Part 38 (1/2)

Germanion

Gordius

Narcissus (a second time)

212 Alexander, martyr

250 Mazabanes

265 Hymenaeus

298 Zabdas

302 Her his episcopate Constantine laid the foundations of the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem

335 Maximus III, who consecrated the Church of the Resurrection

NOTE III Eusebius, Life of Constantine, book III chap 27 and following (English Translation, Bagster and Sons, London, 1845) After giving an account of the demolition of the temple of Venus, he proceeds, ”Nor did the Eave further orders that the materials of as then destroyed should be removed, and thrown as far from the spot as possible; and this command was speedily executed The e proceeded thus far: once round itself should be dug up to a considerable depth, and the soil, which had been polluted by the foul impurities of demon worshi+p, transported to a far distant place

This also was accoinal surface of the ground, beneath the covering of earth, appeared, immediately, and contrary to all expectation, the venerable and hallowed monument of our Saviour's resurrection was discovered Then indeed did this most holy cave present a most faithful si buried in darkness, it again eht, and afforded to all who caht, a clear and visible proof of the wonders of which that spot had once been the scene”

Chap xxxI (_Continuation of a Letter from Constantine to the Bishop Macarius_) ”It will be well therefore for your sagacity to s needful for the work, that not only the church itself as a whole may surpass all others whatsoever in beauty, but that the details of the building may be of such a kind that the fairest structures in any city of the empire may be excelled by this

And with respect to the erection and decoration of the walls, this is to inform you that our friend Dracilianus, the deputy of the Praetorian Prefects, and the governor of the province, have received a charge from us For our pious directions to them are to the effect that artificers and labourers,shall forthwith be furnished by their care And as to the colue, after actual inspection of the plan, to be especially precious and serviceable, be diligent to send infor, in order that whatever materials, and in whatever quantity we shall esteem from your letter to be needful, may be procured from every quarter, as required With respect to the roof of the church, I wish to know froment it should be ceiled, or finished with any other kind of work be adopted, it old”

Chap xxxIII ”This was the emperor's letter; and his directions were at once carried into effect Accordingly, on the very spot which witnessed the Saviour's sufferings, a new Jerusaleainst the one so celebrated of old, which, since the foul stain of guilt brought upon it by the murder of the Lord, had experienced the last extrement on its impious people It was opposite this city that the ean to rear a monument to the Saviour's victory over death”

Chap xxxIV &c _Description of the Holy Sepulchre_ ”This monument, therefore, first of all, as the chief part of the whole, the enificence beautified with rare columns, and profusely enriched with the most splendid decorations of every kind The next object of his attention was a space of ground of great extent, and open to the pure air of heaven This he adorned with a pavement of finely-polished stone, and enclosed it on three sides with porticoes of great length For at the side opposite to the Sepulchre, which was the eastern side, the church itself was erected; a noble work rising to a vast height, and of great extent both in length and breadth The interior of this structure was floored with marble slabs of various colours; while the external surface of the walls, which shone with polished stones, accurately fitted together, exhibited a degree of splendour in no respect inferior to that of ard to the roof, it was covered on the outside with lead, as a protection against the rains of winter But the inner part of the roof, which was finished with sculptured fretwork, extended in a series of connected co overlaid throughout with the purest gold, caused the entire building to glitter as it ith rays of light

”Besides this were two porticoes on each side, with upper and lower ranges of pillars, corresponding in length with the church itself; and these also had their roofs ornaold Of these porticoes, those which were exterior to the church were supported by colureat size, while those within these rested on piles of stone beautifully adorned on the surface Three gates, placed exactly east, were intended to receive those who entered the church

”Opposite these gates the crowning part of the whole was the hemisphere,”

(apparently an altar of a hemicylindrical form,) ”which rose to the very summit of the church This was encircled by twelve colu to the nu their capitals ereat size, which the e to his God

”In the next place, he enclosed the atriu to the entrances in front of the church This comprehended, first the court, then the porticoes on each side, and lastly the gates of the court After these in the ates of the whole work, which were of exquisite workmanshi+p, afforded to passers by on the outside a view of the interior, which could not fail to inspire astonishment”

Such is Eusebius' account of the first Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem: he makes no mention of Calvary, and I make no doubt that, if its site had then been discovered, the historian of Constantine would not have passed it over without notice

An eye-witness of the rim of Bordeaux, who visited Jerusalem about 333 or 334 He speaks of it in his description of the Holy City, quoted in the notes to the first chapter

NOTE IV _Description of S Arculf, who visited the Holy places in 680_ (Acta Sanctorum ordinis S Benedicti Saec III part 2, p 504)

”On these points we have inquired very particularly of S Arculf, and specially concerning the Sepulchre of our Lord, and the church erected over it, the plan of which he drew for us upon a waxen tablet It is a large church built entirely of stone, for from its foundations with three walls Between each pair of walls is a broad space for a corridor, and at three points in the middle wall are three altars of wonderful workmanshi+p This round church is occupied by the three altars abovethe south, another the north, and the third towards the west It is supported by twelve stone coluh the three walls with the corridors intervening, four of which doors face the south-east, while the rest face the east In the rotto cut in the solid rock, in which nine , and the roof of which is about a foot and a half above the head of a rotto is on the eastern side, and the whole of the exterior is covered with choice olden cross of considerable size Within, on the north side of this grotto, is the torotto is lower than the level of the toin of the toht of about three palms

”In this place we must mention a discrepancy of narotto elist: and they say, that to the mouth of this the stone was rolled, and from it rolled away, at our Lord's resurrection; while the narotto that is on the north side of the monument, in which the Lord's body lay wrapt in fine linen The length of this S Arculf measured with his own hands, and found it to be seven feet This toine, divided in two by a stone cut out of the wall, itself for between and separating them; but is undivided fro upon his back, so for a kind of cavern with an entrance at the side opposite to the south part of theabove it, carved in the rock, and contains twelve la to the number of the twelve apostles Four of these are placed at the foot of the sepulchral couch, and the other eight towards the head, on the right hand side, all of the constantly fed with oil

”As to the stone which after our Lord's crucifixion and burial was rolled to the mouth of the said monument by the united efforts of many men, Arculf relates that he found it broken in two parts The lesser part, squared by the chisel, forms the altar which stands before the entrance of the aforesaid round church, while the larger, also chiselled like the former, is the square altar, covered with linen cloths, on the eastern side of the saards the colours of the stone out of which the aforerotto is hollowed by the tools of the stone-workers, with the Lord's Sepulchre on its north side cut frorotto itself, Arculf told rotto of thecovered with no ornament within, bears to this day upon its vaulted surface the marks of the tools used by the masons and stone-workers in the work: but the colour of the said stone appears not to be uniform, but a mixture of two, to wit, red and white, and the said stone is shewn as the stone of two colours

”This round church, so often mentioned above, which is called the Anastasis, or Resurrection, and is built on the spot which witnessed our Lord's resurrection, is joined on the right by a square church dedicated to S Mary the e church is built on the eastern side on the spot which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: fro of which is suspended by ropes a brazen wheel with lae silver cross fixed in the very place where stood the wooden cross on which the Saviour of the hu this square-built church on the site of Calvary, on the east, is the fanificence by the Emperor Constantine, and called the Martyrdom, erected, as they say, in the place where the cross of our Lord and the other two crosses were found by divine revelation, two hundred and thirty-three years after they had been buried Between these two churches is the famous spot where the patriarch Abraham built an altar, and laid upon it the bundle of wood, and seized the sword already drawn from its scabbard to sacrifice his son Isaac; where is noooden table of s of the people for the poor are deposited