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Chapter II.—Catechetical Instruction.
§ 1. Catechesis. The term
“Catechesis” in its widest sense includes instruction by
word of mouth on any subject sacred or profane73
| 73 Bible:Gal.6.6">Acts xviii. 25; xxi. 21, 24; Rom. ii. 18;
Gal. vi. 6. Cf.
Clem. Alex. Fragm. § 28: οὐκ ἔστι
πιστεῦσαι
ἄνευ
κατηχήσεως. | , but is
especially applied to Christian teaching, whether of an elementary kind appropriate to
new converts, or, as in the famous Catechetical School of Alexandria,
extending to the higher interpretation of Holy Scripture, and the
exposition of Christian philosophy.
The earliest known example of a Catechetical work
is the “Teaching of the Twelve Apostles,” which
Athanasius names among the “books not included in the Canon, but
appointed by the Fathers to be read by those who are just recently
coming to us, and wish to be instructed in the word of godliness
(κατηχεῖσθαι
τὸν τῆς
εὐσεβείας
λόγον)74
| 74 Festal Epist.
39. Compare Clem. Alex. Strom. V. c. x. §
67. Γάλα
μὲν ἡ
κατήχησις
οἱονεὶ πρώτη
ψυχῆς τροφὴ
νοηθήσεται. | .” The use of the Didache for the
instruction of recent converts from Paganism agrees with its original
purpose as stated in the longer title, “Teaching of the Lord
through the Twelve Apostles for the Gentiles.” The
first six chapters are evidently adapted for those who need elementary
instruction, more particularly for Catechumens of Gentile descent, as
distinct from Jewish candidates for Baptism75
| 75 Schaff, Oldest
Church Manual, p. 15. | .
The remaining chapters of the Didache relate chiefly to the
administration of Baptism, to Prayer, Fasting, and the services of the
Lord’s Day, and to the celebration of the Agape and
Eucharist76
. This same division of subjects is
observed in the two classes of S. Cyril’s Catechetical
Lectures: the first class, including the Procatechesis, consists
of XIX Lectures addressed to candidates for Baptism, and these are
followed by five “Mystagogic” Lectures, so called as being
explanations of the Sacramental Mysteries to the
newly-baptized.
The Didaché was taken as the basis of other manuals
of instruction, as is evident from the fact that the greater part of
the first six chapters is imbedded in “ The Apostolical Church
Order,” supposed to date from Egypt in the third century.
The Greek text, with an English translation, of the part corresponding
with the Didaché, is given in “ The oldest Church Manual
“ as Document V.
A further development of the Didaché,
“adapted to the state of the Eastern Church in the first half of
the fourth century,” is contained in the Seventh Book of the
Apostolical Constitutions of Pseudo-Clement of Rome, chs.
i.–xxxii. “Here the Didaché is embodied almost
word for word, but with significant omissions, alterations, and
additions, which betray a later age.…The Didaché was thus
superseded by a more complete and timely Church Manual, and
disappeared.” Dr. Schaff has appended this document also to
his edition of the Didaché, noting the borrowed passages on the
margin, and distinguishing them by spaced type in the Greek text, and
by italics in the English translation.
In this work the directions concerning the instruction
of Catechumens and their Baptism are addressed to the Catechist and the
Minister of Baptism. They contain only a short outline (c.
xxxix.) of the subjects in which the Catechumens are to be instructed,
most if not all of which are explained at large in Cyril’s
Lectures: and in the directions concerning Baptism, Chrism, and
the Eucharist, the similarity is so close, that in many passages of the
Constitutions the author seems to be referring especially to the use of
the Church of Jerusalem.
From this close affinity with earlier works we may be
assured that in the Catecheses of Cyril we have trustworthy evidence of
the great care which the Church had from the beginning bestowed on the
instruction and training of converts, before admitting them to the
privilege of Baptism; but beyond this, Cyril’s own work has a
peculiar value as the earliest extant example of a full, systematic,
and continuous course of such instruction.
