, always
11:39
Speaker 1: blood and always blood. The carpet stretched before him like
11:43
Speaker 1: a red river. The roses lay like blood splashed on
11:47
Speaker 1: the stones. Oh, God, is all thine earth grown red
11:52
Speaker 1: and all thy heaven? Ah? What is it to thee thou,
11:57
Speaker 1: Mighty God, Thou whose very lips are smeared with blood?
12:01
Speaker 1: Tantum ergos sacramentum veneremer sir nui. He looked through the
12:08
Speaker 1: crystal shield at the Eucharist. What was that oozing from
12:12
Speaker 1: the wafer, dripping down between the points of the golden sun,
12:16
Speaker 1: down onto his white robe? What had he seen dripping down,
12:21
Speaker 1: dripping from a lifted hand. The grass in the courtyard
12:25
Speaker 1: was trampled and read all red. There was so much blood.
12:29
Speaker 1: It was trickling down the cheek and dripping from the
12:32
Speaker 1: pierced right hand, and gushing in a hot red torrent
12:36
Speaker 1: from the wounded side. Even a lock of the hair
12:39
Speaker 1: was dabbled in it, the hair that lay all wet
12:42
Speaker 1: and matted on the forehead. Ah, that was the death sweat.
12:47
Speaker 1: It came from the horrible pain. The voices of the
12:50
Speaker 1: choristers rose higher triumphantly, janitore jenitoquet last jubilatio, solace, honor verse.
13:00
Speaker 1: Does Cokie sit at benedictyo? Oh, that is more than
13:05
Speaker 1: any patience can endure. God who sittest on the brazen
13:10
Speaker 1: heavens enthroned and smilest with bloody lips, looking down upon
13:15
Speaker 1: agony and death? Is it not enough? Is it not
13:18
Speaker 1: enough without this mockery of praise and blessing? Body of Christ?
13:23
Speaker 1: Thou that was broken for the salvation of men, blood
13:27
Speaker 1: of Christ, Thou that wast shed for the remission of sins?
13:32
Speaker 1: Is it not enough? Ah? Call him louder? Perchance he sleepeth.
13:38
Speaker 1: Dost thou sleep? Indeed, dear Love? And wilt thou never
13:42
Speaker 1: wake again? Is the grave so jealous of its victory?
13:46
Speaker 1: And will the black pit under the tree not loose
13:49
Speaker 1: thee even for a little heart's delight? Then the thing
13:54
Speaker 1: behind the crystal shield made answer, and the blood dripped
13:58
Speaker 1: down as it spoke. Hast thou chosen? And wilt thou
14:02
Speaker 1: repent of thy choice? Is thy desire not fulfilled? Look
14:07
Speaker 1: upon these men that walk in the light and are
14:09
Speaker 1: clad in silk and in gold. For their sake was
14:13
Speaker 1: I laid in the black pit? Look upon the children
14:17
Speaker 1: scattering roses, and hearken to their singing if it be
14:21
Speaker 1: sweet for their sake? Is my mouth filled with dust?
14:25
Speaker 1: And the roses are red from the well springs of
14:27
Speaker 1: my heart. See where the people kneel to drink the
14:31
Speaker 1: blood that drips from thy garment hem for their sake?
14:35
Speaker 1: Was it shed to quench their ravening thirst? For it
14:39
Speaker 1: is written, greater love hath no man than this? If
14:43
Speaker 1: a man lay down his life for his friends, Oh, Arthur, Arthur,
14:48
Speaker 1: there is greater love than this. If a man lay
14:52
Speaker 1: down the life of his best beloved, is not that greater?
14:56
Speaker 1: And it answered again, who is thy best beloved? In
15:00
Speaker 1: sooth not I? And when he would have spoken the
15:04
Speaker 1: words froze on his tongue, for the singing of the
15:07
Speaker 1: choristers passed over them as the north wind over icy pools,
15:12
Speaker 1: and hushed them into silence. Date it fragilibus corporis ferculum
15:19
Speaker 1: debt it et tristibus senguinus poculum decons assipite quod tradeou
15:27
Speaker 1: vasculum omnes ex eo bibiti. Drink of it, Christians, drink
15:33
Speaker 1: of it all of you. Is it not yours? For you?
