Symbolism of the Christian Temple 1597310662

Table of contents :
Introduction

I - Theological Symbolism and Cosmological Symbolism

II - The Celestial Origin of the Temple

III - Temple and Cosmos

IV - Numeric Harmonies

V - Ritual Orientation

VI - The Temple, Body of the God-Man

VII - Corpus Mysticum

VIII - Bells and Bell Towers

IX - Holy Water Font and Baptistry

X - The Door

XI - Labyrinths

XII - The Altar and Christ

XIII - The Altar: Lights on the Holy Mountain

XIV - Space and Time, Temple and Liturgy

XV - Sol Iustitiae

XVI - The Light of Easter

XVII - The Mass and the Construction of the Spiritual Temple

Bibliography

Citation preview

J E A N

H A N I

SYMBOLISM OF THE CHRISTIAN TEMPLE

“The domains of mystery promise the most beautiful experiences.” -Einstein

“Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them and I will praise the Lord: This gate of the Lord, into which the righteous shall enter… The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.” Psalm 118

CONTENTS

Introduction

I - Theological Symbolism and Cosmological Symbolism…………………………………………... 6 II - The Celestial Origin of the Temple……………………………………………………………………….. 11 III - Temple and Cosmos……………………………………………………………………………………………. 16 IV - Numeric Harmonies……………………………………………………………………………………………. 26 V - Ritual Orientation………………………………………………………………………………………………… 36 VI - The Temple, Body of the God-Man………………………………………………………………………. 42 VII - Corpus Mysticum……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 52 VIII - Bells and Bell Towers………………………………………………………………………………………… 59 IX - Holy Water Font and Baptistry…………………………………………………………………………….. 67 X - The Door……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 74 XI - Labyrinths………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 86 XII - The Altar and Christ…………………………………………………………………………………………… 95 XIII - The Altar: Lights on the Holy Mountain……………………………………………………………. 112 XIV - Space and Time, Temple and Liturgy………………………………………………………………… 122 XV - Sol Iustitiae………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 135 XVI - The Light of Easter………………………………………………………………………………………….. 145 XVII - The Mass and the Construction of the Spiritual Temple…………………………………… 158

Bibliography

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INTRODUCTION

The problem of sacred art arises today with acuity; proof that this art has ceased to exist despite the laborious efforts developed by some to make us believe in the value of the most debatable productions in this domain. Perhaps there exists today a religious art, but not a sacred art. In fact, between these two notions, more than a mere variation, there is a radical difference. On the other hand, our era is paradoxically confronted with numerous revelations and testimonies never seen before, related to authentic sacred art. While art historians like Mâle and Focillon inventoried and analyzed the riches of our cathedrals, ethnologists, historians of religions, and architects like Éliade, Mus, Coomaraswamy, Schwaller de Lubicz, Hambidge, Moesse, Ghyka, etc., studied the sacred buildings of the Far East, India, Egypt, and Classical Antiquity, opening perspectives hitherto unsuspected regarding the very meaning of these monuments and their conception. Their conclusions, equally observed in our own religious buildings, particularly those from the Middle Ages, would entirely revolutionize our ways of understanding them, regrettably dominated since the romantic era by sentimentality, moralism, and aestheticism, that is, by an individualistic and "literary" conception of sacred art. Now, precisely these are the characteristics of religious and profane art, while true sacred art is of a nature not sentimental or psychological, but ontological and cosmological. This sacred art then emerged not in the manner of modern art, as a result of the artist's feelings, fantasies, and even “thought”, but as a translation of a reality that far surpasses the limits of human individuality. This is precisely the characteristic of sacred art: to be a supra-human art. It seems urgent to us to translate the consequences of this rediscovery of the sense and principles of the art of construction into facts at a time when so many churches are being built which, if they perhaps satisfy certain “snobs” concerned with placing themselves in the “avant-garde”, do not satisfy the true intellectual elite or the vast majority of the people at all. To do so, it would be necessary, first and foremost, to recall the superior dignity of art, which is the translation, on the sensible plane, of ideal Beauty, as

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Beauty is a form of the Divine, an attribute of God, "A reflection of divine Beatitude" (F. Schuon), as well as of divine Truth, the foundation of Being. This is why the Beautiful is, according to the Platonic form, "The splendor of the True." Sacred art is the vehicle of the divine Spirit; the artistic form allows one to directly assimilate — not in a discursive manner through reason — the transcendent and supra-rational truths. Moreover, it is important not to forget that art can also convey harmful influences: the ugliness of forms, when of a certain kind, is a manifestation of Satanism, the inverted pole of divine Beauty, as is the case with some productions of contemporary religious art more or less derived from surrealism, whose “demonic” character no one contests, and is even affirmed by their own authors(¹). To evaluate the true scope of sacred art, it is necessary to grasp its first cause, which is the creative Word; since creation precisely implies the gift of form, we can assert that the Word is the supreme Artist, as the formal principle that dominates the chaos or “light”, which illuminates the “darkness”. The perfection of the Word, Dionysius the Areopagite asserts, is "form giving form to all that is formless"; but he adds: "As a formal principle, it remains formless in all that has form, because it transcends all form." The aim of art precisely consists in revealing the image of the divine Nature imprinted in the created; yet hidden within it, creating visible objects that are symbols of the invisible God. Therefore, sacred art is like an extension of the Incarnation, of the descent of the divine to the created, and in this regard, we could extend to art in general the justification of icons given by the II Council of Nicaea: "The undefinable Word of the Father defined itself by becoming flesh... Reintegrating the tarnished image to its primal form, infused it with divine Beauty. Acknowledging this reality, we reproduce it in deeds and actions.” It is obvious that, in an art conceived in this manner, with an almost “sacramental” value, the artist cannot be guided by their own inspirations; their work does not consist of expressing their personality, but of seeking a perfect form that corresponds to sacred prototypes of celestial inspiration. This means that art is sacred not due to the subjective intention of the artist, but due to its objective content — which in turn is nothing more than a collection of corresponding visions in the realm of sensory forms, expressing cosmic laws that embody universal principles. Thus, aesthetics is hierarchically linked to (¹): The demonic nature of surrealism is proven first and foremost by the falsehood it spreads regarding its object; what it aims to achieve and calls "Surreality" is, on the contrary, a "Sub-reality," a mirage of nothingness, a descent into infra-human chaos, into the 'unconscious' which Gide, quite inspired on that day, labeled as the "devil's lair."

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cosmology, and through it, to ontology and metaphysics. This hierarchical order determines the essential character of sacred art, which consists of being symbolic, that is, translating through polyvalent images the correspondence that unites the various orders of reality, of expressing the invisible through the visible, and guiding humanity towards it. In this perspective, and in order to return to the more precise subject of this book, a church is not merely a monument; it is a sanctuary, a temple. Its purpose is not only to “gather the faithful”, but to create for them an environment that allows Grace its fullest manifestation; and it achieves this to the extent that it is able to draw in, channel inward, in a subtle play of influences that has an end — communion with the Divine — the flow of sensations, feelings, and ideas. The sanctuary of great epochs — and it is to this that we must refer in order to gather teachings in accordance with principles, potentially applicable to new creations — is an “instrument” of contemplation, joy, sacrifice, and upliftment. Firstly, through the harmonious combination of a thousand symbols merging into the total symbol that it is itself, and then presenting itself as a receptacle for the symbols of the liturgy, the temple, in conjunction with the latter, constitutes the most wondrous enchantment that humanity can craft to become conscious of the descent of Grace, the epiphany of the Spirit into corporeality. We have spoken of the liturgy, for it cannot be separated from the temple that was created for it, and we hope to demonstrate the profound unity that governs the organization of one and the other. By defining the spirit of our study, these preliminary observations will immediately convince our readers that we do not intend to give it a polemical tone. Debates about sacred art are already numerous, and they will certainly continue to be so for a long time. We believe that they might even extend indefinitely and without any usefulness if we do not begin by recalling the true nature of this art, particularly in what refers to architecture and its essential principles. The decline of current art is due to the almost total forgetting of these principles. Their rediscovery should lead artists to create new works again, certainly not identical to those of the past, which is neither possible nor desirable, but analogous in that they emanate from the same spiritual focus. Recollecting principles is our objective. The merit of our reflections, if any, will precisely consist in never conveying an individual point of view, but always, on the contrary, conveying truths of an authentically traditional order(²), the only ones that present an interest in this domain. Without intending in any way to

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write a didactic treatise, we would merely like to assist the reader in rediscovering the profound meaning that a sanctuary holds when it is what it should be. With our objective defined thus, the boundaries of our study are equally well delineated: we do not intend to say everything, far from it, but only to outline the major lines of the symbolism of the temple and to show, ultimately, how it is organized in relation to the liturgical action. This book is intended for the informed public and not for specialists. Therefore, we have generally refrained from indicating our references; we only did so exceptionally when dealing with a very specific opinion or a detail of pure erudition. The works that form the basis of this study are only cited in the bibliography at the end of the volume, as constant references to these works would significantly increase the size of the text. Among these works, we would like to especially mention those of R. Guénon, which were fundamental to our study. If today we can understand the symbolism of architectural principles so clearly, it is to him that we owe this clarity. Following in his footsteps and in the same spirit, F. Schuon, T. Burckhardt, A. K. Coomaraswamy, and L. Benoist envisioned this domain and provided a contribution that is still far too poorly known, which we have extensively benefited from. Lastly, from a purely “technical” standpoint, Ghyka's works were indispensable to us. We are pleased to acknowledge what we owe to all of them and hope that you find here the rightful tribute they deserve.

(2): Let's clarify from the outset the meaning we attribute to this term, which we will frequently encounter again. "Traditional" is taken by us in its strict sense and designates everything that is in accordance with authentic, non-human tradition, which, in the domain that concerns us, takes on a dual form: ecclesiastical canons, specific to Christian art as such, and universal canons of sacred art deduced from metaphysical knowledge. As you can see, in our mindset, the word "traditional" signifies something quite different from "traditionalist."

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CHAPTER I THEOLOGICAL SYMBOLISM AND COSMOLOGICAL SYMBOLISM

The symbolism of churches is not entirely ignored by the faithful. Observations, sometimes relevant, made during a sermon on the feast of Consecration, indications gathered here and there through readings, leave traces in memory. It is known that the stone church represents the Church of souls, the mystical body; that the stones of the building allegorically designate the "living stones" which are the faithful; that the earthly temple evokes the heavenly Jerusalem, and so on. But all of this only speaks to the soul in a mediocre way because, in most cases, we content ourselves with making pure and simple affirmations, undoubtedly based on Sacred Scripture and therefore worthy of faith, but which the listener's soul does not deeply comprehend or savor, because they do not stimulate the spirit, as they are not placed in the context of a broader symbolism that would clarify them. However, when we attempt to delve a little deeper into the theme of the mystical significance of the temple, we generally limit ourselves to mentioning, always without any other serious explanation, the ingenious schemes transmitted by Durand of Mende in his "Rationale for Divine Offices": we learn thus that the windows of churches signify open hospitality and affectionate charity, that stained glass represents the Sacred Scriptures, that the floor represents the foundation of our faith or the poor in spirit, due to their humility, that the beams uniting the different parts of the church are the princes of this world or the preachers who defend the unity of the Church and uphold it, that the choir stalls are emblems of contemplative souls, the sacristy where sacred vessels are kept is the bosom of the Blessed Virgin Mary, etc., etc. Perhaps these meanings should not be completely rejected, but there is no doubt that they are very secondary and superficial, and that the proliferation of

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this allegorism and the abuse that has been made of it have, to a large extent, contributed to casting discredit upon true symbolism. In fact, what importance can be attributed to the latter if it remains confined to this bland emblematic?(¹) In fact, as far as we are concerned, it is important to carefully distinguish between two very different types of symbols: intentional (or conventional) symbols and essential symbols. The meanings attributed by Durand to pews, the choir, windows, beams, etc., are intentional symbols and, in a way, artificial, as they do not seem to be immediately justified by the nature of the object that is their first term. The spiritual or moral sense appears here as if "transported" and fails to convince because it is felt to be interchangeable. The best proof of this lies in the fact that completely distinct meanings have sometimes been attributed to the objects in question, which is impossible in true symbolism, or essential symbolism. Essential symbolism is precisely defined by the intimate and indissoluble bond that connects the material object to its spiritual meaning. It is marked by a hierarchical and substantial union, analogous to that of soul and body, of visible reality with the invisible. This union is apprehended by the spirit as an organic whole, a true conceptual hypostasis, a brilliant synthesis of knowledge and an almost instantaneous intuition. Symbolism in this sense merely explicates a spiritual reality already implicitly existing in the object, in the heart of the object where it resides as its intimate essence. This is the case with baptismal water or the Eucharistic bread. But another distinction needs to be introduced here. In essential symbols, which are founded on the very nature of the objects, there are symbols of cosmological order and symbols of theological order. When it is said, for example, that the stone church is a figure of the heavenly Jerusalem, or the Bride of Christ, or the Faithful Soul, or the Body of Christ, or the Mystical Body, a theological symbol is being enunciated. This symbolism is undoubtedly the highest in its essence, but it hardly presents itself as such at first glance, or rather, it seems to the less enlightened spirit to be almost identical to conventional symbols. Now, that's not what's happening. The theological symbols, at least the major symbols, like the ones we've just mentioned, are essential symbols. How is it explained, then, that we do not perceive them as this dazzling synthesis, this instantaneous intuition, of (¹): However, it should not be thought that Durand of Mende's book lacks value. Alongside passages like the ones we have just cited, we also have abundant, exact and entirely traditional symbols that are mentioned, as we will have the opportunity to refer to in this study. Nevertheless, this work is a mixture in which the best alternates with the mediocre. In any case, "Rationale" is the most comprehensive summary of the liturgical symbolism of the Middle Ages, conveying the essence of previous authors who addressed the same theme: Beleth, Sicard, and Honorius d’Autun. - For more on this literature, see J. Sauer (Die Symbolik des Kirchengebäudes, 1902, pages 1-37).

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which we just spoke about? The question leads us to formulate an observation of the utmost importance. The reason is that, within the mental framework of most of our contemporaries, there is a lack of a whole series of cosmological representations, a "worldview" or even a "cosmic system," as Duhem used to say, that would truly enable them to comprehend these figures. Modern humanity views the world as an assemblage of phenomena, whereas for the traditional man — generally until Descartes in the West — the world is a harmonious and hierarchical organism, whose Christian formulation we find in Dionysius the Areopagite, and which, through him, traces back to Plato. The modern conception is purely quantitative, meaning the world is seen as force and matter, which give rise to phenomena, and therefore there is no "key" to the world. Modern science exhausts itself in discoveries, undoubtedly spectacular ones, but they indefinitely push back the hope for a true explanation of things. On the contrary, in the traditional and qualitative conception, less emphasis is placed on phenomena and material forces, and more on the internal structure of the world — its spiritual architecture — deduced from a metaphysics like Plato's, embraced by the early Fathers(²). In this latter view of the world, or cosmology, the almost spiritual unity that binds the parts of the Universe together allows for the discovery of analogies and correspondences, first between these parts, and then between them and their ontological model, which resides in God, and through which God created and realized them in the order of space and time. Thus is established the cosmological symbolism, which develops on two hierarchical levels: the symbolism of the part with the whole in the Universe, and on a higher plane, the symbolism of the Universe and its parts with the divine world. "Everything reveals, in each of its properties," writes Saint Bonaventure, "divine Wisdom, and the one who knew all the properties of beings would clearly see that Wisdom. All creatures of the sensible world lead us to God, because they are the shadows, the paintings, the traces, the images, the representations of the First, the Wisest, the excellent Principle of all things; they are the images of the Source, of the Light; of eternal Fullness, of the sovereign Archetype; they are signs that have been given to us by the Lord Himself." This in regard to the "vertical" symbolism, from the world to God. (²): This goes up until the 12th century. Then, a readaptation following an Aristotelian orientation (Saint Thomas) is observed, a readaptation demanded by the evolution of minds, but always in accordance with the truth.

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Let's now examine, in order to illustrate the "horizontal" symbolism, of both the parts within the whole and the parts among themselves, a text by Monsignor Landriot: "Symbolism is an admirable science that sheds a wondrous light on the understanding of God and the created world, on the relationships of the Creator with His work, on the harmonious relationships that bind together all the parts of this vast Universe... The key to high theology, mysticism, philosophy, poetry, and aesthetics, the science of the relationships that connect God and creation, the natural world and the supernatural world, the science of the existing harmonies between the different parts of the Universe which constitute a marvelous whole, each fragment of which presupposes the other and reciprocally, a center of clarity, a focus of luminous doctrine." It is thus reestablished, within the realm of mental representations, the missing group that is lacking for contemporary man to perceive the profound reality of the theological symbols that the Church offers for contemplation. In fact, these theological symbols are often only comprehensible in reference to underlying cosmological symbols, which, so to speak, provide support for them. This is simply because, immersed in the sensory world, humanity must unite with the divine through the "figure" of this world, precisely with the aid of art. For the traditional man, who breathes and thinks with his entire being in an organic and hierarchical universe, the situation presented no difficulty: the cosmological symbol, the key to the theological symbol, was present and evident to him, although almost always implicit, in the creations of art. For modern man, it has ceased to exist and it is important to revive it. These observations led us to define more rigorously our intention in this present work: starting from the data of theological symbolism founded in the Scriptures, we will attempt to uncover the underlying cosmological symbolism, which at times surfaces, while at other times remains profoundly concealed. Thanks to this, the former will assume its full breadth and regain all its brilliance. For, as St. Thomas asserts, "like an excellent teacher, God took it upon Himself to bequeath to us two perfect writings, in order to proceed with our education in a manner that leaves nothing to be desired: these two books are Creation and the Holy Scriptures." But before we delve into the focal point of our theme, we will make a final observation, related to the previous one, which seems of the utmost importance to us, because what we are about to say will partly guide the

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perspective of our work. It is as follows. On one hand, the symbolism of the temple and the liturgy is fundamentally cosmological. And this is a fact. But, on the other hand, Christianity itself did not possess cosmological symbolism in its origin, at least not directly. The Christian — or more precisely, Christic — view of things does not assume this aspect, nor does it have a cosmological language: it is purely spiritual and mystical. However, in its areas of expansion, Christianity encountered religious traditions that used this language from the very beginning; the ancient religions of the Mediterranean Basin and the Near East were what is called "cosmic religions," and to a large extent, solar, which is the usual form of the major religions referred to as "natural." Christianity had no reason to reject the elements of these traditions that could contribute to the religious life it aimed to establish. On the contrary, one of the fundamental characteristics of Christianity is its "catholicity," that is, "universality," in all domains and particularly in this one: Catholicism has always affirmed the existence of a primordial Revelation which, despite successive degenerations, persisted in a sporadic state in all religious traditions(³). We can speak, with all necessary caution, about a pre-Christianity, or more precisely, to borrow the words of J. de Maistre, an eternal Christianity, which merges with that primordial revelation made in the Garden of Eden. Christianity, in particular, had to assume from the outset the heritage of artisanal brotherhoods, especially those of the masons, who, due to the very nature of their work, used a cosmological symbolism necessarily linked to that of the ancient religions(⁴). It will not surprise us, then, to find the themes of this symbolism mixed in our sacred art with the proper Christian themes, with which they have indeed harmonized perfectly, due to their conformity with universal sacred norms.

(³): The merging of the Jewish people with this primordial tradition at its preserved core occurred at the moment of Abraham's investiture by Melchizedek, the former holder of Orthodoxy. (⁴): A similar phenomenon occurred in another domain, that of jurisprudence. Due to not having a revealed legislation, Christianity adopted Roman law which, to the extent it was acceptable, represented natural law.

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CHAPTER II THE CELESTIAL ORIGIN OF THE TEMPLE

These observations about the dual symbolism of religious buildings will allow us to clarify the question which, in our opinion, should be examined first because it conditions the others: it's about the celestial origin of the temple. In fact, in traditional thought, the conception of the temple is not left to the personal inspiration of the architect, as it is given by God Himself. In other words, the earthly temple is realized according to a celestial archetype communicated to humans through a prophet, a circumstance that establishes the legitimate architectural tradition (¹). Thus, the various sanctuaries of the Old Testament were constructed according to God's instructions. Regarding Bezalel and Aholiab, the appointed architects of the Ark of the Covenant, it is said that God "granted them the spirit of wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge for all kinds of work, to devise everything that can be made" (Exodus 35:34). Everything related to the Mosaic temple gives rise to detailed prescriptions from the Lord: "Let them build me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. They shall make it exactly according to all that I show you, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings..." (Exodus 25:8-9).

(¹): The existence of this celestial archetype is observed in other domains. Thus, the Book of Revelation was written according to the words of an angel, the plan of the Interior Castle was presented to Saint Teresa of Ávila in the form of a radiant vision; the sacred icons of Christ and the Virgin are traditionally painted following "acheiropoieta" images ("not made by human hands"), particularly the famous Mandylion, which is lost, but of which a copy exists in the cathedral of Laon.

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David transmits to his son Solomon the rules received from God that will govern the construction of the temple: the design of the porch, its rooms, its chambers, its upper rooms, its inner chambers, and the place of the mercy seat, along with the design of all things that had been inspired to him by the Spirit that was with him... (1 Corinthians 2:11-12). "You commanded me to build a temple in your Holy Name and an altar in the city where you dwell, a replica of the sacred Tabernacle that you prepared from the beginning" — Solomon said to God (Wisdom 9:8). In his turn, Ezekiel sees in a vision the description of the temple to be built. He perceives a supernatural being wielding a measuring rod, which provides him, along with its description, all the measurements of the temple. And finally, God says to Ezekiel: "You, son of man, describe to the house of Israel this temple, its form, and its design... Have them measure the plan, make them know the shape of this temple and its layout, its exits and its entrances, all its arrangement, all its practices, and all its laws; write all of this before their eyes, so that they may keep all its practices and all its regulations and put them into practice" (Ezekiel 43:10-11). We could also mention the case of Noah's Ark, whose construction details and measurements were provided by God (Genesis 6), because the Ark is considered a symbol of the Church and, consequently, of the visible temple. The shape and dimensions of the Ark were interpreted by the early Fathers in a clearly ecclesiastical sense (²). But we anticipate the objection that will be raised against us. It will be argued that this conception might have been true for the temple of Jerusalem, but it is not true for the Christian church. There is currently a trend among liturgists to refuse to admit any connection between the temple of Jerusalem and, a fortiori, any non-Christian temple, and the Christian church. This would have no other reason for being than to offer a shelter to the 'assembly of the faithful' and in no way would play the role of the Hebrew temple, as the dwelling place of (²) Regarding this matter, J. Daniélou, "Sacramentum Futuri," page 86 ff. In this study, we restrict ourselves to analyzing the architectural symbolism of the temple and not its nautical symbolism, which is less essential and has only left traces, notably the word "nave" used to refer to the body of the building.

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divinity and, consequently, a sacred object in itself and in conformity with a celestial model. For the proponents of this theory, the only true temple is the spiritual temple constituted by the community of the faithful(³). This is a completely inaccurate point of view that disregards tradition and, as we will see further on, the very nature of things(⁴). Will the defenders of this thesis object to the very ritual of consecration of churches, which constantly draws a parallel between the Christian temple and that of Solomon? This doesn't bother them: they claim that this ritual is "overloaded," "filled" with elements and "embellishments" that do not represent the "pure early Christian conception." We will not engage in controversy with these individuals, because we believe that the presentation we will provide regarding the inherent realities of temple symbolism will confuse them and make them see that the traditional knowledge of Church men, and in particular, the holy founders of liturgy and rituals, carries a much different value than the "historicist" knowledge of some modern individuals, who sometimes impose it on the common people, without fortunately disturbing those who possess a true spiritual sense. Whatever these "purists" might think, the Christian temple does indeed come as a continuation, undoubtedly with differences, of the Jewish temple, and that is what tradition has asserted since ancient times. A crucial document in this regard is that of Saint Clement of Rome, who, in discussing divine services, states the following: "God Himself, by virtue of His Supreme will, designated the location where these services must be celebrated and those who must celebrate them" (Corinthians 1, 40). Commenting on this passage, Mède rightly points out that if the Lord spoke these words, it was in the Old Testament, and that was what Saint Clement was referring to. (³): To clarify the matter, it would be necessary to study the successive official denominations of the temple (naos): basilica, Kyriakon (hence Kerk, Kirche), and ecclesia. See Ch. Mohrmann, in Rev. des Sciences Relig., 1962, 155-174. Regarding the medieval denomination "House of God," it should be noted that it is exactly the same as that of the Egyptian temple: "hat-neter" or "per-neter." (⁴): In a very general plan, which doesn't realize that by excessively "internalizing" religion, one inevitably ends up neglecting what is "interior" and abandoning it completely to the profane point of view. It cannot be emphasized enough, the danger of such an attitude. The external world becomes desacralized (there are people today who claim it is "progress"!) and thus, a breach is created in society through which the secular spirit takes root. This spirit, initially applied to the external, ends up flowing back to the interior, namely, the soul, where it disrupts all spiritual notions. Consequently, the perpetually unsatisfied desire for a certain exaggerated "purity" leads to the diametrically opposite result, once again echoing Pascal: "He who wants to act like an angel ends up acting like a fool." In any case, this way of seeing is largely responsible for the decline of our so-called sacred art, which ultimately ceased to be sacred and often is only "religious" because it's born from pure individual inspiration.

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This also seems to have been the thought of Saint Paulinus, Bishop of Tyre, and the builder of the church in that city. In his 'Church History,' Eusebius preserved the panegyric of this saint, in which it is affirmed that he constructed the temple according to the principles of divine inspiration: with the eye of the spirit fixed upon the supreme master and taking as an archetype everything he sees Him do; he reproduced that image with the utmost accuracy, like Bezalel who, filled with the spirit of God, the spirit of wisdom and light, was chosen by Him to reproduce in the symbol of the temple the material expression of the celestial type; similarly, Paulinus, forming an exact image of Christ, the Word, Wisdom, and Light in his spirit, built a magnificent temple to the Most High, following the model of a more perfect temple, as a visible emblem of the invisible temple (X, 4, 21). The building was constructed "according to the descriptions provided by the holy oracles" (X, 43); and furthermore: "Above all marvels are the archetypes, the prototypes, and significant and divine models (of temple architecture), meaning the renewal of the rational and divine building in the soul" (X, 54). All the arrangements of the church are presented in detail with their symbolism. And the author concludes by saying that the Word, the great organizer of all things, made for Himself on Earth a copy of the celestial type which is the Church of the "firstborn enrolled in heaven," the Jerusalem from above, Zion, the Mountain of God, and the City of the living God (X, 6S). This document is interesting because it shows us that, among the early Fathers, the Christian conception of the temple, with its own uniqueness, was nevertheless situated in the same perspective as that of the Old Testament: the Christian temple is the earthly reflection of a celestial archetype, the Jerusalem of the Apocalypse, which is presented to us by Saint John in a manner analogous to that of Ezekiel. Just like the prophet, Saint John conveyed to us the prototypical dimensions of this new Jerusalem, calculated by an architect angel using a golden reed (Rev. 21). This celestial Jerusalem is the central symbol for the study we have undertaken. It is this Jerusalem that lies at the heart of the Consecration liturgy, and from it, the temple derives all its fundamental significance. Now — and this is what we intended to emphasize here in order to address the issue of the constructive archetype and its references to Judaism — the celestial Jerusalem synthesizes the Christian idea of the "community of the elect" and the "mystical body," as well as the Jewish idea of the temple as the residence of the Most High. It ensures the continuity from one Testament to the other, and consequently, from one temple to the other. But all of this becomes clearer through the study of the cosmological symbolism of this celestial Jerusalem.

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Saints Peter, Paul, and Stephen appeared in a dream to Abbot Gunzo and unraveled ropes to show him the plan of the future Cluny Basilica. (Miniature from the Life of Saint Hugh, Bibliothèque Nationale, France, 12th century)

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CHAPTER III TEMPLE AND COSMOS

Any sacred building is cosmic, that is, it is made in imitation of the world. "The church is the image of the world," says Saint Peter Damian. Because our body is connected to the world and we must pray to God in our own bodily condition(¹). This image is, above all, "realistic," in the sense that on the walls and columns of the church, the Earth and the Sky are depicted, as well as animals and plants, the works of man and different social conditions, natural history and sacred history, in such a way that some have said of cathedrals that they were visual encyclopedias. But this is only an external aspect — and mostly characteristic of the grand buildings — of what Saint Peter Damian wants to convey. The temple is not only a "realistic" image of the world, but much more a "structural" image, that is, it reproduces the intimate and mathematical structure of the Universe. And there lies the source of its sublime beauty. Because the beauty of form, as Plato asserts in the Philebus (51c), "is not what common people generally understand by this term, such as the beauty of living objects or their reproductions, but something rectilinear and circular, created by means of the compass, the ruler, and the square, as these forms are not, like others, beautiful under certain conditions, but are always beautiful in themselves."

(¹): Let's clarify: the temple is an image of the world, but because the world is sacred as God's creation. Therefore, the temple makes explicit the image of the transcendent world, in God, which is the essential foundation of the cosmos.

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The square form of the celestial Jerusalem (Revelation 21:12 and following), which we discussed earlier, is directly related to the very principle of temple architecture. All sacred architecture, in fact, reduces itself to the operation of "squaring the circle" or transforming the circle into a square. The foundation of the building begins with orientation, which is already to some extent a ritual because it establishes a relationship between the cosmic order and the earthly order or, furthermore, between the divine order and the human order. The traditional and, one could say, universal procedure, as it is found everywhere there is sacred architecture, was described by Vitruvius and practiced in the West until the end of the Middle Ages: the foundations of the building are oriented thanks to a gnomon that allows the referencing of the two axes (cardo, north-south, and decumanus, east-west). In the center of the chosen location, a pole is erected around which a wide circle is drawn; the shadow cast in this circle is observed; the maximum distance between the morning and afternoon shadows indicates the east-west axis; two circles centered on the cardinal points of the first one indicate, at their intersection, the angles of the square. This latter is the squaring of the solar circle(²). It is important to precisely define the three foundation operations: the drawing of the circle, the drawing of the cardinal axes and orientation, and the drawing of the square base, as they determine the fundamental symbolism of the temple, with its three elements corresponding to the three operations: the circle, the square, and the cross, through which one transitions from the first to the second. The circle and the square are primordial symbols. At the highest level, in the metaphysical order, they represent divine Perfection in its two aspects: the circle or sphere, in which all points are equidistant from the center, which has no beginning or end, represents the limitless Unity of God, His Infinity, His (²): In most Western churches, the plan of the base is not a square but a rectangle flanked by two squares that were the arms of the transept and by a third square extended by a rounded one that forms the choir and the apse, materializing the cross of the cardinal axes. However, this in no way alters the profound meaning of the foundation myth we have described because, in geometry, the rectangle is nothing more than a variety of a square and is almost always inscribed, as we will see later on, in a circular direction. It is also important to note that, even though the methods used in modern times for the foundation and orientation of churches are not exactly the same as in the past, this modification does not fundamentally alter the symbolism attributed to the shape and position of the building. This symbolism depends on the nature of things and can be avoided completely, at least to the extent that we do not deviate too far from the traditional forms of architecture to adopt "aberrant" or even "subversive" forms. In the Coptic church, the four entrances are expressly identified with the four cardinal points; the same applies in the Greek church with the four parts of the building.

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Perfection, and the square or cube, as a form of stable foundation, is the image of His Immutability, His Eternity(³). At a lower level, in the cosmological order, these two symbols summarize all of created Nature, in its own being and in its dynamism: the circle is the shape of heaven, more particularly the activity of heaven, the instrument of divine Activity that governs life on earth, whose figure is a square because, in relation to humans, the earth is in a way "immobile," passive, and "offered" to the activity of Heaven. There is a double symbolism here, simultaneously cosmological and ontological: Heaven and Earth — cosmological order — are the outer forms, the ultimate phase if one wishes, of the Manifestation or Creation, whose two poles are Universal Essence and Universal Substance, represented in the bodily order, respectively, by Heaven and Earth. Man is the center of this creation, synthesizes it, and establishes a connection between the High (Essence-Heaven) and the Low (Substance-Earth): and this relationship is precisely symbolized by the sign of the cross. We will see later the consequences that can be drawn from this observation. If we transpose this 'static' symbolism into its 'dynamic' form, we will see that the celestial circle generates, in its movement, the temporal circle(⁴), which unfolds from its upper pole (corresponding to heaven) to the lower (corresponding to earth) or, if preferred, from the sphere — the less specified and more perfect form — to the cube, the more specified and "heavier" form; the vertical axis that unites them measures the very extent of the cosmos and time. Scripture alludes to this function of the circle at the beginning of creation when it says through the voice of Wisdom: "When God fixed the heavens, I was there, and also when he set a compass upon the face of the deep" (Prov 8:27; cf. Job 26:10). This relationship between the cosmic and architectural orders is magnificently summarized in this succinct formula engraved on one of the walls of the temple of Ramses II: "This temple is like heaven in all its arrangements." This point of view highlights the superiority of the circle — the sky — over the square — the earth. However, from another point of view, the square, which metaphysically symbolizes divine immutability, is superior to the circle as an image of indefinite movement. This point of view is the one that dominates in

(³): The circle is also the symbol of divine Love. See Saint Dionysius the Areopagite (Divine Names, 4, 14; Celestial Hierarchy, 1, 1) and Dante (Paradise 33). (⁴): Hence the importance of the zodiac, which we will frequently discuss.

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architecture, whose master quality is "stability," without excluding, of course, the other aspect of symbolism, as we will have the opportunity to show. From this latter point of view that values the "square," it can be said that the construction of the temple fixes or "crystallizes" the temporal cycles, circular movements, in the square. These two viewpoints apply perfectly to the "Celestial Jerusalem" of the Apocalypse, a prototype of the Christian temple. Saint John says, "The angel showed me the holy city of Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God" (Rev. 21:10). And a little later: "The city is square." Thus, the downward movement of the city corresponds to the first viewpoint, which presides over the foundation rite: Jerusalem "descends from heaven" (circular) "from God" to Earth, where it appears as a square that reflects the activity of Heaven, the divine world. However, from the second viewpoint, this square represents the crystallization of cycles, of temporal evolution, a perspective widely supported by the twelve gates arranged three by three on the sides of the square, corresponding to the signs of the Zodiac, which we will discuss again in relation to the church door. This is a transformation of the zodiacal cycle following the cessation of the world's rotation and its fixation in a final state, which is the restoration of the primordial state(⁵). It can also be noted in this regard the correspondence, at the two ends of the temporal cycle, between the earthly Paradise and the Celestial Jerusalem: Paradise is circular, a direct reflection of heaven, but divided by the cross of the four rivers, with the center marked by the Tree of Life. This tree is also found at the center of the Celestial Jerusalem, as are the four rivers, as it is said that they flow from the mountain where the Lamb presides over the sealed Book. The transition from a circle to a square represents the temporal rotation of the world and its cessation, which is both the transformation of this "age" into the "age to come." This relationship between the circle and the square or between the sphere and the cube is actually the foundation of sacred architecture; it is from this that the entire building is conceived and realized. If, indeed, we move from the horizontal plane, which we have been discussing so far, to the vertical, and at (⁵): The 12 signs of the Zodiac are sometimes referred to as the "twelve suns," that is, the seasons of the Sun. In the celestial Jerusalem, these twelve suns became the twelve fruits of the Tree of Life (Rev. 22, 1-2). This form of the celestial Jerusalem is also that of the palace of the Chinese emperors, Ming-Tang. Built in the image of the Empire, divided into nine provinces arranged in a square with one in the center, Ming-Tang had nine rooms arranged in parallel and 12 openings to the outside, corresponding to the 12 months. The four facades were oriented according to the cardinal points and the seasons: it was, therefore, an earthly projection of the Zodiac.