§ 2. Catechist. The duty
of catechizing was not limited to a class of persons permanently set
apart for that purpose, but all orders of the Clergy were accustomed to
take part in the work. Even laymen were encouraged to teach
children or new converts the first elements of religion, as we learn
from Cyril’s exhortation: “If thou hast a child
according to the flesh, admonish him of this now; and if thou hast
begotten one through catechizing, put him also on
his guard77
.” That this remark was addressed
not to the Catechumens, but to such of the Faithful as happened to be
present among his audience, appears from what he says elsewhere,
“So thou likewise, though not daring before thy Baptism to
wrestle with the adversaries, yet after thou hast received the grace,
and art henceforth confident in the armour of righteousness,
must then do battle, and preach the Gospel, if thou wilt78
.”
The more systematic instruction of those who had
been already admitted to the order of Catechumens was entrusted to
persons appointed to this special duty. Thus Origen “was in
his eighteenth year when he took charge of the Catechetical School at
Alexandria,” which “was entrusted to him alone by
Demetrius, who presided over the Church79
:” and S. Augustine’s
Treatise, De Catechizandis Rudibus, was addressed to Deogratias,
who being a Deacon at Carthage, and highly esteemed for his skill and
success as a Catechist, felt so strongly the importance of the work and
his own insufficiency, that he wrote to Augustine for advice as to the
best method of instructing those who were brought to him to be taught
the first elements of the Christian Faith.
The final training of the φωτιζόμενοι, or candidates for Baptism, was undertaken in part by the Bishop
himself, but chiefly by a Priest specially appointed by him. Of
the part taken by the Bishop mention is made by S. Ambrose in a letter
to his sister Marcellina (Ep. xx.): “On the
following day, which was the Lord’s day, after the Lessons and
Sermon, the Catechumens had been dismissed, and I was delivering the
Creed to some candidates (Competentes) in the Baptistery of the
Basilica.”
Of this “delivery of the Creed,” which
was usually done by a Presbyter, we have examples in S.
Augustine’s Sermons In traditione Symboli,
ccxii.–ccxiv., each of which contains a brief recapitulation and
explanation of the several articles of belief. In Serm. ccxiv.,
after a short introduction, we find the following note inserted by the
preacher himself. [“After this preface the whole Creed
is to be recited, without interposing any discussion.
‘I believe in God the Father
Almighty,’ and the rest that follows. Which Creed,
thou knowest, is not wont to be written: after it has been said,
the following discussion (disputatio) is to be
added.”]
From the opening words of Sermon ccxiv., and of
ccxvi., “ad Competentes,” it is evident that these
were delivered by S. Augustine as the first-fruits of his ministry very
soon after he had been reluctantly ordained Priest (a.d. 391). Two other examples of addresses to
Candidates for Baptism are the Catecheses I., II.,
πρὸς τοὺς
μέλλοντας
φωτίζεσθαι,
delivered at Antioch by S. Chrysostom while a Presbyter.
Another duty often undertaken by the Bishop was to
hear each Candidate separately recite the Creed, and then to expound to
them all the Lord’s Prayer80
| 80 S. August.
Serm. lviii. et. ccxv. | .
§ 3. Catechumens. The term
Catechumen denoted a person who was receiving instruction in the
Christian religion with a view to being in due time baptized.
Such persons were either converts from Paganism and Judaism, or
children of Christian parents whose Baptism had been deferred.
For though the practice of Infant-Baptism was certainly common in the
Early Church81
| 81 Cf. Iren. II. c.
xxii. § 4: “Omnes enim venit per semet ipsum salvare;
omnes, inquam, qui per eum renascuntur in Deum, infantes, et
parvulos, et pueros, et juvenes, et seniores. Cf. Concil.
Carthag. iii. Epist. Synod. (Cypriani Ep. lix. vel lxiv.
Routh. R. S. iii. p. 98.) | , it was not compulsory
nor invariable. “In many cases Christian parents may have
shared and acted on the opinion expressed by Tertullian in the second
century, and by Gregory Nazianzen in the fourth, and thought it well to
defer the Baptism of children, cases of grave sickness excepted, till
they were able to make answer in their own name to the interrogations
of the baptismal rite82
| 82 Dict. Chr.
Antiq. “Baptism,” § 101. Tertull.
De Baptismo, c. xviii. “And so, according to the
circumstances, and disposition, and even age of each individual, the
delay of Baptism is preferable; principally, however, in the case of
little children.” Cf. Gregor. Naz. Orat. 40 De
Baptismo, quoted by Bingham, xi. c. 4, § 13. | .”