15:37
Speaker 1: The red stream stains the grass for you. The living
15:41
Speaker 1: flesh is seared and torn. Eat of it, cannibals, eat
15:45
Speaker 1: of it, all of you. This is your feast and
15:48
Speaker 1: your orgy. This is the day of your joy. Haste
15:52
Speaker 1: you and come to the festival. Join the procession and
15:55
Speaker 1: march with us. Women and children, young men and old men.
16:00
Speaker 1: Coming to the sharing of flesh. Come to the pouring
16:03
Speaker 1: of blood. Wine and drink of it while it is red.
16:07
Speaker 1: Take and eat of the body Ah God. The fortress
16:12
Speaker 1: sullen and brown, with crumbling battlements and towers, dark among
16:16
Speaker 1: the barren hills, it scowled on the procession, sweeping past
16:21
Speaker 1: in the dusty road below. The iron teeth of the
16:24
Speaker 1: portculus were drawn down over the mouth of the gate,
16:28
Speaker 1: and as a beast crouched on the mountain side, the
16:31
Speaker 1: fortress guarded its prey. Yet be the teeth clenched, never
16:36
Speaker 1: so fast they shall be broken and riven asunder, and
16:40
Speaker 1: the grave in the courtyard within shall yield up her dead.
16:44
Speaker 1: For the Christian hosts are marching, marching in mighty procession
16:49
Speaker 1: to their sacramental feast of blood. As marches an army
16:53
Speaker 1: of famished rats to the gleaning, and their cry is give, give,
16:59
Speaker 1: And they say not it is enough. Wilt thou not
17:03
Speaker 1: be satisfied? For these men? Was I sacrificed? Thou hast
17:08
Speaker 1: destroyed me that they might live? And behold, they march
17:13
Speaker 1: everyone on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks.
17:17
Speaker 1: This is the army of Christians, the followers of thy God,
17:21
Speaker 1: A great people and a strong A fire devoureth before them,
17:25
Speaker 1: and behind them a flame burneth. The land is as
17:29
Speaker 1: the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a
17:33
Speaker 1: desolate wilderness. Yea, and nothing shall escape them. Oh yet,
17:38
Speaker 1: come back, Come back to me, beloved, for I repent
17:42
Speaker 1: me of my choice. Come back, and we will creep
17:46
Speaker 1: away together to some dark and silent grave, where the
17:49
Speaker 1: devouring army shall not find us. And we will lay
17:53
Speaker 1: us down there, locked in one another's arms, and sleep
17:57
Speaker 1: and sleep and sleep. And the hungry Christians shall pass
18:02
Speaker 1: by in the merciless daylight above our heads. And when
18:06
Speaker 1: they howl for blood to drink and for flesh to eat,
18:10
Speaker 1: their cry shall be faint in our ears, and they
18:14
Speaker 1: shall pass on their ways and leave us to our rest.
18:18
Speaker 1: And it answered, yet again, where shall I hide me?
18:22
Speaker 1: Is it not written? They shall run to and fro
18:25
Speaker 1: in the city. They shall run upon the wall, they
18:29
Speaker 1: shall climb up upon the houses. They shall enter in
18:32
Speaker 1: at the windows like a thief. If I build me
18:35
Speaker 1: a tomb on the mountain top, shall they not break
18:39
Speaker 1: it open? If I dig me a grave in the
18:41
Speaker 1: river bed, shall they not tear it up? Verily they
18:45
Speaker 1: are keen as bloodhounds to seek out their prey. And
18:50
Speaker 1: for them are my wounds red that they may drink.
