Cyrus Townsend Brady - "The Eagle of the Empire"

William Crosbie Hunter - "Evening Round Up"

Henry Peterson - "Dulcibel"

William Allan Reed - "Negritos of Zambales"

Editorial
This article examines the wide range of anonymous and pseudonymous naming practices to be found in West African newspapers between the 1880s and 1930s, and asks about the shape of a West African history of anonymity as compared with recent histories of anonymity in European literature. The article also discusses the ways in which colonial West African uses of anonymity and pseudonyms challenge postcolonial scholarship on agency, subjectivity, resistance, authenticity and identity.

The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints

A >> Alban Butler >> The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints




To abolish the sacrilegious custom of swearing at Constantinople, as he
had done at Antioch, he strained every sinew, and in several sermons he
exerted his zeal with uncommon energy, mingled with the most tender
charity. In Hom. 8, in Act t. 9, pp. 66, 67, he complains that some who
had begun to correct their criminal habit, after having fallen through
surprise, or by a sudden fit of passion, had lost courage. These he
animates to a firmer resolution and vigor, which would crown them with
victory. He tells them he suffers more by grief for them than if he
languished in a dungeon, or was condemned to the mines; and begs, by the
love which they bear him, they would give the only comfort which could
remove the weight of his sorrow by an entire conversion. It will not
justify him, he says, at the last day, to allege that he had reprimanded
those who swore. The judge will answer: "Why didst not thou check,
command, and by laws restrain those that disobeyed?" Heli reprimanded
his sons; but was condemned for not having done it, because he did not
use sufficient severity. 1 Kings xi. 24. "I every day cry aloud," says
the saint, "yet am not heard. Fearing to be myself condemned at the last
day for too great lenity and remissness, I raise my voice, and denounce
aloud to all, that if any swear, I forbid them the church. Only this
month is allowed for persons to correct their habit." His voice he calls
a trumpet, with which in different words he proclaims thrice this
sentence of excommunication against whosoever should persist refractory,
thought he were a prince, or he who wears the diadem. Hom. 9, p. 76, he
congratulates with his audience for the signs of compunction and
amendment which they had given since his last sermon, and tells the
greatest part of the difficulty is already mastered by them. To inspire
them with a holy dread and awe for the adorable name of God, he puts
them in mind that in the Old Law only the high priest was allowed ever
to pronounce it, and that the devils trembled at its sound. Hom. 10, he
charges them never to name God but in praising him or in imploring his
mercy. He takes notice that some among them still sometimes swore, but
only for want of attention, by the force of habit, just as they made the
sign of the cross by mere custom, without attention, when they entered
the baths, or lighted a candle. He tells them (Hom. 11, p. 95) that the
term of a month, which he had fixed, was almost elapsed, and most
affectionately conjures them to make their conversion entire. A sight of
one such conversion, he says, gave him more joy, than if a thousand
imperial diadems of the richest jewels had been placed upon his head.
Other specimens of the saint's ardent love for his people at
Constantinople, see Hom. 9, in Hebr. t. 12, p. 100; Hom. 23, in Hebr. p.
217; Hom. 9, in 1 Thes. t. 11, p. 494; Hom. 7, in 1 Coloss. Hom. 39, in
Act. p. 230, &c. For his people at Antioch, t. 3, p. 362, t. 2, p. 279,
t. 7, p. 374, &c. On his humility, t. 2, p. 455, t. 4, p. 339. On his
desire to suffer for Christ, t. 1, p. 453, t. 7, p. 243, t. 11, pp. 53,
55.

