Sacred Energy in the Crypt of Chartres

Thousands of years ago, Druids around Chartres held their ceremonies on this special hill which was sacred to them. Several churches and temples, whose remains can still be seen within the Crypt, had also been built there, before the cathedral dedicated “Our Lady” was erected. Special combinations of sacred geometry and the ability to redirect Light with specially alchemically designed stained glass allow Chartres Cathedral to be a place where the highest frequency energies of Creation are attracted and stored.

Chartres Cathedral is a spiritually powerful place allowing all to reach the comfort of a direct connection to God and God’s energy proving more or more difficult to connect with in our low frequency technology based society of today. I wanted to experience this connection with the Holy in the cathedral.

I have felt these energies before in places like Sedona and Joshua Tree and it heightened my spiritual journey as a priest.

So a group of us decided to take the tour offered from a shop next to the cathedral to explore the crypt of the church. Unfortunately for us, the tour was only in French but along with our ticket we’d been given an info sheet in English.

Our guide led us to a locked staircase and we descended into the largest crypt in France. Predating the cathedral, its foundations are mainly Romanesque but its roots go back further. Before the first church was erected in the 4th century, it was a Druid site, believed to be a place of sacred energy.

Only parts of the crypt were lit. As we shuffled along down a gallery, our guide flicked lights on and off, stopping at points of interest. Whatever he was saying must have been entertaining because many were nodding and listening intently.

Not understanding more than the basics, I amused myself by wandering off a few feet like a dog on an invisible leash, poking my head into shadowy corners, past pale frescoes into barrel vaulted chapels, using my photocopied sheet as a guide while taking pictures.

I paid more attention when we went a few steps lower into a sort of crypt within a crypt – the St. Lubin Chapel – built after the Vikings destroyed an even older church in 858.
It felt like the bowels of the cathedral, with layers of history exposed.

Part of the ground is 4th century. Bits of masonry are Roman. Behind me, five niches set into a semi-circular wall might have originally been windows, but no one is sure. Near a massive round column, a jagged entryway ripped out of the wall by a 20th century archaeologist revealed an abandoned Carolingian passageway.

Moving away from the others I stood next to a ledge and breathed it all in, the still heavy air, the centuries of devotion. I could feel something powerful!

Back in the main part of the crypt we stopped at an ancient Druid well, nearly as deep as the cathedral is high, and where the Vikings tossed various martyrs. While many in the group launched into a spirited discussion, I strolled off with the vague intention of retracing the passage of the Middle Age pilgrims who would come to pray at a famous relic, the veil of the Virgin.

According to my info sheet, it was a very structured procession. The pilgrims entered the crypt from a north entrance along a very long gallery and circulated south from darkness to light. As I was starting out from the wrong end, moving from the light into darkness, it was very hard to see. I ended my walk at the sacred veil and put my head next to it where I felt God’s energy sweep through me. I also stood at the ancient well and connected with the energy emitting from the earth below. It is hard to describe what I experienced but I truly crossed a portal into the Sacred. I sing the words of the Song of Mary as I depart:

My soul magnifies the Lord
And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
Because he has regarded the lowliness of his handmaid;
For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed;
Because he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name;
And his mercy is from generation to generation
on those who fear him.
He has shown might with his arm,
He has scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
and has exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has given help to Israel, his servant, mindful of his mercy
Even as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity forever.

Stones and Frescoes Bring Revelation in Brancion

Imagine for a moment that you are transported back in time to the 13th century. You find yourself in the medieval fortress of Brancion, in southern Burgundy. The ancestral holding of Brancion consists of the castle, a village, and a church.

Today you can stand on this high hill and let your mind's eye transport you back to that bygone time. It isn't too difficult, because the landscape before you looks in many ways the same as it did centuries ago: the green farmland, the rolling hills. There is a timelessness here that recalls an illuminated page from a book of hours. The castle, village and church are now a museum, but a museum that lets you use your imagination to flesh out the details of life as it was in the middle ages.

Brancion has not been restored to the extent of other castles and medieval sites in the area. Rather than being a detriment, this actually helps in setting one’s mind free to picture it as it existed in medieval times.

I walked my way through the village in a meditative manner. Many of its structures date to the 15th century. Halfway to the chapel I began to look at a small rock resting on top of a stone fence covered with green moss. I used to think of buildings created centuries ago as set apart and special and that we in America are void of this type of ancient structures. We get excited over structures from the 1800s. I touched the rock and felt its energy. A revelation that all creation is holy came to mind. This rock, as well as the ones that make up the frescoes in the church have the same special energy as the stones in Glen Park Canyon behind St Aidan’s in San Francisco. Wow holiness in my backyard. I now have a new way to look at creation.

I continued to walk and arrived at the church of St. Peter. The church is a perfect example of the Romanesque architecture that is found in many towns and villages in the area. Inside are frescoes that were painted in the XIVth century, when Brancion was a holding of the Dukes of Burgundy. The interior of the church is dark and hushed. A man playing the harp added a greater sense of the Sacred as I meditated on the beautiful frescoes.

One of the frescoes called me to be with it for a while. This was the image that came to mind:

Many pious people are trying to get into a large church. They are dressed as religious and laity with arms raised as they stand before the church whose doors are locked. With their raised hands they wonder why they cannot enter - They have always been the gatekeepers.

A feeling of joy emits from the church which is filled with those who have never been welcomed into it. The ones who have been excluded are now experiencing joy, peace, and liberation. Eventually those who are in the church allow the ones who were locked out to come in and share in this radical experience of hospitality and equality and the old guard is transformed by the love of the former outcasts.

