Churches had then grown large and magnificent; they were divided into three parts, the porch, the nave, and the sanctuary. In the nave stood the pulpit—preaching at that time being considered the invitation, or preparation for the _church_, whose duty was _worship_. It was divided from the sanctuary by a _lattice work_, or screen, behind which was often a veil before the holy table, which answered to the Holy of Holies of the temple, and within it none but the priests entered. The baptistery was usually situated without the church doors, and contained a fount, and a reservoir for washing the hands was always to be found in the outer court that enclosed all the buildings. Some writers have traced this to heathen observances; if so, it without doubt _originated_ in the Jewish practice. The service within the church was conducted with all the means at command for rendering it complete. Music was cultivated—antiphonal singing, or singing in responses, practised. The clergy wore vestments symbolical of their offices, each form and colour having its significant meaning. Candles were burning continually at the altar, as in the holy place of the temple, symbolising God’s presence in the church. Every part of the building was designed to form a proportionate whole, and the principle of dedicating to the house of God the best works of men’s hands was admitted, the embellishment of His temple being then deemed of superior importance to the decoration of individual dwelling-houses. Transubstantiation had not polluted the table of the Lord by its presence; the _mystery_ of the _spiritual_ presence of the Lord in the Eucharist, appealing to _faith_, had not been replaced by the _miracle_, directed to the carnal senses. Images had no place in the house of God, picture worship was unknown. Confession of sins was practised, and penances were imposed, as tests of the sincerity of repentance; at the celebration of the Eucharist offerings were presented, in memory of the dead who in their lives had offered gifts to God; fasting was observed, but only from choice, and Sunday and the feast of Pentecost were the only _festivals_ and holy-days observed. Gradually, however, after the alliance of the church with the state, and through the accession of converts from the heathen world, grosser elements mingled themselves with these observances; the superstition that the spirits of the saints hovered around the mortal remains they had tenanted, led to the removal of their bodies from their tombs, and placing them within the walls of the church, and to the erection of shrines, where, first to offer up worship _with_ them, afterwards _to_ them.