Natal. 9. sub fin. A. D. 395. St. Paulinus' complains of the same abuse. St. Augustine 1 S. Paul. replied: "I have heard that it has been often prohibited, but [Poem.26.] "the place is far from the Bishop's abode2; and in so large a [v.558,&c.]" city there is a multitude of carnal persons, especially of [conver« strangers, who resort daily thither." At that time, and long after, the Bishop of Rome lived at the palace of the Lateran3, and the Vatican was without the city. satione] [ Bk. 19. ch. 15. note r.] XII. St. Austin, Bishop of [3 repentinis] 6 Possid. Vit. c. 7. 7 c. 18. 8 c. 19. 9 1 c. 23. St. Augustine, perceiving that all the people agreed to have this evil custom abolished, desired them to be present at the reading of lessons and singing of psalms at noon, which might be done instead of keeping their ordinary feasts. In the afternoon the congregation was still more numerous than in the morning; lessons were read and psalms sung alternately, till the hour when the Bishop returned with his clergy, who obliged St. Augustine to speak again to the people. He was very unwilling, and wished this dangerous day at an end, but was forced to obey. He made a short discourse, to return thanks to GOD; and knowing that the heretics continued their usual feasts in their Basilicas, he failed not to enlarge on the contrast. Afterwards was performed the evening service, as was done every day; and the Bishop and his clergy having retired, a great many people stayed in the church, chanting prayers till night. St. Augustine wrote an account of this good success to his friend Alypius, Bishop of Thagaste. St. Augustine taught both in public and private, opposing all the heresies, especially the Donatists and Manichees, either by his writings or extemporary discourses. The heretics as well as the Catholics pressed in crowds to hear him; and many brought writers in short-hand to preserve his dissertations. Every body spoke of him, and his reputation was spread into all parts, even to the Churches across the sea which greatly rejoiced at it. It was while he was Priest that he began to explain the Holy Scriptures. Thence we have 1 Retract. the imperfect book upon Genesis', the two books upon the Sermon on the Mount, and the explanation of some propositions relating to the Epistle to the Romans"; for as he read this Epistle at Carthage, with his companions there, they had his answers to their questions taken down in writing. He explained also the Epistle to the Galatians', c. 24. 2 from the beginning to the end; and began to explain the A. D. 295. Epistle to the Romans' in the same manner. He afterwards' c. 25. had a collection' made of his answers to various questions c. 26. which he had treated since his return to Africa, which produced the Book of Eighty-three Questions. He wrote a book on the subject of Lying, with which he was dissatisfied, but could not hinder its being published. The Book against Adimantus, the Manichee, was also written at the same [' Tom. 8. time. 4 p. 111.] c. 8. tem epis [Infra, Collat, cum The Bishop Valerius seeing his great reputation, began to fear that he might be taken from him to be advanced to some Bishopric'; which, indeed, had once happened, if he had not Possid. taken care to conceal him so closely, that he was not to be found by those that were in search of him. This redoubled the fears of Valerius; and finding himself disabled by age and infirmities, he wrote privately to the Bishop of Carthage, [' primaearnestly desiring that St. Augustine might be ordained coporum] Bishop for the Church of Hippo, as his coadjutori rather than ch. 24.3 his successor, and he obtained a favourable answer. Afterwards he entreated the Primatek of Numidia, who was Megalius', Bishop of Calama, to visit the Church of Hippo; whom, Brevic. on his arrival, Valerius acquainted with his intentions, as Donat, 31 well as the rest of the Bishops then present, and all the clergy and people of Hippo. Every one was agreeably surprised at this, and the people desired that it might be put in execution, expressing their zeal and earnestness by their acclamations. Megalius was the only person who scrupled to ordain him; having conceived some grudge against St. Augustine, on what account is not known, he wrote that he Contr.Litt. had given a love-charm to a certain woman, with the consent c. 16. [p. of her husband, in order to gain her love; and this under 307.] pretence of a loaf of bread, which he had indeed sent as a eulogy and with no evil intention'. Megalius being pressed [ simpliby the council to prove his assertion, and not being able to hilariter.] The fact of two Bishops in one city was extremely rare. It was unlawful, and allowed only in extraordinary cases, e. g. when by permitting it a schism could be healed, as at Antioch (supr. bk. 18. ch. 3), and in Africa (infra, bk. 22. ch. 29). When old age rendered any Bishop unable to perform his duties, the first example of which occurs A. D. See supra, bk. 18. ch. 25. note h. diei. $ 9.] Petil. 