The Gnostic Mass
Ecclesiæ Gnosticæ Catholicæ Canon Missæ
Edited from the Ancient Documents in
Assyrian and Greek by The Master Therion
Disclaimer: This copy of Liber XV is for study use only. Although it has been checked
for accuracy, it has not been approved for public performance.
Read A
First Look at the Gnostic Mass for a brief intro into Liber
XV
as celebrated at Circle of Stars Sanctuary.
I. Of the Furnishings
of the Temple
II. Of the Officers of the Mass
III. Of the Ceremony of the Introit
IV. Of the Ceremony of the Opening of the Veil
V. Of the Office of the Collects which are Eleven
in Number
VI. Of the Censecration of the Elements
VII. Of the Office of the Anthem
VIII. Of the Mystic Marriage and the Consummation
of the Elements
IN THE EAST, that is, in the
direction of Boleskine, which is situated on the South-Eastern shore
of Loch Ness in Scotland, two miles east of Foyers, is a shrine or
High Altar. Its dimensions should be 7 feet in length, 3 feet in
breadth, 44 inches in height. It should be covered with a crimson
altar-cloth, on which may be embroidered fleur-de-lys in gold, or
a sunblaze, or other suitable emblem.
On each side of it should be a pillar or obelisk,
with countercharges in black and white.
Below it should be the dais of three steps, in
black and white squares.
Above it is the super-altar, at whose top is the Stèle of Revealing
in reproduction, with four candles on each side of it. Below the stèle
is a place for The Book of the Law, with six candles on each side of
it. Below this again is the Holy Graal, with roses on each side of it. There
is room in front of the Cup for the Paten. On each side beyond the roses are
two great candles.
All this is enclosed within a great Veil.
Forming the apex of an equilateral triangle whose
base is a line drawn between the pillars, is a small black square altar, of superimposed
cubes.
Taking this altar as the middle of the base of a similar and equal triangle,
at the apex of this second triangle is a small circular font.
Repeating, the apex of a third triangle is an upright
coffin, or Tomb.
The PRIEST. Bears the
Sacred Lance, and is clothed at first in a plain white robe.
The PRIESTESS. Should be
actually Virgo Intacta or specially dedicated to the service of the
Great Order. She is clothed in white, blue, and gold. She bears the
Sword from a red girdle, and the Paten and Hosts, or Cakes of Light.
The DEACON. He is clothed
in white and yellow. He bears The Book of the Law.
Two CHILDREN. They are
clothed in white and black. One bears a pitcher of water and a cellar
of salt, the other a censer of fire and a casket of perfume.
The DEACON, opening the door
of the Temple, admits the congregation and takes his stand between
the small altar and the font. [There should be a doorkeeper to
attend to the admission]. The DEACON advances and bows before the
open shrine where the Graal is exalted. He kisses The Book
of the Law three times, opens it, and places it upon the super-altar. He turns West.
The DEACON: Do
what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. I proclaim the Law
of Light, Life, Love, and Liberty in the name of IAO.
The CONGREGATION: Love
is the law, love under will.
The DEACON goes to his place
between the altar of incense and the font, faces East, and gives
the step and sign of a Man and a Brother.
All imitate him.
The DEACON and
all the People:
I believe in one secret and ineffable LORD; and in one Star in
the Company of Stars of whose fire we are created, and to which
we shall return; and in one Father of Life, Mystery of Mystery,
in His name CHAOS, the sole viceregent of the Sun upon the Earth;
and in one Air the nourisher of all that breathes.
And I believe in one Earth, the Mother of us all,
and in one Womb wherein all men are begotten, and wherein they shall rest, Mystery
of Mystery, in Her name BABALON.
And I believe in the Serpent and the Lion,
Mystery of Mystery, in His name BAPHOMET.
And I believe in one Gnostic and Catholic
Church of Light, Life, Love and Liberty, the Word of whose Law is THELEMA.
