and afterwards mentioning the mother of one of these forty Martyrs, he concludes the Oration with this prayer: I entreat thee, O holy, faithful, and blessed woman, pray for me to the Saints, saying; Intercede ye that triumph in Christ, for the most little and miserable Ephraem, that he may find mercy, and by the grace of Christ may be saved.
Again, in his second Sermon or Oration on the praises of the holy Martyrs of Christ, he thus addresses them: We entreat you most holy Martyrs, to intercede with the Lord for us miserable sinners, beset with filthiness of negligence, that he would infuse his divine grace into us: and afterwards, near the end of the same discourse; Now ye most holy men and glorious Martyrs of God, help me a miserable sinner with your prayers, that in that dreadful hour I may obtain mercy, when the secrets of all hearts shall be made manifest.
I am to day become to you, most holy Martyrs of Christ, as it were an unprofitable and unskillful cup-bearer: for I have delivered to the sons and brothers of your faith, a cup of the excellent wine of your warfare, with the excellent table of your victory, replenished with all sorts of dainties. I have endeavored, with the whole affection and desire of my mind, to recreate your fathers and brothers, kindred and relations, who daily frequent the table. For behold they sing, and with exultation and jubilee glorify God, who has crowned your virtues, by setting on your most sacred heads incorruptible and celestial crowns; they with excessive joy stand about the sacred relics of your martyrdoms, wishing for a blessing, and desiring to bear away holy medicines both for the body and the mind. As good disciples and faithful ministers of our benign Lord and Saviour, bestow therefore a blessing on them all: and on me also, though weak and feeble, who having received strength by your merits and intercessions, have with the whole devotion of my mind, sung a hymn to your praise and glory before your holy relics. Wherefore I beseech you stand before the throne of the divine Majesty for me Ephraem, a vile and miserable sinner, that by your prayers I may deserve to obtain salvation, and with you enjoy eternal felicity by the grace and benignity and mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to whom with the Father and Holy Ghost be praise, honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
By what has been cited out of Basil, the two Gregories and Ephraem, we may understand that Saint-worship was established among the Monks and their admirers in Egypt, Phoenicia, Syria and Cappadocia, before the year 378, this being the year in which Basil and Ephraem died. Chrysostom was not much later; he preached at Antioch almost all the time of Theodosius the great, and in his Sermons are many exhortations to this sort of superstition, as may be seen in the end of his Orations on S. Julia, on St.
Pelagia, on the Martyr Ignatius, on the Egyptian Martyrs, on Fate and Providence, on the Martyrs in general, on St. Berenice and St. Prosdoce, on Juventinus and Maximus, on the name of Cemetery, &c. Thus in his Sermon on Berenice and Prosdoce: Perhaps, saith he, you are inflamed with no small love towards these Martyrs; therefore with this ardor let us fall down before their relics, let us embrace their coffins. For the coffins of the Martyrs have great virtue, even as the bones of the Martyrs have great power. Nor let us only on the days of this festival, but also on other days apply to them, invoke them, and beseech them to be our patrons: for they have great power and efficacy, not only whilst alive, but also after death; and much more after death than before.
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