The inspired epistles of St. Paul were the favorite subject of this
saint's intense meditation, in which he studied the most sublime maxims,
and formed in himself the most perfect spirit of Christian virtue. The
epistle to the Romans is expounded by him in thirty-two homilies, (t. 9,
p. 429,) which he made at Antioch, as is clear from Hom. 8, p. 508, and
Hom. 30, p. 743. Nothing can go beyond the commendations which St
Isidore of Pelusium bestows on this excellent work, (l. 5, ep. 32,) to
which all succeeding ages have subscribed. The errors of Pelagius, which
were broached soon after in the West, are clearly guarded against by the
holy preacher, though he is more solicitous to confute the opposite
heresy of the Manichees, which then reigned in many parts of the East.
He also confounds frequently the Jews. But what we most admire is the
pious sagacity with which he unfolds the deep sense of the sacred text,
and its author, the true disciple of Christ, and the perspicuity and
eloquence with which he enforces his moral instructions. Whoever reads
anyone of these homilies, will hear testimony to this eulogium. See Hom.
24. (t. 9, p. 694,) {270} on the shortness of human life: Hom. 8, on
fraternal charity and forgiving injuries: Hom. 20, on our obligation of
offering to God a living sacrifice of our bodies by the exercise of all
virtues, and the sanctity of our affections: Hom. 22 and 27, on patience
in bearing all injuries, by which we convert them into our greatest
treasure: Hom. 5, on the fear of God's judgments, and on his love, to
which he pathetically says, it would be more grievous to offend God than
to suffer all the torments of hell, which every one incurs who is not in
this disposition, (p. 469,) though it is a well-known maxim that persons
ought not to propose to themselves in too lively a manner such
comparisons, or to become their own tempters: Hom. 7, against envy, and
on alms, he says this is putting out money at interest for one hundred
fold from God, who is himself our security, and who herein considers not
the sum, but the will, as he did in St. Peter, who left for him only a
broken net, a line, and a hook. The promise of a hundred fold made to
him, is no less made to us.

The commentary On the First Epistle to the Corinthians, (t. 10,) in
forty-four homilies, was likewise the fruit of his zeal at Antioch, and
is one of the most elaborate and finished of his works. The interpreter
seems animated with the spirit of the great apostle whose sacred oracle
he expounds, so admirably does he penetrate the pious energy of the
least tittle. If St. Paul uses the words _My God_, he observes, that out
of the vehement ardor and tenderness of his love he makes Him his own,
who is the common God of all men; and that he names Him with a sentiment
of burning affection and profound adoration, because he had banished all
created things from his heart, and all his affections were placed in
God. He extols the merit and advantages of holy virginity, (Hom. 19,)
and Hom. 26, speaks on the duties of a married state, especially that of
mutual love and meekness in bearing each other's faults: this he bids
them learn from Socrates, a pagan, who chose a very shrew for his wife,
and being asked how he could bear with her, said: "I have a school of
virtue at home, in order to learn meekness and patience by the daily
practice." The saint adds, it was a great grief to him to see Christians
fall short of the virtue of a heathen, whereas they ought to be
imitators of the angels, nay, of God himself. Recommending the most
profound respect for the holy eucharist, and a dread of profaning it, he
says, Hom. 24, pp. 217, 218, "No one dares touch the king's garments
with dirty hands. When you see Him (_i.e._ Christ) exposed before you,
say to yourself: This body was pierced with nails; this body which was
scourged, death did not destroy; this body was nailed to a cross, at
which spectacle the sun withdrew its rays; this body the Magi
venerated," &c. The saint inveighs against several superstitious
practices of that age, Hom. 12. His discourses are animated and strong
on the characters of fraternal charity, and against avarice, envy, &c.

The thirty homilies, On the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, (t. 10,
p. 417,) were also preached at Antioch: for he speaks of Constantinople
as at a distance, (Hom. 26,) which passage Sir Henry Saville has
mistaken, as Montfaucon clearly shows. This commentary is inferior to
the last, though not in elegance, yet in fire, the moral instructions
being shorter. The saint mentions several of the ceremonies used still
at mass, or in the public office of the church. Hom. 18, p. 568. Hom.
30, p. 6{5}0. On visiting the shrines of martyrs, he says, Hom. 26, p.
629, "The tombs of those who served the crucified Christ surpass in
splendor the courts of kings. Even he who wears purple visits and
devoutly kisses them, and standing suppliant, prays the saint to be a
protection to him before God." He adds that emperors sue for their
patronage, and count it an honor to be porters to them in their graves.
By this he alludes to the burial of Constantine the Great in the porch
of the church of the apostles. He proves, Hom. 3, p. 441, and Hom. 14,
p. 537, that the essence of repentance consists in a change of the
heart: that without an amendment of life, penance is only a mask and a
shadow, what fasts or other works soever attend it, and that it must be
founded not barely in the fear of hell, but in the love of so good and
loving a God. He teaches, Hom. 10, p. 505, that a Christian ought to
rejoice at the approaches of death. He speaks in many places on the
precept of alms-deeds with great vehemence. He says, Hom. 16, that to be
animated with a spirit of charity and compassion is something greater
than to raise the dead to life: our alms must be liberal, plentiful,
voluntary, and given with joy. He says, Hom. 19, that Christ stripped
himself of his immense glory and riches for love of us; yet men refuse
him a morsel of bread. They throw away on dogs, and what is superfluous
among servants, that which Christ wants in his members, to whom all
strictly belongs whatever we enjoy beyond what is necessary for life. He
enters into a severe and elegant detail of these superfluities, Hom. 19,
p. 570. The apostle, as he observes, (Hom. 20, p. 577,) justly calls
alms a seed, because it is not lost, but sown, and produces a most
plentiful harvest.

