Mystagogical Catechesis II: On the Baptismal Rites
il On the Baptismal Rites The reading is from the Epistle to the Romans, from "Do you not know that as many of you as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death," to "For this is not from law but from grace"
(Rom 6.3-14).
Profitable to us are these daily mystagogical lectures and newer teachings, which proclaim new things, especially for you, who have passed from the old into the new. On account of this pressing need,
I will set before you the sequel to yesterday's mystagogical lecture, that you might learn of what the things, which were done by you in the inner room, were the symbols.
Immediately, then, having entered, you stripped off your clothing. And this was an image of "putting off the old man with his deeds" (Col 3.9). Having stripped, you were naked, imitating also by this the nakedness of Christ on the cross, who in his nakedness
"disarmed the principalities and powers, and openly triumphed over them on the tree" (Col 2.15). For inasmuch as the hostile powers made their dwelling in your members, never again can you wear that old clothing. I am not referring here to that which is perceived, but to "the old man corrupted in deceitful lust" (Eph 4.22). Let then no soul who has once put that one off be clothed again (in him), but say, according to the spouse of Christ in the Song of Songs: "I have
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TOV χιτῶνά µου, πῶς ἐνδύσομαι αὐτόν» Ὦ θαυμασίου πράγματος; γυμνοὶ ἦτε ἐν ὄψεσι πάντων καὶ οὐκ ἠσχύνεσθε. Ἀληθῶς γὰρ µίµηµα ἐφέρετε τοῦ πρωτοπλάστου Addu, ὃς ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ γυμνὸς ἦν καὶ οὐκ ἠσχύνετο.
Εἶτα ἀποδυθέντες, ἐλαίῳ ἠλείφεσθε ἐπορκιστῷ an' ἄκρων τριχῶν κορυφῆς ἕως τῶν κάτω, καὶ κοινωνοὶ ἐγίνεσθε τῆς καλλιελαίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. Ἐκκοπέντες γὰρ ἐκ τῆς ἀγριελαίου ἐνεκεντρίζεσθε εἰς τὴν καλλιέλαιον καὶ κοινωνοὶ ἐγίνεσθε τῆς πιότητος τῆς ἀληθινῆς ἐλαίας. Τὸ οὖν ἐπορκιστὸν ἔλαιον σύμβολον ἦν τῆς κοινωνίας τῆς πιότητος τοῦ Χριστοῦ, φυγαδευτήριον τυγχάνον παντὸς ἴχνους ἀντικειμένης ἐνεργείας.
θεοῦ ἐπίκλησις ὥσπερ σφοδροτάτη φλὸξ καίει καὶ ἐκδιώκει δαίμονας, οὕτω καὶ τὸ ἐπορκιστὸν τοῦτο ἔλαιον ἐπικλήσει θεοῦ καὶ εὐχῇ δύναμιν τηλικαύτην λαμβάνει, ὥστε οὐ µόνον καῖον τὰ ἴχνη τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ἀποκαθαίρειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάσας ἀοράτους τοῦ πονηροῦ ἐκδιώκειν τὰς δυνάμεις.
Meta ταῦτα ἐπὶ τὴν ἁγίαν τοῦ θείου βαπτίσματος ἐχειραγωγεῖσθε κολυµβήθραν, ὡς ὁ Χριστὸς ἀπὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ ἐπὶ τὸ προκείµενον μνῆμα. Καὶ ἠρωτᾶτο ἕκαστος, εἰ πιστεύει εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος. Καὶ ὡμολογήσατε τὴν σωτήριον ὁμολογίαν, καὶ κατεδύετε τρίτον
εἰς τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ πάλιν ἀνεδύετε, καὶ ἐνταῦθα διὰ συμβόλου τὴν τριήµερον τοῦ Χριστοῦ αἰνιττόμενοι ταφήν. Καθάπερ γὰρ ὁ σωτὴρ ἡμῶν «τρεῖς ἡμέρας καὶ τρεῖς νύκτας ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ τῆς γῆς» ἐποίησεν, οὕτω καὶ ὑμεῖς ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ ἀναδύσει τὴν πρώτην ἐμιμεῖσθε τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐν τῇ γῇ ἡμέραν καὶ τῇ καταδύσει τὴν νύκτα: ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ ἐν νυκτὶ οὐκέτι βλέπει, ὁ δὲ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ἐν φωτὶ διάγει, οὕτως ἐν τῇ καταδύσει ὡς ἐν νυκτὶ οὐδὲν ἑωρᾶτε,
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On the Baptismal Rites
taken off my clothing; how shall I put it on?" (Song 5.3). O wondrous thing! You were naked in the sight of everyone and you were not ashamed. For truly you were imitating the first-formed Adam, who was himself naked in paradise and not ashamed.
