DE SACRAMENTIS (ΠΕΡῚ ΤΩ͂Ν ἹΕΡΩ͂Ν ΤΕΛΕΤΩ͂Ν)

[The plate here carries a heading set across both columns — ΠΕΡΙ ΤΩΝ ΙΕΡΩΝ ΤΕΛΕΤΩΝ, "On the Sacred Rites" (the Latin column: DE SACRAMENTIS) — which our Greek source omits.]

176Bishop. Brother, what is asked is beyond me.

But know that, moved for love's sake beyond the bound of caution and of humility, I said for your sake whatever I said to you, trusting in this alone, that I select these things from the divine Scriptures. 177And so now too, since thou longest to learn about the mysteries of the Church, I will speak to thee about these also, as far as I may have strength, fulfilling the part of love. But do not thou rest content with what shall be said by us; rather, taking whatever thou mayest perhaps find profitable in these things, seek always, and be drawing near to those who have their mind loftier and purer, and asking; and thou shalt not miss what thou longest for.

Cleric. For this too, Father, we give thanks, that thou hast given us very many occasions of humility. And may the Lord grant us, through thy holy prayers, not to think more highly than we ought to think, but to think so as to be sober-minded. But make plain to us, we beseech thee, the matters of the mysteries.

CHAPTER 33. That the mysteries of the Church are seven.

Bishop. Since you seek it, I will speak in Christ according to my power. Seven are the gifts of the Spirit, as Isaiah says, and seven the mysteries of the Church that are wrought through the Spirit. And these are baptism, chrism, communion, ordination, marriage, repentance, and holy oil. And in brief I will make plain to thee concerning each of these also, even though earlier, in the interpretation of the divine liturgy, we spoke of them dimly, as far as there was room.

*62* CHAPTER 34. [The plate carries the subtitle Περὶ βαπτίσματος, "On baptism," which our Greek source omits.]

Baptism, then, regenerates by the Spirit, since we lost the first passionless birth, and we were conceived in iniquities, and in sins, as David sings, did his mother conceive each one of us.

CHAPTER 35. On the chrism.

And the chrism puts in the first seal, and that which is according to the image, which we lost through disobedience; and further also the grace which we received in the soul by the divine inbreathing. Wherefore it also bears the power of the Spirit, and is rich in his fragrance, and is a marking and a seal of Christ.

CHAPTER 36. On the divine communion.

And the communion unites us to the Master himself, and we truly partake of his flesh and his blood; and since through eating we died, and were parted from paradise and from God, through the communion we take up eternal life again, and casting off corruption we are united to the Immortal, who for our sake became mortal through flesh.

CHAPTER 37. On ordination.

And ordination affords the authority and power of him who made us. And since none of the things that are is without him, and he himself came to lead us to well-being, having taken up this power of his from among us, he afforded it to us through his priesthood; and through it all the rites are wrought for us, and nothing is holy without a priest.

And further, having from the beginning established us as rulers of the things that are seen, 180again in the present, in a better manner, he establishes us rulers through the priesthood. Wherefore David also says, «Thou shalt establish them rulers over all the earth.» For he has delivered to us the keys of heaven.

CHAPTER 38. On marriage.

And marriage is a gift of God's condescension, for the begetting of children, so long as this universe stands together with corruption. For God did not will that the irrational constitution, from a flux and filthy, should be in us; but since we died of our own will, he let the succession of the race work in this way, as also among the irrational creatures, that we might know into what we have been brought down. And this until the Incorruptible, who both died and rose for us, shall raise up and immortalize our nature; wherefore he himself also blesses marriage, that the first-fruits of our life may not come to be without a blessing.

*63* CHAPTER 39. [The plate carries the subtitle Περὶ μετανοίας, "On repentance," which our Greek source omits.]

And repentance works our setting-upright again after the fall. And since after baptism there is no other recall, by grace and as a gift and without struggles and toils, except through conversion and tears and the declaring of one's faults and departing from evils, this great gift has been given, in which indeed the habit of the monks also is brought in, as being a pledge of repentance.

CHAPTER 40. On holy oil.

And holy oil has been delivered, this too as a sacred rite and a type of the divine mercy, supplied for redemption and sanctification to those who turn back from sin. Wherefore it also affords loosing of sins, and raises up from infirmities, and fills with sanctification. And all these things Jesus Christ our God delivered, and his divine disciples through him. For since we are twofold, of soul and of body, twofold also were these things afforded us by him, since he himself too truly became twofold for our sake, being truly God and having truly been called man, so that by the grace of the Spirit he might intelligibly sanctify our souls, and by the sensible things — water and oil, and bread and cup, and the rest that are sanctified by the Spirit — he might hallow our bodies also, and afford entire salvation.

CHAPTER 41. On the resurrection, that is, the raising of bodies.

He, that he may also make us perfect as he fashioned us, will further raise us up also when we die; and he will restore us with the bodies with which we lived and conducted our lives, that we may receive back what we did.

Since, then, he will raise us perfect (for he fashioned nothing in vain), neither will he leave our body in corruption; for he made all things to be, and wills that nothing perish, being perfect God, and he alone truly being, and he became man like us, taking a body with a rational and intellectual soul, that he might also cleanse 181our rational souls, and fill them with the grace of the Holy Spirit, and make our bodies incorruptible and at the same time sanctify them. For this reason, then, he also gave these mysteries in a twofold manner: sensibly, as being from the things that are seen, yet accomplished by the Holy Spirit, and bestowing the divine grace on souls and bodies alike. And he delivered them not in words only, but also in deeds; and the Word of God, having first become flesh in himself, wrought this in his love for man, that, he being for us the first-fruits of good things, all we who are his might receive from him as from a fountain. For for this cause also he became man, that we might be united to him, and that we might be sanctified through him. Because he who fashioned us from the beginning is this same Word of God, and he again it is who refashions us, by the good pleasure of the Father and the co-working of the Holy Spirit. For the Trinity, God, who made the whole, also administers the whole, and most of all us who had fallen away, the most precious of things seen and according to the image of God. The Word of God, then, the living image and seal and radiance, takes up into himself his own image, us, the rational living creature. And not through some other creature does he renew us. Since it is not even possible.

Cleric. And how, master, was it not possible through an angel also,

Bishop. In no way: because every creature is circumscribed, and does not reach everywhere, and does not have by nature the power of saving.

But by grace; and it would have been as one giving the grace through an instrument, and, being partial, not able to extend to all, nor to grant the refashioning to those who first suffered. But how would he afford life, not being by nature the life? Or how would he remain unchangeable, not being by nature unchangeable? since some of them fell away, and that though they were not even united to flesh. For this reason it was necessary that he himself, the one unchangeable by nature, the ever-being *64* Word, who lives always with the living Father together with the life-giving Spirit, should be united to us mortals, so that by what is unchangeable and incorruptible he might stay our corruption, and, being eternal life, might drive death away from us and implant immortality. And as being everywhere and eternal, he is able to save both those who died before, and those who believed in the time of his conduct of life upon earth, and those who after these things believe, for ever, through his mysteries, and through those that are his own, having his grace. And the same one both works for ever and reaches through many. Wherefore he also implanted his grace in us, that he might work through us. And we who have been deemed worthy of the priesthood are many, and in different places; but he is one, and in heaven and on earth, and in the sea, and in the universe, and everywhere reaching all, and working all things through all. Which belongs to no created nature at all. Wherefore neither do we work when we perform the mysteries; but we only minister, that is, we serve. And he works through us.

Wherefore, though myriads of celebrants offer each day and at the same time, one is the body 184and blood, and one the sacrifice, and not many, for the Word of God is living and working, and everywhere, and above the universe.

Cleric. Wonderful are the things that have been said, master, and they have put ever so great a pleasure into my soul, and I have come to know more clearly the mystery of the Word of God's becoming man.

CHAPTER 42. Why the Word of God was not united to the better nature of the angels, but to that of men.

Bishop. These things are not ours, beloved, but the Fathers'. And thou wouldst find them in many places, examining the discourses of these men. And further consider this too, which affords at once a very great and a true knowledge of the divine mystery. Why the Word of God, having willed to be united to his creatures, was not united to the better nature (that of the angels, I mean), which in some way stands as its own and akin toward it by reason of its immateriality, but to this our nature, the corruptible and material? According to reason, because it is most great and divine. For if he had been united to the angelic nature, it alone would have partaken of his communion, and it would not have been saved; for it is saved, but it would only have been exalted, and led up to something greater, having been deemed worthy of the communion of God. And all the other creation would have been profited nothing, but would have remained in corruption, and most of all man, who had fallen away, for whose sake this creation came to be, and through whom it fell under corruption. Consider, then, the wisdom of God, and his counsel, truly ancient, on account of which (I think) he made both the world and the angels out of things that are not, and last of all man. For since he is good, and for this reason brought forth the creation, that the creation might partake of his good things, for he himself, being without need and full and before the ages, would not have needed anything from among the things that are, for he himself is the highest good, since the creation of God is intelligible and sensible, and the union of the two is man [d: intelligible and sensible, and the union of the two is man] alone, consisting of an intelligible soul and a sensible body, God takes this man alone, and is united to the utmost, having made the human nature subsist in himself sinlessly from the holy Virgin, by the Holy Spirit. And taking a body with an intellectual and volitive soul, through the intellectual part of the soul he is united to the intellectual nature, that of the angels, and through his divine flesh to the creation that is according to sense. And thus the sanctification and the grace pass not into man only, who is intelligible from the soul and sensible from the body, but rightly pass also into the whole *65* creation; and the rational creation, that of the angels and of souls, is united to God, and perceives God, and has communion with him, and is made exceedingly bright, receiving in kindred fashion the divine light from the holy soul of the Word, which is intellectual and rational. For now angels behold that holy soul of the Saviour according to nature, and now receive more vividly the illumination from the invisible, and are filled with greater wisdom from the divine mind of the living Wisdom.

