CHAPTER 104

CHAPTER 104

ACCOMPANIED BY NICOLE and Roman Green, Victoria was now in front of the magnificent Basilica of San Marco. Built in the shape of a Greek cross, the basilica is surmounted by five domes that each rest on one of its wings. Already at the entrance, also consisting of five richly worked gates, one can observe the beauty of sculptures and mosaics that contribute even more to the sumptuousness of the wonderful environment.

— What is that? — Asked the young woman when they were already inside the church.

Victoria turned to the left.

— It's a mosaic, my daughter! It is known as the Trasladação do Corpo de San Marcos for the Church, it took more than ten years to build.

— Is the body of the apostle Mark in this church?

— Yes, it was brought here, and today it is found in a sarcophagus located above the altar.

Nicole's eyes turned to the dome where a mosaic depicted scenes from the creation of man.

— Mom, look! — Said the young woman pointing to the top -, isn't this wonderful?

— It really is magnificent — replied a deep voice that quickly joined them.

Everyone turned to see who had approached the group.

— Eminence! — said Victoria, surprised to see Cardinal Domenico Di Polli with the group.

— Victory! — said Di Polli.

— I confess I didn't expect to find you so quickly — said the woman.

— Well — replied the Cardinal — when my secretary informed me that Professor Hulmann's daughter wanted an audience with me, I immediately remembered that she had already been received by the Secretary General of the Vatican. Then I realized that I couldn't let Cardinal Joseph Messina be recognized as a better host than I was — joked Di Polli.

— I'm delighted — replied the woman.

— Well, I'm the one who feels flattered — replied the Cardinal in a gallant and subtle way — to receive a visit from a lady and her friends whose importance gives them access to the Vatican itself. I am afraid that I do not correspond, that I do not measure up to my illustrious predecessor.

— Your Eminence, I thank you immensely for the reception.

— I am entirely at your disposal, what could I really be of service to you? asked the Cardinal as his eyes shrewdly passed the three visitors.

The woman, for a moment, was nervous, because it occurred to her that she hadn't thought about that, she had thought that there would be time to find some pretext while she waited for the audience in the waiting room.

Nicole realized the situation.

— Look, what does that mean over there? — He said pointing to a white diamond embedded in the middle of a reddish slab.

Everyone turned to look at what the young woman was pointing at.

— What you see is a symbol, young lady — replied the Cardinal.

— A symbol? — Nicole asked curiously — a symbol of what?

— This symbolizes the supremacy of spiritual power over secular power. This white diamond marks the exact spot where, in 1177, German Emperor Frederick Barbarossa knelt before Pope Alexander III.

— It's impressive, this place oozes history — Nicole noted.

— Yes, confirmed the Cardinal, but I can say that about all of Venice.

— The Rialto Bridge — quoted Victoria — the Palace of the Doges...

— Exactly — confirmed Di Polli. — Each place with its peculiarities, its passages and events.

— Well then — said Victoria — that's exactly why we're here. I would like your permission so that we can portray the history inside this cathedral in our cultural magazine.

— Oh yes! What other reason could there be — said the Cardinal, shaking his head — if I remember correctly, that was the reason for your visit to Cardinal Messina in the Vatican.

— Yes — confirmed the relieved woman.

— And, by the way, how was that work? Is it already in your magazine? Nicole looked at her mother.

— No, the editor-in-chief of the magazine thought that we should do a complete coverage covering not only the Vatican, but also the cathedrals of the most important Italian cities: Venice, Milan...

— As far as I know, the magazine specialized in archeology. Are you now researching sacred art?

For a moment Victoria stared into the Cardinal's black eyes, then she answered.

— Yes, the magazine's proposal was initially archaeological research, this because of the work developed by my father. It was a way he found to disseminate the culture of ancient civilizations, not only Egypt, but also investigating Sumerian culture, in the Fertile Crescent, pre-Hellenic peoples such as the civilization of Troy.

— That seems to me to be very important — said the Cardinal.

— Very important, I agree, but I thought we should go further. I convinced the editor that we should diversify our research on the world of culture. And a universe that has always piqued my interest is the world of religion.

— A very interesting world, to be sure — confirmed Di Polli.

— I am convinced of that, Your Eminence. Religion permeates human life long before the existence of civilizations that my father investigated, and before him, my grandfather. It is a universe full of mysteries and secrets, some of them lost, others, hidden from the knowledge of the profane, only known by initiates.

— Perhaps, Victoria, perhaps — said the Cardinal as if he were speaking to himself.

— As well? I don't understand — said the woman, trying to interpret Di Polli's words.

The Cardinal raised one of his hands, extending it towards the walls of the Basilica.

— Look out for yourself, Mrs. Hulmann. Perhaps these mysteries you refer to are not so unfathomable after all. Look at these walls, these mosaics, look at the art that has developed over the centuries. Is it not possible that we find these supposedly unfathomable secrets in the arts? What is art, if not man's desire to eternalize himself, and how would he do that, if not by carving in stone, writing on paper or reproducing in an oil canvas, in a veiled way, his most hidden secrets?

— I confess that I have never seen art in this light, Your Eminence.

— Well, try to understand — said Di Polli, showing affection. — All the secrets of men are exposed there looking for souls sensitive enough to understand them.

— Your words are magnificent, Your Eminence — said Green.

— Thanks, Father. Now I would be really flattered if I knew that my words had awakened you to this profound reality.

— Does art reveal the mysteries of men? — Nicole asked, who until then had been silent.

— Yes, young lady — said the Cardinal, smiling at Nicole — and this is not a matter of rhetoric. Just as nature contains and demonstrates some mysteries and secrets of God, art reveals the secrets of men. Can I taste. Tell me which one do you want to meet first?

