[1]Chap. xi. 2, 3, 4.[2]Chap. xi. 5.[3]Chap. xi. 6, 7, 8.[4]Chap. xi. 10, &c.[5]Chap. xi. 13-19.[6]Chap. xi. 20.[7]Chap. xi. 21, &c.[8]2 Maccab. iii. 5, 8. & iv. 4.[9]Chap. xi. 25, &c.[10]Chap. xi. 29, 30.[11]Chap. xi. 32, &c.[12]Chap. xi. 36, &c.[13]Chap. xi. 40, &c.
[1]Chap. xi. 2, 3, 4.
[2]Chap. xi. 5.
[3]Chap. xi. 6, 7, 8.
[4]Chap. xi. 10, &c.
[5]Chap. xi. 13-19.
[6]Chap. xi. 20.
[7]Chap. xi. 21, &c.
[8]2 Maccab. iii. 5, 8. & iv. 4.
[9]Chap. xi. 25, &c.
[10]Chap. xi. 29, 30.
[11]Chap. xi. 32, &c.
[12]Chap. xi. 36, &c.
[13]Chap. xi. 40, &c.
Of the King who did according to his will, and magnified himself above every God, and honouredMahuzzims, and regarded not the desire of women.
In the first ages of the Christian religion the Christians of every city were governed by a Council of Presbyters, and the President of the Council was the Bishop of the city. The Bishop and Presbyters of one city meddled not with the affairs of another city, except by admonitory letters or messages. Nor did the Bishops of several cities meet together in Council before the time of the EmperorCommodus: for they could not meet together without the leave of theRomangovernors of the Provinces. But in the days of that Emperor they began to meet in Provincial Councils, by the leave of the governors; first inAsia, in opposition to theCataphrygianHeresy, and soon after in other places and upon other occasions. The Bishop of the chief city, or Metropolis of theRomanProvince, was usually made President of the Council; and hence came the authority of Metropolitan Bishops above that of other Bishops within the same Province. Hence also it was that the Bishop ofRomeinCyprian's days called himself the Bishop of Bishops. As soon as the Empire became Christian, theRomanEmperors began to call general Councils out of all the Provinces of the Empire; and by prescribing to them what points they should consider, and influencing them by their interest and power, they set up what party they pleased. Hereby theGreekEmpire, upon the division of theRomanEmpire into theGreekandLatinEmpires, becamethe King who, in matters of religion,did according to his will;and, in legislature,exalted and magnified himself above every God: and at length, by the seventh general Council, established the worship of the images and souls of dead men, here calledMahuzzims.
The same King placed holiness in abstinence from marriage.Eusebiusin his Ecclesiastical history[1]tells us, thatMusanuswrote a tract against those who fell away to the heresy of theEncratites, which was then newly risen, and had introduced pernicious errors; and thatTatian, the disciple ofJustin, was the author thereof; and thatIrenæusin his first book against heresies teaches this, writing ofTatianand his heresy in these words:A Saturnino & Marcione profecti qui vocantur Continentes, docuerunt non contrahendum esse matrimonium; reprobantes scilicet primitivum illud opificium Dei, & tacitè accusantes Deum qui masculum & fæminam condidit ad procreationem generis humani. Induxerunt etiam abstinentiam ab esu eorum quæ animalia appellant, ingratos se exhibentes ergo eum qui universa creavit Deum. Negant etiam primi hominis salutem. Atque hoc nuper apud illos excogitatum est, Tatiano quodam omnium primo hujus impietatis auctore: qui Justini auditor, quamdiu cum illo versatus est, nihil ejusmodi protulit. Post martyrium autem illius, ab Ecclesia se abrumpens, doctoris arrogantia elatus ac tumidus, tanquam præstantior cæteris, novam quandam formam doctrinæ conflavit: Æonas invisibiles commentus perinde ac Valentinus: asserens quoque cum Saturnino & Marcione, matrimonium nihil aliud esse quam corruptionem ac stuprum: nova præterea argumenta ad subvertendam Adami salutem excogitans. Hæc Irenæus de Hæresi quæ tunc viguit Encratitarum.Thus farEusebius. But altho the followers ofTatianwere at first condemned as hereticks by the name ofEncratites, orContinentes; their principles could not be yet quite exploded: forMontanusrefined upon them, and made only second marriages unlawful; he also introduced frequent fastings, and annual, fasting days, the keeping ofLent, and feeding upon dried meats. TheApostolici, about the middle of the third century, condemned marriage, and were a branch of the disciples ofTatian. TheHierocitæinEgypt, in the latter end of the third century, also condemned marriage.PaultheEremitefled into the wilderness from the persecution ofDecius, and lived there a solitary life till the reign ofConstantinethe great, but made no disciples.Antonydid the like in the persecution ofDioclesian, or a little before, and made disciples; and many others soon followed his example.
