“They no doubt typify the seven avenues, the seven gifts of the Paraclete.  This question of number leads me to speak of theological enumeration, a peculiar element which plays a part in the varied subject of symbolism,” the Abbe went on.  “The allegorical science of numbers is a very old one.  Saint Isidor of Seville, and Saint Augustine studied it.  Michelet, who talks nonsense as soon as he has to do with a cathedral, is hard on the mediaeval architects for their belief in the meaning of figures.  He accuses them of having observed mystic rules in the arrangement of certain parts of the buildings; of having, for instance, restricted the number of windows, or arranged pillars and bays in accordance with some arithmetical combination.  Not understanding that each detail of a church had a meaning and was a symbol, he could not understand that it was important to calculate each, since its meaning might be modified or even completely altered.  Thus a pillar by itself may not necessarily typify an Apostle, but if there should be twelve, they evidently show the meaning attributed to them by the builder, since they recall the exact number of Christ’s disciples.  Sometimes, indeed, to prevent any mistake, the answer is supplied with the problem; as in an old church at Etampes, where I read, inscribed on the twelve Romanesque shafts, the names of the Apostles in relief, in the traditional setting of a Greek cross.

“At Chartres they had adopted a still better plan:  statues of the twelve Apostles were placed in front of the pillars of the nave:  but the Revolution took offence at these figures, overthrew and destroyed them.

“In considering the system of symbolism it is necessary to study the significance of numbers.  The secrets of church building can only be discerned by recognizing the mysterious idea of the unity of the figure I., which is the image of God Himself.  The suggestion of II., which figures the two natures of the Son, the two dispensations, and, according to Saint Gregory the Great, the two-fold law of love of God and man.  Three is the number of the Persons of the Trinity, and of the theological virtues.  Four typifies the cardinal virtues, the four Greater Prophets, the Gospels and the elements.  Five is the number of Christ’s wounds, and of our senses, whose sins He expiated by a corresponding number of wounds.  Six records the days devoted by God to the creation, determines the number of the Commandments promulgated by the Church, and, according to Saint Melito, symbolizes the perfection of the active life.  Seven is the sacred number of the Mosaic law; it is the number of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, of the Sacraments, of the words of Jesus on the Cross, of the canonical hours, and of the successive orders of priesthood.  Eight, says Saint Ambrose, is the symbol of regeneration, Saint Augustine says of the Resurrection, and it recalls the idea of the eight Beatitudes.  Nine is the number of the angelic hierarchy, of the special gifts of the Spirit as enumerated