Original Diary Entry
It was the next (the second) morning. I arose and trusted myself to God. (Another priest, called) the Padre Curato, came and began to preach […] The third day, a Tuesday, the Archpriest of San Celso began again to preach a new sermon […] The fourth day, the same preacher arrived with a new sermon […] when the preacher left, I was in shock and half dead. I took care to avoid a slip of the tongue that would prejudice my soul to say, and struggle to say, as little as possible, watching my words, so that I did not condemn myself. […]
(Stow, 23-26)
Audio Transcription
PRIEST ONE: There were three boys thrown into a furnace by Nebuchadnezer, Anna: Hananiah, Misha’el, and Azariah. This was just as with Daniel, when he was thrown into the Lion’s den and saved miraculously by his Divine Majesty through the agency of an angel. This was due to their goodness, and their faith in Divine worship. You can be saved too Anna, just as they were – finding yourself in this place of holiness and in our hands, we who are here to pray for the salvation of your soul. It will be for your good, just as it was for them. My child, take my words to heart, if you wish to be in the grace of God like these four. Respond to me, at least. If you say what I now recite, I will be beholden to you. Respond, I ask you.
PRIEST TWO: (Layered with Priest One) Good father Abram, disregarding all he had acquired and all that was coming to him from his fathers, obeyed the Divine precept. So, dear daughter, do the same. Leave your possessions, Father, Mother, and all they own in this world to recognize the true God and save your soul. I understand how you feel, how much it disturbs you to leave your home and parents, but know that all you leave is nothing compared to what you will have from the Christians. Whatever you have now, you will have twice […]
PRIEST TWO: […] Anna, Rachel stole the Terebinths from her father, to keep him from Idolatry. You should do the same to make yourself a good Catholic and to persuade your family too.
NARRATOR: For the next three days it is all you hear. By the time the last preacher leaves, your body feels numb, your limbs heavy and your mind clouded. All you can think of are your parents, how your family must be suffering.1
Notes
1Extrapolated from her description of “shock and half-dead”. I have chosen to present the days in this manner because it emphasizes the build-up of sound – how it drains and overwhelms her.
Accessing Anna 