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the same time, from flat geometry to spatial geometry, we will find that the entire structure adheres to the scheme of the dome and the cube. The dome or vault overlays the "cube" of the nave, just as the physical sky is "situated" above the Earth, which is why, in ancient times, most vaults were painted blue and dotted with stars. Following the vertical line rising from the floor to the dome, in a movement opposite to that which governed the rite of foundation, one moves from the "cube" to the "sphere," that is, from the earthly state to the celestial. By moving in this direction, the gaze of the faithful finds the symbol of their spiritual ascent. Thus, the internal dynamism of the temple provides support and guidance for prayer and meditation. The vertical line is the direction of the sky. It is upwards that we raise our eyes to pray, that we elevate the host to offer, and it is from above that the divine blessing descends like rain. It is according to this dimension that God descends to man and man ascends to God. In some buildings, an ornamental detail emphasizes the allusion to this spiritual ascent: the dome of the transept is often surmounted by a cross or an arrow pointing upwards, materializing the axis of the vault, signifying the exit from the cosmos, in imitation of Christ who, during the Ascension, ascended "above all the heavens"(⁶). The dome-cube scheme is repeated in the bell towers, whether the tower is topped by a spherical dome, a rare occurrence in the West, or by an octagonal or hexagonal "pyramid," whose shape constitutes an intermediate phase in the transition from sphere to cube. The spherical and celestial element of the dome and vault is reflected, on the horizontal plane, in the semicircle of the apse, which is, on Earth, the most "heavenly" place, corresponding to the Holy of Holies of the Temple in Jerusalem, to Paradise, and to the triumphant Church. To better emphasize the celestial nature of the apse, in Issoire, the circular part is externally adorned with the twelve signs of the Zodiac. As this semicircle extends the rectangle of the nave, it can be seen that the base plan of the basilica-type is a flat projection of the vertical volume of the building. The axis of the nave, from the door to the sanctuary, is therefore also the flat projection of the vertical axis, from the ground to the vault, from the earth to the sky, and for this reason, it equally represents the "Way of Salvation." (⁶): Through this dome, sometimes replaced by a lantern tower, the entire building "rises in height" and identifies itself with the cosmic mountain, which is the prototype of the Hindu temple. This aspect is clearly observed in Greek, Romanesque, and especially Russian churches.

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The same applies to the portico, which is a rectangle surmounted by an arch, and to the dome, which crowns the altar and is composed of a vault supported by four columns. In the latter case, there was a clear sense that the dome represents the sky, as it is sometimes painted blue and dotted with stars, just like the vault of the nave. This occurs, for example, in the dome raised above the baptismal font in the Baptistery of Doura (3rd century). The sacred building presents itself, therefore, as a symphonic variation of the same architectural theme, repeating itself, endlessly adding to itself, to recall the fundamental symbolism of the temple: the union of heaven and earth, the "tabernacle of God among men," as magnificently sung by Saint Maximus the Confessor in his poem about Saint Sophia of Edessa:

"It is truly admirable that, in its smallness, (this temple) resembles the vast world… Behold, its roof stretches out like the heavens: without columns, vaulted and closed; and, on the other hand, (it is) adorned with golden mosaics, like the firmament with bright stars. And its lofty dome is comparable to the heavens of heavens. And, like a helmet, its upper part rests firmly upon the lower part. Its arches, vast and splendid, represent the four sides of the world and, moreover, resemble, through the variety of colors, the glorious arc of the clouds."

The allusion we made to the vertical axis of the vault compels us to return to an aspect that we have hitherto overlooked: the rite of foundation. Indeed, we stated that the first operation consisted of tracing a large guiding circle on the ground, starting from a center marked by a post. This post, in turn, serves as an axis and represents the future vertical axis of the building. We will appreciate the full importance of this observation when we discuss the altar. For now, let us content ourselves with considering the operation itself. It constitutes the establishment of a center, which, in architectural symbolism, is seen as the center of the world: it is an omphalos. In fact, all points on the

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Earth's surface can be considered as the center of the world, since all vertical lines emanate from every point on Earth towards the sky, and the distance to the stars is "infinite." When the center is chosen and related, through orientation, to the celestial rhythm, it is truly assimilated to the Center of the world, the immovable axis around which the "cosmic wheel" rotates. This center, this axis, symbolizes the divine Principle that acts in the world: God, the "unmoved mover." It is a sacred point, the place where man comes into contact with Divinity, which is why all holy cities, like all temples, are symbolically situated at the "center of the world." This is the case with Jerusalem, which was also a reflection of the celestial Jerusalem (⁷). The determination of a center and orientation confer the building with its entire meaning. And this is what allows us to justify the cosmic symbolism of architecture, whose interest does not seem evident to many minds today. Being a cardinal, oriented, and centered cross, the church truly sanctifies the space. It is the omphalos (center) of the city upon which it radiates, just as the cathedral is the omphalos of the diocese, the primatial church the center of the nation, and the papal basilica the center of the Universe.

(⁷): All these considerations will be developed in more detail concerning the altar (page 95 and following). There seems to have been, in the Eclesia Major of the Holy Places, exactly in the apse, a spherical omphalos similar to that of Delphi. See M. Piganiol, Cahiers archéologiques, 1955. Moreover, the place where Christ was crucified and resurrected is the omphalos of the redeemed world, according to Cyril of Jerusalem (PG 33, 805).

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Typical Gothic tracings, according to MoesseI (division into ten of the director circle)

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The schematics types, according to Moessel. On the left: early Christian basilica. On the right: Gothic cathedral.

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God represented as the architect of the universe. (Moralized Bible, Vienna, Austria)

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CHAPTER IV NUMERIC HARMONIES

The construction of the temple mimics the creation of the world. The same applies, moreover, to the operations of all professions and all arts, from different points of view, for it is said that man was placed on Earth ut operaretur "to work," that is, to continue creation. This, essentially, is the cosmos succeeding chaos, that is, order succeeding disorder, the organization succeeding the confusion of Genesis. Ordo ab chao. It is the Spirit that penetrates the formless Substance. Similarly, the architect creates an organic building from raw matter and, in this accomplishment, imitates the Creator; which, following Plato, is called the Great Architect of the Universe because, as the philosopher adds, "God is a geometer." Geometry, the foundation of architecture, was, until the beginning of the modern era, a sacred science, whose formulation for the West precisely comes from Plato's Timaeus and, through this, traces back to the Pythagoreans(¹). The metaphysical foundation of this symbolism is as follows: geometric forms translate the internal complexity of the Divine Unity, and the transition from indivisible Unity to multiple Unity — metaphysical formulation of Creation — finds its most suitable symbol in the series of regular geometric figures contained in the circle or in the regular polyhedra contained in the sphere. This leads us to consider the role of Number, which in traditional thought is very different from the "numeral" and is always considered in its relations with (¹): In the West, it was through Saint Augustine that the Platonic mysticism of number was conveyed to the clergy. In his treatise "De Musica," Saint Augustine develops the idea that Number guides the intelligence of perception, from the created to the divine reality. He also expounds the theory that music and architecture are siblings, both born of Number and mirrors of eternal harmony. The builders of the Middle Ages were aware of the analogy between architectural proportion and musical intervals and sometimes inscribed this analogy in stone.

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geometry. For Plato, the five regular polyhedra are the archetypes of creation. Number, conceived in this way, is therefore the model of the Universe: "Everything is arranged according to Number," as asserted by Pythagoras, in accordance with a Sacred Discourse referred to by Iamblichus. From this statement, a Christian cannot doubt, for the Scriptures express it in no other way. "The Universe," said Pius XI, "is only so resplendent with divine beauty because a mathematics, a divine combination of numbers, regulates its movements, since, according to Scripture, God created everything 'with number, weight, and measure.'" Things have a mathematical structure, a structure that is a copy of the model mentioned by the Word, the creative Logos. This structure, resulting from Idea and Number, is the only true reality of things; Number is the guiding archetype of the Universe. "Everything that Nature systematically arranged in the Universe seems, both in its parts and as a whole, to have been determined and ordered according to Number; by the foresight and thought of Him who created all things; because the model was fixed, as a preliminary sketch, for the domination of Number, preexisting in the mind of the God who created the world, a purely immaterial number-idea in all respects, but at the same time, the true and eternal essence, by which, with Number, as if in obedience to an artistic plan, all these things were created, and Time, motion, the heavens, the stars, and all the cycles of all things" (Nicomachus of Gerasa). This mathematics explains, in particular, what, at first glance, seems inexplicable to admirers of cathedrals: the subtle atmosphere of these buildings, the almost divine harmony, and the impression of perfection they produce do not depend on subjective intentions, religious sentiment, or the artist's emotions — as we think today —, but on objective laws that relate to Platonic geometry passed down to the organizations of builders. The essential element for them was the notion of relationship and proportion among the different parts of the building. The main, still referred to as the "divine proportion," was the famous "golden ratio" or "golden section" (1.618 = φ). A eurhythmics based on this golden ratio subtly connected the architectural forms, surfaces, and volumes through a subtle analogy. The two numbers that played the most important role in the construction of these shapes and volumes were the Decade, whose root is the Tetraktys (sum of the first four numbers: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = 10) and the Pentad. The Decade was the very number of the Universe, the foundation of the generation of all figurative numbers, whether plane or solid, and thus of the regular bodies corresponding to some of them, and also the basis of essential musical chords. The Five was called by

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the Pythagoreans the nuptial number, that is, the abstract archetype of generation, because it united the first even number, called "matrix," with the first odd number, called "male" (2 + 3 = 5). The Five is the number of harmony and beauty, especially in the human body. The pentagram, a five-pointed star polygon, was the symbol of creative love and living, harmonious beauty, an expression of the rhythm impressed by God on universal life. It served to determine harmonic correspondences, as among all star polygons, it is the one that directly presents a rhythm based on the "golden ratio," which is by excellence the characteristic of living organisms. But this ratio is also found in figures derived from the decagon. It has been demonstrated that the structures of inorganic beings are governed by regular figures resulting from the cubic or hexagonal type, while those of organic beings obey a pentagonal symmetry. Thus, square or hexagonal symmetry expresses an inert, "mineral" balance, and pentagonal symmetry expresses a rhythm of vibrant growth. It is proven that these two symmetries were cleverly combined in traditional architecture. Moessel, who conducted a survey of the main monuments of Egypt, Greece, and Rome, showed that all geometric diagrams (horizontal planes or vertical sections) can be reduced to inscriptions within one or several concentric circles of one or more regular polygons(²). This leads us back to the foundation rite, because the central circle of the plan often derives from the orientation circle we mentioned. This central circle is segmented, either "astronomically" into 4, 8, or 16 parts, or more commonly into 10 or 5, i.e., by inscribing a decagon or a regular pentagon within this circle, allowing for radiant plans in which elements and ensembles are connected by chains of proportions based on the "golden ratio." Sometimes there are two concentric central circles: the larger one, divided into 8 or 16, encompasses the outer layout of the building, while the other, divided into 5 or 10, corresponds to the inner layout. The main altar always occupies one of the centers. This mixture allows for a eurhythmic compensation: dividing the circle into 4, 8, or 16 parts gives an impression of stability, and dividing it into 5 gives an impression of organic life because, in this way, the architectural "impulses" imitate those of living beings. Do you want an example of these numerical harmonies? The Cathedral of

(²): E. Moessel, Die proportion in der Antike und Mittelalter

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Troyes offers us a remarkable example(³). The body of the building, from the entrance to the semicircle of the sanctuary, fits into a 'golden' rectangle(⁴). The semicircular sanctuary forms a semi-decagon with a side length of 4.40. This side is in the 'golden' ratio with the radius of the circumference that passes through the axis of the sanctuary columns (radius = 7.10). Now, let us not forget that the decagon derived from the tetraktys is, according to the Timaeus, the ideal figure that God uses to arrange the Universe. Measurements taken in the central nave revealed that the bases of the nave slightly expand as they approach the sanctuary, following a golden modulation, so that 'The faithful who advance towards the altar pass through a new golden door in each gallery.' Similarly, in the aisles, the height ratio between the vault ceiling capitals is 'golden,' as is the distance between the bases in relation to the height of the framing capitals. To this plastic harmony, moreover, is added an even more mysterious harmony of a mystical order. It has already been observed that the closure of the choir vault is at a height that, measured as it should be, in feet and inches, gives 88 and 8, respectively. Now, 888 is the number corresponding to the name of Jesus in Greek(⁵). Furthermore, the slain Lamb and the triumphant Christ are depicted in the choir vault ceilings at this height of 88.8 and at some toises from the stained glass where Saint John writes his prophecy. The number 888 is also found around the altar (a symbol of Jesus): the sanctuary is surrounded by 8 columns, and its openings lead to the 7 pentagonal apses representing the radiance of the 7 churches of the Apocalypse. The Johannine Book seems to dominate the inspiration of this building because other columns, except those in the choir, have 6 feet and 6

(³): All that follows is extracted from Ch.-J. Ledit. Furthermore, in the books by Ghyka, which serve as our guide in this matter, all the desirable architectural diagrams can be found. Ghyka particularly summarizes and coordinates the results of Hamidge, Lund, and MoesseI. (⁴): This is a rectangle whose two sides are in the golden ratio, like this: L/I = φ ≈ 1,618 (⁵): This is the result of a relative operation of gematria. Gematria is a traditional science that aims to symbolically interpret words based on the corresponding numerical value of their letters. This operation is only possible in languages like Semitic or Greek, where letters have a numerical value. Thus, 888 is the result of adding the six letters that make up the name ΙΗΣΟYΣ: I (10) + H (8) + Σ (200) + O (70) + Y (400) + Σ (200) = 888.

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inches, and the church had 66 columns to support the vaults. This fact is related to another number from the Apocalypse: 666, which is the number of the Beast (Rev. 13:11 and 18), which the columns must crush(⁶). We encounter a third Johannine number: 144,000, the number of the elect. Indeed, in the triforium, there are 144 windows, from which radiate, from the circular part to the western rosette, all those who bear the seal of the Lamb. Finally, the triangle drawn from the apex of the sanctuary's vault, taken as the top, to the base of the large arches is measured at 26 degrees (angle at the top); now, 26 is the number of the great divine Name: YHWH. In regards to these recent conclusions, the example of Troyes is not an isolated case. It is true that most traditional religious buildings were constructed not only according to the "golden ratio" but also in accordance with "gematric" relationships, meaning their measurements were determined by the numerical value of Hebrew or Greek "divine names." From this latter perspective, the temple appeared as a petrified divine name, while from the standpoint of the golden ratios, it was the petrified form of spiritual archetypal numbers. The research, which is not widely known, by Monsignor Devoucoux (see the bibliography) is, in our opinion, decisive in this regard. It is impossible to even think about summarizing the entirety of these scholarly pages here. We will limit ourselves to extracting from them some key conclusions that will confirm, by analogy, the results obtained in Troyes. Monsignor Devoucoux proves that the temples of Janus and Cybele were constructed according to the rules of gematria, just like the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, which was assimilated to Isis in the late period. In this building, the length and width, measuring 425 and 220 feet respectively, corresponded to the invocation: "Isis et is" (You are powerful, O Isis). This architectural concept was passed down to

(⁶): We will see, in fact, that the columns symbolize the Apostles. The number 666 is generally obtained by adding the letters of Caesar Nero according to their Semitic value. However, it is worth noting the lesser-known and even more significant interpretation of Monsignor Devoucoux: 666 = k-elohim (like God), the name given to Adam and Eve by the tempter: "You shall be like God." And, by a convergence that is remarkable in every respect, we also have: 666 = panathesmios (the outlaw, the evildoer, in Greek). Monsignor Devoucoux compares the number of the elect with that of the Beast: 144,000, which is 144 x 1,000. 144 = qedem (ancient), 1,000 = aleph (family, community, doctrine). Therefore, the number of the elect simultaneously represents "The primitive, orthodox teaching" and "the primitive humanity" restored at the end of times. These two numbers, 666 and 144,000, are, as the learned archaeologist asserts, "the two most natural numerical hieroglyphs of the idea of Revelation and the idea of philosophical inquiry freed from all rules."

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Christian builders and thinkers. Even among the authors of the early centuries, we find the idea that the three dimensions of the Hebrew sanctuary yielded the number equivalent to "Isho," the name of Jesus, calculated in a certain way. In Tournus, the proportions of the oldest part of the church are based on the Hebrew name "AMUN," identical to "AMEN," which is a divine name signifying — "faith" and "loyalty" — especially applied to Christ in the Apocalypse. AMUN = 2296 divided by 26 (YHWH) equals 88 + 8/26, an incommensurable number that Monsignor Devoucoux calls "the harmonic progression of the name of Jesus" (in Greek: 888). These proportions are found in Rouen — in Saint-Ouen, and in the Chapel of the Virgin of the Cathedral. In Saint-Nazaire, in Autun, the length and width, 144 and 113 feet, correspond to the words KEDEM (ancient) and PHELAG (divider), which designate the typical square and diameter. Their sum, 257, is equivalent to NAZER (the crown of the prince), a term that "rhymes" with Nazaire and ultimately means: the crown of King Jesus, the Nazarene, NAZARENUS. In Autun, at Saint-Lazare, we find the following correspondences: total length = 240 = ROM (strength); width of the three naves = 65 = ADONAI (Lord); width of the transept = 95 = DANIEL (God's judgment); height of the dome = 90 = MAN (the efficient cause, the name of the primitive legislator). The sum of these four numbers, 490, in turn, takes on a very complex meaning that the author strives to clarify. At one end of the transept, there are 5 windows whose "number" is 650, which is ADONAI (65) multiplied by 10 (the law of rigor). But this notion is tempered by the light coming from the 3 opposite windows; these windows add up to 390, which also denotes the "city of heaven," a number obtained as follows: 364 (HA-SHATAN, Satan) + 26 (YHWH). In the transept arch on which the 3 windows cast their light, the measurements yield 416, which is 390 + 26 (the new addition of YHWH). 416 equals "the true sheep" of the Good Shepherd. This measurement, 416, is the length of Saint-Ouen (Rouen), while in Notre-Dame de Paris, we have 390, and in St. Peter's in Rome, 607 (ROTHA, the dove, the heavenly vision). The proportions of Cluny, 415 x 226, were, according to Monsignor Devoucoux, an allusion to those of the Artemision in Ephesus and a correction of these in the direction of traditional orthodoxy. Their meaning was: "The Cross is the proof that purifies. The Lord is the Mighty God, the absolute Life." Certainly, gematria was also used in the constructions of Citeaux. The church of Citeaux gives: C = 282 feet, L = 60; 282 = B-AIR (in hoste), 60 = DUN (judicium), that is: "Judgment against the Enemy." 282 + 60 = 342 = BOSHEM

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(anointing of good odor); that is, the Cross, which, according to Saint Bernard, constitutes the great resource against the spiritual Enemy. The dormitory gives: C = 168 feet, L = 50 feet. 168 = KAPP (pure), 50 = KOL (everything), which is immediately understood. Finally, the chapter, which is the place of "culpability" and judgments, measures 60x60 feet; 60 = DUN (judgment). To complete these precious indications and demonstrate that gematria served not only to determine the measurements of a building complex but also to specify its smallest details, let us note a fact that Monsignor Devoucoux does not mention. The tiles of the Liberian Basilica in Rome, built during the time of Sixtus-Quintus (422-444), are marked, at least in their fourth part, with an abbreviation composed of three Greek letters, whose numerical sum represents the Holy Trinity: XMΓ = 643 = HE HAGIA TRIAS. All these considerations, which led us to momentarily abandon the examination of cosmic symbolism, allow us to understand how the first symbolism could join and adapt itself, always thanks to the "numeral harmonies," to theological symbolism, particularly that of the celestial Jerusalem and divine names. And we then discovered, amazed, the hidden and unsuspected riches that make these temples, with all the strength of the expression, "intelligent" monuments. In the traditional and sacred conception, the temple is, in itself and before any liturgical action, a divine revelation that continues the cosmic revelation of the Word, the Logos, in creation. In truth, Christ can be seen in three aspects: as the celestial Word, the second Person of the Trinity; as the cosmic Word, or the creative Logos; and finally, as the incarnate Word or the God-Man. In the second aspect, He is the inner orderer of the world, the One who, through His Wisdom, His Sacred Science, penetrates the smallest parts, sustains them in being, and imparts to them their form. It is this aspect of the Word that the temple expresses first and foremost, before expressing the aspect of the God-Man. And it must do so to fully fulfill its purpose, which is to be the dwelling place of God among men — primarily in the physical world — and the place of His glorification and the spiritualization of men and the entire world through the Sacred Liturgy. Indeed, any spiritual act aimed at leading us to God first involves a reintegration of all the positive aspects of the world — and their inner equivalents within man — into a kind of symbolic home that elevates them

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before their offering. The temple is precisely this home: it represents, it is regenerated nature, just as the Church in its capacity as a mystical entity (we see here, once again, the merging of cosmic symbolism and ecclesiastical symbolism); it is so in that, through its very construction and structure, it already reveals the Spirit descending into Substance, the immanent Spirit, through His Energies, into the order of the world. The temple is a sanctified and offered cosmos.

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Cathedral of Troyes The vault ceiling of the apse, containing the figure of Christ, rises to 88 feet and 8 inches (888 is the gematria of the name of Jesus in Greek).

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The figure above combines the indications of two great medieval symbolists: Saint Hildegard of Bingen and William of Saint-Thierry. According to Saint Hildegard, man, in height and width with arms extended, inscribes himself in two equal and perpendicular series of five equal squares (5 being the number of man) and finally in a perfect square. On the other hand, W. of Saint-Thierry observes that man is also circumscribed within a circle with the navel as its center. The synthetic diagram above allows us to understand how the combination of the circle and the cross in the construction of the temple expresses the mystery of the relationship between man and the Universe, as well as the theanthropic mystery of the Church that makes the earthly man — the square — participate in divinity — the circle.

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CHAPTER V RITUAL ORIENTATION

This sacralization of the world, of space, also clearly emerges in the orientation of the building. Orientation holds a capital importance in traditional civilizations, and if modern people are surprised by this fact, it's because they are unaware of its true reasons. Nevertheless, regardless of what some may think, the Catholic Church has never abandoned the principle of orienting religious buildings. Therefore, it will not be useless to direct our research in this direction. We saw that orientation was an integral part of the founding ritual, through the layout, in the guiding circle, of the cardinal axes. The Christian church is ritually oriented in the west-east direction, with the head (apse) facing east. This is a tradition proven since the most ancient times. The Apostolic Constitutions, which may not necessarily date back to the Apostles themselves but nonetheless reflect the oldest customs, impose the orientation of churches (II, 7), which, moreover, derives from the ritual orientation for prayer. In the house of Hipparchus, one of the members of the early Jewish-Christian communities, there was a room prepared for prayer; on the eastern wall, a cross was painted, and it was there that, facing eastward, Hipparchus prayed seven times a day(¹). Based on a text from Wisdom - "we must anticipate the Sun in its thanksgiving action and contemplate the dawn of light," Origen wrote in his Treatise on Prayer: "Since there are four cardinal points: North, South, West, and East, who will not immediately recognize that the East (¹): Acts of Hipparchus and Philotheus, as cited in J. Daniélou, Théologie du Judéo-Christianisme (1960), page 292.

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evidently signifies that we should pray in that direction, which is the symbol of the soul that contemplates the rising of true Light?"(²) Saint Augustine, in turn, says, "When we stand to pray, we turn to the East, the place from which the Sun rises." A Christian poet from Africa, Corippus (6th century), explains these statements in the following way: "The Gentiles had no commendable reason to observe the old custom of turning towards the East when they prayed because they foolishly supposed that the Sun was God. But when the Creator of the Sun wished to become visible beneath the Sun, and God Himself took on flesh in the womb of the Virgin, it was towards Jesus Christ that this worship was directed." This ritual orientation of prayer persisted throughout all Christian centuries, reaching, in the 12th century, a mention in a work, albeit very worldly, the romance of Tristan and Isolde. When Isolde is faced with the dead Tristan, she "turns to the East and prays with great piety for him."(³) We find in the text of Corippus, as in the works of Saint Augustine and Origen, the indication of the essential reason for the orientation: the rising Sun in the East is the symbol of Christ, called the 'Sun of Justice' and the 'East' ('I will lead My servant, the East' - Zec. 3:8). Saint Thomas Aquinas summarizes the reasons that justify the rule of orientation as follows: 'It is fitting that we adore, with our faces turned to the East: first, to demonstrate the majesty of God, which is revealed to us by the movement of the heavens that starts in the East; second, because the earthly Paradise existed in the East, and we seek to return there; third, because Christ, who is the Light of the world, is called the East by the prophet Zechariah and, according to David, 'ascended to the heavens of heaven in the East'; finally, because it is to the East that He will return on the last day, according to the words of the Gospel of Saint Matthew: 'For as lightning that comes from the East is visible even in the West, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.'" (²): These lines from Origen will help penetrate the true meaning of ritual orientation. This is the symbol of inner orientation, meaning "goodwill," that is, the right will, and ultimately, "the Way," that is, Christ, who said: "I am the Way." The symbolism of orientation operates on three levels: in the physical, it refers to the East, the visible Sun, and the city of Jerusalem; on the subtle level, it pertains to "goodwill" and the "straight path"; on the spiritual level, it relates to the divine Sun, Light, the Way, that is, Christ. (³): Thomas, Tristan, and Isolde (v. 625 and following).

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This final reason places the emphasis on the parousia, the glorious return of the Lord. It is easy to imagine the value this had for early Christians in terms of ritual orientation. For example, at the end of Easter night, during which they had awaited the Savior's resurrection, when the first rays of the visible sun illuminated the temple, they could not help but see in it the promise and almost a guarantee of the glorious return. This ritual orientation for prayer was of such importance that in Rome, in the Constantinian basilicas, which could not be oriented to the east and had the apse to the west, the altar was turned so that the priest could look to the East during the sacred mysteries(⁴). Therefore, in the correctly oriented temple, the main axis points in the west-east direction, the choir and the altar are on the side from which the rays of the visible Sun and the "Sun of justice" come, whose light "illuminates every man who comes into this world." The nave is a long rectangle or square, extending from east to west: the door is located to the west, in the place of lesser illumination symbolizing the profane world or even the land of the dead. When you enter through the door and move towards the sanctuary, you move towards the light, it is a sacred march, and the long square resembles a path, representing the "way of salvation" that leads to the "land of the living," to the "city of the saints" where the divine Sun shines(⁵). The temple itself, parallel to the equator, moves with the Earth and meets the Sun and the eternal East. The secondary axis (transept) is oriented towards the south-north. Thus, the very shape of the temple is that of the cross of the cardinal axes. Now these axes correspond relatively to the two lines that connect, respectively, the two solstitial points and the two equinoctial points — the horizontal cross. On the other hand, if we consider the line that, joining the poles, is perpendicular to the plane of the equator; we obtain the vertical cross. The set of these two crosses, which share the same center, forms the solid cross or three-dimensional cross that defines the very structure of space and a space characterized by directions, also related to the movement of the temporal cycle and the Sun. We find this solid cross as an ornamental motif in Greek churches and even in some Latin churches. In this way, on one hand, the temple, as considered in its plan, reproduces the cardinal axes, the four

(⁴): And not, as it was thought, for him to contemplate the faithful, with the intention of creating a more "communal" celebration. (⁵): In Egypt, the Holy of Holies was sometimes identified with "oakhet," the "eastern horizon," or with the primordial hill that witnessed the sunrise on the first day of the world.

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directions of the world, linked to the four seasons of the annual cycle. On the other hand, when considered in its volume, it identifies itself with all of space, actually forming a solid cross. The vertical axis, which passes through the center of the guiding circle, which is generally also the center of the transept, corresponds to the Axis of the World that connects the two poles, an image, as we have already mentioned, of the "Unmoved Mover." This three-dimensional cross has arms oriented in accordance with the six directions of space (the four cardinal points, zenith, and nadir), which, together with the center itself, form the septenary. Now, the directions of space correspond to the divine Attributes, such as: the polarization in relation to a center of undifferentiated space, which is like the divine Unity. Clement of Alexandria reveals to us that from God, the "Heart of the universe," extend the boundless extensions that go, one upwards (zenith), the other downwards (nadir), this one to the right (South), that one to the left (North), one forward (East), and the other backward (West); "directing His gaze towards these six extensions as if they were always the same, He completes the world; He is the beginning and the end; in Him, the six phases of time end, and from Him, they receive their boundless extension: this is the secret of the number seven." Saint Paul employs the same symbolism when speaking of the 'width, length, height, and depth of the love of Jesus Christ' (Eph. 3:18). The width and length correspond to the horizontal cross, while the height and depth represent the two halves of the vertical axis(⁶). It is the manifestation of the Logos in the world, at the center of all things, at the primordial point from which all extensions emanate. The three-dimensional cross thus encapsulates space and symbolizes the universe filled with God. The polar axis is the line around which all things rotate, the main axis; horizontally, the north-south axis is the solstitial axis, and the east-west axis is the equinoctial axis. Soon we will see that this cosmic significance of the cross is not as far removed as one might initially assume from its usual meaning. (⁶): After this, it is interesting to read an excerpt from the life of Saint Matilda: "One day on Good Friday, Saint Matilda exclaimed in her love: 'Oh, Beloved of my soul, if only my soul were made of ivory, so that I could embalm You in it with decency!' And Jesus said to her: It will be I who will embalm you in Myself: I will be above you, hope and joy, and I will lift you up; within you, I will be a vivifying life, an oil that will gladden and anoint your soul; behind you, I will be a desire that propels you forward, and in front of you, love that nourishes and draws your soul; to your right, I will be the praise that perfects all works; to your left, a golden support to sustain you in tribulations; beneath you, I will be the firm foundation that upholds your soul.'" (Quotation from R.P. Saudreau, Les divines paroles, vol. II, page 182). The divine presence is affirmed here, in perfect accordance with Clement's text, in six places around the Saint, and in a seventh, within herself.

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The preceding observations will perhaps clarify one of the most mysterious rites of church consecration: the Inscription of the double alphabet. This rite takes place immediately after the opening of the doors and the entry of the prelate into the new temple. With ashes, a cross of Saint Andrew or a large elongated X, uniting the four angles, is traced on the floor of the nave, and the consecrating prelate inscribes, with the tip of his staff, the two alphabets, Greek and Latin (formerly, sometimes Hebrew), on the arms of this cross. There have been various unsatisfactory explanations for this rite. According to Durand of Mende, it signifies the union of the Gentiles and Jews (but why, if the Hebrew alphabet is not inscribed?), the letters of the two Testaments (?), the articles of the Faith (?). In accordance with a treatise by Rémi, a monk from Autun (11th century), the cross and alphabet, originating from the eastern angle and heading towards the western angle, symbolize that the Faith came from the East to the West, and that peoples gathered at a common center (that of the X). The most interesting of the explanations is Rossi's, who sees in the oblique cross a reminder of the two transverse or diagonal lines that Roman surveyors drew on the land to be measured. The letters would be a memory of numerical signs, combined with the lines to define the dimensions of the perimeter(⁷). It is, therefore, in a certain way, a sign of taking possession of the land in the name of Christ. But perhaps one can go further: isn't this cross a reminder of the one that was used to square the circle at the time of its foundation? Its inscription in the rectangle, the base of the building, would recall the celestial movement and its symbolic insertion in the church. Finally, the ritual would be clarified, in our view, if it were related to a symbolism of Jewish origin, in accordance with what we mentioned earlier about the six-direction cross. Indeed, the most enigmatic element of the ritual is, at first glance, the inscription of the letters. Now, it is worth remembering that among the Hebrews, as well as among the Arabs, Egyptians, Hindus, and many other peoples, language, and therefore the alphabet, are considered sacred. In Hebrew tradition, there is a mystical current that may well have influenced the consecration rite of our churches, according to which the letters of the alphabet have a creative virtue. The mystical book titled Sepher Yetsira teaches that the world was created by the divine Word through Number and Letters. Furthermore, in this doctrine, the symbolism of Letters is related to that of

(⁷): In Fr. Cabrol, Le Livre de la prière Antique.

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spatial directions, as Clement of Alexandria explains — quite possibly using Hebrew sources. Sepher Yetsira states that, to create the Universe, God made His action felt from the "inner Palace," which is the "Center," in accordance with the six directions, and it was the three letters of the great divine Name, YHWH (the fourth, H, was merely a repetition of the second), which, through their sextuple permutation according to the six directions of space, allowed for the formation of the Universe. The hypothesis we present is all the more plausible, given that, due to the fact that the Greek alphabet is traced on the ground in the shape of a cross, the two extreme letters of this alphabet, Alpha (Α) and Omega (Ω), are the well-known mystical acronym of the Word, the Beginning and the End, that is, the cosmic extension of the Word simultaneously in space and time(⁸). Furthermore, other converging symbolisms could support this hypothesis. In Greek, the letter X is the first letter of the name of Christ — ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ — and in Latin, it represents the number Ten or Decade, a Pythagorean and Platonic symbol, as we have seen, of multiple Unity, of Creation in its perfection. Thus, the great X that contains the letters of the alphabet can symbolize in various ways, which are not mutually exclusive, the consecration of the land and the temple: by bringing down the celestial influence upon it, the consecrator makes it, to some extent, the Body of Christ. Another aspect of the symbolism of the temple that we must consider next resides there.

(⁸): If we add the last letters of the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew alphabets, namely AZ, AO, and ATH, we obtain, by taking A as a common factor, the word AZOTH. Now, the Hermeticists, whose connections with the masons are well known, designated by this consciously constructed term, as we mentioned, the "Philosopher's Stone," the beginning and end of all bodies. The Hermeticists also sometimes assimilated the Philosopher's Stone to Christ in a certain way, because this stone was an aspect, in the physical world, of the First and Final Cause, which can reproduce itself, fertilize itself, and generate itself as the Divine Word. — This observation led us to note the existence of a relationship between the art of masons and that of the Alchemists. There are many others, better documented, especially in Notre-Dame de Paris. However, this is a question that we have intentionally excluded from our work, which is limited to the field of construction itself. An outline of this question can be found in R. Gilles' "Le Symbolisme dans l'Art Religieux," and a detailed development in the classic works of Fulcanelli (see the bibliography).

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CHAPTER VI THE TEMPLE, BODY OF THE GOD-MAN

Christ clearly stated that His Body is a temple, or rather, the Temple. “Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body.” ( Saint John, 2:21). This verse contains a teaching of the utmost significance. In the individual person, the body is the dwelling place of the soul; in Jesus, as both Man-God and the universal Man, the Body is the dwelling place of Divinity: "For in Him dwells the fullness of the Divinity in bodily form" (Colossians 2:9), because "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14), thereby fulfilling what the Mosaic temple was only a foreshadowing of: God's dwelling among humanity and even within humanity. For the Christian assembly, the temple represents the Body of Christ, but since the Body of Christ is also the assembly, the latter constitutes the spiritual temple, the Mystical Body of Christ. Finally, the individual soul itself is capable of becoming this temple. The sacred building can, therefore, be considered from a triple point of view — as the Humanity of Christ, as the Church, and as the soul of each believer, these three viewpoints being inseparable because the latter two are nothing more than consequences of the first.

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The temple represents, therefore, first and foremost, the Body of Christ. This symbolism — entirely independent of the cruciform plan, it is important to note — was nevertheless magnificently accentuated by this architectural form. It is a very ancient concept, both in the East, for example, in Maximus the Confessor, and in the West. In his "Mirror of the World," Honorius of Autun establishes the following correspondences: the choir represents the head of Christ; the nave, the body itself; the transept, the arms; and the main altar, the heart, that is, the center of being. In turn, Durand of Mende writes: "The arrangement of the church materializes the human body, for the chancel, or the place where the altar is located, represents the head, and the cross on either side represents the arms and hands. Finally, the other part, extending from the West, represents the entire rest of the body." A certain disagreement between Durand and Honorius, who follows Saint Maximus, regarding the meaning of the altar and, consequently, its placement in the choir or transept, will be noted. We will return to this topic later. In any case, the separation of the nave and the sanctuary, as is well known, hierarchically divides the assembly: in the upper part, the sanctuary, corresponding to the head, is where the clergy, the "thinking" faction of the assembly, are situated; in the lower part, the people, the "active" faction. This assimilation of the temple to an extended man, with the head turned to the East, is not, however, specific to Christianity, although it has taken on a broader development in it than in other religions. It also serves as a starting point for the construction of the Hindu temple: the extended man then represents the body of Purusha or the universal Spirit that ritual incorporates into the building. We find ourselves here in front of a tradition that undoubtedly dates back to the very origins of humanity, a tradition founded on a truth of ontological order: man is a reflection of the Universe, a microcosm, a reflection of the macrocosm to which a thousand ties connect them from one to the other(¹). It was for this reason, for example, that the Greeks deduced the value of the number Five, the harmony of the Universe, from the very harmony of the human body. The latter serves as a canon for Greek architecture and its successors because the human body is considered the projection, on the material plane, of the Soul of the world, whose harmonious life it reflects(²).

(¹): "Man can be considered a microcosm" (Thomas Aquinas); "The human body is called a microcosm, in other words, a small world" (Honorius of Autun).

