in our Plein Chant or Church Musick brought in by St. Gregory For what we now call Musick is certainly a clearly Different thing and altogether Modern As for the Chanting of the Prayers and Lessons that we see consists but of very few Notes only to help to keep up the Voice and mark the distinction of the Periods I think I have said enough to shew how well the Bishops of these first times understood to manage the objects of Sense so as to make them subservient to the end of Religion and by their help to make Impressions of Piety even upon the most heavy and Illiterate For Instance let us suppose the solemn manner of their Celebrating the Vigil of Easter at Rome under the Pope St. Leo. The Faithful V. Euseb vi Hist c. ix on that Holy Night with their reverend Bishop at the Head of them Assembled together in a Body in the Lateran Church In the first place immediately upon the Benediction of the new Fire an incredible number of Lights made the Holy Night look as glorious as a fine Day We may imagin what a charming Sight it must needs have been to see this August Magnificent Church filled with such a Numerous Assembly and yet in so vast a Multitude of People nothing of Noise Tumult or Confusion but every one Regularly disposed and Ranged according to the Quality of their Age and Sex and the station they held in the Church And especially distinguish'd from the rest were those who were to receive Baptism that very Night together with those who had accomplished their Pennance and had been but two Days before Readmitted into the Church Their Eyes were entertained on every side with the Marbles and Paintings the glittering of the Gold Silver and Precious Stones that Sparkled upon the Consecrated Plate and especially near the Holy Altar The silence of the Night admitted of no other Interruption but the Lessons out of the Prophets Pronounced with a clear distinct and intelligible Voice and intermixt with the Singing of the Versicles that so this Variety might make both of them more agreeable So many grand and delightful Objects presenting themselves at one and the same time could not but awaken the Soul and inspire her with Vigour both to attend to those Holy Lessons and profit by them especially being prepared for them before hand by continual exercises in the Word of God What must the Gravity and Modesty of the Deacons and other sacred Ministers have needs been who were made choice of and bred by such a Prelate and serv'd in his presence or rather in the presence of God whom their own thoughts represented to them always before their Eyes But above all How Majestick must the Pope himself appear so venerable for his Learning his Elocution his Zeal his Courage and all his other Vertues With what an awefull Reverence with how Affectionate a Piety must he have pronounced over the Sacred Fonts those Prayers which he himself first Composed and which his successors have found so Pious that they have still preserved the same for us the space of twelve hundred Years I can no longer Wonder that on these occasions and under such helps of Devotion the Christians of those Days should quite forget their Body and having Fasted all the Day before should pass this Holy Night of the Resurrection also in Watching and Prayer without eating a bitt till the Day following BUT this great Day being come and XXXV The Solemnity of Feasts of the Church Pilgrimages the time of their Fasts expired the greatest Saints did not only allow but also enjoyn the refreshing of the Body How profitable soever Fasting might be to raise up the Soul to God and Facilitate the Duty of Prayer for which exercise of Devotion the Feasts of the Church were chiefly designed yet it was forbidden to fast on Sundays or on the Festival Days or throughout the whole Quinquagesima So they called it not as we do now the fifty Days before Easter but the fifty Days between Easter and Whitsunday 'T is true the Monks of Egypt used great precautions Cass Collat xxi de remiss quinq least they should by this little Relaxation lose the fruit of their past Abstinence But at last they observed the Church Distinction St. Pacomus according Vie de saint Pacome c. viii to the direction of St. Palemon his Master on Easter-day Eat a Sallet of Herbs and Oil instead of dry Bread only which was their usual Dyet at other times A certain Holy Priest as God had put it into S. Greg. ii Dial. c. i. his mind on an Easter Day carryed to St. Benet a present of Provisions for him to make better Cheer at that time than ordinary and to express a more sensible rejoycing on the same Occasion St Anthony was wont on Easter and Whitsunday to put on his Coat of Palmtree-leaves which was left him by St. Paul the first Hermite and St. Athanasius at the same time appeared clad in the Cloak St. Anthony had left to him And from that time S. Leo. Serm. iii. de Quadrages forward it was an established custom among Christians to apparel themselves on the Festivals in their Richest Habits and to make better