04 February 2026
From 1526, Guillaume Farel serves in the French-speaking parishes of Bern. After the reformation is enacted in 1528, he writes – in French – liturgical formularies inspired by the Bernese liturgy of 1529.
After their transmission in written form, these texts are printed in Neuchâtel in 1533 under the title of La maniere et fasson. In 1538, Farel publishes a new version of this liturgy in Geneva: L’ordre et maniere. Significant modifications made to the order of the topics and the liturgy of the last supper denote his intent to carry on the reformation of the Geneva Church. They also hint at his partnership with John Calvin. In 1536, between these two editions, Kaspar Megander – the first pastor of Bern – appoints Johannes Rhellican to supply the parishes of the newly conquered Canton of Vaud with a specific liturgy. In 1537, the volume is printed by Wigand Koeln in Geneva under the title La maniere, ordre et fasson. It is presented as a French translation of the Bernese liturgy of 1529, while also drawing significantly from Farel’s 1533 La maniere et fasson.
The present volume is the first critical edition of the earliest reformed liturgies for the French-speaking communities; it highlights the prolegomena of the Reformed worship in French-speaking Switzerland.