His commentary On the Epistle to the Galatians (t. 10) is an accurate
interpretation of the text, with frequent remarks against the Anomoeans,
Marcionites, and Manichees, but very sparing in moral exhortations:
these the saint probably added in the pulpit, and gave to the work the
form of discourses; for it appears to have been delivered in homilies to
the people, though it is not now divided into discourses. It was
certainly compiled at Antioch.

The twenty-four homilies On the Epistle to the Ephesians (t. 11) were
preached at Antioch; and though some passages might have received a
higher polish from a second touch of the saint's masterly file, are a
most useful and excellent work. From Hom. 3, p. 16, it {271} is clear
that his predecessor Nectarius had not abolished canonical public
penances, when he removed the public penitentiary; but that this office,
as before the institution of such a charge, was exercised altogether by
the bishop. For St. Chrysostom having taken notices that many assisted
at mass who did not communicate, tells them, that those who were guilty
of any grievous sin could not approach the holy table even on the
greatest solemnity; but that such persons ought to be in a course of
penance, and consequently not at mass with the rest of the faithful: and
he terrifies them by exaggerating the danger and crime of delaying to do
penance. Those who are not excluded by such an obstacle, he exhorts
strongly to frequent communion, seeming desirous that many would
communicate at every day's mass. "With a pure conscience," says he,
"approach always; without this disposition, never. In vain is the daily
sacrifice offered; to no purpose do we assist at the altar: no one
communicates. I say not this to induce any one to approach unworthily,
but to engage all to render yourselves worthy. The royal table is
prepared, the administering angels are present, the King himself is
there waiting for you: yet you stand with indifference," &c. (Hom. 3, in
Ephes. p. 23.) The virtues of St. Paul furnish the main subject of his
sixth and seventh homilies; in the eighth he speaks of that apostle's
sufferings for Christ, and declares, in a kind of rapturous exclamation,
that he prefers his chains to gold and diadems, and his company in
prison to heaven itself. He wishes he could make a pilgrimage to Rome,
to see and kiss those chains at which the devils tremble, and which the
angels reverence, while they venerate the hands which were bound with
them. For it is more desirable and more glorious to suffer with Christ,
than to be honored with him in glory: this is an honor above all others.
Christ himself left heaven to meet his cross: and St. Paul received more
glory from his chains, than by being rapt up to the third heaven, or by
curing the sick by the touch of his scarfs, &c. He desires to feast his
heart by dwelling still longer on the chains of this apostle, being
himself fettered with a chain from which he would not be separated: for
he declares himself to be closer and faster linked to St. Paul's chains
by desire, than that apostle was in prison. In the like strain he speaks
of the chains of St. Peter, and of St. John Baptist. In the next Homily,
(9,) he returns in equal raptures to St. Paul in chains for Christ; in
which state he calls him a spectacle of glory far beyond all the
triumphs of emperors and conquerors. Our saint gives excellent
instructions on the duties of married persons, Hom. 20; on the education
of children in the practice and spirit of obedience and piety, Hom. 21;
and on the duties of servants, Hom. 22.

The eighteen homilies On the First Epistle to Timothy, and ten On the
Second, seem also to have been preached at Antioch, (t. 11, p. 146.)
They are not equally polished, but contain excellent instructions
against covetousness, and the love of the world; on alms, on the duties
of bishops, and those of widows, &c.; on the education of children, Hom.
10, p. 596. The six, On the Epistle to Titus, are more elaborate: also
three On the Epistle to Philemon, which seem all to have been finished
at Antioch.

In the eleventh tome we have also eleven sermons, which St. Chrysostom
preached at Constantinople about the end of the year 398. Tile second
was spoken upon the following occasion, (ib. p. 332:) The empress
Eudoxia procured a solemn procession and translation of the relics of
certain martyrs, to be made from the great church in Constantinople to
the church of St. Thomas the apostle in Drypia, on the sea-shore, nine
miles out of town. The princes without any retinue, priests, monks,
nuns, ladies, and the people, attended the procession in such
multitudes, that from the light of the burning tapers which they carried
in their hands the sea seemed as it were on fire. The empress walked all
the way behind, touching the shrine and the veil which covered it. The
procession set out in the beginning of the night, passed through the
market-place, and arrived at Drypia about break of day. There St.
Chrysostom made an extemporary sermon, in which he described the pomp of
this ceremony, commended the piety of the empress, and proved that if
the clothes, handkerchiefs, and even shadow of saints on earth had
wrought many miracles, a blessing is certainly derived from their relics
upon those who devoutly touch them. The next day the emperor Arcadius,
attended by his court and guards, arrived, and the soldiers having laid
aside their arms, and the emperor his diadem, he paid his devotions
before the shrine. After his departure St. Chrysostom preached again,
(p. 336.)

