The Seven Ray Colors
Submitted by Astalea
Clothed With The Sun
There appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. (Revelations 12:1)
Although the book of Revelation may be legitimately interpreted according to many viewpoints, it was understood form the very first that the "woman clothed with the sun" represented the Virgin Theotokos Mary. (i.e. Theotokos is a Greek word meaning "She who gave birth to God.") The Virgin Mary, in turn, represents "the Holy Spirit, the Lady and Giver of Life, Who proceedeth from the Father, Who together with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified (from the Nicene Creed, the oldest official statement of Christian belief).
The Holy Spirit is continually addressed as Life-Giver in ancient and contemporary Eastern Christian texts, but She is more than that --- She is Life itself. She it is Who brings all "the living" into manifestation within Her being, Who brings about the evolution, perfection, and eventually "birth" back into the bosom of the Father from whence it came. She does this by imparting Her own Light essence to them. For this reason in ancient Christian writings the Holy Spirit is often spoken of as having breasts and nursing Her children.
The Sun of The Spirit
All life in our solar system proceeds from the sun itself, which is why then sun has always been worshipped or venerated as either God or a symbol of God. The visible light of the sun is divided into seven "rays" or colors. (There is an entire school of natural healing --- chromotherapy --- which is based upon the strengthening and curative powers of the seven colors. The father of modern radionics, Dr. Benoytosh Bhattacharya, also practiced chromotherapy in which he employed the two "invisible" colors, infra-red and ultra-violet, as well as the seven.) In esoteric writings we find the statement that there is a sun within the sun --- that there is an inner, invisible and even more potent side to the sun and its rays. "As above so below" --- and the obverse --- being true, we can realize that the physical sun and its rays are but the outermost manifestation of a succession of lifegiving sources and their sevenfold streams. "There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God." (Psalm 46:4)
For us as Christians the Virgin Theotokos Mary is the sun which emits the Light of Life that is Christ. Just as the sun and its light are not two but one, so esoteric Christians understand that Jesus and Mary cannot be divided, but are two aspects of the same deified consciousness. Christ is the spirit consciousness aspect and Mary is the dynamic power aspect. Therefore, the Virgin Mary is Herself the Sun of Righteousness (Malachi 4:2) just as much as is Jesus Christ.
The Seven Rays of Spirit
The deifying power of the Holy Spirit as it is channeled through the Virgin Mary is sevenfold in form. These seven Rays of the Divine Sun manifest in many ways, but the powers --- or attributes --- of the seven Rays we need to be most concerned with are those enumerated in the Beatitudes:
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. (Matthew 5:3-9)
Before considering the Beatitudes individually, the colors of the seven Rays --- and therefore the Beatitudes should be enumerated.
The Colors of the Rays
The colors of the seven Rays which concern us are those viewed through spiritual --- not psychic --- clairvoyance. I mentioned this because there are many listings of seven colors corresponding to various aspects of the seven levels of existence. Many of these listings are correct. They do not contradict one another, but are accurate within the boundaries of the particular facet of the divine power which which they are concerned. Since we are interested in the highest spieitual level of the seven Rays I will discuss them only.
The colors of the seven spiritual Rays are: white, blue, green, orange, yellow, red, and purple.
By white we mean a kind of "white fire" which is a dazzling white yet somehow containing within itself all other colors. We might describe it as an opalescent light, but no particular color dominates in the fiery white of the First Ray as it does in opals, which usually have a greenish or bluish tinge. It is very much like the sparkling white of snow in bright sunlight. In this Ray color the white dominates to such an extent that it would not be amiss to say that we only "see" the dazzling white and intuit the other colors. This description is unsatisfactory, but as approximate as I can make it.
The blue Ray may be described as azure blue, sky blue, or sapphire blue. It is a clear transparent blue that might even be called the blue light.
The green is a clear green, akin to the green of living plants --- that is, it ranges from the ligiht green of a new blade of grass to the usual green of a matured plant. (This latter is directly in the center of the green spectrum.)
The orange is a fiery orange --- that is, orange tinged with red to give it a living fiery edge. It is orange-red as contrasted with orange-yellow, the color of pumpkins.
The yellow is a rich, full-bodied yellow, like that which we call lemon yellow.
The red is a clear true red, that is subdued though fiery. Although it may be compared to the color of blood-red rubies, it is more akin to the color of garnets in strong bright light.
The purple is exactly the color of a clear amethyst of medium hue. It is neither darkk nearly opaque hue nor the pale shade to be found in inferior amethysts. The color used in good quality bishops' rings and crosses within the Western Churches is exactly right.
Now for the Beatitudes and their spiritual Ray qualities.
The First Beatitude
"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." This the Beatitude is the First Ray, the color of which is fiery white. White is the seeming absence of all color, yet it is in reality the perfect unity of all colors. God is described by the mystics as being "No Thing," yet in Him is everything --- for He is everything. Therefore in mystical thought we find the principle that the aspiring spirit must absolutely abandon all "things," dissolve all affinities and ties with even the highest and most spiritual of "things," and enter naked and "poor" in spirit (that is, divested of all that "is" in the relative sense) into the No Thing, the Great Void (or Great Abyss) that is the essential being of God. When this is done, the saints assure us, we shall discover that we have actually abandon nothingness and entered into the absolute fullness (for this reason the early Christians used the term "pleroma," fullness, to designate God.) --- that we have heretofore been gazing into a mirror, mistaking the substanceless reflections for realities. This is the terrible hypnosis which has created and maintains all the levels of our relative existence --- most especially the mind and intellect. But when we abandon those false "realities" and turn completely away from them (which is what is meant by the word mistranslated "repent" in the New Testament) we find and possess them in truth. We leave behind the mirage and plunge into the waters of life. For this reason, the state of "poor in spirit" is perfectly expressed through the color of this Ray. So, also, does it express the kingdom of heaven since it contains within itself all colors and yet is itself no color. As Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita: "All things are contained in Me, but I am contained in no thing." The correct invocation of this First Ray of white fire (as with all the other Beatitudes and their corresponding Rays) by the empowered Initiate works to produce within and without him this spiritual state of being.
