Curiosities of Christian History

DIVIDED INTO AG

postolic Church," has divided the wh

foundation on the day of Pentecost to Gregory the Great

om the first Christian Pentecost to th

secuted Church, to Con

Gr?co-Roman Empire, and amidst the Barbarian

r Romano-Germanic Catholicism, from Gregory

s, the planting of the Church among the Germanic

, the summit of the Papacy, monasticism, and scholastic

he Middle Ages and preparation for

t Church in conflict with the Roman Catholic C

or productive Protestantism and r

conflict with ultramontane Jesuitism, and this again with semi-Prot

sm, and Sectarianism, and positive preparation for a new age i

STOLIC

heathen missions; Ephesus, the later residence of John. At the same time, Rome, where Peter and Paul spent their last days, was the centre of Western Christianity. The Apostolic period differs essentially from all subsequent periods. In the first place, Christianity comes forth from the bosom of Judaism, and for a long time clothes itself in the forms of that religion. The Apostles are all Jews. In their preaching they all, not excepting Paul, go first to their brethren, preach in the synagogues, visit the Temple at Jerusalem. The Church gradually separates from the home of its birth. The second peculiarity is the unstained purity and primitive freshness of doc

CH AND THE

ssion of Fathers, from Justin Martyr and Iren?us (130), who conversed with the immediate disciples of the Apostles down to Lactantius, who was the preceptor to the son of Constantine (317). The joys of the millennium were to be balanced by a concurrent conflagration and destruction of Rome, as the mystic Babylon. It was affirmed that those who since the death of Christ had obstinately persisted in the worship of demons would be delivered over to eternal torture. And the Christians of that time were said to enjoy a spiritual pride in witnessing the destruction of their enemies. Tertullian, who died in 240, an energetic Father and champion of the truth, thu

NS AND THE COM

he first ardour of the Church at Jerusalem, they tried the experiment of community of goods. The Apostles were careful to point out that the surrender was entirely voluntary. Instances of hypocrisy and avarice soon disgusted many, as in the notable case of Ananias (Acts v. 1), and the dissatisfied Hebrew widows (Acts vi. 1). It is not known how long this experiment lasted at Jerusalem. It was an experiment which could not succeed according to the constitution of human nature; for the love of an exclusive proprietorship is inherent, and it has been found in all succeeding ages that individuals, as well as nations, flourish

EMS OF THE EAR

by the Christians on their walls and drinking vessels and rings. One was the figure of the Good Shepherd, representing Christ carrying a lamb on His shoulders. On rings would be carved a dove, the symbol of

N NAMES

found some pagan name suggested, should forbid it and alter it into some proper Christian name. Indeed, it was long deemed an accepted custom, if not the law, that the Christian name once given either by a bishop or priest at baptism was indelible, and that some offence was or would be committed by seeking to change it. This, however, in modern times, is known to be a delusion; and whatever may have been the name or name

ONFESSION A

to the priest who was to make intercession for him and procure the needful remission. And this may be considered as the date of private or auricular confession under the full sanction of ecclesiastical authority. Nor was public confession in general understood to be interdicted by this arbitrary Pope, but only the promulgation in public of such sins as were clandestine and could transpire only by the revelation of the secret by the sinner himself. The Roman Church has, however, always maintained the confession to a priest to be necessary, as a ground for the remission of sins committed after baptism, and essential as a const

OTS ABOUT TH

syllable was sufficient to disturb the peace of an empire. The Trisagion (thrice holy), 'Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts!' is supposed by the Greeks to be the identical hymn which the angels and cherubim eternally repeat before the throne of God, and which about the middle of the fifth century was miraculously revealed to the Church of Constantinople. The devotion of Antioch soon added, 'who was crucified for us'; and this grateful address, either to Christ alone or to the whole Trinit

REACHING APPLAU

chiefs and crying out, 'Thou art worthy of the priesthood! thou art the thirteenth apostle! Christ hath sent thee to save souls!'" etc. And Gregory in his dream describes how the people during the sermon moved their bodies like the waves of the sea raised by the wind. But the great ambition of the preacher was rather to melt the congregation into tears. St. Jerome says the preacher should labour to excite the groans of the people rather than their applauses. St. Austin says he once preached in C?sarea, in Mauritania, where a savage custom existed of the citizens engaging in a bloody fight once

