There were so many types of mysteries: the Holy Mysteries of the sacraments, the everyday rituals of praise and worship for telling through in private when you wanted to go beyond the prayers for the day. There were the public mysteries, like that of Saint Mauriz, that invoked aid and protection and prosperity for the community. There were the private rituals of the mystery guilds that had purposes known only to their members. Uncle Fulpi had mentioned once in a sour moment that the Guild of Saint Mark in Chalanz seemed to concern itself more with the state of roads than the state of souls. She knew that professional guilds were often little more than social clubs. Then there were the sharp and desperate pleas—for healing, for mercy, for a son—more often learned by word of mouth than kept in books. Or performed for you by old men and women in the marketplace who claimed to have the ear of the saints. Most who made that claim looked rather in need of the saints’ blessings themselves.