The Second Beatitude
"Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted." Clairvoyants have long perceived that blue is the color of sadness. For this reason even those who have no concept of or belief in the aura and its changing rates of vibration often say that they are "feeling blue." But blue has another side to it. It is the color of infinite consciousness, the vast expanse of boundless space which we call "heaven." Blue is properly assigned to the Virgin Mary as She represents this infinite existence within which all consciousness evolves. The blessed mourning spoken of in this Beatitude is the nostalgia for that limitless freedom which we enjoyed before losing it within the confines of the bodies (gross and subtle) with which we have come to identify through countless incarnations.
Psalm 137
1. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. 2. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. 3. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. 4. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? 5. If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. 6. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
Just as the Hebrews in Babylon mourned for the lost Jerusalem, so the spiritually wise mourn their loss of spiritual consciousness and yearn fervently to regain it. Being centered in the spirit, this state is completely positive, in contains to the egocentric states of earthly sadness. The purport of this Beatitude, then, is the necessity for us to remember our original state which Jesus described as "the glory which I h ad with {the Father} before the world was." (John 17:5) and to resolve to regain that original condition of spirit. Even more, this color is the color of the comfort we shall then receive --- the color of our release into the boundless life of God. This is why blue has long been considered the color of freedom and spirituality.
The Third Beatitude
"Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." It should be no surprise that the color of those who shall inherit the earth is green --- the color of growth and life. Green is the color of a simple patient, day-by-day development-ion contrast t the aspiration of the maniacal ego to leap over all the necessary steps to perfection and immediately land "the far country" which is the goal of evolving consciousness. It is willingness to work and grow in a steady methodical way, ignoring the chafings of the ego that is contemptuous of and impatient with the long narrow path to wisdom. Meekness does not consist of carrying around a psychological Kick ME sign, as some falsely "humble" people think, but it is the willingness to possess our souls in patience, (In your patience possess ye your souls - Luke 21:19) to keep our lamps trimmed and burning awaiting the coming of the Lord, ("Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are the servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: .....Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour ye think not." (Luke 12:35-37, 40) satisfied that "we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." (1 John 3:2) The green "earth" which the spiritually meek inherits is the power to grow "unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:13). None else receive this power, and none else attain that aspiration. It is the difference be tween those thieves and robbers who "climb up some other way," and those who meekly and humbly strive to enter it through the Door. (Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door unto the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." (John 10:1,9)
The Fourth Beatitude
"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." Fiery orange is the color of this Beatitude, as it represents the more active aspect of mourning. It is a combination of two colors: red and yellow, the yellow being predominant. Though we shall see in the next Beatitude that yellow has another meaning in the higher spiritual worlds, in the levels from which this hungering and thirsting arise, yellow is the color of active intelligence in the sense of keen and accurate perception. Red is the color of dynamic power, the force which "gets things done." Put together, they are a force for right action --- action which will culminate in the highest spiritual attainment. For no one attains any goal without correct perception of that goal and engaging in the activity necessary for its accomplishment. Many people consider themselves spiritual seekers, when in reality they are merely theorists and dreamers since they engage in no practical means to attain that which they believe they desire. Blessed hunger and thirst is of an entirely different character, consisting of the two essential elements: right understanding of the goal and the right action for its realization.
The Fifth Beatitude
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy." The color of this Beatitude is a rich true yellow. It is no wonder then, that the monks of Buddhism --- whose main tenet is that of compassion for all beings --- should wear this color. Although this yellow (or more correctly, this Ray) does not arise from the lower levels discussed in the previous Beatitude, it does denote intelligent perception --- the egoless and unselfish perception of others. Nor is it a passive awareness, but a dynamic reaching out to comfort and heal. The mercy indicated by this Beatitude is that of getting involved with the sufferings of others. St. Paul exhorts us to sorrow with the sorrowing and to rejoice with the joyful. (Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep." (Romans 12:15). In the Bhagavad Gita Krishna says that he who feels the sorrows and the joys of all men is the greatest of yogis. This is not the conscience-salving "compassion" that inspires people to pay others to get involved with suffering humanity so they will not have to do so themselves. This is the real item --- that which drew the Lord Buddha and the Lord Christ down into this world to live and move wit their blind and errant brothers, opening their eyes and pointing out to them the path to cessation of all grief. This is the compassion of St. Francis of Assisi who with his own hands washed, fed, and clothed the lepers.
The Sixth Beatitude
"Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." The color of this Beatitude-Ray is red as described above. It is the "consuming fire" (Hebrew 12:29) that is God the Holy Spirit, the Lady and Giver of Life. Without the catharsis (purification) produced by dwelling within the merciful-merciless crucible of divine purging, no one can see God. The strata of ignorance that have formed upon us thorough countless births of forgetfulness and evil cannot be brushed away by mere thought or desire. Rather, they must be melted and burnt up without a trace by the purgatorial fires of the Initiatic life. The river and lake of fire spoken of (symbolically) in the book of Revelation and elsewhere are not manifestations of divine wrath or retribute. Rather, they are the loving mercy of God extended to those whose love is great enough to undergo the transmuting alchemy. Gold is frequently employed as a symbol of spiritual perfection. ("I counsel the to buy of me gold tried in the fire" Revelations 3:18). But what a terrible process gold undergoes to manifest its innate qualities! Those who would burn away the adulterating dross which they themselves have mixed into their originally stainless consciousness, polluting it and bringing upon themselves the spiritual darkness that is death through birth after birth, have no other recourse but the purging fires of God --- fires which must be kindled and maintained solely at the conscious will of the aspiring spirit.
