Fabiola : or, The church of the catacombs - Digital Repository Services

thicus, Gerraanicua, Sarmaticus, Pontifei Maximus, Tribunitine
PotestatU.
\s ;v memorial of this remarkable battle, the Roman Senate had
a colossal pillar erected, on which the event was depicted in basrelief.
On the top was Jupiter with a long beard and extended
arms, bearing the thunderbolt in his hands. A little lower down
were the two armies, one in disorder, the other pressing forward
sword in hand. The pillar is preserved to the present day, and
it one of the greatest ornaments of Rome. It stands on the Piazza
Colonna, in the northern part of the city, and consists of
28 blocks of marble, which extend to a height of 136 feet. It
was restored in the time of Sixtus V., and a statue of St. Paul
substituted for that of Jupiter. Peacs being concluded with the
people of the Danube, the attention of the Emperor was drawn
to the province of Syria, where the General Avidius Cassius
usurped the imperial puiple. He set out immediately for the
East, but Cassius had already been murdered by his soldiers. He
pacified the provinces, and hastened back through Greece towards
Rome, there to celebrate a glorious triumph. In the midst of such
a variety of affairs, and during the most fatiguing journeys he
wrote " Meditations on Self," in twelve books, which was a rich
treasure, containing the moral maxims of life, and which won
him the renown of being the most famous of the sages of antiquity.
In the first book, he related how he learned to conquer
bis passions, and particularly anger, from his parents, friends
nd teachers, and how he labored to attain each virtue. He kept
in view, in a most attractive manner, temperance and the reigning
virtues of Antoninus Pius, whose adopted son he was. He
then offers a rich collection of the most beautiful moral instruc-
tion, such as never emanated from the pen of a heathen. Virtue,
aid he, constitutes the fame, the perfection and the happiness
of a nation. Nothing is more dignified than the divinity dwell-
ing within us. As soon as nature has become master of the pas-
sions, and knows all that could excite them, she has, according
to the words of Socrates, torn herself from that which chains her
to sensuality, and charmed, she submits herself to the gods, and
has for mankind a tender solicitude. He defines as the original
destiny of the soul, knowledge and lore of God, to have but one
will with God through resignation and a constant practice of vir-
L T Jf 1 A .
tue. Man must do what is his to do, just as the fig-tree or the
bees perform that for which they were destined. A virtuous
man never troubles himself about what people say of him, think
of him, or do against him, but he is contented when his actions
are upright, and accomplishes with love what his vocation re-
quires of him. Free from all excitement he has no other will
than the law of God. "What a falsehood it is to say,
"
I will act
friend? One must
openly 1" What do you mean by that my
read in your eyes what rests in your soul, just
as the lover
reads in the eyes of the bride what is passing in her heart. A
hypocritical openness or candor is a concealed dagger. One
can be a pious man and yet be unknown to all. Never lose sight
of this principle, the happiness of life consists in a little. Make
use of the short time you have. Yet a little while and the time
that is given you to do good, will have passed away. Perform
each action as if you were to die at the same moment. It sits
badly on a wise man to express a talkative contempt for death.
Th igh the entire collection of his moral maxims, Marcus
1
Aureh*- showed
himself imagined.
that he was far nearer to Christianity than he
CHAPTER XVHI.
LTDIA'fl DEPARTURE.
IN the first days of May, a season in which the southern clime
pours forth its blessings, the Greeks begin, according to the ancient
heathen custom, to prepare for their processions in honor
of their gods on all the cross-ways, to petition for a harvest.
plentiful
Wherever a statue was to be found, either in the cross-streets
or in the fields, there the people assembled in holiday attire, to
mak their offerings. Thi feast was called the Compitnlien, be-
:
cause it was held in the cross ways (in Oompitis). Metella and
wen- luiulin;.' at a
Lydia, who had just returned from Klm-i ,
window, ami looking down upon the altars of offerings and on
the pagan processions. Before the portico of tin- hou:-.c, u ;r
vant is seen arranging luggage for a journey; on the opposite
side of the olive groves, in the distant harbor, flutter the pennant
and flags of a large merchant vessel, which is preparing to
set sail in the evening, and is the one destined to carry Lydia to
Rome in search of her mother.
"Good child." said Metella, "I was lately at the cemetery
of Kerameikos visiting my father's grave, and my thoughts
turned on the change and trials of my eventful life. I reflected
on the melancholy hours that the future promised me and could
have wished to lame the wings of time, to postpone this our
separation for a little longer. While thus thinking and wishing
my eyes fell upon the trunk of a pine-tree, on the bark 01 which
I perceived something inscribed. On a closer inspection I discovered
it to be the initials of my beloved son's name,
and from each letter the gum of the tree fell down in golden
tears. This made me feel your departure doubly heavy.
Every one whom I prize leaves me: father, husband, son and
friend, and I hope also to depart soon, and then at last I shall
find a resting place. But one thought comforts me, that perhaps
a great joy awaits you, when you again meet your mother.
O tell her that I was often very unkind to you, that I often
grieved you and not seldom treated you badly. But you must
not refuse me two requests, they are the most earnest I have
ever made. The first is, that you accept the means for your
journey. The distance is great, and the time of your sojourn in
effects a sum
Rome very uncertain. I have placed amongst your
of money, sufficient, not only for yourself, but to purchase your
mother's freedom, which when you have purchased, then my be-
loved child and this is my second petition return with her to
Athens, and you shall spend happy days with me."
"
I know,"
continued Metella, "that you have a longing to return to your
native land, but for a widow who has much sorrow, Christian
friendship will not hesitate to deny itself a satisfaction in the
cause of charity."
Lydia took the hands of her mistress reverently within her
own, and lifting her eyes to Heaven, sobbed forth: "May God
noble heart I Noth-
bless you according to the goodness of your
ing but the duty I owe to my beloved mother, could sanction
this separation, and nothing but death, dear mistress, shall prevent
our return." At this moment Duranus struck the hour,
and Metella and Lydia retired to the oratory to pass the last moment
together in prayer.
In the Lararium the lamp burned, as in former years, but the
protecting house gods had disappeared, and their place was occupied
by the true and living God, Jesus Christ, under the species
of bread. An emblematic picture concealed the tabernacle,
wherein reposed the treasure of the faithful, for it was allowed
to the early Christians, to keep in their own homes the Heavenly
Manna, particularly in troubled times, and to commune them-
selves. Metella advanced reverentially towards the tabernacle,
opened it, and drew aside the curtain that concealed the Holy
of Holies. From the tabernacle shone a silver dove, whose
wings were raised as if in flight, and the breast was richly set
with sparkling diamonds. Within this, was the Holy Eucharist,
and near it was lying a reliquary and chain of gold, the centre
of the case was set with one "
magnificent large pearl. In this
little reliquary," said Metella, " I have enclosed a portion of the
Bacred Bread. May our God accompany you on the waves, and
"
protect you from the scoffs of the heathens 1 At these words,
she placed the chain round Lydia's neck and concealed the case
in the bosom of her dress.
Lydia observed the pearl, and drawing forth the reliquary
again, kissed it and said to her mistress; " It is a thought full
of meaning, that you to the gold which encloses the great pearl
of divine love, have added on the exterior, a pearl, as a type of
the interior. But dearest mistress, it is the most costly of all
your jewels, and perhaps a remembrance from your ancestors,
"
may I return it?