The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont/Chapter 1/Chapter 2
Chapter II.
The Teaching Church
The schools and doctrine of the early Waldensian Church—Biography of Peter Waldo.
PERSECUTION and the cross! Yes, we now enter
on that long struggle against tyranny, and endurance of wrong; that heroic defence of truth which has no parallel in the history of any other Church or nation. We have said that as the Italian Church receded from its ancient faith,
the Vaudois Church came more prominently forward in the maintenance of Christian purity. The transition from
the gorgeous ritual of the hierarchy to the naked sublimity of the Pra del Tor,[1] would furnish a subject for a dissolving view of striking contrast—shall we try and paint it?
It should be at the moment of vespers, as the setting sun is throwing bright masses of colouring through the stained glass on the pavement of Milan Cathedral. Clouds of incense curl even to the roof, whilst a procession of priests and white-robed choristers, chanting their Ave Marias, wind through the “long-drawn aisles,” and disappear beneath the portico of the magnificent building. We follow,
ENTRANCE TO PRA DEL TOR, VAL ANGROGNA.
and behold! a thick mist, gradually ascending from the
ground, at length wraps the whole cathedral in its cold grey mantle, and shuts out the light of heaven. Suddenly the strained eye discerns the tops of lofty mountains piercing the clouds, and sharp-pointed rocks almost meeting across a foaming torrent; then, as the vapour clears away and the scene expands, a grassy hollow is visible, scooped out as it were amid its guardian mountains.
PRA DEL TOR—ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.
The sun, now bursting out, illuminates the mouth of a
deep cavern, within whose recess we discern a circle of
mountain youths, their eyes earnestly fixed on the countenance of a white-haired man, who looks on them with a father’s interest, as they eagerly drink in the instruction he imparts. And soon the glorious sun has climbed high above the clear horizon, and the circle is broken up. Some of the students seek the shelter of the forest to con their sacred tasks, and some climb the heights, or search the margin of the stream for healing herbs ; but when the dew falls on the herbage, and the labour of the vine-dresser is ended, and the goat-herd has driven home his flock, we see them all cross the green hollow, and stand reverently around the holy man as he reads and explains to them God s sacred Word. The voice of prayer, sweet and solemn, is then heard in the vast wilderness the voice of one interpreter of the wants and woes of the kneeling mountaineers; and then the full burst of praise mingles with the roar of the descending torrent; and again all is hushed but its brawling waters, as the Christians steal, in silence and secrecy, to their homes, trembling lest even the stars that light them on their way should betray them to their lurking foes.
But now the Vaudois pastor and his flock meet no more by stealth on the Pra del Tor. Thanks be to God, to the tolerance of their ruling princes, and to the benevolent aid of Christian friends, they have now churches in which they can meet, and a college in which they can educate the rising generation “none making them afraid.” It is truly a blessed change; but we have a long train of persecution to unfold, ere it will find a place in our history of the Vaudois Church.
This mountain retreat, which we have described in some what fanciful terms, is very dear to the men of the valleys. It has well deserved their veneration, since we shall find it affording them not only a place of refuge, but a fortress of defence at once their temple and academy, their castle and retreat. “It was here” says their historian Muston, “in the almost inaccessible solitude of the profound gorge of Pra del Tor, where retired nature filled their souls with stern inspirations, that the barbes held their schools. They made their pupils learn by heart the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John, the General Epistles, and some of those of St. Paul. They exercised them in Latin, the Romaunt tongue, and the Italian. After this the young men passed some years in retirement, and were consecrated to the ministry by the laying on of hands.” To the above studies other authors add that of medicine a knowledge essentially useful in their missionary wanderings. But the principles most insisted on by these early teachers as the foundation of all their instructions, the great lesson which echoed through the rocky labyrinths of their wild academy, and which forms the essence of the protestations of this primitive Church, is thus summed up:
“God is the only object of worship;
The Bible is the only rule of faith;
Christ is the only foundation of salvation.”
The character of the barbes is unanimously represented as being of an exalted order. They are termed the “lovers of all virtues, and enemies of all vices.” That they exercised a patriarchal if not a sacerdotal influence over their flocks, this familiar appellation (barba, “uncle”) seems to indicate; their whole history also shows them to have been men thoroughly devoted to their duty, and quite free from worldly or ambitious views. “We receive,” as they humbly express it, “our food and clothing in the way of alms, as much as is needed, from the good people whom we teach.” But, like St. Paul, they worked with their own hands, and applied themselves to some useful handicraft or art principally to that of healing. They were, for the most part, unmarried; not from deeming the state of wedlock forbidden, or otherwise undesirable than as a bar to usefulness, and more especially to that life of missionary labours to which these apostles of the valleys were from their earliest ordination devoted.