The Seventh Beatitude
"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." Blue is the color of conscience: red is the color of purification. Put together we have the amethyst-purple color of this Beatitude and Ray. For true peace is not mere cessation --- or unawareness --- of conflict, but is the ending of that which causes conflict. True spiritual peace, then, is a dynamic and not a static condition. Those who would attain this peace must then perfect in themselves the qualities of the Second and Sixth Rays which will then be transmuted into the blessed Seventh Ray state of which the Lord Jesus said: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you" (John 14:27). For, as has been indicated, the world's peace is a mere suppression, and not a true cessation of all conflict. The power of this Ray eliminates all possibility of future unpeace, just as antiseptic eliminates all possibility of future infection. Peacemakers of the earth simply bring about compromise and concession to produce temporary peace. But the light of Christ manifested through the divine prism of the Virgin Mary brings that "peace of God, which passeth all understanding" (Philippians 4:7). Only those who have attained this state can possibly bring others to peace --- and this only by helping them to attain the same state themselves.
Embodying The Seven
To be "thoroughly furnished unto all good works" (II Timothy 3:17) the Christian Initiate must possess the fullness of all these seven Rays within himself. He does not choose one or more and concentrate upon them, but invokes and assimilates all of them in equal proportion. In this way alone will h e be enabled to attain the state of Christ, the state of "light in light." Being whole land complete in Christ, the Christian Initiate is neither a "First Ray person," "Second Ray person," and so forth, but is instead striving to become truly another Christ in whom all the fullness of the divine light manifests. This is the key for understanding St. Paul's assertion: "For me to live is Christ" (Philippians 1:21).
The Virgin Theotokos Mary is the divine crystal through which the light of Christ in its sevenform Rays is manifest and shines upon Her evolving children. Therefore the most effective means of invoking and embodying the seven Rays is that spiritual prayer practice known as the Rosary of the Seven Rays. Those who employ this method will find it an invincible implement of spiritual transmutation.
Our Lady's Rosary of the Seven Rays
The following instructions assume that the practicer of the Ray Rosary possesses an actual Ray Rosary, which is not to be confused wit the type of rosary used in the Roman Catholic Church. A Ray Rosary is composed of seven sections of seven beads (quartz crystal being the best) plus some introductory beads and a medal of the Virgin rather than a cross or crucifix. The prayers of the Ray Rosary are different as well. Those without a Ray Rosary can still employ the practice.
Make the sign of the Cross over yourself with the medal, intoning: (All invocations of the Ray Rosary are intoned, even when done mentally). In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
On the first bead intone: Let me* praise Thee, O holy Virgin Theotokos. Grant me* the grace and virtue of Thy Seven Rays. Amen.
On the second bead intone: O Heavenly Queen, the Comforter, Spirit of Truth, Who art everywhere present and fillest all things, Treasury of Gifts and Giver of Life, come and take up Thine abode in us and cleans our hearts from every stain and save our souls, O Good One. Amen.
On the third bead intone: Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. Repeat this twice more, then: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Holding the fourth bead, visualize yourself enclosed in an auric sphere the color of the First Ray. (White Light) If you are looking at a depiction of the Theotokos, see it within the sphere with you. Then intone:
O, Heavenly Queen, the Comforter, Spirit of Truth, Who art everywhere present and fillest all things, Treasury of Gifts and Giver of Life, come and take up Think abode in us and cleanse our hearts form every stain and save our souls, O Good One. Amen
The colors of the Seven Rays are: 1 --- White opalescent fire; 2 --- Azure Blue; 3 --- Green; 4 --- Orange (red tinged); 5 --- Yellow; 6 --- Red (ruby or garnet); 7 --- Purple (amethyst).
It is the visualization of the ray colors that cause the qualities of the rays to be invoked by the prayers. Therefore never "lose" the visualization as you intone the prayers. In visualizing the ray colors you may find they vary from time to time in intensity or quality of hue. That is, sometimes with your inner eye of visualization you may see the Ray Color lighter than I have described, and at other times you may see it darker than my description. There is nothing wrong with this as it reflects the particular state of your spiritual energy levels at the time and what particular shade they need. She Whom you invoke knows how to best nurture you in your spiritual endeavors.
Moving along the seven subsequent beads --- maintaining the auric visualization --- intone on each bead in turn:
Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women and blessed be the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus.
After the seventh Angelic Salutation intone:
Amen. Hear me,* O holy Theotokos, that I* may receive the promise of Christ. Amen.
Moving to the next bead, visualize your auric sphere being the color of the next Ray. Holding that visualization, repeat the same cycle of nine invocations ("O Heavenly Queen," seven "Angelic Salutations," and "Hear me.........").
Do this five more times until you have gone through all the Ray colors in turn. Then intone without visualizing any auric colors:
My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For He hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
Now intone the seven Ray Beatitudes, visualizing your auric sphere in the proper color of the Beatitude Ray at each one --- white for the first Beatitude, blue for the second, green for the third, and so on through the entire seven Ray colors.
White: Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blue: Blessed are those that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Green: Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Orange: Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Yellow: Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Red: Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Purple: Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Cease the auric visualization and continue:
For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. AMEN
It is truly meet and right to bless Thee, the ever-blessed and all- pure Virgin and Mother of our God. More honorable than the cherubim and beyond compare more glorious than the seraphim: Thou Who without corruption gavest birth to God the Word --- Thee, the truth Theotokos, we glorify, AMEN
And the Rosary of the Seven Rays is complete.
* If the Ray Rosary is being recited by two or more together, substitute "us" and "we" for "me" and "I."
Appendix A:
The Seven Days of the Week
The Seven Planets,
And The Seven Archangels.
The seven days of the week, and their planetary rulership, also correspond to the seven Rays and their colors.
