Rennes Le Chateau is a small village situated on a hilltop in
the Languedoc part of France called locally as the MIDI region. The village
became world famous (in the English speaking world anyway) by a series of three
programmes shown on the BBC in the late 1970s and a book called Holy Blood
and the Holy Grail which was jointly written by Richard Leigh, Michael
Baigent and the first discoverer of the mystery for the BBC Henry Lincoln.
From this a veritable industry has grown up with theories and counter
theories and it was the theme from which Dan Brown took his inspiration for his
best selling book The Da Vinci Code
The story appears to stem from a French Priest called François
Bérenger Saunière who allegedly found some parchments in his church when he
attempted to do some repairs. The parchments contained secret messages in a
complex code alluding to a Secret Society called the Prieuré de Sion, a Treasure
and a Bloodline of the Merovingian Kings of France. This story involves the
Knights Templar whose ruined Commanderie adorn this area of France.
These pages are devoted for people with a more advanced
knowledge of the mystery. For anyone wishing to know some more of the basics of
this story then there are many websites giving a background to this story. Links
to other sites can be found at the bottom of this page.
The purpose of these pages is to give a counter
argument to recent suggestions that the whole thing was a con and that certain
individuals made the whole thing up in the 1950s 60s and 70s and also to give
additional information not normally found in the more popular publications.
What I wish to do here is make a list of anomalies which
suggest that there is more to Rennes Le Chateau than meets the eye and that as
Henry Lincoln has said -
Hence the Weeping Virgin, the skull and the open book.
Masonic
symbolism.
symbolically ISIS Weeping at Byblos.
Here we have Mary Magdalene underneath the Altar in Rennes le
Chateau church
Weeping
With Skull and open book.
23.4° is the tilt angle of the earth.
90°
minus 23.4° equals 66.6°
Behind her out of the cave is the
Golden Dawn.
******************
And now
The
Devil
Or is it Asmodeus
Lord of the Earth?
Changed by one
of the Royal Angels
Remember the
Parchment which also
contains the phrase underneath Mary Magdalene and the Altar.
Small
letters in the Shepherdess Parchment spell out the word
REX MUNDI
which means King of the Earth
A comprehensive description of The
Devil in Rennes le Chateau church can be found by clicking here
******************
In the church we have Jesus kneeling and John the Baptist standing
underneath each we have Alpha (A) and Omega (Ω) respectively
Jesus -
Feast Day 25th December - the end of the Winter Solstice the beginning
of the resurrected Sun - A
John the Baptist - Feast Day 24th June the
end of the Summer Solstice - the end of the Sun's passage through
Summer. - Ω
**********
-
The Tombstone of the Dame d'Hautpoul
|
CATIN means TROLLOP
Someone isn't happy with her. |
Return of the King Celestial ARC
Before-Since "from the S to the P ... and the
spiral in my mind becoming like a monstrous octopus expelling its ink"
La Poulpe = Octopus = Pulpit at St Sulpice |
|
The Headstone and tombstone of
la Marie de Negri d' Ables Dame d'Hautpoul Countess of Blanchefort.
Grandmother of Paul Urbain Vincent d'Fleury. |
The headstone on the left is an
exact anagram of:
|
BERGERE PAS DE
TENTATION - QUE POUSSIN TENIERS GARDENT LA CLEF PAXDCLXXXI (681) - PAR LA
CROIX ET CE CHEVAL DE DIEU J'ACHEVE CE DAEMON DE GARDIEN A MIDI - POMMES
BLEUES
With
PS PRAECUM
added |
A fact that Philippe de Cherisey
failed to mention in his so-called 'confession'.
Let me just reiterate that
The so-called author of the parchments completely failed to
mention in his so-called confession that despite five levels of encoding the
final text finishes up with the same as the text on the tombstone which had
given us of the two keys.
He failed to mention it and that's not the only thing he
failed to mention either. If you had constructed something so ingenious wouldn't
you brag about it?
