Montesegur Day: Commemoration of the Holy Cathar Martyrs

On March 16th many contemporary Gnostic churches commemorate the Martyrdom of the Holy Cathars at Montségur by 10,000 troops at the end of the Albigensian Crusade a 20-year military campaign initiated by the Catholic Church to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc. In March 1244, the Cathars finally surrendered and approximately 220 were burned en masse in a bonfire at the foot of the pog when they refused to renounce their faith. Some 25 actually took the ultimate Cathar vow of consolamentum perfecti in the two weeks before the final surrender.

Catharism was a name given to a Christian religious movement with mitigated dualistic and gnostic elements that appeared in the Languedoc region of France and other parts of Europe in the 11th century and flourished in the 12th and 13th centuries. The Cathars, who frequently self-identified themselves as Bons Hommes or “Good Christians” were largely a grass-roots expression of piety who were acknowledged even by their Catholic neighbors as living lives of extreme devotion to the essence of Christian principals and, at the peak of their movement, were a formidable counter-religious movement to the Catholic Church which would ultimately bring about their persecution by Pope Innocent III and regional French royals.

In honor of the memory of the Holy Cathar Martyrs, below are some of my favorite pieces of Cathar scripture and verse which may be read or recited on one should so choose:

“Whereas we are taught by God`s Holy Word as well as by the Holy Apostles and the preaching of our spiritual brothers to reject all fleshly desire and all uncleanness and to do the will of God by doing good we, unworthy servants that we are, not only do not do the will of God as we should, but more often give way to desires of the flesh and the cares of the world, to such an extent that we wound our spirits.”

– Apareilementum from the Lyon Ritual

“For the Lord is called omnipotent, as our opponents avow, and He can do whatsoever pleases Him; nor can anyone resist Him,” or say, “Why dost Thou so?” As Ecclesiastes says: For He will do all that pleaseth Him and His word is full of power; neither can any man say to Him: ‘Why dost Thou so?’ ”  And David says, “But our God in heaven; He hath done all things whatsoever He would,” And in the Apocalypse is written: “Saith the Lord God, who is and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” And again, “Great and wonderful are Thy works, O Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Thy ways, O King of Ages! Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and magnify  Thy name? For Thou only art holy.”

-          On the Omnipotence of God, The Book of Two Principals

“Thereafter I heard a voice there and the song which I heard in the six heavens rose up and was heard in the seventh heaven. And all glorified Him whose glory I could not behold. And the song of all six heavens was not only heard but seen. And the angel said to me, ‘He is the One Living Eternal, living in the highest eternity and resting among the holy ones; we cannot endure to name or see Him who is praised by the Holy Spirit in the mouths of the holy [and] righteous.”

-          Vision of Isaiah 5:1

“[If] you wish to receive this power you must keep all the commandments of Christ and the New Testament according to your ability. And know that He has commanded that man shall not commit adultery or murder or lie, that he must not swear any oath, that he shall not seize or rob, nor do to others what he would not have done to himself, that man must forgive whoever wrongs him and love his enemies, pray for his detractors and accusers and bless them; and if anyone strike him on one cheek, turn to him the other also, and if anyone takes away his cloak, to leave him his coat also; and that he should neither judge nor condemn, and many other commandments which the Lord made for His Church.”

-          Traditio, the rite of the transmission of prayer.

“Holy Father, Rightful King of faithful souls, who never erred, who never lied, follower of the rightful course, who never doubted lest we should accept death in the realm of the wrong god; as we do not belong to this realm and this realm is not ours – teach us Your gnosis and to love what You love.”

-          A traditional Cathar prayer from the 13^th Century

May the memory of the Good Christians never perish and the light of gnosis never fail. In particular, I also wish to commemorate St. Esclarmonde de Foix, a Cathar parfait who is credited with opening a number of hospitals, schools and Cathar convents in a time before the Catholic Church had done so, who single-handedly refuted the attempts of conversion by Dominic de Guzeman and when pursued by those who would attempt to kill her ascended into the sky in the shape of a dove far from her captors.

