Ellen G. White in Europe 1885-1887

The Cathedral of Saint Apollinaire

While in Valence, Ellen White was intensely interested in visiting the Cathedral of Saint Apollinaire where she observed the officiating priests with their white robes and over these a surplice of black velvet trimmed with gold braid, with the form of the cross marked in the back. She heard their words of prayer and their chanted hymns. This exposure while in Europe to the grandeur and impressiveness of the Catholic worship services proved helpful to her as she described Catholic worship in the book The Great Controversy. (See pp. 566, 567.) EGWE 235.1

She wrote: EGWE 235.2

“We looked upon the bust of Pius VI. The marble statue beneath the bust contained the heart of the Pope. This is the Pope specified in prophecy, who received the deadly wound.^* He was carried captive to Valence and we looked upon the tower where he was confined and where he died. From this tower he could look upon the beautiful waters of the Rhone and this gave him much delight. EGWE 235.3

“It was a gratification to look upon this representation of the Pope which prophecy has so faithfully described. We looked upon a black cloth stretched across the walls of the portion of the building where the people were worshiping the second day of November. This black cloth was adorned with ghastly death-heads and bones in white, which looked frightful. But they were observing the feast for the dead [All Soul's Day]. EGWE 235.4

“These vestments of the priests, symbolically adorned with large figures of the cross and with a variety of colours, bore no resemblance to the simplicity of worship. But priestly ceremonies, burdened with pompous display, processions, and art to produce effect, are abundant. Lighted tapers and outward display are very poor substitutes for spiritual vitality, which was wanting.”—Manuscript 70, 1886. EGWE 236.1