Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1870-07-29
DISTORTIONS or CnR1sT1ANITY.

q THE prepotterous idea that utterly use
less self.in6lcted suffering gave man a
claim to s5eciaT felicity In the eternal life
after death. cansed many Christians of the 4
first centuries to subject themselves to
most severe ldeprivations and pains To
have any enjoyment in this life was con-l
sidered sinfal and they only were looked
upon as thoroughly good Christians who
made tB6ir existence miserable Bishop
Zeno, of Verona, informs us that this
morbid view Of Christianity was enter
tanned EVnerslly in the fourth century,
and that it wSs believed TO be "the high
est glory of ChIistian-virtue TO tread ma
ture unaEff0ota, 4 s5esTtrg "a
Because our Savior was recorded to have
STAYED fortyldays in the desert, and to-
have tasted, ,it became quite fashion to |
retire to the hesertapd ,Wto tread nature |
under foot,n 4 The, deserts of Syria and |
Egypt.WeTa crowded with self.tormcntipg |
''saints, ssW Inc suferings which these |
poor ldnaticsinyented for themselves, and |
the fortitud9 with, which they endured
has his 45lHed as saint in the almanac-)
lived fofyfft8 years in a subterraneanl
cave, without ever seeing the friendly |
LIGHT of the sun. Others buried them1 |
selves To the deck in the glowing sand Of |
the des0ft, or we'd themselves up in. fur |
Manyiburde1ed themselves with heavy |
chains ST. Edsebius always carried two |
his body. One Thaiuus forced his body
into tHes hobp lofa cartwheel, and re- |
mained ID bis highly useful position to-
ward soaietF Tor ten years. After this he
took up hi4 dwelling in q narrow Jcnge{I
Some mada q vQwnot to- speak a. word
for years. sahd not1 to look at any faoe II
otherssnoJitd themselves to jump about
on one leg apiece. | VS. O"' F q
st. B Bak1pbSs, by some accident, got q
sharp stone In his foot which caused him
immenseEain.E He rejoiced, and would
not haveit removed. Other saints slept
on bundles of thorns, or tried not to sleep
at all. Simeon, the son of an Egyptian
shepherd, ate only every Sunday, and.
wound roHhd his waist q rope so tight
that boils broke out all over him,
which smalled so odiously that nobody
could bear lhis sanity company, This
Simeon was an ambitious saint; he be-
came the leader of peculiar class, the.
Stylitesor column saints. He placed him
self o4the topof Q column, and remained "a
therafpr years. He first perched himself
on coiamn Only four yards high, but his
columns grew with his madness. When
his i1sahity reached its utmost degree,
his column had risen (or is represented TO
have riser) to the height of forty yards;
on this he managed to keep alive for
thirty years but it is difficult to under.
stand how he could sleep without falling
off. One of his favorite rccr cations was
TO be@&s low and asoften as possible in
praying. An. eye.witntss counted one
thousand two hundred aud forty-four OF
his BOWS but then gave up counting.
Simeoffat last succeeded in fasting for
forty. days. 1t is, however, well known
that lunatics can fast a very long time
When Simeon became too weak to stand
uprIgfly, he had post erected on the top
of his coldtn1l to which he was attached
in an upright position with chains. This
madness found many imitators in the
Orientabut only one in Europe. He was
n nativecof 1fier; the Bishop of that city,
however, would not acknowledge him as
a saint5hat treated him, simply as fool.
Imnfehse numbers of people resorting
TO the desert, in order to live, had to form
commnnitie these became associations
of se4t0rmeptors, which Nere Called
monastsries st. Pashorn is looked upon
as theuoriginhtor of these institutions. He
had4nahiss monastery fourteen hundred
monks, besides great number of nuns ;
Tor theexci table sex were, OF course, taken
by ascetic tanaticisin. Artificial solitudes
also arose in the heart of cities. The city
of Oxyrrhinchus had more converts than
dwelling houses; and in them did pray,
and netTWk, thifty thousand monks and
nuns. SSfhe ein0st respected fathers of the
church called the life ina convent the di-
rect road to Paradise. st, jerome wrote,
amisaoly:H Now, filthy young brothers
andsiAersthrow themselves at thy breast,
andthy~ mother, with tears and dishevel-
led hair and torn garments shows her
bosom which nourished thee, and thy
1ather lays himself on the threshold, kick
them away from thee with thy feet, and
hasten with dry eyes to join the standard
OF the cross"
The, fathers of the church report many
miradesof Bti Anton. q The animals OF
the desert obeyed. him like well taught
poodle dogs. They crowded frequently
round his cave, but always waited respect.
fully until he had finished his prayers;
then receifed his Blessing andwent about
their business. When st, Anton buried
the herafit, st. Paul, of Thebes, who died
in hisiene hundred and thirteenth year,
twolpieus lions assisted him in digging a
grave. az. - -.
81. Macarius had greet power over wild
animals Once hyena knocked nlodestly
at hisde0r, and, whenthe saint opened it,
she, distressed mother, laid at his feet o
blind cub but at the same time, as a fee,
the slfin ola lamb =" I do not want that
skin, you have stolen it," cried the saint
angfily. The poor hyena was go distressed
thai she shed teSrs. The saint was moved.
"If, you will promise not to steal any
more skins, 1 will take the skin and heal
the,eubp The repentant hyena laughed
"yes;a the saint healed the cub, and the
hyena trotted off a better animal.
Many of these gentry had wonderful
perseverance In praying. Among them
an Irish saint of the name of Kewdon,
who prayed so long that swallow had
time, not only to lay her eggs in his folded
hands, but to hatch them also
Though the saints are dead, they still
take care of the interests of pious people.
The nobility stand under the particular
protection of st George, st. Maurice, and
st. Michael. The patron of theologians
is, most strangely and unaccountably, the
doubter, st. Thomas The patron of the
pigs is st. Antonius. The jurisdiction
over lawyers is given to st. Ivo; over
physicians to st. Cosmus and st. Damian
over sportsmen to st. Hubert; and tip.
piers stand pnsteadily under the powerful
protsEHdn Of St. Martin. Nations have
alsoS 4ifeir patron saints. St Anton,
though much occupied with his pr0tec-
torate pigs, has still time to attend to the
business of the Portuguese; the Span
iards are taken care of by st. jacob the
French by st. Denis the English by st.
Georgaj the Venetians by st. Marc ...
The fanaticism which originated in the
East Was soon transferred to Europe,
where'it was propagated by ST. Ambrose,
Bishop of Milan, and ST.. Jerome, who
had heEh ashcrinit himself and wrote in
praise, of solitary life what is considered
TO BE pattern Of eloquence. St Martin
was the first who established converts in
France, in the fourth century. He be.
came Archbishop of Tours, and was q
veEyEpTaad BsaiAt.. When he appeared
before the Emperor Naientinian, that po.
teRtAts did not feel inclined to rise in his
honor, This Vexed st, Martin; he pray
ed, and lol napes burst from the imperial
seate and the Emperor 'hadtto get up