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BAPTiyTBR? IN CATACOMB OP' S. PONZIANO, EOME. 
 

 THE 
 
 RCH^OLOGY 
 
 BAPTISM. 
 
 / 
 
 WoLFi^ED Nelson poTE, 
 
 ROME. ITALY. 
 
 YATES AND ALEXANDER, 
 
 2 1, Castle Street, Holborn. 
 
 1876. 
 
 COPYRIGHT RESERVED. 
 
TO 
 
 REV. CHARLES STOVEL, 
 
 OF LONDON, 
 THIS BOOK IS 
 
 BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 N offering this Work to the public, the 
 Author desires to express his deep sense 
 of obligation to Messrs. Thomas Coats, of Paisley; 
 Thomas Joseph, of Cardiff; William Matthewson, 
 of Culross ; Joseph Tritton, of London ; and George 
 Edmonstone, of Torquay ; who have generously 
 provided the pecuniary means necessary for the 
 prosecution of his researches on the subject of 
 Baptism. 
 
 The Author would also express his acknowledg- 
 ments to Rev. Dr. Angus, of Regent's Park 
 College, London, for many valuable and judicious 
 suggestions, and to Mr. Edwin M. Gardner, a 
 talented American artist, who has copied a large 
 number of the illustrations contained in this Work 
 from ancient manuscripts in the libraries of Rome, 
 Paris, and London. 
 
 Rome, January ibtli, 1876. 
 
ALPHABETICAL LIST 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PEINCIPAL AUTHOES COXSULTED IN THIS WOEK. 
 
 Albaspinus (Gabr.). De reteribus Ea-Icxiir- ritibm. 
 
 Alcuini'S. De Divinis officiis, 
 
 Amalakius. JDe Ecclesiastico officio. 
 
 Anastasius BiBLioTHECAEirs. Be vilis Rrimanorum ponfijicim, cum notis Blan- 
 
 chinii. 4 vols. fol. 1718-1723. 
 Aringhi. Roma subterranrn. Fol. 2 vols. EoiriEB, 16.51-lfi-")0. 
 Abnaud Claudius. Thesaw. Sacr. Ritiaim. 
 As.semanus (Jos. Sim.). Bibliotkeca Orientalis Okinentino Vaticaiio. 
 
 Bartholinus (Joan). De Baptismo per aspersionem. Hasniaj, 10.57. 
 
 Bar-zuoli (Job.). De Baptismo. 
 
 Basnage (Samuel). Excrcitationes Sisti:rirn-Critic(r. 
 
 Bernardixus Fekrarius. De ritn sncrnruni Ecclesice vefms concioui/w, cum 
 
 pr(tfafione Joanni Oeorgii Grmvii. Veronfe, 1731. Ito. 
 Sertoli Francesco. Notizie delle Future ecr. d' ItaVm, 
 Bertoluzzi. Nuoviss. Gu'ida della Citta di Banna. 
 BiANCoxi. Della C'hiesa del s. Sepolcro di Bologna. 
 
 BiBLIOTHECA magna VETERUM PATRUM ET ANTiaUORUM SCRIPTORUM ECCLESIASTI- 
 
 coRUM. 1644. 
 Bingham. Antiquities of the Christian Church. 9 vols. London, 1843. 
 Blanchinius. Demonstratio historic ecclesiasticm comprobata monumeniis perti- 
 
 nentibua adfi4em- temporum et gestorum. Romse, 1762. 3 torn. fol. 
 Boldetti. Osservazioni sopra i cimiteri d^ santi martiri cd antichi CrUtiani di 
 
 Roma. Fol. Roma, 1720. 
 Bona (J.). De Rebus Liturgicis. 
 Bottari. Sculture e pitture sagre estratl.f dai cimiteri di Roma, pubblicnte gid 
 
 dagli antori della Roma sotterranca, cd ora vuovamcnte date in hice colle spiega^ 
 
 zioni. Eoma, 3 vols. fol. 1737-1754. 
 Brandolese. Ze Pitture, Sculture, ecc. di Padovn descrittc. 
 Bugati (Gaetano). Memorie storiche intorno le reliquie ed il culto di B. Celso 
 
 martire, Oin un' appendice nella quale si spiega nn dittico d'arorio della chiesa 
 
 mefropolitana di 3[ilar,o. In Milano, 1782. 4to. 
 
 a 
 
Vlll LIST OF AUTHORS CONSULTED. 
 
 BuoNARRUOTi. 1». Ossenazioni sopm almni frammenti di vast antic/d di retro, 
 ornate di figure trocati ne' cimiteri di Roma. Firenze, 4to. 1716. 2°. Osscr- 
 vazioni istoriche sopra aleiitii medaglioni antiehi. In Koma, 1698. 3". 1 Hen 
 antichi. 
 
 Cabasilas (Nicolas). Expositio Liturgies. 
 
 Cabassutics (J.). Dissertatio de ritibus Mm Baptismo adhiieri solitis; and also 
 
 De Diptyelns Ecchsice, 
 Cabham (Tho3.). De Baptismo. 
 
 Calixtus (F. U.). De antiquis circa Baptismum ritibus. 1630. 
 Calvoer. Sitiia!. Ecelesiast. 
 
 Canisii (Jac). Fons sahitis, sire primum Sacrameutoriim omnium Baptismiis. 
 Casalius. De veteribus sacris Ghristianoriim ritibws explanatio. Eom£B, 1647. 
 
 Fol. 
 Cave. Driinitive Christianity. 
 Cavedoni. 1°. Ragguaglio critieo dei monumenti delle arti Crisiiane primitive. 
 
 Modena, 1849. 8vo. 
 CiAMPiNi. 1°. Vetera monumenta, in quibus pracipue musiva opera, sacrariim 
 profanarumque cedium structura, ae nomiulli antiqui ritits dissert ationibus iconi- 
 
 busquc illustrantiir. 1690-1699. RomsB, 2 vols. fol. 2°. De sacris (edificiis a 
 
 Constantino Magno oonstructis. Eom£e, 1693 Fol. 
 Coccius. Thesaurus Ecclesiastic us. 
 
 Coleman (Lyman). Antiquities of the Christian Church. 
 CosTADONi. Chiesa di Torcello. 
 
 Dal;eus (J.). [De cultib, relig. Zatinor. 1. ix.) De Baptismi ctereinoniis. 
 
 Dale (Van Ant.). Sistoria Baptismorum cum Heiraicorum turn Christianorum . 
 
 Del Torre. Lett, intoi'no dlcunc ant. Crisiiane. 
 
 DoNATi (Sebastiano) . De' dittici degli antichi, profani e sacri, libri fre, coll' 
 
 appcndiee d'aleuni necrologi, e calendari. Lucca, 1753. 
 DuRANDi. Rationale divini officii. Mogunt., 1459. Fol. 
 DuRANTi. De ritibus Ecelesice catholicm. 12mo. Lugduni, 1594. 
 
 Fabretti (Raphael). Inscriptionum antiquaruir explicatio. Romas, 1699. Fol. 
 
 Faericius. Bibliotheca Orceca. Hamburg, 1712. 
 
 Fresne (Du). Glossaritim, 
 
 Fridericus (Jo.). Liturgia Vetus et Nova, sive eollatio ritmim liturgieorum 
 
 Eccles. Christ. Jenae, 1705. 
 Frontonis (Jo.). De Moribus et vita Christianorum in primis Ecclesia saculis. 
 FcRiETTi (Jos. Alex.). De Musivis. Fol. Eomfe, 1752. 
 
 Gavanti (Barthol.). Thesaurits Saerornm Riiiium. 1763. 
 
 GrERBERT. Theologia Liturgica. 
 
 GiESELER. Ecclesiastical Sistory, 
 
 Gill (Jobn). Ancient Mode of Baptizing. 
 
 GoAR (Jac). 'Zvypxifiov, seu Ritiiale Grcecorum. Paris, 1647. 
 
 GoDARD (Abbe). Archiologie Sacrie. 
 
 Gregorius turonensis. Opera. 
 
 Gt'Dii (Marc). De Clinicis sen Grnlmtariis ret. Eccles. 
 
LIST OF AUTHORS CONSULTED. IX 
 
 HiLDEBRAND (J,). Sitiiulf Sapttsmi feteiis. 
 HoNORins (Augustodunensis). Sacramentariitm. 
 HooRNBEOK (J.). (Miscellanea Sacra.) Be Baplismo veteruiii. 
 
 IsABELLE. J^dif, circidaires. 
 
 IsiDORus (Hispaleneis). He Ecclesiasticis offlciis. 
 
 Jani (Jo. Guill.). Be Liturgiis Orientalibus. Viteberg, 1724. 
 
 Krazer (Aug.). De Apostolicis necnon Aiiti^uis Eodesice Occident. Liturgiis. 
 1756. 
 
 Langemack (G.). Historia Catechetica. 
 
 Lopez (Michaele). II battistero di Parma. Parma, 1864. 
 
 Maffeus. 1°. Mtis(sum Veronmse. 1729, fol. 2°. Verona illustrata. Fol. 
 
 Verona, 1732. 
 Mamachi. lo. Origines et antiquitates Christiana. Eomaa, 1749-1752. 5 vols. 
 
 4to. 2°. De' costumi de' primitivi Cristiani. Roma, 1753-1754. 3 vols. 8vo. 
 Marchi. I monumenti deile arti Cristiane primitive nella metropoli del Oristian- 
 
 esimo. Koma, 1844. 
 Maringola (Aloisio). Antiquitatitm Christianarum instittitiones. Neapoli, 1857. 
 
 2 vols. Sto. 
 Maetene. 3e antiquis Ecolesim ritihus. 4 vols. fol. Venetiis, 1783. 
 Martini. Theatrxim Basilica Fisancc. Eomse, 1728. 
 Moroni. J)izionario di erudiz. storico-ecclesiast. 
 Mosheim. Sistory of the 0/irixtian Church. 
 MuRATOBius (Ludovicus Antonius). Liturgia Eomana vetus. 
 
 Odelon. Dissertatio dc diaconissis Primitivm Ecclesice. 
 
 Oleakh (J. Gothofr.). Bibliotheca scriptorum ecclesiasticorum. Ien£E, 1711- 
 2 vols. 4to. 
 
 Paciaudi. 1°, De cultit S. Joannis Baptists. 4to. RomsB, 1755. 2". De sacris 
 
 Ckristimwrum balneis. 4to. Romse, 1758. 
 Perret. Les Catacombes de Boiiie. 
 Peaef (C. M.) De Liturgiis. 
 PiBiE (Al.). Dissertation on Baptism, 
 
 Eabanus (Maunis). De Institutionc clericorum et emremoniis Ecclesia. 
 Easponi (Cses.). De basilica et patriarch. Lateranensi. Eomae, 1656. Fol. 
 Eeiche (J. Or.). De Baptismi origine et necessitudine, 
 Renaudot. Ziturgiarum Orientalium coUectio. 
 -Riddle (J. E.). Manual of Chri.<:tian Antiquities. London, 1839. 
 RixNBR (Henr.). De Institutis et ritibus veterum Christianorum. 
 Robinson (R.). History of Baptism. 
 Rossi (J. B. De.) 1°. Inseriptiones Christiance urbis Bomre septimo sceculo 
 
 antiquiores. 2". De Christianis monumentis IX0TN exhibentibiis. S^. lioma 
 
 sotteranea C'ristiana. 
 RuPERTUs. De Divinis offlciis. Libri xii. 
 
 Salig. De diptychis veterwn. 
 
 Schelstbate. Antiquitatis Ecolesitr dissertnfiones, moini mentis ac notis ilhis- 
 tratce. Libri tres. Romae, 1C92, Fol. 
 
 a 2 
 
X LIST OF AUTHORS CONSULTED. 
 
 ScHREiEEE (Mich.). Se dilatione JSaptismi. 
 
 Schubert (A. C). De ritibiis Ecclesia primitivm Baptismalibics. 
 
 Selvaggio. Antiqiiitattim Christianaruni iiistitittimies. Vercellis, 1778. 6. vole. ^ 
 
 12mo. 
 SociNus. De Baptismo, 
 
 Steabo (Walafrid). He Exor4iis H Iiicrementis Serum Ecdesiastiearum. 
 SuicEETJS. Thesaurus. 
 
 ToMAsi. Institutiones theohgicte antiqmrimi Pdtritm. Eomse, 1705 seqq. 2 vols. 
 
 4to. 
 Teombellius (Joan. Chrysostom) . Tractatus de Sacramentis,—de SiipUsmo. 5 vola. 
 
 Bononias, 1773. 
 
 ViCEcoMES (Joseph). Oiservationum Ecclesiasticarum. Vol. I. in quo de antiquis 
 
 Baptismi ritihus ac cseremoniis agitur. 
 ViscoNTi (Pietro). Sposizioiie dialcune antiche iserizioni Cristiane. Roma, 1824. 
 
 8vo. 
 VosRius. Be Baptismo Bissertatio. 
 
 "Walch (J. G.). Mitus Baptismales. 
 
 "Walcker (Mich.). Be CatecMsatione v.eterum. 
 
 Wall (W.). Sistort/ of Infant Baptism. 
 
 Wedbkkampius (J. H.). Be Baptismo veteriim. 170.3. 
 
 "Weidling (C. W.). Be baptisteriis vetenim Christianorum. Lips. , 1737. 4to. 
 
 Zaccaria (Fr. Ant.). 1°. SaceoUa di dissertazioni di storia eeelesiastica. Roma, 
 22 Tols. Svo. 1792-1797. 2<>. Bihliotheca rittialis. Romfe, 1776. 3 vols. 4to. 
 3o. Be veteyum Christianaruni inscriptionum usu in rehus theologicis. Romse. 
 
 Zeltner (Grust. Georg.). Bissertatio de Mersione in baptismo apostolico, 1720. 
 
 Zentghartos. Be ritibiis baptismi. 
 
 Ziboler (Gaspar.). Be diaeonis et diaconissis veteris Ecclesia. Wittehergaj, 
 1688. 4to. 
 
 Zt5!mermann. Commentarius de Baptismo. 
 
 Most of the above works, and the writings of the Fathers, may be consulted 
 at the Biblioteca Casanatense, a library attached to the convent of the Domini- 
 cans, and the richest in Rome in printed works. It contains one hundred and 
 twenty thousand volumes, besides a valuable collection of ancient manuscripts. 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Baptistery in Catacomb of S. Ponziano . . . Frontispiece 
 
 Inscription at Autun, France . . ... . . 15 
 
 Baptism of Christ, Fresco ia Catacomb of S. Ponziano 32 
 
 Baptism of Christ, Fresco in Catacomb of Santa Lucina 3.3 
 
 Fresco Painting in the Catacomb of St. Callixtus . . .34 
 
 Baptism of a Convert by Cyril ...... 3.5 
 
 Baptism of Christ, from a 31S. in the Library of La Minerva, Rome 37 
 
 Baptism of Christ, from a Meuologue of the Ninth Century, in the 
 
 Vatican Library . . 39 
 
 Baptism of the Eunuch by Philip . 40 
 
 Baptism of Jewish Converts . . .41 
 
 Baptism according to the Russian Kite .... 42 
 
 Baptism of Aristides, from a MS. in the Library of the Vatican 43 
 
 St. Sylvester baptizing Converts . . . . .44 
 
 Baptism of Christ, from a MS. in the Library of British Museum . 46 
 
 Cubioula in Catacombs of St. Agnese 79 
 
 Blessing of the Font, from a MS. in the Library of La Minerva, Rome . 104 
 Inscription in the Catacomb of Priscilla . . . ..121 
 
 Baptism of Catechumens and Infants, from a MS. of the Ninth Century . 126 
 Plan of Baptistery in Catacomb of S. Ponziano, Rome . . 152 
 
 Section of Ditto . . . 152 
 
 Section of Frigidarium of Bath, Pompeii . 154 
 
 Plan of Ditto 155 
 
 Plan of an Ancient Christian Basilica 157 
 
 Plan of Baptistery of Constantino . . . . 105 
 
 Plan of Baptistery of S. Costanza, Rome 170 
 
 Plan of Baptistery of Nocera dei Pagani . . . 172 
 
 Sectional View of Ditto . . . 173 
 
 Plan of Font in the Baptistery of St. Stephen . 176 
 
 Plan of Baptistery of Ravenna . . . . . 177 
 
 Baptism of Christ. Sculpture on Door of Baptistery of Florence . .178 
 Peter Administering Baptism. Painting in Church del Carmine, Florence 180 
 Section and Plan of Baptistery of Citta Nuova, Istria . . . 186 
 
 Plan of Baptistery of Pesaro ... .... 187 
 
 Section of Baptistery of Aquileja . . . 188 
 
 Plan of Baptistery at Florence . ... 191 
 
 Interior of Baptistery at Florence . I'i'i 
 
 Plan of Baptistery at Verona . 195 
 
Xll 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Elevation of Baptistery of Verona 
 
 Plan of Baptistery of Cremona 
 
 Exterior of the Baptistery of Cremona . . . • 
 
 Plan of Cathedral and Baptistery of Torcello . 
 
 Plan of Baptistery at Pisa ..... 
 
 Exterior of the Baptistery at Pisa .... 
 
 Baptism of Christ in the Jordan, has-relief. 
 
 Plan of Baptistery at Puy, France 
 
 Baptism of King Clovis 
 
 Font at Chartres, France . 
 
 Font at ThouveU, France 
 
 Baptism of Richard, Earl of Warwick . 
 
 Plan of Saxon Cathedral, Canterhury 
 
 Font at Bridekirk 
 
 Font at Linley 
 
 Font at Darenth 
 
 Sculptures on the Font at Darenth .... 
 
 St. Donlough's WeU, Ireland 
 
 Font at Li^ge, Belgium 
 
 Baptistery at Bonn ........ 
 
 Baptism of an Infant, from a Saoramentary of Cathedral of 
 Baptism of the Collegians, or Ehynsburgers, Germany . 
 Modem rite of Baptism in the Russian Church . 
 Plan of the Coptic Church, Ol-d Cairo 
 
 Ruins of St. John, Tyre 
 
 Section of Baptistery at the Old Cathedral of Tyre 
 
 Plan of Ditto 
 
 Church and Baptisteries at Kassahar, near Myra . 
 
 Metz 
 
 PAGE 
 196 
 
 197 
 198 
 199 
 201 
 202 
 207 
 211 
 212 
 221 
 222 
 237 
 241 
 244 
 246 
 248 
 248 
 253 
 256 
 258 
 260 
 265 
 270 
 815 
 324 
 325 
 •327 
 331 
 
INDEX 
 
 Atlution, a common religious rite, 1. 
 used in worship of Mithra, 
 Egyptians, and Greeks, 1, 2. 
 Abyssiuians, mode of "baptism, 307. 
 'ASiX^oi, a title of Christians, 64. 
 
 of the baptized, as distinguished 
 from Catechumens, 64. 
 ^Ifric, bishop in England, 230. 
 Aflfusion in the Church of Rome, 136, 
 
 138. 
 Agath, Council of, 79. 
 Agde, Council of, 79. 
 Alouinus, 10. 
 Alcuinus Avitus, 25, 
 Alvarez, Father, 311. 
 Ambo, or the reader's desk, 157. 
 Ambrosius, Archbishop of Milan, 9, 52, 
 
 71, 91, 117, 173. 
 Anastasius, 162, 163, 164, 166, 171. 
 Andrea Pisano erects the Baptistery 
 
 of Piatoia, a.d. 1337, 207. 
 Andrea Tafi, 192. 
 
 Anointing before baptism, 51, 52, 53. 
 Anselmus, Bishop of Laon, 219. 
 Apostolical Constitutions, 19, 65, 72, 
 
 79, 87, 102. 
 Aqua LustraHs, see Water of Purifica- 
 tion. 
 Aquileja, baptistery of, 188. 
 Aquinas, Thomas, 28. 
 Area, or open space around a church, 
 
 158. 
 Armenia, baptism in, 285. 
 A3Codruta3, baptism rejected by, 141. 
 Aspersion in England, 239. 
 Assemanni, 185. 
 Assemanus, 287. 
 
 Athanasius, 89. 
 
 Audientea, see Catechumens. 
 
 Augustine, 12, 14, 24, 62, 64, 69, 92, 
 
 97, 109, 118, 156. 
 Austin, Bishop, conference with, 227. 
 Autun, ancient inscription at, 15. 
 
 Balsamo, 89. 
 Baptism : 
 
 administrators of, 58, 156. 
 
 a perpetual ordinance, 7. 
 
 a symbol, 7. 
 
 bas-reUefs of, 40, 195, 207. 
 
 clinic, 59, 79. 
 
 forms and ceremonies accompany- 
 
 ing, 49, 51. 
 import of, 7, 8, 9, 10. 
 in Persia, 306. 
 instituted by Christ, 6. 
 John's, 6. 
 
 Justin Martyr on, 17. 
 lay baptism, 58. 
 
 Lord's Supper administered im- 
 mediately after, 60. 
 mode of administering, 30, 31, 177. 
 names or appellations of, 109. 
 of Cedoaldo, 54. 
 of Christ, picture of, at Verona, 
 
 196. 
 of infants, 110, 127. 
 of Jewish proselytes, 5. 
 of Theodosius the Younger, 54. 
 of Valerian, 42. 
 ordinary mode in primitive 
 
 churches, 16. 
 pagan, 2. 
 required by Apostles, 6. 
 
XIV 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Baptism: 
 
 Russian, 267. 
 
 sometimes made compulsory, 120, 
 121, 217, 231. 
 
 TertuUian on, 18. 
 
 times for, 56, 69, 153, 156, 234. 
 
 vicarious, of the living for the 
 dead, 143. 
 
 where administered, 149, 150. 
 
 who admitted to, 62. 
 Baptisteries : 
 in the East — 
 
 Cairo, 315. 
 
 Kassabar, near Myra, 331. 
 
 Sagalassus, 336. 
 
 Smyrna, 333. 
 
 Tyre, 325. 
 in France — 
 
 Aix, 211. 
 
 Chalons, 211. 
 
 Fr^jus, 211. 
 
 Mar.soilles, 212. 
 
 Poitiers, 210. 
 
 Puy, 211. 
 
 Eheims, 213. 
 
 Ste. Genevieve, Paris, 210. 
 
 St. Jean Le Rond, Paris, 209. 
 in Germany — 
 
 Bonn, 257. 
 
 Cohern, 257. 
 
 Meutz, 258. 
 
 Ratisbon, 257. 
 in Great Britain — 
 
 Saxon Cathedral, Canterbury, 241. 
 
 St. Doulough's Well, Ireland, 253. 
 in Italy — 
 
 Aquileja, 188. 
 
 Asooli, 199. 
 
 Bologna, 194. 
 
 Catacomb of San Ponziano, 152. 
 
 C:itta Nuova, 186. 
 
 Cividale, 196. 
 
 Cremona, 197. 
 
 Florence, 190, 
 
 Milan, 173. 
 
 MQan Cathedral, 175. 
 
 Naples, 185. 
 
 Nocera dei Pagani, 172. 
 
 Baptisteries : 
 in Italy — 
 Novara, 189. 
 Padua, 200. 
 Parma, 204. 
 Pesaro, 186. 
 Pisa, 200. 
 Pistoia, 207. 
 Ravenna, 176, 180. 
 Rome : 
 
 of Constantine, 164. 
 of Sta. Costanza, 169. 
 of St. Peter's, 208. 
 of St. Stephen, 175. 
 San Giovanni in Fonte, 170. 
 Santa Maria in Cosmedin, 180. 
 Torcello, 199. 
 Verona, 195. 
 derivation of word, 154. 
 internal arrangement, 155. 
 list of, in Italy, 160. 
 shape, 154. 
 J , situation and size, 156. 
 )^3arnabas, 16. 
 Baronius, Cardinal, 38. 
 Basil, 23, 58, o9, 90. 
 Basilica, Ancient Christian, 157. 
 Basnage, on sprinkling-, 136. 
 Bas-EeUefs, 207, 222, 245, 249, 250, 255. 
 in baptistery at Verona, 195. 
 on Font at Thorpe Savin, 250. 
 Bathing : 
 
 at Eleusinian mysteries, 2. 
 by priests, 2. 
 of Proselytes, by Jews, 5. 
 Baths, 163 166. 
 Bede, 13, 26, 151, 223, 226. 
 Benedetto Antelmi designs baptistery 
 
 at Parma, 204. 
 Benedictus XIII. (1725) prepares font 
 
 at Rome for immersion, 209. 
 Bernard, 30. 
 Beroldus, 174. 
 Bertoli, 189. 
 Bishop Bernardo rebuilds baptistery of 
 
 Verona, a.d. 1135, 195. 
 Blessing of the Font QBeuedictio 
 Fontis), 104. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 XV 
 
 Boldetti, 33. 
 
 Bottaii, 13, 31. 
 
 Bugati, 38. 
 
 Ballion, Cardinal, 208. 
 
 Bunseu, on Baptism, 81. 
 
 Byzantine Art, il. 
 
 Cau'O, baptistery at, 315. 
 Calcuith, Council of, 232. 
 Callixtus builds baptistery at Cividale, 
 
 A.D. 737, 197. 
 Cambridge, Church of Holy Sepulchre, 
 
 2i2. 
 Carthage, Council of, 101. 
 Catacombs of Rome : 
 
 baptisteries in, 151 . 
 
 paintings in, 11, 12, 13, 31-35. 
 
 sepulchral chapels ia 78. 
 
 water, how obtained, 153. 
 CutBchists : 
 
 Apostles' creed used by, 72. 
 
 office of, 70. 
 
 place for instruction, 77. 
 Catechumenate, duration of, 7S. 
 Catechumens : 
 
 first class, Audientes, or hearers, 65. 
 
 second class, Genuflectentes, or 
 kneelers, 66. 
 
 third class, Competentes, or Electi, 
 68. 
 
 examination of, 70. 
 
 females taught by deaconesses, 71. 
 
 going veiled, 70. 
 
 learn the creed, 70. 
 Celchyth, Council of, 231. 
 Celestine, Pope, 27. 
 Ceremonies : 
 
 anointing, 51, 52, 53. 
 
 attendants clothed in white, 54, 55. 
 
 bread given with milk and honey, 
 56. 
 
 insufflation, 51. 
 
 kiss of peace, 55, 60. 
 
 milk and honey given, 52, 56. 
 
 tapers, 55. 
 
 turning to the East, 50. 
 
 washing the feet, 36. 
 
 wearing white garments, 53, 55. 
 
 Chaldeans, The, 304. 
 
 Charlemagne, Decree of, 217. 
 
 Chrysostora, 8, 52, 55, 59, 62, 87, 91, 
 94, 143. 
 
 Ciampini, 42. 
 
 Clemens Alexandrinus, 3, 4, 14, 17, 94. 
 
 Clement of Home, 20. 
 
 Clement, Presbyter of Alexandria, 71. 
 
 Clinics, not allowed to receive ordina- 
 tion, 60. 
 
 Clovis, King, baptism of, 213. 
 
 Cologne, in Germany, fresco at, 260. 
 
 Communion, 60. 
 
 none but believers and baptized 
 partake, 61. 
 
 Competentes, or Electi, see Catechu- 
 mens. 
 
 Constantino, Emperor, 153, 164, 185. 
 
 Copts, mode of baptism, 5, 311. 
 
 Cornelius, 136. 
 
 Cross, sign of the, a preliminary of 
 baptism, 280, 300. 
 
 Cubicula in Catacomb Sta. Agnese, 78. 
 
 Cyprian, 21, 52, 59,\11, !)5, 101, 109, 
 114-116, 134, 140. 
 
 CjTil of Alexandria, 102. 
 
 GyrU of Jerusalem, 22, 50, 51, 52, 68, 
 70, 109, 156. 
 
 Damasus, 208. 
 Dante, 193. 
 
 Deaconesses teach female catechumens, 
 71. 
 qualifications of, 71. 
 Diotisalvi, architect of baptistery of 
 
 Pisa, 200. 
 Diptych at San Celso, Mian, 36. 
 Disciples of St. John, The, 305. 
 Doctor Audientium, 71. 
 Doddridge, 116. 
 Dominica in Albis, 57. 
 Doulough's, St., baptistery of, 253. 
 Durantus, Bishop of Mende, 220. 
 
 Easter, baptismal season, 56. 
 Ecclesiastical Institutes, 232. 
 Edmund, Constitutions of, 235. 
 Eigbright, Excerptions of, 231, 233. 
 
XVI 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Elvira, Coimcil of, 58, 79. 
 Epiphanius, 22, 143, 145. 
 Epiphany, season for baptism, 57. 
 Ephrem, Deacon of Edessa, 91. 
 Erasmus, 113. 
 Eimodius, 174. 
 Eimomians, 145. 
 EuseMus, 21, 63, 87, 88, 109, 136, 
 
 325. 
 Eustorgius II., Bishop of Milan, 174. 
 Euthymius, 142. 
 Exorcism preceding baptism, 49, 50, 
 
 51, 318. 
 EzzeUno da Romana, 205. 
 
 Eish: 
 
 figurative designation of our Lord, 
 
 13, 14, 16, 102, 210. 
 symbol of baptism and the Lord' s 
 Supper, 13. 
 Fonts : 
 
 gium — 
 
 Li^ge, 255. 
 
 Tirlemont, 255. 
 in England — 
 
 Bamswood, 247. 
 
 Brideldrk, 245. 
 
 Brighthelmstone, 249. 
 
 Darenth, 247. 
 
 Fincham, 247. 
 
 Hendon, 246. 
 
 Lewes, 246. 
 
 Malvern, 244. 
 
 Eomsey, 246. 
 
 St. Martin's, Canterbury, 245. 
 
 Thorpe Savin, 250. 
 
 Walsingham, 250. 
 in France — 
 
 Chartres, 221. 
 
 Limay, 221. 
 
 Louvre, Museum of the, 221., 
 
 Montdidier, 2.21. 
 
 Pont du Mousson, 222. 
 
 Thouveil, 221. 
 in Germany — 
 
 Magdeburg, 257. 
 
 Nuremberg, 257. 
 
 Fonts : 
 in Italy — 
 Ascoli, 199. 
 baptistery of Constantine, 166, 167, 
 
 169. 
 
 Cividale, 196. 
 
 Cremona, 198. 
 
 MUan, 175. 
 
 Padua, 200. 
 
 Parma, 205, 206. 
 
 Pisa, 203. 
 
 Pistoia, 207. 
 
 Ravenna, 177, 180. 
 
 St. Peter's, Rome, 208. 
 
 TorceUo, 200. 
 
 Verona, 195. 
 in Scotland, 252. 
 
 when placed within the Tvalls of 
 churches, 160. 
 Font, Greek, 266. 
 Frescos of Baptism : 
 
 in Cathedral of Carlisle, 235. 
 
 Catacomb of S. Ponziano, 31. 
 
 Cathedral of Cologne, 260. 
 Frigidarium at Pompeii, 154. 
 Fulbertus, Bishop of Chartres, 218. 
 
 Galasius, Pope, Sacramentary of, 127. 
 
 Ganges, Hindoo reverence for, 5. 
 
 Garrucci, 35. 
 
 Genuflectentes, see Catechumens. 
 
 Georgians, or Iberians, 288. 
 
 Germany, circular churches of, 257. 
 
 Gerson, 219. 
 
 Ghiberti, artist of bronze doors at 
 
 Florence, 192. 
 Giotto, 191. 
 
 Gregory the Great, 10, 28. 
 Gregory of Nazianzen, 12, 55, 59, 90, 
 
 109, 116. 
 Gregory of Nyssa, 7, 57, 59, 69, 102. 
 Gregory Thaumaturgus, 21. 
 Gregory of Tours, 213, 216. 
 Greek Menologue in Vatican Library, 
 
 38. 
 Guericke on Infant Baptism, 110. 
 
 Hendon, font in church of, 246. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 XVll 
 
 Herodotus, 2, 4. 
 
 Hesychius, 2. 
 
 Hilary, 14. 
 
 Hindoos, Atlutiou of, 5. 
 
 Hippolytus, 81. 
 
 Honorius Augustus, 150. 
 
 Honorius, Bishop of Autun, 219. 
 
 Hugue de St. Victor, 219. 
 
 HyginuB, 80. 
 
 Iberians or Georgians, 288. 
 Iceland, Baptism in, 284. 
 Ignatius, 58. 
 Immersion, simple, 28. 
 
 trine, 9, 10, 19, 28, 49, 260, 268. 
 Import of baptism : 
 Alcuinus on, 10. 
 Ambrosius on, 9. 
 Chrysostom on, 8. 
 Gregory the Great on, 10. 
 Gregory of Nyssa on, 7. 
 Justin Martyr on, 7. 
 Leo the Great on, 9. 
 Maximus on, 9. 
 Theodulphus on, 10. 
 Theodulus on, 9. 
 Ina, Decree of, 231. 
 Inscription discovered near Autun, 15. 
 iu baptistery at Cividale, 197. 
 Mentz, 258. 
 Naples, 185. 
 Novara, 190. 
 Pisa, 204. 
 
 St. Peter's, Rome, 
 209. 
 basUica of St. Stephen, 175. 
 church at Bologna, 194. 
 Citta Nuova, 186. 
 Inscriptions in Catacombs, 121, 126. 
 Insufflation, 51. 
 Intercession of Saints, 124. 
 Ireland, Baptism in, 254. 
 Irensus, 18, 143. 
 Isidore, 100. 
 
 Jacobi Sirmondi, 176. 
 Jerome, 13, 3.3, 51, 53, 58, 70, 93, 113, 
 169. 
 
 John's baptism, 6, 149. 
 
 Justin Martyr, 4, 7, 17, 57, 60, 61, 81, 
 
 83, 109, 149. 
 Justinian, Emperor, 79. 
 Justinian, Decree of, 79. 
 Juvenous, 25. 
 Juvenal, 3. 
 
 Kiss of peace, 55, 60. 
 
 Lacroix, Quotation from his Renais- 
 sance, 47. 
 Laotantius, 21, 95. 
 
 Lady's "Well, in Northumberland, 225. 
 Laodioea, CoancU of, 60, 90. 
 Leo the Great, 9. 
 
 Leo Isaurian, Emperor of Constanti- 
 nople, 77. 
 Leo of Modena, 6. 
 Luitprandus, 194. 
 Luther on Baptism, 261. 
 Liturgies : 
 of Greek Church, 271. . — 
 
 James of Edessa, 317. 
 
 Nestorians, 290. 
 
 Ravenna, 181. 
 
 Remy, Bishop of Rheims, 215. 
 
 Roman, 105, 127, 137, 168. 
 
 Mabillon, collection of rituals by, 168. 
 Magdeburg, font at, 257. 
 Magnus, Bishop of Sens, 218. 
 Manicheans, 2. 
 Manuscripts — 
 in Bibliothfeque Nationale, Paris, 44. 
 
 Library of British Museum, 45. 
 
 Library of Duke of Devonshire, 45. 
 
 Vatican Library, 42. 
 
 Miniatures in, 36, 47. 
 Mar Abd Teshua, 289. 
 Marcionites, 143. 
 Marcus Gazensis, 54. 
 Maronites, mode of baptism, 317. 
 Martene, on Rituals, 134. 
 Martin of Tours, 63. 
 Maximus, Bishop of Turin, 9, 26. 
 Menander, 145. 
 Melito, 14. 
 
XVI 11 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Mennonites, 263. 
 Messalians, 142. 
 Mileri, Second Council of, 119. 
 Mingrelians, 306. 
 Moutanists, 14-5. 
 Montfaucon, 4. 
 
 Moaaics in baptistery of S. Costanza, 
 170. 
 
 Florence, 192. 
 
 Kavenna, 177, 179. 
 Mosheim, 119. 
 
 Names of the faithful, 63, 64, 65. 
 Neander on Baptism, 85. 
 Infant Baptism, 110. 
 Nectarius, Bishop of Constantinople, 
 
 91. 
 Neo-Cesarea, Council of, 60, 88. 
 Nestorians, Baptismal Liturgy of, 290. 
 Nicsea, Council of, 87. 
 Nicholas, Bishop of Myi-a, 329. 
 Nocera dei Pagani, baptistery of, 172. 
 Northumberland Synod, Decree of, 231. 
 Novatian, Baptism of, 136. 
 
 Olearius, 269. 
 
 Optatus, 14, 102. 
 
 Oratory of St. Venantius, 78. 
 
 Origen, 20, 50, 85, 86, 111, 112, 326, 
 328. 
 
 Orso, Archbishop of Eavenna, 17C. 
 
 Orso Orseolo, Bishop of Torcello, re- 
 builds the Cathedral, 199. 
 
 Otho, Blissionary in Pomerania, 259. 
 
 Ovid, 3. 
 
 Paciaudus, 178. 
 Paintings of Baptism — 
 
 Aries, 221. 
 
 BasOica of St. Clement, 35. 
 
 Bourges, 221. 
 
 Catacombs, 11, 12, 31-35. 
 
 Ciclo Biblico, 11. 
 
 Church of San Lorenzo, Rome, 31. 
 
 Miniatures in ancient manuscripts, 
 36, 38, 41-47. 
 
 Rheims, 213. 
 
 Sens, 221. 
 
 Pallassonus, Johannes, makes font at 
 Parma, a.d. 1299, 205. 
 
 Paulianists, 145. 
 
 Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, 156. 
 
 Paulinus, Bishop of Tyre, 325, 328. 
 
 Paulinus, Missionary in England, 2fi, 
 150. 
 
 Paulus Warnefridus, 54. 
 
 Persian Christians, 306. 
 
 Photius, Decree of, 121. 
 
 Photizomenoi, or the illuminated, 64. 
 
 Pliny, 154, 
 
 Pope Leo, 102. 
 
 Pope Innocent, 140. 
 
 Polycarp, 332. 
 
 Prayer-book of Edward VI., 49, 238. 
 
 Priscillianists, 145. 
 
 Prosper, 13. 
 
 Prudentius, 25, 208. 
 
 Pulpit : 
 
 in baptistery at Ascoli, 199. 
 
 Raveima, 177. 
 
 Quintillianists, 141. 
 
 Reading, Constitution at, 233. 
 Red Sea, passage of, a, figure of bap- 
 tism, 12, 13, 
 Eemy, Bishop of Rheims, 213. 
 Rheinwald, 110. 
 Ehynsburgers, 264. 
 Rituals of Baptism — 
 
 Greek Church, 271. 
 
 Church of Ravenna, 181. 
 
 James of Edessa, 317. 
 
 Orleans, 220. 
 
 Pope Gelasius, 127. 
 
 Remy, of Rheims, 215. 
 
 S. Giovanni in Fonte, Rome, 168. 
 Rossi, Signor, 11. 
 
 Eufinus, presbyter of Aquileja, 113. 
 Russia, baptism in, 267. 
 
 Salmasius, 83, 262. 
 San Giovanni alle Fonti, Milan, 174. 
 San Giovanni in Fonte, Rome, 164. 
 San Stefano alle Fonti, 174. 
 Saturus, 19. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 XIX 
 
 Seleusians, 142. 
 
 Seneca, 166. 
 
 Sena, painting of baptism in cathedral 
 
 of, 221. 
 Severus, Alexandrinus, 51.' 
 Socrates, tte historian, 69, 80, 156. 
 Sponsors, 259, 269, 310. 
 Sprinkling of children in font at 
 Parma, 206. 
 
 of water of Purification, 3. 
 
 over food at religious repasts, 4. 
 St. Clement, 35. 
 St. Doulough's Well, 253. 
 St. Petronius huilds monastery at 
 
 Bologna, a.d. 430, 194, 
 Stephen II., Pope, on sprinkling, 136. Jl 
 Strabo, Walafrid, 82, 92, 150. 
 Suicerus, 83. 
 Sulpicius Severus, 63. 
 S3'mbols of Baptism, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13. 
 Syrian Christians, 316. 
 
 Taxa Samadha, The, 290. 
 
 TertuUian, 3, 11, 14, 18, 19, 49, 50, 
 
 62, 56, 58, 61, 62, 84, 95, 101, 
 
 109, 140, 149. 
 Theodoretus, 4, 141, 142, 223. 
 Theodorus of Mopsuestia, 71. 
 Theodosius, Emperor, baptism of, 91. 
 Theodulphus, 10. 
 Theodulus of Ccele-syria, 9. 
 Theophilus, 18. 
 Toledo, Decree of Council, 28. 
 
 Trent, Council of, 104. 
 
 Trine Immersion, its import, 9, 10, 28, 
 
 49, 
 Tritheists, 145. 
 Tyndal, 238. 
 Tyre, 323. 
 
 Unction, 52. 
 
 Valentinians, 143. 
 Valerian, baptism of, 42. 
 Vansleb, leather, 314. 
 Venantius Fortunatus, 54. 
 Virgil, 3. 
 
 Walafrid Strabo, 82, 92, 150. 
 Wall, Dr., 239. 
 Warnefridus, Paulus, 54. 
 Warwick, Baptism of Earl of, 236. 
 Water of Purification, 3. 
 
 sprinkling on worshippers in the 
 
 Roman temples, 3. 
 used in forum, 3. 
 
 in funeral rites, 4. 
 by Jews, 4. 
 Westminster, Council of, 235. 
 
 Wulfred, Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury, 234. 
 
 Yves, Bishop of Chartres, 219. 
 
 Zeno, Bishop of Verona, 196. 
 
PART I. 
 
 BAPTISM. 
 
THE 
 
 ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 BAPTISM. 
 
 I HE natural tendency of the human mind is to 
 adopt a physical and outward act as a sign, 
 figure, symbol, or representation of an inward 
 and spiritual state. This tendency has always been strong, 
 especially in the earlier and ruder states of society. The 
 purification of the body by water, for example, has, in all 
 ages and in every religion, been considered as an emblem 
 fitted to express that purity of the soul with which man 
 should approach the Deity, and has been therefore adopted 
 as an important religious ceremony. 
 
 Ablution was one of the principal rites of initiation to 
 the worship of Mithra, a goddess held in high veneration 
 by the Persians. It was also practised by the followers of 
 Zoroaster. The ancient Persians carried their infants to 
 the temple a few days after they were born, and presented 
 them to the priest, before the sun and the fire, which was 
 his symbol. There the priest bathed the child for the 
 
 B 
 
2 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 purification of the soul. Sometimes he plunged it into a 
 great vase full of water. When the child had arrived at 
 fifteen years of age, he was presented again to the priest, 
 who confirmed him by giving him the robe called the 
 soudra, and the girdle. The custom was subsequently 
 adopted by the Manichaeans.* (See Beausobre, Liv. ix. 
 chap. vi. sect, xvi.) 
 
 The Egyptians appear to have practised ablutions from 
 the earliest antiquity. Herodotus, in the Second Book 
 of his History (chapter xxxvii.) informs us that the 
 priests of Isis and Osiris bathed twice during the day 
 in cold water, and as often in the night. (Aovtm Se St? 
 T?7S rjixkpa^ eicdar'rjt; ■<frv)^pa), Koi Sl<; eKacrTrji; vvkt6<;.) Those 
 initiated into the sacred mysteries of these divinities were 
 bathed in water by the priests. The annual festival of 
 Isis lasted eight days, during which a general purification 
 took place. 
 
 The use of water in religious rites was known to the 
 ancient Greeks, who employed it under various forms. 
 No one could be admitted to the Eleusinian mysteries 
 until he had been plunged in the waters of the 
 River Ilissus, consecrated to the Muses. Hesychius 
 {Lexicon) calls the priest, whose office was to purify 
 thus the initiated, vSpavo's, or the waterer. He also 
 informs us that the Greeks used to plunge in water 
 the infants, and those who had been in danger of 
 death ; hence these were called hevrepoTroTiMoi,, or 
 v(TTep6iroTp,oi. Reference is made to these Pagan bap- 
 
 * The Manichaeans were a sect of heretics in the third century 
 the followers of Manes, who made his appearance in the reign of 
 the Emperor Probus, pretending to be the Comforter whorn our 
 Saviour promised to send into the world. He taught that there are 
 two principles, or gods, co-eternal and independent of each other- 
 the first principle, or light, the author of all good ; the second 
 principle, or darkness, the author of all evil — a doctrine which he 
 borrowed from the Persian Magi. 
 
GREEK AND ROMAN WRITERS. 3 
 
 tisms by Clemens Alexandrinus,* in the Fifth Book of 
 his Stromata, and Tertullian,t in his Prcescriptionibus 
 (c. xl.), and De Baptismo (c. v.) 
 
 Ovid, Virgil, and Juvenal make frequent allusions in 
 their writings J to the aqua lusiralis, or water of purifi- 
 cation, used in the religious ceremonies of the ancient 
 Romans, who were scrupulous in employing it before 
 they performed a sacrifice. It was commonly placed at 
 the entrance of the temple, and sprinkled upon the wor- 
 shippers as they entered, with a small olive branch. A 
 vessel containing it was also placed in the Forum, for 
 the use of the citizens assembled there. This lustration 
 
 * Clemens, a converted philosopher and presbyter of Alexandria, 
 who died about A.D. 218. He is esteemed the most profoundly 
 learned of the Fathers of the Church. He is the author of several 
 important works: amongst them the Protrepticon (TrpoTpeTTTiKoi Xdyos), 
 or exhortation to the Gentiles; the Pczdagogus, ox a treatise, on 
 Christianity ; the Institutes ; and the Stromata, or Miscellany, in 
 eight books. 
 
 f Tertullian, a celebrated Father of the Church, who died about 
 A.D. 220. He has left a great variety of tracts on the vices and 
 customs of his age, and is the author of an Apology, of a tract 
 agiinst Marcion, and a treatise on Baptism. 
 + Ovid:— 
 
 Est locus in Tiberin qua lubricus influit Almo, 
 
 Et nomen magno perdit ab amne minor. 
 Illic purpurea canus cum veste sacerdos 
 Almonis Dominam sacraque lavit aquis. 
 
 (Fast.lib.'w. 337-8). 
 (There is a spot where the rapid Almo flows into the Tiber, and 
 the lesser stream loses its name in that of the greater. There does 
 the hoary priest in his purple vestments wash the lady (goddess) 
 and her sacred utensils in the waters of the Almo). 
 Virgil:— 
 
 Spargens rore levi, et ramo felicis olivae 
 Lustravitque viros. {^neid, 6.) 
 (Sprinkling the men with the light spray and a branch of the 
 prolific olive). 
 Juvenal : — 
 
 Portabit aquas ut spargat in aede 
 Isidis. {Satyr, vi.) 
 
 (She will bring water, to sprinkle in the temple of Isis). 
 
 B 2 
 
4 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM, 
 
 was administered at the termination of the funeral rites, 
 to remove the defilement supposed to be contracted by 
 approaching a dead body. According to Theodoretus* 
 {Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. c. xiv.), it was usual to sprinkle 
 water over the food served up at the epulm, or solemn 
 religious repasts. The Emperor Julian, out of spite to 
 the Christians, used to order the victuals in the markets 
 to be sprinkled with holy water, on purpose, either to 
 starve, or force them to eat what, by their own principles, 
 they esteemed polluted. (Hospinianus, De orig. Templor. 
 1. 2, c. 25). The learned Montfaucon says {Antiq. t. 2, 
 p. I, 1. 3, c. 6) that the vase of the aqua lusfralis, placed 
 at th« entrance of the temples, was called aquaminarium, 
 or amula. The same vessel was by the Greeks called— 
 ■n-epippavTrjpwv—Perirranterion ; two of which, the one of 
 gold, the other of silver, were given by Crcesus to the 
 Temple of Apollo at Delphi (Herodotus, 1. i. 5 1 ; Clemens 
 Alexandrinus, Stromata, 1. i), and the custom of sprinkling 
 themselves was so necessary a part of their religious 
 offices, that the method of excommunication seems to 
 have been by prohibiting offenders to approach 
 or use the holy water vase. (CEschines, Orat. contra 
 Ctesiphon, 58). Justin Martyr,t in his First Apology {sect. 
 Ixi.), alludes to these Pagan customs in the following 
 terms : — " The demons no sooner heard of this washing 
 spoken of by the prophet, but they too set up their puri- 
 
 * Theodoretus, an eloquent ecclesiastical writer, was Bishop of 
 Cyrus, in Syria. He wrote a History of the Church extending 
 from A.D. 325 to 429. 
 
 f Justin Martyr, a Greek writer of the second century, and the, 
 author of several important works in defence of Christianity. 
 Amongst them may be mentioned his First Apology, in which he 
 gives a detail of the manners, rites, and doctrines of the early 
 Christians ; his Second Apology, which is a complaint of the treat- 
 ment of the Christians ; his Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, a work 
 containing various arguments to demonstrate that Jesus is the 
 Messiah. 
 
SYRIAN, COPTIC, AND JEWISH. 5 
 
 fications, and made such as go to their temples and 
 officiate in their libations and meat offerings, first sprinkle 
 themselves with water by way of lustration, and they 
 have brought it to such a pass, that the worshippers are 
 washed from head to foot before they approach the 
 sacred place where their images are kept." Lustrations 
 by water were also used by the Druids of Great Britain. 
 
 It is well known that all the Oriental religions abound 
 in ablutions. The Syrians, Copts, etc., have their 
 annual solemn washings. The Mahommedans practise 
 ablutions most punctiliously, and in the greatest number. 
 Their purifications are of two kinds, either bathing, or 
 only washing the face, hands, and feet. The superstitious 
 attachment of the Hindoos for the River Ganges is such, 
 that ablution in its streams is placed among the first 
 duties of religion ; and when, from necessity, they cannot 
 reach that river, if, in bathing, they use the exclamation, 
 " O Ganges, purify me! " the Brahmins assure them that 
 the service is equally efficacious. (Encyclopaedia Metro- 
 politana.) 
 
 In accordance with Divine directions, the Jews intro- 
 duced into their religious rites the use of the water of 
 purification. (Numbers ix.) Several ceremonies of the 
 Mosaic law were accompanied by ablutions, Bathing in 
 water is said by some Jewish authors to have been 
 used, together with circumcision, in the admission of 
 proselytes. These were required to renounce idolatry and 
 believe in Jehovah, were interrogated while standing in 
 the water, and, after baptism, were declared to be. clean 
 and holy, and were admitted to all the privileges of the 
 Jewish nation. As the sacred writers make no mention 
 of this custom, nor is there any reference to it in the best 
 Targums, in the apocryphal books, in the writings of 
 Josephus and Philo, nor in the Fathers of the first three 
 centuries, it is probable, if not in fact certain, that this 
 
6 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 rite was introduced only after the destruction of Jerusalem, 
 when the sacrifices had ceased. This custom still exists. 
 Leo of Modena, Rabbi of Venice, says, in his book De 
 Ritibus et Usis Judaorum, pars i. c. 3, " He who desires 
 to become a Jew is first circumcised, and a few days after 
 is entirely bathed in water in presence of three Rabbis 
 who have examined him. He is then considered a Jew 
 like the others." 
 
 The introduction of John's baptism was, to a certain 
 degree, in harmony with the long established usages of 
 the Jews — the frequency of lustrations which constituted a 
 part of the Mosaic ceremonial, and were practised on 
 various occasions both by the priests and by the people. 
 Ablution in the waters of the River Jordan was well fitted 
 to represent the washing away of sins through repentance 
 and faith in the coming Messiah, the Lamb of God, who 
 was to take away the sin of the world. 
 
 When our Saviour entrusted to His disciples th6 great 
 commission. He instituted baptism as one of the peculiar 
 rites of His church and kingdom. " All power is given 
 unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and 
 teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the 
 Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; teaching 
 them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded 
 you : and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of 
 the world." And again, " He that believeth and is bap- 
 tized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be 
 damned." (Matt, xxviii. 19, 20; Mark xvi. 16.) 
 
