ings of Gregory the Great. He also notes, that till the time. of the sixth General Council the images of Christ were not usually in the effigies or figure of a man, but only symbolically represented under the type of a lamb; and so the Holy Ghost was represented under the type or symbol of a dove: but that Council 30 forbad the picturing of Christ any more in the symbol of a lamb, and ordered it only to be drawn in the effigies of a man. Ι presume, by this time the worship of images was begun, anno 692; and it was now thought indecent to pay their devotions to the picture of a lamb, and therefore they would no longer endure it to be seen in the church. I have been the more particular in recounting and explaining these things distinctly, that the reader might have in one short view the rise and progress of that grand superstition, which has so overspread the Church and defaced its worship in the matter of images, which were introduced at first only for historical use, to be laymen's books, and a sort of ornaments for the church, though, as the event proved, the most dangerous of any other. 12. There was one way more of adorning churches, which I Of adornshould not have thought worth mentioning, but for its inno- church with cency and natural simplicity; that is, the custom of garnishing flowers and and decking them with flowers and branches: which was not done at any certain times for any pretended mystery, but only to make them more decent and fit for a body of men to meet suevisse, quod usque ad tempus sexti Concilii Generalis obtinuisse videtur; in quo statuitur, ut pastores [leg. pictores in posterum non in agni typo, ut fieri consuevit, sed humano charactere Christum exprimant; et satis apparet ex scriptis Gregorii, quamvis ejus ætate superstitio in cultu sanctorum non parum invaluerat, tamen picturas tantum in ecclesiis admissas fuisse, non item statuas vel simulachra. 30 C. Gen. 6. s. Trullan. c. 82. (t. 6. p. 1178 e.) Εν τισι τῶν σεπτῶν εἰκόνων γραφαῖς ἀμνὸς δακτύλῳ τοῦ προδρόμου δεικνύμενος ἐγχαράττεται, ὃς εἰς τύπον παρελήφθη τῆς χάριτος, τὸν ἀληθινὸν ἡμῖν διὰ τοῦ νόμου προϋποφαίνων ἀμνὸν, Χριστὸν τὸν Θεὸν ἡμῶν. Τοὺς οὖν παλαιοὺς τύπους καὶ τὰς σκιὰς, ὡς τῆ ἀλη- branches. in. St. Austin 31 takes notice of the custom, speaking of one who carried away with him some flowers from off the altar; and Paulinus 32, in his poetical way, refers to it likewise. But St. Jerom 33 does it the greatest honour, to give it a place in his panegyric upon his friend Nepotian, making it a part of his commendable character, that he took care to have every thing neat and clean about the church, the altar bright, the walls whited, the pavement swept, the gates veiled, the vestry clean, and the vessels shining; and so far did his pious solicitude about these matters extend, that he made flowers, and leaves, and branches of trees contribute to the beauty and ornament of the churches.' These were but small things in themselves, St. Jerom says, but a pious mind devoted to Christ is intent upon things great and small, and neglects nothing that may deserve the name of the very meanest office in the Church. And it is plain St. Jerom had a greater value for such sort of natural beauty and comeliness in churches, than for rich ornaments of costly pictures and paintings, and silver, and gold, and precious stones: and therefore, as I observed before3, he rather advised his rich friends to lay out their wealth upon the living temples of God, the backs and bellies of the poor, and commended the rich lady, Paula 35, for so doing, rather than for hanging up needless and superfluous gifts, as others did, upon the pillars of the temple. And it is no wonder then he should commend Nepotian's frugal care, who had divested himself of all his estate to relieve the poor, and left himself no ability to adorn the church any other way, but that which was most to St. Jerom's liking and approbation. si niteret altare, si parietes absque fuligine, si pavimenta tersa, si janitor creber in portis, vela semper in ostiis, si sacrarium mundum, si vasa luculenta, et in omnes ceremonias pia solicitudo disposita....Basilicas ecclesiæ et martyrum conciliabula diversis floribus, et arborum comis, vitiumque pampinis adumbravit. 