Bishop Clement of Dunblane

Clement was a thirteenth century sword-carrying Dominican friar who received his religious training in Paris around 1219. In 1233, he was selected to lead the ailing diocese of Dunblane, thus becoming the first Dominican to be elevated to the rank of Bishop. He held the office of Bishop of Dunblane until his death in 1258.

The Dominican Order was introduced into Scotland by King Alexander II, who is said to have met St. Dominic in France in the year 1216. The pair harmonised in heart and mind and it is thought to be this confluence of belief that brought the King's favour to the introduction of the Dominicans onto Scottish soil.

With the death of Pope Honorius III in 1227, a round of papal elections ascertained Gregory IX, born Ugolino di Conti, as the new Pope on March 19, 1227. Pope Gregory's uncle was Pope Innocent III (1198-1216), Lotario de Conti, who was born in Anagni. His father was Count Trasimund of Segni, a member of the famous house of Conti, which produced a noteworthy nine popes, including Pope Gregory IX, who was a friend of Saint Dominic.

This switch in Vatican leadership was to bring an end to the Albigensian Crusade and a more secure and sympathetic understanding to King Alexander's cause with the help of Bishop Clement and in the memory of Saint Dominic, who died in 1221. The King reciprocated by offering special favours to the black and white clad Magdalene worshipers, leading to the foundation of eight Dominican houses in Scotland between the years 1230 and 1234. This was to be of major significance in the development of the Christian church, as, during the course of the thirteenth century, the power of the Cistercians yielded to the energy of the orders of St. Francis and St. Dominic. It was not a rare thing for Cistercians to pass over to the newer monastic orders. As early as 1223 such Cistercians are called fugitives by the General Chapter. Matthew Paris states that, in 1255, "They do not wander through the cities and towns, but they remain quietly shut up within the walls of their domiciles, obeying their superior order."

This led to amalgamation of orders and integrated missions on sites that had spirtual significance. Some sites were simply abandoned, others were trashed or succumbed to the political and religious pawn sacrifice of vengeful warfare.

Debate has touched on the suggestion of a possible astronomical significance in correlation to some of these sites and the Dog star, also known as Sirius, which is the brightest star in the night sky, in the constellation of Canis Major (Great/Senior Dog.).

Jordan of Saxony recollects a story told before Dominic's birth. His mother dreamed that a dog leapt from her womb carrying a torch in its mouth and "seemed to set the earth on fire." His godmother recapitulated this dream seeing a star on Dominic's forehead, illuminating the earth. Dominic's name in Latin is Dominicanus, which, by a play of words, was interpreted as Domini canis, the Lord's hound. Today, Church of Scotland ministers reveal their past Dominican heritage by wearing black and white with a royal purple stripe on their cape and frock. While involuted white dog-collars show respect and obedience to their Master. Man's best friend gifts infinite silent showering of undying servitude, devotion, love and trust to all in the human family

In 1249, after unsuccessful negotiations with Haakon IV, King of Norway, Alexander II mobilised his army and sailed forth to compel his return of the Western Isles. Unfortunately, on the way, he suffered a fever at the Isle of Kerrera, off the West coast of Scotland, near Oban and died there in 1249, with Bishop Clement at his side. He was buried at Melrose Abbey, Roxburghshire. His son Alexander III succeeded him as King of Scots.

The Dominican Order can trace their origin to the ministry of Saint Dominic, also known as Dominic of Osma. Born in Spain in 1170, his name stems from the Spanish title, Don which corresponds to the English "Sir". We relate the word 'domino' to the cape with a hood worn by a master or priest which we understand as some form of disguise, or concealment. Also, in the game of dominoes, where the oldest domino sets have been dated to around 1120, the pieces take their name from the same source, as they resembled French priests' winter hoods, being black on the outside and white on the inside. Dominic was founder of the Friars Preachers, popularly called the Dominicans, or Order of Preachers (OP), a Catholic religious order. Dominic is the patron saint of astronomers and of the Dominican Republic.

