ancient laws of the Roman pontiffs. Festivals and commemorations
of martyrs multiplied with the numberless fictitious discoveries
of their remains. Fasting became the grand means of repelling the
devil and appeasing God; celibacy the greatest of the virtues.
Pilgrimages. were made to Palestine and the tombs of the martyrs.
Quantities of dust and earth were brought from the Holy Land and
sold at enormous prices, as antidotes against devils. The virtues
of consecrated water were upheld. Images and relics were
introduced into the churches, and worshiped after the fashion of
the heathen gods. It was given out that prodigies and miracles
were to be seen in certain places, as in the heathen times. The
happy souls of departed Christians were invoked; it was believed
that they were wandering about the world, or haunting their
graves. There was a multiplication of temples, altars, and
penitential garments. The festival of the purification of the
Virgin was invented to remove the uneasiness of heathen converts
on account of the loss of their Lupercalia, or feasts of Pan. The
worship of images, of fragments of the cross, or bones, nails,
and other relics, a true fetich worship, was cultivated. Two
arguments were relied on for the authenticity of these
objects--the authority of the Church, and the working of
miracles. Even the worn-out clothing of the saints and the earth
of their graves were venerated. From Palestine were brought what
were affirmed to be the skeletons of St. Mark and St. James, and
other ancient worthies. The apotheosis of the old Roman times was
replaced by canonization; tutelary saints succeed to local
mythological divinities. Then came the mystery of
transubstantiation, or the conversion of bread and wine by the
priest into the flesh and blood of Christ. As centuries passed,
the paganization became more and more complete. Festivals sacred