by Alex Thomas
From the chronicles the master had quickly found out that the covenant led to a strong mental and physical dependency. Should one or more spirituals be eliminated such as through an unnatural, violent death without having passed on their energy to the rest of the covenant, the respective Pope would feel its loss in the most brutal and painful way that often led to disastrous consequences. It hadn’t surprised the master when Leo was able to handle Sylvester’s and Isabella’s deaths without much trouble. There was after all a mental security zone. But as late as Darius’ and Silvia’s passing, the pontiff should not have been able to govern of his own accord, which meant in the best case he should have had to rely on his worldly advisors, especially himself, the master. But because it didn’t happen that way, Leo must have found a new energy source. But who in God’s name could the source be? Who would have the strength to replace four simultaneously eliminated members of the papal Congregation? Not even the master’s erstwhile protégé Marc Ciban had such energy potential despite his extraordinary abilities. On the other hand the source, as strong as it may be, still had to be in the immediate vicinity of the Holy Father. But where?
The master did a mental run-through of all possible candidates without luck. He kept returning back to the prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith. Even if Ciban weren’t the source, he had something to do with it.
Then it suddenly occurred to the master what the single change in Leo's circle had been: the new wart-faced nun with the thick glasses in the papal household. She hadn’t left Leo’s side for the lunch’s entire duration. As he stared up at the scene of the resurrection at the Sistine’s entrance, he thought for a moment about the nun from Maine. He didn’t even know her name. How could this simple nun help the Holy Father?
Well then, a quick investigation couldn’t hurt. His thoughts jumped to Monsignor Massini who was so close to the action that he was able to swipe Leo’s journal for two days without anyone noticing. Massini would certainly be able to report on the new nun at the papal court. With this thought the master passed the choir screen that separated the clergy from the laypeople in the Sistine Chapel. He was in good spirits. Even this time the Sistine had given him the answer to his question.
61
Ben had positioned the flashlights in such a way on the open steel cabinet and one of the side shelves so that they both had their hands free and could take their time examining the contents of the box.
Catherine took out the letter, opened it and withdrew three carefully folded bits of paper. When she unfolded them she recognised Benelli’s buoyant handwriting. The letter was addressed to her. The old white-haired cardinal must have developed his plan that he shared with her in the villa’s chapel and in her visions long before his death if he left Catherine a message even here.
Dear Catherine,
If you are reading this letter, then it means you are making great progress in your mission and my spiritual energy and message have reached you. The mental connection between you and His Holiness must also have worked.
I know I have expected a lot from you in the past few days. Your visions and dreams have confused you and sometimes brought you to the brink of despair. Please believe me I would have chosen another way if there had been one, but unfortunately the dark side has escalated the matter so much that I had no other choice.
You must be asking yourself about the book. Why I brought you here so you can get familiar with its contents. The answer is not simple, and I fear you won’t understand it in its entirety until you are at the end of your mission.
What you are about to learn is only known to a few of the consecrated. Darius knew about the secret as well as Sylvester and Isabella. And now I think through your dreams and vision you have become one of the consecrated too and have earned the right to know about the true Book of Acts even if I can only give you access to this incomplete copy.
It is the Gospel of Judas Iscariot. He wrote it in his darkest hours and ensured that it wasn’t lost to future generations. His testimony reached France with Maria Magdalene who as member of the council of twelve also knew about the secret. A replica of this copy was discovered nearly two thousand years later in four sealed hollow cylinders with parchment scrolls in a country church in Rennes-le-Château. The complete original had already been kept sealed in the Vatican’s archives. Only the Popes, the Grand Inquisitors and the covenant of twelve knew back then and know today about this original.
Dear Catherine, the revelation of the secret will cost you a lot of energy and places the foundation of our faith in an entirely new light. It is a moving story as Judas Iscariot incarnate lived it ever since he was a little boy. For that reason the story is quite emotional at times. Judas had a much more sensitive heart that he would have ever admitted and so he pulled the lot as traitor amongst the twelve. But let me say straight away that it is not just the story of Judas Iscariot. It is also the story of the twelve. It is the history of those people that God sent out into the world with the New Testament to lead humanity out of the darkness.
Dear Catherine, as soon as you have studied this testimony, take it and my letter to His Holiness. He will understand the meaning of your consecration because he knows that that which is not seen is not an illusion. There are powers in this world that could not only destroy individual people, but all of humanity.
Please never forget: Good sometimes appears in the form of evil, and darkness appears none too little in the form of light.
Trust your heart.
Trust your gift!
Your brother in Jesus Christ
Antonio Benelli
Catherine handed Ben the final page without saying a word. When he had finished reading it, he handed her the entire letter and said with a note of scepticism: "The covenant of twelve? The Gospel of Judas Iscariot?"
Catherine met his look of doubt. She could understand his suspicion. He hadn’t experienced these vivid, all-consuming and indescribable visions and dreams that had haunted her in the past few days. Catherine knew Benelli’s energy had prevented her from being left completely exhausted after the dream sequences, not to mention being driven insane. She allowed the letter to disappear in her nun’s habit and took the noble leather-bound book from the box.
