Henri Leclercq

“ Even in such a condition of peril, the Christians of Africa were far from showing those virtues which might be looked for in a time of persecution. It is true that Salvius of Marseilles is prone to exaggeration in all that he says, but he gives us a most deplorable, and not wholly inaccurate, account of the crimes of all kinds which made Africa one of the most wretched provinces in the world. ”

“ Adoration of men. The gate of heaven opens that the prayer of all that lives may enter in; they prostrate themselves, and then withdraw. At this hour all that man asks of God is granted him, when the Seraphim beat their wings or the cock crows. ”

“ Augustine's time, but their names, honourable as they are, cannot compare in fame with the great ones which we have recorded as belonging to the third and fourth centuries. The endeavour of St. Fulgentius, Bishop of Ruspe, is to think and write as a faithful disciple of St. Augustine. Dracontius, a meritorious poet, lacks elevation; only an occasional line deserves a place among the poetry which does not die. ”

“ The steady advance of Roman civilization caused the neglect and abandonment of that tongue. At the beginning of the third century an African, chosen at random, would have expressed himself more easily in Greek than in Latin; two hundred years later, St. Augustine and the poet Dracontius had at best but a slight knowledge of Greek. As to local dialects, we know little. No work of Christian literature written in Punic has come down to us, though there can be no doubt but that the clergy and faithful used a language much spoken in Carthage and in the coast towns of the Proconsular Province. ”

“ The writings of African authors, e.g. Tertullian and St. Augustine, are full of quotations drawn from the Sacred Scriptures. These fragmentary texts are among the most ancient witnesses to the Latin Bible, and are of great importance, not only in connection with the formation of the style and vocabulary of the Christian writers of Africa, but also in regard to the establishment of the biblical text. Africa is represented at the present day by a group of texts in which is preserved a version commonly known as the "African Version" of the New Testament. ”

“ The crucial passage in Our Lord's letter, however, is that which promises the city of Edessa victory over all enemies. It gave the little town a popularity which vanished on the day that it fell into the hands of conquerors. It was a rude shock to those who believed the legend; they were more ready to attribute the fall of the city to God's anger against the inhabitants than to admit the failure of a safeguard which was no less trusted to at that time than in the past. ”

“ Agape.—The celebration of funeral feasts in honour of the dead dates back almost to the beginnings of the worship of the departed—that is, to the very earliest times. The dead, in the region beyond the tomb, were thought to derive both pleasure and advantage from these offerings. ”

“ He died shortly after his return to Hieropolis, but not before he had composed his own epitaph, conveying a most vivid impression of all he had admired during his stay in Rome. This epitaph may well have inspired the "Life" of Abercius such as it has come down to us, since all its details may be explained by the hints contained in the inscription, or else belong to the common foundation of all legends of saints. The "Life", as a matter of fact, includes a transcription of the epitaph. ”

“ The Roman Liturgy has preserved a rite which it is interesting to compare with the practice of these surveyors. At the dedication of a church the bishop writes two alphabets on the ground, one Greek and the other Latin, with the point of his pastoral staff, along two lines of ashes laid in the form of a crux decussata (X) . The two alphabets start from the east and stretch toward the west. ”

“ Abrasax is the name given by the Gnostics to the Supreme Deity, and it is quite possible that we shall find a clue to its etymological meaning in the influences of numbers. The subject is one which has exercised the ingenuity of many savants, but it may be said that all the engraved stones to which the name is commonly given fall into three classes: (1) Abrasax, or stones of Basilidian origin; (2) Abrasaxtes, or stones originating in ancient forms of worship, and adapted by the Gnostics to their peculiar opinions; (3) Abraxoïdes, or stones absolutely unconnected with the doctrine of Basilides. ”

“ Victor of Vita, an impetuous historian, makes us sometimes wish, in presence of his too literary descriptions, for the monotonous simplicity of the chronicles, with their rigorous exactness. In the theological or historical writings of Facundus of Hermiane, Verecundus, and Victor of Tunnunum, may be found bursts of passion not wholly without merit from a literary standpoint, but which not seldom leave us doubtful as to the historical accuracy of their narratives or their reminiscences. ”

“ The brethren were at liberty to eat before going to the meeting; all present must be in a fit condition to celebrate the Supper of the Lord, though they must not eat of the funeral supper until all were present. We know, from two texts of the first century, that these meetings did not long remain within becoming bounds. The agape, as we shall see, was destined, during the few centuries that it lasted, to fall, from time to time, into abuses. ”

“ The use of the funeral feast was almost universal in the Græco-Roman world. Many ancient authors may be cited as witnesses to the practice in classical lands. Among the Jews, averse by taste and reason to all foreign customs, we find what amounts to a funeral banquet, if not the rite itself ”

“ The alphabet, however, employed for monumental inscriptions differed so completely from the cursive as to make it wholly impossible to mistake the one for the other. The uncial, occurring very rarely on sculptured monuments, and reserved for writing, did not make its appearance before the fourth century. The number of Christian objects bearing the Abecedaria, with the exception of two vases found at Carthage, is extremely limited. On the other hand, those of heathen origin are more plentiful, and include certain tablets used by stone-cutters apprentices while learning their trade. ”

“ The discoveries have, however, revealed but few symbolisms not previously known. One tapestry, indeed, shows the Lamb of God, bearing the little banner, which is probably the most ancient example of this still familiar symbolism. ”

“ The faithful, united in bodies, guilds, corporations or "collegia", admitted coarse, intemperate men among them, who degraded the character of the assemblies. These Christian "collegia" seem to have differed but little from those of the pagans, in respect, at all events, of the obligations imposed by the rules of incorporation. ”

