Page:Aelfric's Lives of Saints Vol 1.djvu/521

 that no  man  knew  it  save  themselves,  that  they  would  write  down the martyrology  of  these  holy  martyrs,  and  lay  the  writing  therein with the  Saints,  just  where  men  must  go  into  the  cave,  that  it might  lie  therein  with  them  as  a  testimony,  until  the  time  when God Almighty  should   awake  them,  and   should   reveal   them  to mankind;  that  all  men  might  afterward  perceive  by  that  writing, who the   Saints  were  whom   they  should   find  therein,  when    it should  be  God's  will. And they,  the  twain,  were  faithful,  and  did straightway all  as  they  had  before  intended,  and  went  into  the  cave secretly  apart    [from   the   rest],  and  engraved  with  letters   on   a leaden  tablet  the  holy  martyrology,  just  as  it  had  happened,  and they sealed  up  the  writing  with  two  silver  seals  in  a  casket,  and laid it  therein  very  secretly  beside  the  Saints;  and  they  closed  the cave's keystone  very  securely,  and  afterward  thence  turned  them homeward ; and  so  all  these  things  were  through  God's  ordinance thus disposed. Then about  that  time  died  Decius  abroad,  the  evil emperor, and  all  his  kindred,  every  whit;  and  many  other  emperors reigned after  him,  one  after  another,  in  the  glory  of  their  kingship, and in  the  joy  of  their  power;  and  they,  some  heathen  and  some Christian,  reigned  many  years  until   Theodosius,   the  great  emperor, son  of  Arcadius,  succeeded  to  the  kingdom. And about  the eight and  thirtieth  year  after  he  began  to  reign,  there  sprang  up everywhere  among  God's  people  great  heresy,  and  evil  men  went about everywhere  they  could,   and   brought   Christian   men   into heresy, and  said  that  the  belief  was  naught  which  all  faithful  men believe without  doubt,  viz. that all  men  at  Doomsday  shall  arise with the  same  bodies  in  which  each  one  before  lived  here  in  life, 'and then  each  man  shall  be  doomed  according  to  his  deserts,  either to misery  in  hell-torment,  or  to  mirth  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven. Heretics desired  to  destroy  this  faith,  and  utterly  to  extinguish  it  out of Christ's  church ;  and  at  the  time  when  the  bishops  should  have been ready  to  lead  God's  holy  people  in  the  right  way,  they,  above all, fostered  every  error,  and  raised  up  every  heresy. There were two men  in  the  episcopal  office  who  were  the  chief  promoters  of every  evil ;  one  was  called  Theodore,  and  the  other  Gains. They