The Sainte-Marie-Madeleine church is a church located in Rennes-le-Château, in the French department of Aude1.
History
The church is dedicated to Marie Madeleine and probably dating from the 11th century, is originally the chapel of the old Counts of the Razès2. In 1185, the church was mentioned in the inventories of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem3. It was partially destroyed during the wars of religion4. Dilapidated and almost in a ruinous state in the nineteenth century, it becomes the subject of major restorations by its new priest Bérenger Saunière from 1886. During these restorations he is said to have discovered strange parchments, a tomb and a treasure - these finds became the original basis from which the modern myth that the treasure legend of Rennes-le-Château began. This priest is also at the origin of the so-called Sulpician-style decor and the church furniture still visible today5. The building is listed as a historical monument by order of July 26, 1994.
There are Lombard bands that punctuate the sides of the church walls and a funeral liter adorns the outside of the church. The presbytery is an extension of the church, encompassing its facade6. On the tympanum of the porch of the parish church above the key representing the coat of arms of Pope Leo XIII (accompanied by his motto Lumen in coelo, "light in the sky"), we can read the inscription in Latin, Terribilis est locus iste ("This place is Terrible", a truncated quote from Genesis, XXVIII, 17-7)7, followed by the explanation Domus mea domus orationis vocatibus ("My house will be called house of prayer", reference to Matthew, XXI,138). The pediment, covered with a triangle bordered with yellow ceramics reminiscent of volutes, houses the statue of Marie Madeleine who holds a cross in her hands and is surmounted by the inscription In hoc signo vinces ("by this sign you will defeat"). Under the statue, is written REGNUM MUNDI ET OMNEN ORNATUM SOECULI CONTEMPSI PROPTER AMOREM DOMINI MEI JESU CHRISTI QUEM VIDI QUEM AMAVI IN QUEM CREDIDI QUEM DILEXI ("I despised the reign of this world and all the attractions of this century because of the love of my master Jesus Christ, whom I saw, whom I loved, in whom I believed and that I chose", sentence taken from the Office of the Holy Women in the breviary at the time of Abbé Saunière)9. To the left of the entrance, the winged demon Asmodée (name attributed in L'Or de Rennes by Gérard de Sède in 1967), guardian of the threshold, supports the scallop-shaped beniter. Above, a carved base of two griffins is associated with two inscriptions, "by this sign you will defeat him"10and "BS" and supports four angels making the sign of the cross. The walls are covered with relief paintings of popular style. In this church, Saunière had a black and white paving floor laid that Gérard de Sède interprets as a chessboard of sixty-four squares, orientated towards the cardinal points. Other symbolic elements include the stations of the way of the cross.
The western end of the church is occupied by a fresco above the confessionalon which is carved a large hill or mountain perhaps representing the "Mount of Beatitudes"11 or "Christ on the flowery mountain"12, representing a Christ in glory with at his feet a group of characters paying tribute to him and a bag with a hole. Several statues facing each other adorn the nave: Asmodee and Saint John the Baptist/Jesus, Saint Roch and Saint Germaine de Pibrac, Saint Anthony the Hermit and Saint Mary Magdalene, Saint Anthony of Padua18 facing the pulpit, the latter would mark the location of the "knights slab" discovered by Saunière. The statues of Saint Joseph and the Virgin are on the left and right of the Romanesque altar, in terracotta with painted ciborium. The apse is surmounted by a blue vault decorated with golden stars. The stained glass windows are made by the master glassmaker Henri Feur.
Many elements (paintings, statuary) are interpreted by treasure seekers as the hermetic representation of the twelve treasure caches (Bugarach's pech, Notre-Dame de Marceille basilica) and Saunière belonging to occultist, Rosicrucian or Freemasons circles.