Fact is de Chèrisey didn't mention it because he didn't know
about it and he didn't know about it because he wasn't the author.
Beringer Sauniere was born in the village of Montazels on the
11th April 1852 apparently at exactly midday. His father had once been the mayor
of Montazels and he also managed a flour mill and had been the steward of the
Marquis de Cazemajou’s Castle. One of Beringer Saunière's younger brothers
Alfred was also to become a priest. Reports say that he was not a particularly
bright child but did appear to display extraordinary leadership qualities and could
often be seen wandering the plateau of Rennes le Chateau leading the other
children.
On the advice of the priest of Esperaza it was suggested that
it would be a good idea for him to enter a seminary to study for the
priesthood. This he did in 1874 and despite financial problems was ordained
and took his first parish at Alet-les-Bains, just north of Rennes le Chateau,
on 16th July 1879. On 16th June 1882 he was given the title of curate of the
village of Clat and finally on 1st June 1885 he took office at the church of
Sainte Marie-Madeleine at Rennes le Chateau, replacing the previous incumbent
Antoine Croc who had only been in the position three years.
His appointment coincided with the French State elections and
to the astonishment of his new parishioners he began campaigning very
vigorously against the Republicans. Unfortunately the Republicans won and he
was promptly denounced by the authorities in the region for inciting public
disorder and trying to influence the electorate. The authorities ordered that
his
meagre salary of 75F per month be withheld and this edict took place in
December 1885. Sauniere approached his Bishop Monsignor Billard at Carcassonne
who, seeing his difficulty, gave him 200 Francs and appointed him ‘Petit
Seminaire de Narbonne’ where he remained until July 1886 when his suspension
was lifted and he returned to Rennes le Chateau. In May 1890 Sauniere said
mass in Antugnac Church on Sundays.
He resigned as cure on February 1st 1909 and by 1911
was no longer a priest. In 1909 he was sued for trafficking in masses. We're
told by the detractors that he apparently lived the last part of his life
penniless, selling religious medals and rosaries to wounded soldiers who were
stationed in Campagne les Bains. This is
proven nonsense
having spent 12000 Francs in two months on furniture alone in 1909 (this is
two and half times the estimate he received for the church to be totally
rebuilt). However the First World War curtailed his trips abroad where he
seemed to have acquired his wealth. He was also accused of taking in German
Spies. That he was accused of having sympathies with France's enemies is an
accusation that would be levelled at Pierre Plantard, Grand Master of the
Priory of Sion, later.
Parchments
Parchment 1
|
Parchment 2
|
 |
 |
Bible Text
Factum est autem in sabbato secundo primo cum transiret per sata vellebant
discipuli ejus spicas et manducabant confricantes manibus Quidam autem
pharisaeorum dicebant illis quid facitis quod non licet in sabbatis Et
respondens jesus ad eos dixit nec hoc legistis quod fecit David cum
esurisset ipse et cum qui illo erant Quomodo intravit in domum dei et
panes propositionis sumpsit et manducavit et dedit his qui cum ipso erant
quos non licet manducare nisi tantum sacerdotibus.
|
Manuscript Text
(Parchment 1)
Et factum est eum in sabbato secundo primo abire per secetes discipuli
autem illiris coeperunt vellere spicas et fricantes manibus manducabant
quidam autem de farisaeis dicebant et ecce quia faciunt discipuli tui
sabbatis quod non licet resopondens autem inss etxit ad eos numquam hoc
lecistis quod fecit d autem quando esurut ipse et qui cum eo erat intro
ibit in domum dei et panes propositionis redis manducavit et dedit et qui
bles cum erant uxuo quibus non licebat manducare si non solis
sacerdotibus. |
One striking difference here is that the parchment text
does not mention David at all but the Vulgate does. Yet the simple code
picks out the name Dagobert who it is claimed is a descendent of David.
