Being able to experience God through prayer has changed my life. I have learned to respond with love instead of lashing back; I have learned my worth and strength; I have learned to not allow negativity back into my life.

Again and again I have watched Californians find a way beyond the categories they are supposed to occupy.

By tradition, the person who retrieves the wooden cross will be freed from evil spirits and will be healthy throughout the year. After the cross is fished out, the priest sprinkles believers with water using a bunch of basil.

In the fifth episode of "Plague," Mike visits the small Midwestern city of Belleville, Illinois, where a Catholic Sister broke ground in the 1980s by opening an organization to provide services for people living with HIV and AIDS.

Even though manuscripts—handwritten books— are at least several technological stages behind the ways we access information today, we still rely on them for access to the past.

Learn more at www.americamag.org/plague.