Hitherto the principles of theEncratiteshad 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 theGreekChurch, and then theLatinalso, like a torrent.Eusebiustells us,[2]thatConstantinethe 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 God; being certain that the God 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 inEgyptbyAntony, and inSyriabyHilarion; and spred so fast, that soon after the time ofJulianthe Apostate a third part of theEgyptianswere got into the desarts ofEgypt. They lived first singly in cells, then associated intocœnobiaor convents; and at length came into towns, and filled the Churches with Bishops, Presbyters and Deacons.Athanasiusin his younger days poured water upon the hands of his masterAntony; and finding the Monks faithful to him, made many of them Bishops and Presbyters inEgypt: 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 inSyria, the superstition being quickly propagated thither out ofEgyptbyHilariona disciple ofAntony.SpiridionandEpiphaniusofCyprus,JamesofNisibis,CyrilofJerusalem,EustathiusofSebastiainArmenia,EusebiusofEmisa,TitusofBostra,BasiliusofAncyra,AcaciusofCæsareainPalestine,ElpidiusofLaodicea,MelitiusandFlavianofAntioch,TheodorusofTyre,ProtogenesofCarrhæ,AcaciusofBerrhæa,TheodotusofHierapolis,EusebiusofChalcedon,AmphilochiusofIconium,Gregory Nazianzen,Gregory Nyssen, andJohn ChrysostomofConstantinople, were both Bishops and Monks in the fourth century.Eustathius,Gregory Nazianzen,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. HenceJerome, 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 againstVigilantius:Quid facient Orientis Ecclesiæ? Quæ 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. Cæsario PF. P.
[4]Si quos forte Episcopi deesse sibi Clericos arbitrantur, ex monachorum numero rectius ordinabunt: non obnoxios publicis privatisque rationibus cum invidia teneant, sed habeant jam probatos. Dat.vii.Kal. Aug. Honorio A.iv.& Eutychianio Coss.A.C. 598. TheGreekEmpire being now in the hands of theseEncratites, and having them in great admiration,Danielmakes it a characteristick of the King who doth according to his will, thathe should not regard the desire of Women.
Thus the Sect of theEncratites, set on foot by theGnosticks, and propagated byTatianandMontanusnear 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 theEasternChurches in the fourth century, and before the end of it began to overspread theWestern. Henceforward the Christian Churches having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof, came into the hands of theEncratites: 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 superstitions, than that of the sincere Christians; who by the lamps of the seven Churches ofAsia, and not by the lamps of the Monasteries, had illuminated the Church Catholic during the three first centuries.
TheCataphrygiansbrought in also several other superstitions: such as were the doctrine of Ghosts, and of their punishment in Purgatory, with prayers and oblations for mitigating that punishment, asTertullianteaches in his booksDe AnimaandDe Monogamia. They used also the sign of the cross as a charm. SoTertullianin his bookde Corona militis:Ad omnem progressum atque promotum, ad omnem aditum & exitum, ad vestitum, ad calceatum, ad lavacra, ad mensas, ad lamina, ad cubilia, ad sedilia, quacunque nos conversatio exercet, frontem crucis signaculo terimus. All these superstitions 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, theDæmonsand 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 theCataphrygiansthese principles and practices were propagated down to posterity.For the mystery of iniquitydidalready workin theApostlesdays in theGnosticks, continued to work very strongly in their offspring theTatianistsandCataphrygians, and was to worktill that man of sinshouldbe 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 ofChristiangodliness, but without the power thereof, 2Thess. ii. 7-10.