According to Wieland Willker, a German writer, the parchment text is from
something called the Codex Bezae which is named after Theodore Beza who
apparently found it. This document seems to differ greatly from the
Vulgate text that was translated by St Jerome in the 4th century and for
reasons that I have been unable to grasp Willker has declared that the
parchment must therefore be a hoax because the only point of reference is
that it came from a more recent text than St Jerome and as far as I can
ascertain is that because this must have been written in the 1600 years
since St Jerome it therefore has to be a fake. At the same time Willker
fails to ascertain precisely when this original text found by Beza was
first written and that this text could have been found by others long
before Beza and he is simply not in a position to state that this is
untrue. The assumption has been made that it was Antoine Bigou who wrote
these parchments and as we have a positive date of 1581 or sooner for the
origin of this type of Latin used then this is almost two centuries before
Bigou. So Bigou could indeed have had a copy. I have not yet found anyone
who can explain the chain of sound reasoning to me that it has to be a
hoax because it didn’t come from St Jerome but I live in hope. However the
Codex Bezae does have some links to French history, it was apparently
found in a monastery in Lyon by Theodore Beza in the 16th century. Beza
took it to Cambridge, England where it has been since 1581. Scrivener
published a complete text in 1864 and a copy appeared in 1899.
Apparently according to Jean-Luc Chaumeil it was published in ‘Dictionaire
de la Bible in Paris in 1895 which was published and edited by an F
Vigouroux and from this Chaumeil concludes that it must have been a man
called Philippe de Cherisey, a Marquis from the town of Luc St Martin
close to Rennes le Chateau who copied this parchment. It is perhaps worth
noting at this point that in a conversation with Henry Lincoln, Philippe
de Cherisey said that - picking a few sheets from his case he says “I’m
writing an explanation of the codes. I’ll send you a copy. You’ll be
amused”. Lincoln never saw this copy.It seems to be rather amusing that
detractors to this story feel they are making some kind of revelation that
Philippe de Cherisey may have written the parchments, this whole thing has
been suggested long ago by the very targets for these detractors in their
book ‘The Messianic Legacy’. In various publications and in particular one
written by Lincoln alone called ‘The Key to the Sacred Pattern’ he
describes his dealings with de Cherisey and another player called Pierre
Plantard de St Clair, whom we are reminded are members of the Secret
Society mentioned earlier called ‘The Prieuré de Sion’. This book
describes a meeting Lincoln and the BBC held in the Art studio of Jean-Luc
Chaumeil’s mother with Plantard and de Cherisey, where Plantard says that
de Cherisey has “very good originals” of the parchments and it is clear
that the ones produced by de Cherisey are copies. As far as we know
nobody, including Jean-Luc Chaumeil, has seen the original copies of these
documents and it is distinctly possible that neither Plantard nor de
Cherisey EVER saw the originals either. Plantard describes them as ‘de
Chèrisey's “confections” and actually admits he has made alterations to
them. What is important to understand here is that we are not being told
which parchment he is supposed to have altered. Several copies of the
parchments apparently abound but these copies seen by Lincoln immediately
before the interview with Plantard did not have the various marks normally
associated with the parchments. Although Lincoln asked to be shown the
originals and Plantard and de Cherisey agreed he should see them, he has
never actually seen them. De Cherisey died suddenly in July 1985.
|
The Logo of the Sulpicians
WEBSITE OF THE SULPICIANS
SOCIETY OF SAINT-SULPICE
COMPAGNIE DU SAINT-SACRAMENT
The Fronde
and the Compagnie du Saint-Sacrament
Oct 18, 2004
Author: Tracy R. Twyman
"In the 19th century, the Priory of Sion was behind a movement to place Gaston
d’Orleans on the throne of France. This plot was foiled when Louis XIII finally
sired an heir, assuring the succession of the kingship. This sparked the
beginning of a civil war that would continue off and on for the next decade,
known as “the Fronde” - an attempt to remove Cardinal Mazarin and Louis XIV from
their positions. This civil war, consisting largely of highly-orchestrated
“popular uprisings”, was sponsored by the same families associated with the
Grail blood and the Priory of Sion that have consistently been the instigators
of revolutions throughout history. And for their headquarters these “frondeurs”
chose the ancient Merovingian capitol of Stenay, near the location of Dagobert
II assassination, as though they were making the statement that the ultimate aim
of the plot was in fact the avengement of Dagobert’s death.