And as in some way kindred they draw near to him, and are disposed; and they are filled with wonder; 185and they are the more humble-minded, having been deemed worthy of such great things; and in like manner also the sanctified souls of the saints. And the sensible creation, together with our bodies, through that holy and deified, or rather, so to say, co-divine flesh, sacrificed for us on the cross and risen again, and having received incorruption, had the first-fruits of immortality, and has them. And, according to Paul, all this creation eagerly awaits incorruption. Which also shall come to pass when the incorruptible and living Word, with his flesh made incorruptible, is revealed together with us at his second and most dread coming; when also the angels will be myriads, cowering and trembling before his beauty, and at the same time rejoicing in the glory which they receive from him. And the elements shall be altered, and the righteous shall shine forth as the sun, receiving their shining from the Sun of righteousness who has been united to us, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Hast thou considered the mystery, O man, so far as there was room for us to speak of it, of the Saviour's becoming man?

Cleric. I have considered it and have marvelled, and glory to God who wrought these things on our behalf.

CHAPTER 43. That Christ also received the mysteries into himself.

Bishop. It remains necessary to say how the Saviour wrought the mysteries in himself also. And first, baptism, the first of his spiritual gifts: he himself was baptized in the Jordan by John, first, not as himself needing it, for how would he who alone is pure? but for our sake, that we might be cleansed, and wash off the filth that comes from the flux and from the ancestral sin, and, having been fashioned from clay in the beginning, which is earth and water, that our body may be in place of the earth, and in holy water and Spirit we may be regenerated together with the soul, and be born a new and sinless man. And second, the chrism, that is, the divine oil and myron, the Saviour received in the baptism, the Spirit descending upon him in the form of a dove. And Isaiah, concerning this, speaks as if from Christ himself, «The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because of which he anointed me.» Concerning this Peter also says, That God made him both Lord and Christ, bodily, that is, the Spirit having come upon him.

And that God anointed him with the Holy Spirit, Peter says again elsewhere. And Paul, «In him, he says, dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.» This chrism, then, is the grace of the Spirit, all of it; which, as has been said in the baptism, he received in human fashion, as was also seen by John. And this he had always, as God the Word, it being undivided from him; and he had it by grace also as soon as he became man, since his Spirit, connatural and undivided, was always with him, and by the Holy Spirit he constituted for himself that divine flesh; yet he showed it also at the baptism, descending upon him for our sake.

Since the pure one also underwent baptism *66* for our sake, that, being baptized, we might 188receive this. We too, then, of necessity need this spiritual myron, and above all in baptism; and no one will be perfectly baptized who has not also received the myron. For by baptism he is regenerated, and is loosed from his sins by the Spirit; but he does not yet also have the pledges of grace, nor the odour of life, nor the seal of the Spirit. Wherefore, as it is necessary to be baptized, so there is necessity also to be anointed with the myron. And for this reason Peter and John laid their hands on those who had been baptized by Philip, as having received baptism only, and they received the Holy Spirit. Which indeed is the myron. For the laying on of hands afforded the myron, as took place also among the apostles, and through them for many others. And then it was the laying on of hands, but now, in place of the hands, it is this, the sanctified and so-called great myron, sanctified not by presbyters, but by patriarchs and bishops with sacred prayers and blessings, who are rich in the power of Peter and John; which indeed, being sent out also to the farthest bounds, has the power of the laying on of hands. And it is necessary that every believer be sealed with this at baptism, that everyone baptized may have the most divine baptism also perfect in himself. For if the Saviour received the Spirit when he was baptized, and those baptized by Philip received the Spirit by the laying on of the hands of Peter and John, that they might not be imperfect and unsealed by the Spirit, so also those being baptized, the faithful, ought to have been anointed with this myron in baptism, and not (as the infants of the Latins, or of some others) remain imperfect and unsealed, not receiving the grace of the Spirit, nor being marked with the marking of Christ. For the myron is the seal of Christ in the Spirit. And the priest cries this aloud when he seals with the myron, saying, «The seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit. Amen» Without grace, then, and unsealed for Christ is he who has not received the myron. And the myron is not simply oil, but that which is sanctified with prayers at the altar by the bishops of Christ, who are rich in the power of the apostles, or rather of Christ himself. Nor is the myron that which comes from holy relics, such as that from the body of the divine and myrrh-streaming Demetrius, or of some other of the saints, as is noised abroad also, in the land of the Cypriots, of the great martyr Mamas, or of a holy icon, as of the one called Sittē the holy, or from the oil of the lamps that hang before the holy icons or relics. For these things are venerable, and have divine grace, and afford healings, but not the power of that most divine myron; for this power is its own, and is supplied through the episcopate and the episcopal prayers. And it is not wrought simply, but is placed on the altar at the time of the celebration, on the holy and great Thursday, consecrated with sacred words in prayers at the end of the celebration, and brought to completion with the divine seal of the cross, even as the divine mysteries also are.

And just as the bread and the cup that have not 189been celebrated through the prayers of the priest will not be the body and blood of Christ, neither is that the great myron which has not been celebrated through the most sacred prayers of the most divine bishops. And from this baptism and myron we are both called Christians and are so, and more from the myron, which is also called chrism, since Christ too is so called because he was anointed with the Holy Spirit bodily. And this both Peter says, as we said, and David. «Therefore God, thy God, anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.» That is, Thee he filled with all the gifts (for thou didst receive the fullness of the Godhead); and thy fellows, as from a fountain, in proportion. And thus the myron, at the baptism, when the Spirit descended, was received *67* by the Saviour. But also when he was about to suffer he was anointed with myron, saying that this was for his burial; showing by this that even while dying for us he was living, being God, and had the living energies of the Spirit undivided in himself.

CHAPTER 44. That the Saviour himself performed the celebration.

And the celebration of his all-holy body and blood, it is plain that he himself celebrated it, and has delivered it to us to celebrate. «For this, he says, do for my remembrance.» Because he himself is also a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek (in bread, that is, and wine), in no way ceasing; and rather an eternal priest, because he both sacrificed himself willingly through the cross, and sacrifices, and offered to the Father, and brings near. And he lies a perpetual victim, and an eternal propitiation for us; whom also we have as a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God; and we hold fast his confession. And such a high priest truly became us, holy, harmless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens, humbled for us sinners.

CHAPTER 45. That the Saviour has been ordained both priest and high priest bodily.

And that he has been ordained our priest and high priest, the Saviour himself made plain, being the Word of God, and made flesh for us, and both borne witness to by the Father and ordained χειρονοτονηθείς by the Spirit, as Isaiah too foretold: «A rod shall rise up from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall come up from the root. And the Spirit of God shall rest upon him,» and what follows. And see the matters concerning the ordination, how he received it, this wonderful and most splendid one; though he was God by nature, and had almighty power, all-working and holy; for he is the living Word of God, holy and almighty; but nevertheless for our sake he has also been ordained bodily by the Father.

And first in the baptism itself; for at that time, being baptized and at the same time touched by the hand, he was as one being ordained, John laying his hand on him, and receiving the Spirit; 192but being ordained in a special way by the Father, the Spirit descending in place of a hand, and the Father himself saying, «This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.» And the second time he received the ordination more splendidly on the mount of the transfiguration, when he himself shone exceedingly with the light of the divine glory, being the Sun of righteousness; and he came to be in the midst of that luminous cloud, which signified the Spirit, which was always with him,

And from the cloud the Father was then perfecting him also according to the flesh, at once bearing witness and being well pleased in him, and proclaiming his own living wisdom a teacher. «For this, again, he says, is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.» And he added, «Hear him;» which indeed belongs to teaching. This also Christ himself, giving it to the disciples, said, «He who hears you hears me.» Dost thou see also how he has been ordained by the Father in the Holy Spirit?

CHAPTER 46. That Christ also blessed honourable marriage, and wrought it in himself through the Church in the Holy Spirit.

And see also how he, as creator [the Latin gives prout minister, "as minister"], established marriage and blessed it. For thou hast learned *68* that he came to a marriage in Cana. But he was also born of one betrothed to a man [the Latin gives ut homini socius permanens, "that, remaining a companion to man," and has no betrothal], that he might sanctify our birth.

CHAPTER 47. That Christ preferred virginity to marriage.

