CHAPTER THREE.
THE CATACOMBS.
At the time that the two pontiffs were leaving the Curia Hostilia, afemale slave was making her way along the Appian Road, about two milesfrom her home. She wore over her usual dark dress a coarse laena, whichserved to conceal a basket filled with provisions which she carried onher arm. Turning off to the left, she followed a slightly beaten track,scarcely perceptible to the ordinary eye. After pursuing it for somedistance, she again crossed a track of wild and barren ground till shereached a hollow or basin of some extent. Stopping at the edge, shelooked carefully around, and then rapidly descending the slope, wascompletely hidden from the view of any one who might be passing in thedistance. Reaching the bottom of the basin, which had the appearance ofa huge sand-pit long since disused, she directed her course towards whatwas seemingly a heap of large stones piled up against the side.Stooping down, however, she discovered a space large enough to admither, and, by bending her head, she passed through it, when she was oncemore able to stand erect. Stopping an instant, she produced frombeneath her cloak a lantern, and, quickly lighting it, proceeded withouthesitation along a passage hewn in the sandstone rock, about ten feet inheight and five or six in width. Casting the light before her as shewent on, she carefully noted the passages which branched off on eitherhand. Into one of these, after proceeding for five or six hundredyards, she entered, after minutely examining a mark on the wall--a signto her that it was the one she sought. Still on she went, not a soundreaching her ear, till she reached what appeared to be a heap of rubbishpiled up before her. Throwing the light of the lantern on one side ofit, she discovered an opening similar to the one through which she hadentered the subterranean labyrinth. As she advanced, the light of herlamp glancing on the walls revealed numerous slabs let into them, onwhich various inscriptions, with significant symbols, were rudelycarved, marking them as the tombs of those who had departed in the faithof Jesus, to sleep in peace till summoned by the last trump to meettheir risen Lord. Here the crown and palm-branch marked theresting-places of those who had been faithful unto death, triumphingover sin, the world, and the devil; farther on was an anchor, typifyingthe Christian's hope, sure and steadfast; here a ship entering harbour,to signify an entrance into the everlasting kingdom; there a dove, andan olive-branch, the everlasting peace enjoyed by those who sleptwithin. Still more numerous were the simple and short epitaphs, somewith merely the words, "In Christ;" others, "He sleeps in peace." Onsome were rude emblems denoting the trade or name of those buriedwithin; on others were figures of men or women standing withoutstretched hands and open palms--the universal posture of prayer.
But the eye of the slave paused not to rest on any of these objects,though she did not fail to notice them as she moved along. Stoppingagain to trim her lamp, she listened for a moment, but her ear wasunable to catch the slightest sound. She then proceeded more cautiouslythan before, till she reached the top of a flight of steps, down whichshe descended into another passage, which extended to a distance fargreater than the rays from her lantern could penetrate. Counting hersteps, she stopped at a spot where was a large slab of stone, on whichcertain figures were carved, understood only by the initiated, scarcelyto be distinguished from the wall of the gallery, and which appeared tobe let into it. She touched it on one side, when it opened, and sheproceeded as before. Here and there a faint ray of light came down fromabove, the aperture through which it had passed serving to ventilate thegallery, the atmosphere of which would otherwise have beeninsupportable. Advancing some way farther, she again stopped andlistened, when human voices united in melodious song reached her ear.She now hurried on with more confidence than before. She coulddistinguish the words: they were those of a hymn such as Christiansalone, imbued with the true light of the Gospel, could have uttered.
The countenance of the girl, hitherto grave and anxious, beamed with acalm joy as she drank in the words. Moving forward for some fifty yardsor more, she stood in front of a deep recess, considerably higher, andseveral times wider, than the passage which had conducted her to it. Itresembled, indeed, a deep archway supported by simple columns, but wasotherwise totally unadorned. On either side, on rough benches, wereseated about twenty persons, who, as shown by their costumes, were ofvaried ranks, from the patrician in his toga and the high-born lady withfringed dress to the humble fossor or excavator. They varied also inage: some were far advanced in life, others were grave men and matrons,and among them was a young girl scarcely past her days of childhood. Atthe further end of the chamber, near a small table, sat a man ofvenerable aspect, clothed as a patrician, with a white beard hangingover his breast. A scroll was in his hand, from which, by the light ofa lamp standing on the table, he was reading aloud.
