Chapter 999

After touring the interior of the monastery, Josef sort of understood why it had been removed from Bavaria untouched.

The decoration in the monastery is very gorgeous, and there is a magnificent baptistery, it is hard to believe that this is a small town monastery.

There is nothing special about the shape of the baptistery. It is just an ordinary octagon, but the inside is inlaid with golden mosaics. There are life-sized sculptures around the baptistery, all of which are covered with gold. There is also a pipe organ on the second floor. , with golden angel reliefs on it.

This baptismal pool can not only bathe babies, but even adults can walk in along the steps. There is a rose window on the wall facing the baptistery, which is not at all like a priory can afford, perhaps only comparable to the rose window of Notre Dame de Paris.

As described in secular literature, a poor place often has a greedy bishop. Before the Reformation, the problem of corruption in the church was indeed serious.

It is impossible for a bad man to become a good Franciscan monk. Franciscan monks wear brown robes, while Benedictines wear black clothes. Some people even say: monks bring more benefits than corpses, and dead corpses can at least Let the land become fertile, and the monks will only eat greedily and exhaust the fertility of the land.

It takes a lot of money to build such a monastery, but it won't take hundreds of years to build it as carefully as Cologne Cathedral and St. Peter's Basilica.

To attract people, either consecrate sacred objects, or build the church like a work of art.

Leonardo da Vinci deliberately drew eels when he was in the refectory of a Dominican monastery.

The artist is like this, somewhat cynical. He seems to want to satirize the church and the princes and aristocrats' pursuit of luxury but not following the rules of life in this way.

Tourists now go to the church specifically to see that painting.

With that magnificent altar, the monastery may not have the energy to decorate the refectory, and the walls are only painted with white ash. The food was quite rich, and the food in front of Joseph was pasta with tomato and basil sauce made by the monastery, and garlic toast.

Alex didn't bite Brother Howard's carotid artery, he just bit his face so bloody that Howard had a heart attack.

Regardless of whether Alex was sick or not, a person died in the monastery, and his funeral needs to be dealt with. It was not like digging a hole and placing him and the coffin in it.

In this atmosphere, no one was in the mood to eat. The monks were so quiet that they left after eating. No one talked at all. It was even more dull than the church orphanage where Joseph stayed.

The only one who looked normal was the former exorcist.

Martin Luther once wrote in his translation of the "New Testament": The best sources of Christian knowledge are the Gospel of John and Romans, especially 1 Peter, because these books do not mention miracles. But these books are very good at mentioning how faith can save people from fire and water, and this is where the gospel lies.

Constantine quoted it when he taught him that in the sixteenth century "miracles" were everyday, everywhere, and well-known, and were everywhere in literature.

The religious publications issued by these churches are full of miraculous stories, celestial wonders, and miracles of healing. Although some of these miracles may really be miracles of God, they are also full of man-made miracles. Erasmus and Martin Lu Dedu sneered at this "miracle".

The role of science is to explain the principles of these "miracles", but whether it is the mysterious celestial phenomenon in the small town of Fatima or the magical healing effect of Lourdes spring water, these cannot be explained by modern science.

There are some things that no one dares to say, and it is understandable that this former exorcist was relegated to this remote mountain monastery.

The practice of gaining believers by propagating miracles has been used by the church hundreds of years ago, but most modern people don't know this. Their impression of the church is still in the Inquisition, where innocent women and scientists are sent to the stake. The ignorant cardinal who persecuted, and the abbot who was greedy and fed up his stomach.

People who do not understand that period of history and the church will easily be confused. Once confused, they will be easily misled. If people control their thoughts, they will control their behavior.

People always say that the church propagates theology and imprisons people's thinking.

Not all those who opposed the Holy See were sent to the stake, and Michelangelo was not sentenced to death for painting priests in the hell of the Sistine Chapel.

For the popes, dealing with civil strife and exterminating Protestants is more important than dealing with Galileo, but for future generations, Galileo’s persecution is more important than civil strife and religious reform. When he was locked up in the Medici Villa, the church But Galileo's mind was not imprisoned.

Ordinary people's common sense is not to follow what other people say, but to choose. This choice is based on one's own understanding.

In ancient Greece, people believed that the earth was round. Later people believed that the earth was flat and round. How could the person on the opposite side of the ball stand?

If the explanation does not make sense, no one will believe it. More and more people believe that the earth is flat and there is an end of the world. Finally, the earth is flat and becomes common knowledge.

People in the Middle Ages didn't understand about the Little Ice Age, they just saw the weather getting worse and the harvests dwindling.

Not everyone can be like Job, who can still maintain his faith when he is poor and sick.

When the angel descends, people can feel hope and courage, just like hearing a requiem.

When the devil appears, people will have a feeling of being watched.

In Bavaria 400 years ago, some people took a fancy to that land, so they kept plotting and scheming.

