The cult of the saints was a growing belief in the connection between heaven and earth through the grave as mediation. In late antiquity, death was a very elaborate event. People viewed death as the separation of the soul from its material body. Once the soul is separated from the body, the soul is judged. In Peter Brown's writings, The Cult of the Saints, readers can see a clear picture of the emergence and function of Latin Christianity in late antiquity. Christians of this era were very concerned about life after death. For this reason, they looked to the saints and the reelected to act as divine intervention between the moral world and the celestial realm. The idea of ​​worshiping relics is not common in Christianity today. Reading this writing on the Cult of the Saints, the idea of ​​relics and the cult of the deceased fascinated me. Why did late ancient Christians focus their worship on deceased saints rather than God himself? Late ancient Christians were captivated by the holiness of the saints. People did not understand how an average mortal could be capable of performing such sacred acts. Christians believed that saints were divinely empowered by God; Yet with these powers, they possessed enormous mercy. Because saints were considered more than just mortal men, their tombs, after passing on to the next life, were also considered holy. These tombs were considered “holy” because “they allowed the average person to encounter the power and mercy that the saints possessed.” The tombs of saints “were privileged places, where the contrasting poles of Heaven and Earth met” (Brown2). Today it seems a bit silly to think that the seriousness of a person's deceased... middle of paper ...... friendship with God was because they felt unworthy. I believe that the structure of the hierarchical system of the Roman Catholic Church is responsible for why people feel obligated to have an intermediary between them and God. After reading this primary source, what surprised me most was how comfortable people seemed with the idea of ​​death. At the end of Antiquity, men were surrounded by death. It would seem that they are insensitive to the morbid idea of ​​a decomposing body. Works Cited Brown, Peter. The cult of saints: its rise and function in Latin Christianity. Chicago [ua: Univ. of Chicago, 2007. Print. « Exploring the term “relic” – Definition, news and application | Treasure hunt. Treasure Hunt - Metal Detector Enthusiast's Guide. Internet. November 30. 2011. .