The hospitaller orders originated as groups of pious people who, driven by a religious ideal, joined together to provide a particular service to the Church, often to the weakest or those in danger (the sick, travelers, pilgrims). They began at the Benedictine monastery of Santa Maria Latina , founded in Jerusalem in the mid- 11th century by Amalfi merchants . Around 1080, the superior, Brother Gerard , created a new "hostellerie" (or hospice) and a church next to the monastery, initially dedicated to Saint John the Almoner ; this was the origin of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem , the first hospitaller order.
Jean-Alain Sipra, L'Eglise Sainte-Marie-Madeleine [archive]. In the Carcassonne region , around 1531 , new religious ideas were preached and by 1558 numerous armed troops of the Protestant faith existed in most of the towns around Rennes-le-Château. Massacres were then perpetrated in the region between 1560 and 1562 and in Limoux , not far from there, the Reformed took control of the city and killed many Catholics. Following a counter-attack, the Protestant troops were soon driven out and sixty of them were hanged. In 1578 , a large part of the church of Rennes-le-Château collapsed under the blows of the Calvinists who had temporarily taken control of the village. Guy Mathelié-Guinlet, Rennes-le-Château : le mystérieux trésor de l'abbé Saunière, Aubéron, , p. 96
Guy Mathelié-Guinlet, Rennes-le-Château: the mysterious treasure of Abbot Saunière , Aubéron,, p. 96
This is a truncated sentence that has 22 letters, a symbolic number, notably that of the feast of Saint Mary Magdalene on July 22. The quote is part of Jacob’s Vow at Bethel. The full vow is as follows; Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!” Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.” The context describes the God's appearance in a dream, given to Jacob while on the road to Haran in Mesopotamia, the region where Rebekah's brother Laban lives. Forced by nightfall to sleep on the ground with a rock for a pillow, Jacob dreams of a ladder, connecting earth to heaven, and full of angels going in both directions. Atop the ladder, the Lord stands and gives to Jacob the very promises He gave to Abraham. He also promises to be with Jacob on his journey from and back to the land of promise. Jacob wakes up and worships the Lord, vowing to make the Lord his God. Bethel itself was an ancient Israelite sanctuary. The name is also used for a border city located between the territory of the Israelite tribe of Benjamin and that of the tribe of Ephraim, which first belongs to the Benjaminites and is later conquered by the Ephraimites. Bethel appears to be very important in the Old Testament & is mentioned in the book of Joshua 7:2, 8:9 as being close to Ai and on the west side of it; in this episode Joshua sent men from Jericho to capture Ai. At 16:1 it is again said to be part of the territory of the descendants of Joseph (that is Manasseh and Ephraim, cf. Joshua 16:4). In the book of Judges 1:22 the descendants of Joseph capture the city of Bethel. At Judges 4:5 the prophetess Deborah is said to dwell at Bethel under the palm-tree of Deborah (presumably a reference to Genesis 35:8, where another Deborah, the nurse of Jacob's mother Rebecca, is said to have been buried under a tree at Bethel). Bethel is said in Judges 4:5 to be in Mount Ephraim. In the narrative of Levite's concubine, in Judges 20:18, where the Hebrew Beth-El is translated in the King James Version as the "House of God", the people of Israel go to Bethel to ask counsel of God when they are planning to attack the Tribe of Benjamin at the battle of Gibeah. There is a famous incident involving Levites concubine that the Priory of Sion seem to hold important. It is described at wikipedia; "The episode of the Levite's concubine, also known as the Benjamite War, is a biblical narrative in Judges 19–21 (chapters 19, 20 and 21 of the Book of Judges). It concerns a Levite from Ephraim and his concubine, who travel through the Benjamite city of Gibeah and are assailed by a mob, who wish to gang-rape the Levite. He turns his concubine over to the crowd, and they rape her until she collapses. After she dies from her ill treatment, the Levite dismembers her body and presents the remains to the other tribes of Israel. Outraged by the incident, the tribes swear that none shall give his daughter to the Benjamites for marriage, and launch a war which nearly wipes out the tribe, leaving only 600 surviving men. However, the punitive expedition is overcome by remorse, fearing that it will cause the