gant prelates in Italy, permitted none to be raised to the pontificate without their approbation, and reserved to themselves the right of They enacted spiritual laws, called the religious orders before their tribunals, and summon. ed councils by their legal authority. In consequence of all this, the pontiffs, amidst all had been formerly enjoyed by the bishops of Constantinople, and was also susceptible of an interpretation that might have prevented its giving umbrage or offence to any, yet Grego-judging of the legality of every new election.* ry suspected, both from the time and the occasion of John's renewing his claim to it, that he was aiming at a supremacy over all the Christian churches; and therefore he opposed his claim in the most vigorous manner, in let-their high pretensions, reverenced the majesty ters to that purpose, addressed to the emperor, and to, such persons as he judged proper to second his opposition. But all his efforts were without effect; and the bishops of Constantinople continued to assume the title in question, though not in the sense in which it had alarmed the pope.t of their kings and emperors, and submitted to their authority with the most profound humility; nor were they yet so lost to all sense of shame, as to aim at the subjection of kings and || princes to their spiritual dominion.‡ III. The rights and privileges of the clergy were very considerable before this period, and the riches, which they had accumulated, immense: and both received daily augmentations from the growth of superstition in this century. The arts of a rapacious priesthood were prac tised upon the ignorant devotion of the simple; and even the remorse of the wicked was made an instrument of increasing the ecclesiastical treasure; for an opinion was propagated with industry among the people, that a remission of sin was to be purchased by their liberalities to the churches and monks, and that the prayers of departed saints, whose efficacy was victorious at the throne of God, were to be bought by offerings presented to the temples, which were consecrated to these celestial mediators. But, in proportion as the riches of the church increased, the various orders of the clergy were infected with those vices which are too often the consequences of an affluent prosperity This appears, with the utmost evidence, from the imperial edicts and the decrees of councils, which were so frequently levelled at the immoralities of those who were distinguished by the appellation of clerks; for, what necessity would there have been for the enactment of so many laws to restrain the vices, and to preserve the morals of the ecclesiastical orders, if they had fulfilled even the obligations of external decen II. This pontiff, however, adhered tenaciously to his purpose, opposed with vehemence the bishop of Constantinople, raised new tumults and dissensions among the sacred order, and aimed at no less than an unlimited supremacy over the Christian church. This ambitious design succeeded in the west; while, in the eastern provinces, his arrogant pretensions were scarcely respected by any but those who were at enmity with the bishop of Constantinople; and this prelate was always in a condition to make head against the progress of his authority in the east. How much the opinions of some were favourable to the lordly demands of the Roman pontiffs, may be easily imagined from an expression of Ennodius, that infamous and extravagant flatterer of Symmachus, who was a prelate of ambiguous fame. This parasitical panegyrist, among other impertinent assertions, maintained, that the pontiff was constituted judge in the place of God, which he filled as the vicegerent of the Most High. On the other hand, it is certain, from a variety of the most authentic records, that both the emperors and the nations in general were far from being disposed to bear with patience the yoke of servitude, which the popes were imposing upon the Christian church.§ The Gothic princes set bounds to the power of those arro-cy, or shown, in the general tenor of their lives, narration of this event. First, the council here mentioned was holden under the pontifcate of Pelagius II. and not of Gregory the Great, was was not chosen bishop of Rome before the year 596. Secondly, the person accused before this council was not Peter, but Gregory, bishop of Antioch. Thirdly, it does not appear that the council was summoned by John of Constantinople, but by the emperor Mauricius, to whom Gregory had appealed from the governor of the east, before whom he was first accused. The title of universal bishop, which had been given by Leo and Justinian to the Patriarch of Constantinople, was not attended with any accession of power. Gregor. Magni Epist. lib. iv. v. vii. All the passages in these epistles that relate to this famous contest, have been extracted and illustrated by Launoy, in his Assertio in Privileg. S. Medardi, tom. iii. op. part ii. p. 265. See also Lequien, Oriens Christianus, tom. i. p. 67. Pfaffi Dissertatio de Titulo Ecumen. in the Tempe Helvetica, tom. iv. p. 99. See his Apologeticum pro Synodo, in the xvth volume of the Bibliotheca Magna Patrum. One would think that this servile adulator had never read the 4th verse of the 