The “Priory documents” state that during the Fronde years, the Priory “dedicated
itself to opposing Mazarin.” As the documents say, it did so under the facade of
another fraternal organization, one acknowledged by history to have been at the
forefront of the Fronde - the Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement. The documents state
that the Priory of Sion was the Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement.
History tells us that the Compagnie was formed around 1629 by a close associate
of Gaston d’Orleans, although he is the only founding member who is known. The
rest of the group’s upper hierarchy were anonymous, and even the low-ranking
members did not know who they were. Of these lower-ranking members, some of them
have been named: the duchess of Longueville’s brother, the bishop of Alet (near
Rennes-le-Chateau);
Charles Fouquet (brother of the Superintendent of Finances, whose other
brother wrote that infamous letter to Nicolas Poussin;
Saint Vincent de Paul; and Jean-Jacques Olier, founder of the
Seminary of Saint Sulpice, which was used as the Compagnie’s headquarters. The
members did not understand or question the orders they were given, and they were
not permitted to communicate with one another. The main thing that bonded them
together was a mysterious and elusive secret, what chroniclers referred to as
“the Secret which is at the core of the Compagnie.” The order’s own statutes
state that, “The primary channel which shapes the spirit of the Compagnie, and
which is essential to it, is the Secret.”
The purpose behind the Compagnie has been, to historians, completely confusing.
On the surface, it claimed to be devoted to charitable work, but underneath the
surface, it was much more devoted to spying on behalf of the frondeurs, and
infiltrating the upper echelons of government, nearly dominating, at times, the
parliament, judiciary, and police, as well as holding key positions in the
king’s cabinet. Saint Vincent de Paul was made confessor to Louis XIII, and Anne
of Austria was, for a period, completely malleable in the hands of the
Compagnie, who managed to turn her against Mazarin for a brief span.
Another ambiguous aspect of the Compagnie was their religious affiliation.
Historians present the Compagnie as representing rigidly conservative
Catholicism, and as being devoted to eliminating “heresy.” Yet many of the
group’s known members were Protestants. Furthermore, why should such an
organization be opposed to arch-Catholic Mazarin? And if it was heresy they were
against, why did the Catholic hierarchy of the time refer to the Compagnie as
heretical in itself? They were charged, quite reminiscent of the Templars, of
“impious practices”, and bizarre, unnatural initiation ceremonies. Some of them
were even threatened with excommunication, a threat which did not seem to faze
these supposed “arch-Catholics.”
Even though Cardinal Mazarin and Louis XIV had rallied against them for years,
the Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement carried on as normal, well past 1660, when the
king finally ordered their dissolution. But in 1665, they concluded, according
to the “Priory documents”, that they could not continue in their “present form”,
and withdrew from public light, recalling all of their official documents and
sealing them away in Saint Sulpice. The authors of Holy Blood, Holy Grail point
out that these documents would then have been available to the decoder of the
Rennes-le-Chateau parchments, Emile Hoffet, later on. But in one form or
another, the Compagnie is known to have operated into the next century,
tormenting Louis XIV, and some say it continued into the 1900s. They were
mentioned in a negative context by the royally patronized writer Moilère in his
play Le Tartuffe, and the Compagnie actually used its conspiratorial ties to
have the play suppressed for the next two years. Meanwhile, the Compagnie had
its own literary propagandists in La Rochefoucald and La Fontaine, known members
of both the Fronde and the Compagnie who used allegorical satire to attack the
king. And in the case of La Fontaine, the king attacked back, attempting to bar
his entrance to the Académie Française. Interestingly, La Fontaine was
patronized by the duke of Guise, the duke of Bouillon, and Gaston d’Orleans’
widow."