extinction of an entire tribe. To ensure the survival of the Benjamite tribe while still complying with their oath, the Levites pillage and massacre the city of Jabesh-Gilead, none of whose residents partook in the war or in the vow, and capture its 400 maidens as wives for the Benjamites. The 200 men still lacking women are subtly allowed to abduct the maidens dancing at Shiloh". The people of Israel make a second visit to Bethel (Judges 20:26) after losing the battle at Gibeah. Bethel as an important religious centre at this time; it was so important, in fact, that the Ark of the Covenant was kept there, under the care of Phinehas the grandson of Aaron (Judges 20:27 f). At the next mention of the Ark, in 1 Samuel 4:3, it is said to be kept at Shiloh. In the book 1 Samuel 7:16, it is said that the prophet Samuel, who resided at Ramah, used to make a yearly circuit of Bethel, Gilgal and Mizpah to judge Israel. At I Samuel 10:3, Samuel tells Saul to go to Bethel to visit the 'Hill of God,' where he will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with a 'psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp.' It appears that there was a Philistine garrison there at that time. The adjective 'awesome' or “terrible” [used in this context] is because Jacob believes that he has been in the presence of Jehovah and of the heavenly host. The belief that those who saw “the angel of the Lord” face to face would die is expressed in the terror of Jacob. Cf. Jdg 6:22-23; Jdg 13:21-22. Others have noted how the office for the dedication of a church may be relevant. This was a liturgical celebration common to all Latin Christendom which was held on the anniversary of the consecration of the church in question. Consequently, the feast had no fixed position in the liturgical calendar. However, the feast served one common purpose, namely to connect the newly consecrated church typologically with the Temple of Solomon and further back to the first consecration of a location in the Bible, namely the site where Jacob wrestled with the angel. Observers have noted that some texts, a responsory, which follows a lesson [being given in the church] and serves as a response to the theme of the lesson, hence the name. In one, only the incipit is recorded, but this is also all that is needed, as this is a case of biblical intertextuality that would be well known to most of the literate members of the clerical community. The incipit refers to the exclamation of Jacob after he has wrestled the angel in Genesis 28:17, saying "terribilis est, inquit, locus iste, non est hic aliud nisi domus Dei, et porta caeli", which in the Douay-Rheims edition is translated as: "he said: How terrible is this place! this is no other but the house of God and the gate of heaven". Jacob then takes the stone that served as his pillow during the night, sets it erects, pours oil on it, and renames the place Bethel (previously called Luza). This quotation should also indicate very clearly why this text is used in chant for the feast of the dedication of a church: When Jacob utters his exclamation, he locates on earth a locality that serves as the house of God, a place where the divine presence is particularly strongly felt. In Christianity, the church is exactly such a place, a house of God where mankind can more easily contemplate and become aware of God and the divine mystery. In this way, Jacob's words, as well as his dedication of Bethel onto God, becomes a typological forerunner for every single church in Christendom, and in singing the responsory Terribilis est, the clerical community binds its own church typologically to Bethel, to the proto-church of the Old Testament, and in this way makes itself a part of the long history of Christendom.[HERE]
Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves. And He declared to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer’ [a direct quotation from Isaiah 56:7, where God speaks of His temple as a place for all nations to pray. The temple in Jerusalem was intended to be a sacred space for worship and communion with God. Jesus' use of this phrase highlights the intended purpose of the temple as a place of spiritual connection, not commercial activity. The phrase also points to the inclusivity of God's plan, as Isaiah's prophecy speaks of a house of prayer for all peoples] But you are making it [a direct accusation against those who have corrupted the temple's purpose. This phrase suggests a deliberate and ongoing action that deviates from God's original design] ‘a den of robbers [this phrase is a reference to Jeremiah 7:11, where God condemns the people for turning His house into a den of thieves. In the context of Matthew 21:13, Jesus accuses the temple authorities and merchants of exploiting worshippers through dishonest practices, such as overcharging for sacrificial animals and currency exchange. The term "den of robbers" implies a place where thieves retreat after committing their crimes, suggesting that the temple had become a refuge for corrupt practices rather than a place of worship. This accusation is a powerful indictment of the religious leaders' failure to uphold the sanctity of the temple], The blind and the lame came to Him at the temple, and He healed them.…
