Wednesday, April 19, 2023

On the Order of Baptism, by Theodulfus (9th century)

To the most reverend and beloved brother, Bishop Magnus, Theodulfus sends greetings.

I have fulfilled your command, venerable Sir Magnus, and although not with diligent efficiency, I have certainly done so with complete obedience. You instructed me, or rather charity instructed me through you, to answer briefly and quickly some questions about the order of baptism which were sent to you by Lord and glorious Emperor Charles. With the constraint of brevity on my part, in which I was forced to explain great things in a short discourse, and the narrowness of time on the other, in which I wanted to fulfill your orders quickly, I completed what you commanded. Oh, if only this work could have been done as efficiently as it was willingly undertaken! Although I had no opportunity to deal with each subject in detail and to study the volumes of the Fathers due to other occupations, and charity urged me to fulfill the order, I wrote quickly on each topic that occurred to me, so that if there is no benefit from the responses, at least there may be the fruit of obedience to your fraternity.

These questions, as I am sure you know, were not made out of the necessity of learning from a royal relationship, but out of the desire to teach, not so that the questioner himself may be educated on what he does not know, but so that others may be encouraged to finish things useful by being awakened from the sleep of idle laziness. For he who is always familiar with this matter, exercises bishops in the investigation of the Holy Scriptures, and all the clergy in discipline, philosophers in the knowledge of divine and human affairs, monks in religion, all generally in sanctity, princes in counsel, judges in justice, soldiers in the experience of arms, prelates in humility, subjects in obedience, and all generally in prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance, and harmony. This excellent man never ceases, with God’s grace, to accumulate the highest point of the Holy Church in these and similar things, and to excel in the administration of ecclesiastical or civil affairs with remarkable diligence, to overflow from the source of wisdom, and to triumph in the exhibition of virtue.

I. Why is an infant made a catechumen?

The ancient custom is observed that now infants are made catechumens. For whoever came to the apostles to be baptized as believers, were instructed and taught by them, and when they were instructed and taught about the sacrament of baptism and other rules of faith, they received the sacred mystery of baptism. Hence, the Apostle says: “Do you not know, brothers, that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” (Rom. 6:3). In these words, it is shown that those who were baptized did not ignore the secrets of the sacrament of baptism. Moreover, the Lord did not say simply “Go, baptize,” but “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them” (Matthew 28:19). So that we may know, first we must instruct and teach the one who is to be baptized, and then baptize him. Therefore, infants and hearers become catechumens, not because they can be instructed and taught at the same age, but so that the ancient custom is observed, in which the apostles first instructed and taught those whom they were going to baptize, as already stated.

II. What a catechumen is.

A catechumen is someone who hears or is instructed. For the human race hears and is instructed before coming to baptism. And what he once heard through Moses, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4), and was instructed through the laws and prophets to the worship of the one true God. Now, through the ministry of the priests, he becomes a hearer who is able to be instructed, and having left the ritual in which he served creatures, he serves only the Creator God. For catechumens believe in Christ, but still bear their own sins. About which, I think it is said in the Gospel, “But Jesus, on his part, was not entrusting himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man” (John 2:24-25). Therefore, those who were being taught or instructed and baptized by John, because his baptism could not wash away sins, are known to have given the example of the catechumens.

III. Why he is breathed upon.

In their face, a sign of the cross is made by the priest through breathing upon them, so that the devil may be put to flight and the way may be prepared for Christ: so that he who, by his enticing persuasion, was the inhabitant of the human race, which received the breath of life at the beginning, may be forced to leave by the power of the most sacred sign, through the ministry of the priests, and breathe into his disciples and rebuke unclean spirits.

IV. Why he is exorcised.

Therefore, the same evil spirit is also exorcised, so that he may leave and depart from that creature which he has possessed for a long time through the sin of the first man. And because, according to the Apostle, there is no agreement of Christ with Belial, nor a partnership of light with darkness (1 Corinthians 6:15), let darkness depart and let the true light of Christ enter. Who is also said to have worn filthy clothes typifying our sins, which he carried on his body in Zechariah (Zechariah 3:3). And rebuking Satan, he chose Jerusalem, that is to say, the Holy Church, which is the Vision of Peace, which is daily made fruitful by new offspring. To whom it is said by the prophet, “Your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip” (Isaiah 60:4). Furthermore, exorcism is a speech of rebuke or conjuration. Hence, in the Acts of the Apostles, there are exorcists, and the Holy Church also has the ministry of exorcists among the ecclesiastical ranks. For it must be understood that when an exorcism is performed, undoubtedly he is exorcised who is opposed to baptism, the salvation of the faithful, and all his virtues. For when he is exorcised or expelled, the seasoning of the divine word is given to the believers.

