Smith House Press
Featuring: Anthony Andruccioli; Antonella "Nelli" Andruccioli; Peter Romanus
344 pages ISBN: 0989470210 EAN: 9780989470216 Kindle: B00EUBAVE0 Paperback / e-Book Add to Wish List
Nelli and her brother Anthony Andruccioli come to visit the
Vatican City, hotbed of rumours and scandals over the
years. They bring a carved wooden box and a family heritage
of a secret message from St. Anthony. There is some hidden
symbolism to guide their path but ultimately they must
depend on each other and an old friend. THE SERPENT'S
DISCIPLE has plans to create a New World Order, and the
sinister undercurrents have already been felt.
While the story is slow to get under way as we have several
different periods of time shown to us, from the twelve
hundreds to the death of Pope John Paul I after a brief
period in office in 1978, eventually we meet Mary Ellen
O'Farrell who works in admin at the Vatican. Newly
promoted, she has been able to discover documents hinting
that her priest brother was falsely accused of harming
children. Could someone have had reason to remove him from
office? Whom can she trust, besides her friends Nelli and
Anthony? Placing her faith in Cardinal McKenna, Mary
Ellen confides in him but learns that they have both
received a card with a strange serpent design.
The exciting story reveals a wide conspiracy which is
linked to the Vatican Bank and to a few secretive sects
which include only men. The three friends investigate these
powerful, murderous people and come close to tragedy
themselves as they try to track down the meaning of St.
Anthony's message and avert a catastrophe. The religious
characters are larger than life, apt to quote a centuries-
old prophecy as proof of modern matters or carrying a
poisoned pen. Good men like Father Cossa balance out the
extremists, aiding the friends by putting themselves at
considerable risk. Food and drink, and local limestone
passages, are just part of the location details shown.
Settings are well described by author Deborah Stevens, who
studied interior design, and the twists and turns will keep
you guessing until the end. THE SERPENT'S DISCIPLE is the
first book by this author who has a follow-up in
production.
In The Serpent’s Disciple, a conspiracy thriller, an ancient evil threatens to take over the Catholic Church and use it to create a New World Order. Peter Romanus, the Grand Master of the secret masonic order known as Propaganda Due, sets in motion the plot to kill the pope and control major world governments through the Church. A family secret and an ancient artifact could save humankind from this diabolical leader many fear is the Antichrist. While visiting their father’s birthplace of Pesaro, Italy, the lives of Anthony and Nelli Andruccioli become entwined with the Grand Master’s plot. They learn of their family’s deep and ancient connection to Saint Anthony and that they are called to protect the Church: Nelli as the Chosen One and Anthony as one of the Guardians sworn to protect her from the false prophet. Together they must navigate the labyrinth of ancient prophecy and Vatican politics to expose the truth before it is too late.
Excerpt
CHAPTER 1 Pesaro, Italy 1220 A.D.
Father Anthony, born Fernando Martins de Bulhoes, had just finished with his nightly prayers. Tomorrow, he and the young Giovanni would prepare the church for people to come and hear the Bishop from Rome speak about the Crusades.
The bishop was Pope Honorius III's special envoy. Because of the troubling state of affairs in Italy, the threatening attitude of the Tatars, and the fear of a schism, he was being sent to villages like theirs to inspire and recruit people to join the fight. In 1215, the Pope issued the Papal Bull "Ad Liberaindam" calling all Christendom to join the Crusades. His wish was to reacquire the Holy Land and Jerusalem.
Anthony heard a light rap on the door to his room and someone softly whispering.
"Are you still awake Father Anthony?"
"Giovanni is that you? Yes, come in, my son." Giovanni's father and mother had brought him to the monastery when he was 12 years old. Since then he had grown to be a tall lad, slender with dark wavy hair and warm dark brown eyes.
During the last six years the monks became his family and in exchange for helping around the monastery, he was taught to read and write, turning out to be an excellent student.
"I'm sorry if I disturbed you father, but I couldn't sleep. I keep thinking about the bishop coming the day after tomorrow. Do you think the war will end soon?"
"Only our Heavenly Father knows the answer to that question. We can only pray on it and ask for the strength to follow the Lord's will."
The priest could tell Giovanni had something else on his mind.
"There's something I wanted to give to you Father. I have been working on it for months, and I finished it a few nights ago."
Father Anthony watched as Giovanni brought something wrapped in a brown piece of cloth tied with a string, from behind his back. As he untied the string, the fabric fell away, and he held in his hands a beautiful wooden box.
