"SIMON OF THE DESERT" "For six years, six weeks and six days, you've stood on that column, Simon." "Your asceticism has edified us all." "Honor us now by mounting this other pedestal, presented to you through the munificence of this wealthy man." "From your new column you can continue to inspire our brothers by your penance in the footsteps of our father, Simeon Stylites." "Accept this column as a gesture of our family's gratitude to you for curing me of an unspeakable disease." "Help me!" "Let the holy man pass!" "Help us, Father Simon." "Wait." "Your mother wishes to be near you until the hour of her passing." "Let her embrace you one last time." "It would have been better for you had you stayed in the peace of your home, woman." "Be dutiful, Simon, and receive her with gladness." "Stay near me if you so desire, Mother." "But I take my leave of you in this life with this embrace." "My love for you must not come between my Lord and his servant." "Farewell." "We will meet again in his presence." "Your blessing, Father." "First allow me to bestow holy orders on you." "Prepare yourself, my son." "Behold him whose ministry " " No!" "I am not worthy." "Holy orders, no!" "Behold him whose ministry is offered you." "I am unfit to receive such grace." "I, an unworthy sinner." "Ascend your Calvary, Simon." "May peace be with you." "Brother Simon." "Let us pray." "Our Father, who art in heaven... hallowed be thy name." "Thy kingdom come... thy will be done... on earth as it is in heaven." "O blessed one!" "Look at these stumps that once were hands." "Every day we grow poorer, and my daughters go hungry." "How did this misfortune befall you?" "They were chopped off." "But why?" "For stealing." "It's true." "But I am repentant." "Father, relieve my suffering." "Help us." "Have pity on these children." "I can only pray." "Pray with me in silence." "Perhaps God will allow us to witness one of Simon's miracles." "Amen." "You are whole." "Give thanks to the Lord and go about your business." "Fabiola, let's go home." "The garden needs digging." " We'll have to buy a new hoe." "The old one is broken." "Let's go, girls." "Are these the same hands you had before, Father?" "Be quiet, foolish girl." "Leave me be." " See that?" " What?" " That thing with the hands." " Oh, that." "Any bread left?" " Yes." "Give me a bit." "We've spent long enough on these spiritual shenanigans." "Shall we go, Father?" "We must accompany Simon's solitude a while in prayer." "Where did that one-eyed woman come from?" "One-eyed?" "You're mistaken, Simon." "She has one eye, I tell you." "She has two eyes, both healthy." " How do you know?" " Because I looked." "And there was nothing wrong with either eye." "How could you forget the commandments that say," ""Lay not thine eyes upon woman,"" "and "Be thou not seduced by a woman's gaze,"" "and especially..." ""Be thou not burned in the fire of vain contemplation"?" "My brother," "I pray you not to come here again until your gaze regains its due moderation." "Good day, Brother Matthew" "God be with you, brother." "Where's the milk for the monastery?" "Some whore breathed on it and curdled it." "At the crack of dawn, I'll bring a fresh jugful." "Have you come to visit our blessed Simon?" "Yesterday I took him a bowl of curd and a piece of soft bread." "And curse my soul, the so-and-so paid me no heed." "Don't curse." "Forgive Father Simon." "He must have been praying." "What's wrong with her?" "She's got a bad foot." "You like her, don't you?" "Her name's Domitila." "Look what a pair of beauties." "You just touch them, and they firm up." "Abide with God, brother." "Don't love those animals so." "The devil roams this wilderness." "I hear him in the night." "Avert thy wrath." "They could not... my heart." "O my Lord " "I can't remember how it ends." "My heart " "Here I am!" "I've brought your food, 0 blessed one." "May the peace of God be with you." " And with you, brother." "I've brought oil and bread as well as your lettuce." "My body doesn't need those delicacies." "It is sufficiently nourished with the lettuce God gives me." "I'm fasting too, Father." "But the problem is, the less I eat, the fatter I get." "The abbot wants you to eat more." "Thank him for his concern, but ask his forgiveness." "I know better than he how necessary it is for me to fast." "I ask your forgiveness as well." "Things have changed a lot in the abbey." "They no longer give us wine." "Our water has cumin and pepper in it." "The abbot says it makes you strong." "What have you been eating these last five days?" "You've hardly drunk any water." "And what's left smells awful." "Do you need anything else, Father?" "Go in peace." "Let me fight my battle." "Battle?" "An innocent like you knows nothing of these things." "My son." "You look very clean." "Thank you, Father" "But remember that cleanliness in body and clothing, innocent enough in ordinary men, is a sin in those who dedicate their lives to God." "If you say so, Father." "I'll keep it in mind." "In righteousness shalt thou be worshipped." "He's an idiot, the conceited ass!" "In righteousness " "Man is the most despicable