by G. M. Dyrek
“Father,” Volmar had asked. “Do you doubt the relic’s authenticity?”
“My son, I have prayed all morning for guidance. It is such an unpredictable, frightening world. I can understand how having a tangible, powerful relic to protect you in such volatile times could serve an important purpose.”
“You still haven’t answered my question.”
“I know. Because I do not have all the answers. Perhaps one of our biggest obstacles in this life is how we cling to our perceptions and believe they are the truth. Faith and the truth about this relic’s power lie beyond our human intellect, our senses and sensibilities. Spirituality is an active journey full of mystery, and certainty has little to do with it.” It was a deep conversation with talk about divine purpose taking precedence over spectacle and greed. In the end, the Abbot decided that not a word of the relic was to be mentioned in the letter to the Pope.
Thinking back on the Abbot’s decision, Volmar realized it was equally important to Burchard that he keep his word. Matthias had entrusted him with the relic, not the Pope. The knight had made the ultimate sacrifice to bring the relic to Disibodenberg. Ultimately, the Abbot had reasoned to his young scribe, the church was to offer a spiritual sanctuary to all those who entered its high walls, not promises of earthly rewards. It was then the Abbot made clear his plan. He had quietly retrieved Matthias’s Holy Relic from the Anchorage and now wanted Volmar to help him tie it onto the handle of Brother Hugo’s spade. While everyone was sleeping the two had solemnly made their way through the deep snow, over to the stables, and there, in the adjoining tack room, fixed together with leather twine one symbol of God’s omnipotence to another symbol of Adam’s curse, as foretold in the book of Genesis.95
“In this way, the relic will be in humble service to all,” the Abbot had concluded. “No longer will its powers be used by a few men to selfishly assert control over others; rather, it will modestly till the soil, planting seeds of life and hope for the community of Disibodenberg. A higher purpose of work and prayer, the true dictates of the Benedictine Rule.”
Perhaps they were living out a pre-ordained script, as that old crone had prophesized to him last week. Could Disibodenberg, a modest, backwoods monastery, be on the cusp of tremendous changes? Abbot Burchard had certainly been wrong about one thing, Volmar mused, all those years ago. All the mystery, intrigue, and romance he could ever yearn for was here, within the porous walls of Disibodenberg.
The young Scribe leaned back against the jagged stone wall. He shut his eyes, enjoying the comfort of Sister Hildegard’s music. It was a rare moment when he could truly feel the breathlessness of eternity.
HISTORICAL NOTE
History is full of prejudices, for it is told and retold from the eyes of the victors and the powerful. One cannot read it without being aware that it is riddled with interpretations from those who are determined to “set the record straight.” So, from our viewpoint here in the 21st century, writing convincingly about a 12th century monastery and what people of that time actually thought and did cannot be done in a totally objective manner. Nevertheless, I have sought to remain as close as possible to the primary source material in framing this tale.
The First Crusade of 1098 A.D. was like most wars. It was fought for a variety of reasons, not just for Christians to take back Jerusalem from the Muslims. Lesser nobles who volunteered for the Pope’s call to arms did so with their own personal agendas, which included bloody raids on holy shrines for priceless relics and treasures.
Even the respectable Knights of Saint John, the Crusading Order of Hospitaller in Jerusalem, had their own dual intentions. On the one hand, they were holy men who ministered to the sick and wounded in hospitals for the pilgrims and military orders fighting in the Holy Land. And they also took up the sword, participating fully in the mass slaughter and enslavement of Muslims and Christian Arabs. For them, a religiously motivated war held no contradictions. It was interpreted as being lawful and righteous, an act of love. For to defend the Holy Land was in their eyes a form of Christian charity.
It is true that Brother Gerard is credited with being the founding father of the Knights Hospitaller, the military order’s first master. It was his ambition to spread the crusading order’s wealth and influence throughout the Mediterranean region. Whether he saw the potential to accumulate all of the powerful relics, holy writings, and treasures to establish his own authority over the church, as did the Knights Templar formed later in 1118 A.D., is purely a fictional construct for this novel, as are all the murders.
The story of Matthias finding the Spear of Destiny in the church in Antioch on the 10th day of June in 1098 A.D. does in fact follow the legend associated with the Holy Relic revered today in Echmiadzin, Armenia. In this story, Matthias recounts how the relic had turned him from a mediocre knight into an impressive leader. This too follows the legend. Throughout the centuries, Longinus’s Spear has been revered as a potent relic believed to grant whomever possesses it the power to control the world—and losing it is said to bring immediate death.
In the 20th century, Hitler sought this relic during his reign of terror and committed suicide the day the Americans seized it from Nuremberg, thus fulfilling the legend. Today, three other spears claim to be this cursed relic. One is at the Vatican, in Rome; another is in Krakow, Poland; and the third resides at the Hofburg Treasury House in Vienna, Austria, where I have seen it on display.
The scenes in Spear of Destiny that describe political turmoil between the church and the Emperor are accurate as well. Not only did King Henry the Fifth arrest the Archbishop of Mainz in October of 1112 AD, he also publicly went back on his promises to the Pope in an attempt to assert his power over the Church.
