SYNOPSIS:
     An imposing building is shown silhouetted against the sky, looming over the cityscape, but inside it appears to have been deserted long ago: cobwebs hang thickly near overturned chairs and abandoned meals. Outside, a security guard has just made his rounds, watched intently by D-ray and Raf, two African American teenagers. To win a bet, Raf has agreed to sneak inside the building and shine a light from its top floor. His friend is now having second thoughts about the wisdom of this bet and tries to dissuade Raf, but an adamant Raf climbs over the fence and is gone. Once inside, he starts climbing a long set of stairs. Oddly, a sort of mist seems to be pouring down from above and then, to his horror, Raf sees some gang members holding automatic weapons waiting for him. He turns and runs as hard as he can, without ever seeing the figure in the dark visored biohazard suit who is apparently observing Raf.
     Meanwhile, at the Pentagon, an angry Dr. Daniel Cassian is confronting a group of VIPs in an auditorium-like setting. The lights are on Cassian: the others are in shadow, but we can see at least one woman and some men in military uniforms. At the very back, at the highest point of the room but also in the deepest shadow, sits The Chairman, impassively listening as Dr. Cassian questions their sanity: how can they expect a team of three people to survey an 80 story building? Declaring this has been a waste of his and everybody else's time, Cassian turns to stalk out the door, but is halted by a command from The Chairman. There is a letter for Dr. Cassian. A general hands it over: it's on White House stationary. Cassian looks shocked, then resigned.
     The limo pulls slowly into the warehouse, its headlights almost swallowed by the swirling fog. Cassian stands waiting near a circular arrangement of metal posts topped by small antenna-like structures. Dr. Edward Marcase's voice is heard, giving a capsule description of the team and its mission: "Under special mandate from the White House, a secret bio-crisis team has been formed. The assignment: to fight microscopic enemies in zones that are burning, to enter places no one else would go. On the front line of the plague wars, we are the point of the spear." Marcase, Dr. Kimberly Shiroma and Agent Michael Hailey emerge from the limo and approach Cassian, who asks them to come inside the circle. It suddenly crackles with energy. Hailey explains to the others that it's a Vanaldan Shield, which will guarantee privacy from any sort of electronic surveillance, including satellites. Shiroma asks what happened to their former director, Dr. Rhinehart; they heard that he'd been killed in a plane crash off the coast of Brazil. Cassian replies that is incorrect, but does not elaborate other than to say that Rhinehart has been "permanently reassigned." Marcase is contemptuous, and notes that "you people couldn't give a straight answer if your lives depended on it." Cassian tells him that if he has other things to do, he is welcome to leave. When Marcase doesn't move for a second, Cassian thanks him a bit patronizingly for staying. Edward reacts coldly, saying, "I don't like you" to which Cassian replies, "Aw... you hardly know me." He proceeds to give them their new assignment: to investigate a two-year old building in Chicago where 79 people have committed suicide. Their mission is to find out why.
     A large truck, like a bloodmobile, lumbers through the streets. Inside, dressed in biohazard suits, the team prepares to enter the building. Strangely, the initial CDC survey has been lost in what Cassian calls "a computer crash of convenience" but some reports concerning the victims remain. They all showed an inflammation of the temporal lobes, which caused hallucinations and psychotic behavior, and they were all on the verge of respiratory arrest. The team is going to survey alternating floors of the building, remaining in radio contact at all times, and take samples of air, dust, etc. to try to determine what could have created such symptoms. Marcase asks sarcastically why they get all the "groovy assignments" and Cassian replies, "Because you're young, brilliant and expendable." Hailey remains outside, questioning a security guard about records, while the other three go inside. They split up almost immediately, with Marcase assigned to the basement and the other two to upper floors.
     No one sees the figure in the dark biohazard suit.
     Each team member is gathering samples when suddenly Marcase is attacked >from behind. Cassian hears the sounds, and calls for Marcase and Shiroma to report. When Edward doesn't respond, Cassian orders Shiroma to leave the building, then he and Hailey (now also wearing a bio-suit) go to investigate. Ominously, they find some drops of blood--and Marcase's bio-helmet.
