tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6964508256101038252024-03-04T21:25:40.765-08:00BLOG NO-007bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03816093763418421974noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-696450825610103825.post-43752330115960105952008-03-27T20:16:00.001-07:002008-03-27T20:16:43.345-07:00DA VINCI CODE 17-5<p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Collet watched the screen in bewilderment as the blinking dot arrived at the window ledge and then did something utterly unexpected. The dot moved <i>outside </i>the perimeter of the building.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What's going on? </span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">he wondered. <i>Is Langdon out on a ledge or</i>—<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"Jesu!" </span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Collet jumped to his feet as the dot shot farther outside the wall. The signal seemed to shudder for a moment, and then the blinking dot came to an abrupt stop about ten yards outside the perimeter of the building.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fumbling with the controls, Collet called up a Paris street map and recalibrated the GPS. Zooming in, he could now see the exact location of the signal.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">It was no longer moving.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">It lay at a dead stop in the middle of Place du Carrousel.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Langdon had jumped.</span></p><p class="Default">FOR CHAPTER 18 CLICK <a href="http://blogno004.blogspot.com/">HERE</a> .<br /><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03816093763418421974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-696450825610103825.post-66260797960310245382008-03-27T20:15:00.006-07:002008-03-27T20:16:09.072-07:00DA VINCI CODE 17-4<div class="Section1"> <p class="Default"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"Alarme!" </span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">one of the agents yelled, eyeing his feed from the Louvre security center. <i>"Grande Galerie! Toilettes Messieurs!"</i><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fache wheeled to Collet. "Where's Langdon?"<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"Still in the men's room!" Collet pointed to the blinking red dot on his laptop schematic. "He must have broken the window!" Collet knew Langdon wouldn't get far. Although Paris fire codes <o:p></o:p></span></p> </div> <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; color: black;"><br /> </span> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">required windows above fifteen meters in public buildings be breakable in case of fire, exiting a Louvre second-story window without the help of a hook and ladder would be suicide. Furthermore, there were no trees or grass on the western end of the Denon Wing to cushion a fall. Directly beneath that rest room window, the two-lane Place du Carrousel ran within a few feet of the outer wall. "My God," Collet exclaimed, eyeing the screen. "Langdon's moving to the window ledge!"<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">But Fache was already in motion. Yanking his Manurhin MR-93 revolver from his shoulder holster, the captain dashed out of the office.<o:p></o:p></span></p>bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03816093763418421974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-696450825610103825.post-17742232189121193872008-03-27T20:15:00.005-07:002008-03-27T20:15:54.376-07:00DA VINCI CODE 17-3<p class="Default"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">No wonder she was upset by the pictures. </span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Collet could barely conceive of the unfortunate coincidence that called in a young woman to decipher a code written by a dead family member. Still, her actions made no sense. "But she obviously recognized the numbers as Fibonacci numbers because she came here and <i>told </i>us. I don't understand why she would leave the office without telling anyone she had figured it out."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Collet could think of only one scenario to explain the troubling developments: Saunière had written a numeric code on the floor in hopes Fache would involve cryptographers in the investigation, and therefore involve his own granddaughter. As for the rest of the message, was Saunière communicating in some way with his granddaughter? If so, what did the message tell her? And how did Langdon fit in?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Before Collet could ponder it any further, the silence of the deserted museum was shattered by an alarm. The bell sounded like it was coming from inside the Grand Gallery.<o:p></o:p></span></p>bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03816093763418421974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-696450825610103825.post-2933951988045554892008-03-27T20:15:00.003-07:002008-03-27T20:15:38.115-07:00DA VINCI CODE 17-2<p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Collet was confused. "But they already sent Agent Neveu to tell us that."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fache shook his head. "They didn't send Neveu."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"What?"<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"According to the director, at my orders he paged his entire team to look at the images I'd wired him. When Agent Neveu arrived, she took one look at the photos of Saunière and the code and left the office without a word. The director said he didn't question her behavior because she was understandably upset by the photos."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"Upset? She's never seen a picture of a dead body?"<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fache was silent a moment. "I was not aware of this, and it seems neither was the director until a coworker informed him, but apparently Sophie Neveu is Jacques Saunière's granddaughter."