The "coward" who claimed to participate in the demon worship ceremony and involved more than 200 local nobles, is he really a coward, or is he a messenger of the devil?

The new abbot of the monastery was executed by the church. The original abbot died in that weird serial murder case. Are they the same as the Salem witch trials? The so-called "possession" was caused by eating ergot food?

Joseph stirred his fork and looked at the red pasta in front of him, the same one that David Mills had eaten for one of the victims of the Seven Deadly Sins killer.

"Not to your liking?" Seeing that Joseph hadn't moved the fork, Abbot Xiao En couldn't help asking.

Although he swore that Sean himself was responsible for the accident, it was actually an ordinary monk who escorted Alex to the hospital.

"Where is the nearest village to the monastery?" Joseph asked.

"If the weather is good and the donkey is strong enough, we can get there in half a day," Xiao En said.

"donkey?"

"We don't have traffic here."

"How do believers usually come here?"

"The main belief in Montenegro is the Greek sect, and few people come to our monastery to pray."

Joseph's expression changed.

"The Pope said when can you go back?" Sean asked with concern.

"After the investigation."

Sean showed a strange expression.

"What is the problem?"

"It's nothing." Sean turned his head and stared at the noodles on his plate. "I'll take you to your room after lunch."

Joseph glanced at Sean suspiciously, then looked down at the noodles on the fork, and ate it with a frown.

It tastes surprisingly good.

This may be the reason why the wine brewed in the monastery is so delicious.

The monks have nothing else to do except to study how to make wine taste better, all of this is for living.

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Mills and Anthony went to the funeral home after taking a nap. The owner of the funeral home seemed to know Anthony very well, and shook hands and hugged him very affectionately. Neither of them spoke English, but Russian.

"What are we doing here?" David asked after the undertaker left.

Anthony smiled mysteriously at him, and quietly looked behind the black curtain. Not long after, the boss came out pushing a car.

This cart was specially used to move corpses. Unlike hospital beds, there were no soft pillows and sheets, only cold stainless steel. The cart was covered with a white cloth, and it could be seen that there was a bulge. It looked like a woman was lying underneath.

Mills was afraid she would suddenly sit up with a "wow".

After pushing the car in front of Anthony, the boss lifted the white cloth, revealing a young girl's face.

"Just like you ordered," said the undertaker.

Anthony bent down and looked closely at the girl's face, like a businessman trying to distinguish the authenticity of jewelry.

"Well, it's her." Anthony said with satisfaction, "Thank you for your help."

"You're welcome," said the undertaker, laughing. "Glad I could help."

"What happened?" Mills asked, confused.

Anthony glanced at Mills, turned his head and said something to the boss, and the boss turned and left.

"You said that Angela's mother didn't want to be dissected." Anthony stared at Mills and said, "So, we're going to do a trick."

"What?"

"This is an idiom, which means to graft the branches or buds of one kind of flower and tree on another kind of flower and tree. I plan to use this corpse to replace Angela's body for burial."

"What!" Mills' voice raised unconsciously.

"Parents just need a body to lie in the grave for them to mourn. They don't know the value of Angela's body. I don't want to waste it like this."

"Where did you get this corpse!" Mills said, pointing to the girl lying in the car, who indeed looked very similar in size to Angela.

"People die every day in this city. Not everyone is mourned. The city will give the funeral home a sum of money to dispose of the bodies and give them a decent funeral. While you're sleeping, I called a friend and he's here There happened to be a corpse that met the requirements."

"My God." Mills yelled, "You did this..."

"Immoral? I know, like doctors in the Middle Ages, if they don't go to the cemetery to pick up the corpse, how can they be dissected by the students?" Anthony interrupted Mills and said plausibly, "I need to confirm my inference, you help me me?"

Mills spread his hands.

"The magic that remains on Angela wears off with time, like when we look into her eyes, I can't wait until she's buried and then dig it out. I remember her neck was broken."

"So, don't you plan to let the two of them swap heads?"

Facing Mills' question, Anthony didn't speak.

"My God, do you really think so?"

"They have the same body hair color," Anthony said.

"My God, you're crazy!" Mills cursed.

"You can leave as if nothing happened." Anthony said indifferently.

"Aren't you afraid I'll tell the police?"

"Would you, David?" Anthony said, laughing.

"You think I dare not?"

"Cowards don't dare to shoot like you. I told you that I want to be friends with you. I can do this behind your back, but a friend needs to be sincere, so I brought you here."

"Friends don't need to be sincere in everything, privacy, privacy, do you understand!" Mills walked around the funeral home with his head in his arms.

"You told my privacy, and I told you mine, so it's only fair, not to mention if I only tell you my plan, you'll think I'm joking."

"are you serious?"

Anthony looked at the female corpse.

"I just don't want to be fooled," Anthony said a long time later. "That's why I chose to be a psychiatrist instead of a plastic surgeon."