Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 7 (Augustine: Gospel and Epistle of John)

CATECHETICAL INSTRUCTION. XV

(Blessings, sanctified bread), taken from the offerings provided for the Eucharist, were given to the Catechumens—an opinion that seemed to have some support in the comparison between "that which the Catechumens receive" and "the food which sustains us." However, Bingham maintains Antiquities of the Christian Church, Book X, chapter 2, section 16. that Saint Augustine refers here only to the symbolic use of salt, of which he writes in his Confessions (1.11) that, while still a boy, he "used to be marked with the sign of His Cross and seasoned with His salt." The meaning of this so-called "Sacrament of the Catechumens" was that, through the symbol of salt, "they might learn to purge and cleanse their souls from sin."

In the African Church during the time of Saint Augustine, it was customary to anoint the new convert with exorcised oil at the time of admission, but in the Eastern Church, there seems to have been no such anointing until immediately before Baptism.

Persons who had been admitted to the class of Catechumens were usually regarded as Christians, but only in a lower degree, being clearly distinguished from the "Faithful" (the baptized members). "Ask a man, 'Are you a Christian?' If he is a Pagan or a Jew, he answers, 'I am not.' But if he says, 'I am,' you ask him further, 'Are you a Catechumen or one of the Faithful?' If he answers, 'Catechumen,' he has been anointed, but not yet baptized Saint Augustine, Tractates on the Gospel of John, 44.2.." Augustine, like Tertullian, complains that among heretics there was no clear distinction between the Catechumen and the Faithful Sermon 46 on the Shepherds, chapter 13; Tertullian, On the Prescription of Heretics, chapter 41: "It is uncertain who is a Catechumen and who is a Faithful member.". According to the second General Council (Canon 7), converts from certain heresies to the orthodox faith were to be received as if they were heathens: "On the first day we make them Christians; on the second, Catechumens; on the third, we exorcise them by breathing three times upon their faces and ears. In this way we instruct them (we catechize them) and have them attend the Church for a long time to listen to the Holy Scriptures, and then we baptize them."

Whether Cyril calls his hearers Christians before they had been baptized is not entirely clear. In Catechetical Lecture 10.16, he seems to include them among those called by the "new name," but in section 20 of the same lecture, he assumes there may be someone present who "was previously a believer (a faithful one)," and to him he says, "You were called a Christian; be protective of that name." Furthermore, in Lecture 21.1, speaking to those who had now been baptized, he says, "Having therefore become partakers of Christ, you are properly called 'Christs' (anointed ones). Now you have been made 'Christs' by receiving the antitype of the Holy Spirit," that is, Chrism.

§ 4. Candidates for Baptism. Bingham, who himself identifies four classes or degrees of Catechumens, acknowledges that "the Greek expositors of the ancient Canons" and other writers "usually make but two sorts Antiquities, 10.2.1-5. The Council of Nicaea, Canon 14, seems to speak only of two classes.." These were:
1. The imperfect (less advanced), also called hearers (audientes), because in Church they were allowed to remain only until the Holy Scriptures had been read, the Sermon preached, the special prayers for the Catechumens said, and the blessing given to each by the Bishop through the "prayer of the laying on of hands Apostolic Constitutions, 8.6.." After this, the Deacon says, "Go out, you Catechumens, in peace."
2. After the Energumens (those possessed by spirits) have been dismissed, the more perfect (the enlightened) remain on their knees in prayer. Then the Deacon is to cry aloud, "You who are to be illuminated, pray. Let us, the faithful, all pray for them. And being sealed to God through His Christ, let them bow down their heads and receive the blessing from the Bishop." The "Prayer of the Imposition of Hands" is then pronounced over them by the Bishop.

The period of probation and instruction varied at different times and places. According to Canon 42 of the Synod of Elvira (305 AD), it was to be two years: "He who has a good reputation and wishes to become a Christian must be a Catechumen for two years; then he may be baptized."