“ Barbarous as it nay appear, there is nothing incredible in the massacre of a legion; instances might be cited in support of so unusual an occurrence, though it is quite possible that at Agaunum we have to do not with a legion, but with a simple vexillatio. The silence of contemporary historians, which has been appealed to as an unanswerable argument against the truth of the martyrdom of the Thebans, is far from having the weight that has been given it. ”

“ Cyprian, about the middle of the third century, was attended by eighty-seven bishops. At this period the African Church went through a very grave crisis. The long peace had caused the faithful to relax the virtues needed in times of persecution. The Emperor Decius published an edict, the effect of which was to make many martyrs and confessors, and not a few apostates. A certain bishop, followed by his whole community, was to be seen sacrificing to the gods. ”

“ Boniface, Count of Africa, had summoned the Vandals to Africa in 426, and by 429 the invasion was completed. The barbarians advanced rapidly and made themselves masters of cities and provinces. In 430 St. Augustine died, during the siege of Hippo; nine years later Geiserich, King of the Vandals, took possession of Carthage. Then began for the African Church an era of persecution of a kind hitherto unknown. ”

“ Now the first chapters of the Acts of the Apostles state that the repast of the Breaking of Bread took place very often, perhaps daily. That which was repeated was, therefore, not the liturgical feast of the Jewish ritual, but the event introduced by Our Lord into this feast when, after the drinking of the fourth cup, He instituted the Breaking of Bread, the Eucharist. To what degree this new rite, repeated by the faithful, departed from the rite and formulæ of the Passover Supper, we have no means, at the present time, of determining. ”

“ In addition, moreover, to the prayer for the dead, we find in Africa the prayer for certain classes of the living. (See African Liturgy.)
Dialects.—Several languages were used simultaneously by the people of Africa; the northern part seems at first to have been a Latin-speaking country. Indeed, previous to, and during the first centuries of, our era we find there a flourishing Latin literature, many schools, and famous rhetoricians. However, Greek was currently spoken at Carthage in the second century; some of Tertullian's treatises were written also in Greek. ”

“ Basilides gave this title to Almighty God, and claimed that the numerical value of its letters gave the sum of 365, because the Abrasax is enclosed in the solar cycle. Sometimes the number 365 signifies the series of the heavens. In view of such imaginings, it is easy to guess at the course taken by an untrammelled Gnostic fancy, whereby its adherents strove to discover the meaning of the mysterious word. It is, however, an error to give the name Abrasax to all stones of Gnostic origin, as has been done up to the present day. ”

“ This is the hour in which the demons adore; and, so long as they are adoring, they cease to do harm to man, because the hidden power of the Creator restrains them.
"Second hour: This is the hour in which the fish adore, and all the reptiles that are in the sea.
"Third hour: Adoration of the lower abysses, and of the light that is in the abysses, and of the lower light which man cannot fathom.
"Fourth hour: Trisagion of the Seraphim. 'Before my sin' saith Adam 'I heard at this hour, O my son, the noise of their wings in Paradise ”

“ These they called casæ litterarum, and included the whole Latin alphabet, the X (decussio) being the most important letter of their system. It is evident, therefore, that the liturgical rite has grown up out of a practice borrowed from the land-surveyors, though we cannot say what alterations it may have undergone in passing from that guild to the Church. In course of time, when the rite lost its meaning, a mystical signification was attached to it. After the ninth century the reason for using the two alphabets was no longer understood ”

“ The style of these Akhmīn tapestries is sometimes original, but in a great many instances it approximates the decorative type of Roman or Eastern art. The older ones are far superior to the others in design, especially in their treatment of the human figure. The growing want of skill in this regard enables us to trace, step by step, the progress of decadence. These most ancient tapestries are in two colors, yellow and pale brown. With the introduction of polychromy, ornament and animal decoration take the place of human figures. ”

“ The letters of Our Lord and of the king of Edessa vary in the version given in Eusebius and in that of the "Teaching of Addaï." That which follows is taken from the Teaching of Addaï," as being less accessible than the History of Eusebius:—
"Abgar Ouchama to Jesus, the Good Physician Who has appeared in the country of Jerusalem, greeting:
"I have heard of Thee, and of Thy healing; that Thou dost not use medicines or roots, but by Thy word openest (the eyes) of the blind, makest the lame to walk, cleansest the lepers, makest the deaf to hear ”

“ With this may be compared an inscription found at Cherchel, in Algeria, recording the gift made to the local church of a plot of land and a building intended as a meeting-place for the corporation or guild of the Christians. From the fourth century onward, the agape rapidly lost its original character. The political liberty granted to the Church made it possible for the meetings to grow larger, and involved a departure from primitive simplicity. The funeral banquet continued to be practised, but gave rise to flagrant and intolerable abuses. ”

“ The cultus of the martyrs is not always to be distinguished from that of the dead, and it is only by degrees that the line was drawn between the martyrs who were to be invoked and the dead who were to be prayed for. ”

“ Among the priceless and artistically exquisite pieces of goldsmith work, we need only mention the châsse (reliquary) , decorated with glass mosaic, one of the most important in the West for the study of the beginnings of barbarian and Byzantine art. It ranks with the armour of Childeric, the Book of the Gospels at Monza in Italy, and the crowns of Guarrazar in Spain. ”

“ Alphabets, among the Latins, were of two kinds: the systematic, which have arbitrary values; and the signs used by land-surveyors (agrimensores) , which have fixed values. The land-surveyors formed a corporation that was entrusted by public and private authority with the measuring of properties. ”

“ The D, he wrote, a letter completely closed, signifies the Godhead, which has neither beginning nor end; the half-open V means the Manhood of Christ, which had a beginning, but has no end; the bar which intersects the upright lines of the VD and forms a cross, teaches us that the cross makes us fit for the life of God. ”