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Thus, being a figure of man, the temple is, in a certain sense, a figure of the world. There are, for example, correspondences between the parts of the body and the parts of the world: the feet correspond to the earth, the round head to the celestial vault, and in the building, to the semicircle of the apse. The senses are related to the elements, etc. William of Saint-Thierry observed that a man with his legs and arms outstretched can fit into a circle traced by a compass, with the point embedded in the navel. This figure overlaps, as it is easy to see, with the diagram used in the foundation ritual: the cross within the circle; the cross formed by the man with outstretched limbs overlaps with the cardinal axes. A tradition dating back to the early Christian eras related this figure to the generic name of man: ADAM. In fact, the four letters of the word Adam (in Greek) are the initials of the terms that designate the four cardinal points: A = Anatolí (East), D = Dýsi (West), A = Arctos (North), and M = Mesembria (South). It is also curious to note that the two groups formed by the letters, in the order they appear, correspond exactly to the respective lines of the two axes: AD-AM: AD = East-West, AM = North-South. Furthermore, the numerical value of these letters gives a total of 46, which is precisely the number of years consumed in the construction of the temple (St. John, 2, 21). This symbolism is magnificently developed in a paschal hymn to the cross from the ancient missals of St. Gall: "Christ offered as a victim on your wood the temple of His flesh, created in the number of days [undoubtedly, there must be an error here, as the author likely meant years] symbolized by the four letters of the name of Adam. But it was for rebuilding; after three days, the world, whose extent is measured by the four points of the heavens." So, once again, the Cross is taken as a measure of space and time. This latter aspect of things is revealed by the traditional diagram representing man extended, no longer on the cross of the cardinal axes, but in the middle of the zodiacal wheel: the head is placed at the vernal point, at zero degrees of Aries, and the feet join the head at the 300th degree of Pisces. This figure gives rise to two very important observations. The position of the head at the vernal point corresponds to the Spring Equinox and Easter, from which, according to Durand of Mende, the exact orientation of the church apse must be determined. On the other hand, Aries (or Lamb) and Pisces are Christic (²): "If nature has designed the human body in such a way that each part has a proportion to the whole, it was not without reason that the Ancients desired, in their works, that the same relationship of parts to the whole be observed precisely. However, among the works whose measurements they regulated, they took special care with the temples of the gods..." (Vitruvius, Book III, Chapter I)

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animals related to the Eucharist; finally, the Lamb is essentially paschal. This zodiacal diagram marked the unity of the macrocosm and the microcosm, which founds the role of man, who must be the spokesperson of the world before God, the one who lends his voice to the world to allow it to sing the glory of the Creator. But this unity is fully realized only in the God-Man, and for this reason, the body represented by the temple is, above all, the body of the God-Man. And it is here that the unity of cosmic symbolism and the Christic symbolism of the temple is fully realized in all its strength. The cosmos, considered in its smallest extent, that is, the physical and corporeal world, of which the temple is the mathematical image, is nothing but the most outer aspect of the integral Cosmos, which encompasses all worlds and all beings, the "earth" and the "heavens," the "visible" and the "invisible" of the Creed. Now, this integral cosmos is fully encompassed in Christ as the creative Word: "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation (the Prince of Creation), for in Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together" (Col. 1, 15-17). According to the expression of the Fathers, Christ is the "recapitulation of creation," the qualitative summary of the Universe, simultaneously its principle, and even the Archetype of creation. As the Universal Man, He encompasses and integrates within Himself the indefinite multiplicity of all states of being. This is what the Cross, in its ultimate sense, symbolizes — not only a measure of space but of the entire universe, and the "sign of the Son of Man." It is equally a sign of Redemption conceived in its fullness. The individual human being, an analogy of all creation, for within them, there is a reflection of angelic states and the image of God. As a microcosm, humanity is connected to the whole world and has been established as an intermediary between the world and God. Therefore, the world awaits its own redemption through humanity, but through a human who is a "bearer of God": "For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility... in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God" (Romans 8:19-21).

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This reintegration is already accomplished in principle by Christ. The sacrifice of the Cross at Golgotha echoed to the "infinite spaces": "thorns, nails, and spear pierced His delicate body, from which water and blood flowed: earth, ocean, heaven, universe, everything is cleansed in its waves" (Good Friday Hymn). And this is what, at its level, the cruciform temple expresses: the Universe restored to its original purity and offered by the Perfect Man to the Father. The incarnate Word unites God and man, heaven and earth; this union is as if sealed in the form of the temple, where the divine circle and the earthly square come together. The dome joined to the cube thus expresses the theanthropic mystery of the Church that the God-Man accomplishes in the soul of the believer, because redemption inserts man into the circle of divinity, subsequently drawing the whole world into it. This insertion of man into the temple can be realized in other ways, as the cathedral of Troyes offers us another remarkable example. The (elevation) section of the building reproduces the phases of the human body regulated by "golden" proportions, so that the feet are on the sanctuary floor and the top of the head is at the vault's closure, whose height is given by 888 (88 feet and 8 inches), the numerical value of the name of Jesus, who also bears the image of the Resurrected. The 5, the number of man, is found everywhere there, in symmetry with the 8, the number of Christ (these two numbers maintain a golden ratio). Thus, the master builder transferred, so to speak, the substance of the redemptive mystery to the stone, the metamorphosis of the carnal man into the spiritual man: "Man is completed in Christ through the Beautiful (the golden number)"(³). It is worth insisting on this aspect because the symbolism we find in Troyes is valid for all temples, regardless of their measurements in elevation since the proportions defined by the numbers 5 and 8 simply emphasize a meaning that belongs to the very vertical structure of the sanctuary. This structure, consisting of a square base and a spherical top arranged around the axial column, is actually a geometric image of a standing man. (³): Leditz-Zelt, op. cit. Monsignor Devoucoux indicates a scheme that must have played a role in sacred architecture. It consists of a man standing upright, with feet together and arms extended, within a square defined by lines parallel to the arms and the vertical axis of the body. By adding the number of fingers on the feet and hands, which hold great importance in Jewish mysticism, to the digit 6 (the relationship between the height and average width of the body: 1 x 6 = 6), we get: 10 + 10 + 6 = 26 = YHWH; which means that man is created in the image of God. This cannot be unrelated, in Troyes, to the fact mentioned earlier, that in that same place within the sanctuary, the structure's design contains an inscribed triangle with a 26° angle at the top.

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Thus, just as the entire temple, in its plan, so too the sanctuary, in its elevation, simultaneously represents the Archetypal Man and the spiritual growth of the individual human until their alignment with their archetype, until reaching the 'stature of Christ,' as Saint Paul says (Eph. 4, 13). The central column — which we will return to discussing in Chapter XII and which serves as the axis vertically connecting the vault closure of the sanctuary to its center — this central column of the building, to the Universal Man, is identified with the Axis of the World and corresponds, in the individual, to the spinal cord. This is the support of their physical structure and determines their upright posture, a privilege of humanity, which is like a concrete proof of the central position they occupy in the visible world: “Pronaque cum spectent animalia cetera terram, Os homini sublime dedit, coelumque tueri Jussit et erectos ad sidera tollere vultus.”* - Ovid Thus, one immediately observes the correspondences that are established, through the symbolism of the sanctuary, between the Universal Man and the individual man: just as the axial column connects the square base to the spherical top of the building — the earth to the sky — so too the spinal cord is, in the individual, the link that connects the lower and earthly part of the body (referred to as the "base" and "foundation" — iesod — in Hebrew mysticism) to the upper and thinking part or head, whose spherical shape corresponds, as we have seen, to the celestial vault(⁴). It is through the spinal cord that the head commands the entire rest of the body. This is regarding the physical constitution of the individual. In their subtle constitution, the spinal cord and the nerve channels that run through it correspond to subtle channels through which energy of the same nature circulates, and at the center of these, like the axial column in the building, is the channel called sushumna by the Hindus. In the mystical development process described by tantric yoga, the spiritual energy, dormant at the base of the spine (it is, of course, all symbolic in nature), rises through this channel, awakening successively the different subtle centers or chakras until it reaches the crown chakra located at the top of the head, causing the enlightenment and final transformation of the individual. It is said, then, that it blooms in the "lotus of a thousand petals," a * While the other inclined animals contemplate the Earth, God granted man a sublime face and allowed him to gaze at the sky and to raise his gaze to the stars.

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name that designates the relevant chakra(⁵). The same reality is expressed in the West by the halo that shines above the heads of saints. This ascent of Energy through the spinal cord symbolizes the ascent of the being, their transition from the earthly state to the celestial one. In this way, in the figure of the Archetypal Man embodied in the vertical structure of the sanctuary, the image of the axial column that blossoms into the "celestial" vault, often crowned with the cross or the Christic lamb, reminds the individual of the path of their spiritual growth to the "stature of Christ," which includes the “communion of all the saints,” their consummation in unity, the mystical Body, as we will see next.

(⁴): In India, where the human body is also assimilated into the Universe and the temple, it is said that the spine is analogous to Mount Meru, the mythical mountain that determines the Axis of the World. (⁵): It is also called Brahmarandra, which means "Brahma's opening." Through it, the conscious principle of the being escapes at death. It is worth noting, given the impossibility of elaborating on this aspect, that rituals such as posthumous trepanation practiced by certain peoples and the tonsure of clerics are directly related to the liberation of the conscious principle and the vertical ascent of latent energy in the body.

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The body of man in the temple

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The body of man in the temple

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CHAPTER VII CORPUS MYSTICUM

So far, we have considered the sacred building in its finished, static state; which is obvious, as it is the natural goal of architectural art, whose essential quality is stability, stable perfection. But we can look at things differently, from a dynamic perspective, and consider not the finished temple but the temple in the making. The process of construction can also be taken in a symbolic sense, and this is what the entire tradition understood(¹). This process of construction starts from the placement of the first stone to the placement of the capstone. This symbolism is centered not so much on the temple itself but on the very stone. Christ proclaimed himself the "cornerstone." He said to them, “Did ye never read in the scriptures: ‘The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?’" (Matthew 21:42). And Simon, who would come to replace the Master as the leader of his Church, the Church to be built, will receive for this reason a "new name" as a sign of his role: "I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my Church."

(¹): This is how the Shepherd of Hermas refers to it, one of the earliest works of Christian literature, written around 140 AD. The author observes in a vision (I, Vision 3) the 'shipyard' of the triumphant Church: it is a large tower under construction, where square and polished stones are used, and different orders of saints are represented by different types of stones. Once again, mystical symbolism goes hand in hand with cosmic symbolism: the process of construction replicates that of creation, architecture echoes cosmogony: “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” God asks. “Who determined its dimensions, and who stretched out the measuring line over it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone...?” (Job 38:4-6).

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These capital texts are applied in the ritual for the laying of the first stone: "Blessed be the Name of the Lord; now and forever! The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone! You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church... Let us pray. — Lord Jesus, Son of the living God, who is truly powerful, splendor and image of the eternal Father and eternal Life, who is the cornerstone extracted from the mountain without any human aid, harden this stone that is to be placed in Your Name. You are the Beginning and the End, and it was by this principle that God the Father created everything from the beginning; be, we beseech you, the beginning, the development, and the completion of this work that is about to begin in praise and glory of Your Name..." Then, the celebrant engraves a cross on each face of the stone, assimilating it to Christ(²). Saint Peter comments on Jesus' words, showing that believers should, with their own individualities and with Christ, build the spiritual temple which is none other than the Corpus Mysticum: "Approach Him, the living Stone, rejected by men indeed, but chosen and precious in the sight of God; and as living stones, build a spiritual edifice, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices pleasing to God through Jesus Christ. For it is said in Scripture: 'Behold, I lay in Zion a cornerstone; chosen and precious, and whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame'" (Isaiah 28:16). "So, for you who have faith, honor; but for the unbelievers, the stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense..." (1 Peter 2:4-8). The teaching of Saint Paul extends that of Saint Peter: one must build the Body of Christ. "Walk in the way of the Lord Jesus, rooted in Him and building yourselves on this foundation" (Colossians 2:7). Christ "ascended above all heavens in order to fulfill all things"; He spread His gifts to all, "to build up the Body of Christ, until we all reach the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, the state of the Perfect Man, the measure of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:7-13). "You have been built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ Himself as the cornerstone. In Him, the whole building, well-fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, and in Him, you too are being built together to become a dwelling place in which God lives by His Spirit" (Ephesians 2:20-22). (²): The full matter of the symbolism of the stone and the first stone, and especially the exact meaning of the expression "cornerstone," is explained further in the chapter on the altar.

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Durand of Mende sums up the classic parallel between the material church and the church of souls as follows: "Just as the physical or material church was constructed with stones joined together, the spiritual church also forms a whole composed of a great number of men. All the stones of the walls, polished and squared, represent the saints, that is, the pure individuals who, by the hands of the Supreme Worker, are arranged to remain forever in the Church(³). They are united as if by cement through charity, until, becoming living stones of the heavenly Zion, they come together through the bond of Peace." This temple under construction, in expansion, it’s God who builds it. "In fact, it was God who built Jerusalem" (Psalm 146). He is the master builder of the holy city: "By faith, Abraham lived as a foreigner in the land that had been promised to him... because he was looking forward to the City with solid, eternal foundations, of which God is the architect and builder" (Hebrews 11:9-11). This figure of the Architect God, the builder of the spiritual city and the material world, is related to that of Plato and the Pythagoreans transmitted to the organizations of masons. Speaking of the Decade, Nicomachus of Gerasa wrote that it "served as a measure for the Universe, like a square and a cord in the hand of the Orderer." In an illumination that adorns a Bible from the 14th century, God is represented with a compass in hand, drawing a circle in the chaos symbolized by a dragon's mouth. On a column of Notre Dame de Paris, there is placed an iron plate from the Masonic Companions, on which the famous formula is engraved: "To the glory of the Great Architect of the Universe," below which there is a pentagram or starred pentagon, a ruler, a compass, and a square.

(³): Durand limits himself here, as in many cases, to revisit an old idea. "Resistant to the masters of error," says Saint Clement of Rome, "you, the stones of the Father's temple prepared for God's building, raised in the air by the 'machine' of Jesus Christ, namely His Cross." The image of the "machine," which evokes the crane of workers and builders, is familiar to Greek Christian literature: the Cross is commonly referred to as "mechane ourama" there, the machine that elevates to heaven, and Saint Ignatius of Antioch has these magnificent words: "The Cross is the mechane for the entire cosmos." As for the shape of the stones, which must be square and polished, it is also an ancient tradition: "Just as a round stone, if not cut and something taken from it, cannot become square, so it happens with the rich of this world if their wealth is not reduced over the years," as read in the Shepherd of Hermas. The square shape of the stones evokes, for Saint Augustine, justice and the four cardinal virtues; and, for Hugo of St. Victor, the stability of faith and the fidelity of Christians.

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This City of eternal foundations, this spiritual temple that forms a unity with the Mystical Body, will only be completed in the "future century" and merges with the celestial Jerusalem, that is to say, the celestial Humanity regenerated and glorified in God, of which the material temple is the sensible image. Such is the teaching of the liturgy which, in connection with the consecration of churches and their dedication, evokes this City from on high: "I heard a powerful voice saying: Behold the tabernacle of God among men: He will live among them, who will be His people and God Himself will remain with them" (Epistle of the Dedication Mass). This evocation is particularly suggestive in the rite of anointing the crosses, at the moment of consecration. Twelve crosses are embedded or painted on the walls of the church, and in front of them, twelve candles are lit. The prelate anoints them with oil while the antiphon resounds: "Behold Jerusalem, the great heavenly city. It is adorned like the spouse of the Lamb..." The number twelve is characteristic of the heavenly city, as we have already seen: there are twelve gates, twelve foundations, the chosen ones are divided into twelve tribes, and there are twelve thousand per tribe. The twelve crosses painted on the walls correspond to the twelve foundations which are the twelve Apostles, whose names are inscribed on the foundations of the heavenly Jerusalem: "The wall of the city has twelve stones as its foundations, and on them are the twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb" (Revelation 21:14). In the same way, Saint Paul tells Christians: "You have been built upon the foundations of the Apostles..." (Eph. 2:20). This is why the twelve Apostles were represented in the columns of the church, for example, in the Sainte Chapelle of Paris. The twelve gates are marked with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel (Rev. 21:12). Moreover, there is a relationship between the Apostles and the tribes, on one hand, and between both and the signs of the Zodiac, on the other. Once again, cosmic symbolism embraces mystical symbolism. The square plan of the heavenly Jerusalem corresponds, as we have seen, to the transformation of the circle by the cardinal axes; the twelve gates correspond to the zodiacal signs grouped three by three on each of the four sides, oriented according to the cardinal points and related to the four seasons, that is, to the temporal cycle that is here "crystallized." But already in Jewish tradition, the twelve tribes of Israel were related to the signs of the Zodiac. The same happened with the twelve Apostles, who represented the twelve tribes, grouped in a circle around Christ, the divine Sun.

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We will return to this solar symbolism in the chapter about the door. For now, we would like to draw attention to another relationship concerning the Apostles. It is said in the Apocalypse that "the wall of the city is made of jasper," and that "the city is of pure gold"; furthermore, "the foundations of the wall (each foundation, from one gate to another) are adorned with all kinds of precious stones." This is followed by the enumeration of the twelve precious stones: sapphire, emerald, topaz, amethyst, and so on. Given the city's plan, it is observed that these stones are arranged like the gates, three on each side. Now, with few differences, this was the shape of the rational or breastplate that the high priest of the Jews wore on his chest. This rational was indeed a square plate of gold, on which twelve precious stones were arranged, with the names of the tribes engraved, in four rows of three (Exodus 28:17 and 20; 39:9 and 12). According to Philo and Clement of Alexandria, these stones were related to the twelve patriarchs and the signs of the Zodiac. This rational allowed the high priest to, in a certain way, embody the essence of the Israelite community. It is significant that the same symbol was used in the Apocalypse to evoke the community of the Church, the new Israel, whose faithful were called from the four corners of the universe by the power of the three persons of the Holy Trinity, as Saint Augustine noted. Finally, gemstones have another meaning. The gemstone is the masterpiece of the mineral kingdom, gathering within it the splendor of the sky's light and the quintessence of matter from the depths of the Earth. It is matter transfigured, made diaphanous. Similarly, man, a rough stone, must, with the help of God, sculpt himself to become a cubic stone, already subject to order, to fit into the construction of the church. And when the finished building enters the "future age," its living stones will transfigure and become those luminous stones. The Corpus Mysticum is the assembly of believers, the total Church, and the Temple par excellence. But as He made Himself all in all, each believer is equally this Temple: "You are the Temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you" (1 Corinthians 3:16). "You are the temple of the living God" (2 Corinthians 6:16). "Just as this visible building was made to gather us corporally, so the other building that we ourselves are is constructed for God to dwell in it spiritually," says Saint Augustine. "The visible building dedicated today before our eyes, while the other will be at the end of the ages, at the coming of the Lord; at the moment when our corruptible body is clothed with incorruptibility."

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"Christ, the Son of God, built for God Himself and for us an eternal ark and tabernacle," says Ruysbroek. "And this is none other than Himself and the Holy Church, and every good person of whom He is the prince and leader... When a person wants to obey God with an undivided heart, they are liberated and freed from all sin by the blood of Our Lord. They unite with God, and God with them, and they themselves become the ark and tabernacle that God wishes to inhabit, not in symbolism, but in reality." Similarly, when commenting on the meaning of the three parts of the Hebrew temple, the courtyard corresponds to the holy place and the holy of holies, which in the Christian temple correspond to the narthex and the door, the nave, and the sanctuary. The same author shows their spiritual value: "The courtyard of the tabernacle is a path in accordance with the moral law for the outward person... (The altar of burnt offerings) symbolizes the unity of the heart and the withdrawal of the senses from worldly concerns... (In the holy place) virtuous life is 'resting with God,' and at this stage, the theological virtues come together." Finally, the holy of holies corresponds to the center of one's being where God is found, "within me more than I am within myself." So, every man is the temple of God through participation in the Man-God, to the extent that he realizes the Divine Presence within himself. And we now better understand what we referred to earlier regarding the role of the temple. If it is the image of the cosmos and the human microcosm, it is because the latter, in order to fulfill his spiritual vocation, to accomplish his return to God, must recapitulate and integrate within a symbolic 'home' all the elements of the visible world, and their counterparts within himself, 'sacrificing' them to God, in order to transition 'from this world to the Father.' As a mathematical image of the Universe and the image of the Body of Christ, the temple is the fixation of spiritual presence in a material support, symbolizing thus the process of God's descent to man, the fixation of spiritual influence in bodily consciousness. By the way, we have long drawn attention to the analogy between the consecration rites of the temple and those of baptism: blessings with water, exorcisms, anointing with chrism. In this regard, Saint Bernard says: “It is necessary that the rites that these walls were materially subjected to be spiritually fulfilled in us. What the bishops did in this visible building is what Jesus Christ, the Pontiff of future blessings, invisibly accomplishes in us every day... We will enter the house that the hand of man did not build, the eternal dwelling of the heavens. It is built with living stones, which are angels and

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men.” “The stones of this building are joined and cemented by a double cement: Knowledge and perfect Love.” We will return to encounter, through the pen of the great Cistercian builder, the image of the living stones of the Church that is being constructed. The construction of the material temple thus symbolizes the Church in progression, both at the level of the community and of individuals. The entire Christian cycle unfolds in three acts. First: Christ descends to earth to place the first stone or foundation stone, which ultimately is Himself. Second: upon this foundation, whose substitute is Simon Peter, the temple is built. Third and last: the building will be completed with the placement of the true cornerstone or keystone. Then, the entire structure will undergo a glorious transmutation: the stones will become precious and resplendent, permeated by the radiance of the divine Gold that is their inner substance, and the heavenly city will arise in all its splendor, inspiring these passionate chants from Epiphanius of Salamis: "Oh, paradise of the great Architect, city of the holy King, bride of the immaculate Christ, purest Virgin promised in faith to the only Spouse, you shine and gleam like the dawn."

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CHAPTER VIII BELLS AND BELL TOWERS

After studying the meaning of the temple as a whole, it will be worthwhile to examine that of its different parts, which are, in one way or another, all symbolic. But this would undoubtedly be an extensive task that far exceeds the scope of the present work. Therefore, we will limit ourselves to analyzing some of the most important ones, starting from the principle that consists of accompanying the believer on their journey from the secular world to the house of God. After greeting the family belfry, whose voice calls him to divine worship, he subsequently encounters the door, the holy water font, where he crosses himself, and the nave that leads him to the altar; the center and purpose of the entire building. Our explanation will follow this same path.

The bell tower, which assumed great importance over the ages, is not a primitive element of Christian architecture. In the oldest known churches, there was no bell tower. The towers observed in them were not intended to receive bells. In reality, their purpose is not well understood. It was only later that the custom of building towers and placing bells in them became widespread.

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Among medieval authors, the symbolism of bell towers developed in two directions. At times, harking back to a very ancient theme (Shepherd of Hermas, Melito), one sees the towers as an image of Mary or the Church and they are commonly referred to as the "Tower of David" in liturgy, following the "Song of Songs" (4, 4). In other cases, more frequent, the "moralizing" symbolism of the bell determined that of the bell tower: both symbols were assimilated to the preachers and prelates who warn and instruct men. The often tedious developments of a symbolism carried arbitrarily to the smallest details of application in Honore of Autun or Durand of Mende are of interest only to the historian of ideas. Should we, therefore, give up on discovering a meaning in the bell tower? Certainly not. The fact that the tower was not originally intended to hold the bells is significant because it allows us to immediately reject the facile objection of the "utilitarian" proponents. Equally to be rejected is the thesis that asserts the first church towers had a "purely decorative" function. This "explanation," often put forward regarding parts or figures of our ancient religious monuments, and which seems like the last refuge of ignorance that dares not speak its name, is unacceptable to anyone who has even a rudimentary understanding of the true conception of traditional sacred art, in which pure fantasy and "gratuitousness" have no place whatsoever: Those who claim otherwise deceive themselves, attributing to our ancestors their own modern conception of art and the artist, which has nothing to do with that of the time. The most interesting attempt to explain the meaning of the bell tower, as far as we are concerned, is the one that relates it to the cosmic symbolism of the temple in general. We have already mentioned it elsewhere (Chapter III), stating that the shape of the bell tower repeats the pattern of the temple itself: a dome crowning a cube, with the former being able to take the form of a "pyramid" with six or eight faces, which is one of the stages in the transition from a sphere to a cube. Thus, everything that has been said about the symbolism of the temple equally applies to the bell tower. But we can add that the tower, as such, has a special, ascensional symbolism. The tower, with the pyramid and the arrow that crowns it, reaches out to conquer the sky and becomes an image of the mountain, the cosmic Mountain we will talk about later in connection with the altar. In some religious traditions, the mountain served as a model for temples: the pyramids of Egypt,

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the Sumerian ziggurats, and the religious buildings of India are temple-mountains. Now, the kinship between these buildings and our bell towers is plausible. On the other hand, special attention should be paid to the case of the twin towers flanking the main façade of our great cathedrals. These seem to have a distinctly solar symbolism linked to that of the entire orientated building and serve as a reminder, transmitted to the associations of builders, of the oldest "solar columns." They would be the last testimony of the primitive indices designed to determine in practice the zone within which the sunrise moves, to the east. This zone is the space between the minimum point of winter and the maximum point of summer. The two extreme points were marked with two "witnesses," two "columns," which designated the two relatively "solstitial" points and were situated relative to the North and the South or, if preferred, to the right and left of the equinoctial axis; the latter was sometimes marked by a betyl. Some menhirs served this function in the Breton and English alignments. The same applies to obelisks and the two pylons that precede the entrance to Egyptian temples (the analogy between pylons and our twin towers is all the more remarkable because both are integral parts of the building). When, in some cases, the two columns were joined with a transverse beam, the triumphal arch was obtained, which initially began as a "door of the sun," a meaning later emphasized by the placement of Apollo's chariot above the arch. We will see later how the church door, with its analogous symbolism, was integrated into the grand ensemble of these towers between which the rising sun ascends in the sky, after having bathed the apse in its light.

The famous page of "Génie du Christianisme" in which Chateaubriand analyzes the "poetry of bells" is well known: "When, with the song of the lark, during the wheat harvest, one could hear, at the break of dawn, the sounds of the bells of our villages, it would seem that the angel of the harvest, to awaken the farmers, whispered in some Hebrew instrument the story of Sephora or Naomi...". This poetic text should by no means be disregarded: the bells that ring at all hours of the day when prayers are said, and at all stages of our lives,

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for newborns, for brides and grooms, and for the deceased, the bells are like the amplified voice of our joys and sorrows, and in that sense, they have "a moral sympathy with our hearts." But in ancient times, when religious spirit was still in its integrity, it was not these feelings that the sound of the bells first awakened in souls. They existed, to be sure, but they occupied a place that was by no means the first. If we want to understand what bells mean from an authentically religious perspective, we only need to read the ritual of their blessing, which elaborates, in a deeply biblical style, the essential themes of their traditional symbolism. What stands out first and foremost is the sacred character attributed to the bell. Its baptism, analogous to that of a child and the consecration of the church, incorporates the bell into the sacred domain and assimilates it as a neophyte. In fact, the ritual includes purification with exorcised and blessed water, purification with incense burned under the bell, anointing with oil, and finally, the imposition of a name and a white garment. This opulence of rituals would not be justified if the bell were a purely utilitarian object, only meant to call the faithful to the church. It thus takes on a very distinct sacred character, which will be better understood if we place it in the religious category to which it belongs: that of "sacred noise." The sound, generally produced by a metallic instrument, preferably made of bronze, serves primarily and everywhere to signal the presence of the sacred, for example, of a sacred figure, as is the case in several African villages. Among the Bangoras, there is a "prophet" and a priestess who use a leather garment adorned with a fringe of bells for this purpose. Among the Akambas, the priests use similar bells for their rituals. Let us compare this fact with the prescriptions of Exodus (28, 31 and following.) concerning the high priest's robe: this robe had, at the lower end, a fringe of pomegranates and alternating bells; when the high priest entered the Holy of Holies and when he came out, the sound of the bells should be heard. In India, numerous ascetics shake bells or iron rattles to announce themselves. But the noise of these instruments is not limited to marking the presence of the sacred; it creates it, thus playing a crucial "exorcism" role against demonic influences. In India, copper mortars are struck around houses and temple precincts to drive away the asuras; in various regions of Africa, bells are shaken during births and deaths for the same purpose; in Borneo, a funeral

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gong is used, whose sound is very similar to our tolling of the death knell. But more interesting, as you will understand, are the customs of the Greeks and Romans, whose traces have endured. Among these peoples, bronze, like that of our bells, had a purifying and apotropaic or exorcism virtue. Apollodorus reveals to us that it was used "in all purifications and consecrations." Bronze instruments were struck as a sign of mourning for the death of an important figure, during eclipses, to ward off specters, especially during the Lemuria festival, in the initiation rite called thronismos, where they danced around the neophyte in imitation of the Curetes around the newly born Zeus(¹). The study of the ritual for the blessing of the bells reveals to us a conception analogous to the function of sacred bronze, which, on one hand, was meant to invoke the blessings of God, and on the other hand, to repel demonic assaults away from the temple and dwellings, particularly warding off storms and tempests. "May this bell, similar to David's lyre, draw the Holy Spirit through the sweetness of its harmony," one prayer said. "As its voice rises to the heavens, may the protection of the Angels descend upon your Church." Others beseech, many times over, that "The sound of this bell... ward off the snares of the Enemy, with his cunning devices, that it may repel hail, lightning, thunder, storms, and all calamities..." "May it crush the powers of the air. May these powers tremble upon hearing this sound, may they flee before the sign we trace on this bell." Funeral tolls, in particular, have the function of driving away evil spirits from the deceased. Let's add, to conclude, that formulas of protection against lightning, storms, or invocations like the Ave Maria or Rex gloriae veni cum pace are often inscribed on bells. The idea is that the bell imparts the formula to the sound waves, which fill, purify, and sanctify the air and space through the power of the sacred text. From this perspective, the bell plays a similar role among us to that of Tibetan prayer wheels. These objects and their use are poorly understood in the West and, for this reason, unjustly discredited. The mentioned prayer wheel is a wheel that contains scrolls covered with prayers, found on every street corner in villages, and passersby spin them to, in a way, "broadcast" the prayers into the air and consecrate the space to them. (¹): Proclus (Ad Remp. 42 11 [7]) states that bronze is the most resonant metal and that it gathers the creative murmur of the Soul of the world.

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From the 10th century onwards, it became a custom to place an iron rooster at the top of bell towers. There was one in the Basilica of St. John Lateran during the time of Pope Paschal II (11th century). This is an ancient Christian symbol connected to the denial of Saint Peter, undoubtedly, but also to a whole symbolic complex that perfectly aligns with the purpose and function of the tower and the bell. In fact, the rooster is a solar animal that held an important place in the Zoroastrian religion, where it was consecrated to Ahura Mazda, the god of light. Adopted by the Pythagoreans, its worship spread to Rome and Greece and then integrated into Christian tradition; one cannot explain its presence in the literature of the early centuries and the Middle Ages solely by reference to the Gospel text. In reality, the developments that this theme gave rise to occurred in the two directions it had taken among the Persians themselves. According to them, the rooster's function was to wake up the lazy, call for morning worship, and also drive away evil spirits because it heralded the light of the Sun that dispelled the nocturnal ghosts - negotium perambulans in tenebris. The rooster indeed took on the very image of Christ himself: Saint Ambrose calls Jesus "gallus mysticus" because, as the conqueror of darkness and hell, he resurrected in the morning and calls us to the works of light. The "Apostolic Constitutions" also invite Christians to pray "at the cock's crow, which calls to the works of light." In the hymn "Aeterne rerum conditor" (Lauds office), Saint Ambrose finds beautiful poetic expressions to celebrate the spiritual role of the rooster: "Behold, the herald of the day sings, vigilant in the deep night... At his cry, the morning star drives away the shadows of the sky, and the entire chorus of stars departs from the paths of the world... The rooster awakens those who are lying down, admonishes those who sleep, accuses the faithless. At the cock's crow, hope returns, the sick regain their health, the thief conceals his knife, and faith is reborn in the hearts of sinners..." The most significant passage is the hymn to Prudence (Cathemerinon, I, I), in which the belief in the exorcising power of the rooster is clearly expressed: "The wandering demons who delight in the night shadows, frightened by the rooster's crow, flee in all directions: for the light of salvation, the light of Divinity, which approaches and which they hate, tears through the darkness and puts to flight the followers of the night."

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This mystique of the rooster, which symbolizes the vigilance of the soul awaiting the coming of the Spirit, the spiritual Sun, persisted throughout the entire Middle Ages, in authors such as Raban Maur, Honorius of Autun, Hugh of S. Victor, and Durand of Mende. Thus, as you can see, the rooster is perfectly in its place at the top of the bell tower. A solar bird, perched on the solar tower as if on a watchtower, it watches for the rise of the sun; and when it appears, its voice, joining the dawn bells, exorcises the demons of the night and heralds the eternal resurrection of the Sun of Justice.

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Notre-Dame de Paris, the great bell

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CHAPTER IX HOLY WATER FONT AND BAPTISTRY

You don't enter a church like a commercial establishment. The area it delimits is a sacred space, and therein lies, in fact, the etymological meaning of the words “templum” in Latin and “temenos” in Greek, both derived from a root that means “to cut” or “to separate.” The temple's precinct clearly delimits and separates, from the profane domain that surrounds it, a sacred domain reserved for the Divine. Terribilis est locus iste... From the vestibule to the sanctuary, the faithful traverse the 'way of salvation,' which the church somewhat replicates in its plan: The portico with the narthex provides the transition between the two domains; the nave, where the Word of God echoes, guiding us — “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” — is also the place of worship; finally, the sanctuary, centered on the altar as is the entire building, the unpassable sanctuary, separated again by the railings, is the place of Divine Presence.

Before entering the sacred world of the temple, a person must undergo a purification: baptism; it is this purification that they are invited to renew, in a certain way, each time they enter, purifying themselves with holy water.

If the door, or like the entire temple, is a solar symbol, the holy water font and the baptistery are aquatic symbols. However, as we will see, these two types of symbols are not irreducible to each other and are inscribed in the same liturgical context.

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It would apparently be natural to study the door before the holy water font, as the latter is located inside the church. However, there is a reason we begin with it. Logically, it should be positioned in front of the door, and historically, we will see that this is indeed the case. This leads us to interesting observations about the origin of the temple itself, which will shed new light on our entire presentation. The primitive and natural temple, before humanity knew the art of construction, was quite simply the world itself, the world that is the dwelling place of Divinity, as it is written: "The heavens and the earth are full of Your Glory" (Isaiah 6:3). However, since the world is too vast to be effectively encompassed in a ritual act, humans reduced the Universe to a familiar and meaningful landscape. The general and natural design of the temple is the elemental landscape composed of the hill (or tomb), with its cave, stones, the tree, and the spring, all enclosed and protected by a fence that proclaims the sacred character of the place. These were, in origin, the sacred groves, the Roman lucus, the Greek alsos. When, later on, architecture was born, the temple became a house, and its mineral and vegetal components were transposed to form the very elements of the building. While the enclosure, whether virtual or rudimentary, transformed into the walls, the trees turned into columns, the stone became the altar; the cave gave birth to the niche of the apse, and the ceiling was assimilated to the sky. The temple thus appeared as a petrified landscape. In this new ensemble, the spring, and this brings us back to our theme, was captured and converted into a source or, more often, was replaced by a ablution vessel. We intentionally employ this last expression because it accurately evokes the nature of the ritual gesture of the faithful: purifying themselves before entering the sacred building. There were sources designated for this purpose near the old churches, such as the one Saint Paulinus ordered to be built in Tyre, in the old basilica of the Vatican, and at Notre Dame de Paris (in this latter case, the sources, which have disappeared, were located in the courtyard). Everywhere, the faithful would wash their hands and faces in them, as attested by a Greek inscription above the holy water font at the Saint Mesmin abbey, near Orleans, designed as follows: "Wash your sins here, not just your face." The holy water font replaced these sources, of which it is a reminder; it initially was placed outside the door, then under the portico, and finally inside, near the entrance.

