1. In the first place
we shall treat the problematical question of the two genealogies of Our
Lord Jesus Christ presented by the Evangelists.
The first appears in the first chapter of Saint Matthew and follows
the line of descent from Abraham, passing through Juda, David, Solomon,
... until Saint Joseph.
The second is found in the third chapter of Saint Luke verses 23
and following, and follows the line of ascent from Jesus through Joseph,
Heli, passing through Nathan, David, Juda, Abraha-m, Noe, Adam and through
him to God.
2. In comparing the
two genealogies one finds an appa-rent contradiction.
Verse 16 of chapter I of Saint Matthew states literally that the
father of Saint Joseph was Jacob. On
the other hand, verse 23, of chapter 3 of Saint Luke, gives one to
understand that the father of Saint Joseph was Heli.
After detailed study and calm reflection on the question, we affirm
that the person designated by the name of Heli is the same as Saint
Joachim, since Heli is the short form of Heliachim, the Hebrew name for
Joachim. Besides, the
Palmarian Creed includes as truth of faith that Saint Joseph is the true
son of Jacob and Rachel. Verse
23 of chapter 3 of Saint Luke relates: "And Jesus himself was
beginning about the age of thir-ty years;being (as it was supposed) the
son of Joseph, who was son of He-li, who was son of Mathat".
We explain that by the expression, "Joseph was son of
Heli", it is to be understood that he was son-in-law of Heli, being
the spouse of the Virgin Mary. Since
in their geneal-ogies the Hebrews did not reckon the women, here Saint
Joseph represents Mary.
3. This Holy Council,
in the light of the Holy Ghost, affirms and defines that the genealogy
according to Saint Matthew presents the real ancestry and right to the
throne of David of Joseph Most Holy, legal Father of Our Lord Jesus
Christ, Temporal King of the Jews, as stat-ed in the Palmarian Creed.
Likewise, what Saint Luke gives us is the ge-nealogy of the Most
Holy Virgin Mary, since the person designated by the name of Heli, is the
same as Joachim, Spouse of Saint Anne, Father of the Virgin, of whom was
born Our Lord Jesus Christ. Consequently, the Most Holy Virgin Mary is daughter of David.
4. There is profound
meaning in the fact that, whereas the genealogy of Saint Joseph in the
biblical text begins with Abraham, that of the Virgin Mary ascends to
Adam, son of God. One sees
that the Holy Ghost has wished to point out the woman through whom sin
entered the world, - who is Eve, spouse of Adam, - and to extol the other
Woman, through whom has come Health and Salvation, - who is Mary.
And, at the same time the
Holy Ghost, through a lucid interpretation, lets us perceive that, of the
three essential elements of the future Immaculate Conception of Mary
Irredeem-ed, the three contained in the Triple Benediction, two of these
came from Adam and Eve before the fall, according to the definition in
chapter 4 of this Treatise.
5. We complete the
genealogical line of ascent of Our Lord Jesus Christ, giving the genealogy
of Saint Anne, Mother of the Virgin Mary.
For this we base our doctrine on the mystical- prophetical
revelations of Saint Catherine Emmerick, profoundly studied, interpreted
and put in order. According
to her, Saint Anne on her father's side descend-ed from the tribe of Levi,
and on her mother's side came from the tribe of Benjamin. The first and only ancestors named are on her mother's side,
- the grandfather, Stolanus and the grandmother, Emoroun.
Of this holy union were born three daughters, - Emerentia, Ismeria
and Enoue. Ismeria married
the levitical priest Eliud, who also had three daughters, - Sobe, Saint
Anne, Spouse of Saint Joachim and Mother of the Virgin Mary, and the
third, Maraha.
6. To continue we
present the genealogy of Saint John the Baptist, starting from Emerentia,
first daughter of Stolanus and Emoroun, who married one Aphras.
Of this union were born two daughters, Elizabeth and Rhode (Rose).
Elizabeth married Zachary, levitical priest and of this union was
born Saint John the Baptist.
7. The Palmarian Creed
defines as truth of faith the presanctifications in the maternal womb of:
Saint Anne, Saint Joachim and Saint John the Baptist.
