25. "The
holy synod commands all bishops and other teachers--_diligently to
instruct the faithful, teaching them_ that the Saints reigning with
Christ offer to God their prayers for men; that it is _good and
useful_ to invoke them with supplication, and to have recourse to
their prayers, help, and assistance, in order to obtain benefits _from
God through his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who alone is our Redeemer
and Saviour_". Accordingly we say in the litany "Lord, have mercy on
us: holy Mary _pray for us_" etc.]
[Footnote 123: We shall say nothing of sculptured figures taken
from the catacombs, such as the statues of the good shepherd and
S. Hippolitus now in the Vatican, or the numerous bas reliefs on
Christian sarcophagi (on which see Raoul-Rochette, Tableau des
Catacombes, c. IV. Beschreibung der Stadt Rom. B. 2, in the
description of the Christian Museum in the Vatican Library). On
another class of Christian representations the reader may consult
Buonarruoti's _Osservazioni sopra alcuni frammenti di vetro, ornati
di figure_. We shall rather call the attention of the Christian
antiquarian to the numerous frescoes painted in the chapels of the
catacombs, and illustrated by Bosio, Bottari, d'Agincourt etc.,
the latter of whom attributes some of them to the second century on
account of the similarity of their style to that of frescoes in the
tomb of the Nasones, which is situated on the Flaminian way at a short
distance from Rome; his opinion is confirmed by the fact that some of
them have been broken through, with the view of preparing a place of
burial for the bodies of martyrs slain in _subsequent persecutions_.
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