V. Why the catechumen receives salt.

And therefore, those who are to be baptized receive salt in the sacrament, so that by tasting it, they may receive the seasoning of wisdom and not be deceived by the taste of Christ, and become tasteless and foolish. For he who said to his disciples, “You are the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13), also said, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). But in order for those who are baptized to be fit for the kingdom of heaven, and not look back on their past sins and become a pillar of salt, remaining foolish and serving as an example of their punishment for others, they must receive the salt of wisdom. So that whatever is unstable and fluid in them may be cured by the salt of the word of God, and they may remember Lot’s wife, according to the Apostle. And just as Elisha cured the sterility of the water by the addition of salt, so too does our true Elisha, the Lord Jesus Christ, lead the fluid sterility of the human race to the sweet taste of faith and good works through the flavor of his word.

The strength of this faith shines clearly when the one who has heard that only the worship of God must be maintained, from which he was called and began to be instructed in the worship of true religion, from which he was called a catechumen, and was delivered from the evil spirit by breathing upon and exorcism, and began to taste the divine word through the giving of salt, is given a symbol, that is, a complete and unshaken confession of true faith, so that the house may be adorned with faith after the departure of the old inhabitant, and after the thorns of unbelief are uprooted, the foundations of true faith may begin to be planted.

For first, the thorns of unbelief or vices must be uprooted, and then the rudiments of faith and good works must be planted. Hence, the Lord destroyed seven nations holding the type of vices before the face of the children of Israel and placed the Israelitic people in their place, a type of virtues. And he said to the prophet Jeremiah, “Behold, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant” (Jeremiah 1:10). For he first mentioned plucking up, breaking down, destroying, overthrowing, and then added building and planting, and through the same prophet he said, “Just as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, so I will watch over them to build and to plant” (Jeremiah 31:28). And this is because after exorcism and breathing upon, the giving of the symbol follows.

VI. What is the interpretation of the Symbol (Creed) in Latin?

The Latin word “Symbol” is translated as “indication,” “sign,” or “collation.” It is an indication of the integrity of faith because it signifies the unity of belief. It is a sign because by it, the faithful are distinguished from the unbelievers. It is a collation because the apostles included in it the entire integrity of faith. All who held the same sincere faith, confessed it with one heart and mind. And each one, contributing his own ideas, published the symbol, which is the collection of the entire faith. For when they were about to part from each other, they agreed to establish a standard for future preaching in common, so that they would not preach something different or discordant locally. It was most fitting and useful that those who had one soul and one heart in the Lord, and whom the Holy Spirit had inspired, should also have one confession of faith. For those who were bound together by the bond of one faith, could not and should not be separated in any way.

Meanwhile, many people believe that the abbreviated word in the Symbol (Creed) and the Lord’s Prayer is the same, as expressed by the prophet Isaiah. In one, the integrity of faith is contained, and in the other, the petitions. Just as the twelve apostles’ doctrine is contained in twelve words, and all that pertains to the dispensation of present and future life is contained in the seven petitions. The word “abbreviated” can also be used to describe the whole doctrine because what the law and the prophets contained in the breadth of their precepts, the Lord, when he came, proclaimed and said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind,” and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets (Matthew 22:37-40). It is clear that the prophets and the law are condensed into these two sayings. This concludes the discussion of the Symbol and its name.

VII. On faith, how to believe in God the Father Almighty, and in Jesus Christ His Son, and in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, and the other things that follow in the same Creed.

The faith contained in this creed should be understood by those who are to be baptized, so that they may believe in God the Father Almighty, the Creator of all visible and invisible things, who is called the Only-begotten because He is not from another. And in Jesus Christ His Son, through whom all things were made, the true God, only-begotten Son of God, not made or adopted, but begotten and of one substance with the Father, and therefore equal to God the Father in all things, so that He cannot be inferior in time, degree, or power, and who is as great as He who begot Him.

They should also believe that He was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, that is, that by the cooperation of the Holy Spirit, the same Son of God assumed a true body from a virgin, so that He who was the Son of God the Father in divinity became the Son of the human mother in humanity. They should also believe that in the last times He descended for the redemption of the world from the Father, who never ceased to be with the Father, and became a true man to free the human race.

And He who possesses eternity with the Father and the Holy Spirit without beginning assumed perfect humanity at the end of the ages, and the Word was made flesh, taking on humanity, not by changing His divinity. They should also believe that He suffered and died, not by virtue of His divinity, but in the weakness of His humanity, and truly died the death of the flesh, rose again with the resurrection of the flesh, and through His resurrection gave us hope of resurrection, so that as He rose alive from the dead on the third day, so we too shall rise at the end of the ages in the same flesh in which we now live.

They should also believe that He ascended into heaven in the same body He assumed from the virgin, suffered and rose again, and is now present in the same body, and that He will come to judgment and give eternal punishment to some for their sins and eternal reward for others for their merits of righteousness, after all have been resurrected. They should also believe in the Holy Spirit, the true God, proceeding from the Father and the Son, equal in all things to the Father and the Son, in will, power, eternity, and substance, and that there are no gradations in this holy Trinity by which anyone can be called inferior or superior.

