ermons upon the Saints went much
beyond the bounds of mere oratorical flourishes, and that the common people
in the _East_ were already generally corrupted by the Monks with
Saint-worship.

_Gregory Nazianzen_ a Monk, in his sixth Oration written A.C. 373, when he
was newly made Bishop of _Sasima_, saith: _Let us purify ourselves to the
Martyrs, or rather to the God of the Martyrs_: and a little after he calls
the Martyrs _mediators of obtaining an ascension or divinity_. The same
year, in the end of his Oration upon _Athanasius_ then newly dead, he thus
invokes him: _Do thou look down upon us propitiously, and govern this
people, as perfect adorers of the perfect Trinity, which in the Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost, is contemplated and worshiped: if there shall be
peace, preserve me, and feed my flock with me; but if war, bring me home,
place me by thyself, and by those that are like thee; however great my
request._ And in the end of the funeral Oration upon _Basil_, written A.C.
378, he thus addresses him: _But thou, O divine and sacred Head, look down
upon us from heaven; and by thy prayers either take away that thorn of the
flesh which is given us by God for exercise, or obtain that we may bear it
with courage, and direct all our life to that which is most fitting for us.
When we depart this life, receive us there in your Tabernacles, that living
together and beholding the holy and blessed Trinity more purely and
perfectly, whereof we have now but an imperfect view, we may there come to
the end of our desires, and receive this reward of the wars which we have
waged or suffered_: and in his Oration upon _Cyprian_, not the Bishop of
_Carthage_, but a _Greek_, he invokes him after the same manner; and tells
us also how a pious Virgin named _Justina_, was protected by invoking the
Virgin _Mary_, and how miracles were done by the ashes of _Cyprian_.

_Gregory Nyssen_, another eminent Monk and Bishop, in the life of _Ephraem
Syrus_, tells how a certain man returning from a far country, was in great
danger, by reason all the ways were intercepted by the armies of barbarous
nations; but upon invoking _Ephraem_ by name, and saying, _Holy _Ephraem_
assist me_, he escaped the danger, neglected the fear of death, and beyond
his hope got safe home. In the end of this Oration _Gregory_ calls upon
_Ephraem_ after the following manner: _But thou, O Ephraem, assisting now at
the divine altar, and sacrificing to the Prince of life, and t