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Collet was speechless.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"The director said she never once mentioned Saunière to him, and he assumed it was because she probably didn't want preferential treatment for having a famous grandfather."<o:p></o:p></span></p>bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03816093763418421974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-696450825610103825.post-17772129237572261962008-03-27T20:15:00.001-07:002008-03-27T20:15:26.679-07:00DA VINCI CODE 17-1<div class="Section1"> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"What do you mean she's not answering?" Fache looked incredulous. "You're calling her cell phone, right? I know she's carrying it."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Collet had been trying to reach Sophie now for several minutes. "Maybe her batteries are dead. Or her ringer's off."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fache had looked distressed ever since talking to the director of Cryptology on the phone. After hanging up, he had marched over to Collet and demanded he get Agent Neveu on the line. Now Collet had failed, and Fache was pacing like a caged lion.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"Why did Crypto call?" Collet now ventured.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fache turned. "To tell us they found no references to Draconian devils and lame saints."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"That's all?"<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"No, also to tell us that they had just identified the numerics as Fibonacci numbers, but they suspected the series was meaningless."<o:p></o:p></span></p> </div> <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; color: black;"><br /> </span>bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03816093763418421974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-696450825610103825.post-24521279700158519602008-02-24T01:00:00.006-08:002008-02-24T01:01:30.539-08:00DAVINCI CODE 10-8<div class="Section1"> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"Bishop," the Teacher had told him, "I have made all the arrangements. For my plan to succeed, you must allow Silas to answer <i>only </i>to me for several days. The two of you will not speak. I will communicate with him through secure channels."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"You will treat him with respect?"<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"A man of faith deserves the highest."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"Excellent. Then I understand. Silas and I shall not speak until this is over."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"I do this to protect your identity, Silas's identity, and my investment."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"Your investment?"<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"Bishop, if your own eagerness to keep abreast of progress puts you in jail, then you will be unable to pay me my fee."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The bishop smiled. "A fine point. Our desires are in accord. Godspeed."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Twenty million euro, </span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">the bishop thought, now gazing out the plane's window. The sum was approximately the same number of U.S. dollars. <i>A pittance for something so powerful.</i><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">He felt a renewed confidence that the Teacher and Silas would not fail. Money and faith were <o:p></o:p></span></p> </div> <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; color: black;"><br /> </span> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">powerful motivators.</span></p><p class="Default">FOR CHAPTER 11 CLICK <a href="http://blogno003.blogspot.com/">HERE </a><br /><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03816093763418421974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-696450825610103825.post-31423095054167685722008-02-24T01:00:00.005-08:002008-02-24T01:00:45.778-08:00DA VINCI CODE 10-7<div class="Section1"> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The priest smiled warmly. "From now on, my friend, if you have no other name, I shall call you Silas."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The ghost nodded blankly. <i>Silas. </i>He had been given flesh. <i>My name is Silas.</i><o:p></o:p></span></p> </div> <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; color: black;"><br /> </span> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"It's time for breakfast," the priest said. "You will need your strength if you are to help me build this church." <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Twenty thousand feet above the Mediterranean, Alitalia flight 1618 bounced in turbulence, causing passengers to shift nervously. Bishop Aringarosa barely noticed. His thoughts were with the future of Opus Dei. Eager to know how plans in Paris were progressing, he wished he could phone Silas. But he could not. The Teacher had seen to that.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"It is for your own safety," the Teacher had explained, speaking in English with a French accent. "I am familiar enough with electronic communications to know they can be intercepted. The results could be disastrous for you."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Aringarosa knew he was right. The Teacher seemed an exceptionally careful man. He had not revealed his own identity to Aringarosa, and yet he had proven himself a man well worth obeying. After all, he had somehow obtained very secret information. <i>The names of the brotherhood's four top members! This </i>had been one of the coups that convinced the bishop the Teacher was truly capable of delivering the astonishing prize he claimed he could unearth.