 

The Way of Prayer: Five Types of Prayer

In my previous entry on revisiting the Lyon Ritual of the Cathars, I mentioned one of the things that drew me to the ritual itself beyond being a historical example of a gnostic method rite of initiation is the direct method of transmitting the knowledge of prayer. Many may question why the transmission or instruction in prayer is necessary – shouldn’t it come naturally? Well, despite the fact that we live in a culture in which prayer is often taught at a young age and demonstrated in public and private spheres, now as in the past, very few people actually know how to pray.

As I was composing my previous entry last night, by an act of synchronicity I received a Facebook message from one of my sisters in my fraternity asking about my feelings and observations of various religious systems relating to the topic of prayer. She writes:

“For example, as a Thelemite, I personally have complete respect for other religious practices (prayer included) and on occasion participate in. My best friend has been a Christian for many years, and now more recently, a Mormon. When we would have meals, depending on who is present, we either do Will, or I ask that her and her Husband lead us in prayer (as this is their custom). I definitely have the intention present in mind of blessing the food as well the well wishes and intent of the particular prayer they speak.”

To this I responded in all sincerity, that this is a topic very dear to my heart and that it is something I’ve struggled with and am still very much exploring myself. As we exchanged correspondence via Facebook and text messaging, I was moved to write this essay to outline an enchiridion on the way of prayer from a Western perspective, although exploring other examples when appropriate.

Simply defined, using the Wikipedia entry on the topic:

“Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of a hymn, incantation, formal creed, or a spontaneous utterance in the praying person. There are different forms of prayer such as petitionary prayer, prayers of supplication, thanksgiving, and worship/praise. Prayer may be directed towards a deity, spirit, deceased person, or lofty idea, for the purpose of worshipping, requesting guidance, requesting assistance, confessing sins or to express one’s thoughts and emotions. Thus, people pray for many reasons such as personal benefit or for the sake of others.”

In the West, but also in other cultures, prayer is primarily a conscious effort to make contact with intelligence beyond that of the person performing the prayer and can be performed either singularly by an individual or as an expression of corporate religiosity. Broken down, according to traditional Roman Catholic teaching there are five essential types of prayer:

• Prayer of Praise and Adoration

“Praise to a higher power or powers as an act of devotion. In Vedic practice, this could also encompass the most basic type of bhakti.”

• Prayer of Penitence

“Prayer aimed to a higher power or powers in recognition of personal fault or misdeed. In Jewish, Christian and Muslim practice, it typically manifests as a form of individual confession aimed at removing or absolving sin. In Buddhist and Vedic practice, this form of prayer may also conditionally encompass expatiatory prayer aimed at removing the harmful effect of misdeeds.”

• Prayer of Petition

“Prayer aimed at petitioning a higher power or powers to bring about some kind of spiritual, emotional, or physical assistance. By far the most common type of prayer across different cultures. “

• Prayer of Thanksgiving

“Prayer aimed at thanking a higher power or powers for bringing about some kind of fortune or provision.”

• Prayer of Intercession

“Prayer aimed at a higher power or powers on behalf of a third party or parties for the purpose of bringing about some kind of spiritual, emotional or physical effect.”

The five types of prayer exemplify the most common aims individuals have during the act of prayer. In practice, many prayers involve one or more of these elements. In ritual or liturgy, it is often common to use all of these types of prayer at varying intervals to help connect the individual or group consciousness with their agreed upon or recognized definition of a higher power or power.

From the perspective of applying a magical theory to these types of prayer we can create the following table of correspondence:

	Type of Prayer	Element	Power of the Sphinx	Evangelist
1.	Prayer of Praise and Adoration	Air	To Know	Matthew
2.	Prayer of Penitence	Earth	To Will	Luke
3.	Prayer of Petition	Fire	To Dare	Mark
4.	Prayer of Intercession	Water	To Keep Silence	John
5.	Prayer of Thanksgiving	Æthyr	To Go	Holy Paraclete[1]

The above list is largely speculative, but I feel represents from a certain Gnostic perspective the elements of prayer in an esoteric perspective. In the course of my discussion with my sister, we came upon the interesting point which would have made penitential prayer seemingly useless from a Thelemic perspective unless we considered, alchemically, that penance as a correspondence to elemental earth is also connected to the alchemical element of Salt which, in chapter four of Book 4, Crowley considers the following attribution:

                “The Christian idea that sin was worth while because salvation was so much more worth while, that redemption is so splendid that innocence was well lost, is more satisfactory. St. Paul says: “Where sin abounded, there did grace much more abound. Then shall we do evil that good may come? God forbid.” But (clearly!) it is exactly what God Himself did, or why did He create Satan with the germ of his “fall” in him?