18:53
Speaker 1: Canst thou not hear them what they sing? And they
18:57
Speaker 1: sing as they went in between the scarlet curtains of
19:01
Speaker 1: the cathedral door. For the procession was over, and all
19:05
Speaker 1: the roses were strewn ave verum corpus natum de maria
19:11
Speaker 1: virginae vera passum immolatum in crusee prohomine cujus leidis perforatum
19:20
Speaker 1: undem fluxikum sanguine esto nobus pragoostatum mortis in examine. And
19:30
Speaker 1: when they had left off singing, he entered at the
19:33
Speaker 1: doorway and passed between the silent rows of monks and priests,
19:37
Speaker 1: where they knelt, each man in his place, with the
19:40
Speaker 1: lighted candles uplifted, and he saw their hungry eyes fixed
19:45
Speaker 1: on the sacred body that he bore, and he knew
19:48
Speaker 1: why they bowed their heads as he passed, for the
19:52
Speaker 1: dark stream ran down the folds of his white vestments,
19:56
Speaker 1: and on the stones of the cathedral floor, his footsteps
20:00
Speaker 1: a deep red stain. So he passed up the nave
20:04
Speaker 1: to the chancel rails, and there the bearers paused, and
20:08
Speaker 1: he went out from under the canopy and up to
20:11
Speaker 1: the altar steps. To left and right, the white robed
20:15
Speaker 1: acolytes knelt with their censers, and the chaplains with their torches,
20:20
Speaker 1: and their eyes shone greedily in the flaring light as
20:24
Speaker 1: they watched the body of the victim, And as he
20:28
Speaker 1: stood before the altar, holding aloft with blood stained hands,
20:33
Speaker 1: the torn and mangled body of his murdered love. The
20:37
Speaker 1: voices of the guests, bidden to the eucharistic feast, rang
20:41
Speaker 1: out in another peal of song. Oh, salutaris hostia quai
20:47
Speaker 1: coile pondus ostium bella primont hostilia da robur fur auxilium ah.
20:57
Speaker 1: And now they come to take the body. Go, then,
21:00
Speaker 1: dear heart, to thy bitter doom, and open the gates
21:03
Speaker 1: of heaven for these ravening wolves that will not be denied.
21:08
Speaker 1: The gates that are opened for me are the gates
21:11
Speaker 1: of the nethermost hell. And as the Deacon of Honor
21:14
Speaker 1: placed the sacred vessel on the altar, Montanelli sank down
21:19
Speaker 1: where he had stood, and knelt upon the step, and
21:22
Speaker 1: from the white altar above him, the blood flowed down
21:26
Speaker 1: and dripped upon his head, and the voices of the
21:29
Speaker 1: singers rang on, peeling under the arches and echoing along
21:33
Speaker 1: the vaulted roof Uni trinoke domini sit sempiterna gloria qui
21:40
Speaker 1: vetum sine termino nobis donet in patria, sine termino, sine terminal.
21:49
Speaker 1: Oh happy Jesus, who could sink beneath his cross, Oh
21:54
Speaker 1: happy Jesus, who could say it is finished. This doom
21:58
Speaker 1: is never ended. It is eternal, as the stars in
22:01
Speaker 1: their courses. This is the worm that dieth not, and
22:05
Speaker 1: the fire that is not quenched. Siney terminal, siney terminal. Wearily, patiently,
22:13
Speaker 1: he went through his part in the remaining ceremonies, fulfilling
22:17
Speaker 1: mechanically from old habit the rites that had no longer
22:21
Speaker 1: any meaning for him. Then, after the benediction, he knelt
22:25
Speaker 1: down again before the altar and covered his face, and
22:29
Speaker 1: the voice of the priest, reading aloud the list of
22:32
Speaker 1: indulgences swelled and sank, like a far off murmur from
22:37
Speaker 1: a world to which he belonged no more. The voice
22:41
Speaker 1: broke off, and he stood up and stretched out his
22:44
Speaker 1: hand for silence. Some of the congregation were moving towards
22:48
Speaker 1: the doors. They turned back with a hurried rustle and
22:51
Speaker 1: murmur as a whisper went through the cathedral. His Eminence
22:56
Speaker 1: is going to speak. His ministers startled and wondering, drew
23:00
Speaker 1: closer to him, and one of them whispered, hastily, your Eminence,
23:04
Speaker 1: do you intend to speak to the people now? Montonelli
23:08
Speaker 1: silently waved him aside. The priest drew back, whispering together.
