Brenac Statues, roses, nobility… and Courtade

 

As all other churches, the church of Brenac also has its fair share of statues depicting saints that have been linked with the chapel. Throughout the series of statues, one trend does become visible: certain statues are accompanied by roses.
St Germaine, on the right hand side of the church, has roses on its apron. This is linked with the story and her miracle. Despite her father’s forbidding her, she went to the poor, where her apron held flowers. Her festival is June 15 and she died at the age of 22. She is also represented in the chapel at the entrance of the church, on the left of the virgin whose feet have the inscription “Courtade Freres”.

The second “Rosy Saint” is St Elisabeth, equally on the right hand side of the church. Her feastday is November 17 and she lived in the 13rd century, in Hungary, where she died at the age of 24. Her name is specifically familiar in the bible as that of the mother of John the Baptist. The presence of roses is neither logical or usual. Nevertheless, she has seven roses in her hand – perhaps revealing knowledge of the fact that her name means “God is seven”.

Number three is the Holy Therese, on the left hand side of the church. This is a modern saint, as her death occurred on September 30, 1897, the year when Sauniere installed a large scene of Jesus comforting the poor, on the top of the confessional of the church of Rennes-le-Chateau. One should note that it was Pope Leo XIII who authorised Therese to enter in Carmel at the age of 14. We note that it are the arms of Pope Leo XIII that are on the porch of Rennes-le-Chateau, placed there by Sauniere. On purpose, or coincidence? Therese once again holds seven roses and a crucifix.

Saint Germaine

The next rosy saint is Saint Cecile, again on the left hand side of the church. She is the owner of the musical harmony, because of an interpretational error in a medieval document about the use of the word “instrument”. She is represented with a diadem and a strange, small organ. She lived ca. 230 AD and was a member of a rich Roman family. Her roses are in relief on the base of the statue.

Notre dame de Lourdes, still on the left hand side, is the representation of the apparition of the Virgin Mary in 1858, to Bernadette Soubirous. Her roses are gilded and posed on the feet of the Virgin, and her right arm.

More flowers are found with Jeanne d’Arc, displayed in armour, holding a standard in her left hand and a heavy sword in the other. She has no roses, but gilded lilies on her standard.
Finally, when we look at the stained glass windows, we find the patron of the curch, Basilisse, without any ornaments, and depiction of “Saint Rosa” – a clear reference to roses. This character, dressed in black and white, holds in front of her a large anchor of a ship, in her right arm, a small city. This is Saint Rosa del Flores de Lima, where an appearance of the Virgin Mary occurred. Finally, there is a circular stained glass window in a chapel which has a rose.
This means that a total of eight out of nine female saints carry roses, if we exclude St Basilisse and Julianus.

Saint Elisabeth

Saint Therese

Saint Cécile

Orchestrations between Brenac and Rennes-le-Château ?

We observe than in this saintly gallery, many were also dear to Sauniere: Saint Anthony of Padua, St Germaine, St Anthony the Hermit, the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Jesus of Prague. However, we should note that Brenac does not have a Mary Magdalene or a St Roch… As to Mary Magdalene, she was the patron saint of Rennes-le-Château, so could obviously not have been left out by Saunière.
We should add that St Anthony reappears as the patron saint of the small chapel on the side of the road above the village, with a clear line of sight to Rennes-le-Château. That saint therefore symbolically “connects” the two churches.
In Montazel, the home town of Saunière, there is a painting depicting a priest in front of a cranium and a closed book, with an hour glass. This painting depicts what seems to be the Ark of the Covenant. The importance of this painting is that, as we will show later, that the murals of the church of Brenac specifically show the Ark of the Covenant, an hour glass and the Grail. And these frescoes were commissioned by Courtade. Finally, these depictions can also be found elsewhere, specifically in the church decorations – 22 frescoes that are not dissimilar to the frescoes of Brenac – of Notre Dame de Marceille. Again, we need to ask whether it is coincidence or design.

The Miraculous Chapel

This chapel is a tiny room, in the wall of the second span of the nave. On a plan of the church, it looks as though a very old door that might once have been the main entrance of the church has been reworked into this chapel. Again, there are parallels: the churches of Rennes-le-Château and Perillos both had their entrance repositioned – as has the basilica of Notre Dame de Marceille.

The chapel has an altar, on which is the face of Jesus, as it is on the cloth of Veronica – a relic somewhat similar to the Turin shroud. On either side are two vases that seem to serve no obvious puprose. On the altar is a statue of Christ, with a Sacred Heart.
We do need to wonder about the designation of this chapel – what is miraculous about it? There is no indication of anything miraculous, leading us to the possibility that François Courtade might perhaps have designated this chapel for no obvious reason? This seems unlikely, as he took great care and was meticulous in its execution. Perhaps he did indeed end up with this chapel when he reworked the entrance to the far end of the chapel – and somehow had to decide on a name… But why he opted for a miracle as the designation of this chapel, remains unclear.

The discrete presence of Henri Boudet

Boudet, the priest of Rennes-les-Bains and friend of Saunière also makes a small appearance in Brenac. In his book on the true Celtic language, he tells us: “ils ont fait un Brennus de Brenn, ou chef gaulois. Brenn, en réalité, dérive de brain (bren), cerveau”: “They made Brennus from Brenn, or Gallic chief/head. Actually, Brenn is derived from brain (bren).” He makes further allusions to “Brain, the head” and “Hack, the horse”. It is a play of words that Boudet practiced throughout his work. Let us merely smile at it…

Further details on Courtade

It was Courtade who provided the impulse to make the church of Brenac in what it is today. Just like Saunière did with his church. Here itself might be an important parallel, for it is clear that in the 21st century, Courtade and Brenac go together like Saunière and Rennes-le-Château. On one level, it might very well seem that Saunière merely tried to keep up with the Jones’s… or the Courtades.

Like Saunière, Courtade made sure that certain details in the church were specifically to his liking. Unlike Saunière, he was able to paint or model some of the designs himself. He is credited with the painting of the baptism of Jesus in the baptismal chapel, the decoration of the “Miraculous Chapel” and especially the decorations of the chorus and the ceiling. These are the enigmatic frescoes that contain the Grail and the Ark of the Covenant.
Once again, like Saunière, it is clear that Courtade has spent lavish amounts of money. For sure, we can assume that he had a personal fortune which he largely used for his church. Still, there is one remarkable difference: whereas Saunière’s Villa Bethania is lavish, Courtade’s home in Brenac was modest. It is still standing, on the left of the church, decorated by a sun dial.

Noble families

The outside of the church reveals another intriguing parallel between Brenac and Rennes-le-Château. The semi-circular part of the chorus is undoubtedly the oldest part of the church. And it is there that we can distinguish the presence of “une litre” – a belt of stones in the stonework that is different from the others. We note that the same “decoration” exists in the church of Rennes-le-Château. It is, however, not so much a decoration, as a designation. It is the commemoration of the burial in such places of a significant character or a very influential local lord. For this reason, this band of stones was arranged on the outside of the churches, often bearing the arms or other characteristics of the person buried inside. The custom disappeared at the time of the French Revolution.
So the question remains: for whom was this “litre” in the church of Brenac? History books seem silent on the subject, but the proof of its noble past is visible for everyone visiting the church... as it is at Rennes-le-Château.

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