s of heathenism. Tertullian
observes, 'We make oblations for the dead and for their martyrdom,
yearly, on certain days.' At this time it was the general belief that
the usual abode of the dead was in subterraneous places, or at least
'below,' somewhere near the earth, and as long as this belief subsisted,
prayers were offered _for_ the dead,--for their present repose and
joyful future resurrection. The Virgin Mary was thus prayed for. As the
Martyrs were more highly thought of, however, than other deceased
Christians, it began to be imagined, about the middle of the fourth
century, that they were, by peculiar favor, admitted earlier to the
immediate presence of God, and permitted to exert influence even over
his purposes. Then began the solicitations addressed to men doomed to
death, that they would be mindful of the survivors; and the agreements
of companions, that whichever should first depart should petition at the
foot of the heavenly throne for his mortal friend. In a few more years
arose the custom of invoking the spirits supposed to hover near the
tombs; some hesitation being implied in the expression 'if they were
indeed present, and had any influence in things below.' It was yet a
long time before prayer was offered to Saints in general, and in the
public services of the Church. That the practice, if it had been
originated, was not approved by the Fathers of the Church in the third
century, we know on the direct testimony of Origen, who says that men
are not to pray to any derived being (not even to Christ himself), but
to God the Father of all. Austin disapproved of praying _for_ the
Saints, though he believed that the Church might be helped by their
intercession; at the same time acknowledging, 'It is true the Saints do
not themselves hear what passes below, but they hear of it by others who
die and go to them.'

The time when the custom of invoking the Saints was first countenanced
by the Church may be fixed about the end of the fourth century. In the
fifth, all opposition to it had ceased, and the images of Martyrs began
to be regarded with peculiar honor; it being imagined by many that the
homage paid to the image drew down into it the propitious presence of
the celestial being whom it represented; in the same manner as the
statues of Jupiter and other pagan gods were believed by heathen
worshipers to become instinct with divine life. The temples of the
Martyrs were now, as Theodoret informs us, ornamented