Mackey A G - Encylopedia of Freemasonry - The Grand Masonic ...

DISCIPLINA
DISCIPLINE 215
relation to this custom . On this subject, Oliver
(Hist . Landm ., ii ., 471) observes : "Now
the act of going with naked feet was always
considered a token of humility and reverence,
and the priests, in the temple worship, always
officiated with feet uncovered, although it was
frequently injurious to their health ."
Mede quotes Zago Zaba, an Ethiopian
bishop, who was ambassador from David,
King of Abyssinia, to John III ., of Portugal, as
saying "We are not permitted to enter the
church except barefooted ."
The Mohammedans, when about to perform
their devotions, always leave their slippers at
the door of the mosque . The Druids practised
the same custom whenever they celebrated
their sacred rites ; and the ancient Peruvians
are said always to have left their shoes at the
porch when they entered the magnificent temple
consecrated to the worship of the sun .
Adam Clarke (Comm. on Exod .) thinks that
the custom of worshiping the Deity barefooted,
was so general among all nations of
antiquity, that he assigns it as one of his thirteen
proofs that the whole human race have
been derived from one family .
Finally, Bishop Patrick, speaking of the origin
of this Rite, says, in his Commentaries :
"Moses did not give the first beginning to this
Rite, but it was derived from the patriarchs
before him, and transmitted to future times
from that ancient, general tradition ; for we
find no command in the law of Moses for the
priests performing the service of the temple
without shoes, but it is certain they did so
from immemorial custom ; and so do the Mohammedans
and other nations at this day ."
Discipiina Arcani . See Discipline of the
Secret .
Discipline . This word is used by Masons,
in its ecclesiastical sense, to signify the execution
of the laws by which a Lge is governed
and the infliction of the penalties enjoined
against offenders who are its members,
or, not being members, live within its jurisdiction.
To discipline a Mason is to subject
him to punishment . (See Jurisdiction and
Punishments .)
Discipline of the Secret . There existed
in the earlier ages of the Christian church a
mystic and secret worship, from which a portion
of the congregation was peremptorily excluded,
and whose privacy was guarded, with
the utmost care, from the obtrusive eyes of all
who had not been duly initiated into the sacred
rites that qualified them to be present .
This custom of communicating only to a
portion of the Christian community the more
abstruse doctrines and more sacred ceremonies
of the church, is known among ecclesiastical
writers by the name of "DISCIPLINA
ARCANI," or "The Discipline of the Secret ."
Converts were permitted to attain a knowledge
of all the doctrines, and participate in the
sacraments of the church, only after a long and
experimental probation . The young Christian,
like the disciple of Pythagoras, was made
to pass through a searching ordeal of time and
patience, by which his capacity, his fidelity,
and his other qualifications were strictlytested .
For this purpose, different ranks were instituted
in the congregation . The lowest of
these were the Catechumens . These were occupied
in a study of the elementary principles
of the Christian religion . Their connection
with the church was not consummated by
baptism, to which rite they were not admitted,
even as spectators, it being the symbol of a
higher degree ; but their initiation was accompanied
with solemn ceremonies, consisting of
prayer, signing with the cross, and the imposition
of hands by the priest . The next degree
was that of the Competentes, or seekers .
When a Catechumen had exhibited satisfactory
evidences of his proficiency in religious
knowledge, he petitioned the Bishop for the
Sacrament of baptism . His name was then
registered in the books of the church. After
this registration, the candidate underwent the
various ceremonies appropriate to the degree
upon which he was about to enter . He was
examined by the bishop as to his attainments
in Christianity, and, if approved, was exorcised
for twenty days, during which time he
was subjected to rigorous fasts, and, having
made confession, the necessary penance was
prescribed . He was then, for the first time, instructed
in the words of the Apostles' creed, a
symbol of which the Catechumens were entirely
ignorant .
Another ceremony peculiar to the Competentes
was that of going about with their
faces veiled . St . Augustine explains the ceremony
by Saying that the Competentes went
veiled in public as an image of the slavery of
Adam after his expulsion from Paradise, and
that, after baptism, the veils were taken away
as an emblem of the liberty of the spiritual
life which was obtained by the sacrament of
regeneration . Some other significant ceremonies,
but of a less important character,
were used, and the Competent, having passed
through them all, was at length admitted to
the highest degree .
The Fideles, or Faithful, constituted the
Third Degree or order . Baptism was the ceremony
by which the Competentes, after an examination
into their proficiency, were admitted
into this degree . "The were thereby,"
says Bingham, "made compete and perfect
Christians, and were, upon that account, dignified
with several titles of honor and marks of
distinction above the Catechumens ." They
were called Illuminati, or Illuminated, because
they had been enlightened as to those secrets
which were concealed from the inferior orders .
They were also called Initiati, or Initiated, because
they were admitted to a knowledge of
the sacred mysteries ; and so commonly was
this name in use, that, when Chrysostom and
the other ancient writers spoke of their concealed
doctrines, they did so in ambiguous
terms, so as not to be understood by the Catechumens,
excusing themselves for their brief
allusions, by saying, "the Initiated know what
we mean ." And so complete was the understanding
of the ancient Fathers of a hidden
mystery, and an initiation into them, that