The Mass of Saint-Secaire

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The Mass of Saint-Sécaire was ritual performed in Gascony (France). It was a form of black mass, and consisted of parodies of the Eucharist. Its sole purpose was to avenge oneself of an enemy by simply having them waste away and die. It is believed to have been performed on occasion until the end of the nineteenth century. However the stringent requirements and the certainty of punishment if discovered must have made it very rare.

The mass could only be said in a ruined or deserted church full or bats, owls and toads and where it was forbidden for a Christian congregation to meet because something horrible had happened therein. At precisely the first stroke of 11 o’clock the corrupt priest, with only his lover as attendant, would begin to recite the mass backwards, being sure to finish at precisely the last stroke of midnight. The host would be triangular and black and the priest would not consecrate wine but would drink water from a well where an unbaptized child had been thrown. He would also make the sign of the cross with his left foot on the ground before him. At the very end he would pronounce the name of the victim who it was believe, in a short time, would simply waste away and die.

Few priests would have known this mass, and very few would have been willing to perform it. This mass was considered so depraved that no one but the Pope could grant absolution to the priest who had performed it.