This Holy Council affirms and defines that Ismeria and Eliud,
parents of Saint Anne;also Elizabeth and Zachary, parents of Saint John
the Baptist;as well as the parents of Saint Joa-chim, Mathat and Susana,
were all presanctified in the maternal womb shortly before birth.
We affirm and define that the other kindred of Saint Anne,
mentioned above, were also sanctified.
8. The Holy Doctor
Catherine Emmerick gives us a lovely account of the forefathers of Mary up
to the fourth genera-tion, - which we interpret to have been those of
Saint Anne and Saint Joachim: "They were folk of deep piety and of a
marvellous simplicity. Above
all they were animated by a profound and extraordinary desire for the
coming of the Mes-sias, now close at hand.
Their life was very austere. The
spouses promised each other abstinence for a rather long period.
They displayed great perfection in their deeds, their speech and,
above all, in their pious practices".
In other parts of her revelations, the Holy Doctor affirms that all
these ancestors were Essenes. This Holy Council affirms and de-fines the truth of the
doctrine presented in the mystical-prophetical text and, in addition, we
define that those referred to in the same text were, some of then,
presanctified, and others sanctified during life.
9. Regarding the
generations closest to the Glorious Patriarch Saint Joseph, this Holy
Council having con-sulted various revelations, affirms and defines that
those ancestors of his also belonged to the Essenes and that they were
distinguished for their great virtue.
His parents, Saint Jacob and Saint Rachel were of most holy life
and royal blood. We affirm
and define that both were presanctified in the maternal womb before the
parents of Saint Anne, of Saint Joachim and of Saint John the Baptist.
We take this opportunity to record the words that the Glorious
Patriarch Saint Joseph addressed to His Holiness Pope Gregory XVII at the
Council session that put truths of faith concerning this Most Holy Man in
the Palmarian Creed: "Divine Providence had ordained that my holy
parents receive the same names as the parents of that other Joseph: Jacob
and Rachel. It is time that
parents so holy be known and venerated by the Church".
In accord with the wishes of the Holy Patriarch, this Ho-ly Council
includes his holy progenitors in the Martyr-ology of the Church.
10. Now we go on to
speak of the noble figure of the Elian High Priest Eliud, the successor of
Archos. The Holy Doctor
Catherine Emmerick gives us several admirable scenes in the life of this
Holy Man, accentuating his intimate relations with Our Lord, whom he saw
transfigur-ed, - also his eminent person-ality, wisdom, his high virtues
and prophetic spirit. Once
having duly interpreted her revelations on this subject, we have found in
them, definite proof of the supreme authority which this Prophet exercised
over the Essenes. The
Holy Doctor situates, at certain times, the life of this Superior General
of the Essenes near the city of Nazareth, in a Carmelite community.
This we interpret to mean that Eliud stayed there for a time in
order to be nearer the Holy Family, taking ad-vantage of the opportunity
offered him by his many visits to the various communities spread
throughout the Holy Land. The
Holy Doctor tells us al-so that he was a widower and had a daughter.
We affirm and define the truth of these assertions.
11. After a long
pontificate Eliud was succeeded by Saint John the Baptist, the last
Superior General of the Essenes, as has been defined in a previous
chapter. In the mystical-
prophetical revelations there is no reference to the transmission of the
Elian priesthood to Saint John the Baptist by his predecessor Eliud. Nevertheless we affirm that the ceremony with all the
essential and obligatory parts of the Essenian rite, was not wanting.
According to the Holy Doctor Mary of Jesus of Agreda, Saint John
the Baptist, yet a child, was brought to the desert by his mo-ther Saint
Elizabeth, - which coincides with the revelations of Saint Catherine
Emmerick, who adds also that the child was maintained in the desert by the
Essenes, "and that the care of John in his youth was the last
connecting link in the work of the Essenes". This Holy Council, af-ter a meditated study, affirms and
defines in the light of the Holy Ghost, that the Precursor of the Messias,
Saint John the Baptist, on various oc-casions visited the Holy Cave of
Elias since, although the
greater part of his life unfolded in the desert of Juda - as is inferred
from the Holy Scriptures (Matt. III: 1), - the Holy Prophet accomplished
an extraordina-ry mission among the Essenian communities.
Young as he was, Saint John the Baptist knew by divine revelation
that the moment had come for him to receive the Elian priesthood as well
as to be named successor to the Su-perior General of the Essenes.