 In obedience to the Divine command, the apostles 
 required of all who received baptism a confession of faith 
 in Christ. The language of Peter, on the day of Pentecost 
 to the Jews and Gentiles at Jerusalem, was this : " Repent 
 and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus 
 Christ for the remission of sins." " They that gladlv 
 received the word were baptized " to the number of three 
 
NEW TESTAMENT USAGE. 7 
 
 thousand. (Acts ii.) When the Holy Ghost fell on all 
 who heard his preaching in the house of Cornelius, Peter 
 said : " Can any man forbid water, that these should not 
 be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well 
 as we ? " (Acts x. 47.) "When the eunuch requested to be 
 baptized by Philip, his answer was : " If thou believest 
 with all thine heart, thou mayest." (Acts viii. 37.) Thus 
 was fully established Christian baptism, which implied, 
 not only repentance and the washing- away of sins, but 
 also faith in a risen Saviour and allegiance to Him. 
 It was' an outward and visible sign that the convert took 
 upon himself the profession of Christianity. By this act, 
 he renounced his Jewish or heathen opinions and prac- 
 tices, and adopted the principles of the Christian faith. 
 
 Instituted by our Lord as a perpetual ordinance of His 
 religion, baptism is the symbol of His death, burial, and 
 resurrection. It represents, as regards the believer, death 
 to sin and the world, and resurrection to a new life. 
 " Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into 
 Jesus Christ were baptized into His death ? Therefore we 
 are buried with Him by baptism into death ; that like as 
 Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the 
 Father, even so we also should walk in newness of 
 life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness 
 of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resur- 
 rection." (Romans vi. 3-5.) In his comments upon these 
 passages, Justin Martyr [Apolog. ii.) says : " We celebrate 
 in baptism the symbol and sign of His death and resur- 
 rection." Gregory of Nyssa,* in his sermon on repentance, 
 remarks : "The old man is buried in water, the new. man 
 is born again, and grows in grace." [De Pcenitentia.) 
 
 * Gregory, Bishop of Nj'ssa, born inA.D. 330. He is the author 
 of several homilies, orations, and letters. His Twelve Books against 
 Eunomius are his best works. 
 
8 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Chrysostom* says, in one of his celebrated Homilies : " In 
 this symbol (baptism) are fulfilled the pledges of our 
 covenant with God : death and burial, resurrection and 
 life; and these take place all at once. For when we 
 immerse our heads under the water, the old man is buried 
 as in a tomb below, and wholly sunk for ever ; then, as 
 we raise them up, the new man rises again. As 
 it is easy for us to dip and lift our heads again, so it is 
 easy for God to bury the old man and show forth the 
 new ; and this is done three times, that you may learn 
 that the power of the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
 Ghost, fulfiUeth all this."t In a Homily on the Epistle 
 to the Romans, Chrysostom says : " For as His body 
 (Christ's), by being buried in the earth, brought forth as 
 the fruit of it the salvation of the world, thus ours also, 
 being buried in baptism, bore as fruit righteousness, 
 sanctification, adoption, countless blessings ; and it will 
 bear also hereafter the gift of the resurrection. Since, 
 then, we were buried in the water. He in the earth ; we 
 in regard to sin. He in regard to His body ; this is why 
 he (Paul) does not say, 'We were planted together in 
 His death, but in the likeness of His death.' "J 
 
 * Chrysostom, Bishop of Antioch (354-407), a judicious, eloquent, 
 and energetic expositor of Scripture. 
 
 I ©cTa TcAtirat cv duTcu crvfj./io\a, TOLcfiOS Kal viKpuxri^, Kal dvacTTacrts kol 
 ^ojrj, Kal ravra Ojxov yiVcrat TrdvTa. Ka^aTrtp yap iv tlvl Tatj^u), tu! vSari 
 KaraSvovTwi/ yjjj.uiv to.'S Kecpaka^, 6 vaXaios avdponro^ BaTmrai, Kal, KaraSBs 
 KOLTO), KjouTTTerat 0A.0S KaOairaQ ctra avav€vovrijn> rjfjiiov, 6 /catvos dvcto"t TrdAtv. 
 "^cnrep yap cvKoXov y)plv ^aTTiO'ao'Oat /cat di^aveijcrat, ovrtos evKoXov tco 0ec3 
 Odijjai, Tov avdpwTTOV rov TraXaiov, Kal dvaScT^ai tov viov. TpiVov Se tovto 
 "yiVerai, Lva jxaOyj';, on 8wa/xts Trarpos Kal vlov Kal TTvev/xaros dyi'ov aivavra 
 TaCra TrXrjpoX. {Horn. xxv. In Joannem^ 
 
 \ KadaTT^p yap to aZfia avTov Ta<j>h> ev ttj yrj Kapirov rijs oiKovp.ivq'i 
 TrjV criDTrjpiav ■^veyKiV' ovto) Kal to ■r^p.inpov Ta<^ev cvtS /SaTrTtV/iiaTi, KapTrbv 
 ^veyKC TTjv SiKaiocrvvriv, tov dytatr/xov, Trjv vlo$£<TLav, ra pLvpia ayaOa.' oicrei 
 §€ Kal TO T^s avaa-Ta.Teoi'; vo-repov Suipov. 'Ettci. ovv r/p.^ls jU-ev iv {JSari, airo? 
 8c iv yyj, Kal i7/ie"s /xei' Kara tov rijs d;U,apTias koyov, eKtivos 8e KaTo. tov 
 TOV auJ/ittTos (.Tdcj>r], 8ia toTto ovk EtTre 'S,vp.rj}VT0i Tui OavaTio, dXXa T£ 
 oji.oi<iijj.aTi TOV OdvoTov. (Horn. xl. In Epist. ad Rom!) 
 
THE FATHERS. 9 
 
 Ambrosius* says in his De Officiis (iii. c. 4.) : " In the 
 sacrament of baptism the whole outer man perishes." 
 (In baptismatis Sacramento interit homo totus exterior.) 
 
 Leo the Great,t in his fourth letter to the Bishops of 
 Sicily, writes : " Trine immersion is an imitation of the 
 three days' burial ; and the rising again out of the water is 
 like the rising from the grave. (Sepulturam triduanam 
 imitatur trina demersio, et ab aquis elevatio resurgentis 
 instar est de sepulchro.) 
 
 Theodulus, Presbyter of Coelesyria (died about A.D. 490), 
 in his Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, says : 
 " As the body of our Lord was buried in the earth, so our 
 body is buried by baptism." Then, referring to the custom 
 in his- time of immersion repeated three times, he adds : 
 "The three burials and resurrections, typified by the 
 threefold dipping, symbolise His death and resurrection."+ 
 
 Maximus,§ in his Homilia de Juda traditore, says : 
 " Baptism is to us burial with Christ, in which we die to 
 sin and iniquity ; and, the old man being destroyed, we 
 rise again to new life. It is a burial, by which we lay 
 down our life, and receive it anew that we may live. 
 Great, therefore, is the grace of this sepulture, through 
 
 * Ambrosius (340-397), Archbishop of Milan, a bold defender of 
 the faith, and one of the most celebrated Fathers of the Church. 
 He raised his See to such a power that it dared to resist Rome 
 herself, up to the twelfth century. Ambrosius published annota- 
 tions on Scripture, discourses, and miscellaneous treatises. 
 
 I Leo the Great was elected Pope of Rome in 440, and is at the 
 head of the writers of the Latin Church in the fifth century. The 
 most important of his works are his Letters and Sermons, of which 
 there are two volumes. 
 
 \ Theodulus : " Adeo corpus Christi Domini in terra sepultum, 
 sic et nostrum corpus per baptisma sepultum. Nam tres obitus et 
 ortus, hoc est, triplex ilia tinctura, mortem et resurrectionem signi- 
 ficant." — Comment, in Epist. ad Rom. 
 
 § Maximus, Bishop of Turin in the fifth century, and a well- 
 known Latin writer. 
 
lO THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 which a useful death is brought to us, and a still more 
 useful life freely bestowed. Great is the grace of this 
 sepulture with Christ, which purifies the sinner and gives 
 life to the dying."* 
 
 Gregory the Great :t "We also, when we immerse three 
 times, symbolise the three days of Christ's burial.":J: 
 
 Alluding to the words of our Saviour ■ " For as Jonas 
 was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so 
 shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the 
 earth" (Matt. xii. 40), Alcuinus§ says, in his Sixty-ninth 
 Epistle : " The three immersions may represent the three 
 nights." II 
 
 Theodulphus, an ecclesiatical writer of the ninth century, 
 writes in his De Ordine Baptismi: " We die to sin when 
 we renounce the devil and all his works ; we are buried 
 with Christ when we descend into the font of washing, as 
 into a sepulchre, and are immersed three times in the 
 name of the Holy Trinity; we rise with Christ when, 
 
 * " Baptismum igitur Christi nobis est sepultura, in quo peccatis 
 moriemur, criminibus sepelimur, et veteris hominis conscientia 
 resoluta, in alteram nativitatem rediviva infantia reparamur. Baptis- 
 mum, inquam, Salvatoris nobis est sepultura, quia et ibi perdidimus 
 ant6 quod viximus, et ibi denuo accipimus, ut vivamus. Magna 
 igitur sepulturae hujus est gratia, in qua nobis et utilis mors infertur, 
 et vita utilior condonatur ; magna, inquam, hujus gratia sepul- 
 turae, quse et purificat peccatorem et vivificat morientem." — Maxi- 
 mus, Horn, de Juda traditore. 
 
 f Gregory the Great was elected Pope in.A.D. 590. His chief 
 works are letters, of which there are more than eight hundred. He 
 is also the author of a Commentary on Job, a Pastorale, or Treatise 
 on Pastoral Duties, and several Homilies. 
 
 + " Nos autem quod terti6 demergimus, triduanae sepulturae 
 sacramenta signamus." — Gregorius, Eib. i. Ep. xl. 
 
 § Alcuinus, or Albinus, the most distinguished scholar of the 
 eighth century, the confidant and adviser of Charlemagne, and 
 author of numerous works, which consist principally of poems 
 elementary treatises on the different sciences, letters on a variety of 
 theological subjects, and other works, some of which are lost. 
 
 II " Possunt tres noctes tres mersiones designare." — Epist. Ixix. 
 
EARLY PAINTINGS. I I 
 
 purified of all our sins, we come out of the font as from a 
 tomb."* 
 
 Several allusions to baptism are found among some of 
 the paintings of what Signor De Rossi, in his work 
 " Roma Sotterranea," calls the " Ciclo Biblico," that is, 
 the series of purely scriptural subjects which are represented 
 in many of the Catacombs of Rome, and which belong to 
 an earlier period of Christian Art than those of special 
 saints, martyrs, Bishops of Rome and of other Sees, which 
 are also found there. Thus the Deluge and the Ark of 
 Noah are represented in the Catacombs as symbols of 
 baptism, according to the words of the Apostle Peter : 
 " The ark, wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved by 
 water ; the like figure whereunto even baptism doth also 
 now save us, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, 
 but the answer of a good conscience toward God, by the 
 resurrection of Jesus Christ." (i Peter iii. 21.) Tertullian 
 expresses himself on this subject, in the following terms : 
 'As after the waters of the Deluge, in which the old 
 iniquity was purged away, as after that baptism (so to call 
 it) of the old world, a dove sent out of the ark and return- 
 ing with an olive branch, was the herald to announce to 
 the earth peace, and the cessation of the wrath of heaven ; 
 so, by a similar disposition with reference to matters 
 spiritual, the dove of the Holy Spirit sent out from heaven, 
 flies to the earth, that is, to our flesh as it comes out of 
 the bath of regeneration after its old sins, and brings 
 to us the peace of God." {De Baptismo, viii.) f 
 
 * "Moriemur ergo peccato, quando abrenuntiamus diabolo et 
 omnibus quae ejus sunt, consepelimur Christo ciim sub invocatione 
 Sanctae Trinitatis sub trina mersione, in fontem lavacri quasi in 
 quoddam sepulcrum descendimus ; consurgimus Christo, ciim exuti 
 omnibus peccatis, de fonte quasi de sepulchre egredimur." 
 
 t Quemadmodum enim, post aquas diluvii, quibus iniquitas 
 antiqua purgata est, post baptismum (ut ita dixerim) mundi, pacem 
 coelestis irse praeco columba terris annuntiavit demissa ex area, et 
 cum olea reversa ; quod signum etiam apud nationes paci praetend- 
 
12 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Another painting, representing a man inclosed in an ark 
 and receiving the olive branch from the mouth of the 
 dove, painted upon the walls of a chapel in the Cata- 
 combs, was intended to show that the faithful, having 
 obtained the remission of their sins through faith in Christ 
 and baptism, had received from the Holy Spirit the gift of 
 divine peace, and are saved in the mystical ark of Christ 
 from the destruction which awaits the world. And if the 
 same picture be rudely scratched on a single tomb, it 
 denotes the same fact and the hope of the survivors that 
 the deceased, being a faithful servant of Christ and a 
 member of His body, had died in the peace of God, and 
 had now entered into His rest. 
 
 The passage of the Red Sea was also represented as a 
 figure of baptism, in accordance with the words of the 
 Apostle Paul : " Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye 
 should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the 
 cloud, and all passed through the sea ; and were all baptized 
 unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea." (i Cor. x. i, 2.) 
 In his thirty-ninth sermon, Gregory of Nazianzen* says : 
 " Moses truly baptized in water by causing the Israelites to 
 pass through the sea and under the cloud. The sea repre- 
 sents the waters of baptism, and the cloud the Holy Spirit." 
 
 Augustine,t in his three hundred and fifty-second 
 
 itur : eadem dispositione spiritualis effectus, terrae, id est, carni 
 nostrae, emergenti de lavacro post vetera delicta, columba sancti 
 Spiritus advolat, pacem Dei afferens, emissa de coelis, ubi Ecclesia 
 est area figurata. 
 
 * Gregory of Nazianzen, also called the Theologian, from his 
 erudition in sacred literature, was born a.d. 328, and became one 
 of the first orators, and most accomplished and thoughtful writers 
 of his time. His surviving works consist chiefly of about fifty- 
 three orations, two hundred and forty-two letters, and one hundred 
 and fifty-six poems, besides meditations, descriptions, etc. 
 
 f Augustine, one of the most illustrious Fathers of the Latin 
 Church in the fourth century. His works are comprised in eleven 
 volumes ; one of the best editions is that of the Benedictines of 
 St. Maur. 
 
CHRIST, AS PISCIS. 13 
 
 Sermon, says : " Per mare transitus haptismus erai," and 
 then, developing this figure, he adds : " The Red Sea 
 typifies baptism ; Moses leading through the sea, Christ 
 himself; the Israelites passing through represent the 
 faithfiil; and the death of the Egyptians, the destruction 
 of our sins." {De Pcenttenita.) Prosper, an ecclesiastical 
 writer of the fifth century {De Promiss. pars. i. c. 38), and 
 the Venerable Bede* {Qucest. sup. Exod. xx.), make remarks 
 of a similar character. A picture of the passage of the 
 Red Sea was lately discovered on a sarcophagus of the 
 Catacomb of the Vatican, a reproduction of which may be 
 seen in Bottari.f The triumphal arch of Santa Maria 
 Maggiore contains a celebrated mosaic on this subject. 
 
 But the symbol to which the Fathers of the Church seem 
 to have attached the greatest importance, as bearing 
 directly upon the subjects of baptism and the Lord's 
 Supper, was that of the Fish. In the language of the 
 Christian writers, both in the East and the West, from the 
 second century onwards, our Lord is spoken of as I^QTX, 
 or " Piscis," " Piscis Noster," and the like, and that for a 
 variety of reasons. First, the fish, blessed to the feeding 
 of great multitudes and of His own disciples, by our Lord 
 Himself while on earth, was regarded as a type of' that 
 heavenly food which He gave for the life of the world, 
 Secondly, as fish was, in primitive times, very generally 
 in use as an ordinary article of food, it served to designate 
 the wholesome doctrine of Christ, and particularly the words 
 of truth contained in Holy Scripture. Thus Jerome,J on 
 
 * Bede (672-735), sumamed the Venerable on account of his 
 learning, piety, and talents. He wrote several theological books, 
 commentaries on the Holy Scriptures, homilies, lives of saints, and 
 an ecclesiastical History of England. 
 
 f Bottari, Sculture e Pitture sacre estratte dai Cimiteri di Roma. 
 
 % Jerome (331-420), one of the most learned and eloquent of the 
 Latin Fathers. He translated or revised the Vulgate ; wrote com- 
 mentaries on most of the books of Scripture, controversial treatises, 
 and lives and works of preceding ecclesiastical writers. His 
 opinions are often exaggerated and fanciful. 
 
14 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Matt. xiv. 17 {Op. t. iv. p. 60), and again {ibid. t. vii. p. 119), 
 says : " In the seven loaves and the small fishes are found 
 the types of the gospel of Christ. The seven loaves are 
 the seven books of the Old Testament, which we call the 
 Heptateuch, and the small fishes are the smaller books 
 of the New Testament." Clemens Alexandrinus, in his 
 Stromata{\S!o. vi.), speaks of the fishes and barley loaves, as 
 typifying the TrpoTraoBela, or preparatory teaching of the 
 Greeks and the Jews. 
 
 This practice of figuratively designating our Lord as 
 IX&TS, or Piscis, led the Fathers naturally to speak of 
 the waters of baptism. The earliest example of this is the 
 well known passage in TertuUian : " We, smaller fishes, 
 after the example of our Fish, are born in the water, and 
 it is only by continuing in the water that we are safe." * 
 {De Baptismo, c. i .) 
 
 Melito, Bishop of Sardis (about a.d. 160), is the earliest 
 writer who furnishes us with an authority for the applica- 
 tion of the term pisces to the Christians, when he says : 
 "Fishes are the holy ones of God," Pisces sandi ; for 
 so it is written : " Traxerunt rate plenum piscihus magnis," 
 John xxi. II. {Clavis, xl. 2.) Elsewhere (cap. xii. n. 25J, 
 he refers to the same : " Centum quinquaginta tres omnes 
 electi." Hilaryt {In Matt.), OptatusJ {De Schism. Donat. 
 1. iii. c. 2), and Augustine {Confessionwn, lib. xiii. c. 23), 
 express the same idea. The second-named writer informs 
 us that the Greek Ix^v^; represents the first letters of 
 " Irjffov'i Xpiaro'; Qeov TCo<i SwTrjp," "Jesus Christ, Son 
 of God, Saviour," and adds that, owing to the presence 
 
 * Sed nos pisciculi secundum IxOvv nostrum Jesum Christum in 
 aqua nascimur ; nee aliter quam in aqua permanendo salvi sumus. 
 
 t Hilary (305-368), Bishop of Poitiers, occupies an important 
 part in the patristic literature of the Western Church. His most 
 valuable work is that on the Trinity ; he wrote also on the Councils 
 against the Arians, and a commentary on the Psalms and Matthew! 
 
 X Optatus, Bishop of Milevi (about a.d. 370), a celebrated 
 ecclesiastical writer. 
 
INSCRIPTION AT AUTUN. 
 
 15 
 
 in the waters of the Fish, the basin containing the 
 baptismal waters was called " piscina ^ a fishpond* 
 
 A remarkable inscription of great antiquity was dis- 
 covered a few years ago, buried in the soil of an ancient 
 cemetery in the vicinity of Autun (Augustodunum), a town 
 
 ixero( 
 
 XPH C6AaI! 
 
 foNreNocwropicmff 
 
 rNAMBPOTOMNIPOTW 
 
 oeairauiNrMNTHNCHNfflOTcofrx! 
 
 
 mmm 
 
 
 Fig. 1. Stone at Autun, Fkance. 
 
 in France, where many ruins of Roman temples, gates, and 
 triumphal arches still exist. This inscription, represented 
 in the above engraving, is of the fourth century, or 
 
 * The following is the passage referred to: " Hie {i.e. Christus) 
 est piscis, qui in baptismate per invocationem fontalibus undis 
 inseritur ut qua aqua ficerat, k pisce etiam piscina vocitetur, 
 Cujus piscis nomen secundum appellationem Grascam, in uno 
 nomine per singulas litteras turba-n sanctorum nominum continet 
 IX0YS, quod est latinum Jesus Christus Dei Filius Salvator, {De 
 Schism. Donat. lib. iii. c. 2.) 
 
1 6 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 perhaps of the fifth. It is a sepulchral one, in memory 
 of a certain Pectorius, a son of Aschandeius, and seems 
 to have been placed near the baptistery of a church, and 
 to have been designed as an invitation, first, to receive 
 the ordinance of baptism, and next, to partake with 
 earnest desire and devout reverence of the Lord's Supper. 
 This inscription is as follows : — 
 
 'I ■x^6uo(; o\ypaviov 6e]iov yevo^, rjropb aejxvw 
 X prjaai, Xa/3ft)[)' ^a>\riv dfi/3poTov eV ^poTioi<i 
 
 Q ecnrecrlcov vSarcav rrjv aijv cjjlXe doK-rreo ■^v)(r]v 
 'T Saaiv aemot? ttKovtoBotov 5'o(^w?9 : 
 
 S wrrjpo'i S'ayifov fieXirjSea Xdfi^avt I3p[(jiiaiv\ 
 "Eadie irlve [\a/3] wv, 'Ix^w e^f^v TraXdp.aL'i. 
 
 and has been translated thus : — 
 
 " O thou divine offspring of the Heavenly Ichthus 
 (Christ), use with a reverent heart when thou hast received 
 the immortal life of Divine Waters among mortals. O 
 my friend (who hast been baptized), quicken thy soul with 
 the ever-flowing waters of wealth-giving wisdom. Come, 
 and receive the honey-sweet food of the Saviour of the 
 saints. Take, eat, drink, holding Ichthus in thy hands." 
 
 In the primitive Church, and down to the fourteenth 
 century, the ordinary mode of baptism was by the im- 
 mersion of the whole body in water. The original term 
 haptizo conveys the meaning of immersion, and no other. 
 On this point we have most valuable testimony from 
 the Fathers of the Church, and other ecclesiastical 
 writers. They invariably designate baptism as the act 
 oi dipping, bathing, or washing, and following the language 
 of the Apostle Paul, who calls baptism the washing of 
 regeneration (Titus iii. s), use these two terms as 
 equivalents. Thus Barnabas, a companion of Paul, in 
 an epistle ascribed to him, says : " We go down into 
 the water full of sins and pollutions, but come up out 
 
BAPTISM : A SYMBOL OF REGENERATION. 1 7 
 
 again bringing forth fruit, having in our heart the fear 
 and hope which is in Jesus by the Spirit."* 
 
 The author of the book entitled The Shepherd (0 Uot/i^v), 
 alludes to " the water of baptism, in which men go down 
 bound to death, but come up appointed to life " (Book iii. 
 Similitude ix. chapter 16), and, speaking of the apostles, 
 he says, that " they went down into the water with them 
 (converts) and again came up. " Clemens Alexandrinus 
 quotes this passage in his Stromata (lib. ii. cap. 6) as 
 follows : KaTej37jcrav ovv aiirwv eh to vBeop. 'AW^ ovtoi fj,ev, 
 ^Mvre^ KUTe^Tjcrav, koI fcovre? ave^rjaav. 
 
 Justin Martyr, in his Dialogue with Trypho the Jew (c. 
 14), speaking of baptism, says : " Through the washing of 
 repentance and knowledge of God, therefore, which was 
 instituted for the sin of the people of God, as Isaiah says, 
 we have believed, and we make known that the same bap- 
 tism which he preached, and which is alone able to cleanse 
 those who repent, is the water of life. But the cisterns 
 which you have dug for yourselves are broken, and 
 are of no use to you ; for what profit is there in that 
 baptism which cleanses the flesh and the body alone ? 
 Let your souls be baptized from anger and from covet- 
 ousness, from envy and hatred, and lo ! the whole body 
 is pure.f 
 
 * Barnabas — ''On r)fi,w IJ-h> KaTa^aivofjiev eis to vSoip yt/xovres 
 afxapTiZv Koi pvirov, Koi di/a/SaiVo/Aev Kapiro<^OjDouvT€5 iv Trj Kapoia tov 
 <j}6fiov, KOL TTjV iX-TTiSa El? TOV 'trjo-ovv €;;^oj'Tes iv tS> irveiJ/i.aTi. i^Epist. 
 Catholica, c. xi.) 
 
 + Ata TOV Xovrpov ovv r^s /u.eTai/01'as Kal rijs yi'Mcreus To5 Oeov, o vTrtp 
 TTJ's dvo/xtas tSv XaSv tov 6eov yiyovev, (is 'Ho-ai'as^oa, i^/xet? CTrio-TCwa/iei', 
 
 ^ /!- ? r ' "._"; /„„,,_A fl„'_.„^„„ .^A llA„r.„ ^r,ft„ni'r,-n, 
 
 Lpv^are AaxKOvs eauTOts, crvvTeTpLp.p.evoL 
 yap oc^cXos Ikclvov tov /SaTTTiarfJiaTO';, o Ty)v crapKa Kai fxovov to a-u>fj,a 
 <t)atSpvvei ; ISairTtcrOrjTe Tr]V xpvx^v a-n-o opy^'S Koi dirb TrXcovt^tas- ixTro 
 (j>66vov, a-rro fulaovr koI ISov to aSifjia KaBdpov IdTU {Dialog, cum 
 Tryphoneo Juda, c. 14.) 
 
 C 
 
I 8 THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Theophilus,* in his second book, Ad Auiolycum, says : 
 "Men receive remission of sins through the water and the 
 washing of regeneration {Zlo, vSaro'; km XovTpov)." 
 
 Irenajus.t in his work Adversus Hcereses (lib. iii. c. 19), 
 speaking of baptism, says : " Our bodies through this 
 bath (lavacrum) have received that which leads to an 
 incorruptible unity." 
 
 Referring to Naaman, Irenaeus says, in one of his Frag- 
 ments : " He dipped in Jordan seven times. Not in vain 
 in old time was Naaman, being a leper, baptized and 
 cleansed, but for our information, who, being lepers in our 
 sins, are cleansed by the holy water and invocation of the 
 Lord from our old transgressions, as newborn children 
 spiritually regenerated, as the Lord, too, saith : Except a 
 man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter 
 into the kingdom of heaven. J 
 
 TertuUian wrote on the subject of baptism a whole treatise 
 to establish the necessity of that ordinance in refutation of 
 
 * Theophilus was Bishop of Antioch in the second century. He 
 wrote three books in defence of the Christian faith, addressed to 
 Autolycus, a learned heathen, with whom he was acquainted. 
 
 f Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, a.d. 170. He was a disciple of 
 Poiycarp. His principal work is that which is commonly cited as 
 Adversus Hareses (Against Heresies), which he wrote in the reign of 
 Commodus, that is, after the year 180. His other works are most 
 of them doctrinal, and are known only by fragments. 
 
 \ Kai ijSaTTTlcraTO (j>T](nv iv ™ lopSdvT] lirraKt?. Oi fiarrjv TnxAat 
 Nai/iotv XcTrpos &v ySaTTTtcr^ets cKa^atpeTO, dAA'cZs tvSet^iv r/fJieTepaV ov XeTrpol 
 ovTcs Iv rais a/iaprtais 8ia tov dytou i'Saros Koi t^s toi) Kupioi) JiriKXijcreMS 
 KaOapL^op-eOa. tu>v TroLXaiSv TTapavT<j)p.aTuiv, u)s TratSia veoyova TrvcvfJiaTLKUii 
 avayevvoip-evoi,, KaOwi koI 6 Kijptos e^Jj' "Eav /aij tk avay(.vvy]6rj Zl i'Saros 
 Kol TTveiJ/xaTOS, ov fir] etcreXeva-eTai eU ttjv ^SacriXctav tCjv oipavCiv. {Inter. 
 Fragmenta, xxxv.) This fragment is extant in Card. Mai. Bibl. Nova 
 Patrum, iii. 447, and is taken from Codex S. Marci, Venice, 534, fol. 
 220, V. ; it is extant likewise in Cod. Coislin. 3, in the Biblioth^que 
 Nationale at Paris, from whence the Benedictines are said to have 
 got it ; this MS. contains just the same catena as the one at Venice ; 
 and there is another MS. of it at the Escorial in Spain, marked 
 2 ii. 19- 
 
BAPTISM: A SYMBOL OF CLEANSING. 19 
 
 the opinion of a female, named Quintilia, who maintained 
 that faith alone (we suppose faith without works) was suf- 
 ficient for salvation. In this tract, TertuUian, who at 
 times makes use of somewhat exaggerated expressions, 
 speaks strongly of the efficacy of baptism in procuring the 
 remission of sins, and the descent of the Holy Ghost, and 
 connects it with regeneration ; he also discusses many ques- 
 tions relating to this rite as practised in his time. In this 
 and other tracts of his, TertuUian makes mention of trine 
 immersion, which, he says, was done after the Three Persons 
 of the Godhead. "With great simplicity, without any 
 pomp or showy preparations, the candidate is let down 
 into the water, and dipped in each interval between the 
 words (of the formula). " {De JBapiismo, Adversus Quinti- 
 liani, c. 2.) " We affirm before the bishop that we renounce 
 the devil, his pomps, and angels, and are then immersed 
 three times (ter mergitamur)." [De Corona, iii.) "We are 
 dipped not once only, but at the name of each Person of 
 the Godhead." [Adversus Prax.) 
 
 In the acts of Perpetua and Felicttas, who suffered 
 martydom in the time of TertuUian, it is said that when 
 one Saturus, a catechumen, was thrown to a leopard in the 
 arena of the Colosseum of Rome, and at the first bite 
 was covered with blood, the people gave him the testi- 
 mony of the second baptism, as it were, by crying : 
 " Salvum loium! salvum loium!" Baptized, or more literally, 
 "washed and saved, washed and saved." {Acta Sanc- 
 torum, lib. i.) 
 
 In the Apostolical Constitutions, or Canons, we find 
 these words : " If any bishop, or presbyter, shall have 
 administered but one immersion, and not three immersions 
 (tres immersiones) at the initiation (baptism), he must 
 be deposed. For our Lord has said, 'Go ye, teach all 
 nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, 
 and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.'" [Canones 
 
 c 2 
 
20 THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Aposiolorum, per Clementem, n. 49.) The Apostolical 
 Constitutions, or Canons, are a collection of regulations 
 attributed to the apostles, and formerly supposed to have 
 been compiled by Clement of Rome, whose name they 
 bear. It is now the general opinion, however, that 
 they are spurious, and that Clement had no hand in 
 them. They have no external evidence to support them, 
 not being quoted by any of the Christian writers of the 
 first three centuries. They are also destitute of internal 
 evidence, as they contain many superstitions, profane 
 comparisons, mystical expositions, and ascetic regula- 
 tions, together with glaring inconsistencies, and much 
 false history, which destroy all claim to apostolical origin. 
 They appeared first in the fourth century, but have 
 been much changed and corrupted since that time. 
 They are divided into eight books, consisting of a great 
 number of rules and precepts, relating to the duties of 
 Christians, and particularly the ceremonies and discipline 
 of the church. Though destitute of apostolical sanction 
 and authority, these Canons are valuable as describing 
 the form, customs, and the ceremonies of the churches, 
 about the year 300. We shall have occasion to quote 
 them again. 
 
 Origan,* in his Commentary on the Gospel of John 
 (t. viii.), makes the following statement on the subject 
 of baptism : " The washing of water {to vSaTo<; Xovrpov) 
 is the symbol of the purification of the soul cleansed of 
 all impurity of sin.f In his Commentary on the Gospel 
 
 * Origen (184-254) was at the head of the Catechetical School 
 at Alexandria, and was one of the most eminent of the early Chris- 
 tian writers. He compiled a Hexapla, or Polyglot Bible, and wrote 
 commentaries on Scripture, treatises on the resurrection, martyrdom, 
 prayer, and a defence against Celsus. 
 
 f^OiVojs Koi. TO Sta ToC i'Saros \ovrpov, o-i;/x/3oA.ov Tuyxavov KaOapiov 
 ^vxri'i TTavrn pvTrov airo kokm^ o.TroTrXvvop.h'-q'S. {Comment in loan 
 t. vi.) ■ ■' 
 
BAPTISM : A SYMBOL OF CLEANSING. 2 I 
 
 of Matthew, he says : " We are therefore, through this 
 washing (Xovrpov) buried with Christ in regeneration." 
 
 Cyprian* in his Second Letter to Donatus, calls baptism 
 lavacru7ii salutare — the salutary bath ; also aqua salutaris 
 lavacrum — the bath of salutary water (epist. ii. Ad Donat.), 
 and lavacrum vitale — vital bath (epist. vii. Ad Juhaian). 
 In his tract, De Baptisnio, he writes : " Water cleanses 
 indeed the body, but the Holy Ghost sets His seal upon 
 the soul, so that with our bodies washed in clean water, 
 and our hearts purified, we may draw near to God."t 
 
 Gregory Thaumaturgus,+ in his Sermon on Christ's 
 baptism, speaks of " the immersion of Christ, which 
 took place in the River Jordan." 
 
 Lactantius : § " When man, cleansed by the holy 
 washing ; " lavacrum. {De Divinis Institutionibus, lib. viii.) 
 
 Eusebius,|| in his Ecclesiastical History (i. c. lo), makes 
 
 * Cyprian (died a.d. 258) was Bishop of Carthage, and an il- 
 lustrious Father of the African Church. He is the author of some 
 remarkable letters, addresses, and treatises ; among these latter may 
 be mentioned the De Gratia Dei (On the grace of God), and De 
 Idolorum Vanitate (On the Vanity of Idols). 
 
 f "Aqua san6 mundat corpus, Spiritus autem signat animam, ut 
 abluti in corpore aqua munda, et repurgati in corde accedamus ad 
 Deum." — Cyprian. De Baptisnio. 
 
 \ Gregory Thaumaturgus, so called on account of the number of 
 miracles he is said to have performed during his life and after his 
 death, was Bishop of Neo Csesarea, and flourished a.d. 245. He 
 composed a panegyrical discourse on Origen, a creed, a paraphrase 
 on Ecclesiastes, and some sermons, 
 
 § Lactantius (died a. d. 825) was an eminent Christian writer, 
 and a most elegant Latin writer. He is the author of the remark- 
 able treatise De Divinis Institutionibus (On the Divine Institutes), 
 in which he exposes the errors of heathenism and sets forth the 
 truth and excellence of Christianity. He wrote also on the Death 
 of Persecutors, and the Wrath of God. 
 
 II Eusebius (270-340), Bishop of Cssarea, in Palestine, was a 
 writer of great learning and vast research, and the father of eccle- 
 siastical history. His chief works are the Chronicon, a history of 
 the world down to the year of our Lord 327 and 328 ; the Evan- 
 gelical preparation, in fifteen books, a collection of such extracts 
 
2 2 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 use of the following expression: "That we might be 
 
 plunged in the bath of baptism " I" 
 
 the succeeding chapter, he alludes to the cleansing of 
 the body and that of the soul. 
 
 Cyril of Jerusalem,* in his Discourses to the catechu- 
 mens he was preparing for baptism, says to them : 
 "You are about to descend into the baptistery in order 
 to be plunged in water (et? to vSup Kara^aiveiv), (Catech. 
 
 iii.) For he who is plunged in water is 
 
 surrounded on all sides by water; thus the Apostles 
 were baptized in the Holy Ghost, but with this differ- 
 ence, however, that whilst the water can reach only 
 the outer surface of the body, the Holy Spirit cleanses 
 in a mysterious manner the inner soul ! " (Catech. xvii.) 
 The discourses of Cyprian give us a minute and in- 
 teresting account of the rites of baptism and the Lord's 
 Supjjer. 
 
 Epiphanius, t in his Treatise on Heresies, writes : 
 " Instituting the washing (Xovrpbv) of baptism, He (the 
 Saviour) said : " Go ye, and baptize in the name of 
 
 from the old heathen authors as were fitted to make the mind re- 
 gard the evidence of Christianity in a favourable hght ; the Evan- 
 gelical Demonstration, in twenty books, written to convince the Jews 
 of the truth of Christianity ; and the Ecclesiastical History, in ten 
 books, vi^hich extends to the year 324. 
 
 * Cyril (315-386), Bishop of Jerusalem, was an eminent church 
 Father, whose writings are exceedingly valuable on account of their 
 theology as well as their vigour, profundity, and beauty. He is well 
 known for his catechetical discourses, of which there are twenty- 
 three still extant. They are divided into two classes ; the first 
 eighteen are addressed to catechumens deemed worthy of baptism, 
 and are a brief exposition of the general doctrines of Christianity ; 
 the remaining five are addressed to persons already baptized ; they 
 are distinguished by the name of Mystagogical Lectures, and are 
 chiefly devoted to the explanation of the nature of the ordinances. 
 
 t Epiphanius (born about a.d. 330) was Bishop of Salamis. 
 Among his writings the most important is his Panarion, or Cata- 
 logue of All Heresies (eighty in number). 
 
A SYMBOL : CYRIL, BASIL. 23 
 
 the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," 
 (Haereses, vii.) 
 
 Basil,* in his sermon De Bapttsmo, says : " How can 
 we be placed in a condition of likeness to His death ? 
 By being ' buried with Him in baptism.' How are we 
 to go down with Him into the grave ? By imitating 
 the ' burial ' of Christ in baptism ; for the bodies of the 
 baptized are in a sense buried in water. For this reason, 
 the Apostle speaks figuratively of baptism, as a ' laying 
 aside the works of the flesh : ye are circumcised with the 
 circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body 
 of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, buried 
 with Him in baptism,' which, in a manner, cleanses the 
 soul from the impurity of its natural carnal affections, 
 according as it is written, ' Wash me, and I shall be whiter 
 than snow.' This is not like the Jewish purifications, 
 washing after every defilement, but we have experienced 
 it to be one cleansing baptism, one death to the world, 
 and one resurrection from the dead, of both of which 
 baptism is a figure. For this purpose the Lord, the giver 
 of life, hath instituted baptism, a representation of both 
 life and death, the water overflowing as an image of 
 death, the Spirit animating as an earnest of life. Thus we 
 see that water and the Spirit are united. Two things are 
 proposed in baptism to put an end to a life of sin, lest it 
 should issue in eternal death, and to animate the soul to a 
 life of future sanctification. The water exhibits an image 
 of death, receiving the body as into a sepulchre : the 
 Spirit renews the soul, and we rise from a death of sin into 
 a newness of life. This is to be ' born from above, of water 
 
 * Basil (329-379), Bishop of Cssarea, in Cappadocia, is one of 
 the most eminent and eloquent of the Greek Fathers. He was 
 surnamed the Great on account of his learning and piety. He 
 wrote homilies, expositions, panegyrics, a revision of the 
 Septuagint, and letters. 
 
24 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM 
 
 and the Spirit ;' as if by the water we were put to death, 
 and by the operation of the Spirit brought to life. By 
 three immersions, therefore, and by three invocations, we 
 administer the important ceremony of baptism, that death 
 may be represented in a figure, and that the souls of the 
 baptized may be purified by divine knowledge. If there 
 be any benefit in the water, it is not from the water, 
 but from the presence of the Spirit ; for baptism does not 
 ' save us by putting away the filth of the flesh,' but by 
 • the answer of a good conscience towards God.' " 
 (Robinson's History of Baptism, pp. 65, 66.) 
 
 Augustine, in his sermon De Mysterio Baptismatis (On the 
 Mystery of Baptism), expresses himself in the following 
 manner: "In this font, before we dipped your whole 
 body, we asked you : ' Believest thou in God the 
 Omnipotent Father? .... After you averred that 
 you believed, we immersed three times your heads in the 
 sacred font. For you are rightly immersed three times, 
 who receive baptism in the name of the Trinity. You 
 are rightly immersed three times, you who receive 
 baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, who rose the 
 third day from the dead. Trine immersion is the symbol 
 of the burial of the Lord, by which you are buried with 
 Christ in baptism, and with Christ rise again by faith, 
 that, purified of your sins, you may live following Christ 
 in the holiness of virtue." * Here Augustine quotes the 
 
 * Augustine : In hoc ergo fonte, antequam vos toto corpore 
 tingueremus, interrogavimus : " Credis in Deuna Patrem Omnipo- 
 tentem ? .... Postquam vos credere promisistis, terti6 
 capita vostra in sacro fonte demersimus. Rectil enim terti6 mersi 
 estis, qui accepistis baptismum in nomine sanctas Trinitatis, 
 Rect^ tertii mersi estis, qui accepistis baptismum in nomine Jesu 
 Christi, qui die tertia resurrexit amortuis. Ilia enim tertio repetita 
 demersio typum dominicse exprimit sepulturse, per quam Christo 
 consepulti estis in baptismo, et cum Christo resurrexistis in fide : 
 ut peccatis abluti in sanctitate virtutum Christum imitando vivatis." 
 (Hom iii. ap. Gratian de Consecrat. distinct, iv. c. Ixxviii.) 
 
A SYMBOL : PRUDENTIUS, ETC. 25 
 
 words of the Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Romans 
 (vi. 3-5)- 
 
 Juvencus,* a Christian poet of the fourth century, 
 paraphrases Matthew iii. 14, in the following manner: — 
 
 " Deign not be immersed in water by my hands, 
 Since thine own washing can cleanse me better. 
 Said John." f 
 
 Prudentius,+ in his Psychomachia, refers to baptism as 
 follows : — 
 
 " Then the immortal tunic, which, with skilful hands. 
 Holy Faith has woven, and which affords an impenetrable 
 covering, she herself gives to those, who, with their 
 bathed chests, are to be born again." § 
 
 Alcuinus Avitus, Archbishop of Vienna (A.D. 481), says 
 in his hymn De Diluvio Alundi : 
 
 * Juvencus, a Christian poet, who flourished in the time of 
 Constantine, and wrote a number of poems, all of which are lost, 
 except his Historia Evangelica. This is an account of our Saviour's 
 life and actions, in four books. It is written in hexameters, and 
 closely adheres to the narrative of the Evangelists. It may be seen 
 in the Bibliotheca Fatrum. 
 
 f Tu ne meis manibus digneris mergior undis, 
 Ciim tua me melius possint mundare lavacra 
 
 Dixit Joannes 
 
 {Historia Evangelica.) 
 
 X Prudentius, a Christian poet of the fourth century, was a native 
 of Spain. His principal works are the Cathemerinon, twelve hymns 
 for daily use ; the Apotheosis, a defence of the doctrine of the 
 Trinity ; the Hamartigeneia, a work on the origin of evil ; the 
 Psychomachia, the triumph of the Christian graces in the soul of the 
 believer ; Contra Symmachum, a polemic against the heathen gods ; 
 Peri Stephanon, fourteen poems in praise of Spanish and other 
 martyrs ; and lastly the Diptychon, or forty-eight poems on scrip- 
 tural incidents and personages. Prudentius has been called the 
 " Horace and Virgil of the Christians." 
 
 § Prudentius : 
 
 " Post immortalem tunicam, quam pollice docto 
 Texuit alma fides, dans impenetrabile tegmen, 
 Pectoribus lotis, dederat quibus ipsa renasci." 
 
 [Psychomachia, sect, vi.) 
 
26 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 "Whoever is washed with Christ's baptism is in the 
 ark." * 
 
 Maximus, Bishop of Turin, writes, in his third treatise 
 on baptism, ''■Hie in f ante homo mergitur: " Here in the 
 font man is immersed. In his Historia Ecclesiastica 
 Gentis Anglormn (lib. ii. c. 14) the Venerable Bede gives 
 the following account of the missionary labours of 
 Paulinus in the North of England. 
 
 " King Edwin, with all the nobility of the nation and 
 a large number of the people, received the faith and the 
 washing of the holy regeneration, in the eleventh year 
 of his reign, which is the year of the incarnation of our 
 Lord, six hundred and twenty-seven. He was baptized 
 at York, on the holy day of Easter, being the 12th of 
 April, in the church of St. Peter the Apostle, which he 
 himself had built of timber, whilst he was being cate- 
 chized and instructed in order to receive baptism. . . . 
 So great was then the fervour of the faith, as is 
 reported, and the desire of the washing of salvation 
 among the nation of the Northumbrians, that Paulinus 
 at a certain time coming with the king and queen to 
 the royal villa, called Adgefrin, stayed there with 
 them thirty-six days, fully occupied in catechizing and 
 baptizing; during which days, from morning till night, 
 he did nothing else but instruct the people, resorting 
 from all villages and places, in Christ's saving word ; 
 and when instructed, he washed them with the water of 
 
 absolution in the River Glen.f These 
 
 things happened in the province of the Bernicians ; but 
 in that of the Deiri also, where he was wont often to be 
 with the king, he baptized in the River Swale, which 
 
 * Alcuinus : 
 
 " Quicunque est Christi baptismate lotus in area." 
 t Now called Bowent. 
 
A SYMBOL: DEATH, PURIFICATION. 27 
 
 runs by the village Cataract ; * for as yet oratories or 
 baptisteries could not be made in the early infancy of 
 the church in those parts. "f 
 
 In a plan of Paulinus' second edifice (The Metro- 
 politan Church of St. Peter's at York) the probable 
 position of a wooden baptistery, enclosing a spring 
 still remaining, is pointed out. Bede mentions this 
 oratory as being built in haste for the express purpose 
 of baptizing King Edwin. This circumstance would 
 seem to indicate that baptisteries were formerly erected 
 in England. 
 
 Pope Celestine, + in his Opusculum Odavum, writes : 
 " Baptism is the washing of the body {corporis ablutio), 
 which represents the inner purification of the soul. How 
 great, therefore, the virtue of water, since it can reach the 
 body, and at the same time cleanse the heart ! " 
 
 * Catterick, in the North Riding of York. 
 
 f Accepit rex Edwinus cum cunctis gentis suae nobilibus ac 
 plebe perplurima fidem et lavacrum sanctae regenerationis, anno 
 regni sui undecimo, qui est annus Dominicse incarnationis sex 
 centesimus vicesimus septimus, Baptizatus est autem Eboraci die 
 sancto Paschae, pridie iduum Aprilium, in ecclesia Sancti Petri 
 Apostoli, quam ibidem ipse de ligno, cum catechizaretur atque ad 
 percipiendum baptisma imbueretur, citato opere construxit . . . 
 Tantus autem fertur tunc fuisse fervor fidei ac desiderium lavacri 
 salutaris gente Northanhumbrorum, ut quodam tempore Pau'inus 
 veniens cum rege et regina in villam regiam, quae vocatur Adgefrin, 
 triginta sex diebus ibidem cum eis catechizandi et batipzandi 
 officio deditus moraretur ; quibus diebus cunctis a mane usque ad 
 vesperam nil aliud ageret quam confluentem, eo de cunctis viculis 
 ac locis plebem Christi verbo salutis instruere, atque instructam in 
 fluvio Gleni, qui proximus erat, lavacro remissionis abluere . . . 
 Hsec quidem in provincia Berniciorum ; sed et in provincia Dei- 
 rovum, ubi saepius manere cum rege solebat, baptizabat in fluvio 
 Swalua, qui vicum Cataractam praeter fluit. Nondum enim oratoria 
 vel baptisteria in ipso exordio nascentis ibi ecclesiae poterant 
 aedificari. 
 
 {Hist. Eccl. lib. ii. cap. xiv.) 
 
 \ Celestine, Pope of Rome, in the thirteenth century. 
 
2 8 THE ARCHiEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Thomas Aquinas * makes the following important state- 
 ment in his Summa TheologicB (p. iii. qu. 66, art. 7) : " The 
 symbol of Christ's burial is more expressively represented 
 by immersion, and for that reason, this mode of baptizing 
 is more common and more commendable." {In immersioiie 
 expresstics reprcBseniatur figura sepulturcE Christi, et ideo hie 
 modus haptizandi est communior et laudabtltor.) 
 
 Trine immersion is prescribed in the Sacramentary 
 of Gregory the Great : — " Baptizet sacerdos sub trina 
 mersione, tantum sanctam Trinitatem semel invocans, 
 ita dicendo : baptizo te in nomine Patris, et niergat semel, 
 et Filii, et mergat iterum, et Spiritus Sancti, et mergat 
 tertio." Let the priest baptize with a triple immersion, 
 but with only one invocation of the Holy Trinity, saying : 
 I baptize thee in the name of the Father (then let him 
 dip the person once), and of the Son (then immerse him a 
 second time), and of the Holy Ghost (and immerse him 
 the third time). 
 
 The fourth Council of Toledo, held in A.D. 633, decreed 
 but one immersion, saying that it was not necessary to 
 immerse the candidate three times. [Nan oportere ter 
 mergere eum qui haptizetur. Can. vi.) This change, which 
 occurred in the Spanish churches, was introduced in 
 consequence of the misinterpretation and abuse of the 
 ceremony by the Arians in Spain, who made the three 
 immersions to denote a difference, or degrees of divinity 
 in the Divine Persons of the Trinity. Gregory the Great, 
 in his reply to Leander, Bishop of Seville, who had 
 
 * ThomasAquinas, or Thomasof Aquino (1224-1274), is the most 
 remarkable representative of the scholastic theology of' the middle 
 ages. His chief works are A Commentary on the Four Books of Sen- 
 tences of Peter Lombard ; the Summa Theologice, which is the first 
 attempt at a complete theological system ; Q^iastiones Distutata et 
 Quodhbetales, and Opuscula ThelogkcB. Aquinas was often called by 
 his enthusiastic scholars the " Second Augustine." 
 
TRINE IMMERSION. 29 
 
 written to him for his advice and decision in this case, 
 said : — 
 
 "Concerning the three immersions in baptism, you 
 have judged very truly already that different customs do 
 not prejudice the Holy Church, whilst the unity of the 
 faith remains entire. The reason why we use three 
 immersions is, to signify the mystery of Christ's three 
 days' burial, that whilst an infant is thrice lifted up out of 
 the water, the resurrection on the third day may be 
 expressed thereby. But if any one thinks this is rather 
 done in regard to the Holy Trinity, a single immersion in 
 baptism does no way prejudice that ; for so long as the 
 unity of substance is preserved in Three Persons, it is no 
 harm whether a child be baptized with one immersion 
 or three ; because three immersions may represent the 
 Trinity of Persons, and one immersion the Unity of 
 Godhead. But forasmuch as heretics now baptize the 
 infant with three immersions, I think you ought not to do 
 so, lest the immersions be interpreted as a division of the 
 Godhead." * 
 
 This decision was afterwards confirmed by the Council 
 of Toledo referred to above. But both the simple and 
 triple forms of immersion continued to prevail in the 
 Latin churches, whilst the Greek churches persisted in 
 
 * " De trina mersione baptismatis, nil responderi verius potest, 
 quam quod ipsi sensistis : quod in una fide nihil afficit sanctae 
 ecclesiae consuetudo diversa. Nos autem quod tertio demergimus, 
 triduanse sepulturae sacramenta signamus, ut dum tertio infans ab 
 aquis educitur, resurrectio triduani temporis exprimatur. Quod si 
 quis forte etiam pro summse Trinitatis veneratione sestimet fieri, 
 neque ad hoc aliquid obsistit, baptizando semel in aquis mergere, 
 quia dum in tribus Personis una substantia est, reprehensibile esse 
 nullatenus potest, infantem in baptismate in aquam vel ter vel semel 
 immergere, quando et in tribus immersionibus personarum Trinitas, 
 et in una potest divinitatis singularitas, designari. Sed quia nunc 
 hucusque ab haereticis infans in baptismate tertio mergebatur, 
 fiendum apud vos esse non censeo ; ne dum mersiones enumerant, 
 divinitatem dividant." (Gregor. lib. i. epist. x). Ad Zeand.) 
 
30 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 practising trine immersion, and still hold to it. In the 
 Ordo Romanus, a ritual composed in the eighth century, 
 we find trine immersion prescribed in the following form : 
 " Ego te haptizo in nomine Patris, et niergit semel; et Filii, 
 et mergii iterum; et Spiritus Sandi, et mergit tertio." I 
 baptize thee in the name of the Father (and immerses 
 once), and of the Son (and immerses a second time), and 
 of the Holy Ghost (and immerses the third time). 
 