PEARANCE OF

ere equally objectionable, so that all were obliged to shave the crown of the head and beard. This distinguished them from the priests of pagan deities. So they were to observe a medium in dress, and to wear neither white nor black. But the colours varied in different times and places. It was noticed that these d

S AND DEACONS OF T

make it their only business to find out the names and residences of ladies of quality, and to discover their dispositions. I will describe one of them who is a master in the art. He rises with the sun, the order of his visits is arranged, he finds out the shortest ways, and the troublesome old man enters almost the very chambers in which they rest. If he sees a cushion, a napkin, or any other little article that he likes, he praises it and admires the neatness of it; he takes it i

RLY BI

ces. Most of the Christians of all times till the Reformation too hastily overlooked the fundamental principle, that each country and age is necessarily the best judge of the peculiar mode of governing the Church, and should not surrender its better judgment to the views of earlier and less experienced ages as to matters not expressly enjoined by Scripture. The defenders of bishops delight to dwell on some facts, or assumed facts, in favour of their theory. They say that St. John was one of the authors of the order of bishops, and that he went about ordaining for various stations, and especially Polycarp, while St. Peter ordained Clement at Rome and St. Paul ordained Timothy at Ephesus. The list of the fir

EGES OF EAR

ssing; and even emperors rendered this mark of respect. It was also usual for people to kiss the bishop's hand, for Ambrose said people thereby thought themselves protected by the bishop's prayers. Sometimes a still higher honour was rendered to the bishop by singing hosannas to him; but Jerome admits this was too great an honour to mere mortal man. Bishops also wore a mitre or crown, and they sat upon what was called a kind of throne. It is said that St. James, Bishop of Jerusalem, first sat on this t

STORAL

a shepherd's crook, or a straight cane or staff, with a knob or volute made of cypress wood or ivory or some metal ornamented. Each bishop used

ARACTER OF AN

d when Julian the Apostate once sent two officers to plunder the Church of Antioch and fetch away the vessels and convert them into money, all believed that Julian was immediately seized with an ulcer and died miserably. One ancient custom was for the congregation to wash their hands before entering. In some places also, particularly in Egypt, the members took off their shoes. It is doubtful whether the custom of bowing toward the altar on entrance was not general, because it was merely following the custom of the Jews. One gate of the church was called the Beautiful or Royal Gate, being that at which kings entered, in which case they had to lay aside their crowns

T OFFICE O

the imposition of hands, or, if so, whether this meant anything more than a benediction. But all seemed to admit that she could not administer the sacraments, though some heretics allowed women this power also. The main duties of the deaconess were to assist at the baptism of women; to be private catechists to the women preparing for baptism; to visit women who were sick and in distress; to minister to the mart

LITURGY IN A

neracy made them weary of a long liturgy, prepared a shorter form for them. And Julian the Apostate was said to admire the Church forms of worship; for when he intended the heathen priests to imitate the Christians, he specified particularly those prayers which were so composed that the people might make their responses. St. Ephraim of Syria and St. Ambrose were great composers of hymns. The grand hymn of Te Deum was composed by St. Ambrose and St. Austin jointly. St. Austin says there were five parts in the liturgy or service of the Church-namely, psalmody, reading of the Scriptures, preaching, prayers of the bishop, and the bidding prayers of the deacon. The last were directions to the people what particulars they were to pray for, the deacon goin

E OF RI

s full of symbolical meaning. Agobard, Archbishop of Lyons, on the other hand, being something of an iconoclast, and severe against the superstitions of relic hunters, advocated the exclusion of much irrelevant matter, as profane and heretical, from the service-book and hymn-book. He said that far too much attention had been given to music, and far too little to the study of Scripture. Agobard opposed the writings of Amalarius as full of idle comments and errors i

OR HOLY

k. The Eucharistic bread, or Host (from hostia, the sacrifice), was required by a council of Toledo in 925 to be made in form of a wafer, so as to be easily broken, and was expressly baked for the altar. Unleavened bread came to be almost universally used. In England, after the Reformation, ordinary bread is ordered to be used, and not wafers or stamped bread. The Elevation of the Host, or lifting up of the paten (a small flat plate so called) and consecrated bread above the head of the celebrant, was instituted by Pope Honorius III. in 1210, and he directed that it was to be adored when elevated. This practice has been prohibited in England since the Reformation. The pyx is the box in which the Host is kept or conveyed, often made of silver or ivory. The wine for the Communion used by the Greeks was mixed with water, and