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Like any ritual object, the holy water font holds a general symbolism, which is concretized and completed by the particular meaning attributed to its shape. The general symbolism is that of the spring, of which the holy water font is a substitute. In the natural temple, if the stone represented duration, a temporal reflection of eternity, the tree and the spring announced, each in its own way, life and regeneration: indeed, the tree renews itself every spring, while water is the necessary condition for all life. Among the fonts placed in front of the old churches, there was one that was privileged: the one that sprang forth in the baptistery. This too was "introduced" into the church and became the fonts. One cannot speak of the holy water font without relating it to the baptistery, for it draws all its dignity from it. The baptismal ablution is the only true one, and the small ablution we perform upon entering the church only has value because it recalls and renews, in a certain way, our baptism. The holy water font and the baptistery are essentially composed of a basin with water, round, oval, or even octagonal. Finally, in the case of the holy water font, the basin is often replaced by a shell. In traditional symbolism, all ritual basins represent the primordial Ocean, the "Waters" of Genesis over which the Spirit of God hovered to perform creation. And it is in reference to these waters that the baptistery or the holy water font have the power to bring about regeneration, a recreation. The basin is often octagonal, and this is extremely significant. Eight is one of the sacred numbers in Christianity: eight people were saved in the Ark, symbolizing baptism and the Church; there are eight Beatitudes defining the Kingdom of Heaven; Sunday is the eighth day, and so on. Saint Charles Borromeo, in his Pastoral Instructions, states that the octagon is the most suitable shape for the baptistery because it constitutes the mysterious emblem of perfection and eternal life. The holy Bishop of Milan echoed his illustrious predecessor, Saint Ambrose, who declared in a sermon: "The eighth is perfection" (Octava perfectio est, Com. of the Mart., Les. 3. Noct.). All the Fathers of the Church profess the same doctrine. The number seven is the number of the world (the seven days of Genesis), symbolizing the perfection of the world. Eight — 7 + 1 — is the transition to a new series, to a new world, and a return to the original unity. Thus, after the seven planetary heavens, one

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reaches the Empyrean or the 8th heaven, a symbol of eternity. Dante's ascent in Paradise unfolds according to this scheme. The seven colors resolve and return to the eighth, which is also their unity and their principle: White (note that the newly baptized wear white garments). For a long time, the eight-pointed star or compass rose has symbolized the Spirit blowing over the original waters. It is the Stella Maris, the star of the sea, the sign of the Spirit over the Waters, whose animal form is the octopod medusa. Now, in early Christianity, this medusa is taken as a symbol of the soul regenerated by the waters of baptism, and consequently, in a lower order, of the holy water font. With the large shells from which holy water fonts are often made, we do not abandon the aquatic symbolism that is closely tied to the entire idea of purification and rebirth. Similar to the egg, which we will study later, the shell is a universal sacred symbol, both a ritual tool and an ornamental motif. The shell, even more than the basin, reminds us of the womb, and above all, the universal womb, which is the container of the original waters and the germs of beings. It evokes, in a surprising way, the dark abyss of creative energy. This explains why it became the emblem of the second birth. The shell has remained to this day a living baptismal symbol: the utensil used to extract holy water and pour it on the forehead of the baptist is often made of a metallic shell. Like the egg, the shell serves as a funerary ornament, and like it, it heralds the afterlife and resurrection. All of this symbolism explains its use as a holy water font, giving it a distinctly baptismal character. The significance of the shell is defined by that of the spiral and the pearl. Indeed, the shell is defined by the spiral, another emblem of universal life. It has been demonstrated that the movement of vital growth is related, in one way or another, to a spiral-like motion. The spirals of life, moreover, develop according to mathematical laws regulated by the "golden ratio," which bestows upon them their harmony and serves as the signature of the Divine Geometer. Hence, the immense importance of the spiral in sacred architecture. Regarding the pearl, it is considered to be produced by the lightning that penetrates the oyster; the pearl is, in a certain way, the fruit of the union of Water and Fire. According to Saint Ephraim the Syrian, the shell and the pearl evoke, respectively, the baptism of water and the baptism of fire, the birth of Christ in the soul through the baptism of fire. Saint Macarius speaks of the "celestial pearl," an image of the ineffable Light that is the Lord. Those who possess and use the pearl live and reign with Christ in eternity. The mystery of

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baptism is assimilated to that of the pearl: "The diver extracts the pearl from the sea. Plunge (through baptism), extract from the water the purity hidden within it, just as the pearl from which the crown of Divinity emerged." The reflections of these holy writers reveal to us, as we mentioned earlier, that the watery symbolism of the holy water font and the baptistery, as well as the solar symbolism of the temple in general, are closely related and explicitly converge here in the context of the two baptisms. We will emphasize, at the end of this book, the rich liturgical theme of the baptismal water illuminated by the Christ-Sun. In this way, the sign of the cross made with water is a rite of purification and sanctification: before crossing the threshold of God's house, the believer must separate themselves from the profane world and assume a sacred character in harmony with the place they are entering. This gesture reenacts, to some extent, the seal of baptism that makes a person a “son of God.” The form of the holy water font, like that of fountains, underscores the effectiveness of the rite: whether a basin or a shell, it evokes the “womb of generation” (this is how Dionysius the Areopagite refers to the Sacrament of Baptism) and the source of life that nourishes us spiritually. This source of life, fons vitae, is the one that flowed in the midst of Eden, from the temple of Jerusalem, in the visions of Ezekiel (13:1) and Zechariah (13:1); the one that was seen to emerge from the Sublime Temple, from the divine body, at Golgotha (John 19:34); this source of water and blood — that is, of fire — gives us eternal life and transforms us into a spiritual source for the world. "Whoever is thirsty, come to Me and drink, and from their heart will flow rivers of living water" (John, 7, 37-38).

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Trèves (Maine-et-Loire) Holy water font

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Poitiers (Vienna) Baptistry of Saint John

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CHAPTER X THE DOOR

Modern men have to relearn the deep value of gestures, says Romano Guardini in his precious little book about Sacred Signs. The sign of the cross made with holy water often becomes, in most cases, a mechanical gesture. And perhaps even more mechanical is the act of "entering the church." However, "crossing the threshold," "passing through the door," these seemingly insignificant gestures, how much they contain within them to arouse our attention! There is a mystery of "passage"! Hence the existence, in traditional societies, of all kinds of "rites of passage" and, above all, hospitality rituals. Crossing a door to enter, even in the humblest dwelling, is something grave and solemn, which naturally becomes a ritual. The sacredness of the passage and the door takes on its full value when it comes to the temple, which is why "threshold guardians" were placed at the entrance of sacred buildings – statues of archers, dragons, lions, or sphinxes, semi-divine, and even divine characters like Janus in Roman mythology, the god of the door — janua — and the first month of the year, the one who "opens" the year — Januarius. These threshold guardians had the mission of reminding those who were about to enter of the formidable nature of the act they were preparing to carry out when entering the sacred domain. An inscription on the door of the Mozat church warns, "You who enter, turn your gaze to the heavens." In the sacred fence that separates the holy place from the profane world, there is a void, a gap, which is something prodigious: through it, one transitions from one world to another. A fact verified by all who have visited Romanesque and Gothic churches is the

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enormous importance attributed to the decoration of the doors and, above all, the main portal. This is easily explained when we observe that the different ornamental motifs, meticulously arranged, aim to enhance and elucidate the fundamental symbolism of the door. Furthermore, it should be noted that this symbolism even exists in the most austere door, so everything we are about to explain applies to any church door. If the temple is an image of the world, on the other hand, it can be considered an open door to the Beyond, according to the word of Scripture applied to it by sacred liturgy: "How venerable is this place! It is none other than the House of God, and this is the gate of Heaven" (Gen. 28, 17). Now, it has been shown that the very door is a summary of the entire temple. In fact, it presents itself as a rectangular base niche topped by an arch, either round or pointed, that is, it simply repeats the choir of the church, which is also a large niche derived from the sacred cave of origins — a symbol, in turn, of the cosmic Cave — of which we find ever-living forms in the sacred niches of India or Islam (the mihrab of mosques). The sanctuary of the Byzantine and Roman church indeed has the appearance of a sacred cave, with its vault in which Christ Pantocrator presides, as in the tympanum of the portal. It is worth noting, on the other hand, that the outlines of the niche and the door reproduce the very plan of the entire building: the rounded part — like the vault and the dome — represents the sky; the rectangle — like the nave — the earth. The door is, therefore, in its turn, a cosmic symbol. But it is equally a mystical symbol. Since the temple represents the Body of Christ, the door, which is its essence, must also represent Christ. In fact, He Himself said it very clearly: “I am the door through which the sheep enter... I am the door. If anyone enters through me, they will be saved” (John, 10, 1-9). The church door effectively becomes this mystical and Christic door through the consecration rite, during which the prelate anoints each of the thresholds with holy chrism, saying: “Blessed and consecrated be this door, may it be an entrance of salvation and peace; may it be a door of peace through the intercession of Him who called Himself 'the Door,' Our Lord Jesus Christ.”

(¹): T. Burckhardt, Je suis la porte (see bibliography), in which we are primarily inspired in this current chapter.

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Being the Christian temple equally the image of the celestial Jerusalem, that is to say, of the renewed and transfigured world, of the rediscovered Paradise, it is through the Christ-Door that one enters it. All the ornamentation of the portals develops these two symbolisms — cosmic and mystical — which support and complement each other. It entails fundamental elements that are almost constant. The tympanum is occupied by the figure of Christ in majesty or glorious Christ, with the scene typically representing the Last Judgment or the vision of the open heaven according to the Apocalypse, and sometimes the Ascension or the Transfiguration. In all cases, it is a glorious Christ, the figure of the Pantocrator, the Lord of the Universe. He appears in a glory in the form of an almond, seated on the throne, with one hand raised and the other holding the book of Life, surrounded by four animals. Flanking him, you can see the twelve Apostles and sometimes the twenty-four elders from the Apocalypse or angelic choirs. In this tympanum scene, or around it, you can also observe the two Saint Johns, Saint Michael, the episode of the wise and foolish virgins. The archivolts surrounding the tympanum often feature a decorative vegetal frieze, usually of vines. Another ornamental element is the Zodiac with the corresponding labors for each sign, thus for each month; it is placed either in the archivolt, bending around the vegetal frieze as in Autun and Vézelay, or in two vertical bands, on the right and left, at the door's thresholds. The representation of the Zodiac takes on particular importance. It materializes the celestial cycle, the movement of the heavens, in other words, the activity of the Word in the world. While the Eternal Word, the second person of the Trinity, who is the Lord Himself, occupies the immovable throne at the center of everything and holds the Book of the Law or supernatural Revelation, the cosmic Word, the creator, always in activity, carries out a natural Revelation that is nothing but the world itself. The world is a cyclical revelation of God in time and space. The heavens symbolize the movement of life, a circular motion around the divine Sun, like the planets and the signs revolving around the visible Sun. The Zodiac circle is divided into four parts, according to the axes that pass through the equinoxes and the solstices. The latter are used to determine the seasons of the year. Now, the equinoxes and the solstices have been named "celestial gates" because they are the points of transition from one season to another, that is, from one "determination" of time to another. The two

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solstices somewhat constitute the two poles of the annual cycle, and thus the temporal world, in relation to space, since there is a correspondence between the four moments of the year and the four cardinal directions: the North corresponds to the Winter solstice, the South to the Summer solstice, the East to the Spring equinox, and the West to the Autumn equinox. These relationships between the seasons and the cardinal points, between time and space, define the two essential characteristics of the physical world and existence. Their relationship with the door is evident. The main door of the temple is considered a synthesis of the heavenly gates and, above all, the solstitial gates, which are the cosmic image of the Gate of Heaven, which is none other than Christ Himself. We have seen before, in reference to the bell towers, how this synthesis can be conceived from solar indices. When on the right and left sides of the door, the Zodiac is generally arranged to make evident the division of the annual cycle into its two halves: one ascending, from the Winter Solstice to the Summer Solstice, and the other descending, from the Summer Solstice to the Winter Solstice. These two solstices, the "turning points" of the Sun, correspond to the temporal aspect of the Revelation of Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, whose two ends are marked by the Precursor, who announces His birth, and the Beloved Apostle, who evokes His glorious return in the Apocalypse. This is why you often see Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist depicted around Christ in the tympanum, on the thresholds; their feasts are precisely situated on the two solstices, December 27th and June 24th. Just as they "open" the two periods of history marked by the two advents of the Savior, in the cosmic plan, they "open" the two phases of the annual cycle, a reduced symbol of the universal cycle of time and history; and in this function, they replaced, as it were, the two-faced Janus, whose festival the 'Collegia fabrorum,' the predecessors of cathedral builders, celebrated on the two solstices(²). An interesting stained glass window in Reims (Saint-Rémy church) shows a Saint John who could be called "synthetic," including in a single figure both the Precursor and the Evangelist, emphasized by the presence of two sunflowers facing in opposite directions above his head (the two solstices); in short, a kind of Christian Janus. This division of the annual (²): In the old operational galleries, called "Galleries of Saint John," these were precisely the two solemnities. Therefore, we find ourselves once again before an ancient Christianized heritage, which could be so because it represented an eternal value.

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cycle relates to the scene depicted in the tympanum of the Last Judgment, which concludes temporal history or Revelation; and there is an easily understandable correspondence between the two phases of the year and the distribution of people into the elect, who ascend to heaven, and the condemned, who descend to hell. This symbolism of the temporal cycle is also expressed in the number of the twelve Apostles, related, as we will see many times, to the twelve signs of the Zodiac grouped around the Christ-Sun; in the scene of the wise and foolish virgins whom Christ awaits at the threshold of the door; finally, in the vision of the glorious Christ who, after history is finished, shines forth in the timeless city of Heaven. If we now consider not just the main portal, but the set of doors of the church, we will notice that these also divide themselves according to the four cardinal points, thus in accordance with the axes of the solstices and equinoxes. In principle, there are three doors on each side of the church, that is, twelve in total, in the image of the celestial Jerusalem. In practice, there are only three doors — and even then, only in large buildings — on the west, north, and south facades. To the east, the doors are replaced by other openings: the wide stained glass windows of the apse that receive the rising Sun and are thus admirable "solar doors." Each of the twelve openings corresponds to a sign of the Zodiac, and each group of three to a season. In each group, the central opening, the main one, corresponds precisely to the cardinal axes. The twelve, the zodiacal number, is still found in the twelve traditional columns of the ship, marked at the time of consecration by twelve crosses representing the Apostles, the spiritual pillars of the Church. But, as we have seen, like the twelve tribes, the twelve Apostles are related to the twelve signs of the Zodiac: just as these surround the Sun, the Apostles encircle the Christ-Sun, the King of the world. These observations can give us an idea of how periods of high intellectualism took care to make sensitive the harmony that exists between the sensory world and the spiritual world. But that's not all. We spoke of a vegetal frieze, generally the vine, carved in the archivolt or on the thresholds, parallel to what happens in the representation of the Zodiac. However, it always occupies an "inner" position, at the bottom of the niche openings, while the Zodiac is situated on its "outer" edge. This frieze is nothing but a stylization of the Tree of the World, an ancient symbol

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of Humanity, just like the niche, which sometimes lines its interior(³). In the Christian temple, this tree is a vine because Christ assimilated himself to it: "I am the true vine" (John, 15, 1 and following). Another fortunate coincidence between eternal sacred symbolism and specifically Christian symbolism. Another ornamental motif: the wheel. In the oldest monuments and up to the Carolingian period, this wheel was a cross within a circle or, in most cases, the monogram of Christ equally inscribed in a circle:

This symbol is analogous to the cosmic wheel, which is nothing but the diagram of the world itself, conceived in its cyclical motion. The six directions marked by the legs of the X and P letters, deliberately merged, correspond to those determined by the two cardinal axes and the polar axis projected onto a plane. Furthermore, there are widely referenced monograms without the curve of the P that thus reveal directly their cosmological character(⁴). And it is immediately understood that this figure reproduces, in flat geometry, the massive cross we spoke of in relation to Clement of Alexandria's text(⁵). Once again, the two symbols, cosmic and theological, adapt perfectly to each other. This figure is the abstract image of the divine Word in its dual aspect of cosmic Word and natural Revelation and incarnate Word, bearing the name of Christ, magnificently expressed by the letters that merge with the diagram of Space-Time. This symbol, engraved on the lintel of the very sober doors of Carolingian churches, explicitly represented the assimilation of the Door to

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Christ. Now, it was this assimilation, in combination with the eastern oculus, that gave rise to the rose window, whose character as a cosmic wheel is attested by the fact that it often has twelve rays and the signs of the Zodiac or the twelve apostles are depicted in medallions around it, while the center, the immovable cube, is occupied by the glorious Christ. In the form of the rose window, the cosmic wheel moved from the lintel to the upper part of the door. In a final phase, in the Gothic period, the three doors with the rose window were surmounted by a large band that, as Harnann McLean showed, was inspired by Roman triumphal arches, which also had three openings(⁶). These buildings, as is known, had a sacred value and were 'gates of the sun'. The particular beauty of the triumphal arch is due to the fact that it is a pure gateway, a gateway that opens into emptiness, but this emptiness is actually the very world and all the space of the sky. One cannot conceive a more fitting symbol of the "heavenly gate." When the rose window was placed in the middle, the grand portal, transformed into a triumphal arch, became an even more astonishing image of the janua caeli where the divine Sun shines. To conclude, we will refer to another reason whose importance and frequency everyone knows: it is the Tetramorph. This term is used to refer to the "Four mysterious animals" that surround the glorious Christ. The term "animal" is, in fact, very poorly chosen in this case. It translates too literally from the Latin 'animalia,' which has a broader sense than the word "animal" and refers to any "animated being." It would be preferable to say the "Four beings" because, while three of them — the eagle, the bull, and the lion — are indeed "animals," the fourth is a man. These four figures that surround the Son of Man are a plastic transposition of the vision of Ezekiel (1:5-14) and of Saint John: "Before the Throne, there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center, around the Throne, were four living creatures, covered with eyes in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle" (Revelation 4:6-8). These figures are commonly considered symbols of the evangelists, which is true. But it is not unnecessary, to fully grasp their value, to know that they have another meaning. They are the four

(⁴): There are beautiful specimens at the Vienna Museum (Isere). (⁵): See Chapter V, Ritual Orientation. (⁶): Cahiers de Civilisation (University of Poitiers). April-June 1958, pp. 157-175.

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"cherubim" who form the living and square Chariot (merkabah) in which the Eternal appears to Ezekiel and the glorious Christ to Saint John. These four beings must be considered simultaneously in their cosmological — natural — and theological — supernatural sense(⁷). In the former, they represent the four "corners" or "pillars" of the world, that is, the four constituent elements of the physical world, or more precisely, the supernatural powers that govern these elements, powers that result from the creative Breath of the Word. They are also related to the four major constellations of the Zodiac, with man corresponding to Aquarius and sometimes the eagle being replaced by Scorpio(⁸). Jewish tradition associates each of these beings with the four letters of the great Divine Name YHWH: Y corresponds to man, H to the lion, W to the bull, and the second H to the eagle. The chariot symbolizes divine operations in the world; it is another expression of natural or cosmic Revelation, of the Will of the Word that acts in the sensible world as in the supernatural world: it constitutes and preserves all things. Since each being corresponds to a letter of the ineffable Name, this means, first, that the sensible world is an image of the spiritual world, revealed to those who know how to see it with the "eye of the heart"; then, that Jesus, being the Lord, is the fullness of all cosmic reality, the link and "recapitulation of everything" (Ephesians 1:10), the center and the passage from this world to the other. The four evangelists correspond, in supernatural Revelation, to these four "cosmic pillars"; they are also the pillars or angles of the Church (the four main ones among the twelve indicated behind). They are the earthly supports of the supernatural revelation of the Word through the Church, which is already the beginning of the regenerated future world. In some ancient cathedrals, you can see Christ represented in the center of the domes, supported by the Evangelists or their symbols placed in the "drums" at the four corners; sometimes, as in Hagia Sophia in Edessa, there were four cherubim; Saint Maximus the Confessor assimilates them to those of Moses' ark, which, according to him, represented "the form of the universe," that is, the four cosmic pillars. Once again, we observe the harmony that unites the cosmic and natural order with the spiritual order. (⁷): "The four animals are the ideal representation of all living creation," asserts Crampon (New Testament, page 311), though without fully grasping the extent of his statement. (⁸): Given the analogies that link the Zodiac to the tribes of Israel, it is interesting to know, through a verse from Pseudo-Jonathan, that the tribes grouped themselves in threes under the same emblem. There were thus four emblems that were precisely those of the Tetramorph: Issachar, Zebulun, Judah: LION; Reuben, Simeon, Gad: MAN; Ephraim, Manasseh, Benjamin: BULL; Dan, Asher, Naphtali: EAGLE.

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Therefore, the door of the temple is also, by its symbolism, a sacred place. Just as the sanctuary centered on the Altar Stone and the Cross, the portal, with its heavenly tympanum centered on the majestic Christ, is the site of a theophany, a manifestation of the Lord in His Glory. In His Glory: we consider it appropriate to emphasize this point because it provides us with the key to all this symbolism and allows us to derive a mystique of the door. The portal (particularly Romanesque) that is a representation in stone of the vision of the open sky, this "open door in heaven" seen by Saint John (Revelation 4:1), in our opinion, constitutes the most remarkable artistic expression of the very spirit of Christianity: the eschatological sense, the expectation of the Parousia, the Return of the Lord: a spiritual tension within the Body of the Church and, in the believer, an attempt to actualize within oneself the moment that will be the "fullness of time" and the "day of the Lord." This prodigious appearance, reproduced in stone, impresses the believer from their entrance into the temple and offers, in the form of a summary, the entire meaning of the world: something that both expresses and anticipates "He who was, who is, and who is to come," which is an invitation to "watch and pray," because "Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming" (Matthew 25:13). When crossing the church door, the believer should be aware that they are performing a sacred gesture, "passing from this world to the Father," as suggested by the beautiful prayer of William of Saint-Thierry: "O thou who said 'I am the Door,' show us the dwelling of which you are the Door, at what moment and to whom you open it. The House of which you are the Door is the Heaven in which your Father resides."

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Autun Portal of the basilica of Saint Lazarus in Autun In the tympanum, the Last Judgment; on the outer archivolt: the Zodiac and the labors of the months; on the inner archivolt: the vegetal frieze, a substitute for the cosmic tree

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Amiens Cathedral of Notre-Dame d’Amiens: Portal of the basilica of the Holy Saviour In the tympanum, the Last Judgment: in the archivolt, the Celestial Hierarchies; in the jamb, the 'Good God'

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Limoges Low relief of the central doors of the cathedral

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CHAPTER XI LABYRINTHS

The question of the labyrinths drawn on the ground of some churches may, at first glance, seem secondary and, as such, not deserving of examination in a work that, we repeat, aims to focus on the essential. However, if we approach it, it is not only to satisfy the just curiosity of art lovers who visit our ancient religious buildings but also, and above all, because the study of the nature and purpose of labyrinths is capable of shedding new light on the meaning of the temple itself.

The use of labyrinths appears to have been quite widespread, at least in some countries. In France, the labyrinths of Saint-Quentin, Amiens, Bayeux, Chartres, Poitiers, and Gingamp are still preserved, but there were many others, now disappeared, such as those in Arras, Auxerre, Reims, and Sens. They also exist in England, Germany, and Italy - in Pavia, Placenza, Cremona, Lucca, etc. Their origin undoubtedly dates back very far, as one was found among the remains of the ancient Christian basilica in Orleansville (Castellum Tingitanum). Their relationship, at least "literary," with the famous Cretan labyrinth is certain and supported by inscriptions and depictions, as we will see later. But we must go further and look in this direction for the historical origin of our labyrinths, taking into account, as Evans did, the possibility that the "basilical" type of buildings may have originated in Crete. This is only a hypothesis. Also, Autran's interesting observation on the distribution of labyrinths in European churches, which he believes coincides with that of

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megaliths, should be mentioned. Moreover, labyrinth engravings have been found on megalithic stones, such as the one in the Dublin Museum. Therefore, the hypothesis of transmission through megalithic civilization should not be excluded. However, we will not dwell on these historical considerations that do not directly fit our perspective and will immediately proceed to the study of labyrinths themselves. Some of them are located in the nave, in the transept crossing, but most are designed at the beginning of the nave and are presented to the believer as soon as they pass through the door. The labyrinth is composed of a series of concentric circles, and sometimes, as in Amiens, of concentric octagons, which mean the same thing, as previously mentioned. The center is clearly defined and sometimes occupied by a figurative scene or a geometric motif. Finally, this center is the point of intersection of two perpendicular axes, which draw a visible cross through the often very sinuous curves of the circle lines. What was the meaning and purpose of these figures? We clearly reject the thesis of those who see in them a purely ornamental and simple motif, for the reasons already stated regarding the bell towers. Furthermore, beyond these very general reasons, there is another, decidedly decisive, reason not to adhere to that false explanation: we know expressly that labyrinths were used for devotional exercises connected to certain indulgences. But before we examine what this actually entailed — which is the core of the issue — we will mention a first explanation for these mysterious designs. It was suggested that they were the collective signature of associations of masons, a fact all the more plausible since, in certain cases, such as in Amiens, for example, the master builder is represented in the central part. Additionally, the labyrinth is formed by a continuous line, which bears a resemblance to the "knot cord" or "love knots," well-known symbols of craft guilds that represent, among other things, the bond that unites the members of these organizations. However, asserting this role of "signature" for labyrinths only serves to obscure the true explanation, which is related to the very nature of the object and justified its adoption by trade guilds. A first approximation is provided to us by the known fact that labyrinths were used in antiquity to protect cities and homes from malevolent influences. In his book "Cumaean Gates" (1936), Knight demonstrated this fact, especially

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regarding archaic Greek houses in miniature models found in Corinth, on the exterior walls of which labyrinths are engraved (note in this regard that archaic Corinth may well have been influenced by the Mycenaean and, consequently, Cretan culture). This fact can be compared to the situation of labyrinths in England, which are small monuments erected outside and near churches. It is not to be excluded, therefore, the possibility that labyrinths served as a form of "exorcism" against malevolent powers. In a similar vein, during the Middle Ages, city moats and walls were ritually consecrated against the assaults of demons, disease, and death. In this case, their placement near the temple door would be fully justified. However, this apotropaic function has not been proven in regard to the French cathedrals, and in any case, it is not essential. Its purpose was, above all, of a spiritual nature, a fact that was demonstrated both by tradition and by the structure of the labyrinths themselves, as we have previously mentioned. If, in this structure, we consider the circles with their curves and the axes that overlap them, we will be impressed by the similarity of the figure to the spider's web, which is the natural model of weaving. The four arms of the cross make up the warp of the fabric, while the weft is represented by the concentric lines and their curves. In universal symbolism, weaving represents the world, existence, sometimes conceived as the construction of the cosmic Spider, an image of the supreme Artisan. In this aspect, what stands out in the labyrinth is the complexity of the pattern, the difficulty of navigating its curves, and the figure represents human existence, life with all its vicissitudes, consequences of the human condition and immersion in the world. Entering the labyrinth is birth, and the exit is death. In this regard, we read in a hermetic manuscript from the Middle Ages, preserved in Saint Mark's: “As you see these thousand spirals, from the inside out, these spherical arches that bend in on themselves here and there, you recognize the cyclical course of life, which thus reveals to you its sliding angles and winding paths! It develops concentrically and subtly rolls up in composite spirals, just as in its undulation, the Serpent of Evil crawls and slides, alternately in the light of day and in secret…”(¹). Left to himself, man is unable to recognize himself; he gets lost, like Dante in the “dark forest.” To find himself, he needs the “Ariadne's thread,” which corresponds to the concentric curves themselves, whose overlap is only apparent because they are actually made up (¹): Published in Cahiers du sud, 8-9, 1939.

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of a continuous line, the “thread of existence.” In Christian language, the “thread” that allows man to “find himself” is divine Grace. It is daring to see an interpretation in this sense of the myth of Theseus in the inscription engraved in the labyrinth of the Cathedral of Luca: “Behold the Cretan labyrinth built by Daedalus, from which no one, after entering, can exit except Theseus, graciously aided by Ariadne's thread…” Theseus gratis Adriane(sic) stamine jutus. It is important to pay particular attention to the word 'gratis,' the same as 'gratia,' Grace. Ariadne is the divine grace that helps Theseus in his struggle against the monster, in other words, the man who combats evil. This allegorical exegesis in the Christian sense of an ancient myth is entirely in line with the thinking of the early centuries and the Middle Ages. In the center of the Chartres labyrinth, the scene of Theseus' battle was also represented, confirming the exegesis we propose. We have just referred to the center of the figure, which leads us to the second way of conceiving it. We do not consider the curves and their disorder, but rather the four rays or axes whose intersection passes through the center of the figure. Now, let us observe that we are faced with a diagram analogous to the one that governs the foundation of the temple: a cross in a circle. Furthermore, the existence of square labyrinths like the one in Orléansville reveals that we are in the same symbolic domain of the circle and its squaring. Thus, the labyrinth presents itself to us clearly as a cosmic symbol, a microcosm, an "image of the world," in which the cardinal cross, emanating from the center, organizes the, at least apparent, "chaos" of the curves(²). Therefore, what matters in the figure is the center, which is identified with the Center of the World and towards which the lines converge. It was for this reason that, in the Middle Ages, labyrinths were called "paths to Jerusalem," with the holy city necessarily situated, as we have seen, at the center of the world. In certain cases, the labyrinth's journey served as a substitute for the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, a practice that was linked to indulgences, proof of its seriousness. It was ultimately what is called the "journey to the center" or, if you prefer, the "spiritual orientation" of the self; of which pilgrimage is nothing more than an external aspect. Pilgrimage, as an organized march to a consecrated center, is a triumph over space and time since its objective is ritually identified with the Supreme Objective, with the (²): The Sainte Foy de Saveme church has a labyrinth in which the four rivers of Paradise are depicted at its angles.

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Supreme Center, which is none other than God, and to a lesser degree, the celestial Jerusalem and the Church. Thus, in the center of the Orléansville labyrinth, we find a "magic square" whose letters form the words: Sancta Ecclesia. You can find confirmation of what we assert in the conception and use of the Hindu mandala. The mandala is a diagram formed by concentric circles inscribed within a square and, in the Hindu tradition, explicitly represents an imago mundi. It serves in initiations: it is traced on the ground, and the neophyte successively traverses its different zones to reach the center. This journey to the center is, essentially, the same as the ascending procession of Hindu believers up the staircases that, on the flanks of the temple-mountain, lead them to the chapel at the top, situated on the vertical axis and identified with paradise. The mandala can be considered the flat projection of the spirals of the path on the temple's flanks, an image of the ascent of the cosmic mountain to paradise. The same applies precisely to the labyrinth: analogous to the crucicircular figure of foundation rites, it is, in the temple, like the essential diagram of the temple itself as an image of the cosmos and the spiritual Center. This can be understood as the importance and the resurgence of meaning that the wandering of the medieval believer takes on in this mystical perspective. This was not, as Cisternay somewhat casually remarked, a "point of distraction where those with nothing to do entertained themselves by wandering." The eminent dignity of this "pilgrimage," as indeed of any pilgrimage, lies in the fact that it symbolizes the true pilgrimage, the true "journey to the center," which is an "inner" journey in search of the Self. This Self is not identified with the body, the realm of sensations, nor with the soul, the realm of feelings, nor even with the mind, the realm of ideas and reason, but with the spirit or, to use traditional language, the heart. This spirit, this heart, is also called, depending on the spiritual schools, the "depth," the "inner castle," the "fine point," or the "summit of the soul." It is here that human essence resides, "the image of God in man," the center of one's being. And in all spiritual action, the sole purpose of life, the unum necessarium, is to "realize" this Self, that is, to become aware, with the grace of God, in a non-discursive but vital and ontological way, for only he is our true being; thus, all the layers of the individual merge into this living and luminous center, which is the "kingdom of God within us" and, by virtue of the analogy between the macrocosm and the human microcosm, is identified with the

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Center of the World. The person who, by the grace of God, has established themselves in this center, sees everything, the world and themselves, with the same eyes as God. In the effort, long and difficult, of concentration that one must exert upon oneself to operate this penetration into the center, the spirit needs to be supported by external aids that channel the sensitive and mental currents and bring them into the perspective of the objective, thus helping man find his own center. This is the function of images, regardless of their nature. Apart from holy icons, there have been abstract symbolic figures from the very beginning, geometric in nature, constructed in a way to highlight the central point they produce. It is reasonable to assume that the labyrinth is one of them. It undoubtedly falls into the category of yantras, a Hindu term that designates all figures used for meditation and concentration. As we have seen, the mandala is a ritual yantra. Now, the analogy between the mandala and the labyrinth is too evident not to naturally consider a similar use of the latter (³). Perhaps one can get an idea of what the labyrinth represented to the man of the Middle Ages through an example that has the double advantage of being current and very much alive and having developed, at least in part, in a Christian environment. Father Doumes published remarkable pages about the art of the Sré people, a highland people of Vietnam. Among all the themes he addresses, we will mention what he tells us about the decoration motifs of Sré basketry. The starting point of all works is a crossing of stems that draw a center called "nus" (heart) that multiplies and spreads in concentric squares to form the work. This "point" of basketry is called "guung nus," which means the "path of the heart." The initial square resembles construction lines and is the essential figure that captures the eye. Careful observation of this "guung nus" naturally leads the gaze to seek the heart and concentrate on it. A Christian Sré, committed to decorating a cross, placed a "nus" in the center and, in the four stems, a movement of rays that lead to the center, creating a true Sacred Heart. Another defined the "nus" as the primordial point from which (³): To more fully clarify the function of the labyrinth, it would be necessary to study, on one hand, the reason why it served to perform certain ritual dances, and on the other hand, to consider its place in the church, either in the middle of it — like the omphalos of the Byzantine church — or at the bottom of the nave, and the relationship of this place to different parts of the human body. However, these are complex questions that we cannot address here.

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everything emanates (the center of the world) and said that this leads the Christian to consider the Heart of Jesus as the model to follow, the "point" to continue weaving the community of men (L'Art Sacré, 1, 1955). This notion of center is absolutely crucial for spiritual work and, consequently, for the construction of objects that are, in a certain way, the "tools." We have seen that it presided over the foundation of the temple, a "tool for meditation," and we have just rediscovered it in the labyrinth. We will now see how the "path of the heart" organizes the inner structure of the temple around the Altar.

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Amiens The great labyrinth of the nave

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Labyrinth of the cathedral of Chartres

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CHAPTER XII THE ALTAR AND CHRIST

When, crossing the threshold, we enter the cathedrals or even the more modest churches of ancient times, we are as if fascinated and overwhelmed by that "sober intoxication" spoken of by the Cistercian mystics. The temple acts like a spell because we feel a harmonious soul pulsating within it, whose rhythm, coming to meet us, extends, surpasses, and elevates our own living rhythm and even the rhythm of the world in which it is immersed. This "magic" is due to the existence of a center from which lines radiate, giving rise, according to divine proportion, to expanding forms, surfaces, volumes, up to a wisely calculated limit that halts them, reflects them, and sends them back to the point of origin. And this dual flow constitutes, in a certain way, the subtle "breath" of this organism of stone, which expands outward to fill space, after which it concentrates at its origin, in its heart, which is pure interiority. The center from which everything radiates and to which everything converges is the Altar. The altar is the most sacred object in the temple, the reason for its existence, and its very essence, because in case of necessity, one can celebrate the divine liturgy outside a church, but it is absolutely impossible to do so without a stone altar. Introibo ad altare Dei… "I will go to the altar of God..." This verse from the psalmist that initiates the mass places us, from the beginning of the sacred function, before this prestigious object of worship. The altar is the table, the stone of sacrifice, a sacrifice that, for sinful humanity, is the only means of establishing contact with God. The altar is the place of this contact; through the altar, God comes to us, and we go to Him. It is the holiest object in the

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temple because it is greeted, kissed, and incensed. It is a gathering point, the center of the Christian assembly, and this external gathering corresponds to an internal gathering of souls and the soul itself, whose instrument is the very symbol of the stone(¹), one of the most profound symbols, like the tree, water, and fire, which touches and reaches something primordial within man.

The Christian altar is the successor and synthesis of the Hebrew altars, and its sublimity owes itself to its conformity with its celestial archetype, the Altar of the heavenly Jerusalem where lies the Lamb "immolated from the beginning of the world." There is a notable relationship, for example, between Moses' altar and ours. Moses built an altar near Sinai, sacrificed and divided the blood into two parts: one was offered to the Lord (precisely: poured on the altar representing Him) and the other to the people who were sprinkled with this blood. In this way, a covenant was sealed between the Lord and His people, the First Covenant (Exodus 24:4-8). Similarly, in the Christian altar, the blood of the New Covenant is poured, offered to the Lord, and then distributed to the people, sealing the reconciliation of the sinner with God. In the temple of Jerusalem, there were several altars. Between the courtyards and the "Holy Place”, there stood the actual altar, known as the altar of burnt offerings, where the daily lamb sacrifice took place. In the "Holy" place, with the seven-armed candlestick, were placed the altar of incense and the table of the showbread, which is also known as the offering bread (these twelve loaves were renewed every Saturday). Finally, in the "Holy of Holies," there wasn't an actual altar, but a particularly sacred stone, the Shethiyah, upon which the Ark was rested, and we will have the opportunity to discuss it in more detail. (¹): In fact, the altar is not just a table, but above all, a stone. The altar, in the strict sense, what is called a "fixed altar," is a unique natural stone placed on a stone base or at least on four stone legs. In wooden "altars," only the stone embedded in the center of this table deserves to be called an altar, which is properly a "movable altar."

