The Waldensian Church in the valleys of Piedmont/Chapter 7
CHAPTER VII.
The Resuscitated Church.
The influence of the Reformation on the Vaudois Church—Visit of the Reformers, and printing of the French Bible.
THE glorious light of the Reformation had partially illumined the greater part of Europe ere its beams penetrated into the valleys of the Vaudois, filling the hearts of their desponding inhabitants with joyful gratitude. The herald of the wonderful intelligence was the Pastor Martin, of the valley of Luserna, who had been sent on a mission of inquiry, and returned in the year 1526, bringing with him several books which had been printed by the Reformers.
The rapid revival of the fainting Vaudois Church proved how much vitality she still possessed; more especially when we find her recovered energy did not evaporate in sentiment, but was quickly roused into action. The first impulse of the Vaudois of the valleys, and that of their colonies also, was to despatch messengers to the principal Reformers of Germany and Switzerland, soliciting advice and co-operation. The most celebrated of these, Georges Morel, of Mérindol, and Pierre Masson, of Burgundy, have already been named as the agents of the Vaudois of Provence. These devoted pastors were charged with letters to Œcolampadius, at Basle, to Capiton and Martin Bucer, of Strasburg, to Berthold Haller, of Berne, and others of the Reformers; and if the simple ministers of the primitive Church felt their hearts glow with love and veneration when admitted to this conference, we are told these distinguished men received a deputation from the Church in the Wilderness with no less emotion. The deputies delivered to Œcolampadius a Latin epistle, explanatory of the doctrines and discipline of the Vaudois Church. We will give a few extracts from this touching document:
“The Christians of Provence to Œcolampadius. Health!
Having learnt that the all-powerful God has filled you with
His Holy Spirit, as appears by your works; we have recourse
to you, with the assurance that the Divine Spirit will
enlighten us by your counsels, and will instruct us in many
things which are hidden from us, by reason of our ignorance
and weakness, to the great detriment of the flock of which
we are the unworthy directors; and that you may also be
come acquainted with our position. You must know that
we, poor pastors of this little flock, have, during more than
four hundred years, experienced the most cruel persecutions;
but not without signal marks of the favour of Christ, who
has often delivered us when we groaned under the weight of tribulation. In this state of weakness we come to ask of
you advice and consolation.”
The letter goes on to describe their mode of admission to holy orders, and their rules of pastoral conduct. It also enumerated their articles of faith on the Divine Trinity, the Incarnation and Divinity of Jesus Christ, and all the essential points of Christian doctrine. They furthermore explained their rejection of those doctrines peculiar to the creed of Rome, such as Transubstantiation, Idolatry, Purgatory, etc., etc.; and concluded by asking advice on some points on which they experienced doubts and hesitation.
“In all important points,” they continued, “we are one with you; and since the time of the apostles our faith has been the same; but in this we differ, that, by our fault or the weakness of our minds, we do not comprehend the Scriptures as well as you, and therefore we come to you to be guided and edified.”
We find two replies of Œcolampadius full of affection and fraternity. One of them, dated 1533, begins thus:
“Œcolampadius to all the well-beloved brothers in Christ, called Vaudois. Grace from God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
“We would not that what we write,” says the Reformer, “should be taken as if from pride we arrogated to ourselves any superiority, but as a discussion held with our brothers in charity and fraternal love.”
In his second letter, nevertheless, he reprimands some amongst them, who had been present at the mass, and bowed to the images, reminding them that such pretended sacrifices for the sins of the living and the dead implied that Jesus Christ had not made, “by His oblation once offered, sufficient atonement for the sins of the whole world.”
The reply of Martin Bucer is also extant, and breathes an affectionate and brotherly interest equally ardent.
The Vaudois barbes having faithfully executed their mission, set out on their return. One only reached his earthly home; the other, Pierre Masson, was waylaid at Dijon, probably during some visit to his brethren in the faith, imprisoned, and shortly after received the crown of martyrdom. Georges Morel arrived alone at Mérindol, that little town of so many touching recollections, where he assembled all the chief persons of the place and neighbourhood, and delivered to them the letter of Œcolampadius, enforcing with great earnestness the counsel of the Reformer, respect ing any guilty compliance with the abuses around them, and stirring them up to a more separate and severe walk and confession, by the example of those holy men whose advice and co-operation they had sought.