Instead of condemning the three qualities outright, we should consider them as parts of a sacrament. This particular aspect of the Scourge, the Dagger, and the Chain, suggests the sacrament of penance.

The Chain is Salt: it serves to bind the wandering thoughts; and for this reason is placed about the neck of the Magician, where Daath is situated…

The Scourge keeps the aspiration keen: the Dagger expresses the determination to sacrifice all; and the Chain restricts any wandering.”

Even though Thelema (and presumably some schools of Gnosticism) outright decry the ontological nature of “sin” as commonly understood by exoteric Christianity, it functionally exists and could be understood to represent the point from which we wander away from our connection with our understanding of the Divine.

It is also worth considering that these five methods of prayer may also have a correspondence to the “orthodox” sacramental system mentioned in the gnostic Gospel of Philip:

“The Lord did everything in a mystery, a baptism and a chrism and a eucharist and a redemption and a bridal chamber. [...] he said, “I came to make the things below like the things above, and the things outside like those inside. I came to unite them in the place.” [...] here through types [...]and images.”

The sacramental pentad of presented in the Gospel of Philip could be considered in the following way:

	Type of Prayer	Sacrament	Element
1.	Praise and Adoration	Bridal Chamber	Air
2.	Petition	Chrism	Fire
3.	Intercession	Baptism	Water
4.	Penitential	Redemption	Earth
5.	Thanksgiving	Eucharist	Æthyr

How this all ties into the Lyon Ritual is my profound interest in the Pater Noster, or Lord’s Prayer which was the central mystery (if it could be called such) of the Cathar sacramental system. Unique among the some of the various Gnostic schools the Cathars, in general, formed an anti-sacerdotal party in opposition to the Catholic Church, protesting against what they perceived to be the moral, spiritual and political corruption of the Church.

The organization of Cathar religious hierarchy bears a very strong resemblance to later evangelical and Anabaptist schools and seemed, primarily, to be focused on prayer and evangelism in addition to the administration of two primary sacraments: the traditio, or transmission of prayer in which the postulant to the Cathar faith would be instructed in prayer and become a credent (believer), and the consolamentum which functioned both sacramentally and sacerdotally whereby the credent would become a parfait (perfect, or elder) who could function as a minister among Cathar communities and would often preach and administer the sacraments to others. Among the perfects, were also regional bishops; but their role varied from Catholic bishops, not relying on apostolic succession but instead was relegated to being functional overseers of other perfecti.

The rite of traditio mirrors in many ways the origins of Christianity as a dually exoteric and esoteric religious tradition. Exoteric in that Christians, as early as the apostolic age, were recognized distinctly in many ways from mainstream Judaism of the first and second centuries, and esoteric in that certain rites would only have been engaged in by members of the early Christian community. This is already apparent in the time of the earthly ministry of Jesus in the synoptic gospels when Jesus is asked by his apostles about the method of Prayer:

“Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” And he said to them, “When you pray, say:

‘Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.’”

Immediately, he continues with further instructions:

“And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”

The Lord’s Prayer, as I have previously noted, is perhaps the best known Christian prayer and is frequently the first prayer that children raised in Christian cultures are taught. It is unique on many levels, not the least of which is that in fifty two words (in English, not including the doxology which raises the word count to 66) it fulfills all five types of prayer and encompasses so much of the Christian experience that it has inspired theologians for centuries to the present day.

For me personally, it is one of the primary prayers that I personally pray throughout the day after I had been taught to pray it without knowing that when I received it as the only act of penance one day, I was being taught how to pray in a way that, I imagine, would have been similarly meaningful to Cathar postulants. All that was required of me was that I, “pray the Lord’s Prayer slowly”; effectually turning the Lord’s Prayer into an act of lectio divina. For this, I would take each line and contemplate it individually, slowly adding on the other verses up until I would reach the doxology – the “eucharist” of the prayer – and have inflamed myself in prayer. It is a cathartic, and purifying experience and has brought me much pleasure and inspiration and it is for this simple fact I am a proponent and student of prayer.

