Original subtitles

I shall tell this story because the names and number of the animals

are like the names and number of the stars;

and so that I, as a tiny creature, may have a right to the Great Banquet,

by the good will of God, my father.

And in telling it, I pray Our Lord Jesus,

from the bottom of the cave of the dead to the top of the chapel of the kings,

to translate this Magnificat of mine

in letters of fury and fire.

I shall tell what happened in the Passion Week

of 926th year from the birth of the Christ,

in the lands of the lord of Malfole.

west of the Monacesca forest and east of the Glossina river,

where people thought that the sun would spend the night at the bottom of the sea.

But within them

the fear and love of God were deep,

and the certainty of His presence in the forces of nature,

in the springs, in the trees, in the clouds of the sky,

in the clearness of clearnesses.

And there was for the dying the ancient use of the last farewell.

This was a pact that the dying would make with the dearest person,

promising from Heaven a sign of the attained peace.

It was on that Monday of Passion Week that Folco,

a judicial executioner without a helper,

went searching for one among the members of the Nomen family,

swineherds and cheese-makes in Rocchette.

To exercise justice,

whenever chance makes it necessary,

you shall select among the sons, whose sex must be ascertained by inspection,

and free from ties from wife and children.

The Lord of Sarzana

will make 2 judicial executioners every 5 years

in the Easter Week,

with the office of executing justice

in the lands of Malfole,

below the Limentra river, Treppio,

under the border of the yoke of Mount Sambuco, and Mount Acuto Ragazza,

outside the walls of Camugnano,

and in the burghs and fords of Faina

and Tredozio, and in the gorge of Mount Cavallaro,

without executing sentences

in the lands of Saxum Glossina,

which belong to the Lord of Loggiola.

And in case of death,

or default, or intervening incapability

of one of them,

a deputy shall be sought in the closest lands

who may have the same qualities in the body

and in the soul of the departed.

And he shall be made executioner with the rank of helper of the first executioner,

who shall be his head until the end of the mandate, when he shall ask his lord

to return to his origin,

and family,

and house,

and name.

What is your name?

Baino.

And for the 5 years of his commission,

the executioner shall be marked by the 5 rings of holy death,

which he shall wear day and night

as a sign of identification

and immunity.

It was under the angels' sky of the same morning, that Roza, royal concubine,

crossed the impassable paths of Mount Cavallo

going to the Visitation Monastery.

Behind the bearers, burdened by the weight of that sacred load,

there were the nurses and midwives of the court,

for Roza, concubine of Ugo, king of the Italians,

kept in her womb the seed of that monarch,

that holy son that was destined to be born in the very Passion Week,

while in the royal bedrooms

two more whores preserved in their rotten wombs

seeds of the same stock.

In that race to give a son to the king, the reward was his succession,

and Roza, who despite her age was having her first child

did not want to give up the advantage that destiny gave her.

It is really a son!

There were many signs that the flesh which burdened her womb was the flesh of a son.

But she, who knew enchanting arts,

wore around her neck, against the will of the Church, the Eagle Stone,

which with its magnetism protects the babe

from the incantations of the world.

It's over there!

They said that the Visitation Monastery had been built by Charlemagne himself,

and then given as a benefit to the order of the Holy Vestment.

The pious nuns, beside prayer,

devoted themselves to repairing the walls and the roof,

to weaving blankets, tanning hides,

shearing sheep,

and to growing wheat, barley, and spelt.

The deacons and subdeacons, divided in thurifers, cross bearers,

candle bearers, train bearers, collectors, and sextons,

kept alive in their rites

the spirit of the ancient liturgy.

They still used to recite at Vespers the prayer to the angels,

who present themselves before God's judgment each day at the setting of the sun.

The monastery had its name from the visit

that Mary did to Elizabeth on the day following the Annunciation.

Hanging from the sky of beams of the church,

from time immemorial, the Holy Virgin's tunic was preserved,

which a pilgrim had brought here from the Holy Land,

at the time of the first Merovingian kings.

A prodigious relic for women in labor.