SERVICE IN TH

t. Basil says that all the people sung the Psalms alternately, and the children joined. And the Church took care to have the Bible translated into all languages-Syrian, Egyptian, Indian, Persian, Ethiopian, Armenian, Roman, Scythian, and Gothic. Another custom pointing to the same conclusion was, that Bibles were laid in the churches for the people to read in private at their leisure. So that none of the ancient Fathers ever dreamt that a time would come when the Scriptures should be only in the hands of the bishops and clergy. St. Chrysostom, in one of his sermons upon Lazarus, says expressly, "The reading of the Scriptures is our great guard again

S AND BELLS

n tongue. This instrument had long been known as a curiosity before that time, and one was sent by the Greek Emperor about 766 to King Pepin. The use of bells as a mode of summoning worshippers to Divine service was soon thought of as a substitute for employing deacons or deaconesses to give private notice to each attendant. In Egypt the early Christians im

OF SEXES

he and his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japhet. And Noah prayed and his sons; and the women answered from another part of the ark, 'Amen, Lord.' Whence you may note too (if the tradition be sound enough) the antiquity of that fit custom (obtaining still, especially in the

HURCH PRAYING

l the Resurrection. Moreover, many of the ancients held the opinion of the millennium, or the reign of Christ a thousand years upon earth before the final day of judgment. There was also a kindred practice by which the holy books or diptychs used to be rehearsed during the service. These recited the names of famous bishops, emperors, and magistrates connected with the district; also

F SIN-EATERS

refordshire. The manner was this: When the corpse was brought out of the house and laid on the bier, a loaf of bread was delivered to the sin-eater over the corpse, as also a mazar bowl (gossips' bowl) full of beer, which he was to drink up, and sixpence in money. In consideration whereof he took upon him at o

HE LORD DA

ere collected and there deposited. A hundred monks were obtained from Condat to give a beginning, and eight hundred more were brought together and bound under conditions, the chief of which was, that a service of praise was to be kept up without a break, day and night. For the purpose the nine hundred monks were divided into nine choirs, who sang alternately and without intermission the praises of God and the martyrs. The king, to expiate an offence in his own family, himself become a monk for a time. This notion of keeping up the praise of God every day and night during the whole year was also carried out in the seventeenth century by an English gentleman, Nicholas Ferrar, who with his family made up a small colony, all having semi-monastic tendencies, and lived at the retired parish of Little Gidding, eighteen miles from Cambridge. He was the son of a wealthy London merchant, was born about 1586, and educated at Cambridge, and for some time was a Member of Parliament, and had also travelled. He, with his mother, sister, nephews, nieces, and servants

DAY AND

urches preferred January 6th. But by the time of the sixth century all Christians concurred in observing December 25th. Almost every country has some peculiar custom of a religious or festive character connected with Christmas Day. Another commemoration day of universal observance was Easter Day, the anniversary of the Resurrection, the preceding Friday being called Good Friday. And in the early centuries there were also controversies as to the correct mode of fixing the date. It was a day on which good Christians observed the solemn Communion, as wel

L OF AL

canic fires of the island, and that he could often hear the devils howling with rage because their prey was rescued from time to time by the prayers and alms of pious men, and especially of the monks of Cluny. The hermit solemnly adjured the pilgrim to report this when he returned home, and accordingly the pilgrim mentioned it to the Abbot Odilo of

FEASTS IN THE

me period the duties and rank of the clergy were caricatured and turned into fun and ribaldry. In the Feast of the Ass that animal was dressed like a priest, and all the people brayed as the incidents at the stable of Bethany and of Balaam's conversation were rehearsed. In the Feast of Buffoons there were mock cardinals and a mock Pope. In the procession of the Mère Folle there were a mock tribunal, mock judgments, and mock sentences. As a counterpart to these boisterous revels, there were famous legends or superstit

