A History of the Catechumenate
Part 2 Footnotes

Abbreviations

¹ For this entire chapter, cf. Dujarier, Parrainage des adultes, pp. 173-344.

² Tertuilian frequently uses the expression "seal of the faith" with variants: immersion is the sign of the faith (obsignatio fidei) De paenitentia VI, 16, CCL I, 331; De idol. 10,6,12; Ad. Nat. 8,16; baptism is also signatio fidei, De pect. 4,1; 24,2,3, CCL I, 231, p. 248. Tertullian speaks of the faith received and sealed at baptism (suscepta atque signata), De corona 11,4, CCL II, 1057. Very concisely, he says that water seals the faith (fidem aqua signat), De praesc. 36,5, CCL I, 217. In the same sense is the expression obsignatio baptismi by which the faith is lived, De bapt. 13,2, CCL I, 289; cf. Adv. Marc. I,28, De anima, I; see L. Villette, Foi et sacrement, Travaux de l'Institut catholique, vol. 1, Du Nouveau Testament ˆ St. Augustin, Paris, 1959, pp. 111-2. On baptism as seal of faith in the New Testament, cf. I. de la Potterie, Biblica 40, 1959, pp. 12-21: the affirmation that anointing does not allude to any rite of Christian origin is qualified.

³ Tertullian, De paenitentia VI, 1-22; TD, edited by P. de Labriolle.

⁴ Tertullian, De bapt. 18,1; SC 35, p. 91. It is necessary to study the use the Fathers of the Church made of these texts in arguing for the necessity of administering the sacraments with discernment. Cf. Biblia Patristica, which is in the process of being published by CNRS, Paris.

⁵ Origen, Hom. in Lev. 6,2; GCS 6,361.

⁶ Origen, Hom. in Luc 21,4; GCS 9,140; SC 87, pp. 294-5. Notes 2 and 3 in SC are very interesting with regard to the conversions in Origen. Origen specifies further on: "John speaks to the multitudes who came out to be baptized (Lk 3:7). If anyone wants to be baptized he must come out. To the extent that he remains in his first state, without changing his conduct and habits, he totally lacks the dispositions required to approach baptism. To understand what is meant by coming out to be baptized, it is necessary to consider the witness borne by the words of God to Abraham: Go from the country, etc. (Gen 12:1)"; (Honi. 22,5; see also 22,6). For Origen, the first stage consists of the departure from sin, from former habits, and from oneself. Cf. Hom. in lesu Nave 4,1, SC 71, ed. A. Jaubert, pp. 148-9 and Hom. in Num. 26,4, SC 29, p. 501.

⁷ Origen, Hom. in Ezech. 6,5; GCS 8,383.

⁸ B. Capelle, "L'introduction du catéchuménat à Rome," Recherches de théoologie ancienne et médiévale 5 (1933), pp. 129-54; J. Lebreton, "Le développement des institutions ecclésiastiques à la fin du second siècle et au début du troisième," Rech. sc. rel. 24 (1934), pp. 129-64.

⁹ "The Doctrine of the Twelve Apostles (Didache)": SC 248, Vll,l: "after having said beforehand all that preceded, baptize. . . ." W. Rordof (p. 170, n. 3) does not accept the interpretation of Audet that this expression is a later interpolation.

¹⁰ Hermas, "The Shepherd," SC 53(2), vis. III, 2,9 and 7,3.

¹¹ Justin, The Writings of Justin Martyr and Athagoras, translation by Maraes Dods, George Reith, and B. P. Pratten, Edinburgh, 1867, Ante-Nicene Christian Library, II. "The First Apology," 61-6; LC 3 or TD 1.

¹² Justin, "The Second Apology," 2; TD 1, p. 151.

¹³ Justin, "The First Apology," 60; TD 1, p. 124.

¹⁴ This was the case for Justin himself. Arrested and brought before the court, he said to the judge: "I stayed above a certain Martin, near the bath of Timothy.... I know of no other meeting place. To all those who wanted to find me there, I communicated the doctrine of truth," Act. Justin. lIl,3.

