The CONVERSION and PEACE promised at Fatima.

In the Old Testament, the Jewish people were waiting for an earthly kingdom. They were wrong. The kingdom Christ promised was a spiritual kingdom. The same at Fatima. Our Lady promised the conversion of Russia and peace in the world if the necessary consecration of Russia was made to her Immaculate Heart. These conversion and peace are both spiritual. Conversion is an act of grace which God alone can accomplish; and the peace which Christ mentioned was one which the world cannot give but He alone. Both conversion and peace are spiritual realities humanly unattainable.

The Benedictines made "Peace" their motto. It is written all over their monasteries. And I believe this peace, promised at Fatima, has been given to many faithful who have obtained it through a long process as described below. But many are waiting for a political, worldly peace as propagated by the United Nations. That is not the peace Mary promised.

Of the promise of the conversion of Russia, we should not expect to see a grand ceremony of mass baptism into the Catholic Faith. It is a conversion of the heart which is not visible, not even to the persons who will attain it.

Conversion is a long process. When Mary called the Church to repentance at Fatima, most Catholics could not do it. So the threatened chastisement befell men. If Catholics find it difficult to repent, the step prior to conversion, how can we expect Russia to be converted without passing through the long and difficult process of repentance?

Peace, according to St. Augustine, is the fifth stage through which the soul normally passes as it advances to the perfection of Charity. To reach that stage the soul must have virtues, the fourth stage. 'Avoid evil, do good and pursue peace' ... is an evangelical axiom that shows peace is practically the last step in the development of the spiritual life, the peace that "surpasses all understanding."

Perhaps the promise of Mary at Fatima is that when Russia is consecrated, she will help her to go through the slow process of repentance that will lead her to what spiritual writers call "the first conversion" and consequently peace. Then perhaps Russia will suddenly realize the beauty of its Christian roots and return to her communion with Rome. Thus the process towards repentance leading to conversion would then begin. A slow process that could take years, and we cannot rush it because of man's free will, but Mary will help.

As for peace, it is also a long process to attain. Peace is a gift of the Holy Spirit that is given in aid of the Theological virtues for the perfection of Charity. With Repentance too difficult for most Catholics, thus preventing them from entering into the Theological virtue of Faith that leads to the "peace that no one can give but God alone," how can the world expect to easily attain the gift of peace?

If Rome seems not to have acted upon the wishes of the Virgin at Fatima, it is probably because many would expect a worldly peace to ensue wherein wars and crimes will stop, thus making Rome liable of giving a wrong notion of the peace of Christ which really is the exact opposite of worldly peace, as He has said, " I came not to bring peace . . ."

Our hope is that mankind obeys Mary's plea to Repent. If we do this, we will all be well on the way to Conversion and Peace.

THAT Small COMMUNITY

Pope Pius XII was once upon a time overwhelmed by the problems besetting the Church that he became withdrawn, which led him to live an heremitical life. He then promulgated "Provida Mater Ecclesia," encouraging lay secular institutes or third orders. This was how the Catholic Church begun: small groups, living the fulness of the Gospel in their homes, and eventually in the desert. They were all laymen. His enthusiasm blazed a trail that carried up to the time of the late Pope John Paul II and the present Pope Benedict.

Pope Benedict showed special interest in these small communities in his "Ratzinger Report," and even in his earliest writing "The Theology of History according to St. Bonaventure," his thesis when he was just a young priest. As newly-elected Pope, he mentioned about "a small Church" and after doing so, caricatures portraying him carrying a small "St. Peter"s Basilica, stressed his point. He expects a very small Catholic Church! How did he get that notion when news abound that the Church, especially in Africa, is growing?

Why should a Pope be interested in these small, new communities when Rome has already discouraged the establishing of new orders, presuming that the present, existing, approved Religious Orders were doing their jobs of fulfilling the needs of the Church? Perhaps because of one special characteristic common to them: these small lay communities usually acquire a deep and complete knowledge of the teachings of Christ through infused knowledge, without books or teachers, but simply by their way of life.

In the apocalypse, it is implied that the Church was once in the world and then, personified by the Woman, was transferred to the desert. Suddenly the Church had a new ambience: the members of the Church would learn the totality of the teachings of Christ in all its depths without human teachers. They would see the face of God without the need for books, lecturers, theological and catechetical centers. They would attain knowledge of God comparable to St. Thomas of Aquinas or St. Therese of Lisieux ...simply by their way of life.

