TWICE-BORN MEN

REMARKABLE CONVERSIONS OF WELL-KNOWN MEN
IN DIFFERENT AGES AND IN VARIED RANKS OF LIFE

Compiled by HY. PICKERING

Father of the Waldenses

PETER WALDO, from whom the Waldenses took their name, was born in the 12th century, grew up to manhood in darkness.

One night he was supping with some opulent citizen of Lyons, and taking part, as was usual, in some amusements afterwards. In the midst of the sport, one of the company profanely used the name of the Almighty with an oath, and instantly fell dead on the floor. In a moment the reality of the unseen world burst upon Waldo’s soul. The impression was deepened by a very different event. One Lord’s Day, as he was walking through the streets of the city, his ear was caught by the tones of a pilgrim minstrel, who was reciting in song the story of the peaceful death of St. Alexis. He listened spellbound, invited the minstrel to his home, and drank in his conversation as the long-parched soil receives the warm summer showers. From that hour he became a new man, prepared to surrender everything that stood in the way of his new aspirations. Early things lost their significance: henceforth the salvation of souls became his one absorbing desire.