Thus, with that modesty and docility which have always characterized the Vaudois Christians, we find them receiving the reprimands of the Reformers, and, although but their younger brethren in the faith, looking up to them with the reverence of sons. Let not this important fact, however, be overlooked, which has been thus forcibly brought for ward by one of the Vaudois historians:[1]
“That the conscientious study of the Word of God led the Reformers, when they left the Roman Church, to reconstruct a Church which, from its first formation, won the esteem and sympathy of the ancient Vaudois Churches, who had, as far as was in their power, preserved the pure doctrine and worship of the first ages of Christianity.”
On the 12th of September, 1532, the valley of Angrogna was again invaded by strangers; not, however, as heretofore, by those “whose feet were swift to shed blood,” but by such as were “shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace,” by bands of thoughtful men, soldiers of the cross. They came from the sister mountains of Switzerland, from the country of the reforming monk, from the gentle brethren of Bohemia. They hastened, like duteous children, from the colonies of the Vaudois Churches; many a hidden one, too, emerged from nearer places of refuge, to draw strength and consolation from the counsels of their brethren in the faith, who were congregated on that memorable day at the Synod of Champforans.
Never, never did holier assembly meet in more fitting temple yet, although we have sat beneath its ancient chestnut trees, on lawns of brightest verdure sloping to the torrent’s side; measured with almost aching eyes the height of its sheltering rocks; though we have gathered the wild lilies from the brink of the clear, the matchless torrent of Angrogna, we cannot paint the scene. There is a holy influence shed around, which makes the traveller feel he is in the presence of more than the beauty of outward forms, however attractively combined.
Amid the assemblage of devoted men at the Synod of Champforans, the presence of the bold and faithful Reformer, William Farel, has been ascertained by a species of witness by no means rare in Vaudois history. Jeannet Peyrel, of Angrogna, having been cast into prison on account of his religion in 1535, acknowledged to having kept guard over the meeting of the pastors “who taught the good law,” and that amongst them was one named “Farel, who had a red beard, and rode a beautiful white horse;” and furthermore, “that of his two companions, one was very tall and rather lame, and the other had a horse almost black.” One of these last was, doubtless, the Reformer’s friend and fellow-countryman, Antony Saunier, from Dauphiny.
The Christians of that time seemed to have bodies suited to the mind which directed them,—distance, difficulty, “all seasons and their changes," seemed to bend to the iron purpose of their souls. We find them everywhere—now confronting princes and potentates, now arguing with logicians and divines, and again crossing the Alps at the cry of the men of the valleys to “come over and help them.”
The Synod of Champforans met on the 12th of September in the year 1532, and was composed of a large number of earnest and devoted Christians, deputies from all the Vaudois Churches, pastors from the Protestant congregations of Switzerland, brethren from Bohemia, and, as we have seen, some of the prominent Reformers. It was a solemn convocation. When we consider the peculiar circumstances of the times, and the situation of the Vaudois population, we feel it could not have been otherwise. The Synod sat for six consecutive days, for although the questions had been carefully prepared, much time was necessary for their free discussion. A short Confession of Faith was drawn up, which their historian calls “a supplement to the ancient Confession of Faith of the year 1120, and which he affirms it does not in any way contradict.” But there are two or three leading articles which prove a more recent origin, and betray foreign interference. It were to be desired and in this we echo the sentiments of some of their living ministers that the Vaudois had retained more of the peculiar features of their venerable Church, together with their language, and the affectionate appellation of Barba, which assimilated so well with the simplicity of their primitive pastors.
Perhaps it was somewhat of the same clinging to the past, some leaning towards the episcopal form of church govern ment, that caused the only dissentient voices in this remarkable convocation. We are told that two of the delegates withdrew from the assembly to lay their objections before the Churches of Bohemia. This difference of opinion, whatever may have been its grounds, made no change in the Christian feelings of either party towards the other. They felt, and still feel as brethren in Christ, and that their Churches are sisters, sprung from one common parent.
The two dissatisfied ministers returned the following year, bearing letters from their elders, the contents of which were discussed at a synod called for that purpose in the valley of San Martino, on the 15th of August, 1533. The resolutions of the former year having been again passed, it is added that the brethren, Jean de Moulines and Daniel de Valence, “left the valley not to return.”
Far be it from us to undervalue the benefits derived by the Vaudois from their union with the great leaders of the glorious movement of the sixteenth century. The counsels of the Reformers to their brethren of the valleys were worthy of their own renown, and the cause to which they were pledged. Truth simple-minded, single-eyed truth was the basis of all their exhortations, and the resolutions entered into at the Synod of Champforans proved how earnestly the Vaudois prepared to carry into effect the advice given to them.