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In the Christian temple, which replaces the one in Jerusalem, the high altar is the synthesis of these different altars. It is the altar of burnt offerings, where the "Lamb of God" is sacrificed, as well as the table of the bread of the Presence, that is, the Eucharistic bread. It is the altar of incense where incense is burned, as the Roman ritual clearly emphasizes. In fact, when a bishop consecrates the altar, incense is burned over the five vows engraved in the center and at the corners of the stone, while the antiphon is sung: "From the hand of the Angel, the smoke of the incense rose to the Lord." Finally, the high altar serves the function of the "shethiyah" stone that supported the Ark, in the sense that it supports the tabernacle. This latter word, which means "tent," referred among the Hebrews to the complex formed by the "Holy" and the "Holy of Holies." The current tabernacle can be considered, from this perspective, a reduction of the temple. But above all, it recalls, both in its small dimensions and its function, the Ark (ark: chest), which contained the Tablets of the Law, Aaron's Rod, and a portion of the Manna; there, among the Cherubim, the "Shekinah," the divine "Glory" or "Presence," manifested itself. And in the Christian tabernacle, the true Manna rests, the "living Bread come down from heaven." In some churches, you can see "glories" — a radiant triangle with the divine name, YHWH, in the center. This is a symbolic materialization of the "Shekinah." Finally, the small curtain placed in front of the tabernacle simultaneously recalls the desert tent and the veil that conceals the "Holy of Holies." If we insist a bit on this parallel between the Christian sanctuary and that of the Hebrews, it was primarily to once again respond to those who deny the existence of any such parallel and claim to demonstrate the absolute originality of the Christian sanctuary. On the other hand, it does not seem useless to us, in a time when this has been too often forgotten in favor of familiarity and even neglect, to recall the sacred and awe-inspiring character of the sanctuary and the altar where the Divinity truly presides "behind the veil." In the oratory of Germigny-des-Prés (9th century), a Byzantine mosaic representing the Ark of the Covenant with angels and the hand of God was embedded in the sanctuary vault. Above it, there is a Latin inscription that reads as follows: "Behold the Holy Oracle and the Cherubim, contemplate the splendor of the Ark of God, and in the face of this vision, think of reaching the Lord of thunder with your prayers."

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The great preface of the Roman Pontifical, chanted at the moment of consecration of the altar, ritually connects the Christian altar to all the Hebrew altars, to the altar of Moses, to that of Jacob, and to that of Abraham; or rather, it connects it to all the altars of humanity "ab origine mundi," from the altar of Melchizedek to that of Abel. We thus see from what venerable tradition the Christian altar inherits, through uninterrupted transmission. It is the entire religious history of the world that, so to speak, crystallizes within it. But still, the earthly altar owes its sublimity and sacred character to its conformity with its archetype, the heavenly altar. In fact, the altar in our temples is nothing but an earthly symbol of this heavenly archetype, just as earthly liturgy “imitates” the heavenly liturgy described in the Apocalypse. The “Sursum Corda” is an invitation to contemplate the eternal archetype of visible liturgy. “Since it is the signs of heavenly realities that it figuratively fulfills, it is imperative that this sacrifice also be its manifestation,” says Theodore of Mopsuestia regarding the Eucharistic sacrifice. “And the pontiff creates a kind of image of the liturgy that takes place in heaven.” The celebrant, therefore, reproduces the service performed by Christ the Pontiff, who enters, clothed in His own Blood, into the Tabernacle not made by human hands. “We beseech you, Almighty God, to carry these offerings by the hand of your holy Angel to your sublime Altar, in the presence of your divine Majesty…” says the priest in the Canon of the Roman Mass. And in the introit of the Syrian Mass: “Most Holy Trinity, receive from my sinful hands this sacrifice that I offer on the heavenly altar of the Word.”

Certainly, up to this point, we have somewhat limited ourselves to describing the altar from the outside. To fully grasp its meaning, we must take a step further and try to capture its symbolism from the inside. The key point from which we should begin is Jacob's anointing of the stone at Bethel (Gen. 28, 11-19). On his way to Mesopotamia, Jacob takes a pause and falls asleep on the ground, using a stone as his pillow. During his slumber, he dreams of the heavens opening up and a ladder connecting earth to the sky,

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upon which angels ascend and descend; at the top, he encounters the Eternal. Upon awakening, Jacob exclaims, "This place is awe-inspiring, it is the House of God (Bethel) and the gateway to heaven!" He then pours oil on the stone, creating an altar to commemorate his vision. In the consecration ritual, the pontiff repeats the gesture of the Patriarch, pouring the holy oils onto the stone. The antiphon "Jacob made an altar of the stone, pouring oil upon it" is sung, and then the following prayer is said: "May your Holy Spirit, Lord, descend upon this altar, to sanctify our offerings here..." Thus, the altar stone is ritually assimilated to Jacob's stone. The importance attributed to Jacob's Stone in Christianity, and naturally in Judaism, is not unfamiliar to Islamic tradition either. It is claimed that this stone was transported to the Temple in Jerusalem and can still be seen today in the Mosque of Omar, built on the site of the Temple. It is venerated with the name "al-sakhra" (rock) and is pierced by a circular hole that is said to provide access to a cistern that Muslims call "bir-el-arwah" (well of souls) because, according to them, the souls of believers gather there twice a week to pray to God. In a travel account, Jamal-ed-Din reported seeing Christian priests placing small amphorae of wine next to this stone. The exact meaning of this passage is not known, but it raises the question of whether this wine was intended for the Holy Sacrifice, and if the priests had the opportunity to celebrate Mass at the site. In any case, this fact seems to indicate that Christians revered this rock as sacred. In fact, it was on the Rock of Orna that the Angel of the Lord appeared to David, and it was the holy king's choice for the installation of the altar in front of the Tent of the Covenant. Solomon erected the altar of burnt offerings there, and it is believed that the latter was situated right above the top of the rock(²). If Jacob's stone is surrounded by such veneration, it is because it holds a great mystery, which consists in the fact that it is situated at the "center of the world." The notion of the "center of the world" is, as we have seen, at the foundation of architectural symbolism, also governing the symbolism of the cross. This "center of the world" is not a geographical center in the modern scientific sense, but a symbolic center (which does not mean imaginary, quite the opposite), based on geometric symbolism. Since the Universe is (²): See Ch. Ladit, La mosqueè sur le roc, 1966.

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represented by a sphere or a circle, and the center is the most precious point because it is the origin of the entire figure, in the spiritual sense, it symbolically resides at the "center of the world" and the "axis of the world." Any sacred object or place that allows contact with the spiritual Center, that is, God Himself, who is the center, the origin, and the end of the entire sphere of creation, is located at this point. The Jacob's altar is located at the "center of the world," as the sacred text suggests when it speaks of the "ladder of angels." This ladder represents the "axis of the world," whose lower part rests on the earth and whose top constitutes the "gate to heaven." It is the natural path of angels as "messengers" from Heaven to Earth and as executors of the heavenly Will. The altar materializes the point of intersection of the axis with the Earth's surface. So, through the consecration rite, the Christian altar becomes, like Jacob's, the “center of the world” and is positioned on the axis between earth and heaven, making it suitable to become the site of a theophany, a divine manifestation, the point at which the celestial world connects with the earthly world. It was this place that the Son of God chose to offer Himself for us, as it is written in the Psalms: “You have worked salvation in the midst of the earth” (Psalm 73). With this sacrifice, He restores the axial communication with God, opens the “gate of heaven,” and truly makes the temple a “bethel,” a “house of God.” If the rock of Orna with the great altar represented the "center of the world," there was, in the temple of Jerusalem, another stone that represented it even more distinctly: the shethiyah stone, located in the Holy of Holies, where the Ark rested. This stone also existed in Herod's temple, but the Ark had disappeared. The High Priest placed the censer on it as required by the ceremony. According to some, this stone might also be none other than Jacob's stone. This does not contradict the other tradition, which makes Jacob's stone the rock of Orna, except for those who view things only from a "historical" and "external" perspective. In reality, what we are about to mention demonstrates that both traditions express the same spiritual reality. The Hebrew tradition says that, during Creation, God cast a precious stone from His Throne into the abyss — one part sank into the abyss, while the other emerged from the chaos. This part formed a point, which began to expand, thus creating the expanse upon which the world was established. This

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is why this stone was called "shethiyah," meaning the cornerstone. This point, consisting of the stone, is the center of the great cosmic circle we referred to earlier. For this reason, the Holy of Holies in Jerusalem, and therefore the entire holy city, were situated at the "center of the world." It will not be useless, for the continuation of our analysis, to define right away the exact meaning that should be attributed to the usual denominations of cornerstone and keystone; which we have already discussed (Chapter VII), as the corresponding ideas to these expressions are not always very clear. Cornerstones are the cubic stones located at the four corners of the building; this name is usually given to the one placed in the northeast corner. The cornerstone or "shethiyah" stone is the one found at the center of the building's base. Finally, the keystone or "ridge stone," or even "top of the angle," is properly the one that, situated at the opposite end of the shethiyah stone on the same vertical axis, constitutes the vault's closure. However, these different designations are affected by confusions that date back a long way. Thus, cornerstones and corner or central stones are often confused, and very often the name of keystone is given to the first stone or cornerstone of the northeast corner, and even to the shethiyah stone. These confusions can be explained, and even justified, because all the stones in question actually depend on the keystone, which is like their essence and, in any case, the "principle" of the building, a "logical" principle, clear, and not "chronological," because, chronologically speaking, on the contrary, the keystone is the "last stone." The shethiyah stone is like the horizontal projection of the keystone on the base plane, and the stones at the four corners also reflect it, although in a less direct way, and, on the other hand, these four stones can very well be called cornerstones because they precisely constitute the corners of the square base and, at these points, perform the same function as the top stone, which consists of joining and welding two walls or two arch supports. Simply put, these stones, like the shethiyah, are cubic, while the keystone or ridge stone has a special and unique shape, so it cannot find its place during construction, which is why “The builders rejected it.” Only the builders who have gone from the “square to the compass,” that is, from the square to the circle, and thus, from the earth to heaven, the “spiritual” ones, understand its destiny. The location of the shethiyah stone corresponds to that of the altar. In circular churches, such as San Stefano Rotondo (Rome) or Neuvy-Saint-Sepulcre (France), this is rigorously exact. But ultimately, the same occurs in basilica or cruciform churches. The place of the altar is at the intersection of the transept

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or at the center of the sanctuary's semicircle. In the first case, the altar occupies the center of the great directing circle of the building; in the second, the center of a secondary directing circle, which is a "reflection" of the first. This center, marked by the altar, is the true center of the building, and the altar is clearly in the place of the shethiyah stone, the central point, the omphalos of the world. The basic structure of the building, consisting of the four cornerstones and the central stone, is recalled in the altar stone, in the five crosses engraved on it, one in each corner and another in the center: "The four crosses signify that Christ redeemed the four parts of the world," says Durand of Mende. "The cross in the middle of the altar signifies that the Savior completed our redemption in the center of the world, that is, in Jerusalem." The symbolism of this stone is complemented by that of the vault, dome, or lantern that "covers" the sanctuary. The vault, round, symbolizes the sky, and the square altar stone symbolizes the earth. The shethiyah stone (altar), below, corresponds, in the vault, to the cornerstone or keystone, the "top of the angle." Both parts are situated, as we mentioned, on the same vertical line, which is the "axial pillar," which is "Virtual" in the sense that it is not materialized (except in the case of the keystones and pendants, which constitute a rudimentary materialization). This does not prevent it from playing a primordial role because the entire building is organized around it. It represents the axis of the world. Finally, the baldachin repeats and encapsulates all of this symbolism. The baldachin is a piece of furniture consisting of a canopy supported by four columns, which, in principle, should cover the high altar. (Many churches still adhere to this baldachin rule.) The baldachin's design is a cube (the four columns) surmounted by a hemisphere, that is, the same design as the sanctuary, of all temples, and of the Universe (the sky above the earth). There was no better way to suggest that the altar is the center of the world.

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This architectural symbolism of the altar and sanctuary serves as both a covering and expression of a theological doctrine. As we have seen, Saint Maximus the Confessor develops the idea that the temple is an image of the Universe, of man, and of God. The "Holy of Holies" is its most noble part, and everything is summarized in the mystery of the altar. The latter is truly the center and "heart" of the building. Now, this mystery of the altar consists in the fact that the altar is Christ. In this regard, there is unanimous agreement among the Fathers. Saint Ignatius of Antioch wrote: "Hasten all of you to come together in the same temple of God, near the same altar, that is, in Jesus Christ." Cyril of Alexandria teaches that the stone altar mentioned in Exodus (20, 24) is Christ. For Saint Ambrose, it is the "image of the Body of Christ." According to Hesychius of Jerusalem, it is "the Body of the only Son, for this Body is truly called an altar."(³) This identification of the altar with Christ seems to be based on a passage from Scripture that says, referring to Christ: "We have an altar"(⁴) (Hebrews 13:10), which should be compared with the famous verses from the First Epistle to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 10:4): "Our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ (petra erat Christus)." This statement by Saint Paul is in line with the most authentic Hebrew tradition. The Lord had long been assimilated with the stone and the rock, and it was from Him that the Israelites claimed to originate. "You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth" (Deuteronomy 32:18). "Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug" (Isaiah 51:1). This symbolism of the stone is also related to the Messiah. The text from Isaiah, "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame" (Isaiah 28:16), is applied to the Messiah by Saint Peter (1 Peter 2:5-6) and Saint Paul (Romans 9:33), in accordance with the interpretation of the rabbis, such as Rabbi Solomon Yarhi. The "spiritual rock" in the desert is the same stone, therefore the Messiah, as evidenced by the testimony of Philo: "Moses designates by this stone the (³): See the full citations, with references, in La Maison-Dieu n.° 29. (⁴): Compare the expression “heavenly altar of the Word” from the Syriac liturgy.

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Wisdom of God, which feeds, cares for, and tenderly raises those who aspire to incorruptible life. This stone, transformed into the mother of all men in this world, offers its children a food that it extracts from its own substance." And elsewhere, Philo defines that "this stone is the manna, that is, the Word, the logos, older than all beings." This doctrine is applied in Syriac liturgy. Before the consecration, the priest shakes the large veil over the offerings of bread and wine, saying: "You are the hard rock that split open to let twelve streams of water flow and gave drink to the twelve tribes of Israel." According to Rabbinic tradition, the rock in the desert, Jacob's stone, the shethiyah, and the cornerstone are one and the same reality that designates the divine Word, the Messiah. Jacob evokes in the book of Genesis (49:24) the assistance of the "Mighty One of Jacob, from whom comes the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel." Commenting on this passage, Rabbi Moses Nahmanides says that the "Shepherd, the Stone of Israel" is none other than the "original stone" of Zechariah (4:7), "which became the cornerstone by the Lord's will" (cf. 1 Peter 2:4-8; Acts 4:10-11). By anointing the stone with oil, Jacob truly made it an anointed one, that is, a Christ (that's the meaning of the Greek word 'christos,' corresponding to the Hebrew 'messiah'), which is why he says: "This stone shall be the house of God, Beth-el" (Genesis 28). Bethel, "house of God" or "temple of God," is precisely what Christ is. It's interesting, in this regard, to delve into the connections, as pointed out by Philo, between the stone, which is the Messiah, and bread or manna, symbolized by the assonance between Beth-El, "house of God," and Beth-Lehem, "house of bread," precisely where the Messiah is born, who will proclaim Himself as "the bread that came down from heaven." These assimilations of the Messiah to the different stones we talked about are perfectly justified because these stones can be considered, in various degrees, symbols of the divine Word. If Christ is the rock from which the water of immortality flows, it's because He is God and, as such, also the Center of the world, the universal Axis upon which Jacob's stone, the cornerstone, and the shethiyah stone (⁵) are situated. On the other hand, Rabbinic tradition affirms the identity of Jacob's stone and the foundation stone. According to the Midrash Yalkout, God "buried Jacob's stone deep into the abyss and made it the foundation of the earth. That's why it's called shethiyah." It was this stone (⁵): We can find a confirmation of this through gematria. The expression “eben shethiyah,” when the initial aleph is read as “in fullness” (111), gives the number 888, which is, as we have already seen, the number of the name ΙΗΣΟΥΣ (Jesus) in Greek.

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that, in the desert, according to the Talmud (Tractate Thaanita), the Midrash Yalkout, and Rabbi Solomon Yarhi, Moses' sister, Maria, gave to the Israelites. Finally, the stone of Jacob is, according to the rabbis, the same as the "stone cut out of the mountain" (Daniel 2:34-35), which designates the Messiah descending from heaven, and the "stone with seven eyes" spoken of by Zechariah (3:8; 4:10). Thus, by venerating the stone of Bethel or the shethiyah stone, it was mysteriously honoring the Messiah in the Holy of Holies in Jerusalem. There is, moreover, an interesting comparison to be made between Jacob's vision of the ladder that the angels ascend and descend on and these words of Christ: "You will see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man" (John 1:51). And in another place, He says: "I am the door (of heaven); if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved" (Ibid., 10:9). Of all these comparisons, we will focus for now on the comparison between the cornerstone and the capstone, which we briefly mentioned earlier. Let's now see how it becomes clear in light of the previous observations drawn from rabbinic teaching. Christ defined Himself as the cornerstone, but He is also the Foundation Stone or "shethiyah" (as mentioned above, Isaiah 28:16; 1 Peter 2:5-6 and Romans 9:33, confirmed by Rabbi Solomon Yarhi). "Christ is simultaneously the foundation because He governs us and the cornerstone because He unites us," says Saint Augustine. The foundation stone is, as we have seen, the "reflection" of the cornerstone on the earthly plane at the lower end of the vertical axis that connects them. Now, the "shethiyah" stone is often referred to in architectural traditions as the "stone fallen from heaven." The expression "stone fallen from heaven" applies perfectly to the Messiah, in reference to the "stone cut from the mountain" and, in parallel, to the "bread come down from heaven." This "stone fallen from heaven" is also called "lapis exilis" (exilis meaning "in exile") because it is, in a sense, "in exile" on Earth, but in the mystical traditions of architecture, it must "ascend" to heaven. Indeed, the stone that "ascends" is the cornerstone, the keystone. In summary, it can be said that the cornerstone represents the Eternal Word, residing in heaven, while the "shethiyah" stone represents Christ, the Word descended to Earth. This is in line with the traditional conception that sees the altar stone as a particular image of Christ's humanity (Durand of Mende). The axial pillar that connects the two Christic stones is the “via salutis”, "way of salvation," the path of salvation that leads to heaven. The keystone is the "gateway to heaven," "janua caeli," just like the top of Jacob's ladder. This axis is cosmologically the axis of the world and theologically the Way, namely Christ Himself, who said, "I am the Way."

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At first glance, it may seem surprising that Christ is represented by a stone. However, it is worth not forgetting that the stone has been a symbol of divinity in all countries and at all times. In Archaic Greece, according to the testimony of Pausanias, the gods were revered in the form of raw stones that were later carved and eventually became statues. In Delphi, the famous white stone, the navel of the earth, marked the religious center of the Hellenic peoples. The Aphrodite of Paros, the Zeus of Cassiopeia, the Hera of Argos, and the Artemis of Paros were initially stones worshipped as idols. But it was in Asia, in particular, that the cult of stones developed. The most famous sacred stone of antiquity, the black stone of Pessinus representing Cybele, the "mother of the gods," was brought from Phrygia, its place of origin, to Rome. Mithras, who is said to be "born from the stone," came from Iran. The renowned black stone embedded in the Kaaba in Mecca is an inheritance from the ancient pre-Islamic Arab cults because (and this is of particular interest to us) the cult of stones developed primarily among Semitic peoples, especially among the Canaanites, who were immediate neighbors of the Jews. In fact, the word "bethel," which is used to designate the sacred stone, originally comes from a Canaanite term. When the high priest pours oil onto the altar stone to consecrate it, he perpetuates an age-old ritual, of which Jacob's gesture is just one testimony among many. In Greece, they anointed the stones at crossroads, which in most cases represented the god Hermes; in Benares, the black stone idol of Krishna receives this anointment daily, and the ritual is witnessed hundreds of times in Canaanite territory, where, incidentally, the oil is mixed with blood. This anointment clearly constitutes a ritual of "animation" or "vivification," as the oil symbolizes the Spirit that penetrates matter. At the heart of the symbolism of the stone, there exists a primal intuition of the human soul. The stone astonishes with its power and hardness: we both admire and fear this mass and this strength. It also surprises with its permanence: it "exists" strongly and remains ever-present; there is something in it that surpasses the fragility of human life. Thus, although it represents the ultimate state of being, the lower limit of creation, the mineral is, nevertheless, in the world, due to an inverse analogy, very fitting to represent the divine Power and Eternity. On the other hand, the stone (and we think of the altar stone) due to its "anonymity" and the absence of any

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figurative element in it, is one of the most accurate signs of the informal character of God, the "aniconic" image of Divinity. It is the sobriety of such a symbol that constitutes its greatness and effectiveness. From the moment the stone acquired a superhuman character and was seen as the dwelling place of Divinity, it also inherited Its attributes. First and foremost, the creative power. Many traditions abound in which it is said that humans are born from the stone. Thus, for the Greeks, after the flood, the new human race emerged from the stones thrown to the ground by Deucalion. Mithra “was born from the rock.” As we saw earlier, this idea is not foreign to the Hebrews because the Lord is invoked by the name 'rock' that gave birth to the Israelites. Similarly, Christ was born in a cave carved into the mountain, in accordance with Daniel's prophecy that announced that the Messiah was the 'stone cut out from the mountain,' and He rose from a tomb carved in the rock. If the stone can create, a fortiori, it can fertilize. For this reason, one often finds fertility stones scattered all around: in Locronan, Brittany, sterile women go to sit on the "Stone Mare" or "Chair of Saint Romain" and pray to attain motherhood. The same custom exists in India. The stone possesses a generative, but also healing, virtue: near Mériadec and Saint-Anne d'Auray, peasants suffering from certain diseases lie down on a megalith that contains a huge cleft. The Church has "integrated" these customs almost always, and sometimes in a very characteristic manner: in Puy, the pre-Christian "fever stone," which serves the same function as the Breton megalith, is embedded in the grand staircase of the basilica, in front of the central portal. Placing it within this religious context, we better understand the conception of the "desert rock" and the altar stone that begets us for spiritual life, nourishes and quenches us, and is the source of all graces. It will be further defined through comparison with one of the latest avatars of the spiritual stone, the Grail, a Eucharistic symbol, as described in Wolfram von Eschenbach's novel. In this book, the Grail is presented as a stone that sustains the Templars, consumes and resurrects the phoenix, holds back old age, restores youth, and on Good Friday, a dove places a host upon it, conferring upon the Grail its virtue(⁶). (⁶): W. von Eschenbach, Parsifal, 469-470.

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This universal symbolism of the stone unfolds within the Judeo-Christian tradition as a special and more secret symbolism. In Hebrew, "stone" is called "aben" (pronounced eh-ben), which is also an intensified form of the word "ben," meaning "son." Both of these words come from a root that means to build, to create. Therefore, the term "stone," when viewed from the Hebrew perspective and through Hebrew, constitutes a cryptogram of Christ, expressing the mystery of His sonship. This way of thinking through cryptograms should naturally be compared to the applications of gematria in architecture that we mentioned earlier(⁷). We can now better assess the value and extraordinary role that the altar plays in the temple. If the stone temple is the image of the heavenly Jerusalem, of the Kingdom of Heaven, the true spiritual Temple formed by "living stones" united by the "cornerstone" that is Christ, then the universal Church is already, on earth, that Jerusalem, and the same can be said, to a lesser degree, of the assembly gathered in the visible temple for divine sacrifice. Now, the altar stone is the spiritual center of this assembly, as it is the ritual representation of Christ, invisible but truly present among the believers. Furthermore, if the altar is Christ and the Body of Christ, this latter expression must be understood in all its fullness: it equally designates the Mystical Body. Such is the meaning of the relics that are mandatory to be inserted into all altar stones. Regardless of the origin of this rite, what concerns us is the sense it embodies and that the consecration ritual signifies. This is based on a passage from the Apocalypse which states that the souls of the saints are placed on the altar of God and provides the following antiphon: "You have taken your place under the altar of God, O saints of God, intercede for us. The saints will rejoice in glory and exult in their dwellings..." (Rev. 6, 9). Origen comments on this passage as follows: "Blessed are these souls that Scripture shows us situated under the altar of God, and they were able to accompany Christ until they reached this altar on which the Lord Jesus Himself, the High Priest of future blessings, is found." Furthermore, one can also see in this rite an application of the Apostle's words: "Your life is now hidden with Christ (the Altar) in God" (Col. 3, 1). (⁷): Another confirmation through gematria is noted. The number for 'aben' (stone) and 'dabar' (Word), obtained by reduction, is the same: 8. This is a Christic number because, as we have seen, its triple repetition (888) represents the name ΙΗΣΟΥΣ.

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But tradition also internalizes the symbol of the altar, in accordance with its place in the temple. The altar is not only the Body of Christ, but even more intimately, His Heart. Its place corresponds to that of the wooden cross for the blessing of the first stone under the triumphal arch, at the intersection point of the transept and the nave's arms. "The heart is situated in the middle of the body, like the altar in the middle of the church" (Durand of Mende). Christ is assimilated to a center, a living heart, which infuses life through his blood to all members. The heart of Christ is the place of His infinite love, at the same time the ontological center of His Person and the entire Body. Nicolau Cabasilas also identifies the Heart with the altar: "It is from this blessed Heart that the virtue of the holy table draws true life in us... In accordance with the normal function of the heart and the head, we are moved and live, as Christ Himself lives... He communicates life to us as the heart or the head does to the members." Thus, the Altar unites the members of the mystical Body at its true center, the divine Heart, which is the Heart of the World. The altar represents in the microcosm of the temple this Heart of the world, which is the Heart of God, from where the Lord made His creative action felt in the six directions of space, as mentioned in the passage from Clement of Alexandria that we have already cited. For this reason, as we mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, the altar is the true center of the sacred building, the focal point from which all its architectural components must radiate. Once again, cosmic symbolism supports mystical symbolism. This central position of the altar in the very place of the heart equally determines its role in the spiritual life of the individual, as well as that of the community. The altar is assimilated to the heart of man: and it is on this altar of the heart that man must perform the great sanctifying sacrifice. "The altar is our heart, upon which we must offer," says Durand of Mende. He adds, "The altar is the figure of the mortification of the heart, in which all carnal movements are consumed by the fervor of the Spirit." This last passage alludes to the perpetual fire that, according to Leviticus, should burn on the altar (6, 9-12). In a commentary on that book, Procopius of Gaza (6th century) tells us that the holocaust is kindled in our hearts by the fire perpetually preserved, which is the fire that Christ brought to the earth. On the altar of the heart, the spiritual sacrifices his own self and, divinized, identifies with the Heart of Christ. He then establishes himself in the center of all worlds, is fixed

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in the center of Being, "preserving the Intellect immovable, like the axis of the heavens, gazing as a center into the abyss of the heart" ("Spiritual Centuries," in the Philokalia). It can also be affirmed, to return to the language of architectural symbolism, that, like builders who "move from the square to the compass," he has risen, following the "axial pillar," from the cornerstone to the keystone, that is, to the point from which the entire inner disposition of the building is "comprehended," and from which one truly sees the whole world with the eyes of God. "Just as at the center of the circle there exists that unique point where all the radii emanate, so in God, the one who has been deemed worthy to reach there knows, with a simple and conceptless knowledge, all the ideas of created things," says Saint Maximus the Confessor.

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Romanesque catharsis! Basillica of Saint-Benôit-sur-Loires

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CHAPTER XIII THE ALTAR: LIGHTS ON THE HOLY MOUNTAIN

Despite the paramount importance of what we have just recalled, if we were to limit ourselves to that, we would be left with an incomplete conception of the meaning of the altar. Although the stone has, in itself, all the mentioned value because 'Petra erat Christus,' this value is also highlighted by the mandatory presence of two other elements: the steps leading to the altar and the luminaries placed there.

The steps that, once again, are typically part of erecting an altar, also carry symbolism; they remind us that the altar rises on the "Sacred Mountain." This is an image of the world and paradise, and its meaning aligns with what we already know about the altar and reinforces it. We anticipate the easy objection from the enemies of symbolism: "There are steps, that is, a path, simply so that the altar thus erected is more visible to the attendees." This is an argument that reveals narrow-minded reasoning. The indisputable fact that the altar is situated at an elevated point to be more visible does not prevent what we assert from being rigorously accurate. Firstly, because every object, whether one desires it or not, is symbolic, because symbolism is inherent in the very nature of things, because there is, as mentioned, a "number of things," and furthermore, because this symbolism overlaps with, without suppressing, the utilitarian function of the object; secondly, because the liturgy, whose testimony no one can deny,

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expressly suggests that the altar is situated on Mount Zion, as the priest recites the psalm 'Judica me' near this same altar to which he will "ascend," a psalm that the Israelites sang when ascending Mount Zion to go to the Temple: "Send me Your Light and Your truth: they will guide me and lead me to Your mountain and Your tabernacle. And I will come to the Altar of the Lord..."; finally, and above all, because the altar, where the perpetual sacrifice of the Messiah is celebrated, is consequently erected on the new sacred mountain, Golgotha, where this sacrifice took place in historical form. And if this sacrifice took place in this location, it necessarily takes on a meaning linked to the spiritual significance of the mountain. The image of the Holy Mountain is constantly present in the Bible, especially in the Psalms, where it constitutes an essential element of the "landscape" of these inspired chants. However, it is not a specific image of the Judeo-Christian tradition. It appears repeatedly and belongs to the category of great universal sacred symbols that make up the natural and, at the same time, supernatural language of all sacred actions, of all liturgy. It is by no means diminishing Christianity to detect elements in it that do not exclusively belong to it, but to all religious forms; on the contrary, this is additional proof of its "catholic," that is, universal character, and a sign of its mission, which consists in gathering everything in Christ. The mountain, as a sacred "object," is found in all traditions. Through its mass and majesty, through its height, it imposes itself on humanity as a sign of divine power. Vertical, with its peak pointing towards the sky, it beckons one to climb towards God. The water that springs from it and, as it flows down the slope, forms the rivers, the condition of physical life, is the image of heavenly blessings. Reduced to its essence, the pyramid is a volume arranged around an axis, a volume that suffices on its own and thus offers a summary of the world. Rooted in the earth, resting on the ground, touching the sky to which it still mysteriously connects through lightning, it links the three "stages" of the world with its axis: hell, earth, heaven. This axis of the mountain is identified with the axis of the world, which we have already discussed in connection with the altar. This is how the various stories related to sacred mountains are explained, almost always identified with the earthly Paradise. In Iran, Mount Alborj marks the center of the world, around which the Sun and the planets revolve.

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It is from here that all of humanity emerged, where the source of life sprouted, forming a lake in the middle of which the Tree of Life stands, and its waters flow into four rivers towards the four regions of space. It is the paradise, the dwelling of Ahura Mazda. Mount Meru in India is the highest point on Earth, from which one can reach the sky. It is the center of everything and the North Pole, the fixed pole of the world. At Meru, as at Alborj, there is a lake where the water of life gathers, along with a garden of delights and the Tree of Bliss, the apple tree. In China, the sacred mountain is the Jade Mountain, where the peach tree of immortality grows. Among the Arabs, it is Mount Kaf, which is based on a stone made entirely of a single emerald and encircles the entire Earth. Similar traditions exist in Pamir, Mongolia, Mexico, etc. It should be noted that, in general, the Sacred Mountain is the one where, after the flood, the ark of salvation came to rest. Noah's ark, for example, stopped at the top of Mount Ararat, and it was from there that the re-creation of humanity began. Determining the axis of the world, a transcendent place where the earth meets the sky, the mountain plays a symbolic role analogous to that of the stone and the tree in religious rites. There is no doubt that it was primarily on the tops of mountains that temples, sacred places, and altars were constructed, in order to symbolically position them on the axis of the world, in the original paradise, in the place that escaped the flood. Where there were no mountains, artificial hills were raised or temples were built in the form of mountains. Thus, in Babylon, the ziggurat was a conical tower with seven stories representing the seven heavens, at the top of which the priest would ascend to perform the cult. Similarly, as we have seen, the Hindu temple is modeled after Mount Meru: the stairs allow one to ascend to the summit, and the faithful who use them perform a ritual ascent toward the sky, with the top being identified with the latter since the original paradise was situated at the top of the cosmic mountain. (¹): The word "altar" comes from "altare," whose root is "altus" (high), which roughly means "elevated place." (²): We find the same idea, with the emphasis placed on "morality," in Durand of Mende. According to him, the steps of the altar recall the fifteen steps leading to Solomon's Temple, which were ascended while singing the fifteen "steps" psalms. Both of these symbolize the fifteen virtues that lead to heaven. It is for this reason that the steps continue to be the steps of Jacob's ladder, which also led to heaven: "The steps clearly indicate the progress of virtues by which we ascend to the altar, that is, to Christ, in accordance with what the psalmist says: 'They go from strength to strength' (Psalm 84:7)." Certainly, it is due to the number of steps in the Hebrew temple that the number of steps on the altar must be odd. There are generally three steps, which are related to the triad that constitutes man: corpus, anima, spiritus — which does not deviate from the ascension symbolism because these three elements of the human microcosm correspond to the three cosmic "stages" - earth, air, firmament - which, in turn, correspond to the three "planes of existence": material, subtle, and spiritual.

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The symbolic value of the mountain or hill is such that its ritual use remains alive everywhere in Christian countries. There are no doubts that, whenever possible, churches are built on elevated points: Rocamadour, Mont Saint-Michel, Montmartre, etc. From this point of view, the most impressive holy city is certainly Le Puy with its sanctuaries built on heights, especially the extraordinary chapel of Saint-Michel-d'Aiguilhe, on top of a volcanic peak that points to the sky. In the Bible, there are numerous sacred mountains, as each stage of revelation had a mountain as its backdrop, from which God spoke to the prophet. There is Mount Sinai, where God gave the Law and where Moses saw the heavenly prototype of the Ark. Mount Carmel, where Elijah encountered the Eternal and which, in Carmelite spirituality, has remained to this day an inspiring image of the ascent of the soul to God. Mount Gerizim, the holy place of the Samaritans, where Jacob erected an altar (Genesis 33:20), where God desired His Name to be worshipped (Deuteronomy 12:5-12): they call it the "Mountain of Blessings" (ibid. 27:11-14), the "navel of the earth" (Judges 19:37), the "eternal hill," the "house of God" (Beth-El), and finally, the "primordial mountain" because, according to the Samaritans, it is where Eden was located. Mount Gerizim was not submerged by the flood: it is where Abraham is said to have met Melchizedek, according to the Samaritans, and offered the sacrifice of bread and wine, a foreshadowing of the Eucharist. Many pages would be needed to speak of Mount Zion - or rather, just to transcribe all the passages in which it is invoked: "Exalt the Lord our God and bow down at His Holy Mount" (Psalm 98); "For the Lord has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his dwelling place" (Psalm 132); "I lift up my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth" (Psalm 121). Mount Zion and the Holy City mark the center of the world. According to rabbinic tradition, the world was created as an embryo from the navel, which is Zion. It is said that the Mountain of Zion, which supports the City of the Great King, is situated "in the uttermost north" (Psalm 48; Isaiah 14:13), which means it represents the great cosmic mountain of origins, whose axis is the pole of the Universe. It was in Moriah, one of the parts of Mount Zion, that the temple was built. From Moriah, four sacred rivers were believed to flow, by underground communication, from the source of living water that gushed beneath the temple. One of them, flowing to the north, was called Gihon, the name of one of the four rivers of Eden. Thus, on Mount Zion, there was the configuration of the primordial Mountain that supported Paradise and its four rivers. Mount Zion continues to be, for today's Christians, a sacred mountain and a symbol of the coming paradise: "And it shall come to pass in the last days, that

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Up to this point, we have not abandoned the domain of architectural symbolism, as the sacred mountain is, just like the temple, an image of the world. When we approach the study of the luminaire, we will momentarily deviate from the path we have followed so far in our study, but only for a moment, as we will be led to consider how liturgy, which is essentially "luminous," is situated in the extension of architectural symbolism, which, moreover, is directly related to it. The altar is a cultic complex that inherited from archaic times some of the components of the natural, mineral, and vegetal sanctuary: the hill (the steps) with the tree, transformed, in our churches, into the tree of the cross, as we will see at the end of this book, and at the top of the hill, the offering stone (the altar) with the sacred fire, converted into our luminary. Fire plays, as is known, an important role in various rituals. Undoubtedly, in Christianity, it does not hold the same place as in ancient Judaism, for the simple reason that there is no longer a holocaust, that is, a victim to burn. But one should not think that it has disappeared. It is important to remember that, among the Hebrews, fire was not only used to burn the victims, as it was also used to consume incense, which also constitutes a sacrifice, and as the perpetual fire in the seven-branched menorah. Now, these last two applications were passed on to Christianity. Let us not forget, equally, that the rekindling of the fire is at the center of the Paschal ritual. The way it is, in this circumstance, produced and blessed, proves that it is a sacred fire, an image in the temple of the Celestial Fire. In principle, it is this sacred fire that should fuel the church's illumination throughout the year, through the oil lamp of the sanctuary. We remember that it used to be this way in our childhood. The parish priest would never dare to light the altar candles except with the sanctuary's oil lamp. But then, unfortunately, we changed all that! Nowadays, there is no hesitation in polluting the temple's atmosphere with the scent of profane lighters, and we can consider ourselves fortunate when the sanctuary's lamp is not electrified, along with the altar candles. These electric lamps and candles, whose use is becoming more widespread, these motionless, rigid, and lifeless simulacra, in our opinion — and we are not alone in this view — are one of the most characteristic signs that our time has completely lost the sense of the sacred. Setting aside other aspects of the sacred fire issue, we will only delve into the altar's luminary here, the six candles lit for the celebration of the solemn mass. The symbolism of this luminary, little known, opens surprising perspectives on the meaning of the divine liturgy.