The Word of God was the earliest inheritance of the Vaudois, and they clung with a holy pertinacity to all that it bade them retain, renouncing with equal integrity all that could not be proved to be in accordance with its injunctions. The Bible was their sword and shield, their fortress and defence from the face of their enemies.
Deprived for centuries of an outward church, forced to meet for worship in caves and dens of the earth, the lamp of the Word was their only light, so that, guided by its unerring beams, their feet stumbled not on the dark mountains. Thus “a familiar acquaintance with the Bible, and submission to its teachings, formed the distinctive feature of the ancient Vaudois. Nor was the investigation of the Holy Scriptures the duty and privilege of the barbes and their scholars only the layman, the labourer, the artisan, the mountain cowherd, the mother of a family, nay, even the young girl whilst watching the cattle and employing her hands at the same time in spinning, studied the Bible attentively and practically.” [2]
This faithful investigation of the Word of God naturally exercised a powerful influence on the writers of the ancient documents of the Vaudois Church, which are still preserved, and of which scriptural truth and scriptural simplicity are the prominent characteristics.
The moderator, Léger, foreseeing, with too sure prognostic, the coming storm of 1655, collected these original manuscripts of his Church, bearing date from A.D. 1100[3] to A.D. 1230, and consigned them to the care of Sir Samuel Holland, the English ambassador, who deposited them in the library at Cambridge. Another, but smaller collection, was placed nearly at the same time by Léger himself in the public library at Geneva—a wise precaution, since, by some unaccountable carelessness or fraud, a considerable number of the Cambridge deposit are missing. These MSS. are for the most part in the Romaunt tongue, a corruption of which is the popular language of the valleys, and are written with considerable accuracy, and even elegance.
But the glory of the Vaudois literature is their “Noble Lesson,” a poem of considerable power and of pure evangelical sentiment, sufficiently explanatory of the horror these ancient Christians entertained of the doctrine of Mariolatry and saint worship, of the supremacy of the Pope, the idolatry of the mass, and other falsehoods of Papal invention. Besides a copy of this poem, still remaining, we believe, in the Dublin collection, we have seen a very perfect one in the Genevan library, laid up with the autographs and manuscripts of the celebrated Reformers, ecclesiastical and political, of the sixteenth century—a jewel in an appropriate casket.
The poem opens with an exhortation to repentance, founded on the belief prevalent amongst the early Christians, that after the Gospel had been preached a thousand years, Satan would be loosed, and the end of the world draw nigh (Rev. xx. 7). This refers the work to the latter part of the eleventh century (a date, indeed, expressly specified), and forms another proof, to add to those already brought forward, of the antecedence of the Vaudois Church to the birth of Peter Waldo.
“Oh, brethren, hear a noble lesson,
We ought always to watch and pray,
For we see this world is near its end.
We ought to be earnest in doing good works,
For we see this world is coming to an end.
Eleven hundred years are already accomplished
Since it was written. For we are in the last time.”
The poem is too long for copying, but we will add a few lines, taken from another part, to prove how early the Vaudois Christians were exposed to persecution, as well as in evidence of the morality of their lives.
“If there be any one who loves and fears Jesus Christ,
Who will not curse, nor swear, nor lie,
Nor be unchaste, nor kill, nor take what is another’s,
Nor take vengeance on his enemies,
They say that he is a Vaudès, and worthy of punishment.”
It should be noticed that the word Vaudès means, in the Romaic, a sorcerer; and some authors[4] refer the appellation of the men of the valleys (Vaudois) to this opprobrious epithet, bestowed on the early Christians by their Popish as well as pagan adversaries.
We must now endeavour to give a brief summary of the belief of the Vaudois Church, as it was and is (which in all essential tenets harmonizes with that of other evangelical Christians), as extracted from their ancient documents, and quoted by their ablest historians. They believed in one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; that Christ is Life, Truth, Peace, Righteousness, Shepherd and Advocate, Sacrifice and Priest; that He died for the salvation of all believers, and rose again for their justification. They acknowledged no purgatory, calling it a “dream of Antichrist,”; and admitted but two sacraments Baptism and the Eucharist. “Sacraments,” they aver, “are signs, or visible forms of invisible graces; good, but not essential to salvation.” They subscribed to all the articles of the Apostles Creed, and received the Athanasian Creed, and the decisions of the first four Councils.
