The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1877-04-04
THE PASS WORD OF THE CATACoMBs.
BY PROFESSOR JULES DEIAUNAY.

The glory of Rome lies with the dust Of
her cstacombs. Amidst the martyrs bones
are the martyrs names. On the tombs Ii
the record of their faith, their obedience
their victory, the palm, the crown, the tri-
umph-tor they Overcame! Never did
walk the streets of Rome without feeling
that with every football! l was awakening
an echo in the caverns of the precious dead
had come to Rome in search of the light o.
the apostles doctrine, and l have found il
(eureka) in the caverns beneath her. A her
NIT Don Geronimo once employed by tht
Roman Congregation of Relics as conser
vator of the catacombs, said, " Come, and ]
shall be thy guide" ED 10 sarO la tuo
guida." We both tied a lamp around eaci
others ankle, and as did David, who 5000
years before US, went exploring under Mount
Zion the foundations for the temple, and Sci
bis harp to the tune, "Thy word, 0 Lord,
a lamp on my feet" and so with our SINAI
lamps, We peered through the gloom tina
shrouded once the infant church. "Pause,
says Geronimo, "here every outsider to gail
admittance in these catacombs had to give
certain pass sOord." 1t was that form OF
aoAysessAce3 Rsake saints. Thu
angels of the church, from A. D. 65, to 3l5,
Linus, Cletus, Ana Cletus, Clemens, Esaris
tus, etc succeeded each other as the guor
dams of that doctrine. Each wore brida
ring on bis finger, and on that ring was
signet and on the sigpet was that password
or form of doctrine. None understood the
word except he that received it, and that
word was "ICHTHYS," or Fish, which con-
tains the initials of JEsoUs, CHRIsTos,
THEoU, UIos, Softer, or Jesus Christ, Gods
Son, Saviour" Thus, every church of Asia
had sign, seal, or password. When the
disciple of John, (Polycarpe) angel of the
church of Smyrna-sent to the banks of the
Rhone at Lyons, the two missionaries, lren-
Gus and Pothinus, he sealed their commits
sion letter with the seal of the Church at
Smyrna, and on it was "the crown of lii"
Rev. ii 10,) and the letters which Timothy
sent to Paul at Rome were sealed with the
seal of Ephesus, and on it was the tree of
life (Rev. ii: ~ That seal of the angel of
the Church of Rome, now worn by the
Popes, is yet called the seal of the fisherman,
because of the mystic fish. 1t is commonly
believed that the sign on that ring is the sign
of the prophet Jonah-typifying the death,
burial, and resurrection of Christ, And this
was the form of doctrine once delivered to
the saints buried in these catacombs, said
Geronimo. The access to the catscombs
which we first visited was by narrow flight
of steps, almost perpendicular. We were in
the cemetery of st. Priscilla. Ga one of
the first tombs we read the two words " Orc
DOS" Don Geronimo reminded me of this
frequent exclamation upon the tombs words
of the charges Of Paul to the churches y the
Pauline, 81 beseech you, as in Romans xii:
1, and the orc DOS, seem to bring fresh to the
memory of every one that entered, "Now, l
beseech you (OrO vos,) bethren, mark them
which cause divisions and offences contrary
to the DOCTRINE which they had received,
and avoid them" 1t is thus that the fish
became the conventional form of doctrine,
and meant Christ in every eye. Hence,
says Geronimo, ship upon Dolphin, sig
ni6ed church of Christ, 1. E., a church built
upon Christ. The fish shibboleth of fellow
ship was served to the Christians at their
love, feasts. 1t was deposited into the bap-
tismal font, which they called Piscina, from
Piscis, fish.
10 this form of doctrine, or apostles doc
trine, the church of Rome continued steady,
full of faith, and obedience, and generous
heroism unto blood for 800 years. Bride of
Christ, she walked after the Spirit, not after
the flesh, and stood not under condemnation;
and adorning the doctrine of Christ with the
lives of her saints, she kept her garment un-
spotted from the world till the day when sit
ting upon the lap of the emperors, she commit
ted fornication with the kings of the earth,
and ceasing to be spiritual became secular
and political power. An offspring was born
to the adulteress, aud history called her
a." POpery." From henceforth the form of
doctrine became deformed, till the day when
it became reformed by Luther, and Calvin,
and the other Reformers.