St. Therese, in fact, is a typical example. Considering the few books she has read, she could not have described Charity as well as Pope Benedict did in "Deus Caritas Est" unless her knowledge was infused, attained through her way of life at home and perfected at Carmel. In her younger years, in a Benedictine school, she amazed the Abbe who called her "my little doctor of the Church." The recent publication of the writings of St. Bernadette Soubirous shows the same infused knowledge. So did Alphonse Ratisbonne, a Jewish convert, and Claude Newman, an illiterate Black slave who was converted and executed in prison. This is exactly like what happened at Pentecost, with the small community of apostles and disciples with Mary; and like the Apocalyptic woman with her children in the desert. Mary and the apostles were imbued with infused knowledge.

The first Christians knew this secret, and this is what drove them to the desert, like St. Antony the Hermit: to learn and worship God with full knowledge and love, foreshadowed by Israel's sojourn in the desert. It seems that Monasticism was that "small community."

Today, true monasticism, as envisioned by the Theology of Grace according to St. Paul, seem to have disappeared from the face of the earth, and attempts to renew it have been frustrating, just as De Rance's recent efforts to renew the Benedictines.

The first Christians knew this image from the Apocalypse. They lived according to that image of the Catholic Church in the desert. But through the centuries, the Christian world has forgotten how to live that life, and left the "Desert" for the busy cities -- the world, just as the Israelites desired to return to Egypt.

Today, a big portion of the Church have returned to Egypt. But Pope Benedict is looking for those still left in the Desert, aware perhaps that the invitation of the Woman of the Apocalypse for her children to join her there, has not ceased since Pentecost. And if this is so, then seminaries, theological and Catholic schools would be irrelevant. Only Scriptures and the writings of the Fathers of the Church would be needed for the members of that community to confirm what they already know. Because their knowledge would be infused, and there would be no danger of heresy, schism or apostasy. This would solve the present problem of learning our religion as if it were just another subject like Science.

Pope Benedict, because of his research on St. Bonaventure, knows that this "small community" is made up of unschooled children (to emphasize the supernaturalness of their infused knowledge and wisdom) who are imbued with profound knowledge of God and exceptional holiness. The existence of such communities is a thin golden chain in the history of the Church. They have always existed; and especially today, to prepare the world for the Parousia, according to the Benedictine Tradition, as noted by St. Louis de Montfort. They bear the stamp of the true Church: they are One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic; and beside this, they are Contemplative and Mystical. The Apocalypse mentions that there will be members of the Church out in the world, children of the Woman, especially chosen by God to stay on and work there in order to point to all where the Church is, in the Desert.

Perhaps aware that St. Benedict had succeeded in establishing such a community, (which explains our present Holy Father's predilection for the Benedictines), could it be that Pope Benedict has an inkling where to find that small community? There, wherein is found the fullness of Benedictine Life. This should narrow down his search. ("Pentecost" by Henri and Antoine Cibille, XVII centuy.)

LIMBO - Pope Benedict's INSIGHT

1. We can never fully understand the teachings of Christ. We understand them gradually, thus the concept of the "Development of Doctrines." Our understanding depends on our Faith, Hope and Charity, but ultimately on the will of God who reveals or withholds truths from us. Many doctrines are implicit in Scriptures. But they are there.

2. Limbo is one concept God withheld for a while, since Repentance, Faith, Hope and Charity were more important. It does not matter how Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory look like. Christians are exhorted to focus and aim for heaven.

3. As with Heaven and Hell, we need Faith to believe in what we cannot see. Attempts to explain matters of Faith are fruitless. But we can only show their reasonableness when based on known truths.

4. The Fathers of the Church did not attempt to explain the mystery of the Blessed Trinity, but they wrote showing its reasonableness. And where ever the Fathers could not fully explain matters of Faith they depended on theological constructs, that is, attempts to make concepts rational.

5. But sometimes constructs can be unclear, and so sometimes seem unreasonable, as what happened with the construct on Limbo. But there is a way of clarifying unclear Evangelical concepts: consult directly the Author, God. We have heard of Saints, like St. Thomas of Aquinas, whose queries were answered by St. John the Evangelist and the Blessed Virgin.