SUNDAY
Sunday, the day of the sun, is ruled by St. Michael the Archangel, the Angel of the Sun. The fiery white of the First Ray corresponds to the white light emanating from the sun, containing within itself all the colors of the spectrum. Sunday being "the Lord's Day," the day of resurrection, it is only appropriate that its Ray color would be the color-containing-all-colors, the color of perfect attainment to union with (and embodiment of) the All, the color that contains all colors but is contained in no color. It is the color of freedom from all conditioning and relative states of existence and consciousness, and originally was the color worn by the dead and those attending their memorials to express their hope of resurrection into pure spirit through freedom from all such conditions. St. Michael is the commander of those angels that manifest upon the First Ray. Yet he is also the commander of all other angels, thus his color is white, conveying his universal rulership and character. For this reason in Christian esotericism it is stated that if the Initiate does not know which angel to invoke for a purpose then it is St. Michael who should be invoked. Although he rules those things which correspond specially to the sun, he also rules all things. Thus he can be invoked for all purposes.
MONDAY
Monday, the day of the Moon, is ruled by St. Gabriel the Archangel. We have all heard --- and doubtless used --- the expressions "blue Monday" and "blue moon" without realizing why. St. Gabriel is the announcer of good news, (St, Gabriel announced the birth of St. John the Baptist to this future father, Zachariah, and the birth of Jesus to Mary His intended Mother. (See Luke 1:5-19, 26-38) the angel of aspiration which in turn produces blessed mourning for a better state. From primeval times the moon has been correlated with the realm of departed souls, souls which were considered to be perpetually yearning for the light of the sun. That is, they were desirous either of earthly rebirth or of passage into higher worlds of the spirit to escape the confines of their astral purgatory. Through misunderstanding of this esoteric principle exoteric Christians came to believe in purgatory as a place where souls in "the afterlife" do suffer in a sense, but it is the blessed pain of awareness of higher destiny and longing for the attainment of that destiny. It is a kind of divine ferment, the frustration of which necessarily results in the psychic pain of discontent. In Western Christianity it has been understood that Monday is the best (i.e., most effective) day on which to offer prayers and rites for the dead. And it can be no coincidence that in Hinduism Monday is the day sacred to Lord Shiva, Who is the merciful Lord of the Dead, Who rejects no soul but cares for it lovingly for its salvation. Shiva dwells in the cremation grounds --- that is, in the awareness of death and impermanence that spurs us onward to seek immortality in the spirit, praying: "Lead me from the unreal to the real. Lead me from darkness to the light. Lead me from death to immortality."
TUESDAY
Tuesday, the day of Mars, is ruled by the Archangel Samuel, and is the day of the Third --- green --- Ray. It would seem contradictory at first that Mars, the planet of war, would be signified by the green Ray of meekness and humility, but it is these spiritual qualities that are fostered by St. Samuel. Evil, being nothing in itself but he distortion, seduction, and corruption of good, violence and injury are the opposing qualities which are produced by the twisting of the spiritual power of meekness and humility into the service of the ego. Mars is not really the planet of war but of peace in the right order of things, but in the fall of mankind the subtle emanations of the planets have likewise become degraded. St. Samuel is the angel of growth, of evolution through innocent compliance with the divine pattern. He calms the egoic storms raised up in rebellion against the Law of the Lamb: the principle that all progress is attained through the precept "He must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3:30)
WEDNESDAY
Wednesday, the day of Mercury, is ruled by the Archangel Raphael, known usually as the angel of healing although he is also the angel of exorcism. (The story of St. Raphael is found in the Old Testament book of Tobit, a book originally found in the King James Version). Orange is the spiritual color of this Ray, thus showing us that healing on the highest level is not a matter of simple purification and soothing, but rather the result of spiritual rectification which is accomplished through a fusion of intelligence and purificatory discipline --- unpalatable as that may be to our ingrained laziness and demand for ease. A nineteenth century Protestant hymn asked the question: "Must I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease, while others fought to win the prize, and sailed through bloody seas?" (the hymn is entitled "Am I a Soldier of the Cross?") Frankly it is not a matter of "must not" but the more practical truth that we cannot! As a doggerel addendum to the hymn says: "When the battle is over we shall wear a crown." But first the combat! And its successful engagement requires the blessed hungering and thirsting of the Third Ray, the combination of intelligence and purification, for "every man that hath hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." (I John 3:3). Mercury is the planet of communication and accomplishment --- both of which requires spiritual power of the orange Ray.
THURSDAY
Thursday, the day of Jupiter --- and the day on which the blockheads I went to school with hassled those who were wearing yellow, the Ray Color of the Day (It supposedly meant the wearer was "a fairy," and I knew some people who went back home and changed clothing to avoid embarrassment. Too bad.) --- is ruled by the Archangel Zacchariel who is in charge of justice and generosity as well as associations established for that purpose. To be jovial (like Jove, the Roman ruler of Thursday) originally meant to be benevolent and generous, open and friendly to all, especially to the "lower classes," thus promoting fraternity above inequality. For this is truly just. (And far better than being merely jolly, as it now means.) Because of this, Thursday is a day favored by esoteric groups for their gatherings. In India Thursday is sacred to Brihaspati, the guru of the gods, and is considered specially appropriate for works of charity and all forms of benevolence. Since it is the day of compassionate mercy, it is certainly fitting. (I mention the tradition of India to show that much of our Christian tradition is, as St. Augustine said, restarting of what the wise of all ages have known to be true.)
FRIDAY
Friday, the day of Venus, is ruled by the Archangel Anael. Red, the color of the Sixth Ray, has always been associated with sexual passion --- a distortion of the spiritual love energy imparted by St. Anael. On the level of the Seven Rays, however, red is the color of purity in all things, the direct opposite and opponent of sexual lust. Truly, "to the unclean all things are (made) unclean." (Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled ....is nothing pure; but even their mind......is defiled (Titus 1:15). Venus, like Mars, is not of the character commonly supposed. Its astral energies are those of spiritual love --- quite specifically love of God --- and love of all that express beauty, itself a divine attribute. (To the ancient Greeks, goodness, truth, and beauty were not humanistic intellectual abstractions, but terms denoting God, Who is Himself Good, the True, and the Beautiful --- names that can be attributed within the Christian framework to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit respectively.) St. Anael bestows these spiritual powers as well as the capability for their expression so we may fulfil the counsel of the Beloved Apostle: "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God." (1 John 4:7).
