llished them, or hid them under an
allegorical veil" ("Histoire Abregee de Differens Cultes," Dulaure, t.
i., p. 20). "A remarkable passage in the life of Gregory, surnamed
Thaumaturgus, i.e., the wonder-worker, will illustrate this point in the
clearest manner. This passage is as follows [here it is given in Latin]:
'When Gregory perceived that the ignorant multitude persisted in their
idolatry, on account of the pleasures and sensual gratifications which
they enjoyed at the Pagan festivals, he granted them a permission to
indulge themselves in the like pleasures, in celebrating the memory of
the holy martyrs, hoping that, in process of time they would return, of
their own accord, to a more virtuous and regular course of life.' There
is no sort of doubt that, by this permission, Gregory allowed the
Christians to dance, sport, and feast at the tombs of the martyrs upon
their respective festivals, and to do everything which the Pagans were
accustomed to do in their temples, during the feasts celebrated in
honour of their gods" (Mosheim's "Eccles. Hist.," 2nd century; note, p.
56). "The virtues that had formerly been ascribed to the heathen
temples, to their lustrations, to the statues of their gods and heroes,
were now attributed to Christian churches, to water consecrated by
certain forms of prayer, and to the images of holy men. And the same
privileges that the former enjoyed under the darkness of Paganism, were
conferred upon the latter under the light of the Gospel, or, rather,
under that cloud of superstition that was obscuring its glory. It is
true that, as yet, images were not very common [of this there is no
proof]; nor were there any statues at all [equally unproven]. But it is,
at the same time, as undoubtedly certain, as it is extravagant and
monstrous, that the worship of the martyrs was modelled, by degrees,
according to the religious services that were paid to the gods before
the coming of Christ" (Ibid, 4th century; p. 98). The fact is, that
wherever there was a popular god, he passed into the pantheon of
Christendom under a new name, as "Christianity" spread. Dulaure, in his
work above-quoted, gives a mass of details--mostly very unsavoury--which
leave no doubt upon this point. The essence of the old worship was the
worship of Nature, as we have seen, and a favourite deity was Priapus;
this god was worshipped under the names of St. Fontin, St. Guerlichon,
or Greluchon, St. Remi, St. Gilles, St. Arnaud, SS.