They should also believe in the holy catholic Church, that is, universal, not just in the holy Church, but in believing in the Trinity. They should believe that the house of the same holy Trinity is the holy Church. Those who depart from its communion are called schismatics and heretics and are punished with eternal damnation. Those who remain in its communion and are members of Christ and receive the remission of sins and belong to eternal life.

Therefore, since infants who do not yet use reason cannot understand these things, they must be taught when they reach the age of understanding, the mysteries of their faith and their confession, so that they may truly believe and carefully preserve them. We have plainly said their confession, because although they cannot yet speak, those who receive them from the font confess and speak for them. And it is not without reason that it is fitting for those who are subject to the sins of others to receive the remission of original sins by the confession of others through the mystery of baptism.

VIII. On Scrutiny.

However, those who are of an age where they can give an account of their faith, should be scrutinized with careful examination to determine whether they truly believe or if there is some stain of falsehood in them. This is to prevent them from being handed over to dogs, or pearls being cast before swine, or wolves being clothed in sheepskin, as a result of fear, favor of worldly powers, or the acquisition of certain things, and coming to the sacrament of baptism without knowledge of the ministers of the Church. The Church is accustomed to following this custom of examining those who are to be baptized during the Easter season for several days, so that those who come to true faith with instruction, learning, and a pure heart can receive the sacraments of life. In order to make them more suitable for the sacrament of baptism, and to make their faith more probable, certain things are done corporally, which when tasted with spiritual taste, they may sense something mystical and spiritual.

IX. Why are the ears and nostrils touched with spittle?

The nostrils are touched with spittle and the word “Ephphatha” is said, so that they may follow Christ in the fragrance of perfumes and say, “Draw me after you, let us run!” (Song of Solomon 1:3) and with the Apostle confessing, “We are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing” (2 Corinthians 2:15). They should become members of Christ to whom it is said, “Your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia” (Psalm 45:8). This fragrance can only be obtained by anointing the feet of Jesus with an alabaster jar of ointment, that is, with the purity of sacred faith and the exercise of good works. Mary, whose name means “lady” or “illuminator,” represents those who fulfill the commands of the apostles or preachers through whom Christ walks, and the house or universe of the holy Church is filled with the sweet and pleasant odor of their good reputation.

And because the sweetness of fragrance and different incenses often attract the dissolute and lovers, these, on the contrary, by becoming continent and lovers of Christ, embrace only the salutary fragrance of Christ. The ears are also touched, so that those who hear the word of God and do it may be like the wise man who built his house upon a rock (Matthew 7:24) and may always listen to spiritual things with spiritual hearing. Thus they may say with David, “I will hear what God the Lord will speak” (Psalm 85:8), and with Isaiah, “The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back” (Isaiah 50:5). By hearing spiritual things spiritually, they may arrive at the benefits of spiritual works.

Therefore, when the Lord says in the Gospel, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 11:15), and when John says in his Apocalypse, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 2:7), not physical ears, but spiritual ears are sought, and the word “ears” designates the inner hearing of the human soul. For in sacred language, spiritual virtues of the soul are often understood through the members of the body. Therefore, since the divinity assuming human nature made a kind of eye salve by the union of the two natures in one person of the Son of God, by which the human race, which was blind from its first parents, might be enlightened, it is not inappropriate that the ears and nostrils are touched with spittle. As he who spat and touched the tongue of the mute and made mud with his spittle and opened the eyes of the blind born (John 9:6-7), so now through the ministry of priests, he may grant spiritual hearing to those who are to be baptized, and the ability to confess true faith, that is, to speak rightly, and open the nostrils by which they may perceive the good odor of Christ. For the heart of the one who is baptized should always be filled with the nectar of divine fragrance and anointed with spiritual unction.

X. Why is the chest anointed with oil, or the shoulders marked or anointed?

Those who are to be baptized have their chests and shoulders touched with oil, so that they may be strengthened by the anointing of that holy oil, the spirit of which the Apostle says, “But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone teach you” (1 John 2:27). They are fortified in advance and from behind, that is, they are cautious against all things, whether prosperous or adverse, and full of the eyes of heavenly creatures, that is, looking to the past and future, so as not to lose the guardianship of their salvation. Their chest is touched, so that they may say with David, “Let His mercy go before me” (Psalm 59:10). Their shoulders are touched, so that they may say with the same David, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me” (Psalm 23:6). That is, let them wish for good things, and not in vain. But the ability to wish well and perform well is given to us by Him from whom comes every good gift and every perfect gift. And since the heart is often used to mean the mind, as in “With my whole heart I have sought You” (Psalm 119:10), and in the name of oil is understood the anointing of the Holy Spirit, whether the works of light and mercy, the heart is fortified on both sides by the anointing, that is, the front and the back, and the mind of the Christian overflows with the richness of the Holy Spirit and the works of light and mercy.

