Hitherto the principles of the _Encrat.i.tes_ had been rejected by the Churches; but now being refined by the Monks, and imposed not upon all men, but only upon those who would voluntarily undertake a monastic life, they began to be admired, and to overflow first the _Greek_ Church, and then the _Latin_ also, like a torrent. _Eusebius_ tells us, [2] that _Constantine_ the great had those men in the highest veneration, who dedicated themselves wholly to the divine philosophy; and that he almost venerated the most holy company of Virgins perpetually devoted to G.o.d; being certain that the G.o.d to whom he had consecrated himself did dwell in their minds. In his time and that of his sons, this profession of a single life was propagated in _Egypt_ by _Antony_, and in _Syria_ by _Hilarion_; and spred so fast, that soon after the time of _Julian_ the Apostate a third part of the _Egyptians_ were got into the desarts of _Egypt_. They lived first singly in cells, then a.s.sociated into _coen.o.bia_ or convents; and at length came into towns, and filled the Churches with Bishops, Presbyters and Deacons.
_Athanasius_ in his younger days poured water upon the hands of his master _Antony_; and finding the Monks faithful to him, made many of them Bishops and Presbyters in _Egypt_: and these Bishops erected new Monasteries, out of which they chose Presbyters of their own cities, and sent Bishops to others. The like was done in _Syria_, the superst.i.tion being quickly propagated thither out of _Egypt_ by _Hilarion_ a disciple of _Antony_.
_Spiridion_ and _Epiphanius_ of _Cyprus_, _James_ of _Nisibis_, _Cyril_ of _Jerusalem_, _Eustathius_ of _Sebastia_ in _Armenia_, _Eusebius_ of _Emisa_, _t.i.tus_ of _Bostra_, _Basilius_ of _Ancyra_, _Acacius_ of _Caesarea_ in _Palestine_, _Elpidius_ of _Laodicea_, _Melitius_ and _Flavian_ of _Antioch_, _Theodorus_ of _Tyre_, _Protogenes_ of _Carrhae_, _Acacius_ of _Berrhaea_, _Theodotus_ of _Hierapolis_, _Eusebius_ of _Chalcedon_, _Amphilochius_ of _Iconium_, _Gregory n.a.z.ianzen_, _Gregory Nyssen_, and _John Chrysostom_ of _Constantinople_, were both Bishops and Monks in the fourth century. _Eustathius_, _Gregory n.a.z.ianzen_, _Gregory Nyssen_, _Basil_, &c. had Monasteries of Clergymen in their cities, out of which Bishops were sent to other cities; who in like manner erected Monasteries there, till the Churches were supplied with Bishops out of these Monasteries. Hence _Jerome_, in a Letter written about the year 385, [3] saith of the Clergy: _Quasi & ipsi aliud sint quam Monachi, & non quicquid in Monachos dicitur redundet in Clericos qui patres sunt Monachorum. Detrimentum pecoris pastoris ignominia est_. And in his book against _Vigilantius_: _Quid facient Orientis Ecclesiae? Quae aut Virgines Clericos accipiunt, aut Continentes, aut si uxores habuerint mariti esse desistunt_. Not long after even the Emperors commanded the Churches to chuse Clergymen out of the Monasteries by this Law.
_Impp. Arcad & Honor. AA. Caesario PF. P._
[4] _Si quos forte Episcopi deesse sibi Clericos arbitrantur, ex monachorum numero rectius ordinabunt: non obnoxios publicis privatisque rationibus c.u.m invidia teneant, sed habeant jam probatos. Dat. _vii._ Kal. Aug. Honorio A.
_iv._ & Eutychianio Coss._ A.C. 598. The _Greek_ Empire being now in the hands of these _Encrat.i.tes_, and having them in great admiration, _Daniel_ makes it a characteristick of the King who doth according to his will, that _he should not regard the desire of Women._
Thus the Sect of the _Encrat.i.tes_, set on foot by the _Gnosticks_, and propagated by _Tatian_ and _Monta.n.u.s_ near the end of the second century; which was condemned by the Churches of that and the third century, and refined upon by their followers; overspread the _Eastern_ Churches in the fourth century, and before the end of it began to overspread the _Western_.
Henceforward the Christian Churches having a form of G.o.dliness, but denying the power thereof, came into the hands of the _Encrat.i.tes_: and the Heathens, who in the fourth century came over in great numbers to the Christians, embraced more readily this sort of Christianity, as having a greater affinity with their old superst.i.tions, than that of the sincere Christians; who by the lamps of the seven Churches of _Asia_, and not by the lamps of the Monasteries, had illuminated the Church Catholic during the three first centuries.
The _Cataphrygians_ brought in also several other superst.i.tions: such as were the doctrine of Ghosts, and of their punishment in Purgatory, with prayers and oblations for mitigating that punishment, as _Tertullian_ teaches in his books _De Anima_ and _De Monogamia_. They used also the sign of the cross as a charm. So _Tertullian_ in his book _de Corona militis_: _Ad omnem progressum atque promotum, ad omnem aditum & exitum, ad vest.i.tum, ad calceatum, ad lavacra, ad mensas, ad lamina, ad cubilia, ad sedilia, quacunque nos conversatio exercet, frontem crucis signaculo terimus_. All these superst.i.tions the Apostle refers to, where he saith: _Now the Spirit speaketh expresly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils_, the _Daemons_ and Ghosts worshipped by the heathens, _speaking lyes in hypocrisy_, about their apparitions, the miracles done by them, their reliques, and the sign of the cross, _having consciences seared with a hot iron_; _forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats_, &c. 1 Tim. iv. 1,2,3. From the _Cataphrygians_ these principles and practices were propagated down to posterity. _For the mystery of iniquity_ did _already work_ in the _Apostles_ days in the _Gnosticks_, continued to work very strongly in their offspring the _Tatianists_ and _Cataphrygians_, and was to work _till that man of sin_ should _be revealed_; _whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs, and lying wonders, and all deceivableness of unrighteousness_; coloured over with a form of _Christian_ G.o.dliness, but without the power thereof, 2 _Thess_. ii. 7-10.