 

A Cathar coin

 

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[1] As the inspirer of scripture.

The Lyon Ritual Revisited

Lately, as I’ve been spending a lot of time researching the enigmatic sect known as the Cathars. While there is much that we do know based on the historical accounts and by what little literature remains from their liturgies, there is still much that we don’t know. What makes this research even more difficult is that it is difficult to make a sweeping generalization of what was once such a popular movement spread over a relative large geographic region which, in turn, makes it difficult to ascertain the degree of agreement in various beliefs between one community and another as well as how their liturgies were practiced.

For the purposes of this entry, I have attempted to reconstruct the Cathar Rite known as Traditio, which was a rite for the transmission of prayer during which the postulant or person approaching the Cathars would be instructed in directed prayer using the Pater Noster (Lord’s Prayer) as its basis. This rite is of particular interest to me for many reasons, but primary above all is that I imagine it would have more meaning to the believer and people would actually learn efficacious prayer instead of learning it by rote.

The reconstruction below  is based off the Lyon Ritual, (ms. Lyon, Bibliothèque municipale, PA 36, 235v-241) as found in the Cathar Texts and Rituals portion of the Gnostic Society Library. Where there were textual omissions, I have attempted to fill in the blanks and notate as such wherever possible. In order to provide an idea of what the ritual could look like when performed, I have included ritual directions in italics based off instructions provided in the Lyon Ritual itself or off precedents of similar Christian and initiatory ritual.

A Reconstruction of the Cathar Rite commonly called, Traditio

The Postulant, dressed in plain clothes, is brought before the Elder dressed in a black robe who is standing next to a table upon which there is a Bible opened to the Gospel of John.

The Witness, or sponsor, of the Postulant stands behind them on their right.

The Assembly, if any, are seated behind the Postulant in a semi-circle wearing their robes.

Elder               O child of God, [Name of Postulant][1], you must realize that when you are before the Church of God you are before the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, as the Scriptures teach. For Christ said in the Gospel according to Saint Matthew: “Wheresoever two or three are gathered together in my name there I am in the midst of them.”[2]

And in the Holy Gospel according to Saint John he said, “Wheresoever two or three are gathered together in my name there I am in the midst of them.”, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him.”[3]

And Saint Paul says in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, “Ye are the Temple of the Living God, as God hath said by Isaiah, his prophet; I dwell in them and walk in them; and I will be their God and they shall be My people. Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord; and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”[4]

And in another place he says, “Seek ye the proof of Christ Who speaketh in me.”[5]

And in the First Epistle to Timothy he says, “These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly; but if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the House of God, which is the Church of the Living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”[6]

And he said also to the Hebrews, “But Christ is a Son over His own house, Whose house we are[7].”

That the Spirit of God is with the followers of Jesus Christ, Christ has shown thus in the Gospel according to Saint John, “If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him; but ye know Him, for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you[8].”

And in the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew He said, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.[9]“

And Saint Paul said in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the Temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.[10]“

Christ shows it thus in the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew, “For it is not ye that speak but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you.[11]“

And Saint John says in his epistle, “By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, for He has given us His Spirit.[12]“

And Saint Paul said to the Galatians, “Because ye are sons God hath sent forth the spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying “Father! Father![13]“

Wherefore be it understood that your presentation made before the sons of Jesus Christ confirms the faith and teaching of the Church of God as the Holy Scriptures tell us. For in former times the people of God separated themselves from the Lord their God. And they abandoned the will and guidance of their Heavenly Father through the deceptions of the wicked spirits and by submission to their will.

And for these reasons, and many others, we are certain that the Heavenly Father would have pity on His people and receive them again in peace and concord by the coming of His Son, Jesus Christ, and now is the time.

For you are here before the disciples of Jesus Christ in the place where Father, Son and Holy Ghost have their spiritual abode as is shown above, to receive that Holy Prayer which the Lord Jesus gave to His disciples, so that your prayers might be granted by our Heavenly Father.