XI. What is renunciation?

Those who are enriched in this way must renounce the devil and his works, reject his dominion, and weaken the yoke that presses them with the anointing of that oil, so that the prophecy may be fulfilled: “The yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing” (Isaiah 10:27). For to renounce is usually put for despising, rejecting, contradicting, or anything else that can be expressed by this word in this sense. Although the meaning of that word which is “to declare” is readily apparent when it is used without a preposition, and when a preposition is added, it sometimes does not deviate far from its meaning, as in “I will declare and renounce” (Psalm 54:18), sometimes it is translated into another sense, as in “So therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33); however, renunciation is always put in the sense we have mentioned above. For to renounce is to confess oneself as Satan’s, and all his works, and all his pomps. Correctly following this renunciation is the confession of the Holy Trinity, so that where sin has abounded, grace may abound all the more, and where the yoke of the devil has been destroyed from the face of the anointing of the Holy Spirit, there may come the yoke of Him who said, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:29). For Satan, who is also called the devil, is renounced by the faithful so that they may serve God the Savior more freely, because according to the voice of the same Lord, “No one can serve two masters” (Luke 16:13).

XII. On renouncing Satan and all his works and pomps, or what are the works of the devil and pomps

Works of Satan are also renounced because they are contrary to the works of the Savior; and because he subjugated humanity to himself with his weapons, that is, vices, the Lord defeated him with his own weapons, that is, virtues. For in his army, that is, in the slavery of our sins, he suffered death; in his army, that is, in virtues, we receive eternal life. Therefore, the seven principal vices by which the devil attacks humanity can rightly be called the works of Satan; these are opposed by the seven principal virtues, which are undoubtedly salutary works. Likewise, his pomps are renounced, which are also works of Satan; but they seem to be distinguished from his other works because they are somehow indicative of pride, of which he is the author and which brought him down. Therefore, his pomps are ambition, arrogance, vainglory, and the like, which are known to proceed from the source of pride. The prophetic word shows that pomp, ambition, or boasting, and the like, should be understood in this sense when it says: “Woe to you who are at ease in Zion and trust in the mountain of Samaria, you great men of the people, going in pomp into the house of Israel” (Amos 6:1). Moreover, Clemens Prudentius, a very eloquent and Christian poet, placed pomp in this sense in his book Psychomachia, where he says: “The pomp of ostentatious, vain splendor is stripped of its clothing.” Although every sin can be called pride because when someone sins, they seem to go against God who prohibits sin, it is nevertheless different to sin lazily, maliciously, knowingly, ignorantly, negligently, or arrogantly. However, no matter how one sins, if they refuse to repent, they immerse themselves in the great abyss of pride, from which they can only escape by confessing their sins, amending their ways, and relying on the support of salutary penance. For man is proud before God in two ways: either by being disobedient to his commandments and committing what is forbidden, or by neglecting to repent of what he has done. Therefore, whether those who are to be baptized or we who have already received the sacrament of baptism should set before our eyes the covenant that is made with God in baptism, where Satan and his works and pomps are renounced. That covenant is made void if one either remains in faith while persisting in vices or departs from the faith by falling into the worship of idols or the errors of heresy.