Rolling up the scroll, he rose and addressed the assembly. The slave,advancing slowly, and placing her basket on the ground, took her seat atthe outer end of one of the benches. He had already made some remarks,when he continued--"Ye have not so learnt Christ. He, our risen Lord,is our one Mediator between God and man. He has assured us that werequire no other intercessor, but if we trust in His perfect sacrificeHe will take us by the hand and present us, clothed in his pure andspotless robes, to the All-pure and All-holy One. He, the God of loveand mercy, requires no penances, no lacerations of the body, noabstinence from lawful pursuits, no works of any sort to fit us forapproaching Him. All, all he demands is faith in our risen Lord, Hisdear Son, whom He gave, and who willingly came, urged by loveunspeakable to fallen man, to die, instead of the sinner returning toHim. He requires no human soul departing from the body to pass throughpurifying fires, as the foolish heathen believe, to fit that soul tocome to Him; the blood of Jesus Christ alone cleanseth from all sin--that fountain which gushed forth on Calvary is flowing still, asefficacious as ever--that one sacrifice superseded all other sacrifices.No other is acceptable to Jehovah. Oh, the love, the love of Jesus!--that love surpassing all human understanding, unequalled by the love ofcreated beings, of the angels in heaven for sinful man: that sympathyexhibited at the grave of Lazarus, that love shown at the time the Lordwept as he thought on the woes coming upon Jerusalem,--that love, thatsympathy, exists bright and undiminished as ever, and will exist throughall eternity, for surely it is part and parcel of the Divine Nature, anattribute of the Almighty. That ear, ever open to the petitions ofthose who came to Him when He walked on earth, does that become dull orhard of hearing? No, surely no! He is as ready as ever to hear all whocome to Him desiring to be cleansed of sin. Does He, who while on earthknew what was in the heart of man, not see now into the inmost recessesof the soul? Can he who has numbered every hair of our heads, withoutwhose knowledge not a sparrow falls to the ground, no longer watch overthose who trust to Him? Can He who went about doing good--curing thesick, restoring the lunatics to reason, giving sight to the blind,feeding the multitudes--who blessed the marriage feast at Cana ofGalilee, who mixed freely in all social intercourse with hisfellow-men--can He, I ask, take pleasure in seeing men and women excludethemselves from their fellow-beings, emaciate and weaken the body andmind by fastings, vigils, flagellations, such as are practised byidolaters? Oh no! our King demands a willing joyous, active servicefrom His subjects. He would have them look to Him as their example,strengthening the mind and body, that they may the better go about anddo good, as He did to their fellow-men!
"I speak of these things, beloved brethren and sisters, because I seeevil times coming on the assemblies of Christ's followers. Alreadymany, departing from the true faith as taught by the apostles, believein foolish fables devised by Satan, to mislead, if possible, the veryelect; offering prayers to other mediators, men and women likethemselves--to those who, though martyrs, required as much as we all dothe cleansing blood of Jesus to purify them from sin: even to Mary ofNazareth, the honoured mother of the Lord, do they pray--to her whom Hecommitted to the care and keeping of the beloved disciple, knowing thatshe required the support of a fellow-creature. And--oh, miserablefolly!--
some are even placing value on dead men's bones; as if, when thesoul has departed, those remnants of humanity are aught else but thedust from whence they were taken. As senseless are they as theidolaters who fall down before the images of the false gods. I warnyou, beloved ones, brethren and sisters in the faith, pray for grace tobe guided and directed aright, that you may keep free from the erroneouspractices, the idolatries, into which so many, naming the name ofChrist, are daily falling. Already the enemies of the truth, theemissaries of Satan, are up and doing; and as Christians depart from thesimplicity of the Gospel as it is in Christ Jesus, so does the greatopponent of the Gospel gain an influence over them, and lead them awaycaptive at his will.
"I beseech you, then, be warned; seek for grace to hold fast the faith,ever looking to Jesus, its Author and Finisher, for guidance andsupport, imitating closely His walk on earth; be armed with the shieldof truth, the breastplate of faith, and the helmet of salvation!"
The venerable speaker sat down, and another rose--a person of middleage, and grave, dignified demeanour--apparently, from the tone ofauthority with which he spoke, an elder of the assembly. His addresswas also one of warning: he pointed out the danger to which Christianswere exposed, now that they were no longer persecuted by the rulers ofthe earth, from the false teaching of the philosophers, who had embracedsome of the tenets of their faith, as well as from others, who, notgoing to the fountain-head--to Moses and the prophets, to the Gospelsand Epistles--brought forward notions and ideas of their own.Especially, too, he warned them against the danger to which theassemblies were exposed from the wealth now flowing freely into thehands of those in authority, intended for the widows and orphans, andthe support of hospitals for the sick, but which, as he pointed out, hadin too many other places been diverted from its proper object, andexpended in enabling the bishops to appear with the pomp and show ofworldly rulers. "Let us," he concluded, "pray that the Holy Spirit maygive us grace that we may continue to worship the Father, through themediation of our Blessed Lord and Master, according to the example setus by the apostles, and in withstand the numerous heresies which aremaking inroads among the assemblies of Christians."
Again all rose, and, led by their venerable president, lifted up theirvoices in prayer. Another hymn was sung, and the president then takinga loaf of bread, wrapped in a cloth, broke it, and poured out some winefrom an amphora into a cup. After reading from the Gospel theinstitution of the Lord's Supper, he distributed the bread and wine toeach individual of the assembly, simply saying, "As Christ's body wasbroken for us on the accursed tree, and as His blood was shed for us, sodo we eat this broken bread and drink this wine in remembrance that hedied for our sins, offering thereby a full and sufficient propitiation,and that He rose again, and ascended into heaven, to take His seat atthe right hand of God, and there to plead His death for the remission ofthe sins of all who believe in Him."
