At an auto da fe in 16th century Portugal, Diego Lopes was chained to a stake and a pyre was lit. Then, according to both Christian and Jewish witnesses, he mysteriously disappeared in front of thousands of astonished spectators. What really happened? And can love, strong enough to cross a religious divide, survive the fires of the Inquisition? The answers to these questions are the story of Acts of Faith.

Chapter 1

Few members of the Society of Jesus, at that time, were more distinguished than Antonio Vieira who… characterized the Holy Office of Portugal as a tribunal which served only to deprive men of their fortunes, their honor, and their lives, while unable to discriminate between guilt and innocence; it was known to be holy only in name, while its works were cruelty and injustice, unworthy of rational beings, although it was always proclaiming its superior piety.

H. C. Lea

A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Volume 3, 1907

Figueira is a lovely little harbor town about halfway up the Portuguese coast, a little north of Lisbon. Here the Mondego River empties into the sea, providing fresh water for the people of this small, sleepy village as well as offering an easy inland route for much of the merchandise reaching its port. And here in Figueira, Luis Coelho was born in the year 1529.

Luis was a strong, handsome boy, always tall for his age, who was fascinated by the large boats going in and out of Figueira’s harbor. He loved hearing the adventures the sailors would tell about the exciting things that happened to them, or that they pretended had happened to then, while they were away at sea. When he was 14 years old, he was offered the opportunity to join the crew on one of the larger boats that had come to Figueira. That crew had lost a member to a deadly drunken brawl in one of Figueira’s more disreputable taverns and was in need of a replacement. Luis readily accepted the offer.

Being strong and intelligent, he quickly mastered every task he was given. Being handsome and blessed with a pleasant personality, he quickly became the favorite of everyone on board, especially the ship’s captain. When the captain saw how eagerly Luis listened to his stories of his life as a sailor, he took the time to teach Luis how to read, and then let him borrow books from his library about the ancient Greeks and their seafaring adventures. Luis loved reading those stories, and soon developed an interest in everything Greek, especially Greek history. The captain had a set of the complete works of Herodotus in his cabin which he was happy to share with Luis.

After a few years at sea, his ship once again came to Figueira. While helping unload the boat, he noticed a young woman passing by. She was very pretty and looked vaguely familiar. Luis struck up a friendly conversation with her and soon found out that she was Catalina, the skinny little girl who had lived next door to him when he was growing up. Although he had barely noticed her then, he could not help but notice her now.

Luis decided that his career as a sailor was over. He married his pretty, childhood next door neighbor, and settled down to raise a family in Figueira.

In order to earn a livelihood in Figueira while maintaining some contact with the sea, Luis decided to become a longshoreman. He then began the arduous task of collecting all the documents and testimonies required by the longshoreman’s guild to prove his Old Christian status, verifying that there were no Jews in his family background. Once he had done so, Luis was readily accepted into the guild. His great physical strength, intelligence, and his love for the sea soon made him the best longshoreman on Figueira’s docks. And his captain’s parting gift to him of the complete works of Herodotus soon made him the happiest Hellenophile in all of Portugal.

Luis and Catalina were blessed with only one child, a boy. Luis insisted on naming him Aristides after a great and noble Greek general. Catalina thought it was a peculiar choice, but her husband was always so good to her, and she loved him so much, that she let him have his way. Catalina smiled contentedly as her son was christened Aristides, but at home she affectionately called him Ari. Soon everyone else, including her husband, did so as well.

Ari had a wonderful childhood, growing up with his warm and loving parents. His days were filled with fun and games along the seashore, and his nights were pleasant as well. He especially enjoyed the bedtime stories his father would tell about exciting episodes of Greek history. Sometimes his father would read directly from Herodotus’ Histories, and with a few explanations, he would make those stories come alive.

Luis loved these moments with his little boy. No matter how tired he was after a long hard day of loading and unloading ships, every night when he came home, the first thing he did, even before he had supper, was to tuck his son into bed, sit down next to him, and tell him exciting stories of early Athens. Even years later, Ari never forgot how his father’s large hands, with skin calloused and scarred from so much harsh labor, would move gracefully in the air as he described the glorious battles and subtle political intrigues of the ancient Greeks and Persians. Nor did Ari ever forget how those large, roughened hands would then move ever so gently to brush the hair from his forehead as he softly kissed him goodnight.

