BOOK X THE SECRET CHURCH
I
THE HERMENEUTICS OF THE HOLY GRAAL
Two things follow from the considerations of the ninth book: (a) That there are or there have been custodians of secret knowledge in Christian times, but I express only my personal view if I say that they remain to this day; (b) that the term of their purpose does not differ in kind from that of the external Churches; but (c) by their claim they had carried the Great Experiment further. Their testimony offers therefore (1) deeper intimations of Church doctrine; (2) a contribution in concealment to the annals of the life of sanctity; (3) by the remembrance--in perpetuity of dedication--that there is one thing needful; (4) and this is to partake, if it be possible, of Divine Substance--that is, spirit and life--of which the impermanent consubstantiation with Divine Humanity in the official Eucharist is the vestige in symbolism only. The way of attainment must have had its doctrinal correspondence in the Descent of the Paraclete. It does not follow that the custodians celebrated what we understand by a Mass, but it is impossible to delineate their process by a stricter, analogy. After exhausting all other considerations we can speak of it only in this manner. I suggest that it was said in the heart, and that Christ came down into the heart. It follows that for those unseen masters, as for us also, the Mysterium Eidei was the Eucharist. The Greek