St. Chrysostom was removed to Constantinople in 397. The fifteen (or, if
with some editors we include the prologue, sixteen) homilies On the
Epistle to the Philippians, (t. 11, p. 189,) were preached in that
capital of the empire. The moral instructions turn mostly on alms and
riches. The order which prudence prescribes in the distribution of alms,
he explains, (Hom. 1, t. 11, p. 201,) and condemns too anxious an
inquiry and suspicion of imposture in the poor, as contrary to Christian
simplicity and charity, affirming that none are so frequently imposed
upon by cheat as the most severe inquirers. Prudence and caution he
allows to be necessary ingredients of alms, in which those whose wants
are most pressing, or who are most deserving, ought to be first
considered. Hom. 3, p. 215, he lays it down as a principle, that
catechumens who die without baptism, and penitents without absolution,
"are excluded heaven with the damned;" which we are to understand,
unless they were purified by perfect contrition joined with a desire of
the sacrament, as St. Ambrose, St. {272} Austin, and all the fathers and
councils declare. St. Chrysostom adds, that it is a wholesome ordinance
of the apostles in favor of the faithful departed, to commemorate them
in the adorable mysteries: for how is it possible God should be deaf to
our prayers for them, at a time when all the people stand with stretched
forth hands with the priests, in presence of the most adorable
sacrifice? But the catechumens are deprived of this comfort, though not
of all succor, for alms may be given for them, from which they receive
some relief or mitigation of their pains. Though such not dying within
the exterior pale of the church cannot be commemorated in its public
suffrages and sacrifices; yet if by desire they were interiorly its
members, and by charity united to Christ its head, they may be benefited
by private suffrages which particulars may offer for them. This is the
meaning of this holy doctor. Exhorting the faithful to live in perpetual
fear of the dangers with which we are surrounded, (Hom. 8, in Ephes. t.
11,) he says, "A builder on the top of a house always apprehends the
danger of falling, and on this account is careful how he stands: so
ought we much more to fear, how much soever we may be advanced in
virtue. The principal means always to entertain in our souls this saving
fear, is to have God always before our eyes, who is everywhere present,
hears and sees all things, and penetrates the most secret foldings of
our hearts. Whether you eat, go to sleep, sit at dainty tables, are
inclined to anger, or any other passion, or whatever else you do,
remember always," says he, "that God is present, and you will never fall
into dissolute mirth, or be provoked to anger; but will watch over
yourselves in continual fear." With great elegance he shows (Hom. 10, p.
279,) that precious stones serve for no use, are not so good even as
common stones, and that all their value is imaginary, and consists
barely in the mad opinion of men; and he boldly censures the insatiable
rapaciousness and unbounded prodigality of the rich, in their sumptuous
palaces, marble pillars, and splendid clothes and equipages. Houses are
only intended to defend us from the weather, and raiment to cover our
nakedness. All vanities he shows to be contrary to the designs of
nature, which is ever content with little. In Hom. 12, we have an
excellent instruction on that important maxim in a spiritual life, That
we must never think how far we have run, but what remains of our course,
as in a race a man thinks only on what is before him. It will avail
nothing to have begun, unless we finish well our course. In Hom. 13, he
excellently explains the mystery of the cross, which we bear if we study
continually to crucify ourselves by self-denial. We must in all places
arm ourselves with the sign of the cross.