— As well?

— Do you want to know first a secret of men or of God?

The young woman thought quickly.

— A secret from God then... But is it really possible to know a secret from God?

— Yes, it is possible, but only those secrets that He Himself wants us to reveal.

— Are there, then, secrets that God does not want us to know about?

— No, there are no such secrets — replied the Cardinal.

— This is confusing — admitted Victoria — if you recognize the existence of secrets that God wants us to know, by logic you must admit the existence of secrets that he does not want us to know!

— In the light of logic, this statement of mine really seems contradictory — said Di Polli.

— Yes — confirmed the woman — it is contradictory.

— But it is not.

— It is not?

— No, it's not. First: that for a logical assessment we should confront two equivalent magnitudes, which is not the case; remaining in this premise means wanting to equate a finite nature of man with the absolute nature of God.

— I do not understand.

— It's simple! What I mean is that God, although revealed, cannot be understood or measured by the tools of the human intellect. For being finite, the human being cannot measure the infinite, God. The content cannot contain the continent. The ocean doesn't fit in a drop, but a drop fits in the ocean.

Nicole interfered:

— Do you mean then that the secrets of God, which He wants to reveal, He wants to reveal because they are at a level of understanding possible to be apprehended by the human mind?

— Exactly that.— The Cardinal smiled.

— And that the other secrets of God are not possible to be revealed, not because God does not want man to come to know them, but rather, that by the finite nature of man, it is impossible for him to have knowledge of them.

— Brilliant young lady, simply brilliant! I have never met a young woman of her age with such intelligence and sensitivity — the Cardinal enthused — her grandfather would have been immensely proud to see her that way.

— Nick is special, Your Eminence — said her mother, hugging the girl.

— Yes, I have to agree.

— But you're still in debt — Nicole joked — what's God's secret he's going to tell us?

— You — said the cardinal, pointing to Nicole — you are a striking revelation of God's secret!

— I? — The young woman was surprised — but how?

— You are a girl of great beauty, young lady! I believe he has a crowd of admirers in college.

Nicole flushed at the Primate of Venice's assertion.

— That says it all.— The Cardinal smiled. — Well then, would you know why it attracts such a crowd of admirers?

Nicole blushed even more. The Cardinal then continued:

— There are two opposing currents of thought in philosophy: the rationalist and the empiricist schools. The first has strong figures among its defenders, the Socratics Plato, Aristotle, the scholastics Saint Augustine and Saint Thomas Aquinas. This current mentions that the beautiful, contrary to what the empiricists defend, whose theories came to give rise to what is conventionally called "Modern Art" is a characteristic of a certain being; that is, beauty is not in the eye of the beholder, but resides in the being, the object of that look.

— What this rationalist school tells us is that beauty is an absolute value, what is beautiful is — completed Father Green — regardless of an external value judgment.

— There are only two alternatives for someone who calls the beautiful ugly: either he proposes the opposite, he calls the ugly beautiful, or he has malicious intent, or else he does not have enough refinement of mind to appreciate it.

— This is interesting, Your Eminence, but what does it have to do with the secret of God? asked the visibly curious woman.

— We'll get there, Victoria, these preliminary considerations are important.

The woman managed a slight smile, as if apologizing for the interruption.

— Let's go on then — said the Cardinal. — Well, I believe that after this brief introduction, I don't need to say that this rationalist philosophical current is in accordance with the Christian faith. Beauty, although it may exist to a greater or lesser extent in a given being, will always be an absolute value. In Nicole's case, there is greater intensity, a greater percentage of beauty.

— Intensity?! Percent?! Are you saying that beauty can be reduced to numbers? — Nicole asked.

— Exactly, young lady, numbers! It is here that I come to the secret of God, revealed through nature. Do you know the golden number?

— Golden number?

— Yes — continued the Cardinal — the golden number, the number preferred by God, the number with which He made the Universe: 1.618.

— 1.618, the number with which God made the Universe? I confess that I do not understand, Your Eminence! said Green.

— If you consult the Vulgate of Saint Jerome, you will see that in the book of Wisdom it is written that:

— God made everything with measure, number and weight.

— That is, in all created things there is a proportion and an order that results from a perfect balance. Now, the reason why this young woman has a crowd of admirers at the university is exactly this: her measurements have a grace expressed in numbers: height, waist, bust, everything in perfect harmony, everything obeying a mathematical proportion chosen by God with the rule or ruler with which He measures the Universe: 1.618. If you take a tape measure and look up the ratio of the height of your face to the measurement from your chin to the base of your nose, you'll find the number 1.618. If we examine an ice crystal through a microscope, we will see that it has a ratio: 1.618. Finally, all created things obey this magnificent proportion, the golden number.

— This is really fabulous! Victoria exclaimed, impressed.

— This is one of the secrets of God — continued the Cardinal —, revealed to human knowledge by nature, so that men, through the perfection of created things, may recognize and adore the Creator as the book of Wisdom says:

"Through the greatness and beauty of the creature, one can visibly come to know the creator."

— This is what the apostle Paul also tells us in Chapter One, in his epistle to the Romans — added Roman Green:

"For the invisible things from the creation of the world, both his eternal power and his divinity, are understood and clearly seen by the things that are created, so that they are inexcusable."

— Perfect, my dear priest! said Di Polli in amazement, you have shown yourself to know the divine purpose well. God wanted all created things to point to Him, the Creator, in such a way that man would have no excuses for denying their existence.

— However, many deny the existence of the Creator, and others, if they don't, live in apathetic indifference — interfered the woman — How do you explain this?

Domenico Di Polli smiled.

— I see that I must reveal another secret to you.