XIII. On the sacrament of baptism.

Since it is clear that the covenant of the believers consists of two parts, one in which they renounce the devil and his works and all his pomps, and another in which they confess their belief in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, these must be held with unshakable intention of the mind and kept immaculately so that we may always seek the help of Him who conferred the sacrament of baptism for the salvation of mankind, the mystery of which was prefigured by Moses in the Old Testament when the people were baptized in the cloud and in the sea, and which was demonstrated most clearly to us through the mediator of God and man in the New Testament. For He Himself says, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven” (John 3:5). And John says of Him, “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11; John 1:26). Therefore, we who are born into this world are born again unto God, and we who were sons of wrath through sin are made sons of God by grace. For it is by this washing and cleansing that the Church is renewed. Woman was built from the sleeping protoplast’s bone, and the Church was formed from the side of Christ on the cross. For from His side flowed blood and water, the two chief sacraments of the holy Church, so that in the one there might be consecration, and in the other, cleansing might be granted to the Church. For we are regenerated by the washing, so that we may be consecrated by the blood. Therefore, the people crossed the Red Sea, for the baptism of Christ is consecrated by His blood. Since the element of water in this world is more suitable for the grace of purifying, vivifying, and recreating all elements, the dignity of baptism is deservedly conferred upon it, because it conceived the efficacy of regenerating men when the Spirit of God was carried over it at the beginning of the world, and the dignity of purifying men when it flowed from the side of Christ. For by this visible element, that invisible thing is signified, so that as water cleanses the external body, so it may secretly purify the soul through the Holy Spirit. For when God is invoked, the Holy Spirit descends from heaven and gives to the purified water the power of cleansing. Thus, man, restored to the image of the Holy Trinity, to which he was created, is expelled from it, and he who had entered it by the sin of the first man, comes forth from it renewed by Christ’s grace, changed for the better by the Spirit of grace. For sin was a covenant of deformity: there, beauty is restored by the white garment of virtues. Therefore, the mystery of baptism cannot be perfected except under the invocation of the Holy Trinity, for the Lord also said to the apostles, “Go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). And the same Lord confirmed this sacrament when the Father was declared in His voice, the Son in His body, and the Holy Spirit in the appearance of a dove at His baptism. O excellent and admirable sacrament, which makes children of wrath into children of God, the old into new, the foul into beautiful, in which we are regenerated, cleansed, and imitate the example of Christ’s death. For the covenant was with the deformity of sins: but through it, the beautiful is restored by the whiteness of virtues. Therefore, the mystery of baptism can in no way be completed without the invocation of the Holy Trinity, since the Lord also said to the apostles: “Go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 28:19). And the same Lord confirmed this sacrament when in his own baptism, the Father was declared in a voice, the Son in his body, and the Holy Spirit in the manifestation of a dove. O glorious and admirable sacrament, which makes the children of wrath the children of God, the old new, and the ugly beautiful, in which we are both reborn and purified, and imitate the death of Christ. So how do we imitate this example? The Apostle says, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:3-4). Therefore, we die to sin when we renounce the devil and all that belongs to him; we are buried with Christ when, under the invocation of the Holy Trinity and with a triple immersion, we descend into the font of baptism as if into a tomb; we rise with Christ when, stripped of all sins, we emerge from the font as if from a tomb. But neither is the mystery of the three days and nights, during which the Lord is said to have been in the tomb, omitted, since with the invocation of the Holy Trinity, which is the true light, we descend into the font. For the Father is light, and in his light, because he is the Son, we see the light of the Holy Spirit. And we also go through three nights, when we reject the darkness and ignorance of the father of lies, along with the lie that was born of him, and when he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, we contradict him. But in the third place, we also destroy the spirit of error, which inspires false prophets to say, “Thus says the Lord,” whom the Lord has not sent. For we destroy and trample on these things, if we are buried with Christ, according to what he himself says: “Behold, I have given you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19). All of these things are so contrary to the Holy Trinity as night is to day, darkness is to light, and falsehood is to truth. The font of baptism also bears a resemblance to the tomb of Christ, which is said to be new, for whoever is buried in it with Christ and rises with him should walk in newness of life, according to the same Apostle. The seven steps of this font seem to signify three in the descent, three nights, and three in the ascent, as mentioned above. The seventh and fourth, which someone says “is like the Son of God” (Daniel 3:92), extinguishes the furnace of fire, is the foundation of water, and, according to the Apostle, “in him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily” (Colossians 2:9). Therefore, baptism is not repeated, because Christ does not die more than once. The sins committed after baptism are not erased by repeating the sacrament, but rather by tears of penance, almsgiving, and other good works. Meanwhile, the purest linens and spices are used for burying the body of the Lord because whoever desires to be buried with Christ, if age permits, although dead through original sin that they still carry, should still burn with the demonstration of honorable works and be clothed in clean garments, about which the prophet prays for the priests to be clothed when he says, “Let your priests be clothed with righteousness” (Psalm 131:9). Therefore, if before being reborn, cleansed of original sin, and buried with Christ, one must give off a fragrance with spices, display a pleasing aroma, and be dressed in the purest garments, how much more should the reborn, purified, co-living with Christ, walking in the newness of life as a new creation, overflow with the fragrance of a pleasing aroma, and shine brightly with the splendor of white garments?

XIV. Why white garments are worn.

Therefore, so that we who die to the world may rise with Christ, be clothed in the radiance of good works, and be confirmed in the hope of heavenly joys, the angel who announces his resurrection is fittingly described as sitting in white garments, and those who announce his return to the apostles appear in white garments, and we are clothed in white garments after baptism, so that we may hold onto the purity we received in our rebirth, preserving both our own renewal and the beauty of angelic splendor. Thus, we are given white stoles, the hope of immortality and eternal happiness, so that we may say with the prophet: “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10). May He who has given us these garments keep us, so that it may be said of us as it is written in the Apocalypse: “Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments” (Revelation 16:15).

