Disorderly Christians
by VP
Posted on Wednesday January 26, 2022 at 12:00AM in Quotes
"From the commencement of the fifth century, the number of disorderly Christians were so great, that St. Augustine believed himself obliged to warn those pagans of it who wished to become converts, that they might be less surprised and scandalized. The general laxity had crept even among the clergy. St. Jerome says of the ecclesiastics of Rome: " There are among them those who solicit the priesthood or deaconship that they may be able to approach women more freely; all their care consists in adorning their persons with costly and elegant apparel; they use perfumes and curl their hair with irons; rings glitter on their fingers, they walk with an affected gait; you would think them young bridegrooms rather than clergymen."
Source: The United States Catholic Magazine and Monthly Review, Volume 3