For tho some stop was put to the _Cataphrygian_ Christianity, by Provincial Councils, till the fourth century; yet the _Roman_ Emperors then turning _Christians_, and great mult.i.tudes of heathens coming over in outward profession, these found the _Cataphrygian_ Christianity more suitable to their old principles, of placing religion in outward forms and ceremonies, holy-days, and doctrines of Ghosts, than the religion of the sincere _Christians_: wherefore they readily sided with the _Cataphrygian Christians_, and established that Christianity before the end of the fourth century. By this means those of understanding, after they had been persecuted by the heathen Emperors in the three first centuries, and _were holpen with a little help_, by the conversion of _Constantine_ the great and his sons to the _Christian_ religion, fell under new persecutions, _to purge them_ from the dissemblers, _and to make them white, even to the time of the end_.
Notes to Chap. XIII.
[1] Lib. 4. c. 28, 29.
[2] In vita Constantini, l. 4. c. 28.
[3] Epist. 10.
[4] L. 32. de Episcopis.
CHAP. XIV.
_Of the _Mahuzzims_, honoured by the King who doth according to his will_.
In scripture we are told of some _trusting in G.o.d_ and others _trusting in idols_, and that _G.o.d is our refuge, our strength, our defense_. In this sense G.o.d is _the rock of his people_, and false G.o.ds are called _the rock of those that trust in them_, Deut. x.x.xii. 4, 15, 18, 30, 31, 37. In the same sense the G.o.ds of _the King_ who _shall do according to his will_ are called _Mahuzzims_, munitions, fortresses, protectors, guardians, or defenders. _In his estate_, saith [1] _Daniel_, _shall he honour _Mahuzzims_; even with a G.o.d whom his fathers knew not, shall he honour them with gold and silver, and with precious stones, and things of value.
Thus shall he do in the most strong holds_ or temples;--_and he shall cause them to rule over many, and divide the land_ among them _for a possession_.
Now this came to pa.s.s by degrees in the following manner.
_Gregory Nyssen_ [2] tells us, that after the persecution of the Emperor _Decius_, _Gregory_ Bishop of _Neocaesarea_ in _Pontus_, _inst.i.tuted among all people, as an addition or corollary of devotion towards G.o.d, that festival days and a.s.semblies should be celebrated to them who had contended for the faith_, that is, to the _Martyrs_. And he adds this reason for the inst.i.tution: _When he observed_, saith _Nyssen_, _that the simple and unskilful mult.i.tude, by reason of corporeal delights, remained in the error of idols; that the princ.i.p.al thing might be corrected among them, namely, that instead of their vain worship they might turn their eyes upon G.o.d; he permitted that at the memories of the holy Martyrs they might make merry and delight themselves, and be dissolved into joy_. The heathens were delighted with the festivals of their G.o.ds, and unwilling to part with those delights; and therefore _Gregory_, to facilitate their conversion, inst.i.tuted annual festivals to the _Saints_ and _Martyrs_. Hence it came to pa.s.s, that for exploding the festivals of the heathens, the princ.i.p.al festivals of the _Christians_ succeeded in their room: as the keeping of _Christmas_ with ivy and feasting, and playing and sports, in the room of the _Baccha.n.a.lia_ and _Saturnalia_; the celebrating of _May-day_ with flowers, in the room of the _Floralia_; and the keeping of festivals to the Virgin _Mary_, _John_ the Baptist, and divers of the Apostles, in the room of the solemnities at the entrance of the Sun into the signs of the _Zodiac_ in the old _Julian_ Calendar. In the same persecution of _Decius_, _Cyprian_ ordered the pa.s.sions of the Martyrs in _Africa_ to be registred, in order to celebrate their memories annually with oblations and sacrifices: and _Felix_ Bishop of _Rome_, a little after, as _Platina_ relates, _Martyrum gloria consulens, const.i.tuit at quotannis sacrificia eorum nomine celebrarentur_; "consulting the glory of the Martyrs, ordained that sacrifices should be celebrated annually in their name." By the pleasures of these festivals the _Christians_ increased much in number, and decreased as much in virtue, until they were _purged and made white_ by the persecution of _Dioclesian_. This was the first step made in the _Christian_ religion towards the veneration of the Martyrs: and tho it did not yet amount to an unlawful worship; yet it disposed the _Christians_ towards such a further veneration of the dead, as in a short time ended in the invocation of Saints.