 The Gothic Missal * contains the following form of 
 prayer, which was used at the ceremony of the benediction 
 of the baptismal fonts : " We pray our Lord God that He 
 will sanctify this font, so that all who will descend into 
 this font {ut omnes qui descenderint in hunc fontem) may 
 receive through the washing of the most blessed re- 
 generation {lavacrum beatissimcB regenerationis) the remission 
 of all their sins." 
 
 Bernard,! in his Sermon on the Lord's Supper, says : 
 " Baptism is the first of all the sacraments, in which we are 
 planted together into the likeness of His (Christ's) death. 
 Hence trine immersion {trina fitersio) represents the 
 triduum (or three days), which we are about to celebrate." 
 {In Caena Domini^ 
 
 As regards the manner in which baptism used to be 
 administered, TertuUian says that the Christians of his 
 time were immersed by lowing down with great simplicity, 
 without pomp, and in a few words. " Quoniam tanta sim- 
 plicitate, sine pompa, sine apparatu novo aliquo, denique 
 
 * This Gothic Missal is from a very old manuscript, the date of 
 which is uncertain. It differs in some respects from the Roman. 
 
 t Bernard (died a.d. 1153) was one of the most influential theo- 
 logians of the middle ages. He was called the Mellifluous Doctor, 
 and his writings " a river of paradise." His works are exceedingly 
 numerous. They consist of four hundred and thirty-nine letters, 
 addressed to the leading persons of his time on ecclesiastical and 
 public affairs ; of three hundred and forty sermons ; and of some 
 devotional and controversial tracts. 
 
MODE OF ADMINISTRATION, PAINTINGS. 31 
 
 sine sumptu homo in aqua demissus, et inter pauca verba 
 tinctus." {De Baptismo, c. 2.) The meaning oi demtsso ca- 
 fite, demtsso voltu, demissis oculis, is familiar to every clas- 
 sical scholar. The primitive mode appears to have been 
 this : The administrator and candidate both standing in 
 the water * the former placed his right hand on the head 
 of the candidate, and, pronouncing the baptismal words, 
 gently bowed him forward,! till he was completely im- 
 mersed in the water. J In some very ancient paintings, the 
 candidate is represented as standing in the water up to his 
 waist and the administrator by his side bending him 
 forward. The most remarkable of these paintings is that 
 of the Catacomb of San Ponziano, outside of Rome, in the 
 chapel called " Cappella del Battisterio." § The Baptism 
 of the Saviour is roughly sketched and painted in the old 
 technical style (Fig. 2). In his work, Roma Solterranea,\\ Bot- 
 tari gives the following explanation of this painting. He 
 says : " Upon the wall, over the arch, the Redeemer is re- 
 presented up to His waist in the waters of the River Jordan, 
 and upon His head rests the right hand of John the Baptist, 
 standing on the shore. It is by mistake that modern 
 artists represent Christ in the Jordan up to His knees only, 
 and John pouring water upon His head. And although on 
 the portico of the church of San Lorenzo, outside of the 
 walls of Rome, that saint is seen in a painting pouring 
 water upon the head of San Romano, this was certainly 
 
 * See Ambrosius, De Sacrament, lib. i. c. 5 ; and Gregory, De 
 Sacram. lib. De Sab. Pentecost. 
 
 I This is the meaning of Prudentius, when he speaks of the 
 candidates with their " bathed chests : " pectoribus lotis. 
 
 % Pauli Aringhi, Roma Subterrannea, ii. lib. 6. c. 4, De Baptismo 
 Joan Ciampini, Vetera Monumenta. 
 
 § Chapel of the Baptistery, a picture of which forms our 
 frontispiece. 
 
 II Bottari, Roma Sotterranea, t. i. p. 194.. 
 
32 
 
 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 not the case, as that picture is far more modern * than 
 those of the first centuries, and the artist was evidently 
 ignorant or wrongly informed concerning the acts of San 
 Lorenzo. It is not improbable, however, that subse- 
 
 Fig. 2. Baptism of Chuist. Fresco in the Catacomb of San Ponziano. 
 
 quently it became customary to pour water upon the head 
 of the catechumen after he had been immersed. 
 
 " On the other shore an angel is seen upon a cloud, hold- 
 ing the Saviour's robe ; the Holy Ghost descends like a 
 dove and alights upon the Redeemer. John places his 
 
 * It is of the twelfth century. — W. N. C. 
 
MODE OF ADMINISTRATION; PAINTINGS. 
 
 33 
 
 hand upon the head of Christ to immerse Him. A hart is 
 also seen standing on the shore and looking fixedly at 
 the water ; symbol of the catechumen ardently desiring 
 the waters of baptism, according as Jerome says in his 
 commentary on the Forty-second Psalm : ' He wishes 
 to come to Christ in whom is the source of light, that, 
 being washed by baptism, he may receive the gift of 
 the remission of sins.' " 
 
 Below is painted on the wall a cross set with 
 precious stones, and ornamented with flowers and leaves, 
 and two candlesticks (see frontispiece). The cross descends 
 into the water. 
 
 Fig. 3. Baptism of Christ. 
 
 The symbols of the Redeemer, A and SI (Alpha and 
 Omega) are seen suspended from the arms of the cross. 
 Inwoven in this manner these letters formed a frequent 
 symbol in the early church, and were considered as 
 expressive of the supreme divinity of our Saviour, His 
 eternity and immutability. His creative and all-em- 
 bracing presence and energy. According to Boldetti * 
 these paintings belong to the fifth or sixth century. 
 
 The above engraving (Fig. 3) represents a fresco 
 
 * Boldetti, Osservazioni sopra i Cimiteri dei Sanli Martin ed Antichi 
 Crutiani di Roma. 
 
34 
 
 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 painting of the Baptism of Christ, found in a crypt of the 
 Catacomb of Santa Lucina, over which stands the Basilica 
 
 of St. Paul outside 
 of the walls of 
 Rome. John the 
 Baptist, standing 
 upon the shore, 
 holds out his right 
 hand to the Sa- 
 viour, and assists 
 Him in ascending 
 the brink of the 
 river. The Holy 
 Ghost, in the form 
 of a dove bearing a 
 leaf, is seen flying 
 down to alight up- 
 on the Redeemer's 
 head. This picture, 
 which is of great 
 antiquity, probably 
 of the fourth or 
 fifth century, pro- 
 duces a very pleas- 
 ing effect. 
 
 The annexed 
 woodcut (Fig. 4) 
 represents a fresco 
 painting which was 
 found in the Cata- 
 comb of St. Cal- 
 lixtus, and has 
 given rise to con- 
 siderable contro- 
 versy. According to the celebrated archffiologist, Signer 
 
EARLY PAINTINGS. 
 
 35 
 
 De Rossi, the author of Roma Sotterranea (Subterrane3,n 
 Rome), this picture represents the baptism of a youth by 
 affusion; but Father Garrucci, who is preparing a magni- 
 ficent illustrated work on the history of Christian Art, 
 asserts that " the youth, quite naked, is entirely immersed 
 in a cloud of water," and that " this bath is represented 
 by streaks of greenish paint thrown with a brush, 
 around the body and above the head of the person." * 
 
 It should be remarked that it is impossible to ascertain 
 the precise age of the pictures in the Catacombs of Rome. 
 They range in date through several centuries, some of 
 them not being earlier than the middle ages. 
 
 The annexed engraving 
 (Fig. 5) reproduces a fresco 
 found in the ancient Basilica 
 of St. Clement, at Rome, 
 lately discovered by ex- 
 cavating the soil beneath the 
 modern church of the same 
 name. This painting, which 
 is on the southern wall, near 
 the western angle, represents 
 an archbishop, with the Greek 
 pallium, baptizing by im- 
 mersion a young man of bar- 
 baric type. From its vicinity 
 to another painting, alluding 
 to St. Cyril's first mission to 
 the Bulgarians, it probably represents the baptism of the 
 Cham of the Chazari, if not that of Rastices, Duke of 
 Moravia, or of Borgoris Michael, Duke of Bohemia, for all 
 
 * " Un giovanetto, tutto ignudo, h immerso interamente in un 
 nembo di acqua. II quale bagno d rappresentato da grossi sprazzi 
 di verdemare, gittati col penello attorno alia persona e fin disopra 
 alia testa di lui. E cosl' figurato il battesimo," {Sioria della arte 
 Cristiana, vol. II. p. 12.) 
 
 D 2 
 
 Mg. 5. 
 
 Baptism op a Convert by 
 C rRiL. 
 
36 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 these three were converted by St. Cyril and his brother 
 Methodius.* This fresco is probably of the ninth century. 
 
 There is a miniature of the eighth or ninth century, re- 
 presenting the rite of baptism by immersion, which belongs 
 to an unnumbered manuscript in the large library of the 
 Minerva in Rome. The Redeemer stands in the water 
 up to His neck, John places his right hand upon the 
 Saviour's head, and on the other side of the stream are 
 ministering angels (Fig. 6). The inscription beneath this 
 painting runs thus : " Qui pedihus super te amhulavit, et a 
 Johanne in Jordane in te bapiizatus est" (Who walked 
 with His feet upon thee, and was baptized by John 
 into thee in the Jordan). The title of this valuable 
 manuscript is " Benedictio Fontis," or. Blessing of the 
 Font. The short figures and the draperies of this manu- 
 script, are even more reminiscent of the antique than 
 the Terence, No. 3868, which is of the eighth or ninth 
 century, and is now preserved in the Vatican. It 
 contains fourteen miniature paintings on eight parch- 
 ment leaves. These paintings and other ornaments 
 prove that this manuscript was intended for the use of 
 an exalted personage, and the words " Landolfi Episcopi 
 sum," makes it probable that its possessor was the 
 Archbishop of Capua of that name, who lived about 
 851 or 879. The following are of this opinion : Ciampini, 
 " De perpetuo azymorum usu ; Gerbert, Vetus littcrgia 
 Alemannica ; and Mamachi, Delle Origine Cristiane." 
 
 In the sacristy of the ancient church of San Celso, at 
 Milan, is still preserved an antique diptych, or church 
 book, in which were inscribed the names of the Competentes, 
 or candidates for baptism. This diptych contains a pic- 
 ture of the baptism of Christ. In his Memoir of St. Celsus, 
 
 * "St. Clement and his Basilica in Rome," by Rev Toseoh 
 Mullooly. J r 
 
EARLY PAINTINGS. 
 
 37 
 
 =s 
 
 t 
 
 & 
 
 g 
 
 
 J . 
 
 ^ 
 
 CIS 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 z 
 
 O 
 
 \. 
 
 
 M 
 
 
 .^ 
 
 1 
 
 C 
 
 .g 
 
 r—i 
 
 02 
 
 ^ 
 
 ••'^ ^ 
 
 rt 
 
 
 
38 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 who was a bishop at Milan, Bugati, a canonical priest, 
 alludes to this picture as follows: "The Redeemer is 
 represented immersed in the water according to the 
 ancient discipline of the church, observed for many 
 centuries in the administration of baptism. John holds in 
 his left hand a curved and knotty staff, and places his 
 right upon the Saviour's head. Finally, the Holy Spirit 
 descends from heaven in the form of a dove. This scene 
 is found depicted on the most ancient Christian monu- 
 ments."* According to Bugati, this picture is of the fifth 
 or sixth century. 
 
 The following picture (Fig. 7), representing the Bap- 
 tism of Christ, is taken from the Greek Menologue or 
 Calendar, one of the most valuable manuscripts in the 
 library of the Vatican. It contains four hundred and 
 thirty miniature paintings. The engraving of this work, 
 with a Latin translation, was commenced by Pope 
 Clement XL, continued by his two successors, Innocent 
 XIII. and Benedict XIIL, completed by his nephew, 
 Annibale Albani, and published under the following 
 title : — " Menologium Graecorum, jussu Basilii impera- 
 toris Grsece olim editum .... munificentia et 
 liberalitate S. D. N. Benedicti XIIL, nunc primum Graece 
 et Latine prodit," etc. Urbini, 1727, 3 vols. fol. 
 
 Cardinal Baronius (Anxal. Eccles.) ascribes this manu- 
 script to A.D. 886. The words at the beginning, "Rex 
 totius terras, sol purpuras Basilius," etc., prove that the 
 work was executed for an Emperor Basilius, most probably 
 for Basilius II. in the tenth century, who could say of him- 
 self in the words of the son of Marcus Aurelius, 
 " Imperatoria purpura me suscipit simulque sol hominem 
 me vidit et principem. (Herodianus, Hist lib. i.) 
 
 The great door of the ancient Basilica of St. Paul's, 
 
 Bugati, Memoria di San Ceho — Appendice. 
 
EARLY PAINTINGS. 
 
 39 
 
 outside the walls of Rome, burnt in 1823, and replaced by 
 the modern magniiicient basilica of the same name, was 
 enriched with figures, engraved in outline in the bronze, 
 
 g 
 
 O 
 
 .a 
 
 a 
 
 OS 
 
 -a 
 
 o 
 
 O 
 
 pq 
 
 and filled in with silver. This door had been cast in 
 Constantinople in the eleventh century. The whole front 
 was divided in six equal parts in width, and nine in 
 
40 
 
 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 height, giving fifty-four oblong compartments, contain- 
 ing subjects, figures, and inscriptions. The subjects 
 were taken from the life of Christ, from the annuncia- 
 
 tion and birth to the ascension, and the coming of the 
 Holy Ghost. In the second square of the first segment 
 on the left hand was a figure of the Baptism of Christ 
 
EARLY MANUSCRIPT PAINTINGS. 
 
 41 
 
 Our Saviour was represented standing up to His waist 
 in the middle of the River Jordan, His clothes lying 
 by, and John on the bank, with his right hand on the 
 shoulder of Jesus. On the upper part was the word 
 "baptism." This sculpture is faithfully reproduced in 
 the Storia delle Arte of Agincourt. 
 
 In the Barberini Library, at Rome, there is a Greek 
 Psaltery of the eleventh century which contains a picture, 
 representing the Baptism of the Eunuch by Philip (Fig. 8). 
 The Eunuch is standing up to his neck in a pyramid of 
 water, the usual form in the earliest representations of 
 
 Fig. 9. Baptism op Jewish Cokveets. 
 
 Christian baptism. Philip is clothed in purple. Close 
 by, the two are seen in a chariot with four horses driving 
 away at full gallop. This painting exists also in a 
 Byzantine MS., in quarto, of the eleventh century, in the 
 British Museum. 
 
 The above drawing of the baptism administered by 
 John to the Jewish converts (Fig. 9), is taken from a 
 MS., of the eleventh century, in the Biblioth^que 
 Nationale at Paris, and is interesting from the fact 
 that the candidate is represented entirely 'covered with 
 water. 
 
 The woodcut (Fig. 10) represents the ceremony of 
 
42 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 baptism according to the Russian rite. It is taken from a 
 Bulgarian chronicle, a Runic manuscript of the thirteenth 
 or fourteenth century, which is preserved in the library of 
 the Vatican. 
 
 In his work on the ancient Christian monuments, 
 Ciampini reproduces a picture of the baptism of Valerian 
 by immersion, taken from an antique fresco, painted by a 
 master of the Greek school established in Italy in the ninth 
 or tenth century. It was still to be seen in Ciampini's time, 
 although partially injured, in the ancient church of St. 
 Andrea, in Barbara, which was built on the ruins of the 
 
 Fig. 10. Baptism accoeding to the Russian Rite. 
 
 ancient Basilica Sicimana in the fifth century. It is, 
 however, now quite destroyed.* 
 
 Mention might be made of many other ancient paint- 
 ings of baptism by immersion, but time and space forbid. 
 We will merely, for the present, indicate to our readers 
 the following MSS. in the library of the Vatican, in 
 which baptism is represented according to the primitive 
 mode : — 
 
 I- — Vatican Codex MS. 1156, a Greek Evangelisterium 
 of the twelfth century— Baptism of Christ. 
 
 2.— V. MS. Palatine 871. Latin. Historia Sacra.— Bap- 
 tism of Christ. Fourteenth century. 
 
 Ciampini, Vetera monumenta, t. i. c. 8. 
 
EARLY MANUSCRIPT PAINTINGS. 
 
 43 
 
 3. — V. MS. 8541, Acta Sanctorum. Several pictures of 
 baptism by immersion and by affusion. Fifteenth cen- 
 tury (Fig. 11). 
 
 4. — V. MS. Palat. 413. Baptism of Christ. Fifteenth 
 century. 
 
 5. — V. MS. Reginse, 99. fol. 24. Baptism of Christ in 
 
 Fiff. U. Baptism or Aristides. From a MS. in the Library of the VaticaE. 
 
 the Jordan. On the following page, the dipping of 
 Naaman is represented much in the same way. This MS., 
 written in Latin verses, is a sacred history, and is of the 
 fifteenth century. Beneath the Baptism of Christ are the 
 following words : 
 
 " Flumis baptizam imersione." 
 
44 
 
 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 6.— V. MS. Palat. 26. 
 7.— V. 1643. 
 
 8— V. MS. Codex xlviii. fol. 148. Edited by Joseph, a 
 monk in Egypt. This MS. is in the Arabic language, and 
 is a Liturgy of Basil the Great. 
 
 Coptic MSS. Meno- 
 logues or Calendars 
 of the Copts. 
 II. — ^V. Codex. Lat. 149. 
 
 g. — V. Codex, cdxcvii. fol 
 10. — ^V. Codex, cdlxxii. fol 
 
 -V < 
 
 • 533- I 
 •527- j 
 
 Fig. 12. St. Sylvester Baptizing Converts. 
 
 12. — V. MS. Lat. 278. Edited by Cardinal Baronius. 
 
 13. — V. Codex. Lat. 4931. Ambrosius, De mysteriis 
 sive Sacramentis Ecclesiasticis. 
 
 14. — V. Codex. Lat. 4361. 
 
 15. — V. Codex. Greek. 752. Pars i. fol. 193 (Fig. 12). 
 
 MSS. in the Bibloth^que Nationale, at Paris : — 
 
 I. — Supp. Lat. 641. Liber Precum (Prayer book). 
 Baptism of Christ. It is a miniature of the ninth century. 
 
EARLY MANUSCRIPT PAINTINGS. 45 
 
 2. — MS. No. 94. Greek Gospels, tenth century. Ten 
 pictures of baptism by immersion. 
 
 3. — MS. Greek. 1528. fol. 182. twelfth century. 
 
 MSS. in the Library of the British Museum : — 
 
 I. — B. M. Harleian Lib. No. 18 10. Greek Gospels. 
 Eleventh century. 
 
 2 — B. M. Nero. c. iv. Latin Psaltery, twelfth century, 
 
 3. — B. M. Arundel Lib. 157. Psalterium. Thirteenth 
 century. 
 
 4 — B. M. 21. 926. Thirteenth century. A Latin Psaltery, 
 which belonged formerly to J. de Grandison, Bishop of 
 Exeter. 
 
 5. — B. M. Harleian. 1527. Novum Testamentum figuris 
 depictis illustratum. This MS. contains twenty-seven 
 pictures of baptism by immersion, and is of the thirteenth 
 century. This illustrated New Testament is divided in 
 four parts, viz., the Gospels as an Harmony, the Acts of 
 the Apostles, the Epistles, and the Apocalypse. This book 
 seems to have been made in France about six hundred 
 years ago, and is painted and gilded after the best man- 
 ner used in that time. It was formerly, without doubt, a 
 part of that splendidly illustrated Bible Manuscript which 
 was given to the Bodleian Library by Sir Christopher 
 Heydon. 
 
 6. — B. M. Harleian. 2928. Liber Diurnus. Sermo in 
 lingua Romantica. Baptism of Christ. Anno mcxxxv. 
 
 7. — B. M. 18,719. Historia Veteris ac Novi Testamenti, 
 figuris illustrata. Thirteenth century. This illustrated 
 Bible contains seventy-nine miniatures of baptism. 
 
 8. — B. M. Cotton Lib. Caligula. A. vii. Harmony of 
 the Gospels. A poem in Anglo-Saxon. Baptism of 
 Christ on p. 8 (Fig. 13). Probably of the year 1150, or 
 rather later. 
 
 In the valuable library of the Duke of Devonshire, 
 there is a manuscript of the tenth century, which con- 
 
46 
 
 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 tains a picture of the baptism of Christ by immersion. 
 This MS. is a folio on vellum, measuring eleven inches 
 and a half by eight and a half, and is composed of one 
 hundred and nineteen leaves, of a thick and soft quality, 
 in extraordinary preservation. This book is illuminated 
 with thirty different miniatures, all of which are repro- 
 duced in the Dissertation on St. .zEthelwold's Benedic- 
 
 Fig. 13. Baptism op Cheist. From a MS. in Library of British Museum. 
 
 tional, communicated by John Gage, Esq., F.R.S., in a 
 letter to the Right Honourable George, Earl of Aberdeen, 
 President of the Society of Antiquaries in London. (See 
 Archalogia, vol. xxiv. pp. 1-117.) The baptism of Christ 
 is represented on the 6oth page of this volume. In this 
 miniature the figure of the Jordan is classically symbo- 
 
EARLY MANUSCRIPT PAINTINGS. 47 
 
 lized with golden horns, and holding the urn from which 
 the water is poured. 
 
 The name of .lEthelwold is enrolled in the calendar 
 of the English saints. He received the monastic habit 
 from St. Dunstan, at Glastonbury, was made Abbot of 
 the Royal Monastery at Abingdon in 948, consecrated 
 Bishop of "Winchester in 963, and died in 984. This 
 great prelate co-operated with Dunstan and Oswald in 
 reforming the monks and in restoring learning. 
 
 Baptism by immersion is represented in a miniature 
 painting oi L' Histoire de la Belle Helene, a manuscript of the 
 fifteenth century, preserved in the Royal Library of 
 Brussels. 
 
 De Vert (t. xi.) reproduces the same subject taken from 
 a drawing in a very ancient MS. of Gregory Nazianzen on 
 baptism. The minister is an apostolic figure, who is in 
 the act of pronouncing the formula. The godfather 
 (patrinus) stands ready with a cloth or vestment, and with 
 a countenance of much devotion, to receive the catechu- 
 men from the baptistery. 
 
 We will again refer to this subject in our description of 
 the various baptisteries and fonts of Europe. 
 
 The miniatures which are found in the MSS. we have 
 examined, prove that, even after the middle of the 
 thirteenth century the painters adhered frequently, more 
 or less, to the art of the first Christian centuries, and 
 hence the general sameness of forms, attitudes, vest- 
 ments, etc., which is so characteristic of the Byzantine 
 school. They show that, during the period justly de- 
 nominated the dark ages, the state of the art of painting 
 was extremely low. On this point, M. Paul Lacroix, 
 in his valuable work, Le Moyen-Age et la Renaissance, 
 makes the following judicious observations : — 
 
 " Christian painting, when once established as an art 
 on the banks of the Bosphorus, assumed a certain immo- 
 
48 THE ARCHiEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 bility of character. Forms, attitudes, groups, and vest- 
 ments — all were regulated by ecclesiastical prescription. 
 There was, as it were, an inflexible text -book, to which 
 artists were bound to submit. Delicacy of colouring and 
 nobility of attitude were the only things to recall the 
 beauty of ancient art. Even in our days, the Greek and 
 Russian painters follow a similar plan, drawing and 
 arranging their figures in the same manner as their 
 ancestors of the time of Honorius and the Palaeologi. 
 
 " In -the West, the case was nearly the same, so long as 
 the practice of painting remained almost exclusively 
 confined to artists coming from Constantinople. Thus in 
 some celebrated manuscripts of the eighth and ninth cen- 
 turies we find compositions that give a very exact 
 representation of the state of the art in those remote times, 
 though the paintings themselves have been destroyed by 
 the Iconoclasts. In fact, during ten centuries, it seemed 
 that the Western races resisted any expression of artistic 
 individuality or invention. Throughout this long period 
 we find Greek painters the supreme arbiters of taste and 
 knowledge in the countries of Western Europe, forcing 
 upon them their own barren style, and teaching them 
 their contracted perceptions. Art among them seemed 
 always to be but a mere instinct. Constant emigrations 
 took place which were continually leading them to every 
 point in Western Europe ; but none of them ever brought 
 anything novel in art beyond what their predecessors 
 had already introduced. If they took root in a new coun- 
 try, the son repeated the works of the father. The pupil 
 took no means to enlarge his thoughts ; he adopted as 
 his model and his ideal nothing but the work of his master, 
 and the poor form of tradition was continued without 
 enthusiasim and without progress. Genius is altogether 
 wanting, or if its sacred spark sprung forth from heaven, 
 it was soon extinguished when it reached the earth for 
 
ADDITIONS TO THE ORDINANCE. 49 
 
 want of a soul which could receive it, and be kindled by- 
 its fire. The Greek masters doubtless affected some pride 
 in the grandeur of their native name ; but they were 
 none the less living proofs that the sources from which 
 flowed the inspiration of a Zeuxis, a Protogenes, or an 
 Apelles, had since those far distant days been long dried 
 up. The East had terminated its ancient character of 
 artistic creation, and the most it seemed destined to 
 achieve during the middle ages was to preserve the germ 
 which the West was to bring again into active life." 
 
 The picture of" The Baptism of Christ," by Mr. Goodwyn 
 Lewis, of London, is a production of art worthy of the 
 highest commendation, and forms a pleasing contrast with 
 the rude, stiff, disproportionate drawings of the early and 
 middle ages. The author has shown, in this beautiful 
 composition, considerable technical skill, a practised eye 
 and hand, and has exhibited a poetic spirit, which forms 
 a striking conception of the historical event the picture 
 represents. 
 
 The custom of trine immersion, which began as early as 
 the third century, and was, according to the admission of 
 TertuUian, "more than the Lord prescribed in the Gospel" 
 (amplius quam Dominus in Evangelio determinavit, De 
 Coron. Milit. c. iii.)j continued till the Reformation. It 
 was enjoined in the Prayer Book* of Edward VI. of 
 England, but was afterwards omitted. 
 
 Baptism was accompanied in the earlier times of the 
 church with various forms and ceremonies, some of which 
 are still retained in the Greek and Romish churches. 
 These additions to the simplicity of the ordinance began 
 at a very early period. Thus it became customary to 
 exorcise the converts previous to their receiving baptism. 
 This exorcism, which was at first nothing else than calling 
 
 * This Prayer Book was compiled by Cranmer and Ridley, 
 assisted by eleven other divines, and published in 1549. 
 
 E 
 
50 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 upon them to renounce the devil and all his works, was 
 subsequently modified so as to include certain prayers, 
 adjurations in the name of Christ, commanding the demon 
 to quit the persons about to be baptized, and imposition 
 of hands. Tertullian, in his Apology (c. xxiii.), and 
 Origen, in his work Contra Celsus (lib. vii.), speak of 
 exorcism as of ordinary occurrence ; and the Council of 
 Carthage, in A.D. 256 decreed that heretics and schismatics 
 were first to be exorcised with imposition of hands, and 
 then to be baptized before they could be admitted as true 
 members of the Catholic Church. In the passage alluded 
 to above, Tertullian thus speaks of the benefits conferred 
 upon the pagans by exorcism : " Were it not for the 
 Christians, who could rescue your souls and bodies from 
 the power of the hidden enemies that destroy everything ? 
 I allude to the demons, who continually beset you, and 
 whom we cast out of you without reward or payment. We 
 might have satisfied our revenge by merely leaving you 
 an undisputed prey to the impure spirits. And you, for- 
 getting the benefit of our protection, prefer to treat as 
 enemies us, who not only do you no harm, but are even 
 necessary to your welfare — we are enemies, it is true, not 
 of men, but of error." Cyril of Jerusalem attached great 
 importance to exorcism, for in one of his Lectures he says : 
 " As mixed metals cannot be purged without fire, so 
 neither can the soul be purged without exorcisms, which 
 are divine, and gathered out of the Scriptures." {Catech. 
 xvii.) 
 
 From various passages of this author, it appears that 
 exorcism in his time was twofold ; a longer form being 
 used some time previous to baptism during the candidate's 
 course of preparation, and a shorter immediately before 
 the act of immersion. [Catech. Mystag. i. 2 : Pro-Cateches. 
 sect. 5, seq. ; Cateches. i. 5, xvi. 19.) 
 
 Turning to the East, as a symbol of turning to God, 
 
EARLY ADDITIONS. 51 
 
 was one of the ceremonies connected with baptism in 
 ancient times. When the persons to be baptized entered 
 the baptistery, where they were to make their renunciation 
 of Satan, and their confession of faith, they were placed 
 with their faces towards the West, and commanded to 
 renounce Satan with some gesture or rite ; this they did 
 by striking their hands together as a token of abhorrence, 
 by stretching out their hands against him, by exsuffiation, 
 and by spitting at him, as if he were present. They were 
 then turned round to the East, and desired to lift up their 
 hands and eyes to heaven, and enter into covenant with 
 Christ, the Sun of Righteouness. " The West," says Cyril, 
 " is a place of darkness, and Satan is darkness, and his 
 strength is in darkness. For this reason ye symbolically 
 look towards the West when ye renounce that prince of 
 darkness and horrors." {Catech. Myst. ii.) Jerome says : 
 " First, we renounce him that is in the West, who dies to us 
 with our sins ; and then, turning to the East, we make a 
 covenant with the Sun of Righteouness, and promise to 
 be His servants." {Comment, lib. iii.) Severus Alexan- 
 drinus,* referring to this custom, says, in his treatise De 
 Baptismo : " He anoints the whole body of him who is to 
 be baptized, and leads him into the baptistery, with his 
 face turned towards the East." 
 
 Insufflation was next added ; it consisted in breathing 
 upon the catechumen before baptism, to signify the 
 expulsion of the devil, and again after immersion, to 
 symbolize the gift of the Holy Ghost. Cyril of Jerusalem 
 exhorted his catechumens "to receive exorcism with 
 diligence in the time of catechising ; for whether it was 
 insufflation or exorcism it was to be esteemed salutary 
 to the soul." [Catech. xvii.) 
 
 TertuUian informs us that it was the custom in his 
 
 * Severus, Bishop of Alexandria, flourished a.d. 646. He is the 
 author of several treatises. 
 
 E 2 
 
52 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 time to give the baptized person a portion of milk and 
 honey, to denote his entrance into the Promised Land 
 of Canaan, and that he belonged to the spiritual Israel. 
 {De Corona, lib. xv.) Milk and honey were also given 
 in token of his spiritual youth, and of his reception of 
 spiritual gifts and graces. This custom seems to have 
 been discontinued after a few centuries. 
 
 Another addition was made, that of anointing the 
 catechumen with oil before baptism, and with unguent 
 after. This custom is mentioned by Tertullian,* Cyprian,! 
 Cyril,t and Chrysostom.§ Unction symbolized the gift 
 of the Holy Spirit, and also indicated that the baptized 
 person was ready as a wrestler in the ancient games to 
 fight the good fight of faith. Ambrosius observes, as a 
 comment on this practice, "Thou wast anointed as a 
 
 *■ Tertullian: — " Exinde egressi de lavacro perimgimur benedicta 
 
 unctione de pristina disciplina, qua ungi oleo de cornu in sacerdotium 
 
 solebant. Ex quo Aaron a Moyse unctus est, unde Christus dicitur 
 
 a chrismate, quod est unctio, quse Domino nomen accommodavit, 
 
 facta spiritualis, quia spiritus unctus est a Deo Patre, sicut in 
 
 Actis : ' Collecti sunt enim vere in ista civitate adversus sanctum 
 
 Filium tuum, quem unxisti' (Acts iv. 27). Sic et in nobis carnaliter 
 
 currit unctio, sed spiritaliter proficit ; quo modo et ipsius baptismi 
 
 carnalis actus, quod in aqua mergimur ; spiritalis effectus, quod 
 
 delictis liberamur " {I)e Bapt. 7). After this, having come out of 
 
 the bath, we are anointed with a blessed unction, according to the 
 
 ancient rule, by which they used to be anointed for the priesthood 
 
 with oil out of an horn. Wherefore Aaron was anointed by Moses ; 
 
 whence Christ is named from chrism, which is anointing, which, 
 
 being made spiritual, furnished a name for the Lord, because he 
 
 was anointed with the Spirit by God the Father, as it is said in the 
 
 Acts (iv. 27) : " For of a truth against Thy Holy Child, whom 
 
 Thou hast anointed, they were gathered together in that city." 
 
 So in us also the ointment runs over us bodily, but profiteth 
 
 spiritually, as likewise in baptism itself the act is carnal, in that 
 
 we are dipped in water, the effect is spiritual, in that we are 
 
 delivered from our sins. {On Baptism, 7.) 
 
 t Cyprian, Epist. Ixiii. Ad Juhaian. 
 
 \ Cyril, Cat. Myst. ii. 
 
 § Chrysostom, Homilia, xxii. 
 
EARLY ADDITIONS. 53 
 
 champion of Christ, to fight the fight of this world." 
 (Unctus es, quasi athleta Christi, quasi luctamen hujus 
 sseculi luctaturus, De Sacrament, lib. i. c. ii.) The form 
 in the Liturgy of Edward VI. was : " Almighty God, the 
 Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath regenerated 
 thee by water and the Holy Ghost, and hath given unto 
 thee remission of all thy sins ; may He vouchsafe to anoint 
 thee with the unction of His Holy Spirit, and bring thee 
 to the inheritance of everlasting life. Amen." Anointing 
 with oil was retained in the Church of England for a 
 short time after the Reformation. It is still practised 
 in the Church of Rome. The Greek Church anoints 
 the whole body ; the Romish the crown of the head 
 only. 
 
 After baptism it was customary to wear white garments, 
 in token of the innocence of soul, which by this rite 
 the converts were supposed to have acquired.* These 
 garments, which were commonly worn eight days, were 
 metaphorically called the garments of Christ, or the 
 mystical garments. Jerome, writing to Fabiola, alludes 
 to this custom in these words : " We are to be washed 
 with the precepts of God, and when we are prepared 
 for the garment of Christ, putting off our coats of skins, 
 we shall put on the linen garment that hath nothing of 
 death in it, but is all white, that, rising out of the waters 
 of baptism, we may gird about our loins with truth, 
 and cover the former filthiness of our breasts." Praeceptis 
 Dei lavandi sumus, et cum parati ad indumentum Christi» 
 tunicas pellicas deposuerimus, tunc induemar veste linea, 
 nihil in sese mortis habente, sed tota Candida : ut de 
 baptismo consurgentes, cingamus lumbos in veritate, 
 et tota pristinorum peccatorum turpitudo celetur. (^Ad 
 
 * Tertullian, De Resurreclione Carnis. Cyril of Jerusalem, Caiech. 
 xviii. 
 
54 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Fabiolam, Epist. cxxvii.) Gregory the Great, in his 
 Sacramentarium, gives the following charge at the de- 
 livery of the white robes to the neophytes : " Receive 
 the white and immaculate garment, which thou mayest 
 bring forth without spot before the tribunal of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, that thou mayest have eternal life. 
 Amen." 
 
 In his account of the baptism by immersion of Cedoaldo, 
 King of the Anglo-Saxons, by Sergius, Pope of Rome, 
 Paulus Warnefridus says : 
 
 " Fonte renascentis quem Christi gratia purgans 
 Protinus Albatum vexit in arce poll." 
 
 {De Gestis Lungohard, lib. vi. c. 15.) 
 
 (Whom the grace of Christ, purifying in the font, forthwith 
 carried, white — that is, in white robes — into the citadel of Heaven.) 
 
 Venantius Fortunatus* writes in one of his poems : 
 
 " Candidus egreditur nitidis exercitus undis, 
 Atque vetus vitium purgat in amne novo. 
 Fulgentes animas vestis quoque Candida signat 
 Et grege de niveo gaudia Pastor habet." 
 
 (This white army come out of the pure water, and purify their 
 former sins in the new flood. The white garment symbolizes the 
 resplendent souls, and the Shepherd is full of joy on seeing His 
 snowy flock.) 
 
 At the baptism of great men many of the attendants 
 clothed themselves also in white. In an epistle of Marcus 
 Gazensist it is recorded that, at the magnificent baptism 
 of Theodosius the Younger, a splendid procession accom- 
 panied the newly-baptized prince from the church to the 
 palace. The leaders on the occasion were clothed in 
 white garments, which made the company look as if it 
 
 * Venantius Fortunatus, Bishop of Poitiers, flourished a.d. 560. 
 He wrote eleven books of poems, and short treatises on the Lord's 
 Prayer, and the Apostles' Creed. 
 
 f Marcus, a writer of the fourth century. 
 
EARLY ADDITIONS. 55 
 
 had been covered with snow ; and all the senators and 
 men of quality, and soldiers in their ranks, carried lamps 
 in their hands, that one would have thought the stars 
 had appeared upon earth. 
 
 The white garment was made to fit the body- 
 tightly, and was bound round the middle with a girdle- 
 sash ; the sleeves were either plain, like those of a 
 cassock, or else full, and gathered close on the wrists, 
 like the sleeves of a shirt. It resembled much the tunic 
 worn by the ancients, and which was called by the 
 Greeks podere's (reaching to the feet), and by the Romans 
 fcilarts (reaching to the ankles). It was also designated 
 as the Alha, or Alb, from its white colour. This garment 
 was usually made of linen, but sometimes of more costly 
 material. 
 
 Amongst the other ceremonies which were practised 
 immediately after baptism had been administered, 
 Gregory Nazianzen enumerates that of a lighted taper 
 being carried by the neophyte. " The lamps," he says, 
 in his fortieth oration on the baptized, "which, imme- 
 diately after baptism, thou shalt light, are emblems of 
 those lamps of faith with which we, radiant and virgin 
 souls, shall meet the bridegroom."* 
 
 The kiss of peace, which the neophytes received after 
 baptism, denoted that they were brought into the new 
 spiritual relations of Christian brotherhood and church 
 fellowship. Chrysostom makes allusion to this custom, 
 when, comparing the spiritual with the natural birth, he 
 says : " Here no suiFerings, no tears, but greetings, kisses, 
 and embraces of brethren, who acknowledge their new 
 member.'' {Sermo. i.) This custom was subsequently 
 
 * At Aa/iTTciScs, acrirep avutpei?, T^s iKeW€v (jxDTayiDyta's fhvcrrripiov, 
 fjiid' rj'; avavTrjorofXiV Toi vvfji.(j)vui (f>aiSpal Kol wapOevOi ipvyial, (^aiSpais rat? 
 
 Xa/jiTrdo-L TTJ's TTUTTeMs. (Greg. Naz. OruL XL. In sanclui/i Baplisina.) 
 
56 THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 superseded by the simple salutation, " Pax tecum " (Peace 
 be with thee). 
 
 In the ancient African Church it was usual to give, with 
 milk and honey at baptism, a portion of bread seasoned 
 with salt, that the neophyte might have a foretaste, as it 
 were, of the Holy Supper. 
 
 The custom of putting a little salt in the mouth of the 
 baptized, to signify the wisdom and taste for heavenly 
 things, which every Christian should have, and that of 
 touching his nostrils and ears with spittle, to denote that 
 his ears are to be ever open to truth, and that he should 
 ever feel the sweet odour of virtue ; these two ceremonies 
 are mentioned in the rituals of the Latin Church sub- 
 sequent to the fifth and sixth centuries. They are still 
 retained in the Romish Church. 
 
 The washing of the feet of the baptized neophyte used 
 to be practised in some churches. 
 
 From a period as early as the second and third cen- 
 turies, Easter and Pentecost (including the fifty days' 
 interval) were considered solemn times for the adminis- 
 tonrati of baptism ; thus derogating from the apostolic 
 practice, which was to baptize converts whenever oppor- 
 tunity served. TertuUian informs us that baptism was 
 confined, except in cases of urgency, to these two great 
 festivals. {De Baptismo, xix.) Easter was celebrated in 
 memory of Christ's death and resurrection, and Pentecost 
 was chosen as the anniversary of the great Jewish feast, 
 when the apostles were baptized with the Holy Ghost 
 and with fire, and they themselves commenced their 
 public ministry by baptizing three thousand persons. 
 The rite of baptism was performed on Easter Sunday 
 eve and Pentecostal eve, that is, on the preceding 
 Saturday evening, when there was a special ceremony 
 of blessing the font. The neophytes used to wear the 
 white garments (^Alb) then given them throughout the 
 
TIME OF YEAR WHEN ADMINISTERED. 57 
 
 following week, which obtained from this custom the 
 name of Septimana in Alhis* The Sunday following 
 was called Dominica in Alhis depositis, because those who 
 had been baptized then threw off their white robes, which 
 were laid by in the church as evidence against them if 
 they broke their baptismal vows. Whitsunday (White 
 Sunday), the English name for Pentecost, is supposed to 
 have been so called from the white garments worn by 
 the newly-baptized catechumens, to whom that ordinance 
 was administered on the vigil of Pentecost. 
 
 Epiphany was also one of the stated times for the 
 performance of the rite of baptism in the Greek Church 
 (See Le© the First, epist. xvi.), and in the churches of 
 Africa (Victor of Utica, De Persecut. Vandal, lib. ii.). In 
 the celebration of Epiphany, the Greek Church appears to 
 have dwelt more strongly than the Latin Church upon the 
 baptism of our Lord and His manifestation {eTri^dveia) to 
 the world. Hence it is termed by Gregory Nyssenus 
 "ri rifiepa tcov (fxoTcov" — the day of lights — and by others, 
 " TO, (poJTa" or " ajM ^cora " — the lights, or holy lights — ■ 
 because baptism itself was generally called ^w? and (jxorta-fMa, 
 light and illumination, on account of the instruction in the 
 Christian religion which was given to the catechumens 
 before they were admitted to the ordinance. Justin 
 Martyr (apol. i.) says that this laver is called "illumi- 
 nation " because the minds of those who learn these 
 things are enlightened. [KaXetrai Be tovto to XovTpbv 
 
 * Inscriptions have been discovered on some sepulchral slabs, 
 indicating that the deceased had died shortly after receiving baptism, 
 and during the eight days in which the white garments were worn. 
 Thus, ' In albis recessit ; Albas Suas Octavas Pasch^ ad 
 Sepulcrum deposuit." " He departed in the albs (that is, the 
 white garments). He laid at the sepulchre his white garments." 
 Gregory of Tours, in his History of France {^Epitome, c. xx.), 
 makes allusion to the following inscription, which attests the 
 same fact: "In Albis recessit Ingomeres." " Ingomeres 
 departed in the albs." 
 
58 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 (pQ)Ti,a-fio<:, w? ^aiTi^ofiivwv rrjv Sidvoiav twv Tavra fJ-av- 
 davovrcDV.) 
 
 In France and Spain it was customary, at a very 
 early period, to administer baptism at Christmas, and 
 on the festivals of apostles and martyrs. (Second 
 Council of Macon, can. 3. A.D. 583 ; Siricii epist. ad 
 Himer., c. 2). 
 
 With respect to the persons in whom is vested the office 
 of administering baptism, TertuUian says, that it belonged 
 to the bishop {De Baptismo, xvii.), although he admits the 
 validity of lay-baptism, when administered by laymen in 
 cases of urgent necessity ; * so does the Council of Elvira 
 in Spain, A.D. 305, and also Jerome {Adversus Luci- 
 fermnos), who says: "Hence it appears that without 
 permission from the bishop no presbyter nor deacon has 
 the right of baptizing ; still, if there be absolute necessity, 
 we know it is allowed to laymen to baptize." f Basil, 
 however (epist. i. Ad AinphiL), seems to have held the 
 contrary opinion, and the Apostolical Constitutions, 1. iv. 
 cap. X., forbid laymen to baptize. Ignatius (epist. Ad 
 
 * TertuUian : — " Dandi quidem habet jus summus sacerdos, qui 
 est episcopus ; dehinc presbyteri et diaconi ; non tamen sine 
 episcopi auctoritate, propter Ecclesias honorem ; quo salvo, salva 
 pax est. Alioquin etiam laicis jus est : quod enim ex aequo accip- 
 itur, ex £equo dari potest : nisi episcopi jam, aut presbyteri, aut 
 diaconi vocantur, discentes. Domini sermo non debet abscondi ab 
 ullo. Proinde et baptismus, seque Dei census, ab omnibus exerceri 
 potest. " Tiie right of giving it (baptism), indeed, hath the chief 
 priest, who is the bishop : then the presbyters and deacons, yet, 
 not without the authority of the bishops ; for the honour of the 
 Church, which, being preserved, peace is preserved. Otherwise 
 laymen have also the right, for that which is equally received may 
 equally be given, unless the bishops, presbyters, and deacons be 
 called disciples. The Word of God ought not to be hidden from 
 any ; wherefore also baptism, which is equally derived from God, 
 may be administered by all." 
 
 f Jerome : — Sine episcopi jussione neque presbyter neque dia- 
 conus jus habet baptizandi, quod frequenter, si tamen necessitas 
 coget, scimus etiam laicis licere. {Adv. Lucif, c. 4.) 
 
CLINIC BAPTISM. 59 
 
 Sniyrn.), and Chrysostom (De Sacerdotis, lib. iii.j are also 
 opposed to lay-baptism. 
 
 Under the impression that baptism was in itself an 
 actual washing away of all former sins,* there were many 
 persons in the early ages of Christianity, who, though 
 convinced of the truth of the gospel, delayed submitting to 
 the rite till near the close of their lives, hoping thereby to 
 die released from the guilt of sin, and to secure their 
 admission into heaven, This baptism was called clinic, 
 from the Greek word kXLvi], a bed ; and the persons thus 
 baptized were known as the clinici, or clinics. (See 
 Cyprian, epist. Ixxvi.) Against this custom the Fathers 
 of the Church, Gregory Nyssen.f Gregory Nazianzen,+ 
 Basilius,§ and others inveighed in powerful language. 
 
 In one of his homilies, Chrysostom, speaking of the 
 clinics, says : " They receive their baptism laying upon 
 their beds, you receive it in the bosom of the church, which 
 is the mother of all the faithful ; they receive it weeping, 
 and you with joy ; they with groans, and you with thanks- 
 giving; they in the heat of a fever, and you under the 
 sense of the Heavenly grace. Everything here has a 
 relation to the grace received ; there everything disagrees 
 with it ; there are sighings and tears, while the sacrament 
 is administered ; children cry, the wife tears her hair, 
 friends are dejected, servants weep, the whole house is in 
 mourning; and if you consider the spirit of the sick person, 
 you shall find it more full of sorrow than that of the 
 bystanders ; for as a stormy sea divides into several waves, 
 so his soul, being agitated by troubles, is torn by a thousand 
 disquiets and racked with infinite troubles.'' 
 
 * Clemens Alexandrinus, Sttomata, lib. iv. c. 24. 
 t Gregory Nyssenus : " Adversus eos qui differunl Baplismum 
 ratio ; " in his Opera, t. ii. p. 222. 
 X Gregory Nazianzen, Oratio Ix. c. 28. 
 § Basil, Hom.il. in Baptism, c. 3-4. 
 
6o THE ARCHj^OLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 The Council of Neo-Cesarea (a.d. 350.)* and that of 
 Laodicea (a.d. 363), decreed that no clinic should ever be 
 considered as qualified for ordination to the Christian 
 ministry. 
 
 It was customary to administer the Lord's Supper to the 
 neophytes immediately after baptism. In the account 
 which Justin Martyr gives of the celebration of the com- 
 munion, he says : " After washing him who has professed 
 and given his assent, we bring him to those who are called 
 brethren ; while they are assembled together, to offer 
 prayers in common both for ourselves and for the person 
 who has received illumination, and all others everywhere, 
 with all our hearts, that we might be vouchsafed, now we 
 have learned the truth, by our works also to be found good 
 citizens and keepers of the commandments, in order that 
 we may obtain everlasting salvation. We salute one 
 another with a kiss when we have concluded the prayers ; 
 then are brought to the president of the brethren, bread 
 and a cup of water and wine, which he receives ; and offers 
 up praise and glory to the Father of all things in the name 
 of His Son and of the Holy Ghost ; and he returns thanks 
 at length for our being vouchsafed these things by Him. 
 When he has concluded the prayers and thanksgiving, all 
 the people present express their assent by saying ' Amen.' 
 This Hebrew word ' amen,' means ' so be it' ; and when the 
 president has rendered thanks and all the people have 
 assented, they whom we call deacons give to each of those 
 who are present a portion of bread and wine and water, 
 and carry also to them who are absent. This food is called 
 by us Eucharist, of which no one is allowed to partake, 
 unless he believes the truths we teach, has been washed in 
 the laver for forgiveness of sins and remission, and lives as 
 
 * Council of Neo-Cesarea: " He that is baptized, -when he is 
 sick, ought not to be made a priest, for his coming to the faith is 
 not voluntary, but from necessity." (Can. 12.) 
 
BAPTISM AND THE LORD'S SUPrER. 6 I 
 
 Christ has directed. For we do not receive them as 
 ordinary bread and ordinary wine." 
 
 It is evident, from this passage of Justin Martyr, that 
 only baptized believers were admitted to the Lord's 
 Supper in the early ages of Christianity. That this was 
 the invariable rule is clearly attested by the form of 
 celebration, contained in the Apostolical Constitutions (lib. 
 viii. 12). It begins thus : — 
 
 " The deacons shall say, 
 
 " ' Let none of the catechumens, none of the hearers, 
 none of the unbelievers, none of the heterodox stay. Ye 
 who have prayed the former prayer (the prayer for the use 
 of the catechumens) depart. Mothers take away your 
 children. Let no one have aught against any man. Let 
 us stand upright to present unto the Lord our offerings 
 with fear and trembling,' " etc. 
 
 TertuUian thus refers to the entrance of the baptized 
 neophyte into the church : " When the declaration of faith 
 and the promise of salvation (baptism) are pledged under 
 Three (the Trinity), then follows necessarily a mention of 
 the church ; forasmuch as, where the Three are, that is. 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, there is the church which is 
 a body of the Three. {De Baptismo.)* In his other treatise, 
 De Corona Militis, TertuUian speaks of baptism, and then 
 of the Lord's Supper. He says : " We are plunged three 
 times, fulfilling more than our Lord required in the gospel. 
 Having arisen (from the water), we taste a portion of milk 
 and honey. Then for a whole week we abstain from 
 washing our bodies. We receive the sacrament of the 
 
 * TertuUian : — Ciim autem sub tribus et testatio fidei et sponsio 
 salutis pignerentur, necessario adjicitur Ecclesise mentio : quoniam 
 ubi tres, id est Pater et Filius et Spiritus Sanctus, ibi Ecclesia, quae 
 trium corpus est. {De Bapt. 6.) 
 
62 THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Eucharist in meetings, which are held before daylight." * 
 The same father says, elsewhere : " The flesh is washed 
 that the soul may be cleansed ; the flesh is anointed, that 
 the soul may be consecrated ; the flesh is signed (sign of 
 the cross), that the soul may be guarded ; the flesh is over- 
 shadowed by imposition of hands, that the soul may be 
 illuminated by the Spirit ; the flesh is fed by the body 
 and blood of Christ, that the soul may receive nourish- 
 ment, or fatness from God." t 
 
 "Baptism," says Chrysostom, "and fellowship in the 
 divine mysteries, make a man a brother." " 'ABekipbv yap 
 TO ^aTrrtcTfia epya^irat, Kal rj tmv deiaiv /j^vaTTjpLcov KOivcovia 
 (Hom. Ixxix. ht Matt.) 
 
