Nicholas Of Basle The Friend Of God

Pope Gregory sat amazed! In agitation he looked at the two strangers from beyond the Alps. The leader, a man in his sixties, was addressing him in the Italian vernacular. His companion, when he spoke at all, used the language of learning – Latin. Both men were very much in earnest. Surely they must realize that many a man had been burned at the stake for saying less!

“Holy Father,” was the message in brief, “the great and grievous sins of Christendom have risen to such a pitch, in all classes of men, that God is greatly displeased. You must consider what is to be done.”

“I can do nothing,” retorted the Pontiff, his anger increasing.

The older man was speaking again with the serenity and authority of one conveying a message from a higher source. He was now referring to the wicked ways of the Pope himself, delineating, with marvelous accuracy, those facts which only a revelation from God could have made known. God had shown him, he said, what an evil life the Pope was living. He added, “Know of a truth that, if you do not turn from your evil ways and judge yourself before God, He will judge you, and you will die before the year is out.”

The Pope was now enraged, but the speaker continued, “We are quite willing to be put to death, if the tokens which I am prepared to give you are not sufficient to prove that we are sent of God.”

“What tokens, I should like to know?” demanded Gregory.

He calmed down quickly, as the account was given of what God had told this fearless man. So accurate was the listing of those sins, which no man could know except by revelation, that it convinced his hearer. The “Bishop of Rome” remained speechless for a while, and then he arose and embraced the two, speaking kindly for the first time.

“Could you but give such tokens to the Emperor, it would be well for Christendom.”

He asked them to remain in Rome that he might rely on them for counsel, promising to house them well. But they begged not to do so, saying they would return at the PopeÂ’s request if they were needed at any time. He wrote a letter to the clergy in their areas, commending these men of God to the formerÂ’s good offices. Unfortunately, this man in highest authority soon drifted from this temporary influence for good and forgot the effects of the meeting. He continued in his sins and died just within a yearÂ’s time as had been predicted.

This fearless spokesman of God was Nicholas of Basle. To most people, however, he was known as the “Friend of God” from the Oberland (High Alps). What was his secret? How was he enabled, for over half a century to spread the evangelical message under the very eyes of Rome?

He was born in the city of Basle in or about the year 1308. His father, a wealthy merchant, was called “Nicholas of the Golden Ring”. The boy’s prospects from a material point of view were bright indeed. However, at the age of thirteen, he went at Easter time to hear preaching on the sufferings and death of our Lord. The lad was profoundly moved and at once bought himself a crucifix. He knelt secretly every night, meditating on the pain and shame which our Lord suffered. It is surprising that, with his meager knowledge of spiritual things, his unusual honesty made him cry out for a revelation of God’s will, whether he was to be a merchant or a priest. He asked for strength to be obedient. Somehow he obtained access to a Bible; whether it was his own or not, is not quite clear.

When he was fifteen, he began to travel with his father to learn the merchantÂ’s trade. Business and pleasure soon crowded out more serious thoughts. However, he never ceased to kneel nightly before his crucifix. He became a fast friend of the son of a knight, but the death of his father, four years later, necessitated a lengthy business journey for Nicholas. Upon his return, he found that his mother, too, had passed away.

He was now twenty-four years of age and wealthy. He and his young noble friend soon were engaged in a mad pursuit of pleasure, attending the tournaments and jousts, visiting courts and castles. They became popular, often entertaining “fair ladies” with songs and traveller’s tales.

The one soon married, but Nicholas was forced to wait because of the opposition of MargaretÂ’s parents to her becoming the wife of a merchant. The obstacle, after six years, was overcome, and preparations made for the festive occasion. But the night before the day set for the wedding proved to be the turning point of NicholasÂ’ life. It found him, not celebrating, but, alone with his crucifix, absorbed in thoughts of a most serious nature.

“There was I alone till early morning,” he writes, “and I thought how vain and false was all the world could give me, and I thought of the bitter end of all the things of the world. And I said thus to myself, ‘Oh thou poor, unhappy man, how senseless hast thou been, that thou hast loved and chosen the things of time, rather than the things of eternity! Thou and all the men around thee, how foolish and senseless are you all, for, though God has given you richly your senses and your understanding, yet have you been dazzled with the glory and the pleasure that lasts but for a little while, and that gain for you at last an eternity in Hell.’”