The next step was the affecting to pray at the sepulchres of the Martyrs: which practice began in _Dioclesian_"s persecution. The Council of _Eliberis_ in _Spain_, celebrated in the third or fourth year of _Dioclesian_"s persecution, A.C. 305, hath these Canons. Can. 34. _Cereos per diem placuit in Coemeterio non incendi: inquietandi enim spiritus sanctorum non sunt. Qui haec non observarint, arceantur ab Ecclesiae communione._ Can. 35. _Placuit prohiberi ne faeminae in Coemeterio pervigilent, e quod saepe sub obtentu orationis latenter scelera committant._ Presently after that persecution, suppose about the year 314, the Council of _Laodicea_ in _Phrygia_, which then met for restoring the lapsed discipline of the Church, has the following Canons. Can. 9. _Those of the Church are not allowed to go into the _Coemeteries_ or _Martyries_, as they are called, of hereticks, for the sake of prayer or recovery of health: but such as go, if they be of the faithful, shall be excommunicated for a time_. Can. 34. _A _Christian_ must not leave the Martyrs of _Christ_, and go to false Martyrs_, that is, to the Martyrs of the hereticks; _for these are alien from G.o.d: and therefore let those be anathema who go to them_. Can. 51. _The birth-days of the Martyrs shall not be celebrated in _Lent_, but their commemoration shall be made on the Sabbath-days and Lords days_. The Council of _Paphlagonia_, celebrated in the year 324, made this Canon: _If any man being arrogant, abominates the congregations of the Martyrs, or the Liturgies performed therein, or the memories of the Martyrs, let him be anathema_. By all which it is manifest that the _Christians_ in the time of _Dioclesian_"s persecution used to pray in the _Coemeteries_ or burying-places of the dead; for avoiding the danger of the persecution, and for want of Churches, which were all thrown down: and after the persecution was over, continued that practice in honour of the Martyrs, till new Churches could be built: and by use affected it as advantageous to devotion, and for recovering the health of those that were sick. It also appears that in these burying-places they commemorated the Martyrs yearly upon days dedicated to them, and accounted all these practices pious and religious, and anathematized those men as arrogant who opposed them, or prayed in the _Martyries_ of the hereticks. They also lighted torches to the Martyrs in the day-time, as the heathens did to their G.o.ds; which custom, before the end of the fourth century, prevailed much in the _West_. They sprinkled the worshipers of the Martyrs with holy-water, as the heathens did the worshipers of their G.o.ds; and went in pilgrimage to see _Jerusalem_ and other holy places, as if those places conferred sanct.i.ty on the visiters. From the custom of praying in the _Coemeteries_ and _Martyries_, came the custom of translating the bodies of the Saints and Martyrs into such Churches as were new built: the Emperor _Constantius_ began this practice about the year 359, causing the bodies of _Andrew_ the Apostle, _Luke_ and _Timothy_, to be translated into a new Church at _Constantinople_: and before this act of _Constantius_, the _Egyptians_ kept the bodies of their Martyrs and Saints unburied upon beds in their private houses, and told stories of their souls appearing after death and ascending up to heaven, as _Athanasius_ relates in the life of _Antony_. All which gave occasion to the Emperor _Julian_, as _Cyril_ relates, to accuse the _Christians_ in this manner: _Your adding to that antient dead man, Jesus, many new dead men, who can sufficiently abominate?
You have filled all places with sepulchres and monuments, altho you are no where bidden to prostrate yourselves to sepulchres, and to respect them officiously._ And a little after: _Since _Jesus_ said that sepulchres are full of filthiness, how do you invoke G.o.d upon them_? and in another place he saith, that if _Christians_ had adhered to the precepts of the _Hebrews_, _they would have worshiped one G.o.d instead of many, and not a man, or rather not many unhappy men_: And that they _adored the wood of the cross, making its images on their foreheads, and before their houses_.
After the sepulchres of Saints and Martyrs were thus converted into places of worship like the heathen temples, and the Churches into sepulchres, and a certain sort of sanct.i.ty attributed to the dead bodies of the Saints and Martyrs buried in them, and annual festivals were kept to them, with sacrifices offered to G.o.d in their name; the next step towards the invocation of Saints, was the attributing to their dead bodies, bones and other reliques, a power of working miracles, by means of the separate souls, who were supposed to know what we do or say, and to be able to do us good or hurt, and to work those miracles. This was the very notion the heathens had of the separate souls of their antient Kings and Heroes, whom they worshiped under the names of _Saturn_, _Rhea_, _Jupiter_, _Juno_, _Mars_, _Venus_, _Bacchus_, _Ceres_, _Osiris_, _Isis_, _Apollo_, _Diana_, and the rest of their G.o.ds. For these G.o.ds being male and female, husband and wife, son and daughter, brother and sister, are thereby discovered to be antient men and women. Now as the first step towards the invocation of Saints was set on foot by the persecution of _Decius_, and the second by the persecution of _Dioclesian_; so this third seems to have been owing to the proceedings of _Constantius_ and _Julian_ the Apostate. When _Julian_ began to restore the worship of the heathen G.o.ds, and to vilify the Saints and Martyrs; the _Christians_ of _Syria_ and _Egypt_ seem to have made a great noise about the miracles done by the reliques of the _Christian_ Saints and Martyrs, in opposition to the powers attributed by _Julian_ and the heathens to their Idols. For _Sozomen_ and _Ruffinus_ tell us, that when he opened the heathen Temples, and consulted the Oracle of _Apollo Daphnaeus_ in the suburbs of _Antioch_, and pressed by many sacrifices for an answer; the Oracle at length told him that the bones of the Martyr _Babylas_ which were buried there hinder"d him from speaking. By which answer we may understand, that some _Christian_ was got into the place where the heathen Priests used to speak thro" a pipe in delivering their Oracles: and before this, _Hilary_ in his book against _Constantius_, written in the last year of that Emperor, makes the following mention of what was then doing in the _East_ where he was. _Sine martyrio persequeris.