SATURDAY
The seventh day, Saturday, the day of Saturn, is ruled by the Archangel Cassiel. In Western astrology Saturn is mistakenly looked upon as a maleficent planet, whereas in India astrology it is called Guru --- the teacher. A guru is more than a teacher, he is an enlightener --- but an enlightener through discipline and lessons often learned "the hard way." Saturn is the planet of obstacles,. To the lazy it is the planet of blockages, but to the wise it is the planet of work to remove those blockages. Saturn is usually simplistically viewed as the planet of death, forgetting that death is the gate to life. It must be kept in mind that Saturday leads to Sunday, the day of resurrection. From this we see that Saturn is the force of the completion of a cycle, the ending that necessarily precedes a beginning. Saturday has also been considered a day of the dead. In the pre-Christian era this was because of its planetary rulership, but in the Christian era it was assigned to the dead because Saturday is the day of resurrection for the departed since it was on Saturday that Jesus freed the souls bound in hades by opening Paradise to them. (For Christ...., being put to death in the flesh,.....went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water." (1.Peter 13:18-20). Amethyst purple, the color of this Ray, is the combination of the blue of spiritual nostalgia and the red of purification. When these two powers are joined the result is the death of that which is false and the advent of that which is true. The eclipse of partial consciousness and knowing (which by its nature must be illusory) by the rising of complete awareness and knowledge. For "when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." (1 Corinthians 13:10) It is this process of passing from fragmentation of consciousness and life to the perfection of wholeness that is the true repentance which has become associated with the color purple. Purple is sometimes considered the color of passion, which it is. But it is the color of spiritual passion, that is, the death-struggle of the aspiring soul through the voluntary suffering and death attendant upon intense spiritual discipline --- which alone can result in eternal life. (Of course, when I speak of color I am meaning the powers of the Seventh Ray.) The life-giving power is embodied in the Virgin Mary, so Saturday has traditionally been associated with Her veneration in the Western Church, just as in Hinduism Saturday is the special day for worship of the Mother Goddess. Purple is then the color of death that leads to life, the process in which "death is swallowed up in victory." (1 Corinthians 15:54)
Appendix B:
The Seven Days Of The Week
As Liturgical Reflections
Of The Seven Rays
The Use Of Sarum
Until the middle of the sixteenth century, most of the Christian West used a series of liturgical books printed in northern France and known a "the Use of Sarum." The Sarum Used had first been codified in the eleventh century by St. Osmund of Salisbury, England, at the request of William the Conqueror. St. Osmund was assisted in his work by several other clerics of high spiritual order, including Blessed Lanfranc of Canterbury. The Use of Sarum was not a new order of worship, but a recasting of the liturgical tradition established by St. Gregory the Great in the sixth century. This reshaping was based on the mystical-spiritual insights of St. Osmund and his assistants. Therefore this order of divine worship possesses a unique value.
An important part of the Use of Sarum was its assignment of spiritual rulerships to each day of the week. This assignment expressed itself in the form of so-called votive masses that were to be celebrated on those particular days.
If we look at the Sarum classification of days, we will find there a reflection of profound knowledge of the Seven Rays --- their qualities and purposes.
Sunday --- First Ray --- Trinity
To Sunday, the first day of First Ray, is assigned the rulership of the Holy Trinity. The logic of this is apparent, since the First Ray color is white, the indicator of absolute unconditioned Consciousness. As has been pointed out before, which is the embodiment of all colors, though itself no color. Although in considering the Seven Rays we employ seven colors, there are in actuality only three colors: Red, blue and yellow. All other colors are combinations of these three in varying proportions. Thus, even in the realm of light and color we find the presence of the Holy Trinity as the source of all. Although relative existence can be considered as divided into many levels according the viewpoint being used, the basic division in all religious esoteric systems is threefold, that is, trinitarian. For this reason, although Christians especially value Sunday because it is the day of Christ's resurrection, it is a day sacred to the Trinity, since "in Him dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily." As the color white is one through composed of many, so also is the triune Godhead. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are absolutely One. For this reason the votive mass of the Trinity begins: "Blessed be the Holy Trinity, the undivided Unity." Where there is one of the Trinity, there must of necessity be the other two, for the Three are indeed absolutely ONE.
Monday --- Second Ray --- Angels
Monday, the day of the Second Ray of yearning for higher destiny, has fittingly been assigned to the holy angels. (By "angels" is meant all the bodiless forms of higher evolution, from the angelic to the cherubic worlds.) Having evolved through every life form upon the earth, it is now the destiny of human beings to graduate from earthly embodiment and enter the angelic worlds, there to continue evolving within the angelic forms, eventually to pass therefrom into the archangelic worlds, and all higher regions in turn, thus "growing" in an orderly and precise manner "unto the measure of the fullness of the stature of Christ." Angels are the constant companions of all dwelling upon the earth plane, sub-human as well as human. But they are especially allied to human beings, one of them being assigned to each of us at birth, another at our Baptism and another at our Chrismation (Confirmation). Thus a trinity of angels accompanies the Christian Initiate throughout life, one to guard and guide his physical life, one to guard and guide his psychic life, and one to guard and guide his spiritual life. The purpose of all angels that interact with the inhabitants of the physical universe is our growing upward to the transcendence of earthly existence so we may be welcomed by the angels into "those everlasting mansions: which are our proper (and our destined) abode. The "gentle voices calling" of which Stephen Foster wrote are the voices of angels.