2d chapter of St. Paul's 2d Epistle to the Thessalonians, where the Anti-Christ, or man of sin, is described in the very terms in which he represents the authority of the pontiff Symmachus. § See particularly the truth of this assertion, with respect to Spain, in Geddes' Dissertation on the Papal Supremacy, chiefly with relation to the ancient Spanish Church, which 13 to be found in the second volume of bis Miscellaneous Tracts. a certain degree of respect for religion and virtue? Be that as it will, the effect of all these laws and edicts was so inconsiderable as to be scarcely perceived; for so high was the veneration paid, at this time, to the clergy, that their most flagitious crimes were corrected by the slightest and gentlest punishments; an unhappy circumstance, which added to their presumption, and rendered them more daring and audacious in iniquity. IV. The bishops of Rome, who considered themselves as the chiefs and fathers of the Christian church, are not to be excepted from this censure, any more than the clergy who were under their jurisdiction. We may form some notion of their humility and virtue by tha: long and vehement contention, which arose in 498, between Symmachus and Laurentius, who were, on the same day, elected to the pontifi * See Mascovii Histor. Germanor. tom. ii. not. p. 113 Basnage, Histoire des Eglises Reformees, tom. i. p 381. See the citations from Gregory the Great, collected by Launoy, de regia Potestate in Matrimon. tom. i. op. part ii. p. 691, and in his Assertio in Privilegium S. Medardi, p. 272; tom. iii. op. part ii. See also Giannone Historia di Napoli, tom. ii. * cate by different parties, and whose dispute which they propagated, with such success, the was, at length, decided by Theodoric king of the contagion of this monastic devotion, that, in a Goths. Each of these ecclesiastics maintained short time, Ireland, Gaul, Germany, and Switobstinately the validity of his election; they|zerland, swarmed with those lazy orders, and reciprocally accused each other of the most de- were, in a manner, covered with convents. testable crimes; and, to their mutual dishon- The most illustrious disciple of the abbot now our, their accusations did not appear, on either mentioned, was Columban, whose singular rule side, entirely destitute of foundation. Three of discipline is yet extant, and surpasses all the different councils, assembled at Rome, endearest in simplicity and brevity.* The monastic voured to terminate this odious schism, but orders, in general, abounded with fanatics and without success. A fourth was summoned, by profligates; the latter were more numerous Theodoric, to examine the accusations brought than the former in the western convents, while, against Symmachus, to whom this prince had, in those of the east, the fanatics were predomi at the beginning of the schism, adjudged the nant. papal chair. This council met about the commencement of the century; and in it the Roman pontiff was acquitted of the crimes laid to his charge. But the adverse party refused to acquiesce in this decision; and this gave occasion to Ennodius of Ticinum (now Pavia,) to draw up his adulatory Apology for the Council and Symmachus. In this apology, which disguises the truth under the seducing colours of a gaudy rhetoric, the reader will perceive that the foundations of that enormous power, which the popes afterwards acquired, were now laid; but he will in vain seek, in this laboured production, any satisfactory proof of the injustice of the charge brought against Symmachus.‡ V. The number, credit, and influence of the monks augmented daily in all parts of the Christian world. They multiplied so prodigiously in the east, that whole armies might have been raised out of the monastic order, without any sensible diminution of that enormous body. The monastic life was also highly honoured, and had an incredible number of patrons and followers in all the western provinces, as appears from the rules which were prescribed in this century, by various doctors, for directing the conduct of the cloistered monks, and the holy virgins, who had sacrificed their capacity of being useful in the world, to the gloomy charms of a convent.§ In Great Britain, a certain abbot, named Congal, is said to have persuaded an incredible number of persons to abandon the affairs, obligations, and duties of social life, and to spend the remainder of their days in solitude, under a rule of discipline, of which he was the inventor. His disciples travelled through many countries, in This schism may be truly termed odious, as it was carried on by assassinations, massacres, and all the cruel proceedings of a desperate civil war. See Paulus Diaconus, lib. xvii. This apology may be seen in the fifteenth volume of the Magn. Bibl. Patrum, p. 248. That Symmachus was never fairly acquitted, may be presumed from the first, and proved from the second of the following circumstances: first, that Theodoric, who was a wise and equitable prince, and who had attentively examined the charge brought against him, would not have referred the decision to the bishops, if the matter had been clear, but would have pronounced judgment himself, as he had formerly done with respect to the legality of