And I believe in the communion of Saints.
And, forasmuch as meat and drink are transmuted
in us daily into spiritual substance, I believe in the Miracle of the Mass.
And I confess one Baptism of Wisdom whereby we
accomplish the Miracle of Incarnation.
And I confess my life one, individual, and eternal
that was, and is, and is to come.
AUMGN. AUMGN. AUMGN.
Music is now played. The [negative] CHILD
enters with the ewer and the salt. The VIRGIN enters with the Sword
and the Paten. The [positive] CHILD enters with the censer and
the perfume. They face the DEACON, deploying into line, from the
space between the two altars.
The VIRGIN: Greeting
of Earth and Heaven!
All give the Hailing
Sign of a Magician, the DEACON leading.
The PRIESTESS, the negative
CHILD on her left, the positive CHILD on her right, ascends the
steps of the High Altar. They await her below. She places the Paten
before the Graal. Having adored it, she descends, and with
the CHILDREN following her, the positive next her, she moves in
a serpentine manner involving 3 and a half circles of the Temple.
(Deosil about altar, widdershins about font, deosil about altar
and font, widdershins about altar, and so to the Tomb in the West.)
She draws her Sword and pulls down the Veil therewith.
The PRIESTESS: By
the power of + Iron, I say unto thee, Arise. In the name of our lord
the + Sun, and of our LORD + …, that thou mayst administer the
virtues to the Brethren.
She sheathes the Sword.
The PRIEST, issuing from the
Tomb, holding the Lance erect with both hands, right over left,
against his breast, takes the first three regular steps. He then
gives the Lance to the PRIESTESS, and gives the three penal signs.
He then kneels and worships the Lance with both hands.
Penitential
music.
The PRIEST: I
am a man among men.
He takes again the Lance,
and lowers it. He rises.
The PRIEST: How
should I be worthy to administer the virtues to the Brethren?
The PRIESTESS takes from the
child the water and the salt, and mixes them in the font.
The PRIESTESS: Let
the salt of Earth admonish the water to bear the virtue of the Great
Sea. (Genuflects.) Mother,
be thou adored.
(She returns to the West.
+ on PRIEST with open hand doth she make, over his forehead, breast,
and body.)
Be the PRIEST pure of body and
soul!
(The PRIESTESS takes the censer
from the CHILD, and places it on the small altar. She puts incense
therein.)
Let the Fire and the Air make
sweet the world! (Genuflects.) Father, be thou adored.
(She returns West, and makes
+ with the censer before the PRIEST, thrice as before.)
Be the PRIEST fervent of body
and soul!
(The CHILDREN resume their
weapons as they are done with.)
The DEACON now takes the consecrated Robe from High Altar, and brings it
to her. She robes the PRIEST in his Robe of scarlet and gold.
The PRIESTESS: Be
the flame of the Sun thine ambience, O thou PRIEST of the sun!
The DEACON brings the crown
from the High Altar. (The crown may be of gold or platinum, or
of electrum magicum; but with no other metals, save the small proportions
necessary to a proper alloy. It may be adorned with divers jewels,
at will but it must have the Uraeus serpent twined about it, and
the cap of maintenance must match the scarlet of the Robe. Its
texture should be velvet.)
Be the Serpent thy crown, O
thou PRIEST of the Lord!
Kneeling, she takes the Lance,
between her open hands, and runs them up and down upon the shaft
eleven times, very gently.
Be the LORD present among us!
All give the Hailing
Sign.
The People: So
mote it be.
The PRIEST: Thee
therefore whom we adore we also invoke. By the power of the lifted
Lance!
He raises the Lance. All repeat Hailing
Sign. A phrase of triumphant music. The PRIEST takes the
PRIESTESS by her right hand with his left, keeping the Lance
raised.
I, PRIEST and KING, take thee,
Virgin pure without spot; I upraise thee; I lead thee to the East;
I set thee upon the summit of the Earth.
