In article ,
[email protected] says...
quote
http://www.britannia.com/history/docs/mellitus.html
"The following is a letter written by Pope Gregory I to Bishop Mellitus,
who was going to join Augustine of Canterbury's mission to the English,
giving instructions for dealing with the holy places of the newly
converted Saxons and their pagan practices.
Tell Augustine that he should be no means destroy the temples of the gods
but rather the idols within those temples. Let him, after he has purified
them with holy water, place altars and relics of the saints in them. For,
if those temples are well built, they should be converted from the worship
of demons to the service of the true God. Thus, seeing that their places
of worship are not destroyed, the people will banish error from their
hearts and come to places familiar and dear to them in acknowledgement and
worship of the true God. Further, since it has been their custom to
slaughter oxen in sacrifice, they should receive some solemnity in
exchange. Let them therefore, on the day of the dedication of their
churches, or on the feast of the martyrs whose relics are preserved in
them, build themselves huts around their one-time temples and celebrate
the occasion with religious feasting. They will sacrifice and eat the
animals not any more as an offering to the devil, but for the glory of God
to whom, as the giver of all things, they will give thanks for having been
satiated. Thus, if they are not deprived of all exterior joys, they will
more easily taste the interior ones. For surely it is impossible to efface
all at once everything from their strong minds, just as, when one wishes
to reach the top of a mountain, he must climb by stages and step by step,
not by leaps and bounds.... Mention this to our brother the bishop, that
he may dispose of the matter as he sees fit according to the conditions of
time and place."
end quote
Janet