g 84. THE WORSHIP OF MAKTrRS AND SAINTS. 439
streamed to the burial p'.ace of this saint in such inultil'. dea that the place looked like an ant hill. In his Life of St. Ephraim, he tells of a pilgrim who lost himself among the barbarian posterity of Ishmael, but by the prayer, " St. Ephraim, help me ! " ' and the protection of the saint, happily found his way home. He himself thus addresses him at the close: '' Thou who standest at the holy altar, and with angels servest the life-giving and most holy Trinity, remember us all, and im- [>lore for us the forgiveness of sins and the enjoyment of tho eternal kingdom," ^
Gregory Nazianzen is convinced that the departed Cyprian guides and protects his church in Carthage more powerfully l)y his intercessions than he formerly did by his teachings, because he now stands so much nearer the Deity ; he addresses him as present, and implores his favor and protection.^ In his eulogy on Athanasius, who was but a little while dead, he prays : " Look graciously down upon us, and dispose this pecyple to be perfect worshippers of the perfect Trinity ; and when the times are quiet, preserve us — when they are troubled, remove us, and take ns to thee in thy fellowship."
Even Chrysostom did not rise above the spirit of the time, lie too is an eloquent and enthusiastic advocate of the worship of the saints and their relics. At the close of his memorial discourse on Sts, Bernice and Prc^edoce — two saints who have not even a place in the Roman calendar — he exhorts his hearers not only on their memorial days but also on other days to implore these saints to be our protectors: "For they have great boldness not merely during their life but also after death, yea. much greater after death," For they now bear the stigmata of Christ [the marks of martyrdom], and when they show these, they can pei'suade the King to anything." He
''A716 'Ecppafnf jSai^Sei fioi. ' 'AiTovfjLfVOi Vixly afxapTrif^aTciiv acpfffty, alaii'lov t( jSaffiAftar atrSA iiKrir. De vita Ephraem. p. 616 (torn. iii.).
* 2y 5e rjixa? f-rromivois 6.vctj^fv 7\e«5, Kot Thv Tj/u-erepoy Steldyois ASyof koI /Si'oi' IC.T.A. Orat. 18 in laud. Cypr. p, 286.
* J\apaKa\u>/J.ev outols, a^tcoij.ii' yffeffdai TrpoffrdriSas vfi&y ' noWijy ykp exoi/crt* ira(J5ijo lay ovx^ C'^crai ^jlSvov^ aWa. Ka\ TiAfvT-fiaacrat ' Kol iroW^ fxaK\oP Te\(vHiff<» Toi. 0pp. torn. ii. 770.
i40 THIRD PERIOD. A.D. 311-590.
relates that once, when the harvest was endangered l>y excessive rain, the whole population of Constantinople floeked tc the church of the Apostles, and there elected the apostles Peter and Andrew, Paul and Timotliy, patrons and intercessors before tlie throne of grace.' Christ, says he on Heb. i. 14, redeems us as Lord and Master, the angels redeem us as ministers.
Asterius of ximasia calls the martyr Phocas, the patron of mariners, " a pillar and foundation of the churches of God in the world, the most renowned of the martyrs, who draws men of all countries in hosts to his church in Sinope, and who now, since his death, distributes more abundant nourishment than Joseph in Egypt."
Among the Latin fathers, Ambrose of Milan is one of the first and most decided promoters of the worship of saints. "We cite a passage or two. " May Peter, who so successfully weeps for himself, weep also for us, and turn upon us tlf^ friendly look of Christ." ^ " The angels, who are appointed to guard us, must be invoked for us ; the martyrs, to whose intercession we have claim by the pledge of their bodies, must be invoked. They who have washed away their sins by their own blood, may pray for our sins. For they are martyrs of God, our high priests, spectators of our life and our acts. AVe need not blush to use them as intercessors for our weakness; for they als(. knew the infirmity of the body when they gained the victory over it." "
Jerome disputes the opinion of Yigilantius, that we should pray for one another in this life only, and that the dead do not
' Contra ludos et tbeatra, n. 1, torn. vi. 318.
' HexEcm. 1. v. cap. 25, § 90: "Fleat pro nobis Petrus, qui pro se bene flcvit, et iu nos pia Christi ora convertat. Approperet Jesu Domini passio, quae quotidie de- Ucta nostra condonat et ruunus remissionis opcratur."
* De viduis, c. 0 : " Obsecrandi sunt Angeli pro nobis, qui nobis ad prccsidiinii aati supt ; martyres obsecrandi, quorum videmur nobis quoddam corporis jiignore patrocinium vindicare. Possunt pro pcccatis rogare nostris, qui proprio sanguine etiam si qua habuerunt peccata laverunt. Isti enim sunt Dei martyres, nostri pno- Bulos, spcculatores vitae actuumque nostrorum," etc. Ambrose goes farther thai the council of Trent, which does not command the invocation of the saints, but only commends it, and represents it not as duty, but only as privilege. Sec the passag« ulready cited, p. 437.