. The first three Christian centuries : a history of the Church of Christ, with a special view to the delineation of Christian faith and life from 1 to 313 . lls around. These walls, like those of the passagesand smaller chambers, were fullof niches or recesses, in whichthe remains of their friends weresleeping, while the living werethere praising the Lord for whomsome of those friends had died asmartyrs. The following description ofone of the largest of these, fromthe same well-informed writerquoted above, together with theaccompanying cut, will enableour readers to form a more dis-
. The first three Christian centuries : a history of the Church of Christ, with a special view to the delineation of Christian faith and life from 1 to 313 . lls around. These walls, like those of the passagesand smaller chambers, were fullof niches or recesses, in whichthe remains of their friends weresleeping, while the living werethere praising the Lord for whomsome of those friends had died asmartyrs. The following description ofone of the largest of these, fromthe same well-informed writerquoted above, together with theaccompanying cut, will enableour readers to form a more dis-tinct idea of the plan and arrange-ments of those subterranean sanc-tuaries :— Each of the two divisions wasdouble, that is, consisted of twolarge chambers, slightly separatedby half-columns, in what we maycall the womens church, and by fl atpilasters in the mens, one of thesesurfaces having in it a small nichefor an image1 or lamp. But themost remarkable feature of thisbasilica is a further prolongation b. dIvSof the structure, so as to give ita chancel or presbytery. This isabout the size of half each otherdivision, from which it is separated by two columns. A. Choir, or chancel, with episcopal cbaird benches for the clergy (6). men, separated from theby two pillars, supporting an arch. C. Corridor of the catacomb, affording en- trance to the church. D. Division for the women, with a tomb in portion is subdivided by projections in 1 Scarcely an image, in an age when, according to Celsus, the Christians wereremarkable for not using such in religious worship. See chap. ii. THE CHURCH IN THE CATACOMBS. 105 against the wall, as well as by its lesser height, after the ohaptehmanner of modern chancels. For while each portion of nueach division has first a lofty-arched tomb in its wall,and four or five tiers of graves above it, the elevationof the chancel is not much greater than that of thosearcosolia or altar-tombs. At the end of the chancel,against the middle of the wal
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdeca, booksubjectchurchhistory, bookyear1884