OF T

A young female, richly dressed, with an infant in her arms, was placed upon an ass, when High Mass was performed with solemn pomp. The ass was taught to kneel; and a hymn replete with folly and blasphemy was sung in his praise by the whole congregation. And as the climax to this monstrous scene of absurd

OF THE BO

copes and with burning tapers in their hands, went in procession chanting versicles, made some prayers before the altar, and sang complin. By the Statute of Sarum no one was to interrupt or press upon the children during their procession or service in the cathedral upon pain o

CLE

on by means of actors on a stage should occur to those who catered for something like a recreation. Chaucer and Piers Plowman allude to this as a frequent indulgence. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries religious plays were acted in England, France, and Spain. Bishops and canons and monks all supported them, and they were acted in churches and on Sundays, as was said to be the case in St. Paul's until the ti

PLAYS OF T

dience were equally in earnest. The Saviour was represented with a quiet gentle dignity, admirably contrasting with the wild life and tumult, the stern haughty demeanour of the Pharisees and rulers in their secret plottings and solemn council, and the frantic agitation of the Jewish people. There were one or two comic touches and rude jests, as in the greedy grasping of Ju

OF THE ROSE

best-behaved girl in the village. Not only must the girl have the highest character, but her parents also. As lord of the manor, he had the privilege of selecting one of three girls, who were presented to him as candidates. When he had named the successful one, he announced it next Sunday from the pulpit, and asked all who had any objections to bring them forward. Then at the day and hour appointed, the Rosière, dressed in white, and attended by twelve girls in wh

RO

ixty angelical salutations. Peter the Hermit taught the laity who would not read the Psalter to say a certain number of "Our Fathers" and "Hail Martyrs." St. Dominic was eminent for encouraging the custom of reciting fifteen decades of the angelical salutations, with one "Our Father" be

NIUM EXPEC

he birth of Christ, Satan would be let loose, Antichrist would come, and the destruction of the earth would ensue. Hence great numbers, leaving their possessions and giving them to churches or monasteries, repaired to Palestine, where they thought that Christ would descend from heaven to judge the world. Others solemnly devoted themselves and all their goods to churches, monasteries, and the clergy, and entered their service as bond-slaves, performing a daily task. Their hope was that, if found in such

CH-BUILD

uild churches. Old churches were taken down, and new churches built on a larger scale and with splendid embellishments. Charlemagne's cathedral at Aix, which had been copied from the Byzantine type, was imitated in many churches built along

ERS OF SCOTLA

ided into seven sections. The entrance in one case is on the west side; the other on the north side, in the form of a semicircular arch, surmounted by a figure of the Crucifixion, a small statue on each side, one carrying a pastoral staff, the other a cross-headed staff, and also a book. The walls are three and a half feet thick, and the diameter of one is about thirteen feet and the other eight feet in the interior. These stru

DVOCATES WORSHI

Pope over all emperors and kings; and though his style of preaching was only a rhapsody of scriptural phrases and allegories, he always carried out the High Church doctrines of his employer. He distinguished himself by his deification of the Virgin and his devotion to flagellation. His glorification of the Virgin consisted in making her the centre of all power in heaven and in earth. His enthusiasm on this subject led to offices of prayer being framed for her, which afterwards became developed into a series of prayers known as the Rosary. But Damiani's masterpiece was the discovery and education of Dominic, a priest, and the greatest master of the art of self-flagellati

RUCE

ance. Others say that the Truce of God was brought into prominence by Rudolph the Bald in 1033, as in that year there had been, after three years' famine, a most abundant harvest, and the clergy suggested that men's minds would then be well disposed to any sacrifice, more especially as the recent events connected with the expected millennium in 1000 were still in vivid remembrance. The Council of Limoges resolved that those who refused to adopt a similar practice, called the Peace of God, should be excommunicated, and their country laid under an interdict. Yet there was a vigorous opponent, named Gerard of Camb

SEVEN IN

's years of serving for Rachel; for years of plenty and then for famine in Egypt; for fat beasts and lean beasts; for ears of full corn and blasted corn; for bullocks and rams sacrificed; for King Ahasuerus' feast days; for Queen Esther's maids of honour; for days of unleavened bread; for days of feast of tabernacles; for Joseph mourning; for Churches of Asia; for golden candlesticks; for stars, lamps, seals, angels, de

