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041 - 10 Moral Life and Ecclesiastical Usages · Short History of the Christian Church

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  Speaker 1: Part two, Chapter ten of Short History of the Christian
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  Speaker 1: Church by John Fletcher Hurst. This LibriVox recording is in
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  Speaker 1: the public domain. Chapter ten Moral Life and Ecclesiastical Usages.
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  Speaker 1: The morals of the higher clergy were thus the darkest
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  Speaker 1: feature of the times. The example of the papacy leaving
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  Speaker 1: out Gregory and now and then another pope was not
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  Speaker 1: favorable to episcopal purity. As many of the bishops secured
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  Speaker 1: their office by purchase or political intrigues, the effect of
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  Speaker 1: their administration could not be expected to be of an
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  Speaker 1: elevated spiritual character. Sinsius three eighty five was the first
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  Speaker 1: pope to order clerical celibacy. Leo the Great four forty
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  Speaker 1: to four sixty one repeated the decree and extended it
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  Speaker 1: to subdeacons. Successive synods gave the same injunction Gregory the Seventh, However,
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  Speaker 1: it was the first pope to enforce these laws with
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  Speaker 1: inflexible purpose. For in all the countries of Western Europe
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  Speaker 1: these ascetic regulations were constantly disregarded. The tenth century was
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  Speaker 1: especially distinguished for the general immorality of the clergy. The
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  Speaker 1: original jurisdiction of the bishop extended over the matter of
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  Speaker 1: all penances within his diocese. But the tendency was to
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  Speaker 1: withdraw this lucrative trade from the episcopacy and let it
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  Speaker 1: be an affair for the pope to regulate by special agents.
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  Speaker 1: The legates whom the bishops had sent to Rome with
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  Speaker 1: reference to penances were clothed with special powers by the popes,
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  Speaker 1: and even papal absolution was declared to individuals on whom
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  Speaker 1: penance had been pronounced by the bishops. The tendency was
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  Speaker 1: to increase the authority of the pope. The nobles were
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  Speaker 1: on the side of the bishops. It was the question
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  Speaker 1: of a territory against Rome. The Council of Pavia in
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  Speaker 1: eight seventy six declared in favor of the papal anathema
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  Speaker 1: as against that of a bishop. The papal management of
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  Speaker 1: penances went on with undisguised force. The prophets were enormous.
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  Speaker 1: They added vastly to the papal treasury, and were in
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  Speaker 1: full force down to the time of Martin Luther. The
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  Speaker 1: reverence for the Virgin Mary was one of the peculiarities
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  Speaker 1: of the times. The rise of chivalry tended to increase
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  Speaker 1: the respect for woman throughout Europe. The religious respect for
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  Speaker 1: the virgin had some bearing upon the growing custom of
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  Speaker 1: giving woman a larger place in social life. Learned writers
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  Speaker 1: indulged in speculations as to the Holy Mother's divinity. She
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  Speaker 1: was the queen of Heaven, the mother of God, and
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  Speaker 1: her praises went far and wide. The miraculous achievements and
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  Speaker 1: lofty virtues of some of the pagan divinities of the North,
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  Speaker 1: such as Freya, were transferred outright to her. Relics came
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  Speaker 1: into use far more than in the preceding period. The
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  Speaker 1: pilgrim to Palestine, on his return, brought with him enough
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  Speaker 1: sacred relics of the saints to supply a church. Each
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  Speaker 1: relic was the center of a throng of associations, and
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  Speaker 1: was supposed to be endowed with great power. The chapel
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  Speaker 1: became famous, which could boast a single one. Diseases were
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  Speaker 1: supposed to be easily curable by touching a relic. The
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  Speaker 1: imagination never had a larger field for play than here.
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  Speaker 1: The saints of the whole past were drawn upon to
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  Speaker 1: help the ills of the present. The Eastern countries furnished
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  Speaker 1: many of the most precious relics, but Italy was most
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  Speaker 1: productive of the holy manufactures. The Frankish monastery of Centilla,
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  Speaker 1: for example, was so highly favored that it could boast
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  Speaker 1: a miniature cottage belonging to Saint Peter, a handkerchief of pow,
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  Speaker 1: some heres from Saint Peter's beard, some souvenirs from the
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  Speaker 1: graves of the murdered innocence at Bethlehem, some of the
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  Speaker 1: Virgin Mary's milk, and some of the identical wood which
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  Speaker 1: Peter did not use, but which he would have used
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  Speaker 1: to build the three tabernacles impulsively proposed by him on
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  Speaker 1: the Mount of Transfiguration. The church festivals increased during this period.
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  Speaker 1: The saint's days grew to an alarming number for the
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  Speaker 1: motives to enlarge the calendar were very strong. The day
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  Speaker 1: of commencing the year was changed from Easter to Christmas,
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  Speaker 1: though at Florence and Pisa the year dated from March
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  Speaker 1: twenty fifth down to as late as seventeen forty nine.
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  Speaker 1: Dionysius Exiguous eighty five fifty six began the year with January.
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  Speaker 1: As early as the fourth century. A festival in honor
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  Speaker 1: of all the saints was celebrated in the Eastern Church.
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  Speaker 1: When the pantheon was fitted up for Christian worship by
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  Speaker 1: Pope Boniface the fourth six O eight six fifteen. It
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  Speaker 1: was dedicated to the Virgin and all the Saints, and
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  Speaker 1: its day of dedication, May thirteenth was celebrated as a
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  Speaker 1: festival for the saints. The Origin of All Souls Day
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  Speaker 1: November two illustrates the credulity and ignorance of the times.
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  Speaker 1: On his return from the Holy Land, a pilgrim gave
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  Speaker 1: out that he had seen in Sicily flames bursting out
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  Speaker 1: of the earth and heard the wailings of the poor
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  Speaker 1: souls held in durance. These unfortunates implored him. He said,
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  Speaker 1: to go to the monastery of Clugny and to pray
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  Speaker 1: the monks to have mercy upon them, and by prayers
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  Speaker 1: and alms, to free them from their pains. From this
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  Speaker 1: time nine ninety eight, the abbot of Clugny Odillo, celebrated
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  Speaker 1: the souls of all deceased believers on the day after
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  Speaker 1: All Saints, and the practice spread to other monastery. In
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  Speaker 1: the ninth century, the All Saints festival was made general
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  Speaker 1: throughout the church. End of Chapter ten