6. Pope Benedict XVI must have 'consulted' St. Augustine who, now in Heaven, would know the truth about Limbo. Can you imagine a simpler way? Could this be what the Holy Father did in Pavia when he visited St. Augustine's tomb?

7.From the time of the early Church, Limbo has been described as a place where the Patriarchs, martyrs, heroes and saints of the Old Testament had to wait, before they could finally enter Heaven and receive their reward, till Christ has fulfilled the Father's Will to redeem man through His suffering and death. It wasn't Heaven. But considering that Christ "descended to the dead" before He resurrected, in order to open the gates and free those who were waiting for Him to accomplish His mission, it is welcome news that Pope Benedict has finally cleared up the matter which has been long overdue : Limbo no longer exists.

8.Why should it still exist? To continue believing that it still does would nullify the effect of Christ's death, which was to open to us the gates of Heaven. This is the reason also why Limbo had also been called the netherworld, for the righteous men of the Old Testament were kept apart from, and could not enter, Heaven till Christ has suffered and died. If the O.T. Fathers who had original sin and committed actual sins, venial or mortal sin, and repented of them, could go to Heaven, why could not unbaptized babies who had no actual sin? Among those whom Christ freed from Limbo when He "descended to the dead" was King David who committed adultery and repented of it. There is Mary Magdalene, also Demas the Good Thief. Would Christ have freed those Old Testament repentant grown- ups and bring them to Heaven and left behind innocent babies?

9.The Holy Innocents were so-called (Holy) because they were martyred for Christ. But they were naturally innocent before this, bearing the image and likeness of God, though tarnished by original sin, before they were slaughtered. If sinners could atone for so many sins and attain an immediate crown of glory with one blow for the sake of Christ, why should innocent babies, still in their pristine innocence, who had no chance to be baptized when they were slaughtered by their own parents who refuse to obey God rather than accept His Will, why should they be forever separated from the lot of repentant sinners who enjoy the beatific vision despite the sins they have committed, if indeed Limbo still exists?

10.When Christ said : "unless you become like children ..." "whatever you do to these little ones..." "he who welcomes them welcomes me ..." He was pointing at unbaptized children, setting them up as models for those who want to be His disciples. Did He say these to us only to encourage us go to Limbo? He would not have set them up as models for discipleship unless they were meant for Heaven. He also said "Do not prevent them from coming to Me ..." If God still holds Limbo in existence, where then is the truth about Him" .... Quae nec fallere, nec falli potest...?"

11.There is a purgatory wherein the "sins of the just" may be expiated before they eventually go to Heaven. If Limbo still exists, children who have never committed any sin will forever be denied Heaven. Such thought militates against both the mercy and justice of God. Would it not be more according to God's love if He were to rather send unbaptized innocents to purgatory and purge them of their original sin rather than forever cut them off from the vision of God by languishing in Limbo?

12.Come Judgment Day, there will only be Heaven and Hell as final rewards; even purgatory will be obsolete and would no longer exist. But think about those poor, unbaptized babies in Limbo, if God has not forever closed it!

13. The Beatific Vision is a gift of God. If He could freely give this to the patriarchs who have sinned, wouldn't he to unbaptized, innocent children, for whom He had always shown special tenderness?

14. All Christian doctrines must support each other like a jigsaw puzzle. Maintaining the present existence of Limbo does not fit into the doctrine of Divine Providence which states that God has made provisions to give all a chance to be saved. From this doctrine it is certain He made provisions for unbaptized children. His eternal imaginativeness will certainly find means to save them. ("Origin of the World," by Wiliam Blake, 1824.)

REPENTANCE: IS IT DIFFICULT ?

The teachings of the Catholic Church may be summarized into four general headings: Repentance, Faith, Hope and Charity. The last three are infused theological virtues, gifts from God and humanly unattainable. In effect, Repentance is man's only human effort in the work of salvation, though still with the help of grace.

The Old Testament taught Repentance, John the Baptist being its last preacher. In the New Testament, Christ perfected the doctrine; and the Apostles preached this perfected version of Repentance. So did the Fathers of the Church, those who followed the Apostles. Later on the other great preachers also preached repentance. Among them were St. Wilfrid, Savonarola, and St. Louis de Montfort. The Popes, in different ways, reminded us of the need to repent. In these last days Mary herself has urged us to repent, from La Sallete to Fatima.

