Description
Hymn of The Vaudois Mountaineers in Times of Persecution
In October 1994, Church leader, James E. Faust spoke of a group of intensely persecuted Christians called the Valdensians. He said,
“Valdesius, a citizen of Lyons, France, recognized the need for apostolic direction in the year 1170. A rich man, he abandoned his wealth so that he could live the simple life of a follower of Christ’s Apostles. He worked primarily among the poor in and around Lyons and had parts of the Bible translated into their language. He and his followers traveled two by two, teaching the simple truths of the Bible. Some crossed the high mountains of the Alps to live in the Piedmont Valleys of Italy.
This valiant band, who came to be known as Valdensians or Vaudois, were viewed by their contemporaries as dangerous dissenters. Over the centuries, they were “burned at the stake, buried alive, stoned, … hanged, herded into … disease-laden dungeons, [and] pursued … over rocks and crags and icy mountains.” Yet they clung on tenaciously, turning back whole armies of tyrants, to preserve their precious heritage of faith in the early Apostles, who held the keys that never rust.
In 1655 their overlord, the Duke of Savoy, issued an edict that they were to renounce or be massacred. The ensuing slaughter at last awakened the conscience of some of their neighbors, one of whom was John Milton, the great English poet. Repulsed by this evil deed, he penned his sonnet
“On the Late Massacre in Piedmont”:
Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints, whose bones
Lie scatter’d on the Alpine mountains cold.”
Persecutions against the people of the Valleys continued forward into the early 19th century, once again inflaming the indignance of Christians across Europe.
It would appear that a young woman in the British Isles—an accomplished poet and contemporary of William Wordsworth, somehow learned of the plight of the persecuted protestants of the mountains and penned these stirring words,
Hymn of the Vaudois Mountaineers in Times of Persecution
For the strength of the hills we bless thee,
Our God, our fathers’ God!
Thou hast made thy children mighty,
By the touch of the mountain sod.
Thou hast fix’d our ark of refuge,
Where the spoiler’s foot ne’er trod;
For the strength of the hills we bless thee,
Our God, our fathers’ God!
We are watchers of a beacon
Whose light must never die;
We are guardians of an altar
Midst the silence of the sky;
The rocks yield founts of courage,
Struck forth as by thy rod;
For the strength of the hills we bless thee,
Our God, our fathers’ God!
For the dark resounding caverns,
Where thy still, small voice is heard;
For the strong pines of the forest,
That by thy breath are stirr’d;
For the storms on whose free pinions
Thy spirit walks abroad;
For the strength of the hills we bless thee,
Our God, our fathers’ God!
The royal eagle darteth
On his quarry from the heights,
And the stag that knows no master,
Seeks there his wild delights;
But we, for thy communion,
Have sought the mountain sod,
For the strength of the hills we bless thee,
Our God, our fathers’ God !
The banner of the chieftain,
Far, far below us waves;
The war-horse of the spearman
Cannot reach our lofty caves:
Thy dark clouds wrap the threshold
Of freedom’s last abode ;
For the strength of the hills we bless thee,
Our God, our fathers’ God !
For the shadow of thy presence,
Round our camp of rock outspread;
For the stern defiles of battle,
Bearing record of our dead;
For the snows and for the torrents,
For the free heart’s burial sod;
For the strength of the hills we bless thee.
Our God, our fathers’ God!
–Felicia Hemans
Indeed, there is and has always been safety and refuge in the mountains. This poem has been adapted, set to music, and continues to stir the souls of those who liken it unto themselves.
http://younginfo.net/Young/Cardon/Vaudois.htm
http://karenspoetryspot.blogspot.com/2007/08/hymn-of-vaudois-mountaineers-in-times.html
