The Cult of the Saints

[short]Author: St. John Chrysostom, Pages: 280[/short][long]The cult of the saints is a phenomenon that expanded rapidly in the fourth century, and John Chrysostom s homilies are important witnesses to its growth. Until now, the majority of John s homilies on the saints and martyrs have been ignored. However, in this volume,Wendy Mayer investigates the liturgical, topographical, and pastoral aspects that marked the martyr cult at Antioch and Constantinople in John s time. The cult s original point of focus was the Christian martyrs those followers of the Jesus-movement who died in confession of their faith, either at the hands of other Jews or at the hands of the Roman administration.Mayer pinpoints several conceptual shifts that identified and shaped this cult: the imitation of Christ s own death; the creedal declaration I am a Christian ; the sense of privilege bestowed upon martyrs; the ritual purity of relics; public veneration of the departed; and places made holy by martyrs blood