Next, being stripped, you were anointed with exorcized oil from the top of the hairs of your head to the lower parts of your body and you became partakers of the good olive tree, Jesus Christ. For, being cut from the wild olive tree, you were grafted into the good olive tree
(cf. Rom 11.24) and became sharers of the richness of the true olive tree. The exorcized oil, therefore, was the symbol of the communion of the richness of Christ, that which has received the power to repel all traces of the opposing power. For just as the breathing of the holy ones and the invocation of the name of God, like a fierce flame, burns and drives out demons, so also at the invocation of God and prayer this exorcized oil receives such great power, not only burning to remove all traces of sin, but also to repel all visible powers of the evil one.
After these things you were led to the holy and divine pool of baptism, just as Christ was taken from the cross to the tomb that stands before you. And each one was asked if he believed in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. You professed this saving confession and you descended three times into the water and ascended again, thereby also re-enacting through symbol the three-day burial of Christ. For just as our Savior spent "three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Mt 12.40), so also you in your first ascent imitated the first day of Christ in the earth and in your descent the night. For just as one in the night no longer sees, but he who is in the day remains in the light, so also in the descent you
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ἐν δὲ τῇ ἀναδύσει ὡς ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ἐτυγχάνετε ὄντες. Καὶ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ ἀπεθνήσκετε καὶ ἐγεννᾶσθε, καὶ τὸ σωτήριον ἐκεῖνο ὕδωρ καὶ τάφος ὑμῖν ἐγίνετο καὶ µήτηρ. Καὶ ὅπερ Σαλομῶν ἐπὶ ἄλλων εἴρηκε, τοῦτο ἁρμόσαι ἂν ὑμῖν. Ἐκεῖ μὲν γὰρ ἔλεγε: «καιρὸς τοῦ τεκεῖν καὶ καιρὸς τοῦ ἀποθανεῖν» ἐφ᾽ ὑμῖν δὲ τὸ ἀνάπαλιν: καιρὸς τοῦ ἀποθανεῖν καὶ καιρὸς τοῦ γεννηθῆναι. Καὶ εἷς καιρὸς ἀμφοτέρων τούτων ποιητικός, καὶ σύνδροµος ἐγίνετο τῷ θανάτῳ ἡ γέννησις ἡ ὑμετέρα.
Ὢ ξένου καὶ παραδόξου πράγματος: οὐκ ἀληθῶς ἀπεθάνομεν, οὐδ᾽ ἀληθῶς ἐτάφημεν, 00d' ἀληθῶς σταυρωθέντες ἀνέστημεν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν εἰκόνι ἡ µίµησις, ἐν ἀληθείᾳ δὲ ἡ σωτηρία. Χριστὸς ὄντως ἐσταυρώθη καὶ ὄντως ἐτάφη καὶ ἀληθῶς ἀνέστη, καὶ πάντα ἡμῖν ταῦτα κεχάρισται, ἵνα τῇ µιµήσει τῶν παθῶν αὐτοῦ κοινωνήσαντες ἀληθείᾳ τὴν σωτηρίαν κερδήσωµεν. Ὢ φιλανθρωπίας ὑπερβαλλούσης: Χριστὸς ἐδέξατο ἐπὶ τῶν ἀχράντων αὐτοῦ χειρῶν ἥλους καὶ ἤλγησε, κἀμοὶ ἀναλγητὶ καὶ ἀπονητὶ χαρίζεται διὰ τῆς τοῦ ἄλγους κοινωνίας χαρίζεται τὴν σωτηρίαν.
ΜΠηδεὶς οὖν νοµιζέτω τὸ βάπτισμα ἀφέσεως ἁμαρτιῶν µόνον, καὶ υἱοθεσίας χάριν τυγχάνειν, ὡς τὸ Ἰωάννου ἐτύγχανε βάπτισμα µόνης ἀφέσεως ἁμαρτημάτων παρεκτικόν. Ἀλλ᾽ ἀκριβῶς εἰδότων ἡμῶν, ὅτι ὥς ἐστιν ἁμαρτημάτων καθαρτήριον καὶ πνεύματος ἁγίου δωρεᾶς πρόξενον, οὕτω καὶ τῶν τοῦ Χριστοῦ παθηµάτων ἀντίτυπον. Ata τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ Παῦλος ἀρτίως βοῶν ἔλεγεν. «ἢ ἀγνοεῖτε, ὅτι, ὅσοι ἐβαπτίσθημεν εἰς Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν, εἰς τὸν θάνατον αὐτοῦ ἐβαπτίσθημεν; Συνετάφηµεν οὖν αὐτῷ διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος εἰς τὸν θάνατον.» Ἴσως γὰρ πρός τινας ταῦτα ἔλεγε διατεθέντας, ὡς ἀφέσεως ἁμαρτημάτων καὶ υἱοθεσίας
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On the Baptismal Rites
saw nothing as in night, but in the ascent you were as in the day. And in this same time you died and were reborn, and that saving water became both grave and mother for you. For just as Solomon said of others, this same may be adapted to you. For he said there, "There is a time to give birth and a time to die" (Eccl 3.2), but for you it is the reverse: there is a time to die and a time to be born. And one time brought about both of these, and your birth was brought together with your death.