AKING A JU

eter and St. Paul at Rome, confessing their offences, and declaring their sorrow for them, should receive an absolute and plenary remission. The successors of Boniface not only adorned this institution with many new rites, but, learning by experience how honoured and how lucrative it was to the Church of Rome, brought it within a narrower compass of time, so that soon every twenty-fifth year was a year of Jubilee. From every part of Latin Christendom crowds of the faithful began to pour towards Rome. John Villani, the chronicler, who was present, estimates that there were 200,000 strangers in the city. Another chronicler describes the multitudes as resembling an army constantly marching both ways along the street. And even the poet Dante, who was then a visitor, being away from the republic of Florence, watched the people in their multitudes passing to and from St. Peter's,

OUNT OF THE J

r they had in Rome, beside the Roman people, 200,000 pilgrims, besides those who were on the road going and coming; and all were furnished and satisfied with food in just measure, men and horses, with great patience and without noise or contentions, and I can bear witness to it, for I was present and saw it. And from the offerings made by the pilgrims the Church gained great treasure, and the Romans from supplying them all grew rich. And I, finding myself in that blessed pilgrimage in the holy city of Rome, seeing her great and ancient r

G'S PRAYER FOR R

e to destroy us, regard not our shortcomings, but rather consider Thy mercy and longsuffering. Thou who hast no need of us or our services, O Lord, have pity upon Thy innocent creatures, the unconscious animals and birds of the air, who find not wherewithal to sustain their lives. Look upon the earth which Thou hast created, and upon the plants thereof, which perish and are wasted for lack of the waters that should be their nourishment. O Lord Allah, open to us Thy heavens, turn upon us the blessing of Thy wat

F THE BLACK

one, so that bodies might be thrown into the river as the speediest mode of burial. The morals of the people suffered by the hopeless and ghastly spectacles around, for churches were deserted by priests, and the people without shepherds gave way to covetousness as well as licentiousness. When the alarm was over, there was a notable increase of lawyers, who, like locusts, devoured the property left without owners. The plague raged from 1347 to 1350; and owing to the Pope Clement VI. appointing a jubilee in 1350, and a vast concourse of pilgrims to Rome, it was said that scarcely one in a hundred escaped alive. The Brotherhood of the Cross or of the Flagellants reappeared at this time, which betokened the end of the world to many, and, taking on themselves the

SWEATING SICKNESS IN

nsensible to the wonder, horror, and jeers of the bystanders. After the fit they fell down and groaned, as if in the agonies of death, when their companions swathed them in cloths tightly drawn round the wrists, and then thumped or trampled on the parts affected. Some after this frenzy pretended to see the heavens open, and the Saviour and the Virgin Mary enthroned and beckoning to them. The clergy were gradually led to believe that these people were possessed of devils which required to be exorcised. The people affected were mostly of the class of poor, and little removed from vagabondism. Another vi

K FLAGE

scourging themselves till the blood tracked their steps, and shrieking out their doleful psalms. They travelled from city to city. Whenever they entered a city, the contagion seized the onlookers. They marched by night as well as by day. The busy mart and the crowded streets were visited by processions; in the dead midnight the sound of the scourge and the screaming chant were accompanied with tapers and torches. Thirty-three days and a half, the number of the years of our Lord's sojourn on earth, was the usual period of this penance. In the burning heat of summer, and when the wintry roads were deep with snow, the crowds moved on. At length the madness wore itself out. Some princes and magistrates, finding it was not sanctioned by the Roman See or by the authority of any great saint, began to interpose, and after being for a time an object of respectful wonder the practice sank into general contempt. A c

DRESS OF CLE

bly short and wide, and long hanging sleeves not covering the elbows. Their hair was curled and powdered. They wore caps with tippets of great length, rings on their fingers, long beards, costly girdles, to which were attached purses enamelled with figures, and sculptured knives hanging at their sides to look

RTUNES BY

s the practice of seeking for oracles in the Bible. St. Augustine also, a century before, had observed on this pagan practice. He said the custom displeased him of wishing to use the Word of God, which speaks in reference to another life, for worldly concerns and the vain objects of the present life. Even among the clergy the abuse prevailed. In doubtful earthly concerns persons would lay down a Bible in a church upon the altar, or especially on the grave of a saint, would fast and pray and inv