Yet he preferred virginity to marriage, since his Father too is virgin, begetting him without flux and without body. And the mother also, who according to the flesh bore God himself made flesh, both was a virgin, and remained so, and remains, having brought him forth without corruption, since she also conceived without seed. But consider also his marriage, wonderful and truly virginal, and divine. For the beautiful bridegroom desired our souls, and loved us, as he said; and for love of us he laid down his life, and gave himself to us as a dowry, and betrothed us to himself in his own spotless blood, his pure Church. And this Paul, the good bride-giver, cries aloud, «I have betrothed, he says, you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. And the matters of this marriage of the splendid and beautiful Son of the king he himself sets forth in the Gospels, the bridegroom fair in beauty above all the sons of mortals, as being pure and blameless. Thus he wrought the matters of marriage also in himself and through himself.

CHAPTER 48. That virginity is the marriage of Christ.

Wherefore him who is able and has room to be wedded to him, and who has made himself a eunuch for the kingdom of heaven, as having room to receive this Word in himself, the pure and all-holy one splendidly receives, and is united to him, and as to one pure 193lets himself be seen, and dwells wholly in him but if not, he blesses the marriage that is in him, and does not turn away from the begetting of children. «Through this, for the most divine Paul says, some are able to be saved.» «And they shall be saved, he says, through childbearing.» Because Christ himself also became a child, though impassibly; and he was praised by children, and blessed children and took them in his arms. But fornication and adultery he turned away from, even to a glance and a movement of the heart. And the Sodomites he both burned up from the beginning, and teaches that they are still punished. For he says that it will be more tolerable in the day of judgement for Sodom and Gomorrah than for those who have not received the preaching. So that for such men too, together with the ungodly, the punishment is eternal. But having thus done and taught the matters of marriage, concerning repentance and declaration he did something in himself.

Cleric. Concerning the former matters, holy master, we have been sufficiently profited, having heard about necessary things, and above all how he has been ordained who alone by nature is strong in all things, and alone is holy, and how he was wedded, and in all-holy fashion came to marriage, the spotless and pure one, joined in holy fashion to the holy in divine and fervent love; but how then the sinless one should also come to repentance, we are at a loss.

CHAPTER 49. That the Saviour also showed the matters of repentance through himself.

Bishop. Thou hast spoken well. And he does not come for his own sake, but for ours. For he himself took our iniquities, and bore our diseases. He did not, then, repent, but he taught the matters of repentance. And this he says first, knowing how prone we are to slip, «Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.» For how would he repent who alone among men was blameless? *69* or rather, who alone was holy and pure? But he taught repentance for our sake. «For I came not, he says, to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.» Wherefore he did not refuse to eat and drink with publicans and sinners. And on this account he is blamed by the Jews. And he receives harlots gladly. And indeed they touch his feet, and pour myron upon his head, and wash his feet with tears, and wipe them with their hair. And he does not send away the Canaanite woman, a Greek. And the woman taken in adultery, not condemning her, he receives, saying only that she should not sin; and the false accuser and extortioner who paid back his unjust gain readily and manifold; and the covetous man and publican who left off gathering taxes; and the murderer, and that a robber, by a single word upon the cross; and him who denied three times, and that his first disciple, as having only wept, and having thrice confessed him again in love; and the blasphemer and persecutor, Paul, who turned to a zeal inspired by God.

And through all these things, and the parables he spoke, of the prodigal and 196the rest, he set before us and practised the matters of repentance.

CHAPTER 50. That Christ also wrought the works of repentance for our sake.

And in himself too he wrought the works of repentance, not owing them, that he might show us the way of repentance and humility. For he fasted, and prayed, and lived cheaply and humbly and continently, nourished on barley loaves and small relishes. And often he appears without loaves, but for the sake of those with him multiplying the few through blessing, and going on foot, and living as a stranger. and not having (as he said) where to lay his head; and enduring insults and revilings and stonings; and not returning evil, but rather doing good; and at the last betrayed by a friend; and suffering at the hands of his own servants, for whom he was contending; and bearing it when slandered; and spat upon, and struck with fists, and scourged naked, and condemned, and put to death upon the cross as a condemned man, with robbers, the Maker of all things. Whence he was also called a curse, that he might loose the first curse in us, and afford a blessing. And at the last put to death, that, as to the living, so to those in Hades also he might grant the gifts of repentance. For there too he saves those who believed. And having risen, he awarded to the whole inhabited world the resurrection and refashioning through repentance. For through it the faithless and unclean, turning to the faith and holiness of Christ, and to chastity and virginity, were seen to be equal to angels; and up to now Christ saves, both drawing the faithless to faith, even if they have wrought countless dreadful things, granting forgiveness as a gift through baptism, and he saves again the faithful who sin, who come to him through confession, through tears and contrition, mercy, and other good works according to their power.

CHAPTER 51. That on account of repentance the grace of loosing and binding belongs to the bishops, and this too is from Christ.

For which cause he also afforded to us men the power of loosing and binding, having first put this gift into the apostles from himself. «For he breathed on them, he says, and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit: whosesoever sins you forgive, they are forgiven them; whosesoever you retain, they are retained;» so that those who have come to confession in humility *70* of soul, having first departed from sin through sincere repentance, may receive the forgiveness manifestly. And this is wrought continually up to now.

And this power of the Spirit, prevailing through the priests, and being effectual, both makes those who have been loosed known to all even after death and reveals those who are under bond.

197CHAPTER 52. That the monastic habit too is comprised in repentance. And why it is called the angelic habit, and the garment of repentance. And what its power is.

In this repentance, indeed, the most sacred habit of the monks is also comprised, which indeed both is and is called angelic, as imitating and professing their purity, poverty, hymns, prayers, obedience and cleanness. And it is called the garment of repentance, as mournful, as humble and cheap, as unadorned and broken off from all human love of finery, as not only unmixed with all worldly thoughts and words and deeds, but also advancing toward the dissolution and flight of worldly affairs. For it is a symbol of the life above the world, and it teaches the corruptibility of the things that are seen, and the transience of all things among men; and it practises the philosophy that is above, and philosophizes, and remembers death and the end of the things here. Wherefore it is also black, since it is mindful of death and mourning, and does not live in this life, but desires another life, the incorruptible, and presses on to run toward that Wherefore also if anyone is a true monk, according to Paul, he both loves Christ here, and nothing can separate him from the love of Christ; and he desires to depart, and to be with Christ. And this he shows through his works, living as an exile in deserts and mountains and monasteries for Christ's sake. And he hastens to be one with Christ, that Christ with the Father and the Spirit may dwell in him. Wherefore he also imitates the whole life of Christ, and is humbled, and becomes poor, and is subject, and takes thought for none of the things here, and is crucified to life, and professes to keep virginity, and to possess nothing, and to give himself to fastings and prayers and supplications, and to abide in these and such things until death, and to bear all things for Christ's sake. All which indeed are works of repentance. And every believer ought to persevere in these, save only virginity, which belongs to the monks. For this only the monks owe, in a special way; but also those in the world not yet yoked to a wife, and everyone who has professed it; but also every believer, and above all he who has fallen into sins (and who is he that has not fallen at all?) ought to walk in the footsteps of the Lord, and to carry out the works of repentance. Which things the Baptist also, who first, together with Elijah too, prefigured the habit, taught, «Bring forth, he says, fruits worthy of repentance. And repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand;» and he set before each the conduct of life that suited him.

CHAPTER 53. That the Saviour also showed the holy habit through himself.

And our Saviour and God, having afforded this great gift of 200repentance, and having proclaimed it through the prophets and the Forerunner, and through himself and his disciples, afterwards also showed and delivered the holy habit likewise through the apostles and himself, «If anyone wills, he says, to follow after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.» And so that no one may take this only of all who believe, that all the faithful ought, even unto death, for the faith *71* to take their stand, being bound to follow Christ, who for the good confession of the Father and of himself and of the Spirit bore witness under Pontius Pilate, but rather that this precept is also for those who are bound to work the martyrdom according to conscience, which is the life according to Christ, and above all, in a special way, the conduct of life of the monks; hear what he says to Peter, when he had said, «Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee.» For he promises, saying, «You who have followed me, in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.» Which indeed belongs to the episcopal grace, which he afforded to the disciples. Then he adds, «And everyone who has left houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake and the Gospel's, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit eternal life.» Which is plainly the life of the monks. And the word is at work also in martyrdom, for many, leaving all things, died for Christ; but this is made manifest particularly in the conduct of life of the monks, which the Saviour himself also lived, and his disciples: he himself living as a virgin, and being poor, he the rich one, and praying on the mountain, and being subject to the Father unto the death of the cross, and not doing his own will, but the will of the Father who sent him, which he kept even to the passion; «Nevertheless not my will, he says,» that of the flesh, that is, «but thine be done,» that is, the one divine will of the Father and of himself; and elsewhere too, giving the life of the monks, «He who loves, he says, father or mother more than me is not worthy of me;» and «He who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.» And «Whoever does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple;» and to the young man, «If thou wilt be perfect, sell thy possessions, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me;» which belongs not to martyrdom, but to the monastic life; and to him who spoke of going away and burying his own father, what does he say who teaches «Honour thy father and thy mother?» Raising us to the more perfect, the godlike life of the monks, he exhorts us here to disregard even our parents, and that in the very moments of need. Why? Because God who made us is to be honoured before all.