his election. The second circumstance is, that the council acquitted him without even hearing those who accused him, and he himself did not appear, though frequently summoned. VI. A new order, which in a manner absorbed all the others that were established in the west, was instituted, in 529, by Benedict of Nursia, a man of piety and reputation, for the age he lived in. From his rule of discipline, which is yet extant, we learn that it was not his intention to impose it upon all the monastic societies, but to form an order whose discipline should be milder, establishment more solid, and manners more regular, than those of the other monastic bodies; and whose members, during the course of a holy and peaceful life, were to divide their time between prayer, reading, the education of youth, and other pious and learned labours. But, in process of time, the followers of this celebrated ecclesiastic degenerated sadly from the piety of their founder, and lost sight of the duties of their station, and the great end of their establishment. Having acquired immense riches from the devout liberality of the opulent, they sunk into luxury, intemperance, and sloth, abandoned themselves to all sorts of vices, extended their zeal and attention to worldly affairs, insinuated themselves into the cabinets of princes, took part in political cabals and court factions, made a vast augmentation of superstitious ceremonies in their order, to blind the multitude, and supply the place of their expiring virtue; and, among other meritorious enterprises, laboured most ardently to swell the arrogance, by enlarging the power and authority of the Roman pontiff. The good Benedict never dreamed that the great purposes of his institution were to be thus perverted; much less did he give any encouragement or permission to such flagrant abuses. His rule of discipline was neither favourable to luxury nor to ambition; and it is still celebrated on account of its excellence, though it has not been observed for many ages. It is proper to remark here, that the institution of Benedict changed, in several respects, the obligations and duties of the monastic life, as it was regulated in the west. Among other things, he obliged those who entered into his order to promise, at the time of their being received as novices, and afterwards at their admission as members of the society, to persevere in an obedience to the rules he had laid down, without attempting to change them in any respect. As he was exceedingly solicitous about * Usserii Sylloge Antiquar. Epistolar. Hibernicar. p. Regu-5-15.-Holstenii Codex Regularum, tom. ii. p. 48.Mabillon, Præf. ad Sæculum ii. Benedictinum, p. 4. † See Mabillon, Acta Sanctor. Ord. Bened. Sæc. i. and Annales Ordin. Ben. tom. i. See also Helyot, and the other writers who have given accounts of the monastic orders, These rules are extant in Holstenius' Codex Archbishop Usher's Antiq. Eccles. Britan. the stability of his institution, this particular regulation was wise and prudent; and it was so much the more necessary, as, before his time, the monks made no scruple of altering the laws and rules of their founders whenever they thought proper.* Anastasius of Sinai, whom most writers consider as the author of a trifling performance, written against a sort of heretics called Ace phali, of whom we shall have occasion to speak hereafter.* IX. Among the Latin writers the following are principally worthy of mention: Gregory the Great, bishop of Rome, who united the most inconsistent and contradictory qualities; as in some cases he discovered a sound and penetrating judgment, and in others the most shameful and superstitious weakness; and in general manifested an extreme aversion to all kinds of learning, as his Epistles and Dialogues sufficiently testify.† VII. This new order made a most rapid progress in the west, and soon arrived at the most flourishing state. In Gaul, its interests were promoted by St. Maurus; in Sicily and Sardinia, by Placidus; in England, by Augustin and Mellitus; in Italy, and other countries, by Gregory the Great, who is himself reported to have been for some time a member of this society; and it was afterwards received in Germany by the means of Boniface. This Cæsarius of Arles, who composed some moral amazing progress of the new order was ascribed writings, and drew up a rule of conduct and by the Benedictines to the wisdom and sancti-discipline for the Holy Virgins. ty of their discipline, and to the miracles Fulgentius, bishop of Ruspina, who attackwrought by their founder and his followers.ed with great warmth the Arians and PelagiBut a more attentive view of things will con- ans in Africa; but whose style and manner vince the impartial observer, that the protec- were harsh and uncouth, as was generally the tion of the pontiffs, to the advancement of case of the African writers.§ whose grandeur and authority the Benedictines were most servilely devoted, contributed much more to the lustre and influence of their order, than any other circumstances, and indeed more than all other considerations united. But, however general their credit was, they did not reign alone; other orders subsisted in several countries until the ninth century. Then, however, the Benedictines absorbed all the other religious societies, and held, unrivalled, the reins of the monastic empire.