e their
own race only answered their cry of despair with fresh tortures these
rocky walls proved more merciful; they heard their sighs, they took them
to their bosoms, and so their cries of suffering lived here, treasured
up and graven in the rock forever.

The conversion of Marcellus to Christianity had been sudden. Yet such
quick transitions from error to truth were not unfrequent. He had tried
the highest forms of Pagan superstition and heathen philosophy but had
found them wanting, and as soon as Christianity appeared before him he
beheld all that he desired. It possessed exactly what was needed to
satisfy the cravings of his soul and fill his empty heart with the
fullness of peace. And if the transition was quick, it was none the less
thorough. Having opened his eyes and seen the light of the Sun of
Righteousness, he could not close them. Rather than relapse into his
former blindness, he gladly welcomed his share in the sufferings of the
persecuted.

Conversions like these distinguished the first preaching, of the Gospel.
Throughout the heathen world there were countless souls who felt as
Marcellus did, and had gone through the same experiences. It needed only
the preaching of the truth, accompanied by the power of the Holy Spirit,
to open their eyes and bring them to see the light. Apart from divine
influence over human reason, we see here a cause for the rapid spread of
Christianity.

Living and moving and conversing with his new brethren, Marcellus soon
began to enter into all their hopes and fears and joys. Their faith and
trust communicated themselves to his heart, and all the glorious
expectations which sustained them became the solace of his own soul. The
blessed word of life became his constant study and delight, and all its
teachings found in him an ardent disciple.

Meetings for prayer and praise were frequent throughout the Catacombs.
Cut off from ordinary occupations of worldly business, they were thrown
entirely upon other and higher pursuits. Deprived of the opportunity to
make efforts for the support of the body, they were forced to make their
chief business the care of the soul. They gained what they sought. Earth
with its cares, its allurements, and its thousand attractions, lost its
hold upon them. Heaven drew nearer; their thoughts and their language
were of the kingdom. They loved to talk of the joy that awaited those
who continued faithful unto death; to converse upon those departed
brethr