 In his treatise, De Peccatorum Remissione, Augustine, 
 alluding to the Lord's Supper, says that none draw near 
 to it unless they are baptized + and in his second book of 
 Animadver stones testifies that the Eucharist was not accus- 
 tomed to be given to unbaptized persons. § 
 
 In the apostolic age, the converts, that is, all who re- 
 pented of their past sins, and professed to believe in Jesus 
 Christ, were at once baptized and received into the church ; 
 but, afterward, this ceased to be the case. None were 
 admitted to baptism, until they had been fully instructed in 
 
 * Tertullian : — " Ter mergitamur, amplius aliquid respondentes 
 quam Dominus in evangelio determinavit. Inde suscepti, lactis et 
 mellis concordiam praegustamus ; exque ea die, lavacro quotidiano 
 per totam hebdomadem abstinemus. Eucharisti^ sacramentum 
 . . . . sumimus. {Be Cor. Mil.) 
 
 f Tertullian : — " Caro abluitur, ut anima emaculetur. Caro ungi- 
 tur, ut anima consecretur. Caro signatur, ut et anima muniatur. 
 Caro manus impositione adumbratur, ut et anima Spiritu illuminetur. 
 Caro corpore et sanguine Christi vescitur, ut et anima de Deo 
 saginetur. {De Resurrect, c. viii.) 
 
 X Augustine : " De sacramento sanctas mensse suce, quo nemo 
 rite nisi baptizatus accedit." {De Peccat. Remiss. lib. i.) 
 
 § " Quia Eucharistia iis dari non solebat, nisi postquam baptizati 
 fuerunt." {Animadv. t. ii.) 
 
CATECHUMENS. 63 
 
 all the principles of the Christian religion, and had passed 
 through a period of probation. Hence arose the distinc- 
 tion between believers and catechumens. In his Demon- 
 stratio Evangelica, Eusebius speaks of the faithful (Trto-rot) 
 and of " those who had not as yet been judged worthy of 
 regeneration through baptism." (Lib. vii. p. 200.) The 
 practice of giving religious instruction to children is not 
 only of great antiquity in the Christian Church, but may 
 be traced as far back as the commencement of the Mosaic 
 Dispensation, being derived from the command of God 
 Himself (Deut. iv. 9; vi. 7.) Hence the Jews were 
 especially careful to provide for the proper instruction of 
 their children in the principles of their law and religion 
 (Josephus, Ant. Jtid. lib. iv. c. 8), and to the progress 
 they had made in the doctrines, which it was necessary 
 they should understand. Previously to this examination, 
 they were under the care of a person, who was publicly 
 appointed in every village for this purpose, and was called 
 the " Instructor of Babes," to which office St. Paul 
 appears to allude in Rom. ii. 20. When approved by 
 the doctors, they were styled, " Children of the Precept," 
 that is, were obliged to keep to the whole law, and 
 were thenceforth answerable for their own sins. It is 
 supposed that our Saviour, on account of the early 
 maturity of His intellect, voluntarily offered Himself to 
 this examination at the age of twelve years, when He 
 remained behind in the Temple, and was found by His 
 reputed earthly parents, exciting the surprise and admira- 
 tion of all who witnessed His "understanding and 
 answers," (Luke ii. 45, 47.) 
 
 Persons were admitted into the state of catechumens 
 by imposition of hands, prayer, and the sign of the 
 cross, and were called Christians, but were not as yet 
 numbered among the faithful. Sulpicius Severus says 
 of Martin of Tours that, passing through a town 
 
64 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 where they were all Gentiles, and preaching Christ 
 unto them, and working some miracles, the v/hole multi- 
 tude proposed to believe in Christ, and desired him to 
 make them Christians ; upon which he immediately, as 
 he was in the field, laid his hands upon them and made 
 them catechumens." (Fideliter postulantes, ut eos faceret 
 Christianos. Nee cunctatus, in medio ut erat campo, 
 cunctos, imposita universis manu, catechumenos fecit. Vti. 
 Martin, dialog, ii. c. iv.) (See also Ambrosius, De Sacrament. 
 lib. i. c. I.) Augustme alludes to this distinction in the 
 following terms : " Ask a man, 'Are you a Christian \ ' If 
 he be a pagan or a Jew, he will answer, ' I am not a 
 Christian.' But should he say, ' I am a Christian,' then 
 ask him further, 'Are you a catechumen, or one of the 
 faithful \ ' " {Tract, xliv. In Joan. c. ix.) There is, there- 
 fore, no pleonasm, in the inscription Christianus Fidelis, 
 which is sometimes found on ancient sepulchral slabs, for 
 it indicates that the deceased was a baptized Christian. 
 Augustine speaks of a certain Pontianus as " Christianus 
 quippe et fidelis," * meaning that he had been baptized, and 
 was therefore one of the faithful. 
 
 The faithful were in full communion with the church, 
 and had various names, such as " dSeX(pol " — brethren ; 
 "dyooo" — holy; " electi" — chosen; " suscepti" — received; 
 "accepti"- — accepted, etc. They were also named 
 " <j)(OTii^6fievoi," — the enlightened; " illuminati" — the illumi- 
 nated, either on account of the knowledge which they had 
 acquired, or again because ^wTto-yUo? — enlightment — was 
 the common name for baptism. Owing to the supposed 
 analogy between baptism and the rites of initiation to the 
 sacred mysteries of the heathen, the faithful were also 
 called " fiefivvfievoi," " fivaTol," or " fivaTayoyyrjToi," — the 
 initiated ; in opposition to which the catechumens were 
 
 * Confess, viii. 6. 
 
CATECHUMENS. 65 
 
 designated as " ayi,vr)roi'' " a^varoi," or " a.jjLva-ra'yai'^rjroi" — 
 the uninitiated. These terms came into general use 
 during the fourth century. Occasionally the believers 
 were called " TeXeiol, or " TeXeiovfievoi " — the perfect, in 
 allusion to their being qualified for the Lord's Supper, 
 which was mystically denominated "reXerrj reXeraiv" — the 
 perfection of perfections. The faithful could attend all 
 religious assemblies, while from some the catechumens 
 were summoned to retire. They were permitted to 
 repeat the Lord's Prayer aloud, while the catechumens 
 could only do it in silence. Hence the Lord's Prayer was 
 called " evxv ruv Tria-Toiv " — the prayer of the faithful. The 
 baptized believers were admitted to the Lord's Supper, but 
 the catechumens were excluded. The faithful took part in 
 public ecclesiastical business, in the election of ministers, 
 and the exercise of discipline. They were also expected 
 to receive a more thorough instruction in the doctrines of 
 Christianity. 
 
 The catechumens were divided into three classes. 
 I. The Audiences, or Hearers, who were so denominated 
 from their being permitted to hear sermons and the 
 Scriptures read in the church, but who were not allowed 
 to stay and participate in the prayers.* The sixth book 
 of the Apostolic Constitutions prescribed to the deacon to 
 give them notice to depart, as soon as the bishop had 
 ended his sermon, in the following terms : " Ne quis 
 audientium, ne quis injidelium " — " Let none of the hearers, 
 none of the unbelievers, be present ; " and then he was to 
 call upon the other catechumens and the faithful to pray 
 for them : "Orate, catechumeni, et omnes fideles, pro illis cum 
 attentione orent." The Audientes usually assembled in the 
 narthex, or ante-temple. Augustine's treatise De Cate- 
 chizandis Rudihus, was especially designated for this class 
 
 * Tertullian, De Pccniteniia. Cyprian, epist. xiii. 
 
 F 
 
66 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 of catechumens ; it was written for the use of the deacon 
 Deogratias, who had under his charge the Audientes of 
 Carthage. 
 
 The second class of catechumens were designated 
 under the name of Genufledentes, or Kneelers, because 
 they received the bishop's benediction on their knees. 
 A great part of the liturgy particularly applied to this 
 class ; it was called " KaTrj^oviMevaiv euxv " — the prayer 
 of the catechumens, and came immediately after the 
 bishop's sermon. {Apostolical Constitutions, lib. viii.) 
 
 This Liturgy runs as follows : — 
 
 " After the Scriptures have been read, and the bishop has 
 delivered his word of exhortation and instruction, the 
 deacon, having proclaimed silence and attention, shall 
 say : — 
 
 " Pray, catechumens ! Let all the faithful pray for them 
 earnestly and seriously {KaTo. Bodvoiav), and say, Lord, have 
 mercy upon them ! (Kvpie eKerjaov.) 
 
 " And the deacon shall pray for them, and say: — 
 
 " Let us all call upon God for the catechumens, that He, 
 who is good and gracious unto all men, may mercifully 
 hear their prayers and supplications. May He accept their 
 petitions, and vouchsafe unto them His aid. May He fulfil 
 their desires and petitions, as may be most expedient for 
 them (7r/3os to av/j-ipepov). May He reveal to them the 
 gospel of H'"s Christ. May He enlighten and cheer their 
 souls. May He instruct them in divine knowledge. 
 May He teach them His commandments and His 
 judgments. May He inspire them with His holy and 
 wholesome fear. May He open the ears of their hearts, 
 that they may occupy themselves in His statutes day and 
 night. May He confirm them in godliness. May He cause 
 them to be reckoned among His holy flock. May He 
 count them worthy of the laver of regeneration, the 
 garment of immortality, the true life. May He keep them 
 
SERVICE FOR CATECHUMENS. 67 
 
 free from all wickedness, and grant that the enemy may- 
 have no advantage over them. May He keep them clean 
 from all pollution of flesh and spirit. May He dwell in 
 them, and walk in them by His Christ. May He bless 
 their coming in and their going out, and guide them in all 
 their undertakings for their good. 
 
 " And we do also heartily pray for them, that they may 
 obtain remission of their sins by the initiation (81 a tjj? 
 fivijcreax;, i.e., baptism,) and become worthy partakers of 
 the holy mysteries (twv dyltov fivarr^piwv, i.e., the Lord's 
 Supper), and the communion of saints. 
 
 "Rise up, catechumens, and pray for the peace of 
 God through His Christ. Pray for the day of peace, 
 and for deliverance from sins through the whole course 
 of your life, for a Christian end, for a good and merciful 
 God, and for forgiveness of sins. Give up yourselves 
 to God, the only-begotten, through His Christ. Bow 
 down, and receive the blessing ! 
 
 "And the people shall answer to all that the deacon says: 
 Kyrie eleeson (Lord, have mercy). Let the children say 
 it first* 
 
 " When they have lowed their heads, the bishop shall pro- 
 nounce over them the following benediction: — 
 
 "O Almighty, unbegotten, and immortal God, the 
 only true God, who art the God and Father of Thy 
 Christ and Thine only-begotten Son, Thou God of the 
 Comforter (6 ^eo? tov HapaicKriTov, i.e., of the Holy 
 Spirit), and Lord of all things, who, through Christ, 
 didst make the disciples teachers of righteousness, look 
 now, we beseech Thee, on Thy servants who have been 
 
 * We learn from Basil and Chrysostom that, in their time 
 children, and especially boys, were stationed about the preaching- 
 desk, for the purposes of singing, and otherwise taking part in the 
 offices of divine worship. These were afterwards the regularly- 
 trained choristers. 
 
 F 2 
 
68 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 instructed in the Gospel of Thy Christ, give unto them 
 a new heart, and renew within their souls the spirit 
 of pure trust and confidence, that they may both know 
 and obey Thy will with all their heart, and with a 
 willing mind. Grant that they may be worthy of the 
 sacred initiation {i.e., baptism), and incorporate them 
 into Thy Holy Church. Grant that they may be 
 partakers of the divine mysteries {i.e., the Lord's 
 Supper) through Christ, our hope, who died for them. 
 Through whom be unto Thee all glory and adoration, 
 in the Holy Spirit, for ever. Amen. 
 
 " Then shall the deacon say: Catechumens, depart in 
 peace ! " 
 
 The third and last class was called by the Greeks 
 /SaTTTtto/ievot and (jxcTi^o/ievoi, and by the Latins Com- 
 petentes and Electi, which words, among the ancients, 
 denoted the immediate candidates for baptism, who had 
 delivered their names to the bishop, signifying their 
 intention to be baptized at the next approaching festival 
 of Easter, or of Pentecost. From their petitioning for 
 this favour they were termed Competentes* (petitioning 
 together), and from the bishop's approbation or choice, 
 they were styled Eledi.^ Cyril of Jerusalem, in his 
 third Catechetical Lecture, terms this class " (pwTi^o- 
 fievoi," or illuminated, as having received the illumina- 
 tion of catechetical instruction, and the author of the 
 Apostolical Constitutions uses the word " ^aimi^ofievoi,," 
 not for those who were already actually baptized, but 
 for those who were desirous of receiving that rite. The 
 Competentes were required to give their names, which 
 were registered in the diptychs, or church books. 
 
 * Augustine, Sermo De Baptismo. 
 
 \ See Leo the Great, epist. xvi. Ad Epuc. Silic. ; and also 
 Siricius, epist. i. c. 2, n. 3. 
 
SERVICE FOR CATECHUMENS. 69 
 
 (See Socrates,* Hist. Eccles. vii. 21.) Augustine, in his 
 Hundred and thirty-second Sermon, says : " Ecce Pascha 
 est, da nomen ad hapttsmum" — "Here is Passover, give 
 thy name for baptism." In his Sermon addressed to 
 those who deferred being baptized, Gregory Nyssenus 
 invites them in the following terms : " Give me your 
 names, that I may inscribe them in the books .... 
 God will write them on tables which cannot be 
 destroyed." A special form of prayer was offered for 
 the candidates; it will be found in the Apostolical 
 Constitictions (lib. viii. c. 7, 8), as follows : — 
 
 " The deacon shall say : Pray, ye candidates for baptism ! 
 and let us, all the faithful, pray heartily for them, that 
 the Lord would make them worthy, having been initiated 
 {i.e., baptized) into the death of Christ, to be raised up 
 together with Him, and to be partakers of His kingdom 
 and sharers of His mysteries [i.e., the Lord's Supper) ; 
 that He may elect them and incorporate them with those 
 who are redeemed in His Holy Church. Redeem them, 
 and raise them up, by Thy grace ! 
 
 "Those who are about to be dedicated to God through 
 Christ shall here bow themselves, and receive the blessing 
 of the bishop in these words : O Thou, who by the holy 
 prophets hath said to those who are about to dedicate 
 themselves to Thee : Wash you, make you clean ; and who 
 hast appointed a spiritual regeneration through Christ, 
 look now, we beseech Thee, upon these persons soon 
 to be baptized ; bless them, sanctify them, and make 
 them worthy to partake of Thy spiritual gifts, the true 
 adoption. Thy spiritual mysteries, and to be received 
 into the body of the redeemed, through Christ our 
 Saviour, through whom be unto Thee all glory, honour, 
 and worship, in the Holy Ghost, for ever. Amen. 
 
 '" Socrates, a celebrated church historian of the fifth century. 
 
70 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 "Then shall the deacon say: Depart, ye who are to 
 be illuminated {i.e., baptized)." 
 
 Previously to their reception of the rite of baptism, the 
 catechumens were repeatedly examined concerning the 
 proficiency they had made in Christian doctrine. They 
 were all exorcised for twenty days (Cyril, Catech. i.), during 
 which they were obliged to frequent fastings,* prayers, 
 confession of their former sins, which confession was 
 sometimes public and sometimes private, as the wisdom 
 of the church directed. f At this time, the Competentes 
 were taught to repeat the creed, which they were obliged 
 to say before the bishop at their examination for bap- 
 tism. J With the creed they were also taught to make 
 the proper responses in baptism, particularly the form 
 of renouncing the devil and covenanting with Christ. 
 (Jerome, Adv. Luciferian.) Some days before baptism 
 they were veiled, or with their faces covered, in order 
 that their mind might be more at liberty, and that 
 the wandering of their eyes might not distract their 
 soul. 
 
 With respect to the instruction of the catechumens, 
 it does not appear that any distinct order of ministers 
 officiated as catechists, but that it was only a particular 
 employment, which might devolve on any officer of the 
 church, and which we find, at different times, attached 
 to all the orders of the ministry Thus this office was 
 sometimes discharged by the bishop himself, especially 
 on Palm Sunday, on which day, after the sermon, he 
 would take the catechumens apart and explain to them 
 
 * Apostolical Constitutions, vii. c. 23 ; Tertullian, De Baptismo, 
 XX. ; Jerome, epist. Ad Pammach. ; Augustine, De Fide et Oper. 
 V. 8. 
 
 f Tertullian, De Pallio ; Eusebius, In Vita Constantini, iv. 61; 
 Gregory of Nazianzen, Serm. in Sacr. Lavacr. 
 
 X Cyril, Catech. My stag. ii. 
 
INSTRUCTION OF CATECHUMENS. ?! 
 
 the creed. (Ambrosius, epist. 33 ; Theodoras,* Lector 
 Collect, lib. ii.) The presbyters and deacons were also 
 entrusted with this office. 
 
 Clement, presbyter of Alexandria and disciple of 
 Pantaenus, was master of the school in that city, and 
 catechist of the catechumens belonging to the church there. 
 He wrote an exhortation to Patrena for the use of catechu- 
 mens un der his charge. In some cases the office of catechist 
 was confided to a reader, who was called for that reason 
 Doctor Audientmm—iea.cher of the Audientes. (Cyprian, 
 epist. xxiv.) It was no doubt to avoid scandal and sus- 
 picion, that the female catechumens were generally taught 
 by that ancient order, the Deaconesses. In the East, where 
 the strict separation between male and female society was 
 then, as now, proverbial, this measure was quite indispens- 
 able. The duties of a deaconess consisted in the instruction 
 of female catechumens, and assisting at their baptism ; f in 
 visiting sick persons of their own sex ; and in performing 
 all those offices, which could not with propriety be exercised 
 by the deacons themselves. The African churches, in a 
 decree of the Council of Carthage, specify among the 
 qualifications of a deaconess,, " ut poss-it apto et sano sermone 
 docere imperitas et rusticas mulieres^' etc,—" that she be able 
 to teach with suitable and sound doctrine the ignorant 
 and rude women." In the Eastern Church, deaconesses 
 continued to be appointed so late as the twelfth century 
 (Balsamon. i. 381.). In the Western Church, according 
 to Cardinal Bona (Rer. Liturg. i. xxv. 15), they did not 
 altogether cease until the tenth or eleventh century. 
 
 It was the office of the catechists to prepare the candi- 
 dates for baptism by a course of instruction suited to each, 
 
 * Theodorus, Bishop of Mopsuestia, in Cilicia, flourished a.d. 
 392. He wrote commentaries, of which only a few fragments 
 remain. 
 
 f Chrysostom, c^i^i. Ad Innoc. 
 
72 THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 but in what their teaching generally consisted at first, we 
 know no further than that the sum and substance of it was 
 repentance and faith. Such was, in fact, the character of 
 the teaching of the apostles and others to an unconverted 
 audience. In Paul's addresses to the Jews at Jerusalem, 
 and to the Gentiles at Athens and Rome, his teach- 
 ing approaches nearest to catechetical instruction. This 
 method was subsequently adopted by the Fathers of 
 the Church, who usually began their discourses with 
 the doctrines of repentance and remission of sins, the 
 necessity of good works, and the nature and use of 
 baptism. Then followed, in the second and third centuries, 
 an explanation of the so-called Apostles' Creed, which, 
 as we have already said, was always used before the 
 administration of baptism, when the catechumen made 
 an open confession of his faith ; * hence the creed was 
 called " MadrjiMu," or the lesson, because the catechumens 
 were obliged to learn it. To the explanation of the 
 creed, some Fathers added that of the nature and immor- 
 tality of the soul, and an account of the canonical books 
 of Scripture. No mention, however, was made of the 
 Lord's Supper, because, as our readers already know, it 
 was not given to catechumens until after baptism. 
 
 The Apostolical Constitutions (book vii.) contains the 
 following directions for the instruction of catechumens : — 
 
 " He, therefore, who is to be catechized in the Word of 
 Piety, must be instructed before his baptism (iraiBeveado} irpo 
 Tov iSaTTTla/j.aTO'i) in the knowledge of the unbegotten God, 
 in the acknowledgment of His only-begotten Son, in the 
 assured belief of the Holy Ghost. Let him learn the 
 order of the several parts of the creation, the series of 
 Providence, the different dispensations of the law. Let 
 
 * Tertullian, Adversus Praxeas ; Cyprian, epist. Ixx. ; Cyril of 
 Jerusalem, Caiech. Mystag. ii. ; and Jerome, Adversus Lucef'erianos. 
 
INSTRUCTION OF CATECHUMENS. 73 
 
 him be instructed why the world was made, and why 
 man was appointed to be a citizen of the world; let 
 him also know his own nature, of what sort it is ; let 
 him be taught how God punished the wicked with water 
 and fire, and glorified the saints in every generation : I 
 mean Seth, and Enos, and Enoch, Noah, Abraham and 
 his posterity, Melchisedeck, Job, Moses, and Joshua, Caleb, 
 and Phineas the priest, and those that were holy in 
 every age ; and how God still took care of and did not 
 reject mankind, but called them from their error and 
 vanity to the acknowledgment of the truth at various 
 times, leading them from bondage and impiety to liberty 
 and godliness, from injustice to righteousness, from 
 death eternal to everlasting life. Let him that comes to 
 baptism learn these and like things whilst he is being 
 catechized ; and let him who lays his hands upon 
 him adore God, the Lord of the whole world, and thank 
 Him for His creation of man, for His sending Christ 
 His only-begotten Son that He may save man, by 
 blotting out his transgressions, and that He may remit 
 ungodliness and sins, and may purify him from all 
 filthiness of flesh and spirit, and sanctify man according 
 to the good pleasure of His kindness ; that He may 
 inspire him in the knowledge of His will, and open the 
 eyes of his heart to consider His wonderful works, and 
 make known to him the judgments of righteouness, so 
 that he may hate every path of iniquity, and walk in 
 the way of truth, that he may be thought worthy of the 
 laver of regeneration (jov Xovrpov t^? -n-aXiyyevea-ia';) to the 
 adoption of sons, which is in Christ, that, being planted 
 together in the likeness of the death of Christ (Rom. 
 vi. 3) in the hope of a glorious resurrection, he may be 
 dead to sin and live to God in mind, word, and deed, 
 and be numbered in the book of the living. After this 
 thanksgiving, let him be instructed in the doctrines of 
 
74 THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 our Lord's incarnation, passion, resurrection from the dead, 
 and ascension. 
 
 " When the catechumen is about to be baptized, let 
 him learn what concerns the renunciation of the devil 
 and association with Christ. For 'tis right he should 
 first abstain from things contrary, and then be admitted 
 to the mysteries {i.e., baptism and the Lord's Supper) ; 
 he must beforehand purify his heart of all wickedness 
 of disposition, of all spot and wrinkle, and then partake 
 of the holy things. For as the husbandman first purges 
 his ground of the thorns that have grown on it, and 
 then sows his wheat, so ought you also take away all 
 impiety from them, and then sow in them the seeds of 
 godliness, and give them baptism. For our Lord in 
 this manner exhorted us, saying: First, make disciples 
 of all nations, and then He adds, baptize them in the 
 na-me of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 
 Let, therefore, the candidate for baptism renounce as 
 follows : — 
 
 " I renounce Satan and his works, his pomps and 
 his worship, his angels and his devices, and all things 
 that are under him. After this renunciation let him 
 say : I associate myself with Christ, and believe, and 
 am to be baptized unto one unbegotten Being, the only 
 true God Almighty, the Father of Christ, the Creator 
 and Maker of all things ; and unto the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, His only-begotten Son, the firstborn of the 
 whole creation, who before the ages was begotten by 
 the good pleasure of the Father, by whom all things 
 were made, both in the heaven and on the earth, visible 
 and invisible, who in the last days descended from 
 heaven, took our flesh, was born of the Holy Virgin 
 Mary, lived a holy life according to the precepts of 
 His God and Father, was crucified under Pontius Pilate 
 died for us, and rose again from the dead the third 
 
BAPTISM OF CATECHUMENS. 75 
 
 day after His passion, ascended to heaven, and sits at 
 the right hand of the Father, and again will come at 
 the end of the world with glory to judge the quick 
 and the dead, of whose kingdom there shall be no end. 
 And I am to be baptized unto the Holy Ghost, the 
 Comforter, who wrought in all the saints from the 
 beginning of the world, but was afterwards sent also 
 from the Father to the Apostles, according to the pro- 
 mise of our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ ; and, after 
 the Apostles, to all those who believe in the holy 
 Catholic Church, unto the resurrection of the body, the 
 remission of sins, the kingdom of heaven, and the 
 life of the world to come. ^ 
 
 "And after this vow he comes in order to be anointed 
 with oil. Now this is blessed by the high priest for 
 the remission of sins, and the preparation for baptism. 
 For he calls thus upon the unbegotten God, the Father 
 of Christ, the King of all sensible and intelligent natures, 
 that He would sanctify the oil in the name of the 
 Lord Jesus, and impart spiritual grace and efiScacious 
 strength, the remission of sins, and the preparation for 
 the confession of baptism, so that when he is anointed 
 he may be freed from all ungodliness, and may become 
 worthy of initiation according to the command of the 
 Only-begotten. 
 
 "After this, the priest comes to the water, and blesses 
 and glorifies the Lord God Almighty, the Father of 
 the Only-begotten God, and returns thanks, that He 
 has sent His Son to become man on our account, that 
 He may save us ; that He had permitted that He should 
 in all things become obedient to the laws of that in- 
 carnation, to preach the kingdom of heaven, the re- 
 mission of sins, and the resurrection from the dead. 
 Moreover, He adores the only-begotten God himself, 
 after His Father and for Him, giving Him thanks that 
 
76 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 He undertook to die for all men on the cross, the type 
 of which He has appointed to be the baptism of re- 
 generation. He glorifies Him also for that God, who 
 is the Lord of the whole world, in the name of Christ, 
 and by His Holy Spirit, has not cast off mankind, but 
 has adapted His various providences to the different 
 times, at first giving to Adam in Paradise the Paradise 
 itself for an habitation, and afterwards giving a com- 
 mand, and casting out the offender justly, but through 
 His goodness not utterly casting him off, but instructing 
 his posterity in succeeding ages in various ways. For 
 him at the conclusion of the times He sent His own 
 Son to become man for man's sake, and undergo all 
 human passions without sin. Him, therefore, let the 
 priest even now call upon in baptism, and let him say : 
 Look down from heaven and sanctify this water, and 
 give grace and power so that he who is to be baptized 
 according to the command of Thy Christ, may be cruci- 
 fied with Him, may die with Him and be buried with 
 Him, and may rise again with Him to the adoption 
 which is in Him, that he may be dead to sin and live 
 to righteousness. And after this, when he has baptized 
 him in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
 the Holy Ghost, let him anoint him with ointment and 
 add as follows : O Lord God, who art without genera- 
 tion, and without a superior, the Lord of the whole 
 world, who hast scattered the sweet odour of the 
 knowledge of the Gospel among all nations, do Thou 
 now grant also that this ointment may be efficacious 
 upon him that is baptized, so that the sweet odour of 
 Thy Christ may continue upon him firm and fixed, and 
 now that he has died with Him, may he arise and live 
 with Flim. 
 
 " Let him say these and like things, for this is the 
 efficacy of the laying-on of hands on every one, for 
 
BAPTISM OF CATECHUMENS. 77 
 
 unless there be some such an invocation made by a 
 pious priest, the person baptized only descends into the 
 water (et? vScop fiovov KaTa^alvet) as do the Jews, and 
 he only puts off the filth of the body, not that of the 
 soul. After this let him stand up, and recite that 
 prayer which the Lord taught us. But of necessity he 
 who is risen again ought to stand up and pray, because 
 he that is raised stands upright. Let him, therefore, 
 who has been dead with Christ, is raised up with Him, 
 stand up. But let him pray towards the east, for this 
 is also written in the Second Book of the Chronicles, 
 that after the temple of the Lord had been finished by 
 King Solomon, at the feast of dedication, the priests, 
 Levites, and singers stood up towards the east, praising 
 and thanking God with cymbals and psalteries, and say- 
 ing: 'Praise the Lord, for He is good, and His mercy 
 endureth for ever.' 
 
 "But let him pray thus after the foregoing prayer, 
 and say: O God Almighty, the Father of Thy Christ, 
 Thine only-begotten Son, grant me a body undefiled, a 
 pure heart, a watchful mind, an unerring knowledge, the 
 coming of the Holy Ghost for the possession and assured 
 enjoyment of the truth, through Thy Christ, by whom 
 glory be to Thee, in the Holy Ghost, for ever. Amen. 
 
 "We have thought it right to make these constitu- 
 tions concerning the catechumens." 
 
 The catechists, merely as such, were not allowed at 
 first to instruct their catechumens in the church, but 
 only in private auditories appointed for that purpose. 
 That there were such catechetical schools in many places 
 is evident from the Sixty-seventh Novella of the Emperor 
 Leo* who calls them " Karrj-x^ovfievia," and says that 
 
 * Leo, furnamed the " Isaurian," was Emperor of Constanti- 
 nople ; died a.d. 741. He wrote a few treatises, which were called 
 Novella, or " New Works." 
 
78 THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF BAPTISM, 
 
 they were a kind of buildings attached to the church. 
 Subsequently, the catechumens received their religious 
 education and training in a portion of the church ex- 
 pressly reserved for that object* or in a hall adjoining 
 the baptistery. Thus the large room attached to the 
 Baptistery of Constantine in Rome, and now designated 
 by the name of Oratory of St. Venantius, was formerly 
 used for the instruction of catechumens, and is still em- 
 ployed for teaching the Romish catechism to children. 
 In the Catacombs of Rome there still exist cuMctda or 
 sepulchral chapels, which contain several graves, and in 
 the angles are seats cut in the rock. There have been 
 found two of these chapels in the Catacombs of St. 
 Agnese, which are supposed to have served as places 
 of meeting for catechumens, the seats being for the in- 
 structing bishop or deacon. One of these, the larger, 
 was for male catechumens, and the other, on the opposite 
 side, for females. (Fig. 14.) In a cubiculum of the 
 Catacomb of St. Callixtus, there is a low seat or bench, 
 with two higher ones, destined probably for catechumens 
 and their instructors. 
 
 As no limit was fixed for the period during which 
 persons were to continue in the state of catechumens, 
 the practice varied at different times. During the apos- 
 tolic age, catechizing and baptizing accompanied one 
 another ; but afterwards some interval was thought ad- 
 visable, the duration of which varied according to cir- 
 cumstances, and to the diligence and zeal of the cate- 
 chumens themselves. In cases of desperate sickness 
 
 * Anciently the inner parts of the portico of churches were 
 divided into small places of retirement, sometimes called cuhicula, 
 or small chambers, where worshippers might retire for meditation 
 and prayer. They were regarded as a portion of the caiechumenia, 
 or belonging to the Catechumens. " Cubicula intra porticus qua- 
 terna, longis basilicse lateribus inserta, secretis orantium, vel in 
 lege Domini meditantium." (Paulinus, ep. xii. ad Setter.) 
 
TIME BEFORE BAPTISM. 
 
 79 
 
 they were allowed clinic baptism. " Quod si aliquo 
 periculum infirmitatis intra prsescriptum tempus incur- 
 rerint, et disperati fuerint, baptizentur. [Cone. Agath. 
 c. xxxiv.) With the exception, however, of extreme 
 cases, a considerable time was judged necessary, not 
 only to make trial of their conversion, but also to in- 
 struct them fully in the principles of the Christian 
 religion. By the Forty-second Canon of the Council of 
 Elvira, the duration of the catechumenate was limited 
 to two years, on condition, however, that the candidates 
 
 B 
 
 aiL 
 
 n n 
 
 A 
 
 jr... 
 
 Fig. 14. CuBiGULA IN Catacombs of St. Agnese. 
 
 A A Gallery of Cemetery. B C Cubicula, or sepulchral chapels opening out of it. d d Arcosoliaj 
 or Sarcophagi, e e Seats for Instructors or Catechists. g g Loculi, or graves. 
 
 had led irreproachable lives. f'" Si boncR fuerint eonver- 
 sationis.") The Emperor Justinian* required also a 
 probation of two years for the Jews embracing Chris- 
 tianity. Three years are indicated by the Apostolical 
 Constitutions; but the Council of Agde (a.d. 506) decreed 
 
 * Justinian (a.d. 483-575) was a Roman emperor, who gained 
 great renown as a legislator. He compiled a code, which com- 
 prised all the constitutions of his predecessors, and which is known 
 as the Justinian Code. He harmonized and published, under the 
 title of Digesta Pandecta, the authoritative commentaries of the 
 jurists. His Institutes is a systematic treatise on the laws, for the 
 guidance of students and lawyers. 
 
8o THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 that a probation of eight months was sufficient. This 
 rule was not rigidly adhered to, for we read in the 
 account Socrates (lib. vii. c. 30) gives us of the con- 
 version of the ancient Burgundians, that they were 
 catechized and baptized in the course of eight days. 
 
 At an early period of the Church, certain persons were 
 required to be present at the baptism of its member-s, 
 who should serve as witnesses of the due performance 
 and reception of the rite, and should also be sureties 
 for the fulfilment of the engagements and promises then 
 made. In his excellent work on Christian Antiquities, 
 the Rev. Mr. Riddle accounts for the presence of sponsors 
 at baptism, by referring to the customs of the Roman law. 
 " Baptism," he says, " was at an early period regarded 
 in the light of a stipulation, covenant, or contract ; on 
 all matters of this nature the Roman jurisprudence was 
 very exact and careful in its institutions, and it is likely 
 that the leaders of the early Church, many of whom , 
 before their conversion, were engaged in the inter- 
 pretation or administration of the Roman laws, would 
 endeavour to give security and solemnity to the sacred 
 covenant in a way corresponding to that which they 
 had been accustomed to observe in civil transactions. 
 Tradition says that the office of sponsors was appointed 
 by Hyginus, or Iginus, a Roman bishop, about the 
 year 154. A time of oppression and persecution in the 
 Church is likely to have given rise to an institution 
 intended for the attestation and security of the pro- 
 fession of the Christian religion. And, we know, as a 
 matter of fact, that the sponsor's office had been so far 
 introduced during the second and third centuries, that 
 it was in full operation throughout the fourth and fifth."* 
 
 * Christian Antiquities, by the Rev. J. E. Riddle, M.A., of St. 
 Edmund's Hall, Oxford. 
 
BUNSEN S TESTIMONY. 8 1 
 
 In his work on Hippolytus,* and his age (about the 
 beginning of the third century), Baron Bunsen, a 
 German writer of extraordinary erudition, says : — " The 
 Apostolic Church made the school the connecting link 
 between herself and the world. The object of this 
 education was admission into the free society and 
 brotherhood of the Christian community. The Church 
 adhered rigidly to the principle, as constituting the 
 true purport of the baptism ordained by Christ, that 
 no one can be a member of the communion of saints, 
 but by his own free act and deed, his own solemn vow 
 made in presence of the Church, It was with this 
 understanding that the candidate for baptism was im- 
 mersed in water, and admitted as a brother upon his 
 confession of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. 
 It understood baptism, therefore, in the exact sense 
 of the First Epistle of St. Peter (iii. 21), not as 
 being a mere bodily purification, but as a vow made 
 to God with a good conscience, through faith in Jesus 
 Christ. Justin Martyr calls baptism a dedication of 
 ourselves to God. This vow was preceded by a con- 
 fession of Christian faith, made in presence of the 
 Church, in which the catechumen expressed that faith 
 in Christ, and in the sufficiency of the salvation offered 
 by Him. It was a vow to live for the time to come, 
 to God and for his neighbour, not to the world and 
 for self; a vow of faith in his becoming a child of 
 God through the communion with His only-begotten 
 Son in the Holy Ghost ; a vow of the most solemn 
 kind, for life and for death. The keeping of this pledge 
 
 * Hippolytus, an ancient Christian writer, who was born in the 
 latter part of the second century, and who died a martyr in the 
 reign of the Emperor Maximinus, about a.d. 236. A Greek work, 
 found among the literary treasures on Mount Athos, is believed to 
 be from his pen. 
 
 G 
 
82 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 was the condition of continuance in the Church ; its 
 infringement entailed repentance or excommunication. 
 All Church discipline was based upon this voluntary- 
 pledge, and the responsibility thereby self-imposed. But 
 how could such a vow be received without examination ? 
 How could such examination be passed without instruc- 
 tion and observation ? 
 
 "As a general rule, the ancient Church fixed three 
 years for this preparation, supposing the candidate, 
 whether heathen or Jew, to be competent to receive 
 it. With Christian children, the condition was the 
 same, except that the term of probation was curtailed 
 according to circumstances. Pedobaptism, in the more 
 modern sense, meaning thereby baptism of newborn 
 infants, with the vicarious promises of parents or other 
 sponsors, was utterly unknown to the early Church ; 
 not only down to the second, but indeed to the middle 
 of the third century. We shall show, in a subsequent 
 page, how, towards the close of the second century, 
 this practice originated in the baptism of children of 
 a more advanced age. 
 
 " Hence we find in the Christian school of that 
 period, four great acts, three of which were common 
 both to the new converts and to Christian children : 
 previous examination of the Jewish or heathen candi- 
 dates who presented themselves ; instruction ; exami- 
 nation immediately before immersion and the taking 
 of the vow; and lastly, that ceremony itself" (Vol. 
 ii. p. 105, 2nd Ed.) 
 
 The learned Walafrid Strabo, who wrote a book on 
 the Beginnings and Additions in Ecclesiastical Affairs 
 (De Exordiis et Incrementis Rerum Ecclesiasticarum), 
 makes the following statement : — " It is to be noted that 
 in primitive times, the grace of baptism was accustomed 
 to be given only to those who, in body and mind, had 
 
SALMASIUS AND SUICERUS. 85 
 
 come to such maturity as to be able to know and under- 
 stand what benefit is to be obtained in baptism, what 
 is to be professed, and what to be believed, and finally 
 what is to be observed by the newborn in Christ." 
 (Notandum quod primis temporibus illis solum modo 
 baptism! gratiam dari solitam qui et corporis et mentis 
 integritate jam ad hoc pervenerant, ut scire et intelligere 
 possunt quid emolument! in baptismo consequendum, 
 quid confidendum atque credendum, quid postremo 
 renatis in Christo esset servandum.) 
 
 Salmasius, and Suicerus who quotes him, state that, 
 " for the two first centuries, no one received baptism, who 
 was not first instructed in the faith and doctrine of Christ, 
 so as to be able to answer for himself, that he believed, 
 because of those words, ' He that believeth and is bap- 
 tized.' " (Primis duobus sseculis nemo baptismum 
 accipiebat, nisi qui, in fide instructus et doctrina Christ! 
 imbutus, testari posset, se credere, propter ilia verba, 
 " Qui crediderit et baptizatus fuerit." TAes. Eccles. !!.) 
 
 These statements rest upon abundant proofs furnished 
 us by the history of the earliest centuries of the Christian 
 era. Justin Martyr, in his First Apology, informs us 
 that baptism was administered only to adults. He 
 says : " We were (corporeally) born without our will 
 (/car' avd'yKrjv), but we are not to remain children of 
 necessity and ignorance, but in baptism are to have 
 choice, knowledge, &c. This we learned from the 
 Apostles." He speaks of the baptism of believers 
 as follows : — " They who are persuaded and believe 
 that those things which are taught by us are true, 
 and promise to live according to them, are directed 
 first to pray and ask of God, with fasting, the forgive- 
 ness of their former sins, and we also pray and fast 
 together with them. Then we bring them to some 
 place where there is water, and they are regenerated 
 
 G 2 
 
84 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. " 
 
 by the same way of regeneration by which we were 
 regenerated ; for they are washed in water in the name 
 of God the Father and Lord of all things, and of our 
 Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit." * 
 
 In the same Apology, Justin Martyr says that "this 
 washing is called illumination, because they who learn 
 these things are enlightened in their mind." t 
 
 TertuUian advises the postponement of baptism in the 
 case of young children in the following terms : — 
 
 "According to the condition, disposition, and age of 
 each, the delay of baptism is peculiarly advantageous, 
 especially in the case of little children. Why should 
 the sponsors be brought into danger ? For they may 
 fail by death to fulfil their promises, or through the 
 perverseness of the child. Our Lord, indeed, says : 
 ' Forbid them not to come unto me.' Let them come, 
 then, when of adult age. Let them come when they 
 can learn, when they are taught whither they are 
 coming. Let them become Christians when they shall 
 have learned Christ. Why hasten that innocent age to 
 the forgiveness of sins (baptism). In worldly matters men 
 observe greater caution, so that he is entrusted with 
 divine things, to whom those of earth are not confided." 
 (Pro cujusque personse conditione ac dispositione, 
 etiam aetate, cunctatio baptismi utilior est ; praecipue 
 tamen circa parvulos. Quid enim necesse est sponsores 
 
 Ocrot av 7retcr^aJo"t Kat Trto'revoxTiv dXyjOrj ravra to. v(f) rju.oiv 
 otoauKO/ieva Kai Xiyofjieva elvai, Koi (iiovv ovtui^ Svvaadai vTn(r)(yu)VTai, 
 iV)(i(T6ai re koI alruv VTicrreijovTts Trapa tov Oiov twv Trportu.aoTnu.iviitv 
 a^ecriv oioa(TKOVTai, yjjxuiv crvvtvy^oixauiv Kat (TvvurjfrTevovToyv avroLi. 
 EireiTa ayovrat i<f> rjfjLuiv f.v6a vSuip ian, koi rpoTrov avay€vvrjmm<;, ov 
 /cat ijjaets avToi aviy€vvi^6rjp.ev, avayevvutvrai. 'Ett' ovo/iaros yap tov 
 Trarpos tSv o/Vcov Kai Aeo-n-orov 0€ov, koL tov o-wr^pos rj/xtov Irjcrov Xpto-rov, 
 Kai TTveu/xaTos ayiov, to iv to) vSan t6t€ XovTpbv TroiovvTai. (Justin 
 Martyr, ApoL i. 6i.) 
 
 f KaXcirat Se tovto to Xovrpov <j>o)TLa-/ji6<;, (Ls (jficoTi^o/icvcov ttjv Sidvoiav 
 tS)V Tavra fji.av9av6vTU)v. {Apol. i. c. 6i.), 
 
TERTULLIAN AND ORIGEN. 85 
 
 etiam periculo ingeri ? Quia et ipsi, per mortalitatem 
 destituere promissiones suas possunt, et proventu malae 
 indolis falli. Ait quidem Dominus : " Nolite illos pro- 
 hibere ad me venire." Veniant ergo, dum adolescunt. 
 Veniant dum discunt, dum quo veniant docentur. 
 Fiant Christian! cum Christum nosse potuerint. Quid 
 festinat innocens eetas ad remissionem peccatorum r 
 Cautius agetur in ssecularibus, ut cui substantia terrena 
 non creditur, divina credatur. De Baptismo, c. xviii.) 
 
 Alluding to this passage, the well-known Church 
 historian, Neander, says : — " Tertullian evidently means 
 that children should be led to Christ by instructing 
 them in Christianity; but that they should not receive 
 baptism until, after having been sufficiently instructed, 
 they are led from personal conviction, and by their own 
 free choice, to seek for it, with sincere longings of heart." 
 (Church History, vol. i. p. 312. — Torrey's translation.) 
 
 Origen says, in his fourth Homily on the Book of 
 Joshua : — " I beseech you not to come to baptism but 
 with great circumspection. Show previously fruits 
 meet for repentance, spend some time in godly con- 
 versation, preserving yourselves from all defilements and 
 vices, and then you will receive the remission of sins." 
 
 In his thirteenth Homily on the Book of Numbers, 
 the same Father addresses thus the members of the 
 church : — " Let each one of the believers recall to mind 
 when he first came to the waters of baptism, when he re- 
 ceived the first symbols of the faith, when he approached 
 the fountain of salvation, what words he there used at that 
 time, how he renounced the devil, that he would not use 
 his pomps, nor his works, nor comply at all with any of 
 his services and pleasures."* 
 
 * Origen : — Recordetur unusquisque fidelium, ciim primum venit 
 ad aquas baptismi, cim signacula fidei prima suscepit, et ad 
 fontem salutaris accessit, quibus ibi tunc usus sit verbis, et quid 
 
86 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 In his work against Celsus (book iii. chapter 59), a 
 passage is quoted from Celsus in which after men- 
 tioning what intelligent and respectable persons are 
 invited to initiation in the sacred mysteries among 
 the heathen, this acute and bitter adversary of Chris- 
 tianity proceeds thus : — 
 
 "And now let us hear what persons the Christians 
 invite. Whoever, they say, is a sinner, whoever is 
 unintelligent, whoever is a mere child, and, in short, 
 whoever is a miserable and contemptible creature, the 
 kingdom of God shall receive him." * 
 
 Origen then subjoins : " In reply to these accusa- 
 tions we say, It is one thing to invite those who are 
 diseased in the soul to a healing, and it is another to 
 invite the healthy to a knowledge and discernment 
 of things more divine. And we, knowing the differ- 
 ence, first call men to be healed. We exhort sinners 
 to come to the instruction that teaches them not to 
 sin, and the unintelligent to come to that which pro- 
 duces in them understanding, and the little children to 
 rise in elevation of thought to the man, and the miserable 
 to come to a fortunate state, or (what is more proper 
 to say) to a state of happiness. But when those of the 
 exhorted that make progress show that they have been 
 cleansed by the word, and, as much as possible, have 
 lived a better life, then we invite them to be initiated 
 among us {i.e., baptized.)" f 
 
 renuntiaverit diabolo, non se usurum pompis ejus, neque operibus 
 ejus, neque uUis omnino servitus ejus ac voluptatibus pariturum 
 (Horn. xiii. In Numeros). 
 
 * 'YTraKovaoificv Se Ttvas ttotc ovtoi, KaXovaiV outis {(fifjalv) a/iapToiXos, 
 oVtis dcrwtTOs, oarii vqttlo'S, kol cos aTrASs eiiriiv, oo-jis KaKoSaLfjiwv 
 TOVTOV rj ySacrtXcta tov 6eov Se^erat. 
 
 ]' IIpos Tavra Sc tfiafjiev oti ov TavTov eort vocrovvTa's ttjv \f/v)(Tjv IttI 
 depcLTrelav KaXeZv, koI vyLaiVovrai eTri rfjv tS>v Oeiojeprnv yi/(U(Ttv Koi 
 hruTTrjjXTiv. Kat ij/Aets §€ a/x^oTepa ravra ytyi/couKOVTCS, Kar a.p)(rjv [lev 
 
BAPTISM FOLLOWS INSTRUCTION. 87 
 
 In the Apostolical Constitutions, we find the fol- 
 lowing direction : — " Instruct the catechumens in the 
 elements of religion, and baptize them." (Tou? Karr]- 
 'XpvjjL.evov'i a-Toi,^eiaiaavTe<s ParrTiaaTe). Const. Apost. lib. 
 vi. 18. 
 
 The fifth book of the Constitutions contains these 
 words : " Though he be but a catechumen let him 
 depart without trouble, for his suffering for Christ 
 will be to him a more genuine baptism, because he 
 does really die with Christ, but the rest only in a 
 figure."* 
 
 Chrysostom, in his forty-sixth Homily on the Acts 
 of the Apostles, relates that " The wrath of God once 
 fell upon (a city), and he being very young, (was) in 
 the order of deacon. The bishop was absent at the 
 time, and of the presbyters none took thought for the 
 matter, but indiscriminately they caused in one night 
 immense numbers of people to be baptized all at once, 
 and they did indiscriminately receive baptism, all of 
 them ignorant of everything." f 
 
 In the year 325, at the Council of Nicaea, Eusebius, the 
 
 wpoKoAov/u-evot an to OepaTrevd-rjvaL tov<s av6pwTrov%' TLpoTpiirofjiev tovs 
 afjLapTUiXow -^Keiv im tov'S StSao-Kovras Xoyovs fJ-rj a/xapTavetv, kol tous 
 acrvviTovs e^t roi)^ ifjiTroLovvrai crvve.(jLV, koI toii; vqTriovi eis to ava/Saiveiv 
 (jipov^p.aTi IttI tov avSpa, Koi Toiis ciTrAais KaKoSat/xoras iirl tvSaip.ovLav rj 
 {oirep KvpiSn-epov icrriv d-n-eiv) iirl fiaKapiOTrjTa. 'E-n-av S' 01 Trpo/coirroi/Tes 
 Twv TTpoTpa-irevTiDv irapatTTijcroocrt to K€Ka0a.p6ai viro tov \6yov, /cat, oarj 
 Swa/its, /SiXTiov PejiimK^ai, to T7jviKa.Se /caAov/xev avrov^ im Tas Trap' 
 fiplv TtXeTas. 
 
 * Kav KaTT}\ovp,(.vois rj, aXuTros arrLTix)' to yap iraOo'i to virep ILpiaTOv 
 eo'Tat avTw yvijcnurrepov ^aTTTter/xa" oti avTo'; /xev Trctpa ovvaTTodvqa'Ku T(3 
 KvpiM, ol 8e AoiTTot, Tvma. (^Ap. Const, lib. v. c. 6.) 
 
 f Chrysostom : — ETrcTrccrev opyfj T^ore TOV Beov, koX a<f>6Spa ve'os 
 SiV CKUVO'S, Koi £V Trj TOV SiaKovov TOL^u Tvyyiavwv, lirii tote 6 liricTKOTroi 
 €TV-)(a' airwv Kar iKcivov tov Katpov, Kal tu>v 7rpea-l3vTe.po)V ouSets ec^povTt^ci/, 
 a\\' d7rXa)9 i-rroir]<jav <()uyTia-6rjvai aOpoov iv fJLiS, vvktI /tvpiaSas TroXXag, 
 Kol a?rXu)S Ijia-KTiifiVTO irdvTcs ovSiv eiSoTes. (Hom. xlvi. In Act. 
 
 Apost.) 
 
88 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 ecclesiastical historian, prepared a document for the sig- 
 nature of the 3 1 8 bishops who were there, and read it 
 in the presence of Constantine the Great, and of the whole 
 council. It is preserved in the Greek original, both by 
 Socrates and by Theodoret, in their ecclesiastical his- 
 tories ; and in it Eusebius says : " As we have received 
 from the bishops that were before us, both in the previous 
 catechetical instrii,ction and also when we received the laver ; 
 as we have learned from the Divine Scriptures, and as, 
 in the presbytery itself, and also in the episcopate, we 
 have believed and taught, so also now believing, we 
 set forth our belief, and it is this : ' We believe,' etc. 
 (Ka6a)<; vapeXd/Sofiev -rrapa twi' "rrpo rifiSiV eTriaKOTrav, koI 
 ev TT) TTpcoT'T] KaT7]~)(r)aei, koX ore Koi to Xovrpof eKap,l3dvofjLev, &c. 
 Socrates, lib. i. c. 8; Theodoret, lib. i. c. 12). In his 
 Evangelical Demonstration, Eusebius informs us that 
 " there are three orders in each church : one, that of 
 the leaders, and two, those of persons under them ; the 
 people of the Church of Christ being divided into two 
 orders, into that of believers, and into that of the 
 persons not yet esteemed worthy of regeneration by the 
 laver." {Tpia Ka%' eKacTTTjv eKKkijalav rdyfiara, ev fiev to 
 Tcov rjyovp,evQ}V, Svo Se to, tcov VTTO^e^rjKOTOiV, tov tij? iKK\'r]aia<; 
 Tov XpiaTOv Xaov ei? Svo TdyfiaTa hi7)p7}fievov, e't? re to tcov 
 TTt^TWj', Kol tS)v firjSeTTO) T»5? Bod XovTpov •jraXiyyeveaia'i 
 rj^iwp,evQ)v. Demonstrat. Evangel, lib. vii.) 
 