For tho some stop was put to theCataphrygianChristianity, by Provincial Councils, till the fourth century; yet theRomanEmperors then turningChristians, and great multitudes of heathens coming over in outward profession, these found theCataphrygianChristianity 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 sincereChristians: wherefore they readily sided with theCataphrygian 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, andwere holpen with a little help, by the conversion ofConstantinethe great and his sons to theChristianreligion, fell under new persecutions,to purge themfrom the dissemblers,and to make them white, even to the time of the end.
[1]Lib. 4. c. 28, 29.[2]In vita Constantini, l. 4. c. 28.[3]Epist. 10.[4]L. 32. de Episcopis.
[1]Lib. 4. c. 28, 29.
[2]In vita Constantini, l. 4. c. 28.
[3]Epist. 10.
[4]L. 32. de Episcopis.
Of theMahuzzims, honoured by the King who doth according to his will.
In scripture we are told of sometrusting in Godand otherstrusting in idols, and thatGod is our refuge, our strength, our defense. In this sense God isthe rock of his people, and false Gods are calledthe rock of those that trust in them, Deut. xxxii. 4, 15, 18, 30, 31, 37. In the same sense the Gods ofthe Kingwhoshall do according to his willare calledMahuzzims, munitions, fortresses, protectors, guardians, or defenders.In his estate, saith[1]Daniel,shall he honourMahuzzims; even with a God 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 holdsor temples;—and he shall cause them to rule over many, and divide the landamong themfor a possession. Now this came to pass by degrees in the following manner.
Gregory Nyssen[2]tells us, that after the persecution of the EmperorDecius,GregoryBishop ofNeocæsareainPontus,instituted among all people, as an addition or corollary of devotion towards God, that festival days and assemblies should be celebrated to them who had contended for the faith, that is, to theMartyrs. And he adds this reason for the institution:When he observed, saithNyssen,that the simple and unskilful multitude, by reason of corporeal delights, remained in the error of idols; that the principal thing might be corrected among them, namely, that instead of their vain worship they might turn their eyes upon God; 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 Gods, and unwilling to part with those delights; and thereforeGregory, to facilitate their conversion, instituted annual festivals to theSaintsandMartyrs. Hence it came to pass, that for exploding the festivals of the heathens, the principal festivals of theChristianssucceeded in their room: as the keeping ofChristmaswith ivy and feasting, and playing and sports, in the room of theBacchanaliaandSaturnalia; the celebrating ofMay-daywith flowers, in the room of theFloralia; and the keeping of festivals to the VirginMary,Johnthe Baptist, and divers of the Apostles, in the room of the solemnities at the entrance of the Sun into the signs of theZodiacin the oldJulianCalendar. In the same persecution ofDecius,Cyprianordered the passions of the Martyrs inAfricato be registred, in order to celebrate their memories annually with oblations and sacrifices: andFelixBishop ofRome, a little after, asPlatinarelates,Martyrum gloria consulens, constituit 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 theChristiansincreased much in number, and decreased as much in virtue, until they werepurged and made whiteby the persecution ofDioclesian. This was the first step made in theChristianreligion towards the veneration of the Martyrs: and tho it did not yet amount to an unlawful worship; yet it disposed theChristianstowards 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 inDioclesian's persecution. The Council ofEliberisinSpain, celebrated in the third or fourth year ofDioclesian's persecution, A.C. 305, hath these Canons. Can. 34.Cereos per diem placuit in Cœmeterio non incendi: inquietandi enim spiritus sanctorum non sunt. Qui hæc non observârint, arceantur ab Ecclesiæ communione.Can. 35.Placuit prohiberi ne fæminæ in Cœmeterio pervigilent, eò quod sæpe sub obtentu orationis latentèr scelera committant.Presently after that persecution, suppose about the year 314, the Council ofLaodiceainPhrygia, 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 theCœmeteriesorMartyries, 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.AChristianmust not leave the Martyrs ofChrist, and go to false Martyrs, that is, to the Martyrs of the hereticks;for these are alien from God: and therefore let those be anathema who go to them. Can. 51.The birth-days of the