![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Candles_in_rows.jpg?resize=665%2C475&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
(And a small Sylum Snippet)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
(Yes, finally crosses one off my to do list! For Kathie who wanted Tony Crisafi\/The Pope)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Pius had gotten up early to go down to the Basilica and pray for the departed souls.\u00a0 He liked the quietness of the Basilica, and being around the Saints and former Popes.\u00a0 \u00a0He wasn’t surprised to find Ernesto already at his door, with a coffee in hand.\u00a0 \u00a0His faithful bodyguard may not be as awake as he let every one believe, though he knew if there was even a hint of a problem it would be dealt with before Pius even noticed!<\/p>\n
He settled in front St. Michael and began his prayers.\u00a0 He started with the Swiss Guard and Vatican Police officers that had given their lives over the years to protect the Holy See.\u00a0 He prayed for his family, friends that he’s lost.\u00a0 He prayed for those who names are only known to God.<\/p>\n
By the time he looked up, the sun was starting to shine across St. Peter’s Square.\u00a0 \u00a0As he stood he could feel the age setting in, he wasn’t as young as he used to be, and he knew the job itself had aged him tremendously.\u00a0 \u00a0He was surprised to see a young man deep in prayer at one of the kneelers.\u00a0 \u00a0He glanced over to Ernesto to see him talking softly with the Keirnan and it took him a moment to recognize Nicolaus.<\/p>\n
He watched silently as the young man finished his prayers then stood as he crossed himself with his rosary.\u00a0 \u00a0He turned to Pius going down on his left knee, Pius blessed him then urged him onto his feet.\u00a0 \u00a0“I do apologize, I feel as if I should know you.”<\/p>\n
“Antonio Crisafi.”\u00a0 He smiled softly.\u00a0 “I heard you wanted to talk with me.”<\/p>\n
Pius didn’t squee out loud, no matter what Ernesto said.\u00a0 \u00a0How could he not want to meet the young man, he was one of the original Knights of the Temple.\u00a0 “Come walk with me, before I have to do all the things.”<\/p>\n
Tony held out his arm, letting the Pope take it as they headed for the nearest exit that would lead to the private gardens.\u00a0 “I have only heard good things about you, your Holiness.”<\/p>\n
“I’m sure that wasn’t from Ernesto.”\u00a0 Pius glanced back to see his bodyguard far enough behind to give privacy, but enough to deal with threats.<\/p>\n
Tony laughed.\u00a0 “He’s holding Papa hostage in case anything was to happen to you in my care.”<\/p>\n
Pius glared at Ernesto, who only shrugged not having a care in the world.\u00a0 “I would apologize but he’s not sorry.”\u00a0 He patted Tony’s arm.\u00a0 “Now tell me everything.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Blessings to you and your family. (And a small Sylum Snippet)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[942,975,66],"tags":[825,849],"class_list":["post-18861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-day","category-snippets","category-sylum-stories","tag-national-day","tag-sylum-snippets"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Da1M-4Ud","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":19306,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/national-irish-coffee-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":18861,"position":0},"title":"National Irish Coffee Day","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"January 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"It's National Irish Coffee Day! Recipe:\u00a0 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee 1 tablespoon brown sugar 1 jigger Irish Whiskey (1 1\/2 ounces or 3 tablespoons) Heavy Cream, Slightly whipped And with it comes a Sylum Snippet for Sinead ... Ernesto\/Andrew (I actually had this pairing requested twice - so\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "National Day"","block_context":{"text":"National Day","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/national-day\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Irish-Coffee-Culinary-Hill-1200x800-1-800x533.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Irish-Coffee-Culinary-Hill-1200x800-1-800x533.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Irish-Coffee-Culinary-Hill-1200x800-1-800x533.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Irish-Coffee-Culinary-Hill-1200x800-1-800x533.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7820,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/sylum-aesthetic-ernesto-olivetti\/","url_meta":{"origin":18861,"position":1},"title":"Sylum Aesthetic: Ernesto Olivetti","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"June 3, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Sylum Aesthetics: Ernesto Olivetti Ernesto sighed, \"His Holiness is behind me, isn't he?\" They all nodded. \"You are so fired.\" He turned around and smiled gracious at Pope Pius XVII. \"Good morning, Your Holiness.\" \"Ernesto, have we not talked about threatening the troops?\" His reprimand apparently came with a small\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ernesto Olivetti Week"","block_context":{"text":"Ernesto Olivetti Week","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/sylum-events\/ernesto-olivetti-week\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ernesto-Aesthetic-800x580.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ernesto-Aesthetic-800x580.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ernesto-Aesthetic-800x580.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":24758,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/sylum-snippet-april-2026\/","url_meta":{"origin":18861,"position":2},"title":"Sylum Snippet: April 2026","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"April 14, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 This snippet inspired the AI Image and the AI Image inspired the snippet :) Se questa \u00e8 la polizia vaticana, arrestatemi pure subito. \u00a0 Paulo stared at the headline of the newspaper in shock, dismay and pride.\u00a0 \u00a0He glanced across the bull pen, noticing that the Inspector wasn't in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Snippets"","block_context":{"text":"Snippets","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/sylum-stories\/snippets\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/taibhrigh_banner-SylumTeaserSnippets2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24265,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/sylum-advent-2024-day-24\/","url_meta":{"origin":18861,"position":3},"title":"Sylum Advent 2024: Day 24","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"December 24, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Artwork: Pope Pius XVII (AI) Artist: Bj Jones Note: This one was difficult.\u00a0 I'm still working to get Ernesto into an image but that's taking more time.","rel":"","context":"In "Sylum Advent: 2025"","block_context":{"text":"Sylum Advent: 2025","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/sylum-events\/sylum-advent-2025\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bar-banner_advent2025.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":522,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/sylum-advent-december-14th-the-pope-and-his-bodyguard-by-bj-jones\/","url_meta":{"origin":18861,"position":4},"title":"Sylum Advent – December 14th: The Pope and His Bodyguard by Bj Jones","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"December 14, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"December 14th \u00a0 Title:\u00a0The Pope and His Bodyguard Author:\u00a0Bj Jones Pairings\/Characters:\u00a0Ernesto Olivetti, Pope Pius XVII Rating:\u00a0FRAO Summary:\u00a0\u00a0The Pope has a request for his Bodyguard. Art:\u00a0taibhrigh \u00a0 Link to Sylum Archive","rel":"","context":"In "Sylum Advent: 2012"","block_context":{"text":"Sylum Advent: 2012","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/sylum-events\/sylum-advent-2012\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/banner_advent2012-final.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3958,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/sylum-inspiration-the-vatican\/","url_meta":{"origin":18861,"position":5},"title":"Sylum Inspiration: The Vatican","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"March 30, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 The Vatican As this is Holy Week and I'm sure Ernesto is growling at epic proportions at his staff and Pius, we figured it was fitting to showcase The Vatican as this weeks Sylum Inspiration. The Vatican is an intricate part of the Sylum Universe. \u00a0*pointedly looks at Ernesto\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sylum Information"","block_context":{"text":"Sylum Information","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/sylum-information\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Vatican (1)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Vatican-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Vatican-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Vatican-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18861"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18861\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}