Therefore must you learn that if you would receive this Holy Prayer you must repent your sins and forgive all men. For Our Lord Jesus Christ says, “If ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Heavenly Father, forgive your trespasses.[14]“

Hence it is meet and right that you be resolved in your heart to keep this Holy Prayer all your life according to the custom of the Church of God, in purity and truth, and in all other virtues which God would bestow upon you.

Wherefore we pray the good Lord who bestowed upon the disciples of Jesus Christ the virtue to receive this Holy Prayer steadfastly that He may grant to you also the grace to receive it steadfastly, in His honour and for your salvation.

The Elder then says the Lord’s Prayer and the postulant follow him phrase by phrase.

Our father, which art in Heaven,

Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our supplementary bread,

And remit our debts as we forgive our debtors.

And keep us from temptation and free us from evil.

Thine is the kingdom, the power and glory for ever and ever.

Amen.

 

Pater noster qui es in celis,

sanctificetur nomen tuum;

adveniat regnum tuum.

Fiat voluntas tua sicut in celo et in terra.

Panem nostrum supersubstancialem da nobis hodie.

Et dimitte nobis debita nostra sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris.

Et ne nos inducas in temptationem sed libera nos a malo.

Quoniam tuum est regnum et virtus et gloria in secula.

Amen.

After which the Elder will say:

Elder               “We deliver you this Holy Prayer that you may receive it of us and of God and of the Church, that you may have the power to say it all your life, day and night, alone or in company, and that you must never eat or drink without first saying it. If you omit to do so you must do penance.”

Postulant         “I receive it of you and of the Church.”

Then he turns and give thanks and make his melioramentum [15](bowing at the feet of the Elder).

Then the Elder asks the postulant:

Elder               “My brother, do you desire to give yourself to our faith?”

The postulant being asked three times, and answering “Yes” on all, makes a bow and advances one step between each, saying “Bless me,” to which the Elder replies, “God bless and keep you.”

At the third time bowing thus the postulant adds:

Postulant         “Lord, pray to God for me, a sinner[16], that He will lead me to the good end,”

The Elder replies:

Elder               “God bless you and make you a good Christian and bring you to the good end.”

The Elder then inquires of the Postulant.

Elder               “Do you give yourself to God and the Gospel?

Postulant         “Yes”

Elder               “Do you promise that henceforth you will eat neither meat nor eggs, nor cheese, nor fat, and that you live only from water and wood (i.e. vegetables and fish), that you will not lie, that you will not swear, that you will not kill, that you will not abandon your body to any form of luxury, that you will never go alone when it is possible to have a companion, that you will never sleep without breeches and shirt and that you will never abandon your faith for fear of water, fire or any other manner of death?”

Postulant         “Yes”

Elder               [Do] you wish to receive the spiritual baptism whereby the Holy Spirit is given in the Church of God with the Holy Prayer by the laying on of hands of the Good Men. Of this Baptism Our Lord Jesus Christ said in the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew:

“Go ye and teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” And in the Gospel of Saint Mark he said,”Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned”.[17]

And in the Gospel of Saint John He said to Nicodemus, “Verily, verily I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and the spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God[18].”

And John the Baptist spoke of this baptism when he said, “I indeed baptize you with water, but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to loosen; he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.”[19]

This gift of the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands has been instituted by Jesus Christ as Saint Luke tells, and he said that his friends would confer it as Saint Mark says, “They shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.[20]“

And Ananias conferred this Baptism on Saint Paul when he was converted. For Saint Luke says thus in the Acts of the Apostles, “Now when the Apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God they sent unto them Peter and John, who when they were come down, prayed for them that they might receive of the Holy Spirit, for as yet He was fallen upon none of them[21].”

Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. This Holy Baptism by which the Holy Spirit is given the Church of God has kept from the Apostles until now, and it has come from the Good Men to the Good Men until now and shall do till the end of the world.

