Veritas

By Orpheus Sofs

This is a fictional drama about a young Benedictine monk and the daughter of a wine farmer in Sicily, Italy, in the seventeenth century. As a child, Giácomo had been chosen by the holy father Boniface VIII to become the leader of the greatest religious school of the time, in a compromising struggle to maintain political and religious power. The characters are involved in an intricate conflict between their families and the Vatican, stirring up among them greed, fury, love, death, and revenge even in the afterlife. The author hopes that the reader will think about the real-life hypothesis as well as about what awaits us after death, under a rational, contemporary approach and free from the bonds of metaphors of traditional faith. The book brings some approaches about the continuation of the life of the man in a transcendental dimension and his relations with the physical world, constituting in that relation the true nature of the integral man. He clarifies that life does not cease with the death of the physical body and that the acts practiced in life will reflect their consequences throughout the journey of the immortal spirit. It defends the idea that death is simply the change from one environment to another, more subtle but no less material, establishing this milestone as a preponderant factor of the ideas defended by many philosophers, thinkers, and trainers of religious thought around the world, from ancient Greece to the present times. Veritas: The Dawn of Man is a work of fiction but of a philosophical character that seeks to understand some points still obscure in the way some trainers of religious thought teach the evolution of man and his transcendence in contact with the material world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 11, 2019
• ISBN: 9781645441038

Book preview

The Message…

Located in the center of Cologne was a large building, not very tall but of great proportions, surrounded by a limpid lake with blue waters and beautiful ornaments flowering on its banks in a multitude of lush colors, which contrasted with the light color of the building.

It was about eight o’clock in the evening. In the central hall of the building was our venerated and beloved by all, Sister Salvathura Prasadh.

She was recognized not only for her effort and dedication because of her work in the phalanx of our guide Ishmael but also for her immense love dedicated to each one who shared the joy of serving the harvest of our rabbi in the plethora of selflessness because of the regeneration of the planet, through the consciential transformation of soul to soul.

Sister Salvathura, as she was called, was shown in the stereotype of her last earthly garb of the region in India, with her long black hair, standing out in front of a ruby spot in the area of the spiritual eye, or third sight as some called. Wearing soft orange-and-pink-colored robes, resembling a beautiful bird from the rain forest, he emitted in every delicate gesture a vibration of softness in which he filled the atmosphere with the sweet perfume of dew.

She wore a sort of veil over her head, which seemed more than to cover the immense luminosity that came out of her crown chakra radiating the whole hall in celestial blue.

Taking with her a kind of handbag or suitcase, very well carved, containing some kind of scrolls, Sister Salvathura smiled and saluted everyone without delay after the prayer of thanksgiving and praise to the creation and the Creator, and she began her speech by reading one of the scrolls that she had taken the reading for the excerpt from the letter of the apostle Paul to the church of the Romans.

Do this, understanding the time in which we live. The time has come for you to wake up from sleep, because now our salvation is closer than when we believe.

The night is almost over; The day soon comes. Wherefore let us put aside the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light. (Romans 13:11–12)

After the reading, there was a brief silence for meditation on the words uttered by the venerable, who, in the beginning, began her speech to an audience of approximately 1,400 spirits of various nationalities. Some of those present were incarnated in the body, easily highlighting the conductor from their perispirit and attaching it to the body at rest.

There was a true mixture of cultures, customs, and profiteers of the most diverse religious schools. Others had no connection with any religious school, and others were just scientists and other scholars and researchers.

"Dear brothers and sisters, the time has come, as announced by our rabbi on the outskirts of the lake of Gennesaret, now known as the Sea of Galilee.

"We spent almost a thousand years in the long, dark medieval night to create the conditions necessary for human thought to have its own ability to reason and interpret the wise words of our Greatest Guide.

"After the dark night, our consciences were finally able to awaken to the new dawn of human nature, unveiling the advancement of man’s abilities.

"The work of our Greek forerunners spread throughout Europe by the systematized process of linking reason for science, renewed by their idealistic thinkers of human potential, and thence across the globe for the renewal of thought.

"It took isolation in the form of detachment in its assumptions so that science, in its new phase of renewal of thought, could finally, after the long night of facticity, bring hope to humanity lacking a rational evolution.

"The awakening of the Industrial Revolution was the crux of world progress, emphasizing the development of collectivities as a driving force for progress itself.