Ostrange and incredible thing! We did not really die, we were not really buried, we were not really crucified and raised; our imitation was in an image, but our salvation was real. Christ was truly crucified, and buried and raised up, and all these things he graciously gave to us, so that by the imitation of his passion we might gain participation in salvation in reality. O surpassing love of humanity!
Christ received the nails in his pure hands and suffered, and to me grants salvation without my suffering and pain, through sharing [his suffering].
Letnoone, then, think that baptism is for the forgiveness of sins alone and for the reception of adoption, for the baptism of John only gave the forgiveness of sins. But let us know this accurately, for just as it effects the cleansing of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit, so also it is the sacramental representation of Christ's sufferings. For on account of this also Paul cried out: "Do you not know that as many of you as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
We were buried, therefore, with him by baptism into death" (Rom 6.3). For perhaps he said these things to some who were confident that baptism effects the forgiveness of sins and adoption, but did not
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προξενητικὸν τὸ βάπτισμα, οὐκ ἔτι δὲ καὶ τῶν ἀληθινῶν τοῦ Χριστοῦ µαθηµάτων ἐν µιµήσει ἔχει τὴν κοινωνίαν.
'Iva οὖν µάθωμεν, ὅτι, ὅσα ὁ Χριστὸς ὑπέμεινε, δι' ἡμᾶς καὶ τὴν ἡμετέραν σωτηρίαν ἐν ἀληθείᾳ καὶ οὐκ ἐν δοκήσει ταῦτα πέπονθε καὶ ἡμεῖς κοινωνοὶ αὐτοῦ τῶν παθηµάτων γινόµεθα, μετὰ πάσης ἐβόα Παῦλος τῆς ἀκριβείας: «εἰ γὰρ σύμφυτοι γεγόναµεν τῷ ὁμοιώματιτοῦ θανάτου αὐτοῦ, ἀλλὰ Kai TIS ἀναστάσεως ἐσόμεθα.»
Καλῶς δὲ καὶ τὸ «σύμφυτοι»: Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐνταῦθα πεφύτευται ἡ ἄμπελος ἡ ἀληθινή, καὶ ἡμεῖς κοινωνίᾳ τοῦ βαπτίσματος τοῦ θανάτου «σύμφυτου αὐτοῦ γεγόναµεν. Ἐπίστησον δὲ μετὰ πολλῆς προσοχῆς τὸν νοῦν τοῖς τοῦ ἀποστόλου λόγοις. Οὐκ
εἶπεν, εἰ γὰρ σύμφυτοι γεγόναµεν τῷ θανάτῳ, ἀλλὰ «τῷ ὁμοιώματι τοῦ θανάτου» Ἀληθῶς γὰρ ἐπὶ Χριστοῦ θάνατος, ἀληθῶς yap ἐχωρίζετο τοῦ σώματος ἡ ψυχή: καὶ ἀληθινὴ ταφή, ἐν σινδόνι γὰρ καθαρᾷ τὸ ἅγιον αὐτοῦ σῶμα εἰλεῖτο, καὶ πάντα ἀληθῶς ἐν αὐτῷ συνέβαινεν. Eni δὲ ὑμῶν θανάτου μὲν καὶ παθηµάτων ὁμοίωμα, σωτηρίας δὲ οὐχ ὁμοίωμα, ἀλλὰ ἀλήθεια.
Ἰαῦτα διδαχθέντες αὐτάρκως κατέχετε διὰ τῆς µνήµης παρακαλώ, ἵνα κἀγὼ ὁ ἀνάξιος ἐπὶ ὑμῶν λέγω: «ἀγαπῶ δὲ ὑμᾶς,
ὅτι πάντοτέ μου µέμνησθε καὶ τὰς παραδόσεις, dc παρέδωκα ὑμῖν, κατέχετε.» Δυνατὸς δέ ἐστιν ὁ θεός, ὁ παραστήσας ὑμᾶς ὡς ἐκ νεκρῶν ζῶντας, δοῦναι ὑμῖν ἐν καινότητι ζωῆς περιπατεῖν: ὅτι αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος νῦν καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. Ἀμήν.
