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| Chapter XXXIII.
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Chapter XXXIII.
Well, the end of the
persecutions was reached eighty-eight years ago, at which date the
emperors began to be Christians. For Constantine then obtained the
sovereignty, and he was the first Christian of all the Roman rulers. At
that time, it is true, Licinius, who was a rival of Constantine for the
empire, had commanded his soldiers to sacrifice, and was expelling from
the service those who refused to do so. But that is not reckoned among
the persecutions; it was an affair of too little moment to be able to
inflict any wound upon the churches. From that time, we have continued
to enjoy tranquillity; nor do I believe that there will be any further
persecutions, except that which Antichrist will carry on just before
the end of the world. For it has been proclaimed in divine words, that
the world was to be visited by ten afflictions;359
and since nine of these have already been endured, the one which
remains must be
the
last. During this period of time, it is marvelous how the Christian
religion has prevailed. For Jerusalem which had presented a horrible
mass of ruins was then adorned with most numerous and magnificent
churches. And Helena, the mother of the emperor Constantine (who
reigned along with her son as Augusta), having a strong desire to
behold Jerusalem, cast down the idols and the temples which were found
there; and in course of time, through the exercise of her royal powers,
she erected churches360
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“basilicas”: edifices, which, in size and grandeur, had
some resemblance to a royal palace. | on the site of the
Lord’s passion, resurrection, and ascension. It is a remarkable
fact that the spot on which the divine footprints had last been left
when the Lord was carried up in a cloud to heaven, could not be joined
by a pavement with the remaining part of the street. For the earth,
unaccustomed to mere human contact, rejected all the appliances laid
upon it, and often threw back the blocks of marble in the faces of
those who were seeking to place them. Moreover, it is an enduring proof
of the soil of that place having been trodden by God, that the
footprints are still to be seen; and although the faith of those who
daily flock to that place, leads them to vie with each other in seeking
to carry away what had been trodden by the feet of the Lord, yet the
sand of the place suffers no injury; and the earth still preserves the
same appearance which it presented of old, as if it had been sealed by
the footprints impressed upon it.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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