"The rain had washed the rain from the cross, but the 'brothers' had caught that holy water in rags, buckets, dishes, they drank it and were cleansed of their sins" (Chapter 10, p. 236).

"Dead for a couple of days and rotting like cream of wheat" (Chapter 10, p. 237).

"The animals on the river began to grunt, to bellow, and the fish came out of the water to bid farewell to Brother Francisco who was ascending" (Chapter 10, p. 234).

"...[T]he many people who attended the wake for Olga Arellano Rosaura approached the coffin and admired through the transparent glass, shining intact under the funeral candles, the dark beauty of the Brazilian!" (Chapter 9, p. 212).

"They crucified the old woman Ignacia Curdimbre Peláez in the little square in Dos de Mayo at midnight with 214 inhabitants of the town present..." (Chapter 8, p. 167).

"[A] group of fanatic recruits, secretly organized into an Ark, attempted...