Bernadette Soubirous

The Casterot family lived in the Boly Mill in the poor town of Lourdes which lies in the foothills of the Pyrenees. When Father Casterot died, he left his wife and daughters with their home within this working flour mill. Mother Casterot was keen to marry her eldest daughter to a man who would maintain the family wealth by taking care of the mill, home and entire family - including her - and take her husband's place as head of the household. Francois Soubirous, a local mill worker was chosen to wed the eldest Casterot daughter, Bernarde. However, he refused her in favour of her younger sister, Louise, and despite the large age gap of 18 years, Mother Casterot agreed to the marriage though Bernarde had been groomed to be the matriarch of the family was slighted to be refused by this illiterate workman which lost her inheritance and power base. Bernarde owned a tavern and lived with Francois, who had rejected her, and her youngest sister, Louise, who had been chosen over her, and her mother, who had endorsed the marriage! Within an exact year, in 1843, a little girl was born, named Marie Bernarde, known as Bernardette. Within a few months of her birth, Louise burned herself so Bernadette was sent to a wet nurse in Bartres, a considerable journey from Lourdes. 

Templars!

The Templars had great success in defeating the poor peasants of the Holy Land, but Templars were trained warriors who fought on large and heavy armoured horses. The Crusaders wielded expensive swords and wore expensive armour, how could the poor people of these areas fight and win against them? God was said to support the Crusaders as they rode through the countryside, many hundreds of miles, taking from local peasantry whatever they needed in terms of food and other necessities, sometimes they returned home with great stolen luxuries! Over the course of 200 years, the local people gathered and trained themselves to fight against these Crusading intruders. Losses occurred, and God no longer supported Crusader successes! This would lead to the downfall of the Templars. 

The Templars honoured St John the Baptist and also Mary Magdalene, who were saints, but neither featured in the Christian Creed. Templars were dedicated to both these prominent saints but not instead of Jesus the Christ or his mother, Mary the Theotokos, Mother of God. There were two pillars of the church, John the Baptist and Jesus. Both had a powerful ministry. 

The Temple Church, London

A baptismal invocation survives in the Bible of the Temple Church in Holborn, London. It  reads: 

Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light!

The prayer of this church states: 

“Most gracious God, we give you the most hearty thanks for all such liberties and rights as are held well and peacefully, freely and quietly. Most gracious God, we give you the most hearty thanks for all such liberties and rights as are held well and peacefully, freely and quietly, fully and completely by ourselves and all in our land. We pray for all who serve in the maintenance of our laws, that they shall serve faithfully to your glory and to the present and future welfare of our nation, shall truly and indifferently minister justice, and shall so order all things brought to their care that peace and happiness, truth and justice shall be established among us for ourselves and for generations yet to come. All this we ask through the mediation of Jesus Christ, who shall return to judge all humankind.” Amen. 

Valentine’s Day

How do we know that we are loved and how can we best express our love to those closest to us? Because love and loving, in all its many forms, is not taught in schools while we are growing up. We imbibe from our parents and extended family many ideas about love which might not be healthy and usually we don’t have good role models. Romantic films, books and popular songs do not help our understanding either. When two complex people come together to communicate their love for each other, there is often a mismatch. In life partnerships, one might want move to the country, the other might want to stay in the city; one might want a busy social life, the other might be more solitary; one might be very ambitious, the other laid back. How are these conflicts to be resolved? Does one partner always get their own way and the other acquiesces? Does one manipulate while the other becomes angry? Does one partner have staying power while the other is prepared to leave? Many of these questions are hard to answer but talking about needs for affection, attention, caring and thoughtful consideration and co-operation are part of a good and wholesome loving relationship. Negotiation is usually the answer, where both parties receive some of what they want whilst honouring the equality of the needs of the other person. 

Wm of Hastings

William of Hastings (steward to Henry II) granted meadowland (marsh) near the river Lea on the West Ham boundary to the Knights Templar Order to build two wooden water mills. Temple Mills was established in the 11^th century to mill crops, such as beans, wheat, oats and barley. The Temple Mills were used mainly for grinding from their extensive lands in Homerton and the marsh land of the River Lea. Other water mills were developed in the areas of Hackney and West Ham, one dated approx 1185 on meadow by St. Mary Hope in Leyton. Their water mill on Leyton land was dated 1278.

Templars Story Two

The Setting: 

1095 Pope Urban preaches for the first Crusade. 1099 Crusaders capture Jerusalem. 1128 the Order of the Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon was founded. 1180 Pope Alexander III condemns the Waldensians. 1187 Saladin captures Jerusalem. 1204 Third Crusade sacks Constantinople. 1305 The Papacy moves to Avignon. 

Siege Perilous: 

One can hardly imagine the privations of those who had entered the Order of the Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon. After giving up their lands, their freedom and their family and friends, they took vows of poverty, chastity and obedience to the Church and Pope -  a vow was a vow and they pledged their life to the most difficult of tasks for as long as they might live, by the grace of God! They ate little, prayed much, and were religious ascetics in all their behaviour. When not enduring extremely dangerous battles and sieges in heavy metal armour, they were facilitating sea crossings, avoiding piracy and shipwreck dangers, and travelling with baggage trains through arduous and perilous countryside with responsibility for often sick animals, and for unprepared pilgrims who I suggest might well have felt very disillusioned on reaching the destiny of their many months of immensely strenuous efforts. Pilgrimages were immense hardships but battles were even harder. The mortality rate was high as was the sickness, accident and disease rate. Any crimes were dealt with with brutality. They were thrown into a body of water? If they sank they were innocent. If they floated, they were guilty. Did they spit on a crucifix, one wonders! Their lives were of little importance. Their soul had an immense price. They lived each hour, maintaining the purity of the soul so when they died, which could be at any moment, their soul would be welcomed into heaven. Every deed was closely examined, the smallest omission of commission could mean hell fires for eternity. 