It is stated
by Bingham83
, but without any
reference to ancient authors, that “the child of believing
parents, as they were baptized in infancy, were admitted Catechumens as
soon as they were capable of learning.” Though the title
“Catechumen” was not usually applied to those who had been
already baptized, it is probable that such children were admitted to
the Lectures addressed to Catechumens both in the earlier and later
stage of their preparation: for it seems to be implied in the
passage quoted above from Cat. xv. 18, that admission was not
limited to the candidates for Baptism.
To believe and to be baptized are the two
essential conditions of membership in Christ’s Church84
: but for the admission of new converts
to the class of Catechumens nothing more could be required than
evidence of a sincere desire to understand, to believe, and ultimately
to be baptized.
We know that unbelievers, Jews, and Heathens were
allowed in the Apostolic age to be present at times in the Christian
assemblies85
; and in Cyril’s
days they stood in the lower part of the Church (νάρθηξ) to hear the
Psalms, Lessons, and Sermon86
| 86 Apostolic
Constitutions, VIII. i. § 5: “And after the
reading of the Law and the Prophets, and our Epistles, and Acts, and
Gospels, let him that is ordained…speak to the people the word of
exhortation, and when he has ended his discourse of doctrine, all
standing up, let the Deacon ascend upon some high seat, and proclaim,
Let none of the hearers, let none of the unbelievers stay:
and silence being made, let him say, Ye Catechumens, pray, and
let all the Faithful pray for them.” | .
Any persons who by thus hearing the word, or by
other means, were brought to believe the truth of Christianity, and to
wish for further instruction, were strictly examined as to their
character, belief, and sincerity of purpose. The care with which
such examinations were conducted is thus described by Origen:
“The Christians, however, having previously, so far as possible,
tested the souls of those who wish to become their hearers, and having
previously admonished them in private, when they seem, before entering
the community, to have made sufficient progress in the desire to lead a
virtuous life, they then introduce them, having privately formed one
class of those who are just beginners, and are being introduced, and
have not yet received the mark of complete purification; and another of
those who have manifested to the best of their ability the purpose of
desiring no other things than are approved by Christians87
| 87 Contra
Celsum, iii. c. 51. Cf. Const. Apost. viii.
32: “Let them be examined as to the causes wherefore they
come to the word of the Lord, and let those who bring them inquire
exactly about their character, and give them their testimony. Let
their manners and their life be inquired into, and whether they be
slaves or free,” &c. | .” Such as were thus found worthy
of admission were brought to the Bishop Presbyter, and received by the
sign of the Cross88
| 88 S. Aug. De
Symbolo, Serm. ad Catechumenos, § 1: “Ye have not
yet been born again by holy Baptism, but by the sign of the Cross ye
have been already conceived in the womb of your mother the
Church.” | , with prayer and
imposition of hands, to the status of Catechumens.
We have a description by Eusebius89
| 89 Vita Const. iv. c.
60. | of some of these ceremonies in the case of
Constantine: When the Emperor felt his life to be drawing to a
close, “he poured forth his supplications and confessions to God,
kneeling on the pavement in the Church itself, in which he also now for
the first time received the imposition of hands with
prayer.” Soon after this the Bishops whom he had summoned
to Nicomedia to give him Baptism, “performed the sacred
ceremonies in the usual manner, and having given him the necessary
instructions made him a partaker of the mystic
ordinances.”
Another ceremony used in the admission of
Catechumens, at least in some Churches, mentioned by S.
Augustine90
| 90 De Peccatorum
meritis, ii. 42. | : “Sanctification is not of one
kind only: for I suppose that Catechumens also are sanctified in
a certain way of their own by the sign of Christ’s Cross, and the
Prayer of the Imposition of Hands; and that which they receive, though
it be not the Body of Christ, is yet an holy thing, and more holy than
the common food which sustains us, because it is a
sacrament.” From this passage it has been inferred that
consecrated bread (εὐλογίαι,
panis benedictus), taken out of the oblations provided for
the Eucharist, was given to the Catechumens,—an opinion which
seemed to have some support in the comparison between “that which
the Catechumens receive,” and “the food which sustains
us.” But Bingham maintains91
that S. Augustine
here refers only to the symbolical use of salt, of which he says in his
Confessions, I. xi., that while yet a boy he “used to be
marked with the sign of His Cross, and seasoned with His
salt.” The meaning of this so-called “Sacrament of
the Catechumens” was that by the symbol of salt “they might
learn to purge and cleanse their souls from sin.”