Then with horrible abruptness, Ari’s childhood was over. A Black Plague epidemic swept through the town when he was twelve years old. Ari survived, but his parents did not.

At twelve years of age, Ari was old enough to perceive the injustice, as well as the tragedy, of his parents’ cruel deaths. But he was still young enough to feel a fresh, untempered, burning anger over that injustice. He had no accumulation of past sad experiences to blunt or dull his rage.

Now that he was an orphan, he received offers of hospitality from his wealthy relatives who lived in Lisbon. But Ari loved everything about Figueira--its brisk sea air, its lovely small houses, its verdant surrounding hills and mountains--and he did not want to leave. So he rejected those offers to live with his relatives in Lisbon. Instead, Ari moved in with an aunt and uncle who lived in Figueira, not far from where his parents had lived.

They were kind to him, but with six children of their own, his aunt and uncle did not have much spare time to give him. However, there was one person in Figueira who did manage to spend extra time with Ari and tried to give him some measure of consolation. That was the village priest, Father Affonso.

The priest was a short, chubby, middle-aged man who had a warm, natural smile. As often as he could, he took Ari on long walks in the hills surrounding the village as well as along the beach. They spoke about many things, and every once in a while, Father Affonso would gently bring up the subjects of suffering and injustice. These talks did not help Ari very much, but he enjoyed the priest’s company and attention. So he was happy to continue their scenic hikes, especially when they passed through the most beautiful parts of Figueira.

One time, instead of a walk, Father Affonso suggested to Ari that they go into the church and pray together. Ari agreed, and as they knelt before the large crucifix on the altar, Father Affonso asked him to look carefully at the figure of Jesus on the cross.

“Do you see pain, suffering, injustice there?” Father Affonso asked Ari.

“Yes, I do.”

“Do you also see Divine mercy and love? After all, Jesus died for our sins. We are cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, and without that cleansing, we would all be condemned to the eternal fires of hell. Our rescue from hell and our promise of heaven, aren’t those acts of Divine mercy and love, even though they are inseparable from the pain of the Passion?”

“I suppose so.”

“And isn’t that really what happened to your parents? Wasn’t the Black Plague their cross, and weren’t the tears you shed for them the blood of the Lamb, washing you clean?”

As Ari looked at the cross, yearning to find some meaning in his parents’ deaths, a strange thing happened. The face of Jesus on the cross seemed to dissolve, and in its place appeared first his father’s face and then his mother’s, with crowns of thorns on their heads and bloody sweat staining their cheeks. This vision initially startled and then horrified Ari. But after a few moments, the shock and horror dissipated, leaving behind only a profound sense of comfort, greater than any he had known before. Then and there, Ari decided that he wanted to be like Father Affonso and like Jesus, bringing solace to those who were suffering.

When he told Father Affonso of his decision, the priest was overjoyed. Father Affonso promised Ari that he would teach him everything he needed to know to be admitted into the Jesuit seminary at the University of Coimbra.

The priest kept that promise fully. Four years later, Ari was accepted to the seminary and soon became a star pupil there. And in Ari’s second year, when the seminary was asked to have its most talented student come to bless the social function of a very prominent member of the community, Ari was the one who was chosen to deliver that blessing.

To prepare an appropriate blessing, Ari was given some information about the context of this occasion. He was told that the host of this upcoming affair was Diego Lopes, a wealthy New Christian merchant who had distant Jewish ancestors. Ari was also told that although this would nominally be a celebration of the Feast of the Circumcision and Naming of Jesus, the real purpose was for Diego to present his 18-year-old daughter Maria to the elite families of Coimbra. She had been away in Madrid for the last two years, honing her social graces in the more culturally advanced Spanish capital. This celebration was to be her grand reentry to Coimbran society and was meant to attract an honorable, as well as profitable, marriage proposal.

To Ari, this all sounded terribly vain and a great waste of his precious time. But that was only because he knew so little about Diego Lopes, and nothing significant about his daughter Maria. view abbreviated excerpt only...

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