 In the year 315, a Council was held at Neo-Caesarea, 
 in Asia Minor. Among the canons adopted by this 
 assembly is the following : " Concerning a woman who is 
 pregnant (we decide) that she ought to be baptized when- 
 ever she pleases ; for, in this matter, the mother com- 
 municates nothing to the child, since the deliberate 
 purpose in the profession of faith is declared each one's 
 own." (Ilepl Kvo(f>opova7j^, otv Set (prnTo^ecr^ao oiroTe /SouXeTai' 
 oiiBkv yap iv tovtw KOivcovel 17 TiKTOvaa Tat Tt,KT0/j,ev(p, Sid 
 
GROTIUS AND ATHANASIUS. 89 
 
 TO eKacTTov ISiav rrjv Trpoalpecnv Trjv eVt rrj ofioXoyia SeiK- 
 vva-^^ai.) In his note on Matthew xix. 14, Grotius mentions 
 this canon, and adds : " For, however diversely interpreters 
 may explain, it is manifest that the question was there- 
 fore moved concerning the baptism of the pregnant, 
 because the child might appear to be baptized at the 
 same time with the mother, while the custom was not to 
 baptize any, unless upon one's own choice and profession." 
 (Utcunque enim aliovorsum trahant interpretes, adparet, 
 ideo de baptismo praegnantium motam questionem, quod 
 videretur cum matre simul proles baptizari, quae tamen 
 baptizari non soleret, nisi super propria voluntate ac pro- 
 fessione. In Novum. Test. Annotat. vol. i. p. 385. Edit. 
 1 755-) In his Compendium of Canons, a Greek com- 
 mentator, Balsamo, says in reference to the decision 
 of the Council : " The child cannot be baptized, because 
 it is not yet born, and has not the deliberate purpose 
 of the profession connected with the divinely-appointed 
 baptism." {Ov Suvarai, ^coria^vai Boa to firjKiri, et? (f)a><; 
 iX^etv, fiTjSe irpoaipeaiv 'iyeiv t^? 6fio\oyM<; rov S-et'ov 
 ^aTTTia-fiaroq.) Another writer, Zonaras, with equal 
 clearness, expresses himself thus : " The embryo needs 
 baptism when it shall be able to have the deliberate 
 purpose." (To e/x^pvov ■x^p^^ei ySaTrrio-yaaTO? ore irpoai- 
 pelaSat Swijaerai..) (From Infant Baptism, by Rev. Dr. 
 Chase.) 
 
 Athanasius, in his exposition of Matthew's Gospel, says : 
 " For this cause our Saviour has not simply commanded 
 to baptize, but first He said ' teach,' and then ' baptize in 
 the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost,' so 
 that faith might come from learning, and the perfecting of 
 baptism added to faith." {Aia tovto yovv koI 6 2«bt^/c» ov'^^ 
 airXSyi ivereiXaro /SaTTTtfeiv, aXXa irpMTOv cprjat,, MadrjTevarjTe 
 eld^ oiiTO) Pairri^ere et? ovofia UaTpo^, Koi vlov, Kol ayiov 
 TTvevfiaTO^ iV e/c Tr)^ fia6^creco<;, V Trt'crTts opOrj yivTjTai, KaX 
 
90 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 (lera 7rt'crTea)<f r) tov ^aTTTiafiaro'i reXelaxn^ vpoaTedrj. OratlO 
 ii. contra Arianos.) 
 
 The Council of Laodicea, held in A.D. 360, decreed that 
 " those who are to be baptized must learn the faith, and 
 on the fifth week rehearse it to the bishop or to the pres- 
 byter." {"Oti, Sei TOV<; (pcoTi^ofj^ivov; rrjv TTuaTiv eKfiayddvuv, 
 Koi TTJ TrefjbTTTrjTov 6/38o/xaSo? aTrajyeXXeiv tw einaKOTra), r] Tax's 
 irpea^vrepoi'^. Canon xlvi.) 
 
 Gregory of Nazianzen, though born after his father 
 became a bishop, and most carefully educated, it is well 
 known, was not baptized till he was nearly thirty years 
 old. He was, in many respects, a great and a good 
 man. His piety was ardent and sincere, and his bene- 
 volence led him to devote the whole of his income to 
 the relief of the poor and afflicted. This celebrated 
 Fatljer advised delay in administering baptism to children 
 till " they were three years old, or a little less or more, 
 for then," he adds, " they are able to hear and answer 
 the mystical words, and though they do not perfectly 
 understand, they may receive impressions. . . ." (^IlepX 
 Si Twv dWcov SlSai/jiai yycofitjv t^v Tpierlav avap.eivavTa';, 
 rj fJUKpov evTO's TOVTOV, rj virep tovto, 'qviKa koX aKovaal to 
 fJivaTiKOV, Kal airoKpiveadai SvvaTOV' el kol fjirj crvvievTa 
 TfiXeco?, aXK ovv TVTroviJ,eva, ovTU)<i dytd^eiv koX ■^v)(a<; Kal 
 acofiuTa Tbi fiejdXm fivaTrjpLcp ttj? TeXetcocreo)?. {Orat xl. De 
 Bapi.) 
 
 Basil the Great was not baptized until he was twenty 
 years old, though his parents and grandparents were 
 persons of distinguished piety. Addressing catechu- 
 mens, some of whom at least were children of Christians, 
 he says : " Do you demur, and loiter, and put it off, when 
 you have been from a child catechized in the Word ? 
 Are you not acquainted with the truth ? Having been 
 always learning it, are you not yet come to the know- 
 ledge of it .? A seeker all your life long, a considerer 
 
CHRYSOSTOM AND AMBROSIUS — WHEN BAPTIZED. 9 I 
 
 till you are old ? When will you become one of us ? 
 Last year you were for staying till this year, and now 
 you have a mind to stay till next. Take heed that, by 
 promising yourself a longer life, you do not quite miss 
 of your hope. You don't know what change to-morrow 
 may bring." [Oratio. Exhort, ad Baptism)^ 
 
 Ephrem, Deacon of Edessa, and a learned writer of 
 the Syriac Church (died A.D. 379) was born of parents 
 who "were ennobled by the blood of martyrs in their 
 family, and had themselves both confessed Christ be- 
 fore the persecutors, under Diocletian or his successors." 
 They consecrated Ephrem to God from his cradle, like 
 another Samuel, but he was eighteen years old when 
 he was baptized. {Lives of the Saints, Art. "St. Ephrem.") 
 
 The Emperor Theodosius was baptized in the thirty- 
 fourth or thirty-fifth year of his age, though he had 
 been trained up from his childhood in the Christian 
 faith. 
 
 Nectarius, the immediate successor of Gregory Nazi- 
 anzen, was baptized only after he had been elected 
 to succeed him as bishop of Constantinople. 
 
 Chrysostom, the golden-mouthed preacher, also bishop 
 of Constantinople, and born of Christian parents, re- 
 ceived baptism at the age of twenty-eight, and after 
 having been catechized during three years by Melitus, 
 Bishop of Antioch. 
 
 Ambrosius, Bishop of Milan, was a citizen of Rome 
 and born in France in A.D. 340. At the time of his 
 birth, his father was preetorian prefect of Gallia Nar- 
 bonensis, but upon his death the widow repaired to 
 Rome with her family. Ambrosius received a religious 
 education, and was reared in the habits of virtuous 
 conduct by his mother, who was an accomplished woman, 
 and eminent for piety, but he was not baptized till he 
 had reached the age of thirty-four. 
 
92 THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 For such persons who were not yet deemed suitable 
 for baptism, according to the so-called Apostolic Consti- 
 tutions, special prayer in their presence was offered, 
 "that God would teach them His commands and His 
 ordinances, implant in them His saving and holy fear, 
 open the ears of their hearts, strengthen them in piety, 
 and tmite them to and 7iumher them with His flock .... 
 O God, who through Thy Christ didst appoint the 
 disciples to be teachers, tha.t men might learn piety ; 
 do Thou Thyself even now look down upon Thy servants 
 who are catechized in the gospel of Thy Christ, and 
 give them a new heart, and renew a right spirit in their 
 inward parts, that they may both know and do Thy 
 will with full purpose of heart, and with a willing soul. 
 Account them worthy of the holy initiation (baptism), 
 and unite them to Thy holy Church, and make them 
 partakers of the holy mysteries, through Christ our 
 hope, who for them suffered death ; through whom 
 glory and worship be given to Thee in the Holy Spirit, 
 for ever. Amen." (Book viii. c. 6.) 
 
 " Augustine, in the book of his Confessions," says 
 Walafrid Strabo, " relates, concerning himself, that he 
 continued a catechumen almost to the age of twenty- 
 five years, with the intention that, through this delay, 
 he, instructed distinctly on each subject, might be led 
 to choose freely for himself, and the ardent passions 
 of the slippery age cooling off, he might be better 
 able to preserve what was to be obtained in baptism" 
 (De Rer. Eccles.). And yet, we know that Augustine's 
 mother, Monica, was a woman of great piety, and 
 instructed him carefully in the principles of the Christian 
 religion. In his early youth he was in the rank of 
 the catechumens, and, falling dangerously ill, earnestly 
 desired to be baptized ; but the violence of the dis- 
 temper ceasing, his baptism was delayed until, after 
 
INSTRUCTION FIRST : BAPTISM AFTERWARDS. 93 
 
 a course of idleness and dissipation, he became a 
 penitent believer. 
 
 Jerome, who was baptized at the age of thirty-one, 
 says, in his Commentary on Matthew xxviii. 16-20: — ■ 
 " Primum docent omnes gentes, deinde doctas intingunt 
 aqua : Non enim potest fieri, ut corpus baptismi recipiat 
 sacramentum, nisi ante anima fidei susceperit veri- 
 tatem .... Ordo praecipuus : jussit apostolis ut 
 primum docerent universas gentes ; deinde fidei intin- 
 gerent sacramento, et post fidem ac baptisma, quae essent 
 observanda preeciperent." " First they teach all nations, 
 then baptize the taught with water, for it cannot be that 
 the body should receive the sacrament of baptism, unless 
 the soul shall have first received the truth of the 
 faith .... The order is important : He commands 
 the apostles first to teach the whole of the nations, then 
 to baptize them with the sacrament of faith; and after 
 faith and baptism, to teach them the things which are 
 to be observed." 
 
 Important words, which, if obeyed, would have pre- 
 vented the baptism of men by tribes and nations, and 
 the making of Christians by sacramental acts ! 
 
 From a very early period, undue importance was 
 attached to baptism because of its supposed relation 
 to the forgiveness of sins and to regeneration. Some 
 of the Fathers, especially Chrysostom, Clement of 
 Alexandria, Cyprian, and Augustine, in treating of 
 this subject, often indulge in exaggerated language, in 
 fanciful and absurd allegories, and in symbolical in- 
 terpretations.* They held that baptism was necessary to 
 salvation; that forgiveness accompanied it; that infants 
 were purged by it from the pollution of original sin ; 
 and that all persons dying without baptism were lost. 
 
 * Hagenbach's History of Doctrines. 
 
94 THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Thus Chrysostom says: "When we had committed 
 many and grievous sins, and had not ceased from 
 youth to extreme old age to defile our souls with ten 
 thousand evil deeds, for none of these sins did He 
 demand from us a reckoning, but granted us remission 
 of them by the washing of repentance, and fully gave 
 us righteousness and sanctification." {Horn, xxviii. 
 on John.)* 
 
 And again : " We risk no common danger ; for if it 
 should come to pass, and may it never happen, that 
 through the sudden arrival of death we depart hence 
 uninitiated (unbaptized), though we have ten thousand 
 virtues, our portion will be no other than hell, and the 
 venomous worm and fire unquenchable, and bonds in- 
 dissoluble." {Horn. XX. on John.) 
 
 Clement of Alexandria : " This work (Baptism) is 
 called Grace, Illumination, Perfection, Washing, by 
 which name it is called because it cleanses us from our 
 sins ; it is called Grace because it remits the punish- 
 ment due to our sins ; Illumination, because that holy 
 Light gives a clear insight into salvation, i.e., sharpens 
 our visions with respect to the Divine ; Perfection, be- 
 cause with it we need nothing more." {Pcedagogus, lib. i-. 
 cap. 6.) 
 
 "These bonds of sin are immediately broken by the 
 faith of man and the grace of God. Sins are remitted 
 to us by this admirable remedy of baptism, and we 
 immediately cease to be sinners. From being blind, 
 as we were before, we became clear sighted, for what 
 is taught to the catechumens is purely instruction to 
 
 * "Oti Trpaf avras TroAAa Koi yaXeKo. afxapTi^jxaTa, koX ov SiaXiTrovras diro 
 vcoTijTOS €ts i(T)(aTOV y^pas /xwptots ttjv i/'u^tji' KaTappvTraiveiv iavTu>v 
 KaKoIs, ouSevos tovt<i)V a.TTaiTrj(T€v evOvva.'; 17/Aas twv afxaprrjixciTuiv, aXX 
 cScDKEV avTuiv a</>ecriv Slo. XovTpov TraAiy-ycvecrtas Koi SiKaLoavvrjv Koi 
 dyLaa-ixoi/ ixapia-aro. {Hem. xxyiii. In Joan.') 
 
BAPTISM : A SYMBOL OF FORGIATENESS. 95 
 
 guide them to that faith, which is thus internally con- 
 veyed by the Holy Ghost." * (Ide?}i.) 
 
 Lactantius : " By one washing all wickedness is taken 
 away." {On Divine Institutes, bk. iii. ch. 26.) " Unolavacro 
 malitia omnis absolvitur." {De Div. Inst. lib. iii. c. 26.) 
 
 TertuUian : " In truth there is nothing which s o 
 hardeneth the minds of men, as the simplicity of the 
 divine works which is visible in the act, and the great- 
 ness which is promised in the result ; so that, in this 
 case also, because a man bows down into the water and 
 is washed therein with few words, with so much simplicity, 
 without pomp, without any novel preparation, and finally 
 without expense, riseth again, not much, or not a whit 
 cleaner, therefore his gaining eternity is thought in- 
 credible." {On Baptism, 2.)t 
 
 Cyprian: "All sins are put off in baptism." He 
 cites as proof, i Cor. vi. 9-10. "But ye are washed, but 
 ye are sanctified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and by the Spirit of our God." J 
 
 * KaXetrat Se 7roAAa;)(ms to epyov tovto ^dpicrfJLa, Koi <^a)Ttcr/xa, /cat TeActov, 
 Koi X.ovTp6v' \ovTp6v jjikv, 81 ov Tots afjcapTM's a.7roppvTrT6/j.(6a' y^dptcrfia Se, 
 (0 TO. IttI Tots ajxapTYiaamv iiriTLfjLLa dveirat" ^ojTicr/ia Se, SI ov to ayiov 
 exetvo <^(iis TO o'wTT^piov i-n-OTTTeveraL, TOvrio'Tiv 81 ov to Oetov 6^v(iiTrovfX.a/' 
 TiXeiov Se, to aTpoo-8e£S (^a/xev. {Pcsdagogus, lib. i. cap. 5.) 
 
 To, Se Sea/JLO. Tavra, rj Ta;^os, avLerai' iriimi pXv dvOptaTrivy], Oeirj 8e 
 TTj ^aptTt" dtjiiefieuoiv Twv TrXyjfji^eXrjpLaroiV ivi Hatcovto) ^ap^a/cw, Xoyt/cw 
 /SaTTTio'jj.aTL, TlavTa /j.ev ovv diro\ov6ix.i$a to. djxapTrjp.aTa, ovkItl 8e 
 io-ix€v irapd iroSa? KaKoi. {Idem.) 
 
 f Nihil adeo est quod tam obduret mentes hominum, quam sim- 
 plicitas divinorum operum quae in actu videtnr, et magnificentia 
 quae in effectu repromittitur : ut hie quoque quoniam tanta sim- 
 plicitate, sine pompa, sine apparatu novo aliquo, denique sine 
 sumptu homo in aqua demissus, et inter pauca verba tinctus, non 
 multo vel nihilo mundior resurgit, eo incredibilis existimetur con- 
 secutio Eternitatis. {De Baptismo, 2.) 
 
 \ (Dmnia delicta in baptismo deponi. In Epistola Pauli ad 
 Corinthios prima: Neque fornicarii, neque idolis servientes, neque 
 adulteri, neque, &c. 
 
 Et haec quidem fuistis, sed abluti estis, sed sanctificati estis, in 
 nomine Domini Jesu nostri Christi et in Spiritu Dei nostri. (i 
 Cor. vi. 11; Teslimoniorum, lib. iii. 65.) 
 
96 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 "I used to think that second birth, which Divine 
 mercy promised for my salvation, a hard saying accord- 
 ing to the life I then led ; as if a man could be so 
 quickened to a new life in the washing of the healing 
 water, as to put off his natural self, and keep his former 
 tabernacle, yet be changed in body and soul ! How 
 is it possible, said I, for so great a conversion to be 
 accomplished, so that both the obstinate defilement 
 of our natural substance, and old and ingrained habits, 
 should suddenly and rapidly be put off?" {Epistle to 
 Donatus, 3).* 
 
 " But after that life-giving water succoured me, washing 
 away the stain of former years, and pouring into my 
 cleansed and hallowed breast the light which comes 
 from above ; after that I drank in the Heavenly Spirit, 
 and was created into a new man by a second birth, 
 then marvellously what before was doubtful became 
 plain to me ; what was hidden was revealed ; what 
 was dark began to shine ; what was before difficult 
 seemed easy; what had seemed impossible could be 
 achieved ; what was in me of the guilty flesh now 
 confessed that it was earthy ; what the Holy Spirit 
 quickened in me began to grow unto God." {Epistle 
 to Donatiis, 4).t 
 
 * Difficile prorsus ac durum pro illis tunc moribus opinabar, quod 
 in salutem mihi divina indulgentia pollicebatur, ut quis renasci 
 denu6 posset, utque in novam vitam lavacro aquae salutaris 
 animatus, quod prius fuerat, exponeret, et corpora licet manente 
 compage, hominem animo ac mente mutaret. Qui possibilis, 
 aiebam, est tanta conversio, ut repente ac perniciter exuatur, quod 
 vel genuinum situ materise naturalis obduruit, vel usurpatum diu 
 senio vetustatis inolevit ? {Epist. ad Donatum, 3.) 
 
 t " Sad postquam undse genitalis auxilio superioris asvi labe 
 detersa, in expiatum pectus ac purum desuper lumen infudit ; 
 postquam, caelitus spiritu hausto, in novum me hominem 
 nativitas secunda reparavit ; mirum in modum protinus confirmare 
 se dubia, patere clausa, lucere tenebros.a, facultatem dare quod 
 
B A.PTISM — PURIFICATION — AUGUSTINE. 9 7 
 
 All, indeed, who proceed to the divine laver by the 
 sanctification of baptism, do there put off the old man 
 by the grace of the saving laver, and, being renewed 
 by the Holy Spirit, are cleansed from the filth of the 
 old contagion by a second nativity. {On the Dress of 
 Virgins, xxxiii.)* 
 
 Augustine : — " They who are baptized and forthwith 
 depart out of this life, come up (from the font) without 
 any debt ; without any debt they leave the world." 
 {^tith Serin, on Matt, vi.. Lord's Prayer ^-^ 
 
 " See, you are on the point of being baptized ; then 
 all your sins will be blotted out, none whatever will 
 remain. Whatever evil you have ever done, in deed, 
 or word, or desire, or thought, all will be blotted out." 
 {Serm. Iviii. 8.)+ 
 
 " By the grace of baptism and the bath of regeneration, 
 both the guilt itself wherewith thou wast born has been 
 done away, and all thy past acts of consent to evil 
 lust, in whatsoever deed, whether of impurity, or violence 
 in whatsoever evil thought, in whatsoever evil word, 
 all have been effaced in that font, wherein thou didst 
 
 prius difficile videbatur, geri posse quod impossibile putabatur, ut 
 asset agnoscere terrenum fuisse quod prius carnaliter natum delictis 
 obnoxium viveret, Dei esse coepisse quod jam Spiritus Sanctus 
 animaret." (Epist. ad Donat, 4.) 
 
 * Omnes quidem qui ad divinum lavacrum baptismi sanctifica- 
 tione perveniunt, hominem illic veterem gratia lavacri salutaris 
 exponunt, et innovati Spiritu Sancto a sordibus contagionis 
 antiquae iterata nativitate purgantur. {De Hahitu Virginian, 
 xxxiii.) 
 
 t " Qui baptizantur et exeunt, sine debito ascendunt, sine debito 
 pergunt." {Serm. Ivi. in Mall, vi., De Oral. Dom.) 
 
 \ " Ecce baptizabimini, omnia ibi vestra peccata delebuntur : 
 nullum omnino ibi remanebit. Si quid mali aliquando gessistis, 
 fecistis, dixistis, concupistis, cogitastis, totum delebitur. {Serm. 
 Ivii. 8.) 
 
 H 
 
98 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 enter a slave, whence thou earnest out free." (152nd 
 Sermon?) * 
 
 " Mark — Lo even now in the name of Christ by 
 His blood, whom they have now confessed, who are 
 called infants (the newlyrbaptized neophytes), have all 
 their sins been forgiven. They came in old, they went 
 out new. How, came in old, went out new ? Old men 
 they came in, infants they went out. For the old life 
 is old age with all its dotage, but the new life is the 
 infancy of regeneration." {^Treatise \st on John's Epistle^ t 
 
 " Man in holy baptism is washed every whit, not 
 excepting the feet, but the whole man altogether." 
 {Trad Ivi. 4.)$ 
 
 " You see, then, the whole unhappiness of the Jews 
 was, not that they had sin, but that they died in their 
 sins. This it is that every Christian ought to fly from ; 
 because of this, men run to baptism ; because of this, they 
 who are in danger by sickness, or any other cause, desire 
 us to come to their succour ; because of this, even the 
 sucking babe is by its mother with pious hands borne 
 to the church, that it may not depart without baptism, 
 and die in the sin wherein it was born. Most unhappy 
 the condition, wretched the lot, of those to whom it 
 
 * " Per gratiam baptismatis et lavacri regeneraiionis solutus est at 
 ipse reatus, cum quo eras natus, et quidquid antea consensisti 
 malae concupiscentiEe, sive quolibet flagitio, sive quolibet facinore, 
 sive qualibet mala cogitatione, sive qualibet mala locutione, omnia 
 deleta sunt in illo fonte, quo servus intrasti, unde liber existi." 
 {Serin, clii.) 
 
 f " Attendite : Ecce jam in nomine Christi per sanguinem ejus, 
 quern nunc confessi sunt isti qui appellantur infantes, mundata sunt 
 omnia peccata ipsorum. Veteres intraverunt, novi exierunt. Quid 
 est, Veteres intraverunt, novi exierunt ? Senes intraverunt, infantes 
 exierunt. Senectus enim veternosa, vetusta vita ; infantia autem 
 regenerationis, nova vita." {Tract i. in Epist. Joan.) 
 
 X " Homo in sancto baptismo totus abluitur, non praeter pedes, 
 sed totus omnino." {Tract Ivi. 4.) 
 
BAPTISM— PURIFICATION. gg 
 
 was said by the mouth of truth, In your sins ye shall 
 die." (TVai^/xxxviii. 6.)* 
 
 "Every man that is not absolved by the water of 
 regeneration, is tied and bound by the guilt of the original 
 bond. But that which the water of baptism avails for 
 us, this either faith alone did of old in behalf of infants, 
 or for those of riper years, the virtue of sacrifice, or 
 for all that came of the stock of Abraham, the very 
 mystery of circumcision. For that every living being is 
 conceived in the guilt of our first parent the Prophet 
 witnesses, saying : And in sin hath my mother conceived 
 me (Psa. li. 5). And that he who is not washed in 
 the water of salvation, does not lose the punishment 
 of original sin, Truth plainly declares in these words : 
 Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot 
 enter into the Kingdom of God," John iii. 5. {Morals on 
 Job, book iv.)t 
 
 " Since we derive original sin from our parents, and 
 are loosed from it only by the grace of baptism, we 
 
 * " Tota ergo infelicitas Judasorum ipsa erat, non peccatum 
 habere, sad in peccatis mori. Hoc est quod debet fugere omnis 
 Christianus ; propter hoc ad baptismum curritur ; propter hoc qui 
 segritudine vel aliunde periclitantur, sibi desiderant subveniri ; 
 propter hoc etiam sugens parvulus a matre piis manibus ad 
 ecclesiam fertur, ne sine baptismo exeat, et in peccato quo natus 
 est moriatur. Infelicissima conditio, misera sors istorum, qui de 
 ore veridico audierunt, "In peccatis vestris moriemini." {Tract 
 xxxviii. 6.) 
 
 f Quisquis regenerationis unda non solvitur, reatu primi vinculi 
 ligatus tenetur. Quod vero apud nos valet aqua baptismatis, hoc 
 egit apud veteres vel pro parvulis sola iides, vel pro majoribus 
 virtus sacrificii, vel pro his qui ex Abrahae stirpe prodierant, 
 mysterium circumcisionis. Nam quia unusquisque cum primi 
 parentis culpa concipitur, Propheta testatur, dicens : " Ecce em'm 
 in iniquitaiibus conceptus sum. (Psal. li. 7.) Et quia is qui salutis 
 unda non diluit, originaHs culpas suppUcia non amittit, apert^ per 
 semetipsam Veritas perhibet, dicens : " Nisi quis renatus fuerit 
 ex aqua et Spiritu Sancto, non habebit vilam CBternam." {foan. iii. 5 ; 
 Moralium. in fob, lib. iv.) 
 
 H 2 
 
100 THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 bear with us the sins of our very parents, seeing that 
 surely we are still one with them. And so ' He visiteth 
 the iniquity of the fathers upon the children,' when, on 
 account of the guilt of the parent, the soul of the 
 offspring is polluted by original sin. And again He 
 does not 'visit the sins of the fathers upon the 
 children,' in that we are freed from original sin by 
 baptism, we no longer own the sins of our fathers, but 
 those which we have ourselves been guilty of." {Morals, 
 book iv.) * 
 
 Isidore,! in his work De Offic. Ecclesiast. (c. 24), says 
 that " in baptism the stains of sin are washed away 
 through the bath of regeneration {ahluunfur per regentra- 
 tionis lavacritni) ; " and adds, " Therefore, when we are 
 baptized in Christ, we are born again of water {per aquam 
 renascimur), that being purified we might live." 
 
 These extracts might be increased a hundredfold. 
 This opinion of the absolute necessity of baptism arose 
 from a wrong understanding of our Lord's words, " Ex- 
 cept a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot 
 enter the kingdom of heaven." The Christian Fathers 
 seem to have unwittingly revived the notion of opus 
 
 * Peccatum quippe originale a parentibus trahimus, et nisi per 
 gratiam baptismatis solvemur, etiam parentum peccata portamus : 
 quia unum adhuc videlicet cum illis sumus. Reddit ergo peccata 
 parentum in filios, dum pro culpa parentis, ex originali peccato 
 anima polluitur prolis, et rursum non reddit parentum peccata in 
 filios, quia cum ab originali culpa per baptismum liberamur, jam 
 non parentum culpas, sed quas ipsi committimus, habemus. 
 {Morali. lib. xv.) 
 
 f Isidore, Bishop of Seville, flourished at the beginning of the 
 seventh century. He is among the earliest representatives of the 
 church in Spain, and was one of the most distinguished ecclesias- 
 tical writers of his time. His works, bearing on theological, 
 ascetical, liturgical, historical, and philosophical subjects, are very 
 numerous. The Mosarabic Liturgy, which became the text-book of 
 Spanish worship, was principally from his hand. 
 
TERTULLIAN — CYPRIAN. I o I 
 
 operahim which was so rife among the Romans in a state 
 of paganism, as would appear from the verses of Ovid : 
 
 Ah nimium faciles, qui tristia crimina caedis 
 Tolli fluminea posse piitatis aqua, {Fasl. 2, 45.) 
 
 (Ah, easy fools, to think that a whole flood 
 Of water e'er can purge the stain of blood ! ) 
 
 That the water used in baptism was believed to possess 
 the magic power of cleansing away every sin and purify- 
 ing the soul, is evident from the following statements 
 found in the writings of the Fathers. TertuUian says : 
 " The waters are made the sacrament of sanctification by 
 invocation of God. The Spirit immediately descends 
 from heaven ; and, resting upon them, sanctifies them 
 by Himself; and they, being so sanctified, imbibe the 
 power of sanctifying." (Aquae sacramentum sanctifi- 
 cationis consequuntur, invocato Deo. Supervenit enim 
 statim Spiritus de coelis, et aquis superest, sanctificans 
 eas de semetipso, et ita sanctificatsB, vim sanctificandi 
 combibunt. De Bapt. c. iv.) 
 
 Cyprian asserts that the water must first be cleansed 
 and sanctified by the priest, that he may, by his baptism, 
 wash away the sins of the man who is baptized ; for the 
 Lord says by the Prophet Ezekiel : " Then will I sprinkle 
 clean water upon you, and ye shall be cleansed from all 
 your filthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanse you ; 
 a new heai't also will I give you, and a new spirit will 
 I put within you." {Epistle Ixx. i.) * 
 
 The whole Council of Carthage, in the time of Cyprian, 
 says : " The water, sanctified by the prayer of the priest, 
 
 * Cyprian : Oportet ergo mundari et sanctificari aquam prius a 
 sacerdote, ut possit baptismo sue peccata hominis qui baptizatur 
 abluere ; quia per Ezechielem prophetam Dominus dicit : " Et 
 aspergam super vos aquam mundana, et mundabimini ab omnibus 
 immunditiis vestris, et ab omnibus simulacris vestris emundabovos, 
 et dabo vobis cor novum, et spiritum novum dabo in vobis." 
 {Epist. Ixx. I.) 
 
102 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 washes away all sins." (Aqua, sacerdotis prece sancti- 
 ficata, abluit delicta. Ap. Cyprian, p. 233.) 
 
 Cyril of Alexandria tells us "that the water is trans- 
 muted or changed in its nature, by the Holy Ghost, to a 
 sort of divine and ineffable power." [Aia t»5? tov JJvev- 
 /u,aTO<i ivepyeia^ to aladrjTov vScop tt^o? Belay riva kol dppTjTov 
 avacTToix^covTat, Siiva/xiv. In Joan, iii, 5). 
 
 Gregory Nyssen says : " Do not contemn the divine 
 laver, nor despise it as a common thing, because of the 
 use of water : for great and wonderful things are wrought 
 by it." (M^ Karacppov^ar]'; tov Oelov Xovrpov, firjSe m? KOtfov 
 dvrb 6^evTeXia7j<i, Bia Trjv ■y^prjaiv tov vSaTof to yap 
 evepyovv p-e<ya, Kau air' iiceivov Oav/naaTa yiveTai Ta TeXov- 
 fieva. De Bapt. Christi.) 
 
 Pope Leo goes one step further, and tells us, " that 
 baptism makes a change not only in the water, but in the 
 man that receives it ; for thereby Christ receives him, and 
 he receives Christ ,- and he is not the same, after baptism, 
 that he was before; but the body of him that is regene- 
 rated is made the flesh of Him that was crucified." 
 (Susceptus a Christo, Christumque suscipiens, non idem 
 post lavacram, qui ante baptismum fuit, sed corpus re- 
 generati fit caro crucifixi. Serin, xiv. de Passiona.) 
 
 Optatus affirms that Christ comes down by the invo- 
 cation, and joins Himself to the waters of baptism. 
 " This is the Fish (meaning Christ), which is brought 
 down upon the waters of the font in baptism, by invo- 
 cation and prayer. (Hie est Piscis, qui in baptismata 
 per invocationem fontalibus undis inseritur. Co7ti. 
 Pannen. lib. iii.) 
 
 In the Apostolical Constitutions, we find a form of 
 prayer for the consecration of the water. It goes under 
 the title of " thanksgiving over the mystical water." 
 The priest blesses and praises the Lord God Almighty, 
 the Father of the only-begotten God, giving Him thanks. 
 
THE BLESSING OF THE WATER. 103 
 
 for that He sent His Son to be incarnate for us, that 
 He might save us ; that He took upon Him, in His in- 
 carnation, to be obedient in all things ; to preach the 
 kingdom of heaven, the remission of sins, and the re- 
 surrection of the dead. After this, he adores the only- 
 begotten God ; and for Him gives thanks to the Father, 
 that He took upon Him to die for all men upon the 
 cross, leaving the baptism of regeneration as a type 
 or symbol of it. He further praises God the Lord of 
 all, that, in the name of Christ and by the Holy Spirit 
 not rejecting mankind. He showed Hiniself at divers 
 times, in divers providences, towards them ; giving 
 Adam a habitation in a delicious paradise ; then laying 
 upon him a command, in His providence, upon the trans- 
 gression of which He expelled him in His justice ; but 
 in His goodness, did not wholly cast him off, but disci- 
 plined his posterity in divers manners ; for when, in 
 the end of the world. He sent His Son to be made man 
 for the sake of man, and to take upon Him all the 
 affections of men, sin only excepted. After this thanks- 
 giving, the priest is to call upon God, and say : " Look 
 down from heaven, and sanctify this water ; give it 
 grace and power, that he that is baptized therein, ac- 
 cording to the command of Christ, may be crucified 
 with Him, and die with Him, and be buried with Him, 
 and rise again with Him, to that adoption which 
 comes by Him ; that, dying unto sin, he may live unto 
 righteousness." ("Ort KUTiSe i^ ovpavov, kol ayiaaov to 
 iihcop TOVTO' So? Be X'^P'-^ '^^' Suuafiiv, waTe tov ^aTTTO^ofievov, 
 Kar'evro\rjv tov XpiaTov aov, avTw> avaTavpa>drivai, koI 
 a-vvarroOavelv, Kal avvTa<^rjvai, kol avvavaarrjvaL et? viodealav, 
 TTjv iv avTO), tS veKpwOrjvai jJbev tjj af^apTia, ^rjaai Se ttj 
 BiKaioavvrj. Lib. vii. c. xliii.) 
 
 This prayer was subsequently developed into the 
 following liturgy called the "Benedictio Fontis," which 
 
I04 
 
 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 may be found in a manuscript of the ninth century at 
 the library of the Minerva in Rome. The Blessing of the 
 Font is represented in the annexed woodcut (Fig. 15), in 
 which the bishop, surrounded by his clergy, pronounces a 
 special blessing upon the baptismal waters, previous to 
 administering the rite. This liturgy forms part of the 
 Roman Missal, restored agreeably to the decree of the 
 Council of Trent, edited by order of Pius V., and revised 
 and ratified by the authority of Clement VIII. and 
 Urban VIII. 
 
 The Blessing of the Font (Benedidio Fontis) . 
 " The reading of the Prophecies being concluded, the 
 priest, going to bless the font, puts on a violet-coloured 
 
 fig. 15. Blessing of the Font. From a MS. in Library of La Minerva, Rome. 
 
 pluvial, and, preceded by the cross, with candelabra, 
 and the hallowed taper lighted, descends to the font 
 with the clergy, &c., chanting : — 
 
 Omnipotens sempiterne Dens, 
 idesto magnae pietatis tus mys- 
 teriis; adesto sacrameutis; et ad 
 recreandos novos populos, quos 
 tibi fons baptismatis parturit, 
 spiritum adoptionis emitte ; ut 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Almighty and everlasting God, 
 be present at the mysteries of 
 Thy goodness ; be present at 
 Thy sacraments, and send forth 
 the spirit of adoption to regene- 
 rate the new members whom 
 
THE BLESSING OF THE WATER. 
 
 105 
 
 quod nostrse humilitatis geren- 
 dum est ministerio, virtutis tuae 
 impleatur eifectu. Per Christum 
 Dominum nostrum. Amen. 
 
 Deus, qui invisibili potentia 
 tua, sacramentorum tuorum 
 mirabiliter, operaris affectum, et 
 licet nos tantis mysteriis exe- 
 quandis simus indigni ; tu tamen 
 gratise tuae dona non deseris, 
 etiam ad nostras preces auras 
 tuae pietatis inclina. Daus, 
 cujus Spiritus super aquas inter- 
 ipsamundi primordia ferebatur ; 
 ut jam tunc virtutem sanctifica- 
 tionis aquarum natura conciperet . 
 Deus, qui nocentis mundi 
 crimina per aquas abluens, re- 
 generationis speciem in ipsa 
 diluvii effusione signasti ; unius 
 ejusdemque element! mysterio 
 et finis esset vitiis, et origo 
 virtutum. 
 
 Respice, Domine, in faciem 
 ecclesias tuae, et multiplica in 
 regenerationes tuas ; qui gratiae 
 tuae effluentis impetu laetificas 
 civitatem tuam ; fontemque bap- 
 tismatis aperis toto orbe ter- 
 rarum gentibus innovandis ; ut 
 tuae Majestatis imperio sumat 
 Unigeniti tui gratiam de Spiritu 
 Sancto. 
 
 Hie sacerdos manu extensa 
 dividit aquam in modum crucis, 
 et earn statim linteo extergit, 
 dicens : — 
 
 Qui hanc aquam regene- 
 randis hominibus praeparatara 
 
 the fountain of baptism brings 
 forth to Thee; that what the 
 ministry of our humility is about 
 to perform may be filled with 
 the efficacy of Thy might. 
 Through Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
 Then elevating his voice, and 
 joining his hands, he proceeds 
 as follows : — 
 
 O God, who, by the invisible 
 power, marvellously workest the 
 effect of Thy sacraments, al- 
 though we be unworthy to take 
 part in so great mysteries, Thou 
 wilt not forsake the gifts of Thy 
 grace, but wilt incline Thine 
 ears to our prayers. O God, 
 whose Spirit moved on the 
 waters at the beginning of the 
 world, so that the nature of the 
 waters might conceive the virtue 
 of sanctification. O God, who, 
 washing away the crimes of the 
 wicked world by water, didst 
 signify a kind of regeneration in 
 the affusion of the deluge, that 
 by the mystery of one and the 
 same element an end might be 
 put to sin and a beginning to 
 virtue. 
 
 Look, O Lord, upon the face 
 of Thy Church, and multiply 
 therein Thy regenerations, who 
 makest joyful Thy city with the 
 quick flowings of abundant 
 grace ; and dost open the foun- 
 tain of baptism for the renewing 
 of the nations of the whole 
 world ; that at the command of 
 Thy Majesty, it may receive 
 from the Holy Ghost the grace 
 of Thy Only-Begotten. 
 
 Here the priest, stretching 
 out his hand, divides the water 
 in the shape of the cross, and 
 having wiped his hand in a 
 towel, proceeds : — 
 
 May He (Holy Ghost) render 
 prolific this water prepared for 
 
io6 
 
 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 arcana sui luminis admixtione 
 fcecundet; utsanctificatione con- 
 cepta, ab immaculato divini 
 Foiitis utero in novam renata 
 creaturam progenies coelestis 
 emergat. . . . Procul ergo hinc, 
 jubente te, Domine, omnis 
 spiritus immundus abscedat : 
 procul tota nequitia diabolicse 
 fraudis absistat. Nihil hie loci 
 habeat contrariae virtutis admix- 
 tio ; non insidiando circum- 
 volet ; non latendo subripiat : 
 non inficiendo corrumpat. 
 Sit hsec — (aquam manu tangit) 
 — sancta at innocens creatura, 
 libera ab omni impugnatoris 
 incursu, et totius nequitiae pur- 
 gata discessu. Sit Fons vivus, 
 aqua regenerans, unda puri- 
 ficans : ut omnes hoc lavacro 
 salutifero diluendi, operante in 
 eis Spiritu Sancto, perfectas pur- 
 gationis indulgentiam conse- 
 quantur. Unde — (facit tres 
 cruces supra fontem, dicens :) — 
 Benedico te, creatura aquae, per 
 Deum + vivum, per Deum + 
 verum, per Deum + sanctum : 
 per Deum, qui te in principio 
 verbo separavit ab arida, cujus 
 Spiritus super te ferebatur. ( Hie 
 manu aquam dividit, et effundit 
 earn versus quatuor mundi partes, 
 dicens) : — ^Qui te de paradisi 
 fonte manare fecit, et in quatuor 
 fluminibus totam terram rigare 
 praecepit. Qui te in deserto 
 amaram, suavitate indita, fecit 
 essepotabilem; etsitienti populo 
 de petra produxit. Benedico te 
 et per Jesum Christum, Filium 
 ejus unicum Dominum nostrum. 
 Qui te in Ghana Galilae signo 
 admirabili suapotentia convertit 
 in vinum. Qui pedibus super te 
 ambulavit, et k Johanne in Jor- 
 dane in te baptizatus est. Qui 
 te unam cum sanguine de latere 
 
 the regeneration of men by the 
 secret inward admixture there- 
 with of His Deity ; that a sanc- 
 tifying energy being conceived 
 in it, there do emerge from the 
 immaculate womb of the divine 
 Font a heavenly progeny, born 
 again into a new creature. . . . 
 Therefore, far hence away, at 
 Thy bidding, O Lord, let every 
 unclean spirit depart : far hence 
 all subtletyand malice of devilish 
 deceit keep aloof. No mixture 
 of adverse power here have 
 place : nor hover round ensnar- 
 ing, nor creep in secretly lurk- 
 ing, nor mar by infecting. Be 
 this — (he touches the water with 
 his hand) — creature holy and 
 innocent, free from all incursion 
 of the assaulter, and purified by 
 the departure of all wickedness. 
 Be it a quickening Font, a re- 
 generating water, a purifying 
 flood ; that all who shall be 
 washed in this saving laver may 
 attain, by the Holy Ghost 
 operating on them, the blessing 
 of perfect purgation. Where- 
 fore — (here he makes three 
 crosses over the font) — I bless 
 thee, thou creature of water, by 
 the living + God ; by the true 
 + God ; by the holy + God ; 
 by the God, who in the begin- 
 ning by the Word did separate 
 thee from the dry land, whose 
 Spirit moved over thee. (He 
 divides the water, and pours it 
 forth towards the four quarters 
 of heaven, saying) : — Who made 
 thee to flow from the font of 
 Paradise, and in four rivers to 
 water the whole earth : who im- 
 parted sweetness to thy bitter- 
 ness in the desert, made thee 
 drinkable, and drew thee from 
 the rock to satisfy the people, 
 I bless thee ; and by Jesus Christ, 
 
THE BLESSING OF THE WATER. 
 
 107 
 
 suo produxit, et discipulis suis 
 jussit; ut credentes baptizarentur 
 in te, dicens : Ite, docete omnes 
 gentes, baptizantes eos in nomine 
 Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. 
 
 Hsec nobis prscepta servanti- 
 buSjtuDeus omnipotensclemens 
 adesto ; tu benignus aspira. Tu 
 has simplices aquas tuo ore bene- 
 dicito ; ut prseter naturalem 
 emundationem, quam lavandis 
 possunt adhibere corporibus, 
 sint etiam purificandis mentibus 
 efficaces. (Hie sacerdos paulu- 
 lum demittet cereum in aqua ; 
 et dicit) : — Descendat in banc 
 plenitudinem fontis virtus Spi- 
 ritus Sancti. (Deinde extractum 
 cereum de aqua, iterum pro- 
 fundius mergit, aliquanto altius 
 repetens : Descendat in lianc. 
 Postea cereum rursus de aqua 
 extractum tertio immergens us- 
 que ad fundum, altiori adhuc 
 voce repetit, Descendat, ut 
 supra. Et deinde sufBans ter 
 in aquam secundum banc 
 figuram *, prosequitur): — 
 
 Totam hujus aquas substantiam 
 regenerandi foecundet efFectu. 
 (Hie tollitur cereus de aqua, 
 prosequitur): — 
 
 His only Son, our Lord ; who in 
 Cana of Galilee, by a wonderful 
 sign of His power, turned thee 
 into wine ; who walked with His 
 feet upon thee, and was baptized 
 by John in thee in the Jordan ; 
 who produced thee,mingled with 
 blood from His side, and com- 
 manded His disciples that they 
 should baptize in thee those 
 that believed, saying : Go, teach 
 all nations, baptizing them in 
 the name of the Father, and of 
 the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 These commands being ob- 
 served by us, be graciously pre- 
 sent. Almighty God. (Breathing 
 thrice into the water in the 
 form of a cross, he adds) : O 
 Lord, breathe Thou graciously 
 herein. Bless these simple 
 waters with Thy mouth, that, in 
 addition to the natural cleansing 
 power which they can apply to 
 the washing of the bodies, they 
 may be efficacious also to the 
 purifying of the minds. (Here 
 the priest lets down the waxen 
 taper a little into the water, 
 saying) : May the power of the 
 Holy Ghost descend into the 
 fulness of the font. (Then, 
 extracting the taper from the 
 water, he again plunges it 
 deeper, saying, in a higher tone : 
 The might of the Holy Ghost, 
 &c., as before. He does the 
 same a third time, plunging it 
 to the bottom, and saying the 
 same words in a still higher tone. 
 Then blowing thrice into the 
 water, according to this figure, 
 *, he says) : — 
 
 And impregnate the entire 
 substance of this water with the 
 power of regeneration. (Here 
 the taper is taken out of the 
 water, and he proceeds, say- 
 ing) :— 
 
io8 
 
 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Hie omnium peccatorum ma- 
 culas deleantur : hie natura ad 
 imaginem tuam condita, et ad 
 honorem sui reformata principii, 
 cunctis vetustatis squaloribus 
 emundetur : ut omnis homo 
 hoc sacramentum regenerationis 
 ingressus, in verse innoeentiae 
 novam infantiam renaseatur. 
 Per Dominum nostrum Jesum 
 Christum, Filium tuum, qui ven- 
 turus est in Spiritu Sancto 
 judicare vivos et mortuos et 
 saeculum per ignem. Amen. 
 
 (Deinde perassistentes sacer- 
 dotes spargitur de ipsa aqua 
 benedicta super populum. Et 
 interim unus ex ministris ec- 
 clesiae accipit in vase aliquo de 
 eadem aqua ad aspergendum in 
 domibus et aliis locis. His 
 peractis, sacerdos qui benedicit 
 fohtem, infundit de oleo cate- 
 chumenorumin aquam inmodum 
 crucis, intelligibili voce dicens) : 
 
 Sanctificitur et fcecundatur 
 fons iste oleo salutis renascenti- 
 bus ex eo in vitam seternam. 
 Amen. 
 
 (Deinde infundit de chrismate 
 modo quo supra, dicens) : — 
 
 Infusio chrismatis Domini 
 nostri Jesu Christi, et Spiritus 
 Sancti Paraclete, fiat in nomine 
 Sanctse Trinitatis. R. Amen. 
 
 (Postea accipit ambas ampul- 
 las dicti olei sancti et chrismatis, 
 et de utroque simul in modum 
 crucis infundendo, dicit): — 
 
 Commixtio chrismatis sancti- 
 ficationis, et olei unctionis, et 
 aquae baptismatis, pariter fiat, in 
 nomine Pa+tris, et Fi+lii, et 
 Spiritus + Sancti. R. Amen. 
 
 May the stains of all sins be 
 here blotted out. Here may 
 human nature, formed after 
 Thine image, and refashioned 
 to its pristine glory, be cleansed 
 from its old and wretched defile- 
 ments, so that every man, having 
 received this sacrament of re- 
 generation, may be born again 
 to the new infancy of true inno- 
 cence. Through our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, Thy Son, who shall come 
 to judge the quick and dead, 
 and this world by fire. Amen. 
 
 (Then some of the same hal- 
 lowed water is sprinkled by the 
 assisting priests on the people. 
 Meanwhile one of the ministers 
 of the church takes in a vessel 
 some of the same water for 
 sprinkling in dwellings and 
 other places. After which, the 
 celebrant pours catechumenal 
 oil into the water, in the form of a 
 cross, saying, in an audible voice): 
 
 Be this font sanctified and 
 made prolific by the oil of sal- 
 vation to those that are to be 
 born of the same unto eternal 
 life. R. Amen. 
 
 (Then he pours in some 
 chrismal oil, saying) : — 
 
 Be there an infusion herein of 
 the chrism of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ and of the Holy Ghost, 
 in the name of the Holy Trinity. 
 R. Amen. 
 
 (Next, he takes both the pots, 
 that of the holy oil and that of 
 the chrism, and pouring in from 
 both at once, in the form of the 
 cross, he says): — 
 
 Be there an admixture alike 
 together of the chrism of sancti- 
 fication, and the oil of unction, 
 and the water of baptism. In 
 the name of the Fa+ther, and 
 of the -\- Son, and of the Holy 
 -\- Ghost. R. Amen. 
 
BAPTISM : HOW DESCRIBED. 109 
 
 (Tunc miscet ipsum oleum (This done, he blends the oil 
 
 cum aqua, et spargit manu sua with the water, and scatters it 
 per omnem fontem.) with his hand over every part of 
 
 the font.) 
 
 From its supposed spiritual effects, baptism was styled 
 the " laver of regeneration " (\ovTpbv TraXi,yy6vecrla<;, 
 Greg. Nazianzen, Orat, xl. De Bapt), " the water of 
 life" [vScop ^'coij?, Justin Martyr, Dialog.), "remission of 
 sins" (remissionem peccatorum, Cone. Roman, can. vii.), 
 "sacrament of grace" (sacramentum gratiae, Augustine. 
 De Bapt. lib. v. c. 21), " death of sins" (mors peccatorum, 
 in TertuUian, Cyprian, and other writers), " grace " 
 {'Xapiafia, Greg. Nazianzen, Orat. xl. De Baptismo), " re- 
 generation of the soul " (TraXiyjeveaia '^v')(rj<;, Cyril, Cat. 
 Prcefat. n. x.), " token of salvation or sanctification " 
 crvyb^oKov cra)T7jpia)Se<; or tov dyiaafiov ; vita, hye ; virtutum 
 via, the way to virtue; "Oyjuxa ■n-po<i 0eov, conveyance to God, 
 'E<f)6Bi,ov, viaticum ; that is, the necessary provision for 
 the journey of life ; ^vXaKT-qpiov ; baptism being re- 
 garded as a preservative against the artifices and power 
 of evil spirits ; E't'soSo? t?)? ^corj'^ alaviov, entrance upon 
 eternal life; "EvSv/na a<^9ap(7la<s, garment of immortality ; 
 Ceelestis regni comparatio, attainment of the kingdom of 
 heaven; Innocentise portus, gate of innocence" Salus, 
 ^(nrrjpia, salvation (See several writers). Gregory 
 Nazianzen, introducing a person pleading for liberty 
 to delay his baptism, makes him speak after this 
 manner : " I stay only for my father, or mother, or 
 brother, or wife, or children, or friends, or some near 
 relations, and then I will be saved " (rrjvtKavTa aaOij- 
 a-o/iai, Orat. xl. De Bapt). Constantine is said by 
 Eusebius to ask baptism at the hour of death, in these 
 words : " Now is the time for me to enjoy the ' seal of 
 immortality ' (t'^? adavaroTroioO a-cfipaylSoi;) ; now is the 
 time for me to obtain the ' seal of salvation ' (SoTTjpiov 
 a-cfypayicr/xaTO'i)," De Vita Const, lib. iv. c. 62. 
 
no THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 In his work on the History of the Christian Church, 
 the celebrated Neander accounts as follows for the in- 
 troduction of infant baptism. He says "when now 
 • . . . on the other hand, from the want of duly 
 distinguishing between what is outward and what is 
 inward in baptism— the baptism by water, and the 
 baptism by the Spirit — the opinion became more fully 
 established, that without external baptism no one could 
 be delivered from that inherent guilt (original sin), could 
 be saved from the everlasting punishment that threatened 
 him, or raised to eternal life ; and when the notion of a 
 magical influence, a charm connected with the sacra- 
 ments, continually gained ground, the theory was finally 
 evolved of the unconditional necessity of infant baptism. 
 About the middle of the third century this theory was 
 generally admitted in the North African Church . . . 
 But while in theory the necessity of infant baptism was 
 admitted, still in practice it was very far from being 
 generally prevailing." (Vol. i. pp. 313, 314 — Torrey's 
 translation.) 
 
 Rheinwald, in the Christian Review (vol. iii. p. 193), 
 says : " The first traces of infant baptism are found in 
 the Western Church after the middle of the second 
 century, and it was the subject of controversy in pro- 
 consular Africa towards the end of this century. Though 
 its necessity was asserted in Africa and Egypt in the 
 beginning of the third century, it was, even to the end 
 of the fourth century, by no means universally observed — • 
 least of all in the Eastern Church. Notwithstanding the 
 recommendation of it by the Fathers, it never became 
 a general ecclesiastical institution till the age of 
 Augustine." 
 
