Page:Elizabeth Elstob - An English-Saxon homily on the birth-day of St. Gregory.djvu/81

(1)

NATALE

S. Gregorii Papæ

^[1] ON THE

BIRTH-DAY

of St. Gregory.

Rregorius
se halga
Papa En-
gliscere
þeode -
postol on
þisum andweardan dæge
æfter mænigfealdum ge-

Regory
the Holy
Father,
the Apo-
stle of
the Eng-
lish Nation, on this present
Day, after manifold La-

1. Which was the day of his Death, the Obit, or Festival, or Commemoration, or Birth-day of the Saints, being usually celebrated yearly on the day whereon they died; the Church being then assur'd of the Blessedness of the Saint, or that he had a new Birth or Translation from the Church Militant to the Church Triumphant; By such Commemorations the Church was thought to communicate with the holy Combatant, Confessor, or Martyr of Christ. That this was agreeable to antient Practice is evident from the account we have of the Martyrdom of St. Ignatius. See the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of Lincoln Dr. Wake's Transl. page 229. According to which Primitive Custom the Saxon Church also observed the Commemoration of the Obits of her Saints: as more particularly with a just Gratitude she here does