3. citer et A. D. 395. do it, asked pardon', and obtained it; and shewed himself so well satisfied of the innocence of St. Augustine, that he laid his hands on him. 1 Contr. Crescon. 4. c. 64. * Possid. c. 8. Ep. 31. al. 34. ad Paulin. 396. in eunt.] Prosper. Chron. an. 395. S. Aug. Serm. 339. St. Augustine insisted', that he ought not to be ordained, contrary to the usage of the Church, during the life of his Bishop; but all assured him it was an usual thing, producing many instances both in the Churches of Africa and in those on the other side the sea: so that he was obliged to submit, § 4. [A.D. and having no other excuse durst not persist in his refusal. He was accordingly ordained Bishop of Hippo, jointly with Valerius, under the Consulship of Olybrius and Probinus, that is, in the year 395', in the month of December, a little before Christmas", having in November entered his fortysecond year. He afterwards found that his ordination had been irregular, and that the Council of Nicæa had forbidden that a Bishop should be set over a Church which had another Bishop still living, but neither he nor Valerius were at that time acquainted with this rule. It is to be found at the end of the eighth Canon of Nicæa', cursorily mentioned on occasion of the re-union with the Novatians. Thus it is possible, Conc.Nic. that St. Augustine and Valerius might have read this canon c. 8. Supr. several times, without duly attending to these last words; as it happened to a learned Bishop' of our own time, who thought that this resolution of the Council of Nicæa was to be sought for in another place3. al. 25. ex 50. Homil. P. 1309. Vid. Not. 6 Ep. 213. 7 $4. bk. 11. ch. 22. $ M. God. vie de S. August. 1. c. 33. XIII. The Relics zarius and St. Celsus. S. Aug. Ep. 31. 1 Ep. 7. St. Augustine writing to St. Paulinus', acquaints him with of St. Na- his promotion to the Episcopatem; and St. Paulinus sent' this welcome news to St. Augustine's old friend Romanianus, and at the same time a poem in elegiac verse to his son Licentius, to exhort him not to leave so great a master, and to quit all worldly views. Soon after, St. Paulinus received3 from St. AmA. D. 396.] brose the relics of the holy Saints, Nazarius and Celsus, which he [2 Ep. 8. deposited in the church of St. Felix. St. Ambrose had found' their bodies in a garden without the city of Milan. Paulinus, P. 63. ser; his secretary, who was present, says: "We saw in the sepul al. 46. [ad Romanian. al. 46.] 3 Natal. 9. [v. 436. A. D. 402.] [ A. D. 386.] 5 Vit. S. 1 Namely, Antoine Godeau, Bishop of Vence, died A. D. 1672. m The wretched life of St. Augustine, while he was a Manichee, was of course no objection to his elevation to the Episcopate, because he had not then been purified by Baptism, (see bk. 18. ch. 5), which, by its sanctification "cleansed from all crimes." Conc. Neocæs. c. 12. See Bingham, 4. 3. 10, 11. dent. Serm. tom. 9. Bibl. Brix. Ecc. Paullo [gypso. "We Vid. Aringhi terran. lib. p. 494. "chre where the body of the martyr lay, his blood as fresh as A. D. 395. "if it had been shed the same day; and his head, which had "been cut off, so entire, with the hair and beard, that it "looked as if it had been newly washed and interred: we "also smelt an odour so fragrant, as to exceed the choicest perfumes." They gathered up' the blood with plaster1 S. Gauand linen; and this was the manner in which relics were 17. p. 90. transported for they did not yet divide the bodies. Paulinus Patr. acknowledges, that he could not learn at what time Nazarius [ap. Patres suffered martyrdom. His body was placed on a bier, and p. 339. carried to the Basilica of the Apostles, near the Roman gate. post an. St. Ambrose immediately returned to pray with his clergy in 397. the same garden, where the body of St. Celsus lay. "do not know," says Paulinus, "that he had ever prayed there Rom. Sub"before; but it was the sign that the body of a martyr was 3. c. 22. "discovered, when the holy prelate went to pray at a place "where he had not been before. We learned however from "the keepers of this place, that their ancestors had left them "injunctions never to leave it, so long as any of their family "remained, for that great treasures were lodged there. The "body of the martyr, St. Celsus, was also conveyed to the "Basilica of the Apostles, whose relics had been deposited "before" with great devotion. While St. Ambrose was "preaching there on the subject, a certain person among the "people, being troubled with an unclean spirit, began to cry "out, that Ambrose tormented him: the holy Bishop turning "towards him, said; 'Hold thy peace, thou evil spirit! it is "not Ambrose that torments thee, but the faith of the "Saints, and thy envy, in that thou seest men rise to the "place, whence thou hast been cast down; Ambrose will "not be puffed up.' At these words, the person possessed tom. 1.] lib. 1. was silent, was thrown prostrate