Read Online I'll Let You Go by Bruce Wagner - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Bruce Wagner
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a declaration from the pope allowing them to be called Venerable. They could then be venerated in their local community. Amaryllis thought the Congregation could interview Topsy, who would attest to her overall humility and general hardships, and made a mental note that if she received a declaration, she would be in a stronger position to nominate the charitable Englishman himself. But first things first: if all went well, she might eventually be allowed to carry the title of Venerable Amaryllis Kornfeld of Los Angeles. The Congregation usually waited until the person to be sainted actually died, but
this
pope had waived all that and in the case of Mother Teresa already had an archbishop working on beatificationâ
this
pope seemed to be in such a hurry that the rules were constantly changing or being broken. Anyhow, Amaryllis didnât think it was important if, when crowned, she was dead or alive, but thought it would probably be more fun to be alive, at least for a little while.
Some people said Pope John Paul II was hurrying to make new saints because he didnât think he had long to live and wanted to spread the Gospel of Christ far and wide. Because he moved with such dispatch, the clippings spoke of his sacred mandate as if it were an evangelical car raceâthe process had been âstreamlinedâ and âoverhauled,â becoming altogether âspeedy.â Things certainly were moving along at a fast clip. For example, in olden days there used to be a Promoter of the Faith, whose entire job was to argue against new nominees to ensure that no one unworthy became a saint. The Promoters were called Devilâs Advocates, but John Paul, in all his streamlining, had sent them packing. Another example of speediness was the beatification. After a person was declared Venerable, the next step to being crowned was beatification, which
used
to require two miracles, but now you only needed one unless you were a martyr, in which case you didnât need a miracle at all (they never explained what a martyr was, but Amaryllis reasoned it must be something good). It had to be what they called a âhealingâ miracle, something science couldnât explain.
After beatification, all that was left was to be canonized, which alsoused to require two miracles, but because of John Paul, the Congregation for the Causes said theyâd be happy with just one: now it was
one
miracle for each step, plus
no
Devilâs Advocate! Amaryllis hadnât yet come across any child saints, but this pope was a maverick and anything seemed possible. He had already beatified something like a thousand people, âeclipsing the 20th-century record of Pius XII, who only beatified twenty-three.â Nominees were pouring in every day. One of the articles even said the next pope might be from Mexico or Vietnam.
She stared at the picture of the Blessed Edith Stein, dark and sad, her long handsome face framed by a halftone wimple. Sheâd been beatified a few years before Amaryllis was born, on the basis of the 1987 case of the daughter of a pastor, who overdosed on Tylenol samples sheâd thought were candy. When the girl fell into
her
magical coma, the family prayed for Blessed Edith to intercede with God on their behalf; when she awakened, her Jew doctor was surprised. He was summoned to the Vatican to be interrogated by the Congregation for the Causes. The doctor said he didnât believe in miracles per se
â
reading aloud, Amaryllis pronounced it âpercyââand that in his heart he had never expected her to recover. (Amaryllis thought that wishing patients the worst was maybe the way of Jew doctors.) There was a photo of the saved girl, with big features like Amaryllisâs but lily-white.
Before going out, the novitiate knelt by her mother, a demon who had sold her for drugs and held her down to be raped and burned by a tubercular woman. Amaryllis shut her nose to the putrescence and closed
this
pope had waived all that and in the case of Mother Teresa already had an archbishop working on beatificationâ
this
pope seemed to be in such a hurry that the rules were constantly changing or being broken. Anyhow, Amaryllis didnât think it was important if, when crowned, she was dead or alive, but thought it would probably be more fun to be alive, at least for a little while.
Some people said Pope John Paul II was hurrying to make new saints because he didnât think he had long to live and wanted to spread the Gospel of Christ far and wide. Because he moved with such dispatch, the clippings spoke of his sacred mandate as if it were an evangelical car raceâthe process had been âstreamlinedâ and âoverhauled,â becoming altogether âspeedy.â Things certainly were moving along at a fast clip. For example, in olden days there used to be a Promoter of the Faith, whose entire job was to argue against new nominees to ensure that no one unworthy became a saint. The Promoters were called Devilâs Advocates, but John Paul, in all his streamlining, had sent them packing. Another example of speediness was the beatification. After a person was declared Venerable, the next step to being crowned was beatification, which
used
to require two miracles, but now you only needed one unless you were a martyr, in which case you didnât need a miracle at all (they never explained what a martyr was, but Amaryllis reasoned it must be something good). It had to be what they called a âhealingâ miracle, something science couldnât explain.
After beatification, all that was left was to be canonized, which alsoused to require two miracles, but because of John Paul, the Congregation for the Causes said theyâd be happy with just one: now it was
one
miracle for each step, plus
no
Devilâs Advocate! Amaryllis hadnât yet come across any child saints, but this pope was a maverick and anything seemed possible. He had already beatified something like a thousand people, âeclipsing the 20th-century record of Pius XII, who only beatified twenty-three.â Nominees were pouring in every day. One of the articles even said the next pope might be from Mexico or Vietnam.
She stared at the picture of the Blessed Edith Stein, dark and sad, her long handsome face framed by a halftone wimple. Sheâd been beatified a few years before Amaryllis was born, on the basis of the 1987 case of the daughter of a pastor, who overdosed on Tylenol samples sheâd thought were candy. When the girl fell into
her
magical coma, the family prayed for Blessed Edith to intercede with God on their behalf; when she awakened, her Jew doctor was surprised. He was summoned to the Vatican to be interrogated by the Congregation for the Causes. The doctor said he didnât believe in miracles per se
â
reading aloud, Amaryllis pronounced it âpercyââand that in his heart he had never expected her to recover. (Amaryllis thought that wishing patients the worst was maybe the way of Jew doctors.) There was a photo of the saved girl, with big features like Amaryllisâs but lily-white.
Before going out, the novitiate knelt by her mother, a demon who had sold her for drugs and held her down to be raped and burned by a tubercular woman. Amaryllis shut her nose to the putrescence and closed
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