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In general, it can be said that the altar candles join with the Paschal candle representing the "pillar of fire" and the risen Christ. In the Syrian Mass, two beautiful prayers recited while lighting the candles remind the faithful that Jesus is the true light: "By Your Light, we see the light, Jesus full of light. You are the true light that illuminates all creatures; enlighten us with Your beautiful light, O image of the heavenly Father." "O Pure and Holy One, who dwells in the realms of light, distance from us the evil passions and impure thoughts. Grant us to perform, with purity of heart, deeds of justice." But this general meaning of the candles themselves is doubled in another particular meaning that results from the number of candles used. It is in this latter point, by far the least known, that we would like to emphasize. To celebrate mass, normally six candles are required on the altar, three on each side of the Cross. Now, it is almost certain that these six candles should actually be seven because it is also certain that they recall the seven-armed candelabrum of the Israelites. Thus, in the past, in various churches in Vienna, Lyon, Rouen, there was a beam with seven candles running the entire width of the sanctuary, expressly intended to represent the Hebrew candelabrum. On the other hand, in the episcopal mass, there are seven candles on the altar. The cross is not placed in the middle of them but in front of the central candelabrum(³). With this established, it is by referring to the symbolism of the Israelite candelabrum that we can attempt to define that of our luminary. In the Temple of Jerusalem, the menorah — the designation for the candelabrum — was positioned to the left of the incense altar. It consisted of a central straight shaft and six arms curved in concentric semicircles. The seven arms connected to each other through interior channels filled with consecrated oil that fueled the lamps. Like the temple itself and the ark of the covenant, the menorah was crafted according to a celestial model revealed to Moses on the mountain (Numbers 8:4. Instructions regarding this object can be found in Exodus 25:34, 37:20-23, Leviticus 24:2-4, and 6:5-6). If the menorah passed from Jewish worship to Christian, it was because it also belongs to the New Testament. In fact, in the Apocalypse, Christ appears surrounded by seven candlesticks (Rev. 2, 1), an appearance that curiously resembles the one seen by the prophet Zechariah, which we will discuss further later. Thus, one understands the importance of this menorah, an object of meticulous prescriptions, linked to eschatological and messianic manifestations. (³): In the great church commissioned to be built by Saint Benedict of Ariane, there were seven candlesticks on the altar, which symbolized the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit (PL 103, 360-365).

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This importance is naturally due to the symbolic significance of the menorah, which should be studied closely. The number seven is, as is known, one of the most important sacred numbers. Think about the 7 days of Creation, the 7 ages of the world, the 7 Angels of Presence, the 7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit, the 7 virtues, the 7 sins, the 7 sacraments, the 7 Patriarchs, the 7 planets, the 7 metals, the 7 colors, the 7 notes of the musical scale, the 7 liberal arts, the 7 petitions of the Pater, and so on. The number seven, considered as 3 + 4, is the symbol of divine relations with Creation, with 3 representing the divine world and 4 representing the created world. Hence, the 7 days of Creation, expressing in time the relations between the created and the uncreated, of which the 7 planets are the expression in space. Furthermore, since each day of the week is related to a planet, the calculation of time according to the weekly rhythm is an affirmation in action of these relations. This particularly explains the role of the Sabbath, which we will discuss further. This is the cosmological or natural symbolism of the menorah. Philo, as recalled by Clement of Alexandria, asserts that the 7 branches of the menorah represent the planets, with the central one being the sun, which gives its light to all the others. However, Clement hastens to add that this middle branch is identified with Christ, who is the "Sun of Righteousness." In truth, once again, cosmic symbolism overlays theological symbolism. This last one is based on the mystical doctrine of the Sephiroth, particularly found in Saint John's teachings. The Sephiroth, which are aspects of divinity or its energies, numbering ten, are divided into two groups: the three upper Sephiroth are related to the divine nature itself, and the seven lower ones are the attributes of God, or the energies or powers that govern Creation. All objects and beings, numbering seven as mentioned earlier, in one way or another, at their respective levels, constitute expressions of these Powers. The lower Sephiroth are God's radiations, the influences He spreads throughout the universe, the lights through which the Unfathomable reveals itself, the tools by which the divine Architect built Creation and maintains its harmony. These Sephiroth are commonly referred to as "Voices," "Thunders," "Lanterns," and "Eyes," which allows us to understand the passage from the Apocalypse (5, 6) where it is said that the Lamb has seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God. These "eyes" are the same as the "seven burning lamps before the throne" (4, 5). Similarly, in the prophecy of Zechariah (3, 9), seven eyes are engraved on the mysterious stone we have already talked about, which designates the Messiah. In all of these cases, it concerns the seven lower Sephiroth or creative powers of God, and in particular, the divine Word. It is then easy to understand the profound significance of the luminary on the altar.

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The seven lights (often reduced to six, as the seventh merges with the central Crucifix) remind us of the seven spiritual lights that stand before the celestial throne of Christ. They represent the entire world and, more precisely, the world transfigured by the divine presence of Christ, whose seven powers are at work in it. This world, restored to its purity, exists only today within the sanctuary and thanks to the divine operation of the Mass: this spiritualized world that the lamps designate to our eyes is, ultimately, the Church and the mystical Body, the Church with the seven sacraments originating from the altar, the Stone with seven eyes that illuminates the faithful and unites them to make them the mystical Body, which is already "the new earth and the new heavens." The divine liturgy of the Mass fully embodies the meaning of Hebrew liturgy, especially that of the Feast of Tabernacles and the Sabbath. The Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) lasted for 7 days, dedicated to the 7 patriarchs, who "embody" the 7 sephiroth that oversee the harmony of the world. Similarly, the Sabbath liturgy, or the seventh day, celebrated the universal balance through the blessings that descended from the 7 sephiroth or spirits of God. The relationship between the altar lamp and the celestial candelabrum of the Apocalypse was sometimes emphasized in Roman churches by the paintings that adorned the vaults of the apse above the altar. This vault, an image of the celestial vault, regularly displayed the icon of the Pantocrator seated on the royal throne. Now, in certain cases, for example, in the crypt of Saint Stephen in Auxerre, the seven-armed celestial candelabrum is painted before the throne of Christ. Thus, through truly sacred art, it was suggested that the liturgical object, which through the altar reestablishes communication between earth and heaven, brings down upon the world, for its renewal, the grace and peace emanating from the Sevenfold Light.

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Structure that evokes the cosmic mountain Church of Vouvant (Vendée)

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Structure that evokes the cosmic mountain Church of Saint-Nectaire

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CHAPTER XIV SPACE AND TIME TEMPLE AND LITURGY

After walking the path that leads from the portal to the altar, the living center of the temple, we saw the lights that are the seven Spirits of God shining in it, facing the East, where the Sun of Righteousness rises. Thus, the journey of the believer who enters the sanctuary is a journey towards the light, towards the divine Sun. And the liturgy, to which the temple is ordained and which constitutes its reason for being, is also of a luminous and solar essence. Who can fail to perceive, after all that we have mentioned, that there exists in this relationship an intimate connection between divine worship and the place in which this worship unfolds, that the Christian church is, in its profound nature, a solar temple destined for an equally solar liturgy? It is above all in the great cathedrals of the 13th century that one can observe in all its splendor the luminous nature of the temple, which becomes palpable through the prodigious development of stained glass windows. Through these, sunlight touches and sings in a register of a thousand changing colors. The masterpiece of this kind is the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, where stone exhausts its possibilities, to the point that some have said of this monument that it is "the immaterial filled with light." The walls want to give the impression of those in the celestial Jerusalem, which are made of precious stones. It is the time when Hugo of St. Victor and Suger affirm that the house of God should be illuminated, shining like paradise, undoubtedly under the influence of the neoplatonic revival due to the translation by Scotus Eriugena of the works of Dionysius the Areopagite. In this perspective, also in perfect harmony with the Scriptures, God is light; essential Beauty is identified with Clarity, which,

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along with harmony and rhythm, reflects divine Beauty. And for Suger, the builder of the basilica of Saint-Denis, the beauty of the architectural work must illuminate the soul in order to guide it to Christ, who said: "I am the light of the world." Ego sum lux mundi. The radiance of the stained glass windows, resembling gems, evokes the radiance that "emanates from the Father of lights" and spreads, through His Son, to the regenerated world. It's better to go further than this overall impression. The admirable achievement that is the church of ancient times is not the product of a sentiment or even purely aesthetic intuition. Inspired by theology, it is also supported by cosmology. We saw these two sciences walk hand in hand in the conception and construction of the building, and the situation is no different when it comes to the arrangement of the stained glass windows. The intention is not, as is the case with many contemporary artists, to offer colorful sensations to the eye. This is a result achieved, no doubt, by the ancient masters, but almost as an addition, because the main objective is to convey, through the medium of colors, a figurative teaching. The grand stained glass windows generally depict the history of the world in its relation to the mystery of Redemption. This teaching is of a theological nature, but the artist does not forget that the temple is, by nature, cosmic, and in this coherent world of thought that is a traditional civilization, the harmony between the theological and cosmic orders is scrupulously respected. For this reason, the arrangement of the stained glass windows will be designed to be in harmony with the solar rhythm that marks the passing of the day. Thus, for example, in the Sainte-Chapelle, the stained glass windows will be "read" from the north wall, passing through the apse and the south wall, until reaching the western rose window. The stained glass windows located to the north describe the history of the world from Genesis to the end of the Old Testament; to the east, there is the stained glass window of Redemption, to the south, the eschatological prophets who announce the scene of the great rose window, inspired by the Apocalypse, which sings of the heavenly City where the Lamb reigns. This is how the history of the world is traversed, from Creation to the Parousia, following the rhythm of the day. The eastern sunrise marks the victory of Christ over darkness and evil, symbolized on the northern wall in the area where sunlight does not penetrate. The rose window of the holy city is located to the west, where the visible Sun sets, because this descent of the Sun at the end of the day also symbolizes the end of this world and the emergence of a new world where there will be no need for the Sun, as the Lamb itself will

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be the luminous star. Clearly, this arrangement is not exclusive to the Sainte-Chapelle, as it can be found with variations in all churches that adhere to traditional art norms. Thus, the entire cycle of our humanity is inscribed within the elementary temporal cycle, in the daily course of the Sun that corresponds to it analogically, and which is "fixed" in the correctly oriented temple. In fact, these correspondences have nothing surprising about them, after what we have said about the temple, which is a "crystallization" of the celestial movement, the temporal cycle, into a purely spatial order. The temple is a petrified time, and consequently, an image of divine immutability. The liturgy, which we will address at the end of this study, unfolds simultaneously in space and time, in the sacred space of the temple and in the annual cycle of seasons marked by the trajectory of the Sun. But the liturgy and the temple dedicated to it express, each in its own way, the same reality, that of divine presence in the world, the temple in a static form and the liturgy in a dynamic way. Both accomplish a prodigious spiritual integration of space and time, that is to say, the very conditions of creation, relating them and reducing them to their divine origin, at the point where time and space "vanish" to reveal the eternal. We bring to light here that which constitutes the profound reason for the existence of the temple and the liturgy. Time and space are the two essential conditions of the corporeal state, which is presently that of man on Earth. These conditions define finitude in this state. Time is, of these two elements, the more "spectacular," so to speak. What above all makes the creature a finite being, distinct from its Creator, the Infinite Being, is the fact that the latter exists in eternity, in the Timeless, in the absence of time, in the Immutable, while the creature is subject to becoming: birth, growth, and death. The Infinite Being is unchanging, stable, and the finite is in motion, is movement. "Time is the contingency that corrodes things... the degradation that separates from the (Adamic) origin" (F. Schuon). Submission to time, the becoming that implies death, is for man a consequence of the Fall: "The first man had been created in such a way that time would flow while he remained stable," wrote Saint Gregory of Nyssa. But after his sin, "lost in his immortal state, the course of mortality took hold of him." The Fall is, first and foremost, a "fall into time," which is to say that, for man, living in time is not "normal"; it goes against his original and heavenly

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nature; indeed, living in time is a dispersion of being, an "exit" from the Divine Center, the unchanging, to the edge of the great cosmic wheel that drags the world into perpetual change. And therein lies the danger: time unfolds in an indefinite series of cycles that generate one another, and sinful man - that is, every man in the state determined by original sin and its consequences - cannot help but perpetually sink into the endless whirlpool of duration. But, as all reality down here is ambivalent, and God “extracts good from evil,” this situation has a way out. If time is an evil, it also leads us to the Messiah and the encounter with Him, which is an exit from time. To exit time, a brutal rupture must occur, one that tears man from the whirlpool and fixes him in his proper state, that which was before the fall. This rupture is achieved through baptism, at least virtually, because, on the one hand, we must effectively “realize” our baptism, and it is all too evident that the individual always has the possibility of “falling back”; on the other hand, the state before the fall is not normally reached down here in its entirety, for “what we shall be has not yet been revealed” (1 Ep. of John 3:2). Therefore, while our individuality is “in time,” that is, throughout our entire life, we must strengthen and deepen our baptism. It is the function of the sacraments and, in general, the entire ritual to help us achieve this. For earthly man, accomplishing his salvation means leaving time, leaving movement, to find his stable center in God, for as the psalmist says: “My soul finds rest in God alone” (Psalm 62). And in the same way, in the Mass, in the prayer before the consecration, we say to God: “Set our days in Your Peace.” Man must become aware of time, knowing that he is destined to unite, through this time, with divine Eternity and therefore must transcend time, master it. To do so, the practice followed by the liturgy in its annual cycle is a valuable and, moreover, necessary aid. It is appropriate to specify here the role played by the ritual. In the construction and consecration of a sacred building, it symbolically but truly reconnects all space to the limits of time, so that the latter is the synthesis of the world, which means that in the temple and through the temple, space is dominated: the believer finds themselves at the "center of the world," symbolically in Paradise, in the heavenly Jerusalem. The ritual acts in a similar way on time. It transforms profane time, the time of sinful humanity, into sacred time that is already virtually beyond time. How does this happen? In two ways: first, by what we could call an overview of the entirety of time; then, by a reactualization of the life of Christ.

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The year is a cosmic cycle and reproduces, on its level, the larger cycles and the total duration of our world. Each new year corresponds to "creation," and each year's end to the "end of the world," due to the analogy that unites all temporal cycles, regardless of their duration. Thus, celebrating a cult over the course of a year, making that year a whole, is not only to live holy during that time but also to relive holily the entire duration of the world. Moreover, this fact is well elucidated by the practice of liturgy and the comments of the Fathers of the Church. Every year, during the Easter vigil, the Bible is reread from the description of Creation to the end of the Old Testament, that is, until the last period before our history. On the other hand, the liturgical year begins and ends with the Gospel description of the end of the world (the first Sunday of Advent and the twenty-fourth after Pentecost). It is easy to verify the parallelism with the symbolism of the Holy Book itself, which begins with Genesis and ends with the Apocalypse, the emergence of our world and time, and its reabsorption beyond time: between the two, there is "history." Now, "through the spirit of prophecy, that is, through the spiritual understanding of history," as written by Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, "Man, despite his smallness, sees the beginning and the end of the cosmos, and the middle of time, and knows the succession of empires." Thus, the individual recapitulates the history of the world and can live symbolically through its entire course: they see what their true role is in the unfolding of the divine plan, symbolized by history, find the origin, and live in anticipation of the "consummation of the ages." In this way, they rise above time, becoming aware, more or less clearly, of the identity of the origin and the end, because at the end of our world, the restoration of the primordial state must immediately follow. On the other hand, the liturgical year is a constantly repeated reenactment of the life of Christ and, consequently, a spiritual regeneration of the individual. Through the annual repetition of the ritual, we become, in a certain way, contemporaries of Christ and gradually incorporate His mysteries until He is "formed in us" (Gal. 4, 10). From the perspective we are studying, Christ appears as the one who has conquered time. Through the Incarnation, the Infinite entered the finite, assumed all its conditions, particularly time, and thus made its transcendence possible and realized it. But it is especially through the Death of Christ that we transcend time, for it was in His death that He was exalted and exalted humanity. Through His Death and Descent into hell, Christ exhausted all the consequences of the Fall in humanity and

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allowed it to follow Him in His Resurrection and His Ascension, that is, in His departure from the cycle of time, in His passage "beyond all heavens," that is, beyond cosmic motion. This is why the glorious Christ is called "The Sun without setting" — Sol occasum nasciens — immutably fixed at the zenith. The annual liturgy presents itself as a "sacrament of time," integrating the time which, otherwise, signifies pure dispersion, from a spiritual perspective, showing that it is one of the forms in which the cosmic manifestation of the divine Word takes place, and thus allows us to "redeem time," in the eloquent expression of Saint Paul.

The aim of the annual liturgy, as we have just seen, is to incorporate us into Christ, enabling us to assimilate all the phases of His earthly life. Now, this life was subject to time. Therefore, it is in the very fabric of time, the time of our lives, that the assimilation of the Christic mysteries must take place. These will unfold throughout the liturgical year, whose unchanging cycle, repeated indefinitely, allows for a progressive and somewhat centripetal incorporation of the mysteries. The periodicity of the festivities places us in a position to partake in the archetypes of our salvation through the repetition of these archetypes, which find their proper form in the liturgical representation. The term "representation" should be understood here in its etymological and strong sense, that is, the act of "making present again" the content of the archetypes of Christ's life. The projection of Christ's life onto the year can only be done by virtue of the analogy between the historical revelation of the incarnate Word and the cosmic revelation of the divine Word, a revelation that is nothing more than the world itself and the cyclical movement of time, the "moving image of Eternity," according to Plato's unsurpassed definition(¹). And, since Christ was the "king" and "light" of the world, He was naturally assimilated to the Sun, also the king and light of the physical world, an appropriate symbol of Divinity. (¹): Timaeus, 39 E.

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So, from the third and fourth centuries onwards, Christian revelation merged into the mold of the solar religion that had gradually permeated the entire Greco-Roman world. In retrospect, it appears as a providential preparation for the development of the Catholic liturgy, which was essentially solar, just like the temple that houses it. The adoption of this ancient solar religion unfolded without difficulty, first because, since it enhanced the immanent sacredness of nature, it constituted a 'naturally Christian' value. Secondly, because Scripture itself proclaimed Christ as the Sun. Sol Iustitiae, “Sun of Justice”, is a divine Name that arises in the prophet Malachi when he announces in these terms the Day of the Lord: “For you who believe in My Name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise, and salvation will be found in its rays” (4, 2). Now, it was alluding to this text that Zechariah greeted Jesus in the Temple: “Our God brings us the visit of the rising Sun from on high, to enlighten those who lie in darkness and in the shadow of death” (Luke 1, 78-79). Who will deny, therefore, the power of suggestion of such a symbol? According to Plato, the Sun is "the image of the Supreme Good as it manifests in the realm of sensible things." Commenting on this statement of his teacher, Dionysius the Areopagite explains why the Sun is the image of the Good, that is, of God: the Sun is good, its light illuminates everything; similarly, the Supreme Good penetrates all beings and illuminates them internally. The Sun contributes to the generation of living beings; it is the source of life that brings forth and renews; everything comes from its light, and everything tends towards it. Likewise, the Supreme Good is the source of all being and attracts all being to itself; it is the center of everything, the principle of unity for all. "The Sun, like a champion, exults to follow its path: it begins its journey at one end of the sky and ends it at the other, and nothing escapes its warmth" (Wisdom 18); it is also said of Wisdom that it is the Word that acts in the universe, that "She extends vigorously from one end to the other and governs everything wisely" (Wisdom 8:1). So, the visible Sun is the center of the world, the “heart of the world,” as the Greeks used to say — cardia cosmou — and, in this way, it is the image of the One who is, in all fullness, the “supreme Center” and the true “Heart of the world.” Christ — who said “I am the light of the world” — confirmed in some private revelations that it was necessary to consider Him from this solar perspective. “Look at the Sun, see how it illuminates and warms and makes

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the plants of the earth grow... and also how it delights the world with its brightness. See how it shines for everyone, and this Sun you admire in the visible world was created as a symbol of My divine Presence” (Words of Christ to Venerable Maria Costarosa). Under His solar aspect, Christ possesses two essential attributes: the light and the warmth, the light of Wisdom and the warmth of Love, the two attributes that govern creation and revelation. Christ reveals Himself to us as the universal Intelligence, which conceives all beings by illuminating them with the rays of His Being, and as infinite Love that gives life and whose fire, absorbing all these beings, leads them to Unity. However, one might ask, what exactly does the expression "Sun of Justice" mean, and what does justice have to do with it? A fact may guide us from the outset. In Babylon, Shamash (the Sun) was considered the "god of justice" and the "lord of judgment." The influence of Babylon on the style of biblical texts is known from a certain period, and it is not entirely unreasonable to think that the "Sun of Justice" primarily carries this meaning. The regularity of the solar movement itself is an image of order and justice. It is especially at its zenith, at noon, when it equally shares the duration of the day, that the Sun appears as the symbol of divine justice. "The justice of the believer will shine like the full noon," sings the psalmist. In this stationary position, an image of the eternal moment, the Sun is indeed the sign of the power that dominates the elements. On the other hand, it is the symbol of justice because, as Scripture says, "it shines on the good as well as the wicked": infinitely above all earthly contradictions, this "Eye of the world" (Ovid) reveals by its light the various actions of beings and judges them with unyielding rigor. Finally, it is as the solar wisdom that Christ gives the Law and makes us "righteous" and "children of light," and for this reason, He will be "the lord of judgment and will open the Book in which nothing will remain hidden." This allusion to the "judgment" when speaking of Christ-Sun is directly related to His role at the end of times. But until that end of times arrives, Christ-Sun is the "lord of time," the Chronocrator, and regulates its course. This is the foundation and justification of the solar liturgy that accompanies the various cycles of time measured by the path of the celestial body.

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And, first of all, the daily cycle. Christ was assimilated to the Day, and following this, the Apostles found Him at twelve o'clock in the daytime(²). His function is compared to that of the daytime Sun: “Just as the mystical Sun of righteousness rises over us every day, He appears to all, suffered for all, and rose again for all,” says Saint Ambrose. Furthermore, His death and resurrection follow the daily rhythm of the Sun. Christ dies at the ninth hour in the evening, and the “Sun darkens” (Luke 23:44-45); He descends into Hades, like the setting Sun, only to reappear, through hidden paths in the north, in the morning east: “Just as the Sun returns from the west to the east, so too did the Lord rise from the depths of Hades toward the heavens” (Saint Athanasius). Also, daily liturgy, the "Hours" of the Office, as the name suggests, are marked by this path of the Sun. The hymns of the different "Hours" are significant in this regard. In Matins, we sing, "The day is approaching, may the works of darkness disappear," and during the Easter season, "The brightness of the rising dawn calls us to the temple of the Lord; it demands new thanksgiving for the precious gift that God grants us, His light. Each day, light brings forth for us the riches of nature, whose beauty elevates our spirits to the knowledge of the invisible greatness of Divinity." And throughout the year, Lauds conclude at the moment “when the Sun rises in the eastern apse of the church, with the canticle of Zechariah, proclaiming the 'work of the mercy of our God, who brings to us from on high the visit of the rising Sun to illuminate those who lie in darkness and in the shadow of death...' 'The brilliant light of the Sun invites us to offer fervent prayers to God.'” At the Terce hour, the rising solar fire is that of the divine Spirit. When it reaches its zenith, it scorches the world: it's the hour of Sext: the Sun, now in all its splendor, fills the earth with the most intense light... “O Jesus, who are the Sun of Justice and the true torch of the world, make the fire of Your Love, growing ever more in us, rise to the perfection of charity.” Here, the ascending phase of the day stops; then, the star begins its descent, and Nones arrives: “The Sun in its decline announces the approaching night... This is how our life advances towards its end.” Then come Vespers, “the evening office,” and finally Compline, which, in the now emerged night, expresses the longing for light: “We give thanks to You, Lord, at the end of this day; we prostrate ourselves before You, we offer our humble prayers to You at the beginning of the night. When will we see that day that You promise us, that day that knows no night?” (²): Review of the main texts in J. Danielou, Les Symboles Chretiens Primitiffs.

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“O Jesus, splendor of the Father and true Sun of Justice, You who, coming from the inaccessible light, come to dispel the darkness of our spirits, now that the Sun deprives us of its brightness to give way to darkness, grant us peaceful rest during the night…” (Lenten season). But the Christian holds onto hope even within the night and shadow; because he knows that the Sun, descended into the dark Hades, will rise again in the morning, and Compline ends every day of the year with the Canticle of Simeon, which, so to speak, connects the Canticle of Zechariah to the morning Lauds and contains the promise of the return of Christ the Sun: “Now, Lord, You can dismiss Your servant in peace... for my eyes have seen the Savior You give us ... to be the light that will enlighten the nations and the glory of Your people, Israel.” Before we delve into the details of the annual cycle structure of the liturgy, modeled upon solar time, let us once again return to the harmonious "concordance" of liturgical time and space within the temple. The ornamentation of the grand porticoes of cathedrals will serve as the "text" for our considerations, particularly that of Amiens, undoubtedly the most elucidating for our purpose. The admirable facade represents, from bottom to top, the cycle of the year with the signs of the Zodiac; on either side of the thresholds, the past and the present of history, the Old and New Testaments, symmetrically in relation to the Christ of the main portal; at the top, finally, the future, with the scene of the Last Judgment. At the center of the tympanum, Christ presides, the Father of time, Alpha and Omega. Below him, St. Michael weighs the souls. The corresponding signs of the Zodiac are Aries and Libra, that is, those at the two ends of the equinoctial line, the axis of the liturgical year. Easter is located in the ascent of the Zodiac, in the transition from the dark to the luminous zone; opposite is St. Michael, evoking the death of men, is situated in the descent of the Zodiac, in the zone of transition from light to darkness. To the left of Christ are the condemned; the scene corresponds to the sign of Cancer, to the solstice, and to the Midsummer's Day. This solstice is, according to the terminology of the Ancients, the "door of men," which opens the descending half of the cycle and leads to shadow, to the underworld, Janua inferni. To the right of Christ, the elect shine with St. Peter, who opens the heavens; the scene corresponds to the Midwinter's Day and the Winter solstice or the "door of the gods," which opens the ascending half of the Zodiac and leads to heaven. Janua caeli. The corresponding sign is Capricorn, the sign of Janus, 'deus claviger' or "key-bearer," the keys to the celestial gates, succeeded by St. Peter, also claviger, and the two Saints John,

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the Precursor, who "prepares the way of the Lord" and the Evangelist, who recounted the word: "I am the Gate (to heaven)." The entire portico, centered on Christ and the Last Judgment, is, just like the sequence of stained glass windows studied before, a theology of history and an eschatology, and here as well, the cycle of history is in harmony with the astronomical cycle. The portico of Amiens — and the same could be said for most porticoes — is solar; it is a solar theophany of the divine Logos. And this portico, carved in stone, offers the diagram of the liturgical cycle, whose oldest and most essential celebrations, such as Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, Midsummer's Day, St. Michael, etc., are situated along the equinoxes and solstices, in relation to the Zodiac and the Last Judgment(³). At the two ends of the solstice lines, on one hand, we find Christmas and the feast of Saint John the Apostle, and on the other, that of Saint John the Baptist. The Sun, "born" at Christmas, gradually rises in the sky until the Spring equinox, ensuring its triumph; then, it continues its ascent towards the zenith at the Summer solstice, during which the feasts of the Ascension and Pentecost are celebrated. It is the path of the Invictus Sun, the invincible Sun, which triumphs over the darkness of winter, and the path of the Christ-Sun, which triumphs over the shadows of sin and death. During the first part of this path, lesser festivities mark the stages of divine triumph: after Christmas and Epiphany, the "festivities of light" do not end; there is Candlemas on February 2nd. It is a solar theophany that joins the great celebrations of December and January; it recalls the entry of the child Christ into the temple in Jerusalem (gradual, epistle), that is, the fulfillment of Ezekiel's prophecy: "The glory of the Lord entered the temple" (Ezekiel 43:1-2). It is also the glorification of Mary as the "gate of heaven": "Adorn your bridal chamber, O Zion, and receive Christ the King; embrace Mary, the Gate of Heaven, for she resembles the throne of the Cherubim. She carries the King of glory..." "The Virgin is a luminous cloud that bears her child before the Morning Star" (Processional Antiphon). "To the Most High King, you give passage, O dazzling Gate of radiance" (Lauds Hymn, Office of the Virgin). The Christmas Sun rises every day, and the season of Lent, which prepares for its Paschal victory, resumes its battles against the darkness of sin (cf. the temptation in the desert, a theme chosen by the liturgy for this season). (³): We present this analysis of the Amiens portal according to Luc Benoist, Art du Monde. For the conclusion of this chapter and chapters XV and XVI, concerning the relationships between liturgy and light, we owe much to the studies of Nouvelles de Chrétienté: The Oriens and Lumen Christi (see bibliography).

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After the Summer Solstice, the Sun declines, but not Christ, Sol occasum nesciens, for He "ascended above all the heavens." It is then the feast of Saint John the Baptist, who said, "He must increase, but I must decrease." This descending phase of the annual cycle is filled with the "time after Pentecost," that long period that corresponds to the life of the Church on Earth, always subject to the passing of time, gradually leading us towards the winter of death. At one end of the equinox line are, besides Easter, the Annunciation (March 25th), a solar celebration of the conception of Christ, determined according to the date of Christmas (nine months), and on the eve, the feast of Saint Gabriel, whose name — "Strength of God" — is well in line with the spring ascent of the Sun and its mission, which consists of announcing the arrival of Jesus, the "Mighty God." At the other end, on September 29th, there is the feast of Saint Michael, also a solar festival: the representation of the Archangel armed with the sword (a solar symbol), battling the dragon, is absolutely within the tradition of the great myths that describe the struggle between light and shadow, like that of a hero against a serpentine monster, which we will address again. Thus, the two archangels "guard" the equinox seasons, just as the two Saint Johns "guard" the solstice seasons. Furthermore, these four seasons correspond to the four cardinal virtues represented by the respective figures: Fortitude (Gabriel), Justice (Michael), Temperance (Saint John the Baptist), and Prudence (Saint John the Evangelist)(⁴). Parallel to the feast of Saint Michael, on September 21st (the equinox), we have the celebration of Saint Jonas, whose story is linked to the same context as solar myths: the hero being swallowed by the monster is an image of a descending cycle that "devours" the Sun. We will see the importance of the "sign of Jonas" in relation to Easter(⁵). Similarly, another counterpart to the feast of Saint Michael is the feast of Saint George (April 23rd), because Saint George is also a hero who defeats a dragon: the evocation of his battle in April is like a "reflection" of the Easter victory. And the feast of Saint Michael in September is also not devoid of harmony with the decline of the Sun in the (⁴): J. Tourniac, Le Septenaire (Le Symbolisme, January 1959). (⁵): Note that the term "myth" should not, in our thinking, compromise the reality of the archangel Michael or Jonah. Unlike what some may think, it does not seem to us that the story of Jonah is a "fable." Furthermore, myth is also not a "fable"; it simply refers to another plane of reality different from theology or history: myth particularly expresses the cosmic reality in its sacred aspect, and liturgy has the right to use this language to translate certain aspects of realities that also belong to other planes of existence into its own plane of action, which is the cosmic existence of man.

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Autumn. In fact, it is said that Lucifer wanted to rise as the "bright star, son of the dawn" (Isaiah 14:12-15) but was terrified and fell into the night when the Sun declined into Winter. Furthermore, the sign of September is that of Libra, related to Saint Michael, who weighs the souls at the end of the cycle, as we saw in the portal of Amiens. At the same time, we find the feasts of the Four Seasons, evidently solar feasts, as they correspond to the four seasons and, therefore, the solstices and equinoxes. The Four Seasons of September... most likely replaced the Jewish feast of Tabernacles, which, according to Philo, was associated with the Autumn equinox and is also an echo of the Roman feast of the grape harvest(⁶). Do we need more examples? The Transfiguration takes place on August 6, a day equidistant from June 21 and September 21, therefore situated in the middle of summer, which relates to the purpose of the festivity, in which the face of Christ "shines like the Sun." Also during this period near the "middle of summer," on August 17, Janus, the god of the Sun's door, the heavenly door (janua caeli), was celebrated, and on the 13th, Diana, a goddess etymologically related to Janus, whose name derives from Dianus. The root of these words, 'di,' found in 'Deus' (God), expresses the idea of shining, the brilliance of the sky illuminated by the Sun. Diana, simultaneously a virgin and a fertility goddess, is also the sister of Apollo, the Sun, and is assimilated with the Moon, the reflection of the daytime star. It's not surprising, therefore, that between these two dates, on August 15, the Feast of the Assumption of Mary is celebrated, also "janua caeli," "felix caeli porta," the Virgin "clothed with the Sun," "with the Moon at her feet" (Rev. 12:1), as she ascends to heaven, illuminated by the glory of her resurrected son, the Christ-Sun. Finally, in the descending phase of the cycle, it's worth noting that on September 14, the Exaltation of the Cross is celebrated, which refers to the victory of Easter, and, near St. Michael's Day, on November 1, in the midst of the Sun's decline but with the promise of its return, the Feast of the Dead. By studying the various festivals of the Temporal and the Sanctoral more closely, one would certainly discover other evidence of the organization of the liturgy according to the solar cycle. However, this would exceed the limits we have set for ourselves and the specific purpose of our work. Therefore, renouncing the undertaking of a prospecting whose results, moreover, would add nothing essential to what we have just mentioned, which suffices to define the general aspect of the liturgical cycle from the perspective we intend, we will now attempt to show how the fundamental themes of solar religion have developed and combined in the elaboration of the ritual. (⁶): J. Danielou, La Maison-Dieu, n° 46 (1956), page 114.

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CHAPTER XV SOL IUSTITIAE

The relationship between the liturgical and solar cycles, as we described in its broad outlines, gives festivities their particular tone and explains their formulation of mysteries, as we can observe particularly in the two great Christian solemnities of Christmas-Epiphany and Easter.

Christmas and Epiphany are "festivals of light" that derive their character and "poetry" from their connection to the winter solstice. In this regard, it is not possible to separate the two celebrations, as they constitute a single reality. The twelve days that separate them represent the gap between the lunar year of 354 days and the solar year of 365 days. The existence of this festive and sacred period is due to the fact that, after the adoption of the solar calendar, the memory of the older lunar calendar was not entirely abandoned. We will encounter a similar series of intercalary days around the time of the Easter equinox. Furthermore, the celebration of Christmas is relatively recent (end of the 3rd century) and is a creation of the Latin Church, as previously, the birth of the Lord was only celebrated on January 6th. The celebration of December 25th arose from the desire of the Church to replace the worship of the Sun with that of Christ, as the former had, so to speak, crystallized all pagan piety in the Empire. The winter solstice festival had become extremely popular. December 25th was called "Dies Natalis Invicti" or the "Nativity of the Invincible Sun," invincible because, having reached the lowest point of its trajectory at the solstice, it began to rise again in the sky, to be "reborn." It was everywhere a festival of fire and light; the solstice was celebrated with bonfires, torches, or flaming wheels that were rolled into the fields. These fires were a tribute to the life-giving star and a fertility rite, intended to fertilize the fields, observations that are equally valid for the Midsummer bonfires of St. John's Eve.