Following the impulse of the Holy Ghost, he journeyed from the
desert to Mount Carmel, and lived a time in the Cave of Elias, preparing
himself for that exalted dignity with great penance and austerity. The High Priest Eliud, who knew the grand mission that God
had commended to the young precursor, by divine inspiration put the date
for the great solemnity on the day precisely that com-memorated the
majestic apparition of the Mother of God to the Holy Prophet Elias on
Mount Carmel, and the institution of the Elian priesthood.
The various Essenian communities received notice of the fact, and
many members gathered on Mount Carmel for the great event, all coinciding,
moreover, with the feast that at-tracted fervent pilgrimages.
12. This Holy Council
affirms and defines that the Holy Family also came from Nazareth to Mount
Carmel in order to honour the sacred place with their most holy presence
and to preside at the solemnities. How admirable the wise and mysterious action of God!
For since the pre-sence of the Triple Benediction was necessary and
of obligation in those Essenian rites, and inasmuch as the Sacrament no
longer existed in its ancient form since the Immaculate Conception of the
Virgin Mary, the splendour of the ceremonies excelled through the presence
of the Triple Benediction Incarnate: Jesus and His Most Holy Mother.
In accord with the Essenian rite, the High Priest Eliud invested
Saint John the Baptist with the priestly mantle of Elias.
Im-mediately following, the Holy Pre-cursor fell to his knees
before Jesus, who lovingly extended His sacred hands while Saint John the
Baptist held them with the veneration of one who had knowledge of the
Divine Person. He clasped
them to his heart whilst he con-templated ecstatically the Divine
Countenance transfigured and the sublime beauty of Mary, all of which
flooded with joy the Heart too, of Saint Joseph.
Then the High Priest Eliud proceeded with the ceremony of election
of the successor to his office. He
covered the head of the Baptist with part of the Sacred Mantle leaving the
eyes uncovered, and in this manner the Precursor, accompanied by Eliud,
approached Jesus a-gain, falling to his knees before the Most Divine
Person. Our Lord again
extended His most sacred hands for Saint John the Baptist to kiss.
This extraordinary ceremony was crowned with the blessing by Our
Lord Jesus Christ, all in the presence of a singularly expectant state of
mind of the greater part of the Essenes who assisted at the ceremony, and
who thus far did not know the mystery of the Person of Jesus.
Nonetheless their hearts were throbbing with an indescribable joy,
which they them-selves were not able to explain.
This Holy Council affirms and defines that this most solemn
ceremony exceeded in number of sanctifica-tions that of all the previous.
13. We also affirm and
define that the Holy Prophet Elias was present at this most holy act,
occupying a prominent place af-ter the Holy Family.
Nevertheless the greater part of the Essenes did not identify his
person. The countenance of
the Founder of Carmel was resplendent with heavenly joy at the living
presence of the Triple Bene-diction Incarnate, and at the fulfillment of
the first precursory mission of the Order of Carmel, since now the
promised Messias dwelt among men.
14. We mention that
Saint John the Baptist again with-drew to the desert of Juda and that he
exercised his sacerdo-tal ministry among the Essenes.
Having interpreted the prophecies of the eminent doc-tor Saint
Catherine Emmerick, we conclude affirming that the High Priest Eliud died
in holiness shortly before the solemn public appearance of the Precursor,
who then succeeded him in his office. The same prophecies refer to this event in mentioning a
religious feast presided over by the new Superior General, to which all
the Essenes came, and many others, - -and in which the Precursor offered
an Elian sacrifice in the presence of all.
This took place on the banks of the Jordan, at the place where
Eli-as and Eliseus divided the waters of the river and where there were
Car-melite communities. Saint
John the Baptist was clad in the rich vest-ments of the High Priest, and
was assisted in the ceremony by several disciples of his in priestly
garments. The Holy Doctor
also relates that there were present as well certain of the future
apostles of the Lord: Peter, Andrew, Philip, James the Less, Simon,
Thaddeus and many future disciples.
For which we affirm and define that they all belonged to the
Essenes. Many of those
gathered hoped to be baptized by John.
The Holy Precursor preached to the whole multitude with
penetrat-ing and fervent words, urging the Baptism of penance and the
necessity of conversion, because the Kingdom of God was drawing near.
