"Mystical City of God – The Conception" Movie

SCENE 1 — EXT. 1645 AD. NIGHT. A DISCALCED CONVENTUAL FRANCISCAN CONVENT IN AGREDA, SPAIN.

Sister Maria (at the age of 43) is throwing volumes of a large manuscript onto a fire while weeping. Once the last volume has been consumed she falls to the ground bitterly weeping. The camera fades to dark.

SCENE 2 — INT. DAY. THE SAME CONVENT. SEVERAL DAYS LATER.

Sister Mary of Jesus is gently chastised by her Mother Superior for burning the original texts and commanded under obedience to begin the books again.

SCENE 3 — EXT. DAY. THE TEMPLE AREA IN JERUSALEM. 36 BC.

Anne and Joachim meet as their families have both made the trip to celebrate the feast of Passover. Catching sight of each other in passing they make a favorable impression. Character descriptions are drawn from the visions of Sister Anne Catherine Emmerich.

SCENES 4–5 — INT. NIGHT. THE DWELLING PLACES OF JOACHIM AND ANNE. 36 BC.

Joachim and Anne each pray fervently and separately for the coming of the Messiah and for a holy spouse. The Archangel Gabriel appears to Anne with a message of consolation and promise.

SCENES 6–13 — THE BETROTHAL OF ANNE AND JOACHIM; THE PROMISE OF MARY'S CONCEPTION

The screenplay follows the prayers of Anne and Joachim across many years, the reproach of Joachim at the Temple by the priest Isachar, Joachim's prayer at his farm, and the appearance of the Archangel Gabriel to both Anne and Joachim announcing that they shall conceive a daughter to be named Mary. The Holy Trinity decrees the Immaculate Conception and the angels are charged with her protection.

SCENES 14–17 — THE BIRTH AND PRESENTATION OF MARY IN THE TEMPLE

Drawing on the detailed visions of Sister Anne Catherine Emmerich, these scenes describe the miraculous birth of the Most Holy Mary, the announcement of her name by the angels, the naming ceremony, and her presentation and ascent of the fifteen steps of the Temple at the age of three — ascending joyfully without assistance or tears, to the astonishment of all present.

SCENES 18–28 — MARY'S LIFE IN THE TEMPLE

These scenes follow the heavenly child Mary's life in the Temple: her daily rule of prayer and work assigned by the priest and the prophetess Anne her teacher, her vow of chastity, her elevation to the empyrean heaven, her trials including the persecution by her companion maidens, and the ten-year withdrawal of divine consolation — all of which the screenplay presents as the formation of the Mother of God.

SCENES 29–32 — THE BETROTHAL TO SAINT JOSEPH

At the age of fourteen, Mary is called to enter the state of matrimony. The unmarried men of the house of David gather in the Temple. Joseph's staff blossoms and a white dove descends upon him. The priests declare him the spouse chosen by God. Mary and Joseph travel to Nazareth and make their mutual vow of perpetual chastity.

SCENES 33–43 — THE NINE-DAY NOVENA AND THE ANNUNCIATION

The most extended section of the screenplay follows the nine days of preparation before the Incarnation, during which the Most High elevates Mary through successive visions of the works of creation, reveals to her the mysteries of the new law of grace, and prepares her as the worthy Mother of the Word. On the ninth day the Archangel Gabriel appears and delivers the Annunciation.

SCENES 44–55 — THE VISITATION, BIRTH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST, AND JOSEPH'S TRIAL

Mary visits her cousin Elisabeth; John the Baptist is sanctified in the womb; Zacharias's tongue is loosed at the circumcision and naming of John; Saint Joseph discovers Mary's pregnancy and is visited by the Archangel Gabriel in a dream; and the demons hold a council in hell to plot against the Woman they fear.

SCENES 62–67 — THE NATIVITY IN BETHLEHEM

The screenplay concludes its first arc with the birth of Christ in the cave at Bethlehem — the holy angels adoring the incarnate Word, the ox and the ass prostrating themselves, the shepherds receiving the angelic announcement, and the Mother of God offering her newborn Son to the eternal Father.