Thus says the Lord: "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.
But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'" --Jeremiah 6:16

 

28 February, 2007   comments: (0) Wonderful Plan?   A Huguenot's Story - Part 6 On the 29th or 30th of May 1687, La Rapine stationed himself at the door of the chapel as usual, with a stick in his hand. As the Huguenots passed in slowly and unwillingly, he said to one of them, "Dog! I will make you go faster than that!" and he gave him a blow with his stick which knocked him down. La Rapine decried: "These dogs would rather go to execution than to church. But it is commanded that all inmates of the hospital shall attend daily mass. I must follow those orders and I have stationed myself here to see that they sprinkle themselves with holy water and make the sign of the cross. If they dare omit this, I will put them on the rack." We were persecuted in every imaginable way but our greatest sorrow was being compelled to go twice a day to the idolatrous temple. . . . On the 9th of June, Mademoiselle de Leuze and I were set to work to carry water. A girl named Muguette followed us with a rod, with which she struck our knuckles. The bucket of water was so full and large, that it would have been a heavy load for two men, and we were so weak that we let it slip the stick on which it was slung, and spilled two or three glassfuls of water on the pavement. Muguette instantly reported this to La Rapine who came shortly after into the hall where I was spinning, and called out in a great rage, "Where is that dog of a Huguenot? Come here to me and I will put an end to this kind of work. You are not satisfied with being bad yourself, but must contaminate others. Down on your knees beggar! You shall receive 100 lashes immediately!" Then he left me, still kneeling and praying to God for mercy and grace. The Soeur Marie, who was a second La Rapine, and who was in a league with him to destroy me, said, "What are you doing? Get up. Are you not a fool to resist so long? If you will promise to recant, you shall go to Geneva whenever you like. Why do you not free yourself from all of this misery? We make you draw water to be thrown away, and sweep the garden when it does not want sweeping. You know that it is only done to wear out your patients. If you have any charity, show it by taking pity on yourself. Presently you are to be scourged until you are covered with blood, and even then you will not be killed, but left to anguish in your pain and wretchedness. Believe me, you have nothing to lose by recanting; for now you cannot attend the ordinances of your own religion, and are obliged to go to church with us." "I go under compulsion", I answered; "but I do not believe your doctrines, and your persecutions have only strengthened my faith in my own religion, so that I am now more decided than I was when I came here." She went away, and La Rapine entered, foaming with rage and fury. He said: "Are you still here? dog! beggar! Have the 100 lashes not been dealt out to you yet? And do you still persist in sticking to your accursed religion? I promise you that you will suffer as a martyr, but as a martyr of the devil." Then he went to the kitchen, and said to the cooks: "Scourge this Huguenot without mercy. If you [are lenient towards] her, you shall be put in her place." So I was taken into the kitchen and the doors were shut. Six girls were there, each provided with a bundle of switches a yard long. They undressed me, and tied me to a beam with a cord, which they fastened as tight as possible. Then their rage burst forth and they began to strike me, saying at the same time, "Pray to your God". I never felt such comfort in my soul as I experienced at that moment; for I had the great honor of being beaten for Christ's sake, and I was filled with his grace and benediction. How can I describe the inconceivable peace which was given to me? In order to know it, one must go through the like trials; for where afflictions abound, grace doth much more abound. They cried: "We must redouble our blows. She does not feel them, for she neither cries nor speaks". How could I scream? For I was almost fainting. At last my strength completely gave way, and my feet could no longer sustain me, so that I hung by my arms to the beam. Then they untied me, and laid me on the floor, to strike me more at their ease, and broke their last rods on my back, till the blood streamed from my shoulders. My courage was gone. I fell on my face and cried "Oh God! My God! Have mercy on me. I am sorely afflicted." Two of the girls raised me and put on my clothes, twisting my arms saying, "You shall be treated like this tomorrow if you do not change". I answered, "I know that I shall exchange earth for heaven, but not my religion for yours." I begged of them to put my clothes on loosely, and not to fasten them; but they only tightened them more, and as my wounds were very much inflamed, I suffered agonies. It was now 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and although I could hardly stir from the pain, I was obliged to return to work. Sometimes a call came for "four Huguenots to draw water", and then, a few minutes later, "two or three more Huguenots to carry flour". Everyday our suffering increased, until we looked upon the hospital as a sort of hell. We had no respite from persecutions. Even Monsieur Clary, a man who had formerly been a pastor, would occasionally visit us and try to shake our faith. The story continues on the next page . . . The above is part of my multi-part series of posts based on the trials of a 21 year old woman named Blanche Gamond, who was one of the many persecuted Christians in 17th century France. Her true story is told in the book Stories of The Huguenots, which I am posting excerpts of. If you are just tuning in, you can get caught up by starting on part 1. Learn more about the French Huguenots on Wikipedia or in a book that I highly recommended called Sketches From Church History. Posted by: Jim B.   Link: http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/id.2.pid.577   Be the first to post a comment about this article        Home  |   About  |  Videos   |  Calvinism