This was the idea which won the victory. Earth ceased to be a prison; death was no affliction, and the Caesar was no longer omnipotent.
In the time of Augustus Caesar a poet said:
"If Rome persecutes thee, whither wilt thou flee? Wherever thou mayst go, thou art everywhere in the power of Rome." The new faith offered every persecuted human being a place of refuge, and Rome vainly conquered all the known world. Another unknown world full of secret joys that increased in proportion was reserved for those who suffered here below, and the darker, the gloomier the shadows here, the more radiant would be the truth there.
This faith which wiped the tears from the cheeks of those who wept could not fail to conquer. Soon persecutors and persecuted united in it, for it alone afforded comfort to him who suffered innocently, and forgiveness to him who acted unjustly. The persecutions of the Caesars only increased the adherents of the new religion instead of lessening them. In the public streets in the midst of Rome appeared those chosen by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the doctrines of the omnipotent G.o.d, which they would deny neither on funeral pyres nor under the teeth of the wild beasts in the circus games; and the living torches which, covered with pitch, were kindled to light the imperial gardens, declared, even in the midst of the flames, that what was anguish and suffering here was salvation and joy there.
In vain were they murdered. The blood of the slain merely sealed the doctrines which they attested; and whoever creates martyrs only gains implacable foes.
But the Imperator Carinus invented a new species of martyrdom.
The proselytes shrank neither from death nor from torture. What was anguish to others seemed bliss to them; and fragile girls, inspired by the Holy Ghost, sang hymns of praise in the midst of the flames.
Carinus no longer had these sainted virgins dragged to blazing pyres, but gave them to his soldiers; and virtuous women who did not recoil from the most terrible death trembled in the presence of the shame which scorched the purity of their souls more fiercely than the flames of the burning oil. And while they entered the arena of the circus with brave faces, they thought with horror of the hidden dens of sin.
It was a diabolical idea to punish those who, for the transparent purity of their souls, were ready to renounce all the pleasures and joys of earth, by the lowest form of these joys. And Carinus knew that his victims could not even escape this disgrace by death, since the religion of the Christians forbade suicide.
Therefore during his reign believers met at the hour of midnight in secret places, subterranean caverns, and abandoned tombs, and dispersed again at dawn.
The Roman augurs had been informed of these secret meetings; and, that the people might help in searching out the places, they spread the report that the Christians, after all the lights were extinguished, committed horrible deeds which could be done only in the deepest darkness. This was saying a great deal, since in Rome every possible atrocity was perpetrated in the brightest daylight.
Gliding along the sh.o.r.e in his boat, Manlius constantly drew nearer to the singing which so strangely thrilled his heart, and soon reached an arm of the Tiber, at whose mouth about twenty empty boats were rocking on the water.
He looked around, and saw by the dim, uncertain moonlight, a large round, ma.s.sive building, shaded by huge Italian pines, from whose interior the music seemed to issue.
He walked around it. The moon was shining through the windows and colonnades, but no human being was visible. Manlius thought with a shudder of the tales of witches which he had heard in his childhood, of the Sabbath of wicked souls that met in invisible forms in places shunned by all men. His superst.i.tious terror increased as he a.s.sociated the vision of his dream with this tradition. He always saw before him the face of lovely, gentle Sophronia when he tried to think of these accursed sorcerers; and against the gloomy, horrible background her smiling countenance appeared.
At last he summoned up his courage, and releasing his hand from his cloak, he strode resolutely into the vestibule of the building. As he entered, his thoughts, at the first glance, took a different direction; for in the centre of this vestibule a square stone had been raised from the floor, and through the opening thus formed, a subterranean hall could be seen, from which rose the singing.
So this was the _Agapeia_ of the Christians.
Concealed by the darkness and the shadow of a pillar Manlius saw before him two long rows of figures. The heads of the men were covered with hoods, the women were closely veiled. All were singing a gentle, mournful melody. The tones expressed self-sacrificing sorrow, a sublime, quiet suffering, blended with a strange suggestion of grief which sent a cold shiver through the nerves of the listening Roman.
A few small oil lamps were burning at the end of the dimly lighted hall, by whose faint glimmer Manlius perceived a lifeless human form, whose feet and hands, stretched in the form of a cross, were pierced with nails, while a crown of thorns adorned the brow, and a freshly bleeding wound was visible in the side.
"So these are the terrible people who under the shelter of night hold their abominable meetings," thought Manlius, panting for breath as his hand sought the hilt of his sword; while in his excitement he fancied he saw the head of the figure nailed to the cross sink lower and lower.
