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The Messengers (chapter 16)

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From the long, stately veranda, where the columns were decorated with flowering ivy - but very different from the ivy we know on earth - we entered a large hall furnished in old-fashioned tastes. The delicately carved furniture created an enchanting setting. In wonder, I stared at the wonderful paintings hanging on the walls. One of them caught my attention more than the others. It was a canvas showing the martyrdom of Saint Denis, Apostle to the Gauls. According to my humble knowledge of history, Saint Denis was brutally tortured during the time d! early Christianity. Intrigued, I recalled thar had seen a paining completely identical to this one on earth. Wasn't it the famous work by Florentin Bonnat!', the celebrated French painter of recent times? But this copy was much lovelier. The folk legend was beautifully expressed in the finest detail. The glorious semi nude apostle, wich his head cut off and his torso haloed wit intense light, was making a supreme effort to pick up his head as it rolled at his feet while his murderers watched him, overcome with intense horror. A divine emissary was coming down from Heaven with a crown and a victory palm for this servant of the Lord. There was profound luminosity in this copy, however, as if each brushstroke contained movement and life. Noticing my admiration, Alfredo said with a smile:

"Many who visit us for the first time enjoy looking at this superb replica."

"Ah, yes." I replied, "The original, so they say, can be seen in the Paris Pantheon."

"You're mistaken," he explained. "Like all other great artistic works, not all paintings originate on the earth. Of course, we do owe many sublime creations to the human mind, but in this case the matter is more transcendent. Let me tell you about the true story of this magnificent canvas. It was conceived and painted by a noble Christian artist in a spirit colony closely linked to France. At the end of the last century'", the spirit of the great painter from Bayonne, although still bound to the physical plane, visited that colony during a night of exalted inspiration, which as a human he would have simply regarded as a marvelous dream. From the moment he saw the painting, Bonnat couldn't rest until he had reproduced it faintly as the painting that became famous around the world. But the earthly replicas do not have the original's purity of lines and lighting. Not even this reproduction, however, has the imposing beauty of the original, which I had the pleasure of viewing up close when we were organizing a simple tribute for the honorable visit that that great servant of Christ paid us here at the Station. In making the necessary arrangements, I personally visited the spirit city I just mentioned." Great astonishment gripped my heart. Now I saw the explanation for the holy torture of great artists, who were divinely inspired to create immortal works. I realized that all high art on earth is sublime because it transmits the glorious vision of men and women in the light of the higher planes.

Appearing interested in completing my thoughts, Alfredo remarked:

"The constructive genius has free reign to express spiritual superiority amidst the sublime wellsprings of life. No one creates without seeing, hearing or feeling, and artists of superior mentality are used to seeing, hearing and feeling the highest accomplishments of the path to God."

Turning affably to Aniceto, he exclaimed:

"Enough digression for now. Let's sit down. You must be tired from your difficult pilgrimage. You need to renew your energies and rest for a bit.

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