The Lives of the Saints, Volume 01 (of 16): JanuaryBaring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Religion
The Lives of the Saints, Volume 01 (of 16): January
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Christian saints
Before describing the basilica of Nola, the Saint proceeds to give a
sketch of another but a smaller church, which he had just erected in the
town of Fondi. After furnishing some details about this latter edifice,
he says, "The sacred ashes--some of the blessed relics of the apostles
and martyrs--shall consecrate this little basilica also in the name of
Christ, the Saint of saints, the Martyr of martyrs, and the Lord of
lords."[5] For this church two inscriptions were composed by Paulinus:
one, to accompany the painting with which he had adorned the apse; the
other, to announce that portions of the relics of the Apostle S. Andrew,
of the Evangelist S. Luke, and of S. Nazarius, and other martyrs, were
deposited under the altar. His verses may be thus rendered:
"In royal shrines, with purple marble graced,
Their bones are under lighted altars placed.
A holy band enshrined in one small chest,
Full mighty names within its tiny breast."
Prudentius visited not only the more celebrated churches in Spain built
over the bodies of the martyrs, he being a Spaniard by birth, but he
also visited those of Italy and Rome on a journey made in 405. During
his residence in the capital of Christianity, the poet frequented the
catacombs; and he has bequeathed to us a valuable record of what he
there saw. In his hymn in honour of S. Hippolytus, he tells us that he
visited the sepulchral chapel in which were deposited the remains of the
martyr; and, after having described the entrance into the cemetery, and
the frescoes that adorned it, he adds:
"In gloomy cave the martyr's corpse is placed,
And there to God with sacred altars graced,
To give the sacrament the board is spread,
And zealous guard the holy martyr's bed.
The bones are resting in this hallowed tomb,
To wait th' eternal Judge's gracious boon;
And there with holy food are nourished those
Who call on Christ where tawny Tiber flows."[6]
In his other hymns, Prudentius bears the most unequivocal testimony to
the practice, even then a long time in use, of depositing the relics of
the Saints immediately under the altar. It is unnecessary to quote more.
The assertions of ancient writers on this point have been several times
verified. The bodies of the martyrs have been discovered under the high
altars of the churches dedicated to God in their memory. The body of S.
Martina, together with those of two other martyrs, SS. Concordens and
Epiphanius, were found in 1624 under the high altar of the ancient
church near the Roman Forum, which bears the name of the Saint. The body
of S. Agnes, and that of another virgin martyr, were also ascertained to
be under the high altar of her church, denominated Fuori delle Mura.
These, however, had all been removed from the Catacombs into Rome,
within the walls.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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