The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

Rufinus of Aquileia, Church History 11.27-28

Rufinus presents the reign of Theodosius I and how he put an end to the pagan cult. In this context he tells about the situation in Alexandria:

27... Nam in Serapis sepulchro, profanis aedibus conplanatis, ex uno latere martyrium, ex altero consurgit ecclesia.
28. Iuliani temporibus velut relaxatis frenis efferbuit in omnem saevitiam feritas paganorum. Ex quo accidit, ut apud Sabasten Palaestinae urbem sepulchrum Iohannis baptistae mente rabida et funestis manibus invaderent, ossa dispergerent atque ea rursum collecta igni cremarent et sanctos cineres pulveri inmixtos per agros et rura dispergerent. Sed dei providentia factum est quosdam de Hierusolymis ex monasterio Filippi hominis dei orationis illuc causa per idem tempus venisse. Qui cum tantum nefas humanis quidem manibus, sed ferina mente fieri viderent, mori gratius habentes quam huiuscemodi piaculo funestari, inter eos, qui ossa ad exurendum legebant, mixti, diligentius, in quantum res patiebatur, ac religiosius congregantes, furtim se vel stupentibus vel insanientibus subtraxere et ad religiosum patrem Filippum venerandas reliquias pertulere. Ille supra se ducens tantum thensaurum propriis servare vigiliis, ad pontificem maximum tunc Athanasium hostiae inmaculatae reliquias per Iulianum diaconum suum, post etiam Parentinae urbis episcopum mittit. Quas ille susceptas paucis arbitris sub cavato sacrarii pariete inclusas profetico spiritu profuturas generationi posterae conservavit, quibus nunc deiectis et prostratis idolatriae vestigiis in aedibus quondam profanis aurea tecta consurgerent.

'For on the site of Serapis' tomb the unholy sanctuaries were leveled, and on the one side there rose a martyrial shrine, on the other a church. I think it would be worthwhile to explain why the martyrial shrine was built.
In Julian's time the ferocity of the pagans sprang forth in all its savagery, as though the reins had gone slack. Thus it happened that in Sebaste, a city of Palestine, they frenziedly attacked the tomb of John the Baptist with murderous hands and set upon scattering the bones, gathering them again, burning them, mixing the holy ashes with dust, and scattering them through the fields and countryside. But by God's providence it happened that some men from Jerusalem, from the monastery of Philip, the man of God, arrived there at the same time in order to pray. When they saw the enormity being perpetrated by human hands at the service of bestial spirits, they mixed with those gathering the bones for burning, since they considered dying preferable to being polluted by such a sin, carefully and reverently collected them, as far as they could in the circumstances, then slipped away from the others, to their amazement of fury, and brought the sacred relics to the pious father Philip. He in turn, thinking it beyond him to guard such a treasure by his own vigilance, sent the relics of the spotless victim to Athanasius, then supreme pontiff, in the care of his deacon Julian, who later became the bishop of Parentium. Athanasius received them and closed them up within a hollowed-out place in the sacristy wall in the presence of a few witnesses, preserving them in prophetic spirit for the benefit of the next generation, so that now that the remnants of idolatry had been thrown down flat, golden roofs might rise for them on temples once unholy.'


Text: Mommsen 1908.
Translation: Amidon, 1977, lightly modified.

Burial site of a saint - unspecified
Cult building - independent (church)

Destruction/desecration of saint's shrine

Prayer/supplication/invocation
Pilgrimage
Visiting graves and shrines
Appropriation of older cult sites

Bodily relic - bones and teeth
Bodily relic - corporeal ashes/dust
Transfer/presence of relics from distant countries
Construction of cult building to contain relics
Transfer, translation and deposition of relics

Ecclesiastics - bishops
Ecclesiastics - lesser clergy
Ecclesiastics - monks/nuns/hermits
Pagans

Source

Discussion

Bibliography