"Let’s have a look at what His Eminence has up his sleeve for us."
She opened the first page and discovered a hand-written reference next to the seal that this book had once belonged to Pius XII.
Pius’ lost secret library! Catherine had heard of the legend, but quite honestly she had never quite believe it. There were so many unbelievable myths that trailed through the Vatican like a maze and its secret archive. It was nearly impossible to separate the wheat from the chaff.
She noticed that Ben, who stood next to her and also recognised the seal, held his breath for a moment. The papal seal really could be proof that Benelli’s announcement about the true Gospel of Judas was based on a foundation they should take seriously. An enormity that even Catherine, despite her visions, had to first digest.
She flipped to the next page and hastily scanned its lines.
You will be the Thirteenth.
You will be cursed by the other generations,
and you will come to rule over them.
(Gospel of Judas)
Catherine and Ben gave each other a brief look. Then they continued to flip to the next page. In the silence of the archives, they began to read.
62
Jerusalem, in the year 33 A.D.
From the Gospel of Judas
It was God’s plan. And I, Judas Iscariot, liked His plan the least.
We walked the people’s Earth and opened their eyes like new-borns. Slowly at first. As we grew, we reminded ourselves of God’s plan and the reason for our existence. So that light could come from darkness, we were cast from the light into the darkness. Gabriel was our only heavenly guide.
Maria Magdalene was the first to remember. She had the greatest insight into the will of God. She was our
memory, our only crucial centre point. We have her to thank that we didn’t fail in the end. Maria was always there where Gabriel couldn’t be. Her light showed through. It showed me in particular the way through the deepest darkness.
The second one to remember was Jesus and the awareness of his fate filled him with anger and fury. One day he went through the village, full of rage and desperation, when a boy walking by grazed his shoulder. Full of bitterness, but also unintentionally, he spoke: "You should go no further on your way." In that moment, the young boy fell down and died. It was the one and only time that one of us took someone’s life. Up to that point none of us was aware of the power that ran through us. Jesus fell into such deep mourning over the boy that he forgot about his fear and wrath about his own fate for a while.
I was the third to remember. On that day when the boy died, I recognised my fate. I couldn’t believe it. I had pulled the lot of traitor. Or did the traitor’s lot pick me?
One after the other, all of us began to realise our tasks. Simon Peter was the fourth, followed by Andrew, Jacob and John. Finally Philip and Bartholomew joined us. Then the others. Just as rivers flow into the ocean, we flowed toward one another one by one to become that unity that brought the revelation to the people and fulfilled God’s plan.
Maria often warned us: We are all God’s instruments. We will all fulfil his plan. And so it shall be.
We did our duty after we had recognised our purpose and our gift. We left our homes and families. We went out and preached. People should do penance. We drove out many evil spirits, anointed the countless sick with oil and healed them. We fed Jesus, who had pulled the lot of the lamb, with our God given energy so that he could make the blind see again, the lame walk again and the dead live again. Then one thing was for certain: Words are not enough for people. They have to see deeds and miracles every now and again. At that time there were enough miracles to see. They helped spread the light.
We worked amongst the people for many years. We travelled and proclaimed the right way, healing people until that fateful day when I had to fulfil my lot in life, the lot of traitor.
Yes, it is true. I betrayed Jesus that night. I had to sacrifice the body that enshrouded his soul to fulfil God’s plan. The salvation of humanity required a traitor.
Without betrayal, no crucifixion! Without crucifixion, no resurrection! Without resurrection, no salvation of mankind!
63
Catherine noticed how the reality surrounding her suddenly divided. She was still in the Tower of the Winds, watching Ben continue to read the Gospel of Judas, all the while looking over the shoulder of one very desperate Judas Iscariot as he hurriedly wrote down his testimony as if he had to finish that night. In effect she was experiencing the very thing her friend merely read in the old book.
She saw Judas Iscariot’s aura too. A radiant blue-white laced with many fine blood red lines. She also saw how Judas walked at Jesus’ side as the only person besides Maria and Jesus who understood the true meaning of God’s will. Before her very eyes, Catherine saw how he preached, taught and healed and how he shared his energy, just like the other emissaries, with Jesus so that the entire covenant of twelve could perform their miracles.
The scene changed. Catherine now experienced how Judas went to the high priests and scribes who charged Jesus in order to incite the crowd. In the house of the high priest Caiaphas, Judas promised to help capture his own master for the price of thirty pieces of silver. Caiaphas and his companions had no idea that they were merely acting as God’s instrument.
The setting changed once again. Catherine saw that Judas secretly witnessed Jesus’ crucifixion. While the Passover lambs were slaughtered, they nailed the anointed to the cross. Just like Maria, Judas never once left Jesus’ side. Now Catherine perceived three simultaneous realities. She saw Ben as he read the Gospel of Judas, Judas as he wrote the Gospel and Judas as he witnessed Jesus’ crucifixion as Maria shared his pain.