 Guericke, in his Handbuch der Kirchengeshichte, 
 states that " already in the third century the necessity 
 of infant baptism was in theory pretty commonly 
 
ORIGEN ON INFANT BAPTISM. 1 1 I 
 
 acknowledged, but it was not until about the middle of 
 the fifth century that the exhortations to its observance, 
 given by the most distinguished church teachers, led, 
 with the greatest difficulty, to its being carried out in 
 practice in the East." 
 
 Origen is the first Father who clearly alludes to 
 infant baptism. In his Eighth Homily on Leviticus, 
 according to Rufin's Latin version, he says ; " Everyone 
 is born in original sin," which he thus proves from the 
 words of David : " I was conceived in iniquity, and in 
 sin did my mother bear me ; " '■' showing," he adds, " that 
 every soul that is born in the flesh, is polluted with the 
 filth of sin and iniquity ; and that, therefore, it was said, 
 as was mentioned before, that none is clean from pollu- 
 tion, though his life be but of the length of one day. 
 Besides all this, it may be inquired, what is the reason 
 why the baptism of the Church, which is given for 
 remission of sins, is, by the custom of the Church, given 
 to infants also ? Whereas, if there were nothing in 
 infants that wanted remission and indulgence, the grace 
 of baptism might seem needless to them." * In another 
 place he says : " Infants are baptized for the forgiveness 
 of sins. Of what sins .? Or when have they sinned ? 
 Or how can any reason of the laver in their case hold 
 good, unless, according to that sense, which we have 
 just mentioned ? None is free from pollution, though his 
 
 * Origen: "Audi David dicentem: 'In iniquitatibus conceptus 
 sum, et in peccatis peperit me mater mea ' ; ostendens quod quae- 
 cunque anima in carne nascitur, iniquitatis et peccati sorde 
 polluitur ; et propterea dictum esse illud, quod jam superius 
 memoravimus ; quia ' Nemo mundus i sorde, nee si unius diei 
 fuerit vita ejus.' Addi his etiam illud potest, ut requiratur quid 
 causae sit, quum baptisma ecclesiae in remissionem peccatorum 
 detur, secundum ecclesiae observantiam etiam parvulis baptismum 
 dari ; quum utique si nihil esset in parvulis quod ad remissionem 
 et indulgentiam pertinere, gratia baptismi superflua videretur." 
 (Hom. viii. In Levit. Rufin's Latin Version.) 
 
112 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 life be but the length of one day upon the earth. And 
 because, through the sacrament of baptism, the pollution 
 of nativity is removed, therefore children also are 
 baptized. For ' Except one be born of water and the 
 Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.' " * 
 
 In his Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans 
 (lib. v. c. 6), according to Rufin's Latin version, Origen 
 refers to the law in which "it is commanded that a 
 sacrifice be offered for the child that is born, ' a pair of 
 turtle-doves or two young pigeons, of which one is for 
 a sin-offering, the other for a burnt-offering.' For what 
 sin is this one pigeon offered .' Can the newborn child 
 have committed any sin ? And yet it has sin, for which 
 the sacrifice is commanded to be offered, and from which 
 even he, whose life is but of one day, is denied to be 
 free. Of this sin, therefore, David is to be supposed to 
 have said that which we mentioned before, ' In sin did 
 my mother conceive me,' for no sin of his mother is 
 affirmed in history. For this also the Church has re- 
 ceived a tradition from the Apostles to give baptism 
 even to children, for they to whom the secrets of the 
 divine mysteries were committed, knew that there is in 
 all persons the natural pollution of sin, which must be 
 washed away by water and the Spirit ; by reason of 
 which even the body itself is called the ' body of sin.' " f 
 
 * Origen : Parvuli baptizantur in remissionem peccatorum. 
 Quorum peccatorum ? vel quo tempore peccaverunt .'' Aut quo- 
 modo potest ulla lavacri in parvulis ratio subsistere, nisi juxta ilium 
 sensum de quo paulo ante diximus : nullus mundus a sorde, nee si 
 unius diei quidem fuerit vita ejus super terram ? Et quia per baptismi 
 sacramentum nativitatis sordes deponuntur, propterea baptizantur 
 et parvuli. Nisi enim quis renatus fuerit ex aqua et spiritu, non 
 poterit intrare in regnum ccelorum. (Horn. xiv. In Luc. according to 
 Jerome's Latin version.) 
 
 t Denique et in lege pro illo qui natus fuerit, jubetur ofFerri 
 hostia, par turturum aut duo pulli columbini ; ex quibus unus pro 
 peccato, et alius in holocausto mata. Pro quo peccato ofFertur hie 
 
ORIGEN. 1 1 3 
 
 These passages do not exist in the language in which 
 Origan wrote them, but only in the Latin, into which 
 they were translated near the close of the fourth century, 
 by the Church Fathers, Jerome and Rufinus. De la Rue, 
 the editor of the Benedictine edition of the works of 
 Origen, remarks, that we need not wonder if the writings 
 of Origen contain indications of a later age, as they were 
 translated by " Jerome, whose usual manner in trans- 
 lating Greek," he adds, " the learned know, to have been 
 to insert occasionally some things of his own." (See the 
 Preface to that edition). As regards the translation of 
 Rufinus, Dr. Redepenning, Theological Professor in 
 Gottingen, says that " his work is intermediate between 
 a translation and a treatise — a reproduction adapted to 
 the views and wants of the later age in which it was 
 prepared." {^Origines : Dar stall, s. Lebens u. s. Lehre, 
 vol. ii. p. 190.) The learned Erasmus complains of this 
 translation, that the reader is " uncertain whether he 
 reads Origen or Rufinus." The licences taken by 
 Rufinus were severely attacked by Jerome. In self- 
 defence he replied that he had followed the example 
 given by Jerome himself: — " To translate word for word," 
 he says, "thou hast heretofore pronounced to be stupid 
 and malicious. In this I have followed thee. Of this 
 dost thou wish me to repent, because thou hast lately 
 
 pullus unus ? Numquid nuper editus parvulus peccare jam potuit } 
 Et tamen habet peccatum pro quo hostia jubetur offerri, k quo 
 mundus negatur quis esse, et si unius diei fuerit vita ejus. De 
 hoc ergo etiam David dixisse credendus est illud quod supri 
 memoravimus : quia in peccato concepit me mater mea. Secundum 
 historiam enim nullum matris ejus declaratur peccatum. [Pro hoc 
 et ecclesia ab apostolis traditionem suscepit, etiam parvulis bap- 
 tismum dare. Sciebant enim illi quibus mysteriorum secreta com- 
 missa sunt divinorum, quia essent in omnibus genuinae sordes 
 peccati, quse per aquam et Spiritum ablui deberent ; propter 
 quas etiam corpus ipsum corpus peccati nominatur.] (/« Rom. 
 lib. v. c. vi., according to Rufin's Latin version.) 
 
114 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 changed thine opinion, and sayest that thou translatest 
 word for word ? If, respecting the faith, there occur 
 things that are unedifying, thou hast omitted them ; and 
 yet not so as to cut them away entirely and in all places 
 . . . . I, too, have done the same very frequently, 
 and have either omitted some expressions, or given them 
 such a turn as to present a sense more beneficial. For 
 these acts dost thou think that I ought to repent ? I 
 do not believe that thou thinkest so." (" Invectives" third 
 book, inserted among the works of Jerome, Benedictine 
 edition, Paris, 1706, vol. iv. p. 438.) The authenticity of 
 the passages from the writings of Origen in support of 
 infant baptism, is, as our readers can well see, exceed- 
 ingly doubtful, and must remain so, inasmuch as we 
 cannot find the Greek original.* 
 
 The next Father who speaks of baptism is Cyprian, 
 Bishop of Carthage, in North Africa, about the middle 
 of the third century. "As far as lies in us," he says, 
 " no soul, if possible, is to be lost. It is not for us to 
 hinder any person from baptism and the grace of God ; 
 which rule, as it holds to all, so we think it more 
 especially to be observed in reference to infants, to whom 
 
 * "If we possessed a collection of Origen's writings, mentioned 
 by ecclesiastical authors, we should in all probability derive con- 
 siderable knowledge on the subject of the doctrines and discipline 
 of the ancient church. But the greater part is lost, and in those 
 which remain in the Latin version of Rufinus, so many additions 
 and retrenchments have been confessedly made, that it is difficult, 
 or rather impossible, to ascertain what portion was composed by 
 Origen, and what portion was inserted by his translator. Allusion 
 to Latin words, expressions unknown to Ante-Nicene Fathers, 
 mention of practices not introduced into the Church at the period 
 at which the original work was written — such are the evident 
 interpolations which perplex and mislead the investigator. The 
 translations of Jerome, also, were disfigured by unwarrantable 
 alterations. The version, still extant, of the Commentary on 
 Matthew, which, according to Huet, may have been made in the 
 time of Cassiodorus, is both barbarous and incorrect ; whole pages 
 are added or retrenched." {EncychpcBdia Metropolilana.) 
 
CYPRIAN. 115 
 
 our help and the Divine mercy is rather to be granted ; 
 because by their weeping and wailing at their first 
 entrance into the world, they do intimate nothing so 
 much as that they implore compassion." 
 
 To the question put by Fidus, an African bishop, 
 whether infants were to be baptized immediately after 
 their birth or not till the eighth day, as in the case of 
 circumcision, Cyprian, and a council of sixty-six bishops, 
 returned the following answer : — " As regards infants, 
 whereas you judge that they ought not to be baptized 
 within two or three days after they are born, and that 
 the rule of circumcision should be observed, so that 
 none should be baptized and sanctified before the eighth 
 day after he is born, we were all in our council of the 
 contrary opinion. It was our unanimous resolution and 
 judgment, that the mercy and grace of God is to be 
 denied to none. For if the greatest offenders, and they 
 that have before sinned most grievously against God, 
 have afterward, when they believe, forgiveness of sins, 
 and no person is kept off from baptism and grace, how 
 much less reason is there to prohibit an infant, recently 
 born and has no other sin, save that, being descended 
 from Adam, according to the flesh, he has, from his 
 birth, contracted the contagion of death formerly threat- 
 ened. For that reason, he receives more easily the for- 
 giveness of sins, inasmuch as they are not his own, but 
 the sins of others that are forgiven him."* 
 
 * Cyprian : Quantum ad causam infantium pertinet, quos dixisti 
 intra secundum vel tertium diem quo nati sunt, constitutes bap- 
 tizari non oportere, et considerandam esse legem circumcisionis 
 antiquee, ut intra octavum diem eum qui natus est baptizandum et 
 sanctificandum non putares ; longe aliud in concilio nostro 
 omnibus visum est. In hoc enim, quod tu putabas esse faciendum 
 nemo consensit ; sad universi potius judicavimus nulli hominum 
 nato misericordiam et gratiam Dei denegandam. Porr6 autem si 
 etiam gravissimis delictoribus et in Deum multum ante peccantibus, 
 
 12 
 
n6 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 In another place, Cyprian, describing the wickedness 
 of those that lapsed in "time of persecution, represents 
 children pleading against their parents at the day of 
 judgment, and saying : — " This was no fault of ours ; we 
 did not, of our own accord, forsake the meat and cup of 
 the Lord, to run and partake of those profane pollu- 
 tions; it was the unfaithfulness of others that ruined 
 us ; we had our parents for our murderers ; they denied 
 us God for our father, and the Church for our mother ; 
 for, whilst we were little, and unable to take care of 
 ourselves, and ignorant of so great a wickedness, we 
 were ensnared by the treachery of others, and by them 
 drawn into a partnership of their iniquities."* It is 
 evident from these words, that children were made par- 
 takers of the Lord's Supper. 
 
 The celebrated Doddridge remarks that "Cyprian is 
 allowed by all to speak expressly of infant baptism as 
 generally used in the church ; but," he adds, " it is 
 justly answered, that he speaks as expressly of infant 
 communion in the Eucharist, and that, consequently, the 
 divine original of the latter may as well be argued from 
 him as that of the former, yet almost all Paedobaptists 
 allow that to be an innovation." {^iscell. Works, p. 494.) 
 
 Gregory of Nazianzen, in his Fortieth Oration on Bap- 
 
 quum postea crediderint, remissa peccatorum datur, et k baptismo 
 atque k gratia nemo prohibetur ; quanto magis prohiberi non 
 debet infans, qui recens natus nihil peccavit, nisi quod secundum 
 Adam carnaliter natus, contagium mortis antiquae prima nativitate 
 contraxit } Qui ad remissam peccatorum accipiendum hoc ipso 
 facilius accedit, quod illi remittuntur non propria, sed aliena 
 peccata. {Episi.lix. ad Fidum.) 
 
 * Cyprian : Nos nihil fecimus, nee derelicto cibo et poculo 
 Domini ad profana contagia sponte properavimus ; perdidit nos 
 aliena perfidia, parentis sensimus parricidas. Illi nobis ecclesiam 
 matrem, illi patrem Deum negaverunt ; ut dum parvi et improvidi, 
 et tanti facinoris ignari, per alios ad consortium criminum jungimur, 
 aliena fraude caperemur. (Z?« Lapsis.) 
 
AMBROSE. ( 1 1 7 
 
 tism, advises the baptism of infants, in case of danger. 
 He says, " But, some ask, what is your opinion of infants 
 who are not capable of judging either of the grace of 
 baptism, or of the damage sustained by the want of it ; 
 shall we baptize them, too ? By all means if there be 
 any apparent danger. For it were better they were 
 sanctified without their knowing it, than that they should 
 die without being sealed and initiated." Udyv ye enrip rt? 
 eireir/oi kivSvvo<;' Kpelcraov yap dvai,cr6ijTa}<; ayiacrOrjvai, r) 
 aireXdelv acrcppdyiara Kal aTeXecrTa' (Orat. xl. De Bapt?) 
 Gregory then goes on to say that his opinion is that 
 where there is no danger, the baptism of children may 
 be deferred till they are three years of age or thereabout, 
 when they can hear and answer questions and receive 
 impressions. As we have already stated, this Father 
 did not receive baptism till he came to years of discre- 
 tion, and yet at the time of his birth his father was a 
 minister of the gospel. This fact proves that infant 
 baptism had not as yet entered into general practice 
 in the Eastern Church. 
 
 Ambrosius, Bishop of Milan, asserts that " no person 
 comes to the kingdom of heaven but by the sacrament 
 
 of baptism There is no exception even of an 
 
 infant or of a person prevented by necessity. (Nemo 
 ascendit in regnum ccelorum, nisi per sacramentum baptis- 
 matis .... Utique nullum excipit, non infantem, non 
 aliqua pra&ventum necessitate. {De Ahrah. lib. ii. c. ii.) 
 
 He also speaks of great numbers of infants coming at 
 Easter to be baptized. " This," says he, " is the paschal 
 gift : pious fathers and holy mothers bring their new- 
 born progeny in great multitudes, by faith, to the holy 
 font,__from wh^se womb, being regenerated under the tree 
 of faith, they shine with the innocent ornament of lights 
 and tapers." (Hoc paschae donum : Hinc casti patres, 
 pudicae etiam matres, novellam per fidera stirpem prose- 
 
Ii8 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 quuntur innumeram. Hinc sub fidei arbore ab utero fontis 
 innocuus cereorum splendet ornatus. De Mysterio Pascha.) 
 The practice of infant-baptism, which had sprung up in 
 North Africa, gradually extended itself, through the 
 powerful influence of Augustine, who was its chief 
 defender and promoter. His main argument was that 
 baptism removed the defilement of original sin. Like 
 Cyprian, he advocated also the administration of the 
 Lord's Supper to infants. In his work on the remission 
 of sins and the baptism of children, he says : — " Most 
 excellently the Carthaginian Christians call baptism 
 itself nothing else than salvation, and the sacrament of 
 the body of Christ nothing else than life. Whence is 
 this, unless from ancient, as I think, and apostolical 
 tradition, by which the Churches of Christ hold, as a 
 fixed fact, that without baptism and participation of the 
 Lord's table, no one of mankind can come either to the 
 kingdom of God or to salvation and eternal life ? " * In one 
 of his epistles he expresses himself as follows : — " No one 
 who remembers that he is a Christian of the Catholic faith 
 denies, or doubts, that children unbaptized {i.e., not having 
 received the grace of regeneration in Christ) and not having 
 partaken of the Lord's body and blood, have not life in 
 themselves, and thus are exposed to eternal punishment." f 
 Augustine also makes mention of " children, infants, 
 little ones, sucklings, hanging on their mothers' breasts," 
 
 * Augustine: Optime Punici Christiani baptismum ipsum nihil 
 aliud quam salutem, et sacramentum corporis Christi, nihil aliud 
 quam vitam vocant. Unde, nisi ex antiqua, ut existimo, et apos- 
 tolica traditione, qua Ecclesiae Christi insitum tenant, prseter 
 baptismum et participationem mensae Dominicae, non solum ad 
 regnum Dei, sed nee ad salutem et vitam seternam posse quemquam 
 hominum pervenire .'' {De Peccator, lib. i. cap. xxiv. 34.) 
 
 f Nullus qui se meminit Catholicae fidei Christianum negat aut 
 dulsitat parvulos non recepta gratia regenerationis in Christo, sine 
 cibo carnis ejus et sanguinis potu, non habere in se vitam, ac per 
 hoc pcense sempiterns obnoxios. {Epist. 106 ) 
 
AUGUSTINE, 119 
 
 coming at Easter to be baptized among adult persons ; 
 whence Palm Sunday was called on their account 
 " OdavcB tnfantmm," the octave of infants. (Hodie 
 octavae dicuntur infantium .... Illi pueri, in- 
 fantes, parvuli, lactantes, maternis uberibus inhaerentes, 
 at quantum in eos gratiee conferatur nescientes, ut ipse 
 videtis, quia infantes vocantur, et ipsi habent octavas 
 hodie : et isti senes, juvenes, adolescentuli, omnes 
 infantes. Serm. clx. De Tempore^ 
 
 With respect to the character of Augustine, the Church 
 historian, Mosheim, observes, that his fame filled the 
 whole Christian world, and " not without reason, as a 
 variety of great and striking qualities were united in the 
 character of that illustrious man. A sublime genius, an 
 uninterrupted and zealous pursuit of truth, an indi- 
 fatigable application, an invincible patience, a sincere 
 piety, and a subtle and lively wit, conspired to establish 
 his fame upon the most lasting foundations. It is, how- 
 ever, certain, that the accuracy and solidity of his judg- 
 ment were by no means proportionable to the eminent 
 talents now mentioned ; and that, upon many occasions, 
 he was more guided by the violent impulse of a warm 
 imagination, than by the cool dictates of reason and 
 prudence. Hence that ambiguity which appears in his 
 writings, and which has sometimes rendered the most 
 attentive readers uncertain with respect to his real 
 sentiments ; and hence, also, the just complaints which 
 many have made of the contradictions that are so 
 frequent in his works ; and of the levity and precipitation 
 with which he set himself to write upon a variety of 
 subjects, before he had examined them with a sufficient 
 degree of attention and diligence." [Hist. Christian Ch.) 
 
 The second Council of Milevi, in Africa, held A.D. 416, 
 and presided over by Augustine, passed a decree in the 
 following terms : — " It is the pleasure of the bishops to 
 
I20 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 order that, whosoever denies that newly-born infants are 
 to be baptized, or affirms that they are indeed baptized 
 for the remission of sins, but that they derive no original 
 sin from Adam .... let him be accursed." 
 
 " Padohaptism, in the most ancient sense of the word, the 
 baptism of children capable of professing their faith in Christ, 
 passed gradually, and in different countries more or less 
 rapidly, though with comparative silence, into infant-baptism 
 in the more 77iodern sense, the baptism of newborn babes. For 
 the most part, historical light in regard to the primitive 
 churches shone but dimly. It is not strange, if even the 
 acute and powerful Augustine sometimes has his vision 
 obscured in the heat and dust of controversy. We are 
 not at all surprised at the manner in which he, in the fifth 
 century, used the word parvulus, while, with consummate 
 skill and energy, he confirmed and made triumphant, in 
 Africa and elsewhere, that system of infant baptism 
 which, according to the most reliable evidence, began to 
 be authoritatively established in that country by the 
 ardent and popular Cyprian, about the middle of the third 
 century." [hifant Baptism, by Rev. Dr. Chase.) 
 
 The administration of baptism to infants was subse- 
 quently rendered compulsory by an edict of the Emperor 
 Justinian, who reigned from A.D. 527 to A.D. 565. He 
 enacted "that such pagans as were yet unbaptized, 
 should present themselves, with their wives and children, 
 and all that appertained to them, in the Church ; and 
 there they should cause their little ones immediately to be 
 baptized, and the rest, as soon as they were taught the 
 Scriptures, according to the canons. But if any persons, 
 for the sake of a public office, or dignity, or to get an 
 estate, received a fallacious baptism themselves, but, in 
 the meantime, left their wives, or children, or servants, 
 or any that were retainers, or near relations to them, in 
 their ancient error, their goods, in jbhat case, are ordered 
 
THE CATACOMBS : CHILDREN. I 2 I 
 
 to be confiscated and their persons punished by a com- 
 petent judge, and excluded from bearing any office in the 
 commonwealth." 
 
 Photius repeats this law in his Nomocanon, and adds 
 to it another of the same nature, concerning the Samari- 
 tans : — "That though they themselves were not to be 
 baptized till they had been two years catechumens, yet 
 their little ones, who were not capable of instruction, 
 might be admitted to baptism without any such delay or 
 prorogation." [Bingham' s Church Antiq. bk. xi. c. iv. s. 19.) 
 
 In the valuable French work by M. Louis Perret, on 
 the Catacombs of Rome, we find ninety epitaphs or 
 inscriptions respecting children. Only nine of these 
 make any reference to baptism. The earliest allusion to 
 the baptism of a child is A.D. 348, the child being, at the 
 age of five years, eight months, and eleven days, newly 
 ba,ptized : — t 
 
 MIRE'INDVSTRIAEADQVE 
 
 BONlTATlSCERT'lNNOCEWriA 
 PREDITVS FLAVR'LEONI 
 mFITO*QVRlX(?ANN-V 
 MllhDlES-Xh REQVEV 
 VINONtA/LFILIPPO'ET'SALLlA 
 
 coNss-LEOP - mw- 
 
 Fig. 16. Inscription in the Catacomb or Peiscilla. 
 
122 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Mire industriae adque bonitatis cert(a) innoeentia 
 preditus, Fl(avio) Aur(elio) Leoni, neofito, qui vixit 
 ann(os) V., m(enses) VIIL, dies XI. Requev(it) VI., non(as) 
 jul(ias) Filippo et Sallia cons(ulibus) Leo piissim(us).* 
 
 The next earliest is found in the following inscription, 
 which dates from the year 371 : — 
 
 ROMANO, NEOFITO BENE MERENTI, QUI VIXIT ANNOS 
 VIII., D(IES) XV. REQUIESCIT IN PACE D(OMINI) N(OSTRI). 
 FL(AVIO) GRATIANO AU(GUSTO) II. ET PETRONIO PROBO 
 C(ON)S(ULIBUS). 
 
 " To Romanus, a well-deserving Neophyte, who lived 
 eight years and fifteen days. He reposes in the peace 
 of our Lord. Flavins Gratian Augustus II. and Petro- 
 nius Probus being consuls." 
 
 The next after this dates from the year 374. It is as 
 follows : — 
 
 BENE MERENTI IN PACE LIBERA(e) QUE (v)lXIT AN(NIS) 
 VIII., NEOFITA DEP(OSITA EST) DIES III. NONAS t MAIAS, 
 CONS(ULIBUS) GRATIANO III. ET EQUITIO. 
 
 " To the well-deserving in peace, Liberia, who lived 
 eight years, a neophyte, buried on the third day of the 
 nones of May, Gratian III. and Equitius being consuls." 
 
 In the cemetery of Agnes we find the following inscrip- 
 tions : — 
 
 IJtcrTO? eK TTicrTOiv Zci>aifio<; ivddBe xelfie, ^rjaaa- ereaiv /3', 
 fM7)(vl) a, rjjjieipali) kL 
 
 " Believer descended from believers, I Zosimus lie here, 
 having lived two years, one month, and twenty-five days. 
 
 furia(e sep)timiae inn(o)centi neofite, quae 
 vixit annis duobus, menses v, diebus xxv, deposita 
 
 * The letters placed between the brackets are wanting in the 
 original inscriptions. 
 
 t Nones, in the Roman calendar, the fifth days of the months 
 January, February, April, June, August, September, November, and 
 December ; and the seventh of March, May, July, and October. 
 
THE CATACOMBS: CHILDREN. 123 
 
 (est) V IDU(S) jan(uarias). FURIUS CALLISTRATUS ET 
 
 aur(elia) justa filiae dulcissime. 
 
 " To Furia Septimia, innocent neophyte, who lived two 
 years, five months, and twenty-five days. She was 
 buried on the fifth ide* of January. Furius Callistratus 
 and Aurelia Justa to their lovely daughter." 
 
 These two inscriptions bear no indication of the time 
 at which they were made. It is known, however, that 
 no inscription has been found in this catacomb of an 
 earlier date than the end of the second century ; indeed, 
 the greater part of it may be referred to the third and 
 fourth. 
 
 In the Catacomb of Calepodus, beyond the gate of 
 St. Pancrazio, we find the following inscriptions, the age 
 of which is unknown : — 
 
 IN hag (a)terna domo resqxji(escit flo)rentina 
 
 INNOCES NE(OFITA) Q(AE VIX(IT) ANNO UNO, M(ENSIBXJS) X., 
 DEP(0SITA est) KAL(ENDAS)t AUG(USTAS) IN PACE. 
 
 " In this eternal home rests Florentine, blameless 
 neophyte, who lived one year and ten months. She 
 was deposited here on the kalends of August, in peace," 
 
 FLORENTIUS FILIO SUO APRONIANO FECIT TITULUM 
 BENE MERENTI, Q(UI) VIXIT ANNUM ET MENSES NOVE(m), 
 DIES QUINQUE. CUM SOLDU AMATUS FUISSET A MAJORA 
 SUA, ET VIDIT HUNC MORTI CONSTITUTUM ESSE, PETIVIT 
 DE ECCLESIA UT FIDELIS DE SECULO RECESSISSET. 
 
 "Florentius has made an inscription to his well-de- 
 serving son Aspronianus, who lived a year, nine months, 
 and five days. As he was much loved by his grand- 
 mother, and she saw that he was about to die, she 
 requested of the church that he might depart from the 
 world a believer." 
 
 * The ides were the days near the middle of the months, 
 f The kalends were the first days of the different months. 
 
124 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 These inscriptions reveal the fact that the doctrine of 
 the saving efficacy of baptism had already penetrated 
 into the church. When we take into account that the 
 Catacombs of Rome served as places of refuge and 
 of Mrorship to the earliest followers of our faith during 
 the persecutions they had to suffer under the prede- 
 cessors of Constantine, and of repose after death to 
 thousands of Christians down to the sixth century; 
 when we remember, moreover, that the catacombs were 
 repeatedly repaired and embellished by order of the 
 reigning popes,* we are not surprised that they should 
 contain paintings and inscriptions that are a faithful 
 reproduction of the errors which have crept gradually 
 into the church. Thus we find the first indications of 
 the intercession of saints in the following inscriptions 
 discovered in the Catacomb of Priscilla and that of 
 Domitilla : — *' 
 
 ANATOLIUS FILIO BENEMERENTI FECIT, QUI VIXIT ANNIS 
 VII, MENSIS VII, DIEBUS XX. SPIRITUS TUUS BENE 
 REQUIESCAT IN DEO; BETAS PRO SORORE TUA. 
 
 " Anatolius made (this inscription) to his well-deserving 
 son, who lived seven years, seven months, and twenty 
 days. May thy spirit rest well in God ; pray for thy 
 sister." 
 
 K.aT{a6eai<;) Tr) irpo ty KaX(avSS>v) lovv{J,wv). Avyevhe, 
 ^■i]aat,<; iv K{vpl)(o Kal ipdara inrep rjixSiV. 
 
 " Burial on the thirteenth kalends of June. Augende, 
 live in the Lord, and pray for us." 
 
 To return to our subject, we will remark that while 
 
 * Paintings were made in the Catacomb of Priscilla by order of 
 Pope Celestine, who reigned in a.d. 422. This catacomb, that of 
 Nerea and Achillea, and others, were restored by John I., who was 
 pope in A.D. 523. It is said of John III. (a.d. 560), that "amavit 
 et restauravit ccemeteria sanctorum martyrum." The same may 
 be said of Paul I. (a.d. 757) and Leo III. (a.d. 795). 
 
THE CATACOMBS: CHILDREN. 125 
 
 some of the epitaphs in the catacombs clearly allude to 
 the fact that baptism had been in a few exceptional 
 instances administered to infants in articulo mortis, 
 hundreds of inscriptions which relate to children make no 
 reference whatever to baptism. Examples of these 
 epitaphs may be found in the following : — 
 
 CYRICUS ANIMA DULCIS, IN PAC(e), VIXIT ANNUM I, 
 d(ies) LXXIII. 
 
 " Cyricus, lovely spirit, in peace, lived one year and 
 seventy-three days." 
 
 INNOCENTISSIMO PAULO, QUI VIX(it) M(ENSES) X., 
 
 d(ies) xiii deposit(us est) prid(ie) non(as) 
 
 DECE(MBRES) in PACE, CONSTANTIO III ET CONSTATE II 
 CONSCULIBUS). 
 
 " To the most pure Paul, who lived ten months, 
 thirteen days. He was buried on the day before the 
 nones of December, in peace, Constantius and Constans 
 being consuls." That is, in 342 A.D. 
 
 QUIRIACE, QU^ VIXIT ANNOS N(UMERO) QUATOR. 
 
 " To Quiriace, who lived four years." 
 
 HIC POSITA EST ANIMA DULCIS, INNOCUA, SAPIENS ET 
 PULCHRA, NOMINE QUIRIACE, QUE VIXIT ANNOS III, 
 
 m(enses) III, d(ies) VIII. d(e)p(osita est) in pace IIII 
 id(us) jan(uarias), cons(ulibus) d(omino) n(ostro) 
 
 TEUDOSIO AUG(UST0) II ET MEROBAUDE V(lRO) C(LA- 
 RISSIMO) III. 
 
 " Here was deposited a lovely spirit, blameless, wise, 
 and fair, Quiriace by name, who lived three years, three 
 months, and eight days. She was buried in peace on 
 the fourth ide of January, Theodosius Augustus and 
 Merobaud, a celebrated man, being consuls." (A.D. 388.) 
 
 ASELLU, BENE MERENTI, QUI Vl(XIT ANNU(s) SEX, 
 MENSIS OCTO, DIES XXVIII. 
 
 "Asellu, well- deserving, who lived six years, eight 
 months, and twenty-eight days." 
 
126 
 
 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 These inscriptions, which might be' indefinitely multi- 
 plied, do not contain the slightest allusion to baptism. 
 
 £=G==3 
 
 Mg. 17. Baptism op Catechumeks and Infants. From a MS. of ninth 
 
 century. 
 
 The children are styled "innocent, well-deserving, 
 lovely," and a,ll that a parent's fondness would naturally 
 
BAPTISM OF INFANTS. 127 
 
 imagine, but nothing more. The infants and children 
 rest " in peace." 
 
 The earliest pictorial representation of the baptism of 
 infants we have found, is in a manuscript of the ninth 
 century in the Library of La Minerva at Rome. It is 
 entitled " Benedictio Fontis " and has already been 
 alluded to. Below the ceremony of baptism, which is 
 reproduced in the annexed engraving (Fig. 17), is an 
 inscription as follows ; — " Ite, docete omnes gentes, bapti- 
 zantes eos in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti." 
 (Go, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of 
 th e Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.) This 
 manuscript contains fourteen miniatures, on eight sheets 
 of parchment, descriptive of the various ceremonies per- 
 formed in connection with the rite of baptism. It is one 
 of the oldest illustrated rituals of baptism in existence, 
 and prescribes immersion in the following terms : — Et 
 baptizat sub trina mersione, ita dicendo : Ego te baptizp 
 in nomine Patris, et mergit semel, et Filii, et mergit 
 iterum, et Spiritus Sancti, et mergit terti6. "And he 
 baptizes with trine immersion, saying: I baptize thee 
 in the name of the Father, and dips once; and of the Son, 
 and dips again ; and of the Holy Ghost, and dips a third 
 time. 
 
 "We now give a synopsis of the Baptismal Liturgy, 
 which formed part of the Sacramentary of Pope Gelasius 
 (a.d. 492). It was taken from a Codex manuscript, more 
 than a thousand years old, by Cardinal Thomasius in 1748. 
 
 On the fifth Sunday in Lent the priest offers the follow- 
 ing prayer : — 
 
 Concede, Domine, electis Grant, O Lord, unto our 
 nostris, ut sacris edocti mys- Elects,* that, having learned 
 teriis, et renoventur fonte bap- Thy sacred mysteries, they may 
 
 * Elects, or chosen — candidates for baptism. Tliey were signed with tlie sign of tlie cross, 
 and were received witli prayer and imposition of hands. 
 
128 
 
 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 tismatis, et inter ecclesiae tuse 
 membra numerentur. Per Chris- 
 tum Dominum nostrum. 
 
 be regenerated in the font of 
 baptism, and numbered among 
 the members of Thy Church. 
 Through Christ, our Lord. 
 
 Praeces nostras, qusesumus, 
 Domine, clementer exaudi ; et 
 hos electostuos crucis dominicK, 
 cujus impressione signamus, vir- 
 tute custodi ; ut magnitudinis 
 glorise rudimenta servantes, per 
 custodiam mandatorum tuorum 
 ad regenerationis pervenire glo- 
 riam mereantur. Per .... 
 
 Benedictio Salis. 
 
 Exorcizo te, creatura salis, in 
 nomine Dei Patris omnipotentis, 
 et in charitate Domini nostri 
 Jesu Christi, et in virtute Spiritus 
 Sancti. Exorcizo te per Deum 
 vivum et per Deum verum, qui 
 te ad tutelam humani generis 
 procreavit, et populo venienti ad 
 credulitatem, per servos suos 
 consecrare prscepit. Proinde 
 rogamus te, Domine Deus noster, 
 ut hsec creatura salis in nomine 
 Trinitatis efficiatur salutare 
 sacramentum ad effugiendum 
 inimicum : quam tu, Domine, 
 sanctificando sanctifices, bene- 
 cendo benedicas, ut iiat omnibus 
 accipientibus perfecta medicina 
 permanens in visceribus eorum. 
 In nomine Domini nostri Jesu 
 Christi, qui venturus est judicare 
 vivos et mortuos et saeculum per 
 ignem. 
 
 Et post hanc orationem, 
 pones sal in ore infantis, et 
 dices: Accipe sal sapientiae pro- 
 pitiatus in vitam aeternam. 
 
 Mercifully hear our prayers, 
 O Lord, we beseech Thee, and 
 keep with Thy might these Thy 
 Elects, whom we seal with the 
 impression of the Lord's cross ; 
 that, retaining the rudiments of 
 the greatness of Thy glory, they 
 may merit through the keeping 
 of Thy commandments to come 
 to the glory of regeneration. 
 Through . . . 
 
 Blessing of the Salt. 
 
 I exorcize thee, thou creature 
 of salt, in the name of the Al- 
 mighty God the Father, and in 
 the charity of Jesus Christ our 
 Lord, and in the might of the 
 Holy Ghost. I exorcize thee, 
 by the living God, and by the 
 true God, who created thee for 
 the protection of mankind, and 
 commanded thee to be conse- 
 crated by his servants for the 
 people coming to faith. Where- 
 fore, we pray Thee, O Lord our 
 God, that this creature of salt 
 be made a saving sacrament, in 
 the name of the Trinity, for 
 putting to flight the enemy ; that 
 Thou, O Lord, by sanctifying 
 Thou sanctify, and by blessing 
 Thou bless, that it become to 
 all receiving it a perfect medi- 
 cine, abiding in their inward 
 parts. In the name of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, who will come to 
 judge the quick and the dead, 
 and the world by fire. 
 
 After this prayer, put some 
 salt into the mouth of the infant, 
 and say : Receive thou the salt 
 of wisdom, being propitiated 
 unto life everlasting. 
 
BAPTISMAL LITURGY. 
 
 129 
 
 Benedictio. 
 Post datum salem. 
 Deus patrum nostrorum, Deus 
 universae conditor veritatis, te 
 supplices exoramus : ut hunc 
 famulum tuum respicere digneris 
 propitius : ut hoc primum 
 pabulum salis gustantem, non 
 diutiiis esurire permittas, quo 
 miniis cibo expleatur ccelesti ; 
 quatenus sit semper, Domine, 
 spiritu fervens, spe gaudens, tuo 
 semper nomini serviens : per- 
 ducat eum ad novae regenera- 
 tionis lavacrum, ut cum fidelibus 
 tuis promissionum tuarum 
 aeterna praemia consequi 
 mereatur. Per Dominum. 
 
 Exorcismi super Electos, 
 Quos acolythi, imposita manu 
 super eos, dicere debent. 
 
 Deus Abraham, Deus Isaac, 
 Deus Jacob, Deus, qui Moysi 
 famulo tuo in Monte Sinai 
 apparuisti, et filios Israel de 
 terra ^gypti eduxisti, deputans 
 eis angelum pietatis tuae, qui 
 custodiret eos die ac nocte ; 
 Te, quaesumus, Domine, ut 
 mittere digneris sanctum an- 
 gelum tuum : ut similiter cus- 
 todiat et hos famulos tuos, et 
 perducat eos ad gratiam bap- 
 tismi tui. 
 
 Ergo, maledicte Diabole, 
 recognosce sententiam tuam : 
 et da honorem Deo vivo et 
 vero : et da honorem Jesu 
 Christo filio ejus, et Spiritui 
 Sancto : et recede ab his famulis 
 Dei. Quia istos sibi Deus et 
 Dominus noster Jesus Christus 
 ad suam sanctam gratiam et 
 benedictionem fontemque bap- 
 tismatis donum vocare dignatus 
 est. Per hoc signum sanctae 
 
 Then follows this prayer : 
 God of our Fathers, God the 
 author of universal truth, we 
 humbly beseech Thee that Thou 
 wouldst graciously condescend 
 to regard this Thy servant, and 
 having tasted for the first time 
 this nourishment of salt, permit 
 him to hunger no more, but that, 
 being filled with heavenly food, 
 he may always be fervent in 
 spirit, rejoicing in hope, and 
 serve Thy name. May he be 
 brought to the laver of the new 
 regeneration, that he may desire 
 to obtain the eternal reward of 
 Thy promises with Thy faithful 
 people. Through Christ. 
 
 Exorcisms upon the Elect, 
 Which the acolyths, with the 
 hand placed upon them, 
 should say. 
 
 God of Abraham, God of 
 Isaac, God of Jacob, God, who 
 revealed Thyself to Moses Thy 
 servant on Mount Sinai, and led 
 the Children of Israel out of 
 the land of Egypt, sending unto 
 them the angel of Thy mercy, 
 to keep them by day and by 
 night : we beseech Thee, O 
 Lord, condescend to send Thy 
 holy angel, that he may in a 
 similar way guard Thy servants, 
 and lead them to the grace of 
 baptism. 
 
 Therefore, thou accursed 
 devil, acknowledge thy sentence, 
 and give honour to the living 
 and true God, give honour to 
 Jesus Christ His Son, and to the 
 Holy Ghost ; and withdraw from 
 these servants of God, seeing 
 that God and Jesus Christ our 
 Lord hath vouchsafed to call 
 the same to His own grace and 
 benediction, and the font of 
 baptism. And never, thou ac- 
 
 K 
 
I30 
 
 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 crucis frontibus eorum quod nos 
 damus, tu maledicte Diabole, 
 nunquim audeas violare. 
 Item super fceminas. 
 
 Exorcizo te, immunde Spiritus, 
 in nomine Patris, et Filii, et 
 Spiritus Sancti ; ut exeas et 
 recedes ab his famulis Dei. 
 Ipse enim tibi imperat, maledicte 
 damnate, qui pedibus super mare 
 ambulavit, et Petro mergenti 
 dexteram porrexit. Erg6, male- 
 dicte, .... iut supra). 
 
 Oratio, quam sacerdos dicere 
 
 debet, 
 ^ternam, ac justissimam 
 pietatem tuam deprecor, Domine 
 sancte Pater, omnipotens seterne 
 Deus luminis et veritatis, super 
 hos famulos et famulas tuas : 
 ut digneris eos inluminare 
 lumine intelligentiae tuse, munda 
 eos et sanctifica. Da eis scien- 
 tiam veram ; ut digni efficiantur 
 accedere ad gratiam baptismi 
 tui ; teneant firmam spem, con- 
 silium rectum, doctrinam sanc- 
 tam ; ut apti sint ad percipiendam 
 gratiam tuam. Per. 
 
 Incipit expositio Evangeliorum 
 in aurium apertionem ad electos. 
 
 cursed devil, dare to violate this 
 sign of the holy cross, which we 
 give to their foreheads. 
 
 The same for the women. 
 
 Then follow another prayer 
 and a second exorcism. 
 
 I exorcize thee, thou unclean 
 spirit, in the name of the Father, 
 and of the Son, and of the Holy 
 Ghost, that thou come out of 
 and withdraw from these ser- 
 vants of God. For He who 
 commands thee, cursed and 
 damned, is He who walketh 
 upon the sea, and stretched 
 forth His hand to Peter sinking. 
 Therefore, thou accursed . . . 
 . . . {as ab 
 
 Credo in unum Deum, Patrem 
 omnipotentem, factorem coeli 
 et terrae, visibilium omnium 
 et invisibilium. Et in unum 
 Dominum Jesum Christum, 
 Filium Dei unigenitum, de Patre 
 natum ante omnia ssecula ; 
 
 Prayer by the Priest. 
 
 Lord, our Holy Father, 
 omnipotent and eternal God of 
 light and truth, I implore Thine 
 everlasting and righteous mercy 
 upon these Thy servants (^male 
 and female) ; that Thou wouldst 
 condescend to enlighten them 
 with the light of Thy know- 
 ledge ; purify and sanctify them. 
 Give unto them the true know- 
 ledge, that they may be made 
 worthy to come to the grace of 
 Thy baptism. May they hold a 
 firm hope, a right counsel, the 
 holy doctrine, that they may be 
 prepared to receive Thy grace. 
 Through. 
 
 Then follow an exposition of 
 the Gospels, an explanation of 
 the Lord's Prayer, and the re- 
 citation of the following Creed : 
 
 1 believe in one God, the 
 Father Almighty, Maker of 
 heaven and earth, of all things, 
 visible and invisible ; and in 
 one Lord Jesus Christ, the only- 
 begotten Son of God, begotten 
 of the Father before all ages ; 
 
BAPTISMAL LITURGY. 
 
 131 
 
 lumen de lumine, Deum verum 
 de Deo vero ; natum, non 
 factum : consubstantialem Patri : 
 per quem omnia facta sunt : qui 
 per nos homines, et propter 
 nostram salutem descendentem 
 de coelis ; et incarnatum de 
 Spiritu Sancto, et Maria Virgine, 
 et humanatum: crucifixum etiam 
 pro nobis sub Pontio Pilato, et 
 passum, et sepultum, et resur- 
 gentem tertia die, secundiim 
 scripturas ; et ascendentem in 
 coelos, et sedentem ad dexteram 
 Patris ; et iterum venturum cum 
 gloria judicare vivos et mortuos : 
 cujus regni non erit finis. Et 
 in Spiritum Sanctum Dominum, 
 et vivificatorem ; ex Patre pro- 
 cedentem : qui cum Patre et 
 Filio simul adoratum, et con- 
 glorificatum, qui locatus est per 
 Prophetas. In unam sanctam, 
 Catholicam, et Apostolicam 
 Ecclesiam. Confiteor unum 
 baptisma in remissionem pecca- 
 torum. Spero resurrectionem 
 mortuorum, et vitam futuri 
 saeculi. Amen. 
 
 Sabbatorum die mane red- 
 dunt infantes symbolum. Prius 
 catechizas eos, imposita super 
 capita eorum manu. 
 
 Ind^ tanges ei nares et aures 
 de sputo, et dices ei ad aurem : 
 Ephata (quod est, Adaperire), 
 in odorem suavitatis. Tu autem 
 efFugare, Diabole, ad propin- 
 quavit enim judicium Dei. 
 
 Posted ver6 tanges ei pectus, 
 et inter scapulas de oleo exor- 
 
 Light of Light, very God of 
 very God ; begotten, not made ; 
 of one substance with the 
 Father, by whom all things were 
 made ; who, for us men and our 
 salvation, came down from 
 heaven, and was incarnate of 
 the Holy Ghost and the Virgin 
 Mary, and was made man, and 
 was crucified for us under 
 Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and 
 was buried ; and the third day 
 He rose again, according to the 
 Scriptures, and ascended into 
 heaven, and sitteth on the right 
 hand of the Father, and shall 
 come again, with glory, to judge 
 the living and the dead ; of 
 whose kingdom there shall be 
 no end. And in the Holy 
 Ghost, the Lord and Giver of 
 Life, who proceedeth from the 
 Father; who, with the Father 
 and the Son together, is wor- 
 shipped and glorified ; who 
 spake by the prophets. And in 
 one Catholic and Apostolic 
 Church. I confess one baptism 
 for the remission of sins, and 
 hope for the resurrection of the 
 dead, and the life of the world 
 to come. Amen.* 
 
 On Saturday morning, the 
 children recite the Creed. First 
 catechize them, the hand placed 
 upon their heads. 
 
 Then touch his nostrils and 
 ears with spittle, and say to him 
 in his ear, Ephata (which is. 
 Be thou opened), in odour of 
 sweetness. But flee away, O 
 Devil, for the judgment of God 
 is at hand. 
 
 Then touch his breast, and 
 between the shoulders with ex- 
 
 * The Nicene (or Constantlnopolitan) Creed was introduced into the service of the Western 
 Churches about the latter end of the sixth century, and was said in the Mediaeval English 
 Churches. 
 
 K 2 
 
132 IHE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 cizato, et vocato nomine, sin- orcized oil, and, calling him by 
 
 gulis dices : name, say to each one : 
 
 Abrenuntias Satans ? Dost thou renounce Satan ? 
 
 R. Abrenuntio. Answer. I do renounce him. 
 
 Et omnibus operibus ejus } And all his works ? 
 
 R. Abrenuntio. Ans. I do renounce them. 
 
 Et omnibus pom.pis ejus ? And all his pomps ? 
 
 R. Abrenuntio. Ans. I do renounce them. 
 
 Ind6 ver6 dicis symbolum, Recite the Creed, with the 
 
 imposita manu super capita hand placed upon their heads, 
 ipsorum. 
 
 Postei ver6 dicatur eis ab Then the Archdeacon shall 
 
 Archidiacono : Orate, Electi, say to them : Pray, ye Elects, 
 
 flectite genua. Complete ora- bow the knee. Finish your 
 
 tionem vestram in unum, et prayer at once, and say, Amen, 
 dicite: Amen. 
 
 Et respondent omnes : Amen. And all shall answer : Amen. 
 
 Iterum admentur ab Archi- The Archdeacon shall again 
 
 diacono his verbis : Catechu- give them notice, as follows : 
 
 meni recedant. Omnes cate- Let the Catechumens draw back, 
 
 chumeni exeant foris. Let all the Catechumens go out. 
 
 Iterum dicit Diaconus : Filii The deacon says again : Dearly 
 
 charissimi, revertimini in locos beloved sons, return to your 
 
 vestros, et expectantes horam, places, and wait for the hour in 
 
 qua possit circa vos Dei gratia which baptism may be operated 
 
 baptismum operari. in you by the grace of God. 
 
 Oratio in Sabbato Sancto. Prayer for Holy Saturday. 
 
 Omnipotens, sempiterneDeus, Omnipotent and Eternal God, 
 
 respice propitius ad devotionem behold propitiously the devotion 
 
 populi renascentis ; qui sicut of Thy regenerated people, who, 
 
 cervus,aquarumexpectatfontera; as a hart, seek the fountain of 
 
 et concede propitius, ut fidei waters, and grant that the ardour 
 
 ipsius sitis, baptismatis mys- of their faith, through the mys- 
 
 terio, animam corpusque sancti- tery of baptism, sanctify both 
 
 fleet. soul and body. 
 
 [Ind6 procedunt ad fontes Then they proceed to the 
 
 cum litania ad baptizandum.] fonts, chanting the litany used 
 
 for baptizing. 
 
 Then follows the liturgy for the consecration or blessing 
 
 of the font, which we have already reproduced. After 
 
 blessing the font, the priest is directed to put the 
 
 following questions to the candidate : — 
 
 IndS bendicto fonte, bap- 
 
 tizas unumquemque in ordine 
 
 suo, sub his interrogationibus : . 
 
BAPTISMAL LITURGY. 
 
 133 
 
 Credis in Deum Patrem omni- 
 potentem ? 
 
 R. Credo. 
 
 Credis at in Jesum Christum 
 Filium ejus unicum, Dominum 
 nostrum, natum, et passum .'' 
 
 R. Credo. 
 
 Credis et in Spiritum Sanctum, 
 sanctam Ecclesiam, remissionem 
 peccatorum, carnis resurrec- 
 tionem ? 
 
 R. Credo. 
 
 Deinde per singulas vices 
 mergis eum terti6 in aqua. 
 Posted cum ascenderit i fonte 
 infans signatur k Presbytero in 
 cerebro de chrismate, his 
 verbis : 
 
 Deus omnipotens. Pater 
 Domini nostri Jesu Christi, qui 
 te regeneravit ex aqua et Spiritu 
 Sancto ; quique dedit tibi re- 
 missionem omnium peccatorum ; 
 ipse te linit chrisma salutis in 
 Christo Jesu Domino nostro in 
 vitam Kternam. 
 
 R. Amen. 
 
 Deinde ab episcopo datur eis 
 Spiritus septiformis, ad consig- 
 nandum imponit eis manum in 
 his verbis : 
 
 Deus omnipotens, Pater 
 Domini nostri Jesu Christi, qui 
 regenerasti famulos tuos ex 
 aqua et Spiritu Sancto ; quique 
 dedistis eis remissionem omnium 
 peccatorum ; Tu, Domine, in- 
 mitte in eos Spiritum Sanctum 
 tuum, Paraclitum : et da eis 
 spiritum sapientias et intellectus; 
 spiritum consilii et fortitudinis ; 
 spiritum scientiae et pietatis. 
 Adimple eos Spiritu timoris Dei, 
 in nomine Domini nostri Jesu 
 Christi : cum quo vivis et regnas, 
 Deus semper cum Spiritu Sancto, 
 per omnia saecula sseculorum. 
 
 R. Amen. 
 
 Believest thou in God, the 
 Almighty Father ? 
 
 Ans. I do believe. 
 
 Believest thou in Jesus Christ, 
 His only Son, our Lord, who 
 was born and suffered ? 
 
 Ans. I do believe. 
 
 Believest thou in the Holy 
 Ghost, the Holy Church, the 
 remission of sins, and the resur- 
 rection of the dead .'' 
 
 Ans. I do believe. 
 
 Then immerse him three 
 times in the water. When the 
 child has come out of the font, 
 let him be signed on the head 
 with chrism, the following words 
 being said : 
 
 Almighty God, the Father of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath 
 regenerated thee by water and 
 the Holy Ghost, and hath given 
 unto thee remission of all thy 
 sins, may He anoint thee with 
 the chrism of salvation unto life 
 everlasting. 
 
 Ans. Amen. 
 
