The European Union in Prophecy The EU in Prophecy I | Page 175

The European Union in Prophecy
"The host was carried by the bishop of Paris under a magnificent canopy, . . .
supported by four princes of the blood. . . . After the host walked the king. . . . Francis
I on that day wore no crown, nor robe of state." With "head uncovered, his eyes cast
on the ground, and in his hand a lighted taper," the king of France appeared "in the
character of a penitent."-- Ibid., b. 13, ch. 21. At every altar he bowed down in
humiliation, nor for the vices that defiled his soul, nor the innocent blood that stained
his hands, but for the deadly sin of his subjects who had dared to condemn the mass.
Following him came the queen and the dignitaries of state, also walking two and two,
each with a lighted torch.
As a part of the services of the day the monarch himself addressed the high
officials of the kingdom in the great hall of the bishop's palace. With a sorrowful
countenance he appeared before them and in words of moving eloquence bewailed "the
crime, the blasphemy, the day of sorrow and disgrace," that had come upon the nation.
And he called upon every loyal subject to aid in the extirpation of the pestilent heresy
that threatened France with ruin. "As true, messieurs, as I am your king," he said, "if
I knew one of my own limbs spotted or infected with this detestable rottenness, I
would give it you to cut off. . . . And further, if I saw one of my children defiled by it, I
would not spare him. . . . I would deliver him up myself, and would sacrifice him to
God." Tears choked his utterance, and the whole assembly wept, with one accord
exclaiming: "We will live and die for the Catholic religion!"--D'Aubigne, History of the
Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin, b. 4, ch. 12.
Terrible had become the darkness of the nation that had rejected the light of
truth. The grace "that bringeth salvation" had appeared; but France, after beholding
its power and holiness, after thousands had been drawn by its divine beauty, after
cities and hamlets had been illuminated by its radiance, had turned away, choosing
darkness rather than light. They had put from them the heavenly gift when it was
offered them. They had called evil good, and good evil, till they had fallen victims to
their willful self-deception. Now, though they might actually believe that they were
doing God service in persecuting His people, yet their sincerity did not render them
guiltless. The light that would have saved them from deception, from staining their
souls with bloodguiltiness, they had willfully rejected.
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