Messe Noire
The Black Mass was more of a ceremony that attracted the more wealthy and educated dissenters of the Church.
There is no set Black Mass ritual, rather the ceremony is a parody on the holy Catholic Mass. One ritual is that it is performed in entirety, or in parts, backwards. A defrocked generally performed the Black Mass wearing vestments of black or a color of dried blood, and embroidered with inverted crosses, a goat's head (referring to Baphomet).
The significance of the Black Mass rests in the belief that the Holy Mass involves the miracle of the transubstantiation, that is, the mystical changing of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus Christ. If the priest can affect this miracle within the Holy Mass, then, it is reasoned, the priest, or magician, could effect similar results in other masses for other purposes. The Catholic Church condemned priests who attempted to subvert the Holy Mass, as early as the 7th century.
One such famous form of the Black Mass is The Mass of Saint-Secaire, which is said to have originated in the Middle Ages in Gascony.
The origins of the current known versions of the Black Mass date back to the 14th century in France. This was the time when the Church was persecuting heretics.The Knights Templar, in particular, were accused of conducting these Masses and also other blasphemous rites in which they denounced Christ, and worshipped the Devil in the form of a black cat. Through accusations and trails the order was tumbled, but whether all the accusations were true still remains a mystery to many.
The popularity for the celebration of Black Masses seemed to spread during the 15th and 16th centuries. In 1500 the cathedral chapter of Cambrai held Black Masses in protest against their bishop. A priest in Orleans, Gentien le Clerc, tried in 1614-1615, confessed to performing the "Devil's mass".
The peak for the Black Mass was reached in the 17th century during the reign of Louis XIV. It was the time when the Black Mass was extremely popular among the nobility, who thought its performance was exotic. Also, this was a time when the Church was becoming more stringent. The nobility still enjoyed indulging in the pleasures of life, which they considered sex still to be one of them. The Black Mass was a form of protest too.
It became fashionable to have Black Masses said in dark cellars. The leading organizer of such events was Catherine Deshayes, known as "La Voisin,". She was able to acquire priests, probably also protesting the Church, to say these blasphemous masses, including the infamous Abbé Guiborg, who wore gold-trimmed and lace-lined vestments and scarlet shoes.
There was reportedly one notorious mass performed for the mistress of Louis XIV, the Marquise de Montespan. Montespan had sought the services of La Voisin to arrange the Black Mass because she thought the king was interested in another woman. While using Montespan as a naked alter, Guiborg said three Black Masses over her, invoking Satan and his demons, Beelzebub, Asmodeus, and Astaroth, to grant Montespan whatever she desired. Whenever the mass called for kissing the altar, Guiborg kissed Montespan.
The Black Mass, on the whole, was more of a protest of churchmen against the Church. Many were desperately trying to save their lives, plus few fitted into the nobility.
Nevertheless, none of this was obvious to the inquisitors.
During the 19th century the Black Mass went into further decline. A London fraternal group call the Hellfire Club, in the latter part of the century, was said to perform a Black Mass regularly to worship the Devil.All comments (1)
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good work!