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On the Baptismal Rites
yet know the true teachings of Christ about the participation [in his death] by imitation.
Inorder then that we might learn that what Christ suffered for us and for our salvation he suffered in reality and not in appearance, so also we have become sharers in his passion, along with everything
Paul cries out with accuracy: "For if we have been united together in a death like his, we shall be also in a resurrection" (Rom 6.5). And rightly does he say "united together." For inasmuch as the true Vine was planted here, so we also have become united together with him by our sharing in the baptism of death. And fix the complete attention of your mind upon the words of the Apostle. He did not say, "for if we have become united together in death,' but "in the likeness of death." For truly death came upon Christ; truly his soul was separated from his body. And his burial was real, for his holy body was wrapped in a pure linen shroud, and everything really happened to him—but upon you, only the likeness of his death and sufferings, yet of salvation, not the likeness but the reality.
lencourage you to keep in your memory these things, having now been sufficiently taught, so that I, an unworthy person, might say about you, "But I love you, for you remember me always and you keep the traditions just as I have given to you" (1 Cor 11.2). And God, who has presented you as living from the dead, is the power making you able "to walk in newness of life" (cf. Rom 6.4). To him be the glory and the power, both now and unto the ages. Amen.
III
Καὶ ἀνάγνωσις ἐκ τῆς Ἰωάννου a' ἐπιστολῆς ἀπὸ τοῦ «καὶ ὑμεῖς χρῖσμα ἔχετε ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ οἴδατε πάντα» ἕως τοῦ «καὶ μὴ αἰσχυνθῶμεν amt' αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τῇ παρουσίᾳ αὐτοῦ.»
Eig Χριστὸν βεβαπτισµένοι καὶ Χριστὸν ἐνδυσάμενοι σύμμορφοι γεγόνατε τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ. Προορίσας γὰρ ἡμᾶς ὁ θεὸς εἰς υἱοθεσίαν, συµµόρφους ἐποίησε τοῦ σώματος τῆς δόξης τοῦ Χριστοῦ: μέτοχοι οὖν τοῦ Χριστοῦ γενόµενοι χριστοὶ εἰκότως καλεῖσθε, καὶ περὶ ὑμῶν ἔλεγεν ὁ θεός. «μὴ ἄψασθε τῶν χριστῶν µου.» Χριστοὶ δὲ γεγόνατε τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος TO ἀντίτυπον δεξάµενοι, καὶ πάντα εἰκονικῶς ἐφ᾽ ὑμῶν γεγένηται, ἐπειδὴ εἰκόνες ἐστὲ Χριστοῦ.
Κάκεῖνος μὲν ἐν Ἰορδάνῃ λουσάµενος ποταμῷ καὶ τῶν χρώτων τῆς θεότητος μεταδοὺς τοῖς ὕδασιν ἀνέβαινεν ἐκ τούτων, καὶ πνεύματος ἁγίου οὐσιώδης ἐπιφοίτησις αὐτῷ ἐγίνετο, τῷ ὁμοίῳ ἐπαναπαυομένου τοῦ ὁμοίου. Καὶ ὑμῖν ὁμοίως ἀναβεβηκόσιν ἀπὸ τῆς κολυµβήθρας τῶν ἱερῶν ναµάτων ἐδόθη χρῖσμα, τὸ ἀντίτυπον οὗ ἐχρίσθη Χριστός. Τοῦτο δέ ἐστι τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα, περὶ οὗ καὶ ὁ µακάριος Ἡσαῖας ἐν τῇ Kat' αὐτὸν προφητείᾳ ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ κυρίου ἔλεγε: «πνεῦμα κυρίου én' ἐμέ, οὗ εἵνεκεν ἔχρισέ µε, εὐαγγελίσασθαι πτωχοῖς ἀπέσταλκέ µε.»
Ἐλαίῳ γὰρ ἢ μύρῳ σωματικῷ Χριστὸς bn' ἀνθρώπων οὐκ ἐχρίσθη, ἀλλ᾽ ὁ πατὴρ αὐτὸν σωτῆρα προχειρισάµενος τοῦ
1 a' Ρ: καθολικῆς πρώτης C 8 ἄψασθε C : ἅπτεσθε Ρ i7 OD ο δΕ 21 ἀνθρώπων C : ἀνθρώπου Ρ