     Leaving Hailey to continue to search for Marcase, Cassian drives the van to what appears to be a garage with a large iron gate surrounding it. Kimberly protests leaving while Edward is still missing, and says, "We are expendable." Cassian replies that before an enemy can be defeated, it must be isolated. They enter the garage, "our Chicago headquarters," Cassian says-- and introduces her to Harold, who is dressed like a biker but who is really a highly trained technician, "just well camouflaged." At the touch of a switch, a wall of the garage swings open to reveal the entrance to an extremely sophisticated lab. Cassian says they have one like it in every major city. Shiroma is rather taken aback, saying that this seems to be a pessimistic point of view, as if they are just waiting for disaster, but Cassian counters that it's really optimistic: it assumes there will be people alive to use the labs. Re-donning bio-suits, they begin to test the samples gathered at the building: Cassian examines the dust particles while Shiroma tests the air.
     Back at the building, Marcase regains consciousness to find himself tied to the cables of an elevator car. His attacker turns out to be Raf, hallucinating wildly. Marcase tries to reason with him to no avail. Suddenly Raf sees the gang members again and, despite warnings from Edward, falls in an effort to escape his imaginary tormentors. Marcase is shocked and upset, unable to help.
     Down in the basement, Hailey is following traces of Marcase's blood, oil, and skin using a strange sort of scanning device. He radios Cassian at the lab to give a progress report. Shiroma has something to report as well: traces of some unknown but synthetically engineered molecular structures in the air, but which remind her of some chemical warfare agents she encountered during her doctoral studies. Telling Kimberly to get her data ready, Cassian goes to the computer accesses a database and enters a password. After a few tense seconds, the password is accepted and a strange symbol appears on the screen, a black biohazard with a woman's head imposed in the center. A feminine voice announces that they have accessed the Dawn and Cassian orders Kimberly to type in her data quickly. She does so, and a single match is found and downloaded. Cassian hastily logs off, but as he does so, the voice refers to him as "Dr. Alice Williamson." Shiroma is horrified by the symbol and disconcerted by all the rest, but Cassian brushes off her questions. Before she can persist, Hailey interrupts with a call to say he's found something. It turns out to be Raf, still alive, but incoherent and in respiratory distress which doesn't seem to be helped by the oxygen he's receiving. Cassian tells Shiroma the best way to help Raf is to continue to try to isolate the contaminant, but not to read the downloaded file until he can get there. Once she leaves, Cassian immediately contacts Hailey and, after ensuring their conversation can't be monitored, confirms that they're dealing with malochrinate, which binds red blood cells so that the victim begins to suffocate unless he receives supersaturated air. But the more contaminated air he takes in, the more intense the hallucinations, and since it affects the area of the brain that controls terror the hallucinations take on the appearance of whatever the victim fears most-- hence the suicides. Hailey asks if Shiroma knows and Cassian replies that she is probably reading the downloaded file now, then adds, "The scenario we projected is now confirmed."
     Meanwhile, Edward has begun to hallucinate, first seeing a shadowy figure in African tribal garb. Desperately, he saws the binding on his wrists against the cables to free himself then climbs up the cables and back into the building. Suddenly he hears his name being called and turns to see his late father, who urges Edward to come with him to see his mother.
     At the lab, Cassian finds Shiroma reading the downloaded report just as he had expected. Feigning ignorance, he asks her about it and is informed that the substance is malochrinate, created in 1966 by one Dr. Wilson Pride, a professor at the University of Chicago who was working for the CIA. Designed to be dispersed over cities, Pride didn't settle for just killing-- he wanted to induce terror and insanity. Shiroma accuses Cassian of being able to obtain that information at any time, while Cassian protests that the file was found on the basis of her research and test results. He then inquires, a shade too casually, as to what happened to Dr. Pride. Shiroma says he disappeared in 1966, and then she leaves after announcing she intends to do some research on her own.
     Marcase's hallucinations are becoming more vivid. He clearly sees his father, hears him call for Edward, and then sees himself at age seven accompanying his father to the hut where his mother is dying. As the adult Edward follows, his father explains that all the other people have died of ebola and that they--Edward and his parents-- are infected. Rachel Marcase, bleeding from her eyes and nose, takes young Edward's face in her hands and tells him that she has prayed to Jesus and He has assured her that Edward will live to grow up and become a fine man who will help many people. Edward must trust and not be afraid.