The Exposition of the epistle to the Colossians, in twelve homilies, (t.
11) was made at Constantinople in the year 399. In the second homily (p.
333) he says, that a most powerful means to maintain in ourselves a deep
sense of gratitude to God, and to increase the flame of his love in our
hearts, is to bear always in mind his numberless benefits to us, and the
infinite evils from which he has mercifully delivered us. In Hom. 8, p.
319, he teaches, that no disposition of our souls contributes more
effectually to our sanctification, than that of returning thanks to God
under the severest trials of adversity, a virtue little inferior to
martyrdom. A mother who, without entertaining the least sentiment of
complaint at the sickness and death of her dearest child, thanks God
with perfect submission to his will, will receive a recompense equal to
that of martyrs. After condemning the use of all superstitious practices
for the cure of distempers, he strongly exhorts mothers rather to suffer
their children to die, than ever to have recourse to such sacrilegious
methods; and contenting themselves with making the sign of the cross
upon their sick children to answer those who suggested any superstitious
remedy: "These are my only arms; I am utterly a stranger to other
methods of treating this distemper." The tenth homily (p. 395) contains
a strong invective against the excessive luxury and immodesty of ladies
in their dress, and their vanity, pride, and extravagance. The empress
Eudoxia, who was at the head of these scandalous customs, and the
mistress of court fashions and vices, could not but be highly offended
at this zealous discourse. The saint says, that many ladies used vessels
of silver for the very meanest uses, and that the king of Persia wore a
golden beard.

The eleven homilies On the First Epistle to the Thessalonians, were also
part of the fruit of his episcopal labors at Constantinople. (T. 11.) In
the second he shows the excellency of fraternal love and friendship, by
which every thing is, as it were, possessed in common, and those cold
words mine and thine, the seed of all discords, are banished as they
were from the primitive Christians. In the third, he doubts not but
perfect patience, under grievous sicknesses, may equal the merit of
martyrdom. In the fifth, he speaks incomparably on the virtue of purity,
and against occasions which may kindle in the heart the contrary
passion, which, with St. Paul, he will not have so much as earned,
especially against the stage, and all assemblies where women make their
appearance dressed out to please the eyes and wound the hearts of
others. In Hom. 6, he condemns excessive grief for the death of friends.
To indulge this sorrow for their sake, he calls want of faith: to grieve
for our own sake because we are deprived of a comfort and support in
them, he says, must proceed from a want of confidence in God; as if any
friend on earth could be our safeguard, but God alone. God took this
friend away, because he is jealous of our hearts and will have us love
him without a rival, (p. 479.) In Hom. 10, we are instructed, that {273}
the best revenge we can take of an enemy is to forgive him, and to bear
injuries patiently. In Hom. 11, p. 505, he gives an account, that a
certain lady being offended at a slave for a great crime, resolved to
sell him and his wife. The latter wept bitterly; and a mediator, whose
good offices with her mistress in her behalf she implored, conjured the
lady in these words: "May Christ appear to you at the last day in the
same manner in which you now receive our petition." Which words so
strongly affected her, that she forgave the offence. The night following
Christ appeared to her in a comfortable vision, as St. Chrysostom was
assured by herself. In Hom. 7, (ib.,) he shows the possibility of the
resurrection of the flesh, against infidels.

The five homilies On the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, were also
preached at Constantinople, (t. 11, p. 510.) In the second, he exhorts
all to make the torments of hell a frequent subject of their meditation,
that they may never sin; and to entertain little children often with
some discourse on them instead of idle stories, that sentiments of holy
fear and virtue may strike deep roots in their tender hearts. On
traditions received by the church from the apostles he writes as
follows: (Hom. 4, in 2 Thess. p. 532.) "Hence it is clear that they did
not deliver all things by their epistles, but communicated also many
things without writing: and these likewise deserve our assent or faith.
It is a tradition: make no further inquiry." In the same Hom. 4, p. 534,
he expresses how much he trembled at the thought of being, by the
obligation of his office, the mediator betwixt God and his people; and
declares, that he ceased not most earnestly to pour forth his prayers
for them both at home and abroad. Hom. 4, ib., he severely reprimands
those who reproach the poor in harsh words, adding to the weight of
their affliction and misery.

The thirty-four homilies On the Epistle to the Hebrews, (t. 12, p. 1,)
were compiled at Constantinople. In the seventh he shows, that the
evangelical precepts and counsels belong to all Christians, not only to
monks, if we except the vow of perpetual virginity: though also men
engaged in a married state are bound to be disentangled in spirit, and
to use the world as if they used it not. Hom. 17, ib. p. 169, he
explains that the sacrifice of the New Law is one, because the same body
of Christ is every day offered; not one day one sheep, another day a
second, &c. (On this sacrifice see also Hom. 5, in 1 Tim. t. 11, p. 577,
Hom. 3, contra Judaeos. t. 1, p. 611. Hom. 7, contra Judaeos. t. 1, p.
664. Hom. in St. Eustath. t. 2, p. 606. Hom. 24, in 1 Cor. t. 10, p.
213.) In Hom. 34, ad Hebr. p. 313, he expresses his extreme fears for
the rigorous account which a pastor is obliged to give for every soul
committed to his charge, and cries out, "I wonder that any superior of
others is saved."

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