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| Ceremonies of Baptism and Chrism.
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Chapter IV.—Ceremonies of Baptism and Chrism.
§ 1. Renunciation. We have
seen that Cyril’s last Catechetical Lecture was delivered in the
early dawn of the Great Sabbath, Easter Eve. The additional
instructions then promised165
concerning the
behaviour of the Candidates were given on the same day, probably in the
evening, when they were all assembled immediately before the
administration of Baptism. The most important parts of the
Baptismal ceremony are described by Cyril in the first Mystagogic
Lecture, delivered on the Monday of Easter week. Thus in § 1
he says, Let us now teach you these things exactly, that ye may know
the significance of the things done to you on that evening of your
Baptism.”
The first act was the renunciation of the Devil
and all his works. This, as described by Tertullian, was done
first in the Church “under the hand of the Bishop,” and
again immediately before entering the water166
. Cyril speaks of the latter occasion
only. “First ye entered into the outer chamber of the
Baptistery, and there facing towards the West (as the region of
darkness) ye heard the command to stretch forth your hand, and as in
the presence of Satan to renounce him167
.”
For the formula of renunciation in the Apostolical Constitutions, see
note 2 on Mystag. i. § 8; it corresponds closely with
Cyril’s, except that this is addressed to Satan as if personally
present: “ I renounce thee, Satan 168
, and
all thy works169
, and all thy
pomp170
, and all thy worship171
.”
§ 2. Profession of Faith.
After the renunciation of Satan the Candidate immediately turned to the
East and said, “And I associate myself (συντάσσομαι
) with Christ.” Cyril does not give the words, but seems to
allude to the custom, when he speaks of the Candidates “turning
from the West to the East, the place of light172
.”
Then, still facing the East, the Candidate was
bidden to say, “I believe in the Father, and in the Son, and in
the Holy Ghost, and in one Baptism of repentance173
.” We have seen that in Cat.
xviii. 22, 32, Cyril intimated to his Candidates that they would be
required to profess publicly the Creed which he had delivered to them
and which they had repeated after him. This public profession of
faith (῾Ομολογία,
“Redditio Symboli”) was in some Churches made on Holy
Thursday, according to Canon 46 of the Synod of Laodicea:
“Those to be baptized must learn the Creed by heart, and recite
it to the Bishop or Presbyters on the fifth day of the
week.” But in the Apostolic Constitutions, c. xli.,
Candidate is required to recite the whole Creed immediately after the
Renunciation: “And after his renunciation let him in his
consociation (συντασσόμενος)
say: ‘And I associate myself to Christ, and believe and am
baptized into One Unbegotten Being, the Only True God Almighty, the
Father of Christ,.…and into the Lord Jesus Christ.…and I am
baptized into the Holy Ghost,.…into the resurrection of the
flesh, and into the remission of sins, and into the kingdom of heaven,
and into the life of the world to come.’ And after this vow
he comes in order to the anointing with oil.”
Such appears to have been the custom of the Eastern
Churches in general and of Jerusalem in Cyril’s time, although he
mentions only those articles of the Creed which were commonly held to
be indispensable to a valid profession of Christian belief.
Dr. Swainson174
| 174 Creeds of the
Church, p. 17. | represents the
matter somewhat differently: “When we come to the
profession of his own personal faith which was made at Jerusalem by the
Candidate for Baptism, we find that this was far briefer not only than
the collection of ‘necessary things’ (Cat. iv.), but also
than the Creed of the Church of Jerusalem.” Then after
quoting the short form in Cyril, Myst. i. § 9, “I
believe in the Father, and in the Son, and in the Holy Ghost, and in
one Baptism of repentance,” Dr. Swainson adds: “The
words are clear and definite. In these words each answered the
question of which we read elsewhere, ‘Did he believe in the name
of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit?’ In this
his reply the Candidate ‘confessed’ what Cyril called
‘the saving confession.’”
It is evident that two separate parts of the
Baptismal Service are here confused: the question to which Dr.
Swainson alludes, and “the saving confession” of which
Cyril speaks in Mystag. ii. § 4, belong, as we shall
presently see, to a later stage of the ceremony.
