The Church

This church is dedicated to Mary de Magdala. It was consecrated in 1059.

Just before the door, under the Virgin’s statue Father Saunière had a Visighothic pillar put. This pillar originally hold the previous altar. The cross drawn on it is called the cross of silence(la croix du silence).

What puzzled many people is that Saunière had it put the wrong way up. He had " Mission1891 " carved on it. It was the date of the end of restoration.

Porch
 

On the gate are 2 sentences :

" My home will be called House of prayers "
" Terribilis est locus iste " :This place is terrible

But they are not complete. They should be :

- My home will be called House of Prayers, but you made it a thieves den . (Matthieu 21, 13)
- This place is terrible, it is God’s home, the doorway to Heaven. (Genesis, 28, 17)

"Please, remember I don’t know the exact words of the English bible, I only translate what’s said in the french one. "

On the porch’s keystone are the arms of Pope Léon 13(elected in1878 and dead on 20 July 1903

This work finished in 1897 and it is said that it costed 3 500 000 nowadays Francs. Saunière paid for the roof, the framework and the vault. There is a secret room in the sacristy. The statues, tympanums and bas relief were constructed by Mr. Giscard from Toulouse and the stained-glass windows by Mr. Feur from Bordeaux. There was a hiding place (built in the 13th century) under the belltower and the floor.

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Inside the Church

On the ground of the church is drawn a chessboard of 64 squares oriented towards the four cardinal points. At the entrance of the church is a devil who is holding the stoup :He is Asmodeus, the limping devil who guards King Solomon’s temple. The statues of angels are on a pedestal on which are carved 2 griffons, treasure keepers. They could also be 2 salamanders, Angouleme Counts symbol. Above him is written BS ; and higher are the statues of four angels. Under the angels one can read the sentence Emperor Constantin had seen in the sky :Par ce signe tu le vaincras :With this sign, you will vanquish him. (Of course this is about the sign of the cross. ) But the sentence Constentin saw was just : Par ce signe, tu vaincras. With this sign, you will vanquish :

Those 2 letters added to the original words raised many questions and many answers : Adding 2 letters makes the total of the letters 22. And we know that the crane on the cemetery gate has 22 teeth ; and also that Magdala tower has 22 crenels.

The L and E are the thirteenth and fourteenth letters, now the last of the Templar Knights Jacques de Molay was burnt in 1314 .

The L is the twelfth letter of the alphabet and the e is the fifth. 12+5=17. The tarot card 17 is l’etoile (the star) like the star on the top of the church.



Mary Magdalene has been painted under the altar by father Saunière and father Courtauly. There was an inscription which has been erased by a vandal. It was :

JESU MEDELA VULNERUM SPES UNA POENITENTIUM PER MAGDALENAE LACRYMAS PECCATA NOSTRA DILUAS

"Jesus, you remedy against our pains and only hope for our repentance, it is thanks to Magdalene’s tears that you wash our sins away. "

We know that Saunière as a priest had studied latin, but it seems there are some mistakes in this inscription, both in grammar and spelling(pOEnitientum should be PAEnitientum). This looks like a word to word translation. It would have been more correct like that :

JESU VULNERUM MEDELA, PAENITENTIUM UNA SPES MAGDALENAE LACRYMAS PECCATA NOSTRA DILUAS

Pontius Pilate and his throne are just like King Solomon in Poussin’s picture, according to the description given in the bible.

This stone is mysterious.

It can be seen in a book : Les pierres gravées du Languedoc(The engraved stones in Languedoc) published in1884 under the name of Eugène Stublein (born in 1832 in Alet and dead in 1899 in Les Sauzils).

It was princes Sigebert 4, Sigebert 5 and Bera 3 ‘s tombstone. It was built in 771. On the reproduction, it looks better preserved than it really is. On it is drawn Sigebert 4’s arrival when he was saved by his uncle Levis Bellisen on January 17th 681. In the book, there is also a drawing of the inscription engraved on Marchionness Hautpoul’s tombstone.

The problem is: if one looks at Stublein’s bibliography, one will find out he never published that book.

Haut-Relief

Come to me all of you who are overcome by pain, and I will ease your suffering.

The children have 18th century clothes. . .

Playing with light

- On 13 January (Christ’s baptism’s day) :The first sunray falls on the Christ’ feet and moves upward on the statue.
- On 17 January (St Antoine’s day) : A sunray falls upon the statue of St Antoine.
- On 4 April :taking one week long, a sunray, passing through the stained-glass window of Lazarus’s resurrection, casts the shadow of Christ on the front wall, appears to Mary, falls down and then, disappears.
- Holy Friday : A perfect triangle is cast through the stained-glass window where Christ teaches his apostles.
- In winter, at twelve o’clock (solar time) :An apple tree that bears 3 blue apples is cast through the southern stained-glass windows.

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Statues

All of the statues look at the ground.

On the right of the altar, the Holy Virgin is holding a baby. On the left, Joseph is also holding a child. Two babies Jesus in one church…We enter the theory of Jesus’ twin brother…

Behind the statue of St Antoine de Padoue is Sigebert 4’s tomb. He was Dagobert 2’s son. His grave was closed by the Knights flagstone. It would be in this tomb Saunière found golden coins dating from St Louis. It is said he would have found the grave thanks to Marchioness of Hautpoul tombstone.

Asmodeus

The original statue

The statue nowadays

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The way of the cross

14 Stations The Way of the Cross is in the opposite direction to the other churches.
 

Station 1     .	Station 2 A young man has fallen on his knees before a golden helmet. Jesus is wearing a red cape. A ladder is oriented towards the sky.	Station 3     .
Station 4	Station 5	Station 6
Station 7 In the background, one can see Magdala tower through an open door       .	Station 8 A Frankish warrior takes the red cape away. A woman wearing a mourning veil and a child wearing a plaid. We know that Freemasons call themselves :The widow’s child. There is also a scottish rite in Freemasonry ;and also a blue grade.	Station 9         .
Station 10 A guard brandishes the red cape     .	Station 11 A man helps the Christ to carry his cross . A guard takes the red cape. In the background, one can see a ladder in the dark. Now, theorically, night falls only after Jesus ’s death.	Station 12       .

Station 13         .

Station 14 One must notice the wounded left side. The Golpel says the Christ was buried at night, now here it’s done during the day. We have 2 hypothesis : Jesus was buried during the day. This image represents the burial’s morrow and some people are stealing the corpse. . .

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