Jean Markale, The Enigma of the Holy Grail: From Rennes-le-Château to Mary Magdalene , Editions du Rocher ,, p. 216. It is alleged to be from a breviary originally belonging to Sauniere - Eighth Lesson of the Third Night. The canon Carol of the cathedral of Munich has found a breviary from the Saunière era on which the phrase appears in its full version. The page is published in G.T., "Les inscriptions du porche de l'eglise de Rennes-le-Château", Cahiers 2, p. 27. It is also listed on Liturgies.net where the sentence s recorded under an entry antiphon [a short sentence sung or recited before or after a psalm or canticle] for Nuns; I despised the kingdom of the world and all worldly finery for love of my Lord, Jesus Christ, whom I have seen, whom I have loved, in whom I have believed, in whom has been my delight. It has some correlation with Paul in his Philippians 3:8 where he write in respect of him following Jesus Christ 'for whom I have lost all things'. Paul's statement is both literal and metaphorical. He gave up his status, reputation, and possibly material wealth for the sake of Christ. This mirrors the call of Jesus in Matthew 16:24-26, where followers are urged to deny themselves and take up their cross.
The pronoun "le" is an addition requested by Saunière from the sculptor so that the sentence has 22 letters.
The Mount of Beatitudes (Hebrew: הר האושר, Har HaOsher) is a hill in northern Israel, in the Korazim Plateau. It is the traditional site of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount is a collection of sayings spoken by Jesus found in the Gospel of Matthew that emphasizes his moral teachings. Beatitudes (from the Latin beatitudo, "happiness, the state of being blessed", bliss) are the part of the Sermon. There are eight of them in the Gospel according to Matthew and four in the Gospel according to Luke; "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. "Blessed are the afflicted, for they will be comforted. "Blessed are the gentle, for they will own the land. "Blessed are the hungry and thirsty for justice, for they will be full." Blessed are the merciful, for they will obtain mercy. "Blessed are the pure hearts, for they will see God. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. "Blessed are the persecuted for justice, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
On the western wall of the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, Saunière had an enormous fresco installed. The fresco is positioned over the confessional. The Fresco was placed there in 1897. Originally the western wall, hosted the main entrance of the church. Over it there used to be a gallery for the town dignitaries where they could attend the mass. At some moment in history, the original access to the church was sealed and the current one was installed. Why this was done is unknown. In the world of the Rennes Researcher this 'confessional' fresco is sometimes given the name of the Fleury Mount. Henry Lincoln advocated a kind of modern day 'catchphrase' system of analysis ['Catchphrase' is a progamme on TV where popular catchphrases are represented by a piece of animation and their links the catchphrase is to be identified] - where you simply 'say what you see'. So on this Fleury tableau, for Lincoln, what is mainly seen is a flower strewn landscape, a Terrain Fleury if you will .... or, in English a 'flowery hill' - the colline fleurie. Lincoln wondered if Sauniere might have been trying to indicate the Fleury domains via this tableau. The Fleury's were important local lords of the area of Rennes-le-Chateau and Rennes-les-Bains. They are widely felt to be involved in the mystery of Rennes-le-Chateau. A famous Fleury intimately linked to the 'mystery' is one Paul Urbain de Fleury, who is said to have donated a mysterious painting of Christ to the church at Rennes-les-Bains. The Fleury's also married into the Blanchefort/Hautpoul family .... (for example, Paul-François-Vincent