Tuesday --- Third Ray --- Salus Populi
Tuesday, the day of the Third (green) Ray, has a very distinct assignment --- or, more correctly speaking, it was not at all assigned to a special person. Instead, on this day there was celebrated a mass known as Salus Populi, the Latin word for "salvation of the people." The beginning words (Office) (In Roman missals this was called the Introit, meaning Entrance.) of the mass were: "I am the salvation of the people, saith the Lord: in whatsoever distress they shall call upon me, I will hear them; and I will be their Lord for ever. Hear my law, O my people: incline your ears unto the words of my mouth." In other words, this day is dedicated to a principle, a process, rather than to an individual. (Of course, all things being the action of God, it is in a sense dedicated to the Divine.) In other words, this is the day of healing in both the most basic and the most high sense. It is the day of deliverance, the day of return to the bosom of the Father, which alone gives cessation to both sorrow and of the possibility of falling back into the states which produce sorrow. It has already been set forth that the Third, green, Ray is the Ray of humble growth, and further that this growth is according to pattern or law. Thus the second half of the beginning (Office) speaks of hearing --- that is heeding ---the law of God and attuning oneself ("inclining our ears") to that law. For the law of God is not in any way a matter of written or legislated codes, but is itself a living dynamic stream of upward- flowing evolutionary growth. The sun does not send written or spoken edicts to the seeds within the earth, commanding their growth or describing the manner in which their growth should proceed, nor a description of t heir ultimate fruition. God does the same. Any religious or spiritual system which "climbs up another way" is indeed "a thief and a robber." But it is not God they rob, but their defrauded adherents. The Third Ray is thus indicated as the power of conscious growth --- growth that is initiated and maintained by continual assent on he part of those who aspire to growth. This is because spiritual growth is both the action of the aspirant and action upon the aspirant by the divine powers of the Rays --- that is, by God and the Mother Herself. We do it, and She does it. Together we succeed, being "workers together." (II Corinthians 6:1. "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." (Philippians 2:12)
Wednesday --- Fourth Ray ---- Holy Spirit
The day of the Fourth Ray, Wednesday, is dedicated to worship of the Holy Spirit. All of the Rays are really manifestations of the Holy Spirit, so why has this particular day been selected? The answer of course lies in the Ray itself and its color: Orange. All that is, and is done is a manifestation of the Holy Spirit, but for the Christian Initiate the most important function of the Holy Spirit is Her power of deification (theosis). That is, it is the Holy Spirit Who raises us up through all the worlds, at last setting us within the throne of divinity, as sons of God --- Christs --- just as She brought down from the throne Him Who appeared upon the earth as Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ of God, the archetypal pattern for all Christians. As has already been indicated, the process of deification consists of two parts: the awakening of consciousness-intelligence (represented by the color yellow) and the dynamic of purification (represented by the color red) on all levels of our being. Even though this latter power must be wielded by us consciously to our perfection, is yet a power of the Holy Spirit --- as are all the powers that exist. Thus Wednesday is also a day of being workers together with God for our salvation. By assigning this day to the rulership of the Holy Spirit it is brought home to us that however much "we" may work, it is really the Holy Spirit Mother Who is working within and without for our manifestation as sons of God. Within the Eastern Christian tradition, Wednesday is a day defiled, for it is the day upon which Judas betrayed Christ. To the esoteric Christian, the betrayal of Christ for thirty pieces of silver is significantly symbolic. Thirty pieces of silver was the usual price given for ha slave. The receiving of this price by Judas represents the betrayal (literally "handing up" or "giving over") of the inner Christ into material and moral slavery, the Judas being the Antichrist, the individual ego. On Holy Thursday evening when the Lord Jesus told His disciples that one of the was going to betray Him, Judas was startled and involuntarily moved back, knocking over the container of salt that was on the table (they did not have salt shakers in those days, but used open dishes or bowls for the salt). From that time, it has been the custom for Christians who accidentally knock over salt to take a pinch of it and toss it over their shoulder in an act emblematic of banishing evil. This action is usually done by itself, but it should be accomplished by the fervent prayer not to betray Christ as did Judas. It is a form of saying with the Master: "Get thee behind me Satan." That is, it is a symbolic affirmation of our intention to not let the ego betray our inner Christ into the hands of the enemies of our spirit --- enemies that are within us rather than outside us. The betrayal of Judas is the opposite of deification. It is the attempt to turn the Christ into a slave. Unhappily, in all of us this attempt has temporarily succeeded, therefore we must strive to turn the slave (ourselves) back into a Christ. This turning back is itself theosis, and so this day is dedicated to the deifying Holy Spirit Who alone can reverse our descent into material and egoic enslavement.
Thursday --- Fifth Ray --- Eucharist
Thursday, the day of the Fifth Ray, is dedicated to the supreme act of Christ's love: the Holy Eucharist. For love is not an abstraction but a dynamic force. In the case of us human beings divine love must manifest as healing --- otherwise we cannot receive it in our present distorted and negatively polarized condition. Thus love must manifest as mercy, the quality of he Fifth (yellow) Ray. For this reason an essential ingredient of all Christian worship from the very beginning has been the phrase Kyrie Eleison --- Lord, have mercy. It is employed in greater and lesser degrees in all the valid eucharistic rites, since the Eucharist is itself a manifestation of the mercy (eleimon) being invoked. Jesus said that no one had greater love than to lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13). But He was speaking of human beings. He, as both God and man, could do even more --- He could give His life to His friends so that His life His life could become theirs. Or, as it perhaps better stated in the Anaphora of the Gnostic's Orthodox Church's Eucharist: "Greater love than this there could not be, O Lord. And greater love than this shall never be --- that we, the children of the Kingdom, should come to live with His own Life. As He took up our flesh anand made it His, so we might take up His flesh and make it ours. And as He made our blood His to be His Blood, so even might we make His Blood our own....."To which the Deacon rightly responds: "O the mystery! O the awesome truth! Who can dare to seek to comprehend.....?"
This is not mere encomium, but straight fact. The Holy Eucharist is absolutely unparalleled within the spiritual traditions of the world. In all valid religions there are rites whereby the worshippers are blessed by the divine energy-consciousness being poured out upon them. And those who are spiritually developed are able to internalize this divine bounty to some degree. But their situation is like that of the Apostles when the Lord Jesus said to them regarding the Holy Spirit: "She dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." (John 14:17) That is, the divine life is not directly infused into them and made their own life in the process of theosis.