Their morality was very severe; they denounced taverns as “the fountains of sin, and schools of the devil, where he works miracles of his own kind;” and forbade dancing, “as a procession and pageant of the evil spirit.” “In the dance,” say they, “God’s ten commandments are broken; the hearts of men are intoxicated with earthly joy; they forget God, they utter nothing but falsehood and folly, and abandon themselves to pride and concupiscence.” As may be supposed, the instruction of youth formed a part of their code, as well as the duties of children to their parents; and in fraternal and ecclesiastical discipline, the commands of the apostle were strictly enforced and obeyed.
Such, then, though imperfectly explained by our short summary, were the admirable doctrines and regulations of the Vaudois Church, even amid the darkness of mediaeval error. Let us now inquire what was their influence on the life and conversation of her children. We are content on this, as on former occasions, to abide by the testimony of their enemies,—and surely amongst the bitterest we may class Claude Seyssel, who, whilst at the head of the persecuting Propaganda, attests,[5] “that as to their life and manners they were irreproachable among men, applying themselves 46 A History of the Waldensian Church.
with all their power to the observance of the commandments of God.” St. Bernard, compelled, in spite of his hatred of their “heresy,” to acknowledge the purity of their lives, charges even this on them as the acting of falsehood. “If you ask”—such are his remarkable words—“What is their faith? nothing is more Christian; if you ask, What is their manner of life? nothing is more irreproachable.” The testimony of the Inquisitor Rainier reminds us of the forced acknowledgment of the possessed.“The heretics,” he writes, “may be known by their manners and their language, for they are well ordered and modest in their manners; they avoid pride in their dress, the materials of which are neither expensive nor mean. They live by their labour as artisans; their men of learning are likewise mechanics. They do not amass wealth, but content themselves with what is necessary. They are chaste, and temperate in eating and drinking. They do not frequent taverns and dances, and are not addicted to other vanities—they labour constantly—they study and teach. They may be known by their concise and modest discourse, in which they guard against indulging in jesting, slander, and profanity.”
Such a testimony from the pen of their enemy and active persecutor, induces us to echo the confession of the good king Louis xii., when a similar one was brought to him of his Vaudois subjects of Val Louise: “These heretics are better Christians than we.” It is in truth a lovely picture—why should it be a dissolving one? We trust it is not and quote in confirmation of that hope, and our own experience, the testimony of a modern writer, who, in referring to the present Vaudois community, remarks, “Indeed, the Vaudois, be it the result of their religion, their poverty, their meekness, or the persecutions to which they have been subjected, have preserved great integrity of manners; and it cannot be said that they threw off the reins of authority in order to yield to the impetuosity of the passions.”
We now proceed to the teaching of the Vaudois on another and equally important subject—namely, on the ceremonies and rites of their Church.
They admitted infant baptism, as they still continue to do, and the administration of the Lord’s Supper in both kinds, deeming it essential that each rite should be administered by an ordained minister.
With regard to ordination, “it was their custom from the earliest period on record,”; says the historian Gilly, “for the barbes or pastors to assemble in synod once a year, in the month of September, when they examined and admitted to the holy ministry such students as appeared qualified, and also named those who were to travel to distant churches.” From the same authority we learn that in later times “they held assemblies from all parts of Europe where Vaudois churches were established.” As many as one hundred and forty pastors were thus assembled in the valley of the Clusone on one celebrated occasion.
The bull of John xxii. declares: “It has come to our ears, that in the valleys of Luserna, Perosa, etc., the Waldenses, heretics, have increased so as to form frequent assemblies in a kind of chapter, in which they meet to the number of five hundred.” This bull was issued at the beginning of the fourteenth century.
We are not told of the precise manner in which the ordination was conducted by the early barbes, beyond the simple fact that it was performed by the laying on of hands; but as the customs of the Vaudois are, as those of the Medes and Persians, little given to change, it may interest our readers to have an account of an ordination which took place at La Torre, in the autumn of 1853. The examination of the candidates, five in number, was held in the college, in the presence of the entire body of clergy, presided over by the “Table,” or executive government. The peculiar circumstances of the times, the important field of missionary labour open to the candidates, and the personal interest connected with the history of one in particular, who had come out of the Roman Catholic Church, in which he had held an influential position, deepened the interest, and protracted the examination beyond the customary limits.[6]
The synod sat for many consecutive days, during which each candidate was examined separately and scrupulously—on his belief, on his religious convictions, and on the motives which induced him to desire ordination in the Vaudois Church. The answers were duly registered, and copies of the whole proceedings of the assembly forwarded to the different churches and academies in connection with those of the valleys.
The examination of this year was on the three points—justification by faith, the Divine authority of the Bible, and the constitution and principles of the Vaudois Church, At the end of the examination, the result being satisfactory, a separate text was given to each student, who in turn preached a sermon on it, in the church of La Torre. We were privileged to be present in one of the very large congregations then assembled. They seemed in outward appearance little changed since the days when their forefathers worshipped amid the rocky fastnesses of the Pra del Tor. On one side of the spacious new church were ranged the women, clad uniformly in the simple costume of the country, with their white caps and dark-coloured gowns; whilst the opposite benches were occupied by the men, all apparently listening with deep interest to the preacher, and joining in the prayers and psalmody with heart as well as voice.