"But, beloved brethren, the awakening to the capacities of rational development that mankind has experienced was but a faint spark for the discovery of the potentialities of the spirit.

By their spiritual immaturity, deep sleep still covers most of the beings that progress in the terrestrial orb.

Those who awakened and did not allow themselves to be enveloped by the materialistic illusion, the propeller of pride and selfishness of the superficial intellect loyalists and idealistic adherents, could keep the idea of intimate renewal in the fraternal molds intact, and this must be the goal of all of us for our brothers in the simple act of redemption of humanity.

"Much work awaits all of us so that our brethren in progress in this orb may enlarge their vision before the godhead, so that they deepen their knowledge about science and nature and, much more importantly, achieve through the individual effort on behalf of their brother terrain or the feeling of universal fraternity that embraces all the children of the Creator, in the meantime, succeeding in reaching the level of the regenerated planet, in which we are already close.

"The regeneration of the earth will not occur in its physical form, by major geo-cataleptic transformations or geological catastrophes that reap lives as the brothers are asleep by the sleep of matter, but by individual regeneration, by the soul’s transformation still in ignorance of its potentialities, for its true spiritual and eternal nature, in which the collectivity is transformed into an ever more fraternal humanity.

"The harvest of the Divine Master invites everyone to consciential awakening, as our brother in Christ said, ‘The night is almost over. The day soon comes.’

"Let us awaken to the reality of our spiritual nature. We are works of the Creator and cocreators on a lesser plane according to our potentiality developed by the progress achieved. Our earthly sisters and brothers need to know the role of each one in the greater work of the Master, who, in the oak cross, left his legacy of greater self-denial and dedication to humanity for the love of the Father.

"Dear brothers and sisters, through the work initiated by our son Abraham and Hagar, our dedicated brother Ishmael, and under the command of our Master Jesus of Nazareth, let us forget the weaknesses and doubts of mankind. Each one awakening to his infinite nature is a light to shine in the immensity of the darkness of the world of trials and spies.

"But let us always remember that where there is light, the light illuminates the path of those who are lost and aimless. ‘Let us put on the armor of light.’ Only then, may our brothers follow the lamp in the dark, dry desert of their own shadows.

"The field is fertile, and the harvest has begun, my brethren. Each soul needs to be awakened in its greatest potentialities. Each spirit must reach its maturity necessary to shelter the new regenerated humanity, where the exclusive molds of the ancient man whose barbaric nature of survival will be only a memory in the long journey of the immortal spirit.

"Forward! Again I tell you, much work awaits us, and the nearer will be the balm of supreme bliss that is the end of us all. Moral and intellectual progress in the fraternal ways of Christ is our goal.

May our Lord Jesus Christ bless all of us and enlighten us the way to our Creator. We ask Ishmael to guide us and encourage us in the redemptive struggle so that we can embrace and honor the motto of his banner: God, Christ, and Charity.

After these edifying and encouraging words from our sister Salvathura, everyone in the hall, in tears of contentment and happiness, applauded and thanked the opportunity received.

I, as an apprentice, had been so enthralled by the greatness of the work in which we were all connected as divine creatures united by invidious threads, offering all the same conditions and opportunities to change their own destiny.

Thousands of questions assaulted my restless mind. How much time lost, oh my god! How many wasted opportunities! I began to feel disqualified to be in the presence of so many souls committed to a greater ideal.

Friar Joseph Simon, in the condition of my mentor, suddenly turned to me, saying, "My son, do not be disturbed by empty thoughts, just allow for now. Deepen the wise words of our veneration so that your heart feels the awakening of divinity in the deepest core of his own spirit.

"Every second of learning is a unique opportunity that will never be repeated. Thoughts, therefore, must be directed to maximizing the splendor of the moment, absorbing in the intimate of your consciousness the eternal learning.

Only in this way will you be able to record the sublime message in your perispiritual body, so that in the opportune moment of trial of faith, the simple reminders remind you of the grace received by the mercy of the loving and good Father.

I took the advice of my mentor and left the central hall toward the building where the Regeneration Department was located. This is where the development of the plans for the regeneration of the planet was treated.

***

CHAPTER TWO

Fall Twilight…

Brother Giácomo was a young monk who was already in his twenties, twelve of whom lived in the Benedictine monastery in Catania, Southeastern Sicily, in Italy.