     Kimberly has arrived at a modest house, and knocks on the door. A middle- aged, rather nervous Emily Pride opens the door and admits her. Shiroma has some questions about Mrs. Pride's husband though she doesn't want to bring up sad memories of his disappearance. On the contrary, Mrs. Pride assures her, the night her husband left was the happiest of her life: she hated Wilson because he was evil and took joy in the destruction of a human soul. Kimberly asks where he was supposed to be going that night and is told he had an office that no longer exists-- it was demolished long ago, and a large building put on top of it…in fact, the building that was recently closed. As Shiroma drives away, Mrs. Pride makes a phone call.
     Back at the building, a bio-suited Kimberly prepares to search for what she believes is a hidden cache of malochrinate, having adjusted the molecular imager (similar to the one Hailey was using earlier) to search for it. She is describing her actions into a recorder, noting that she has told no one of the plan because there is no one she can trust.
     She doesn't realize she is being followed by the dark figure in the bio-suit.
     Lifting a grate, she descends into an old tunnel and finds the remains of Pride's office-- along with a set of skeletal human remains and signs of some chemical leaking along one wall. As she starts to pick up an ancient, dusty briefcase from a desk, the dark figure approaches and orders her to hand the briefcase over. She does so, then he raises a gun, obviously intending to kill her. She starts to protest, but the sound of a silenced shot is heard. Shiroma is stunned, not certain if she is hurt for a moment, then the figure falls face forward to the ground, revealing Cassian and Hailey. Still in shock, Kimberly says accusingly, "You followed me!" "Uh…yes," Cassian replies blandly and steps into the room. Kimberly asks about the dead person in the bio-suit and Cassian answers that he was just "a foot soldier…for the other side." He picks up a shoe from the skeleton and looks it over carefully. Shiroma snatches up the briefcase. Cassian tucks the shoe under his arm and asks for the briefcase. "Like hell," Shiroma snaps. Cassian shrugs and says, "Fine. You carry it, then" and exits followed by a somewhat puzzled Kimberly. Hailey lingers a moment as they leave, then steps over to the fresh body. He checks for a pulse, then removes a glove to reveal a tattoo on the palm-- the same bio-symbol with the woman's head that appeared on the computer screen.
     In the lab, Cassian and Shiroma examine the papers from the briefcase. Kimberly sums up the scenario: apparently on the night that he vanished, Pride took his formulas and the malochrinate he'd made, went to a secret room in his office and killed himself. Cassian postulates that when the foundations of the new building were poured, one of the bottles of malochrinate broke and the chemical seeped out. Shiroma has also realized they were being used as pawns and wants to know what Cassian knew beforehand. "Not enough," he tells her. She is clearly angry and demands to know who is the "other side." Cassian tries to change the subject by noting Dr. Pride had begun work on an antidote. Kimberly repeats the question and Cassian, realizing she is not going to let it drop, says that she should think of a single sheet of paper: how could you separate one side from the other? Before Shiroma can respond, Hailey calls to report that he's following a trail-- Marcase is vomiting blood.
     Marcase is watching his younger self. The shaman appears and speaks in a deep, sepulchral voice: "The time has come. We must climb the mountain of the gods. The ancient ones have called us." Suddenly there is a stairway surrounded by dense vegetation. The boy Edward goes toward it and we see the adult Edward slowly, painfully, climbing the stairs. They both emerge at the top of the building. Fire pots are arranged in a circle. The shaman appears and continues to speak. "I am the Death Eater. I eat the sins of my people. Your parents have brought a strange god with his medicines to our land. Your body is filled with pain. Crawl to the edge and your pain will be gone." Slowly Edward walks to the edge of the roof, the Death Eater encouraging him to go on. Suddenly his mother's voice is heard, crying out for Edward to stop. Her voice becomes stronger, drowning out the Death Eater's words. Abruptly, all sound stops and Marcase finds himself hanging onto the edge. He cries out for help, and Hailey appears, pulling him to safety. All the delusions are gone. He is immediately taken to the lab, where he and Raf are treated with the antidote Dr. Pride had begun. They seem to be responding, but Shiroma warns it's too early to be certain that they'll recover completely.