§ VIII The most celebrated Greek and Oriental writers that flourished in this century, were the following: Procopius of Gaza, who interpreted with success several books of Scripture.|| Maxentius, a monk of Antioch, who, beside several treatises against the sects of his time, composed Scholia on Dionysius the Areopagite. Agapetus, whose Scheda Regia, addressed to the emperor Justinian, procured him a place among the wisest and most judicious writers of this century. Eulogius, a presbyter of Antioch, who was the terror of heretics, and a warm and strenuous defender of the orthodox faith. John, patriarch of Constantinople, who, on account of his austere method of life, was surnamed the Faster, and who acquired a certain degree of reputation by several little productions, and more particularly by his Penitential. Leontius of Byzantium, whose book against the sects, and other writings, are yet extant. Evagrius, a scholastic writer, whose Ecclesiastical History is, in many places, corrupted with fabulous narrations. * See Mabillon, Præf. ad Sæc. iv. Benedict. Ennodius, bishop of Ticinum, who was not one of the meanest authors of this century, whether we consider his compositions in prose or in verse; though he disgraced his talents, and dishonoured his eloquence, by his infamous adulation of the Roman pontiff, whom he so exalted above all mortals, as to maintain that he was answerable to none upon earth for his conduct, and subject to no human tribunal || Benedict of Nursia, who acquired an immortal name, by the rules he laid down for the order which he instituted, and the multitude of religious societies that submitted to his discip. line. Dionysius, who was surnamed the Little, on account of his extraordinary humility, and was deservedly esteemed for his Collection of the Ancient Canons, and also for his Chronological Researches. Fulgentius Ferrandus, an African, who acquired a considerable degree of reputation by several treatises, but especially by his Abridgement of the Canons, though his style and diction were entirely destitute of harmony and elegance. Facundus, a strenuous defender of the Three Chapters, of which we shall give an account in their place. Arator, who translated, with tolerable success, the Acts of the Apostles into Latin verse. Primasius of Adrumetum, whose Commentary upon the Epistles of St. Paul, as also his book concerning Heresies, are yet extant. Liberatus, whose Compendious History of the Nestorian and Eutychian controversies, must entitle him to an eminent rank among the writers of this century. † See Mabillon's preface last mentioned, and his Dissertation de Vita Monast. Gregorii M. This circum-232; stance, however, is denied by some writers; and among others by Gallonius, concerning whose book upon that subject, see Simon's Lettres Choisies, tom. iii. p. 63. Anton. Dadini Alteserræ, Origines rei Monasticæ, lib. i. cap. ix. The propagation of the Benedictine order, through the different provinces of Europe, is related by Mabillon, Præf. ad Sec. i. et ad Sæc. iv.. § L'Enfant, Histoire du Concile de Constance, tom. ii. See Simon's Critique de la Bibliotheque Ecclesiastique de M. Du-Pin, tom. i. p. 197. See, for an account of this book, Simon, tom. i. p. as also Barat. Bibliotheque Choisie, tom. ii. p. 21. A splendid edition of the works of Gregory was published at Paris, in 1705, by father St. Marthe, a Benedictine monk. See an account of this pontiff, Acta Sanctor. tom. ii. Martii, p. 121. Of this writer, the Benedictine monks have given a learned account, in their Histoire Literaire de la France, tom. iii. p. 190. § See, for an account of Fulgentius, the Acta Sanctorum tom. i. Januar. p. 32, &c. Histoire Literaire de la France, tom. iii. p. 96 Fortunatus, a man of various erudition, and whose poetic compositions are far from being || destitute of genius.* Gregory of Tours, who is esteemed the father of Gallic history; and who would have descended with honour to posterity, did not his Annals of the Franks, and the rest of his writings, carry so many marks of levity, credulity, and weakness.† Gildas, the most ancient of the British writers, who composed a book concerning the destruction of Britain, in which there are several things not altogether unworthy of the curiosity of the learned. tion, to efface from their minds all sense of the beauty and excellence of genuine piety, and to substitute, in the place of religious principles, a blind veneration for the clergy, and a stupid zeal for a senseless round of ridiculous ceremonies. This, perhaps, will appear less surprising, when we consider, that "the blind led the blind;" for the public ministers and teachers of religion were, for the most part, grossly ignorant; indeed, almost as much so as the people whom they were appointed to instruct. II. To be convinced of the truth of the dismal representation we have here given of the state of religion at this time, nothing more is necessary than to cast an eye upon the doctrines now taught concerning the worship of images and saints, the fire of purgatory, the Columban, a native of Ireland, who became famous on account of the monastic rules he prescribed to his followers, his zeal for establishing religious orders, and his poetical pro-efficacy of good works, i. e. the observance of ductions.