(d. 407), both Patriarchs of Constantinople; St. Cyril, Archbishop of Jerusalem (d. 386), and St. Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria (d. 444); St. Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan (d. 397); St. Jerome, celebrated for his Latin translation of the Holy Scriptures, called the Vulgate (d. 420); St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo in Africa, one of the brightest luminaries of the Church (d. 430); and the holy Popes St. Leo the Great (d. 461) and St. Gregory the Great (d. 604). Whilst the Holy Fathers of the Church especially distinguished themselves as defenders of the true faith, the Hermits, or Solitaries, and monks, shone as models of the most austere penance. The hermits were pious Christians who fled from the seductive pleasures of the world, to prepare themselves in solitude, by prayer and self-denial, for a happy death. A cavern in a rock, or a hut made of branches, was their abode; the bare ground, or a few leaves, their bed; roots and herbs were their food, and water was their drink. They renounced all the comforts of life, that they might entirely die to the world, and live only for God. The first hermit was St. Paul, who died about 340. St. Anthony, to satisfy the importunities of others, built the first monastery, and is called the Patriarch of Monks (d. 356). Thus the Solitary Life gave rise to the Monastic Life, which was so opportunely and successfully propagated in the West by the great St. Benedict, noted for the wonders he had done. For, not to speak of his miracles, we may safely say that Europe is especially indebted to the religious order he established for the cultivation of its soil and the conversion of its inhabitants. He died in 543. St. Augustine, the Apostle of England, was a Benedictine monk, and introduced this order into England in 596.
38. [1] In the fifth and sixth centuries the Church was
- ↑ What was the cause of the clangers to which the Church was exposed during the fifth and sixth centuries? What is this called in history? Can you name any of these rapacious tribes? Which of them was the most savage and cruel? Who was their king, and what did he call himself? Did these savage tribes do much harm? What became of the Roman Empire? Who was made King of Italy? In what year? By what means did God subdue the barbarians? How was this done? When was Ireland converted, and by whom? What peculiarity was theie in the conversion of the Irish? In what centuries was Germany converted and civilized? Who is the Apostle of Austria? Can you name any more of the missionaries to whom Germany owes its conversion? Who is called the Apostle of the Germans? Where was he born? To what order did he belong? Of what town was he made Archbishop? How, and in what year, did he die? What did the missionaries usually do when they had settled in a country? What did, then, the monasteries do for the spreading and strengthening of the faith? For what else is Germany indebted to the monks? What emperor in those days interested himself particularly for the prosperity of the Christian Church, and what did he do? To whom does Hungary owe her conversion?