The truth of his doctrine was confirmed by a spectacular miracle:
"The waters of the Jordan were divided in two, and a small, round,
whitish island rose to the surface. It
was at the same place where the children of Israel crossed the Jordan with
the Ark of the Covenant, and where Elias divided the waters with his
mantle". On this
islet Jesus was baptized.
15. Now we go on to
interpret verse 11 of chapter III of Saint Matthew.
This we shall explain in the following and we shall de-termine the
quality and efficacy of the Baptism administered by Saint John: "I
indeed baptize you in water unto penance;but he that shall come after me
is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize
you in the Holy Ghost and fire".
This Holy Council, in the light of the Holy Ghost, affirms and
defines that the Baptism of John was an im-perfect sacrament of transition
between circumcision, imperfect sacra-ment of the Old Law, and the Baptism
instituted by Christ, perfect Sac-rament of the Evangelical Law. The Baptism of John was superior to cir-cumcision and
inferior to the Sacrament of Baptism, being a more perfect figure of the
latter. Verse 33 of chapter I
of Saint John speaks of the institution of the Baptism of the Precursor,
which we interpret and af-firm to have been by mandate of the Eternal
Father, the same who had com-manded circumcision, as the Evangelists make
evident. (Matt. XXI: 24-27; Mark XI: 29-33; Luke XX: 3-7)
16. In the person of
Saint John the Baptist the minis-try of the Elian Priesthood was enlarged
to include the Baptism of pen-ance, faculty which the Precursor extended
to the other Essenian priests of his time who were his followers, because
the great apostasy was immi-nent, of which we shall speak later.
This Baptism produced in the soul the same effect as circumcision,
the grace of imperfect justice in those not circumcised, being thus a
figure of Baptism. Besides it had the vir-tue of restoring imperfect justice to
those who had lost this through mortal sin, for which was required,
besides Baptism, confession of sins with, at least, attrition.
This is the sense, we with our inter-pretation, give to the words
of the Evangelist St. Mark:
"John was in the desert, baptizing and preaching the baptism of
penance unto remission of sins.
And there went out to him all the country of Judea and all they of
Jerusalem and were baptized by him in the river of Jordan, confessing
their sins" (Mark I: 4-5). Saint Matthew also (Matt. III: 6) mentions the confession of
sins. Saint Luke (III: 3) the
pardon of sins.
17. The Baptism of
John could only be received once. It
was obligatory for all, men and women, as the indis-pensable condition in
order to remain a member of the true Church.
We continue as follows to explain in what this membership
consisted. Those who enjoyed
the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, if they had received this grace before
the Incar-nation of the Divine Word, already, since the moment of their
sanctification, were incorporated in the Mystical Soul of the Church and
once the Incarnation was realized, became incorporated in the Mystical
Body of Christ. Those
who were sanctified after the Incarnation, were incorporated at once in
the Mystical Body of Christ. Those
who refused the Baptism of John, automati-cally were excluded from the
Mystical Body of Christ. Which
is to say, they incurred the pain of excommunication for apostasy.
The baptism of penance did not restore Sanctifying Grace to those
who had lost it through mortal sin.
Such was possible only with perfect contri-tion.
Those who enjoyed the grace of imperfect justice through
circumci-sion, or other equivalent imperfect sacrament - according to the
defini-tion in chapter 5 of this Treatise, - vinculated as they then were
to the Mystical Soul of the Church, at the Incarna-tion remained
vinculated, or quasi- incorporated, in the Mystical Body of Christ.
Similarly those who rejected the baptism of John, automatically
lost their vinculation with the Mystical Body, that is to say, they fell
into excommunication for apostasy. Those
who were not circumcised and thus were not members of the Church, were,
through the Baptism of John, vinculated to the Mystical Bo-dy of Christ
and received the grace of imperfect justice.
Both vincula-tion and incorporation to the Mystical Body of Christ
were in virtue of the merits anticipated of Calvary.
18. Saint Luke, after
narrating the eulogy Christ pro-nounced over the Baptist, continues: "And all the
people hearing, and the publicans, gave glory to God, those who had been
baptized with John's baptism. But
the Pharisees and the doctors of the law despised the coun-sel of God to
their own harm, those who had not been baptized by him" (Luke VII:
29-30). These two verses,
duly interpreted, confirm our pre-vious doctrine, namely, - that the
Baptism of John was the indispensable condition for entering or for
remaining a member of the true Church, and also that those members who
rejected it were excluded from the Church. The
Latin word `consilium' of verse 30, is to be understood as meaning
`decision', `plan' and `divine will'.