"I made it to thank you for teaching me to read and write. I hope you like it."
The priest held the box in his hands and saw that it was quite unique in design.
"Giovanni, I don't know what to say. We've been blessed having you here at the abbey. When you found the time to make such a beautiful box I will never know, but I will always treasure it. One with such devotion is surely one of God's Chosen Ones. You will be a good servant to those who want to learn the faith."
Giovanni was fidgeting as the Father spoke.
"Please Father Anthony, may I have it. There's something very special about the box I want to show you."
Curious to see what Giovanni meant, the priest handed the box back to him.
"First, the key to lock the box is inside, see."
Then he continued to explain to Father Anthony the secrets of the box.
"Giovanni, what a genius you are. I must pass your gifts of artistry on to the bishop. Perhaps they will have need of someone with such a gift in Rome."
"My only wish was to please you, Father Anthony. I am so happy you like the box. Whatever God has planned for me, I will work to please Him the best way I know how but I must tell you a story about the box.
"I was working in the fields a few months back and was trying to think of something I could do to thank you for teaching me to read and write. A monk I had never seen before was also working in the fields that day. When it came time to stop for the midday meal he came over to me and offered to share his.
"He had packed more than he could eat, and a young lad like me, he was sure, would be able to eat more than what was in the small pouch I carried. As we ate, I told him I was trying to come up with an idea for a gift to thank you for all you have done for me.
"He said he knew of you and was sent to tell me to make a box that could keep a secret safe from others' eyes. I did not understand why it must hide a secret but he was so kind and wise of a holy man that I promised to create something special. I thanked him for the meal and went out to the field to finish my work. At the end of the day when I looked for him he was gone. I've never seen him again. I said a prayer that night and thanked God for sending me the messenger and that I would fulfill my promise both to Him and the monk I met in the field that day."
Father Anthony did not question God's ways. He would accept the box from young Giovanni as a gift of kindness and great effort. If there was a purpose for the box he knew that he would be shown it when the time was right.
"Dear Giovanni, though I would like to hear more about that day in the field, we must get our rest. We have much to do tomorrow to prepare for the bishop. Bless you, Giovanni, for your faith and kindness, and thank God for the gifts he has honored you with. Let us say a prayer and then we must get our sleep, for the morning will be here before we know it."
CHAPTER 2
September 28, 1978 The Papal Palace
Cardinal Jean Villot, Vatican secretary of state, had gotten hold of the list of appointments, resignations to be asked for, and transfers Pope John Paul I planned on putting into motion the next morning. There was one common denominator that linked each of the men about to be replaced ... it was Freemasonry.
Villot was aware of each man's affiliation to the Masons; more important, so was the Pope. It was the reason the Pope would strip these men of their power.
Pope John Paul I had evidence indicating that within the Vatican City State, there were over one hundred Masons ranging from priests to cardinals. The Pope was further preoccupied with an illegal Masonic Lodge called Propaganda Due (P2), which had infiltrated far beyond even the Vatican in its search for wealth and power. The fact that it had penetrated the Vatican walls and had converted priests, bishops, and even cardinals made P2 anathema, a formal ecclesiastical curse accompanied by excommunication.
The changes the Pope was intending on making would create, by any standards a dramatic reshuffle within the Vatican. It would set the church in a new direction, directions that Villot and others on the list considered dangerous for their movement.
On the morning of September 29, 1978 at 4:45 a.m., Sister Vicenza entered the papal apartments to bring the Holy Father his morning tea, only to find the lifeless body of the Pope. Fifteen minutes later at 5:00 a.m. it was reported that Cardinal Villot confirmed the death of the Pope. Only thirty–three days after his election, Pope John Paul I was dead.
Sister Vicenza gave two conflicting reports concerning the state in which she first found Pope John Paul I. According to a group of French priests that same morning, it was "in his bathroom" that she found the Holy Father dead, still in his papal robes. Later, after Cardinal Villot was present, she reported that upon entering the room she found the Pope sitting up in bed "with an expression of agony" before he died.
This small detail is significant. If it was true that Sister Vicenza found the Holy Father dead in the bathroom still in his papal robes, it could be construed that he died shortly after his "toast" with Cardinal Villot, the night of September 28, 1978.
That evening Villot hastily arranged for the embalming to be performed, a procedure as unusual as it was illegal, Villot also insisted that no blood was to be drained from the body, and neither were any of the organs to be removed. No official death certificate has ever been issued. No autopsy ever performed. Cause of death: Unknown.
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