Ritual , Secrecy , and Civil Society
is the truly sacrificial dimension of the rite of sacrificing bread and wine . In the Catholic holy sacrament , the sacrifice of Jesus is renewed each time for the salvation of the world . For their part , Calvinists want to see it exclusively as commemoration — a very important one , granted — but fortunately only a memorial . In his beautiful work Une sainte horreur [ A Holy Terror ], Franck Lestringant studies the numerous cases of French Protestants who during the religious wars were to choose martyrdom rather than participate in a Catholic mass where God is once again put to death . 34
In certain respects , the Supper of the Chevaliers Rose-Croix therefore appears quite inspired by Calvinist , or even radical , theology . Other aspects differentiate it nevertheless and forbid us from only seeing it as “ Calvinism put into degrees ,” to paraphrase Tschoudy . First of all , if all Knights participate equally in the Supper , what is in question , nevertheless , is a secret ceremony . But the Calvinist Supper foregrounds the nature of community and the pedagogical testament that the ceremony must have . However , above all , the Supper of the Chevalier Rose-Croix is a silent ceremony whereas the Calvinist Communion Supper only has value as the Word ’ s ritual support , that is to say as reading of and meditation on the Gospel . Practicing a rite without the Word is a heresy .
Taken by the priestly ambience of the ceremony , some Rose-Croix rituals leave silent allegory behind to clearly enter the realm of worship . Thus , in the rituals recently attributed to the Duke of Chartres , perhaps emerging from the leadership circles of the Grand Orient , one discovers , with surprise , an ostensibly liturgical formula : “ The Wise Master takes the bread , breaks off a piece , eats it saying : He took the bread , blessed it , broke it , ate some , and gave it to his disciples ”! 35
But if the Rose-Croix ceremony displays so many similarities with the Calvinist approach , might it not simply be because both are marked by a will to return to the practices of Ancient Christianity ? Another sign of this will to archaism is the act of throwing the leftovers from agape into the fire : this is a direct borrowing from the practices of Jewish Passover .
D . The Utopia of Original Christianity .
The utopia of a return to the simple and authentic forms of original
Christianity appears finally to be the project that has underpinned the setting-inplace and regulation of the degree of Rose- Croix . For lack of properly political debates in the 16th , 17th , and 18th centuries , public space was enlivened , to say nothing of being torn apart , by religious controversies , first between Catholics and Protestants , then between Roman and Jansenist Catholics . To support their positions and show their traditional orthodoxy , Protestants , then Jansenists , those contesting Roman authority , would constantly refer to the Original Church . The reference to ancient Christianity and to the original church was one of the major themes to haunt the religious consciousness of Enlightenment man . The beautiful Histoire Ecclésiastique by l ’ Abbé Fleury , 36 the great classic on the history of Christianity that was found in all good li-
34
Frank Lestringant , Une sainte horreur ou le voyage en Eucharistie XVIe – XVIIIe siècle , Paris , Presses Universitaires de France , 1996 .
35
Les rituels du duc de Chartres ( 1784 ), s . l ., Editions du Prieuré , 1997 , 326 .
36
[ L ’ Abbé ] Fleury , Histoire ecclésiastique , Paris , chez Jean Mariette , 1691 , particularly in the first two volumes .
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