Martyrs shall not be celebrated inLent, but their commemoration shall be made on the Sabbath-days and Lords days. The Council ofPaphlagonia, 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 theChristiansin the time ofDioclesian's persecution used to pray in theCœmeteriesor 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 theMartyriesof the hereticks. They also lighted torches to the Martyrs in the day-time, as the heathens did to their Gods; which custom, before the end of the fourth century, prevailed much in theWest. They sprinkled the worshipers of the Martyrs with holy-water, as the heathens did the worshipers of their Gods; and went in pilgrimage to seeJerusalemand other holy places, as if those places conferred sanctity on the visiters. From the custom of praying in theCœmeteriesandMartyries, came the custom of translating the bodies of the Saints and Martyrs into such Churches as were new built: the EmperorConstantiusbegan this practice about the year 359, causing the bodies ofAndrewthe Apostle,LukeandTimothy, to be translated into a new Church atConstantinople: and before this act ofConstantius, theEgyptianskept 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, asAthanasiusrelates in the life ofAntony. All which gave occasion to the EmperorJulian, asCyrilrelates, to accuse theChristiansin 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:SinceJesussaid that sepulchres are full of filthiness, how do you invoke God upon them? and in another place he saith, that ifChristianshad adhered to the precepts of theHebrews,they would have worshiped one God instead of many, and not a man, or rather not many unhappy men: And that theyadored 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 sanctity attributed to the dead bodies of the Saints and Martyrs buried in them, and annual festivals were kept to them, with sacrifices offered to God 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 ofSaturn,Rhea,Jupiter,Juno,Mars,Venus,Bacchus,Ceres,Osiris,Isis,Apollo,Diana, and the rest of their Gods. For these Gods 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 ofDecius, and the second by the persecution ofDioclesian; so this third seems to have been owing to the proceedings ofConstantiusandJulianthe Apostate. WhenJulianbegan to restore the worship of the heathen Gods, and to vilify the Saints and Martyrs; theChristiansofSyriaandEgyptseem to have made a great noise about the miracles done by the reliques of theChristianSaints and Martyrs, in opposition to the powers attributed byJulianand the heathens to their Idols. ForSozomenandRuffinustell us, that when he opened the heathen Temples, and consulted the Oracle ofApollo Daphnæusin the suburbs ofAntioch, and pressed by many sacrifices for an answer; the Oracle at length told him that the bones of the MartyrBabylaswhich were buried there hinder'd him from speaking. By which answer we may understand, that someChristianwas got into the place where the heathen Priests used to speak thro' a pipe in delivering their Oracles: and before this,Hilaryin his book againstConstantius, written in the last year of that Emperor, makes the following mention of what was then doing in theEastwhere he was.Sine martyrio persequeris. Plus crudelitati vestræNero,Deci,Maximiane, debemus. Diabolum enim per vos vicimus. Sanctus ubique beatorum martyrum sanguis exceptus est, dum in his Dæmones mugiunt, dum ægritudines depelluntur, dum miraculorum opera cernuntur, elevari sine laqueis corpora, & dispensis pede fæminis vestes non defluere in faciem, uri sine ignibus spiritus, confiteri sine interrogantis incremento fidei. AndGregory Nazianzen, in his first Oration against the EmperorJulianthen reigning, writes thus:Martyres non extimuisti quibus præclari honores & festa constituta, à quibus Dæmones propelluntur & morbi curantur; quorum sunt apparitiones & prædictiones; quorum vel sola corpora idem possunt quod animæ sanctæ, sive manibus contrectentur, sive honorentur: quorum vel solæ sanguinis guttæ atque exigua passionis signa idem possunt quod corpora. Hæc non colis sed contemnis & aspernaris. These things made the heathens in the reign of the same Emperor demolish the sepulchre ofJohnthe Baptist inPhœnicia, and burn his bones; when severalChristiansmixing themselves with the heathens, gathered up some of his remains, which were sent toAthanasius, who hid them in the wall of a Church; foreseeing by a prophetic spirit, asRuffinustells 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 ofApollo Daphnæusas above,viz.A.C. 382, saith of the miracles done by the Saints and