¹⁵ Justin, "First Apology," 66,1.

¹⁶ Ibid., 61,6-9.

¹⁷ Ibid., 61,2.

¹⁸ Ibid.

¹⁹ Ibid., 66,1.

²⁰ 'Didache," VII,4. The Fathers of the Church, vol. 1, The Catholic University of America Press, Washington, D.C., 1947.

²¹ Justin, "First Apology," 61,2.

²² lbid., 65-6.

²³ Cf. A. Mehat, Etude sur les "Stromates" de Clément d'Alexandrie, Seuil, Paris, 1966, pp. 62-70.

²⁴ I Strom. 19,4.

²⁵ VI Strom. 89,1-2.

²⁶ Ped. I,30,2.

²⁷ Ped. I,36,2-3.

²⁸ II Strom. 26,4-5.

²⁹ Mehat, p. 221. Contrary to Camelot, Mehat considers this text as a "certain allusion to the catechumenate." For inscription, see Mehat, p. 68.

³⁰ II Strom. 95,3-96,2.

³¹ Mehat, p. 69. For what could be the baptismal rites of this period, see F. Sagnard, Clément d'Alexandrie, Extraits de Théodote, SC, 23, pp. 229-39: "Le baptême au deuxième siècle et son interprétation valentinienne."

³² "Passion of SS. Perpetua and Felicity," I,1.

³³ Tertullian: De praesc. 41, 2 and 4. The first portion of this citation is the translation of T. Herbert Bindley, Tertullian on the Testimony of the Soul and on the "Prescription of Heretics," SPCK, London, 1914, XLI, 2 and 4. We see here a clear indication of the three categories: the pagans, who did not enter; the catechumens, who listened; the faithful, who prayed.

³⁴ 6.1.

³⁵ 6,14. Les classes are the age groups subject to conscription.

³⁶ Instructions, II,5. Cf. the two studies by J. Durel, Les Instructions de Commodien: Traduction et commentaire and Commodien: Recherches sur la doctrine, la langue et le vocabulaire du poète, Leroux, Paris, 1912. CCL 128,43. We are preparing a study on the catechumenal usage of the word "tiro" and also on that of "proselyte of Christ." Significant instances can be found in Minucius Felix, Augustine, Quodvultdeus, Jerome, and Isidore of Seville.

³⁷ Cf. Dujarier, Parrainage des adultes, pp. 220-30, and Tertullian, De paenitentia VI, 1-22.

³⁸ Cf. Dujarier, Parrainage des adultes, pp. 231-2.

³⁹ De bapt. 20, 1 and 5.

⁴⁰ Ibid., 19, 1-2.

⁴¹ On this subject, see the basic study of E. Dekkers, Tertullianus en de Geschiedenis der Liturgie, Bruges, 1947, pp. 163-216. Cyprian adds little that is new to what Tertullian writes about the history of the catechumenate, except for proof of the clericalization of catechists. On this subject, see Victor Saxer, Vie liturgique et quotidienne @ Carthage vers le milieu du ///' siècle, Vatican City, 1969, pp. 106-44.

⁴² Tertullian, "The Chaplet," III, 2-3 Tertullian: Disciplinary, Moral and Ascetical Works, trans. by Rudolph Arbesmann et al., The Fathers of the Church XL, pp. 225-67.

⁴³ Hippolytus, The Treatise on the Apostolic Tradition of St. Hippolytus of Rome, ed. by Gregory Dix, SPCK, London 1968, p. 23.

⁴⁴ Ibid., pp. 24-28.

⁴⁵ Ibid., pp. 29-30.

⁴⁶ This way of doing things is confirmed by Origen. Cf. P. Nautin, Origène:Homélies sur Jérémie. Tome 1, SC 232, pp. 100-12.

⁴⁷ In the same way, the catechumens did not participate completely in the agape meal. They were present, but received only the bread of exorcism (¤¤27-28).