Plus crudelitati vestrae _Nero_, _Deci_, _Maximiane_, debemus. Diabolum enim per vos vicimus. Sanctus ubique beatorum martyrum sanguis exceptus est, dum in his Daemones mugiunt, dum aegritudines depelluntur, dum miraculorum opera cernuntur, elevari sine laqueis corpora, & dispensis pede faeminis vestes non defluere in faciem, uri sine ignibus spiritus, confiteri sine interrogantis incremento fidei_. And _Gregory n.a.z.ianzen_, in his first Oration against the Emperor _Julian_ then reigning, writes thus: _Martyres non extimuisti quibus praeclari honores & festa const.i.tuta, a quibus Daemones propelluntur & morbi curantur; quorum sunt apparitiones & praedictiones; quorum vel sola corpora idem possunt quod animae sanctae, sive manibus contrectentur, sive honorentur: quorum vel solae sanguinis guttae atque exigua pa.s.sionis signa idem possunt quod corpora. Haec non colis sed contemnis & aspernaris_. These things made the heathens in the reign of the same Emperor demolish the sepulchre of _John_ the Baptist in _Phoenicia_, and burn his bones; when several _Christians_ mixing themselves with the heathens, gathered up some of his remains, which were sent to _Athanasius_, who hid them in the wall of a Church; foreseeing by a prophetic spirit, as _Ruffinus_ tells us, that they might be profitable to future generations.
The cry of these miracles being once set on foot, continued for many years, and encreased and grew more general. _Chrysostom_, in his second Oration on St. _Babylas_, twenty years after the silencing of the Oracle of _Apollo Daphnaeus_ as above, viz. A.C. 382, saith of the miracles done by the Saints and their reliques [3]: _Nulla est nostri hujus...o...b..s seu regio, seu gens, seu urbs, ubi nova & inopinata miracula haec non decantentur; quae quidem si figmenta fuissent, prorsus in tantam hominum admirationem non venissent_.
And a little after: _Abunde orationi nostrae fidem faciunt quae quotidiana a martyribus miracula eduntur, magna affatim ad illa hominum mult.i.tudine affluente_. And in his 66th Homily, describing how the Devils were tormented and cast out by the bones of the Martyrs, he adds: _Ob eam causam multi plerumque Reges peregre profecti sunt, ut hoc spectaculo fruerentur.
Siquidem sanctorum martyrum templa futuri judicii vestigia & signa exhibent, dum nimirum Daemones flagris caeduntur, hominesque torquentur & liberantur. Vide quae sanctorum vita functorum vis sit?_ And _Jerom_ in his Epitaph on _Paula_, thus [4] mentions the same things. _Paula vidit Samariam: ibi siti sunt Elisaeus & Abdias prophetae, & Joannes Baptista, ubi multis intremuit consternata miraculis. Nam cernebat variis daemones rugire cruciatibus, & ante sepulchra sanctorum ululare, homines more luporum vocibus latrare canum, fremere leonum, sibilare serpentum, mugire taurorum, alios rotare caput & post tergum terram vertice tangere, suspensisque pede faeminis vestes non defluere in faciem_. This was about the year 384: and _Chrysostom_ in his Oration on the _Egyptian_ Martyrs, seems to make _Egypt_ the ringleader in these matters, saying [5]: _Benedictus Deus quandoquidem ex aegypto prodeunt martyres, ex aegypto illa c.u.m Deo pugnante ac insanissima, & unde impia ora, unde linguae blasphemae; ex aegypto martyres habentur; non in aegypto tantum, nec in finitima vicinaque regione, sed _UBIQUE TERRARUM_. Et quemadmodum in annonae summa ubertate, c.u.m viderunt urbium incolae majorem quam usus habitatorum postulat esse proventum, ad peregrinas etiam urbes transmittunt: c.u.m & suam comitatem & liberalitatem ostendant, tum ut praeter horum abundantiam c.u.m facilitate res quibus indigent rursus ab illis sibi comparent: sic & aegyptii, quod attinet ad religionis athletas, fecerunt. c.u.m apud se multam eorum Dei benignitate copiam cernerent, nequaquam ingens Dei munus sua civitate concluserunt, sed in _OMNES TERRae PARTES_ bonorum thesauros effuderunt: c.u.m ut suum in fratres amorem ostenderent, tum ut communem omnium dominum honore afficerent, ac civitati suae gloriam apud omnes compararent, totiusque terrarum _ORBIS_ esse _METROPOLIN_ declararent.--Sanctorum enim illorum corpora quovis adamantino & inexpugnabili muro tutius n.o.bis urbem communiunt, & tanquam excelsi quidam scopuli undique prominentes, non horum qui sub sensus cadunt & oculis cernuntur hostium impetus propulsant tantum, sed etiam invisibilium daemonum insidias, omnesque diaboli fraudes subvertunt ac dissipant.--Neque vero tantum adversus hominum insidias aut adversus fallacias daemonum utilis n.o.bis est haec possessio, sed si n.o.bis communis dominus ob peccatorum mult.i.tudinem irascatur, his objectis corporibus continuo poterimus eum propitium reddere civitati_. This Oration was written at _Antioch_, while _Alexandria_ was yet the Metropolis of the _East_, that is, before the year 381, in which _Constantinople_ became the Metropolis: and it was a work of some years for the _Egyptians_ to have distributed the miracle-working reliques of their Martyrs over all the world, as they had done before that year. _Egypt_ abounded most with the reliques of Saints and Martyrs, the _Egyptians_ keeping them embalmed upon beds even in their private houses; and _Alexandria_ was eminent above all other cities for dispersing them, so as on that account to acquire glory with all men, and manifest herself to be the _Metropolis_ of the world.