The Spanish labelled the term "Dominus Domino" as "Master Con Man"

In 1203, during his mission to the Languedoc, Saint Dominic met and debated with the Cathars in an atmosphere of heresy. During his mission he concluded that only preachers who displayed real sanctity, humility and asceticism could win over convinced Cathar believers. The shocking experiences of this journey inspired in Dominic a desire to aid in the extermination of heresy. He was also deeply impressed by an important and significant observation. According to some Cathars, the purpose of man's life on Earth was to transcend matter, perpetually renouncing anything connected with the principle of power and thereby attaining union with the principle of love. According to others, man's purpose was to reclaim or redeem matter, spiritualising and transforming it. This placed them at odds with the Catholic Church in regarding material creation, on behalf of which Jesus had supposedly died, as intrinsically evil and implying that God, whose word had created the world in the beginning, was a usurper. Furthermore, as the Cathars saw matter as intrinsically evil, they denied that Jesus could become incarnate and still be the Son of God. Cathars vehemently repudiated the significance of the Crucifixion and the Cross. In fact, to the Cathars, Rome's opulent and luxurious church seemed a palpable embodiment and manifestation on Earth of Rex Mundi's sovereignty. Many of these Cathar heretical preachers were not ignorant fanatics, but well-trained and cultured men. Entire communities seemed to be possessed by a desire for knowledge and for righteousness. Dominic clearly perceived that only preachers of a high order, capable of advancing reasonable argument, could overthrow the Cathar heresy.

He judged that the official Church, as a rule, did not possess these spiritual warrants.

The Catholic Church regarded the Cathar sect as dangerously heretical. Faced with the rapid spread of the movement across the Languedoc region, the Church first sought peaceful attempts at conversion, undertaken by Dominicans. These were not very successful. Around late 1206, Dominic returned to the area and with help was able to set up a first monastic community. Lives of Saints tells us that, on the feast of St. Mary Magdalen in 1206, he had a vision which led him to found a convent at Prouille, in the diocese of Toulouse, to shelter nine nuns, who had been converted from heresy. He wrote for them a rule of strict enclosure, penance, and contemplation, with the spinning of wool for their manual occupation. He later took part in a large scale public debate between Cathars and Catholics, at Pamiers. Dominic's powers of persuasion and his advocacy of the truth earned him great respect in an atmosphere of acrimonious dissent and contempt. Two years later, in 1208, the Pope called a formal crusade, appointing a series of leaders to head the assault. There followed 20 years of war against the Cathars and their allies in the Languedoc, known as the Albigensian Crusade.

Dominic's conviction led eventually to the establishment of the Dominican Order in 1216. The order was to live up to the terms of his famous rebuke, "Zeal must be met by zeal, humility by humility, false sanctity by real sanctity, preaching falsehood by preaching truth." However, even St. Dominic managed only a few converts among the Cathars. In fairness, Dominic learned from the Albigensians, acknowledging their valid claims, which focused on the Mary Magdalene and Jesus family legend. Generations of proud Albigensians willingly gave their lives as sacrifice to this belief. This led Dominic to ground his principles for what would become a major tenet of the Dominican order over time - to find truth no matter where it may be.............but sadly many more were to perish in the ongoing war between the two Cath-pure-ones beliefs.

Clement was to educate the Scots on the divinel calling powers of the Holy Rosary which was an important element among the Dominicans. Pope Pius XI stated that:

"The Rosary of Mary is the principle and foundation on which the very Order of Saint Dominic rests for making perfect the life of its members and obtaining the salvation of others."

Histories of the Holy Rosary often attribute its origin to Saint Dominic himself through the Blessed Virgin Mary. Our Lady of the Rosary is the title received by the Marian apparition to Saint Dominic in 1208, in the church of Prouille, in which the Virgin Mary gave the Rosary to him. For centuries, Dominicans have been instrumental in spreading the rosary and emphasising the Catholic belief in the power of the rosary.

Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume is a commune of southeastern France, 40 km (25 mi) east of Aix-en-Provence, in the westernmost part of Var département. It is located at the foot of the Sainte-Baume mountains: baume is the Provençal equivalent of "cave". The town's basilica dedicated to Mary Magdalene was the site where Mary Magdalene was rehabilitated in the 13th century and remade as the sinning figure of perfect penitence and the co-patron, with the Virgin Mary, of the Dominican Order. The little town was transformed by the well-published discovery, on 12 December 1279, in the crypt of Saint-Maximin, of a sarcophagus that was proclaimed to be the tomb of Mary Magdalene. Attended by miracles and by the ensuing, pilgrim-drawing, cult of Mary Magdalene and Saint Maximin, that was assiduously cultivated by Charles II of Anjou, King of Naples. He founded the massive Gothic Basilique Ste. Marie-Madeleine in 1295; the basilica had the blessing of Boniface VIII, who placed it under the new teaching order of Dominicans.

The founding tradition held that relics of Mary Magdalene were preserved here, and not at Vézelay, and that she, with her brother Lazarus, fled the Holy Land by a miraculous boat with neither rudder nor sail and landed at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, in the Camargue, near Arles. She then came to Marseille and converted the local people. Later in life, according to the founding legend, she retired to a cave in the Sainte-Baume mountains. She was buried in Saint-Maximin.

After a visit to Rome to meet the Pope, Clement was charged with collecting one twentieth of all ecclesiastical revenues within the Kingdom of the Scots. The purpose was to finance a new crusade and Clement's appointment was part of a money-raising initiative carried out throughout Western Christendom. Clement selected Saint Mary's as the appropriate place to deliver his controversial message to the Church, King and Knights and as a base for negotiations to further the just cause. The Holy Chapel at Saint Mary's was regarded by many, during the middle of the 13th century, as the most sacred spot in Scotland. Clement helped to elevate Edmund of Abingdon and Queen Margaret to sainthood. After Clement's death, he received veneration as a saint himself, although he was never formally canonised.

After the Knights Templar were dissolved, on Friday the 13th 1307, fragments of their society and beliefs were transformed and metamorphosed into a new, more neutral identity, in the shape of freemasonry. Concealed allegory would keep ancient knowledge alive. Dominican Black and White floors with window less cave-like buildings and skull worship dedicated to the honour of their secret Patron Saint would inspire Lodges of their proud traditions all over Scotland. They were given status and secret meaning, with numbers and names. Number 1 in Edinburgh goes under the name of Saint Mary's Chapel. Its "mother lodge" at Kilwinning is known as 0. Kilwinning is given as the starting point of modern freemasonry and is, without doubt, the "consecrator egg" that issued charters to newly hatched Masonic lodges in Scotland and the American colonies prior to the formation of the Grand Masonic Lodge of Scotland in 1736. Roslin Chapel's number is 606, the village Lodge in Roslin is now using this mark.

About 150 million Americans can claim Scots heritage. 2008 Presidential rivals John McCain and Barack Obama share the same royal ancestor as revealed by the Sunday Times 1/13/08. Theie royal bloodlines are said to go back to William the Lion who ruled Scotland from 1165 to 1214. William the Lion founded Saint Mary's Chapel in 1212, the masonic root where lodge number (1) is located.

In March 1634, trepidant European settlers sailed from Cowes, to establish a colony in the U.S. These adventurers helped lay the foundation stones of their faith and its principals in the "New World". They departed on two ships named the Ark and the Dove and landed on a small, uninhabited island between Maryland and Virginia. The settlers named the Island after St. Clement. St. Clement I, also known as Pope Clement I, Clement of Rome, or Clemens Romanus, was the fourth Bishop of Rome from 88 to 99 AD and is considered the first Apostolic Father of the early Christian church. Even though they endangered multiple trials throughout their passage, the intrepid travellers believed the Saint connected with their intercessory prayers and helped them through their perilous voyage. On the 25th of March 1634 the first recorded English speaking Catholic Mass, was held by the bold pilgrims.