And if for his sake we wish to live according to him, there is no need for us to be anxious about our own according to the flesh; because, being 201provident, he will make us, who follow him purely and genuinely, equal to angels, among whom there is nothing of passionate attachment, but only the most passionless love. And those whom we overlook for his sake he will provide for through others.

CHAPTER 54. What is meant by «Let the dead bury their own dead.»

Wherefore he also prevented that man, saying, «Let the dead bury their own dead.» For he led him up to incorruption, and joined him to the immortal angels, shown to be their imitator through his freedom from attachment.

Thou art not dead, he says; wherefore be not anxious either about dead fathers who are being dissolved.

CHAPTER 55. [The plate carries the subtitle Τί τὸ, «Οὐδεὶς βαλὼν τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ ἐπ᾽ ἄροτρον.», "What is meant by «No one having put his hand to the plough»," of which our Greek source keeps only the last word.]

And to another, too, who wished to bid farewell to those in his house, that is, to his wife and the rest, what does he say? «No one having put his hand to the plough and turned to the things behind is fit for the kingdom of the heavens.» Thou hast begun a husbandry, he says, *72* not a human one, but thou art tilling in heaven. Thou wilt not be fit if thou turnest toward the things of the moment. And learn also what thou art getting in exchange for what: for thy house and those in the house, the kingdom of the heavens. We find, then, that the Lord both lived the way that is according to the monks, and delivered it. And among the apostles this life existed; wherefore he also exhorted them not to have two tunics, nor staff, or wallet, or shoes, and the rest, which belongs to the monastic manner of life. And it was not simply with words alone and prayers that he strengthened the work toward this, as also toward teaching; but blessing them as well, he sent them out. And in sending them out he afforded them power against unclean spirits, and to heal every disease and every infirmity, which was not only among the apostles then, but also among the saints afterwards, and most of all among the ascetics. And that there was a rite from the beginning, and a mystery of monastic perfecting, and that from the apostles themselves, the great Dionysius bears witness to this, writing, after the other sacred rites, also the mystery of monastic perfecting. They err, then, who say that the habit is a rather recent thing, and not given by the Saviour or by his apostles. For it has been shown that Christ our God too had delivered this, and his disciples, and that there was a mystery of the perfecting of the monks delivered by them, and a clothing in a habit other than the worldly habit. For this too the divine Dionysius says. And as for what is written of the holy Pachomius too in the sayings of the Fathers, that the habit was given afterwards by an angel, it has been written well and truly. For certain signs of the habit are given, which have a more perfect teaching beyond the former habit.

For since little by little the things of piety both grew and advanced, and the good orders of the Church became greater, and the things of the sacred service and of baptism were composed more splendidly, and 204sequences and orders of psalmodies and prayers, by the holy men of each age who were moved by the Spirit, the things of the habit of the monks also were shown to Pachomius by an angel, toward greater good order and gravity. And of the tunic, a more reverent clothing; then the girdle and the analabos; next the cowl, and the pallium, and sandals and the mandyas, affording a symbolic sense of certain divine things. Which indeed are seven, as the vestments of the bishop also are, bearing witness to the most perfect life, from the seven gifts of the Spirit. But concerning these we will speak more plainly, whenever we speak also of the things done at each mystery.

CHAPTER 56. That the mystery of the holy oil, that is, of the oil of prayer, was given by the Saviour.

And now it is necessary to speak also of the seventh of the mysteries, of the holy oil: how this too exists as delivered from our Saviour, and he himself was anointed with it, not for his own sake, but for ours, as he also used the rest of the mysteries; and what power it has. He delivered it, then, when he sent out his disciples two by two before his face. Who also, going forth, he says, preached that they should repent. Seest thou how this oil too perfects the things of repentance? And they cast out many demons. And they anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them. Behold, the oil, being sanctified, is given to those who repent. And it heals those who are sick, and cures not bodies only, but also souls. And concerning this the Brother of God bears witness, «Is there, he says, any sick among you? let him call for the presbyters of the church, and let them pray over him, having anointed him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the one who is ill, and *73* the Lord shall raise him up. And if he have committed sins, it shall be forgiven him.» Here another opinion too of the innovating Latins is overthrown. For these say, The holy oil ought not to be given to those who possess hope of life, but to the dying only, since it affords remission of sins; both thinking and acting contrary to the apostolic words, here as in all things. For while the Brother of God cries, «And the Lord shall raise him up,» these say that it is to be afforded to those who are not being raised up, and they confine the remission of sins to the oil alone; although indeed this remission of sins is granted always by confession also, and by this holy oil, which is celebrated at all times, and by the communion of the body and blood of Christ and our God, to those only who approach with repentance.

And that the Saviour was also anointed with oil for our sake, one may learn from the myron with which the harlot who came to him anointed him: not Mary of Lazarus, near the passion, who was also chaste, and that myron was for his burial, as he said; as also the woman in the house 205of Simon the Leper, if indeed she was another and not Mary — for this too took place at the time of the passion, and of this too he says that it is for his burial; but that which the harlot written of in Luke brought, who also wetted his feet with her tears, and anointed them, and wiped them with the hairs of her own head; which indeed is the oil of repentance too, fittingly brought to him by the sinful woman, through which she also, being anointed through the hairs with which she wiped, received the remission of her many sins, as the Gospel itself also clearly sets forth. For the Lord speaks to Simon, who had the house, first the parable of the two debtors, of whom the one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty; and, when they had been forgiven, which of the two will love more him who forgave the debt? And when Simon had said, «That he to whom he forgave the more,» the Lord said, «Thou hast said well.» And turning to the woman, he said to Simon, «Seest thou this woman? I entered into thy house, thou gavest no water upon my feet; but she has wetted my feet with tears. With oil thou didst not anoint my head; but she has anointed my feet with myron. For which cause I say to thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, because she loved much. But he to whom little is forgiven, loves little.» Seest thou what this holy oil signifies? Having sinned, we approach divine men; and repenting, we make the confession of the things in which we have stumbled. At whose bidding we offer holy oil to God as a type of his mercifulness and gladness, in which also the divine and glad light of grace flashes forth. For we offer lights also.

And since the prayer too is offered, and the oil is sanctified, those who are anointed with the oil find the remission of sins, as the harlot too, having anointed the saving feet, was herself anointed from thence.

CHAPTER 57. Why there is oil both in the holy and great myron, and oil in the oil of prayer.

And how is there oil both in the divine and greatest myron, which bears the seal of the Spirit, and oil in the oil of those who repent and of the sick? Because both there and here the oil has a type of the divine mercy. For there, in the myron, it signifies salvation for us, and the redemption from death, and the seal of the life-giving and glad Spirit, through whom also we were delivered from the flood of sin. Wherefore also in the flood in the time of Noah a dove, as a type of the Spirit, carrying a twig of olive in its mouth, *74* made salvation plain. And in the flood of sin, too, at the baptism of the Lord the Spirit came down in the form of a dove, bearing witness to the divine mercy and to the grace. And here too, as a type of the divine — as we have said — mercifulness and compassion toward us, this oil, being offered, is sanctified, and through it we draw the mercy of God upon ourselves.

Are these things sufficient for the demonstration of the sacred mysteries of the Church, or have you need of more also?

208Cleric. They are sufficient, master, and we have no need of others. But we beseech thee to set forth each of the mysteries, and to unfold to us the sacred symbols, and to teach us what the power of each of the things celebrated is.

Bishop. This is beyond us, as we have said, brother, and belongs to a power and a wisdom more lofty. For if Dionysius and Maximus, with a reserve and a reverence so great as cannot be told, undertook to set their hand to such sacred matters, how then will it be possible for us to interpret such things? But since confidence toward God can do all things — for he himself affords to those who believe according to their faith, and supplies also on account of love, because he is also love — for the rest we too, speaking on account of your love, believe that we shall receive a word in the opening of our mouth. And behold, through obedience, in the love of Christ, we set our hand to accomplish your request. And concerning each of the sacred symbols we will speak what we have learned from the most sacred Scriptures. And whatever our Fathers taught us we will tell, so far as we have had strength to know. And first indeed we speak concerning the divine baptism; since this too is the beginning of the mysteries that come to us. But because a fleshly birth comes to us even before being baptized, we must speak also of the prayer that is celebrated first at it. For since, having been born in the flesh, we are thus guided to the regeneration that is through the Spirit, the Church of Christ, as being spotless and sanctified in Christ, at once cleanses among the pious our sinful birth, which is from the flesh.

CHAPTER 58. Why at the birth of the infant a prayer is made by the priest.

And when the infant has been born of a pious woman, the priest comes, and glorifies God, giving thanks that a man has been born into the world; and having sealed it, he blesses the child that was born, and asks that it may continue, and receive baptism and the chrism. And praying for the mother the things that are for salvation, he imparts to her and to the women with her grace and sanctification, and grants leave to do their works [the Latin gives facultatem praebet sanctificare opera, grants leave to sanctify works], and in nothing at all to be hindered, or to partake of defilement, or to waver at the envious phantasms of the evil one, since they have ministered to the birth that is of sin and from pleasure, which indeed some say is a prelude of corruption and of death, and so it is.