_Antioch_ followed the example of _Egypt_, in dispersing the reliques of the forty Martyrs: and the examples of _Egypt_ and _Syria_ were soon followed by the rest of the world.
The reliques of the forty Martyrs at _Antioch_ were distributed among the Churches before the year 373; for _Athanasius_ who died in that year, wrote an Oration upon them. This Oration is not yet published, but _Gerard Vossius_ saw it in MS. in the Library of Cardinal _Ascanius_ in _Italy_, as he says in his commentary upon the Oration of _Ephraem Syrus_ on the same forty Martyrs. Now since the Monks of _Alexandria_ sent the reliques of the Martyrs of _Egypt_ into all parts of the earth, and thereby acquired glory to their city, and declared her in these matters the Metropolis of the whole world, as we have observed out of _Chrysostom_; it may be concluded, that before _Alexandria_ received the forty Martyrs from _Antioch_, she began to send out the reliques of her own Martyrs into all parts, setting the first example to other cities. This practice therefore began in _Egypt_ some years before the death of _Athanasius_. It began when the miracle-working bones of _John_ the Baptist were carried into _Egypt_, and hid in the wall of a Church, _that they might be profitable to future generations_. It was restrained in the reign of _Julian_ the Apostate: and then it spred from _Egypt_ into all the Empire, _Alexandria_ being the Metropolis of the whole world, according to _Chrysostom_, for propagating this sort of devotion, and _Antioch_ and other cities soon following her example.
In propagating these superst.i.tions, the ring-leaders were the Monks, and _Antony_ was at the head of them: for in the end of the life of _Antony_, _Athanasius_ relates that these were his dying words to his disciples who then attended him. _Do you take care_, said _Antony_, _to adhere to _Christ_ in the first place, and then to the Saints, that after death they may receive you as friends and acquaintance into the everlasting tabernacles, Think upon these things, perceive these things; and if you have any regard to me, remember me as a father_. This being delivered in charge to the Monks by _Antony_ at his death, A.C. 356, could not but inflame their whole body with devotion towards the Saints, as the ready way to be received, by them into the eternal Tabernacles after death. Hence came that noise about the miracles, done by the reliques of the Saints in the time of _Constantius_: hence came the dispersion of the miracle-working reliques into all the Empire; _Alexandria_ setting the example, and being renowned, for it above all other cities. Hence it came to pa.s.s in the days of _Julian_, A.C. 362, that _Athanasius_ by a prophetic spirit, as _Ruffinus_ tells us, hid the bones of _John_ the Baptist from the Heathens, not in the ground to be forgotten, but in the hollow wall of a Church before proper witnesses, that they might _be profitable to future generations_. Hence also came the invocation of the Saints for doing such miracles, and for a.s.sisting men in their devotions, and mediating with G.o.d.
For _Athanasius_, even from his youth, looked upon the dead Saints and Martyrs as mediators of our prayers: in his Epistle to _Marcellinus_, written in the days of _Constantine_ the great, he saith that the words of the _Psalms_ are not to be transposed or any wise changed, but to be recited and sung without any artifice, as they are written, _that the holy men who delivered them, knowing them to be their own words, may pray with us; or rather, that the Holy Ghost who spake in the holy men, seeing his own words with which he inspired them, may join_ with them _in a.s.sisting us_.
Whilst _Egypt_ abounded with Monks above any other country, the veneration of the Saints began sooner, and spred faster there than in other places.
_Palladius_ going into _Egypt_ in the year 388 to visit the Monasteries, and the sepulchres of _Apollonius_ and other Martyrs of _Thebais_ who had suffered under _Maximinus_, saith of them: _Iis omnibus Christiani fecerunt aedem unam, ubi nunc multae virtutes peraguntur. Tanta autem fuit viri gratia, ut de iis quae esset precatus statim exaudiretur, eum sic honorante servatore: quem etiam nos in martyrio precati vidimus, c.u.m iis qui c.u.m ipso fuerunt martyrio affecti; & Deum adorantes, eorum corpora salutavimus._ _Eunapius_ also, a heathen, yet a competent witness of what was done in his own times, relating how the soldiers delivered the temples of _Egypt_ into the hands of the Monks, which was done in the year 389, rails thus in an impious manner at the Martyrs, as succeeding in the room of the old G.o.ds of _Egypt_. _Illi ipsi, _milites_, Monachos Can.o.bi quoque collocarunt, ut pro Diis qui animo cernuntur, servos & quidem flagitiosos divinis honoribus percolerent, hominum mentibus ad cultum ceremoniasque obligatis. Ii namque condita & salita eorum capita, qui ob scelerum mult.i.tudinem a judicibus extremo judicio fuerant affecti, pro Divis ostentabant; iis genua submittebant, eos in Deorum numerum receptabant, ad illorum sepulchra pulvere sordibusque conspurcati. Martyres igitur vocabantur, & ministri quidem & legati arbitrique prec.u.m apud Deos; c.u.m fuerint servilia infida & flagris pessime subacta, quae cicatrices scelerum ac nequitiae vestigia corporibus circ.u.mferunt; ejusmodi tamen Deos fert tellus_. By these instances we may understand the invocation of Saints was now of some standing in _Egypt_, and that it was already generally received and practised there by the common people.