The young slave, who had partaken with the rest of the bread and wine,now rose, and presented her basket of provisions, as sent by thepresbyter Amulius and the assembly in his house, to their belovedbrethren and sisters, Gentianus, Severus, Eugenia, and the rest.
"Say that Gentianus and his child return their heartfelt thanks,"replied the aged president. "Do you, Severus, distribute the food toour brethren," he added, turning to the presbyter, who advanced to takeit; and, aided by the female slave and another person, he gave a portionof the contents to each of the company. There was an ample supply, bothof food and wine, for all present, and still the basket was not halfemptied. Before any one commenced eating the president uttered a shortprayer, that their Heavenly Father would bless the food to thestrengthening of their bodies and the support of their spiritual life.It was then eaten with thankfulness, while a cheerful conversation wascarried on among all present. Gentianus then beckoned to the slave.
"What news do you bring from the city, Rufina? Has Amulius sent anymessage by you?" he asked.
"Alas! my lord Gentianus, although Augustus supports the Christians inthe East, the heathens in Rome still struggle desperately to maintaintheir supremacy," replied the slave. "They dare not openly oppressbelievers, but by every secret means they endeavour to overthrow thefaith; and knowing that Coecus still seeks your life and that of my lordSeverus, Amulius advises you to remain in concealment till happier timesarrive. That will be, he hopes, ere long; for already the emperor--though, alas, himself ignorant of the truth--professes to have become aChristian, and has raised Christians to posts of power and dignity inthe state and in his army; many heathen temples, where abominable riteswere wont to be practised, have by his orders been closed; andinformation has been received that he purposes to interfere with thosein Rome, to prohibit the practice of magic arts, the impostures of theaugurs, and to place the Christians on an equal footing with theidolaters."
This announcement, which would, it might have been supposed, haveproduced unmitigated satisfaction among the assembly, was listened to byGentianus with the gravity he had before maintained. "Timeo Danaos etdona ferentes--I fear the Greeks even when bringing gifts. The man whothrough jealousy put to death his eldest son, who has murdered withoutcompunction his nephews and other relatives, can have none of the spiritof Christ, and any support he affords the Christians must be given frompolitical motives," he observed. "Let us not be deceived by them, mybeloved brethren; outward prosperity and the patronage of the great onesof the earth are far more fraught with danger to the true faith thanwere the persecutions we have gone through; already have many beenseduced from the truth by the allurements of wealth and the desire toobtain worldly dignities and power. And now, Rufina," he continued,after speaking for some time on the same subject, "what account do youbring us of the young Jovinian? Has he succeeded in escaping from thepower of his uncle, the pontiff Gaius?"
"No; he is still held captive, and strictly watched," answered Rufina."I have in vain endeavoured to communicate with him through the Numidianwho has him in charge. His faith must be put to a sore trial, but thepresbyter Amulius believes that he has been too well instructed in thetruth to depart from it."
"Let us pray that grace may be given him to hold firmly to the faith,"said Gentianus. "I feel a deep interest in the youth, for his saintedmother was brought out of darkness into the blessed light of the Gospelby my instructions, and I know how earnestly she prayed that her onlychild should remain faithful, even though martyrdom might be theconsequence. Could Jovinian escape from his guardians, he might hereremain concealed, and be further established in the faith, till Gaiushas abandoned all search for him, or an opportunity offers of flyingwith you, Severus and Eugenia, to some place where you may be safe frompursuit."
"I would, as a sacred duty, take charge of the orphan boy, and instructhim in the truth, so that he may be qualified to perform his duty inspreading the Gospel," said Severus.
"And I will let him share a mother's love with our young Julia," saidEugenia.
"Tell Amulius what you have heard, Rufina," said Gentianus; "and nowreturn to the city, thank those who have provided for our necessities,and bring us, we pray thee, intelligence of anything important Amuliusdeems it necessary to send."
The assembly now broke up. Rufina returned by the way she had come,accompanied by several persons who had visited the abode of Gentianusfor the purpose of joining in the religious meeting, but who lived aboveground in the neighbourhood of Rome. Some regained the upper world bydifferent outlets; besides Gentianus and his household, a few only, whofor some cause had reason to dread the hostility of the idolaters still,remaining in those subterranean passages. Here, in chambers excavatedin the soft rock, they had their dwellings, which they quitted only atnight to enjoy the fresh air, when trusty persons were placed on thewatch to give notice of the approach of any who might betray them. Manyof the fossors or excavators had from the early days of Christianitybeen converted, and had thus been able to act as guides to the fugitivesfrom persecution, and to hollow out chambers in the remoter parts of thegalleries where they could
live without being discovered, unless, as wassometimes the case, they were betrayed by the treachery of pretendedChristians.