CHAPTER 59. A setting-forth, part by part, of the things celebrated before baptism, and in baptism, and after baptism.

But having also sealed water with the marking of the cross, as a prelude of the divine baptism he sprinkles the house.

And having sealed the infant also on the forehead, on account of the mind, and on the mouth, on account of the word and the breath, and on the heart, on account of the vital power, so that it may remain guarded for the 209saving baptism, having thus dismissed them, *75* he departs. And on the eighth day the infant is brought to God by certain persons, and before the gates — for it is not yet sanctified by baptism — the priest seals it again on the forehead, and the mouth, and the breast; and gives it a name through a sacred prayer, whatever those who bore it may wish, with which it is also baptized.

CHAPTER 60. That on the eighth day too the Lord received the name, being called Jesus.

Just as this took place in the Lord also; for on the eighth day, being circumcised, he was called Jesus. But we do not have circumcision; for the Saviour has fulfilled the things of the law on our behalf, and has rescued us from the bondage of the law. And he has given another circumcision in the whole of nature, the divine baptism, which does not cut flesh, but cleanses sins. And each of the infants is baptized in its own name, as Jesus the Christ was. Not, however, are all baptized John and Mary, as some of the simpler and unlettered folk say. On the eighth day, then, circumcision was for the Jews. But now we the faithful receive the name on it, because the eighth is a renewal. For when the seventh is fulfilled, which this life possesses, revolving through seven of the days, it begins again on the eighth. Which is a sign of the resurrection, and a prelude of eternal life. For on the eighth the Lord also rose again, and we hope for the last day, that of eternal life. Which too shall be without end, as we are taught. On this eighth, then, the Jews were circumcised as to the males only, as being imperfect, sealed on the member of pleasure, themselves too bearing witness beforehand to the resurrection by the eighth, and signifying by being circumcised that the pleasure of the flesh shall cease at some time, and life shall be incorruptible, and not wrought through the flesh; but not understanding this, nor perceiving the true circumcision, the putting-off of sin, which is the holy baptism. For this teaches the being wholly incorruptible and unharmed, and not maimed in any respect; for he who is circumcised in the flesh has been maimed, and does not carry about the entireness of nature; and further, that our being born from pleasure is not passionless. Wherefore this too has been loosed, the being born from pleasure. And there shall be given to us through baptism to be born not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And this is to be regenerated through the washing of rebirth. Whence on the eighth day too the infant receives the name, just as the Saviour was called by the saving name, Jesus; and having been sealed, and having received a sacred prayer, as one brought to the Lord, and signed with the cross on the forehead, as I said, for the intellectual part, on the mouth for the rational part, and on the heart for the life-giving part, and written in the eternal book through the name that was laid upon it, it returns to the mother.

And on the fortieth day it is brought again by the mother to the temple, and this is presented to God as a gift.

For the priest, standing before the doors of the temple (for it is not lawful to 212enter before the prayer), and having sealed the mother together with the infant, and sanctified them with prayers, and having afforded to the mother the cleansing from the birth that is pleasure-laden and defiled — she having completed the forty days after the bearing, in which the infant too was perfected in her and began to leap; and having given her the entrance into the temple, she being until then not worthy to enter, nor to have communion with what is pure — himself taking the child into his arms, figuring the part of Symeon, who took the Lord, an infant, in his arms, cries aloud the «Now lettest thou depart,» the priest praying that the infant be loosed from sin, and see the light, Christ, the revelation of the Gentiles and the glory of the new Israel, *76* having itself also been born by the Spirit, and seeing God face to face. And if the infant has been baptized, he brings it in even into the altar, and carries it round about, as though making an obeisance too, showing that it is an offering to God; and it does obeisance to him who made it. But if the child has not yet been baptized, standing before the rails, and making an obeisance at the altar through the infant, and handing it over to the mother, he dismisses them. From this point, then, the infant is a catechumen; and the mother has received leave both to enter the temple, as having been cleansed, and to partake of the mysteries, whenever she is ready and wishes. And these things are so.

CHAPTER 61. A contemplation of the things celebrated in the divine baptism.

Learn now the things of the most sacred ερωτάτου baptism; and first, that there is no set time of days or hours for it, lest at any time the infant should depart unenlightened. But if there be fear of death, all the things done according to the form are done at once, upon its being born; but with attention, and by a priest both reverent and sober [the Latin gives nisi quod abest oratio atque pius sanctusque sacerdos, except that the prayer and a pious and holy priest are lacking]; and if indeed the time allows, and there is no fear of death, at once after the sacred service, that the infant may also partake of the mysteries. And concerning this Dionysius says that all the mysteries perfect us by the communion. For this is the end of all. And the priest ought indeed both to study the sacred prayers well and to say them, and with attention, and slowly, unless there be some necessity, reading them in the hearing. For we have heard from the Fathers that those who are often terrified by phantasms suffer this for this reason, because the priests who baptized them did not say the exorcisms with attention, and the other sacred prayers. If, then, there is leisure, one ought to say the exorcisms from the beginning, and the other prayers, not once only, but many times. For indeed in the Euchologion it is written that they be said eight or ten times, because there was also an ancient custom of the Church that these were said to those being baptized on each day, for seven days, by the catechizing priests, and on the eighth again by the bishop, or by the priest who was about to baptize; and so they were baptized by the bishop or the priest. But we have seen reverent priests saying these three times without omission, and so baptizing. And the most divine baptism is done thus.

He who is about to be baptized is brought, if an infant, held by a woman, with the sponsor present; but if he is of age, 213alone, since he must also come of his own will, and the sponsor with him. For he is his surety toward Christ, that he will keep the things of the faith, and live as a Christian; and the name too shows this. For ἀνάδοχος, sponsor, is as it were one who takes him up into himself.

CHAPTER 62. That the sponsor of him who is being baptized must be orthodox and pious.

Here indeed one must also take heed to make sponsors of lovers of piety, and almost teachers of the faith. But I have heard of something exceedingly out of place and grievous. For some call persecutors and insulters of the faith, godless men and heretics, to the sponsoring (alas!) of their children, for some human reason; and these set the mystery at nought; and they do not enlighten the children, but rather darken them. And the priest who ministers is shown to be a partaker with those who are strangers to God. And how would the blasphemer against God teach piety? But what communion has light with darkness? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever, as it is written? He who does such things is condemned; and so is he who receives the infants of the impious, unless these first confess that baptism is holy and divine, and cleansing of sin, *77* and regenerating in Christ, and that he who receives it is a Christian (for if this is so, the one will confess that the infant will be faithful, while he himself hides under some fear), it is good to receive and sanctify the infant, lest it should also be taken thus by God. The one being baptized, then, stands with the sponsor, showing that he has come of his own will, and has the one who stands surety. And when the priest has blessed, for one must give thanks to God from the beginning and always over the salvation of him who was lost, at once, while he is naked and uncovered, with a wrapping only, the priest breathes upon the catechumen three times in the shape of a cross. And through the breathing-upon he rekindles that first inbreathing in Adam, since, «And he breathed into his face, it says, the breath of life.» And the priest represents Christ God. Whence it is also good to baptize and to inbreathe after the communion of Christ. And he breathes upon him three times on account of the Trinity, because the grace and the operation are common to the Trinity; and in the shape of a cross on account of him who was incarnate for us, and suffered in the flesh, Christ, one of the Trinity, and set up the victory by the cross. Wherefore also the cruciform figure signifies his sacrifice, both humiliation and victory, because through it he loosed the pangs of death, and abolished him who had the power of death, the devil, and triumphed over the most wicked opposing powers. By which cross we too conquer the devil in Christ, and turn the demons away. And the cross is a sign of the Saviour, and a seal, and a trophy.

Having, then, breathed upon the catechumen three times, the priest, having also sealed him three times again with his hand with this cruciform sign, on account of the «Thy hands have made me and fashioned me,» both on the forehead, as I said before, for the intellectual part, and on the mouth for the rational part, and on the heart for the vital part, lays 216his hand upon him, which is sanctified and fashions in the Spirit; and he pronounces over him the sacred prayers. But before breathing upon him and sealing, as has been said, he frees the catechumen of his girdle and unclothes him, and presents him bareheaded, and with his feet bare, looking toward the east. What does he show in this? That he who approaches God, and now looks toward the true light, which the east signifies (for thence comes the light), must be free of the passions, and loosed from unbelief, and stripped of all wickedness, and a stranger to the garment of sin, and showing forth his servitude to God.