Therefore, since all things in the mystery of baptism are fragrant with mysteries and abound with sacraments, it was appropriate for the new man to receive new garments and, having been cleansed from the mire of the old stain, to be clothed in the radiance of white vestments. For just as Moses first washed Aaron and his sons with water, and then clothed them in linen garments, so too our true Moses, who frees the people from Egyptian bondage and from the error of gentility, who is the mediator between God and men, purifies us with the ineffable wave of his sacrament, and adorns us with the garments of good works. Whose face, the manifestation of his divinity, shines like the sun on the mount of the Church, bearing witness to the Law and the Prophets, and whose garments, that is to say, all the saints, become as white as wool or snow. Let us give thanks to Him in the Apocalypse, who washed us from our sins in his own blood, and made us a kingdom and priests to his God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever (Revelation 1:5-6). For this kingdom and priesthood, and the visible chrism of anointing through the ministry of priests, and the invisible grace of the Holy Spirit, are conferred on us by the Lord.

XV. Why the head is anointed with sacred chrism.

The sacrament of this ointment is first recorded as being composed by Moses, as commanded by the Lord in Exodus, and in the New Testament, it is truly declared by the Lord, who was anointed by the Father with the oil of gladness above his companions; to whom God does not give the Spirit by measure, for in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. For this reason, the Church says: “Your name is oil poured out, therefore the maidens love you” (Song of Songs 1:2); for it is clear that both from the chrism of Christ and from Christ himself, the name of Christians has arisen. For before his coming, only kings and priests were anointed, who were also called Christ; but after his coming, not only kings and priests, but the entire Church is consecrated by this anointing, because it is known to be a kingdom and (0234D)priesthood, and its sons are kings and priests. Therefore, the heads of the baptized are anointed with chrism, so that, anointed in the kingdom and priesthood of the Church, they may receive the privilege of the Christian name and become members of him who redeemed them and is their head.

XVI. Why is the head covered with a mystical veil?

Since our Redeemer is both king, to whom it is said through the prophet, “Your kingdom, O Lord, is a kingdom for all ages, and your dominion endures through all generations” (Psalm 145:13), who wonderfully triumphed over the devil, death, and the world, and priest, to whom it is said through the same prophet, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Psalm 110:4), who offered himself as a sacrifice to God the Father, it is most fitting that his holy Church, which is his body, is both kingdom and priesthood, and that we, who are born again in it and are his members, are both kings and priests. Kings, so that we may bravely fight against the devil and govern the administration of our lives with admirable dispensation; and priests, so that in the holy temple of God that we are, we may build the altar of faith and offer to him peaceable sacrifices of good works, and say with the Apostle, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3). May the smoke of our prayers ascend daily from this altar, as the prophet says, “Let my prayer be counted as incense before you” (Psalm 141:2).

Therefore, the heads of those who are regenerated by water and the Holy Spirit are covered with a mystical veil, so that they may be told by Peter, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people” (1 Peter 2:9). With this veil, the royal diadem and the priestly head covering are signified. And since the head is often understood in sacred language to represent the mind, according to the saying, “Raise your heads and see” (Luke 21:28), let the mind of the reborn have the ornaments of royal dignity and the covering of a priestly head. Thus, it may be protected by a priestly veil against vices and spiritually adorned with gems of virtues, and anointed with the sacred chrism. By the anointing of the holy chrism, they are granted the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit, so that they may not only become the dwelling place of the Spirit, who is of one substance with the Father and the Son, but also of the entire Holy Trinity.

XVII. Why the bishop, confirmed by the imposition of hands, receives the sevenfold grace of the Spirit.

The ancient custom of the Church, handed down by the apostles, is that while it is lawful for priests to anoint those whom they have baptized with chrism, it is not lawful for them to confer the Holy Spirit by the imposition of hands. This is evident from the Acts of the Apostles, where we read: “While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples and said to them, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ And they said, ‘No, we have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.’ And he said, ‘Into what then were you baptized?’ They said, ‘Into John’s baptism.’ And Paul said, ‘John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.’ On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them; and they spoke with tongues and prophesied” (Acts 19:1-7). Similarly, in another place, we read: “Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit; for it had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit” (Acts 8:14-17).