de Fleury married 13 sept. 1767 Marie-Anne-Gabrielle-Élisabeth d’Hautpoul, daughter of François d’Hautpoul, baron de Rennes-les-Bains, marquis de Blanchefort). Lincoln continues - asking whether this Fleury hill is therefore important because Sauniere has depicted on the hill a purse of gold. Is the purse of gold a subtle hint that a treasure is buried here? Lincoln looked at the landscape depicted & suggested that viewed from down in the valley of Rennes the vista and skyline seen is 'one [where we] can see the village of Rennes-le-Chateau [to the left] then on the skyline one can see a 'pointy hill' and to the right [of that] Coustaussa'. Was the 'pointy hill' between Rennes-le-Chateau and Coustaussa in the vista really the 'flowery hill' of the Fleury tableau? For Lincoln, this was all the more convincing because this part of the landscape just happened to be part of the old Fleury Estate. Lincoln wonders - 'Does the purse on the fleury hill indicate to us a significant point on this 'pointy hill?' As i followed up Lincoln's musings i looked at the video footage in the 'Lost Treasure of Jerusalem' and realised that this 'pointy hill' being shown to us was a very well known landmark in the Rennes area. It was ROQUE FUMADE. Roque Fumade has been the site of some burial discoveries. According to Louis FEDIE in (1880) - in his article called "RHEDAE - La Cité des Chariots" he refers to the area of Roque-Fumade as the place where burials were discovered. He wrote: "we note the recent discovery at a place called Roquefumade, near Rennes-le-Chateau, singly or in groups - several tombs at the bottom of a valley and .... all the same shape as the burials discovered at a place called La Capello. That is to say the burials were composed of large rough slabs juxtaposed, and the walls and lids formed an imitation of Merovingian tombs. These tombs, [although imitating Merovingian tombs] correspond to .... those that exist in the northern and central parts of France which date back to a time that in the Narbonnaise corresponds to the installation of the Visigoths in Narbonne". There seems to be some doubt expressed by Fedie - seemingly around how Merovingian looking tombs could be found in an area in the south of France dated to a time that was dominated by the Visigoths. Fedie also refers to La Capello, where other burials had been found which were similar to those at Roque Fumade (i.e. Merovingian). And where was this La Capello? Again, according to Fedie - "It was on this site that stood the Visigothic camp, the embryo of a powerful city. There is abundant evidence to mark the exact place ................. Scattered remnants of substructures in the soil, brick hooks and shards of ancient pottery that have been exhumed, the remains of weapons leave no doubt about that. Until recently, two years ago, a resident of the village of Rennes-le-Chateau, making a trench for the construction of a wall, discovered a large slab which was raised and found a host of human bones. It was a pile of debris - skeletons enclosed on four sides by large slabs. The depth of this ossuary could not be verified because we hastened to put in place the slabs that covered the hole, so the bones were treated with great respect. Where the discovery was made, it is called in the patois of the region, La Capello." There seems to be some misunderstandings between a La Capello at Roque Fumade and a La Capello near Rennes-le-Chateau. According to Gerard de Sede, La Capello was associated with some kind of third church or 'holy place' in Rennes-le-Chateau. JP Pourtal says that 'The citadel [ of Rennes] was divided into three neighbourhoods that still exist in the current village and carry the same names translated in the local dialect. The first called Castrum Valens, on the east side, is now called Castel de Balent. The second, located in the south, was called Castrum Salassum, today Salassum. Finally, the third designated by the name of Capella is called the Capello. The first quarter called Castrum Valens, drew its name from a fortified gate at the entrance of the fortress on the east side, ie on the side most exposed to enemy attacks, as it faced the plain. Visiting the places, it is easy to find traces of the fortress Castrum Valens". Interestingly this La Capella/Capello [if they are one and the same term] was mentioned by Noel Corbu in one of his many scripts about the 'treasure of Rennes'. He wrote: "Marie herself took a walk in the cemetery and suddenly her attention was drawn by a very old tomb. The stone bore inscriptions, which had always seemed strange to her. The words were cut