Summary

Chapter 25 – This chapter is written in a series of short paragraphs each written in third person perspective on a single character.

Cardinal Mahony: Narration describes how the Cardinal was born and grew up in El Monte. He left when he was made a cardinal, but he came back to witness the fall of Saturn. Narration also describes how the Cardinal was wounded once by a piece of falling sky. The Cardinal's strong emotional attachment to the past is seen when narration describes his love for a beautiful woman named Ida, who was descended from slaves and whose hair was so beautiful that when he ran his hands through it, all the lines on them were erased.

Apolonio: Narration describes the continuation of his mistrust of the church, even after the visit of the two altar boys to his shop, boys who, narration...