It was a royal abbey.

Hence a special kneeler in the church was named the king's place.

And always, at any hour of the day and of the night,

it had to be used from a nun or an oblate,

who might pray for the sovereign's soul,

freeing him from his sins.

If it is his first theft,

I must cut him one ear,

or pluck one eye.

If they find him stealing again,

I cut him a foot, or a hand

If then they catch him for the third time,

I must hang him.

Is it true that

I have taken your son's place?

Who rapes a nun must be burned alive.

Who is married twice must be thrown down a cliff.

He's dead, isn't he?

The dead son was the executioner's thought.

There was nothing that might give him a reason, peace, or a truce.

He was feeling a void within him,

like he was the wrapping,

the loving skin of a wound so huge

and incurable.

Margherita, 7th daughter of Alardo of Conca di Montefiore,

through this will which I am reading,

on Monday of Passion Week,

in the first year of the reign of Ugo of Provence,

divests herself of all that she has,

and, more precisely,

of one seventh of the house and of the court yard,

of one seventh of the road to the ford of the Grossina river,

of one seventh of the wood of Sperticano,

of one seventh of the barge and of the ford,

of her grave at the family graveyard,

of one seventh of the two cows, of the calf, and of the pig.

As an oblate to the holy house of the Visitation Monastery,

her fate will be donated to the pious abbess, devout to Christ Our Lord,

Who by the Christian is called Son of the only God.

And in exchange for such donation, the monastery will renounce for 10 more years

to the fishing and fording rights in the Grossina river.

She will keep for herself, according to the rule, only the nun's chest,

which will contain her body on the day of her death.

This is the head,

and this is the body.

It's here

that the blade must come.

Come, you try.

You've broken his skull,

and perhaps you haven't even killed him.

Try again.

Here.

Again.

Again.

Again.

Do you know who these are?

All those of the family who are not here any more.

This is you.

And according to a pagan usage, the poles with the wooden doves

would show the road to come back home to those who had died far away.

And so, in that afternoon of Holy Monday,

only with her patched vest,

her mother's cloak,

and an empty wooden chest,

Margherita left Conca di Montefiore

in a journey that for her would last for ever.

...tossed with tempest, without all comfort,

behold I will lay thy stones in order,

and will lay thy foundations with sapphires,

And I will make thy bulwarks of jasper:

and thy gates of graven stones,

and all thy borders of desirable stones.

All thy children shall be taught of the Lord:

and great shall be the peace of thy children.

...for thou shalt not fear,

fright shall not come near thee.

And the Holy Virgin, after the visitation of the angel,

one day she said:

I shall rise and visit my cousin Elizabeth.

I shall tell her all the wonders that have happened to me,

and whatsoever she may ask me, I shall do it.

And having donned her vest, she set out secretly at day-break

towards the mountains of Judea.

You may go near it.

The Holy Tunic will help you

and protect during labor the life you carry in your womb.

And the women had prepared the royal couch on high trestles.

And they furnished it with cushion, mattress, quilt, and pillow.

And a bright light shone from the cell walls

when torches of Spanish wax were lit.

Other maids, so as to give strength to the expectant lady,

took care of her nourishment,

by cooking meats that men expert in woodcraft had hunted:

crane,

wild geese simmered in mint and fenugreek,

peacocks in pepper sauce,

rabbits in vinegar and honey,

broth of fat meat,

Cretan grapes liquor,

and the soft part of the whitest bread to wipe away the clots of fat.

Gomario Grifone, Lord of Malfole,

feeling that his death was nearing,

chose to meet it at the foot of the Visitation Monastery,

at the western extremity of his lands.

Thus the men of his retinue built a lodge with the wood of that sacred place

and blessed it,

as it was erected in the land where their lord had first seen the light,

and where his wife had been buried,

on the banks of that river

in which he had been immersed on that far and bright day

of his knightly investiture.

And so in the morning of Tuesday of Passion Week,

his body, tormented from burning pustules,

was put on a barge set to go down the flow.

