Cathar Perfect

Perfect(also known as aParfaitinFrenchorPerfectusinLatin) was the name given byBernard of Clairvauxto the leaders of themediaevalChristian religious movement in southern France and northern Italy commonly referred to as theCathars.ThePerfectiwere not clerics in any way, but merely members who had become 'adepts' in the teaching, and whose role was that of aiding other ordinary members achieve the rewards of belief and practice. The term reflects the fact that such a person was seen by theCatholic Churchas the "perfect heretic".^[1]As "bonhommes"(their term),Perfectiwere expected to follow alifestyle of extreme austerityandrenunciationof the world which includedabstaining from eating meatandavoiding all sexual contact.^{[citation needed]}They were thus recognized as trans-material (i.e. spiritualized) angels by their followers, theCredentes(Croyantin French,Believersin English).Perfectiwere drawn from all walks of life and counted aristocrats, merchants and peasants among their number. Women could also becomePerfectiand were known asParfaitesorPerfectae.

Catharism

Catharismitself was a Christian religious movement with dualistic andGnosticelements that appeared in theLanguedocregion of France (Occitaniaat the time) around the middle of the 12th century. The movement was branded by theCatholic Churchashereticalwith some authorities denouncing them as not being Christian at all. It existed throughout much of Western Europe (includingAragonandCataloniain Spain, theRhinelandandFlandersin Northern Europe andLombardyandTuscanyin Italy), but its focus was in theLanguedocand surrounding areas of what is now southernFrance.In addition it had links with the similar Christian movement theBogomils(Friends of God) from the Balkans. The Cathars were ruthlessly suppressed and finally exterminated by the Catholic Church in the 14th century.

The Cathars believed that there weretwo principal powers in the Universe.One,God,was entirely good and dwelt in a condition of pure Spirit and Light, while the other,Satan/Lucifer,"the prince of this world" was entirely evil and ruled over the world of Matter, hence their rejection of physical pleasures. This dualism they drew from a particular reading of the Gospels, for example "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit" (John3:6). For the Cathars,Christwas an emissary of the Light sent into this world to lead humanity back to God. Each individual contained within them a shard of the Divine Light, the Angelic Soul which was trapped in a "garment" of flesh (the Body) byLucifer.While confined in this "garment" of matter the Soul would forget its origin with God and instead find itself suffering the privations of this world. Cathars held to a doctrine ofReincarnation,believing that the Soul was doomed to incarnate into this world time and again until through a process of spiritual growth and purification it was able to return to God through Christ and theHoly Spirit.According to the records of theInquisition,it was believed that this process of death and rebirth towards final Perfection took place over seven lives:

Denying also the Resurrection of the flesh, they invented some unheard of notions, saying, that our souls are those of angelic spirits who, being cast down from heaven by the apostasy of pride, left their glorified bodies in the air; and that these souls themselves, after successively inhabiting seven terrene bodies, of one sort or another, having at length fulfilled their penance, return to those deserted bodies.^[2]

Many Perfects chose to become so late in their lives, choosing to abjure their previous existences for their spiritual beliefs. The famous female PerfectEsclarmonde of Foix,for instance, became aBonne Femmeafter having reared eight children with her husband, who consented to her choice. Thus, the decision to achieve this state was reached after some experience in the world.

The Cathar Perfect was believed to have reached the point in his or her cycle of incarnations at which the state of spiritual purity had been achieved through which the Holy Spirit could dwell within them, thus releasing them from the burden of reincarnation and the suffering of this world. Their ministry among theCredenteswas to help them in their journey through this life and perhaps enable them to move closer to the spiritual state in which they too could return to God. As Perfects they were seen to be "equal unto the angels" and thus already semi-divine by Cathar believers.

Initiation and lifestyle

Montségur,where the Cathar elite made their last stand

A Cathar Perfect had to undergo a rigorous training of three years before being inducted as a member of the spiritual elite of the religious movement.^{[citation needed]}This took place during a ceremony in which various Scriptural extracts were quoted, including, most particularly, the opening verses of theGospel of John^{[citation needed]}.The ceremony was completed by a rituallaying on of hands,orManisola,as the candidate vowed to abjure the world and accept the Holy Spirit.^{[citation needed]}At this point, thePerfectibelieved, the Holy Spirit was able to descend and dwell within the new Perfect—hence the austere lifestyle needed to provide a pure dwelling place for the Spirit. Once in this state of housing the Holy Spirit within themselves, the Perfect were believed to have become "trans-material" or semi-angelic, not yet released from the confines of the body but containing within them an enhanced spirituality which linked them to God even in this world, as expressed in theGospel of Luke:

But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels: and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.^[3]

Cathar Perfects travelled theLanguedocin twos, in imitation of Christ's instructions to theApostlesin theGospels(such asLuke10:1–12). Male and female Perfects always travelled with partners of the same sex to avoid sexual temptation.^{[citation needed]}This prompted their enemies to accuse them of homosexuality.^{[citation needed]}On their travels, Perfects ministered to theCredentes(Believers), the rank and file of Catharism who were not expected to follow the austere lifestyle of the Perfects. They were healers and worked with the sick, sometimes using medicinal remedies, sometimes with laying on of hands.^{[citation needed]}Following the instructions described in theBible,they walked from place to place and stayed in the houses ofCredentes.Services and sacraments were held in people's homes or in places such as fields, forests or caves.^{[citation needed]}

One of their main roles was to administer theConsolamentum(Consolation) to the dying, which ensured admittance of the soul of the deceased to heaven, and normally required a request from the recipient to a Perfect for theConsolamentum.This meant that many Perfects would not administer theConsolamentumto those who were beyond reason or sentient speech, as they clearly undisposed to make the necessary request. One of the conditions of being aCredentewas the uttering of theConvanenza,or Covenant when encountering a Perfect, which involved the request for theConsolamentumshould they be dying. This was aimed at enabling the Perfect to bestow the sacrament to those whose illness meant they could not ask for it. As mentioned above, theCatharsbelieved in a doctrine ofreincarnation,interpreting the idea of Eternal Life promised in the Bible as meaning release from the cycle of successive births in this world, which they believed to be ruled over bySatan.TheConsolamentumwas thought to purify the soul through theHoly Spiritbefore death to enable its ascent toChrist.

Persecution

Perfects often took great personal risks to visit the dying and faced certain death if caught. During the time of the Cathar suppression when the Church sent aCrusadeto destroy them, many Perfects led a hidden and itinerant existence – moving around under cover of darkness, and spending the days in barns or the woods. Many were burned at the stake by the Church. The last recorded Cathar Perfect wasGuillaume Bélibastewho was betrayed by aCredentein the pay of the Church, and burnt to death in the 14th century.

References

^Bruschi, Caterina; Biller, Peter (2003).Text and the Repression of Medieval Heresy.York Medieval Press.p. 129.ISBN 978-1-903153-10-9.
^Raynaldus (1832). "Annales".History of the Albigenses and Waldenses.Translated byMaitland, S. R.London: C. J. G. and F. Rivington. pp. 392–394.
^Luke20:36

Cathar Perfect

Catharism

Initiation and lifestyle

Persecution

See also

References

Further reading