This interpretation is supported by the Greek text, where the word
corresponding to `consilium', means `Will', `determination'.
19. We now proceed to
a comparison between circum-cision, the baptism of John and the Sacrament
of Baptism.
20. Circumcision was
an imperfect sacrament, through which was received the grace of imperfect
justice. Through this
sacra-ment, a man was vinculated to the Mystical Soul of the Church.
With re-gard to women, there were other forms of imperfect
sacraments which transmitted the same grace, as was explained and defined
in chapter 5 of this Treatise. Circumcision was the external sign of the pact between God
and men, the renovation of the Covenant, and the distinguishing mark of
the people of God, the condition necessary in order to enter the Church of
the Old Testament. It was
also an imperfect figure of the Sacrament of Baptism.
21. The baptism of
John came to replace circumcision. It
was also an imperfect sacrament and conferred the grace of imperfect
jus-tice with the consequent vinculation to the Mystical Body of Christ.
It was obligatory also for women.
Besides, it was the new external sign of the pact between God and
men, the new renovation of the Covenant, and the condition necess-ary for
continuing or for entering in the Church.
It was a perfect figure of the Sacrament of Baptism.
Besides, it forgave sins on condition of attrition.
22. The Sacrament of
Baptism was instituted by Christ when He was baptized by John;circumcision
was abolishe-d, and, as defined by Pope Gregory XVII, so was the baptism
of penance. It is a perfect
sacrament through which man is incor-porated in the Mystical Body of
Christ, and it is the sign, internal and external of the pact between God
and men, that is, the New Covenant. The
Sacrament of Baptism effaces original sin and infuses Sanctify-ing Grace
in the soul. It also obliged
those contemporaries of Jesus who already were sanctified and
incor-porated in the Mystical Body of Christ, in order thus to complete
the internal character they already had, on receiving the charact-er of
this sacrament of the New Church, as also the Common Priest-hood of the
faithful.
23. The Holy Doctor
Catherine Emmerick tells us in her revelations that many Jews, Samaritans and pagans came to
John in order to be baptized, and also that Our Lord Jesus Christ, prior
to the insti-tution of the Sacrament of Baptism, urged all to go to John
to be baptized. We know from
the Acts of the Apostles (chap. XIX) that even at Ephe-sus there were some
who had been baptized by John.
24. We proceed now to
interpret verses 22 and 23 of chapter III of the Gospel according to Saint
John: "After these things, Jesus and his disciples came into the land
of Judea: and there he abode with them and baptized.
And John also was baptizing in Ennon near Salim;be-cause there was
much water there. And
they came and were baptized". Here
is seen with all clarity, in the light of our interpretation, how the
Precursor continued to administer the baptism of penance at the same time
that the Lord and His disciples administered the Sacrament of Baptism.
This in no wise contradicts our doctrine defined above, since,
although the baptism of John was officially abolished by Christ with the
institu-tion of the Sacrament of Baptism, this did not prevent Saint John
from continuing to fulfil his mission of Precursor.
Moreover this favoured the messianic cause, since the baptism of
penance predisposed men better towards accepting the Baptism of Christ,
coming to Him, as they did, purified and strengthened by imperfect
justice. This is why Christ
with-drew to Galilee leaving the Precursor to continue fulfilling his
mission. The same chapter III
of Saint John gives proof through the testimony of John the Baptist in
favour of Jesus for those who came to the Precursor to be baptized.
The Holy Doctor Mary of Agreda confirms this doctrine in the
following words, which present Christ after He left the desert: "The
Divine Master turned His most lovely steps towards the Jordan, where His
great precursor, John, was carrying on his baptizing and preach-ing, in
order that, through His appearance and presence, He give the Baptist new
testimony of His Divinity and ministry of Redemp-tion".
Saint John the Baptist continued to practice the Baptism of penance
until his imprison-ment. After
his death this baptism no longer produced its effects, all of which we
affirm and define.
