Church Resistance and Martyria
The practice of commemorative meals in honor of the dead was practiced by early Christians as well as pagans. Jensen states that it is likely that early Christians easily separated the religious ideals behind the acts from the act of honoring their dead (Ibid., 119). The church outlawed these types of celebrations in the 2nd and 3rd centuries but eventually came to tolerate the practice after the large conversions following Constantine’s conversion to Christianity (Rebillard 271, 2015).
However, before the acceptance of the funerary banquet, there are a number of examples from the Church or its emissaries that attempted to curb the behavior. Tertullian’s warnings against Christians engaging in these practices indicates that at least some were following the traditions previously practiced in pagan religion. Likewise, Cyprian condemns Christian graveside banqueting as immoral due to the excesses which they inspired (Ibid., 272). Further evidence of reprobation regarding funerary meals and offerings comes from Augustine who related the story of his mother’s, Monica, censure for bringing food and drink to the graves of her martyrs and relatives (Ibid., 273). A Christian sarcophagus depicting a banqueting scene currently in the Museo Pio Cristiano from Rome serves as evidence that despite the cautions against funereal banqueting issued by the Church, these banquets were still observed by early Christians (Jensen 123, 2008). By the 4th century the parantalia was deemed “useless, but not contrary to the practice of Christianity” (Rebillard 275, 2015).
The practice of feasting in honor of dead relatives was clearly continued in Christianity and eventually extended to the honoring of martyrs as well. Cyprian extols Christians to note the dates of death of martyrs so that they might be celebrated with meals and other activities. This led to the addition of dining facilities in and near the shrines of saints (Ibid., 128). A martyrium located in the Christian and pagan cemetery under the Cathedral of Bonn is outfitted with mensae near the tomb of four supposed saints. The martyrium indicates that pilgrimages had begun to necessitate architectural and functional changes to martyr tombs (Jensen 130, 2015). The emperor Damasus made great efforts to alter the Roman catacombs in such ways and accommodated pilgrims by enlarging spaces around the tombs, elevating the tombs themselves and monumentalizing the structures with columns and arches (Yasin 65, 2012). Other cemeteries which became pilgrimage sites, like that of the basilica of St. Agnes, had large banqueting halls built to allow for large amounts of diners (Jensen 132, 2015).
The pilgrimages of large amounts of Christian worshippers brought on a series of new problems for the Church. Much like the meals which honored the dead in pagan worship, banqueting Christians could, at times, become rowdy, disruptive and generally undignified. The Church moved to make these banquets a solemn affair which revolved around piety and charity. In Constantine’s Oration to the Assembly of the Saints, he lauds Christians who have turned away from the pagan celebratory ways and converted the funerary feasts into charitable functions (Ibid., 132). The practice of dining at martyr’s tombs gave way to Eucharistic dining inside of a church as the shrines of saints were enlarged and became basilicas (Ibid., 134).
The Church had little success of eliminating the practice of feasting at private funerals in the 4th century. In a letter to Aurelius, Augustine asserts the impossibility of the task and the practice of funereal dining at tombs of dead relatives was continued (Ibid., 142). It is clear from textual and archaeological evidence that graveside funerary feasts were a cultural phenomenon outside of specific pagan religious beliefs for most people. Christians continued to bury or entomb their dead and celebrate the deceased with meals even after the Church attempted to condemn such festivities.