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

INTRODUCTION. XV

and wishes to become a Christian, must be a Catechumen for two years: then he may be baptized Hefele, Councils, Vol 1, p. 155. Apostolic Constitutions 8.32: "Let him that is to be instructed be a catechumen three years.".” After this probation had been satisfactorily passed, the Catechumens were invited to give in their names as Candidates for Baptism. This invitation, described by Cyril as a "call to military service" Procat. § 1., appears to have been often repeated as Lent approached. Thus, Saint Ambrose, in his Commentary on Luke 5:5 (We have toiled all night and have taken nothing), complains: “I too, Lord, know that for me it is night when I do not have Your command. No one yet has given his name; with my voice I have cast the net throughout Epiphany, and as yet I have taken nothing.”

This preliminary “call to service” must be distinguished from the actual enlistment in the Christian army at Baptism, in anticipation of which Cyril prays for his hearers that God “may enlist them in His service and clothe them in the armor of righteousness Procat. § 17..” The same metaphorical language regarding Christian warfare recurs in many passages See Cat. 1.3; 3.13; 4.36; 17.36; 21.4..

The next step for those who responded to the call was the registration of names Procat. § 1.. It appears from passages of Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite, quoted by Bingham Antiq. 10.2.6., that the Bishop, after laying his hand on each Catechumen’s head, commanded his Presbyters and Deacons to register his name, together with that of his sponsor (godparent), in the Diptychs (official rolls) of the living. This ceremony took place at Jerusalem at the beginning of Lent, as we learn from Procat. § 1: “You have entered, been approved; your name is inscribed... A long notice is allowed you; you have forty days for repentance.” Those who had been admitted as candidates for Baptism were in most Churches still reckoned among the Catechumens, being distinguished as competentes (“those seeking together”). However, from Cyril’s language in several passages, it appears that in the Church of Jerusalem they ceased to be regarded as Catechumens and were instead reckoned among the Faithful. “You were called a Catechumen while the word echoed round you from without. Do not think that you receive a small thing; though a miserable man, you receive one of God’s titles. Hear Saint Paul saying, God is faithful. But beware, lest you have the title of faithful but the will of the faithless Procat. § 6..” “You receive a new name which you did not have before. Heretofore you were a Catechumen, but now you will be called a Believer (faithful one) Cat. 1.4..”

Again: “How great a dignity the Lord bestows on you in transferring you from the order of Catechumens to that of the Faithful, the Apostle Paul shows when he affirms, God is faithful Cat. 5.1..”

Two passages in Saint Cyril have been thought to imply that the newly-admitted Candidates for Baptism carried lighted torches in procession, perhaps on the first Sunday after registration. He speaks of them having received “torches of the bridal procession Procat. § 1..” On this expression, the Benedictine Editor observes that “wax tapers” were perhaps given to the Illuminandi (those being illuminated) to carry, a custom which may also be indicated in the words: “You who have lately lighted the torches of faith, guard them carefully in your hands unquenched Cat. 1.1..”

Others are of the opinion that the custom of carrying torches or tapers was observed only in the procession of the newly-baptized from the Baptistery to the Church, and that here Cyril means by the “bridal lamps” those movements of the Holy Spirit and spiritual instructions which had lighted their way to Christ and to the entrance to His Kingdom. This latter interpretation is rather vague and far-fetched; it is evident that the words, “You who have lately lighted the torches of faith,” gain much in clarity and force if suggested by the visible symbolism of a ceremony in which the Illuminandi had just borne their part.