Monday, February 16, 2009

A secret tradition in the Roman Catholic Church

The following article was written by Fr Kelechi Ekezie; and is republished here with permission.

As a young altar boy in the Catholic Church I was constantly bemused by the some of the elements used for worship in the Church, we had to learn how to load incense into the incense burner, how to swing the burner without spilling red hot ash upon one's self, we were warned to take extra care not to allow the flames of our candles get blown off...also to handle the unleavened bread and Holy wine with great care...yet...I still wondered as a kid: What did these things really mean? Like I used to asked my Mom then: Is all that required to know God?

However, deep and personal study and research over years revealed startling facts about the use of these things during Mass in Church...they are symbolical and represent the principal elements of nature and creation...which are four in number: Earth, Water, Fire and Air... These four elements constitute a Cross. A cross has four arms. Each arm of the Cross symbolizes a Corner of the universe, East, West, North, and South, and to each Corner is symbolically assigned an element: Fire - East, Water - West, Air - South and Earth - North. This is symbolized by the carrying of the Cross by an altar boy during mass, however most worshipers are not informed about these inner teachings as these are usually priesthood secrets...

In Roman Catholic ceremonies each element is symbolized during worship: The Earth element is symbolized by the unleavened bread...the Water element by the Wine and Holy water...the lighted candles symbolize the element of Fire and the burning incense symbolizes the Air element, these four symbols are always present in Catholic Mass and ceremonies...traditionally
they are thought to activate and attract the presence of the Four Holy Angels that rule the Four Winds (Elements) at the Four Corners of the Earth,mentioned in the Book of Revelation... when properly consecrated and activated by a knowledgeable priest. In the pre-Christian times, such priests were called Magi and it is from their writings and works that most Catholic and later Jewish religious ceremonies derive...

The Church, considered the Temple of God, is also symbolically modeled after the universe:

In the East of the Church where the priest seats are placed the lighted candles - symbol of the Fire element, in the West of the Church, (directly opposite the East) is placed the Holy Water - symbol of the Water Element. It is also here in the West of the Church that ceremonies involving Water such as Baptism are conducted. The Worshippers and the Priest move down and face the West of the Church, the symbolic position of the Water element.

With all elements activated during mass, it is thought that the Four Holy Angels, Raphael, Gabriel, Micheal and Auriel have taken their positions in Church and their combined Presence activates the Fifth Element, HOLY SPIRIT...to whom all devout aspire to imitate and attain...all who open their hearts to God during Mass receive the Benedictions of the Angels and Christ...The Church stands on the Rock of the Cross - guarded by the Four Angels of the Most High...perhaps this is one reason, despite all her errors and misgivings during the medieval times, the Roman Catholic Church still stands firms...nearly 2000 years after...many other "Churches" spring out of no where making wild, bombastic claims...and disappear as trivially as they appeared...yet the old Catholic Church stands..apparently unshaken, by all the quivering going on around...this may be attributable again to the fact the Church rest on a SQUARE - a FOUR cornered object depicting full stability...dimensioned by the Four Elements...

To further illustrate the universality of this tradition consider our very own African Traditional religion:

The African priest keeps coins, a kolanut, palmwine and tiny nuts (ose oji) ready for invoking the Four holy presences (elements)...

The coin represents Earth (ANI)
The Palmwine represents Water ( MMiri)
The Kolanut represents AIR (Ikuku)
The tiny nuts (ose oji) - Fire (ANWU)

The priest tosses the coin and says "Ndi nwe Ani welu nu oo!" (Spirits of the Earth, here's our offering!) Then pours the palm wine on the ground saying: "Ndi nwe mmiri(WATER) welu nu oo!"(Spirits of the Water, here's our offering!) Then he breaks the kolanut, throws some pieces before him and proclaims: "Ndi nwe Ikuku (AIR) welu nu oo!"(Spirits of the Air, here's our offering!) and finally the ose oji is blessed and thrown before him and he says:"Ndi nwe Anwu (Fire) welu nu oo!"(Spirits of the Sun, here's our offering!)

Thus doing he activates the Four elements to aid his work....the traditional religion has only four days, each day is consecrated to a particular element:

Eke - Earth
Afor - Water
Orie - Fire
Nkwo - Air...isn't this interesting?

Yet we are told us this local religion was fetish and occult...and persuaded to abandon our natural, God given system, what are the real differences between the Church and our local religion? And the people that brought Christianity themselves have virtually abandoned it, just like we have abandoned our traditional religion...

My personal research into these religions proves that all Lights are TRULY ONE...ALL religions have but ONE SOURCE...God...though different shades and colours...

Stay in Love.

2 comments:

Kami said...

How interesting! I am truly amazed by all this. I wondered myself as a child what is the meaning of what seemed to me pointless walking around in the church. But this is the feeling I got from the people doing it, because they didn't know what and why they were doing it...It was just a routine to them.
This gives me new insight and a new appreciation of what stands behind religion. The one TRUTH.
^-^
Thank you!

Brenda said...

I have found that most religions, especially indigenious religions honor the 4 directions and the elements. Some Protestant faiths are exceptions.