It should be noted that just as the other sacraments of baptism are visibly performed by priests, but consecrated invisibly by God, in the same way, the grace of the Holy Spirit is passed on to the faithful through the imposition of hands and the ministry of bishops. However, although priests are indeed priests, they do not have the apex of the priesthood. This belongs solely to the bishops, who have the duty to sign or give the Paraclete Spirit. This is not only shown by ecclesiastical custom but also by the above-cited reading from the Acts of the Apostles, which asserts that Peter and John were directed to deliver the Holy Spirit to those who had already been baptized. Priests, whether absent or present with the bishops, may baptize and anoint those who have been baptized, but only with oil that has been consecrated by a bishop. They may not, however, anoint the forehead with the same oil, which is reserved only for bishops when they deliver the Spirit of the Paraclete. The Paraclete Spirit is also called the sevenfold grace, because of the mystery of the number seven, in which the highest perfection is understood. For it is composed of the whole even number, and the whole odd number that cannot be divided. It has the mystery of the Trinity in the number three and the Gospel in the number four. Whether three is multiplied by four or four by three, the number twelve is reached, since the mystery of the Holy Trinity and the teaching of the Gospel were derived from the twelve apostles and were spread over the four parts of the world: the east, the west, the north, and the south. This number is commonly used in sacred discourse to signify perfection. Indeed, God rested on the seventh day after completing his works, and Enoch, who was the seventh from Adam, walked with the Lord, and his translation gave us hope of eternal rest. Therefore, the Year of Jubilee, in which complete rest is signified, is completed in seven weeks. For seven times seven is forty-nine, which is fulfilled by adding the unity of our union. The perfection of this number is commended by the prophet when he says, “Seven times a day I have praised you” (Psalm 119:164). As if explaining this, he reveals in another psalm when he says, “His praise is always in my mouth” (Psalm 34:2). Even John in the Apocalypse, when he writes seven letters to the seven churches, is believed to have written to the entire Catholic Church in general. Therefore, he himself says, “He who has ears, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 2:7).

Regarding the number seven, which in some places in Scripture signifies universality or perfection, and in others signifies the sevenfold grace of the Spirit, there are many things in both the Old and New Testaments that are too long to pursue. Now let us see how the prophet Isaiah enumerates the sevenfold gifts of the same Spirit. For when he prophesied about Christ, who is the rod of the Lord’s strength, he said, “There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root, and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and godliness, and he shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord” (Isaiah 11:1-2). The Spirit of the Lord rested upon this flower, which came out of the rod of Jesse, that is, the birth of blessed Mary ever virgin, because it pleased Him to dwell in bodily form in Him, who was the fullness of divinity. Not partially, as in the other saints, to whom one is given the word of wisdom, another the word of knowledge, another the grace of miracles, and so on, to each one according to his measure, but fully. Hence the Apostle says, “God does not give the Spirit by measure” (John 3:34), and the prophet says, “Behold, my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles” (Isaiah 42:1). For in order that He might rest in Him with perpetual habitation, He came upon Him, according to the testimony of John the Baptist, who said, “I saw the Spirit coming down, as a dove from heaven, and He remained upon Him. And I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining, He is the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit’” (John 1:32-33). He is called the Spirit of the Lord and the spirit of wisdom, because it is written of Christ, who is the wisdom of God, “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made” (John 1:3), and in the Psalms it is sung, “How magnified are your works, O Lord, you have made all things in wisdom” (Psalm 104:24). And in another place, where the Trinity is clearly shown, it is written, “By the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and by the Spirit of His mouth all their power” (Psalm 33:6). For through Christ, who is the Word of the Lord, that is, of the Father, of whom it is written, “In the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1), the heavens, that is to say, the holy preachers, who declare the glory of God, were made, and by the Holy Spirit, who is consubstantial with them and proceeds from both, all their power exists; for the adornment and power of all the saints subsists by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And the Apostle writes, “Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:24). And in Proverbs it is written, “In his wisdom, God established the earth, and prepared the heavens in his prudence” (Prov. 3:19). And just as the same Word of the Lord is called light, life, and resurrection, so the spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and strength, of knowledge and piety and fear of the Lord is called; not that it is different according to the differences of names, but because it is the one and the same source and beginning of all virtues. Therefore, without Christ, no one can be wise, intelligent, a counselor, strong, learned, or full of fear of the Lord. And it should be known that the Spirit of the Lord, of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and strength, of knowledge and piety, and of fear of the Lord, that is, the sevenfold number which is called the seven eyes on one stone in Zechariah (Zech. 3:9), rests upon the rod and flower that arose from Jesse, and through this, the line of David. For this spirit, which proceeds from the Father and the Son, the same Lord bestowed upon his apostles, and through the ministry of the apostles and their successors, to his holy Church. And although these gifts proceed from the one source of the Spirit, they seem to have certain properties. For to understand is one thing, to have wisdom is another, because many can taste eternal things, but they cannot understand them. Therefore, wisdom fills the mind in which it resides with the hope and certainty of eternal things, and understanding, since it penetrates secrets, illuminates the heart that it touches by enlightening its darkness. Counsel, while preventing someone from being reckless, fills the mind with reason. Strength, while not fearing adversity, provides confidence to a trembling mind. Knowledge, while fleeing ignorance, illuminates with its own light whatever it fills. Piety allows the one whom it fills to overflow with mercy in his works. Fear, while pressing down the mind so that it does not become proud of present things, comforts it with the hope of future things. For thus they support each other by their mutual help, so that while each supports the others, the order and status of life are composed most fittingly. For wisdom is minor if it lacks understanding, and understanding is highly useless if it does not subsist from wisdom, for when it penetrates higher things without the weight of wisdom, its own lightness makes it fall more heavily. Counsel is worthless if it lacks the strength of fortitude, because what it finds by discussing it does not lead to the completion of the work without the strength to the end. And strength is greatly destroyed unless it is supported by counsel, for the more it sees that it can do, the more it rushes headlong without the moderation of reason. There is no knowledge if it does not have the usefulness of piety, because while it neglects to perform good things it knows, it binds itself more tightly to judgment. And piety is extremely useless if it lacks the discernment of knowledge, because while no knowledge enlightens it, it does not know how to have mercy. Even fear itself, if it does not have these virtues, undoubtedly arises to no work of good action: while it trembles at everything, it is numb from all good things with its own fear. Therefore, it must be observed with the utmost care, and the help of the Holy Spirit must be implored, so that wisdom does not elevate; so that understanding, while running subtly, does not go astray; so that counsel, while multiplying itself, does not confuse itself; so that fortitude, while providing confidence, does not precipitate; so that knowledge, while knowing but not loving, does not inflate; so that piety, while inclining itself outside of rectitude, does not twist itself; so that fear, while trembling more than justice, does not merge into the pit of despair.