Fare than ordinary on those Days The Feasts of the Martyrs had proportionable honours paid to them and were Celebrated with a great Concourse of People On Sundays and other Feasts common to the whole Church every one was content to stay at home with his own Bishop But on these special Feasts they ran from all parts to celebrate the Memory of the Saints so that upon these occasions many of the Bishops themselves often met together at their Tombs By one example we may judge of the rest St. Paulinus reckons up more then twenty Natali 3. names as well of Cities as Provinces in Italy whose Inhabitants did every Year assemble together in vast Troops with their Wives and Children to Celebrate the Feast of St. Felix notwithstanding the Rigor of the Season it being kept on the fourteenth of January And all this only for one single confessor in that single City of Nola. What then must have been done throughout the. whole Christian World What at Rome upon Prud. Peristeph ii 11 12. Martyr Jun. xxix de S. Cassio the Feast of St. Hippolytus of St. Laurence of the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul They flocked to Rome from the most distant places and at all times And that was the Rise of Pilgrimages In the time of the Persecution under the Emperor Claudius the second St. Marius together with St. Martha his Wife and Children Martyrol xix Janu. took a jorney to Rome on purpose to perform their Devotions there and upon that occasion they there suffered Martyrdome The same hapned not long after to St. Maurus who came out of Affrica to visit Ibid. xxii Novem. the Sepulchers of the Apostles And before St. Alexander was chosen Bishop of Jerusalem
of it both by affixing some kind of Penalties Tac. An. iii. v tit cod de infirm paen coelib v. Baron an 57. n. 44 c. upon those who continued unmarried after such a Term of Years and rewards to those who in lawful Matrimony encreased the number of the People The Christians knew but two states that of Marriage or Continence They preferred the latter as knowing its Excellencies and they often found the means Tertul. ad uxor c. vi de Resur car c. 8. of Reconciling them both in one for there were many Married Persons who yet lived in Continence But all Christians in general abstained from the use of the Bed on the Feasts and Fasts of the Cypr. de sing Cle. Church as well as at other times when according to the Apostles Rule they were disposed more Freely to give Cor. vii themselves to Prayer Second Marriages were looked upon as a weakness insomuch as in some Churches they enjoined Hier. ad Salvin in fi the Persons so remarrying Penance But how highly soever they esteemed Continence they had an esteem for Marriage as being a great Sacrament They had honourable Thoughts of it considering it as an Emblem of that Union which is between Christ and his Church and that Blessing Pronounced by God upon Mankind at the first Creation which Orat. in Bened. Spons neither Original Sin nor the Deluge hath taken away that is of encreasing and multiplying They knew that the relation of Father and Mother was an high Clem. Alex. ii Paedag. c. x. and honourable Character as being the Images of God in a more peculiar manner and Co-operating with him in the Production of Men. 'T is certain by the Gospel that St. Peter was a Married Man and Tradition as St. Clemens Alexandrinus relates it tells the same of Clem. iii. strom the Apostle St. Philip that they had both of them Children and particularly of Euseb iii. Hist. 30. St. Philip 't is observed that he gave his Daughters in Marriage Among other Directions for the Education Const Ap. iv c. x. of Children this is one That they should to secure their Vertue timely dispose of them in Marriage and they who had Charity enough to take upon them the charge of breeding up Orphans were advised to Match them as soon as Ibid. c i. they came of Age and rather to their own Children than to Strangers a Proof how little the Christians of those days Ignat. Ep. ad Polycar regarded Worldly Interest in the matter of Marriage They advised with their Bishop about Marriages as indeed they did about all Affairs of greater Importance that so saith Ignatius they might be made according to God and not according to Concupiscence When the Parties were agreed the Marriage was publickly and solemnly performed in the Church and Tertul. ii ad ux in fi there Consecrated by the Benediction of the Pastor and Confirmed by the Oblation of the holy Sacrifice The Bridegroom gave his Hand to the Bride and the Bride received from her Husband a Ring engraved with the Sign of the Cross or at least having on it some Symbolical Figure representing some Christian Vertue as a Dove an Anchor or a Fish for of such Clem. Alex. iii. Paedag. c. xi Figures did the Christians make their Seals and among the Antients their Rings were also their Seals or Signets HITHERTO have we considered XII The Union of Christians Christians in their Private Capacities let us now take a view of