their reliques[3]:Nulla est nostri hujus Orbis seu regio, seu gens, seu urbs, ubi nova & inopinata miracula hæc non decantentur; quæ quidem si figmenta fuissent, prorsus in tantam hominum admirationem non venissent. And a little after:Abunde orationi nostræ fidem faciunt quæ quotidiana à martyribus miracula eduntur, magna affatim ad illa hominum multitudine 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 peregrè profecti sunt, ut hoc spectaculo fruerentur. Siquidem sanctorum martyrum templa futuri judicii vestigia & signa exhibent, dum nimirum Dæmones flagris cæduntur, hominesque torquentur & liberantur. Vide quæ sanctorum vitâ functorum vis sit?AndJeromin his Epitaph onPaula, thus[4]mentions the same things.Paula vidit Samariam: ibi siti sunt Elisæus & Abdias prophetæ, & Joannes Baptista, ubi multis intremuit consternata miraculis. Nam cernebat variis dæmones 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 fæminis vestes non defluere in faciem. This was about the year 384: andChrysostomin his Oration on theEgyptianMartyrs, seems to makeEgyptthe ringleader in these matters, saying[5]:Benedictus Deus quandoquidem ex Ægypto prodeunt martyres, ex Ægypto illa cum Deo pugnante ac insanissima, & unde impia ora, unde linguæ blasphemæ; ex Ægypto martyres habentur; non in Ægypto tantum, nec in finitima vicinaque regione, sedUBIQUE TERRARUM. Et quemadmodum in annonæ summa ubertate, cum viderunt urbium incolæ majorem quam usus habitatorum postulat esse proventum, ad peregrinas etiam urbes transmittunt: cum & suam comitatem & liberalitatem ostendant, tum ut præter horum abundantiam cum facilitate res quibus indigent rursus ab illis sibi comparent: sic & Ægyptii, quod attinet ad religionis athletas, fecerunt. Cum apud se multam eorum Dei benignitate copiam cernerent, nequaquam ingens Dei munus sua civitate concluserunt, sed inOMNES TERRÆ PARTESbonorum thesauros effuderunt: cum ut suum in fratres amorem ostenderent, tum ut communem omnium dominum honore afficerent, ac civitati suæ gloriam apud omnes compararent, totiusque terrarumORBISesseMETROPOLINdeclararent.—Sanctorum enim illorum corpora quovis adamantino & inexpugnabili muro tutiùs nobis urbem communiunt, & tanquam excelsi quidam scopuli undique prominentes, non horum qui sub sensus cadunt & oculis cernuntur hostium impetus propulsant tantùm, sed etiam invisibilium dæmonum insidias, omnesque diaboli fraudes subvertunt ac dissipant.—Neque vero tantùm adversus hominum insidias aut adversus fallacias dæmonum utilis nobis est hæc possessio, sed si nobis communis dominus ob peccatorum multitudinem irascatur, his objectis corporibus continuo poterimus eum propitium reddere civitati. This Oration was written atAntioch, whileAlexandriawas yet the Metropolis of theEast, that is, before the year 381, in whichConstantinoplebecame the Metropolis: and it was a work of some years for theEgyptiansto have distributed the miracle-working reliques of their Martyrs over all the world, as they had done before that year.Egyptabounded most with the reliques of Saints and Martyrs, theEgyptianskeeping them embalmed upon beds even in their private houses; andAlexandriawas eminent above all other cities for dispersing them, so as on that account to acquire glory with all men, and manifest herself to be theMetropolisof the world.Antiochfollowed the example ofEgypt, in dispersing the reliques of the forty Martyrs: and the examples ofEgyptandSyriawere soon followed by the rest of the world.
The reliques of the forty Martyrs atAntiochwere distributed among the Churches before the year 373; forAthanasiuswho died in that year, wrote an Oration upon them. This Oration is not yet published, butGerard Vossiussaw it in MS. in the Library of CardinalAscaniusinItaly, as he says in his commentary upon the Oration ofEphræm Syruson the same forty Martyrs. Now since the Monks ofAlexandriasent the reliques of the Martyrs ofEgyptinto 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 ofChrysostom; it may be concluded, that beforeAlexandriareceived the forty Martyrs fromAntioch, 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 inEgyptsome years before the death ofAthanasius. It began when the miracle-working bones ofJohnthe Baptist were carried intoEgypt, and hid in the wall of a Church,that they might be profitable to future generations. It was restrained in the reign ofJulianthe Apostate: and then it spred fromEgyptinto all the Empire,Alexandriabeing the Metropolis of the whole world, according toChrysostom, for propagating this sort of devotion, andAntiochand other cities soon following her example.