It is worth noting that these distributions of spiritual gifts in the body of Christ, which is the Church, are supported by these auxiliary means. However, in Him who is the fount of light and the origin of goodness, they reign fully, perfectly, incomparably, and ineffably. For wisdom, which built for itself a body in the Virgin’s womb and the Church in the world, has the spirit of wisdom by which it does everything wisely; understanding, by which it probes all the secrets of mysteries; counsel, by which it manages all things with great dispensation, for it is an angel of great counsel; fortitude, by which it touches all things strongly from beginning to end, and can be conquered by no one; knowledge, by which it knows everything, except for those to whom it will say, “I do not know you” (Matthew 25:12); piety, by which it redeemed man, whom it created with goodness and condemned with justice; and fear, for the sake of those who are in need of the fear of the Lord because they are little ones, to whom it says through the Prophet, “Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord” (Psalm 33:11).

Therefore, since He descended to our weaknesses, taking on the form of a servant, humbling Himself even to death, and inclining Himself so that He might raise us up while we lay prostrate before Him, it is not inappropriate that the Spirit of the Lord, who rests upon Him, begins with wisdom and descends through the most fitting stages to fear. But we, coming from the fear that charity sends forth, arrive at chaste fear that endures forever, and adorned with the works of piety, we come to knowledge, not the kind that inflates but the kind that love builds. From knowledge to fortitude, so that adorned with the beauty of knowledge we might fight bravely against vices; from fortitude to counsel, so that we might fortify with the gravity of counsel what we do bravely, obeying our actions with counsel, and entering into the mysteries of the understanding, so that we might come to that wisdom that begins with the fear of the Lord, and so that we might be admitted to that wisdom by doing everything wisely and by having a good understanding, through which everything was made: that wisdom that was ineffably begotten by the Father before the ages and that deigned to receive the flesh of our salvation at the end of the ages, and which gave that flesh to His faithful to eat when He said, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you shall not have life in you” (John 6:55-56).

XVIII. Why the body and blood of the Lord are consumed.

We are baptized and nourished by the flesh and blood of the Lord for the sake of obtaining eternal life, for we cannot enter into his body unless we are imbued with these sacraments. For he himself says: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.” (John 6:53-56) For it is a saving sacrifice which Melchizedek, king of Salem, offered in the Old Testament as a type of the body and blood of the Lord, and which the same mediator between God and man fulfilled in the New, before he was handed over, by taking bread and a cup, and blessing them, and giving them to his disciples, commanding them to do these things in his remembrance. Therefore, abandoning and ending the old sacrifices, the Church celebrates this mystery of the sacrifice, offering bread for the living bread that came down from heaven, and wine for him who said, “I am the true vine” (John 15:1), so that through the visible offering of the priests and the invisible consecration of the Holy Spirit, bread and wine may become the body and blood of the Lord by divine power.

Water is mixed with this blood, either because it flowed from the side of the Lord, or because, as the wise have understood, just as the people are signified by the wine, so they are by the water. For wine and water are mixed inseparably in the cup, because the Church is inseparably joined to its head, Christ.

Therefore, the Church observes the manner of receiving the Eucharist handed down by the Lord, so that when one is born again of water and the Holy Spirit, one may be nourished by the body of the Lord and drink his blood. Thus, when he receives the body of Christ, he may remain in Christ, and Christ in him. Strengthened by the power of this food, he may come, following the example of Elijah, to the mountain of God, that is, to Christ, who is the mountain of the house of the Lord, prepared on the top of the mountains, and by his gift attain to the glory of eternal beatitude, where he may be satisfied with the good things of God and say with the prophet, “As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.” (Psalm 17:15)

Behold, venerable sir, I have fulfilled your wise request with humility, praying that when you find deeper answers to these questions, you will not reject them but will evaluate all things with apostolic authority, and retain what is good.

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