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On the other hand, non-Christians also lit candles as a sign of joy. Christians adopted these customs, which have been passed down to us in the form of candles placed on the tree, Yule logs, and, even better, the candles of Candlemas (related to the Christmas cycle) and the Easter candle, as the Easter liturgy inspired those of Christmas and Epiphany, as we will have occasion to observe several times. And precisely, the ties that bind them are those of solar symbolism. Christmas, at the height of winter, precedes Easter; it is the beginning of a mystical spring. There is a kind of springtime mystery of Christmas that inspired these beautiful words from an anonymous Greek: “When, after the cold of Winter, the gentle Spring light begins to shine, the earth bursts forth with grass and greenery, the branches of trees dress in new shoots, and the air begins to sparkle with the splendor of the Sun... But behold, for us, Christ has risen like a heavenly Spring, because, like the Sun, He rose from the womb of the Virgin.” The entire Advent liturgy sings of this approaching Light, gradually piercing through the darkness. “The Lord will come to illuminate the depths of darkness and will manifest Himself to all nations” (Antiphon, 3rd Sunday). The Saturday Mass of other times was inspired by Psalm 19, applying the magnificent metaphor that describes the daily path of the Sun to the Sun of Justice: “The Sun, like a champion, exults to go its way: it begins its journey at one end of the heavens and finishes its course at the other end.” Then there is the beautiful antiphon of December 21 (the exact day of the solstice): “O East, splendor of eternal light, Sun of Justice, come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.” On the 24th, the expectation of light becomes more pressing: “When the Sun rises on the horizon, you shall see it, like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber” (1st Vespers). “The East is already illumined; here are already the precursor signs; our God comes to flood us with His light” (Antiphon at the Vigil). On Epiphany, the same theme of fire and light is endlessly repeated: “This star shines like a flame and reveals the God-King of kings…” (Antiphon at Vespers). “Arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you as the dawn. The land was plunged into darkness. The East of the Lord has risen upon you; He appeared in you…” (Epistle - repeated in the Hours - Isaiah 60:1-6). Christmas and Epiphany are the solar manifestation of Christ the Savior, the light of the nations (Lumen ad illuminationem gentium) and the 'East of the world' (Oriens nomen eius) (Zechariah 6:17).

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The correspondence between the cosmic and mystical meanings of the Winter Solstice has been emphasized by all the Fathers; it is a renewal of both nature and souls. "It is not without reason that the people call this holy day of the Lord's birth 'the new Sun'... because, with the appearance of the Savior, not only is the salvation of humanity renewed but also the brightness of the Sun," says Saint Maximus of Turin. “Moreover, the Apostle affirms this when he mentions that through Him (Christ), all things are restored (Eph. 1, 10). Therefore, if the Sun darkens at the time of Christ's passion, it is fitting that at His birth, it should shine with even greater radiance than usual”. "The pagans," declares an anonymous writer from the third century, "call this day the 'nativity of the invincible Sun.' But who is as invincible as Our Lord, who overcame and conquered death?” At the solstice, “you see the rays of light becoming denser and the Sun higher than usual,” says Saint Gregory of Nyssa. "Understand that this results from the appearance of the true light, which illuminates the entire universe with the rays of the Gospel." But the light of the divine Christmas Sun only assumes its full meaning when in confrontation with the night. The mystery of Christmas, like that of Easter, is the mystery of the "luminous night." The Christmas light reveals itself at midnight because it is written: "When a deep silence enveloped everything, and night was in the middle of its course, from the height of Heaven, Your Omnipotent Word, leaving Your royal Throne, descended... into the midst of that land" (Wisdom 18:14-15, which serves as the introit for the Sunday within the octave of Christmas). This night symbolizes sin, the "shadows of death" that the Christic light comes to dispel. But it is important not to forget that the Birth of the Messiah — just like His Resurrection — in effecting a new creation, occurs under conditions analogous to those of the first creation. The "night" of Christmas corresponds, in that sense, to the "chaos" and the "darkness upon the face of the deep" (Genesis 1:2) that the Fiat lux comes to illuminate and order. As there is a correspondence between all cycles of time, the daily cycle reproduces, at its level, the annual cycle, and the hour of "midnight" corresponds precisely, in the duration of the day, to the "winter solstice" in the duration of the year. Just as the year is divided into two halves, one ascending from the winter solstice to the summer solstice, and the other descending from the summer solstice to the winter solstice, the day is also divided into an ascending half, from midnight to noon, and a descending one, from noon to midnight. Thus, the symbolism of midnight reinforces that of the winter solstice, which is in some way the "midnight" of the year.

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In both cases, it is meant to make us aware of the rising of the Sun from the darkness, which translates on the sensory plane the renewal that occurred on the spiritual plane with the birth of Christ. "The light shines in the darkness..." (¹) Being Christ the Sun of Justice, it can also be said that he is the "Midnight Sun." The Ancients claimed that in the Mysteries, some were granted to "contemplate the Sun at midnight." This latter expression symbolizes supreme Knowledge, which is the reduction of contrasts represented by the opposition of day and night, and the perception of unity. In fact, if we contemplate the Sun at midnight, it means that in reality, the night has disappeared, and the Scripture's word has been fulfilled: "The night is as bright as the day." This ultimately means that time has stopped to make way for Eternity. This knowledge, which is nothing but the "Light of glory" and the "Beatific Vision," is operated by Christ, and that is why He is greeted in ancient hymns with the name, already mentioned several times, of Sol Occasum Nesciens, "Sun that does not know the setting" or the immovable Sun at its zenith. The midnight light of the mystery of Christmas constitutes the firstfruits and the promise of that Light of glory. "The righteous will shine like the Sun in the kingdom of their Father," Jesus said (Matt. 13, 43), a statement that Origen admirably comments on as follows: "The righteous will shine in the kingdom of their Father because they will become a single solar light... All will be completed in a perfect Man, and they will all become a single Sun."

Epiphany is not a mere duplicate of Christmas. Its liturgy unfolds the theme of fire and light in a triptych that richly explores all the symbolism of the solar religion's imagery. A Vespers antiphon admirably summarizes the meaning of Epiphany: "We honor a holy day marked by three wonders. Today, the star led the Magi to the manger; today, water was turned into wine at the wedding (in Cana); today, in the Jordan, Christ chose to be baptized by John to save us." The disparity (¹): According to the Apostolic Constitutions, Christmas occurred at midnight (which corresponds to the winter solstice), and the Ascension at noon (which corresponds to the summer solstice).

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between these three events, which are manifestations of the Lord, is only apparent. There is an intimate connection between them, inherent to the underlying solar symbolism. It is in this solar context that it is fitting to study them, to understand them. Just as Christmas, Epiphany is, as we saw earlier, a celebration of fire and light, and in this regard, perhaps more importance should be given to the star of Bethlehem than is usually granted. Thus, for Saint Ignatius of Antioch, it is Jesus himself who descends to earth as a new star, escorted "by all the stars, with the Sun and the Moon forming a chorus." It would be instructive to study the relationships between the fire of this star, the fiery dove of Baptism, and the fire of Pentecost. We hope to say a few words about this later on. But, the Feast of Fire, Epiphany is also a Feast of Waters. Western liturgy has abandoned rituals still preserved in the East, which explain the approach of the three prodigies, presented abruptly and somewhat summarily in the aforementioned antiphon. In all Eastern liturgies, on the night before Epiphany, a ceremony similar to that of Easter night is held to celebrate the baptism of Christ in a grand manner. With variations specific to this or that rite, this ceremony unfolds according to the following general scheme: a procession with torches outside the church and the blessing of waters and springs (in Palestine, from the Jordan), sometimes a common bathing of the faithful in the river or sanctified spring, the projection of a cross into the water, the censing of the water, the infusion of burning charcoal and holy chrism into the water, the placement of a floating gourd with five lit candles in the water, a procession back to the church, and the blessing of the baptismal water placed in a basin in the middle of the choir. To understand these rites, it is worth remembering that in the non-Christian East, much like in Rome, the time of the winter solstice was celebrated with special festivities. In Alexandria, Egypt, particularly, on the 11th of Tybi (January 5-6), they celebrated the festivities of Osiris, a Hellenized Osiris assimilated with Dionysus. Firstly, there were days of mourning to lament Osiris-Sun, who died at the solstice: the burial of the God was represented, then Isis set out in search of her husband, and on January 5th, at dawn, she gave birth to Harpocrates, the god of the rising sun. On the following day, the Nile water turned into wine. Epiphanius of Salamis, who describes these events and even asserts that there was a torchlight procession on this occasion, accuses the pagans with notable zeal of sacrilegiously imitating

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Christian ceremonies. This is not the case, and Epiphanius's opinion is as unfounded as that of rationalist critics who claim, on the contrary, that Christian liturgy is nothing more than a copy of pagan mysteries. The reality is that, in this case as in many others, Christianity adopted a non-Christian rite to the extent that it staged an authentic religious value. As in Rome for Sol Invictus, what was adopted here was the solar religion, which, as we will see, was connected to the theme of water. Moreover, without interruption, there is the transition from the pre-Christian rite to the Christian rite in Egypt, where, from the origins to the present day, the Copts celebrate the Aid-el-ghitas or "immersion festival" on the 11th of Tybi, which is a festival of the Nile and unfolds according to a ritual similar to the one described above for the entirety of Eastern liturgies. This solar religion of the ancients taught that fire, a principle derived from the Sun to bring about renewal, vegetation, and universal life, merged with the earth, but also, and above all, with water. In this phase, the solar god must engage in a battle against the powers of darkness, which not only seek to oppose him in the sky but also infest the waters. These dark powers take the form of a foul dragon that lurks in the waters. This pattern is also found in Babylon, where Marduk, riding in the solar chariot, defeats Tiamat; in India, where Indra slays the serpent Vritra, who holds the waters captive; and in Greece, where Apollo, the solar god, conquers the great serpent Python. This pattern — in which, through Hebrew intervention, the Lord, the celestial and solar God, battles the monster Rahab — reaches its climax and its most grand orchestration in the Apocalypse, where the Lamb, riding on a white horse — white as Apollo's chariot horses — and cloaked in purple, defeats, in a final victory, the beast, the ultimate incarnation of Rahab and Leviathan(²). (²): Cf. Isaiah (27, 1): "On that day, with His heavy and mighty sword, the Lord will visit Leviathan, the elusive serpent, Leviathan, the winding serpent, and will slay the dragon that is in the sea." The assimilation of Christ into this role of the Greek Apollo went further. It was attempted to demonstrate that the Christian Church in Delphi had integrated elements of the Apollonian cult; in any case, the cult of Saint George was established there very early (Ejnar Dyggie, Cahiers archéologiques, III, 1948). A hymn attributed to Saint Paulinus of Nola celebrates the victory of Christ in these terms: Hail, O true Apollo, illustrious Paean, Victor over the infernal dragon! O magnificent triumph! Hail, blessed Victory over the world That inaugurates an era of happiness. Finally, early iconography depicted Christ with the features of Apollo, riding in a chariot with a head surrounded by twelve rays.

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With its victory, the Sun destroys the dragon, the principle of death, and frees the waters; the bath of the solar god regenerates the waters into which he descends and, by uniting with them, fertilizes, thus allowing for renewal. This is what the strange tradition of "wine fountains" meant in various ancient religious centers. We have recently seen that on the 11th of Tybi, the water of the Nile turned into wine; similarly, in Teos, during the ritual marriage of Dionysus (Osiris), and in Andros, on January 5th, the sacred spring flowed with wine instead of water. All the details we have just listed, in our opinion, should be carefully preserved. These are the themes of solar fire, sunbathing, water turned into wine, and weddings. Now, it is precisely these themes that the Epiphany liturgy takes up and elaborates on. If the star's fiery, announcing presence in the night, heralds the Sun of Justice that has just been born and will irresistibly ascend to its zenith, it is a sign of renewal. The Baptism of the Christ-Sun in the Jordan constitutes another sign of equal importance. Since Epiphany is the celebration of the birth of the Sun of Justice, the connection to baptism, that is, to the second birth, is evident. "In the manger, Christ was visibly born as a man," says Saint Maximus of Turin. "In the Jordan, at the moment of His enthronement, He is symbolically reborn. In the manger, He was brought into the world by the Virgin; in the Jordan, He appears recreated by heavenly testimony." Furthermore, there is a remarkable parallelism between the cosmic renewal of nature by the visible Sun that fertilizes the waters and the renewal of man through the Incarnation of the Word, the intelligible Sun, which has given us baptism as a sensory sign of this regeneration(³). The theology of salvation is embedded in and expressed through a symbolism that recalls the periodic regeneration of time and the world through the repetition of archetypes: "each new year takes time back to its beginning, repeats the cosmogony" (M. Eliade). The teaching of the first chapter of Genesis, 'Spiritus Dei ferebatur super aquas,' is echoed in the Baptism of Christ, where the Spirit descends upon the waters of the Jordan at the same time as Christ enters them. The Lord's bath in the Jordan is a 'mysterium tremendum': (³): In the baptistery of Pisa, Christ is depicted carrying the tree of life to mankind, with his head encircled by the solar wheel. At the top of the relief, one can read the inscription: introitus solis.

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"On that night, the Jordan River became ablaze with heat when the Flame (Jesus) descended to cleanse itself in its waters. On that night, the river began to seethe, and its waves clashed to be blessed by the steps of the Most High who came for baptism..." (Blessing of the waters, in the Maronite rite, cf. Syrian Orient of March 4, 1959). It is very clear here that the descent of the Son of God into the river is interpreted, following the pattern of solar religion, as that of celestial Fire into the waters. This descent is ritually represented by the gesture of immersing a lit candle (in the West) or a cross (in the East) into the river or basin. Another theme mentioned earlier — the solar hero battling the dragon — is applied to Christ descending into the Jordan to slay the dark Dragon hidden in the waters (according to Psalm 74). Among the numerous developments it underwent, we will only mention two. First, a passage from Saint Cyril of Jerusalem's Mystagogical Catechesis, which states that Jesus, in the Jordan, "voluntarily descended to the place where the symbolic whale of death was located, so that it might vomit out those it had absorbed," and it cites Psalm 74. Second, the introductory prayer of the Blessing of the waters in the Armenian liturgy: "Arriving at the bank of the Jordan, Your Only Son saw the terrifying Dragon hidden in the water, opening its jaws, impatient to devour mankind. But Your Only Son, by His great power, trod upon the waters under His feet and severely punished the mighty beast in accordance with the prophet's prophecy: 'You crushed the head of the Dragon beneath the waters.'" The Son's entry into the waters is also interpreted as the bath of the solar god, splendidly sung in one of his hymns by Melito of Sardis (2nd century): "When the Sun completed its daily journey with its fiery steeds, following the impetuous motion of its path, it turned the color of fire and resembled a lit torch. As it hastened to traverse half of its celestial course, burning throughout its journey, it seemed so close to us that it appeared to want to scorch the earth with ten lightning bolts. Then, it descended, not easily visible to the eyes, into the Ocean... Bathing in a mysterious depth, it emitted numerous cries of joy, for water was its sustenance. It remained one and the same, but radiated to humans like a new Sun, strengthened by the depth, purified by the bath. It pushed back the darkness of night and brought us the bright day. The dance of the stars, following their course, accompanied the action of the Moon. They bathed in the Sun's baptistery as good disciples: for it is only because the stars and the Moon follow the Sun's course that they have a pure radiance. If the Sun, along with the stars and the Moon, bathes in

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the Ocean, why should not Christ be baptized in the Jordan? The King of heaven, the prince of creation, the rising Sun who also appeared to the dead in Hades and to mortals on Earth. Like a true Helios, He ascended to the heights of the sky." The waters illuminated by this rising Sun regenerate the newly baptized who "were found by the ray of the Sun of the Only divinity" (Saint Gregory of Nazianzus). But if the waters have the power to regenerate men, it is because they have been made fertile through a mysterious union. We find again the theme of the nuptials of the waters and the solar god as a sign of the union of Christ with His Church: "Today, the Church has united with her heavenly Spouse, because in the Jordan, Christ purified her from her faults: the Magi hasten, laden with gifts, to these royal nuptials, and the water transformed into wine fills the hearts of the guests with joy" (Ant. of Benedictus). In the liturgies of the East, the motif is taken up almost endlessly in lyrical fragments that are true epithalamiums: "She sings Your glory in all rhythms through the voice of her children, the Bride whom You won from the waters of baptism. She raises all praises and glorifications to Your Name and all exultation to the Father who sent You, as well as to the Holy Spirit... On this day of Your baptism, O Son of God, the Church, Your bride, rejoices deeply, because through You, she was sanctified with all her children(⁴)." Clearly, we don't have much to add to clarify the third mystery celebrated on the Epiphany: the wedding at Cana. Besides its historical significance, these events undoubtedly hold a spiritual meaning. The water transformed into wine heralds the Eucharist and, according to the tradition of the Fathers, the Eucharist in its deepest sense. The mystery of the Eucharistic wine is that of water, that is, nature already sanctified by baptism in the Jordan, elevated through a surprising transmutation to the state of wine, that is, to a supernatural state. In truth, what is wine to mystical chemistry but "fiery water," water invigorated, heated, and brought, in a certain way, under the influence of the solar fire, to its quintessence, through the slow vegetative elaboration in the vine, first, and then through death in the press and the vat — like the wheat that is reborn after perishing in the earth. Substantial union of water and fire, inaugurated in the Baptism of Christ at the moment "of the (⁴): Maronite ritual.

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stirring of the Jordan," and consummated in the "chemical wedding" of water and fire that gives rise to wine, of human nature and divine Fire, in the "mystical wedding" of the soul, whose sacramental sign is the sacred Eucharist(⁵). (⁵): The mystery of Cana is represented in the Mass during the Offertory, when the priest mixes a drop of water into the sacrificial wine, symbolizing human nature destined, according to the words of the ritual, to "participate in the divinity of Him who deigned to clothe our humanity." It should be recalled, as mentioned elsewhere, that according to Saint John Chrysostom, during the Epiphany, "wine springs" were seen, for example in Cibyra and in Garasa, in Asia Minor, where the saint himself had drunk from.

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CHAPTER XVI THE LIGHT OF EASTER

The Easter office does not distance us, as we have seen, from that of the Epiphany. The Great Vigil commemorates the resurrection of Christ, the beginning and guarantee of our own resurrection. Easter, the central mystery of Christianity, is the "passage" (pesah) from death to life (Phil. 2, 5-11), the passage of Christ and, with Him, of all men, "from this world to the Father" (John 13, 1). "But God... made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions... and God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms" (Eph. 2, 4-6). This passage from death to life is presented as an exit from darkness and an entry into light, in accordance with the Scriptures: "The Father has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness" (Col. 1, 12-14). "You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light" (1 Peter 2, 9). Because Christ is "the light that shines in the darkness" (John 1, 5). "I am the light of the world," says Christ; "Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (John 8, 12). "I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness" (ibid., 12, 46). This basis in Scripture rules the symbolism of the celebration which incorporates imagery, now known — fire, light, and water —, of the solar religion, in accordance with the date for Easter, which is the equinox. The Great Vigil rites are seen as rituals of cosmic and individual regeneration, drawing inspiration from the renewal of nature. It's important to note that

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Easter's solar symbolism differs somewhat from Christmas, as it combines both solar and lunar cycles. Easter's date is linked to the lunar calendar, where the full moon is considered sacred and aligns with the time of the Golden Age, especially in proximity to the spring equinox. In this perspective, the month of March, when the equinox occurs, marks the beginning of the new year, symbolizing a return to the origin to rejuvenate time. This was the view in ancient Rome until Julius Caesar introduced the solar calendar, as well as among the Jews, where the month of Nisan, the equinox month, marked the start of the year. The Jewish Passover is celebrated on the full moon following the equinox, and its calculations result in starting the month and year fourteen days earlier than the equinox. The date of Passover varies between March 8th and April 4th in our calendar. This Jewish Passover (14th of Nisan) corresponds to the first moon of the year. The preceding fourteen days were also considered sacred by the ancients, as they represent the time it takes for the moon to grow and conquer the darkness, from the new moon eclipse to the full moon. In our liturgy, this time corresponds to the Passion. Therefore, Easter falls within an analogous period to the creation of the world, the Golden Age, and Paradise, defining itself as a restoration of the primordial state. An interesting parallel can be drawn with the "No-Rouz" or Iranian New Year, celebrated during the spring equinox, which commemorates creation and foresees the ultimate triumph of Yima, the solar hero, and the resurrection of the dead at the end of times. This text illustrates how lunar symbolism reinforces solar symbolism, making it suitable for expressing the Christian mystery of regeneration, new creation by Christ the Sun, and the promise of our restoration and the final restoration of Paradise. The two rituals of the Great Vigil, the rekindling of the fire and the blessing of baptismal water, serve this purpose.

The extinction and subsequent rekindling of the fire naturally recall the death and resurrection of the Christ-Sun, in the guise of the daily cycle, the setting and rising of the celestial body. Every evening, it descends through the "western gate" into the shadows of the night, into the realm of death, into Hades, crossing it without being affected by it and reappears in the morning through the "eastern gate," always the same as itself. This elemental rhythm of the celestial body is the most magnificent and precise representation of

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Christ, the Sun of Justice, descending into the Underworld to reanimate the dead and rising again on Easter morning. The poets of the early centuries sing of Christ's return as the dazzling procession of the solar Apollo in his chariot or as that of the Roman triumphators, who were, in fact, associated with him. "After three days, the day rises even brighter, the sweetness of the ancient light is restored to the Sun, the almighty God, Christ, is adorned with the most dazzling rays of the Sun. The divinity that brings salvation triumphs, and His triumphal chariot is accompanied by the hosts of the righteous and the saints." (Firmicus Maternus). "The driver of the eternal chariot has arrived, directing his steps toward the ultimate goal in the circular motion he must describe every year, the Day of Salvation. He follows himself, precedes himself, is old, and yet always the young parent of the descending year, God, Our Lord, who lay down and rose again, never to repeat His disappearance, for this is the day when the darkness of death was torn apart." (Zenon of Verona). "This is the great night, for the Most Holy God rises from the mire of Acheron, not like the Morning Star, which, rising from the Ocean, faintly illuminates the darkness with its radiance; but to all the worlds that still weep at His cross, He grants the gift of a new day: for He is greater than the Sun." (Prudentius) The procession of the Paschal candle, accompanied by its five vessels of incense, representing Christ who dispels, as it advances, the shadow of the sanctuary, symbolizes the triumphant procession of the luminous Christ, the conqueror of the underworld and death. However, the daily cycle of day and night is analogously reflected in the annual cycle, where night corresponds to Winter (solstice) and morning to Spring (equinox). Easter is the celebration of Spring and, for the early Christians as well as for the Israelites, it marked the beginning of the new year. Finally, the annual cycle, at its level, mirrors the total cycle of our world: the end of the year corresponds to the end of the world, and its beginning to a new creation. Each new Spring is a regeneration of the world and, for this reason, symbolizes the first day of the world, the day when light was created. The fact that the Paschal liturgy makes this connection with Creation is evident from the reading, during the Office, of the first chapters of Genesis, as well as the description of the Flood, marking the latter, as is known, the end of the world and the transition to a new world, along with a regeneration of humanity, a "salvation." The ritual of fire replicates the process of Creation, just as sacred architecture, in its own domain, repeats cosmogony.

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On the afternoon of Holy Saturday, the candles are extinguished at the end of the Lauds, and the sanctuary is immersed in darkness. Since the temple represents the world, this extinction is equivalent to a "death of the world": it once again sinks into primordial chaos; the sanctuary's night corresponds to the "darkness on the face of the abyss"(¹). Then, the fire is reignited outside the temple, under the portico, at night. This operation replicates the Fiat lux: a new world, a cosmos, succeeds chaos, and the world and time are regenerated, recreated, by the Lumen Christi, the same light that manifested itself at the onset of Spring. An ancient Easter hymn — Salve festa dies — sings of this renewal of paradise found: "Behold, the earth regains life and beauty... Everything smiles to triumphant Christ, who has just left the dreadful Tartarus: the forests offer their foliage, the meadows their flowers. The God crucified yesterday now reigns in the Universe, all Creation prays to its Creator..." The Exultet, in its turn, is likewise a song of renewal, a solar song: "May the earth, illuminated by the rays of such glory, rejoice; may the splendor of the eternal King, pouring forth upon it, make it feel that the entire Universe is liberated from darkness." This regeneration of the world through fire and light is, as we have seen, the omen of the ultimate Return of Christ at the end of the world, which will constitute the definitive victory of the divine Sun over the darkness of Evil. Following a probably apostolic tradition, Saint Jerome tells us that the Lord's return must take place during the Easter night. And Lactantius also writes: "This night is doubly holy, because it was on this night, after His passion, that the Lord returned to life, and it will also be on this night that He will take possession of His kingship over the entire Universe." We find the same allusion to the Parousia in the lengthy prayer that accompanies the blessing of the baptismal water: the prelate evokes the day when Christ will come to "judge the world by fire." As we approach this second (¹): We continue, just as on Christmas, in the face of the mystery of the “luminous night.” “It was at night that Christ was born in Bethlehem, and it was also at night that He was reborn in Zion” (St. Epiphany). He is born on Christmas night, in the cave, which is like a mother's womb, and He is reborn on Easter night, in another cave, His tomb, “hewn from the rock,” as the Gospel says, because it was from the night that the Sun emerged.

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rite of the Great Vigil, we find ourselves once again confronted with the association of fire and water, already studied in the corresponding ceremony of Epiphany and so characteristic of solar religion. However, it is more interesting to observe the parallelism between the two rites of rekindling the fire and the blessing of water and baptism. This parallelism is easy to understand given the analogy between the macrocosm and the human microcosm. The individual man is an image of the Universe, so it is natural that the regeneration, the spiritual recreation of the individual, should occur according to a ritual that reproduces the creation of the Universe. Baptism is the rite of recreating the individual; it makes him participate in the Death and Resurrection of Christ, that is, it brings about on his individual level the new creation that Christ, the Universal Man, accomplished for the entire Universe. "Buried with Christ in baptism, in baptism you also were raised with Him through faith in the power of God who raised Him from the dead" (Col. 2:1,2). The central ritual gesture of baptism is immersion followed by emergence (a gesture now replaced in the Roman Church by a simple pouring of water). Immersion corresponds to an "entry into the tomb," the death of the "old man"; the water recalls the primordial Waters (Maim) of Genesis, that is, the universal Matrix (Saint Denis calls the baptismal font the "matrix of all filiation"). The "sinful" individual is symbolically destroyed, returned to the formless state, to the state of "chaos." Emergence, or coming out of the water, is rebirth, resurrection, the creation of the "new man," corresponding to the fiat lux. Indeed, light plays a primary role in baptism, which is the sacrament of "illumination" (photismos), and if the baptismal water illuminates the Neophyte, it is because it has been visited by the Light and the celestial Fire. The neophyte's bath in water was preceded by the bath of the divine Sun. This is the meaning of the blessing rite. After uttering a prayer in which the cosmic correspondences of the baptismal rite are clearly indicated — allusion to the Spirit of God that covers the primordial Waters and to the Flood, an image of regeneration —, after dividing the water in the form of a cross and sprinkling it over the space along the cardinal axes, explicitly evoking the four rivers of Paradise, the priest dips the Paschal candle, lit in that water, three times. The words he then utters leave no doubt about the meaning of this gesture: "May the power of the Holy Spirit descend upon all the water of this font." Since the candle represents the risen Christ, it is indeed He who descends into the water, and at the same time, His Spirit manifested by the Dove over the Jordan. Moreover, the Exultet prayer, like the blessing of the water, is rich in a biblical typology of baptism that confirms this fact: it evokes the Crossing of the Red

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Sea, which corresponds to Passover (pesah: passage), which God watches over in a "pillar of fire" (represented by the candle), leading Saint Paul to say that the Hebrews were baptized in water and fire; it then evokes the crossing of the Jordan on dry land, the vigil of Easter, to enter the Promised Land: it was at Bethabara, where later, Elijah would also cross the river on dry land and be lifted up to heaven in a chariot of fire (the chariot of the Sun)(²), and where, finally, Christ was baptized. We find here roughly the same symbolic scheme of the fertilization of water by the divine solar fire already observed in the Epiphany(³). The descent of the fire as in the Jordan is more strongly suggested in the Greek ritual; in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, the celestial arrival of the fire descending from the dome to ignite the candle is depicted. Similarly, in certain regions of Italy, a dove carrying fire descends upon the crowd. Solar symbolism also appears in the very rite of baptism, especially in its oldest form. Baptism is, as mentioned, the sacrament of illumination, a participation in the solar light of Christ. Therefore, in the primitive ritual, the preliminary ceremony to which the recipient was subject consisted of a renunciation of the devil and a consecration to Christ, carried out in two directions: he renounced with outstretched hands towards the west, towards the empire of darkness where the Sun sets, and consecrated himself with raised hands towards the sky and facing east, the point where the Christ Sun is reborn. Baptismal bathing is, therefore, also a solar bath like that of Christ in the Jordan: the neophyte is baptized in water and fire, reborn from the water and the light that is incorporated in it, and comes out of the bath as a "child of light" (Eph. 5:8), just as the Sun rises from the ocean in the morning(⁴), and he wears the white garment "dazzling as snow," which evokes the light of Mount Tabor.

(²): This episode was integrated into the Greek liturgy of Epiphany. (³): "The Sun inclines its rays over this water" (Syrian liturgy). (⁴): An ancient funerary inscription gives a Christian the name "son of the Sun" (heliopais).

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These remarks do not exhaust the solar symbols that mark the Paschal office. We will mention two of them, to conclude: that of the bee and honey, and that of the eggs. In the middle of the Exultet chant, the deacon utters these words: "Receive, Holy Father, on this sacred night, the offering that the Holy Church presents to you by the hand of her ministers as an evening incense, by the solemn offering of this candle whose material was provided by the bees..." He lights the candle and celebrates the flame that "feeds on the wax that the mother bee (apis mater) produced for the making of this precious torch." Just this. However, the invocation of the apis mater was once extensively developed in a "Praise of the Bee" found in the Gallic Sacramentary and has been removed from the rite for several centuries. This praise, which was inserted into the Exultet after the words "apis mater eduxit," in today's ritual, is a long and beautiful fragment of prose poetry that elaborates on the following themes: the bee occupies the first place among animals because it is endowed with a "great soul" and a "powerful genius"; this genius is manifested in laborious occupations whose culmination is wax and honey, "that nectar squeezed from flowers" which it pours into the cells of wax; finally, the bee is a virgin animal "whose virginity is never violated and yet is fertile," which constitutes an analogy with Mary, who conceived in this manner. Thus, the industrious bee produces the pure food that is honey and the equally pure wax, which in medieval symbolism represented the body of Christ, generated by Mary, the divine Bee. In the current Easter ritual, only wax is mentioned, but the evocation of nectar in the Gallic ritual should not be ignored. Therefore, as it is evident from its placement in the ritual at this point, the symbol of the bee is directly related to the resurrection, because the illumination of the Paschal candle represents Christ's emergence from his tomb. The symbolism of wax is entirely one of humility: perfect, yet humble matter that extinguishes and destroys itself as it "nourishes" the flame. Honey, on the other hand, is a "triumphant" symbol, traditionally associated, like the bee, with the Sun; just as gold is the mineral light, honey, which is the color of gold, is the vegetable light, the quintessence of solar light elaborated in flowers. For this reason, clear honey has always been taken as a symbol of purity (the worshipers of Mithra purified their lips with honey) and a symbol

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of knowledge, in connection with the wise genius of the bee. This is the meaning of the beautiful legend mentioned by Elian, according to which the bees had formed a ray in the mouth of Plato, a sign of the supernatural character of his philosophy. But did you know that it is also told about Saint Ambrose? It is said that when the future doctor was just a baby in his cradle, bees entered his open mouth and then flew into the sky, very, very high, out of sight, which thrilled Ambrose's father, who saw it as a sign of his son's future glory. The emblem of science, honey is also that of poetry, which, according to traditional conception, constitutes a gift from heaven, like science, and, more specifically, from Apollo, the sun god. It is interesting to note, in this regard, that in Greek, the words that denote lyricism — melike — and the lyric poet — melikos — are derived from the same root as meli (honey). It is not surprising, then, that honey also served to designate spiritual nourishment. In India, the ritual drink, soma, is sometimes called honey (madhu), and it is said in the Rig Veda that bees offered honey to the Acvins. In the mysteries of Classical Antiquity, priestesses were often called bees (melissai), as was the case with those of Demeter. The bee was considered divine — melissa thea — in the Mysteries of Eleusis and others, and the priestess-bees ritually distributed honey to the initiates. As food of immortality, honey was used in funeral rites because, according to Plutarch, it prevented corruption. In Greece, containers of honey were placed near funeral pyres and on graves. In other places, the deceased were even anointed with honey, and it is almost certain that this is the origin of wax death masks. These considerations lead us directly to the office of the Great Easter Vigil. During the Mass they attended, the neophytes of the early centuries received the melikraton, a drink composed of milk and honey, as a guarantee of their resurrection in Christ. The melikraton played the role of the drink of immortality(⁵). It is possible that this rite was based on the passage from Exodus (13, 5) in which God describes the promised land as one where "milk and honey flow." The Eucharist is the banquet of the true Promised Land. And, as it was in the wake of the resurrected Christ that the neophyte entered, in a certain way, into the Promised Land, it is understood how this ancient rite was incorporated into the Easter office where, even today, the bee is associated with the mystery of resurrection. (⁵): In the decorations of the catacombs, among the Eucharistic symbols, you can find representations of bees, buzzing around a vessel of honey or milk.

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In this regard, it is necessary to speak of a curious rite of the Ancients that may seem very distant from our theme, but in reality, it sheds new light upon it. Everyone is familiar with the episode of Aristeus described by Virgil in the Georgics (IV, 294 ss.): the poet reveals to us how bees are born from a sacrificed bull according to certain rules. This rite was long misunderstood until the day it was learned that it was inherited from the Egyptian mysteries of Isis, during which the generation of bees was evoked in the skin of a sacrificed bull: the swarm's flight out of the skin symbolized the rebirth in the world of Khepri, or the rising Sun, of the neophyte, of whom the bull's corpse represented the first state surpassed by him in a symbolic death. This episode of Virgil must have made ancient Christianity reflect, all the more so since the great Latin poet was considered a kind of "parachristian" prophet. This is all the more plausible as there is in the Bible a somewhat analogous episode, less detailed, no doubt, and more obscure, but which undoubtedly alludes to a belief and rituals of the same kind. It appears in the story of Samson (Judges 14): Samson kills a young lion, and a few days later, returning to the place where he had killed it, he finds a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the beast, which he promptly consumes. The moral riddle, in truth poorly explained, that he proposes to the inhabitants of Timna regarding this event, clearly demonstrates that he attributed a symbolic value to it. It is very likely that a comparison was made between the passage from the Holy Book and that of Virgil. In any case, it is interesting to note that on the tomb of Childeric, three hundred bees were represented next to a bull's head, evidently to symbolize death and resurrection(⁶). This relief was most likely inspired by the memory of Virgil, whose meaning was well understood at that time. In any case, this provides proof that the symbolism of Virgil's description had been integrated into Christian tradition in such a profound way that it found its way into funerary art. An equally significant allusion is an admonition to the neophytes, attributed to Cesarius of Arles: “You, vigorous and green branches of sanctity; you, holy seed; you, my new swarm of bees, the crown of flowers of my happiness..." How can one not see in this an allusion to the description in the Georgics? (⁶): A. de Gubernatis, Mythologie zoologique (A Abelha): The number 300 is that of the letter Tau (Greek T), a symbol of the victorious cross, whose prefiguration the Middle Ages saw in Gideon's 300 soldiers. It may very well have the same meaning here.

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There must have existed, in early Christian times and the High Middle Ages, a rather developed symbolism of resurrection centered on the bee and honey, a symbolism evidenced by the melikraton, the motif of the tomb of Chilperic, and Cesarius's text, a symbolism of which very little remains today in the Easter liturgy, since its development was suppressed from the Gallic Sacramentary. Nevertheless, this "little" therefore proves to be much more precious(⁷).