He thrones the PRIESTESS
upon the altar. The DEACON and the CHILDREN follow, they in rank,
behind him. The PRIESTESS takes The Book of the Law, resumes
her seat, and holds it open on her breast with her two hands, making
a descending triangle with thumbs and forefingers.
The PRIEST gives the lance
to the DEACON to hold, and takes the ewer from the CHILD, and sprinkles
the PRIESTESS, making five crosses, forehead, shoulders, and thighs.
The thumb of the PRIEST is always between his index and medius,
whenever he is not holding the Lance. The PRIEST takes the censer
from the CHILD, and makes five crosses, as before. The CHILDREN
replace their weapons on their respective altars.
The PRIEST kisses The
Book of the Law three times. He kneels for a space in adoration,
with joined hands, knuckles closed, thumb in position aforesaid.
He rises, and draws the veil over the whole altar. All rise and stand
to order.
The PRIEST takes the Lance
from the DEACON, and holds it as before, as Osiris or Ptah. He
circumambulates the Temple three times, followed by the DEACON
and the CHILDREN as before. (These, when not using their hands,
keep their arms crossed upon their breasts.) At the last circumambulation
they leave him, and go to the place between the font and the small
altar, where they kneel in adoration,
their hands joined palm to palm, and raised above their heads.
All imitate this motion.
The PRIEST returns to the
East, and mounts the first step of the Altar.
The PRIEST: “O
circle of Stars whereof our Father is but the younger brother, marvel
beyond imagination, soul of infinite space, before whom Time is Ashamed,
the mind bewildered, and the understanding dark, not unto Thee may
we attain, unless Thine image be Love. Therefore by seed and root
and stem and bud and leaf and flower and fruit do we invoke Thee.
“Then the PRIEST answered & said unto the Queen
of Space, kissing her lovely brows, and the dew of her light bathing his whole
body in a sweet-smelling perfume of sweat; O Nuit, continuous one of Heaven,
let it be ever thus; that men speak not of thee as One but as None; and let them
speak not of thee at all, since thou art continuous!”
During this speech the PRIESTESS
must have divested herself completely of her robe. See CCXX
I:62.
The PRIESTESS: “But
to love me is better than all things; if under the night-stars in
the desert thou presently burnest mine incense before me, invoking
me with a pure heart, and the serpent flame therein, thou shalt come
a little to lie in my bosom. For one kiss wilt thou then be willing
to give all; but whoso gives one particle of dust shall lose all
in that hour. Ye shall gather goods and store of women and spices;
ye shall wear rich jewels; ye shall exceed the nations of the earth
in splendour and pride; but always in the love of me, and so shall
ye come to my joy. I charge you earnestly to come before me in a
single robe, and covered with a rich head-dress. I love you! I yearn
to you! Pale or purple, veiled or voluptuous, I who am all pleasure
and purple, and drunkenness of the innermost sense, desire you. Put
on the wings, and arouse the coiled splendour within you: come unto
me! “To me! To me!” “Sing the raptuous love-song unto
me! Burn to me perfumes! Wear to me jewels! Drink to me, for I love
you! I love you. I am the blue-lidded daughter of sunset; I am the
naked brilliance of the voluptuous night-sky. To me! To me!”
The PRIEST mounts the second
step.
The PRIEST: O
secret of secrets that art hidden in the being of all that lives,
not Thee do we adore, for that which adoreth is also Thou. Thou art
That, and That am I.
“I am the flame that burns in every heart
of man, and in the core of every star. I am Life, and the giver of Life; yet
therefore is the knowledge of me the knowledge of death. I am alone; there is
no God where I am.”
The DEACON and all rise to
their feet, with the Hailing sign.
The DEACON: But
ye, O my people rise up and awake!
Let the rituals be rightly performed with joy and beauty!
There are rituals of the elements and feasts of the times.
A feast for the first night of the Prophet and his Bride!
A feast for the three days of the writing of The Book of the Law.