The time was the year 1664, nine years before the eruption of Mount Etna, which destroyed most of the city, including almost the entire convent of the Benedictines.

The little Giácomo was born into a bourgeois family of Italian high society; his father was a merchant of great importance, supplying the cities of Genoa, Venice, Florence, and Milan with spices from the Indies and trade with countries in the Middle East.

Giordano de Luca was a very influential man in the social relations of his time, holder of esteemed appreciation for the Holy Church, and his family was very close to the high priest of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, Boniface VIII.

Angelo, cardinal of the Order of the Benedictines, remained in front of the Pontifical Council of September 15, 1644, until January 7, 1670, under the name of Pope Boniface VIII. He was the chief of the 236th Roman Catholic Church.

Pope Boniface VIII, a gifted communicator and political strategist, did not lose the opportunity to convince Mr. Giordano de Luca and gave his youngest son a life of priesthood under the false pretext of initiating the child chosen by God to the monastery of the Christian faith.

His main concern was to contain the advance of the Protestant movement, and from which he somehow sought to restore the prestige of the Holy Church by combining religious power with political and economic power as it was in the past not far from the imperial power of the Holy Church.

Pope Boniface VIII had been promoted to the pontifical for his great capacity of political negotiation, amalgamating several political fronts, joining forces, agreeing favors with enemy forces in behalf of his cause.

Behind the apparent demonstration of love of the Church of Christ, in reality, what was shown in its most hidden thoughts was the desire to perpetuate itself in power, commanding the flock of Christ against the heretics and all those who did not accept the dogmas of Catholics as the only form of salvation before God.

I will need to organize an urgent reform, or my church will succumb to the new creeds. We are losing many believers who see in the new religious modalities, an easier mechanism to ascend to the promised paradise, achieving redemption without the necessary effort, something precise to make urgent! thought Boniface.

I will have to take measures that will displease some people, but the greater good of the church must be considered. I must regain not only the prestige of the church as well as my own, but also to revoke some current means of financing the resources of the church, which leave no room for further negotiations from the political point of view.

The time of his papacy, in spite of the prestige given before the other coreligionists, high aristocracy, politicians, and important bourgeois of the time, was very weak in its points of influence and control of the church.

Several scandals involving the new priests called for an urgent reinforcement of the priestly bases that had always been the foundation of the church, perhaps a radical performance in relation to the course the church had been going through.

The people needed to return to trusting their faith only in a church in which only he, the Catholic high priest, would be able to be the representative of God on earth, as it had always been in the golden ages. The holy pope was considered as the only representative of God.

He could not waste more time. Urgent and systematic measures needed to be immediately implemented. The people needed to revert to a single religious pastor, even if at any price. His ambition for power was on the verge of madness.

Any illicit means had begun, in his view, to become a perfectly viable mechanism for attaining justified ends. After all, in his opinion, absolutely everything could be done with a plausible justification in the name of God, to defend the church of Christ against the sacrileges of sinners and heretics.

His personal sacrifice of soiling his own hands with worldly blood would yield him more honors and glories before the heavenly throne beside the apostles of Christ. His struggle against the Protestants was about to reach the apex of madness.

The Protestant Reformation defended by the German Martin Luther (1483–1546), an Augustinian monk, denied certain common practices proclaimed by the holy church, among which the most culminating point for Luther’s revolt, according to historians, was the sale of indulgences carried out by Juan Tetzel.

The church depended financially on this kind of commerce as a form of redemption of the sins for which it was prepared to pay for its indulgence.

Pope Boniface VIII counted a substantial increase in the collection of the church by the resumption of the indulgences trade.

This was the starting point for the promulgation of Martin Luther as a heretic and from there as a refugee, but with the protection of the German nobility, he began his work of translating the Bible from Latin into German, as well as developing the principles of the new religion.

These principles were led by Luther himself in the countries of the holy sacrament: Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, France, and Italy.

In other regions, there were some adaptations or extensions, such as the Calvin in Holland and part of France and Anglicanism in England, translating the Bible in that interim from German into English.

I have to reactivate as soon as possible the practice of indulgence trading. My church will not survive the Protestant onslaughts without the return of this source of financial resources. As well as, for the high commissions expended on me, I can buy a castle in the Sicilian region, dreamed Boniface almost every night, alone in his dormitory.