Author: Tracy R. Twyman
Above is representation of the Rose line running through the
Church at Saint Sulpice showing the positions of the two equinoxes in the centre
almost in front of the altar and the Winter solstice to the left (low
Sun) and the Summer solstice to the right (High Sun).
These are of course taken at Midday (French: A MIDI)
The Feast day of St Sulpice is the 17th January as is the
Feast day of St Anthony the Hermit whose statue is featured in the Church at
Rennes le Chateau and l'Ermitage in the Gorge de la Galamus near to Rennes le
Chateau and also featured in the painting by David Teniers the younger where
he's NOT being Tempted. There's two of these paintings by David Teniers
featuring St Anthony and one was once owned by Herman Göring.
17th January is also the Feast day of St Roseline
The date is also featured in Le Serpent Rouge.
Le Serpent Rouge - Scorpio
|
Celestial vision for him who remembers the four works
of Em. SIGNOL around the Meridian line, to the choir itself from the
sanctuary from which beams this source of love from one to another, I turn
around passing the site of the rose of the P to that of the S, then from
the S to the P ... and the spiral in my mind becoming like a monstrous
octopus expelling its ink, the shadows obscure the light, I am dizzy and I
hold my hand to my mouth biting instinctively my palm, perhaps like OLIER
in his coffin. Curses, I understand the truth, HE IS GONE, but to him too
in doing THE GOOD, like HIM of the flowery tomb. But how many have sacked
the HOUSE, leaving only the embalmed corpses and numerous metal objects
which they could not carry? What strange mystery conceals the new temple
of SOLOMON built by the children of Saint VINCENT?" |
Emile Signol - Painter and member of the Academy of Arts, Paris.
"Yesterday, we elected that insipid Signol to the Institute. Meissonier got
as many as sixteen votes, and thus the only people left to compete with him were
Signol and that antiquated old Hesse, both of them representatives or offspring,
of the Ecole. But shuddering at the idea of seeing an original talent
enter the Academy, these two groups joined forces to destroy him. This was done
at the price of Signol's election. The result will be far more deadly than if
they'd decided on Hesse, an old man who will leave no pupils to perpetuate the
taste of the school of David."
(The Journal of Eugene Delacroix, p.363-364)
"four works"
There are four paintings by Emile Signol around the Meridian line. However,
the anagram SIGNOL around LA produces LANGLOIS. Claude Langlois is the engineer
who completed the Gnomon at Saint Sulpice in 1744.
His four works were :
1. Erected an obelisk of white marble (10.72 metres) which can be seen in the
northern arm of the trancept
2. Traced the meridian (in the North-South direction) with a band of copper
inlaid in the paving of the church and leading up to the obelisk
3. Established in the window of the southern arm of the trancept a gnomon
equipped with a lens with an 80 foot focal length
4. Marked on the ground with a copper plaque the spot where the rays of the
sun fall on summer solstice. This plaque was removed several years ago to be
re-engraved. One can see today the marble plaque which was over the copper
plaque.
("Le Gnomon de L'Eglise Saint Sulpice", Saint Sulpice)
"Meridian line"
"Now although many apparent byways showed themselves, yet I still proceeded
with my compass, and would not budge one step from the Meridian Line; howbeit
the way was often so rugged and impassable, that I was in no little doubt of it.
On this way I constantly thought upon the dove and the raven, and yet
could not search out the meaning; until at length upon a high hill afar off I
saw a stately portal, to which, not regarding how far it was distant both from
me and from the way I was on, I hasted, because the sun had already hid himself
under the hills, and I could see no abiding place elsewhere; and this verily I
ascribe only to God, who might well have permitted me to go forward in this way,
and withheld my eyes that so I might have gazed beside this gate."