34 S. 5. p. 155. n. 78. 35 Ep. 27. [al. 108.] Epitaph. Paulæ. (t. 1. p. 701 d.) Nolebat in his lapidibus pecuniam effundere, qui cum terra et sæculo transituri sunt: sed in vivis lapidibus, qui volvuntur super terram. CHAP. IX. Of the consecration of churches. ancients cration of 1. Anciently when churches were finished and adorned, it What the was then usual to proceed to a dedication or consecration of meant by them; which was a thing that was sometimes performed with the consea great deal of pious solemnity, and therefore it will be proper, churches. in the next place, to make a little inquiry into the nature and circumstances of it. Now I must observe, first of all, that by the consecration of a church, the Ancients always mean the devoting or setting it apart peculiarly for divine service; but the manner and ceremony of doing this was not always exactly one and the same: therefore we are chiefly to regard the substance of the thing, which was the separation of any building from common use to a religious service. Whatever ceremony this was performed with, the first act of initiating and appropriating it to a divine use was its consecration; and therefore in allusion to this the first beginning of any thing is many times called its dedication. As when Cyprian 36, speaking of Aurelius the confessor, whom he had ordained a reader, says, he dedicated his reading,' he means no more but that he performed the first act of his office in the church, which in his phrase was its dedication. Whether churches had any other ceremony besides this in their dedication for the three first ages, is not certain: though it is highly probable they might have a solemn thanksgiving and prayer for a sanctified use of them also, over and besides the usual liturgy of the Church, because this was in use among the Jews; who thus dedicated not only their Temple, (1 Kings 8,) but also their private houses and walls of their cities, when they were finished, as appears from the title of the 30th Psalm, which is inscribed "A Psalm or Song at the Dedication of the House of David;" and from the account which is given by Nehemiah, (12, 27,) of the dedication of the walls of Jerusalem. It is further probable, from the constant practice of Christians in consecrating their ordinary meat by thanksgiving and prayer, before they begin to 36 Ep. 33. [al. 38.] ad Cler. Carth. (p. 223.) Dominico legit interim no bis, id est, auspicatus est pacem, The first authentic accounts of fetched from the use it; and from the manner of consecrating churches in the following ages, after the time of Constantine: all which makes it highly probable, that the Christians of the three first ages used the same ceremony of particular prayers and thanksgiving to God in the dedication of their churches. But having no express testimonies for this I will not pretend positively to assert it. Durantus 37 and Bona38 are indeed very confident it was always so from the time of the Apostles; but they build upon no better foundation than the feigned Epistles of Clemens Romanus, Evaristus, and Hyginus, and the Acts of St. Cæcilia in Simeon Metaphrastes, [in Surius,] which are writings of no authority, when the question is about matters of fact in the first and apostolical ages. fourth cen- dedicated with great solemnity. tury. 2. Therefore leaving this matter, for want of better evidence, thing only probable, but not certain, I proceed to consider this to be it as practised in