Christ emphasized the importance of repentance by living his 30 years of hidden life "repenting" but for our instruction. This hidden life was picked up by the early Christians in the form of the monastic life. Thus St. Benedict wrote in his Holy Rule that the life of a monk is a life-long Lenten observance of repentance. In fact, St. John Climacus divided his work "The Ladder" into 30 chapters, representing the 30 years of hidden life of Christ and the spiritual activities that make up the life of Repentance.

Is repentance truly so difficult as to give the prophets a difficult time preaching it in the Old Testament? Neither did Christ have an easy time teaching it in the New Testament. Neither did the Fathers of the Church and the Saints find it easy. The Blessed Virgin at Fatima included a threat to her invitation to repent. But the fulfilment of the threats made at Fatima showed that mankind failed to repent. Perhaps some did but, like in Sodom and Gomorrah, the number was not good enough for God to hold back His threat.

God wills to give us the three theological, infused virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity if we have the proper disposition. Repentance disposes us to be worthy. The way towards these three virtues are easy, especially if we are like children. But when we become adults we pile up obstacles to these virtues. Repentance removes the obstacles, aside from preserving the initial innocence of childhood.

But then again, why does repentance seem so difficult? Well, it really isn't, because it is an act of grace, and therefore, easy. First, we must remove the wrong concept from our minds that repentance is merely that brief moment we spend examining our conscience, then confessing our sins to the priest, then receiving absolution, and finally saying a number of Hail Marys given us as penance, and then . . . that's it! No, that is merely external repentance. But internal repentance, as Sts. Benedict, Ambrose and Augustine described it, is a way of life that lasts for life. The first monasteries and convents were for life-time internal repentance. A sin is an offence against an infinite God and restitution has to be made for a lifetime.

The beginnings of the life of repentance must include an act of supernatural Faith, motivated by Hope of receiving forgiveness, and the fear of God which is enlivened by Charity and aided by the gift of the Holy Spirit. Note that the junction where Repentance, Faith, Hope, Charity and the Fear of the God meet are all works of God. What takes effort and time is approaching the junction to dispose ourselves to receive those graces.

True repentance can only be had by living a monastic life, as St. Benedict mentions in his Rule.

And the steps for repentance are clearly and specifically enumerated in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. The 30 chapters of "The Ladder" of St. John Climacus can be summarized into the 5 steps of the same Parable.

The parable has splendidly enumerated the 5 steps of repentance that can lead us back to God. If we do the first step well, the next steps would follow easily. (The parable also enumerates the 5 steps we take to depart from God.)

The first step towards repentance is coming to oneself: "he (the Prodigal Son) came into himself." This is similar to the exhortation to "take heed," which St. John Chrysostom commented on. Everything in the world today prevents us from going into oneself. Everything is luring our intellect and free will to focus on things outside ourselves. The external stimuli is so overwhelming we almost have no choice but to be lured to them. The lusts of the flesh and of the eyes make us commit sin and keep us in our sins. And the devil sees to it that new inventions, new foods, new tourist spots fill the earth that will attract our attention. And our priests are not spared by this siren call.

Thus the first rule of Christ's hidden life and adopted by the monastic movement is "fuga mundo." It is easier to flee the world now than undergo the misfortunes of the Prodigal Son to learn our lesson. And both St. Augustine and St. Benedict emphasized the importance of being free from this overwhelming stimuli that prevent us from beginning our repentance by coming into ourselves. We must come into ourselves so that we may see the 5 (opposite) steps that brought us away from God. Only then can we say like the prodigal son "I will arise."

Since there are very few who are preaching true repentance nowadays, an option would be to take recourse from Scriptures, the Fathers, and the writings of the saints and Papal documents. But we can also pray that the Lord send labourers to His field in order to sow seeds of repentance.

(Painting is "Mary Magdalene" by Simon Vouet, 1700.)

Grace builds on nature.

The monks invented the first schools. They were called "the school of the Lord's service." The subjects they taught were Reading, Writing, a little Arithmetic. . . . and Philosophy. Philosophy for young children? Yes, because it is when they were young that parents sent their children to monasteries. And having the natural God-given aptitude to reason rightly they were trained before they were ruined by worldly education. Those first subjects were very helpful in preparing for the study of Divine Revelation or Scriptures, because grace builds on nature.

