Re: Marks in graveyards

["labehotierre" <labehotierre@wanadoo.fr>]

The red marks at Rennes-le-Château show the way to the Visigothic pillar. It
is a complicated story.  They have no royal connection that I know of.

Antoine Bigou had succeeded his uncle Jean as priest of Rennes le Château in
1774 .He was the confessor of marchioness of Hautpoul. It is said that she
told him a very important family secret and gave him some documents just
before she died. It is said that she asked him to tell the secret to another
person who would understand it's importance. Marie de Négri Dables, Lady of
Hautpoul died on 17 January  1781 and was buried in Rennes le Chateau’s
churchyard

Bigou hid the documents in one of the pillar that held the altar in the
church.

In 1791 Bigou laid a stone on the marchioness’ tomb.

He had some strange signs carved on the tombstone : ET IN ARCADIA EGO :I who
am also in Arcadia  Moreover, as the lady died on 17 January  1781,the date
on the grave should be MDCCLXXXI instead of MDC O LXXXI

In the church, he had the stone laid before the altar upside down.

He was considered a non-juring priest and he had to flee to Sabadell, Spain,
where he died on 21 March 1794 after he had told the secret to Father Jean
Vié (priest in Rennes les Bains) and to Father Emile François Cayron (priest
in St Laurent de la Cabrerisse). Both men were priests of their towns from
1840 to 1872

The signs on the tomb were erased by a new priest Berenger Sauniere ,but
their are two know  reproductions of it. One was made by Eugène Cros( an
amateur archeologist),the other by Eugène Stublein. On Stublein’s drawing
though, the Greek letters ( et in arcadia ego) do not appear.

On 1 June  1885, the clergyman Berenger Saunière was appointed priest of
Rennes-le-Château. He succeeded Father Antoine Croc who had himself
succeeded Father Charles Eugene Mocquin. There, he found a ramshackle
church. The village did not have enough money to restore it.

As the presbytery needed repair, the priest had to live at Antoinette
Marce's for a while. The cost of the most urgent repairs was said to be
about 2797 Francs (using the old gold value of the franc).

Saunière had to leave the village for some time because of an
anti-republican speech he made on 4 October  1885. He came back to
Rennes-le-Château in July 1886. Thanks to a gift of 3000 F (gold value) from
Marchioness of Chambord and 1400 F (or 2500 F) given by the local council,
he was able to begin the restorations. He spent 518 F (gold value) of his
own money. Some say he would have inherited this money from Father Pons.

During the work, the workers found a hiding place in the ground. Later they
said there was a little cauldron filled with golden coins but Father
Saunière told them they were only holy medals from Lourdes. The priest had
the altar built over the hiding place.

In 1886,he offered a vermeil chalice to Father Grassaud, priest of Amélie
les Bains. It still exists and it was dated 19th century

In 1891,he asked the town council for the right to build a Cross before the
church. In spring, Bérenger Saunière began to work on the garden in front of
the church. He brought stones from the country himself to build a grotto. He
also build a Cross on which was written "Christus A.O.M.P.S.Defendit".

Many people wanted to see a connection with the priory of Sion in this
sentence :

Christ defends the Ancient Mystic Order of the Priory of Sion (Knights
Templar).

CHRISTUS ANTIQUUS ORDO MYSTICUSQUE PRIORATUS SIONUS DEFENDIT

The letters probably mean:

May Christ protect his people from all evil

CRISTUS AB OMNI MALO POPULUM SUAM DEFENDIT

He had a Visigothic pillar put the wrong way up before the church. The
statue " Our lady of Lourdes " on the Visigothic pillar was inaugurated on
21 June  1891.On the same day, 24 children of the village made their
communion. He organized a procession with the diocesan missionary Father
Ferrafiat (that’s why it is written Mission 1891 on the pillar).He had the
words " pénitence pénitence "(penance penance)carved on the pillar to recall
the message of Lourdes " Kiss the Earth as a penance for sinners ".

In the Visigothic pillar, Father Saunière found 3 wooden tubes in which were
4 scrolls :

The Gospel according to St john : the text in which Jesus visits Lazarus in
Bethania.
Martha and Mary Magdalen
Verses of Luc (VI,1-5), Matthew (XII, 1-8) and Marc (II, 23-28).
A genealogical tree about the unknown lineage of Dagobert II.


January 24th 1917 : In the churchyard of Rennes le Chateau,  Bérenger
Saunière's coffin lowered to  his grave. What secret did this charismatic
priest is take with him in death?

This question did not really interest anyone during 50 years after the
burial. The story reappeared in the 60's and people's curiosity increased.

Over the last forty years the phenomenon has increased, and led to the
writing of more than one book of sane and wild explanations. No solution has
ever been found to explain the mystery of Saunière's sudden wealth.

Mon cher Francine, Peut-être c'est l'explication, peut-être pas.  Avec
optimisme Tim Wallace-Murphy peut ajouter son commentaire. Je crois que Dr
Wallace-Murphy a beaucoup plus de renseignements que moi.

Sinclair
en Normandie




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