the next age, when, in the peaceable reign of Constantine, churches were rebuilt over all the world, and Then it was a desirable sight,' as Eusebius 39 words it, to behold how the consecrations of the new-built churches and the feasts of the dedications were solemnized in every city.' That which made these solemnities the more august and venerable was, that commonly a whole synod of the neighbouring or provincial bishops met at the dedication. The church of Jerusalem, which Constantine built over our Saviour's sepulchre, was consecrated in a full synod of all bishops of the East, whom Constantine called first to Tyre and then to Jerusalem, anno 335, for this very purpose, as Eusebius 40 and all the other 37 De Ritibus, &c. l. 1. c. 24. n. I. (p. 81.) Ecclesias consecrandi consuetudo ab ipsis Apostolis usque ad nostram manavit ætatem. 38 Rer. Liturg. 1. 1. c. 2o. n. 3. (p. 223.) Templorum autem consecratio, e Veteri Testamento ad Novum, ab Apostolis ad successores emanavit; atque hunc ritum servavit ecclesia totius Orientis et Occidentis consensu. Sunt, qui Evaristo Papæ ejus originem ascribunt, sed multo certius est, apostolicum institutum esse; nisi dicamus, ab hoc Pontifce scripto promulgatum, quod sola traditione ab antecessoribus acceperat. 39 L. 10. c. 3. (v. 1. p. 463. 36.) Ἐπὶ δὲ τούτοις, τὸ πᾶσιν εὐκταῖον ἡμῖν καὶ ποθούμενον συνεκροτείτο θέαμα, ἐγκαινίων ἑορταὶ κατὰ πόλεις, καὶ τῶν ἄρτι νεοπαγῶν προσευκτηρίων ἀφιερώσεις· ἐπισκόπων τε ἐπὶ ταὐτὸ ovveλevoeis.-De Laud. Constant. c. 17. (ibid. p. 770. 31.) .... Naois τε ἁγίοις καὶ προσευκτηρίων σεμνοῖς àpiepopaoi, K.T.λ. 40 De Vit. Constant. 1.4.c.43. (ibid. p. 650. 22.) ... Kareλáμßavev anos βασιλικὸς ἀνὴρ, ἐπισπέρχων τὴν σύν historians inform us. In like manner Socrates 41 observes, that the Council of Antioch, anno 341, was summoned on purpose to dedicate the famous church there, called Dominicum Aureum, which was begun by Constantine and finished by Constantius. And there are many examples of the like nature to be met with in ancient history. Now the solemnity was usually begun with a panegyrical oration or sermon, consisting chiefly of praise and thanksgiving to God, and sometimes expatiating upon the commendation of the founder, or the glory of the new-built church. Such as that oration in Eusebius 42 made at the dedication of the church of Paulinus at Tyre, and others in Gaudentius 43 and St. Ambrose 44 upon the like occasion. Sometimes they had more than one discourse upon it; for Eusebius, speaking of the dedication of churches in the time of Constantine, says 45, every bishop that was present made a speech in praise of the convention;' so that the panegyric, which he there records, was but one of many that were spoken. In another place, describing the dedication of the church of Jerusalem, he says 46, 4 some made speeches by way οδον σὺν γράμματι βασιλικῷ, σπεύ- 41 L. 2. c. 8. (v. 2. p. 84. 23.) Κατασκευάζει οὖν σύνοδον ἐν ̓Αντιο χείᾳ τῆς Συρίας γενέσθαι, προφάσει μὲν τῶν ἐγκαινίων τῆς ἐκκλησίας, ἣν ὁ πατὴρ μὲν τῶν Αὐγούστων κατασκευάζειν ἤρξατο· μετὰ τελευτὴν δὲ αὐτοῦ, ὁ υἱὸς Κωνστάντιος δεκάτῳ ἔτει ἀπὸ τῆς θεμελιώσεως συνετέλε σεν τὸ δὲ ἀληθὲς, ἐπὶ τῇ ἀνατροπῇ καὶ καθαιρέσει τῆς ὁμοουσίου πίστεως, 42 L. Io. c. 4. (v. I. pp. 465. ς, seqq.) "Ω φίλοι Θεοῦ, κ.τ.λ. 43 Serm. 17. In Dedicat. Basil. SS. 40. Martyrum. (ap. Bibl. Max. t. 5. p. 968 g.) Divinis muneribus, &c. 44 Serm. 89. [al. 63.] In Fest. Dedicat. Basilic. (t. 2. append. pp. 476 c, seqq.) Legimus, &c. 45 L. 10. c. 3. (v. 1. p. 464. 21.) Εκίνει δὲ καὶ λόγους ἅπας τῶν παρόντων ἀρχόντων πανηγυρικούς, ὡς ἑκάστῳ παρῆν δυνάμεως, θειάζων τὴν πανήγυριν. 46'De Vit. Constant. 1. 4. c. 45. ibid. p. 651. 30.) . . . Οἱ δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ λειτουργοί, εὐχαῖς ἅμα καὶ διαλέξεσι τὴν ἑορτὴν κατεκόσμουν· οἱ μὲν τοῦ θεοφιλούς βασιλέως τὴν εἰς τὸν τῶν |