During his christening, 10-year-old Christian behaves in an unexpected and mysterious way in the church, and his parents become concerned. Father Siro – a man of the church and Christian’s religious instructor – reassures them, explaining that Christian is just a child with a different sensibility from his peers. But speaking in private with little Christian, Father Siro is anything but reassuring, telling the little boy that his adult life will be a long and tortuous journey. During the baptism, Christian ‘saw’ the archangels cleanse Christ’s face of the wounds of human suffering, and Christian will live a life tainted and ruined by pain.