Thus _Basil_ a Monk, who was made Bishop of _Caesarea_ in the year 369, and died in the year 378, in his Oration on the Martyr _Mamas_, saith: _Be ye mindful of the Martyr; as many of you as have enjoyed him in your dreams, as many as in this place have been a.s.sisted by him in prayer, as many of you as upon invoking him by name have had him present in your works, as many as he has reduced into the way from wandering, as many as he has restored to health, as, many as have had their dead children restored by him to life, as many as have had their lives prolonged by him_: and a little after, he thus expresses the universality of this superst.i.tion in the regions of _Cappadocia_ and _Bithynia_: _At the memory of the Martyr_, saith he, _the whole region is moved; at his festival the whole city is transported with joy. Nor do the kindred of the rich turn aside to the sepulchres of their ancestors, but all go to the place of devotion._ Again, in the end of the Homily he prays, that _G.o.d would preserve the Church, thus fortified with the great towers of the Martyrs_: and in his Oration on the forty Martyrs; _These are they_, saith he, _who obtaining our country, like certain towers afford us safety against our enemies. Neither are they shut up in one place only, but being distributed are sent into many regions, and adorn many countries.--You have often endeavoured, you have often laboured to find one who might pray for you: here are forty, emitting one voice of prayer.--He that is in affliction flies to these, he that rejoices has recourse to these: the first, that he may be freed from evil, the last that he may continue in happiness. Here a woman praying for her children is heard; she obtains a safe return for her husband from abroad, and health for him in his sickness.--O ye common keepers of mankind, the best companions of our cares, suffragans and coadjutors of our prayers, most powerful emba.s.sadors to G.o.d_, &c. By all which it is manifest, that before the year 378, the Orations and Sermons upon the Saints went much beyond the bounds of mere oratorical flourishes, and that the common people in the _East_ were already generally corrupted by the Monks with Saint-worship.
_Gregory n.a.z.ianzen_ a Monk, in his sixth Oration written A.C. 373, when he was newly made Bishop of _Sasima_, saith: _Let us purify ourselves to the Martyrs, or rather to the G.o.d of the Martyrs_: and a little after he calls the Martyrs _mediators of obtaining an ascension or divinity_. The same year, in the end of his Oration upon _Athanasius_ then newly dead, he thus invokes him: _Do thou look down upon us propitiously, and govern this people, as perfect adorers of the perfect Trinity, which in the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, is contemplated and worshiped: if there shall be peace, preserve me, and feed my flock with me; but if war, bring me home, place me by thyself, and by those that are like thee; however great my request._ And in the end of the funeral Oration upon _Basil_, written A.C.
378, he thus addresses him: _But thou, O divine and sacred Head, look down upon us from heaven; and by thy prayers either take away that thorn of the flesh which is given us by G.o.d for exercise, or obtain that we may bear it with courage, and direct all our life to that which is most fitting for us.
When we depart this life, receive us there in your Tabernacles, that living together and beholding the holy and blessed Trinity more purely and perfectly, whereof we have now but an imperfect view, we may there come to the end of our desires, and receive this reward of the wars which we have waged or suffered_: and in his Oration upon _Cyprian_, not the Bishop of _Carthage_, but a _Greek_, he invokes him after the same manner; and tells us also how a pious Virgin named _Justina_, was protected by invoking the Virgin _Mary_, and how miracles were done by the ashes of _Cyprian_.
_Gregory Nyssen_, another eminent Monk and Bishop, in the life of _Ephraem Syrus_, tells how a certain man returning from a far country, was in great danger, by reason all the ways were intercepted by the armies of barbarous nations; but upon invoking _Ephraem_ by name, and saying, _Holy _Ephraem_ a.s.sist me_, he escaped the danger, neglected the fear of death, and beyond his hope got safe home. In the end of this Oration _Gregory_ calls upon _Ephraem_ after the following manner: _But thou, O Ephraem, a.s.sisting now at the divine altar, and sacrificing to the Prince of life, and to the most holy Trinity, together with the Angels; remember us all, and obtain for us pardon of our sins, that we may enjoy the eternal happiness of the kingdom of heaven._ The same _Gregory_, in his Oration on the Martyr _Theodorus_ written A.C. 381, thus describes the power of that Martyr, and the practice of the people. _This Martyr_, saith he, _the last year quieted the barbarous tempest, and put a stop to the horrid war of the fierce and cruel _Scythians_.--If any one is permitted to carry away the dust with which the tomb is covered, wherein the body of the Martyr rests; the dust is accepted as a gift, and gathered to be laid up as a thing of great price. For to touch the reliques themselves, if any such prosperous fortune shall at any time happen; how great a favour that is, and not to be obtained without the most earnest prayers, they know well who have obtained it. For as a living and florid body, they who behold it embrace it, applying to it the eyes, mouth, ears, and all the organs of sense; and then with affection pouring tears upon the Martyr, as if he was whole and appeared to them: they offer prayers with supplication, that he would intercede for them as an advocate, praying to him as an Officer attending upon G.o.d, and invoking him as receiving gifts whenever he will._ At length _Gregory_ concludes the Oration with this prayer: _O Theodorus, we want many blessings; intercede and beseech for thy country before the common King and Lord: for the country of the Martyr is the place of his pa.s.sion, and they are his citizens, brethren and kindred, who have him, defend, adorn and honour him.
