Ave Verum Corpus
From ‘Healers And Healing’
The Flowering Of The Rose On The Cross
The queen of all flowers is the rose. It is the symbol of the sweetness and beauty of the Great Mother’s love and wisdom. Humankind’s existence on the Earth can be likened to a gigantic rosebush with billions of roses in just as many different stages of spiritual development. Some of us are buds that are still tightly enclosed by their green outer leaves, while others are occupied with various stages of opening and eventually bursting into full bloom.
The rose represents the heart of love as well as the heart of the Christ Consciousness. The red rose is associated with this love and is sometimes depicted as growing at the centre of a cross, the oldest known symbol of humankind’s existence in physicality. Our small earthly self needs to be nailed to the cross and as it hangs there helplessly and dying, the sweetness of the Christ love unfolds in our heart. The rose as a symbol has a rich and ancient history and just like the cross it can have meanings that are polar opposites. It can at once be a symbol of purity and of passion, heavenly perfection and earthly passion, virginity and fertility, life and death.
The rose is the flower of the goddess Venus as well as of the blood of Adonis and Christ. It is a symbol of transmutation, i.e. taking the elements of the Earth and transmuting them into the beautiful fragrant rose of the spirit. The rose garden is a symbol of Paradise and the place where the mystic marriage takes place. In ancient Rome, roses were grown in funerary gardens as symbols of resurrection. The thorns represented suffering and sacrifice as well as the sins of the Fall from Paradise. The rose has also been used as a sign of silence and secrecy. The words ‘sub rosa’ refer to a need for discretion, which was necessary whenever a rose was hanging from the ceiling at a meeting in the days of yore. In the mysteries of ancient Egypt roses were sacred to Isis. They were also the flowers of her son, Harpocrates or younger Horus, the God of silence.
To encourage us and spur us on during our climb up the spiritual mountain of life, once in a while the Angels grant us the gift of true communion, of being at one with and fully attuned to the Highest. That is why in the quiet of deep meditations and reflections on God and the Universe, maybe whilst listening to certain types of music, we occasionally reach for brief moments the level of the Cosmic or Christ consciousness, the plane of pure spirit. Although it is impossible to hold onto these feelings, no-one who has experienced things of this nature will ever forget them. That is what happens to me when I listen to the
Ave verum corpus,
Natum de Maria Virgine.
Vere passum, immolatum,
In cruce pro homine.
Cuius latus perforatum,
Fluxit aqua et sanguine:
Esto nobis praegustatum
In mortis examine.
O Jesu dulcis, O Jesu pie,
O Jesu, fili Mariae.
Miserere mei.
Amen
Hail, true body, born
Of the Virgin Mary,
Who having truly suffered,
Was sacrificed
On the cross for humankind,
Whose pierced side
Flowed with water and blood.
May it be for us a foretaste
[Of the Heavenly banquet that awaits us]
In our own trial of death.
O sweet Jesus, O holy Jesus,
O Jesus, son of Mary,
Have mercy on me.
Amen
The above is one of my all-time favourite pieces of music. The first time I encountered it was as a child of about twelve in the early fifties when we were rehearsing it in our school choir. In spite of the fact that I was not being reared on and used to a steady diet of Christianity’s teachings, I was captivated by the beauty of the music. It had been planned that we should sing this piece at the wedding of one of our teachers. I still recall my bitter disappointment when our choir master told us that we were not allowed to do so because the ceremony was going to take place in a Lutheran church and Mozart’s music was considered to belong to the Catholic church.
It took me several decades to find out that this institution did not allow Mozart to compose music for them, regardless of the fact that he was raised a Roman Catholic and remained a devout member of the church throughout his life. At some stage he joined the Freemasons and wrote all his music for this organisation. For me the events of those days are the most striking examples of religious prejudice and ignorance that ever came my way. Maybe that’s why I recall them so vividly.
Leonard Bernstein, 1918-1990, American composer, conductor, author, music lecturer and pianist, conducts the ‘Ave Verum Corpus’ before you. He gives the impression that he was no longer affected by restricting religious beliefs of any kind. He was the son of Ukrainian-Jewish parents. But still the expression on his face, while tuning himself into the task before him, shows that he understood the esoteric meaning behind the Jesus legend. His behaviour honours it as a message of the renewal of love and faith, hope and trust in the Highest forces of life, which was brought to our world by the Universal Christ and His/Her Angels, in the depths of the spiritual darkness of the Piscean Age through the music the legend inspired.