And his last and noble escort

was formed by the three bastards begotten in the long span of his life,

by Benicevenne, his beloved son,

and by Martinella, who, in the days of his old age, had been his entertainment,

and his love.

And his skin was stretched over his bone as thin parchment over canes.

I have many dearest friends,

who during these years

have all gone to a far place.

It is about this place that I think

ever more often.

My dear friend,

come to my side for the last time

and warm me up from the chill that is taking me.

Give me a kiss: you will do it no more.

Here I dwelt during the finest days.

But now it is the time to lose you,

to see you disappear from my desire.

This is the first of many renunciations...

of which these hours are made,

I have sought you and loved only you.

God is my witness.

I never asked you for nuptial contracts

nor for any dowry.

And even if the name of bride...

may seem holier and more proper,

to me that of friend has always been sweeter.

Even that of lover.

Because...

the more I humbled myself before you,

the more I thought you liked me,

and said adorned odes to your glory.

And he knew that like blooming roses was the color of her body,

and like a rainbow mirrored in the waters the glow of her glance.

My fault, o my God and forgiveness...

For whom is this function?

For him who is dying.

...from the time of my birth until this day when, lo, I am turned to nothing.

Jerusalem, city of God, the Lord will rise over thee.

In thee His glory will appear.

The Lord will rise over thee.

During Lent,

Agnello used to leave the convent of Our Lady of the Snow,

traveling on a tour of all the monasteries of the Pentapolis,

to compile a yearbook of the monks and nuns who had died during the winter.

I greet you through the Cross.

I greet you through the Cross.

Whom did winter take away?

Brothers Giovanni di Lino and Mario Lico left.

Of what cause?

Of decrepitude and too many vigils.

She passed through here too, didn't he?

Alas, she did.

I greet you through the Cross.

I greet you through the Cross.

Was any sister of this place called to the paradise of the saints?

Yes, in mid November sister Mara of the Genuflection.

I greet you through the Cross.

His springs and summers

were entirely spent crossing mountains

filled with flesh-eating birds,

descending through horrid precipices, going through woods,

confiding in the protection of the Most High,

and convinced of His presence in the sap of all the good things of the world.

Here in November sister Escola died.

Escola.

And of what cause?

Of buboes and old age.

On the Annunciation Sibiliano della Diana left us.

Ah! How did he die?

Drowned in the hemp pond.

Well, if you would take a note:

At Our Lady of the Cane Field,

they died: Gerberga di Faracirenga

and Marco Veifo del Pioppeto,

At Our Lady of the Lattani: Onesto of Jesus

and Atterio of Mones

and Cherubino of Jerusalem.

And Benigno offered to that arcane company

one loaf and two fish dried in salt.

And in exchange they showed him the dead king:

A stinking corpse, adorned with cloak and crown,

propped up with forked sticks.

He had been killed in the battle of St. Leo by the peasants.

who had trapped him in a vineyard.

His comrades were taking him back to Noricum, showing him in the villages,

while begging for food for the journey.

Martinella, I've entrusted you to Ondeo,

who will defend you,

and love you.

I give him also the usufruct of the property of Montassico,

and the income of the fortress of Prada,

and the vineyards of Cerignone with the two farms.

You will leave tomorrow.

And Benicevenne will let you know about my death.

For which you will have the Canon of Reno say...

100 masses.

And to you, Agateo,

I entreat you to bring my cross to Cologne,

where Helen, Constantine's mother, buried the bodies of the Three Kings,

thus paying off my debt with God.

As bequest I give you for wife

the daughter of the bailiff of Vincaie,

who has been dead for 3 years,

without male heirs.

She is still unmarried and virgin.

And you must promise to wait till she's completely become a woman

before you have her,

keeping her as a dear friend,

not a bride.

And to you, Rolandino,

give you the fishing and hunting rights of the properties of Casa Corazza and Spinelle.

and the fords of the Rancolfo river and Parlesca,

and the usufruct of the mill of Perticale.

And you shall have for wife...

the 5th daughter of the lord of Febino,

who has already been a widow twice,

and owns the pastures of Guastoglia.

