 Protestants have asserted that peculiar rites and practices such as veneration of relics and icons, veneration of saints, honoring the Virgin Mary (known as the Theotokos (the one who gave birth to God) to the Orthodox and as Mother of God to Catholics), and observing special holy days associated with paganism, were introduced after the time of Constantine (or even introduced by Constantine as a way to lead the Church into paganism).The catacomb church was surrounded by bones of the dead which are now claimed as relics of necessity, but accounts of early martyrdoms show that Christians regularly sought the remains of the dead martyrs for proper burial and veneration.