A feast for Tahuti and the Child of the Prophet—secret, O Prophet!
A feast for the Supreme Ritual, and a feast for the Equinox of the
Gods.
A feast for fire and a feast for water; a feast for life and a greater
feast for death!
A feast every day in your hearts in the joy of my rapture!
A feast every night unto Nu, and the pleasure of uttermost delight!
The PRIEST mounts the third
step.
The PRIEST: Thou
that art One, our Lord in the Universe the Sun, our Lord in ourselves
whose name is Mystery of Mystery, uttermost being whose radiance
enlightening the worlds is also the breath that maketh every God
even and Death to tremble before Thee—By the Sign of Light +
appear Thou glorious upon the throne of the Sun.
Make open the path of creation and of intelligence
between us and our minds. Enlighten our understanding.
Encourage our hearts. Let thy light crystallize
itself in our blood, fulfilling us of Resurrection.
A ka dua
Tuf ur biu
Bi a’a chefu
Dudu nur af an nuteru!
The PRIESTESS: “There
is no law beyond Do what thou wilt.”
The PRIEST parts the veil
with his lance. During the previous speeches the PRIESTESS has,
if necessary, as in savage countries, resumed her robe.
The PRIEST: IO
IO IO IAO SABAO KURIE ABRASAX KURIE MEITHRAS KURIE PHALLE. IO PAN,
IO PAN PAN IO ISCHUROS, IO ATHANATOS IO ABROTOS IO IAO. KAIRE PHALLE
KAIRE PAMPHAGE KAIRE PANGENETOR. HAGIOS, HAGIOS, HAGIOS IAO.
The PRIESTESS is seated with
the Paten in her right hand and the cup in her left. The PRIEST
presents the Lance, which she kisses eleven times. She then holds
it to her breast, while the PRIEST, falling at her knees, kisses
them, his arms stretched along her thighs. He remains in this adoration
while the DEACON intones the Collects.
All stand to order, with the Dieu
Garde , that is, feet square, hands, with linked thumbs,
held loosely. This is the universal position when standing, unless
other direction is given.
The Sun
The DEACON: Lord
visible and sensible of whom this earth is but a frozen spark turning
about thee with annual and diurnal motion, source of light, source
of life, let thy perpetual radiance hearten us to continual labour
and enjoyment; so that as we are constant partakers of thy bounty
we may in our particular orbit give out light and life, sustenance
and joy to them that revolve about us without diminution of substance
or effulgence for ever.
The People: So
mote it be.
The Lord
The DEACON: Lord
secret and most holy, source of life, source of love, source of liberty,
be thou ever constant and mighty within us, force of energy, fire
of motion; with diligence let us ever labour with thee, that we may
remain in thine abundant joy.
The People: So
mote it be.
The Moon
The DEACON: Lady
of night, that turning ever about us art now visible and now invisible
in thy season, be thou favourable to hunters, and lovers, and to
all men that toil upon the earth, and to all mariners upon the sea.
The People: So
mote it be.
The Lady
The DEACON: Giver
and receiver of joy, gate of life and love, be thou ever ready, thou
and thine handmaiden, in thine office of gladness.
The People: So
mote it be.
The Saints
The DEACON: LORD
of Life and Joy, that art the might of man, that art the essence
of every true god that is upon the surface of the Earth, continuing
knowledge from generation unto generation, thou adored of us upon
heaths and in woods, on mountains and in caves, openly in the marketplaces
and secretly in the chambers of our houses, in temples of gold and
ivory and marble as in these other temples of our bodies, we worthily
commemorate them worthy that did of old adore thee and manifest they
glory unto men,
(At each name the DEACON signs
+ with thumb between index and medius. At ordinary mass it is only
necessary to commemorate those whose names are in bold face, with
wording as is shown.)