And you, Benicevenne,

now that my time is completely finished,

will be the lord of Malfole,

and be knighted.

Through the military saints, George, Theodore...

Mercury, and Martin,

put your weapons...

in the service of the Lady of Heaven,

May they help you to recognize the signs

that I will give you about my reached peace.

Behold, the smell of my son

is as the smell of a plentiful field, which the Lord hath blessed.

What do you want?

I wish to obtain...

I wish to obtain...

the mercy and grace...

the mercy and grace of God

and become a member of your fellowship,

and become one of your fellowship.

May God give you the fellowship of the faithful.

Make the necessary step to enter the holy ground of the monastery.

What is your name, friend? - Margherita of Conca di Montefiore.

Now you are one of our faith, which you must keep like the heart on your breast,

Welcome, sister.

Welcome, sister.

During the first interrogation, after having him sworn on the sword,

the husband was asked to confirm if his wife had offered him

on night of the feast of St. Ovidia,

a river fish, which she had hidden still alive in her private parts,

removed secretly only after the last pangs of agony.

Yes, I confirm this.

She forced me to eat a fish that she had inserted into her private parts.

All this was revealed to me by my dead cousin, who appeared to me by the stable.

If she offered him to eat bread,

which she made knead on the naked flesh of her behind.

And if she added to food and drink a little of her menstrual blood.

Yes, I swear she offered me bread that she made knead secretly on her behind.

If, all naked, she covered herself with honey rolling on a layer of wheat berries,

and had later collected all the berries spread over her body.

One night I saw her all naked rolling on wheat.

If she ground them turning the grindstone in the opposite direction of the sun's rotation

and then with that flour she prepared a cake, offering it to her spouse in bed.

Yes, she ground them turning the grindstone in the opposite direction of the sun.

All these wicked deeds aimed to make her husband impotent

and keep herself only for her lover.

Mary was three when her parents brought her to the temple

and she stayed there twelve years. Repeat.

Mary was three when her parents brought her to the temple

and she stayed there twelve years.

When she was 15, she was espoused to Joseph. Repeat.

When she was 15, she was espoused to Joseph.

Then the angel appeared to her and told her:

You shall bring forth the Son of the Most High.

Whose? - Of the Most High. Repeat.

Then the angel told her: You shall bring forth the Son of the Most High.

You must wait here, leave here all your memories,

as Mary did when she was brought to the temple.

You must get used to have no memories.

You must learn to cancel all things and people you'd like to think about.

Away with them all.

Do you think it would have been easier with your son?

I and he would have make her suffer less.

That's all.

He knew how to do it.

But...

aren't you afraid that those you kill will come back?

You know, so many men, so many women.

Even priests.

People important in the Church.

But nobody showed up again.

Neither by day, nor by night.

This means that it's very easy to go to the next world,

but that it's very hard to return here.

Even for those who go to Heaven?

Those that we are given do not go to Heaven.

How do you know?

Who do you think you are to know?

If there is one who should come back,

I know him.

You'd like him to be here in my place, don't you?

To win ourselves, becoming stronger each day,

and to advance each day in our improvement.

To win ourselves, becoming stronger each day,

and to advance each day in our improvement.

The wider and deeper is your knowledge,

the more severely you shall be judged.

The wider and deeper is your knowledge,

the more severely you shall be judged.

Therefore do not boast any doctrine or art,

but rather fear all the knowledge that has been granted to you.

That very night, Irmina di Chiora had died of fever,

given by the family to the monastery the year before,

in exchange for the use of the mill for grinding wheat.

So Margherita took her place in the dormitory,

and she was given her blanket, her straw-mattress, and her basin,

which were blessed

because Irmina had died free of sin.

Most of the oblates came from families still tied to arcane and barbarous superstitions.

Such as the obligation to defend with thorns from diabolical interventions

the soul of the dead before burial.

Three summers and three winters Our Lord God had sent to earth,

since when Arustico of Jerusalem and his two sons

had to be on guard duty on the Tower of the Sparrow against those of Gragnone.