(Chymical Wedding, Second Day, p.12)
"site of the rose of the P to that of the S, then from the
S to the P ..."
|
S - P in the Rose Boss at St Germain des Pres with a
crown
|
The SP, separated by a rose, appears above the Chapel of St Peter and St Paul in
the church at St Germain des Pres. There are two such "S P" bosses which face
each other in the chapel.
"Octopus"
Reference to the Octopus in the church at St Sulpice. La Poulpe = Pulpit or
Octopus. This octopus-shaped pulpit was a Gift from the Doge of Venice to
Francois I.
The Octopus appears on the gravestone of Marie de Negre Dables - Dame
d'Hautpoul de Blanchefort, which is said to have been defaced by Sauniere.
"I hold my hand to my mouth biting instinctively my palm"
Direct reference to the Tree of Life :
Hand = Yod path 20 between Chesed and Tipareth - Hermit
Mouth = Peh path 27 between Netzach and Hod - Tower
Palm of hand = Kaph path 21 between Chesed and Netzach - Wheel
"flowery tomb"
The title of the Lord of Rennes and Blanchefort passed upon the death of
Francois d'Hautpoul (the husband of Marie de Negre Dables) to the couple's
youngest daughter Gabrielle. This was because the Blanchefort lands formed part
of her dowry and the title, under French law, went with the land. She was
married to Paul Francois Vincent de Fleury who became Lord of Rennes. Their son
Paul Urbain de Fleury died in 1836 and was buried in the cemetery at
Rennes-les-Bains. Le Tresor Maudit by Gerard de Sède states that there were at
one time two tombstones for Paul Urbain de Fleury. This has been confirmed by
Henry Lincoln although these cannot been seen today.
The "Fauteuil du Diable" (Devil's Armchair) was carved into the shape of a
seat for the Comte de Fleury in the eighteenth century.
"St Germaine of Pibrac, shepherdess, Born at Pibrac, c.1579; died there,
1601."
"But people began to take a different view of her when it was reported that
one winter's day her stepmother accused her of taking a loaf of bread to give to
a beggar; Germaine opened her apron and it was full of spring flowers. Not long
after, she was found dead, under the stairs. From 1644 miracles of healing were
said to take place at her grave, which has been a place of pilgrimage from that
day to this."
(Penguin Dictionary of Saints, p.155-156)
"metal objects which they could not carry"
"...for Solomon had to build his temple without iron tools because of a
Mosaic prohibition (Exodus XX.25)"
(The Ancient Secret, p.108)
"If you make me an altar of stone, do not build it of dressed stones; for if
you use a chisel on it, you will profane it."
(Bible, Exodus, XX.25)
"Olier"
|
Jean-Jacques Olier
|
Jean-Jacques Olier (1608-1657), founder in 1641 of the Sulpicians.
Responsible for starting the building of the church of St Sulpice in 1642. Olier
is buried in St Sulpice. 20 September 1608 to 2 April 1657. 1652 gave up work as
a priest and established a society of priests. Died under the eyes of St Vincent
de Paul who had come to see him.
Vincent de Paul was the founder of Lazarist movement. His life is marked with
an absence for approximately two years, which he allegedly spent in Arabia, as a
slave to a man who taught Vincent de Paul magic. Later, de Paul would make sure
to highlight that he himself knew the rites, but never practiced them – at
least, when he had done these initially, they had been under duress. Late in
life and by then a well-known public figure, de Paul tried to get a hold of
these letters, realising no doubt that they were an admission of his dabbling in
the occult.