§ 3. First Unction. On
passing from the outer to the inner chamber of the Baptistery, the
Candidate who had made his renunciation and profession barefoot and
wearing his tunic (Χιτών)175
| 175 Pseudo-Dionysius
Areopag. Eccl. Hierarch. iii. |
only, now put off this inner garment also, as an emblem of putting off
the man with his deeds176
. A further
significance is ascribed by Cyril to this unclothing of Candidate, as
being an imitation both of Christ, who hung naked177
| 177 This passage has
recently (1891) acquired a special interest from the controversy
concerning Mr. Calderon’s picture, representing St. Elisabeth of
Hungary as kneeling naked before the altar. The word
“naked” (γυμνός, nudus) is not in
itself decisive, but here in St. Cyril’s account of Baptism
absolute nakedness seems to be implied; for though women sometimes wore
an under-tunic (χιτώνιον), men
had nothing beneath the tunic proper (χιτών), which is here said to be
put off. According to Theophylact, on Matt. v. 40, the chiton was
properly τὸ παρ᾽
ἡμῖν
λεγόμενον
ὑποκάμισοε. See Dictionary of Biblical Antiquities,
“Baptism,” § 48. |
on the Cross, and by His nakedness put off from Himself the
principalities and the powers, and “of the first-formed Adam,
who was naked in the garden, and was not ashamed.”
“Then, when ye were stripped, ye were
anointed with exorcised oil, from the very hairs your head to your
feet178
.” The consecration of the
“exorcised oil” is thus described179
| 179 Const. Apost.
vii. c. 42. | : “Now this is blessed by the
chief-priest for the remission of sins, and the first preparation for
Baptism. For he calls thus upon the Unbegotten God, the Father of
Christ, the King of all sensible and intelligent natures, that He would
sanctify the oil in the name of the Lord Jesus, and impart to it
spiritual grace and efficacious strength, the remission of sins, and
the first preparation for the confession of Baptism, that so the
Candidate for Baptism, when he is anointed may be freed from all
ungodliness, and may become worthy of initiation, according to the
command of the Only-begotten.”
Bingham’s observation, that Cyril describes
this first unction as used “between the renunciation and the
confession180
” is not quite
accurate: in fact it came between two confessions, the one made,
as we have seen, immediately after the renunciation in the outer
chamber, the other at the
very time of immersion. Chrysostom181
| 181 Ephes. i. Hom. i.
§ 3. |
clearly distinguishes two Confessions, but places one before Baptism,
and the other after: “What can be more beautiful than the
words by which we renounce the devil? Or those by which we
associate ourselves with Christ? Than that confession which comes
before the washing? Or that which comes after the
washing?”
This first unction is not mentioned by Tertullian,
nor in any genuine work of Justin Martyr, but in the Responsiones ad
Orthodoxos, a work which though still early is regarded as
certainly spurious, we find the question put, “Why are we first
anointed with oil, and then, having performed the before-mentioned
symbolic acts in the Laver, are afterwards sealed with the ointment,
and do not regard this as done in opposition to what took place in our
Lord’s case, who was first anointed with ointment and then
suffered182
?” And in
the answer it is stated that “We are anointed with the simple oil
that we may be made Christs (Χριστοί), but with the
ointment in remembrance of our Saviour Christ, who regarded the
anointing with ointment as His burial, and called us to the fellowship
of His own sufferings and glory, typically in the present life but
truly in the life to come.”
Cyril attributes to this “exorcised
oil” the same power as to Exorcism itself, “not only to
burn and cleanse away the traces of sin, but also to chase away all the
invisible powers of the evil one183
.”
According to the directions concerning this first
unction in the Apostolical Constitutions184
, the
Bishop was first to anoint the head only, the anointing of the whole
body being then completed by the Deacon or Deaconess.
§ 4. Baptism. After this
anointing the Candidates were “led by the hand to the sacred pool
of Holy Baptism185
.” This
pool (κολυμβήθρα)
was supplied with water raised from the reservoirs, of which, as we
shall see, the Bordeaux Pilgrim speaks in his description of the
Basilica.
As great multitudes both of men and women were
baptized at the special seasons, the Baptisteries were large buildings
outside the Church, such as the Baptistery of the Lateran, said to have
been originally built by Constantine. The font itself also was
large enough for several persons to be baptized at the same time.
In some places the men were baptized first, and then the women:
in others different parts of the Baptistery were assigned to them, and
curtains were hung across the Font itself186
| 186 Bingham,
Ant. VIII. c. 7, § 2; XI. c. 11, § 3. | .
The consecration of the water is not mentioned in
the Didache or Justin Martyr; but Tertullian thus describes its
effect: “The waters after invocation of God acquire the
sacramental power of sanctification; for immediately the Spirit comes
down from heaven upon the waters, and rests upon them, sanctifying them
from Himself, and they being thus sanctified imbibe a power of
sanctifying187
.”