“And, kneeling before Him on my knees, I said, ‘Oh merciful God, I implore Thee now to have mercy upon me, a poor sinner, and to come to my help, for I must needs, with this evil heart of him, take leave forever of this false and deceitful world and of all the creatures in it. And especially must I give up the one who is right dear to me, and to whom I have lost my heart.’

“And when I had said this, I felt as though my whole nature gave way, for it was a terrible and solemn time of warfare against my own will and desires, so that the blood flowed from my mouth and nose, and I thought within myself the better hour that death was come. But I said to myself, ‘Oh nature, if it cannot be otherwise, even so it must be; if thou must die, thou must die.’”

He placed his left hand, which he said represented his sinful life, into his right one, which he felt stood for his “righteous and loving God’ and vowed to be ever and always God’s alone. After this, he had such a sense of the divine Presence that he could say, “I forgot myself and all creatures besides, and I was lost in joy and wonder, such as I can never tell, nor can the heart conceive it.”

Nicholas added that he heard a “Voice, very sweet,” accepting him as His betrothed forever. We can only imagine the storm that broke when the bridal party arrived the next morning. Relatives and guests were furious at the decision of the “madman.” The bride was inconsolable until a few days later, when she and Nicholas were encouraged to meet briefly and he told her what had taken place. From that time, Margaret felt that she, too, must be wholly the Lord’s and the two never saw one another again. The sequence of this unusual situation shows, to the glory of God, what any man anywhere can be, as a channel of light and love, when he gives himself wholly to God.

We pass briefly over the next four years. This honest young man, with none to guide him, read the lives of the saints. As a result, he sought God by the only path that they could point out. He provided himself with a hair shirt, into which he fixed a number of sharp nails. He scourged himself till the blood ran down. He lived alone and was worn out with fastings and torments. At the end of a year, he cried to God in desperation and received an answer that these austerities had been born of self-will and of self-righteous pride. He as convinced by the Voice that seemed to speak to him, that he must throw away his instruments of self-imposed torture and that, as he sought and did GodÂ’s will, He would bring all the necessary suffering into his life. The second year he spent in lamenting his sinfulness. The third year was one of fierce temptation. In the fourth he experienced, in addition, much of pain and sickness.

We cannot but wonder how different would have been the years between his spiritual awakening and the sense of divine acceptance and assurance, had there been available to him a teacher who knew God. But doubtless his heavenly Father used them to prepare Nicholas for a unique ministry to any, high or low, who would be seeking Him as he had done, endeavouring to establish his own righteousness by penance and good works.

At the end of this period, he suddenly emerged from the dark valley. His joy at the deliverance was so great that, fearing it was another temptation, he fell on his knees, telling God he wanted liberation and happiness, only if it were His will. Referring to this prayer, he said:

“As I spake these words, there shone around me, as it were, a fair and blessed light, a light that is love; and from the glory of that light, a radiance filled my soul, so that whether I were in the body or out of the body I could not tell. For my eyes were opened to see the wonder and the beauty that are far above the mind of man, and I cannot speak thereof, for there are no words to tell it. As I was marvelling thereat and rejoicing greatly, I heard, as it were the gladdest and the sweetest Voice, which came not from myself, but yet it came to me as one who spake within me. But it was not my thoughts that it spake. ‘Thou beloved and betrothed of My heart, now at last art thou verily My betrothed, and henceforth shalt thou ever be.’

“ ‘And ye only now art thou at last in the true way, the way of love, receiving from Me the forgiveness of all thy sins, and knowing that there is no purgatory to come. For when thy soul shall pass from the earthly house, it will be to dwell with Me. And so long as thou art in the earthly body, thou shalt not torment thyself with hard penances and chastisements, but thou shalt simply obey the commandments of Christ. And thou shalt find enough to suffer in this present evil world, if thou has learnt to see that thy fellowmen are wandering as sheep amongst the wolves. And this shall move thy heart to depths of pity, and this shall henceforth be thy cross and thy suffering, and thou shalt be well exercised henceforth therewith.’”

