Читать книгу The Tree Within - Stephen Campana - Страница 16

The twelve men, eleven Cardinals and the Pope, all clothed in their vestments, descended the long staircase that lead to the basement chamber of the apostolic palace in Vatican City, Rome. The chamber was a large round room, ringed by massive white columns, with a high ceiling and stone walls with a variety of figures carved into them. The figures were of ancient gods, beasts, angels, demons and an assortment of other strange and exotic creatures. The only light came from lanterns, which sat in holders that had been anchored into the walls. The room was dark and dank, filled with shadows and an eerie silence.

The men spread out into a large circle in the center of the room. Hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the circle was a rope. The men knit their hands together in a prayerful pose and bowed their heads. Then they began to chant in Latin. Tuum est regnum, tuum regnum venero ut. The Kingdom is yours; come take your kingdom.

The chant continued for five minutes. Then the pope stood in the middle of the circle, stretched his arms out wide and said in a booming voice: “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains . . .”

And the cardinals declared in response: Ipse stat in locum sanctum He stands in the Holy Place!

The pope continued: “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

The cardinals declared in response: Venit sedens in templo! Come sit in the temple!

Then the pope pulled on the rope. A whole opened up in the ceiling and a huge cross dropped down, stopping just inches from the floor. It was inverted, with the figure of Christ attached. One by one the Cardinals approached it and pissed on it, declaring Ut benedicat tibi—I renounce you—as they did so.

Then they gathered back in a circle and took up a new chant: tuun est Ecclesia nostra; tolle tibi sedem in templo. Our church is yours; take your seat in the temple.

Over and over again they made the dreadful pronouncement, each time their voices growing louder, until they were shouting it out at the top of their lungs, their bodies trembling, their voices straining, their brows slick with sweat. Amidst their shouts the first plumes of smoke began to arise from the floor below them. Slowly it grew denser and blacker. The acrid stench of hell fire filled the air as the figures in the stone walls began to pulse with life, growling and screeching in glorious celebration.

When it was over, they pulled the cross back up into the ceiling, wiped the smoke residue off their vestments, and made their way back up the stairs, where they would continue business as usual.