"new temple of SOLOMON"
"This message refers to the church at St Sulpice, an esoteric temple copied
from the Temple of Solomon and finished at the time of the death of the
marquise, on the territory of the abbey of St. Germain des Pres"
(Rennes-le-Château, A Visitor's Guide, p. 12)
"Children of Saint Vincent"
"St Vincent the Deacon. d. 304 A native of Huesca who became deacon to St
Valerius at Saragossa and was martyred at Valencia under Diocletian. He has
always been widely venerated by the Western church. St Augustine, St Leo and
Prudentius wrote in his honour. In some places he is honoured as the patron of
vinedressers. Details of his martyrdom are lacking but the fact of it is
indisputable. He is depicted as a deacon holding one or many ewers and a book;
or with a raven or ravens defending his martyred body; being torn with hooks, or
holding a millstone. Saints day Gregorian Calendar January 22.
(The Book of Saints, p. 567)
However the St Vincent referred to here is most probably St Vincent de Paul
who founded the Lazarites (Lazarists or Lazarians) are the popular names of the
Congregation of Priests of the Mission in the Roman Catholic Church. They
are a vowed branch of the Vincentian Family.
The Congregation has its origin in the successful mission to the common
people conducted by Saint Vincent de Paul and five other priests on the estates
of the Gondi family. More immediately it dates from 1624, when the little
community acquired a permanent settlement in the Collège des Bons
Enfants [children of St Vincent] in Paris. Archiepiscopal
recognition was obtained in 1626. By a papal bull in January 1632, the society
was constituted a congregation, with St Vincent de Paul at its head. About the
same time the canons regular of St Victor handed over to the congregation the
priory of St Lazarus (formerly a lazar-house) in Paris, whence the name of
Lazarites or Lazarists.
 |
| A stained glass window in the Cathedral at La Cité de
Carcassonne, seat of Bishop Billard whom Sauniere went to see after he
'Found the Tomb'.
The Cathedral is on the Rose Line and is dedicated to
St Vincent. |
Within a few years they had acquired another house in Paris and set up other
establishments throughout France; missions were also sent to Italy (1638), Tunis
(1643), Algiers and Ireland (1646), Madagascar (1648) and Poland (1651). A fresh
bull of Alexander VII in April 1655 further confirmed the society; this was
followed by a brief in September of the same year, regulating its constitution.
The rules then adopted, which were framed on the model of those of the Jesuits,
were published at Paris in 1668 under the title Regulae seu constitutiones
communes congregationis missionis. The special objects contemplated were the
religious instruction of the lower classes, the training of the clergy and
foreign missions.
During the French Revolution the congregation was suppressed and St Lazare
was plundered by the mob; it was restored by Napoleon in 1804 at the desire of
Pius VII, abolished by him in 1809 in consequence of a quarrel with the pope,
and again restored in 1816. The Lazarites were expelled from Italy in 1871 and
from Germany in 1873.
The Lazarite province of Poland was singularly prosperous; at the date of its
suppression in 1796 it possessed thirty-five establishments. The order was
permitted to return in 1816, but is now extinct there. In Madagascar it had a
mission from 1648 till 1674. In 1783 Lazarites were appointed to take the place
of the Jesuits in the Levantine and Chinese missions; they still have some
footing in China, and in 1874 their establishments throughout the Ottoman Empire
numbered sixteen. In addition, they established branches in Persia, Abyssinia,
Mexico, the South American republics, Portugal, Spain and Russia, some of which
have been suppressed. In the same year they had fourteen establishments in the
United States of America.
In the early twenty-first century the Lazarites numbered some 4000 worldwide,
with a presence in 86 different countries.
(La Vraie Langue Celtique et le Cromleck de Rennes-les-Bains (p. 276-277)
Abbé Henri Boudet
"We have happiness to have in our regions, within one
kilometre to the north of Limoux, a dedicated sanctuary to the Blessed Virgin1,
assiduously visited, and surrounded of a veneration which was never
contradicted. Extremely brought closer the river banks of Aude with quiet water,
and placed a slope dominating the valley, this sanctuary easily strikes the
glance which is fixed with kindness on this blessed place, where the soft Mother
of the Saviour distributes her consolations and her help to all the admirers of
her Son running close to it to ask and beg. Supplications were never useless,
and the exvoto suspended around the venerated image, testify enough to the joy
and the recognition to the unfortunate who have obtained the requested favours.
