WALDENSIAN HERETICS Way of Life The Waldensian Heretics
established for
themselves one superior, who they called their "majoral", and
who everyone must obey, just as all Catholics should obey the
Pope. The followers all ate and drank at common
meals. All those you could and would, fasted on Mondays and
Wednesdays, however meat was eaten on fast days. Some
would also fast on Fridays. During Lent, they would
abstain from eating meat in order to avoid scandal, which
seems strange since they declared that Christ did not
prohibit the eating of meat , nor order anyone to abstain
from it. After a follower had been received into the
group which they referred to as a "fraternity", they would
promise obedience to their superior. They then promised to
observe evangelical poverty and chastity and to own no
property, but sell all they possessed and donate the money to
the common fund. Thereafter, they would live off alms given
to them by their believers and anyone else who sympathised
with them. The superior distributed these alms among the
believers, each according to his or her need. The
Waldensians recommended continence, but conceded that
burning passion ought to be satisfied in whatever way. This
was based on the words of the apostle Paul who said "It is
better to marry than to burn." The Waldensians interpreted
this to mean that it was better to appease desire than to be
tempted inwardly in the heart. This idea was kept very secret
in order not to seem vile to the believers. Each
year they would celebrate one or two general chapters in an
important town, secretly assembling in a house hired by one
or more of the members. In those chapters, the superior would
discuss matters concerning the priests and deacons, and also
those concerning members of the society who had been sent to
different regions to hear confessions and collect alms. The
superior also received receipts of expenses of the group.
Once they have been made a "perfect" of the order,
the Waldensians did not work with their hands or do any work
for profit unless it was necessary to do so in order that
they not be recognised and apprehended. The members of the
society commonly called themselves brothers and said that
they were the poor of Christ or the poor of Lyons.
They spent many hours in prayer, in a very particular manner.
On bended knees they bowed down on a bench or something
similar and remaining on their knees, they bowed right down
to the ground. They prayed in silence in this position for as
long as it took to say the "Our Father" thirty to forty times
or even more. This was done regularly each day, as long as no
strangers were present, and the ritual was repeated before
and after dinner, before and after supper, before they went
to their bedrooms, before they lay down to go to sleep, in
the morning when they woke up, and then in the morning and
the afternoon. The group recognised no prayer except the "Our
Father", having no regard for the "Hail Mary" or the
"Apostle's Creed", for these prayers were contrived by the
Roman Church, not by Christ. Thus the Roman Church believed
the heretics to be easily detected, because when asked to
recite the Apostle's Creed, they would answer that they did
not know it because they had never been taught. In a time of
religious fervour, this method of detection is not too far
fetched.
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