23:13
Speaker 1: The thing was unusual, even irregular, but it was within
23:18
Speaker 1: the cardinal's prerogative if he chose to do it. No
23:22
Speaker 1: doubt he had some statement of exceptional importance to make,
23:26
Speaker 1: some new reform from Rome to announce, or a special
23:30
Speaker 1: communication from the Holy Father. Montonelli looked down from the
23:34
Speaker 1: altar steps upon the sea of upturned faces, full of
23:38
Speaker 1: eager expectancy. They looked up to him as he stood
23:42
Speaker 1: above them, spectral and still and white sh silence. The
23:48
Speaker 1: leaders of the procession called softly, and the murmuring of
23:52
Speaker 1: the congregation died into stillness. As a gust of wind
23:55
Speaker 1: dies among whispering treetops. All the crowd gazed up in
24:00
Speaker 1: breathless silence at the white figure on the altar steps.
24:04
Speaker 1: Slowly and steadily, he began to speak. It is written
24:08
Speaker 1: in the Gospel according to Saint John, God so loved
24:12
Speaker 1: the world that he gave his only begotten son, that
24:15
Speaker 1: the world through him might be saved. This is the
24:19
Speaker 1: festival of the body and blood of the Victim who
24:22
Speaker 1: was slain for your salvation, the lamb of God which
24:26
Speaker 1: taketh away the sins of the world, the Son of
24:29
Speaker 1: God who died for your transgressions. And you are assembled
24:34
Speaker 1: here in solemn festival array to eat of the sacrifice
24:38
Speaker 1: that was given for you, and to render thanks for
24:41
Speaker 1: this great mercy. And I know that this morning, when
24:45
Speaker 1: you came to share in the banquet to eat of
24:48
Speaker 1: the body of the Victim, your hearts were filled with
24:50
Speaker 1: joy as you remembered the passion of God, the son
24:54
Speaker 1: who died that you might be saved. But tell me
24:58
Speaker 1: which among you has thought that other passion, of the
25:02
Speaker 1: passion of God the Father, who gave his son to
25:05
Speaker 1: be crucified. Which of you has remembered the agony of
25:09
Speaker 1: God the Father when he bent from his throne in
25:12
Speaker 1: the heavens above and looked down upon Calvary. I have
25:17
Speaker 1: watched you today, my people, as you walked in your
25:20
Speaker 1: ranks in sullen procession, and I have seen that your
25:24
Speaker 1: hearts are glad within you for the remission of your sins,
25:28
Speaker 1: and that you rejoice in your salvation. Yet I pray
25:31
Speaker 1: you that you consider at what price that salvation was bought.
25:37
Speaker 1: Surely it is very precious, and the price of it
25:40
Speaker 1: above rubies. It is the price of blood. A faint,
25:45
Speaker 1: long shudder passed through the listening crowd in the chancel.
25:49
Speaker 1: The priest bent forward and whispered to one another, but
25:53
Speaker 1: the preacher went on speaking, and they held their peace.
25:56
Speaker 1: Therefore it is that I speak with you the I
26:01
Speaker 1: am that I am. For I looked upon your weakness
26:05
Speaker 1: and your sorrow, and upon the little children about your feet,
26:09
Speaker 1: and my heart was moved to compassion for their sake,
26:12
Speaker 1: that they must die. Then I looked into my dear
26:16
Speaker 1: son's eyes, and I knew that the atonement of blood
26:20
Speaker 1: was there, and I went my way and left him
26:24
Speaker 1: to his doom. This is the remission of sins. He
26:28
Speaker 1: died for you, and the darkness has swallowed him up.
