Isaac Newton, Observations Upon The Prophecies Of Daniel and The Apocalypse Of St. John

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.

By all which it is manifest, that before the year 378, the Orations and Sermons upon the Saints went much beyond the bounds of mere oratorical flourishes, and that the common people in the East were already generally corrupted by the Monks with Saint-worship.

Gregory Nazianzen a Monk, in his sixth Oration written A.C. 373, when he was newly made Bishop of Sasima, saith: Let us purify ourselves to the Martyrs, or rather to the God of the Martyrs: and a little after he calls the Martyrs mediators of obtaining an ascension or divinity. The same year, in the end of his Oration upon Athanasius then newly dead, he thus invokes him: Do thou look down upon us propitiously, and govern this people, as perfect adorers of the perfect Trinity, which in the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, is contemplated and worshiped: if there shall be peace, preserve me, and feed my flock with me; but if war, bring me home, place me by thyself, and by those that are like thee; however great my request. And in the end of the funeral Oration upon Basil, written A.C. 378, he thus addresses him: But thou, O divine and sacred Head, look down upon us from heaven; and by thy prayers either take away the thorn of the flesh which is given us by God for exercise, or obtain that we may bear it with courage, and direct all our life to that which is most fitting for us. When we depart this life, receive us there in your Tabernacles, that living together and beholding the holy and blessed Trinity more purely and perfectly, whereof we have now but an imperfect view, we may there come to the end of our desires, and receive this reward of the wars which we have waged and suffered: and in his Oration upon Cyprian, not the Bishop of Carthage, but a Greek, he invokes him after the same manner; and tells us also how a pious Virgin named Justina, was protected by invoking the Virgin Mary, and how miracles were done by the ashes of Cyprian.

Gregory Nyssen, another eminent Monk and Bishop, in the life of Ephraem Syrus, tells how a certain man returning from a far country, was in great danger, by reason all the ways were intercepted by the armies of barbarous nations; but upon invoking Ephraem by name, and saying, Holy Ephraem assist me, he escaped the danger, neglected the fear of death, and beyond his hope got safe home. In the end of this Oration Gregory calls upon Ephraem after the following manner: But thou, O Ephraem, assisting now at the divine altar, and sacrificing to the Prince of life, and to the most holy Trinity, together with the Angels; remember us all, and obtain for us pardon of our sins, that we may enjoy the eternal happiness of the kingdom of heaven. The same Gregory, in his Oration on the Martyr Theodorus written A.C. 381, thus describes the power of that Martyr, and the practice of the people.

This Martyr, saith he, the last year quieted the barbarous tempest, and put a stop to the horrid war of the fierce and cruel Scythians.

— If any one is permitted to carry away the dust with which the tomb is covered, wherein the body of the Martyr rests; the dust is accepted as a gift, and gathered to be laid up as a thing of great price. For to touch the relics themselves, if any such prosperous fortune shall at any time happen; how great a favor that is, and not to be obtained without the most earnest prayers, they know well who have obtained it. For as a living and florid body, they who behold it embrace it, applying to it the eyes, mouth, ears, and all the organs of sense; and then with affection pouring tears upon the Martyr, as if he was whole and appeared to them: they offer prayers with supplication, that he would intercede for them as an advocate, praying to him as an Officer attending upon God, and invoking him as receiving gifts whenever he will.