Thus Basil a Monk, who was made Bishop of Caesarea in the year 369, and died in the year 378, in his Oration on the Martyr Mamas, saith: Be ye mindful of the Martyr; as many of you as have enjoyed him in your dreams, as many as in this place have been assisted by him in prayer, as many of you as upon invoking him by name have had him present in your works, as many as he has reduced into the way from wandering, as many as he has restored to health, as many as have had their dead children restored by him to life, as many as have had their lives prolonged by him: and a little after, he thus expresses the universality of this superstition in the regions of Cappadocia and Bithynia: At the memory of the Martyr, saith he, the whole region is moved; at his festival the whole city is transported with joy. Nor do the kindred of the rich turn aside to the sepulchres of their ancestors, but all go to the place of devotion. Again, in the end of the Homily he prays, that God would preserve the Church, thus fortified with the great towers of the Martyrs: and in his Oration on the forty Martyrs; These are they, saith he, who obtaining our country, like certain towers afford us safety against our enemies. Neither are they shut up in one place only, but being distributed are sent into many regions, and adorn many countries. — You have often endeavored, you have often labored to find one who might pray for you: here are forty, emitting one voice of prayer. — He that is in affliction flies to these, he that rejoices has recourse to these: the first, that he may be freed from evil, the last that he may continue in happiness.
Here a woman praying for her children is heard; she obtains a safe return for her husband from abroad, and health for him in his sickness. — O ye common keepers of mankind, the best companions of our cares, suffragans and coadjutors of our prayers, most powerful ambassadors to God, &c.
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