The Holy Eucharist is an external act --- indeed, a passage into eternity --- and cannot be compared to any other worship, whether within Christianity or other religions. The sharing of an sacramental meal was an ancient practice long before the advent of Christ, but that act was symbolic, whereas the eucharistic banquet is real in the most absolute sense. Therefore the Lord said: "My flesh is meat (Brosis: food) indeed and my blood is drink indeed. (John 6:55)
"As He took up our flesh and made it His, so we might take up His flesh and make it ours. And as He made our blood His Blood, so even might we make His Blood our own." When St. Thomas wrote the hymns of Corpus Christ in praise of this great Mystery, he used the term convivium, which usually translated "banquet." But the word literally means "living together" in the sense of the joining of two or more lives (con=with, vivium=living). None can gauge the solemnity or the glory of this supreme act of love. But it can be rejoiced in and praised. Therefore St. Thomas wrote: "O sacred banquet in which Christ is received. In which the memory of His passion is renewed, the mind is filled with grace; and of future glory to us a pledge is given."
Only the mind that has been purified and developed through Hesychastic meditation can even dimly touch the hem of that glory and be healed as Christ intended. For the Holy Eucharist is not a mere healing and restoration of human life (which it is), it is an assimilation of divine life into humanity, so that humanity may be assimilated (yet without annihilation) into the divine life. For this reason priests in the Roman Catholic Church for many centuries, while mixing water and wine in the sacred chalice, would pray: "O God Who in a wonderful manner didst create and ennoble human nature and still more wondrously hast renewed it: grant that by the mystery of this water and wine we may be made partakers of His divinity Who was pleased to become partaker of our humanity: Jesus Christ Thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God throughout the ages of ages. Amen." Only love can offer such a thing and only love can receive such an offering. All others must stand outside in confusion and doubt --- and sometimes even denial.
Friday --- Sixth Ray --- Holy Cross
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Friday, the day of the purifying red Ray, is dedicated to the Holy Cross.
For the Christian esotericist there are two major forms of the Cross: the equal-bar cross and the elongated or Latin cross. This latter is the cross of crucifixion, the cross of bondage in matter which leads to spiritual death. The depiction of Christ crucified on such a cross symbolizes the plight of all beings enmeshed in material consciousness. The life-giving Cross, the Cross of the cosmic Christ, is the equal-bar cross. This represents perfect balance and harmony on all levels. When placed within a circle, it represents the illumined and purified consciousness which is being maintained within the confines of physical incarnation. We may say that the elongated cross represents human consciousness in distortion and slavery, while the equal-bar cross represents the transmutation and restoration of human consciousness into divine consciousness --- or at least that stage of developing consciousness which frees the individual from the necessity of rebirth within the solar system, and therefore the material plane. In this case the circle represents the sun through which the individualized spirit passed in its descent into physical incarnation (manifestation). The cross represents, as has been said, the perfect balancing of the consciousness which enables it to re-establish itself within the solar world and ascend from there.
This day is not assigned to the cross as an abstract symbol, but specifically to the crucifixion upon the cross of matter which was objectified by t he crucifixion of Jesus. The message is twofold. Real purification is the clarification of our consciousness, not a mere abstention from "impure" acts. In fact, we can see from this that any action or thought --- no matter how noble it may be in appearance or expression --- which leads us away from the pure consciousness which is the essence of our being is an impure act --- a sin. Anything that is not God is impure, and anything which diminishes our awareness of God is defilement. This includes all the "good deeds" and "good thoughts" of which a human being is capable. Even the idea of serving, pleasing, obeying, or adoring God will eventually be seen as obstacles to our spiritual perfection. It is love of God alone that is the legitimate "activity" of the questing soul and spirit. And this too, is an evil if it rises from our physical and psychic natures. But the true love of God --- which arises form the spirit --- is the force which can accomplish our desired union. It is because in the highest sense, as St. John has told us, God is Himself love. (1 John: 4:8)
Any other attitude or feeling toward God is destructive because it makes God an object and us a subject, thus perpetuating the illusion of duality. But the love of the spirit is not a "product" of the individual spirit but is its essential nature. This divine force unites rather than separates. As the contemporary Master, Swami Shivananda of Rishikesh, said: "Love begins with two and ends with one."
Love of God is therefore a mystery. It would seem to make God separated from us, when in reality it unites us to God. This love is embodied in and manifested through the Divine Name of JESUS. It, too, appears to be a mere verbalization which would of its very nature keep us confined within the realm of thought --- and thus be, however subtle, an external object. But in truth the Holy Name is not an object at all but the inmost reality appearing to our deluded minds as an object. Rather than leading us away from consciousness, it leads us into the center of our being from which it perpetually arises and establishes us within the "throne" of our own nature and shares with us the all-pervading consciousness of God. This is the experience promised in the book of Revelation --- the sitting with Christ in His throne which is a preface to our entry into the Bosom (throne) of the Father, (To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." (Revelation 3:21)
Thus, we are not "crucified with Christ" (Galations 2:20) through denial and torture of the bodies, but through our return to the spirit. Obsessed with the body, degenerate Christianity dwells upon the physical sufferings of Jesus and insists that all Christians must "share" in the sufferings of Christ. The truth is, all those living upon the face of the earth --- Christian or not --- are experiencing fully the terrible anguish portrayed in the Gospel accounts of our Lord's passion, crucifixion, and death. That is the way of the elongated cross, the way of death. The way of the equal-bar-cross --- the cross of Christ as distinguished from the cross of humanity upon which the Christ is crucified --- is the way of return to "the glory which I had with (God) before the world was." John 17:5)
This is an utterly internal path. However, to tread that path there must be a great catharisis, a drastic purging and casting aside of all that is not divine. In this path, in truth, the delusive mirrors which we call our various bodies, suffer greatly and struggle to maintain their existence. But when they die and are dissolved --- then alone do we live. In sum: having taken up the cross of material incarnation from life to life, we turn back from it and embrace the cross of life, of freedom into boundless spirit. This is the state of resurrection. But just as our Lord Jesus passed through the passion of earth to attain the joys of the spirit, (Hebrews 12:2) so must we. The crucifix is a agraphic diagnosis-exposition of our malady. The equal cross within the circle is the healing which Christ brought into the world. Those who embrace and assimilate this remedy are those who can say with St. Paul: "For me to live is Christ." (Philippians 1:21)
Saturday --- Seventh Ray --- Virgin Mary
The day of the Seventh Ray, Saturday, is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. This is most interesting, as that day is ruled by the planet Saturn. In Western astrology Saturn is mistakenly looked upon as a malefic planet because it supposedly brings obstacles, sorrows, and even death. This is of course absurd, since it is our own actions reacting to us as kramic force which produces such things. Saturn does, however, rule or channel the purificatory powers which bring these unpleasant events into our lives. However, if we never reaped these negative karmas, we would never have freedom. Therefore, Saturday is supremely the day of liberation --- of our birth back into the heavenly world through the Ever-Virgin Mother, just as She gave earth-plane birth to Christ.
