LECT. believer; 4. Baptism cannot be administered more than once. INTROD. hearing mysteries, yet not understanding: hearing Scriptures, yet not knowing their depth. Thou no longer hearest with the ears, but thou hearest within; for the indwelling Spirit henceforth fashions thy mind into a house of God. When thou shalt hear what is written concerning mysteries, then thou shalt understand, what hitherto thou knewest not. And think not it is a trifle thou receivest. Thou, a wretched man, Tíros, a receivest the Name of God; for hear the words of Paul, God is dixas, faithful; and another Scripture, God is faithful and just. justified. This the Psalmist foreseeing, since men were to receive the 1 Cor. 1, Name ascribed to God, said in the person of God, I have said, ye are Gods, and are all the children of the Most High. Ps. 82, But beware lest with the name of believer thou have the purpose of an unbeliever. Thou hast entered into the struggle; labour therefore in the race, for season thou hast none other such. If thou hadst thy wedding day before thee, wouldest thou not make light of aught besides, and be full of preparations for the feast? And wilt thou not then, when on the eve of consecrating thy soul to a heavenly spouse, let go carnal things that thou mayest take hold of spiritual? 9.1 John 1, 9. 6. (5.) 7. The bath of Baptism we may not receive twice or thrice; else, it might be said, Though I fail once, I shall go right next time: whereas if thou failest once, there is no setting things right, for there is One Lord, and One Faith, and One Baptism: none but heretics are re-baptized, since their former baptism was not baptism. 8. For God seeks nothing else from us, save a good purpose. Say not, How are my sins blotted out? I tell thee, from willing, from believing; what is shorter than this? But if thy lips declare thy willing, but thy heart is silent, He knows the heart who judgeth thee. Cease then henceforth from every wicked thing: refrain thy tongue from light words, thine eye from sin, thy mind from roving after useless matters. 9. Let thy feet hasten to the Catechisings, receive with earnestness the Exorcisms; for whether thou art breathed The Marcionites allowed of Baptism three times. Epiph. Hær. xlii. 3. Valentinus twice. Hieron. in Eph. iv. 5. What Cyril says about heretical baptism should be observed. The Roman Church considered it invalid only when (the offi ciator being ordained) the words or water was not duly used. S. Cyprian, and the African Church of his day, considered it invalid in all cases; so did the Churches of Asia Minor at the same date. S.Dionysius of Alexandria is claimed on both sides. Exorcisms through the Spirit drive out the devil from the soul. 5 upon, or exorcised, the Ordinance is to thee salvation. It is as though thou hadst gold unwrought or alloyed, blended with various substances, with brass, and tin, and iron, and lead: we seek to have the gold pure, but it cannot be cleansed from foreign substances without fire. Even so, without M Exorcisms, the soul cannot be cleansed; and they are divine, collected from the divine Scriptures. Thy face is veiled", that thy mind may be henceforth at leisure; lest a roving eye cause a roving heart. But though thine eyes be veiled, thine ears are not hindered receiving what is saving. For as the goldsmith, conveying the blast upon the fire through delicate instruments, and as it were breathing on the gold which is hid in the hollow of the forge, stimulates the flame it acts upon, and so obtains what he is seeking; so also, exorcisers, infusing fear by the Holy Ghost, and setting the soul on fire in the crucible of the body, make the evil spirit flee, who is our enemy, and salvation and the hope of eternal life abide; and henceforth the soul, cleansed from its sins, hath salvation. Let us then, brethren, abide in hope, surrendering ourselves (6.) and hoping; so may the God of all, seeing our purpose, cleanse us from sins, and impart to us good hopes of our estate, and grant us saving penitence! He who calls, is God, and thou art the person called. 10. Abide thou in the Catechisings: though our discourse be long, let not thy mind be wearied out. For thou art receiving thine armour against the antagonist power; against heresies, against Jews, and Samaritans, and Gentiles. Thou hast many enemies; take to thee many darts; thou hast many to hurl them at. And thou hast need to learn how to hurl them at the Greek; how to do battle against heretic, against Jew and Samaritan. The armour indeed is ready, and most ready is the sword of the Spirit; but thou also must stretch forth thy hands with good resolve, that thou mayest war the Lord's warfare, mayest overcome the powers that oppose thee, mayest escape defeat from every heretical attempt. 11. This charge also I give thee. are spoken, and keep them for ever. are the ordinary Homilies, which are Study the things that trustworthy, but if neglected to-day, may be attended to d For this custom, vid. Bingham, An- Dissert. xii. 15. tiq. x. 2. §. 12. Basnag. Annal. vol. ii. 6 Christian doctrine to be withheld from Catechumens. INTROD. to-morrow. On the contrary, the teaching concerning the laver of regeneration, delivered in course, how shall it be made up, if to-day it be neglected? Consider it to be the planting season; unless we dig, and that deeply, how shall that afterwards be planted rightly, which has once been planted ill? Or consider Catechising to be a kind of building: unless we dig deep, and lay the foundation,-unless by successive fastenings in the masonry, we bind the frame-work of the house together, that no opening be detected, nor the work be left unsound, nought avails all our former labour. But stone must succeed stone in course, and corner must follow corner, and, inequalities being smoothed away, the masonry must rise regular. In like manner we are bringing to thee the stones, as it were, of knowledge; thou must hear concerning the Living God; concerning Judgment; concerning Christ; concerning the Resurrection; and many things are made to follow one the other, which though now dropped one by one, at length are presented in harmonious connection. But if thou wilt not connect them into one whole, and remember what is first, and what is second, the builder indeed buildeth, but the building will be unstable. 