The sanctuary1 is guarded by the children of
Saint Vincent de Paul, the saint whose heart belonged to the orphans and
unfortunates, and under the direction of these pious and wise missionaries, true
inheritors of the virtues and the charity of their benevolent founder, the
privileged temple saw a crowd, larger than ever, kneeling and praying in the
sacred walls."
Within a little distance, to the top of the slope
broadside of green trees leading to the sanctuary, a fountain drops drop by drop
its limpid water in a basin of marble. With the help of large rains, the
continuous water drop to fall with uniformity, and times of great dryness do not
tare it. The innumerable Christians who will pay homage to the Blessed Virgin,
stop one moment with the fountain, and after having made a prayer, some drops of
this water draw of which they wet their eyelids.
Why does they act thus? The majority are unaware of it;
but the mother teaches with her sons, and those transmit to their children
the pious practice of use with the fountain of Our Lady of Marceille. Thus the
fountain is indicated; the old chroniclers, however, knew it under the name of
fountain of Our-Lady of Marsilla.
At the time of the occupation first of Gaules,
"Nous avons le bonheur de posséder dans nos contrées, à un
kilomètre au nord de Limoux, un sanctuaire dédié a la Sainte Vierge, assidûment
visité, et entouré d'une vénération qui ne s'est jamais démentie. Fort rapproché
des bords de la rivière d'Aude aux eaux tranquilles, et placé sur un coteau
dominant la vallée, ce sanctuaire frappe aisément le regard qui se fixe avec
complaisance sur ce lieu béni, où la douce Mère du Sauveur distribue ses
consolations et ses secours à tous les adorateurs de son Fils. accourant près
d'elle pour demander et supplier. Les supplications n'ont jamais été vaines, et
les ex-voto suspendus autour de l'image vénérée, témoignent assez de la joie et
de la reconnaissance des infortunés qui ont obtenu les faveurs sollicitées.
Le sanctuaire est gardé par les enfants de Saint Vincent
de Paul, le saint dont le coeur appartenait aux orphelins et aux malheureux, et
sous la [277] direction de ces pieux et savants missionnaires, dignes héritiers
des vertus et de la charité de leur bienheureux fondateur, le temple privilégié
a vu une foule, plus considérable que jamais, s'agenouiller et prier dans
l'enceinte sacrée."
A peu de distance, vers le haut de la
rampe (1) bordée d'arbres verts conduisant au sanctuaire, une fontaine laisse
tomber goutte à goutte son eau limpide dans un bassin de marbre. Par les grandes
pluies, la goutte d'eau continue de tomber avec uniformité, et les temps de
grande sécheresse ne la tarissent point. Les innombrables chrétiens qui vont
rendre hommage à la Sainte Vierge, s'arrêtent un instant à la fontaine, et après
avoir fait une prière, puisent quelques gouttes de cette eau dont ils mouillent
leurs paupières.
Pourquoi
agissent-ils ainsi ? La plupart l'ignorent ; mais la mère de famille enseigne à
ses fils, et ceux ci transmettent à leurs enfants la pieuse pratique en usage à
la fontaine de Notre-Dame de Marceille. C'est ainsi qu'on désigne la fontaine ;
les vieux chroniqueurs, cependant, l'ont connue sous le nom de fontaine de
Notre-Dame de Marsilla."
Au temps de l'occupation première des Gaules,
(La Vraie Langue Celtique et le Cromleck de Rennes-les-Bains (p. 276-277)
Abbé Henri Boudet
1 The sanctuary 1km north of Limoux is called Notre Dame d'Marseilles; also
known as the Black
Madonna of Limoux
The Temptation of St Anthony in
Notre Dame d'Marseilles 1km north of Limoux.
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