In the prayer of consecration given in the
Apostolic Constitutions the Bishop is directed first to offer adoration
and thanksgiving to the Father and Son, and then to call upon the
Father and say: “Look down from heaven, and sanctify this
water, and give it grace and power, that so he that is to be baptized,
according to the command of Thy Christ, may be crucified with Him, and
may die with Him, and may be buried with Him, and may rise with Him to
the adoption which is in Him, that he may be dead to sin, and live to
righteousness188
.”
Cyril ascribes the like effect to the consecration
of the water, as imparting to it a new power of holiness by “the
invocation of the Holy Ghost, and of Christ, and of the Father189
| 189 Cat. iii. §
3. See also Introduction, ch. vi. § 2. | .”
While standing in the water the Candidate made what
Cyril calls “the saving confession190
.”
The whole Creed having been already recited (Redditio Symboli)
in the outer chamber immediately after the Renunciation, a short form
was now employed containing only the necessary declaration of faith in
the Holy Trinity, and in the Baptism of Repentance for the remission of
sins.
§ 5. Trine Immersion. This
short confession appears to have been ‘made by way of question
and answer thrice repeated. “Thou wast asked, Dost thou
believe in God the Father Almighty? Thou saidst, I believe, and
dippedst thyself, that is, wast buried. Again thou wast asked,
Dost thou believe in our Lord Jesus Christ and in His Cross? Thou
saidst, I believe, and dippedst thyself; therefore thou wast buried
with Christ also: for he who is buried with Christ, rises again
with Christ. A third time thou wast asked, Dost thou believe also
in the Holy Ghost? Thou saidst, I believe, a third time thou
dippedst thyself; that the threefold confession might absolve the
manifold fault of thy former life191
| 191 Pseudo-Ambros.
de Sacramentis, II. c. 7. | .”
But Cyril of Alexandria, as quoted by Bingham192
,
“makes these answers not only to be a confession of the three
Persons of the Trinity, but a triple confession of Christ; which
implies a repetition of the Creed (the shortened form?) three times
over.”
In which of these ways the threefold interrogation
(“usitata et legitima verba interrogationis”) was made at
Jerusalem, is not quite certain from Cyril’s words:
“Each was asked, Dost thou believe in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and ye made that saving confession,
and went down thrice into the water193
.”
The Didaché194
enjoins baptism
simply into the names of the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity.
Justin Martyr195
adds a few words only
to the names “of God the Father and Lord of the universe, and of
our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit;” and
Tertullian196
observes that
“Wherever there are three, that is, the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit, there is the Church, which is a body of
three.” The trine immersion had reference not only to the
Trinity, but was also a symbol of the three days of our Saviour’s
burial197
| 197 Mystag. ii.
§ 4, note 3. | . The use of the three Holy Names was
made more strictly indispensable as heresies were multiplied:
thus the 49th Apostolic Canon, which, Hefele says, “must be
reckoned among the most ancient Canons of the Church,” orders
that “If any Bishop or Presbyter does not baptize, according to
the Lord’s command, into the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost,
but into three Beings without beginning, or into three Sons, or three
Comforters, he shall be deprived.”
We see here that the power of administering
Baptism was not restricted to the Bishop: and Cyril speaks of it
as possessed by “Bishops, or Presbyters, or Deacons,”
assigning as the reason the great increase of believers, “for the
grace is everywhere, in villages and in cities, on them of low as on
them of high degree, on bondsmen and on freemen198
.”
Thus the rule of Ignatius199
, that
“it is not lawful either to baptize or to hold a love-feast apart
from the Bishop (χωρὶς τοῦ
ἐπισκόπου),”
must be understood to mean “without the authority and permission
of the Bishop.”
Of certain minor ceremonies connected with
Baptism, such as the “Kiss of peace,” and the taste of milk
and honey administered to the neophyte200
| 200 Bingham,
Ant. XII. c. 4, §§ 5, 6. | , no
mention is made by Cyril.
