Tom Cruise, the St. Antony of Scientology

From today’s Inquirer (scroll down):

Early Christian mystics went out into the desert to deepen their faith. Tom Cruise went to a desert compound in Southern California in the late 1980s and early 1990s to steep himself in the teachings of Scientology, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.

No hair shirt or fasting for Cruise. The actor got round-the-clock attention – including a special staff to make his meals and do his laundry – at the 500-acre compound near Hemet, about 90 miles east of Los Angeles, the paper says, citing present and former Scientologists.

Cruise had a personal supervisor to oversee his studies in a private course room, according to ex-Scientologists.