PART II.

CENT, the custom of performing vigils in them.. He V. asserted, and indeed with reason, that the custom of burning tapers at the tombs of the martyrs in broad day, was imprudently borrowed from the ancient superstition of the Pagans. He maintained, moreover, that prayers addressed to departed saints were void of all efficacy; and treated with contempt fasting and mortifications, the celibacy of the clergy, and the various austerities of the monastic life. And, finally, he affirmed, that the conduct of those who, distributing their substance among the indigent, submitted to the hardships of a voluntary poverty, or sent a part of their treasures to Jerusalem for devout purposes, had nothing in it acceptable to the Deity.

Disputes about Origenism.

There were among the Gallic and Spanish bishops several that relished the opinions of Vigilantius: But Jerome, the great monk of the age, assailed this bold reformer of religion with such bitterness and fury, that the honest presbyter soon found that nothing but his silence could preşerve his life from the intemperate rage of bigotry and superstition. This project then of reforming the corruptions, which a fanatical and superstitious zeal had introduced into the church, was choked in its birth [u]. And the name of good Vigilantius remains still in the list of heretics, which is acknowledged as authentic by those who, without any regard to their own judgment, or the declarations of scripture, followed blindly the decisions of antiquity.

XV. The controversies, which had been raised in Egypt, concerning Origen and his doctrine, towards the conclusion of the preceding century, were now renewed at Constantinople, and carried on without either decency or prudence. The Nitrian monks,

[u] Bayle's Dictionary, at the article Vigilantius. Barbeyrac, De la Morale des Peres, p. 252. Gerhar. Jo. Vossius, Thesibus Historico-Theologicis, p. 170: Histoire Litteraire de la France, tom. ii. p. 57.

V.

PART II.

monks, banished from Egypt, on account of their at- CENT? tachment to Origen, took refuge at Constantinople, and were treated by John Chrysostom, the bishop of that city, with clemency and benignity. This no sooner came to the knowledge of Theophilus, patriarch of Alexandria, than he formed a perfidi? ous project against the eloquent prelate; and sent the famous Epiphanius, with several other bi shops, to Constantinople, to compass his fall, and deprive him of his episcopal dignity. No time could be more favourable for the execution of this project than that in which it was formed; for Chrysostom, by his austerity, and his vehement declamations against the vices of the people, and the corrupt manners of the ladies of the court, had incurred the displeasure of many, and had also excited, in a more particular manner, the resentment and indignation of the empress Eu doxia, wife of Arcadius. This violent princess sent for Theophilus and the Egyptian bishops, who, pursuant to her orders, repaired to Constanti nople; and having called a council, inquired into the religious sentiments of Chrysostom, and examined his morals, and the whole course of his conduct and conversation, with the utmost severity. This council, which was held in the su« burbs of Chalcedon, in the year 403, with Theophi lus at its head, declared Chrysostom unworthy of his high rank in the church, on account of the favourable manner in which he stood disposed towards Origen and his followers; and, in consequence of this decree, condemned him to ba nishment. The people of Constantinople, who were tenderly attached to their pious and worthy bishop, rose in a tumultuous manner, and prevented the execution of this unrighteous sentence [w]. When this tumult was entirely hush

A

ed,

[w] This is not quite exact: For it appears, by the

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accounts

PART II.

CENT. ed, the same unrelenting judges, in order to saV. tisfy their vindictive rage and that of Eudoxia, renewed their sentence, the year following, under another pretext [x], and with more success; for the pious Chrysostom, yielding to the redoubled efforts of his enemies, was banished to Cucusus, a city of Cilicia, where he died about three years after [y].