<o:p></o:p></span></p>bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03816093763418421974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-696450825610103825.post-59568907684817528082008-02-24T01:00:00.003-08:002008-02-24T01:00:31.052-08:00DA VINCI CODE 10-7<p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">His heart began pounding. <i>The priest knows who I am! </i>The emotion he felt was one he had not felt for some time. Shame. Guilt. It was accompanied by the fear of being caught. He jumped from his bed. <i>Where do I run?</i><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"The Book of Acts," a voice said from the door.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The ghost turned, frightened.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The young priest was smiling as he entered. His nose was awkwardly bandaged, and he was holding out an old Bible. "I found one in French for you. The chapter is marked."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Uncertain, the ghost took the Bible and looked at the chapter the priest had marked.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Acts 16.</span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The verses told of a prisoner named Silas who lay naked and beaten in his cell, singing hymns to God. When the ghost reached Verse 26, he gasped in shock.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"...<i>And suddenly, there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and all the doors fell open."</i><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">His eyes shot up at the priest.<o:p></o:p></span></p>bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03816093763418421974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-696450825610103825.post-26272226919216771302008-02-24T01:00:00.001-08:002008-02-24T01:00:17.314-08:00DA VINCI CODE 10-7<div class="Section1"> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"Thank you, my friend," the priest said in awkward French. "The offertory money is tempting for thieves. You speak French in your sleep. Do you also speak Spanish?"<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The ghost shook his head.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"What is your name?" he continued in broken French.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The ghost could not remember the name his parents had given him. All he heard were the taunting gibes of the prison guards.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The priest smiled. <i>"No hay problema. </i>My name is Manuel Aringarosa. I am a missionary from Madrid. I was sent here to build a church for the Obra de Dios."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"Where am I?" His voice sounded hollow.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"Oviedo. In the north of Spain."<o:p></o:p></span></p> </div> <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; color: black;"><br /> </span> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"How did I get here?"<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"Someone left you on my doorstep. You were ill. I fed you. You've been here many days."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The ghost studied his young caretaker. Years had passed since anyone had shown any kindness. "Thank you, Father."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The priest touched his bloody lip. "It is I who am thankful, my friend."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">When the ghost awoke in the morning, his world felt clearer. He gazed up at the crucifix on the wall above his bed. Although it no longer spoke to him, he felt a comforting aura in its presence. Sitting up, he was surprised to find a newspaper clipping on his bedside table. The article was in French, a week old. When he read the story, he filled with fear. It told of an earthquake in the mountains that had destroyed a prison and freed many dangerous criminals.<o:p></o:p></span></p>bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03816093763418421974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-696450825610103825.post-29941142162588453712008-02-24T00:59:00.004-08:002008-02-24T01:00:01.373-08:00DA VINCI CODE 10-6<p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The light came slowly, and the ghost wondered how long he had been dead. <i>A day? Three days? </i>It didn't matter. His bed was soft like a cloud, and the air around him smelled sweet with candles. Jesus was there, staring down at him. <i>I am here, </i>Jesus said. <i>The stone has been rolled aside, and you are born again.</i><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">He slept and awoke. Fog shrouded his thoughts. He had never believed in heaven, and yet Jesus was watching over him. Food appeared beside his bed, and the ghost ate it, almost able to feel the flesh materializing on his bones. He slept again. When he awoke, Jesus was still smiling down, speaking. <i>You are saved, my son. Blessed are those who follow my path.</i><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Again, he slept.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">It was a scream of anguish that startled the ghost from his slumber. His body leapt out of bed, staggered down a hallway toward the sounds of shouting. He entered into a kitchen and saw a large man beating a smaller man. Without knowing why, the ghost grabbed the large man and hurled him backward against a wall. The man fled, leaving the ghost standing over the body of a young man in priest's robes. The priest had a badly shattered nose. Lifting the bloody priest, the ghost carried him to a couch.<o:p></o:p></span></p>bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03816093763418421974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-696450825610103825.post-25098253954503588872008-02-24T00:59:00.003-08:002008-02-24T00:59:44.626-08:00DA VINCI CODE 10-6<div class="Section1"> <p class="Default"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Yo soy un espectro... palido coma una fantasma... caminando este mundo a solas.