mistress of the vatican.pdf - End Time Deception

Eleanor Herman
other women for chattering an afternoon away over the merits of a ribbon
or the cut of a sleeve. Though she would always love jewels, it was
for their financial value. It is likely that as Paolo’s wife she dressed simply
but elegantly. She preferred to spend her time on business affairs,
not women’s foolishness.
Given Olimpia’s thirst for business, and her husband’s easygoing nature,
it is probable that he allowed her to administer his estates. Farm
tenants paid their rent in the form of crops, usually between 10 and 50
percent of the harvest of wine, olive oil, grain, livestock, fruit, and vegetables.
Rents were due four times a year, regulated by the church calendar.
The first payment was expected on March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation,
which celebrated the day when the angel told the Virgin
Mary she would miraculously bear a son. Rent was again due on June
24, the Feast of Saint John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin, who baptized
him in the river Jordan. The fall rents were paid on September 29, the
Feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, who had waged
war in heaven against Lucifer. And the final payment was due on the
Feast of the Nativity, that joyous day when Christ was born in Bethlehem.
Olimpia would have made sure the rents were fully paid on time;
she would have sold for maximum profit the produce her household
didn’t use, and carefully counted the coins.
At some point shortly after her marriage, Olimpia would have attended
the profession ceremonies of her younger sisters at the Convent of Saint
Dominic. After at least one year as a novice living the life of a nun, a girl
was permitted to officially take nun’s vows at the age of sixteen.
The profession ceremony was, in a way, much like a marriage ceremony,
except a physical groom was absent. He was considered to be
present, though unseen—the spirit of Jesus hovering above the altar
ready to swoop down and claim the young nuns as his brides. As in a
real marriage ceremony, the brides took new names. Ortensia became
Sister Orsola, and Vittoria became Sister Margherita Vittoria.
In the profession ceremony, after the prayers and hymns, the bishop
took each girl’s right hand and put a ring on her third finger, proclaiming
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