Lao-tzu and Siddhartha and
Krishna and Tahuti, Mosheh, Dionysus, Mohammed and To Mega
Therion, with these also, Hermes, Pan, Priapus, Osiris and
Melchizedek, Khem and Amoun and Mentu, Heracles, Orpheus and
Odysseus; with Vergilius, Catullus, Martialis, Rabelais,
Swinburne, and many an holy bard; Apollonius Tyanæus, Simon
Magus, Manes, Pythagoras, Basilides, Valentinus, Bardesanes
and Hippolytus, that transmitted the Light of the Gnosis to us their
successors and their heirs; with Merlin, Arthur, Kamuret, Parzival,
and many another, prophet, priest and king, that bore the Lance and
Cup, the Sword and Disk, against the Heathen; and these also, Carolus
Magnus and his paladins, with William of Schyren, Frederick of Hohenstaufen,
Roger Bacon, Jacobus Burgundus Molensis the Martyr, Christian Rosencreutz, Ulrich
von Hutten, Paracelsus, Michael Maier, Roderic Borgia Pope Alexander
the Sixth, Jacob Bœhme, Francis Bacon Lord Verulam, Andrea,
Robertus de Fluctibus, Johannes Dee, Sir Edward Kelly, Thomas
Vaughan, Elias Ashmole, Molinos, Adam Weishaupt, Wolfgang von Goethe,
Ludovicus Rex Bavariae, Richard Wagner, Alphonse Louis Constant, Friedrich
Nietzsche, Hargrave Jennings, Carl Kellner, Forlong dux, Sir Richard
Payne Knight, Paul Gaugin, Sir Richard Francis Burton, Doctor Gérard
Encausse, Doctor Theodor Reuss, and Sir Aleister Crowley—Oh
Sons of the Lion and the Snake! With all thy saints we worthily commemorate
them worthy that were and are and are to come.
May their essence be here present, potent, puissant
and paternal to perfect this feast!
The People: So
mote it be.
The Earth
The DEACON: Mother
of fertility on whose breast lieth water, whose cheek is caressed
by air, and in whose heart is the suns fire, womb of all life, recurring
grace of seasons, answer favorably the prayer of labour, and to pastors
and husbandmen be thou propitious.
The People: So
mote it be.
The Principles
The DEACON: Mysterious
Energy, triform, mysterious Matter, in fourfold and sevenfold division,
the interplay of which things weave the dance of the Veil of Life
upon the Face of the Spirit, let there be Harmony and Beauty in your
mystic loves, that in us may be health and wealth and strength and
divine pleasure according to the Law of Liberty; let each pursue
his Will as a strong man that rejoiceth in his way, as the course
of a Star that blazeth for ever among the joyous company of Heaven.
The People: So
mote it be.
Birth
The DEACON: Be
the hour auspicious, and the gate of life open in peace and in well-being,
so that she that beareth children may rejoice, and the babe catch
life with both hands.
The People: So
mote it be.
Marriage
The DEACON: Upon
all that this day unite with love under will let fall success; may
strength and skill unite to bring forth ecstasy, and beauty answer
beauty.
The People: So
mote it be.
Death
All stand, Head erect, Eyes
open.
The DEACON: Term
of all that liveth, whose name is inscrutable, be favourable unto
us in thine hour.
The People: So
mote it be.
The End
The DEACON: Unto
them from whose eyes the veil of life hath fallen may there be granted
the accomplishment of their true Wills; whether they will absorption
in the Infinite, or to be united with their chosen and preferred,
or to be in contemplation, or to be at peace, or to achieve the labour
and heroism of incarnation on this planet or another, or in any Star,
or aught else, unto them may there be granted the accomplishment
of their wills; yea, the accomplishment of their wills. AUMGN. AUMGN.
AUMGN.
The People: So
mote it be.
All sit.
The DEACON and the CHILDREN attend the PRIEST and PRIESTESS, ready to hold
any appropriate weapon as may be necessary.
The PRIEST makes the five
crosses.