upon the ground, and "made no more noise." It is pretended3, that it has been Ennod. since discovered that St. Nazarius and St. Celsus suffered in the persecution of Nero, and many churches have been [ap. Sirhonoured with their relics o. "Some read, pridie Apostolorum, i. e. where his Reliques were deposited on the Eve of St. Peter and St. Paul, or the 28th of June. One consequence of the Revelation of the Christian doctrine of the Resurrec- Carm. 18. mond. Op. A. D. 395. XIV. Brixia or S. Gaud. ubi supra. St. Gaudentius' had a part of them, that is, of the blood gathered up with plaster, and was satisfied with having this been the temples of the HOLY GHOST, were not deserted by Him on the mere accident of death, and "it is this," says Pascal, "which renders the Reliques of "the Saints so worthy of veneration." (Pensées, ch. 11. § 12). It was also believed that the souls of the departed Saints were not altogether without interest in their bodies, which were to rise again. (Conc. Elib. A. D. 305. can. 34). This was the hallowing of a heathen notion. (Giesel. 1. § 97. note q). Hence prayer at their graves, and the other Church usages mentioned above. (Bk. 19. ch. 41. note b). In particular, "the Com"munion with the Martyrs being as"sociated with the presence of their 66 66 bodily remains, these were dug up "from the graves and preserved in the "churches, especially under the al"tars." Ibid. § 97. Before, however, translations were practised, we find as early as the martyrdom of St. Polycarp, ("the Angel of the Church of Smyrna," Rev. 2. 8,) in A. D. 169, that the Christians gathered his Reliques (λείψανον), more valuable than pre"cious stones, more pure than tried 'gold, and laid them up in a fitting "treasure house, that they might communicate over them. (Epist. Eccl. Smyrn. de Martyr. Polyc. Cotel. tom. 2. p. 202). The bodies of the Martyrs were buried; their blood, which was often found liquid in their graves, preserved on linen cloths or gypsum; and it was in this way that Reliques were sent to different Churches, for the bodies were not divided. (Vid. the text, and infr. ch. 22). By the Egyptians, indeed, the bodies of the Saints were sometimes embalmed and kept in their houses, but St. Anthony strongly condemned the practice. (Bingham, 23. 4. 8. Compare the case of Lucilla, who was an occasion of the Donatist schism. Optatus I. c. 40, quoted by Bingh. 2. 20. 14). The first instance of the translation of the bodies of Saints to the churches is given by St. Jerome, (Adv. Vigilant. script. A.D. 406. tom. 4. pars 2. p. 282,) who tells us that Constantius translated the bodies of St. Andrew, St. Luke, and St. Timothy, (A. D. 359). Vigilantius, "with Eunomius, the author of this "heresy," (ibid. p. 284,) ridiculed (like the heathen, supr. bk. 19. ch. 31.) the respect paid to Reliques by the Catholics, whom they called Cinerarii and limus) them not, we adore (adoramus) "them not, lest we serve the creature "rather than the Creator, Who is "Blessed for evermore. But we honour "(honoramus) the Reliques of the Martyrs, that Him, Whose Martyrs they are, we may adore (adoremus)," according to St. Matt. 10. 40. 66 66 The bodies were placed especially under the altars, as we have seen above in the case of St. Gervasius and St. Protasius, (bk. 18. ch. 47. See, too, bk. 19. ch. 48.) Virtue was believed to proceed from the holy bodies, in accordance with St. Luke 8. 44. Acts 19. 12. (See supr. bk. 18. ch. 2. and 47. Infr. ch. 21.) Nor were the Old Testament Saints, since CHRIST "preached to the Spirits "in prison," (see Bishop Jeremy Taylor's Life of CHRIST, ad § 16,) neglected; Arcadius translated the bones of "Blessed "Samuel;" (S. Hier. adv. Vigil.) an action countenanced by 2 Kings 13.21. It became customary to complete the consecration of churches by depositing Reliques, (supra, bk. 18. ch. 47. note q.) This usage we find in Pope St. Gregory's direction to Mellitus, (supra, ch. 11. note h,) to deposit Reliques in the fana (supr. bk. 18. ch. 14. marg.) of the Britons, in order to convert them into churches. St. Ambrose and St. Augustine (among many others) attest the reality of miracles wrought through Reliques, (bk. 18. ch. 47); while the latter also protests against the false Monks, who made a trade of pretended Reliques (infr. ch. 34). Abuses naturally arose, and these gave occasion to the Law of Theodosius, A. D. 386, forbidding the Exhumation or Sale of Martyrs, (supr. 19. ch. 48.) Abuses, however, continued in the fifth and sixth centuries, and we consequently find the second Council of Saragoza requiring that Reliques should be subjected to the ordeal of fire. (A. D. 592. can. 2. Mans. tom. 10. p. 471.) Impostures, indeed, were numberless. See Glaber Radulphus 4. c. 3. A. D. 1045, quoted by Gieseler, vol. 2. § 36. Prohibitions were issued by Synod. Pictav. A. D. 1100. c. 12. Lateran. 11. (4. General.) A. D. 1215. c. 62. Conc. Burdegal. 3. A. D. 1255. c. 9. See Giesel. vol. 2. § 78. |