While Judas wrote down his testimony, a white-robed figure appeared out of nowhere.
"The people are saved," said the angel softly. "For now."
Judas looked up. "What does he want from us next, Gabriel? How are things to proceed from here?"
"Only God knows God’s plan."
"Then there won’t be another flood?"
"The human sacrifice is complete. The new covenant between God and man exists through the sacrifice of the twelve."
"You know God better than I…" Judas looked off into an imaginary distance, then returned his eyes to the archangel. "This new covenant…how valuable will it really be?"
"It appears you have lived among people much too long."
"Perhaps I have. Perhaps we all have. You and I, we know God’s wrath. How valuable is this sacrifice? How long will this new covenant hold?"
"It will hold until the beginning of the Last Judgement."
Judas took a deep breath. As if to look into the far-distant future, he said: "From heaven through the world to hell. War, hunger, plague and death." He paused briefly, then asked with a desperate voice: "What about Peter? You know he isn’t the right one for his lot. What he sows will falsify the message."
"You know darkness reigns and we have to break through it. The path is clear. Peter is the rock."
Judas agreed with a heavy heart and looked at the nearly complete writing that lay before him.
Gabriel said: "I will make certain that neither Maria’s nor your testimony will be lost in human history."
"Then the connection to the source, the covenant of twelve, will remain a secret," Judas realised with exhaustion.
Gabriel nodded. "For now, yes. We cannot risk that that which happens on Earth also happens in heaven. One devastating war is enough." The angel took a step forward, carefully taking the pen out of Judas’ hand. "It is time." The pen fell to dust. "Which place have you selected for your earthly demise?"
Judas watched the dust fall to the ground. "A barren, leafless tree high above Jerusalem."
Gabriel nodded. "I will be by your side. You will outdo them all and return to our midst. The darkness in our master must not triumph…"
The image changed abruptly and Catherine saw a gaunt tree tortured by the elements from which Judas Iscariot’s corpse hung. The sky was grey and dark, like before a storm. Gabriel watched over the tree, peering down at the dead body and said: "He carried the heaviest lot of all."
"Why all these sacrifices?" she blurted out with a sigh. "Why these martyrs’ deaths?"
Gabriel lowered himself and stood next to her. "Because it is the language of man. Because they would otherwise not truly understand."
"And what should I believe?"
The enormous wings of the angel fluttered briefly, strengthening the wind across the field. Judas’ body swung back and forth from the branch. "God created man in his likeness. You know the Old Testament."
"That’s how it is written, yes."
"It is true. I am an archangel. I know."
Gabriel made a slight gesture and Catherine saw a gigantic luminous spiral, a galaxy in complete darkness in the middle of the Tower of the Winds. Gabriel demonstrated a bit of his power, offering her a brief look from his superhuman perspective. Catherine was reminded of Stephen Hawking’s book The Universe in a Nutshell.
"If you question the sacrifice of the twelve, Catherine, then you not only question the new covenant, but also Benelli’s sacrifice. Lucifer didn’t like the twelve’s commitment. He sensed where the whole thing was headed: toward a stronger connection between man and God." Gabriel pointed to Judas Iscariot’s corpse. "He is the true saviour. Just as Maria Magdalene was. But her time will come later."
"What does Cardinal Benelli have to do with it? He, just like Judas, had also committed suicide. Should he have to burn in hell for it?" Catherine couldn’t say for sure, but she thought she saw a smile run across the angel’s face.
"God judges according to motive, Catherine. Benelli acted completely selflessly as an apostle."
<
br /> Apostle! That was a word she never would have dared thought about in this context. She wanted to ask more questions, but Gabriel interrupted her with a gesture, saying: "You have read Benelli’s letter. Hold yourself to it."
Catherine swallowed, then asked directly: "If you know everything as an angel, then you also can see the betrayal in the Vatican. – Who is the traitor?"
Gabriel’s wings moved again, blowing a strong wind across the field. "I know that this traitor exists, but I cannot recognise him. Lucifer is hiding him behind his dark sway." Gabriel suddenly perked up. Then he said: "I have to go now. I am needed elsewhere. You too must leave this place. Darkness is falling." The angel unfolded his enormous wings and rose about the earthly world. At the same time, Catherine’s vision dissolved, and she was back in the narrow, dim corridor in the Tower of the Winds.
Ben looked up from the Gospel of Judas speechless, stared at his friend, let the book fall and held her tightly. "Catherine? What is it?"
Catherine leaned against one of the heavy shelves filled with tomes behind her in a half sunken position. She had the feeling that the noose that had strangled Judas was closing tightly around her neck. Ben wanted to help her by sitting on the floor, but she stood back up in a haze. "Quick, close the cabinet and grab the book. We have to get out of here! We have to go straight to His Holiness!"
Without a word Ben put the volume in the inside pocket of his suit jacket and closed the cabinet. They hurried along the narrow aisle between the stacks. He knocked on the heavy wooden door so Dominico could open it from the outside. After a brief moment, they heard the key in the lock and saw the heavy door slowly open.