+1
+3 +2
on paten and cup; +4 on paten alone; +5 on cup alone.
The PRIEST: Life
of man upon earth, fruit of labour, sustenance of endeavour, thus
be thou nourishment of the Spirit!
He touches the Host with the
Lance.
By the virtue of the Rod! Be this bread the Body of God!
He takes the Host.
TOUTO ESTI TO SOMA MOU.
He kneels, adores, rises,
turns shows Host to the people, turns, replaces Host, and adores.
Music. He takes the Cup.
Vehicle of the joy of Man upon
earth, solace of labour, inspiration of endeavour, thus be thou ecstasy
of the Spirit!
He touches the Cup with the
Lance.
By the virtue of the Rod! Be this wine the Blood of God!
He takes the Cup.
TOUTO ESTI TO POTERION TOU HAIMATOS
MOU.
He kneels, adores, rises,
turns, shows the Cup to the people, turns replaces the Cup, and
adores. Music.
For this is the Covenant of
Resurrection.
He makes the five crosses
on the PRIESTESS.
Accept, O LORD, this sacrifice
of life and joy, true warrants of the Covenant of Resurrection.
The PRIEST offers the Lance
to the PRIESTESS, who kisses it; he then touches her between the
breasts and upon the body. He then flings out his arms upward,
as comprehending the whole shrine.
Let this offering be borne upon
the waves of Aethyr to our Lord and Father the Sun that travelleth
over the Heavens in his name ON.
He closes his hands, kisses
the PRIESTESS between the breasts, and makes three great crosses
over the Paten, the Cup, and himself. He strikes his breast. All
repeat this action.
Hear ye all, saints of the true
church of old time now essentially present, that of ye we claim heirship,
with ye we claim communion, from ye we claim benediction in the name
of IAO.
He makes three crosses on
Paten and Cup together. He uncovers the Cup, genuflects, takes
the Cup in his left hand and the Host in his right. With the Host
he makes the five crosses on the Cup.
+1
+3 +2
+5 +4
He elevates the Host and the
Cup. The Bell strikes.
HAGIOS HAGIOS HAGIOS IAO!
He replaces the Host and the
Cup, and adores.
The PRIEST:
Thou who art I, beyond all I am,
Who hast no nature and no name,
Who art, when all but Thou are gone,
Thou, centre and secret of the Sun,
Thou, hidden spring of all things known
And unknown, Thou aloof, alone,
Thou, the true fire within the reed
Brooding and breeding, source and seed
Of life, love, liberty, and light,
Thou beyond speech and beyond sight,
Thee I invoke, my faint fresh fire
Kindling as mine intents aspire.
Thee I invoke, abiding one,
Thee, centre and secret of the Sun,
And that most holy mystery
Of which the vehicle am I.
Appear, most awful and most mild,
As it is lawful, to thy child!
The Chorus:
For of the Father and the Son
The Holy Spirit is the norm;
Male-female, quintessential, one,
Man-being veiled in Woman-form.
Glory and worship in the highest,
Thou Dove, mankind that deifiest,
Being that race, most royally run
To spring sunshine through winter storm.
Glory and worship be to Thee,
Sap of the world-ash, wonder-tree!
First
Semichorus, Men: Glory to Thee from Gilded Tomb!
Second
Semichorus, Women: Glory to Thee from Waiting Womb!
Men: Glory
to Thee from earth unploughed!
Women: Glory
to Thee from virgin vowed!
Men: Glory
to Thee, true Unity
Of the Eternal Trinity!
Women: Glory
to Thee, thou sire and dam
And self of I am that I am!
Men: Glory
to Thee, beyond all term,
Thy spring of sperm, thy seed and germ!
Women: Glory
to Thee, eternal Sun,
Thou One in Three, Thou Three in One!
Chorus: Glory
and worship unto Thee,
Sap of the world-ash, wonder-tree!
