The 22d of July was the feast of Mary Magdalen. The bells had been solemnly rung to call worshippers to the church of that name, and already a great number of catholics and even evangelicals had gathered within its walls. Was it by a Latin mass that the memory of that Magdalen ought to be commemorated to whom Jesus had said: _Thy faith hath saved thee_? Ought not those words to be preached which Jesus had addressed to her, and not the rubbish with which the priests sent their flocks to sleep? This was what the reformers asked each other. They observed, moreover, that the catholics, less numerous than the protestants, had six churches, while the latter had scarcely one or two places of worship. They added that if the marvellous work begun in Geneva was to be completed, great meetings must be held in the temples. Some persons called out, 'Farel.'—'Yes, Farel,' repeated many: 'let us go and fetch him;' and they all ran to the convent of Rive. The reformer had just gone into the pulpit when the message was handed to him. Farel was always ready and believed he had a right to speak in a church. 'My friends,' he said to his congregation, 'we must to-day preach the good news under the vaulted roof of the Madeleine, and abolish idolatry there.' He then came down from the pulpit and bent his way towards that huge old gothic church, with its Carlovingian tower, whose foundation dates from the eleventh century. The crowd of his hearers followed him. He entered: his friends made signs of joy: the priest standing before the altar, where he was celebrating mass, stopped in alarm and ran away; his acolytes followed him, and all the worshippers wished to do the same. But the huguenots, thinking that the Word of God was specially necessary for them, shut the doors. This roused the catholics, the frightened women shrieked, and all made such an uproar, that the reformers opened the doors and let those depart who pleased. There remained, however, a certain number of undecided persons; and Farel began to preach with power, that Saviour who had pardoned the Magdalen and who still pardons sinners. Meantime those who had fled, dispersing in the streets and houses, cried out against the scandal, while the parish priest, running off to the hôtel-de-ville, complained to the council. Farel was forbidden to preach again in that church. When the sermon was ended, the catholics returned and the priests sang mass in it with more fervor than ever. The huguenots made no opposition, but they also claimed that no one should oppose their meetings. The two worships were to be free. In fact the very same day at vespers, 'those rascals (_canailles_),' says Sister Jeanne, 'again took possession of the holy church, and every day afterwards it was the usual custom to preach in it.'[559]