</span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">One night the ghost awoke to the screams of other inmates. He didn't know what invisible force was shaking the floor on which he slept, nor what mighty hand was trembling the mortar of his stone cell, but as he jumped to his feet, a large boulder toppled onto the very spot where he had been sleeping. Looking up to see where the stone had come from, he saw a hole in the trembling wall, and beyond it, a vision he had not seen in over ten years. The moon.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Even while the earth still shook, the ghost found himself scrambling through a narrow tunnel, staggering out into an expansive vista, and tumbling down a barren mountainside into the woods. He ran all night, always downward, delirious with hunger and exhaustion.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Skirting the edges of consciousness, he found himself at dawn in a clearing where train tracks cut a <o:p></o:p></span></p> </div> <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; color: black;"><br /> </span> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">swath across the forest. Following the rails, he moved on as if dreaming. Seeing an empty freight car, he crawled in for shelter and rest. When he awoke the train was moving. <i>How long? How far? </i>A pain was growing in his gut. <i>Am I dying? </i>He slept again. This time he awoke to someone yelling, beating him, throwing him out of the freight car. Bloody, he wandered the outskirts of a small village looking in vain for food. Finally, his body too weak to take another step, he lay down by the side of the road and slipped into unconsciousness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03816093763418421974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-696450825610103825.post-56763598522285339482008-02-24T00:59:00.001-08:002008-02-24T00:59:28.037-08:00DAVINCI 10-5<p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">And he felt like a ghost... transparent... floating from seaport to seaport.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">People seemed to look right through him.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">At eighteen, in a port town, while attempting to steal a case of cured ham from a cargo ship, he was caught by a pair of crewmen. The two sailors who began to beat him smelled of beer, just as his father had. The memories of fear and hatred surfaced like a monster from the deep. The young man broke the first sailor's neck with his bare hands, and only the arrival of the police saved the second sailor from a similar fate.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Two months later, in shackles, he arrived at a prison in Andorra.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">You are as white as a ghost, </span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">the inmates ridiculed as the guards marched him in, naked and cold. <i>Mira el espectro! Perhaps the ghost will pass right through these walls!</i><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Over the course of twelve years, his flesh and soul withered until he knew he had become transparent.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I am a ghost.</span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I am weightless.</span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03816093763418421974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-696450825610103825.post-5301110996657094672008-02-24T00:58:00.000-08:002008-02-24T00:59:10.225-08:00DA VINCI CODE 10-4<div class="Section1"> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The boy fled home but found the streets of Marseilles equally unfriendly. His strange appearance made him an outcast among the other young runaways, and he was forced to live alone in the basement of a dilapidated factory, eating stolen fruit and raw fish from the dock. His only companions were tattered magazines he found in the trash, and he taught himself to read them. Over time, he grew strong. When he was twelve, another drifter—a girl twice his age—mocked him on the streets and attempted to steal his food. The girl found herself pummeled to within <o:p></o:p></span></p> </div> <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; color: black;"><br /> </span> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">inches of her life. When the authorities pulled the boy off her, they gave him an ultimatum—leave Marseilles or go to juvenile prison.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The boy moved down the coast to Toulon. Over time, the looks of pity on the streets turned to looks of fear. The boy had grown to a powerful young man. When people passed by, he could hear them whispering to one another. <i>A ghost, </i>they would say, their eyes wide with fright as they stared at his white skin. <i>A ghost with the eyes of a devil!</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03816093763418421974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-696450825610103825.post-6767896404458544182008-02-24T00:57:00.000-08:002008-02-24T00:58:55.263-08:00DA VINCIC CODE 10-3<p class="Default"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The light came long after the thunder.</span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">His name was not Silas then, although he didn't recall the name his parents had given him. He had left home when he was seven. His drunken father, a burly dockworker, enraged by the arrival of an albino son, beat his mother regularly, blaming her for the boy's embarrassing condition. When the boy tried to defend her, he too was badly beaten.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">One night, there was a horrific fight, and his mother never got up. The boy stood over his lifeless mother and felt an unbearable up-welling of guilt for permitting it to happen.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">This is my fault!</span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">As if some kind of demon were controlling his body, the boy walked to the kitchen and grasped a butcher knife. Hypnotically, he moved to the bedroom where his father lay on the bed in a drunken stupor. Without a word, the boy stabbed him in the back. His father cried out in pain and tried to roll over, but his son stabbed him again, over and over until the apartment fell quiet.