§ 6. Chrism. The custom of
anointing the baptized with consecrated ointment is regarded by Cyril
as a sacramental act representing the anointing of Jesus by the Spirit
at His Baptism. “As the Holy Ghost in substance lighted on
Him, like resting upon like, so, after you had come up from the pool of
the sacred waters, there was given to you an unction the counterpart
(τὸ
ἀντίτυπον)
of that wherewith He was anointed, and this is the Holy Ghost201
.” As “He was anointed with
a spiritual oil of gladness, that is with the Holy Ghost,
called oil of gladness,
because He is the author of spiritual gladness, so ye were anointed
with ointment, and made partakers and fellows of the Christ202
.” The ceremony was very
ancient: there is probably a reference to it in the words of
Theophilus of Antioch203
(c.
a.d. 170): “We are called
Christians, because we are anointed with the oil of God.”
Tertullian, a little later, after speaking of Baptism, says:
“Immediately on coming out of the Laver we are thoroughly
anointed with a consecrated unction204
;” and
again, “After that, the hand is laid upon us in benediction,
invoking and inviting the Holy Ghost205
.” In
another passage206
| 206 De Resurr.
Carnis, c. 8. | he mentions also the
sign of the Cross: “The flesh is washed, that the soul may
be cleansed; the flesh is anointed that the soul may be consecrated,
the flesh is signed [with the Cross] that the soul also may be guarded;
the flesh is overshadowed by imposition of the hand, that the soul also
may be illuminated by the Spirit.”
The consecration of the ointment is compared by Cyril to
the consecration of the Eucharist; after the invocation of the Holy
Ghost it is no longer simple or common ointment, but a gift
(Χάρισμα) of
Christ, and by the presence of the Holy Ghost is able to impart of His
Divine Nature. And this ointment is symbolically applied to thy
forehead, and thy other organs of sense207
.”
The ears, nostrils, and breast were each to be
anointed, and Cyril explains the symbolical meaning in each case by
appropriate passages of Scripture208
.
The consecration of the chrism could be performed
by none but the Bishop, and he alone could anoint the forehead209
, Presbyters being allowed to anoint the
breast, but only with chrism received from the Bishop210
| 210 See the
authorities in Bingham, Ant. xii. c. 2, §§ 1,
2. | . The several ceremonies are thus
explained in the Apostolical Constitutions211
: “This baptism is given into the
death of Jesus: the water is instead of the burial, and the oil
instead of the Holy Ghost; the seal instead of the Cross; the ointment
is the confirmation of the Confession212
| 212 Const. Apost.
vii. c. 22. | .”
In like manner the chrism is explained again,
“The ointment is the seal of the covenants213
| 213 Ib. vii. c. 43.
Cf. Cat. iii. 17. | ,” that is, both of God’s
promises, and of the Baptismal vows.
The members to be anointed were not the same in
all Churches, but everywhere the chief ceremony was the anointing of
the forehead with the sign of the Cross. This is what Cyril calls
“the Royal Sign214
,” and
“the Royal Seal to be borne upon the forehead of Christ’s
soldiers215
,” and again,
“The Seal of the fellowship of the Holy Ghost216
.”
These last were probably the very words pronounced by
the Bishop in making the sign of the Cross on the forehead, for by
Canon 7 of the Second General Council at Antioch (381), converts from
heretical sects were to be “sealed or anointed with the holy
ointment on the forehead, eyes, nostrils, mouth, and ears. And in
sealing them we say, ‘The seal of the gift of the Holy
Ghost.’”
An additional prayer to be said by the Bishop is
given in the Apostolical Constitutions217
: “O Lord God, the Unbegotten, who
hast no Lord, who art Lord of all, who madest the odour of the
knowledge of the Gospel to go forth among all nations, grant also now
that this ointment may be efficacious upon him that is baptized
(βαπτιζομένῳ),
that the sweet odour of thy Christ may remain firm and stable in him,
and that having died with Him, he may arise and live with
Him.”
The whole ceremony was called by the Greeks
“Chrism,” the “Unction” being regarded by them
as the chief part. In the Latin Church the name Confirmation is
of later date, and indicates that greater importance was then attached
to the “Laying on of Hands” with prayer.
Another
ceremony, not alluded to by Cyril, was the saying of the Lord’s
Prayer by the neophyte, standing up, and facing towards the
East218
| 218 Const. Apost.
vii. c. 44. | , after which he was also to pray, “O
God Almighty, the Father of Thy Christ, Thine Only-begotten Son, give
me a body undefiled, a clean heart, a watchful mind, an unerring
knowledge, the influence (ἐπιφοίτησιν)
of the Holy Ghost for attainment and full assurance of the truth,
through Thy Christ, by whom be glory to Thee in the Holy Ghost for
ever. Amen.”E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
|
