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a lot of it; I do not yet know exactly how much. This is all that for now in great haste I am able totell you. I send you loving regards on behalf of our usual friends, and pray the Lord to bless you.FROM SAN MATTEO, THE 3RD DAY OF OCTOBER 1633.Most affectionate daughter,Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness:according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out mytransgressions.Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.[51:1, 2, 3]S. M. CelesteIt is not known whether Galileo himself recited the prayers of his penance, either before or afterSuor Maria Celeste assumed the burden, for this was a duty performed in private. In public, Galileoremained ever consistent in his conviction that he had committed no crime.“I have two sources of perpetual comfort,” he wrote retrospectively to his French supporterNicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc, “first, that in my writings there cannot be found the faintestshadow of irreverence towards the Holy Church; and second, the testimony of my own conscience,which only I and God in Heaven thoroughly know. And He knows that in this cause for which Isuffer, though many might have spoken with more learning, none, not even the ancient Fathers, havespoken with more piety or with greater zeal for the Church than I.”Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come unto thee.Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thyhands.They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like agarment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end. [102:1, 25, 26, 27][ XXIX ]The book of life,or,A prophet accepted inhis own landDuring this episode of anticipated healing at Siena, Galileo sank periodically into despondency. InOctober he confided to his daughter that he felt as though his name had been stricken from the roll