them as United into a Body and making a Church The name of Ecclesia i. e. Church signifies no more than an Assembly and was taken in the Cities of Greece for a meeting of the People who commonly came together in the Theatre for the dispatch of Publick Affairs We have in the Acts of the Apostles an Example of this profane Acts xix 32 Ecclesia or Assembly in the City of Ephesus and therefore the Christians by way of distinction from these profane Ecclesias where called the Ecclesia or Church of God Origen in his Dispute against Celsus compares these two sorts of Assemblies together and lays it down as a thing certain and manifest that the less Zeal of the Christians who were but few in comparison of the rest did somuch excel other Men That the Christian Assemblies appeared in the World like Stars in the Firmament The Christians therefore of every City made up but one Body and this was one principal pretence of Persecuting them Their Assemblies were represented as Illegal Meetings not being Authorized by the Laws of the State Their Unity and Love passed fot a Crime and was Objected against them as a dangerous Confederacy And indeed all the Christians living in the same Place were well known to each other as it could not be otherwise considering how often they joined in Prayer and other exercises of Religion upon which occasions they met together almost every Day They all maintained a Friendly Correspondence among themselves often met and conferred together and even in indifferent matters conformed to one another Their Joys and their Griefs were in common If any one had received of God any particular Blessing they all shared the satisfaction If any one were under Pennance they all Interceeded on his behalf and begged that Mercy might be shewn him They lived together as kindred of the same Family calling one another by the Name of Father or Child Brother or Sister according to the difference of Age or Sex This Unity was maintained by that Authority which every Master of a Family had over those of his own House and by the Submission that all of them paid to the Priests and their Bishops a Duty so earnestly recommended to Christians in the Epistles of the holy Martyr St. Ignatius But above all the Bishops were most closely United among themselves They all knew one another at least by their Names and Characters and held a constant Epistolary Correspondence which was easy to be done at that time by reason of the vast extent of the Roman Empire Bardesan apud Euseb vi Praepar c. 8. which God in his Providence seems to have so ordered as it were on purpose for the Propagation of the Gospel But as the Church was extended far wider than the Empire reaching to all the Nations round about it that uniformity of Faith and Manners which was found among all the Christians was still the more wonderful considering the Diversity of Nations among whom they were scattered And herein appeared the Power of true Religion Correcting in all that embraced it all those Barbarous and unreasonable Euseb i. Praep. c. iv Customs in which they had been educated In short the universal Church was in reality but one Body all the Members whereof were United to each other not only by the same Faith but also by the same most Comprehensive Charity EVERY Particular Church met together XIII
the House of God or the House of the Lord they rarely made use of the name of Temple and never within the Compas of my reading of Delubrum or Fanum The names of Particular Churches were often taken from their Founders as at Rome the Titulus Pastoris the Basilica of Liberius or Sixtus which is now St. Mary the great or from the Ancient Name of the House as Basilica Laterana Afterwards they came also to make use of Churches built by the Heathens when they found them fit for the use of Religion So in Rome they Converted the Pantheon the Temple of Minerva of Fortuna Virilis with some others into Christian Churches The Churches were not only large and Beautiful as to the make of them but also looked after with great care and always kept Neat and Clean. St. Jerome Epist de fun Nepot gives a special Commendation of Nepotian the Priest for the care he took of keeping his Church in good order The Walls dry and free from Smut and Mould the Pavements rubbed the Sacristy clean the Vessels shining the Door-keeper always upon his Office This was the busines of the inferior Officers under what Name soever they went as Door-keepers Mansionaries Camerarii Sacristans and Cubiculari Aeditui there was a great number of these Officers in the larger Churches We may see Pontific Rom. V. Baron an lviii n. 102. yet in the form of Ordination what was the proper charge of the Ostiaries They were at the Regular Hours to give notice for Prayers and consequently it belonged to them to Ring the Bells when once the use of Bells was brought into the Church which was about the seventh Age. It was their business to open the Church Doors at the usual time and to stand at them upon their