It lasted for nine days and nine nights

and no family of peasants could avoid to give its sons to this servitude.

I am here.

During this time, the women of Bosco Gennaro

had to bring every three days food, drink, oil, bread,

plus two strings of dried figs, salt, and two citrons.

So it was that Venturina and Rustico fell in love.

What do you want? - We are here to ask the lord of Marfole for a license.

The lord of Malfole is seriously ill:

he cannot give audience to the people of the burgh, neither decide on men and things.

We have waited some time for the approval of our son's marriage.

Who is the bride? - Venturina of Gerasio of Bosco Gennaro, sir.

Who asks to marry you? - Remigio of Rustico of Jerusalem.

How many degrees of kindred separate you, lest you commit incest?

From the shoulder to the middle finger.

Go on.

I am the daughter of Gelasio of Bosco Gennaro,

who was the son of Maiolo of Bosco Gennaro,

who was the brother of Emma of Bosco Gennaro,

who married Zaffiro of Jerusalem,

who had Diamora of Jerusalem,

who had Rustico of Jerusalem,

who is his father.

What do you give to your lord in exchange of this license?

This beast.

Thus Venturina

could have her engagement party,

making her love publicly known.

"To him who will take this haughty request I ask to make one step forward

towards that boy who came to watch for nine days and nine nights

at the Tower of the Sparrow against those of Gragnone."

"To him who will receive this blessing of mine

I ask to kneel before the woman who came to bring to the men at the Tower of the Sparrow

bread for nine days, and meat, wine, and eggs for nine days."

And to him who will receive this song of mine

I ask to kiss the tip of the toes of the woman

who returned from the Tower of the Sparrow

repeating the words of the rhyme till the burgh.

And to her who will take this prayer of mine,

I ask to exchange her seat of honor with that soul who recognized my love.

And let those who recovered the dove make

the sign of Christ to seal this assembly.

Beside with prayer and fasting,

they would prepare for the holy festivity

of the death and resurrection of the Nazarene

by cleaning their souls from the sins of the world

and their bodies from the filth of the cold winter months.

It was also an opportunity to free it with great skill

from the many parasites infesting it.

And Margherita

strove to remove from her head all the memories that would bring her home,

beyond the mountains.

And to do that,

she went down to the meadow behind the monastery

to look for the tomb of the oblate whose place she had taken.

But, as she could not read, she did not find it.

Giovanni di Saloto di Casio.

I swear.

Falduccio di Gennaio.

I swear.

Dianora di Calimola.

I swear.

Tusco di Campobose. - I swear.

Maiolo di Ponte.

I swear.

Ascelino of the Holy Shrub. I swear.

Liutardo of the Power of the Angel. - I swear.

Giuscla del Biscione. - I swear.

Astra di Fiaccone.

I swear.

Fessa of the Tiola valley.

I swear.

Centone di Rocca di Bardi

I swear.

Ammiano di Pavico.

I swear.

Thus says the law:

Whoever kills his wife and denies it,

and against whom twelve neighbors swear,

shall be saved, provided he pays 200 pennies in requite.

Otherwise he shall face the judgment trial.

Now your hands shall be wrapped in tow and linen,

after they have been covered with wax.

After this you shall be delivered to the judicial executioners,

who will keep you for 3 days and 3 nights.

On the third day,

if you should show signs of burning,

it will signify your lie.

And you shall be quartered alive at this point in the burgh.

Among the many rules regulating life in the monastery,

sovereign was that of silence,

to be observed for the whole day and night,

except the time of prayer together.

So a special language was used,

which was based on signs.

Each sign portrayed a being or a thing of the human,

animal, or vegetable kingdom,

an idea or a principle,

a question or a command,

a dream or a torment,

or a heavenly concept.

Smell the scent of this plant:

it's the scent of the house where you were born.

How did you recognize it?

From your stories.

Even that it would please God that I may hunt again in those fields!

Alas!

I have no more control over my body.

I must prepare myself.

If there is something that may help you not suffer,

I will let you know.