     The auditorium is empty now, except for the Chairman who sits in the half-light as Cassian enters and slaps the briefcase down heavily on a table, undoing its straps. The Chairman impassively shuffles papers. Casually, he asks if the chemical agent has been disposed of discretely. When Cassian says it has, he then asks about Dr. Pride's remains. Cassian replies that they were buried in a private ceremony then adds that they both know that the bones were NOT Dr. Pride's. The Chairman reacts defensively, demanding Cassian explain himself. Cassian pulls the dusty shoe from the brief case and explains that during the Cold War, Soviet spies wore shoes made in one particular factory-- the same factory that made this shoe. His theory is that Wilson Pride made a deal with the Soviets to sell his formulas but, after killing their agent, hid all his research and appealed to the CIA to protect him with a new identity. The Chairman scoffs. Cassian adds that they didn't bury ALL the bones-- he has a foot. He can compare its DNA. "To what?" the Chairman says contemptuously. "To yours, Dr. Pride." The Chairman deflates visibly, utterly defeated, and says, "You are a very dangerous man." Cassian answers, "You have no idea how dangerous" and tells the Chairman that he wants his personal access code to the Dawn database by 3 p.m. He then picks up the shoe and leaves. As one of the heavy doors closes behind him, there is the sound of a single gunshot.
     At the warehouse, Marcase, Hailey and Shiroma are waiting. A car pulls in and Cassian climbs out, joining them inside the Shield. He tells them (in a voice dripping with irony) that the Chairman apologizes for the set-up and swears on his life that it won't happen again. He, Cassian, is personally overseeing the destruction of the malochrinate. They have done a good job and should take a vacation. He turns to leave but is stopped by Marcase who says, "If we're going to work together, there has to be trust." Cassian replies with exaggerated innocence, "Why, I trust you completely." Marcase says the feeling is not mutual and they aren't sure where his loyalties lie. Shiroma joins in, insisting that he tell them about the "other side" and repeats Cassian's line about an enemy must be isolated before it can be destroyed. Telling them that nothing he tells them will be true, Cassian instructs them to imagine there is an organization of very powerful people, scientists and doctors, who want to exterminate the human race. Hailey compares humans to a lethal virus, destroying the Earth its host. Cassian says the day humans are extinct will be "the Dawn." Shiroma says that is insane. Cassian agrees and says that, fortunately, all he has said is not true. Marcase asks again what the Dawn is.
     "You go home and you look out your window. You'll see it tomorrow at 5:56 am." Cassian walks to the car, suggesting that Costa Rica might be a good spot for a vacation-- the rain forests have great caves.

Cast:
*Damon Whitaker as Raf
Dena Dietrich as Emily Pride
#Julius Harris
*Edward Evanko as Dr. William Marcase
Tony Jay as The Chairman
Annie Grindlay as Rachel Marcase
Nicholas Pappone as Young Edward
Brandon Adams as D-ray Drummond
Clayton Murray as Security Guard
Raymond Turner as HazMat Man
Christopher Kirby as Dark Figure
(Credits marked by * are from a German BZ site: <www.informatik.uni-bremen.de/~taechl/bzep.htm>; # is by process of elimination)

COMMENTS:
     This episode introduced two elements which became central to the first incarnation of the series: Michael Harris as Dr. Daniel Cassian, and the Dawn. The character of Cassian gave Marcase and, to a lesser extent, Shiroma an authority to rebel against, creating some tension within the team. Rhinehart seemed more easy-going and relaxed, less of a threat; Cassian obviously has an agenda of his own which may or may not be in the team's best interest. In the script, Cassian is less threatening; Harris' performance makes him definitely someone dangerous: clever, focused, and ruthless when it comes to achieving his goals. Interestingly, in this episode Hailey apparently enjoys Cassian's almost full confidence: he has apparently been briefed on Pride and the malochrinate and is far more aware of what is going on than are Marcase and Shiroma. In later episodes, particularly "Night Flight" and "Lethal Injection" he seems to side with them over Cassian, becoming less mysterious a figure and more down to earth. Marcase and Shiroma have apparently formed an uneasy alliance, not fully trusting each other but banding together against Cassian in particular and "the establishment" in general. For Harris, accepting the role was "a disturbing Oedipal moment" because he was replacing Dennis Arndt, who was "one of my idols." (STARLOG, May 1997).
     The introduction of The Dawn gave the team a consistent opponent, much as James Bond had Spectre or the men from UNCLE had Thrush, and also mirrored the currently popular conspiracy environment.