of all thy creatures, Lord." "His very presence distances me from thee." "My help cometh even from the Lord." "Funny, there are no flies today." "I'm hungry and thirsty once again." "I'd managed to forget my body, but that wretch made me remember." "No!" "I'll eat nothing until sunset'." "How long before I am worthy of thee?" "How greatly tempted I am to descend and feel mother earth under my feet." "And run, and run..." "Not so fast." "Do you ever think of me, my son?" "Hardly ever, Mother." "I don't have time." "Why are you so proud, my son?" "Proud of my freedom." "Or of my enslavement, Mother." "Here I am, Simon!" "Watch this!" "Cease from thy folly" "Count as lost" "That which has perished" "Thou alone" "Above all the hirsute" "Thou, son of rabbit-ridden Syria" "You good man, Simeon" "With the lovely thick beard" "And teeth brushed clean" "With Syria's urine" " What are you doing here?" " Playing." " Where did you come from?" " Over there." " And where are you going?" " Over there." "Who are you?" "I'm an innocent little girl, Simon." "Look what innocent legs I've got." "In m y kingdom, Simeon" "Neither is everyone what they seem" "Nor do they seem" "What they are" "What a lovely beard" "And teeth brushed clean" "With Syria's urine" "Look how long my tongue is." "I fear you not, Satan." "O Christ!" "I'll be back, shaggy locks!" "O heavenly father" "And Christ our savior" "I give praise to you at the setting sun" "To Father, Son and Holy Ghost" "It is right thou should be praised" "By the holy Voices" "Of the Son of God" "For the Lord said," ""Whosoever abandons father, mother, brothers, sisters, wife, children and property and follows me shall be repaid a hundredfold and shall inherit eternal life."" "In the world, I was a mere slave." "And here I am ready to serve you." "For it is written," ""God helps those who help others."" "Let us not yield in our asceticism" "Let us spread it like an arc." "Let us leave our past behind and ascend ever onwards and upwards to follow the eternal calling of the heavenly voices." "Offer your food and raiment to the poor and hungry, for they will open to you the doors to the Kingdom of Heaven." "Our time on earth is short." "Look, brothers!" "The saint's got a pretty full larder." "Cheese." "Bread." "And wine!" "He who poses as the champion of penance on a column to be above ordinary men..." "Samaritan!" "Is guided by the hand of Satan." "You've seen the proof." ""Let us not yield in our asceticism Spread it like an arc."" "I put my trust in you, Simon." "This food can only be sent by the devil to tempt you." "I need no explanation, brother." "But tell these, your disciples, if you know why these provisions were in your bag." "More welcome is slander to the pious soul than odious eulogies that arouse pride." "This gentle one, this humble one, calls me a slanderer, brothers." "I swear before God that I did not place these tasty morsels there." "O blessed one, give us but one word and we will believe you." "Speak." "I am thy servant, Lord." "Thy will be done." "You see?" "He shrinks from a reply." "No one can doubt his guilt now." "Let us pray for him, brothers." "One servant of the Lord accuses another, and we who came here to be uplifted find only scandal." "Let us lift up our prayers to the Holy Ghost." "May he show us the guilty one." "Let us kneel and pray." "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost." "What's the matter?" "Cross yourself, Brother Trifón." "You filthy eunuch!" "Yes, I put the food in your bag." "And I haven't finished tormenting you yet, son of a whore." "I won't rest until I hear your own filthy lips cursing Christ in the holy sacrament and his so-called mother." "In the belly of the whore." "The Lord shall avenge me." "Down with the sacred hypostasis!" "Long live the sacred hypostasis!" " Death to the anastasis!" " Long may it live!" " Long live the apocatastasis!" " Down with it!" "What on earth is the apocatastasis?" "Hear me, O Lord." "Death to Jesus Christ!" "Death to " "Long may he live!" "The Lord loveth the righteous." "I exorcise you in the name of Christ." "Flee the body of that man!" "Flee, Satan, at the sign of this cross." "Pick him up and take him away." "I'll finish exorcising him at the monastery in my own way." "Peace be with you, brother." "Zenón!" "Listen to me." "Send that beardless youth away." "Me?" "It is not fitting for him to live near the temptations of the devil." "Tell him not to return until his beard covers his cheeks." "Thank you for your advice, fruit of your sound judgment." "You may leave the monastery to return home, Matias." "When your face is covered with hair, you may return." "Don't love those old graybeards so." "The devil roams this wilderness." "I hear him in the night." "0 God, my God, from the dawn I keep watch for thee" "My soul thirsteth for thee, and my ﬂesh too, in all manner of ways." "O Lord." "Lord, my thoughts stray from thee." "Receive, Lord, thy most humble of servants." "You are my favorite son, Simon." "Your asceticism is sublime." "I love you and live in you." "You speak for me." "For eight years, eight months and eight