I will send you a sign to tell.

This is our pact.

If I shall have after my death

a way to return and tell you my peace,

if I shall have this way,

If Christ Our Lord forgives me,

and will give me this way,

I will do it.

I promise to you.

And then, my beloved,

your life will be gladdened by a hope that nobody gave me.

This is the pledge I wish to make

at the time of my death.

And according to the ancient usage of those noble people,

a circle of blessed ropes and torches was made

around the place where their lord was dying,

leaving only a narrow opening,

which was called the Opening of Death:

a holy passage

through which Death,

who among the Lord's devotee is the most devoted,

would penetrate that night,

in the darkness and silence of the pavilion,

welcomed like a long awaited friend.

Margherita, it's matins: dress yourself.

This is your candle.

It lasts for one third of the night.

When it is about to go out, they will come and fetch you.

You know what to do, don't you?

To pray and never fall asleep.

Do you know how to pray?

You must say: I love you Mary, I love you Mary.

That's all. Do you understand?

Here lies Bishop Ugone. It's pointless to open: I'm sure.

Here the Bardi counts and their daughters.

Here it sounds empty. There's nobody here.

Here water used to run. So, no way.

If he died after his brother, he's in the crypt.

They were all brought there after the thieves had come.

It's here.

It should be under here.

Yes, this is it.

It is the family ring.

It's the lady of Malfole.

It was on Passion Thursday at dawn that the lord of Malfole

had the rest of the sleeping.

His corpse was immersed in warm wine,

and the women used branches of blessed palm

to free that warrior body from years of filth.

The enemies had the king in their hands,

making every effort to throw down his helm.

The lord of Malfole advanced so much as to hurl himself at them.

And he stroke so much, in front and behind,

and he showed his style in such a way,

and he pushed so much and pulled,

to tear up the crownpiece to the king.

And he brought him safe to the friendly camp.

The lord of Malfole did so much

that later the king said

that he never knew or saw

a more beautiful knightly attack

than that brought by the lord of Malfole in that war.

And he was praised much

by the best.

With the head towards Jerusalem.

It was on that same day that the two executioners

let themselves be dragged by their prisoner beyond the large meadow of the clerics,

to Isabella of Montecavallaro,

the widow who had the gift of insanity,

of one born in the darkness between interlunation.

For the pleasure you gave me

I washed my hair, my husband.

After washing it,

I tied them with golden threads, my husband.

After I washed it,

I had to tie it with gold.

I tied it with golden threads.

While I waited for you, my husband.

O my dear husband,

o living beast that were within me,

o bitter nourishment,

o straight tree grown towards the sky,

o my sweet husband.

Isabella!

Isabella!

I'm Alfio!

Go away!

I need to talk to you!

Get gone!

I must see you!

Don't come closer! Away!

Away!

You can't throw me rocks!

Don't come closer!

Get gone!

Get gone!

Don't come closer!

Maybe if one of you goes

to explain to her what's happening to me,

hopefully she'll soften up.

I can't die like this,

without even talking to her!

Shall I try?

She said we must leave, that he already got her in trouble.

Come,

come out of here.

He, who detains you among holy flowers,

let you return to me at least once.

She's always been crazy since childhood.

Her brain was full of water and would run on its own.

And men like this.

She is one who always changes.

Before, when you went to Monte Cavallaro,

she would jump out naked from behind a tree

and look at you.

But if you stepped forward,

she might call for help,

even throw rocks at you.

If you stood still,

she would remain there,

naked,

saying names.

And her husband?

He knew.

Then, when the news that she had become a widow spread,

all the men would come up from Campodoso, Pioppe,

to try to mount her.

So I came up too.

She would look at me in a special way.

She told me: you're Marzolina's husband.

And then?

I couldn't sleep any longer.

So...

I went to the Visitation Monastery

to ask Our Lady

if she could help me to become a widower.

But twelve swore that you killed her.

I have made thee a watchman to the house of Israel.

Canticle of Canticles?

No.

Ezechiel 3:16? - Good!