     We are also given much more insight to Marcase's background courtesy of his hallucinations: how it must have been for a bewildered child to see his parents and most of the people he knows die around him. This also marks the first "Marcase cries" episode.
     The episode has a dark, moody atmosphere, heightened by the frequent use of mist and shadows to set a scene. The cuts from scene to scene are very rapid, heightening the tension, and helping to pack a lot of information into the show.

PUZZLES:
     Why didn't Pride/The Chairman retrieve the malochrinate himself or have The Dawn bring it out? He certainly knew the approximate location of his old office and since The Dawn already had a person inside, it should have been little trouble. The only conclusions I can draw are that he couldn't get it personally because he would attract too much attention, and that The Dawn was unaware of his true identity-- and he wanted to keep it that way, hence the deception.
     Cassian's line about testing the DNA against The Chairman's has caused comment, since comparing that of the agent to The Chairman's would be useless. I think that what Cassian meant was that he would compare the agent's to KNOWN samples of the real Dr. Pride's DNA which would prove the dead man was not Dr. Pride. His wording made it seem that he would use that of the man in front of him, when he was simply identifying the not-so-good doctor to the audience.
     Who was Emily Pride calling after Shiroma left? Pride? Not unless she was only acting when she said how much she hated him. Cassian? Possibly, but that would mean that Cassian could have already determined the location of the Pride's office and hence the malochrinate. If that is true, then either Cassian had to prove to anyone watching that it was the team's and not his own investigations which led to discovery of the site …pretty flimsy… or, more likely, to prove to Shiroma that there was an outside enemy from whom Cassian and Hailey would protect her. This would reinforce the image of Cassian as master manipulator, coolly using people as cat's paws with little regard for their safety. Cassian's lack of reaction when he finds Shiroma's computer with the information on Emily Pride lends further credence to this interpretation.
     For whom is Kimberly making the recording detailing her actions at the building? And why? If she dies from the malochrinate, there is no way to assure that anyone will find the recording; if someone does, it's just as likely to be an enemy who will suppress it -- either Cassian or the Dawn. I suspect it was simply a convenient plot device to keep the audience apprised of her actions in a speedy manner.
     Why does the team continue to wear the bio-suits around Raf after they have determined the cause was the malochrinate in the air at the building? It wouldn't be contagious.
     The "Death Eater" is an interesting symbol/concept; the usual term is "Sin Eater" which, according to the respected Funk and Wagnall's Encyclopedia of Folklore, is related to the whole concept of the "scapegoat." In the Christian religion, Jesus Christ is the ultimate scapegoat, taking on the sins of the world; in this sense too, he is a "Death Eater" or "Sin Eater." Was the idea to contract the purely human scapegoat to the divine one? The Death Eater even says that Edward's parents have brought a strange god to the land, the implication being that the outbreak is a result of their folly. I have no theory to offer here, just the puzzle.
     Another (to me) puzzling bit is Cassian's parting line about the rain forests having great caves. It's almost a throw-a-way line, yet why say it at all? Is it a subtle reference to the intelligent virus the team encountered when Rhinehart was the leader? The line does not appear in the script, by the way.

FROM SCRIPT TO SCREEN:
     The episode opens with the suicide of a business man inside the building; the place is evacuated amid some hysteria. The cobwebs and dust are absent, since in this version the building is more recently abandoned than it seems from the aired version. The scene with Raf and D-ray makes it clear that these are clean cut teens, not gang members; the scene is longer, with Raf running out of the building, then turning around and running back in, watched by the figure in the bio-suit.
     The scene with the Chairman starts Act 1 and takes place around a table rather than the intimidating and atmospheric auditorium. When Cassian refuses to proceed unless he is given FULL information, the Chairman replies that he has been given all the information his clearance allows, and personally hands Cassian the letter from the White House. As Cassian leaves, his attention is attracted when a door opens abruptly. Inside an apparently empty room, he sees a table on which an envelope marked TOP SECRET- EYES ONLY has been placed. It contains photos, reports, and a warning made from letters cut out of a magazine: BE CAREFUL, DANIEL.
     In the first meeting with Marcase and Shiroma, Cassian says that Rhinehart was his friend and asked him to take over responsibility for the team. He won't confirm that Rhinehart is dead but describes him as a causality of the Plague Wars. Marcase's "I don't like you" and Cassian's response do not appear; last minute additions or ad libs?
