"While their worship was tolerated," writes an historian, "they gave their new brother a black garment; but in times of persecution they did not wear it, for fear of betraying themselves to the officials of the Inquisition. In the thirteenth century, in southern France, they were known by the linen or flaxen belt, which the men wore over their shirts, and the women wore _cordulam cinctam ad carnem nudam subtus mamillas_. They resembled the cord or scapular that the Catholic tertiaries wore to represent the habit of the monastic order to which they belonged. They were therefore called _hæretici vestiti_, which became a common term for 'the Perfected.'" [1] Jean Guiraud, _Le consolamentum ou initiation cathare_, loc. cit., p. 134. The last ceremony was the kiss of peace, which "the Perfected" gave their new brother, by kissing him twice (on the mouth), _bis in ore ex transverso_. He in turn kissed the one nearest him, who passed on the _pax_ to all present. If the recipient was a woman, the minister gave her the _pax_ by touching her shoulder with the book of the gospels, and his elbow with hers. She transmitted this symbolic kiss in the same manner to the one next to her, if he was a man. After a last fraternal embrace, they all congratulated the new brother, and the assembly dispersed. The promises made by this new member of "the Perfected" were not all equally hard to keep. As far as positive duties were concerned, there were but three: the daily recitation of the Lord's Prayer, the breaking of bread, and the _Apparellamentum_. Only "the Perfected" were allowed to recite the Lord's Prayer. The Cathari explained the esoteric character of this prayer by that passage in the Apocalypse which speaks of the one hundred and forty-four thousand elect who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth, and who sing a hymn which only virgins can sing.[1] This hymn was the Pater Noster. Married people, therefore, and consequently "the Believers," could not repeat it without profanation. But "the Perfected" were obliged to say it every day, especially before meals.[2] [1] Apoc. xiv. 1-4. [2] The Perfected had to live with a _socius_ who blessed his food, while he in turn had to bless the food of his companion. If he separated from his _socius_, he had to do without food and drink for three days. This frequently happened when they were arrested and cast into prison. They blessed the bread without making the sign of the cross. This "breaking of bread" replaced the Eucharist. They thought in this way to reproduce the Lord's Supper, while they repudiated all the ceremonies of the Catholic Mass. "The Believers" partook of this blessed bread when they sat at the table with "the Perfected," and they were wont to carry some of it home to eat from time to time.