All of this turmoil shaped the world Hildegard and Volmar lived in and puzzled over. Subject to the Benedictine Rule, the two promised to live out their lives in observance of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Such radical devotion seems alien to many of us today who are accustomed to services held once a week on the Sabbath. The Rule of St. Benedict was followed faithfully by the monks and nuns of Disibodenberg. They went to bed after the service of Compline and rose for the early morning service of Matins, sleeping, working, and eating in strict adherence to the structure and rituals signaled by the ringing of the monastery’s bells.
History records Jutta’s enclosure with Hildegard on the eve of All Saints’ Day in 1112. As the Anchoress at Disibodenberg, chroniclers report that Jutta had a great following and was an extreme ascetic, adhering to a regime of fasting and self-mutilation to strengthen her faith.
The chronicler Guibert gives us only a brief description of the personality of Volmar, Hildegard’s monk collaborator. Volmar, he writes, was sober, chaste, and learned, concluding that he had the temperament of a typical monk. Upon reflection, I disagreed with this footnote in history, finding in Volmar’s devotion to Hildegard an altogether different character, extraordinary for his time, for women were held almost in contempt by the church due to the doctrine of Eve’s temptation of Adam in the Garden of Eden. For Volmar to courageously teach and nurture one woman’s mind signifies to me a progressive free-thinker.
Of course, if Hildegard had chosen a more traditional calling, marrying and bearing children, she would not have had the opportunities or the time to develop her gifts. So, as cruel as her early life may seem to our modern sensibilities, it afforded Hildegard the means to write several major works in theology, which she completed later in her life.
Her accomplishments do not end there. She is credited with many firsts, having composed a musical play and more than seventy songs. She consulted and advised bishops, popes, and kings, and she openly denounced the corruption in the church and preached publicly well into her seventies. She went on to establish two abbeys and used her curative powers for healing, writing books on natural history and the medicinal uses of various plants, animals, trees, and stones.
Spear of Destiny attempts to fill the gaps where history is silent. To me
, Providence had a hand in the story from the beginning, bringing together these two wards of the church, creating a rare moment of light and hope in an era renowned for its darkness and quiet desperation, a legacy far greater than either of their individual voices—one we need to remember.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
G.M. Dyrek was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and has lived in over 30 addresses. Her father was a preacher then an Air Force chaplain. Along with her four brothers and mother, who was a missionary’s daughter from Southern Rhodesia, she spent most of her growing up years traveling, adjusting to new schools, different cultures, and the usual chaos at home, while dreaming of living in a castle or aboard the Starship Enterprise.
She holds a degree in psychology and two masters degrees, one in psychology and one in library media education. As an adult, with each move, she declared a new career, ranging from an emergency room counselor to a graphic illustrator for the CIA. Her current position as the librarian at a middle school for 1,200 students allows her to indulge her love of children’s literature and provides her with the perfect audience for her novels.
G.M. Dyrek’s son was born in Asia, spent his youth in Central America, came of age in Europe and now attends college. She lives contentedly with her husband, her son, and a fat grey kitty named Hildegard (“Hildy”) on three wooded acres in Tennessee, in a home fondly christened, “Traveller’s Rest,” where she is currently working on Book Two of The Seer and the Scribe series, titled Methuselah’s Secret.
Visit G.M. Dyrek online at www.gmdyrek.com. Discussion questions for Spear of Destiny are available online at www.luminisbooks.com.
1 Shroud: A burial cloth usually made of linen.
2 Infirmarian: The healer or doctor for the monastery.
3 Gargantuan: Huge, large in size.
4 Tithe: A tenth of one’s salary given for the support of a church.
5 Anchor-hold: The name of the living tomb where a spiritual person, in this case, the Anchoress, lives out her days in seclusion and prays for the monks at the monastery.
6 Signet: A small raised unique crest of aristocratic families usually worn as a ring. It is used as a signature to press on melted wax to seal missals, or letters or indicate ownership on important documents.
7 Benedictine: A following of monks who promise to live a life of poverty, chastity and obedience. Their customary clothing is a black habit, symbolic of humility.
8 Terce: The office of prayer at 9 a.m. every morning.
9 Penitence: Punishment for sins committed.
10 Infirmary: The place in a monastery for the sick.
11 Gluttony: The act of eating to excess, one of the seven deadly sins.
12 Quote from the Holy Bible, Proverbs: Chapter 20, Verse 9.
13 Scribe: One of a learned class whose job is to record events as a Chronicler, to take dictation for letters, or to copy the writings of others.
14 Hippocrates: This Greek healer and his theories dominated medicine until the nineteenth century. His philosophy held that all material in the universe, including the human body, was based on four elements: earth, water, fire and air. These humors must be kept in balance; if they are not in harmony, disease results.
