This is an in-depth study of the sacred origin and nature of royalty and monarchic regimes across ages and world cultures, written by an internationally acclaimed French authority on symbolism and religious studies.

Jean Hani, professor emeritus at the University of Amiens - where he taught Greek civilization and literature - has long labored to recover and illuminate various aspects of Christianity. His findings have been presented in several works: Divine Craftsmanship, Symbolism of the Christian Temple, and The Black Virgin (all published by Sophia Perennis), as well as Apercus sur la Messe, La Royaute, Du Pharaon au Roi Tres Chretien, and a collection of articles entitled Mythes, Rites et Symboles. His aim has been to integrate the latest findings in the history of religions with the perennialist spiritual perspective of such writers as Rene Guenon and Frithjof Schuon. If in the first place our book is intended to be a personal homage to the Divine Liturgy, it also has another purpose. Without any doubt, the gravest symptom in the crisis the Western Church is currently undergoing - the effects of which on art we have already denounced in our book The Symbolism of the Christian Temple--is the calling in question of the very meaning and content of the Mass, given that it is the heart and vital center of the Church. And we have made our feeble contribution to its defence. But our intention is not to become involved in theological quarrels. In this study our point of view is that of the historian of religions. What we wish to show is that the Christian mass is illumined in the light of studies concerning the universal schemas of the sacred to which it conforms. Most assuredly, the Christian cult has its specificity, but that is for the theologian and liturgist to spell out. What we are proposing to do is to unravel the characteristics in the Christian cult linking it to the universality of the sacred. From the Introduction

Jean Hani, professor emeritus at the University of Amiens-where he taught Greek civilization and literature-has long labored to recover and illuminate various aspects of Christianity. His findings have been presented in several works: The Symbolism of the Christian Temple, The Divine Liturgy, and God and the Crafts (also published by Sophia Perennis), as well as Aperus sur la Messe, La Royaut, Du Pharaon au Roi Trs Chrtien, and a collection of articles entitled Mythes, Rites et Symboles. His aim has been to integrate the latest findings in the history of religions with the perennialist spiritual perspective of Ren Gunon and Frithjof Schuon. Hani's The Black Virgin: A Marian Mystery differs from his previous writings through its sharper theological focus. In Hani's view, the key to the enigma of the Black Virgin was given at Lourdes by Mary herself: in declaring herself The Immaculate Conception, she initiated us into the Marian Mystery in all its profundity. And it is precisely through an apprehension of the Mystery as a whole that the ultimate meaning of the Black Virgin can be grasped-for the Marian Mystery is the Christian expression of the Eternal Feminine, a transcendent reality manifested by the Virgin especially under her black form.

Jean Hani, professor emeritus at the University of Amiens - where he taught Greek civilization and literature - has long labored to recover and illuminate various aspects of Christianity. His findings have been presented in several works: Divine Craftsmanship, The Divine Liturgy, and The Black Virgin (all published by Sophia Perennis), as well as Aperus sur la Messe, La Royaut, Du Pharaon au Roi Trs Chrtien, and a collection of articles entitled Mythes, Rites et Symboles. His aim has been to integrate the latest findings in the history of religions with the perennialist spiritual perspective of such writers as Ren Gunon and Frithjof Schuon. That sacred art no longer exists today is all too clear, despite the intense efforts of some to make us believe in the value, in this respect, of the most questionable productions. We can perhaps speak of a religious but certainly not a sacred art; indeed, between these two notions lies a radical difference rather than a nuance. True sacred art is not of a sentimental or psychological, but of an ontological and cosmological nature. This being so, sacred art will no longer appear to be the result of the feelings, fantasies, or even 'thought' of the artist, as with modern art, but rather the translation of a reality largely surpassing the limits of human individuality. Sacred art is precisely a supra-human art. The temple of former times was an 'instrument' of recollection, joy, sacrifice, and exaltation. First through the harmonious combination of a thousand symbols founded in the total symbol that it itself is, then by offering itself as a receptacle to the symbols of the liturgy, the temple together with the liturgy constitute the most prodigious formula capable of preparing man to become aware of the descent of Grace, of the epiphany of the Spirit in corporeity. It is a matter of urgency, then, to recall what is true sacred art, especially since - praise God - here and there more and more active signs of resistance to the anarchy and subversion manifest themselves, and a pressing call is felt to recover the traditional conceptions that must form the basis and condition of any restoration.

Jean Hani, professor emeritus at the University of Amiens - where he taught Greek civilization and literature - has long labored to recover and illuminate various aspects of Christianity. His findings have been presented in several works: The Symbolism of the Christian Temple, The Divine Liturgy, and The Black Virgin (all published by Sophia Perennis), as well as Aperus sur la Messe, La Royaut, Du Pharaon au Roi Trs Chrtien, and a collection of articles entitled Mythes, Rites et Symboles. His aim has been to integrate the latest findings in the history of religions with the perennialist spiritual perspective of such writers as Ren Gunon and Frithjof Schuon. In what way can human beings attain that Harmony whereby they become mediators between Heaven and Earth? In the mysterious language of symbols we can rediscover the sense of vocation that reflects Divine Activity. For God is, in reality the sole Artisan. All the traditional crafts are imitatings after God, Who unceasingly creates and maintains the world. And in the end it is this that constitutes to sole foundation for the dignity of work. That is why this book seeks to bring us to an interior knowledge of God as Divine Artisan. Chapters include: The Divine Scribe; Christ the Physician; The Warrior God; The Divine Potter; God the Weaver; God the Architect and Mason; The 'Son of the Carpenter'; Pastor et Nauta; God the Fisherman and God the Hunter; The Celestial Gardener; The Master of the Harvest; The Master of the Vineyard; The Spirituality of Work and the Body Social.