Oh, All Right... If I Must...!

Having ignored an indirect meme from the Pacific Gem on the grounds that it was too long (and she'd added a get-out clause), I suppose I'd better do this one. It's short. And I may never get tagged again if I don't come up with the goods... and then I'll feel lonely and unloved!

Rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

I had a little difficulty with the "nearest" book requirement.

I've been having a major sort-out, and technically, the nearest book to me at this moment is my dictionary: I find myself wanting to check things while writing my blog posts... I'm pedantic like that. Anyway, I tried using the dictionary, but got into trouble because it didn't have complete sentences...

The next book on my computer desk was the Bible. Douay-Rheims version. Problem number 1 was identifying page 123 (should I take the Old or the New Testament page 123?) I plumped for Old Testament, on the basis that it was the "proper" page 123. Problem number 2 was identifying the sentences... the Douay-Rheims version goes in for a lot of colons and semicolons, making the sentences long and convoluted, and sentence five was practically on the next page. Problem number 3 was that it was the Book of Leviticus on leprosy, and I sort of lost the will to live...

The next nearest book (How Cats Conquered the World by Heather Hacking) only had 96 pages.

In desperation, I grabbed a book from the top of the pile on the armchair behind me (these books are awaiting the construction of a bookshelf... and have been for some time.) It turned out to be The Incorruptibles by Joan Carroll Cruz. Page 123 only had three sentences on it...

Finally, The Wonder of Guadalupe by Francis Johnston put me out of my misery...

"The bronze, hazel-coloured eye of the Blessed Virgin lights up, and on the surface there shines quite distinctly the silhouette of a human bust. The head is turned threequarters towards the Virgin's right and slightly bent forward; the chest is framed and lengthened by a movement of the arms going forward as though to show something. It all happened as though, at the moment of the Image being impressed, a man who was facing the Blessed Virgin, and reflected in the cornea of her eye, had himself been photographed in this indirect way."

I'm loathe to put anyone else through this sort of torture. But if I really must, then I'll tag Leutgeb, Mark, Paulinus, Tony and Fr. Justin.