Man is a rational animal. First an animal, second rational. Today he seems to be more animal than rational. Thanks to the information highway that has trapped men's mind on things earthly, preventing him from being rational and from rising up to the supernatural.

Today, the world is filled with evil and, as a consequence, sufferings. Religion must be able to explain why this is so because human knowledge cannot. For us Christians, we have to examine what happened in heaven and paradise once upon a time.

In paradise, man was meant to subdue his animal nature by what was rational in him, namely his intellect and free will. This was frustrated because of the Fall. So now, before he can do this, he must develop his intellect in the natural level through right and sound reasoning. Doing this will enable him to rise to the concept of a prime - mover or creator. Even in the natural sphere he could intellectually suspect that there is a supernatural sphere. His natural quest for this sphere will make him responsive to the grace of God and enable him to rise up to the supernatural. In this level he will discover that God spoke; and that what he said is found in Divine Revelation. With sound reasoning and Divine Revelation he can now dictate to his own free will the good he must pursue. Every decision he makes must now conform to this objective norm to do good.

St. Thomas of Aquinas gives the example of a carpenter who has a ruler. If he uses this tool, he will draw a straight line, his act would be considered right. Comparatively, if we love God more than anything else, then we are acting morally, according to the Divine rule of conduct which states that we should love God above all things. If we disregard this objective norm of judgment, Divine Law and sound reasoning, then it is our concupiscence that would be making the rules on what is straight or moral.

The Holy Father has often described the above scenario and called it the dictatorship of relativism. It is a cruel dictatorship because it is the rule of what is animal within us, as pictured imaginatively in the Planet of the Apes, except that the apes are within us.

A solution has been given by Pope Benedict XVI. We have to use sound reasoning, with a little help, perhaps, from the rules of logic formulated by the Greeks; and with the help of the virtue of Faith, find out who is this God who moves all things. Then we shall find out if that God has spoken, and find out what He has said. Our sound reasoning and what He has said should be our basis for judgment.

Unfortunately, Ronald Knox has observed that man, in his pride, has always been unlucky in guessing who that God is, an unconscious way of denying God in order to substitute himself in His place, as the first angels tried to do and became devils.

In the dictatorship of relativism, we make up the norms, thus making ourselves "like unto God." Wasn't this the temptation of Adam and Eve? And we have fallen.

St. Thomas of Aquinas, following St. Augustine, described an act as evil, when it does not follow the external norms put forward by Divine Revelation and sound reasoning. This would mean that the world, especially now, is filled with evil. To be good or holy today would be most difficult. Perhaps this is why it has been prophesied that the saints of the last age would be greater, because inspite of the great evil of our present age, evils that have not been seen in ages past, they will be able to reach holiness. What about those who find evil insurmountable? Well, we should believe that where there is an abundance of evil, there will always be a superabundance of grace.

This present moral state was already described by William Shakespeare with words uttered by Marc Anthony at the funeral of Julius Caesar who was assassinated by Brutus and his friends. "O judicium, ad belvas fugisti brutas. Atque homines rationem perdiderunt." (O judgment, thou art fled to brutish beasts, and men have lost their reason.) (Painting by Master Francke, "The assassination of St. Thomas Becket," fifteenth century.)

NEW EMERGING LAY COMMUNITIES

Pope John Paul II, of holy memory, and our present beloved Pope Benedict XVI, both have shown great interest in the new movements among the laymen. They used to attend the meetings of these lay movements in Rome. Thus, a Congregation has been set up to regulate and monitor their activities. The Cursillo in Christianidad, in which I had been very active in the early years of my priesthood, has just received Vatican recognition. Pope Pius XII was the first to notice this movement in the Catholic Church, and inspired by it, encouraged its development and instructed Bishops to cooperate in what he thought was a clear movement of the Holy Spirit within a troubled Church.

This is not new. In the history of the Catholic Church, whenever the Church needed renewal, God raises laymen to renew her. St. Francis of Assisi would be a classic case. And while there were great figures who dominated the renewal scene, a strong undercurrent of lay movements was present everywhere. It was this fact that made Pope Pius XII notice the emergence of lay movements in these times, like the Opus Dei, Cursillos, Focolare, etc.

