A History of the Catechumenate

A History of the Catechumenate
In North Africa ca. 200-210

While Clement was teaching and writing in Egypt, the Christian communities of North Africa were living the same catechumenal reality and using the same vocabulary. Let it suffice here to mention the "Passion of SS. Perpetua and Felicity." The events recounted occurred in 202-203. In the very first lines, the narrative confronts us with a group of catechumens arrested for their faith:

The young catechumens were arrested: Revocatus and Felicity, her slave companion, Saturninus and Secundulus. With them, Vibia Perpetua, of noble birth, well-educated, married and matron, still having her father, mother, and two brothers, one of whom was a catechumen. ³²

To discern the traces of the appearance of the catechumenate, one must be attentive to various terms that designate the converts on the road to baptism. The word "catechumen" was used the most, but it is neither the first nor the only term that was used. We have already met "proselyte of Christ." There are many others. In addition to "catechumen" which was transcribed from the Greek and which Tertullian often used, we also find-as already in Clement and soon in Cyprian-the well-known term "auditor" (audiens, auditor). Less often cited, but of particular interest, is the term "recruit" (tiro) which is used in opposition to "soldier" (miles). These two appellations correspond exactly to the distinction Tertullian makes between the "catechumens" and the "faithful" when he criticizes the Marcionites:

It is uncertain who is a catechumen and who is a baptized believer: they all alike reproach, they all alike hear, they all alike pray-even heathens, if any should have chanced to enter. They will "throw that which is holy to dogs and pearls (albeit false ones) to swine." . . . The catechumens are certainly initiated before being instructed. ³³

In his treatise on penitence, Tertullian calls catechumens "novices" (noviciol) ³⁴, and he speaks in their regard of a "military novitiate" (tirocinia, in the plural, which corresponds to what are called "les classes" in the French army ³⁵). These military expressions, which clearly distinguish between the young recruit who is in basic training and the soldier who has taken his oath and has been branded, are also found in Commodian, who is thought to have been an African who lived in the third century. In his "Instructions," there is an address "to the catechumens" where a clear equivalence is established between tiro and catechumen:

Believers in Christ who have abandoned the idols, all,
I counsel you, in a few words, for your salvation.
If, in the beginning, you were living in error, dedicate yourself to Christ from now on, abandon all things
and, since you know God, be a good recruit, [become] a tested soldier,
and let your virginal modesty live in the Lamb.
Let the spirit of the righteous remain alert: beware of sinning as before;
baptism removes only the original stain.
If any catechumen comes to sin,
he is struck with a penalty,
marked by a penalty, you will be able to live [in Christ]
but not without damage.
Above all, always avoid grave faults. ³⁶

Thus it is certain that, in the years 200-210, there existed in Carthage as in Alexandria a period of catechumenal formation to which all those who aspired to baptism were subject. They were not admitted to sacramental initiation unless the Church, through the agency of those responsible, observed the authenticity of their conversion. ³⁷

At the end of their catechumenate, those who were thus admitted formed the group of "those entering baptism" (ingressuri baptismum). These were the "blessed" (benedicti). They spent a certain period—probably a week ³⁸ —in prayer, vigils, and fasting:

Those who are going to enter baptism must invoke God by fervent prayers, fastings, kneelings, and vigils. They also prepare themselves by the confession of all their past sins. ... By afflicting the flesh and the spirit, we provide satisfaction for sin and protect ourselves in advance against the temptation to come. . . .

You, therefore, the blessed, you for whom God's grace awaits, you who shall go up to the most holy bath of the new birth, you who, for the first time, shall hold out your hands next to a Mother and with brothers, ask the Father, ask the Lord, as a special gift of his grace, for the abundance of his charisms. ³⁹

Baptism itself could take place any time but Easter was preferred "when the Passion of the Lord is consummated in which we are baptized." It could also be conferred during Pentecost which, at that time, was not a particular feast fifty days after Easter, but the feast of the fifty days of the Paschal Season: "the time when the grace of the Holy Spirit was communicated to the disciples and that provides a glimpse of their hope in the return of the Lord." ⁴⁰

As for the way in which baptism itself was administered, Tertullian has only left us a few indications." I cite the most explicit passage from his treatise, "The Chaplet":

When we are about to enter the water, and, as a matter of fact, even a short while before, we declare in the presence of the congregation before the bishop that we renounce the Devil, his pomps, and his angels. After that, we are immersed in the water three times, making a somewhat fuller pledge than the Lord has prescribed in the Gospel. After this, having stepped forth from the font, we are given a taste of a mixture of milk and honey and from that day, for a whole week, we forego our daily bath. ⁴²
Footnotes, Part 2

In Rome ca. 215 , the next chapter of A History of the Catechumenate, will be posted next Thursday. For information about ordering this book, please see Sadlier's Religion Catalog.

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