<o:p></o:p></span></p>bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03816093763418421974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-696450825610103825.post-68212469958553148652008-02-24T00:56:00.001-08:002008-02-24T00:56:29.176-08:00DA VINCI CODE 10-2<p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Still, the memories haunted his soul.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Release your hatred, </span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Silas commanded himself. <i>Forgive those who trespassed against you.</i><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Looking up at the stone towers of Saint-Sulpice, Silas fought that familiar undertow... that force that often dragged his mind back in time, locking him once again in the prison that had been his world as a young man. The memories of purgatory came as they always did, like a tempest to his senses... the reek of rotting cabbage, the stench of death, human urine and feces. The cries of hopelessness against the howling wind of the Pyrenees and the soft sobs of forgotten men.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Andorra, </span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">he thought, feeling his muscles tighten.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Incredibly, it was in that barren and forsaken suzerain between Spain and France, shivering in his stone cell, wanting only to die, that Silas had been saved.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">He had not realized it at the time.<o:p></o:p></span></p>bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03816093763418421974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-696450825610103825.post-41840096171796693882008-02-24T00:54:00.000-08:002008-02-24T00:55:55.384-08:00DA VINCI CODE 10-1<div class="Section1"> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Silas sat behind the wheel of the black Audi the Teacher had arranged for him and gazed out at the great Church of Saint-Sulpice. Lit from beneath by banks of floodlights, the church's two bell towers rose like stalwart sentinels above the building's long body. On either flank, a shadowy row of sleek buttresses jutted out like the ribs of a beautiful beast.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The heathens used a house of God to conceal their keystone. </span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Again the brotherhood had confirmed their legendary reputation for illusion and deceit. Silas was looking forward to finding the keystone and giving it to the Teacher so they could recover what the brotherhood had long ago stolen from the faithful.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">How powerful that will make Opus Dei.</span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Parking the Audi on the deserted Place Saint-Sulpice, Silas exhaled, telling himself to clear his mind for the task at hand. His broad back still ached from the corporal mortification he had <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; color: black;"></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">endured earlier today, and yet the pain was inconsequential compared with the anguish of his life before Opus Dei had saved him</span></p> </div>bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03816093763418421974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-696450825610103825.post-41868497665439572272008-02-23T21:30:00.000-08:002008-02-23T21:31:03.326-08:00DA VINCI CODE 7-4<div class="Section1"> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Puzzled, Sister Sandrine remained a moment in the warmth of her bed, trying to shake off the cobwebs of sleep. Her sixty-year-old body did not awake as fast as it used to, although tonight's phone call had certainly roused her senses. Opus Dei had always made her uneasy. Beyond the prelature's adherence to the arcane ritual of corporal mortification, their views on women were medieval at best. She had been shocked to learn that female numeraries were forced to clean the men's residence halls for no pay while the men were at mass; women slept on hardwood floors, while the men had straw mats; and women were forced to endure additional requirements of corporal mortification... all as added penance for original sin. It seemed Eve's bite from the apple of knowledge was a debt women were doomed to pay for eternity. Sadly, while most of the Catholic Church was gradually moving in the right direction with respect to women's rights, Opus Dei threatened to reverse the progress. Even so, Sister Sandrine had her orders.<o:p></o:p></span></p> </div> <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; color: black;"><br /> </span> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Swinging her legs off the bed, she stood slowly, chilled by the cold stone on the soles of her bare feet. As the chill rose through her flesh, she felt an unexpected apprehension.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Women's intuition?</span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A follower of God, Sister Sandrine had learned to find peace in the calming voices of her own soul. Tonight, however, those voices were as silent as the empty church around her.</span></p><p class="Default">FOR CHAPTER 8, CLICK <a href="http://blogno009.blogspot.com/">HERE </a><br /><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03816093763418421974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-696450825610103825.post-32419516590822102872008-02-23T21:29:00.004-08:002008-02-23T21:30:11.017-08:00DA VINCI CODE 7-3<p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"Bishop Aringarosa called to ask me a favor," the abbé told her, his voice nervous. "One of his numeraries is in Paris tonight...."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">As Sister Sandrine listened to the odd request, she felt a deepening confusion. "I'm sorry, you say this visiting Opus Dei numerary cannot wait until morning?"