     The scanner Hailey uses to follow Marcase is described as an experimental "bio-tracker," programmed to locate each of the team using the person's DNA.
     When The Chairman is told about the burial of Dr. Pride's remains, he says, "So his widow finally has her satisfaction." Cassian responds, "Relief is more like it." (This would reinforce the idea that Cassian had contacted Emily Pride before Shiroma.)

TRIVIA:
     Dr. Marcase Sr.'s first name is William.
     The sign outside the warehouse where the group meets at the beginning and end says "Greco Marine."
     The Dawn symbol is supposed to have the head of a "beautiful child" in the center of a biohazard symbol, but the finished product (to me, at least) looked more like a spider woman with Donna Mills' head. (At first viewing, however, I thought the bio-symbol was some sort of flower, like a black iris. The head still looked like Donna Mills.)
     In the scene in which Cassian wears the sort of rust open-necked shirt, we can get a glimpse of what looks like a leather cord/necklace around his neck. This can be seen more clearly in the episode "Touch of the Dead;" a similar wristband can be seen on Harris in other roles, so these are apparently personal items he wears frequently.
     The first episode of the "Team 2" BZ mirrors a couple of elements in Tower: it too features a converted warehouse (Taft's loft) as a sort of base/ rendezvous place; and, more pointedly, Hailey hands Taft a letter from the White House to force his cooperation, just as The Chairman did to Cassian. The twist is later, when Cassian asks if Hailey used that tired old ploy (the letter) to enlist Taft's help.

ICK FACTOR:
     Marcase's head wound, his mother bleeding from her eyes as she says good bye to her son.

CAST NOTES:
     Tony Jay is a very well known character actor with hundreds of credits over the years. Genre fans may know him best for his recurring role as Paracelsus on BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. Dena Dietrich is one of those actresses whom everyone recognizes but can't name, having made numerous TV appearances (including MURPHY BROWN, THIRTYSOMETHING and NYPD BLUE) doing both comedy and drama with ease. American fans of a certain age will also remember her from a series of margarine commercials in the Seventies in which she proclaimed, "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature!" The "BZ Team 1" episodes often made good use of older character actors, something I appreciate.

NAME GAME:
     Names seem to carry their own importance to BZ. Note, for example, that the principles are almost always addressed by the full name (Edward, Michael, Daniel) and not nicknames, the exception being that Kimberly is called "Kim" on a couple of occasions; more often she is Kimberly. The choice of "Pride" for the surname of the scientist who wanted to kill people but frighten them first is pretty obvious. "Emily" comes from Latin and means "industrious"-- fitting for the no-nonsense lady who eventually brings down her absent spouse. "Rachel" seems to be a favorite, since not only Marcase's mother has that name but also Cassian's long lost love ("Touch of the Dead.") From the Hebrew, it means "lamb"-- and both ladies seem to fit the name, symbolically at least, in their innocence and purity.
     "Daniel," also from Hebrew, means "God is my judge" and is most suitable for the project director who seems to think the ends justify the means. His surname is extremely interesting; apparently a place-name originally (Cassian), it is attached to four Christian saints, three of whom were martyrs. Father Cassian of Nantes, aid to Father Agathangelo, was hung with his own rope belt by anti-Catholic forces in 1638; their feast day is August 7. St. Cassian of Imola was a Christian schoolmaster in Italy who was stabbed to death by his pupils after refusing to renounce his faith; feast day is August 13. St. Cassian (A.D. 298?) was a scribe who threw down his stylus at the unjust sentencing of St. Marcellus the Centurion and ended up sharing his fate; feast day is December 3. The most likely inspiration for the BZ character, however, is the non-martyr St. John Cassian (c. A.D. 433), who is known as "the patriarch of monachism." His INSTITUTES OF MONASTIC LIFE AND CONFERENCES was among the three suggested readings of St. Benedictine and helped set the pattern for monastic life and the virtues for which the monks should aspire. BUTLER'S LIVES OF THE SAINTS uses the following quotation to illustrate Cassian's nature: "I shall make no attempt to relate anecdotes of miracles and prodigies. For although I have heard of many unbelievable marvels from my elders and have seen some with my own eyes, I have wholly omitted them because they contribute nothing but astonishment to the instruction of the reader in the perfect life." His feast day is July 23.