Absorbed in single idea or obsessive thoughts to find some means to stop the aggressive growth of the Protestant movement with the peasants and even reaching the monarchic high society, Pope Boniface VIII recalled the times of the counterreformation founded by the ex-Spanish soldier Inácio de Loyola in 1534.

The Jesuits, or as they were called soldiers of Jesus, had a primordial role to try to contain the advance of Protestants, not only in the expansion of the Catholic faith by the religious education, but mainly by the reactivation of the holy office, whose function was to judge those who deviated from the church’s dogma in the dreaded Inquisition Tribunal.

The holy office will return to its traditional and feared position of the past. This will undoubtedly be my highest task. Heretics will again fear the holy office as a mechanism of control and order for the masses.

My legacy will be the order and fulfillment of the law, within the prerogatives of the Catholic faith. Boniface was absorbed in his thoughts.

Pope Boniface VIII did not accept the terms treated at the Council of Trent with representatives from all over Europe, including members of the Lutheran and Orthodox Church.

This peace agreement gave rise to a reformed church, far short of what it believed to be the central role of the Holy Catholic Church. In short, its idea was that several churches could not match the Creator’s will to guide their people, but only one true church would have that function.

This same council created the so-called index, a list of books forbidden by the church, including scientific books by Galileo, Giordano Bruno, among others.

Boniface VIII shared the idea that access to knowledge of science should be banned from the people.

Only those initiated in religious formation under the supervision of the holy church could access this source of research, with the specific aim of enhancing religious faith in the basic molds of the holy empire.

Basically, the Council of Trent limited the power of the church by forcing greater control over the formation of the clergy and the prohibition of the sale of religious offices, directly interfering in the possibilities of greater profits to the businesses in favor of the Christian faith.

It is precisely in this respect that Pope Boniface VIII felt personally affected in his plans, since the sale of indulgences was the greatest source of personal enrichment of the time.

Boniface VIII, very close to the monarchy, the bourgeoisie, and the great owners of wealth all over Europe, saw in this mechanism the ideal way to raise commanding commissions for his personal patrimony.

He, as an intermediary between the church and God, was said to be worthy of a simple percentage of the gains made by the sale of indulgences. For this reason, he deliberately defended the opening to this practice, preaching that the one who could pay, the most faith would be showing before God and the holy church.

The holy empire was definitely threatened. There would be no alternative to reconquer the old prestige and resumption of power had there not been a direct and personal intervention of the pope. His plan was in detailed planning and about to come into final action.

He himself, Pope Boniface VIII, would take care of the education and formation of the child in the mold of a true Catholic religious leader capable of massacring without mercy and with all possible forces heretics and any other type of movement contrary to the holy empire. The church should be reconquered.

The fortune of the De Luca family must change hands. I believe that this is the will of God. Only through this fortune can I achieve my goals.

Politics in Rome is taking disastrous course, and my intervention will be crucial in restoring the power of the holy empire.

My church will triumph before the heretics! I have no doubt that Christ will be with me in this new Holy Crusade!

So it happened, the little boy Giacomo, contrary to the wishes of his mother, Mrs. Eulalia de Luca, from whom she had no choice but to obey the imposition of her husband and father of the little frightened boy, in accordance with the plans revealed by Pope Boniface VIII.

Giácomo of the De Luca family had been hopelessly admitted at the Benedictine convent at the age of eight.

The promise of the pontiff to the family was to prepare the way for the future pope of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, Giácomo of the De Luca family, to take his place and accept his divine vocation in leading the church of Christ, obviously having the pope himself, Boniface VIII, as his mentor.

***

CHAPTER THREE

The Difficult Decision…

Arainy afternoon in the spring of May 1660, Mr. Giordano de Luca thoughtfully opened a bottle of wine of the most appreciated in his private wine cellar. He entered the room of his great mansion, adorned by beautiful paintings of the then born Renaissance movement.

A lover of fine art and good manners, he observed the paintings of realistic expressions and strengths, almost bringing life to the image reflected by the artist’s creativity. There were dozens of pictures of incalculable value adorning the walls of the De Luca family mansion.

Absorbed in his thoughts, he did not realize that his wife, Mrs. Eulalia de Luca, observed him a little far, under his chores and entertained with the small Giácomo, the youngest of