<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"I'm afraid not. His plane leaves very early. He has always dreamed of seeing Saint-Sulpice."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"But the church is far more interesting by day. The sun's rays through the oculus, the graduated shadows on the gnomon, <i>this </i>is what makes Saint-Sulpice unique."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"Sister, I agree, and yet I would consider it a personal favor if you could let him in tonight. He can be there at... say one o'clock? That's in twenty minutes."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Sister Sandrine frowned. "Of course. It would be my pleasure."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The abbé thanked her and hung up.<o:p></o:p></span></p>bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03816093763418421974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-696450825610103825.post-55133445198908311442008-02-23T21:29:00.003-08:002008-02-23T21:29:52.905-08:00DA VINCI CODE 7-2<div class="Section1"> <p class="Default"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"Soeur Sandrine. Eglise Saint-Sulpice."</span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"Hello, Sister," the man said in French.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Sister Sandrine sat up. <i>What time is it? </i>Although she recognized her boss's voice, in fifteen years she had never been awoken by him. The abbé was a deeply pious man who went home to bed immediately after mass.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"I apologize if I have awoken you, Sister," the abbé said, his own voice sounding groggy and on edge. "I have a favor to ask of you. I just received a call from an influential American bishop. <o:p></o:p></span></p> </div> <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; color: black;"><br /> </span> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Perhaps you know him? Manuel Aringarosa?"<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"The head of Opus Dei?" <i>Of course I know of him. Who in the Church doesn't? </i>Aringarosa's conservative prelature had grown powerful in recent years. Their ascension to grace was jump-started in 1982 when Pope John Paul II unexpectedly elevated them to a "personal prelature of the Pope," officially sanctioning all of their practices. Suspiciously, Opus Dei's elevation occurred the same year the wealthy sect allegedly had transferred almost one billion dollars into the Vatican's Institute for Religious Works—commonly known as the Vatican Bank—bailing it out of an embarrassing bankruptcy. In a second maneuver that raised eyebrows, the Pope placed the founder of Opus Dei on the "fast track" for sainthood, accelerating an often century-long waiting period for canonization to a mere twenty years. Sister Sandrine could not help but feel that Opus Dei's good standing in Rome was suspect, but one did not argue with the Holy See.<o:p></o:p></span></p>bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03816093763418421974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-696450825610103825.post-65271806563731616722008-02-23T21:29:00.001-08:002008-02-23T21:29:38.602-08:00DA VINCI CODE 7-1<p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The modest dwelling within the Church of Saint-Sulpice was located on the second floor of the church itself, to the left of the choir balcony. A two-room suite with a stone floor and minimal furnishings, it had been home to Sister Sandrine Bieil for over a decade. The nearby convent was her formal residence, if anyone asked, but she preferred the quiet of the church and had made herself quite comfortable upstairs with a bed, phone, and hot plate.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">As the church's <i>conservatrice d'affaires, </i>Sister Sandrine was responsible for overseeing all nonreligious aspects of church operations—general maintenance, hiring support staff and guides, securing the building after hours, and ordering supplies like communion wine and wafers.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Tonight, asleep in her small bed, she awoke to the shrill of her telephone. Tiredly, she lifted the receiver.<o:p></o:p></span></p>bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03816093763418421974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-696450825610103825.post-26532722882549138072008-02-23T05:26:00.001-08:002008-02-23T05:26:42.910-08:00DA VINCI CODE 5-7For two millennia, Christian soldiers had defended their faith against those who tried to displace it. Tonight, Silas had been called to battle.<br />Drying his wounds, he donned his ankle-length, hooded robe. It was plain, made of dark wool, accentuating the whiteness of his skin and hair. Tightening the rope-tie around his waist, he raised the hood over his head and allowed his red eyes to admire his reflection in the mirror. The wheels are in motion<br />FOR CHAPTER 6 CLICK <a href="http://blogno005.blogspot.com/">HERE </a>bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03816093763418421974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-696450825610103825.post-41662030389936006172008-02-23T05:25:00.004-08:002008-02-23T05:26:00.696-08:00DA VINCI CODE 5-6<p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Excited, the bishop answered quietly. "Yes?"<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"Silas has located the keystone," the caller said. "It is in Paris. Within the Church of Saint-Sulpice."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Bishop Aringarosa smiled. "Then we are close."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"We can obtain it immediately. But we need your influence."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"Of course. Tell me what to do."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">When Aringarosa switched off the phone, his heart was pounding. He gazed once again into the void of night, feeling dwarfed by the events he had put into motion. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Five hundred miles away, the albino named Silas stood over a small basin of water and dabbed the blood from his back, watching the patterns of red spinning in the water. <i>Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean, </i>he prayed, quoting Psalms. <i>Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.</i><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Silas was feeling an aroused anticipation that he had not felt since his previous life. It both surprised and electrified him. For the last decade, he had been following <i>The Way, </i>cleansing himself of sins... rebuilding his life... erasing the violence in his past. Tonight, however, it had all come rushing back. The hatred he had fought so hard to bury had been summoned. He had been startled how quickly his past had resurfaced. And with it, of course, had come his skills. Rusty but serviceable.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Jesus' message is one of peace... of nonviolence... of love. </span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">This was the message Silas had been taught from the beginning, and the message he held in his heart. And yet <i>this </i>was the message the enemies of Christ now threatened to destroy. <i>Those who threaten God with force will be met with force. Immovable and steadfast.</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03816093763418421974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-696450825610103825.post-50921621343680308332008-02-23T05:25:00.003-08:002008-02-23T05:25:43.673-08:00DA VINCI CODE 5-5<div class="Section1"> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Recently, however, Opus Dei had found itself threatened by a force infinitely more powerful than the media... an unexpected foe from which Aringarosa could not possibly hide. Five months ago, the kaleidoscope of power had been shaken, and Aringarosa was still reeling from the blow.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"They know not the war they have begun," Aringarosa whispered to himself, staring out the plane's window at the darkness of the ocean below. For an instant, his eyes refocused, lingering on the reflection of his awkward face—dark and oblong, dominated by a flat, crooked nose that had been shattered by a fist in Spain when he was a young missionary. The physical flaw barely registered now. Aringarosa's was a world of the soul, not of the flesh.<o:p></o:p></span></p> </div> <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; color: black;"><br /> </span> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">As the jet passed over the coast of Portugal, the cell phone in Aringarosa's cassock began vibrating in silent ring mode. Despite airline regulations prohibiting the use of cell phones during flights, Aringarosa knew this was a call he could not miss. Only one man possessed this number, the man who had mailed Aringarosa the phone.<o:p></o:p></span></p>bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03816093763418421974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-696450825610103825.post-18116494224234210032008-02-23T05:25:00.001-08:002008-02-23T05:25:27.756-08:00DAVINCI CODE 5-4<p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Of course the ultimate embarrassment had been the widely publicized trial of FBI spy Robert Hanssen, who, in addition to being a prominent member of Opus Dei, had turned out to be a sexual deviant, his trial uncovering evidence that he had rigged hidden video cameras in his own bedroom so his friends could watch him having sex with his wife. "Hardly the pastime of a devout Catholic," the judge had noted.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Sadly, all of these events had helped spawn the new watch group known as the Opus Dei Awareness Network (ODAN). The group's popular website—<i>www.odan.org</i>—relayed frightening stories from former Opus Dei members who warned of the dangers of joining. The media was now referring to Opus Dei as "God's Mafia" and "the Cult of Christ."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">We fear what we do not understand, </span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Aringarosa thought, wondering if these critics had any idea how many lives Opus Dei had enriched. The group enjoyed the full endorsement and blessing of the Vatican. <i>Opus Dei is a personal prelature of the Pope himself.</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03816093763418421974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-696450825610103825.post-43921681002488143472008-02-23T05:24:00.002-08:002008-02-23T05:25:04.139-08:00DA VINCI CODE 5-3<p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">You are describing only a small portion of the Opus Dei population," Aringarosa said. "There are many levels of involvement. Thousands of Opus Dei members are married, have families, and do God's Work in their own communities. Others choose lives of asceticism within our cloistered residence halls. These choices are personal, but everyone in Opus Dei shares the goal of bettering the world by doing the Work of God. Surely this is an admirable quest."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Reason seldom worked, though. The media always gravitated toward scandal, and Opus Dei, like most large organizations, had within its membership a few misguided souls who cast a shadow over the entire group.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Two months ago, an Opus Dei group at a midwestern university had been caught drugging new recruits with mescaline in an effort to induce a euphoric state that neophytes would perceive as a religious experience. Another university student had used his barbed <i>cilice </i>belt more often than the recommended two hours a day and had given himself a near lethal infection. In Boston not long ago, a disillusioned young investment banker had signed over his entire life savings to Opus Dei before attempting suicide.<o:p></o:p></span></p>bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03816093763418421974noreply@blogger.com0