 Then the Bishop shall give 
 them the sevenfold Spirit, by 
 imposition of hands, saying : 
 
 Almighty God, Father of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, who didst 
 regenerate these Thy servants 
 by water and the Holy Ghost, 
 and hast given them remission 
 of all their sins ; Thou, O Lord, 
 send unto them Thy Holy Spirit 
 the Paraclete, and grant unto 
 them the spirit of wisdom, and 
 of understanding, the spirit of 
 counsel and of fortitude, the 
 spirit of knowledge and piety. 
 Fill them with the spirit of the 
 fear of God, in the name of our 
 Lord Jesua Christ, with whom 
 Thou livest, and reignest ever 
 God, with the Holy Ghost, for 
 all ages of ages. Ans. Amen. 
 
134 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Posted signal eos in fronte He then signs them on the 
 
 de chrismate, dicens : forehead with chrism, saying : 
 
 Signum Christi in vitam The sign of Christ unto life 
 
 seternam. eternal. 
 
 R. Amen. Ans. Amen. 
 
 Pax tecum. Peace be with thee. 
 
 R. Et cum spiritu tuo. Ans. And with thy spirit. 
 
 Ind^ verdcumlitaniaascendit From hence, chanting the 
 
 ad sedem suam, et dicit : litany, he ascends to his seat, 
 
 Gloria in excelsis Deo. and says : 
 
 Glory to God in the highest. 
 
 It is a mistake to suppose, as many have done, that the 
 practice of immersion was abandoned as soon as infant 
 baptism became prevalent. The baptism of infants, in 
 cases of necessity or danger of death, had become general 
 in the sixth century, but the practice of immersion con- 
 tinued until the thirteenth or fourteenth, and in fact has 
 never been formally abandoned or entirely renounced. 
 Father Martene {De Ant. Eccl. Descript. c. i, art. 14) says : 
 " In all the pontificals and rituals I have seen, and I have 
 seen many, ancient as well as the more recent, immersion 
 is prescribed. I must except, however, the ritual of the 
 Church of Madeleine de Beaulieu (the age of which does 
 not exceed three hundred years), in which the priest is 
 directed to pour water on the head of the infant. (Certe 
 in omnibus quoscumque viderim — vidi autem plures — 
 libris ritualibus aut Pontificalibus manuscriptis tam 
 antiquis quam recentioribus praescribitur immersio, si forte 
 unum excipias cenomanensem ad usum' ecclesiae S. Mag- 
 dalenae Bellilocensis exaratum, cujus character trecentos 
 annos vix superare videtur ) 
 
 We will again refer to the rituals of baptism in our 
 description of the baptisteries and fonts in the different 
 countries. 
 
 Cyprian is the first who defends affusion in the adminis- 
 tration of baptism to the sick. He writes thus to Magnus, 
 who had submitted to him this question : " An habendi 
 sint Christian! legitimi, eo quod aqua salutari non loti 
 
AFFUSION : CYPRIAN. 135 
 
 sunt, sed perfusi ?" that is, " Whether they are to be 
 esteemed legitimate Christians, who are not washed in. 
 the water, but only poured about." 
 
 " Thou hast inquired also, dearest son," replies Cyprian, 
 " what I think of those who in sickness and debility 
 obtain the grace of God, whether those are to be accounted 
 legitimate Christians, in that they are poured upon, not 
 washed, with the saving water. Diffidence and modesty 
 forbid me to judge beforehand any one that thinks, as 
 he deems right, and acts as he thinks. I, as far as my poor 
 ability conceiveth, account that the Divine blessing can 
 in no respect be mutilated and weakened, nor any inferior 
 gift be imparted, where what is drawn from Divine bounty 
 is accepted with full and entire faith both of the giver and 
 
 the receiver In the saving sacraments, when need 
 
 compels and Grod vouchsafes His mercy, His compendious 
 methods confer the whole benefit on believers. 
 
 " Nor should it disturb any one that the sick seem only 
 to be sprinkled or affused with water, when they attaint he 
 grace of the Lord, since the Holy Scripture speaks." (Here 
 Cyprian quotes Ezek. xxxvi. 25, 26; Numbers xix. 7, 19, 
 20; viii. 5, 6, 7 ; xix. 9.) "Whence it is apparent that the 
 sprinkling of water has like force with the saving wash- 
 ing, and that when it is done in the Church, where the 
 faith of the giver and receiver is entire, all holds good 
 and is consummated and perfected by the power of the 
 Lord and the truth of faith."* 
 
 * Cyprian, Epist. Ixix. ad Magnum : Qagsisti etiam, fill carissime, 
 quid mihi de illis videatur, qui in infirmitate et languore gratiam 
 Dei consequuntur, an habendi sint legitimi christiani, eo, quod 
 aqua salutari non loti sunt, sed perfusi. Qua in parte nemini 
 verecundia et modestia nostra prsejudicat, quo minus unusquisque 
 quod putat, sentiat, et quod senserit, faciat. Nos, quantum concipit 
 mediocritas nostra, aestimamus in nullo mutilari et debilitari posse 
 beneficia divina, nee minus aliquid illic posse contingere, ubi plena 
 et tota fide et dantis et sumentis accipitur, quod de divinis 
 
136 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 The question propounded by Magnus had reference to 
 the case of Novatian, which occurred about the middle 
 of the third century, and is recorded by Eusebius as fol- 
 lows : " He (Novatian) fell into a dangerous disease, and 
 because he was very likely to die, was poured over in the 
 bed where he lay, if, indeed, it is proper to say that such 
 an one could receive (baptism)." The doubt expressed by 
 Eusebius as to the validity of this manner of receiving the 
 ordinance was shared by the Christian Church in general. 
 Cornelius, in a letter to Fabius, Bishop of Antioch, 
 asserts, in reference to Novatian, " that all the clergy 
 and a great many of the laity, were against his being 
 chosen presbyter; because it was not lawful (they said) 
 for any one that had been poured over, as he had been, to 
 be admitted to any office of the clergy." 
 
 The introduction of affusion in the Church of Rome is 
 referred by some writers to a canon of Pope Stephen II., 
 who, during his residence in France, in 754, was consulted 
 by the monks of Cressy, as to the lawfulness of " baptizing 
 an infant, in case of necessity occasioned by sickness, by 
 pouring water on its head, from a cup or the hands." The 
 Pope, in reply, said : " Such a baptism performed in such 
 a case of necessity, in the name of the Holy Trinity, shall 
 be accounted valid." " This," remarks the learned Basnage 
 ; {^Monument, vol. i. prsef. c. v. sec. 4), " is the first law against 
 i immersion. The Pontiff, however, did not dispense with 
 
 muneribus hauritur. . . In sacramentis salutaribus, necessitate 
 cogente et Deo indulgentiam suam largiente, totum credentibus 
 conferunt divina compendia. Nee quemquam morere debet quod 
 aspergi vel perfundi videntur segri cum gratiam dominicam con- 
 sequuntur, quando Scriptura sancta per Ezechielem prophetam 
 loquatur, et dicat. (Here Cyprian quotes Ezek. xxxvi. 25, z6 ; 
 Num. xix. 7, 19, 20 ; viii. 5, 6, 7 ; xix. 9). Unde apparet, aspersio- 
 nem quoque aquae instar salutaris lavacri obtinere ; et quando hsec 
 in ecclesia fiunt, ubi sit et accipientis et dantis fides Integra, stare 
 omnino et consummari ac perfici posse majestate Domini et fidei 
 veritate. 
 
BAPTISM: MODE. 137 
 
 immersion, except in cases of extreme necessity. The 
 authenticity of this canon is denied by some Catholics ; 
 and many laws were made after this time in Germany, 
 France, and England, to c ompel dipp ing, and without any 
 provision for cases of necessity. This law, therefore, did 
 not alter the mode of dipping in public baptisms, and it 
 was not until five hundred and fifty-seven years after, that 
 the legislature, in a Council at Ravenna, in the year 1 3 1 1 , 
 declared immersion and pouring indifferent." 
 
 The General Rubric of the Baptismal Liturgy in the 
 Roman Ritual, edited by order of Paul Y., contains the 
 following directions : — 
 
 " The water to be used in baptism must have been 
 blessed in the same year, on Holy Saturday, or on the 
 Sunday of Pentecost. If it shall have failed, the parish 
 priest must bless other water for baptism, according to 
 the form hereinafter prescribed. 
 
 " If the hallowed water have been so diminished as to 
 seem scarcely enough for the baptism, other water, not 
 hallowed, may be mixed with it, but yet in a lesser 
 quantity. 
 
 " Though baptism may be administered by affusion, or 
 immersion, or aspersion, yet let the first or second mode, 
 which are more in use, be retained, agreeably to the 
 usage of the churches ; so, however, that with a triple 
 ablution the head of the person to be baptized be 
 drenched or immerged in the form of the cross, precisely 
 at the same time that the words are being uttered ; and 
 the same person that applies the water must utter the 
 words. 
 
 "The upper part of the head must be washed. 
 Particular care must be taken that the water touch imme- 
 diately the skin of the head (Sedulo curandum est ut 
 pellem capitis aqua immediate tangat). If, therefore, the 
 person to be baptized has hair, the priest must separate 
 
138 THE ARCILEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 the hair, where it is thick, with the fingers of his left hand, 
 while he pours on the water with the right. He must 
 take care that the water flow not from the head of the 
 infant into the holy font, but into the sacrarium of the 
 baptistery built near the font; or that being received 
 in a vessel had ready for the purpose, it be poured 
 into the sacrarium of the baptistery, or into that of the 
 church. 
 
 " Of course the lawful minister of baptism is the parish 
 priest. The Latin presbyter shall always use the Latin 
 form ; but whenever an infant or adult is in danger of 
 life, he can be baptized without solemnity in any language, 
 and by any person, whether cleric or laic, whether man or 
 woman ; provided, however, the form and intention of the 
 church be observed. 
 
 "In case there is danger of death, a child must be 
 baptized before it is born, as soon as any part of it 
 appears, whether head dr hand, or foot, or a:ny other 
 part ; provided, however, that if it be not the head, it be 
 rebaptized. 
 
 " The sacred chrism and holy oil of catechumens which 
 are needful in baptism, must have been blessed by the 
 bishop in the same year, on Holy Thursday." 
 
 This ritual, which is now used in the Roman Catholic 
 churches, directs affusion : — ■" Then the godfather or god- 
 mother, or both, holding the infant, the priest takes the 
 baptismal water in a little vessel or jug, and p.ours the 
 same three times upon the head of the infant in the form 
 of the cross, and at the same time, he says, uttering the 
 words once only, distinctly and attentively : — 
 
 "N. I baptize thee in the name of the Fa+ther — he 
 pours firstly ; and of the +Son — he pours a second time ; 
 and of the Holy+Ghost — he pours a third time." 
 
 " Immediately after the baptism is conferred, the priest 
 dips his thumb in the sacred chrism, and anoints the 
 
BAPTISM: HOW ADMINISTERED. 139 
 
 baptized one, on the crown of the head, in the form of the 
 cross, saying : — 
 
 "Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," 
 etc., as in the Liturgy of Pope Gelasius, which we have 
 already given. 
 
 "Then he wipes with silk, or something like it, his 
 thumb, and the places anointed by him, and lays upon 
 the head of the baptized a small white linen in lieu of the 
 white robe (loco vestis albse), saying : — 
 
 " Accipe vestem candidam, quam immaculatam perferas 
 ante tribunal Domini nostri Jesu Christi, ut habeas vitam 
 aeternam. R. Amen. Receive this white garment, and 
 see that thou carry it without stain before the judgment- 
 seat of our Lord Jesus Christ, that thou mayest have 
 eternal life. Answer. Amen. 
 
 "After this he gives to him, or to the godfather, a 
 lighted candle, saying: — N. Accipe lampadem ardentem, 
 et irreprehensibilis custodi baptismum tuum ; serva Dei 
 mandata, ut cum omnibus Sanctis in aul4 coelesti, habeas- 
 que vitam seternam, et vivas in ssecula saeculorum. R. 
 Amen. N. Receive this burning light, and keep thy 
 baptism, so as to be without blame ; keep the command- 
 ments of God, that when the Lord shall come to the 
 nuptials, thou mayest meet Him in the company of all the 
 saints in the heavenly court, and have eternal life, and 
 live for ever and ever. Answer. Amen. 
 
 " Last of all he says :— N. Go in peace, and the Lord 
 be with thee. Answer. Amen." 
 
 A rubric is added, directing that if several are to be 
 baptized at once, the first interrogation of the name, the 
 exsufflation, the impressing of the cross, the touching of 
 the ears and nostrils with the priest's spittle, the renounc- 
 ing interrogations and answers, the anointing with the 
 catechumenical oil, the interrogation of faith or the 
 creed, the baptizing act, the anointing with the chrism, 
 
140 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISII. 
 
 the laying on of the white robe, and the delivering of the 
 lighted candle, must all be done to each individually, first 
 to the males, and next to the females. 
 
 At an early period of ecclesiastical history, we find 
 confirmation administered in immediate connection with 
 baptism. TertuUian speaks expressly of confirmation as 
 following immediately after the administration of baptism, 
 {De Baptismo, c. 7,8) and traces the use of the chrism to 
 the ancient practice of anointing the priests under the 
 Jewish law. {De restirrect. earn. c. 8.) Baptism being 
 regarded as a solemn compact, or covenant, it was 
 natural to look upon confirmation as the seal by which the 
 contract was ratified or completed, and hence confirmation 
 was usually administered, not by the baptizing presbyters 
 or deacons, but by the bishop, as the chief minister of the 
 church. Pope Innocent, in one of his decrees, says : — 
 " Infants are not to be sealed or confirmed by any but 
 the bishop." (Ep. i. c. 4.) The permanent separation of 
 confirmation from baptism cannot, perhaps, be assigned 
 to an earlier date than the thirteenth century. 
 
 A question was referred by Cyprian to Stephen, Bishop 
 of Rome (Cyprian, £!J>. 72, ad Steph^, whether it was 
 necessary to rebaptize heretics who sought admission to 
 the catholic church, or it should be deemed sufficient, 
 proceeding upon the acknowledged validity of their 
 baptism, to receive them with the simple ceremony of 
 imposition of hands, and ecclesiastical benediction ? The 
 Roman bishop, in reply, acceded to the latter opinion. 
 But the African bishops, on the other hand, declared the 
 baptism of heretics to be null and void, and would not 
 recognize their confirmation at the hands of a catholic 
 bishop as sufficient for their reception into the church. 
 They demanded another baptism, to be followed by the 
 usual confirmation. Notwithstanding this demonstration 
 of their sentiments, the Church of Rome persevered in 
 
ANABAPTISM NOT ALLOWED. 141 
 
 maintaining that the baptism of heretics, provided only 
 that it was administered in due form, was valid and 
 sufficient, and that the sacrament ought not to be repeated. 
 This opinion finally prevailed ; and even the African 
 churches at length agreed on this point with those of 
 Rome, Gaul, Spain, and Asia Minor. And hence the 
 practice was generally established, that all heretics or 
 schismatics, except those who did not baptize in the 
 name of the Trinity, or who denied the validity of catholic 
 baptism, should be received as members of the catholic 
 church, upon recantation of their former errors, by the 
 mere imposition of hands, or confirmation. (See Cone. 
 Constantinop. I. a.d. 381, can. 7; Cone. Arausiac I. A.D. 441, 
 can. 8; Cone. Arelat. 11. A.D. 455, can. 26; Cone. Epaon. 
 A.D. 517, c. 16.) 
 
 Baptism was wholly rejected by several sects, who spoke 
 of it in a disparaging manner. Theodoret {H(zret. Fahul. 
 lib. i. c. X.) describes the Ascodrutse, who were a sort of 
 Gnostics, as asserting that " Divine mysteries, being the 
 images of invisible things, were not to be performed by 
 visible things, nor incorporeal things by what is sensible 
 and corporeal ; therefore, they never baptized any that were 
 of their sect, nor celebrated any part of the mystery of 
 baptism among them ; for they said, the knowledge of all 
 things was their redemption." 
 
 The followers of Quintilla, a woman preacher at 
 Carthage, were opposed to baptism, pleading that " faith 
 alone was sufficient to save men, as it did Abraham, who 
 pleased God without any other sacrament but that of 
 faith."* Against this doctrine, TertuUian, as we have 
 already noticed, wrote his Treatise on Baptism. 
 
 * Adeo dicunt, baptismus non est necessarius, quibus fides satis 
 est : nam et Abraham nullius aquae nisi fidei sacramento Deo 
 placuit. {De Bapiismo.) 
 
142 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 The Archontici rejected baptism and the Eucharist as 
 foreign institutions, given by Sabaoth, the God of the 
 Jews, and the giver of the law, whom they blasphemously 
 distinguished from the Supreme God. (Epiphanius, 
 Hares . xi. de Archonticis, and Theodoret, Haret. Fabul. 
 lib. i. c. xi.) 
 
 The Seleusians and Hermians pretended that baptism 
 by water was not instituted by Christ, because John the 
 Baptist, comparing his own baptism with that of Christ, 
 says, " I baptize you with water, but He that cometh after 
 me shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." 
 (Augustine, De Hares, c. lix.) Some of them, when they 
 had baptized men in water, also made a mark upon their 
 ears with fire, thus joining, as they thought, water baptism 
 with baptism by fire. 
 
 The Messalians, or Euchites (from evyj), prayer), resolved 
 all religion into prayer. They seem to have denied the 
 spiritual efficacy of baptism, and to have participated in 
 the reaction against the high notions almost universally 
 entertained respecting the supernatural powers of this 
 ordinance. Euthymius {Panopl. part. ii. titul. xxii.) 
 describes them as maintaining "that baptism did not 
 eradicate sin, that neither baptism nor participation of the 
 Eucharist could give a man the perfection of a Christian, 
 but only such prayer as they pretended to." See also 
 Harmenopolus, De Sectis. c. xviii. in Bibliotheca Patruni — 
 Greek and Latin i. p. 536. Theodoret says: — "Baptism 
 is not like a razor only, as the Messalian enthusiasts call 
 it, which takes away sins that are past, though it has this 
 effect among many others ; for if this were the only work 
 of baptism, for what reason should we baptize infants, 
 who have never yet tasted of sin ? for the sacrament does 
 not only promise this effect, but greater and more perfect 
 things than that. It is the earnest of future good, the 
 type of the resurrection to come, the communication of 
 
BAPTISM FOR THE DEAD. 143 
 
 our Lord's passion, the participation of our Lord's resur- 
 rection, the garment of salvation, the clothing of joy, and 
 the robe of light, or rather light itself" [Fabul. Haretic. 
 lib. V. c. xviii.) From this it would appear that the 
 Messalians or Euchites rejected not the baptism of water, 
 but the opinion that it conferred any special gift upon the 
 candidate. 
 
 The Marcionites, regarding the Good Deity as holding 
 married life in detestation, admitted none to baptism and 
 the Lord's Supper but the unmarried.* Epiphanius 
 informs us that they permitted women to baptize, used 
 water in the cup, and repeated baptism three times. 
 [Hares. 42.) They practised also the vicarious baptism 
 of the living for the dead, which is described by Chry- 
 sostom {Horn. xl. In i Cor.) as follows : " When a 
 catechumen dies, they conceal a living person under the 
 bed of the departed. Then they stand before the bed, and 
 ask the dead person whether or not he is willing to be 
 baptized ? Instead of the dead, who is unable to answer, 
 the person under the bed replies in the affirmative. 
 Hereupon they baptize him instead of the deceased, and 
 thus make quite a farce of the whole matter. Such power 
 has Satan over the minds of foolish men. And if you 
 complain of this transaction, they appeal to the words of 
 the Apostle Paul, who speaks of being ' baptized for the 
 dead.' " 
 
 The Valentinians used a mystical invocation in the 
 administration of baptism. Irenaeus, in his book against 
 Heresies, alludes to those heretics in the following terms : 
 " Some of them frame a bridal chamber, and solemnize 
 an initiation, with certain invocations upon those who are 
 
 * TertuUian, Adversus Marc. lib. iv. c. 34. He shows that 
 iptism ought to be administered to all, and defends the 
 stitution of marriaare. 
 
 bapt — 
 
 institution of marriage 
 
144 THE ARCILEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 being perfected, and they say that what they do is a 
 spiritual marriage, after the similitude of the marriages 
 on high. Others bring them to the water, and, baptizing, 
 use these words, ' Into the name of the unknown Father of 
 all, into Truth the mother of all, into Him that descended 
 upon Jesus, for the union, redemption, and communion of 
 their virtues.' While others utter certain Hebrew names, 
 the more to astound the initiated, thus : ' Basema, 
 Chamassi, Baaenaora, Mystadia, Ruada, Cusia, Babephor, 
 Calathi.' • Of which the interpretation is as follows : 
 ' That which is above all power of the Father I invoke, 
 which is named Light, and a good Spirit and Life ; for 
 thou hast reigned in the body.' And others, again, 
 rehearse the form of redemption thus : ' The name 
 which is hidden from all Godhead, and Dominion, and 
 Truth, which Jesus of Nazareth put on in the lives of the 
 light of Christ the Lord, who lives by the Holy Spirit 
 unto angelical redemption.' The name of restitution : 
 ' Messia Uphareg, Namamsaeman, Chaldaeam, Moso- 
 medaea, Acphranae, Psana, Jesu Nazaria.' Of these the 
 interpretation runs thus : ' I divide not the Spirit, the 
 heart, and the Supercelestial Power, the merciful One. 
 May I profit by Thy name, O Saviour of Truth ! ' And 
 while the initiators themselves rehearse these forms, the 
 initiated answers, ' I have been confirmed and ransomed, 
 and ransom my own soul from this world, and from all 
 things that are of it, in the name of Jao, who" purchased 
 His own soul unto redemption, in Christ the living.' Then 
 those who are present subjoin, ' Peace to all upon whom 
 this Name resteth.' Then they besmear the initiated 
 with the juice of balsam ; for this ointment they say is 
 the type of the fragrance that is above all." 
 
 " Some of them, however, say that bringing to the water 
 is superfluous, but mix oil and water together, and, with 
 invocations like what we have said, cast it on the head of 
 
BAPTISM: HOW ADMINISTERED. 145 
 
 the initiated. And this they will have to be redemption, 
 and they, too, anoint him with balsam." [Agatnsi Heresies, 
 book i. chap, xxi.) 
 
 The Tritheists and Priscillianists, Gnostics who first 
 introduced the doctrine of three Gods into the world, 
 instead of baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and 
 Holy Ghost, administered the ordinance in the name of 
 three unoriginated principles, as we learn from one of the 
 so-called apostolical canons, which is directly aimed at 
 them in these words : " If any bishop or presbyter baptize 
 not according to the command of Christ, ' In the name of 
 the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,' but in three unorigi- 
 nated principles, or in three Sons, or in three Paracletes 
 or Holy Ghosts, let him be deposed." * 
 
 Menander, who was a disciple of Simon Magus, taught 
 that no one could be saved except he was baptized in 
 his name. (See TertuUian, De Prescription, c. xlvi.) 
 Irenaeus and Epiphanius tell us that this Menander pro- 
 fessed " to be the Messiah ; for he taught that he was the 
 person sent for the salvation of men, and to gather a 
 church by mysteries of his own appointing, to deliver 
 men from the dominion of the angels, and principalities, 
 and powers that made the world." {Adv. Hceres. i. c. xxi. 
 and Hares, xxii. n. i.) 
 
 The followers of Montanus, who took upon him to be 
 the Holy Ghost, and had under him two prophetesses, 
 Priscilla and Maximilla, in the administration of baptism, 
 added these names to the Father and Son, instead of the 
 Holy Ghost. 
 
 The Paulianists, or disciples of Paulus Samosatensis, 
 Bishop of Antioch, who denied the divinity of Christ, 
 baptized without mentioning the persons of the Trinity. 
 The Eunomians and other sects used this form : " I 
 
 * Can. Apost. xlix. 
 
146 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 baptize thee into the death of Christ." Against this 
 practice is directed one of the Apostolic Canons, which 
 says : " If any bishop or presbyter use not three immer- 
 sions in the celebration of baptism, but one only given 
 in the death of Christ, let him be deposed, for our Lord 
 did not say, ' Baptize into My death,' but, ' Go, teach all 
 nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and 
 the Son, and the Holy Ghost.' " {Can. 1.) 
 
PART II. 
 
 BAPTISTERIES AND FONTS. 
 
Part II. 
 
 BAPTISTERIES AND FONTS. 
 
 N the times of the apostles and their immediate 
 successors, the converts were baptized in a river, 
 a lake, a sea, and wherever water in sufficient 
 quantity could be found for the administration of the rite 
 by immersion. Thus, John the Baptist immersed, in the 
 River Jordan at Enon, where there was much water, and 
 so did the disciples of Christ. [John iii. 22.) But baptism 
 could be administered in any other river or place of water, 
 as appears from various passages in the Acts of the Apostles. 
 The Ethiopian Eunuch went down into water lying by 
 the roadside to receive baptism at the hands of Philip. 
 It is not unlikely that Paul baptized Lydia and her 
 household in the river that runs by the city of Philippi. 
 In his Second Apology, Justin Martyr states that this was 
 the custom in his time ; he says that the converts were 
 " led to a place where there was water," and baptized. 
 
 TertuUian observes that " it makes no difference whether 
 one is washed in a sea or in a pool, in a river or in a 
 fountain, in a lake or in a channel ; nor is there any 
 difference between those whom John dipped in Jordan, 
 and those whom Peter plunged in the Tiber; for" he 
 adds, " the waters are made the sacrament of sanctiiica- 
 tion by invocation of God. The Spirit immediately 
 
150 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM, 
 
 descends from heaven, and resting upon them, sanctifies 
 them by Himself; and they, being so sanctified, receive 
 the power of sanctifying." (Nulla distinctio est, mari 
 quis an stagno, flumine an fonte, lacu an alveo diluatur ; 
 nee quicquam refert inter eos quos Joannes in Jordane, et 
 quos Petrus in Tiberi tinxit .... etc. {De BapHsmo, 
 c. iv.) 
 
 Tertullian also speaks of their going from the church to 
 the water, and then making their renunciations there as 
 they had done in the church before. (Aquam adituri, 
 ibidem, sed et aliquanto prius in ecclesia sub antistitis 
 manu contestamur nos renuntiare diabolo, et pompae, et 
 angelis ejus. {De Corona Milit. c. 3.) 
 
 The author of the Recognitions, under the name of 
 Clemens Romanus, represents Peter preaching to the 
 people, and telling them " they might wash away their 
 sins in the water of a river, or a fountain, or the sea, by 
 invoking the name of the blessed Trinity upon them." 
 (Ut in praesenti quidem tempore diluantur peccata vostra 
 per aquam fontis, aut fluminis, aut etiam maris, invocato 
 super vos Trino Beatitudinis nomine. {Clem. Recognit. lib. 
 iv. c. 32.) 
 
 Walafrid Strabo acknowledges that the believers in the 
 times of the apostles were baptized with great simplicity 
 in rivers or fountains.* The same admission is made by 
 Honorius Augustus, in his Gemma Animce (lib. iii. 
 c. io6).t We have already seen that Paulinus baptized 
 the Northumbrian converts in the rivers Glen and Sarle 
 in the North of England. In the Acts of ApoUinarius and 
 
 * " Sciendum autem, prim6 simpliciter in fluviis vel fontibus 
 baptizatos credentes ; ipse enim Dominus noster Jesus Christus, 
 ut in nobis idem consecraret lavacrum, in Jordane baptizatus est i 
 Joanne, et sicut alibi legitur ; erat Joannes baptizans in /Enon, 
 juxta Salim, quia aquae multae erant." {De Ritibus Eccles. c. 26.) 
 
 f " Sciendum est, qudd apostoli, et eorum discipuli in fluviis, 
 vel stagnis, vel in fontibus baptizabant." 
 
BAPTISM: WHERE FIRST ADMINISTERED. 15 1 
 
 Victor, it is mentioned that these two missionaries led 
 their catechumens to the sea to administer to them the 
 rite of baptism.* 
 
 In his Book on Holy Places, Bade says : " In the place 
 where our Lord was baptized, stands a wooden cross as 
 high as a man's neck, and sometimes covered by the 
 water. From it to the farther, that is, the eastern bank, 
 is a sling's cast ; and on the nearer bank is a large 
 monastery of St. John the Baptist on a rising ground, and 
 famous for a very handsome church, from which they 
 descend to the cross by a bridge supported on arches, to 
 offer up their prayers. In the farther part of the river is 
 a quadrangular church, supported on four stone arches, 
 covered with burnt tiles, where our Lord's clothes are 
 said to have been kept whilst he was baptized. Men do 
 not enter this church, but come together around it from 
 all quarters ; from the place where the Jordan leaves the 
 Sea of Galilee, to where it enters the Dead Sea, is a 
 journey of eight days." f 
 
 During the dark days of imperial persecutions the 
 primitive Christians of Rome found a ready refuge in the 
 Catacombs, where they constructed baptisteries for the 
 administration of the rite by immersion. The most 
 remarkable of these is the baptistery in the Catacomb of 
 
 * Martene, De Antiq. Eccks. Ritih. i. p. 3. 
 
 f Bede : In loco, in quo Dominus baptizatus est, crux lignea 
 Stat usque ad collum alta, quse aliquotiens aqua transcendente 
 absconditur : k quo loco ripa ulterior, id est, Orientalis in jactu 
 fundse est, citerior ver6 ripa in supercilio monticuli grande 
 monasterium gestat B. Johannis Baptists ecclesia clarum ; de 
 quo per pontem arcubus suffultum solent descendere ad illam 
 crucem, et orare. In extrema flurninis parte, quadrata ecclesia est 
 quatuor lapideis cancris superposita, coctili creta desuper tecta, 
 ubi Domini vestimenta ciim baptizaretur, servata esse dicuntur. 
 Hanc non homines intrare, sed undique cingere ac penetrare 
 solent. Ab eo loco, quo de faucibus maris Galilaea Jordanis 
 exit, usque ubi Mare Mortuum intrat, octo dierum iter est. {De 
 locu Sanctis Libellus, cap. xiii.) 
 
152 
 
 THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 San Ponziano, on the right side of the Via Portuensis, and 
 at a short distance beyond the modern Porta Portese. 
 Through this cemetery a stream of water runs, the 
 channel of which is diverted into a reservoir, which was 
 .used for administering baptism by immersion from the 
 
 -b 
 
 ' ' 
 
 d 
 
 -I S iO 15 ZO FEET. 
 
 Fiff. 18. Plan of Baptistebt in Catacomb op S. Ponziano, Eome. 
 
 first to the fourth centuries. A perspective view of this 
 antique baptistery will be found in the Frontispiece. 
 
 The dimensions of the reservoir, which is still full of 
 water, are four and a half feet in length, three feet and a 
 
 
 Fig. 19. Sectional view op Baptistery in Catacomb of S. Ponziano. 
 
 half in width, and three feet and a half in depth. The 
 annexed engravings (Figs. i8 and 19) give the plan and a 
 
FIRST BAPTISTERY. 153 
 
 sectional view of this interesting baptistery, in which the 
 neophytes were immersed by standing or kneeling in 
 the water, and bending forward under the hand of the 
 administrator. 
 
 The Catacombs of the Vatican and St. Alexander con- 
 tained natural springs, those of St. Priscilla and St. 
 Callixtus received water by means of canals into cisterns, 
 vestiges of which still remain. 
 
 The first mention of a baptistery, or a place appro- 
 priated to the purposes of baptism, occurs in the Gesta S. 
 Marcelli, in Surii vit. S. D. 16 Jan.; and this baptistery 
 was in a private house. 
 
 It was only after the conversion of the Emperor Con- 
 stantine to Christianity that its rites were permitted to be 
 celebrated in public. Under his reign churches were 
 erected with great splendour. In addition to the basilica 
 itself, it was necessary to have a building in which the 
 baptism of the people who were converted to the gospel 
 might be administered. This rite being performed by 
 immersion, and the number of persons being considerable, 
 because in general it took place only at the two most 
 solemn festivals of the year, a spacious building for this 
 purpose was required, and one was usually erected in the 
 vicinity of a church. In the iifth and sixth centuries, 
 baptisteries or baptismal churches (ecclesiae baptismales) 
 were general, and sometimes very large. The church of 
 Santa Sophia, at Constantinople, had a most spacious 
 baptistery attached to it, in which one of the councils of 
 the Church assembled.* An idea of the size of some of 
 these edifices may be formed, when we remember that in 
 some places, as Antioch, no less than three thousand 
 persons sometimes received baptism at one time. 
 
 * The baptistery of Sta. Sophia was called /^cya ^utio-t-^/diov 
 " the great illuminatory." 
 
154 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 The word "baptistery" is derived from the Greek 
 /SaTTTicTTijpiov, a large vase, labrum, or piscina of the 
 frigidarium in the ancient Roman baths, which was used 
 to bathe in. It was called by the Romans hapttsterium. 
 Pliny mentions a large baptistery he had in his house.* 
 The Christian baptisteries were circular or octagonal 
 in form. The oldest were circular, copied, as some archae- 
 ologists think, from the circular Roman temples, which 
 supplied a graceful model for buildings that were not to 
 be so large as churches. It is more probable, however, 
 that the form of these buildings was imitated from some 
 apartment in a Roman bath, most likely the frigidarium, 
 or cold bath, a round hall, a plan of which is shown in the 
 annexed engravings. (Figs. 20 and 21.) They represent the 
 
 Fig. 20. Section of Fkigidarium or Bath, Pompeii. 
 
 frigidarium of the Pompeii baths, discovered some years 
 ago. It is a round chamber, with a ceiling in the form of 
 a truncated cone ; near the top is a window, from which 
 
 * Pliny ; Inde apodyterium balinei laxum, et hilari excipit cella 
 frigidaria, in qua baptisterium amplum atque opacum. (Lib. v. 
 epist. 6.) 
 
BATHS : POMPEII. 
 
 155 
 
 it is lighted. The plinth, or base of the wall, is entirely 
 of marble, and four niches are disposed round the room 
 at equal distances, with seats for the convenience of the 
 bathers. The alveus, or basin, is twelve feet and ten 
 inches in diameter, three feet deep, and entirely lined 
 with white marble; two marble steps facilitate the descent 
 into the basin. (Fig. 21.) The water ran into this bath 
 
 Fig. 21. Plan of Feigidarium of Bath, Pompeii. 
 in a copious stream, through a spout placed in the wall, 
 three feet and seven inches from the edge of the basin. 
 At the bottom of the alveus is a small outlet for the 
 purpose of emptying and cleansing it. This frigidarium 
 had been highly decorated, and is still remarkable for its 
 preservation and beauty.* 
 
 The internal arrangement of the ancient baptisteries 
 strictly corresponds with the above plan.f They are 
 in most cases circular buildings, surmounted with a 
 dome or cupola. In the centre is a large basin, which 
 was called by the Latins baptisterium, lavacrum (bath) 
 
 * Encyclopadia, Article Bath. 
 
 t The baptistery at Nocera, now known as the church of Santa 
 Maria Maggiore, was formerly a Roman bath. 
 
156 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 and natatorhim (swimming place), and by the Greek 
 ecclesiastical writers " KoXvfiPrjdpa " or pool. Socrates, in 
 his Church History (vii. 17), expressly distinguishes the 
 font, or central basin, from the baptistery, or the outer 
 building, with which it has sometimes been confounded, 
 and perhaps latterly become synonymous, as "the pool 
 of the baptistery " (^KoXvfi^')]6pa tov ^aTTTiaTrjpcov). Some 
 of the baptisteries were erected over natural rivulets ; 
 others were supplied with pipes. The baptisteries are 
 usually situated in the approach to the western or prin- 
 cipal gate of the church, to typify the initiation of the new 
 Christian. They were generally constructed of large size, 
 in order to afford accommodation to the great number of 
 persons baptized at the three principal festivals of Easter, 
 Pentecost, and Epiphany, and for this additional reason, 
 that as the right of baptizing was reserved only to the 
 bishop, however numerous might be the churches in the 
 larger cities, still there was but one general baptistery to 
 which all resorted, and which was attached to the Metro- 
 politan, or Bishop's church. 
 
 Baptisteries are mentioned by Cyril of Jerusalem, in 
 whose time they were divided into two parts, outer and 
 inner, in the former of which the preparations for baptism 
 were made, and in the latter the ordinance itself was 
 administered {Catech. Mysiag. i. 2, ii. i ; Ambros. De Init 
 c. 2, 5 ; De Sacr. lib. iii. c. 2, epis. 33). Augustine speaks 
 of a part of the baptistery appropriated to women — ui in 
 parte fceminaru7n olservanti ad laptisterium. 
 
 Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, speaking of the generosity of 
 his friend Severus, says he built two churches, and a 
 baptistery between them both. It consisted of a irpoavXio'; 
 olKOf (a porch or ante-room), where the persons to be 
 baptized made their confession of faith, and an eVwre/Do? 
 oIkov (or inner room), where the ceremony of baptism was 
 performed. 
 
AN ANCIENT BASILICA. 
 
 157 
 
 The accompanying woodcut represents a plan of an 
 ancient Christian basilica, or church, with its outer build- 
 ings. fSee Fig. 22.) 
 
 
 LOeua eUBSTRATORUMj 
 
 , "^ LDCU« 9 AUOIEHXIUM r^ 
 
 I g t « ^ 
 
 I 1.0CUS -+ UJCENTIUM 
 
 LOCUG HTEMANTIUM . 
 
 ATRIUM 61U£ MESAUUOM 
 
 H 
 
 SC£N0RHVLAC1UJ^A 
 
 aAPTlSXERlUM 
 
 PASTOPHORIA 
 
 I i 
 
 Fiff. 22. 
 
 Flak of an Ahcient Christian Basilica. (From Bingham's 
 Christian Antiquities.) 
 
 1. Entrance into the Area before the Church. 2. Atrinm, or Area leading from the Porch 
 to the Church. 3. Fonntain of water in the middle of the square. 4. Porticoes about the 
 Area, called the Exterior Narthex of the Church and place of Mourners. 6. The great gate 
 of the Church. 6. The two lesser gates. 7. Northern and Southern gates. 8. Cloisters on 
 the North and South side of the Church. 9. taterior Narthex where the Catechumens and 
 Hearers stood. 10, Place of the Substrati, or third degree of Penitents. 11. Reading Desk. 
 12. Ascent on both sides of the Reading Desk. 13. Inner Porticoes for Men below. 14. Cate- 
 chumia, or Upper Galleries for the Women. 15. Rails of the Chancel. 16. The Bema, or 
 Chancel. 17. The Altar, or Communion Table. 18. Arched Canopy round the Altai. 
 19. The Bishop's Seat. 20. The Seats of Presbyters. 21. The Inner Vestry. 22. Paratorium, 
 or place for receiving the Offerings of the Pceple- 23. Scenophylacium, or the Great 
 Repository. 24. The Baptistery. 25. The Font, or Basiuin the Middle of the Baptistery. 
 26. Pastophoria, DwelUng Houses for the Ministers, with Schools, Libraries, t&c, on each 
 side of the Church. 
 
 Churches, especially after the fourth century, consisted 
 of three principal divisions. At the east was the iema 
 choir, sanctum or place of the altar, reserved for the 
 bishop and clergy — often in the form of a semi-circular 
 recess or apsis, and railed oflF from the nave by cancelli, or 
 rails. The nave {vao<;, a ship) was the body of the church, 
 or place of usual assembly for the people, having in it the 
 ambo, or reader's desk or pulpit. The sexes were usually 
 
158 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 kept separate during worship, the men being on the south 
 side and the women on the north side. The catechumens 
 were placed behind the believers, according to their 
 various classes, and behind them again were placed a 
 certain class of penitents. Round the wall were recesses 
 for private meditation and prayer, and aisles (alae) sepa- 
 rated the nave from those chambers. Lastly, there was 
 the narthex (ante-temple or portico), occupying the front 
 of the edifice, and entered by three doors from the outer 
 porch ; and there were three entrances inward from it, 
 the principal one opening into the nave, directly opposite 
 to the altar. Two of the doors, consisting of two folding 
 leaves, were named the priests' door and the men's door. 
 The vestibule, properly so called, was the place appro- 
 priated to certain catechumens and penitents. There also 
 stood the font, or cantharus, for washing prior to entrance ; 
 and here, in Abyssinia, the worshippers put-off their 
 sandals. 
 
 The exedrae, or buildings outside the church, compre- 
 hended generally the wings and exterior apartments, and 
 also separate buildings, such as the baptistery. The court 
 and atrium was the open space between the outside walls 
 and the church, and there stood such outcasts as were not 
 permitted to enter the church. There were other build- 
 ings, such as the vestry, or repository for sacred utensils 
 {aimeliarcheion) ; and sometimes there were also prisons 
 (called decanica). Libraries, schools, and houses for the 
 officiating clergy sprang up round the church ; hospitals 
 for the sick, and diversoria, or places for the entertainment 
 of strangers. 
 
 It was enacted, by laws both of Church and State, that 
 baptism should be performed only in the public bap- 
 tisteries. In Justinian's 58th Novel, in which oratories in 
 private houses are allowed, it is forbidden in general to 
 celebrate any of the sacerdotal offices (lepal XeiTovpylai) 
 
BAPTISTERIES. 159 
 
 in them ; and in Novella 42, c. 2, the administration of 
 baptism and the Lord's Supper are expressly interdicted. 
 However, in cases of necessity, sickness, imprisonment, 
 journeying, and the like, this rule was not enforced. We 
 read of martyrs baptized in prison, clinics on the sick-bed, 
 and others at sea, or on a journey. Jerome says "that 
 in villages and castles, and places remote from the bishop's 
 church, men were baptized by presbyters and deacons." 
 {Dialog, cum Lucifer, c. 4.) 
 
 In some large dioceses and cities, and by the liberality 
 of emperors, the number of baptisteries was sometimes 
 increased ; in which cases, however, the cathedral bap- 
 tistery always retained a certain degree of preference. 
 (Duranti. Rit. Eccl. lib. i. c. 19.) 
 
 " If it is clear that from the third or fourth centuries 
 infant baptism was sanctioned and practised in cases of 
 sickness or danger of death, it is equally clear that, for 
 many centuries, adult baptism was much more commonly 
 adopted. As plenary immersion was insisted upon, the 
 baptisteries always contained a large bath, into which the 
 neophytes descended by steps. The men and women 
 were baptized on different days. In the case of adults, it 
 was customary to unite coniirmation with baptism. At 
 first, the bishop alone was authorized to administer the 
 sacraments, as he was supposed to impart to them their 
 mysterious virtues. But the inconvenience of large multi- 
 tudes, and the labour which was entailed upon the bishop, 
 often an infirm old man, gradually led to a change of 
 system ; the parochial minister was authorized to baptize. 
 This alteration caused the baptisteries to be multiplied, 
 and at length united to, or rather changed into, parish 
 churches. 
 
 " When, in the course of time, adult baptism became the 
 exception, and infant baptism the rule, the baptisteries 
 were deserted, and fonts large enough for the immersion 
 
i6o 
 
 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 of infants were, for the most part, placed in the church, 
 near the entrance ; a position emblematical of the 
 admission of the newly-baptized into the congregation." 
 (Knight's Church Architecture^ The latest baptistery, 
 that of Pistoia, in Italy, was erected A.D. 1337. 
 
 ITALY. 
 
 We now give a full list of the baptisteries in Italy, with 
 indication of their form and the time of their foundation.* 
 
 BAPTISTERIES. 
 
 FORM. 
 
 EPOCH OF 
 CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 Rome, St. John of Lateran . 
 
 „ S. Costanza . . . 
 Naples, S. Stefano . . 
 
 Nocera, S. Maria Maggiore. 
 Milan, S. Giovanni, for men 
 Milan, S. Stefano, for women 
 
 Pesaro 
 
 Rome, Basilica S. Stefano 
 Classe, Delia Petriana . 
 Ravenna, S. Giovanni 
 
 ,, S. Maria in Cos- 
 
 medin . . . 
 Canosa, in Apulia 
 Trieste, in Istria 
 Parenzo, 
 Pirano, 
 Cittanova, 
 Capodistria, 
 Aquileja 
 Grado . 
 Brescia 
 Novara 
 Asti . . 
 Baveno, on Lake Maggiore 
 
 Como 
 
 Lenno, on Lake Como . 
 Gravedona, ,, ,, 
 
 Octagonal 
 Circular . 
 
 Octagonal 
 
 Square 
 Octagonal 
 
 Twelve-sided 
 Octagonal 
 
 Circular . 
 Octagonal 
 
 Circular . 
 Octagonal 
 Polygonal 
 Circular . 
 Octagonal 
 
 4th century. 
 
 About A.D. 440. 
 
 A.D. 550. 
 6th century. 
 
 End of 6th century. 
 
 6th or 7th century. 
 
 See II Battisiero di Parma da Michaele Lopez, pp. 124, 125. 
 
BAPTISTERIES. 
 
 i6i 
 
 BAPTISTERIES. 
 
 Pro 
 
 Menaggio, on Lake Como . 
 S. Giovanni, in Atrio, on 
 
 Lake Como . . . 
 Galliano, Prov. of Como 
 Arsago, Prov. of Milan 
 Berzan6 ,, ,, ,, 
 Mazzo, Prov. of Valtellina 
 Castrocaro, near Forli 
 Florence . . . 
 Lucca .... 
 Bologna . . . 
 Serravalle . . . 
 Pavia, for men . 
 
 ,, for women 
 Verona . . . 
 Cividale, in Venetian 
 
 vinces .... 
 Pola, in Istria . . 
 Albenga .... 
 Ascoli . . . 
 Volterra .... 
 Biella, in Piedmont 
 Chieri, ,, 
 
 Agliate, Prov. of Milan 
 Mariano, Prov. of Como 
 Varese, „_ „ „ 
 Rovigno (Istria) . . 
 
 •Cremona 
 
 Domo, Prov. of Como 
 Castel-Seprio, ,, 
 
 Oggiono „ 
 
 Abiasca, Diocese of Milan 
 Faido, ,, ,, ,, 
 
 Torcello . . . 
 Murano . . 
 Chioggia . . . 
 Padua .... 
 Vigolo Marchese, 
 
 Piacenza . . 
 Genoa, S. Giovann 
 Reggio, in Emilia 
 Pisa „ 
 Parma ,, ,, 
 Pistoia .... 
 
 Prov 
 
 of 
 
 FORM. 
 
 EPOCH OF 
 CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 Long square. 6th or yth century. 
 
 Octagonal . 
 Irregular 
 
 it 
 Octagonal . 
 
 >j 
 Circular . . 
 Octagonal . 
 Square . . 
 Twelve-sided 
 Octagonal . 
 
 »» 
 ? 
 Octagonal . 
 
 Greek Cross . 
 ? 
 
 Square . . 
 Octagonal . 
 Greek Cross. 
 Octagonal . 
 
 Heptagonal . 
 Octagonal . 
 
 ? 
 Hexagonal . 
 Octagonal . 
 
 ? 
 
 ? 
 Octagonal . 
 
 j> 
 Circular . . 
 Square . . 
 
 Circular . . 
 Octagonal ? . 
 
 ? 
 
 Circular . . 
 Octagonal . 
 
 yth century. 
 
 8th century } 
 8th century. 
 
 8th or 9th century, 
 gth or loth century. 
 
 gth century. 
 A.D. goo } 
 nth century. 
 
 A.D. loog. 
 nth century. 
 
 nth or 1 2th century. 
 
 ? 
 ? 
 
 A.D. II53. 
 A.D. I 196. 
 A.D. 1337. 
 
 M 
 
1 62 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 In his De Vitis Romanorum Pontificum, Anastasius 
 Bibliothecarius* mentions the erection and restoration of 
 baptisteries in connection with several churches in and 
 near Rome, as those of S. Prassedef and S. PudentianaJ 
 by Pius I. (a.d. 142-157); S. Anastasio, § SS. Rufina 
 6 Secunda, II and S. Pietro on the Appian Way^ by 
 Hadrian I. (772-95) ; S. Susanna** and S. Andrea Apo- 
 stolo on the Appian Way,tt by Leo III. (795-816); 
 
 * Anastasius Bibliothecarius lived in the 9th century, and was 
 present at the CEcumenical Council held at Constantinople in 869. 
 He is the author of the Liber Pontificalis, which contains the lives 
 of the Popes as far as Nicholas I. (a.d. 858), and of an Ecclesiastical 
 History. 
 
 f Et rogavit Beatum Pium Episcopum (Virgo Praxides) ut 
 Thermas Novati, quae jam in usu non erant, ecclesiam dedicaret 
 
 et placuit Sancto Pio Episcopo, et dedicavit 
 
 ecclesiam Thermas Novati, in nomine beatse Praxedis Virginis, 
 quam et titulum constituit in urbe Roma, in vico qui appellatur 
 Laterica. In quo et baptisterium consecravit sub die tertio idus 
 majas. (Ex MS. Liberiano apud Anatasium, De Vitis Rom. Pont, 
 cum notis Blanchinii, t. ii. p. 124.) 
 
 % Hie ex rogatu Beatse Praxidis dedicavit ecclesiam Thermas 
 Novati in Vico patritii in honorem sororis suae sancto Pudentianae, 
 ubi et multi dona obtulit, ubi saepius sacrificium Domino efferent 
 ministrabat ; immo et fontem baptismi construi fecit, manu sua 
 benedixit et consecravit, et multos venientes ad fidem baptizavit in 
 nomine Trinitatis. (Anastasius, In Vita Pii.) 
 
 § Basilica vero monasterio beati Anastasii Christi martyris, una 
 cum baptisterio (Anastasius, In Vita Hadriani.) 
 
 II Imo et basilicam Stae. Rufinae et Secundae, quae ponitur in 
 episcopio Silvae Candida, quae olitana vetustate marcuerat una cum 
 baptisterio summo studio renovavit. {In Vita Hadriani.^ 
 
 \ Basilicam beati Petri Apostoli sitam Via? Appia in Silice ultra 
 sanctum Thomam Apostolum non procul a tricesimo, desolatione, 
 ruinisque praeventam a novo una cum baptisterio restaurans mole 
 magnitudinis decoravit. {In Vita Hadriani.^ 
 
 ** Sad et baptisterium ibi constituit, et dona obtulit. {In Vita 
 Leonis, sect. 365.) 
 
 ft Saepedictus vero antistes sanctissimus ecclesiae beati Andras 
 Apostoli, sitas in tricesimo Via Appia in Silice, sarta tecta noviter 
 renovavit, una cum baptisterio et porticus. {In Vita Leonis, 
 sect. 380.) 
 
BAPTISTERIES IN ROME. 163 
 
 S. Maria Maggiore* and S. Maria in Trasteveref by 
 Benedictus III. (855-58). Most of these were restorations. 
 At S. Andrea Apostolo, the baptistery is expressly de- 
 scribed as a large circular building, with a spacious basin 
 in the centre.J No vestiges of these baptisteries remain. 
 
 Baths were frequently attached to the churches. Anas- 
 tasius often mentions the construction of them ; he tells 
 us, for instance, that the Pope Symmachus erected a bath 
 for the church of S. Pancrazio, near Rome, and that at 
 the Basilica of St. Paul he introduced water behind the 
 apsis, and constructed a bath (post absidem aquam intro- 
 duxit ubi et balneum a fundamentis fecit. In Vita 
 Symmachi). Blanchinius, the learned annotator of Anas- 
 tasius, is of opinion that these baths were used for the 
 administration of baptism by immersion, according to 
 usage. (Ubi aquarum copia suppeteret ad baptismum per 
 immersionem de more celebrandum. De Vitis Rom. Pont, 
 cum notis Blanchinii, vol. iii. p. 36.) 
 