⁴⁸ Cf. Sagnard, Clément d'Alexandrie, p. 234.

⁴⁹ Hippolytus, p. 31.

⁵⁰ Cf. Dujarier, Parrainage des adultes, pp. 231-2.

⁵¹ Hippolytus, 20, pp. 31-2.

⁵² The description of the baptism and the eucharist that followed immediately is in ¤21. In Rome, as in Carthage, the neophytes were given milk and honey.

⁵³ Hippolytus, 23,12, p. 42. Note here the role the entire community has to play by its example in catechumenal education, chap. 41.

⁵⁴ Origen, Hom. in-Jer. 4 3; GCS 3, ed. by L. Klostermann, p. 25; PG 13, (2) 880.

⁵⁵ 0rigen, Hom. in Jesu Nave 4, 1; SC 71, ed. by A. Jaubert, pp. 148-9.

⁵⁶ Origen, Hom. in Num. 26,4; SC 29, p. 501. This biblical interpretation continued to the 4th century.

⁵⁷ Origen, Contra Celsum, 3,9, trans. by Henry Chadwick, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1953, p. 133.

⁵⁸ Ibid., 3,55; pp. 165-6.

⁵⁹ Ibid., 3,15; p. 137.

⁶⁰ Ibid., 3,57-9; pp. 166-8.

⁶¹ Ibid., 3,51; p. 163. In his work, "Against the Christians," Porphyry, a neo-Platonist contemporary of Origen, also witnesses to the existence of the catechumenate. With regard to the saying of Christ, "Feed my lambs, feed my sheep," he writes: "I suppose that the sheep are the faithful who have already advanced to the mystery of perfection, while the lambs mean the group of those who are still catechumens and who are nourished on the gentle milk of the doctrine" (Fragment 26).

⁶² Origen, Exhort. ad mart., 17, GCS 1,16; PG 11,585; Exhortation to Martyrdom in Alexandrian Christianity, trans. John Oulton and Henry Chadwick. Library of Christian Classics 11, SCM, London, 1954. The expression [expression in Greek] which is here translated by "the agreements concerning religion" [Dujarier translates it in French by "les accords concernant votre attitude envers Dieu"], is significant: [Greek word] has the sense of treaty, pact, alliance, accord in the strong sense, which has been established with God in the presence of the catechist; this word probably refers to the Shechem covenant, but it is not the term used by the LXX and the New Testament. [Greek word] is the more common term of the same family.

⁶³ Contra Celsum, 3,51; p. 163.

⁶⁴ Ibid., 3,59; p. 168.

⁶⁵ Ibid.

⁶⁶ This parallelism between the stages of the catechumenate and those of the penitential system must be studied more thoroughly. For the 2nd century, traces are found in Hermas, Tertullian, and Cyprian, cf. A. d'Ales, L'édit de Calliste, pp. 54ff. and pp. 409-21. For the 3rd century, see the Canonical Epistles of Gregory Thaumaturgus, Migne Greek X, 1019-48.

⁶⁷ Didascalia 2,56. The Didascalia Apostolorum in Syriac by Margaret Dunlop Gibson, C. J. Clay and Sons, London, 1903.

⁶⁸ Ibid., 2,39,4-6; p. 55.

⁶⁹ Cf. Dujarier, Parrainage des adultes, pp. 297-312.

⁷⁰ Hom. Clem. 1,15-17; A. Siouville, Les Homelies clementines, Paris, 1933.

⁷¹ This journey to the faith could be very long, as can be seen in Horn. Clem. 15, 1 0-1 1.

⁷² Cf. Duiarier, Parrainage des adultes, pp. 312-28.

⁷³ Cf. Karl Josef von Hefele, Histoire des conciles d'après les documents originaux, trans. by Odon Delarc and lsidore Goschler, Paris. Latouzey, 1907-1952.

⁷⁴ Histoire ecclésiastique, X,IV, especially 37-65; SC 55.

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