26:31
Speaker 1: He is dead and there is no resurrection. He is dead,
26:35
Speaker 1: and I have no son. Oh, my boy, my boy.
26:41
Speaker 1: The cardinal's voice broke into a long wailing cry, and
26:46
Speaker 1: the voices of the terrified people answered it like an echo.
26:50
Speaker 1: All the clergy had risen from their places, and the
26:53
Speaker 1: deacons of honor started forward to lay their hands on
26:56
Speaker 1: the preacher's arm, but he wrenched it away and faced
27:00
Speaker 1: them suddenly with the eyes of an angry wild beast.
27:04
Speaker 1: What is this? Is there not blood enough? Wait your turn, jackals,
27:09
Speaker 1: You shall all be fed. They shrink away and huddled
27:13
Speaker 1: shivering together, their panting breath thick and loud, their faces
27:18
Speaker 1: white with the whiteness of chalk. Montanelli turned again to
27:22
Speaker 1: the people, and they swayed and shook before him as
27:25
Speaker 1: a field of corn before a hurricane. You have killed him,
27:30
Speaker 1: You have killed him, and I suffered it because I
27:34
Speaker 1: would not let you die. And now when you come
27:38
Speaker 1: about me with your lying praises and your unclean prayers.
27:42
Speaker 1: I repent me. I repent me that I have done
27:45
Speaker 1: this thing. It were better that you all should rot
27:49
Speaker 1: in your vices, in the bottomless filth of damnation, and
27:53
Speaker 1: that he should live. What is the worth of your
27:56
Speaker 1: plague spotted souls, that such a price should be paid
28:00
Speaker 1: for them? But it is too late, too late, I
28:04
Speaker 1: cry aloud, but he does not hear me. I beat
28:08
Speaker 1: at the door of the grave, but he will not wake.
28:11
Speaker 1: I stand alone in desert space, and look around me
28:15
Speaker 1: from the blood stained earth where the heart of my
28:18
Speaker 1: heart lies buried, to the void and awful heaven that
28:22
Speaker 1: is left unto me, desolate, I have given him up,
28:26
Speaker 1: Oh generation of vipers, I have given him up for you.
28:30
Speaker 1: Take your salvation, since it is yours. I fling it
28:34
Speaker 1: to you as a bone is flung to a pack
28:37
Speaker 1: of snarling curs. The price of your banquet is paid
28:40
Speaker 1: for you. Come then and gorge yourselves. Cannibals, blood suckers
28:45
Speaker 1: carry and beasts that feed on the dead. See where
28:49
Speaker 1: the blood streams down from the altar, foaming and hot,
28:53
Speaker 1: from my darling's heart. The blood that was shed for
28:56
Speaker 1: you wallow and lap it and smear yourselves red with it.
29:00
Speaker 1: Snatch and fight for the flesh, and devour it, and
29:04
Speaker 1: trouble me no more. This is the body that was
29:07
Speaker 1: given for you. Look at it, torn and bleeding, throbbing,
29:11
Speaker 1: still with the tortured life, quivering from the bitter death agony.
29:16
Speaker 1: Take it, Christians, and eat. He had caught up the
29:20
Speaker 1: sun with the host and lifted it above his head,
29:23
Speaker 1: and now flung it, crashing down upon the floor at
29:27
Speaker 1: the ring of the metal on stone. The clergy rushed
29:30
Speaker 1: forward together, and twenty hands seized the madman. Then, and
29:35
Speaker 1: only then, the silence of the people broke in a wild,
29:39
Speaker 1: hysterical scream, and overturning chairs and benches, beating at the doorways,
29:45
Speaker 1: trampling one upon another, tearing down curtains and garlands. In
29:50
Speaker 1: their haste. The surging, sobbing, human flood poured out upon
29:54
Speaker 1: the street. End of chapter eight of the third part