25. Resuming the
question of circumcision, and having consulted Sacred Scriptures and the
Magisterium of the Church, we have reached the following conclusions, and
define them as truths of faith.
26. Although the
Baptism of John was to replace circum-cision, nevertheless it did not
abolish it. It was Christ
who, on insti-tuting the Sacrament of Baptism, abolished and left it
without efficacy, whereas the Baptism of John retained its efficacy up to
the death of the Precursor. In
this aspect we interpret that the difference between the two imperfect
sacra-ments rests on this, that, whereas the baptism of John led to
Christ, circumci-sion separated from Christ.
But the abolition of the imperfect sacrament of
circumcision did not yet involve the absolute prohibition of
circumcision for those Christians who desired to comply with this
formality. By `formality' is
under-stood one purely civil and not religious, so as not to be separat-ed
from the Evangelical Law. At
the Council of Jerusalem, men-tioned in chapter XV of the Acts of the
Apostles, it was defined that circumcision was not necessary, since it was
ineffi-cacious and salvation came by the grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
27. Saint Paul, in
chapter V of the Letter to the Gala-tians, says literally: "Behold,
I, Paul, tell you that if you be circum-cised Christ shall profit you
nothing... .
You are made void of Christ, you who are justified in the law: you
are fallen from grace. For we in spirit, by faith, wait for the hope of justice. For
in Christ Jesus nei-ther circumcision availeth anything, nor
uncircumcision: but faith that worketh by charity" (Gal. V: 2, 4, 5,
6). In chapter II, verse 21,
Saint Paul, reproac-hing those who believed that circumcision was still
neces-sary, again adds: "For if justice be by the Law, then Christ
died in vain". Thus the
Apostle denies the need to fulfil that precept of the Law of Moses, and
denies also its efficacy since the institution of the Sac-rament of
Baptism. The Acts of the
Apostles in chapter XVI relates how Saint Paul circumcised Timothy.
Which shows that circumcision was not altogether prohibited for
Christians. In the first
Letter to the Corin-thians, Saint Paul counsels them not to be
circumcised: "Is any man called, being circumcised? let him not
procure uncircumcision. Is
any man called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised.
Circumcision is nothing, and uncir-cumcision is nothing: but the
observance of the com-mandments of God" (I Cor. VII: 18-19).
28. The first absolute
prohibition to practice the rite of circumcision as a religious ceremony,
we find in the Council of Flor-ence (1438-1445) in the Decree for the
Jacobit-es: "Command, then, abso-lutely, all who glory in the
Christian name that they must refrain from circumcising at any time
what-soever, whether before or after baptism, because whether one moment
they put their hope in it or at another they do not, circumcision
absolutely cannot be practiced without the loss of eternal salvation"
(Denz. 712).
29. The Holy Doctor
Catherine Emmerick recounts in her revelations a conversation of Jesus
with a pagan of Cyprus;who asked the Divine Master "if it were not
possible to attain salvation without circum-cision".
The Lord replied "that he ought to circumcise his senses and
his evil passions, that it sufficed, without circumcision, to go to
Cafar-naum to be baptized, and that he should circumcise his tongue and
his heart rather than his flesh".
He also told him "that the pact of circum-cision of the flesh
had expired and it was now the time of circumcision of heart and spirit in
place of the old one of the flesh".
All of which we define as truth of faith.
30. We proceed to
speak of the text of the Gospel that narrates the Baptism of Jesus by the Precursor, Saint
John the Baptist, which took place in the presence of a con-siderable
multitude. The Messias asked
John for the Baptism of penance, showing thus the obligation that existed
up to that moment for all to receive the baptism of the Precur-sor.
In addition Christ, on being baptized by John, showed that from
that time on, all were obliged to receive the Sacrament of Baptism which
He instituted, if they wished to be saved;and He showed that, at the same
time, the obligation to receive the baptism of penance ceased, even though
the latter was not prohibited by Christ, since John continued to confer it
on those who approached him, as the best preparation for the Sacrament of
Baptism.
31. We shall explain
the extent of the oblig-ation for each of the two baptisms.
The Baptism of penance was required only of the members of the
Church of the Old Testament, from the time of its institution to the
Baptism of Christ. The
Sacrament of Baptism is obligatory for all men and indispensable for
salva-tion. Let us see the
text of the Gos-pel of Saint Matthew: "Then cometh Jesus from Galilee
to the Jordan, unto John, to be baptized by him.