Templars Story Four

The story of Pope Sylvester II (Gerbert of Aurillac) who lived 940-1003 was the first Frenchman to be Pope in 999. His life story begins as a poor shepherd boy (like King David) in the rich Aquitaine in France, and he became the first Christian alchemist. He was born in Aurillac with its black Madonna and golden statue of Saint Gerard. The area of his birth was noted for its golden fleeces, as sheepskins left in the river Jordan attracted particles of gold and were transported across the pilgrim routes. The area had strong links with Compostela where he studied mathematics in the universities of Cordoba and Toledo under the Arabs. He introduced Arabic numbers to the west, and he invented the astrolabe, a hydraulic organ and a clock. Prior to being made Pope, he was Bishop of Rheims and Archbishop of Ravenna.  Most interestingly, he kept a head that talked! 

Helinand, a popular medieval author on the Grail, was greatly influenced by Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) who had been personally responsible for obtaining the Papal rule for the Knights Templar. There were deep connections between Bernard’s monastic order, the Cistercians, and the Nazoreans, who fought and died for Jerusalem in 70AD. The Cistercians wore white robes, as did theNazoreans, and so did the Knights Templar before adding the red cross. 

Prior to the formation of the Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon, Jerusalem had been successfully taken in the First Crusade of 1096 - 1099. Later, the Templars along with other Crusader knights and their entourage, sang Salve Regina while, under Godfrey of Bouillon, they took Jerusalem. 

Templars Story

The Templar Order was founded in 1119 after 300 pilgrims were killed the previous year at Madeley. It was a white robe with red cross mantle, a monastic order under Cistercian monastic rule with dedicated contemplation and prayer, and with additional responsibilities to protect religious tourism to holy sites, handle the pilgrims’ valuables, and fight for possession of the Holy Land, and to bring back relics for the new cathedrals! 

Templar monks were the elite fighting groups of the Crusades, that involved many fighting Orders of monks. Monks were the lowest ranks in the hierarchy of the Church. They were often lacking education, but were highly principled, ascetics who made money fir the. Hutch, but were allowed no personal wealth. 

On the long and arduous route, by land and sometimes sea, and whilst at their destinations, many pilgrims were in poor health, so caring for the disabled, their animals and often their own Templar band, was part of their many serious responsibilities. Israel, Syria, Turkey, and Jordan, and cities such as Edessa, Antioch, Tripoli, and Tyre were in their sights. Jerusalem was the main destination, and source of revenue. King Baldwin I of Jerusalem was the Christian head of the city under an Egyptian authority who gave permission for pilgrimages. The Hospitallers, with white crosses on their black robes and under Benedictine monastic rule, were already established in the region on a site previously owned by the seventh century bishop of Alexandria, St John the Almsgiver. 

From the Champagne region of France, Hughes of Payens developed a small coterie of knights under oaths of poverty, chastity and obedience, and they were invited by King Baldwin II and were installed in a wing of the Kings Palace in the Temple area. In 1120 Fulk, the Count of Anjou, and future King of Jerusalem (and also the grandfather of King Henry II of England) stayed with the knights. In 1126, Hugh and Andrew of Montbard and a small number of others, travelled back to Champagne. This was an important visit. There they met with Count Thibault and Cistercian Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux.

Templars - Story One

“I would rather die than be dishonoured” motto of Hughes de Payens. 

There was no higher calling that to be - not a knight - but a ”poor fellow soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon” the name of the Order, for whom these brave knights fought and died. 

This military Order was of a highly trained, mounted cavalry. The 'poor' part of their title involved  commitment not to be tempted by the great riches they handled on behalf of the Church as the earliest of international bankers. They answered and honoured the Pope, whom they were totally beholden to as their spiritual and practical leader, and they would no more steal from the Church than steal from one another.       

Most monks were pledged never to take life, even that of a Saracen, but this was a special force of warriors who fought for places within Edessa, Antioch, Tripoli, Tortorsa, Tyre and especially Jerusalem, Bethlehem and the route through the desert to the river Jordan. They were hardy fighting men who provided safe passage for pilgrims through dangerous lands on perilous journeys to the sacred sites of Christendom, and they also pledged to get these pilgrims safely back home again! In 1118 three hundred pilgrims were murdered. As religious tourism was a lucrative source of revenue, pilgrims needed to be protected and looked after along the hazardous routes. If they contracted leprosy, which was endemic, they would transfer to the Order of the Knights of St Lazarus and continue to fight until they were incapacitated. King Baldwin IV was a leprosy victim. 

Chartres Cathedral

Notre Dame de Chartres is the finest example of gothic cathedral architecture. 1194-1260 It is dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus. 

Usually cathedrals took 25 to 50 years to build, and many had additions over the centuries. The towers of Chartress have tall taper spires. The south tower is the oldest. The north tower is slimmer, more complex and intricate. Portals of the west are elaborately decorated, have symmetry and clarity. The nave is 130 feet long, 53 feet wide, and 122 feet high. There are 175 glass panels from the Middle Ages dedicated to the Queen of Heaven. Mary is the multi foliate rose of the rose window. She sits enthroned in Majesty on the high altar. The skull of Saint Anne and the veil of Mary were given to Charlemagne by the Byzantine Empress Irene and are said to have been the greatest treasures of this cathedral. In the north tympanum, the magi are seen lying asleep under a cover.