(These words are to form the
substance of the anthem; but the whole or any part thereof shall
be set to music, which may be as elaborate as art can devise. But
even should other anthems be authorized by the Father of the Church,
this shall hold its place as the first of its kind, the father
of all others.)
The PRIEST takes the Paten
between the index and medius of the right hand. The PRIESTESS clasps
the Cup in her right hand.
The PRIEST: LORD
most secret, bless this spiritual food unto our bodies, bestowing
upon us health and wealth and strength and joy and peace, and that
fulfilment of will and of love under will that is perpetual happiness.
He makes + with Paten and
kisses it. He uncovers the Cup, genuflects, rises. Music. He takes
the Host, and breaks it over the Cup. He replaces the right-hand
portion in the Paten. He breaks off a particle of the left-hand
portion.
TOUTO ESTI TO SPERMA MOU. HO
PATER ESTIN HO HUIOS DIA TO PNEUMA HAGION. AUMGN. AUMGN. AUMGN.
He replaces the left-hand
part of the Host. The PRIESTESS extends the Lance-point with her
left hand to receive the particle. The PRIEST clasps the Cup in
his left hand. Together they depress the Lance-point in the Cup.
The PRIEST
and the PRIESTESS: hriliu.
The PRIEST takes the Lance.
The PRIESTESS covers the Cup. The PRIEST genuflects, rises, bows,
joins hands. He strikes his breast.
The PRIEST: O
Lion and O Serpent that destroy the destroyer, be mighty among us.
O Lion and O Serpent that destroy the destroyer, be mighty among
us.
O Lion and O Serpent that destroy the destroyer, be mighty among
us.
The PRIEST joins hands upon
the breast of the PRIESTESS, and takes back his Lance. He turns
to the People, lowers and raises the Lance, and makes + upon them.
The PRIEST: Do
what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
The People: Love
is the law, love under will.
He lowers the Lance, and turns
to East. The PRIESTESS takes the Lance in her right hand. With
her left hand she offers the Paten. The PRIEST kneels.
The PRIEST: In
my mouth be the essence of the Life of the Sun.
He takes the Host with the
right hand, makes + with it on the Paten, and consumes it. Silence.
The PRIESTESS takes, uncovers, and offers the Cup, as before.
The PRIEST: In
my mouth be the essence of the Joy of the Earth!
He takes the Cup, makes +
on the PRIESTESS, drains it and returns it. Silence. He rises,
takes the Lance, and turns to the people.
The PRIEST: There
is no part of me that is not of the Gods.
(Those of the people who intend
to communicate, and none other should be present, having signified
their intention, a whole Cake of Light, and a whole goblet of wine,
have been prepared for each one. The DEACON marshals them; they
advance one by one to the altar. The CHILDREN take the Elements
and offer them. The people communicate as did the PRIEST, uttering
the same words in an attitude of Resurrection:
“There is
no part of me that is not of the Gods.”
The exceptions to this part
of the ceremony are when it is of the nature of a celebration,
in which case none but the PRIEST communicate; or part of the ceremony
of marriage, when none other, save the two to be married, partake;
part of the ceremony of baptism, when only the child baptised partakes;
and of Confirmation at puberty, when only the persons confirmed
partake. The Sacrament may be reserved by the PRIEST, for administration
to the sick in their homes.
The PRIEST closes all within
the veil. With the Lance he makes + on the people thrice, thus.
The PRIEST:
+
The LORD bless you.
+ The LORD enlighten your minds and comfort your hearts and sustain
your bodies.
+ The LORD bring you to the accomplishment of your True Wills, the
Great Work, the Summum Bonum, True Wisdom and Perfect Happiness.
He goes out, the DEACON and
CHILDREN following, into the tomb of the West.
Music. (Voluntary.)
NOTE: The PRIESTESS and other officers never partake of the Sacrament,
they being as it were part of the PRIEST himself.
NOTE: Certain secret formulae of this Mass are taught to the PRIEST and PRIESTESS
in their Ordination.