days, your spirit has burned atop that column as the flame burns atop a candle." "Blessed are those who suffer." "I want to die in thee, Lord." "Deign to receive my soul." "Why criest thou, Lord?" "I cry for you, my beloved son." "I am saddened by your penance and by your excessive sacrifice." "Cease them now if you would please me." "Change your ways." "Change, Lord?" "Come down off that column." "Taste earthly pleasures till you've had your fill." "Till the very word pleasure fills you with nausea." "Only then will you be truly close to me." "Satan!" "I fear you not." "The Lord will render useless all your intrigues." "How long will you go on seeking mankind's undoing?" "You who before your fall rejoiced in the divine presence." "If I repent, Simon, would God restore me to my former glory?" "On no account, Satan." "Repent if you can, but you'll remain like this for all of time." "Just look what a filthy cheat I'm rubbing shoulders with!" "You know where you can stuff an offer like that!" "I'm quite happy as I am, you swine!" "Slimy sacrament in the belly of a whore!" "I beseech you in the name of Christ, let a just man pray in peace." "I'll be back, shaggy locks!" "If I don't free myself from the devil today, Lord," "I'll break free tomorrow." "Or in five years, or ten." "Self-restraint, prayer, charity and humility will be my weapons." "My eyes must have been blind to have mistaken the wolf for the lamb." "I deserve eternal penance." "Until thou callest me to thy side," "I'll use one leg only to support my body." "I thank thee, Lord, for providing my sustenance." "Make fertile the soil that feeds the poor, and let hail not fall." "I bless you, poor innocent creature." "Go and sing the glories of the Lord." "Who can I bless now?" "Besides being a spiritual exercise, blessings are good fun too." "And I don't offend anyone." "What am I saying?" "I'm beginning to realize I don't realize what I'm saying." "What am I saying?" "Father!" "Bless Pelagia's pregnancy." "Let's see if the bitch drops what she's carrying." "You too have my blessing, brother, you who are poor in spirit and worldly goods." "Don't bless me in the same breath as my goats!" "But I respect you and love you, and tomorrow I'll bring you a bowl of fresh milk." "Thank you, my son." "But you know it's no use." "I've got a feeling he's not quite right in the head." "It must come from stuffing yourself with air." "Believe me, I eat and drink quite enough to fulfill my needs." "I'm not a spirit or disincarnate, but a man whose flesh weighs heavily upon him." "As for the need to evacuate my bowels, my excrement is like your goats' because I'm so withered up." "The only thing I understood of all that was "withered up."" "What do you want?" "I want your forgiveness and your blessing." "Who are you?" "Why must I forgive you?" "I was the one who gazed upon a woman." "God has already forgiven you." "I'd like to give you some rather unsavory news about God's servants." "The hordes of the Antichrist are advancing on Rome." "They'll be here before long." "Blessed is the scourge if it wins us glory before the Lord." "Mankind will forever be entwined in fratricidal conflict, and all because of that cursed "yours" and "mine."" "What do you mean?" "Man kills to defend what he considers his." "I don't understand." "What is "yours" and "mine"?" "Look." "I'll explain." "This is your bag, isn't it?" "If I say it's not, we'll start to quarrel." "Let's try it." "Simon, this bag is mine." "Now, you say it's yours." " It's mine." " No, it's mine." "All right, take it then." "Your unselfishness is admirable and very good for your soul." "But I fear that, like your penance, it is of little use to man." "I don't understand you." "We speak in different tongues." "Go in peace, brother." "Protect me, Lord!" "I promised I'd return." "This is the last time." "Get thee behind me, Satan!" "Not behind, nor anywhere else." "Abominable lord of darkness!" "If the Lord has sent you to tempt me, so be it, but you will not succeed." "You disgust me." "I can smell your foul breath from here." "You don't smell too good either." "Prepare yourself, Simon." "We're going on a long, long journey." "In the name of Christ." "Making gestures with your hand won't help you this time." "Simon of the desert, you may not believe it, but you and I are very much alike." "Like you," "I believe in God the Father Almighty, because I've been in his presence." "As for his only Son," "I could tell you a thing or two." "I believe in God almighty " "Get ready to leave, Simon." "I'm taking you to the sabbath." "There you'll see tongues of flame and the gaping red wounds of the flesh." "Enough!" "Let's go." "They're coming for us." "What are you thinking about, Simon?" "Nothing." "What's this dance called?" ""Radioactive flesh."" "It's the latest dance, the final dance." " Get thee behind me." " Get thee gone." "Have fun." "I'm going home." "Better not." "You'll get a nasty surprise." "What is it?" "Another tenant's moved in." "You'll have to stick it out." "You'll have to stick it out till the end." "THIS IS A MEXICAN FILM MADE BY MEMBERS OF THE S.T.P.C."