From her time it
became a habit with devout persons to go on pilgrimage, to worship at
the holy tomb and in the Cave of Bethlehem; and a new city of Jerusalem
rose upon the ruins of the old one, though, of course, without a Temple.
Rome was so fall of the tokens of heathenism, that Constantine feared
that his court would never be heartily Christian till he took it to a
fresh place; so he resolved to build a new capital city for his empire.
This was the city called after him, Constantinople, the city of
Constantine, on the banks of the Bosphorus, just where Europe and Asia
nearly meet. The chief building there was a most beautiful church,
dedicated to the holy Wisdom of God, and named in Greek St. Sophia. The
Bishop there was termed the Patriarch of Constantinople. There were
already five patriarchs, or great Father Bishops, to rule over divisions
of the Church at Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, and Rome. The Patriarch
of Rome was called the Pope. All was peace and prosperity, and the
Christians were so much at their ease, that some finding that they
missed the life of hardness, which they used to think a great blessing,
went apart from men, and lived in caves, quite alone, working hard for
very scanty food, and praying constantly.
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