Bernstein himself was not only an inspired conductor but also a composer. The same forces no doubt provided him with the inspiration for providing our world with music for our time. Among his output was the music for ‘West Side Story’, ‘Peter Pan’, ‘Candide’, ‘Wonderful Town’, ‘On the Town’, ‘On The Waterfront’ and his Mass. Added to this was a range of other compositions, including three symphonies and many shorter chamber and solo works.
In case you are wondering what the Age of Pisces has to do with all this, let’s take a closer look at Pisces, the sign co-ruled by Jupiter and Neptune. The Neptunian energies are the higher octave of the Venus vibration. It bring to us and our world the highest love vibrations of the whole of Creation. This love is of the highest realms of life that knows nothing of earthly life and its concerns. It is belongs to the world of beauty, peace and harmony, without trouble and strife. That is the place from which all human souls initially emerge and for which we secretly keep on longing and yearning to return to.
The downside of the Neptunian energies for us earthlings is that they can all too easily express themselves as lying and cheating, deceptions and delusions, of the self and others. The upside of this planet’s energies however is that they provide those in our world who are ready to receive them with the inspiration for enriching our world with the most exquisite works of art, to brighten up the lives of the people dwelling there. During the Age of Pisces this revealed itself in all areas of artistic endeavour and particularly that of music. Neptune’s negative qualities expressed themselves in the limitations and restrictions that were imposed upon humankind by the old religions of our world in their pursuit of power, material wealth and empire building.
Mozart’s ‘Ave Verum Corpus’ is one of the pieces of music that speaks to me most strongly of the higher realities of life. Soaring above the troubles and tribulation of earthly life, some of them have the power to lift my soul into its true home, the world of love and light, wisdom and truth, where things like suffering and pain do not exist. For me Mozart’s and Chopin’s music is first in line for taking me not only closer to the highest levels of life, our true home, but into it. For brief moments of respite from the material world it allows me to experience and take part in it.
Music as an art form can be likened to beautiful architecture. Its vibrations produce colours that are more exquisite than those known on the Earth plane. It is a most effective tool for rituals because it creates an avenue and a channel through which the spiritual forces of the Highest can easily flow into humankind. Music is the first stimulant for the Divine spark that for a long time has to remain asleep in all human hearts. It aids us with finding the necessary balance between the mental aspect of human nature and the heart centre. The Angels and Masters are the ones who provide the composers of our world with the inspiration that enables them to translate the music of the spheres into something that speaks to and can be understood by us earthlings.
Aquarius, the fixed Air sign, is of the head. Its polar opposite is Leo, the fixed Fire sign that rules the heart. To make us fit for the new age, these two parts need to be balanced. Our spirit guides and helpers are making their contribution to getting us ready for the new age by providing us with ever more advanced spiritual wisdom and knowledge that assists us with the development of our Christ nature, so that we can do our share of establishing God’s Kingdom on the Earth. This means taking great care to construct nothing but that which represents our Creator’s will and wishes and is in keeping with the Universal laws. Using our throat centre wisely, guarding our tongues and handling the power of speech with discretion are now of the greatest importance.
Human redemption can only can about through everyone doing their share of alleviating the suffering of our world. We are in this life to share the gifts and talents the Universe has bestowed upon us with anyone who is in need of what we have to give, whilst patiently enduring whatever our own karmic debts are bringing us. In this process the rose of love unfolds on the cross of our earthly existence. The seat of the Divine spark in every human being is the heart centre and every one of us is a rose whose bud may for a long time have been waiting to open and unfold its inner beauty on the Earth plane.
Potentially, each one of us is a multi-faced jewel of outstanding beauty and splendour that in the fullness of time begins to stir from its spiritual slumbers. Every cell and atom of matter that exists in the whole of Creation, including our physical bodies, consists of minute particles of the Great Light of the Universal Christ, only born Son/Daughter of the Great Father/Mother. For aeons this light has been drawing our race ever more powerfully into Its loving embrace. It’s in response to this calling that the Divine spark eventually awakens in every human heart.
Many study comparative religions for years. Even though through this they acquire a great deal of intellectual knowledge, the only way human beings can save and redeem themselves is through the Christ love unfolding in our own heart and following the deep inner yearning of our Christ nature to serve and do whatever is best for all the whole of life and every lifeform within it.
Recommended Viewing:
• ‘Ave Verum Corpus’
By Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Recommended Reading:
• ‘The Symbolism Of The Cross’
• ‘Guarding Our Tongues’