But John prevented him, saying: I ought to be baptized by thee, and
cometh thou to me? And Jesus answering said to him: Let it be so now.
For so it becometh us to fulfil all justice.
Then he let him" (chap. III: 13-15).
The expression of verse 14 just cited "I ought to be baptized
by thee, and cometh thou to me?" shows that the Baptist knew Jesus
perfectly, as Man and as God, before baptizing Him.
And this we affirm and define.
The obliga-tion regarding both baptisms is in-ferred from the
following words: "Let it be so now.
For so it becometh us to fulfil all justice".
This means, according to our interpretation, that it behoved Jesus
and John to give example in fulfilling every law.
Besides Jesus is speaking in the plural, as Head of the Mystical
Body, represen-ted in the plural `us'.
The Evangelist Saint Matthew relates that "Jesus, being
baptized, forthwith came out of the water;and lo, the heavens were opened
to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descend-ing as a dove and coming upon
him. And, behold, a voice
from heaven, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased" (Matt. III: 16-17). The Evangelists Saint John and Saint Mark say besides, that
the Spirit of God `rested' on Christ (John I: 32 and Mark I: 10).
This Holy Council affirms and defines that here is the solemn and
audible proclamation by the Eternal Father before the people, of the
divinity and messian-ic office of Jesus, whom all must obey.
And, besides, that here is the proof that the Baptism instituted by
Christ was of the Holy Ghost and was to be confer-red in the name of the
Three Divine Persons who there were manifested.
32. After this
transcendental event, John, in the pre-sence of his followers, pointed to
Jesus as "the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world", which,
according to the Gospel, occurred on two occasions (John 1: 29 and 36),
and which we affirm occurred also on other occasions.
The mission of John as Precursor had two fundamental aspects
directed towards the same end: to prepare souls and to hand them over to
the Lord. Some time
after the Baptism of Jesus, Saint John is imprisoned, and he continues
preaching about Jesus to those who visit him.
33. His Holiness Pope
Gregory XVII defines in Document 43 that Jesus, after being baptized by
John and glorified by the Father, conferred the Sacrament of Baptism on
the Holy Precursor, and a short time later baptized His Most Holy Mother,
the Virgin Mary. Furthermore
this Holy Council affirms and defines that Christ also baptized His dis-ciples.
34. We shall now
interpret the words, "I did not know him", which are found in
verses 31 and 33 of chapter I of Saint John, and which the Baptist spoke
during the controversy with the Pharisees. The Holy Precursor made it clear to the Pharisees that he
knew Christ per-fectly well even before the prodigies at the Jordan, that
he knew Him not only as God, but also as man.
They did not believe his word.
John, giving testim-ony to the divinity and messianic office of
Christ, ironic-ally reproaches their incredulity with the words, "I
did not know him". With
austere severity he refers them to the undeniable proof that they
themselves saw with their own eyes when the vault of heaven opened and the
voice of the Eternal Father was heard giving testimony of His Divine Son,
upon whose head the Holy Ghost rested.
35. We shall now
consider the apostasy of a large part of the Essenes, similar to the
general apostasy of the Jewish people. We take as basis the following prophetic text of the
revelations of Saint Cather-ine Emmerick:
"A large part of the Essenes, who did not belong to the fruit
but to the husk of the Order, obstinately remained with their own customs
and dissension. These
later became founders of sects, mixing pagan customs with Christian, which
in the first years of the Church caused her harm".
From the text cited one can understand that many who were called
Essenes did not belong in heart and truth to the Carmelite Order.
They no longer had her true spirit but rather the ex-ternals, which
they kept out of human respect, egoism and mere family tradition.
36. The same
revelations present other passages that expose the superficiality of many
Essenes, of those who, although they ap-peared to be disciples and
followers of John, were not imbued with the spirit of the Precursor, but
rather followed him for his prestige. Here is how Saint Catherine Emmerick expresses it: "John
told them again that he would soon relinquish his office to Jesus, - thus
indicating the su-periority of the Lord, - adding that he was only
precursor and servant of Jesus. This
did not much please his disciples, whose petty jealousy be-trayed
itself". In another part
of her revelations she expresses herself in similar fashion: "John
spoke to his disciples about the Messias and he humbled himself in regard
to Him in such manner that they were saddened".