In the African Church in the time of S. Augustine it was
customary to anoint the new convert with exorcised oil at the time of
his admission, but in the Eastern Church there seems to have been no
such anointing until immediately before Baptism.
Persons who had been thus admitted to the class of
Catechumens were usually regarded as Christians, but only in a lower
degree, being still clearly distinguished from the Faithful.
“Ask a man, Art thou a Christian? If he is a Pagan or a
Jew, he answers, I am not. But if he say, I am, you ask him
further, Catechumen or Faithful? If he answer, Catechumen, he has
been anointed, but not yet baptized92
| 92 S. August. In
Joh. Evang. Tract. xliv. § 2. | .”
Augustine, like Tertullian, complains that among heretics there was no
sure distinction between the Catechumen and the Faithful93
| 93 Serm. xlvi.
de Pastoribus, c. 13: Tertull. de Præscriptione
Hæret. c. 41: “Imprimis quis Catechumenus, quis
Fidelis, in certum est.” | : and according to the second General
Council, Canon 7, converts from certain heresies to the orthodox
Faith were to be received only as heathen: “On the first
day we make them Christians, on the second Catechumens, on the third we
exorcise them by three times breathing on them on the face and on the
ears; and so we instruct them (κατηχοῦμεν),
and make them frequent the Church for a long time, and listen to the
Holy Scriptures, and then we baptize them.”
Whether Cyril calls his hearers Christians before
they had been baptized is not very clear: in Cat. x.
§ 16, he seems to include them among those who are called by the
“new name;” but in § 20 of the same Lecture he assumes
that there may be present some one who “was before a believer
(πιστός),” and
to him he says “Thou wert called a Christian; be tender of the
name,” and in Lect. xxi. i, speaking to those who had now been
baptized, he says, “Having therefore become partakers of
Christ, ye are properly called Christs. Now ye have been made
Christs by receiving the antitype of the Holy Ghost,” that is,
Chrism.
§ 4. Candidates for
Baptism. Bingham, who himself makes four classes or degrees
of Catechumens, acknowledges that “the Greek expositors of the
ancient Canons,” and other writers, “usually make but two
sorts94
| 94 Ant. X. ii.
1–5. The Council of Nicæa, Canon xiv., seems to speak
only of two classes. | .” These were (1) the
imperfect (ἀτελέστεροι),
called also hearers (ἀκροώμενοι
, audientes), because in Church they were only allowed to remain
till the Holy Scriptures had been read, the Sermon preached, the
special prayers of the Catechumens said, and the blessing given to each
by the Bishop in the words of the “prayer of the imposition of
hands95
| 95 Const. Apost. viii.
§ 6. | .” After this the Deacon says,
“Go out, ye catechumens, in peace.” (2) After
the Energumens also have been dismissed, the more perfect
(τελειότεροι,
φωτιζόμενοι)
remain on their knees in prayer (γονυκλίνοντες,
εὐχόμενοι).
Then the Deacon is to cry aloud, “Ye that are to be illuminated,
pray. Let us the faithful all pray for them. And being
sealed to God through His Christ, let them bow down their heads, and
receive the blessing from the Bishop.” The “Prayer of
the Imposition of hands” is then pronounced over them by the
Bishop.
The period of probation and instruction varied at
different times and places: according to Canon 42 of the Synod of
Elvira, 305, it was to be two years: “He who has a good
name, and wishes to become a
Christian, must be a Catechumen two years: then he maybe
baptized96
| 96 Hefele,
Councils, i. p. 155. Const. Apost. viii. 32:
“Let him that is to be instructed be a catechumen three
years.” | .” After this probation had been
satisfactorily passed, the Catechumens invited to give in their names
as Candidates for Baptism. This invitation, described by Cyril as
a call to military service (κλῆσις
στρατείας)97
,
appears to have been often repeated on the approach of Lent.