with no rhyme or reason. Was it that one? She called the priest, who noted down the whole text and during the evening they had a go. Suddenly he found the combination. The treasure was theirs. There were six points of entry, the one in the keep was the easiest, but where was the keep? Everything had been razed to the ground. Yes, but on one side of one of the parchments there were some lines and these lines must start from the main altar. The lines were height measurements and were oriented in relation to the church. Marie and the priest burned with fever. It was two o’clock in the morning. In the village everyone was asleep, so they did not hesitate. They took some ropes, which they measured carefully and spread them as indicated by the lines on the plan. It was very cold, the wind blew, but they did not care. The ropes intersected in the middle of a spot known as la Capella, the Château. It was an empty piece of land, but it was too late to carry on because the peasants were starting to get up. The following night the priest and Marie, who had carefully noted where the place was, began to dig. Forty centimetres into the soil they found a stone slab. They got it free. It had a rusty ring at its centre. With the help of crowbars, they managed to raise it. A dark staircase appeared." Later, Corbu suggests Sauniere bought land around the place of this La Capella, writing: The priest bought some pieces of land around the presbytery including the one on which he found the slab. Fédié continues: "What we now call the Salasso is an esplanade, a threshing floor for threshing grain, a platform that communicates on the south side by a steep escarpment, with the plain where the town was built. There are layers of masonry indicating that at that point there was another fortress - whose presence is confirmed by a local legend - that connected the city with the stronghold. This legend adds that after the destruction of the city, the stronghold, which was well defended, survived several centuries, and that the fortress .... used as a powder magazine, caught fire during a siege and exploded causing the destruction of an entire district and a part of the ramparts. Finally, you can see in the third quarter - that of Capello called the vestiges of an ancient church....." One wonders then if the Plantard/Cherisey team were aware of this - because later, in a publication by Louis Vazart (Vazart was part of the Plantard/Cherisey team for a few years) the area of Roque Fumade becomes the place where the tombs of BERA V and HILDERIC I were found. This Bera and Hilderic were alleged to be descendants of Sigebert IV and his wife 'Magdala'. For the Vazart team also, earlier descendants Sigebert IV, Sigebert V and Bera III were interred in the church at Rennes-le-Chateau. At the following website; http://www.gralssuche.org/forschungsberichte/der_geheimnisvolle_roque_fumade.html the authors make some interesting observations detailed below: "In all our deliberations we came across the following strange phenomenon; When considering the altarpiece in the church of Rennes-le-Château [we decided] that "Roque Fumade" was directly depicted in that same altar - that is the acute mountain behind Mary Magdalene in her cave, painted pretty much exactly the same as the form of the "Roque Fumade" ..... a view from the east or northeast"."Different research teams discovered recently that in the area under the "Roque Fumade" a system of tunnels stretch, which begins near the area "Encantado"1 and probably once led up to Rennes-le-Château. However, it is elsewhere written that in these underground caverns in ancient times also gold or other precious metals may have been degraded. Through this activity, of course smoke had arisen, which spread throughout the tunnel system and also used as a correspondingly "air channels" crevices and was ultimately came to light at the "Roque Fumade". Also a plausible explanation for the name of Roque Fumade as the "smoking rock!" "Different research teams discovered recently that in the area under the "Roque Fumade" a system of tunnels stretch, which begins near the area "Encantado" and probably once led up to Rennes-le-Château. However, it is elsewhere written that in these underground caverns in ancient times also gold or other precious metals may have been degraded. Through this activity, of course smoke had arisen, which spread throughout the tunnel system and also used as a correspondingly "air channels" crevices and was ultimately came to light at the "Roque Fumade". Also a plausible explanation for the name of Roque Fumade as the "smoking rock!"