Let us look at a brief moment in history and make an important observation. Circa 900 A.D. was described as the Dark Ages for civilization and calamitous for the Papacy with Rome in turmoil. Immediately evident was the reform in the Ecclesiastical level with St. Peter Damian, a Benedictine, beginning his reform around the year 1000 A.D. which begun the Ascent and Descent Chapter of the history of the Church. St. Peter Damian's reform was carried on by the Gregorian Popes initiated by Pope Gregory VII, a Benedictine. The reform was further enhanced by a movement from Cluny, a Benedictine Abbey that was ruled by four consecutive saintly Abbots. Further on we see St. Dominic de Guzman in the middle of the frey. The Church never lacked holy Popes and Saints to sustain the Church.

But note that from the time of St. Peter Damian to St. Dominic, for instance, there was a very strong lay movement where these groups lived in imitation of the first Christians as described in Acts of the Apostles. These laymen were living lives that put the clergy to shame. These lay movements may be divided into two groups. First, those who lived as the first Christians did using Scriptures as their only guide, especially the Acts where the first Christian communities were described by Luke. And secondly those who did exactly the same thing but placed themselves under a Rule. Though the Rule of Saint Benedict was the favorite, around the time of St. Dominic the Rule of St. Augustine became popular. The observation is this: those whose only guide was Scriptures easily strayed into heresy. While those who were guided by a Holy Rule as well continued in their orthodoxy.

Today, we have many similar lay movements, but most of them are depending completely on Scriptures alone for guidance and the private interpretation of Scriptures of their founders. They are in danger because the sources of Catholic teaching is both Scriptures and Tradition plus the Magisterium of the Church. The Holy Rules specify how the Gospel is to be lived. To depend on Sola Scriptura, even if it is the Bible, is definitely dangerous; "Beware of the man with one book," warns St. Thomas of Aquinas. Pope Benedict XVI has often hinted on the use of the Rule of St. Benedict as an added guide. He could also suggest the Rule of St. Augustine, being a lover of the saint, or other Rules as well. But St. Benedict's Rule, having been the main force in the conversion of pagan Europe, is what we probably need in our present time since we have returned to paganism. (Painting by Sodoma "Stories of St. Benedict," 1503.)

The SECRET of Fatima

There is much controversy regarding the secret of Fatima. Of course we must be interested in it.... the Blessed Mother has spoken! The Church has decreed that she has spoken indeed. We must find out what she said. It was addressed to mankind. How come few know about it? Even many priests and bishops are ignorant of it.

Pope Benedict XVI, as Cardinal, described it as nothing else than what is found in Scriptures. And he was right. Except few really understand Scriptures because its meaning is supernatural, unknown by the natural man but understood only by the spiritual man.

The Secret of Fatima was explained by Pope John Paul ll at Fatima, during the canonization of Jacinta and Francisco. But nobody understood it. And so it is not that the Church has not explained it publicly, but rather that nobody understood it.

There is nothing in private revelations that should not be already found in public or Divine revelation. And the secret of Fatima is found there.

It is found in the Apocalypse, the similitude used by Pope John Paul II in Fatima. But then the Apocalypse is the most difficult book to interpret. No wonder no one understands it. This same message is taught in the tradition of Benedictine monasticism. It was popularized by Joachim of Fiore and became part of the Franciscan tradition, too. St. Bonaventure was interested in it as noted by then Cardinal Ratzinger in his thesis the "Theology of History according to St. Bonaventure."

Countless saints have written on it, like St. Louis de Montfort. In fact it was on this Benedictine Tradition that he built his writings and founded his Congregations.

And so when Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger announced the message at Fatima they put their heads together. Cardinal Ratzinger was knowledgeable of Scriptures, the Benedictine Tradition as written in the Dialogues of St. Gregory describing the life of St. Benedict, and the Franciscan Tradition as compiled by St. Bonaventure. Pope John Paul II knew the writings of St. Louis de Montfort since he was a young priest, from where he got the motto of his coat of arms "Totus Tuus."

And what is the message of Fatima? "It has begun." As St. Thomas of Aquinas has said, for those with Faith no explanation is necessary. But for those without faith, any explanation is futile. (Painting is "The Immaculate Conception" by Giovanni Battista, 1714)