15 Vespers: An evening prayer service around 4:30 p.m. in the late afternoon, held generally at sunset.
16 Count: A European nobleman whose rank corresponds to that of a British earl.
17 Capitals: The top part or piece of an architectural column, usually ornate.
18 Stations of the Cross: Fourteen individual scenes telling of the Passion, or the journey Christ made to Golgotha for His crucifixion.
19 Dowry: Property that a woman brings to her husband in marriage.
20 Crusaders: Returning soldiers from the Holy Land. The Crusades were a series of wars undertaken in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries, by the European Christians eager to regain the Holy Land from the Muslims.
21 Cowl: A monk’s hood and an expression used to refer to becoming a holy brother and following the Benedictine code.
22 Scriptorium: The room in medieval monasteries where Scribes would copy by hand, manuscripts.
23 Illuminated: Decorated images in a manuscript, painted in gold, silver, or brilliant colors, often elaborate designs or pictures along borders and letters.
24 Apparition: A supernatural appearance, a ghost.
25 Tonsure: The shaven patch worn by monks on the crown of their heads.
26 Postulations: Theoretical proposals taken for truths.
27 Purgatory: An intermediate state of temporary punishment after death.
28 Codex Benedictus: The codex was a series of stories about Benedict; his twin sister, Scholastica; and Maur, Benedict’s first disciple.
29 Ossarium: A chamber or depository where bones of the dead are kept.
30 Canon Law: The law governing the Holy Roman Catholic church.
31 Carrels: A table with bookshelves often portioned or enclosed for individual study in a library.
32 Cumdachs: An Irish word for a portable wooden book chest or trunk.
33 Facsimile: A forgery or exact copy of an original work.
34 Daily Offices of Prayers: A practice observed at monasteries whereby the monks observe every three hours, or eight times daily, prayer meetings.
35 Crucible: A heat resistant container, like a flask, it can be subjected to extreme temperatures.
36 Compline: One of the daily offices of prayer around 6 p.m.
37 Matins: The darkest hour office of prayer given between 2:30 and 3 a.m.
38 Minstrel: Or Troubadour, were singers who would sing simple ballads or songs, while playing an instrument for entertainment.
39 Lute: A medieval guitar; a stringed musical instrument with a large pear-shaped body and a fretted fingerboard.
40 Wench: A young woman or female servant.
41 Genuflecting: To bend the knee in worship.
42 Vow: A solemn promise or assertion, one by which in this case, Sophie binds herself to an act, service, or condition in respect to the church.
43 Alcove: A small chapel off to one side of the church.
44 Intercede: To act in behalf of another with a view to reconciling all differences.
45 Aspersorium: A holy water bucket, a liturgical implement, often used with a small ornate ball that holds within it a sponge. It is shaken over a gravesite as a way to offer blessings for the recently deceased.
46 Vale in Christo semper memor nostri amen: A Latin inscription that reads when translated into English: Farewell in Christ, always mindful of us, Amen.
47 Cincture: The velvet-waist scarf worn by Abbots.
48 Ascetic: Practicing self-denial for religious reasons.
49 Stole: Is a long narrow rectangular garment, Abbots drape stoles around their necks.
50 Cellarer: The monk responsible for all the food supplies in a monastery.
51 Induction: The formality by which Jutta will be enclosed as an Anchoress at Disibodenberg. It will also involve Hildegard and Hiltrud, who will be enclosed as her spiritual companion and servant.
52 Guest Master: The one who welcomes and sees to the needs of visitors to the monastery. His duty was to receive any strangers and conduct them to the hospice or guest-chambers. The Benedictine principle of hospitality, expressed in chapter 53 of the Rule of St. Benedict reads: “All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ, for he himself will say: I was a stranger and you welcomed me (Matt 25:35). Proper honor must be shown to all, especially to those who share our faith (Gal 6:10) and to pilgrims.”
53 Rosary: Prayer beads used in saying a Roman Catholic devotion consisting of meditation on sacred mysteries during recitation of Hail Marys.
54 Knights of Hospitaller: Brotherhood of St. John of Jerusalem. This military religious order of monks founded by Blessed Gérard thought of the hospital as a community of saints: the brothers extended God’s loving care to the needy.
55 Aramaic: The Arameans, ancient people of Near East
who inhabited Palestine and Syria, speak the Aramaic language, a Semitic language closely related to Hebrew dating as far back as 900 B.C.
56 Investiture: The act of ratifying or establishing in office, a confirmation of the King’s right to be King.
57 Prime: The Office of Prayer around 7:30 a.m., shortly after daybreak.
58 All Saints Day: In the Catholic traditions, this was the night when all the spirits who dutifully served their time in Purgatory could finally seek passage into heaven.
59 Incluse: An arcane term used to distinguish between recluses in a more social setting such as a city church and incluses, Anchoresses tied to a monastery and under the rule of an Abbot.
60 Rosemary: Represents faithfulness, love and remembrance. Rosemary is usually symbolic of feminine love because the herb is very tough and strong, and grows very slowly. It is also the symbol for prudence and sensibility.
61 Sage: Symbolic of strength.
62 Lavender: Possesses a strong aroma and is thought to curb many evil things and because of it, malign spirits are terrified.