It was here determined that they should lay aside every kind of dissimulation or reserve, every cowardly concealment by which they had hoped to screen themselves from their enemies. That they should, on no pretext or compulsion whatever, take part in any Popish ceremony, or countenance any Popish superstition; never acknowledge as pastor any priest of the Romish Church, or have recourse to his ministrations. They even took the courageous resolution no longer to carry on their own social worship, as they had hitherto conceived it prudent to do, in secrecy; but to celebrate it with that publicity and openness, neither shunning nor courting notice, which they considered as most conducive to the glory of God.
What a noble example do these humble yet heroic Christians set us! How poor, how contemptible does the hesitating professor appear at their side, shrinking from confessing his Saviour before men, though neither bonds nor stripes await him! How doubly guilty, when viewed by the bold relief of their unshrinking truthfulness, does the doctrine of reserve with all its ramifications of natural and non-natural significancy seem, even without taking into the account the relative situation of the two parties the one, members of a persecuted and impoverished Church, surrounded by spies, and daily subjected to penalties and denunciation the other, enjoying liberty and light, together with the blessing of a mild and enlightened Church; and whilst performing the easy and delightful duties attached to it rewarded by the respect and affection of those amongst whom they are exercised!
At the Synod of Champforans another and most important resolution was entered into, and carried into immediate effect the translation of the Holy Bible into the French language, of which the poor Vaudois undertook the expense, together with that of the first edition. This was a most grateful present from these indigent people to the Reformed Churches; and the fifteen hundred gold crowns, which they sent for its completion, was a very large sum, when the source from which it sprang is considered.
This Bible was printed at Neuchâtel on the 5th June, 1535, a folio edition, by Pierre de Wingle, called Pirot Picard. The Neuchâtelois granted him the freedom of their city for his beautiful and correct execution of the important task. The sacred volume bore the title, of which a reduced facsimile is given on the opposite page. It was translated by Olivètan, a kinsman of Calvin, who is said to have as assisted him in his arduous task. The generosity of the Vaudois in defraying the expenses of the publication is acknowledged in the following lines placed at the beginning of the Bible:
“Les Vaudois, peuples évangéliques
Ont mis ce trésor en publique.”
The account given by all their historians of the spiritual growth of the men of the valleys at this time, reminds us of that of the Apostolic Church in the freshness of its first love. We are told that “a clearer view of their duty strengthened those of the feeblest faith; zeal, which had been languishing for years, revived anew in every heart. A Christian life, not entirely new, but renovated, circulated faithfully through all the branches of the Vaudois Churches. Barbes and private Christians supported each other in realizing the one desire that of glorifying their Saviour in the face of idolaters. Their ardent wish was to reproduce in action the device still engraved on the seal of the Vaudois Churches,—“a light shining in darkness.”
The annals of the Vaudois at that time furnish many
proofs of this zeal put into action, nor was the awakening
confined to the strict precincts of the valleys. The country people came in crowds to the appointed place of meeting; the citizens and inhabitants of the plains followed their example; even the lords of the soil protected the
evangelical faith, and some of them openly declared themselves
in its favour. In a short time the barbes were found to be
too few for their work, and for the new cares which claimed
their time and exertions. Those amongst them whose office
it had been to train candidates for the ministry were obliged
to give up this employment, and devote themselves entirely
to preaching and the care of souls. Their meetings for public
service, in conformity with the resolutions entered into at
the Synod of Champforans, were held without concealment
though with as little notoriety as possible either in the
houses of the barbes, the dwellings of private persons, or,
when the season permitted, in the open air on the mountain
side, beneath the shade of their ancestral trees, and under
their sheltering rocks.
But in the year 1535, the Vaudois were stimulated to put a last finish to their works of faith and labour of love, by building churches in which to worship their God. The first sacred edifice was raised at San Lorenzo, in Angrogna.[2] It was meet that this bulwark of her persecuted children should be the site of the first temple of the Vaudois Church. It was also in the vicinity of the hallowed precincts of Champforans. Another small chapel was soon after raised, somewhat higher up the valley, at a place called La Serre. In the same year, the people of Luserna lent a hand to the work, as well as the inhabitants of the valley of San Martino, and ere its close, temples rose in their localities also; and devout worshippers thronged to all, to listen to the glad tidings of the gospel, to find consolation for past sorrows, and to draw strength and wisdom to support them through the trials which they felt too surely were impending.
- ↑ Monastier.
- ↑ See Frontispiece.