Free The Book of Love by Kathleen McGowan Page B

then, the one written in Easa’s hand, comes here.”
    “Correct. Magdalene arrives on the shores of France with her children, a handful of loyal followers, and the Book of Love. She teaches from it, first in Marseille, and then later she comes here to the Languedoc. Where we live here in Arques is sacred ground because, legend says, she built a school here as her base of operations, her first mission,if you will. It is called Arques because of the word ark , as in Ark of the Covenant. In other words, the new covenant, the word of Jesus, was brought here and this village was the receptacle of it—the ark that contained it. Sadly, all the ancient monuments to Magdalene are long since demolished, and done so with the intention of wiping out her presence in the Languedoc, as you already know.”
    Maureen did know, but she dug into her training as a journalist to play devil’s advocate for a moment. “Which leads me to the crucial question, which every skeptical and incredulous person in the world would ask if you told them this story. And that is simply this: how is it possible that something so important to human history could have been completely erased? This has to be one of the best-kept secrets of the last two thousand years, if not the best-kept secret. How is it that no even knows such a thing existed?”
    Roland was first to answer, passionate about his subject. “Because our people were murdered to ensure that no one would know that it existed.”
    Bérenger added, “Nothing could be more dangerous to the Church than a gospel written in the hand of Jesus Christ, particularly if that gospel proved that everything they stood for was completely opposed to his true teachings. It is the most dangerous document in human history.”
    “But they didn’t get it. At least not from Montségur,” said Maureen.
    Roland answered, “No, as you are well aware, your ancestor was one of the reasons that the Book of Love was saved. At least for a while. It disappears from our history following Montségur. So much does. All that is left is what has been passed down orally, and time has sadly erased much of that as well.”
    Bérenger joined in. “The Cathar culture had been decimated by the holocaust against them. Those who were left were scattered all over Europe, and we lost the thread of history there.”
    Returning to Roland, Maureen asked, “And yet some of you survived. Your family, the few who escaped the massacre at Montségur. My ancestress. Wouldn’t they have done something to preserve the Book of Love?”
    “Yes, of course, but they were in no position to talk about it. Even when the Cathars lived here in peace, before the massacres, they did not discuss the Book of Love openly, not ever. You can certainly understand why they would not have been able to do that.”
    Bérenger made the key point. “So the Cathars protected it by never speaking of it. And the Church certainly didn’t want anyone left alive who knew what it was and the explosive nature of its contents. So what you have is something that is by its nature so great a secret, to those who revere it and those who despise it, that its very existence is eliminated from history.”
    Maureen nodded her understanding. “Of course. So its last known resting place…”
    “Was officially Montségur,” said Roland. “Although legend says that it was taken into northern Spain by your ancestor, La Paschalina, where it was installed at the monastery of Our Lady of Montserrat. After that…is anybody’s guess.”
    “And while there was only one, the true Book written in Jesus’ own hand,” said Bérenger, “we are quite certain that there were copies made at various times in history. The idea of copies is interesting because at least there is a possibility that the content is alive somewhere, even if the original has been lost.”
    “And do you think it has been lost?”
    They were all silent, contemplating. Roland said finally, “It’s in Rome