In propagating these superstitions, the ring-leaders were the Monks, andAntonywas at the head of them: for in the end of the life ofAntony,Athanasiusrelates that these were his dying words to his disciples who then attended him.Do you take care, saidAntony,to adhere toChristin 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 byAntonyat 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 ofConstantius: hence came the dispersion of the miracle-working reliques into all the Empire;Alexandriasetting the example, and being renowned, for it above all other cities. Hence it came to pass in the days ofJulian, A.C. 362, thatAthanasiusby a prophetic spirit, asRuffinustells us, hid the bones ofJohnthe Baptist from the Heathens, not in the ground to be forgotten, but in the hollow wall of a Church before proper witnesses, that they mightbe profitable to future generations. Hence also came the invocation of the Saints for doing such miracles, and for assisting men in their devotions, and mediating with God. ForAthanasius, even from his youth, looked upon the dead Saints and Martyrs as mediators of our prayers: in his Epistle toMarcellinus, written in the days ofConstantinethe great, he saith that the words of thePsalmsare 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 joinwith themin assisting us.
WhilstEgyptabounded with Monks above any other country, the veneration of the Saints began sooner, and spred faster there than in other places.Palladiusgoing intoEgyptin the year 388 to visit the Monasteries, and the sepulchres ofApolloniusand other Martyrs ofThebaiswho had suffered underMaximinus, saith of them:Iis omnibus Christiani fecerunt ædem unam, ubi nunc multæ virtutes peraguntur. Tanta autem fuit viri gratia, ut de iis quæ esset precatus statim exaudiretur, eum sic honorante servatore: quem etiam nos in martyrio precati vidimus, cum iis qui cum ipso fuerunt martyrio affecti; & Deum adorantes, eorum corpora salutavimus.Eunapiusalso, a heathen, yet a competent witness of what was done in his own times, relating how the soldiers delivered the temples ofEgyptinto 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 Gods ofEgypt.Illi ipsi,milites, Monachos Canobi quoque collocârunt, 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 multitudinem à 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 precum apud Deos; cum fuerint servilia infida & flagris pessimè subacta, quæ cicatrices scelerum ac nequitiæ vestigia corporibus circumferunt; ejusmodi tamen Deos fert tellus. By these instances we may understand the invocation of Saints was now of some standing inEgypt, and that it was already generally received and practised there by the common people.
ThusBasila Monk, who was made Bishop ofCæsareain the year 369, and died in the year 378, in his Oration on the MartyrMamas, 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 assisted 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 superstition in the regions ofCappadociaandBithynia: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, thatGod 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 embassadors to God, &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 theEastwere already generally corrupted by the Monks with Saint-worship.
Gregory Nazianzena Monk, in his sixth Oration written A.C. 373, when he was newly made Bishop ofSasima, saith:Let us purify ourselves to the Martyrs, or rather to the God of the Martyrs: and a little after he calls the Martyrsmediators of obtaining an ascension or divinity. The same year, in the end of his Oration uponAthanasiusthen 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 uponBasil, 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 God 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 uponCyprian, not the Bishop ofCarthage, but aGreek, he invokes him after the same manner; and tells us also how a pious Virgin namedJustina, was protected by invoking the VirginMary, and how miracles were done by the ashes ofCyprian.
