of the Lord, and above all the incomparable majesty of Almighty God—­though I am acquainted with these things, yet am I not therefore by any means perfect, nor am I such a disciple as Paul or Peter.”

Ignatius also speaks of the High Priest or Hierophant, of whom he asserts that he was the one “to whom the holy of holies has been committed, and who alone has been entrusted with the secrets of God.” (Epistles of Ignatius.)

St. Clement of Alexandria was a mystic of high rank in the Inner Circle of the Church.  His writings are full of allusions to the Christian Mysteries.  He says among other things that his writings were “a miscellany of Gnostic notes, according to the time philosophy,” which teachings he had received from Pontaemus, his instructor or spiritual teacher.  He says of these teachings: 

“The Lord allowed us to communicate of those divine Mysteries and of that holy light, to those who are able to receive them.  He did not certainly disclose to the many what did not belong to the many; but to the few to whom He knew that they belonged, who were capable of receiving and being moulded according to them.  But secret things are intrusted to speech, not to writing, as is the case with God.  And if one say that it is written, ’There is nothing secret which shall not be revealed, nor hidden, which shall not be disclosed,’ let him also hear from us, that to him who hears secretly, even what is secret shall be manifested.  This is what was predicted by this oracle.  And to him who is able secretly to observe what is delivered to him, that which is veiled shall be disclosed as truth; and what is hidden to the many shall appear manifest to the few.  The mysteries are delivered mystically, that what is spoken may be in the mouth of the speaker; rather not in his voice, but in his understanding.  The writing of these memoranda of mine, I well know, is weak when compared with that spirit full of grace, which I was privileged to hear.  But it will be an image to recall the archetype to him who was struck with the Thyrsus.”

(We may state here that the Thyrsus was the mystic-wand carried by the Initiates in the Mystic Brotherhoods—­the Initiate being first tapped with it, and then receiving it from the Hierophant, at the ceremony of formal Initiation.) Clement adds: 

“We profess not to explain secret things sufficiently—­far from it—­but only to recall them to memory, whether we have forgot aught, or whether for the purpose of not forgetting.  Many things, well I know, have escaped us, through length of time, that have dropped away unwritten.  There are then some things of which we have no recollection; for the power that was in the blessed men was great.”

“There are also some things which remain unnoted long, which have now escaped; and others which are effaced, having faded away in the mind itself, since such a task is not easy to those not experienced; these