Thus S. Ambrose, in his Commentary on S. Luke, v. 5; We
have toiled all night and have taken nothing, complains,
“I too, Lord, know that for me it is night, when I have not
Thy command. No one yet has given his name: with my
voice I have cast the net throughout Epiphany, and as yet I have
taken nothing.”
This preliminary “call to service”
must be distinguished from the actual enlistment in the Christian army
at Baptism, in anticipation of which Cyril prays for his hearers that
God “may enlist them in His service, and put on them the armour
of righteousness98
.” The same
metaphorical language in reference to the Christian warfare recurs in
many passages99
| 99 See Cat. i. 3; iii. 3, 13;
iv. 36, xvii. 36; xxi. 4. | .
The next step for those who responded to the call was
the registration of names (ὀνοματογραφία
)100
. It appears from passages of Dionysius
Pseudo-Areopagites, quoted by Bingham101
, that the
Bishop, after laying his hand on each Catechumen’s head,
commanded his Presbyters and Deacons to register his name, together
with that of his sponsor (ἀνάδοχος) in the
Diptychs of the living. This ceremony took place at Jerusalem at
the beginning of Lent, as we learn from Procat. § 1:
“Thou hast entered, been approved; thy name inscribed.…A
long notice is allowed thee; thou hast forty days for
repentance.” Those who had been admitted as candidates for
Baptism were in most Churches still reckoned among the Catechumens,
being distinguished as συναιτοῦντες
, “competentes.” But from Cyril’s
language in several passages it appears that in the Church of Jerusalem
they ceased to be regarded as Catechumens, and were reckoned among the
Faithful. “Thou wert called a Catechumen, while the word
echoed round thee from without. Think not that thou receivest a
small thing: though a miserable man, thou receivest one of
God’s titles. Hear S. Paul saying, God is
faithful. But beware, lest thou have the title of
‘faithful,’ but the will of the faithless102
.” “Thou receivest a new
name which thou hadst not before. Heretofore thou wast a
Catechumen, but now thou wilt be called a Believer (Πιστός)103
.”
Again, “How great a dignity the Lord bestows
on you in transferring you from the order of Catechumens to that of the
Faithful, the Apostle Paul shews, when he affirms, God is
faithful104
.”
Two passages in S. Cyril have been thought to
imply that the newly-admitted Candidates for Baptism carried lighted
torches in procession, perhaps on the first Sunday after the
registration. He speaks of their having received “torches
of the bridal procession105
| 105 λαμπάδες
νυμφαγωγίας, Procat. § 1. | ;” and on this
expression the Benedictine Editor observes that “Wax
tapers” were perhaps given to the Illuminandi to carry, a
custom which may also be indicated in the words, “Ye who have
lately lighted the torches of faith, guard them carefully in your hands
unquenched106
.”
Others are of opinion that the custom of carrying
torches or tapers was observed only in the procession of the
newly-baptized from the Baptistery to the Church107
| 107 Bingham,
Ant. X. ii. § 15. | ,
and that here Cyril means by the “bridal lamps,” those
motions of the Holy Ghost, and spiritual instructions, which had
lighted their way to Christ, and to the entrance to His
Kingdom108
| 108 Dict. Chr. Antiq.
Vol. ii. p. 995, note. | . This latter interpretation is rather
vague and far-fetched, and it is evident that the words, “Ye who
have lately lighted the torches of faith,” gain much in clearness
and force, if suggested by the visible symbolism of a ceremony in which
the Illuminandi had just borne their part. The
lighted torches would be a
significant symbol both of the marriage of the soul with Christ, and of
its enlightenment by faith.
§ 5. φωτιζόμενοι.
In the first words of his Introductory Lecture Cyril addresses his
hearers as οἱ
φωτιζόμενοι,
“Ye who are being enlightened,” and from the Titles of the
Catechetical Lectures i.–xviii., we see that this name was
constantly used to distinguish the candidates preparing for immediate
Baptism.
The Verb φωτίζω is frequently
used by the LXX., both in a physical and in a spiritual sense. In
the New Testament it is found but rarely in the physical sense109
, being generally applied to the light of
spiritual truth, and to Christ as its source110
| 110 Bible:Eph.1.18 Bible:Eph.3.9 Bible:2Tim.1.10 Bible:Rev.21.23 Bible:Rev.22.5">John i. 9; 1
Cor. iv. 5; 2 Cor. iv. 4, 6; Eph. i. 18; iii. 9; 2 Tim. i. 10; Apoc.
xxi. 23; xxii. 5. | .