For this reason, then, he stands naked. And further, because man became naked through sin, and lost the God-woven garment, this figure of nakedness bears witness to it. For since he comes to cast off the filth of sin and of unbelief, and to become wholly new, and to put on the form of the new Adam, and to return to what is better than what was before, he shows the nakedness, and bears witness to the shame; and standing thus he is cleansed, seeking the re-formation. But that we may not, by lengthening the discourse, produce satiety in the ears, let us now speak summarily about the matter in hand. The bishop and priest who baptizes figures the Lord himself, who works all things in all, since he also bears his power — him who also fashioned us before, and refashions us again; and the one being baptized figures the Adam who had fallen away, since his approaching too shows the willingness of his purpose. And if it is an infant brought by some faithful person, the being brought signifies in faith and not by compulsion; and he who undertakes for him signifies the one who stands surety, both as to faith and as to life. The putting off of clothes and the being loosed, standing naked with a loincloth, signify the casting away of all wickedness, and being freed from the bonds of sin, and coming to Christ naked of the things of error and corruption; and that he became naked when he went astray, having lost the former *78* robe, which he now comes to put on more splendidly through baptism. And he looks toward the east, seeking the true light, which is the Trinity, and the one of the Trinity, Christ, incarnate, who came from Thaiman, that is, from the east; and also the paradise, from which he fell, planted toward the east. And he is breathed upon by the bishop on account of the first breathing-upon; for he is being renewed. And he is breathed upon three times, on account of the divine operation of the life-giving Trinity. For by it he was fashioned, and is refashioned. And he is sealed by the bishop's hand by means of the cross, because the hands of God fashioned us, the Son and the Spirit. And the cross is a sign of Christ and a trophy. For having conquered through it, he shattered the demons; and now, when the cross is traced, the demons flee from it. And he is sealed first on the forehead, that the one being initiated may be sanctified in mind, error having been put to flight. And second the mouth, that he may be sanctified in his word, and confess the truth.

And third the breast, that he may be pure in heart, and see God, 217and hide nothing, and live in him, and move, and abide. After this the bishop blesses God, because it is fitting to bless him for the finding of what was lost, and for the salvation of man. Then the laying on of a hand, on account of the grace that is imparted and the refashioning. And the first prayer is in the name of the Trinity. For by it he is committed to the only God, and through it he is sanctified. And the prayer entreats that the name of the Trinity remain undenied in the one being baptized, and that he be perfected by the divine baptism and chrism, and by the sacred communion. And the second prayer is an exorcism, scaring off and pursuing the devil and all his operation by the dread and divine names and mysteries. And it drives him out of the man, and his demons. And it charges him to flee from him, and not to molest him. Likewise the third too, being itself also an exorcism, drives out the demons by the divine name. And the fourth prayer, again, is one offered up to God, asking that he wholly drive out the evil one from the divine handiwork, and establish him in the faith. Whence he at once makes the fifth prayer also, which is more necessary, and through it he dedicates the one being baptized to God. In which prayer too he again breathes upon him a second time; which is the firmer work, the re-quickening and the renewal being shown by this. And he seals him three times again on the forehead, and the mouth, and breast, on account of his mind and word and life; and because the Trinity, our God, is mind and word and Spirit, which re-quickens him and gives that which is according to the image, which he lost. «And drive out from him, it says, every evil and unclean spirit, hidden and lurking in his heart.» For the demons love to dwell in the souls of the unbaptized, wishing to lead them astray and defile them. And they have this power from that transgression. Wherefore they dwell openly in the hearts of the uninitiated and unbelieving, and both defile them and stir them up to the things hateful to God. And at the end of the prayer the renunciation and the joining take place thus. The bishop turns the one being baptized as toward the west, the darkness being shown by this, in which the devil is. And he bids him raise his hands up, it being shown that the one being baptized has nothing of the things of the evil one hidden within himself; and that he begins to imitate him who was crucified for us. And he is bidden by the bishop to say, «I renounce Satan, and all his works,» and what follows. And the one being baptized makes the renunciation of the evil one, and the perfect denial of his things. And this he says three times, for the confirmation of the renunciation of the enemy; and because he flees from the evil one with his whole soul; and further also for the honour of the holy Trinity, which confirms *79* and perfects all things.

And having asked again three times, «Hast thou renounced Satan?» and the one being baptized having agreed three times, and said, «I have renounced,» [the Latin gives the reply in the plural, Abrenuntiamus … Abnegamus et rejicimus, we have renounced … we deny and cast off] that is, I have denied and cast off the evil one — for the renunciation of evil must be manifest and firm — 220the bishop says, «Breathe upon him,» that is, cast him out of thy heart, and set him at nought from the heart, and put the enemy to shame. And this is done three times, for the security of the renunciation of the evil one, and to the glory of our God, the only one in Trinity, who cast down the evil one. Then he turns him toward the east; for he leads him up from the darkness to the light, and from the lie to the truth. And the bishop says, «Say, And I join myself to Christ, and I believe in one God, the Father almighty,» and what follows. For he must confess purely the thrice-sunned light, so that he may receive its brightness in the heart too. He says, then, the whole confession of the sacred Symbol splendidly with the mouth. And this is done three times, confirming the confession, and at the same time also for the honour, as we have said, of the three-hypostatic Godhead. And he confesses this openly, since he proclaims the truth; and because he must proclaim it before angels and men, through which he will also be saved. And one must proclaim with boldness the God of all things — the consubstantial Trinity, I mean, the only truly existing God — and also the incarnation from the Virgin, for our sake, of the one of the Trinity, the Word of God. When, then, he has done this three times, and has been asked again three times, «Hast thou joined thyself to Christ?» and has answered three times from the heart, and said, «I have joined myself to him,» [the Latin gives the reply in the plural, Fatemur eum, we confess him] the bishop says, «And do obeisance to him,» and when he has sealed himself with the cross by his hand, which signifies the confession of Christ and a marking, and has done obeisance three times, showing his servitude, and his true subjection together with the confession, the bishop turns toward the east and blesses God, who wills all to be saved. For thus one must give thanks for all things, and most of all for the salvation of men.

And so, having taken the catechumen himself by the hand, as one who has found him that was lost, he brings him into the temple, as into heaven, plainly, or into paradise, showing that he is bringing him to the Master who had lost him. And showing the joy which he rejoices with the angels over a sinner who repents, he says, singing, «Hail, thou that art full of grace,» and goes in. For she is the first-fruits of the saving joy, the saving gate, she who dispensed salvation for us, and who bore for the world the true joy, God the Word made flesh from her, holily and virginally, for our refashioning. And the bishop, figuring forth the things of Symeon, brings the one being baptized before the altar, showing how that he offered him. And he makes him bow down three times to God; because he too has been reconciled to God through conversion, like that prodigal, and to the adoption and incorruption, the first robe of the Spirit, he is coming in next to no time, in a greater and better manner, through the divine baptism. And so that both the conversion and the confession may be secure, the bishop also calls the sponsor. And he tells him to bow down three times to the altar, in which God dwells, showing by this that he gives his word to guard the one being baptized securely in the faith and in pious conduct of life.

Then, if the one about to be baptized 221is an infant, the sponsor, stooping, takes him as he lies before the holy doors, as from the hands of Christ; but if he is of age, he takes the one being baptized by the hand, showing the same thing, that he has received him from Christ, and has become his surety unto Christ, and will be his spiritual father. Wherefore also, holding him, he brings him to the sacred font, showing that the one being initiated comes to baptism willingly and not by force, and before witnesses: first and pre-eminently *80* God, and then the hierarch and the faithful who happen to be present, who are all witnesses of what is being performed, and the sponsor himself, who also brings him forward, and above all the divine and all-pure angels, invisibly present then, and rejoicing at the birth from God in the Spirit and the salvation of the one being baptized, and enrolling him in the heavens, and becoming his acquaintances and friends, from the cleansing out of the divine laver and the seal of the myron. Wherefore it is also necessary that then nearly all the faithful be present with reverence and joy, and believe that angels are present, who rejoice over one sinner who repents; and that the one being baptized is then handed over to a holy guardian angel; and this one will be with him always, driving off the envious demons and every assault of the most guileful enemy, if only the one baptized keeps his baptism pure in faith and works; and he will bring him safe through into the kingdom of the heavens. Since, then, the work of the most divine baptism is very great, for this reason formerly the Church too, through the bishops, used to perform the baptisms of those who came forward in the catholic churches, and at the time when, on the feasts at the divine liturgy, we chant «As many as were baptized into Christ,» and above all on the Great Sabbath before the divine sacred service, while the many readings from the divine prophets are being read. Since the most sacred baptism is both regeneration and refashioning, cleansing and illumination and adoption, and gift and sanctification, and the countless things, as many as the Fathers say. And it typifies pre-eminently the death of Christ, and the rising on the third day. Which indeed that season too presents more purely. For from the death of Christ and the three days' burial and the resurrection we received immortality and incorruption, and we hope for that resurrection and renewal to come, and the life eternal, of which Christ has become the first-fruits, he who alone is sinless, having suffered for us sinners, and he who was not obliged to die, as not having sinned at all, having died for us. For sin is the sting of death, as Isaiah and Paul say, that is, its beginning and root and procurer. And Christ himself, not having done sin, and not being obliged to die, died for our sake; and for this reason, having abolished death, he has been raised, and has loosed our passions and the condemnation, the passionless one having suffered by his own act; and having become the author of our life, he was taken up into the heavens.