Duty to keep Infidels or Excommunicated Persons from Entring They kept the Keys and took care that nothing was lost We find in Dial. i. c. v. iii. c. xxiv Paul Nat. iii. vi the Dialogues of St. Gregory that the Mansionaries had the charge of the Lamps 'T was these Inferior Officers that Dres't up the Church against the more solemn Festivals either with Silk Tapesteries or other rich Hangings or only with Boughs and Flowers In a Word they were to do every thing that was necessary to keep the Holy Place fit for making Impressions of Reverence and Piety upon those who approached it All these Functions appeared too Considerable to be permitted to pure Laicks So that 't was thought necessary to Establish these new Orders of Minor Clerks on purpose to ease the Deacons and to take off some part of their Charge THOUGH t' is true the Christian XXIX Devotion assisted by Sense Religion is altogether Inward and Spiritual yet Christians are Men as well as others and therefore not above the power of Sence and Imagination Nay we may say that the greatest part of Man-kind scarce Act or Live upon any other Principle How few apply themselves to Operations purely Intellectual and they that do so find their thoughts easyly Diverted from Spiritual Objects Devotion therefore must be assisted by the Impressions of Sense Were we Angels we might Pray in all places alike in the hurry of the Roads in the Crowd of the Streets in the Noise of the Guard-Chamber in the Roaring and Riots of a Tavern over the Stenches of a Common-Shore Why then do we shun these places of Distraction and when we would be Devout seek after Silence and retiredness but only as a Remedy against the Impotence of Sense and Imagination 'T is not God that hath need of Temples and Oratories but We. He is equally present in all Places and always equally ready to hear us everywhere but we are not always in a frame of Spirit fit to Speak to him So that 't is a needless and useless peice of Work to Consecrate particular places to his Service unless they be also put into a Condition proper to assist our Devotion Let us Suppose for Example that which we see too often in these later Times a Church so ill Scituated that it Ecchoes with the Noises of an Adjacent Street or a Neighbouring Market and so nastily kept that one can scarce sit down or kneel in it for Dirt suppose it thron'd with such a Herd of People promiscuously crowded together that they who attend upon Prayer are every Moment justled and trampled upon by others pushing on their way through them and continually interrupted with Children's Crying or Playing Loud Beggars Bawling about their Ears Add to this that you have nothing before your Eyes but disagreable Objects the Walls covered over with a filthy Smut and Mouldiness the Pictures disfigur'd with Dust and Cobwebbs and placed in an ill Light the statues of a deformed Make or half of them broken off and the other Ornaments in as ill a condition In fine to omit nothing offensive to sense for Incense an horrid fume of stinking Vapours and for Musick a multitude of untuned Voices jumbled together in Croaking Sounds It will be much easyer for a Man to Pray in an open Field or in a lone uninhabited House then in such a Church as this On the contrary let a Man go into a Church well built beautifully adorned and neatly Kept where all things are still and quiet the People well placed and the Clergy performing the Office in a regular manner and with a becoming Reverence and Humility he will find himself insensibly Engaged to attend the Service he is upon with a composedness of Thought and be able to Pray with the Heart at the same 1 Cor. xiv 14. time he speaks with his Lips Of this the Bishops of the First Ages were very sensible Those Holy Persons were either Greeks or Romans many of them great Philosophers all of them trainep up in the nicest observance of all the Rules of Decency They knew that the order Grandeur and agreeableness of exteriour Objects have a natural Efficacy in them of exciting in the mind Noble pure and well regulated Thoughts and that the Affections follow those Thoughts But that 't is next to impossible to keep the Soul Intent upon that which is good while the Body is uneasy or the Imagination disobliged They thought Devotion a matter of that Importance that it required all the assistance which could handsomly be given it and therefore took care to have the publick Services of the Church especially that of the Sacrifice Celebrated with all possible Majesty and the People assisting at it accommodated with all imaginable Conveniencies that so they might be brought on to take delight in the House of Prayer and to approach it with Reverence And they were at the same time sufficiently Cautions also to keep out of the Holy Places all the Extravagances of a Worldly Pomp all the appearances of a wanton Vanity or whatsoever might have a tendency to Effeminate the mind or strike the Senses with dangerous Impressions 'T was not their design to