Gregory Nyssen, another eminent Monk and Bishop, in the life ofEphræm 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 invokingEphræmby name, and saying,HolyEphræmassist me, he escaped the danger, neglected the fear of death, and beyond his hope got safe home. In the end of this OrationGregorycalls uponEphræmafter the following manner:But thou, O Ephræm, assisting 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 sameGregory, in his Oration on the MartyrTheodoruswritten 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 cruelScythians.—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 God, and invoking him as receiving gifts whenever he will.At lengthGregoryconcludes 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 passion, and they are his citizens, brethren and kindred, who have him, defend, adorn and honour him. We fear afflictions, we expect dangers: the wickedScythiansare 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 multitudes and the people; exhortPeter, excitePaul, and alsoJohnthe 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 ofChristiansmay become a field of corn. The sameGregory Nyssen, in his sermon upon the death ofMeletiusBishop ofAntioch, preached atConstantinoplethe same year, A.C. 381, before the Bishops of all theEastassembled in the second general Council, spake thus ofMeletius.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 God for us and the sins of the people. This was no oratorical flourish, butGregory's real opinion, as may be understood by what we have cited out of him concerningEphræmandTheodorus: and asGregorypreached this before the Council ofConstantinople, 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 God.
Ephræm Syrus, another eminent Monk, who was contemporary withBasil, and died the same year; in the end of his Encomium or Oration uponBasilthen 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, thatChristby 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 inChrist, for the most little and miserableEphræm, that he may find mercy, and by the grace ofChristmay be saved. Again, in his second Sermon or Oration on the praises of the holy Martyrs ofChrist, 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 God, 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 ofChrist, 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 God, 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 meEphræm, 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 SaviourJesus 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 ofBasil, the twoGregoriesandEphræm, we may understand that Saint-worship was established among the Monks and their admirers inEgypt,Phœnicia,SyriaandCappadocia, before the year 378, this being the year in whichBasilandEphræmdied.Chrysostomwas not much later; he preached atAntiochalmost all the time ofTheodosiusthe great, and in his Sermons are many exhortations to this sort of superstition, as may be seen in the end of his Orations on S.Julia, on St.Pelagia, on the MartyrIgnatius, on theEgyptianMartyrs, on Fate and Providence, on the Martyrs in general, on St.Bereniceand St.Prosdoce, onJuventinusandMaximus, on the name ofCœmetery, &c. Thus in his Sermon onBereniceandProsdoce: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 ofChrist; 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 assistance obtain the mercy of God.
Constantinoplewas free from these superstitions tillGregory Nazianzencame thither A.D. 379; but in a few years it was also inflamed with it.Ruffinus[7]tells us, that when the EmperorTheodosiuswas setting out against the tyrantEugenius, 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 assistance by the intercession of the Saints.Sozomen[8]adds, that when the Emperor was marched seven miles fromConstantinopleagainstEugenius, he went into a Church which he had built toJohnthe Baptist,and invoked the Baptist for his assistance. 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 God: 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 EmperorTheodosiusthe great; for he then prohibited it by the following Edict.Humatum corpus, nemo ad alterum locum transferat; nemo Martyrem distrahat, nemo mercetur: Habeant verò in potestate, si quolibet in loco sanctorum est aliquis conditus, pro ejus veneratione, quodMartyriumvocandum sit, addant quod voluerint fabricarum. Dat.iv.Kal. Mart. Constantinopoli, Honorio nob. 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 ofCarthage, A.C. 398.Item placuit, ut altaria, quæ passim per agros aut vias, tanquam memoriæ Martyrum constituuntur, in quibus nullum corpus aut reliquiæ Martyrum conditæ probantur, ab Episcopis, qui illis locis præsunt, si fieri potest, evertantur. Si autem hoc propter tumultus populares non sinitur, plebes tamen admoneantur, ne illa loca frequentent, ut qui rectè sapiunt, nullâ ibi superstitione devincti teneantur. Et omnino nulla memoria Martyrum probabiliter acceptetur, nisi aut ibi corpus aut aliquæ certæ reliquiæ sint, aut ubi origo alicujus habitationis, vel possessionis, vel passionis fidelissima origine traditur. Nam quæ per somnia, & per inanes quasi revelationes quorumlibet hominum ubique constituuntur altaria, omnimodè 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 theGreekEmpire before the expedition of the EmperorTheodosiusagainstEugenius, and I think before his above-mentioned Edict, A.C. 386.
The same religion of worshipingMahuzzimsquickly spred into theWestern Empirealso: butDanielin this Prophecy describes chiefly the things done among the nations comprehended in the body of his third Beast.