For the lips of a harlot are like a honeycomb dropping.

Psalms 25:8.

No.

Proverbs 5:22? - Good.

For she is an infinite treasure to men.

Wisdom 7:14.

Good.

At his voice he giveth a multitude of waters in the heaven.

Kings 11:7. - No.

Joel 4:21? - No.

Ecclesiasticus 12:20? - No.

Exodus 15:9? - No.

Ezechiel 23:3.

Proverbs 26:28.

Psalms 145. - No.

Jeremias 5:16.

On Holy Thursday fasting would last until the third hour after noon.

Only then it was allowed to distribute bread.

All ye works of the Lord, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.

O ye angels of the Lord, bless the Lord: O ye heavens, bless the Lord:

O all ye waters that are above the heavens, bless the Lord:

O all ye powers of the Lord, bless the Lord:

O ye sun and moon, bless the Lord: O ye stars of heaven, bless the Lord:

O every shower and dew, bless ye the Lord: O all ye spirits of God, bless the Lord:

And the deacons, continuing their ascent,

reached the olive garden of Arnone,

where an age-old tree grew as old, they said, as Christ would be

if He has stayed among humans.

The land nourishing this olive tree was blessed land,

and had always been fenced from grazing and never manured.

Only from pressing the olives of this plant

the oil was obtained to be consecrated, sanctified, and exorcised,

according to the dictates of the ancient liturgy.

The oil to be consecrated

shall be filtered through three corporals placed at three different heights,

and shall fall into the jar in which,

without any decanting,

shall be carried to the cathedral, where it will be blessed

and mixed with the sacred chrism.

This precious substance operates in Baptism and Confirmation,

in the consecration of altars and chalices,

in the blessing of the dead,

in the consecration of kings and princes,

in the blessing of bells.

The Sacred Chrism,

brought to Clovis, king of the Franks, by an angel appearing in form of a dove,

and preserved all year round within the altar in the most inviolable and hidden place.

was mixed, in just a few drops, to the blessed oil.

He cannot be born tonight: the moon hasn't changed yet.

Let's hope he's born on Good Friday:

all those born on that day are either seers or healers.

And he saw an immense plain,

named the Territory of Paradise.

There were castles in a marvelous number

and beautiful gardens of recreation.

All the streets of Paradise were made of the most pure gold and most precious stones.

An avenue was formed with golden trees, whose branches were bright with gold.

Their flowers remained rich and lush, according to their species,

And they were more enchanting and wonderful

than anything that might be seen in the gardens of the kingdom,

And he saw in the middle of this territory

Jerusalem holy, sublime, beautiful, and richly adorned.

The city was surrounded by seven wondrous castles,

with coat of arms bearing the glorious name of the Virgin.

And he saw that the castles were richly adorned,

and hoisting flags of victory.

And the angels, the archangels, the apostles, the prophets, the confessors, and the virgins

were disposed according to their rank. And he saw them.

And thus he knew he had reached

his house of eternal peace.

Amen.

It's about to be born!

Push!

Is the head visible? - Almost.

The mantle and the crown.

Maybe we should tell the king.

No.

Let's wait.

No.

That's it, like that. Push!

Here it is. Come, come: it's coming.

Here it is.

Here it is.

It's a girl.

Where do you strike first?

You first cut one arm, eh?

Some cut the legs first, don't they?

You lied.

In this moment, to give me the sign,

let these plants

hardly move with the wind.

Let these plants hardly move,

and I shall believe that your soul has been accepted into Heaven beside Our Lord,

and your faults have been forgiven,

and you are watching from above in glory,

far from your tribulations.

Let me strike with my sword the trunk of this plant,

and a bird fly away. This is the pact among us: that if only one bird should fly away,

you are watching me from Heaven and my anguish to have lost you will be abated.

Is it true that one doesn't die right away,

and that you must break his back to make him finally die?

And that one may keep on living even

without legs and arms?

Think of where you will go.

You must only think of that.

You must only think of the place waiting for you.

Have you seen it?

Have you been there?