The other solar symbol of Resurrection we would like to talk about is the egg, in its two forms: first, the "Easter eggs," and then the ostrich eggs that adorned or still adorn the altars and are, moreover, directly related to the Paschal egg. The tradition of Easter eggs largely stems from folklore, yet it still maintains connections with liturgy since these eggs are blessed during the Resurrection Mass before being consumed in the Easter meal and distributed to friends(⁸). Some authors, although serious, have attempted to explain the custom of eating blessed eggs at Easter solely through the joy of believers in finding again a food they had been deprived of during Lent. This represents only a narrow view. The Easter egg is a sacred symbol — today certainly relegated to the background — that still retains some traces of its ancient glory. The egg was, or continues to be, a significant and universal sacred symbol. Its symbolism is deduced very naturally from its function, which consists of ensuring the continuity of life and species in the succession of individuals. With its vital germ, the egg constitutes, in all species, the primitive state of individuals. (⁷): The bee emerges as a solar symbol of Christ. In fact, if you were to draw the bisector of the angles within the hexagonal cell of wax, you would obtain six lines that intersect at the center, namely, the Chrism. The bee, a diligent architect of the hive, is like the reflection, in the animal world, of the sublime Architect of the universe. This is also confirmed by the Hebrew name for bee, deborah, which means, like dabar, Word, Verb. (⁸): This tradition is especially alive in Slavic countries, where on Easter day, the homeowner offers an egg to any visitor, cracks it with their fingers, and shares it with them.

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Through an absolutely legitimate transposition, we obtain the cosmic egg, or egg of the world, that is, the collection of the germs of all beings. The cosmic egg is a summary of the total creation that repeats analogically in the birth and development of each individual. We find the cosmic egg in all traditions. In Egypt, the luminous egg laid by the celestial Goose was revered; the creator god, Kneph, was depicted with an egg emerging from his mouth: a magnificent image of the world coming forth from God, and more specifically, from His mouth, that is, His Word. Phoenician cosmogony also revolved around the primordial egg. Eternal time generates, through Air and Breath, the egg containing the seeds of all beings. The same concept existed in Greece. Zeus, the god of the sky, assuming the form of a swan, fertilized Leda (Nature), who laid an egg from which Castor and Pollux were born, representing the poles of creation. Among the Celts, the famous "serpent's egg" was connected to a similar tradition. The cosmic egg is found in Black Africa, Australia, and Polynesia, but it was in India that the tradition was best preserved. According to the laws of Manu, in the beginning, in the formless world, immersed in darkness (cf. the beginning of Genesis), Swayaanbhu, the self-existing Being, arose. He produced the waters and placed in them a seed in the form of the golden egg (Hiranyagarbha), which shone like the Sun and contained Brahma. Brahma then broke the egg and proceeded to create all beings. Even the Jewish tradition is not unaware of the cosmic egg. "How did God create the world?" asks "Haguiga." "He took two halves of an egg and fertilized one with the other." The role of the mythical egg in the origin of the world led to it being regarded as a symbol of the perpetual renewal of life, especially in connection with the rejuvenation of nature and vegetation in the Spring. In Rome, during the festivities of Ceres, on the Spring equinox, matrons would organize a procession carrying eggs. The trees of the new year, in May, during Saint John's, were often decorated with eggs, thus uniting two symbols of renewal. In Persia, the New Year's celebration is, to this day, the "festivity of red eggs." If it is the symbol of the renewal of the world, the egg is also very naturally that of the individual, and above all, in death. This explains the use of eggs in funeral rites, where they constitute a guarantee of new life after death. Clay eggs were found in numerous graves in Russia and Sweden. In the tombs of

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Boeotia, there were statues of Dionysus with an egg in hand. In recent research in the Mari desert, egg-shaped tombs were discovered in which the deceased rested like a fetus. In Gallo-Roman tombs, there were "snake eggs," a custom that persisted during the early Christian Middle Ages. It is thus clearly seen how Easter eggs have their place in the festivity that is the renewal of nature and spiritual renewal. Easter eggs, reminiscent of the cosmic egg, become part of the symbolic ensemble of water, light, and darkness that nourishes the Easter ritual. The red color with which they are usually painted is also significant: red is related to fire, vital warmth, and, on a spiritual level, to the sanctifying and regenerating Holy Spirit. The Easter egg is, therefore, a symbol of resurrection, due to the phenomenon of hatching (new life) and the germ it contains. It symbolizes, first and foremost, the resurrection of Christ and all of nature, which is thus renewed and recreated. Christ appears here as the germ of the new world. Furthermore, multiple times in the Bible, God refers to the Messiah as "My Servant, the Sprout." The Easter egg also symbolizes the resurrection of the neophyte. Through the death of the "old man," the sinner returns to a state of infancy and even of germ, in order to be "born again" in the Light of Easter. Thus, the egg is linked to the symbolism of baptism. By eating the blessed eggs, the believer takes part in the grace of the Resurrection. This symbolic teaching through the egg is particularly clear in an ancient liturgical drama that was performed until the 18th century in the cathedral of Angers. Performers, representing the Holy Women, would emerge from the tomb (depicted as the Nativity cave is today), singing 'Resurrexit' and carrying ostrich eggs. The first one would present an egg to the bishop, saying "Surrexit Dominus, alleluia!" (The Lord has risen), and he would respond, "Deo gratias, alleluia!" (Thanks be to God, alleluia!). Each performer would repeat this scene before each member of the chapter, after which the eggs were taken to the sacristy. In Rouen, at the church of Saint-Maurice, on Easter day, after Matins, two deacons, in dalmatics, were suspending two ostrich eggs above the high altar. Ostrich eggs were found in nearly all the treasuries of Medieval churches, evidently set aside for the same purpose or a similar one. In Eastern churches,

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they can be seen suspended in front of the iconostasis or above the altar, alternating with sacred lamps. They also exist in mosques. This is a remnant — adapted — of the old customs of the Semites, who, in accordance with their doctrine about the origin of the world, suspended ostrich eggs in sacred trees... In the drama of Angers, the ostrich egg evidently represents the resurrected Christ. This ritual cannot be understood unless we compare it to the old traditions about the origin of the world that we mentioned earlier. The ostrich egg recalls the cosmic egg; it is the Lord as the divine Word, the creator of all beings. More precisely, in this egg, the Word is the golden germ, the solar germ, which contains universal Life.

We will limit ourselves to these considerations about the cosmic and, more particularly, solar symbolism of the liturgy. It would also be necessary to mention many other symbols, such as the sword, the arrow, solar trees and flowers like the heliotrope, the olive tree and its oil, which plays an important role in the liturgy, the palm tree — the solar tree linguistically related to the phoenix, another symbol of resurrection and sacred bird of Heliopolis —, the palm tree from which we pluck branches to celebrate Palm Sunday's triumph; we would have to evoke pictorial art, the golden background of icons and mosaics in the apse, the almond-shaped glory of Christ, the custodies, and so on. However, that would require several books, and these developments would stray from our objective, which is simply to expose the relationships of cosmological and ultimately solar order that unite worship and the temple, making the liturgy, by unfolding its splendid light in the solar temple, a true "cosmic liturgy" in which the entire Universe gathers to offer, through man, the "sacrifice of praise" to the Creator. It is in the Mass that worship reaches its zenith, and to conclude this study, we would like to briefly consider the transcendent synthesis toward which all the symbols we have analyzed converge, the jewel of which the temple is the shrine.

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CHAPTER XVII THE MASS AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE SPIRITUAL TEMPLE

The term "mass" is, in fact, the most appropriate, in our view, to encompass the full extent of the divine Sacrifice and its "universal" character. Considering it only in its outward aspect, the Mass is already an extraordinary triumph, a harmonious synthesis of all the arts: around dramatic poetry, which forms its core because the sacrifice is not "told" but "represented," gather, like in a choir, lyricism, rhetoric, music, and then the more humble arts, goldsmithing to chisel the vessels, perfumery to create exquisite aroma blends, weaving and embroidery to prepare the ritual garments, and so on. Never since Greek tragedy have letters and the arts together produced such a complete wonder. But it is even more deeply that one should seek its nature. More than a synthesis of noble human activities, it is a synthesis of the world in which one's life unfolds. All of nature is gathered here for the "Great Work" of divine Liturgy: the four elements and the three kingdoms are present in the Mass. The "earth" provides the sacred stone, the "fire" serves to light the candles and burn the incense, the "water" is present to symbolize our humanity, mixed with wine in the chalice; finally, the air is the vehicle of incense and the energies of the divine Pneuma when, at the moment of the epiclesis, the celebrant waves the veil over the offerings. It is also a synthesis of the three kingdoms, the three degrees of bodily existence: the mineral in the stone, the vegetable in the bread, wine, and incense, and the animal in its highest representative, man, whose function is precisely to gather all the kingdoms and elements to offer them to his Creator. The Eucharist has a cosmic significance, according to Saint Irenaeus, because the Holy Gifts are the firstfruits of Creation called to glory.

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If we truly want to understand this aspect of the Holy Sacrifice, we must relate it to the meaning of the Cross placed in the middle of the altar. We already know this meaning through the texts of Saint Paul and Clement of Alexandria, but we must revisit and deepen this notion of the cross, as a measure of space and time, in connection with the "axis pillar," in order to grasp the "inner dimensions," so to speak, of the Mass. The Cross's tree determines the interior architecture of the Holy Sacrifice, of which the temple constitutes the exterior architecture. The harmony between the two is perfect because the Mass, like the temple that houses it, and like the entire liturgical cycle of which it is the heart, as a renewal of the death and resurrection of Christ, also represents a cosmic mystery: the offering and reintegration into God, through the God-Man, of all creation, of which the Cross's tree is the measure.

The Cross, cosmic mystery, defines the mystery of the mass. Let's revisit the text of Saint Paul (Eph. 3, 18-19): "Be rooted and grounded in love, in order to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the width, length, height, and depth, and to know the Love of Christ." All the Fathers saw in these lines a reference to the Cross and, more precisely, to the extension of the Cross to the Universe. Recalling the famous passage from Timaeus, in which Plato shows that the entire celestial vault revolves around the great X formed by the plane of the equator and the plane of the ecliptic, they applied it to Christ, the Logos, the builder of the world: suspended on the "cross" that crucifies the world, He contains the cosmos and makes it depend on the mystery of that cross. Thus, this "recapitulates" the entire cosmic process: "Who, through His obedience to the cross, erased ancient disobedience in wood, is Himself the Logos of the Almighty God who permeates us all with an invisible presence. It is for this reason that He embraces the entire world - its breadth, its length, its height, and its depth. Through the Logos of God, all things are ordered, and the Son of God is crucified within them, leaving His mark in

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the form of the cross upon all. It was therefore just and fitting that, by making Himself visible, He imprinted His communion with all things visible on the cross. For His actions were meant to demonstrate in visible things and in a visible manner that He is the one who illuminates the heights, namely, the heavens, who reaches into the depths and foundations of the earth, who extends across the expanses from the East to the West, and encompasses the distances from the North to the South, calling forth everything from everywhere to know His Father." This text, highly elucidating for our purpose, is from Saint Irenaeus, who, moreover, asserts in the same spirit and in a vigorous formula: "Christ was crucified in such a way as to summarize in Himself the Universe." An echo of this statement is found in a hymn by Saint Andrew of Crete for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross: "O Cross, reconciliation of the cosmos, boundary of earthly expanses, height of the heavens, depth of the earth, bond of creation, expanse of all that is visible, breadth of the universe." The expression "extension of all that is visible" is meaningful: the Crucifixion of Christ symbolizes the extension of Redemption to the entire cosmos. But the symbolism is completed by that of the tree: the cross of the Tree of Life, the one that was planted in the center of Eden, next to which the source of the four rivers of Paradise sprang (Gen. 2, 9-10) and which is found in the center of the celestial Jerusalem (Ezeq. 47, 12; Apoc. 2, 7; 22, 2) and which Scripture identifies with the divine Trinity, therefore with the Word (Prov. 3, 18). The cross, Tree of Life, replacing the one in Eden, is situated, like it, at the central point of the world. At the top of Golgotha, the tree rises to the sky and embraces the world in the very place where, as it is said, Adam was created and buried, so that the rivers of water and blood that flowed from the Crucified One turned "Source of Life" would gush over the body of the first man to raise him from the dead (¹). The cosmic tree, breaking forth both vertically towards the sky and horizontally into the vastness of the world, is the symbol of the extension of Redemption to the entire Universe. Hippolytus of Rome finds admirable words to sing this marvel: (¹): "God opened His hands on the cross to embrace the limits of the earth, and for this reason, Mount Golgotha is the pole of the world." - Saint Cyril of Jerusalem.

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"This Tree, towering up to the heavens, sprang from the earth to the sky. It is the firm fulcrum of the All, the resting point of all things, the foundation of the entire world, the cosmic polar point. In it, all the diversity of human nature is unified... It touches the highest peaks of the sky and holds the earth and the immense middle atmosphere, which lies in between, with its infinite arms." A Greek commentator, Ecumenius of Trikka, explains the passage from Saint Paul concerning the four dimensions of the Cross as follows: the length signifies that the mystery of the cross was foreseen from all eternity; the width, that everyone benefited from it; the depth, that Christ extended His graces even to the Underworld; the height signifies that He who descended is also He who ascended above all powers (Eph. 4:9-10). As you can see, it encompasses the entire mystery of salvation and its application to the world, time, and space. The four dimensions of the Cross can ultimately be summarized by its two axes — the horizontal and the vertical — which define its meaning even more distinctly. The horizontal axis signifies the dimension of "breadth," the extension of the mystery at the level of our world, our human state, its extension to all times and all regions of the earth. The vertical axis signifies the dimension of "elevation," the ascent to higher states of Being, to heaven; this is for the part of the axis situated above the horizontal, as the part below represents the lower states of Being, the "hells," in the broadest sense — inferi — lower, obviously, in relation to the human state. These two axes determine the interior dimensions of the mass and its spiritual architecture. This develops in the direction of "amplitude": the ritual time within which it is celebrated symbolizes the entire duration of the world. The Mass recapitulates all centuries, all of humanity's history. Before the Consecration, the celebrant recalls, in a solemn formula, that he offers the sacrifice in the sequence of Abel, Abraham, and Melchizedek. In the Syriac rite, it even evokes the origin of the world and announces: "In this Eucharist, we commemorate all Your guidance, first and foremost our father Adam and our mother Eve..." Then, after the Consecration, it alludes to future ages: "We commemorate, Lord, all Your guidance for us: Your Crucifixion... Your glorious second coming, in which you will judge the living and the dead," because, in obedience to the Lord's command, we offer the sacrifice in His memory " until

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He returns." Thus, the rite recapitulates history here, as do figurative paintings or stained glass windows, as we have seen, on the walls of the temple. But this recapitulation does not constitute an end; this "horizontal" gathering is the prelude to the "exaltation" along the vertical axis, the axis of redemption; Christ, descended from heaven to earth and even to the depths of hell, and ascended again to the heights, taking with Him the captives" (Antiphon of the Ascension), leading humanity and the world back to His Father. The vertical axis of the Cross, the axis of the world, measures and crosses the three "levels" of the cosmos, hell, earth, and heaven, and, if it is the direction of the Incarnation and the Descent into hell, it is also that of the Ascension. The horizontal axis is the "quantitative" axis, measuring earthly time and space; the vertical one is the "qualitative" axis, transcending the earthly state, freeing us from space and time, and leading us to the celestial Kingdom. It is around this axis that the architecture of the Mass ends and is completed. Let us reread the prayer of the Canon: "Remembering the blessed Passion of Christ... His Resurrection from the dead, and His glorious Ascension into heaven...," says the priest. The "scene" of the Mass unfolds in these three cosmic levels: in the depths, the suffering Church, those who sleep and for whom we implore "the place of refreshment and light" (Reading of the Diptychs); on Earth, the militant Church, gathered in the temple; in heaven, the triumphant Church of the Apostles, Patriarchs, and Martyrs invoked in the Canon. The celebration of the Holy Mysteries is a perpetual dialogue between Earth and heaven, along the vertical axis of the Cross; it is the singing of the Gloria — "Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace to people of good will"; it is the singing of the Sanctus, the open door in heaven to the eternal liturgy of the Angels and the Blessed, to which the Preface invites us to join our voices: “Lift up your hearts... The Angels praise Your Majesty... Deign to command, we beseech You, that our pleading voices may blend with theirs, saying: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty..."(²). This perpetual ascending symbolism is evident in the invisible architecture that, through the "axial pillar," connects the earthly altar to the heavenly altar (²): Nowadays, the presence of angels and their participation in the Mass is often forgotten. In this regard, refer to the texts of the Fathers mentioned in J. Danielou, Les Anges et leur mission (1953), pages 83-91.

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of the Lamb. This is what we can see twice. In the Canon, first of all, for the offering of the Holy Species: "We beseech You, Almighty God, to command that these offerings be carried by the hands of Your Holy Angel to Your sublime Altar, in the presence of Your divine Majesty, so that... we may be filled with heavenly blessing and grace." These words evoke the circulation of prayers, which ascend, and grace, which descends, in accordance with the vertical pillar of the Cross that unites all worlds. We find almost identical expressions for the offering of incense: "That, through the intercession of the blessed Archangel Michael, who stands to the right of the altar of perfumes... the Lord may deign to bless this incense and receive it as the fragrance of sweetness." We believe it is worth emphasizing the incense ritual, which deserves to be revalued. It constitutes a sacrifice, inherited from the Jewish cult, which is why it takes its place immediately after the offering of bread and wine (³). In fact, we read in Leviticus (16:13) that Aaron was tasked with "offering incense behind the veil," and in the Syrian Mass, this offering, which is quite elaborate and constitutes a significant part of the Mass, is called the "service of Aaron." Let us consider this ritual from its various aspects because it is a little-known subject and, as far as we know, has never been addressed, at least in terms of its symbolism. First and foremost, the material of this sacrifice is particularly significant, as incense is one of the emblems of divinity, and its fragrance, like that of holy chrism, is "The sweet odor of the Spirit" (O. Casel), which is explained by the solar character of incense. In general, all plant resins belong to the Sun, while flowers are associated with the Moon, but incense is particularly the perfume of the Sun and, therefore, of Divinity, which it symbolizes (⁴). We thus find again the solar symbolism that we discovered step by step in the study of the temple and the liturgy, and we will see that it governs the entire rite of incense. In the offering, the resin is, therefore, "sacrificed," its crude form abolished by the fire from the Sun, the matter becomes evanescent and returns to its celestial order, and the "earth" is transformed into "heaven." It is the sign of the sacrifice of the heart, which the divine Fire must ignite: "May the Lord kindle in us the fire of His love and the flame of eternal Charity," says the celebrant. And St. Gregory the Great, commenting on this rite, affirms: "The saintly soul makes of its heart as it were a censer that emits its perfumes before God." (³): The offering of incense constituted, in Israel, the evening sacrifice (Psalm 140 recited at Mass), and as such, it passed into our Vespers liturgy. (⁴): We are not discussing here the more external purpose of incensing, which is to purify the place of sacrifice and remove from it the bad "influences," as this is well known.

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The meticulously regulated gestures of incensation underline the solar character of the ritual and its significance. These gestures are: circumambulation, crucicircular incensation, and vertical incensation. First, circumambulation, during which the celebrant circles the altar, swinging the censer: this ritual march is not specific to incensation, as it is also performed, at least in the Byzantine rite, during the procession of the Gospel. Furthermore, a procession is always more or less a circumambulation, around the temple if it takes place outside, and around the altar if it occurs inside. In both cases, it is a procession around the center, the omphalos, a procession that imitates the path of the Sun and the movement of life around the immovable axis of the world. The purpose of this ritual procession is to absorb the "virtue" emanating from the center and radiate it into the world(⁵). It is evidently the same objective aimed at by the crucicircular incensation performed at the moment of the offering, before circumambulation; it is performed in all rites, but we will describe it according to the Syriac ritual, in which its importance stands out more clearly. The celebrant incenses the offerings in the form of a cross, and the rubrics state that this is done to send the incense to the four cardinal points in the following order: East, West, North, and South. Next, he incenses the offerings in the form of a circle. In this way, incensation is carried out according to the essential figure that we studied at the beginning of this book: the cross inscribed in the circle, which is the diagram of the Universe and whose tracing constitutes the initial operation of the construction of the temple. A new harmony between the structure of the temple and that of the liturgy. This figure is also, as we have seen, that of the earthly paradise and the cosmic mountain, with the four oriented rivers that symbolize it. It is very significant that this figure is traced with incense on offerings placed on the altar because it represents Golgotha and Mount Zion with the Lamb sacrificed, from which flow the four rivers from the source of life, an image of the rediscovered Paradise, of the regenerated Universe(⁶). In our opinion, there is no doubt that the rite of crucicircular incensation is a new way of affirming and realizing the extension of redemption to the entire Universe, an extension symbolized by the Cross, whose four arms correspond to the cardinal points, forming the name of (⁵): Usually, circumambulations are carried out from left to right, following the movement of the Sun. A crucial point, in the aspect that concerns us, is that the circumambulations in our liturgy unfold in the opposite direction, to the left. These latter ones are related to a polar orientation (a known fact in Islam). However, no traces of polar orientation are discernible in Catholic liturgy. Despite all our research, we have not been able to clarify this point. (⁶): See above, page 112 and following

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Adam(⁷), the new Adam who will offer himself on the altar(⁸), but it is also, in another way, a concentration, a synthesis of the Universe brought back, in its essential "lines," to its divine center and marked with the sign of salvation. The world, thus gathered in the four horizons, will be offered and elevated to heaven. This is the purpose of the third incensation, the vertical. It takes place before the image of the crucifix, but the prayers that accompany it prove that its meaning goes beyond a simple homage to the image of Christ: "May this incense, blessed by You, O Lord, rise up to You, and may Your mercy descend upon us," says the priest. "May my prayer rise up to You, like the smoke of incense in Your presence, and my uplifted hands, like the evening sacrifice." The column of rising smoke follows the direction of the axial pillar, which in a way materializes and joins the cornerstone or the vault closure, thus uniting the altar stone, and finally symbolically surpasses the dome to continue its path to the top of the sky, an igneous vehicle that carries the prayer to the divine throne and brings its blessings down to the earth. Incensum istud ascendat ad te et descendat super nos misericordia tua. The interpretation we provide is by no means a product of our imagination but is based on a fundamental and universal schema of the sacred. It was decisively demonstrated in the context of the Vedic sacrifice: the smoke of the sacrifice is assimilated to the axis of the world, conveying the prayer to the vault of the temple, to the eye of the dome, an opening that plays the same role as the vault closure in our buildings(⁹), and it identifies with the gate of heaven, and then beyond the celestial dome. The soul of the celebrant and that of the believers ascend "in the wake of Agni" (the divine Fire), and heavenly grace descends to the earth along the same axis(¹⁰). The same schema is found in the (⁷): See page 44 (⁸): The Syriac Jacobite ritual contains this prayer for the censing: "All of creation is saturated with the fragrance of Your divine sweetness. Grace has spread through all creatures." (⁹): We find this "eye" in Eastern churches and in certain Western churches dating back to classical times but inspired by ancient monuments such as the Pantheon in Rome. This opening is a reminder of the opening practiced at the top of the primitive hut, which is still found today in the homes of Native Americans or the "yurts" of Siberian shamans. Worldwide, this opening has been regarded as symbolizing the "door" through which we escape from this world toward the heavens. In this regard, there is a very significant tradition concerning the Church of the Ascension, built on the top of the Mount of Olives, precisely above the place from which Christ ascended to heaven. It is said that when it was necessary to close the vault of the sanctuary, an obstacle arose: "The stones would not adhere and fell as they were placed. It was necessary to abandon completing the building at its upper part, which remained open, as if to show to men that the path inaugurated by Emanuel on the Mount of Olives continued, and they should constantly aspire to join their Divine Leader who awaits them in the heavens." (Dom Guéranger, L'Année liturgique, Easter time, III, p. 256). (¹⁰): A. K. Coomaraswamy, Janua caeli (In Zalmoxis, II, 1939, 1941)

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ritual of the calumet, the principal rite of the Sioux Indians, performed in accordance with the essential crucicircular figure in their tradition. The calumet's chamber is filled with pinches of aromatic herbs(¹¹), related to the directions of space, symbolically concentrating all of creation in the pipe — "In this herb is the earth and all that dwells within it" — and offering it to God: "We offer Him everything that is in the Universe." Man, who summarizes all creatures and thus occupies a central position in the world, identifies with the calumet and with the ember that transforms the herb into smoke to send it to the sky, thus announcing that all of creation returns to God: "May the path of your people be like that of this smoke."(¹²) Thus, the ritual of incensing reveals to us, just like the liturgical texts themselves, the intimate architecture of the Mass arranged around the cross, which in turn exposes to us the full extent of the holy sacrifice. This is truly the spiritual integration of the Universe and humanity, and the transmutation of both. Along the horizontal axis of the cross, the entire Universe, symbolized by the temple, and all humanity from every age, symbolized by the assembly of believers, are elevated into unity around a central point, the altar stone. The first phase of the holy Mysteries: the transition from the circumference to the center, the "gathering" of that which was once "dispersed." On the altar stone, which is the intersection point of the horizontal axis of the great cosmic cross with its vertical axis, the second phase of the Mysteries occurs—the assumption of the integrated Universe and humanity in Christ, ascending along the axial pillar toward the "heavenly gate," the vault's closure, crossing it, and reaching the dwelling of the Sun. This subtle architecture, hinted at like filigree through the volumes and forms of the material temple, is the very architecture of the spiritual temple, where "living stones" accumulate and ascend to form the tree of the cross. (11): The ritual tobacco, among these peoples, serves the same purpose as incense. (¹²): Hehaka Sapa, Les Rites secrets des Indiens Sioux (1953).

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

The current issue in sacred art, regarding the art of building churches, was very well explained in Otto R. Hoffmann's small book, "Der moderne Kirchenbau ein christlicher Tempel?" (1976). A different perspective can be found in La Maison-Dieu, 63 (1960), "Bâtir et aménager des églises," and Art Sacré, Sept. Oct. 1960. The traditional conception of art was expounded by F. Schuon in "La question des formes d'art" in De l'unité transcendentante des religions, 1948; "Esthétique et symbolisme" in Principes spirituels et faits humains, 1953; "Principes et critères de l'art universel" in Castes et Races, 1957; T. Burckhardt, "Fondements de l'art chrétien" in Études traditionelles (April, 1954), Principes et methodes de l'art sacré, 1958; A. K. Coomaraswamy, The Transformation of Nature in Art, 1956, Christian and Oriental Philosophy of Art, 1956; L. Benoist, Art du monde, 1941; various authors in "l'Art traditionnel", special issue of Voile d'Isis (April, 1935); finally, R. Guénon, Le règne de la quantité et les signes des temps, 1945, La grande triade, 1946, Le symbolisme de la Croix, 1950, "Le symbolisme du dôme" in Études traditionelles (Oct., 1938), "La sortie et la caverne" (Ibid., April, 1938), "La montagne et la caverne" (Ibid., January, 1938), "La porte étroite" (Ibid., Dec., 1946), "La pierre angulaire " (Ibid., April, 1940), "Lapsit exilis" (Ibid., August, 1946), "Les deux saint Jean" (Ibid., June, 1949), "Les portes solsticiales" (Ibid., May, 1938 ), "Le symbolisme solsticial de Janus" (Ibid., July, 1938), "Le Zodiaque et les points cardinaux" (Ibid., Oct., 1945), "Pierre brute et pierre tailée" (Ibid., Sept., 1949), "L'octogone" (Ibid., July, 1949), "La caverne et le labyrinthe" (Ibid., Oct., 1937), "Encadrements et labyrinthes" (Ibid., Oct., 1947). These studies were taken up again in the posthumous work Symboles fondamentaux de la Science sacrée, 1962. (We cite here the set of works by Guénon that we used, although they concern several chapters of our book, because, in addition to their special object, these articles often expose very general doctrinal perspectives that we use in the very design of our research).

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The general works on religious symbolism are: J. Kreuser, Christian Symbolism, 1868 (completely forgotten but good); Abbé Auber, History and Theory of Religious Symbolism Before and Since Christianity, 1884; A. N. Didron, Manual of Christian Iconography, 1845; M. M. Davy, Essay on Romanesque Symbolism, 1955; R. Gilles, Symbolism in Religious Art, 1961; O. de Champeaux and Father S. Sterckx, Introduction to the World of Symbols, La Pierre qui vire, 1966; O. Beigbeder, Lexicon of Symbols, Id., 1969; L. Charbonneau-Lassay, The Bestiary of Christ, 1940; "The Permanent Value of Symbolism," special issue of La Maison-Dieu, 22 (1950). Many pieces of information about the symbolism in churches can also be found in the following works: E. Mâle, L'art religieux du XII siècle en France, L'art du XIII siècle en France, L'art religieux de la fin du Moyen Age, continuously reprinted works, Notre-Dame de Chartres, 1948; H. Focillon, Art of the West, 1938; T. Koves, The Formation of Ancient Christian Art (space, composition, plastic conception), 1927; R. Rey, Romanesque Art and Its Origins, 1947; E. Panofsky, Gothic Architecture and Scholasticism, 1951; K. J. Conant, Benedictine Contributions to Church Architecture, 1949; J. Froment, Spirituality of Romanesque Art; L. Gillet, The Living Cathedral (with the complete reproduction of Villard de Honnecourt's album), 1964; J. Gimpel, The Cathedral Builders, 1959; Chr. Jacq and F. Brunier, The Message of the Cathedral Builders, 1974; P. du Colombier, The Workshops of the Cathedrals, 1973; J. Reyor, "On Companionship and its Symbolism" in Voile d'Isis (April, 1934); L. Benoist, Companionship and the Trades, 1966; especially in three fundamental works: H. Sedlmayr; The Birth of the Cathedral, 1950; Otto von Simson, The Gothic Cathedral, 1962; T. Burckhardt, Chartres and the Birth of the Cathedral, 1962. Among the works that delve more specifically into the symbolism of Christian buildings in their relations with theology and liturgy: Dionysius the Areopagite, The Celestial Hierarchy; in Complete Works of Pseudo-Dionysius, 1943; Maximus the Confessor, Mystagogy in Migne's Greek Patrology, vol. 91; Simeon of Thessalonica, Treatise on the Holy Temple (Peri tou hagiou naou), Ibid., vol. 155; Mason, Neale, and Webb, On Symbolism in the Churches of the Middle Ages (with essential pages from Durand of Mende, Rational des Offices divins); Alan W. Watts, Myth and Ritual in Christianity; J. Daniélou, Le Signe du temple, 1943; J. Sauer, Die Symbolik des Kirchengebäudes und seiner Ausstattung in der Auffassung des Mittelalters, 1902; J. Jungmann, Die Symbolik der Katholischen Kirche, 1960; L. Sprink, Sacred Art in the West and in the East, 1962 (many interesting pieces of information and perspectives can be found in this book, even if we do not agree with the author's fundamental thesis);

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unsuspected perspectives will sometimes reveal themselves in J. Tourniac, Masonic Symbolism and Christian Tradition, 1965, and The Traces of Light, 1976. About the Platonic origins, through Saint Augustine and Dionysius the Areopagite, of medieval cosmology: O. von Simson, op. cit. chap. l; R. Klibansky, The Continuity of the Platonic Tradition during the Middle Ages, 1939. Regarding the temple as an image of the heavenly city, in addition to Dionysius the Areopagite, Maximus the Confessor, and Simeon of Thessalonica (cf. above), A. Stange, Das frühchristliche Kirchengebäude als Bild des Himmels, 1950; J. Baltrusaitis, "The Image of the Celestial World from the 9th to the 12th Century" in Gazette des Beaux Arts, 6th series, 20 (1938); A. K. Coomaraswamy, "Medieval Aesthetics" in The Art Bulletin, 17 (1935). About the temple as an image of the cosmos: M. Eliade, Traité d'histoire des religions, 2nd ed. 1910, Image and Symbols, 1952; "Sacred Space and the Sacralization of the World" in The Sacred and the Profane, 1965; P. Gordon, The Image of the World in Antiquity, 1949, The Priesthood Through the Ages, 1950. "The Cosmic Symbolism of Religious Monuments," Annales du Musée Guimet, 1953; L. Spitzer, "Classical and Christian Ideas of World Harmony" in Traditio II (1944), III (1945); J. Baltrusaitis, Christian Cosmography in Medieval Art, 1939; T. Burckhardt, "The Birth of the Hindu Temple" in Etudes trad. (Oct., 1953); L. Hautecoeur, The Symbolism of the Circle and the Dome, 1954; A. K. Coomaraswamy, "Symbolism of the Dome" in Historical Quarterly, 14 (1938); A. H. Allcroft, The Circle and the Cross, I-III, 1927-1930; W. Müller, Circle and Cross, 1938; and the articles by R. Guénon mentioned above. About geometry and numbers in the art of building: E. Moessel, Proportion in Antiquity and the Middle Ages; F. M. Lund, Ad Quadratum, I-II, 1921; Matila C. Ghyka, Aesthetic of Proportions, 1927, The Golden Number, I-II, 1931, Essay on Rhythm, 1938, Petrus Talemarianus, On Natural Architecture, 1949; Ch. J. Ledit, The Cathedral with the Golden Ratio, Tetraktys (Troys), 1960, The Canons of Pythagoras, 1960, The Mosque on the Rock, 1966. To the East of France, 1973. Faces of Troyes, Zodiaque, 26, 1955; the journal Les Cahiers du Nombre d'or, Paris. About gematria in Christian architecture: Ms. Devoucoux, Notes related to sacred architecture, and in particular to the role of gematria, in Edme Thornas, History of the ancient city of Autun, 2nd edition, Autun, 1846, whose most

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important pages were republished in Études traditionelles, March 1947, and then from December 1952 to June 1957; Ch. Ledit, op. cit. About ritual orientation: H. Nissen, Orientation, 1906-1910; Cyril Vogel, "Sol aequinoctialis" in Rev. des Sc. religieuses, 1962, 175-211; "Versus ad Orientem" in La Maison-Dieu 70, 1962; "L'orientation vers I'Est" in L'Orient syrien 9, 1964, 3-35; E. Peterson, "The Cross and Prayer Toward the East" in Ephemer. liturg. 59, 1945. About alchemical symbolism in the cathedrals: Fulcanelli, Le mystère des cathédrales (The Mystery of the Cathedrals), Les demeures philosophales (The Philosophical Mansions). About the temple, image of the human body, in addition to general works on medieval art and the history of religions (for example, the already mentioned works by Eliade), T. Burckhardt, "The Temple Body of the Divine Man" in Études trad., June 1951; R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz, "The Temple of Man," I-III, 1957. About the temple considered as the Mystical Body: J. C. Plumpe, "Vivum Saxum, vivi Lapides" in Traditio, I, 1943, 114. About the door, essentially: T. Burckhardt, "Je suis la Porte," in Études trad., June-August 1953. About the labyrinths: "The Labyrinth," ed. by S. H. Hook, 1935; W. F. Jackson Knight, "Cumaean Gates: A Reference of the Sixth Aeneid to Initiation Pattern," 1936; K. Kerenyi, "Labyrinth Studies," Albae Vigilae, 15, 1941; P. Santarcangeli, "The Book of Labyrinths," 1974; A. R. Verbrugge, "Archaeological Labyrinths," catalog of 70 specimens, "Church Labyrinths" in Archaeologia, May-June 1967, and Atlantis, March-April 1976; and the articles by R. Guénon mentioned above. About the altar: J. Braun, Der christliche Altar, I-ll, 1924; F. Duquesne, "The mystical symbolism of the Christian sanctuary," in Les Cahiers du symbolisme chrétien, I-III, 1938; "The Mystery of the Altar," special issue of Art Sacré, 3-4, 1955; and the articles by R. Guénon mentioned above about the cornerstone.

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About the notion of the temporal cycle and the liturgical cycle: M. Eliade, The Myth of the Eternal Return; O. Casel, The Mystery of Worship in Christianity, 1964; L. Bouyer, The Rite and Man, 1962; H. Rahner, Greek Myths and Christian Mysteries, 1954. About the symbolism of the Sun and the Moon: F. J. Dölger, Sol Salutis, 1925, Lumen Christi (Antike und Christentum 5, 1936), A. Audin, Solar Festivals, 1945; collections published by Nouvelles de Chrétienté: No. 213, 1959 "Lumen Christi" and No. 154, 1957 "The Oriens."

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