12. Now when the Catechising has taken place, should a Catechumen ask, what the teachers have said, tell nothing to a stranger; for we deliver to thee a mystery, even the hope of the life to come: keep the mystery for Him who pays thee. Let no man say to thee, What harm, if I also know it? So the sick ask for wine; but if it be unseasonably given them, it occasions delirium, and two evils follow; the sick man dies, and the physician gets an ill name. Thus is it with the Catechumen also if he should hear from the Believer: the Catechumen is made delirious, for not understanding what he has heard, he finds fault with it, and scoffs at it, and the Believer bears the blame of a betrayer. But now thou art standing on the frontiers; see thou let out nothing; not that the things spoken do not deserve telling, but the ear that hears does not deserve receiving. Thou thyself wast once a Catechumen, and then I told thee not what was coming. When thou hast by practice reached the height of what is taught thee, then wilt thou understand that the Catechumens are unworthy to hear them. 13. Ye who have been enrolled, are become the sons and Reverence to be observed in Church. 7 (8.) daughters of one Mother. When ye have entered in before the hour of exorcising, let one of you speak what may promote godliness and if any of your number be not present, seek for him. If thou wert called to a banquet, wouldest thou not wait for thy fellow-guest? If thou hadst a brother, wouldest thou not seek thy brother's good? Henceforth meddle not unprofitably with external matters; what the city hath done, or the town, or Prince, or Bishop, or Presbyter. Look upward, thy present hour hath need of that. Be still, xonáσχολάand know that I am God. If thou seest the Believers minis- car, i.e. tering without care, yet they enjoy security, they know what gaged. they have received, they are in possession of grace. But Ps. 46, thou art just now in the turn of the scale, to be received or not: thou must not copy those who are free from care, but cherish fear. be disen 10. 14. And when the Exorcism is made, until the rest who are exorcised be come, let the men stay with the men, and the women with the women. Here I would allude to Noah's ark; in which were Noah and his sons, and his wife and their wives; and though the ark was one, and the door was shut, yet had things been arranged suitably. And though the Church be shut, and all of you within it, yet let there be a distinction, of men with men and women with women. Let not the ground of your salvation become a means of destruction. Even though there be good ground for your sitting near each other, yet let passions be away. Then, let the men when sitting have a useful book; and let one read, and another listen and if there be no book, let the one pray, and another speak something useful; and let the party of young women be so ordered, that they may either be singing or reading, but without noise, so that their lips may speak, but others may not hear. For, says the Apostle, I suffer 1 Cor. not a woman to speak in the Church: and let the married 14, 34. woman do the same; let her pray, moving her lips, her voice not sounding: that Samuel may come, and thy barren Vid. soul for bear the salvation of God who hears prayer ; may this is the meaning of the word Samuel. 1 Sam. 1, 13. 17. 15. I will behold each man's earnestness; each woman's (9.) Let your mind be refined as by fire unto revesoul be forged as metal. Let the stubbornness reverence. rence, let your LECT. The benefits of Baptism, INTROD. Of unbelief feel the anvil, let the superfluous scales drop off as of iron, and what is pure remain: let the rust be rubbed off, and the true metal be left. May God at length shew you that night, that darkness which shews like day', concerning Ps. 139, which it is said, The darkness shall not be darkened from 12.Sept. thee, and the night shall be light as the day. At that time, to each man and woman among you may the gate of paradise be opened; may you then enjoy the fragrant waters, which contain Christ; may you then receive Christ's name, and the efficacious power of divine things! Even now, I beseech you, lift up the eye of your understanding; imagine the angelic choirs, and God the Lord of all sitting, and His Only-begotten Son sitting with Him on His right-hand, and the Spirit with them present, and thrones and dominions doing service, and each man and woman among you w receiving salvation. Even now let your ears ring with the sound: long for that glorious sound, which after your sal47. vation, the angels shall chant over you, Blessed are they whose ed in our iniquities have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered; version, when, like stars of the Church, you shall enter in it, bright should be in the outward man and radiant in your souls. you. vid. Acts 2, translat such as saved. (10.) 16. Great indeed is the Baptism which is offered you. It is a ransom to captives; the remission of offences; the death of sin; the regeneration of the soul; the garment of light; the holy seal indissoluble; the chariot to heaven; the luxury of paradise; a procuring of the kingdom; the gift of adoption. But a serpent by the wayside is watching the passengers; beware lest he bite thee with unbelief; he sees so many receiving salvation, and seeks to devour some of them. Thou art going to the Father of Spirits, but thou art going past that serpent; how then must thou pass him? Eph. 6, Have thy feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; that even if he bite, he may not hurt thee. faith indwelling, strong hope, a sandal of power, wherewith to pass the enemy, and enter the presence of thy Lord. Prepare thine own heart to receive doctrine, to have fellowship in holy mysteries. Pray more often, that God may make thee worthy of the heavenly and immortal mysteries. 15. On Easter Eve lights were kept burning in the Church all through the night. Have Vid. Nyssen. Orat. 4. in Resur. pp. 867.8. |