No doubt, many hearts beat, as those more nearly connected with them appeared for the first time in this responsible situation; and there were yet deeper feelings excited as the Christian beheld, in these young and ardent men, missionaries who were destined to “sow the Italian field” with the precious grain of the Word of God, and to go forth again as their fathers of old, shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, and with offers of salvation to the descendants of their bitterest foes.
The imposition of hands took place fifteen days after the examination and initiatory sermons. The ceremony was simple. The moderator commenced it by a sermon on the duties of the candidates, who were ranged beneath him surrounded by the pastors. At the termination of his discourse, he descended from the pulpit and laid his hand on each of their heads as they knelt before him, the ministers extending theirs at the same time over them; and the ceremony was concluded by a general fraternal embrace.
We now return to the early missionaries of Pra del Tor, from whom, as we recall the scene we have described, we seem scarcely to have parted, so similar in spirit are some of the young and ardent men just consecrated to the work. Amongst the many important services of the Teaching Church were translations made by the barbes, copies of which were multiplied by their scholars and distributed amongst their flock. Nor was the circulation confined to their valleys; in their frequent missionary journeys they threw far and wide the precious seed; and it will be seen at the great harvest with what result.
The subject recalls another eminent labourer in the same field, another evangelical translator, whose name has already been traced on these pages—the Merchant Reformer, Peter Waldo.
Perhaps a little notice of “the poor man of Lyons” may serve as one of our promised bouquets to scent and embellish our chapter of the Teaching Church, and add life to its lessons.
But Peter was not always “the poor man of Lyons”—he did not always wear that garment of coarse frieze, nor walk with sandalled foot along the highways, calling on all men “to repent and come out of the abominations of the Great Babylon.” We know of one day when the wealthy merchant was arrayed in purple and fine linen, and sat conspicuously at a feast. There were luxurious viands on the board, and the wine cup went freely round; and the tabor and harp were there; and there, too, was the rich man’s chosen friend, the companion of all his pastimes, as young and thoughtless as himself. We are not told under what form death appeared to the friend of Peter Waldo; all we know is, that the grim tyrant seized him as he sat at the festal board. Like the companion of another great Reformer, he was struck dead at his friend’s side; and the effect on both survivors was the same—a sudden and solemn conviction of the necessity of repentance, and an unalterable determination, from that awful moment, to give themselves up to the service of God. Luther, we know, retired to a monastery for study and meditation—Waldo remained in the world, but not of it. He sold his lands and houses, parted with his luxurious furniture, and gave all his fortune to charitable and evangelizing purposes. He also devoted himself to the study of the Bible, and, some affirm, translated the Gospels into the vulgar tongue; at all events, he gave the people this inestimable boon, and caused the intelligible Word of God to be widely circulated amongst them. Many of his followers, who, in imitation of their leader, gave up their all and went about in humble guise preaching the gospel, were styled “the poor men of Lyons,” which at length became the general appellation of this rapidly increasing sect. The amazing success which attended their efforts, the truly apostolic life of Peter and his disciples, soon drew on them the anathema of the Pope, and the violent persecution of the Archbishop of Lyons. Waldo made his escape into Picardy, where he had many co-religionists, and then crossed the Alps with some of his followers to find a welcome in Piedmont. Once more he returned, to escort other aliens to the same place of shelter ; and then this eminent Reformer retired, about 1182, with a number of his followers from the same locality, into Bohemia, where he finished his distinguished career about the year 1197, leaving behind him a vast number of disciples, converts from the Romish Church, who, scattered far and wide by the storms of persecution, settled in various countries, carrying with them the precious truths of the Gospel of Christ.
Thus the tempest which uproots the parent tree bears the seed on its wing, until, scattered over the moistened earth, it springs up and covers with fertility the hitherto unproductive soil.
- ↑ Or Meadow of the Turn called in Italian, Prato del Torno, in patois Pra del Tor, or Pré du Tour. A sudden turn in the valley of Angrogna brings one in sight of the meadow.
- ↑ Monastier’s Histoire de l’Eglise Vaudoise, chap. xii.
- ↑ This date is questioned.
- ↑ See Monastier, chap. vii.
- ↑ Léger, pt. 1, p. 184. Storia d Italia di Carlo Botta. Paris, 1832, pp. 369, 370, as quoted by Monastier.
- ↑ See p. 263.