The Voice then said it would never again speak in the same way during his lifetime, because it would not be needed.

In those parts of Switzerland and adjoining districts of France, the Waldenses had settled. Called so after Peter Waldo of Lyons, who lived about the year 1100, they were, however, found under different names in other lands. They claimed to trace their origin back to the fourth century, when the Church was forsaking the teachings of the early Christians and substituting for them the traditions of men. Learning the way of salvation by faith, they placed no dependence upon many practices adopted by the Church of Rome during the years. They encountered fierce persecution, thousands being burned at the stake or tortured in other ways. Those who fled for refuge to the higher cantons of Switzerland were known as the Vaudois.

In other parts, whole towns and even provinces were at times placed under an Interdict of the Pope – a terrible curse, withdrawing of the consolations of absolution and forbidding the regular ministry of the priesthood in preaching, burying the dead, and other ministries. In those dark times, such a penalty was dreadful indeed, because of the accumulated superstitions of years, as well as the absolute power of the papacy.

Those believers who proved, both by conduct and message, that they had a special relationship with their Lord, were called “Friends of God”. In time, the name was used for all who were especially under the influence of Nicholas. This Spirit-filled, Heaven-directed man and his fellow-labourers ministered alike to those regarded as heretics and to any searching for God within the fold of the Church. Nicholas and four others, two of whom were priests and one a Jew, converted through contact with him, built a home high up in the Alps. Its whereabouts was known only to a few. These five, with two servants, devoted themselves to lives of prayer in this hidden spot.

Nicholas was the acknowledged leader and, under his guidance, a ministry was established which searched out inquiring souls along the Rhine to Holland, into the lower cantons of Switzerland, in Alsace and Bavaria and as far east as Hungary, as well as many other places. Only occasionally did he himself travel afar. He usually sent his friends and messengers out, contacting those who yearned to know the true message of salvation by faith, through the merits of Christ alone.

Sometimes this “Friend of God” journeyed forth, teaching the way more perfectly, but more frequently he would send a letter by messenger. One of his special missions was that to John Tauler, the eloquent preacher of Strasburg. Gradually the teacher became the pupil; and the listener, he who was to lead the Doctor into an experience of reality with God. How this came about is related in the sketch entitled “John Tauler”.

And so Nicholas toiled on, evading by his seclusiveness and doubtless also by God’s protection, those who would have ended his powerful ministry long before it was actually terminated. A heathen man received a letter from the “Oberland” that answered all his longing enquiries and was used of God to lead him savingly to Christ. A noble lady, called Frickin, who joined herself to the “Friends of God”, said the blessedness of this fellowship was so great that she felt as if she had come out from “purgatory into paradise”.

But the more than sixty years of blessed ministry of this man of God were drawing to a close. One, Martin of Mayence, in 1393, was burned at the stake in Cologne, accused of having been affected by the teachings of Nicholas of Basle. He declared that outward works deserved no merit before God. He regarded himself as freed from the authority of the Church and made no distinction between priests and laymen.

When the century had only a year or two to run and Nicholas was almost ninety years of age, the final test came. Two “Friends”, James and John, were seized at Vienna and brought before the Inquisition. The former probably was the lawyer who had accompanied Nicholas to Rome; the latter, the converted Jew. Nicholas was also apprehended, but so wise had he been that the persecutors could not find sufficient evidence to convict him. They demanded that he renounce the condemned pair as heretics. This he refused to do, saying that the three of them would be separated only for a moment and then they would be together with the Lord forever.

And so it was. The flames soon consumed these three “Friends of God”, but it was indeed a veritable “chariot of fire” that conveyed them into the presence of Him Who had been so real and Whose Voice had been “so sweet” these many years.

“There are plenty to follow our Lord half-way, but not the other half. They will give up possessions, friends and honours, but it touches them too closely to disown themselves. Meister Eckhart.

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