And you must understand that power is given to the Church of God to bind and to loose, to forgive sins and to retain them, as Christ said in the Gospel of Saint John, “As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this he breathed on them and saith unto them “Receive Ye the Holy Ghost”; whatsoever sins ye remit they are remitted unto them, and whatsoever sins ye regain, they are regained.”[22]

And in the Gospel of Saint Matthew he said to Simon Peter, “I say unto thee that thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven[23].”

And again, “If two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in Heaven. For wheresoever two or three are gathered in my name there am I in the midst of them[24]“

And in another place he said, “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils[25]“

And in the Gospel of Saint John he said, “He that believeth on me, the works that I do he shall do also.[26]“

And in the Gospel of Saint Mark he said, “These signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils, they shall speak with new tongues, they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them, they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.[27]“

And in the Gospel of Saint Luke he said, “Behold I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you.[28]“

And if you wish to receive this power you must keep all the commandments of Christ and the New Testament according to your ability. And know that He has commanded that man shall not commit adultery or murder or lie, that he must not swear any oath, that he shall not seize or rob, nor do to others what he would not have done to himself, that man must forgive whoever wrongs him and love his enemies, pray for his detractors and accusers and bless them; and if anyone strike him on one cheek, turn to him the other also, and if anyone takes away his cloak, to leave him his coat also; and that he should neither judge nor condemn, and many other commandments which the Lord made for His Church.

Also you must hate this world and its works and the things of the world, for Saint John says in his epistle: “O my beloved, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life , is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world passeth away and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.[29]“

And Christ said unto the Gentiles, “The world cannot hate you, but me it hates because I bear witness of it that its works are evil.[30]“

And in the Book of Solomon[31], it is written, “I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and vexation of Spirit[32].”

And Jude the brother of James said for our instruction in his Epistle, “Hate the solid garment of flesh[33].”

And by these witnesses and any others you must keep the commandments of God and hate the world. And if you continue well to the end, we have the hope that your soul shall have life eternal.

And the Credent shall say:

Credent           “I have this will, pray to God for me that He will give me His power”

The Elder directs the Postulant to kneel. Elder and Witness lay their hands on the head of the postulant.

Witness, say:

Witness           “Parcite Nobis[34]. Good Christians we pray you by the love of God that you grant this blessing, which God had given you, to our friend here present.”

The Postulant, now known as the Credent, after making his melioramentum says:

Credent           “Parcite Nobis. For all the sins I have ever done in thought, word and deed. I ask pardon of God, of the Church, and of you all.”

Assembly of Cathars and Witnesses say:

Assembly         “By God and by us and by the Church, may your sins be forgiven and we pray God to forgive you them.”

Adoremus, Patrem, et Filium et Spiritum Sanctam.[35]

Adoremus, Patrem, et Filium et Spiritum Sanctam.

Adoremus, Patrem, et Filium et Spiritum Sanctam.

 

Here may follow a hymn such as Veni Creator Spiritus, this followed by a homily on the Pater Noster and or one of the readings given in the ritual.

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[1] My reconstruction.

[2] Matthew 18:20

[3] John 14:23

[4] 2 Corinthians 6:16-18

[5] 2 Corinthians 13:3

[6] 1 Timothy 3:15

[7] Hebrews 3:6

[8] John 14:15

[9] Matthew 28:20

[10] I Corinthians 13:17

[11] Matthew 10:20

[12] I John 4:13

[13] Galatians 4:6

[14] Matthew 6:15

[15] Literally, “betterment” – penance. In practice, a full prostration on the ground, arms likely spread out in cruciform position.

[16] The Prayer of the Heart: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

[17] Matthew 28:19

[18] John 3:5

[19] Luke 3:16; Matthew 3:11, Mark 1:7

[20] Mark 16:18

[21] Acts 8:14

[22] John 20:21-23

[23] Matthew 16:13-19

[24] Matthew 18:19-20

[25] Matthew 10:8

[26] John 14:12

[27] Mark 16:17-18

[28] Luke 10:19

[29] I John 2:15-17

[30] John 7:7

[31] Ecclesiastes, commonly attributed to Solomon, “son of David”.

[32] Ecclesiastes 1:14

[33] Jude 1:23

[34] “Spare us, [O, Lord].”

[35] “Let us worship the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.”