It is our egotism, selfishness, and physical and psychic sensuality which make us consider painful and unhappy experiences as bad --- and therefore to be avoided. The wise, by contrast, have always heeded the counsel of Krishna in the Bhagavad-Gita to leave aside the merely pleasant and embrace the good --- which in our present condition usually manifests as these discomfiture under the rulership of Saturn. Here again we see the relevance of the principle of that which is seemingly bitter leads to the sweet, whereas that which entices with superficial sweetness plunges us into bitter depths.
There is more to this, however. The concept of God as Mother has existed in the mind of humanity from its very origin --- an origin produced according to the book of Genesis by the Elohim, the creative Mother- Goddesses. The understanding of God as Mother is an integral part of Orthodox Judaism, but not a particularly favored one. That is, the Mother is looked upon very much as the saturnine influences are regarded by Occidental astrology. Within Judaism, the Mother is considered the embodiment of cosmic law. She it is who teaches with the painful rod of reaping what we have sown.
Because of the Western social structure within the past few centuries, the father is looked upon as the stern disciplinarian and the mother as the sheltering, forgiving, comforter. In the East, however, although external society is patriarchal in structure, the private, personal society of the home and individual is matriarchal. It is the mother who teaches, who reprimands, and who administers justice. It is the mother who awakens and heals through discipline. In the West, this situation can be found almost exclusively within the Jewish family.
There is an interesting apocryphal account of the Virgin Mary's descent into those areas of the astral world we would call "hells." In many of these places the (temporary) dwellers entreated the Virgin Mary to mitigate their sufferings. This She did. But in one place --- the worst of all --- She inquired as to what had brought them to such a state. When told the vileness of their crime, She sharply departed, refusing to alleviate their fate. In this we find the attitude of the Eastern Church toward the Virgin Theotokos. She is indeed "the mother of fair love and holy hope," (Ecclesiasticius 24:18) but She is also the Mother of truth and justice.
In the West, in the eighteenth century and after, there prevailed a kind of sickly sentimentalism which presented the Virgin Mary as an extremely sweet and all-powerful addlepate who would grant anything asked of Her --- however inappropriate the request or unworthy the petition. It was felt that She obtained the fulfillment of all requests --- however absurd --- by asking Her Son. "Jesus would never refuse His Mother anything," was the assertion. That statement was definitely true, but the quoters seemed to forget that the Virgin would never ask anything that was inappropriate or undeserved. Although in the past days of emperors and kings, justice and right in the form of the monarch could be circumvented by gaining the patronage of the empress or queen, it was grievously mistaken to assume that the Heavenly Queen and the Heavenly King were of similar character. The Mother is Herself the Law. She cannot infringe upon Her nature, for light cannot be turned into darkness, however much Her children might desire.
For all the foregoing reasons, Saturday, the day of Saturn, is the one most appropriate for dedication to the Virgin Mary. There is a lighter side to this, as well. Although She manifests as the law of retribution --- of sowing and reaping --- She is primordially the law of freedom through evolutionary perfection. The weight of Saturnian burdens are not intended to crush us, but rather to make us strong. By undergoing them we are freed from them. This is a matter of love incomprehensible to the egocentric demand for self- indulgence that we call "seeking love."
The love of God is a terrible and inexorable thing. Once we enter into its indeflectable current we are borne inexorably unto the heights of spiritual perfection. At the beginning of her conscious spiritual pursuit, a fined of mine had a lengthy experience --- whether in the body or out of the body she never knew. She felt herself suddenly seized by the hair and dragged through what felt like dense undergrowth and brambles. When this had come to a point virtually unendurable, she seemed to be dragged into water and pulled along its surface at a tremendous breath-stopping rate, the water roaring in her ears as she rushed along. From the first, she began screaming in protest and begging to be let alone. Her cries were both unheeded and unanswered. After a very long time --- a veritable eternity --- she suddenly found herself in a place of perfect peace and joy. "Well, it looks like she made it," said an invisible voice, "Yes," replied a second unseen, "But she yelled her head off all the way." She felt a great blessing descend upon her as the first voice said: "But she will do just fine now." When she "came to herself" she realized that she was being shown her future path: that by the grace and mercy of God she would be "mercilessly" and relentlessly impelled toward the supreme, and that this journey would be bewildering and painful with no stops for rest and no mitigation of intensity,. But she would reach that place of 'the peace of God, which passeth all understanding," (Philippians 4:7) that is the only goal of the evolving soul. And so she prepared herself for the worst that would end in the best.
This is the Great Work of the Holy Spirit Mother and Her manifestation as the Virgin Mary. Therefore on Saturday we especially petition Her, not to remove the cross from us but to give us the strength to speed onward and beyond it.
From all the foregoing we can see the great wisdom applied by St. Osmund of Salisbury and his assistants in their drawing up of the Missale Sarisburiense and the assigning of the days of the week to their spiritual rulership.
~~the end~~