The exile of this illustrious man was followed by a terrible sedition of the Johannists (so his votaries were called), which was calmed, though with much difficulty, by the edicts of Arcadius [*]. It is beyond all doubt, that the proceedings against Chrysostom were cruel and unjust; in this however he was to blame, that he assumed the authority and rank, which had been granted by the council of Constantinople to the bishops of that imperial city, and set himself up as a judge of the controversy between Theophilus and the Egyptian monks, which the Alexandrian prelate could not behold without the utmost impatience and resentment. These monks, when they lost their protector, were restored to the favour of Theophilus; but the faction of the Origenists conti

4

nued

accounts of the best Historians, that this sentence was really executed, and that the emperor confirmed the decree of this first synod, by banishing Chrysostom into Bithynia, or, as others allege, by ordering him to retire to the country. A violent earthquake and a terrible shower of hail, which were looked upon by the multitude as judgments occasioned by the unrighteous persecution of their pious bishop, alarmed the court, and engaged them to recal Chrysostom to his office.

[x] This new pertext was the indecent manner, in which Chrysostom is said to have declaimed against Eudoxia, on account of her having erected her statue in silver near the church.

[y] See Tillemont and Hermant, who have both written the life of Chrysostom; as also Bayle's Dictionory, in English, at the article Acacius.

[*] See Cyrilli vitæ Sabæ in Cotelerii Monument. Eccles. Græc. tom. ii. p. 274. Jos. Sim, Asseman. Biblioth. Oriental. Vatican. tom. ii. p. 31.

V.

nued, notwithstanding all this, to flourish in CENT. Egypt, Syria, and the adjacent countries, and held their chief residence at Jerusalem.

PART II.

CHAP. IV.

Concerning the rites and ceremonies used in the church during this century.

1. To

O enumerate the rites and institutions that Ceremonies were added, in this century, to the Chris-greatly multiplied. tian worship, would require a volume of a considerable size. The acts of councils, and the records left us by the most celebrated ancient writers, are the sources from whence the curious may draw a satisfactory and particular account of this matter; and to these we refer such as are desirous of something more than a general view of the subject under consideration. Several of these ancient writers, uncorrupted by the contagious examples of the times in which they lived, have ingenuously acknowleged, that true piety and vir tue were smothered, as it were, under that enormous burthen of ceremonies under which they lay groaning in this century. This evil was owing, partly to the ignorance and dishonesty of the clergy, partly to the calamities of the times, which were extremely unfavourable to the pursuit of knowledge, and to the culture of the mind; and partly, indeed, to the natural depravity of imperfect mortals, who are much more disposed to worship with the eye than with the heart, and are more ready to offer to the Deity the laborious pomp of an outward service, than the nobler, yet simple oblations of pious dispositions and holy affections.

A general

II. Divine worship was now daily rising from view of the one degree of pomp to another, and degenerating new rites

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introduced more at this time

PART II.

CENT. more and more into a gaudy spectacle, only pro V. per to attract the stupid admiration of a gazing populace. The sacerdotal garments were embel lished with a variety of ornaments, with a view to excite in the minds of the multitude a greater veneration for the sacred order. New acts of devotion were also celebrated. In Gaul, particularly, the solemn prayers and supplications, which usually precede the anniversary of Christ's assension, were now instituted for the first time [a] In other places, perpetual acclamations of praise to God were performed both night and day by singers who succeeded each other, so as that the service suffered no interruption [b]; as if the Su preme being took pleasure in such noisy and tur. bulent shouting, or received any gratification from the blandishments of men. The riches and magnificence of the churches exceeded all bounds [c]. They were also adorned with costly images, among which, in consequence of the Nestorian controversy, that of the Virgin Mary, holding the child Jesus in her arms, obtained the first and principal place. The altars, and the chests in which the relics were preserved, were in most places made of solid silver. And from this we may easily imagine the splendor and expenses that were lavished upon the other utensils which were employed in the service of the church.

The feasts

III. On the other hand, the agapæ, or feast of charity. of charity, were now suppressed on account of the abuses to which they gave occasion, amidst the daily decline of that piety and virtue, which

rendered

[a] See Sidonius Apollinaris, Epist. lib. v. epist. xvi. lib. vi. epist. i.; as also Martene Thesaurus Anecdotorum, tom. y. P. 47.

[b] Gervais, Histoire de Suger, tom. i. p. 23.

[c] See Zacharias of Mitylene, De opificio Mundi, p. 165,

166.