The more one becomes a friend of Christ greater liberation happens.


Every creature, every plant
every rock and grain of sand
proclaims the glory of its Creator
worships through color, shape
scent and form.
A multi-sensory song of praise.
Creator God, may we join
with the whole of your creation
in praising you, our Creator
through the fragrance
and melody of our lives

What is the Kingdom of God?

This hymn truly spoke to me tonight during prayers around the cross with the Taize' Community:

The kingdom of God is justice and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Come, Lord, and open in us the gates of your kingdom.

In reality the kingdom is really simple and yet profound. I wish more Christians could grasp this concept.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj-wfsrL8RI&feature=BFa&list=AVGxdCwVVULXc5MFD6Y1GgeyBxBzXEV_fm&index=16

Be a Reservoir and not a Canal.

As we contemplate our hectic lives, consider these words from the writing of St Bernard of Clairvaux, a 12th century monk who warned of the danger of pouring ourselves out when our soul is only half-filled. This is my prayer today as I walked trough the church of St Philibert in Tournus.

"If you are wise ...you will show yourself a reservoir and not a canal.

For a canal pours out as fast as it takes in; but a reservoir waits until it is full before it overflows, and so communicates its surplus. . .

We have all too few such reservoirs in the Church at present, though we have canals in plenty. . . Canals desire to pour out when they themselves are not yet inpoured; they are readier to speak than to listen, eager to teach that which they do not know, and most anxious to exercise authority on others, although they have not learnt to rule themselves. . . .

Let the reservoir take pattern from the spring; for the spring does not form a stream or spread into a lake until it is brimful. . . . Be filled thyself then, but discretely, mind, pour out thy fullness. . . . Out of thy fullness help me if thou canst; and, if not, spare thyself."

Celtic Spirit Moves at Fontenay Abbey

The Fontenay Abbey is one of the oldest Cistercian monasteries in Europe. Founded in 1118 by St Bernard in a marshy Burgundy valley, the abbey has not change its magnificient Romanesque style. Except for the refectory which was destroyed, all the rooms have been perfectly conserved : church, dormitory, cloister, council room, heating room, lodging for the abbots and the forge.

Walking counter clockwise in the cloister and church in meditation I noticed the details in the simplicity of the place: Celtic knots, spots of light, mold, algae, the sound of the wind, the color of pink on some vaults, worn paths, flowing water - The words of St Patrick’s Breastplate come alive!

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

A Celtic Spirit surrounds me and then..........

An image of the Good Shepherd appears and the repeated verses in John’s Gospel comes to life.......

“I lay down my life for my sheep”

God’s delight for us is total love, trust, hope in God’s sheep.

Haiku emerges:

I lay down my life
Listen to my voice my sheep
Love is eternal

Amen!

The Light of Christ Drawing us into the Basilica of Saint Mary Magdalene in Vezelay

There are many reasons to visit the Basilica of Saint Magdalene in France's Bourgogne region. Some come for the classic architecture while others want to listen to hymns. But we came for something entirely different, for pilgrimage just like people have done for centuries in this holy space.

The Vézelay Basilica of Saint Mary Magdalene has been listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site since 1979. This is a holy place that has had a powerful effect on me. I think it is the most beautiful church I have ever experienced.

The Brothers and Sisters of Jerusalem sang Vespers last night and it was then followed the celebration of the Eucharist. They are a newer monastic community and seem to be fairly younger in age, compared to many orders I have experienced. Hospitality, joy, love, and peace flowed through them during the liturgy and afterward, especially during the sharing of the peace. The music was glorious polyphonic singing. Halfway through the service, two birds began flying high above the heads of the choir, but within the domed ceiling. Their swooping and chasing added grace notes to the glorious music. I would love for their order to come to San Francisco- They all seem so happy!

Wisps of incense filtered through the afternoon sunlight in the high-ceilinged basilica. Its massiveness dwarfed the seated monks and nuns. They seemed to disappear into themselves and the white robes of their order. Choral music echoed from the walls, helping to melt away pilgrims’ cares and worries.

This basilica lacks the stained glass windows I have come to expect and yet I am struck by how ‘light’ it feels, even with its rock walls. The church was deliberately planned so that worshippers would feel they were passing from darkness into light as they went from the narthex to the nave. Even the carvings on the pillars and columns were positioned so that the Old Testament characters would more often be in the shadow than those from the New Testament.
During summer solstice at noon time, the geometry of the building creates the pools of sunlight leading to the area where relics of Mary Magdalene are resting in the crypt.

This was the perfect setting for our liturgy to bless and sanctify those of us who are pilgrims in their winter chapel which used to serve as a Chapter Room where the monks and nuns would meet to discuss their community. We each were given Jerusalem crosses to wear around our necks and blessed individually for our journey ahead after moving mediations by our leaders concerning liminal spaces, Mary Magdalene, and the holiness of food.

Many images, feelings, visions are bubbling up for me and we shall see what becomes of these revelations!

Prayer for Pilgrimage from the Gospel of Mary

Mary answered and said, "What is hidden from you I will impart to you."

And she began to say the following words to them. "I," she said, "I saw the Master in a vision and I said to him, 'Lord, I saw you today in a vision.' He answered and said to me,

'Blessed are you, since you did not waver at the sight of me. For where the mind is, there is the treasure."

I said to him, 'Lord, the mind which sees the vision, does it see it through the soul or through the spirit?'

The Savior answered and said, 'It sees neither through the soul nor through the spirit, but the mind, which is between the two, which sees the vision...'"

-Mary Magdalene, The Gospel of Mary