We conclude this subject only to say that many Essenes, when they
did not care to accept Jesus, withdrew from the authority of Saint John
the Baptist, who besides being Precursor, was
Superior General of the Order.
They strayed from the path of truth, later to form various sects
separated from Carmel, thus drawing other members into apostasy.
All these fomented
heresies that hindered the expansion of Christianity in the first years.
All of which we affirm and define.
37. There remains for
us to speak, in this chapte-r, of the Essenian Priesthood, as well as of
the mission of Elias, in this re-spect, his mission on other sidereal
worlds after his celestial transla-tion to the Planet of Mary.
This Holy Council affirms and defines that the Holy Prophet Elias
brought to the various inhabited planets the Elian Priesthood.
Following a profound study of the Sacred Texts we have found
definite proof of how it was possible for the Founder of Carmel, if he was
to transmit the Elian Priesthood on other planets, - how it was possible
to comply with the formality of investing with the mantle of Elias, quite
as he had done on earth. In
the fourth Book of Kings, chapter II, verse 8, we read: "And Elias
took his mantle, folded it, struck the water, which was divided from side
to side, and both passed over on dry land".
The expression, "and Elias took his mantle and folded
it", is highly significant. This
we interpret to mean that he folded it in two, and that this symbol-ized
what shortly took place when he was taken up into the heaven-s, being the
moment when the Founder of Carmel tore his mantle in two and let fall one
part over Eliseus taking with him the other.
The waters divided by the folded mantle represent, one part of
them, the earth, and the other part, the rest of the sidereal world, - as
well as the virtue of the mantle of Elias in both.
Verse 10 of the same passage tells how Elias replied to Eliseus
when the latter asked to receive his double spirit, that is, the
priesthood. The petition
included implicitly the desire of Eliseus to possess the means of
transmitting the Elian Priesthood to others.
As there was only one mantle, if Elias had left it with Eliseus, it
would not have been possible to transmit the priesthood on other planets,
and if Elias had taken it with him, Eliseus would have lacked the means to
do so. For this reason Elias
gives the enigmatic re-ply: "Difficult is the thing you ask.
Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken away from you, you will
have what you ask. But if you
do not see me, you will not have it" (verse 10).
Another proof is found in verse 14 of the same sacred text, which
relates the miracle of Eliseus: "And with the mantle of Elias, that
had fallen upon him, he struck the waters and they were not divided.
And he said: Where is now the God of Elias? And
he struck the waters, and they were divided from one side to the other.
And Eliseus passed over".
We give to this verse the following interpretation: Eliseus had
observed how Elias divided the waters with the mantle folded in two.
And when he cast over the Jordan the half mantle that the Master
had left with him, he wavered, thinking that it might not have the same
virtue as had the whole mantle. So
the miracle did not take place.
But God heard his prayer, and when Eliseus again cast the mantle
upon the waters, they were divided. Thus
the holy man understood that the half mantle he had received sufficed for
the miracle, since it had the same virtue as the
mantle when whole.
38. This Holy Council
affirms and defines that, when in the previous two chapters, we refer to
the mantle left by Elias to Eliseus, we understand that mantle as half of
it, since Elias took the other half with him in order to confer the
priesth-ood on the other planets. Besides,
the Triple Benediction requir-ed for the ceremony, was brought by the Soul
of Christ to the sacred place of the planet in question.
39. After
investigating the revelations of Saint Cath-erine Enmerick we affirm and
define that when the Holy Doctor speaks of a vestment similar to a
chasuble, worn by the High Priest and Prophet Archos at the Essenian
sacrifices and solemniti-es, she is referring to the part of the mantle of
Elias that pertained to Eliseus, and to which the Essenes gave such
ornamen-tal form for the exclusive use of the priests at their sacrifices. That sacred vestment served them as model for mak-ing the
vestment to be worn by each priest. One
must not confuse this vestment with the imitations of the entire mantle of
Elias, worn by all the Essene religious as their distinctive Carmelite
garb, along with this priestly vestment.
40. We conclude by
affirming and defining that the Foun-der of Carmel conferred the Elian
Priesthood upon the Holy Patriarch Enoch on the Planet of Mary.