The singing ceased, and after a long, soughing sound, which is the universal sigh of a devout a.s.sembly, an old man, whose snow-white beard floated far down on the breast of his black robe, came forward.
Taking a cup which stood at the feet of the crucified form, he raised it to his lips and kissed it three times with devout fervour.
But instead of devotion Manlius saw an expression of loathsome bloodthirstiness in the face of the grey-haired monster, while the penitent kneeling of the men and women seemed to him an evil, obscene movement; and the cup before which all bowed their heads, in his imagination, was filled with blood, the blood of a man murdered in a terrible manner.
The old man in a trembling voice said:
"In this cup is His blood, which was shed to bless us; this cup is the holy remembrance which effaces; this cup is the bond by which we shall be united! Worship this holy symbol, and be pure through the blood of the purest!"
Shuddering, Manlius grasped his sword-hilt, and when he saw a tall female figure clad in white, with her veil partly thrown back, approach the old man and take the cup from his hand, he tore the blade from its sheath and, frantic with horror, sprang through the square opening into the midst of the hall.
"Hold, accursed murderers!" he cried, blinded with rage. "You apostles of sin! What are you doing here?"
Not a sound was heard in the a.s.sembly. It was prepared for such attacks. The old man answered quietly:
"We are worshipping G.o.d!"
"May you be accursed when you utter that word! You have committed deeds for which even the darkness of night is no protection. You disturb by your diabolical songs the dead resting beneath the earth; you kill human beings and force one another to drink their blood, and when your nerves are roused to execrable excitement by this blood, you extinguish your torches and commit sins whose bare thought inspires horror."
"You will repent what you have said, Manlius Sinister!" cried the clear voice of a woman standing beside the greybeard. It was the one who had first taken the cup. Manlius started as he heard a familiar voice utter his own name, and when the lady now threw back her veil, he beheld in amazement Sophronia"s gentle, innocent face, with its mild, calm eyes, divine smile, and the hallowed power of an almost supernatural firmness.
"Sophronia!" groaned Manlius, and his drawn sword fell from his hand.
Doubt took possession of his heart. He believed that he was still the sport of a terrible dream, and with heavy tongue faltered:
"G.o.ds of Olympus, let me wake!"
"You are awake!" said Sophronia. "Look me in the face. I am Sophronia, the friend of your childhood."
"But this cup of blood----"
"Blood only for those who believe, the remembrance of blood for those who remember. Touch it with your lips."
With ill-repressed loathing Manlius tried the contents of the cup and stammered in amazement:
"This is wine." Then, in a low tone, seized by a fear hitherto unknown, he asked: "And that dying figure?"
"Is the image of the crucified Saviour."
Manlius perceived with astonishment that it was only a painted picture.
"Do you worship a dead man?"
"A G.o.d who became man to die."
"That is impossible."
"How often the G.o.ds of Olympus a.s.sumed human form in order to enjoy pleasures whose sweetness can be experienced only by human senses. The G.o.d of Love, our G.o.d, a.s.sumed human form in order to be able to feel the sorrows which torture mankind, misery, shame, persecution, and death. The G.o.ds of Olympus became human beings to show mortals the path to h.e.l.l; the G.o.d of Love, our G.o.d, became a mortal to guide us into the way to heaven! The G.o.ds of Olympus are brilliant, royal forms, who demand sacrificed victims, gold, magnificent temples, b.l.o.o.d.y hecatombs, and promise in return long life, treasures, palaces, and blood-stained victories. The G.o.d of Love, our G.o.d, is a poor, dead form, who asks nothing except a pure heart, and promises nothing at all for this life; whose image is a symbol that, in this existence, we shall have only sorrow and suffering, but in another world joy and happiness await us----"
While these words were uttered, all who were present involuntarily bared their heads. Manlius did the same, without knowing why. The others knelt down; he, too, fell on his knees.
"I have persecuted you wrongfully," he faltered, extending his arms, "Take vengeance on me."
"The G.o.d of Love commands us to forgive our persecutors. Leave this place in peace and confidence. Though you should betray us, torture us, slay us, we will pray for you."
"May I be accursed if I do so. Never can I leave you calmly, for you have filled my heart with unrest. The terrible words of the avenging G.o.d arrested me in my path. I read in your face the words of the all-pardoning G.o.d. Oh, give me comfort. Must I lose two heavens: one above, the other in your heart?"
"The heaven of love is closed against no one," said Sophronia, pointing upward with holy devotion.
Manlius clasped the outstretched hand, and raising it to his lips, asked with tender emotion: