wards there is nothing but bonds, or all things are fast bound." (Greg. Naz. in Carm. de Rebus Suis.) It may be observed, that this passage proves only that Gregory esteemed prayer of no avail to those who may die in sin.

In the writings of Ambrose (d. 397), we meet with prayers of that father, on behalf of the deceased Theodosius and Valentinian, and his own brother; and we find him giving instructions to a Christian not to weep for a deceased sister, but to make prayers and oblations for her. (Ambros. De Obitu Theodosii; De Obit. Valentin.; De Obitu Fratris; Ep. 8, ad Faust.) The same author affirms, in another place, that "death is a haven of rest, and makes not our condition worse; but according as it finds every man, so it reserves him to the judgment that is to come." (De Bono Mortis, c. 4.)

Aërius appears to have been the first who publicly protested against the practice of praying for the dead; which he did upon the ground of the uselessness of such prayers to those who were the subjects of them. His objections were met by Epiphanius, (d. 403,) who maintained (Haeres. 75), first, that prayer for the dead was useful, as testifying the faith and hope of the living, inasmuch as it showed their belief that the departed were still in being, and living with the Lord; and secondly, as a further argument, that "the prayer which is made for them does profit, although it do not cut off all their sins; yet, forasmuch as whilst we are in the world we oftentimes slip, both unwillingly and with our will, it serves to signify that which is more perfect. For we make," continues he, "a memorial both for the just and for sinners; for sinners, entreating the mercy of God; for the just, (both the fathers and patriarchs, the prophets, and apostles, and evangelists, and martyrs, and confessors; bishops also, and authorities, and the whole order,) that we may serve our Lord Jesus Christ from the rank of all other men, by the honor that we do unto him, and that we may yield worship unto him."

Chrysostom (d. 407,) speaking of the death of the wicked, says, "They are not so much to be lamented, as succoured with prayers, and supplications, and alms, and oblations. For these things were not designed in vain, neither is it without reason that we make mention of those that are deceased in the holy mysteries, interceding for them to the Lamb that is slain to take away the sins of the world; but that some consolation may hence arise to them. Neither is it in

vain that he who stands at the altar, when the tremendous mysteries are celebrated, cries, We offer unto thee for all those that are asleep in Christ, and all that make commemorations for them.' For if there were no commemorations made for them, these things would not be said. Let us not therefore grow weary in giving them our assistance, and offering prayers for them."

Jerome (d. 420) says, " While we are in this present world we may be able to help one another, either by our prayers or by our councils; but when we shall come before the judgment seat of Christ, neither Job, nor Daniel, nor Noah, can entreat for any one, but every one must bear his own burden." (Lib. iii. Comment. in Galat, c. 6.)

On the whole, therefore, it appears, that from the time of Tertullian, at least, and probably from a still earlier date, the church was accustomed to offer prayers for the dead. Many teachers of the church during the third and fourth centuries sanctioned this superstitious practice; some of them encouraging a belief that the prayers of the living were a means of procuring certain imaginary benefits for those who had died in sin, as well as for those who had departed in the faith; but others affirming that the dead could derive no benefit from the prayers of survivors. So that while it was the erroneous opinion that prayers and oblations ought to be made for the dead, and was the received and universal doctrine of the church, it was yet a question among christian doctors, on which they were allowed to differ, whether the dead received any profit from such prayers. The entire abandonment of a custom so much at variance with divine truth was reserved for that brighter period in the history of the church, in which "the Bible, the Bible alone," began (perhaps for the first time since the commencement of the second century) to be recognized as the sole depositary of the principles of our religion, and the only unerring guide of christian practice.

When the prayers of the early church were offered on behalf of persons supposed to have died in the faith, who were regarded as about to enter into happiness, Christians were understood to beseech God that he would receive those persons to himself;-they gave thanks for their deliverance out of this sinful world;-they petitioned for the divine forgiveness of all remains of sin and imperfection in the departed-they intended to offer a tribute of respect and affection to the deceased, and to testify their own belief of the immor

tality of the soul and a future life;-and they sought to procure for their departed friends the blessings of an early share in the millennial reign of Christ upon earth (which was confidently expected by the early Christians),-as well as favor at the day of judgment, (when they supposed that all men would pass through a fire of purgation,)—and an augmentation of their reward and glory in the state of final blessedness.

It is certain also, that prayers were offered for those who had died in sin, in the hope of mitigating their sufferings, or rendering their condemnation more tolerable. (Chrysost. Hom. 3, in Phil.; Conf. Hom. 21, in Act.; Hom. 32, in Matt.; August. Enchirid, ad Laurent. c. 110; Paulin. Ep. 19; Athanas. Quest. ad Antioch. ix. 34; Prudent. Cathemerin. Carm. 5, De Cereo Paschali.)

$ 6. OF THE CEMETERIES OF THE EARLY CHRISTIANS.

By far the greater number of the primitive Christians were buried in subterranean sepulchres. As, during the first three hundred years the sword of persecution was constantly impending over their heads, and dear-bought experience taught them, that their only safety lay either in withdrawing to uninhabited deserts, or sheltering themselves in inaccessible hiding holes, multitudes who preferred the latter alternative, died, and were interred in their places of retreat. These served at once as their home and their burying place; and, as it was natural that they should wish to have the bodies of their departed brethren conveyed to the same peaceful and inviolable sanctuaries, it became, first from necessity, and afterwards from choice, the approved and invariable practice of the Christians to deposit their dead in deep and obscure caverns. These, owing to the vast multitudes who fell simultaneously in times of persecution, and to whom, except in some few cases, the rites of burial were not refused, evidently required to be of no ordinary magnitude; and accordingly,at what time is uncertain, but at an early period,-the charity of some wealthy friends of their body put them in possession of cemeteries which remained ever after the common property of the believers. Among the monuments of christian antiquity, none are more singular than these abodes of the dead; and one feels at a loss whether most to admire their prodigious extent, the laborious industry that provided them, or the interesting recollections with which

they are associated. Like the Moorish caves in Spain, they were generally excavated at the base of a lonely hill, and the entrance so carefully concealed that no aperture appeared, and no traces were discernible except by an experienced eye-of the ground having been penetrated, and of the vast dungeons that had been hollowed underneath. The descent was made by a ladder, the foot of which stood in a broad and spacious pathway, which extended like a street along the whole length of the place. This principal entrance opened, at intervals into smaller passages, which again led into a variety of chambers; and on either side of them were several rows of niches, pierced in the wall, serving as catacombs, and filled with coffins. The chambers were painted, for the most part like the churches, with passages of history from the Old and New Testaments. In the centre of the largest street was an open square, large and commodious as a market-place, in which those who took refuge there, in those troublous times, were wont to congregate for worship; and the comfort of which, as a place of abode, was greatly promoted by the liberal use which the Christians made of spices and perfumes on their dead. In the more distant of these cemeteries, whose remoteness rendered them less liable to be disturbed, there were small apertures left in the surface of the ground, through which a dim twilight was admitted; but the others, where these were closed, were absolutely dark, and except by the aid of lights, impassable; so that, on any sudden surprise, the refugees had only to extinguish their lamps to insure their safety from the invasion of their enemies. The depth of these vaults was sometimes so great, that two or three stories were ranged one above another; and the whole aspect conveyed the impression of a city under ground.

Many of them, however, never came to the knowledge of the enemy; and one was only discovered about three miles from Rome, so late as the end of the sixteenth century, the size and various apartments of which excited universal astonishment. Numbers still remain, bearing the names of their respective founders, and affording, by their inscriptions, and the monuments of antiquity found in them, the most satisfactory proofs of their having been used as hiding-places by the Christians. From their habit of courting the obscurity of the catacombs, the Christians obtained, from their heathen contemporaries, the name of the " Light-hating People ;" and to their religious familiarity with these abodes of the dead, the

reflecting reader will be disposed to trace that general desire for martyrdom which, in the second and third centuries, astonished the authorities of Rome, and crowded the tribunals of all the provinces. Strange as that insensibility to suffering and death may seem, its origin is naturally to be imputed to the strong influence of place, operating on the minds of men who, by daily contact with the venerable remains of their ancestors, had overcome the instinctive dread of dissolution, and in whom vivid impressions of religion, and the hope of immortal glory, together with the extraordinary estimation in which the memory of the martyrs was held, had created a passionate longing for similar honors.

CHAPTER XXI.

OF SACRED SEASONS.

FESTIVALS AND FASTS.

1. PRELIMINARY REMARKS.1

The primitive church were not careful to prescribe a specific time or place for the celebration of their religious festivals. The apostles and their immediate successors proceeded on the principle that these should be observed at stated times, which might still be varied as circumstances should direct. These seasons were regarded as sacred, not for any peculiar sanctity belonging to the day, or hour, in which they were solemnized, in itself considered, but merely as being set apart from a common to a religious use.2 Some however have maintained, that these festive days should be observed as holy time.3

The reckoning of chronology by the christian era was introduced in the sixth century by Dionysius, a Roman abbot, and in the seventh and eighth centuries, was denominated the Dionysian era.1 Previous to the introduction of this system of chronology, time was reckoned, by the Jews from the creation of the world, by the Romans from the founding of Rome, or by consulships, or by the reign of their emperors. The calendar was revised by Julius Caesar fortyfive years before Christ, and the year made to begin on the first of