Cleanliness was half of faith. Religions born in the Middle East generally loved cleanliness; even Catholicism had valued it greatly in the beginning.
A person underwent baptism more than once in their life. In ancient times, monks would take those receiving baptism and their witnesses into rivers for immersion, washing away original sin.
"I hope fate can grant me freedom, just as nature has."
What one believed in was everyone's freedom. It should not be taken away while a person was still ignorant and unaware.
Baptists were baptized after reaching adulthood rather than as infants. Immersion symbolized Jesus's burial and resurrection, a sign of rebirth.
Yet reaching adulthood did not mean one would stop making mistakes. In fact, the smarter a person was, the more troublesome and difficult their mistakes tended to be.
The Vatican Secret Archives were located underground. At first, they had been housed together with the Papal Library. Napoleon plundered them in the 19th century, and the collection suffered enormous losses and damage. However, some exceptionally precious documents were moved and hidden by monks in time, escaping the looting of those booted soldiers. It was much like the caves beside the Dead Sea.
All those materials were hidden deep within the underground vaults, beyond fifty-three miles of bookshelves.
Beginning in 1878, the Vatican Secret Archives eased its access restrictions and opened to scholars, but those reading rooms were only one portion of it. Much material remained secret, accessible only to clergy of the Holy See.
Joseph followed the Swiss Guard through narrow tunnels barely wide enough for one person. The only light came from incandescent bulbs on the ceiling. The air was filled with the scent of spices, and all they could hear were their footsteps.
Ancient documents were extremely fragile. Too much humidity made them moldy,