That Saunière was being dishonest in his speech about the source of the money is clear from the notebooks previously mentioned, concerning the lists of applications for Masses. By this time, Saunière was soliciting for Masses in so many areas that it seems almost incredible he was not stopped. It is at least possible that the Bishop, Monseigneur Billard, was also trafficking in Masses (evidence exists that at the time of his death, he was under investigation for financial irregularities) and certainly known that he had similar Royalist convictions to Saunière, and it may be speculated that Monseigneur Billard deliberately did not take the steps his position required to rein in the curé. As no documentation exists to confirm this, it remains merely a plausible explanation, not a fact.

Bulk Masses

Many of the Masses for which Saunière was paid came in bulk, as can be seen by the example of a letter that came from the Sisters of Nevers at St Etienne:

Further such letters are quoted below:

Jean-Jacques Bedu’s analysis of the notebooks for 1896²² shows that Saunière was being paid for between eight and fifty-five Masses a day, certainly more than he could possibly say (even if he’d continued to attempt it), and definitely well beyond illegal into completely immoral. The notes specific to 1897 show that he received 5,500 francs that year for Masses – and that concerns only the receipts he actually listed. (This is confirmed by examination of the papers that show his bank balance.) He had placed advertisements in Semaine Religieuse, La Croix, L’Éclair, L’Express du Midi, L’Univers and Le Télégramme. He advertised for donations as well in L’Echo de la Semaine and Le Musée des enfants.

Land and luxuries

In spite of all this money, between 1898 and 1900 unpaid bills from earlier completed work came rolling in, and Saunière was obliged to request time to pay. The money was being used elsewhere – he had clearly conceived by this time a desire to build a fabulous villa and tower for his own use, and managed to buy up the land that he wanted, westwards of the presbytery. The houses on this land were demolished to make way for his grand plan. The land was purchased in Marie’s name, so as to prevent any possibility of the church or the commune claiming the land.