We fear afflictions, we expect dangers: the wicked _Scythians_ are not far off, ready to make war against us. As a soldier fight for us, as a Martyr use liberty of speech for thy fellow-servants. Pray for peace, that these publick meetings may not cease, that the furious and wicked barbarian may not rage against the temples and altars, that the profane and impious may not trample upon the holy things. We acknowledge it a benefit received from thee, that we are preserved safe and entire, we pray for freedom from danger in time to come: and if there shall be need of greater intercession and deprecation, call together the choir of thy brethren the Martyrs, and in conjunction with them all intercede for us. Let the prayers of many just ones attone for the sins of the mult.i.tudes and the people; exhort _Peter_, excite _Paul_, and also _John_ the divine and beloved disciple, that they may be sollicitous for the Churches which they have erected, for which they have been in chains, for which they have undergone dangers and deaths; that the worship of idols may not lift up its head against us, that heresies may not spring up like thorns in the vineyard, that tares grown up may not choak the wheat, that no rock void of the fatness of true dew may be against us, and render the fruitful power of the word void of a root; but by the power of the prayers of thyself and thy companions, O admirable man and eminent among the Martyrs, the commonwealth of _Christians_ may become a field of corn_. The same _Gregory Nyssen_, in his sermon upon the death of _Meletius_ Bishop of _Antioch_, preached at _Constantinople_ the same year, A.C. 381, before the Bishops of all the _East_ a.s.sembled in the second general Council, spake thus of _Meletius_. _The Bridegroom_, saith he, _is not taken from us: he stands in the midst of us, tho we do not see him: he is a Priest in the most inward places, and face to face intercedes before G.o.d for us and the sins of the people_. This was no oratorical flourish, but _Gregory_"s real opinion, as may be understood by what we have cited out of him concerning _Ephraem_ and _Theodorus_: and as _Gregory_ preached this before the Council of _Constantinople_, you may thence know, saith [6] _Baronius_, that he professed what the whole Council, and therewith the whole Church of those parts believed, namely, that the Saints in heaven offer prayers for us before G.o.d.
_Ephraem Syrus_, another eminent Monk, who was contemporary with _Basil_, and died the same year; in the end of his Encomium or Oration upon _Basil_ then newly dead, invokes him after this manner: _Intercede for me, a very miserable man; and recal me by thy intercessions, O father; thou who art strong, pray for me who am weak; thou who art diligent, for me who am negligent; thou who art chearful, for me who am heavy; thou who art wise, for me who am foolish. Thou who hast treasured up a treasure of all virtues, be a guide to me who am empty of every good work_. In the beginning of his Encomium upon the forty Martyrs, written at the same time, he thus invokes them: _Help me therefore, O ye Saints, with your intercession; and O ye beloved, with your holy prayers, that _Christ_ by his grace may direct my tongue to speak_, &c. and afterwards mentioning the mother of one of these forty Martyrs, he concludes the Oration with this prayer: _I entreat thee, O holy, faithful, and blessed woman, pray for me to the Saints, saying; Intercede ye that triumph in _Christ_, for the most little and miserable _Ephraem_, that he may find mercy, and by the grace of _Christ_ may be saved_. Again, in his second Sermon or Oration on the praises of the holy Martyrs of _Christ_, he thus addresses them: _We entreat you most holy Martyrs, to intercede with the Lord for us miserable sinners, beset with the filthiness of negligence, that he would infuse his divine grace into us_: and afterwards, near the end of the same discourse; _Now ye most holy men and glorious Martyrs of G.o.d, help me a miserable sinner with your prayers, that in that dreadful hour I may obtain mercy, when the secrets of all hearts shall be made manifest. I am to day become to you, most holy Martyrs of _Christ_, as it were an unprofitable and unskilful cup-bearer: for I have delivered to the sons and brothers of your faith, a cup of the excellent wine of your warfare, with the excellent table of your victory, replenished with all sorts of dainties. I have endeavoured, with the whole affection and desire of my mind, to recreate your fathers and brothers, kindred and relations, who daily frequent the table. For behold they sing, and with exultation and jubilee glorify G.o.d, who has crown"d your virtues, by setting on your most sacred heads incorruptible and celestial crowns; they with excessive joy stand about the sacred reliques of your martyrdoms, wishing for a blessing, and desiring to bear away holy medicines both for the body and the mind. As good disciples and faithful ministers of our benign Lord and Saviour, bestow therefore a blessing on them all: and on me also, tho weak and feeble, who having received strength by your merits and intercessions, have with the whole devotion of my mind, sung a hymn to your praise and glory before your holy reliques. Wherefore I beseech you stand before the throne of the divine Majesty for me _Ephraem_, a vile and miserable sinner, that by your prayers I may deserve to obtain salvation, and with you enjoy eternal felicity by the grace and benignity and mercy of our Lord and Saviour _Jesus Christ_, to whom with the Father and Holy Ghost be praise, honour and glory for ever and ever_. Amen.
By what has been cited out of _Basil_, the two _Gregories_ and _Ephraem_, we may understand that Saint-worship was established among the Monks and their admirers in _Egypt_, _Phoenicia_, _Syria_ and _Cappadocia_, before the year 378, this being the year in which _Basil_ and _Ephraem_ died. _Chrysostom_ was not much later; he preached at _Antioch_ almost all the time of _Theodosius_ the great, and in his Sermons are many exhortations to this sort of superst.i.tion, as may be seen in the end of his Orations on S.