‡ human rites and institutions, toward the attainment of salvation, the power of relics to heal the diseases of body and mind; and the Isidore, bishop of Seville, whose grammatical, theological, and historical productions, discover more learning and pedantry, than judg-like sordid and miserable fancies, which are in ment and taste. culcated in many of the superstitious productions of this century, and particularly in the epistles and other writings of Gregory the Great. Nothing could be more ridiculous on one hand, than the solemnity and liberality with which this good, but silly pontiff, distri We may conclude this enumeration of the Latin writers with the illustrious names of Boethius and Cassiodorus, who far surpassed all their contemporaries in learning and knowledge. The former shone forth with the brightest lustre in the republic of letters, as a philo-buted the wonder-working relics; and nothing sopher, an orator, a poet, and a divine, and both in elegance and subtilty of genius had no superior, nor indeed any equal in this century; the latter, though in many respects inferior to him, was nevertheless far from being destitute of merit.§ Several productions of these writers have been transmitted to our times. I. WHEN once the ministers of the church had departed from the ancient simplicity of religious worship, and sullied the native purity of divine truth by a motley mixture of human inventions, it was difficult to set bounds to this growing corruption. Abuses were daily multiplied, and superstition drew from its horrid fecundity an incredible number of absurdities, which were added to the doctrine of Christ and his apostles. The controversial writers in the eastern provinces continued to render perplexed and obscure some of the principal doctrines of Christianity, by the subtile distinctions which they borrowed from a vain and chimerical philosophy. The public teachers and instructors of the people grievously degenerated from the apostolic character. They seemed to aim at nothing else, than to sink the multitude into|| the most opprobrious ignorance and supersti * Histoire Literaire de la France, tom. iii. p. 464. The life of Gregory of Tours is to be found in the work last quoted, and his faults are mentioned by Pagi, in his Dissert. de Dionysio Paris. sect. 25, which is added to the fourth tome of the Breviarium Pontif. Romanor. Launoy defends this historian in many things in his works, tom. i. part ii. p. 131. No writers have given more accurate accounts of Gildas and Columban, than the learned Benedictines, in the Hist. Lit. de la France, tom. iii. p. 279, 505. See Simon's Critique de la Bibliotheque de M. DuPin, tom. i. p. 211. more lamentable on the other, than the stupid eagerness and devotion with which the deluded multitude received them, and suffered themselves to be persuaded, that a portion of rancid oil, taken from the lamps which burned at the tombs of the martyrs, had a supernatural efficacy to sanctify its possessors, and to defend them from all dangers both of a temporal and spiritual nature.* tury to lay down a proper and judicious method of explaining the Scriptures. Of this nature were the two books of Junilius the African, concerning the various parts of the divine law; a work destitute of precision and method, and from which it appears that the author had not sufficient knowledge and penetration for the task he undertook. III. Several attempts were made in this cen Cassiodorus also, in his two books concerning the divine laws, has delivered several rules for the right interpretation of the Scriptures. Philoxenus the Syrian translated, into his native language, the Psalms of David, and the Books of the New Testament.‡ Interpreters were numerous in this century. Those who made the greatest figure among the Greeks in this character, were Procopius of Gaza, Severus of Antioch, Julian, and a few others; the first was an expositor of no mean abilities. The most eminent rank, among the Latin commentators, is due to Gregory the Great, Cassiodorus, Primasius,|| Isidore of Se ville, and Bellator. IV. It must, however, be acknowledged * See the List of sacred Oils which Gregory the Great sent to the queen Theudelinda, in the work of Ruinar tus, entitled, Acta Martyrum sincera et selecta, p. 619. See Simon's Critique, tom. i. p. 229. Asseman. Biblioth. Orient. Vatican. tom. ii. p. 83. the Scriptures; such were Isidore of Seville among the Latins (whose three books of sentences or opinions are still extant,) and Leontius the Cyprian among the Greeks, whose common-place book of divinity was much esteemed. These authors gave rise to that species of divinity, which the Latins afterwards distinguished by the name of positive theology. Others endeavoured to explain the various doctrines of Christianity by reasoning upon their nature, their excellency and fitness; and thus it was, with the strong weapons of reason and argument, that many of the Christian doctors disputed against the Nestorians the Eutychians, and the Pelagians. These metaphysical divines were called schoolmen, and their