Protestant Books in a Spanish Convent by H. H. HALL

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Aug 4, 1910

Protestant Books in a Spanish Convent

By H. H. HALL

THE influence of gospel literature under conditions the most unfavorable has been the wonder of every age since the art of printing was discovered. Incidents illustrating this fact are a constant source of encouragement to the canvassing evangelists of to-day; and they never tire of relating them. I recently ran across the following in the “History of the Progress and Suppression of the Reformation in Spain,” which will be of interest to missionary workers:—

The attention of some of the members of the convent of San Isidro, near Seville, had been called to the fact that true religion “did not consist in chanting matins and vespers; . . . but if they expected to obtain the approbation of God, it behooved them to have recourse to the Scriptures.” A quiet investigation followed, until 1557, when history says:—

“A more decided change in the internal state of this monastery took place in the course of the year 1557. An ample supply of copies of the Scriptures and Protestant books, in the Spanish language, having been received, they were read with avidity by the monks, and contributed at once to confirm those who had been enlightened, and to extricate others from the prejudices by which they were enthralled. In consequence of this, the prior and other official persons, in concurrence with the fraternity, agreed to reform their religious institute. Their hours of prayer, as they were called, which had been spent in solemn mummeries, were appointed for hearing prelections on the Scriptures; prayers for the dead were omitted, or converted into lessons for the living; papal indulgences and pardons, which had formed a lucrative and engrossing traffic, were entirely abolished; images were allowed to remain, without receiving homage; habitual temperance was substituted in the room of superstitious fasting; and novices were instructed in the principles of true piety, instead of being initiated into the idle and debasing habits of monachism. Nothing remained of the old system but the monastic garb and the external ceremony of the mass, which they could not lay aside without exposing themselves to imminent and inevitable danger.

“The good effects of this change were felt without the monastery of San Isidro del Campo. By their conversation, and by the circulation of books, these zealous monks diffused the knowledge of the truth through the adjacent country, and imparted it to many individuals who resided

in towns at a considerable distance from Seville.”

But they were in the home of the Inquisition, and the convent could not long conceal the fact that it had turned Protestant. They desired to flee, and finally “twelve of their number left the monastery. Soon a storm of persecution burst on the heads of their brethren who remained in San Isidro.”

Let us pray that the more than $43,000 worth of our publications shipped into Spanish fields during the past six months may find hearts as open to truth as were the inmates of this foremost convent of Spain. H. H. HALL.