In two passages of the Epistle to the Hebrews, the
Aorist (φωτισθέντας
) marks “the decisive moment when the light was apprehended in
its glory111
| 111 Westcott,
“Hebrews,” vi. 4; x. 32. | ,” from which
the thought easily passes on to the public profession of the truth thus
received, that is, to Baptism.
That the word began very early to be used in this
new sense, is evident from Justin Martyr’s explanation of it in
his First Apology, c. 61; where, after speaking of instruction
in Christian doctrine, of the profession of faith, and the promise of
repentance and holy living, as the necessary preparations for Baptism,
he thus proceeds: “And this washing is called Illumination
(σωτισμός),
because they who learn these things are illuminated in their
understanding.112
| 112 ὡςφωτιζομένων
τὴν διάνοιαν
τῶν ταῦτα
μανθανόντων. | ” The same
transition of the meaning from instruction to Baptism is clearly
implied by Clement of Alexandria: “Among the barbarian
philosophers also to instruct and to enlighten is called to
regenerate113
| 113 Strom. V. c. 2,
§ 15. | ,” and
again: “For this reason the teaching, which made manifest
the hidden things, has been called illumination (φωτισμός)114
| 114 Strom. V. c. x.
§ 65. Cf. V. c. viii. § 49. | .”
That this is the sense in which Cyril uses the
word is placed beyond doubt by a passage of the Lecture delivered
immediately before the administration of Baptism: “that
your soul being previously illuminated (προφωτιζομένης
) by the word of doctrine, ye may in each particular discover the
greatness of the gifts bestowed on you by God115
.”
We thus see that the Present Participle (φωτιζόμενοι)
describes a process of gradual illumination during the course of
instruction, to be completed in Baptism, a sense which is well
expressed in the Latin Gerundive “Illuminandi.” And
as we have seen that the candidates are addressed as οἱ
φωτιζόμενοι
even before the course of instruction has commenced, the
quasi-Future sense “follows necessarily from the context116
| 116 Cf. Winer,
Grammar of N.T. Greek, Sect. xl. 22, note 3. | .”
The spiritual “Illumination,” of which
Baptism was to be the completion and the seal, thus became by a natural
development one of the recognised names of Baptism itself. On the
contrary, the inverse process assumed by the Benedictine Editor is
entirely unnatural. Starting from the later ecclesiastical use of
φωτίζω and
φωτισμός as
connoting Baptism, he supposes that this was the first application of
those terms, and that they were transferred to the previous
illumination acquired by instruction in Christian truth, only because
this was a necessary preparation for Baptism. He therefore
maintains that φωτιζόμενοι
throughout the Catechetical Lectures is another term for βαπτιζόμενοι: and as a decisive proof of this he refers to Cat. xvi.
26: μέλλει δὲ
καὶ ἐπὶ σὲ
τὸν
βαπτιζόμενον
φθάνειν ἡ
χάρις, not observing that the grace is
to come upon “the person being baptized” at a time still
future. This meaning of the passage is made absolutely certain by
the words which immediately follow,—“But in what manner I
say not, for I will not anticipate the proper season.” We
may conclude, therefore, that in Cyril’s Lectures the term
οἱ
φωτιζόμενοι
refers to the preparatory course of enlightenment rather than to
Baptism. At the same time we must remember that in Cyril’s
day, and long before, φωτίζω, φωτισμός, and
φώτισμα
were constantly used to denote Baptism itself, as being the time of special
illumination by the grace of the Holy Spirit then given. Thus
Clement of Alexandria writes: “In Baptism we are
illuminated.…This work is variously called grace, and
illumination (φώτισμα), and
perfection, and washing:…illumination, by which that holy light
of salvation is beheld, that is, by which we see God clearly117
| 117 Pædag. I.
vi. § 25. (Syllb. 41). | .” Gregory Nazianzen speaks in the
same way: “We call it gift, grace, baptism, chrism,
illumination, garment of incorruption, washing of regeneration, seal,
all that is precious118
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