The fearless voyagers' faith in God was transported over the great Ocean. With the infest of pilgrims who settled in the New World came their collection of most venerable place names. The impassioned settlers adopted, on the whole, a Christian theme. In 1620 an English religious group left Plymouth for the New World. This significant event is expressed within the creation of Plymouth Argyle football club in 1886. The founders devised their team with the name of the town and invoked speculation when they appended the Scottish region of Argyle, the question arising out of this is, why? To many, this remains a baffling enigma. Bishop Clement may hold some of our insighted wisdom answers. The spirtitual minded Clement was a clairvoyant medium for King Alexander II of Scotland, the only son of the Scottish King William the Lion and Ermengarde of Beaumont. During his campaign in Argyll, in 1249, Clement was at the side of his beloved Monarch on the island of Kerrera when Alexander died of a fever, while engaged on a military campaign against the Vikings. They, at the time, were the unwanted invaders who controlled the Scottish Western Islands, including Saint Columba's Holy Island of Iona. Passionate King Alexander was infatuated with the history of Iona and was overcome with the need to return it to the Scotland. His belief was that the Island, with its esoteric, spiritual, blood and soul rights belonged to the Scots, being a gift from the Lord. The Scots were the Holy Island's hereditary guardians. Kerrera is situated off the coast of Mull and Oban, in the county of Argyll, which in turn, we are categorically informed by the region's place name, that this is the home to the people from Tyre. From this emanation we derive the Mull of Kintyre, also found in Argyll, giving the name Plymouth Argyle. The club crest features the Mayflower, the London-based ship, which carried the pilgrims to Massachusetts. Plymouth's history goes back to the Bronze Age, whence the tin traders came from the Hittite Phoenician port of Tyre and where the early Bri-Tins dug the Cornwall Tin mines. The versatile tin enriched the lives of many in the Bronze age and was used in a wide variety of applications from Troy's military armaments to King Solomon's Temple Furnishings. Highly skilled Huram from Tyre was assigned by Solomon to build the symbolic, allegorical Temple with Tin-Bronze taken from Plymouth's Bronze Age Harbour. Plymouth Sound, or locally just The Sound, is a bay at with three watery entrances. The marine entrance is from the English Channel to the south, with a deep-water channel to the west of the breakwater. There are two freshwater intlets: one, from the northwest is from the River Tamar via the Hamoaze and Devonport Dockyard, which claims to be the largest naval dockyard in Western Europe and home to the British fleet. The other, at northeast, is from the River Plym. Mount Batten settlement overlooks the entrance to the harbour and dates back to the Bronze age. In the Bible, Tamar was twice the daughter-in-law of Judah, as well as the mother of two of his children, the twins Zerah and Pharez. Essentially, Tamar is the entrance-gateway, as told in Genesis 38; she was the original widow in her "Father's House" that included the Royal sword bearers of Judah, David and Jesus, also the one that the engineered Huram the widow's son is symbolically embraced with. In 1250 Clement had been able to install a new bishop in Argyll and had become one of the Guardians appointed to govern Scotland during the minority of King Alexander III. By 1250 he had established a reputation as one of the most active Dominican reformers in Britain.

The Compass Rose is St Clement's venerated, personal symbol. Bishop Clement's role is in directing our attention to the reprieval and resurrection of Masonic lodge number 1 at the sacred ground of Saint Mary's Chapel. The instrument used by masonic members, worldwide is symbolised by the square set and A shaped circle points that are often seen pictured on top of the Bible, our allegorical compass for True Direction. Saint Clement is the patron saint of sailors, historically, they used the stars to navigate. God's own compass, which the ancient sailors used as their fixed point, is the Pole Star, in turn this led them to find the direction of True North.

St. Clement's Island is home to the oldest Catholic Church in continuous use in the original thirteen colonies (St. Francis Xavier Church). The Isle of Lewis is home to Scotland's 4500 year old prehistoric Celtic stone circle that professional scientific witnesses proclaim is the best preserved megalithic wonder in Scotland. Saint Clement is sometimes shown with symbols of his office as Pope and Bishop of Rome such as the Papal Cross and the Keys of Heaven.

The Callanish standing stone circle, is located at the end of the telluric ley line that rises at the Home of the Celtic Church, Iona and transcends Northwards, to the 13 stone inner circle that the Celts built in profound admiration and affection. Towards Empathic Beltane Spiritual Tellural Earth Goddess Worship.