There's never been anyone going there and coming back to tell.

Yes, there has.

Brother Agnello,

of the Monastery of Our Lady of the Snow.

He said he knew where Heaven was.

On the same night, Agnello,

ascending on the Misty Mountain,

had reached the Monastery of the Paraclete,

which among the sacred places was the closest to Heaven.

I greet you through the Cross.

I greet you through the Cross.

Alas, this year Death visited the monasteries of the valley

and those of the ridge.

And he visited also our holy house,

taking away our sister Alfaide, our speaker.

What lead her to Heaven?

The bite of a rabid dog.

Ah, yes.

I understand.

I greet you through the Cross. - I greet you through the Cross.

And in one of the many caves of the Misty Mountain,

closest to heaven,

on that very night Agnello died.

On his register of the souls of Heaven that ended with the nun Alfaide,

bitten by a rabid dog,

nobody could add his name.

One day, a 15-year-old maiden,

called Mary,

left home.

She needed water.

She took a jug and went to the spring.

She was wearing this tunic,

the only one she had,

torn in many places.

She arrived at the spring and heard a voice calling her:

She turned around and there was an angel of the Lord who told her that shortly after

she would become the Mother of God.

She was very scared.

She couldn't believe the destiny waiting for her.

She didn't know to whom to turn.

So she fled to a far away village, on the mountains,

where her cousin Elizabeth lived.

She knocked at the door,

and Elizabeth came to meet her blessing her with these words:

To what do I owe the honor that the Mother of God Almighty should come to my house?

Then Mary understood and said:

My soul doth magnify the Lord.

And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid.

He that is mighty hath done great things to me.

And the morning of Good Friday came.

And darkness fell over earth.

And nature too seemed to follow a ritual linked to that sad day.

Holy God,

Holy Mighty,

Holy Immortal,

have mercy on us.

O my people, what have I done to thee?

or wherein have I afflicted thee?

Answer me.

And the Man will be dragged onto Mount Golgotha,

within the bowels thereof Adam is buried.

And in the holy vineyard, a branch of the tree of Paradise

will become the cross of the Son.

The waters shall be changed and become coals of fire.

and the stars shall fall to pieces because of the fiery flame,

as if they had never been created.

The sky shall be changed in an immense thunderbolt.

And the thunderbolts shall frighten the world.

And the souls of the dead shall become like those,

and shall be changed to fire,

at God's command.

What are you doing here? Away!

Go away!

Faithful Cross, above all other!

One and only noble Tree!

None in foliage, none in blossom,

None in fruit thy peer may be.

Sweetest wood and sweetest iron,

Sweetest weight is hung on thee!

The body of Christ.

The body of Christ.

The body of Christ.

I give you my daughter.

May this blessed ring help you forestall the assaults of the devil.

For all the services that you will render me,

and all the things you promised to me,

for all this I give you my house

and myself.

With this gesture I exercise my right to allocate men,

and women, things,

and animals of the dominion of Malfole,

of which I am the heir.

I wish to offer you my subjection

and the thoughts of my head.

And the actions of my hands, of my feet,

and of my legs.

That is why we are together.

And I wish to offer you my prayers.

And the dreams of my night. And I want to offer you

the children you'll have from my body,

with whom you will go in the fields to sow wheat

and to make fortifications.

I and will not offer you...

my old age,

or my ugliness,

or my weakness.

or my poorness.

And God grant

that you may then see me no longer.

Be quiet!

Good night.

If that ember should give off a whirl of sparkles in the time I say one Hail Mary,

it means that you are in some part of the universe

and you see me from the heaven of the blessed,

and you wish to tell me your peace.

Hail Mary,

full of grace, the Lord is with thee;

blessed art thou amongst women,

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,

pray for us sinners,

now and at the hour of our death.

There was

in the rule of the last farewell

the following pact,

which used to be agreed with the dearest person,

promising him a return.

It was a pact

that the people of the land from centuries and centuries

would make at the moment of departure

with those destined to live on.

But nobody ever

had received from the other world

any answer.