And we who have put him on 224in baptism await him from heaven; when he will also raise us up, and supply the incorruption perfectly, whose earnests he has now given through baptism. Nevertheless at every season too it is necessary to baptize, lest at some time some hindrance arise, and someone depart uninitiated, that is, without baptism. And very great loss will come of this. For he who is not baptized will not be saved. And it is needful, as far as there is room, to perform the baptisms with splendour and reverence. And the priest must be attentive and sober. For he works through the greatest work of God, the refashioning of men. But let us come to the matter before us. The bishop going before, the sponsor brings the one being baptized to the sacred font; he who stands surety for the one who comes willingly. And the bishop stands, figuring forth Christ himself, having his power. And the font is filled with water, typifying the Jordan. And lights are lit, showing the illumination of the Spirit; and that the one being baptized comes out of the darkness to the light, and now becomes a son of light. And the bishop censes the font round about [the Latin gives Circum altare, around the altar], showing the fragrance and holiness of the Spirit, who washes out all the foul odour of sins. *81* For holy is the Spirit. Then the bishop blesses and hymns the kingdom of the holy Trinity, the only God. For it alone reigns; and because it has now reigned, having rescued from the evil one him who is just now being regenerated. Then, while the prayers of peace and the petitions are being said by the deacon, and the people are crying out «Lord, have mercy,» — for truly there the great mercy of God is awarded, as he who was before an enemy and accursed is adopted as a son — the bishop prays within himself for himself, seeking to find from God cleansing and propitiation, lest, while cleansing others, he himself be found defiled with sins. And he asks for strength and grace to minister to the mystery well and as is fitting. For great is the mystery: angels standing round, Christ being formed in the waters, the Holy Spirit coming upon them, and the one being baptized becoming, from filthy and sinful and unclean and an enemy and corruptible, holy and pure and a son of God and incorruptible. O the great grace! O the gift of God! O the beneficence and grace toward us! Wherefore also, the petitions being completed, the bishop, rising up from the prayer, «Great art thou, O Lord, he cries out, and wondrous are thy works.» And this he cries aloud three times, hymning the threeness of the Godhead, and magnifying the Benefactor.

Then, offering up the prayer to the Son of God who was made flesh for us, and recounting all his wonders from the first, at the end he also brings to remembrance his incarnation from the Virgin in the Spirit, and the baptism in the Jordan, through which he refashioned us, having crushed the heads of the dragons upon the water, as the Prophet says. Wherefore he also entreats him to be present through the coming of the Holy Spirit, and to sanctify the water.

For the Son is inseparable 225from the Father and the Spirit, and the grace is common to them. And he seals the water three times with his hand in the form of a cross, imprinting Christ upon it. And he prays that he make it a fountain of incorruption, and the rest. Then after a little he again breathes upon the water three times, putting the divine grace into it more abundantly, imitating Christ, and bearing witness that the «The Spirit of God was borne upon the water,» was from the beginning on account of baptism. And he seals it again with his hand, figuring forth a cross, and says, «Let all the adverse powers be crushed beneath the sign of the figure of thy cross.» And he says the rest also, so that the water may be spiritual and holy, and that nothing of the evil one may lie hidden in it, but rather that it may be contrary to him and a thing that drives him away, and able to refashion and to sanctify and to adopt as sons those who are baptized in it, and to make them children of light. Having thus prayed over it, then, and having given peace, which is Jesus Christ — for there is present there the peace that passes all understanding, Christ — and the hierarch having received the peace in return, and having bowed his head, he prays again by himself, in stillness, calling upon Jesus, the peaceful and still, and that everywhere, «Thou, saying, who camest to the Jordan and didst sanctify the waters, receive us also, who fall before thee as servants; and sanctify these waters and us; and let them be for us unto health of soul and body.» And rising up, showing that Christ raised us up when we had fallen, he hymns him, having proclaimed him aloud as the sanctification of all. Then, therefore, the font is full of the Spirit, and the water is holy, and bears Christ invisibly in itself. And since the type of the divine mercy too must be present, holy oil also is brought into action. For the water signifies the washing-out and the cleansing, and has already been sanctified; but the oil shows the divine mercy, and the gladness of his kindness. Which indeed is also afforded to those who have been wounded by the common enemy and bruised, as in the Gospels *82* Christ says. This was shown in the case of Noah too. For a dove came to those who were still in the water with the ark, carrying a twig of olive in its mouth. And the water prefigured baptism, and the dove the Holy Spirit; and the twig of the olive which it carried in its mouth was for a token of the mercy, and of the boundless kindness of God. Whence here too in baptism holy oil is brought forward. And it is sanctified thus: it is brought in some clean vessel to the bishop, or to the priest, if the bishop is not present; and he breathes upon it. And he seals it three times with the figure of a cross with his hand, by the breathing showing the grace of the Spirit, which the bishop received from Christ by the divine breathing upon the apostles; and by the cross figuring him who was crucified for us, who through the cross accomplished salvation for us. Wherefore the cross itself is also perfecting, and without a cross none of the divine things is accomplished. Then, having bowed his head, he prays that the oil be sanctified by the Holy Spirit, by him who also in Noah's time sent the twig of the olive by a dove, and who gave this oil in the law, and afforded it to the apostles. And having completed the prayer and given thanks, he first pours the holy thing that was sanctified into the water three times in the form of a cross, singing the much-hymned song, the Alleluia.

CHAPTER 63. What the Alleluia signifies.

And this song, the Alleluia, the prophets who were inspired by the Holy Spirit used to say. Which indeed signifies a sojourning of God, and «God comes, and praise ye him,» having been set down and being sung prophetically, because the Lord was to come, both at his first and at his second coming, and to send his grace always among us in the Holy Spirit. Wherefore the Church also ever chants this song, having received Christ, and awaiting him from heaven, as we have said.

Now the divine Dionysius says that myron is poured into the sacred font 228; but now this oil is poured in, being a prelude of the myron; and the myron afterwards. And it is possible to reckon that the sacred Dionysius too calls this oil myron as being a prelude of the myron, since through it the one being baptized receives the first-fruits of sanctification, and is anointed for the divine contests, and afterwards is strengthened perfectly and perfected and sealed with the most perfect myron of grace. Wherefore he also makes mention of these two in baptism. And the bishop, after sanctifying the oil, perfects the one who has been baptized. But what need also was there for the one being baptized to be anointed afterwards with myron, if the myron was in the baptism? From this oil, then, he himself first anoints the one who is now about to be baptized, saying, «N. is anointed with the oil of gladness in the name of the Trinity.» And the gladness is of the Spirit, who saves us with goodness and with cheer. «For restore unto me the gladness of thy Salvation, David cries out, and establish me with a governing Spirit.» Then from the head the whole body is anointed by some deacon or attendant. For he is made ready entirely for the divine contests. For he has not come forward to lie back at ease, but to imitate Christ, whom he puts on, and to wrestle against the evil one and to play the man. And those who contend in the flesh, too, were of old anointed with oil. Then, therefore, he is brought into the water wholly naked, just as he was also born, and as he was first fashioned. But at first he had that divine robe, and being naked, was not ashamed; but now, having become naked, he bears from the flesh the marks of the shame of the transgression. Yet having entered the holy water, he casts off the shame of sin; and receives back the glory *83* and the garment of incorruption. For the hierarch, or the priest, taking hold of his head, in which all the senses and the governing faculty operate, and plunging him into the water once, cries out, «The servant of God N. is baptized in the name of the Father,» And at once he brings him up. Then he plunges him again, saying, «And of the Son,» And again he brings him up. And having plunged him a third time, he says, «And of the Holy Spirit.» And thus he leads him up, initiated by the most divine baptism, at once both refashioning and perfecting him through the holy Trinity, and proclaiming the three hypostases in the one Godhead, saying "in the name," which shows the singleness of the Godhead, then "of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," which is the confession of the three divine persons, undivided and unconfused; and at the same time, through the three plungings and risings, hinting at the three days' burial and the resurrection of him who was crucified in the flesh for us and rose.

CHAPTER 64. That «The servant of God is baptized,» differs from «I baptize the servant of God.»

And Is baptized, he says, and not, I baptize, as the Latins, innovating even in this — the bishop bearing witness to the willingness of the one being baptized. For the I baptize does not make plain that the one being illumined is baptized willingly.

For it is possible, even by some compulsion and against his will, for the one baptizing to baptize him 229of himself alone. But the «Is baptized,» signifies both the willingness, and that it is by me, the bishop or priest, who am already doing the work, and by the only God in Trinity, whose name too is clearly pronounced over the one being baptized. Thus, then, regenerated, the one baptized comes out wholly new and illumined and a son of God from the sacred font, our spiritual mother, which stands in place of the virginal pure and holy womb. For as Christ came from the Virgin, that he might cleanse the defiled birth, so we too from the pure font; and as there the pure blood and the holy belly of the Virgin in the Holy Spirit wrought the incarnation of the Word, so in us also the pure water of the font and the divine Spirit have accomplished the pure regeneration. Only, just as there, at the baptism of the Saviour, there was also a descent of the Spirit, that he might show the whole fullness of the Godhead bodily in him who was made flesh, so in us also there is the chrism of the myron after the baptism, that we too may receive the grace of the Spirit. «For of his fullness, he says, have all we too received, and grace for grace.»

