The Saviour of the World

The Saviour of the World

Good Friday 2020

The above postcard shows a painting by El Greco(1541-1614) entitled The Saviour of the World.  The risen Christ has his right hand raised in the traditional sign of blessing, while his left hand rests on a globe of the world.

For the nine months in France when, aged twenty, I lived entirely alone, this postcard was precious to me.  Unable to attend any place of worship, I put it up on the wall of my living room as a focus for my Christian faith.

Why couldn't I go to church services in this little town?  St Gilles-Croix-de-Vie is situated on the Atlantic coast, halfway between Nantes and La Rochelle, in the departement (region) known as the Vendee.  It certainly had an attractive-looking church - but there was a snag!

After receiving the letter informing me of my appointment there as English language assistant, I had gone to my local library for information about the town - and discovered that it came under the heading of 'Undiscovered France'!  Not only was I ignorant about its location, but I also knew nothing of its history. (Now imagine someone from abroad arriving blithely in Northern Ireland, never having heard of 'The Troubles', and wondering why people seemed to be constantly asking which church they attended!)

In 1793, at the height of the French Revolution, the Revolutionary leaders in Paris created a completely new calendar, designed to remove all religious influences such as Christmas and Easter.  All churches were to close and public worship was prohibited.  Priests were forbidden to preach.  The Vendee was a poor region, largely consisting of small farms and fishing villages - but the people were devoutly Catholic.  In great indignation they set up a Counter-Revolutionary army, which at first fought successfully against the forces from Paris.  But then came the dreadful ten months of 'La Terreur'(The Terror), when anyone suspected of being against the Revolution was put to death. (16,000 people were guillotined).Soldiers were sent to the Vendee with the command to slaughter everyone they met: men, women and children.  Apparently some soldiers even boasted of wearing trousers made of Vendee skin...

Eventually, in 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte, the new Emperor, restored freedom of religious worship. But it takes generations to forget and - perhaps forgive - such cruelty.

 Over the years new laws were set up concerning education.  State schools were to be totally secular, open to pupils of all faiths and none, on condition that religious worship was a private affair at home.  Catholic schools ('ecoles libres') were permitted but on condition that they shared the curriculum of the state schools (ecoles laiques).  That meant that teachers in schools such as mine were not allowed to mention religion in the classroom, as I discovered to my astonishment just before Christmas.  I had taken my Bible to a class of 13 year old boys, thinking that they would find it nice and easy to understand the English version of the Christmas story.  Big Mistake!  As soon as i opened the Bible there were whoops and triumphant(!) shouts of "Mais non, Mademoiselle!  C'est interdit!" (Oh no, Miss! That's forbidden!)

Bearing in mind the 17th century religious wars in France after the Protestant Reformation, before the Revolution, I sensed that I would not be welcome in St Gilles church, so reluctantly I just had to do without Sunday worship in the company of other Christians.  It was then that I realised how much my faith meant to me - hence the painting by (Catholic) El Greco on my living room wall!

How glad I was that Easter when I attended the Scottish Church in Paris and was able to join in singing this, my favourite Easter hymn:

There is a green hill far away

Without a city wall

Where the dear Lord was crucified,

 Who died to save us all.

We do not know, we cannot tell 

What pains he had to bear.

But we believe it was for us

He hung and suffered there.

Oh dearly, dearly has he loved, 

And we must love him too.

And trust in his redeeming blood, 

And try his works to do.

Amen    Deo gratias