_Julia_, on St. _Pelagia_, on the Martyr _Ignatius_, on the _Egyptian_ Martyrs, on Fate and Providence, on the Martyrs in general, on St.
_Berenice_ and St. _Prosdoce_, on _Juventinus_ and _Maximus_, on the name of _Coemetery_, &c. Thus in his Sermon on _Berenice_ and _Prosdoce_: _Perhaps_, saith he, _you are inflamed with no small love towards these Martyrs; therefore with this ardour let us fall down before their reliques, let us embrace their coffins. For the coffins of the Martyrs have great virtue, even as the bones of the Martyrs have great power. Nor let us only on the day of this festival, but also on other days apply to them, invoke them, and beseech them to be our patrons: for they have great power and efficacy, not only whilst alive, but also after death; and much more after death than before. For now they bear the marks or brands of _Christ_; and when they shew these marks, they can obtain all things of the King. Seeing therefore they abound with such efficacy, and have so much friendship with him; we also, when by continual attendance and perpetual visitation of them we have insinuated ourselves into their familiarity, may by their a.s.sistance obtain the mercy of G.o.d_.
_Constantinople_ was free from these superst.i.tions till _Gregory n.a.z.ianzen_ came thither A.D. 379; but in a few years it was also inflamed with it.
_Ruffinus_ [7] tells us, that when the Emperor _Theodosius_ was setting out against the tyrant _Eugenius_, which was in the year 394, he went about with the Priests and people to all the places of prayer; lay prostrate in haircloth before the shrines of the Martyrs and Apostles, and pray"d for a.s.sistance by the intercession of the Saints. _Sozomen_ [8] adds, that when the Emperor was marched seven miles from _Constantinople_ against _Eugenius_, he went into a Church which he had built to _John_ the Baptist, _and invoked the Baptist for his a.s.sistance. Chrysostom_ [9] says: _He that is clothed in purple, approaches to embrace these sepulchres; and laying aside his dignity, stands supplicating the Saints to intercede for him with G.o.d: and he who goes crowned with a diadem, offers his prayers to the tent-maker and the fisher-man as his Protestors._ And in [10] another place: _The cities run together to the sepulchres of the Martyrs, and the people are inflamed with the love of them_.
This practice of sending reliques from place to place for working miracles, and thereby inflaming the devotion of the nations towards the dead Saints and their reliques, and setting up the religion of invoking their souls, lasted only till the middle of the reign of the Emperor _Theodosius_ the great; for he then prohibited it by the following Edict. _Humatum corpus, nemo ad alterum loc.u.m transferat; nemo Martyrem distrahat, nemo mercetur: Habeant ver in potestate, si quolibet in loco sanctorum est aliquis conditus, pro ejus veneratione, quod _Martyrium_ vocandum sit, addant quod voluerint fabricarum. Dat. _iv._ Kal. Mart. Constantinopoli, Honorio n.o.b.
puero & Euodio Coss._ A.C. 386. After this they filled the fields and high-ways with altars erected to Martyrs, which they pretended to discover by dreams and revelations: and this occasioned the making the fourteenth Canon of the fifth Council of _Carthage_, A.C. 398. _Item placuit, ut altaria, quae pa.s.sim per agros aut vias, tanquam memoriae Martyrum const.i.tuuntur, in quibus nullum corpus aut reliquiae Martyrum conditae probantur, ab Episcopis, qui illis locis praesunt, si fieri potest, evertantur. Si autem hoc propter tumultus populares non sinitur, plebes tamen admoneantur, ne illa loca frequentent, ut qui recte sapiunt, nulla ibi superst.i.tione devincti teneantur. Et omnino nulla memoria Martyrum probabiliter acceptetur, nisi aut ibi corpus aut aliquae certae reliquiae sint, aut ubi origo alicujus habitationis, vel possessionis, vel pa.s.sionis fidelissima origine traditur. Nam quae per somnia, & per inanes quasi revelationes quorumlibet hominum ubique const.i.tuuntur altaria, omnimode reprobentur._ These altars were for invoking the Saints or Martyrs buried or pretended to be buried under them. First they filled the Churches in all places with the reliques or pretended reliques of the Martyrs, for invoking them in the Churches; and then they filled the fields and high-ways with altars, for invoking them every where: and this new religion was set up by the Monks in all the _Greek_ Empire before the expedition of the Emperor _Theodosius_ against _Eugenius_, and I think before his above-mentioned Edict, A.C. 386.
The same religion of worshiping _Mahuzzims_ quickly spred into the _Western Empire_ also: but _Daniel_ in this Prophecy describes chiefly the things done among the nations comprehended in the body of his third Beast.
Notes to Chap. XIV.
[1] Chap. xi. 38, 39
[2] Orat. de vita Greg. Thaumaturg. T. 3. p. 574.
[3] Vide Hom. 47. in. S. Julian.
[4] Epist. 27. ad Eustochium.
[5] Edit. Frontonis Ducaei, Tom. 1.
[6] Ad. an. 381, Sect. 41.
[7] Hist. Eccl. l. 2. c. 23.
[8] L. 4. c. 24.
[9] Hom. 66. ad. populum, circa finem. & Hom. 8, 27. in Matth. Hom. 42, 43.
in Gen. Hom. 1. in 1 Thess.