AD SANCTOS

AD SANCTOS. - This Latin expression (“near the saints”) designates the practice among ancient Christians of being buried, where possible, beside the tombs of martyrs. It is found throughout the ancient world, but especially at Rome, in whose catacombs one may still observe the excesses of devastation to which that custom led: Quod multi cupiunt et vari accipiunt, says an inscription; and the privilege was often dearly paid for. The motive was usually a simple sense of devotion, sometimes the hope of thus experiencing more closely the patronage of the saints; Constantine, according to Eusebius, had himself buried among the tombs of the apostles in order to share in the prayers of those who would come to honour them; at times the motive may have been mere vanity. S. Agostino (De cura pro mortuis gerenda: PL 40, 561) does not at all recommend the practice; Damaso declares that he did not have himself buried in the crypt of the popes so as not to destroy other tombs; the archdeacon Sabino at S. Lorenzo fuori le Mura preferred sancti ianitor esse loci (to be buried near the gate), declaring: “it is of no benefit and is troublesome to crowd around the tombs of the martyrs ... not with the body, but rather with the soul must we strive to be near them.”