writings were afterwards characterised by the general term of scholastic divinity. A third class of theological teachers, very different from those already mentioned, com prehended a certain species of fanatics, who maintained that the knowledge of divine truth was only to be derived from inward feeling and that these writers scarcely deserve the name of expositors, if we except a small number of them, and among these the eastern Nestorians, who, following the example of Theodore of Mopsuestia, were careful in exploring the true sense and the native energy of the words employed in the Scriptures. We may, therefore, divide the commentators of this age into two classes. In the first, we rank those who did nothing more than collect the opinions and interpretations which had been received by the ancient doctors of the church; which collections were afterwards called chains by the Latins. Such were the chains of Olympiodorus on Job, and of Victor of Capua on the four Gospels; and the commentary of Primasius on the Epistle to the Romans, which was compiled from the works of Augustin, Jerome, Ambrose, and others. Even Procopius of Gaza may be ranked in this class, though not with so much reason as the mere compilers now mentioned, since, in many cases, he has consulted the dictates of his own judgment, and not followed, with a servile and implicit sub-mental contemplation. This class assumed mission, the voice of antiquity. To the second class belong those fanciful expositors, who, setting up Origen as their great model, neglect and overlook entirely the sense of the words employed by the sacred writers, lose themselves in spiritual refinements and allegorical digressions, and, by the aid of a lively and luxuriant imagination, draw from the Scriptures arguments in favour of every whim they have thought proper to adopt. Such was Anastasius the Sinaite, whose Mysterious Contemplations, upon the six-days' Creation, betray the levity and ignorance of their author. Such also was Gregory the Great, whose Moral Observations upon the Book of Job, formerly met with unmerited commendations. Such were Isidore of Seville and Primasius, as manifestly appears from that Book of Allegories upon the Holy Scriptures, which was invented by the former, and from the Mystical Exposition of the book of the Revelation,§ which was imagined by the latter. V. It would be needless to expect, from the divines of this century, an accurate view, or a clear and natural explanation, of the Christian doctrine. The greatest part of them reasoned and disputed concerning the truths of the Gospel, as the blind would argue about light and colours; and imagined that they had acquitted themselves nobly, when they had thrown out a heap of crude and indigested notions, and overwhelmed their adversaries with a torrent of words. We may perceive, however, in the writers of this age, evident marks of the three different methods of explaining and inculcating the doctrines of religion which are yet practised among the Greeks and Latins; for some collected a heap, rather than a system of theological opinions, from the writings of the ancient doctors, from the decrees of councils, and from the appellation of mystics. These three me thods of deducing and unfolding the doctrines of the Gospel have been transmitted down to our times. No writer of this century composed a judicious or complete system of divinity, though several branches of that sacred science were occasionally illustrated. VI. Those who consecrated their pious la bours to the advancement of practical religion and moral virtue, aimed at the accomplishment of this good purpose, partly by laying down precepts, and partly by exhibiting edifying ex amples. They who promoted the cause of piety and virtue in the former way, modified their instructions according to the state and circumstances of the persons for whom they were designed. Peculiar precepts were addressed to those who had not abandoned the connexions of civil society, but lived amidst the hurry of worldly affairs; while different rules were administered to those who aspired to higher degrees of perfection, and lived in a state of seclusion from the contagion and vanities of the world. The precepts, addressed to the former, represent the Christian life, as consisting in certain external virtues and acts of religion; as appears from the Homilies and Exhortations of Cæsarius, the Capita Parænetica of Agapetus, and especially from the Formula honesta Vitæ, i. e. the Summary of a Virtuous Life, drawn up by Martin, archbishop of Braga.* The rules administered to the latter sort of Christians, were more spiritual and sublime: they were exhorted to separate, as far as was possible, the soul from the body by divine contemplation; and, for that purpose, to enervate and emaciate the latter by watching, fasting, perpetual prayer, and singing of psalms; as we find in the dissertation of Fulgentius upon fasting, and those of Nicetius, concerning the vigils of the servants of God, and the good effects of psalmody. The Greeks adopted for their leader, in this mystic labyrinth, Dionysius, falsely called the Areopagite, whose pretended writings John of Scythopolis * See the Acta Sanctor. Martii, tom. iii. p. 86. |