CHAPTER 65. What the chrism, that is, the myron, affords to the one being baptized.

Wherefore he also anoints him straightway with the divine myron, which is not oil alone, but is also compounded of very many other fragrant kinds, presenting in symbols too the manifold power, and the variety and multiformity of the operations of the gifts of the Spirit, and the fragrance of his holiness. This, then, is given to us also as a seal and sign of Christ, since Christ too is named for this very reason [the Latin gives quoniam Christus ideo dixit se … habere, since Christ therefore said that he had], that he had in himself, bodily also, the whole power of the Spirit from the Father. And Isaiah says this: «The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me.» And we too, having received the grace from him in the myron, are called Christians, and are christs of the Lord; for he does not disdain that we be called after him; because he who is Son by nature calls us sons of God by adoption, and he who is God by nature calls us gods by grace, and he who by nature has the grace in himself calls us christs in grace, as being *84* the Word of God the Father and undivided from the Spirit. Anointing the one now baptized, then, the bishop says thus: «The seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit. Amen.» Showing by this that the chrism is a sign of Christ, since the one anointed is also anointed in the figure of a cross, and that it supplies the gift of the Holy Spirit.

CHAPTER 66. That potentially every one baptized and anointed has in himself the divine gifts, revealed in due season, except the priesthood.

For potentially the one baptized and anointed has in himself the divine gifts; and these are revealed to him proportionately in due season [the Latin gives ea secundum tempus abscondit, he hides them according to the time], insofar as he cleanses himself, and insofar as he shows himself worthy of their operating in him, except the divine priesthood alone.

For this, as a gift of its own and the work of God alone, is bestowed by 232ordination. And no one will perform any of the sacred things, even if he be a wonder-bearer, without ordination. But to work healings and to prophesy and to be pure in body and in thoughts, and truly to live as a virgin, and to pray unceasingly and undistractedly, and to be warmed and moved toward divine love, and to be deemed worthy of divine illuminations, and of sacred revelations and mysteries and heavenly contemplations, and of such things, and to become almost like the angels — as very many have become, many even without ordination have had the power to attain through the grace from baptism and from the myron, and do attain, and are deemed worthy of such things. And so much concerning this. And before the chrism, after the baptism, the bishop, while the one baptized is putting on a tunic, which is blessed by him, offers up the thanksgiving to God, hymning him for the salvation of him who has been regenerated by the water and the Spirit. Then he also entreats that he be deemed worthy of the chrism, and of the gift through it and of the holiness of the divine Spirit. For he is shown forth holy and sealed to Christ, and recognizable to the angels by the divine myron, and not to be captured by the enemies [the Latin gives jam non nisi aegre inimicis expugnabilis, not to be taken by the enemies except with difficulty], if only he be watchful. And he asks also that he may attain to the communion of the mysteries, and no longer be a child of the body, but a child of the kingdom of God.

CHAPTER 67. Why the tonsure is performed on those being baptized, and the garment of the cowl and of the mantle.

After the chrism — the all-holy myron, I mean — he cuts the hairs of his head in the form of a cross, at once because he has Christ for head, and ought to pray uncovered, as Paul also teaches, and at once also making this tonsure as a kind of seal, since he also cuts him in the form of a cross, so that he may cast off everything superfluous of the thoughts as well. Wherefore indeed the monks too are tonsured. And every believer ought to renounce the superfluous things and those not so much for use. And further, as first-fruits and sacrifice of the human body, the hairs from the one baptized are offered to Christ. For they are as an exhalation of the whole body. Wherefore also the hierarch, taking them, does not throw them anywhere at random, but places them in a sacred place. Thus, then, the one baptized, having put on a tunic and been anointed, and been tonsured, and having received on his head a cowl, which indeed is also called a helmet — on the one hand on account of guilelessness and what is still childlike and pure, on the other for the shelter that is from God and the guarding of the senses, for most of the senses are seated in the head — then having worn over it a white tunic too, which is also called a mantle, for a type of the divine light, and of the angelic *85* purity — for the one baptized is a son of light, and has been shown wholly spotless and pure — thus initiated, he stands.

If he is of age, he himself bearing a torch for a showing forth and glory of the most divine light; but if an infant, the sponsor bearing the torch for the sake of 233him, the hymn-singers of the church chant «As many as were baptized into Christ,»; and the bishop, having further completed the rest of the prayers too, that the things of baptism may remain undefiled for the one baptized, and the things of the seal indelible, and that the things of the tonsure may be for the safety of the senses, and having prayed for many other things unto salvation, and having glorified God, joyfully takes the one baptized by the hand again, the sponsor following along. And making a dance, as dancing with the angels and rejoicing with them, he circles the font three times, rejoicing over the spiritual mother, and over him who has been born of her by the divine Spirit.

And he chants the «As many as were baptized into Christ,» with those who are singing. Then, while the hymn-singers say the «Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven,» and what follows of the Psalm, he himself, going before the one baptized, brings him before the altar, and there gives him a share of the awesome communion.

CHAPTER 68. That the end of baptism and of the myron is the communion of the mysteries.

For this is also the end of every mystery: that, having been set free from error and from the filth of sin, and having become pure and been sealed to Christ in the Holy Spirit, we may partake of the flesh and the blood of Christ himself, and be united to him in the highest degree. For this is what he says also through the Prophet: «I will dwell in them and walk in them;» and what he himself prayed to the Father, saying, «That they may be one, as we,» and the «Lo, I am with you all the days.» Since until then he will be with us through the mysteries also, and invisibly. But then he will be seen as he is, as the beloved says. And for this reason he was made flesh from the Virgin, that he might be united to us. And for this cause he was crucified, and poured out his blood for our sake, that we might partake of him. And before the cross, through the sacred service, he gave the mysteries, that he might be with us, and that we might be partakers of him, both now and in the age to come, and that we all might share in his good things, because he loved this. And his Father so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have life eternal. And for this reason in like manner he partook of flesh and blood, that we might have communion with him. Because this is the true God and the life eternal, as the beloved again says. To him, the true light, be the glory unto the ages. Amen

So the bishop, after giving the one baptized a share of the communion, having given thanks to the Saviour, and having dismissed them, and having blessed the one baptized together with the sponsor, departs; and the one baptized goes to his house, escorted with lights, as being now a son of light; and those escorting him chant the «As many as were baptized into Christ». For the one baptized has put on Christ in himself, and Christ has been formed in himself; and the grace of the Spirit has come to dwell in him.

Who indeed ought both to pray, and to wear the sacred vestments — the cowl, that is, and the mantle, which is also called the emphotion, and was formerly a garment, and those who had been illumined used to put it on over all — until the seventh 236day, on account of the holy chrism, and not to wash at all; but to wipe his hands with these vestments, as being sanctified; and after the seventh, which shows the passing-over of this sevenfold life, to come into the temple and to the priest, and *86* to be washed by him, the priest with sacred prayers washing him off with sponge and water in the places of the head and of the hands where he was anointed with the most holy myron, except the other parts of the body. For these the one baptized washes off himself in a place set apart, so that nothing of those holy things — of the water of baptism, I mean, or of the myron — may fall out and be trodden underfoot. Wherefore concerning this let him who is of age receive a charge from the priest to keep himself, as also to pray, and to assemble at the temples, and to keep pure, and continually to partake of the mysteries; for this is the true life; but if it is an infant, let the mother take care concerning this and have the charge, after the seventh day to bring the infant to be washed by the priest, and that it be washed off by her over its whole body, and the washing-water be poured out in a place set apart and clean. But she ought also to wash separately the garments in which she wrapped the infant during the seven days, and continually to bring the infant to the communion of the mysteries. For thus it will rather be kept safe and grow, by Christ.

CHAPTER 69. Against the Latins, that one must not keep the infants away from the communion.

And not, as some do, to neglect it, innovating unreasonably in this too, and to keep the infants away from the communion. Because the infants do not know, they say, of what they partake. Alas for the unreason and at the same time the absurdity! And why dost thou baptize, then? or why dost thou anoint with the myron? But rather the Latins do not even anoint, as we learn, at baptism; and all things with them are contrary to the catholic Church. But he who thinks rightly — just as he himself in faith brings the infant to God, and through a faithful sponsor makes the confession, and the infant being baptized is regenerated unto the kingdom of the heavens, and is anointed with the myron and perfected, and, if it dies, is of the kingdom of God — so let it also be brought through a faithful one to the communion. Because this is the life eternal. And just as «he who has not been regenerated through water and the Spirit shall by no means enter into the kingdom of the heavens, so also «he who has not eaten the flesh of the Son of man (as the Lord himself said), nor drunk his blood, shall not have life eternal.»

These things concerning the divine baptism, according to my power, having spoken them in summary, I also wrote to you, beloved; and what is according to power must be accepted. But loftier words will come to you from those who are loftier in the divine things. For these things we, the lowly, have written for your sake, who asked, and perhaps for the sake of some who do not search at all, nor know at all the reasons of the things that are done. For which cause we will speak to you also concerning the remaining mysteries, as you have sought.