 In his life of Marcellus, Pope of Rome A.D. 304, 
 Anastasius informs us that twenty-five parochial churches 
 were established by that prelate, in the city, for the 
 administration of baptism to the multitudes, who were 
 
 * Et in basilica sanctae Dei Genetricis, semperque Virginis 
 
 DominEe nostrae, quae ad praesepe nuncupatur in 
 
 qua veto basilica baptisterium destructum multo per tempera 
 manserat, celeri studio, futuram sperans a Domino retributionem, 
 restauravit, et ad pristinum statum perduci procuravit. {In Vita 
 BenedictilW. sect. 567.) 
 
 t In ecclesia beatae Dei Genetricis, semperque Virginis Mariae 
 Dominae nostrae, quae ponitur trans Tylserim' .... porticum 
 atque baptisterium cum sacratoria omnia et in omnibus sarta tecta 
 noviter renovavit. {In Vita Benedicti, sect. 572.) 
 
 \ Quia angustior locus populi existebat qui ad baptismum 
 veniebat isdem praesul a fundamentis ipsum baptisterium in rotun- 
 dum ampla largitate construens in meliorem erexit statum, atque 
 sacrum fontem in medio largiori spatio fundavit, et in circuitu 
 columnis porphyreticis decoravit, etc. {In Vita Leonis III. sect. 397.) 
 
 M 2 
 
164 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 brought over from paganism. (XXV. Titulos in urbe 
 Roma constituit, quasi dicBceses propter baptismum et 
 poenitentiam multorum, qui convertebantur ex paganis. 
 In Vita Alarcelli.) 
 
 BAPTISTERY OF CONSTANTINE. 
 
 We may now proceed to speak of this baptistery, which 
 has been ascribed to Constantine, and in which some 
 antiquarians have been willing to discover the remains 
 of thermcB, or baths, originally within the precincts of the 
 imperial palace. This building stands at a short distance 
 from the church of St. John of Lateran, and now bears the 
 name of San Giovanni in Fonte, an appellation usually 
 given to the baptisteries in the peninsula. All this region 
 was originally occupied by the house and gardens of a 
 wealthy Roman, Plautius Lateranus, who was put to 
 death by Nero.* The house, subsequently, became one of 
 the imperial palaces. Constantine possessed it in his 
 turn, until he left Rome for his new capital in the East. 
 
 That this baptistery cannot be justly entitled to the 
 name it bears, is sufficiently evident from the well-attested 
 fact that Constantine, though he declared himself a 
 Christian, postponed the rite, which was then believed to 
 wash away the stain of every sin, till he found his end 
 approaching, and then was baptized, not at Rome, but at 
 Nicomedia. In fact, this baptistery was not constructed 
 till the pontificate of Sixtus III., who died in A.D. 440. 
 Anastasiusf says that it was he who placed the eighth' 
 porphyry columns, which decorate the interior of . the 
 building. The probability is that these columns had 
 been the ornament of some palatial mansion, a nym- 
 phaeum, or baths, in the gardens of Lateranus ; that 
 
 * Rasponus, De Basilica Laterensis. 
 f Anastasius, In Vita Sexti III. 
 
BAPTISTERY OF CONSTANTINE. 
 
 165 
 
 Sixtus, wishing to construct a baptistery in connection 
 with the Church of St. John, availed himself of these 
 precious materials, and that the baptistery derived its 
 name from the palace in which Constantine had 
 once resided. In 1153, Anastasius IV. raised the walls 
 of the building, and covered it with a new roof.* He 
 must have added the second tier of smaller pillars, 
 which support the attic. Other popes, at different times, 
 contributed additional embellishments. Gregory XIII., 
 in 1572, added the panelled ceiling. Urban VIII., in 1628, 
 and Innocent X., in 1644, enriched the ceiling and the 
 
 Fig. 23. Plan or Baptistery or Constantine. 
 
 walls with frescoes by the best masters. A chapel opens 
 out of each side of the baptistery ; the one dedicated to 
 John the Baptist, the other to John the Evangelist.f 
 
 In the centre of the building is a magnificent circular 
 basin, three feet deep, lined and paved with marble. It 
 
 * Ciampini, De Sacris ^dificiis, cap. 3. 
 f Knight, Architecture in Italy. 
 
1 66 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 occupies a large proportion of the building, being about 
 twenty-five feet in diameter. Anastasius, in his Life of 
 Pope Sylvester,* and Damuscus,t describe the basin exist- 
 ing in their time as being of porphyry, and covered 
 entirely both within and without with silver, the weight of 
 which was estimated at three thousand and eight pounds. 
 In the middle of the basin stood a column of porphyry, 
 bearing on its top a golden phial full of precious ointment. 
 On the edge of the font were figures of seven harts of 
 solid silver, and a lamb in massive gold, which poured 
 water into the basin, previous to the administration of 
 baptism. The water was conducted to the font from the 
 adjoining Claudian aqueduct, the remains of which are 
 still seen. J This magnificence is in harmony with the 
 descriptions given of the baths in Rome, at the time 
 of Agrippa, and the Emperors after Augustus, which 
 were built and finished in a style of luxury almost 
 incredible. In his Eighty-sixth Epistle, Seneca, who 
 inveighs against this luxury, observes that " a person was 
 held to be poor and sordid, whose baths did not shine 
 with a profusion of the most precious materials, the 
 marbles of Egypt inlaid with those of Numidia; unless 
 the walls were laboriously stuccoed in imitation of paint- 
 ing; unless the chambers were covered with glass, the 
 basins with rare Thasian stone, and the water conveyed 
 with silver pipes." These were the luxuries of plebeian 
 baths. Those of the freedmen and the nobility had " a 
 profusion of statues, a number of columns supporting 
 nothing, placed as an ornament merely on account of the 
 expense ; the water murmuring down the steps ; and the 
 
 * Anastasius, In Vila S. Sylvestri. 
 
 "t" Damascus, In Pontific. de Sylvest. Pap. 
 
 \ Onofrius, Le Sette chiese di Roma. 
 
BAPTISTERY OF THE LATERAN. 167 
 
 floor of precious stones.* These baths of which Seneca 
 speaks were private baths. 
 
 Though the baptistery of the Lateran has not on the 
 whole that appearance of antiquity, which one might 
 ascribe to a building of the fourth century, still it is 
 certain that the exterior and the general arrangement of 
 the interior have been preserved from the beginning, as 
 may be seen from a design of the ancient building in 
 the baptistery itself, bearing the following inscription : 
 " Baptisterium restituit." 
 
 A descent of three steps leads to the bottom of the 
 basin, which is provided with a small outlet, which was 
 used for the purpose of emptying it after the ceremony of 
 baptism by immersion had been performed. That this 
 basin was formerly used for the administration of the rite 
 according to the primitive method is evident from the 
 following inscription in Latin verses upon the architrave 
 supported by the columns of porphyry which surround the 
 basin : — 
 
 GENS SACRANDA POLIS HIC SEMINE NASCITUR ALMO 
 
 QUAM FECUNDATIS SPIRITUS EDIT AQUIS. 
 VIRGINEO FCETU GENITRIX ECCLESIA NATOS, 
 
 QUOS SPIRANTS DEO CONCIPIT, AMNE PARIT, 
 CCELORUM REGNUM SPERATI HOC FONTE RENATI : 
 
 NON RECIPIT FELIX VITA SEMEL GENITOS. 
 TONS HIC EST VITA, ET QUI TOTUM DILUIT ORBEM, 
 
 SUMENS DE CHRISTI VULNERE PRINCIPIUM. 
 
 * Pauper sibi videtur ac sordidus, nisi parietes magnis et pre- 
 tiosis orbibus refulserunt ; nisi Alexandrina marmora Numidicis 
 crustis distincta sunt ; nisi illis undique operosa et in picturae 
 modum variata circumlitio prsetexitur ; nisi vitro absconditur 
 camera ; nisi Thasius lapis, quondam rarum in aliquo spectaculum 
 tempio, piscinas nostras circumdedit, in quas multa sudatione 
 corpora exinanita demittimus ; nisi aquam argentea epistomia 
 fuderunt. Et adliuc plebeias fistulas loquor ; quid, quum ad 
 balnea libertinorum pervenero ? quantum statuarum, quantum 
 columnarum est nihil sustinentium, sed in ornamentum positarum, 
 impensse causa ! quantum aquarum per gradus cum fragore 
 labentium ! (Seneca, Epist. Ixxxvi.) 
 
1 68 THE ARCILEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 MERGERE PECCATOR, SACRO PURGANDE FLUENTO 
 
 QUEM VETEREM ACCIPIET, PROFERET UNDA NOVUM. 
 INSONS ESSE VOLENS, ISTO MUNDARE LAVACRO, 
 
 SEU PATRIO PREMERIS CRIMINE, SEU PROPRIO. 
 NULLA RENASCENTUM EST DISTANTIA, QUOS FACIT UNUM 
 
 UNUS FONS, UNUS SPIRITUS, UNA FIDES. 
 NEC NUMERUS QUEMQUAM SCELERUM, NEC FORMA SUORUM 
 
 TERREAT. HOC NATUS FLUMINE, SANCTUS ERIS. 
 
 (A people to be consecrated for heaven is born here of a divine 
 seed, which the Spirit produces after fecundating the waters. The 
 Mother Church brings forth in a river sons she has conceived by the 
 breath of God. You, who are born again in this font, may hope to 
 enter the kingdom of heaven. The life of happiness receives not 
 those who are born but once. This font is life, a font which derives 
 its source from the wound of Christ, and which washes the whole 
 world. Plunge thyself, sinner, in this sacred and purifying flood. 
 It will receive thee, an old man, and restore thee a renewed man. 
 If thou wilt be innocent, purify thyself in this bath, whether thou 
 be oppressed by the sins of thine parents or thine own. There 
 is no difference among those who are born again, and are made 
 one through one font, one spirit, and one baptism. Let neither the 
 number nor the nature of his crimes frighten any one. Born in 
 this flood, thou shalt be holy). 
 
 The following extract is taken from the tenth and 
 twelfth ordinals in Father Mabillon's collection, written 
 by a cardinal in the latter part of the twelfth century. It 
 relates to the ordinance of baptism as performed in this 
 baptistery by the Pope himself. 
 
 Ordo Romanus XII. From Ordo Romanus XII. 
 Tunc Pontifex surgit, et vadit Then the Pontiff arises, and 
 ad ecclesiam Sancti Johannis goes to the church of St. John 
 Evangelistae, et aliquantulum re- the Evangelist, and there rests 
 quiescit ibi. Deinde procedit some time. Afterwards, he pro- 
 ad fontes et benedicit eos. Hoc ceeds to the fonts and blesses 
 facto, revertitur ad eandun ec- them. This being done, he re- 
 clesiam, ibique exuit se de pallio turns to the same church, and 
 et planeta, et induit bracalia takes ofi' his pallium and planet 
 (semolia ?) cerata, et rivertitur and puts on waxed drawers, and 
 ad fontes et baptizat tres par- returns to the font and baptizes 
 vulos. three children. 
 
 Ordo X. From Ordo X. 
 
 At praesentis sibi infantibus, The children, John, Peter, or 
 
 Johanne scilicet, sive Petro et Mary, being brought before him, 
 
 Maria, interroget off"erentem. he interrogates the person who 
 
BAPTISTERY OF S. CONSTANZA. 
 
 169 
 
 Quis vocaris ? Resp. : Johannes. 
 Inculcat et dicit : Johannes, credis 
 in Deum Patrem Omnipotentem, 
 Creatorem cali et terrcB ? Resp. : 
 Credo. Interrog. : Credis et in 
 Jesum Christum, Filitis ejus uni- 
 cum, Dominum nostrum, natum et 
 passum ? Resp. : Credo. In- 
 terrog. : Credis et in Spirilum 
 Sanctum, sanctam Ecclesiam ca- 
 tholicam, sanctorum communionem, 
 remissionem omnium peccatorum, 
 carnis resurrectionem, vitam CEttr- 
 nam ? Resp. : Credo. Interrog. 
 et dicit : Johannes, vis baptizari ? 
 Resp. : Volo. Tunc baptizat eum 
 sub trina immersione, Sanctam 
 Trinitatem semel tantum invo- 
 cando, sic: Et ego te baptizo 
 in nomine Patris (et immergat 
 semel), et Filii {et immergat se- 
 cundo), et Spiritus Sancti (et 
 immergat tertio), est habeas vitam 
 CBternam. Resp. : Amen. Simili- 
 ter Petrum et Mariam. His 
 vero tribus baptizatis, imman- 
 tatus manto super dalmaticam 
 Pontifex vadit ad chrismarium, 
 juniore diaconorum cardinalium 
 et sacerdotibus canonicis bap- 
 tizantibus reliquos parvulos. 
 
 presents them. What is your 
 name .'' Ans. : John. Then he 
 goes on and says : John, dost 
 thou believe in God the Father 
 Almighty, the Creator of heaven 
 and earth .? Ans. : I do believe. 
 Quest. : Dost thou believe in 
 Jesus Christ, His only Son, our 
 Lord, who was born and suf- 
 fered .'' Ans. : I do believe. 
 Quest. : Dost thou believe in 
 the Holy Ghost, the holy Catho- 
 lic Church, the communion of 
 saints, the remission of sins, the 
 resurrection of the body, and 
 life eternal. Ans. : I do believe. 
 Quest. : John, wilt thou be bap- 
 tized 1 Ans. : I will. Then 
 he baptizes him by trine im- 
 mersion, mentioning the Holy 
 Trinity but once, as follows : 1 
 baptize thee in the name oj the 
 Father (and dips him once), and 
 ojthe Son (and dips him a second 
 \.\m&),andoJ the Holy Ghost (dLXiA 
 dips him a third time), that thou 
 mayest have eternal lije. Ans. 
 Amen. The same to Peter and 
 Mary. The three being bap- 
 tized, the Pope, with a mantle 
 thrown over his surplice, goes 
 to the place where is the chrism, 
 whilst the younger of the chief 
 deacons and the canon priests 
 baptize the remaining children. 
 
 In the centre of the basin now stands a modern font, 
 raised on steps of marble, and composed of an antique urn 
 in porphyry, which serves to contain the holy water used 
 in sprinkling infants. 
 
 BAPTISTERY OF S. COSTANZA. 
 
 Beyond the Porta Pia, near the church of S. Agnese, is 
 
 a circular building erected by Constantine as a baptistery, 
 
 and in which the two Constantias, his sister and daughter, 
 
 are supposed to have been baptized. This baptistery is 
 
lyo THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 about eighty feet in diameter ; the interior is adorned by 
 a double range of columns supporting arches, on which 
 rises the drum, or circular part, supporting the dome, 
 which is pierced with a clerestory of twelve windows. In 
 the square niche opposite the entrance stood a sarco- 
 phagus of porphyry, belonging to the family of Constan- 
 tine. It has now been removed to the museum of the 
 Vatican. (Fig. 24.) 
 
 Fig. 24. Flak op Baptistery op S. Costanza, Rome. 
 
 Some persons have imagined that this building was 
 neither the work of Constantine, nor, originally, a 
 Christian fabric. They admit that it was the burial place 
 of Constantia and Helena, the daughter of Constantine, 
 because they are unable to account in any other way for 
 the sarcophagus of porphyry found within its walls. But 
 they assert that it was an ancient temple of Bacchus, 
 transferred to a new destination by Constantine or his 
 sons. This opinion is principally founded on the mosaics 
 with which the ceiling of the aisles is adorned, and which 
 represent vine-leaves, bunches of grapes, and different 
 operations of the vintage. But, in the first place, the 
 
BAPTISTERY OF S. COSTANZA. 171 
 
 vine is a Christian emblem,* and was so frequently- 
 introduced in the decoration of Christian places of 
 worship, that little weight can be attached to this circum- 
 stance. In the second place, it was not till the time of 
 Theodosius that the heathen temples were invaded. It 
 would not have been safe for Constantino to have 
 disturbed the deities that were still revered by so large 
 a proportion of his subjects. In the third place, the 
 architecture of this building is in conformity with the 
 style of the time of Constantino, and does not agree with 
 that of a much earlier date. 
 
 We find that Anastasius, in his Life of St. Sylvester, 
 says that Constantine built a baptistery close to the 
 church of St. Agnes. f On the other hand, Ammianus 
 Marcellinus says that Constantia and Helena were buried 
 in exactly this situation ; and finally, as we have already 
 said, the porphyry sarcophagus was discovered within the 
 walls of this building. From this fact, coupled with the 
 testimony of the historians, it cannot be doubted that this 
 building was eventually used as a sepulchral chapel, but 
 as it is so distinctly stated that Constantine built a bap- 
 tistery in this situation, and as there are no vestiges ot 
 any other buildings, the probability is that the baptistery 
 and the sepulchral chapel are one and the same. It might 
 be built for one purpose, and afterwards used for another, 
 in the case of persons of such consideration as the sister 
 and daughter of Constantine, and it was in accordance 
 with the custom of those times that they should be buried 
 
 * Several tombs and sepulchral chapels in the catacombs are 
 decorated with figures of vines and grapes, emblematical of Christ 
 and His Church. See Bottari, plate Ixxiv. 
 
 f Eodem tempore fecit basilicam S. Martyris Agnetis ex rogatu 
 Constantiae filiee suaft, et baptisterium in eodem loco ubi et baptizata 
 est soror ejus Constantia cum filia Augusti a Sylvestro episcopo. 
 (Anastasius, Vita S. Sylveslri.) 
 
172 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 in the immediate vicinity of holy ground, as was, for 
 example, the cemetery in which the remains of St, Agnes 
 and other martyrs had been discovered. In 1254, the 
 building was converted into a church by Pope Alexander 
 IV., and was then dedicated to another Constantia, who 
 is believed to have founded or rebuilt the adjacent church 
 of St. Agnes.* 
 
 BAPTISTERY OF NOCERA DEI PAGANI. 
 
 At Nocera dei Pagani, on the railroad from Naples to 
 Castellamare, is a very interesting church, named Santa 
 Maria Maggiore, which was formerly a Roman bath, 
 restored and employed as a baptistery in the fourth 
 century. It is very similar in plan and general arrange- 
 ment to the baptistery of Constanza at Rome, though 
 
 Mg. 25. Plan of Baptisteky of Noceea dei Pagani. 
 
 somewhat larger, being more than eighty feet in diameter. 
 (Fig. 25.) Its arched roof is supported by a double row 
 of twenty-eight columns of different orders and lengths, of 
 which five are of Oriental alabaster, and the rest mostly 
 
 * Knight, Church Architecture of Italy. 
 
BAPTISTERY OF NOCERA. 
 
 173 
 
 ancient marbles. The columns are without entablature ; 
 in lieu of which arches spring across the intercolumnia- 
 tion, and sustain a hemispherical dome, perforated with 
 occasional openings, which admit light to the interior. 
 The dome is without a drum, and is placed immediately 
 on the capitals. In the centre is a large basin, circular in 
 the interior, and octagonal externally. A descent of three 
 steps leads to the bottom of the basin, which bears a 
 strong resemblance to that of the baths of Pompeii, and 
 was evidently used for the administration of baptism by 
 immersion.* (See Fig. 26, which gives a sectional view 
 
 '^io ixt. 
 
 Fig. 26. Sectional View op the Baptistebt of Nooeba dei Pagani. 
 
 of this font.) This baptistery is certainly one of the most 
 valuable monuments of antiquity, and is well worth a visit 
 from all who are interested in the study of Christian 
 archaeologyi 
 
 BAPTISTERIES OF MILAN, 
 
 In a letter to his sister Marcellina, the celebrated Arch- 
 bishop of Milan, Ambrosius, refers to the baptisteries, 
 
 * Agincourt, Storia deU'Arie, tav. 8, Nos. 9, 10, Archil. Isabelle, 
 Edifices Circulaires, p. 87, pi. 39. Ricci, Storia deW Archiiettura in 
 Italia, t. i. p. 158. 
 
174 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 which existed in that city in his time.* One of these 
 is attached to the southern wall of the church of San 
 Lorenzo, is about forty-five feet in diameter, and is 
 approached by a vestibule in the same manner as that of 
 Constantine at Rome, and as in the tomb of his daughter 
 Constantia. This baptistery, now known under the name 
 of San Giovanni alle Fonti, was exclusively used for the 
 baptism of men, and it was here that St. Augustine was 
 buried with Christ in baptism. This baptistery was much 
 injured by the invasion of the Goths, but was restored by 
 Lorenzo, Bishop of Milan, about the end of the fifth 
 century. Another baptistery for the women, erected on 
 the opposite side of the church, was designated under the 
 name of San Stefano alle Fonti. Eunodius, speaking of 
 this baptistery in his Epigrams,t says that it was recon- 
 structed by Eustorgius II., Bishop of Milan, who provided 
 it with a hydraulic contrivance, by means of which the 
 water was made to descend from above the font in the 
 form of rain, and fill the large basin previously to the 
 administration of baptism. These two baptisteries still 
 existed in their original form at the beginning of the 
 twelfth century, and are mentioned by Beroldus,J who 
 wrote about the year 1130. Since then very great changes 
 have been made, and they have been so altered, that 
 
 * " Octachorum sanctos templum surrexit in usus, 
 Octogonus fons est munere dignus eo : 
 Hoc numero decuit sacri baptismatis aulam 
 Surgere ; quo populo vera salus rediit." — Ambrosius. 
 
 (An octagonal temple is erected for sacred usages. An 
 octagonal font is worthy of this function. It is right that a 
 baptismal hall be erected with this number, by which true salvation 
 was restored to the people.) 
 
 f Lib. ii. Carm. Epigr. 149. 
 
 X Ordo Cerim. Eccl. Ambr. Med., De Vigilia Nat. Dom. See also 
 Muratori, Ant. -Med. .^vi, Dissert. 55 ; and Giulini, Memor., etc., 
 t. ii. p. 151. Fasti delta Chiesa, vol. vi. p. 153. 
 
BAPTISTERY OF ST. STEPHEN. 175 
 
 little remains to attract the attention of the archaeologist 
 besides the bare plan of the buildings. 
 
 In the magnificent Cathedral of Milan, there is a 
 modern baptistery, a small square temple supported by 
 four columns of marble. It contains an ancient labruni, 
 now used as a font, and taken from a bath of the Lower 
 Empire, the rite of baptism by immersion being required 
 by the Ambrosian ritual. 
 
 BAPTISTERY OF ST. STEPHEN, NEAR ROME. 
 
 Leaving Rome by the Porta San Giovanni, the Via 
 Appia Nuova immediately crosses the Mariana stream, 
 and soon after separates from that leading to Frascati. 
 At the second milestone we cross the ancient Via Latina, 
 the direction of which is marked by a line of ruined 
 sepulchres, two of which, in brick, and now converted into 
 temporary farm-buildings, at a short distance on the line, 
 are in good preservation. At this point, and beyond 
 where the modern road intersects the Via Latina, and in 
 the space between them and the Claudian aqueduct, upon 
 the farm of the Arco Travertino, or del Corvo, excavations 
 were made in 1858, which led to the discovery of some 
 most interesting sepulchral monuments of the age of the 
 Antonines, and of the Basilica of St. Stephen, founded in 
 the pontificate of Leo the Great, in the middle of the fifth 
 century. Several marble columns with ancient Composite 
 and Ionic capitals, have been dug out, some of the latter 
 with the cross sculptured on the volutes, and two curious 
 inscriptions, one relative to the foundation of the primitive 
 church by Demetria, a member of the Anician family, the 
 other to the erection of the bell-tower by a certain Lupus 
 Grigarius, in the middle of the ninth century, thirty years 
 after the rebuilding of the basilica by Pope Leo III. On 
 the right or north-side of this basilica is a square 
 baptistery, with a sunk semi-circular font in the centre, 
 
176 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 evidently for baptism by immersion, which could be easily 
 performed by kneeling into the water and bending for- 
 ward.* In his works, Jacobi Sirmondi makes mention 
 
 Fig. 27. Plan of the Font in the Baptistery op St. Stephen. 
 
 of another baptistery erected in the vicinity of the 
 ancient basilica of St. Paul, on the Ostian Way, by Leo 
 the Great in the middle of the fifth century.f This 
 baptistery, which was octagonal in form, is no longer 
 existing. 
 
 BAPTISTERIES OF RAVENNA. 
 
 There are at Ravenna two baptisteries, which are 
 among the most interesting monuments of that city so 
 famed for its edifices of the Roman-Byzantine period. 
 The oldest of these baptisteries is that of San Giovanni 
 in Fonte, which is attached to the original basilica of 
 Ravenna, and is said to have been erected in the fourth 
 century by Orso, archbishop of that city, and restored 
 by his successor Neon, who adorned it with mosaics, in 
 A.D. 45 1. + Externally it is a plain octagonal building, 
 
 * See Murray's Handbook for Rome. 
 
 t Jacobi Sirmondi, Opera Varia, t. i. col. 1909. 
 
 X Neom .... Fonfes Ursianice Ecclesia pulcherrime decoravit. 
 Mtisivo . . . Agnelli, Lib. Pontificalis, part i. p. 237. Isabelle, 
 Edif. Circulaires, tav. 42, p. 92. Fabri, Sagre Memorie di Ravenna 
 antica, p. 165. 
 
BAPTISTERY OF RAVENNA. 
 
 177 
 
 surmounted by a circular dome, or cupola. On entering 
 the front door, you find yourself in an octangular hall 
 of about thirty- two feet in diameter. (Fig. 28.) In the 
 centre is a large bath of white Grecian marble, ten feet 
 in diameter, and three and a half feet deep, and provided 
 
 Fig. 28. Plan op Baptistery of Ravenna. 
 
 with an outlet for the purpose of emptying it. Attached 
 to this basin is a marble pulpit, from which the admi- 
 nistrator addressed the catechumens before the perform- 
 ance of the rite of baptism. 
 
 The cupola is divided into three circles, the smallest of 
 which is the medallion centre of the vault, where the 
 baptism of the Saviour is depicted in mosaics of great 
 magnificence. The Redeemer stands up to His waist in 
 the River Jordan ; above Him is the dove representing the 
 Holy Ghost ; John stands on the bank to the left, one foot 
 raised on a stone, his head erect, and with his right hand 
 he pours the water from a cup on the Saviour's head. 
 With his left he holds a jewelled cross. 
 
 Much stress has been laid by some writers on the fact, 
 that in these mosaics, which are of great antiquity, John 
 is represented as pouring water on the Saviour's head ; 
 therefore, they conclude that baptism in primitive times 
 was administered both by immersion and affusion. It is 
 well to note, however, that the mosaics of this baptistery 
 
 N 
 
178 
 
 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 have been repeatedly restored, and well informed critics 
 are of opinion that unwarrantable additions and alterations 
 have been made in this magnificent work by incompetent 
 artists. These restorations have been rendered necessary 
 by the leaky condition of the cupola, a defect which 
 unfortunately still exists. 
 
 The head, right shoulder, and right arm of the Saviour 
 have been restored ; and also the head, right shoulder, right 
 arm, and right leg and foot of John the Baptist. Thus we 
 may be indebted to a restorer for the cup, which John 
 holds in his right hand, and the jewelled cross in his left, 
 for in every other painting of the same period, he is 
 represented holding a reed in his left hand, and placing 
 his right on the Saviour's head. The mosaics of this 
 famed baptistery have therefore lost much of their archaeo- 
 logical value, in consequence of these restorations and 
 alterations. 
 
 Mg. 29. 
 
 The Baptism or Christ. Sculpture of the fourteenth century, on 
 southern door of baptistery of Florence. 
 
 Paciaudus, in his De Cultu S. Joannis Baptists, attributes 
 these alterations to the ignorance of the painters, who 
 
BAPTISTERY OF RAVENNA. I 79 
 
 were unacquainted with the historical facts, which they 
 attempted to represent. We quote his own words : — 
 
 " Numquid Christus Dominus adsperswne baptizatus ? 
 Tantum abest a vero, ut nihil magis vero possit esse con- 
 trarium, sed errori et inscientiae pictorum tribuendum, qui 
 quum historiarum seepe sunt ignari, vel quia quidlibet 
 audendi potestatem sibi factam credunt, res, quas effigunt, 
 mirifice aliquando depravant." (Was our Lord baptized 
 by aspersion ? This is so far from being so, that nothing 
 can be more contrary to truth, but it must be attributed 
 to the error and ignorance of painters, who, being often 
 unacquainted with history, or believing they could dare 
 every thing, sometimes greatly altered the subjects they 
 portrayed). (Figs. 29 and 30.) 
 
 Referring to the mosaics in the baptistery of Ravenna, 
 Messrs. Crowe and Calvacasella, in their valuable History 
 of Painting in Italy, remark very rightly that " it is 
 ludicrous to suppose that restoration is suificient if the 
 original cause of damage remains. The roof of the 
 baptistery of Ravenna is not waterproof, and the rain 
 filters even through the repairs lately made. A new 
 roof is required." "Again" they add, " it might be 
 advisable when restorations are undertaken, to intrust 
 them to skilful hands and not to mere mechanical 
 mosaists, ignorant of form and design, however able 
 they may be in the technical difficulties of the art. Before 
 touching monuments such as these, Italy should possess 
 a school devoted to the study of the character and style 
 of art in various periods. A competent person should 
 be employed to study the mode in which emblems and 
 accessories were used in different epochs. For there is no 
 doubt that the period in which a monument was erected 
 or adorned may be detected by the peculiar character of 
 its emblems and accessories ; and the use of false ones by 
 restorers produces endless deception." (Vol. i. p. 22) 
 
 N 2 
 
i8o 
 
 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 The other baptistery was erected by the Arians under 
 the reign of Theodoric, and now forms part of the oratory 
 
 Fig. 30. Peter Administering Baptism. Painting of the fifteenth century, 
 in Church del Carmine, at Florence. 
 
 of the church Santa Maria in Cosmedin. There still 
 remains in the centre a round block of granite, about eight 
 feet and a half in diameter, believed to be a part of the 
 
ORDINAL OF BAPTISM. l8l 
 
 ancient baptismal font. This baptistery has a domical 
 vault, and is supposed to have been adorned with mosaics 
 after the expulsion of the Goths, which took place in the 
 year A.D. 540. The cupola is divided into circles like 
 that of the earlier baptistery. The same subjects adorn 
 the basin of the dome and the circle immediately beneath 
 it. In the baptism the Saviour is represented youthful 
 and beardless, standing in the Jordan up to his waist ; a 
 nimbus surrounds his head, and the dove sheds green fays 
 upon his features. John, on the right, finely shaped, with 
 long hair and beard, holds a reed in his left hand, and 
 places his right on the Saviour's head. The water is 
 level, and not raised into a hillock in the absurd manner 
 afterwards introduced in the middle ages.* 
 
 The following is a synopsis of the office of Baptism, 
 found in a manuscript of the twelfth century, which 
 belonged formerly to the church of Ravenna, and was till 
 lately in the possession of Father Jos. Baptista Martini, 
 of the Conventual Minors of St. Francis, in Bologna. It 
 now forms part of the library of the University in that 
 city. 
 
 This ritual begins with the Blessing of the Salt, as 
 
 follows : — 
 
 Exorcizo te, creatura sails, in I exorcise thee, creature of 
 
 nomine Dei Patris omnipotentis salt, in the name of the Father 
 
 +, et in charitate Domini nostri Almighty +, and in the charity 
 
 Jesu Christi +, et in virtute of our Lord Jesus + Christ, and 
 
 Spiritus Sancti +. Exorcizo te in the might of the Holy + 
 
 per Deum vivum +, per Deum Ghost. I exorcise thee by the 
 
 verum +, per Deum sanctum +, living God +, by the true God+, 
 
 per Deum qui te ad tutelam by the holy + God, by the 
 
 humani generis procreavit et God who created thee for the 
 
 populo venienti ad credulitatem protection of mankind, and com- 
 
 per servos suos consecrari prae- manded thee to be consecrated 
 
 * D'Aglncourt, Archit. tav. 17, Nos. 16 and 63 ; Nos. 18 and 19. 
 Bellenghi, Dissertazione su i Battisteri. Ciamplni, Vetera Monumenta. 
 Ricci, Sioria delVArchitt. in Italia. 
 
I«2 
 
 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 cepit,ut in nomine Sanctae Trini- 
 tatis efficiaris salutare sacramen- 
 tum ad efFugandum inimicum. 
 Proinde rogamus te, Domine 
 Deus noster, ut banc creaturam 
 salis sanctificando sanctifices +, 
 et benedicendo benedicas +, ut 
 siat omnibus accipientibus per- 
 fecta medicina, perananens in 
 visceribus eorum. In nomine 
 ejusdem Domini nostri Jesu 
 Christi, qui venturus est judicare 
 vivos et mortuos, et sseculum 
 per ignem. R. Amen. 
 
 Deinde immiltat salem in ote in- 
 fanti: Accipe salem sapientise ; 
 propitiatio sit tibi in vitam 
 fflternam. Amen. {Tribus vici- 
 biis.) 
 
 Deus patrum nostorum, etc. 
 
 by his servants for the people 
 coming to faith ; that in the 
 name of the Holy Trinity thou 
 be made a saving sacrament for 
 putting to flight the enemy. 
 Wherefore we beseech Thee, O 
 Lord our God, that by sanctify- 
 ing Thou sanctify +, and by 
 hallowing Thou hallow +, this 
 creature of salt, that it become 
 to all receiving it a perfect 
 medicine, abiding in their in- 
 ward parts. In the name of the 
 same our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 who is to come to judge the 
 quick and the dead, and the 
 world by fire. Ans. Amen. 
 
 Then he shall put some salt 
 into the mouth of the infant, 
 saying: Receive thou the salt of 
 wisdom ; be it unto thee a pro- 
 pitiation unto life everlasting. 
 Amen. (Three times.) 
 
 Then he recites the prayer, 
 " God of our fathers, etc., as in 
 the Roman Ritual ; or another 
 prayer beginning with the words, 
 ' ' God of Abraham, God of Isaac," 
 etc., as in the ritual of the 
 baptism of adults." 
 
 The priest theti exorcises the Prince of Darkness, and 
 
 says :— 
 
 Ergo, maledicte diabolo, re- 
 cognosce sententiam tuam, et 
 da honorem Deo vivo et vero ; 
 et da honorem Jesu Christo filio 
 ejus, et Spiritu Sancto: et recede 
 ab hoc famulo Dei, N . . . 
 Quia iste sibi Deus et Dominus 
 noster Jesus Christus ad suam 
 sanctam .... (the word 
 gratiam is wanting) benediction- 
 em et donum .... 
 
 Deus coeli, Deus terras, etc. 
 
 Audi, maledicte Satana, etc. 
 
 Therefore, thou accursed devil, 
 acknowledge thy sentence, and 
 give honour to the living and 
 true God, give honour to Jesus 
 Christ His Son, and to the Holy 
 Ghost, and withdraw from this 
 servant of God, N : seeing that 
 God and Jesus Christ our Lord 
 hath vouchsafed to call the same 
 to his own .... blessing 
 and gift ... (of baptism). 
 
 God of heaven, God of earth, 
 &c., as in the Roman Ritual in 
 the ordinal for adult baptism. 
 
 Hear, accursed Satan, etc. 
 
ORDINAL OF BAPTISM. 183 
 
 Then follows the recitation of the Creed. All the above 
 is done outside the church. The priest, after another 
 prayer, spreads the extremity of his stole over him that is 
 to be baptized, and brings him into the church, saying : — 
 " Ingredere in templum Dei, adora filium Dei, ut habeas 
 partem cum Christo in vitam aeternam. Amen. R. : Pax 
 tibi et cum Spiritu tuo." " Come into the temple of God, 
 adore the Son of God, that thou mayest have part with 
 Christ unto life everlasting. Amen. Ans. : Peace be 
 with thee and thy spirit." 
 
 And he places him upon the floor, in the centre of the 
 church, and says : — " Stand in the midst of the church, 
 that thou mayest be entirely filled with the Holy Ghost." 
 
 He then reads a lesson from Isaiah Iv. 1-3. "Ho, every 
 one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath 
 no money ; come ye, buy, and eat ; yea, come, buy wine 
 and milk without money and without price. Wherefore 
 do ye spend money for that which is not bread ? and your 
 labour for that which satisfieth not ? hearken diligently 
 unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul 
 delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto 
 me ; hear, and your soul shall live." 
 
 A Gradual. " Come, ye children, hearken unto me : I 
 will teach you the fear of the Lord. Look unto him, and 
 be lightened : and your faces shall not be ashamed." 
 (Psalm xxxiv.) 
 
 The priest then reads in Mark x. 13, the account of 
 Christ blessing the children. — The Lord's Prayer and the 
 Creed are repeated, and the child lifted up from the pave- 
 ment of the church. 
 
 If a sick person be brought for baptism, the reading of 
 the Scriptures may be omitted, and the prayer, " ^ternam 
 ac justissimam pietatem," etc., will be offered. This 
 being done, recite the Lord's Prayer and the Symbol and 
 catechize as follows : — 
 
1 84 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 The beginning of the Gospel according to St. Matthew, 
 " The book of generations," etc., as far as " Jesus who 
 was called Christ." 
 
 The beginning of the Gospel according to St. Luke, to 
 the words, " in the ordinances of the Lord." 
 
 The beginning of the Gospel of St. Mark, as far as 
 " Thou art my beloved Son." 
 
 The Gospel according to St. John, from the first verse 
 to the words, " full of grace." 
 
 The priest touches with spittle the nostrils and ears of 
 the person to be baptized, and says into his right ear, 
 " Ephphatha" (be thou opened), etc. 
 
 The priest proceeds : — 
 
 Dost thou renounce Satan and, etc. .' 
 
 Answer : I do renounce him, etc. 
 
 The priest anoints the person between the shoulders ■ 
 and on the breast with exorcised oil, saying: I anoint thee 
 with the oil of salvation in Christ Jesus our Lord, that He 
 may abide with thee eternally. 
 
 An abbreviated litany is chanted. Then follows the 
 consecration of the water. After this ceremony is over, 
 the priest interrogates the candidate as follows : — 
 
 Dost thou believe in God, etc. .' and so on to the end of 
 the Creed, making it into three questions. 
 
 Then, taking him, he baptizes him with trine immer- 
 sion (sub trina mersione), saying : Wilt thou be baptized } 
 Answer : I will. Three times. And I baptize thee in the 
 name of the Father, and dips him once (et mergit semel), 
 and of the Son, and dips him the second time (mergit iterum), 
 and of the Holy Ghost, and dips him the third time (mergit 
 tertio), and taking him out of the font, the presbyter 
 anoints him on the crown of the head, in the form of a 
 cross, saying: In the name of the Father +, and of the 
 Son +, and of the Holy Ghost +. Amen. Dominus 
 vobiscum. (The Lord be with you.) Then he says: Deus 
 
BAPTISTERY OF NAPLES. 1 85 
 
 Pater omnipotens, Domini nostri Jesu Christi, etc. (Al- 
 mighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ), as in 
 the Roman Liturgy. The infant is clothed with a white 
 vestment, and a lighted taper is placed in his hand. The 
 priest afterwards gives him the Lord's Supper, saying : 
 The body of our Lord Jesus Christ keep thine spirit unto 
 life everlasting. Amen. And he then leads him to the 
 bishop in order to be confirmed." 
 
 BAPTISTERY OF NAPLES. 
 
 The baptistery of Naples is an irregular square 
 building, surmounted by a cupola. An old inscription in 
 this baptistery, which is now called San Giovanni in 
 Fonte, supports the tradition that Constantine erected the 
 building in 303. This fact is confirmed by the chronicles 
 of the church of Santa Maria del Principio in Villani, but 
 contradicted by Assemanni, a modern writer, who pre- 
 tends that the erection took place under the auspices ot 
 Bishop Vincenzo, between A.D. 556 and 570. The evidence 
 of the mosaics is less favourable to the theory of Assem- 
 anni than to the tradition which assigns them to an earlier 
 date.* The mosaics represent four symbolical figxires of 
 the Evangelists. John in the form of an angel, has the 
 head of an aged man and the regular features of the 
 classic Roman period. In the centre of the cupola is the 
 Greek monogram and cross. Scenes from the life of the 
 Saviour, such at least as might serve to impress the 
 multitude with the idea of His supernatural power and 
 benevolence adorned the cupola, but are so altered by 
 restoring as to be worthless. 
 
 A circular pavement of white marble, six feet eight 
 inches in diameter, now covers the space formerly 
 occupied by the baptismal font. 
 
 * Catalan!, Le Chiese di Napoli, vol. ii. pp. 46, 47. 
 
i86 
 
 THE ARCH/EOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 This baptistery is attached to the church of Santa Resti- 
 tuta, the ancient basilica or cathedral of Naples.* 
 
 BAPTISTERY OF CITTA NUOVA. 
 
 According to a fragment of an inscription found on one 
 of the steps of this baptistery, it was erected and adorned 
 by Bishop Mauritius, in the sixth century, t (Fig. 31.) 
 Like the ancient baths it has internally all around the 
 building three steps, which rise from the floor. A descent 
 of three steps also leads into the font or basin, which is 
 
 Fig. 31. Section and Plan of Baptistery op Citta Ncova, in Istria. 
 
 surrounded by six columns. The diameter of the building 
 is about forty feet, and that of the basin ten feet. The 
 accompanying plans are taken from D'Agincourt's work 
 on architecture.J 
 
 BAPTISTERY OF PESARO. 
 
 This baptistery, which dates from the fourth century, 
 was discovered, some years ago, by the Abbot Giordani 
 Olivieri, who gives a description of it in his treatise 
 Deir Antico Battistero della S. Chiesa Pesarese, from which 
 we have copied the annexed sketch. (Fig. 32.) The letter 
 
 * Mazzocchi, De Caih. Eccl. Nap. p. 25 and following. 
 I Ughelli, Italia Sacra, t. v. p. 229. 
 X Agincourt, Archil, pi. Ixiii. 13, 14. 
 
BAPTISTERY OF PESARO. 
 
 187 
 
 A indicates the main entrance of the building, which was 
 towards the east, so that the catechumens made their 
 solemn renunciations with their face turned towards the 
 west, according to the ancient custom. In the centre ot 
 the edifice is a font of hexagonal form. The pavement of 
 this basin is made of large slabs of Grecian marble. At 
 the time these ruins were excavated, there were but two 
 steps left, but it is probable that there had been three, in 
 accordance with the usual number. To the right of the 
 
 Fig. 3?. Plan op Baptistery op Pesako. 
 
 main door was discovered another baptismal font, with 
 three steps to descend into it. At the bottom was found a 
 large tube, made of lead, to carry oiF the water. This 
 second basin was probably used for the baptism of the 
 women, who, as we know, received the rite separately 
 from the men. Martene says in his works (Opera, cap. i. 
 et ii. No. 13), that the women "Separatim a viris sacro 
 fonte immergebantur," — "Were immersed in the sacred 
 font apart from the men." 
 
THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 BAPTISTERY OF AQUILEJA. 
 The epoch in which this baptistery was erected is not 
 known with certainty; but that this edifice is of great 
 
 Fig. 33. Section op Baptistebt or Aqtjileja. 
 
 antiquity is evident from its rustic simplicity, the con- 
 struction of the basin, which contains three steps all 
 
BAPTISTERY OF NO VARA. I 89 
 
 around, and the ancient name this baptistery bore, that of 
 Ecclesia Paganorum. The building was subsequently- 
 united to the more modern cathedral, built by Patriarch 
 Poponius, in A.D. 103 1.* A good plan of this baptistery 
 (Fig. 33) may be seen in Bertoli's well-known work on the 
 antiquities ofAquileja.f He says: " The diameter of the 
 building is seventeen feet. The steps are made of flag- 
 stones, well joined together, and the remaining portion of 
 the baptistery is covered with hard mortar. The bottom 
 of the font, which is composed of internal and external 
 steps, is made of one large stone, five feet in diameter, 
 and in the centre is an outlet for the escape of the water 
 after the baptismal function. Some years ago a large 
 drain was discovered in the churchyard, lying in a 
 straight line from the baptistery to the river, and is sup- 
 posed to have served as a subterranean canal, which 
 carried off the water of the font, and emptied it into the 
 stream. The external height of the basin is two feet and 
 nine inches, and its depth four feet and a half; so that a 
 man standing in the font would have the water up to his 
 neck. The church adjoining has a picture of baptism by 
 immersion, which rite was practised for more than nine 
 centuries." {Antichita d' Aquileja.) 
 
 BAPTISTERY OF NOVARA. 
 
 Opposite the great door of the Duomo, or Cathedral of 
 Novara, opens the curious octagonal baptistery, supported, 
 as is the case with almost all the very early edifices of the 
 kind, by ancient columns ; and hence the tradition, almost 
 invariably annexed to these buildings, of their having 
 been Pagan temples. These columns, of white marble, are 
 
 * Michael Lopez Dissert, su i Baitist. 
 
 \ Bertoli, AntichUa d' Aquileja. Da Rubeis, Mon. Eccl. Aquil. 
 
19° THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 fluted and of the Corinthian order, and have originally 
 belonged to an edifice of a good Roman period.* In the 
 centre of the octagonal basin is a circular Roman urn, 
 bearing an inscription to Umbrena Polla which is as 
 follows : — 
 
 VMBRENAE 
 
 A. F. POLLAE 
 
 DOXA LIBERTA 
 
 T. F. I. 
 
 This sepulchral urn was formerly used for baptism by 
 immersion.t The large basin which contains it, and was 
 undoubtedly the original baptismal font, is octagonal in 
 form, and provided with three steps inside and an outlet 
 for the escape of the water. It is about four feet deep and 
 eight feet wide. 
 
 BAPTISTERY OF FLORENCE. 
 
 The building which is now the baptistery of Florence 
 has been the subject of much discussion, having by some 
 been considered to be the original temple of Mars^ but 
 Lami, in his Lezioni Toscane, has set this matter at rest by 
 showing that, though the baptistery is almost entirely 
 composed of antique pillars and marbles, yet, as these 
 materials are irregularly put together, and as the capitals 
 of the pillars are not the same, this building cannot be 
 Roman work, and must have been constructed in subse- 
 quent times. 
 
 The exact time at which this edifice was constructed 
 is unknown. That it was a finished building in A.D. 725 
 is clear from a letter of Speciosus, who was bishop of 
 Florence at that time, and who speaks of it as his church. 
 Originally this building was not the baptistery, but the 
 
 * Murray's Handbook /or Notthern Italy. 
 t Racca, Del Duomo e del Battistero di Novara. 
 
BAPTISTERY OF FLORENCE. 191 
 
 cathedral. It stood without the walls, but in those times 
 it was not unusual for cathedrals to be so placed. In the 
 thirteenth century, the citizens of Florence determined to 
 have a cathedral on a larger scale, and when this was 
 accomplished, St. John's became the baptistery.* 
 
 Fig. 34. Plan op Baptibtebt at Florence. 
 
 Originally, like the Pantheon at Rome, this building 
 was open at the top. It was secured from the weather f 
 in 1150, but the mosaics of the dome were not added 
 till 1225. 
 
 This celebrated baptistery is an octagonal structure 
 (Fig. 34), measuring about one hundred feet in diameter. 
 It stands detached from, but in the immediate vicinity of 
 the Duomo, or cathedral. It is built of black and white 
 marble, in the style which Giotto is said to have intro- 
 duced, and which is peculiar to Tuscany. Internally, a 
 gallery, which runs nearly round the whole building, 
 
 * Knight, Church Architecture 0/ Italy. Richa, JVottz. delle Chies. 
 Fior. 
 
 \ Lami, Index Chronologicus. 
 
192 
 
 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 is supported by sixteen large granite columns, and the 
 vaulted roof is decorated with mosaics by Andrea Tafi, 
 the pupil of Cimabue. This baptistery is celebrated espe- 
 cially for its three great bronze doors, with their beautiful 
 
 
 Fig, 35. Interior op Baptistery at Florence. 
 
 bas-reliefs. Two of these doors, sculptured by Ghiberti, 
 were immortalised by Michael Angelo with the name of 
 Gates of Paradise.* 
 
 On the pavement of the baptistery is a large circle of 
 copper, with numerical figures and signs of the zodiac 
 
 Sgrilli, Descrizione del Battishro di Firenze. 
 
BAPTISTERY OF FLORENCE. 1 93 
 
 upon it, and in the centre of this stood originally a very 
 fine octangular basin of a diameter of twelve feet. 
 (Fig. 35.) This font, made in 1371, was surrounded by 
 three steps, and was four feet and a half deep. It was 
 capable of containing twelve persons at the same time. 
 At the alternate angles were cavities in which stood the 
 priests who administered the rite of baptism. (Boccacio, 
 Giovanni. MS. note on Dante.) This large font was 
 destroyed by Francesco de' Medici upon the occasion of 
 the baptism of his son Philip, in 1576, greatly to the 
 displeasure of the Florentines, who carried away, as relics, 
 the fragments of marble and mortar.* 
 
 In his immortal work on the Inferno, the poet Dante 
 speaks of this building " mio hel San Giovanni" as if he 
 delighted in it, though his mischance in breaking some 
 part of the baptismal font for the purpose of saving some 
 one from drowning, occasioned one of the many unjust 
 charges for which he suffered during his troubled life. 
 Speaking of the cavities in which sinners guilty of simony 
 are punished, he compares them to the fonts : — 
 
 " Nel mio bel San Giovanni, 
 
 Fatti per luogo de' battezzatori ; 
 L'un degli quali, ancor non h. molt' anni, 
 Rupp' io per un che dentro v'annegava : 
 E questo sia suggel ch'ogni uomo sganni." 
 
 {Inf. xix. 17-21.)! 
 
 (In my beautiful St. John's, erected for the use of the baptizers, 
 one of these (fonts) I broke, not many years ago, to save one who 
 was drowning. Be this the motive, that every man be undeceived.) 
 
 It is not known to a certainty which font it was that the 
 poet broke, for it appears that the baptistery of Florence 
 was provided with a number of fonts, where, at Easter, 
 baptism was administered by immersion. 
 
 * 
 
 Richa, Notiz. delle Chiese Fiorent. t. v. part. i. Lami, Lezioni 
 di Antich. Toscane, torn. i. lez. 5a. 
 f Murray's Handbook for Italy. 
 
»y4 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 BAPTISTERY OF BOLOGNA. 
 
 No record remains of the origin, or date, of the circular 
 church of San Stefano ; but the most probable hypothesis 
 appears to be, that it was the ancient baptistery of 
 Bologna, and that it was built either by the Lombard 
 king Luitprandus,* or by the people of Bologna, in the 
 eighth century.t In the immediate vicinity of this build- 
 ing stands a church, of which the predecessor was the 
 original cathedral of Bologna, near to which, about the 
 year 430, Petronius, who was at that time bishop of 
 Bologna, built the monastery of San Stefano, which after- 
 wards gave its name to the whole region.J The monastery 
 and the church were almost entirely destroyed by the 
 Hungarians in A.D. 903, but were rebuilt about a century 
 afterwards. The baptistery appears to have escaped with 
 little injury. After the Crusades, and when the baptismal 
 rite was transferred to the church, the baptistery was 
 converted into a chapel of the Holy Sepulchre, for which 
 destination it was already adapted by its circular form. 
 
 The name of Luitprandus is associated with this building 
 on account of a large marble basin, which is yet to be 
 seen in the court of the adjacent church, and which bears 
 an inscription in which the name of Luitprandus appears. 
 But there is no evidence to show whether he built the 
 whole edifice, or only presented it with a font ; and the 
 short time during which he was in possession of Bologna 
 (which in those days formed a part of the Exarchate of 
 Ravenna), makes the latter more probable than the 
 former. § 
 
 * Hope, History of Architecture, Italian edition, p. 106. 
 
 t Ricci, Star, dell' Architt. t. i. p. 239. Bianconi, Delia Chiesa 
 del S. Sepolcro. 
 
 \ Sigonius, Hist. Bononiensis. 
 § Knight, Architecture in Italy. 
 
BAPTISTERY OF VERONA. 
 
 195 
 
 BAPTISTERY OF VERONA. 
 This baptistery, called S. Giovanni in Fonte, was 
 rebuilt in a.d. 1135 by Bishop Bernardo, the older 
 building having been destroyed by an earthquake in 11 16. 
 In the centre is a large octangular basin of marble, 
 twenty-eight feet in circumference, hewn out of a single 
 block of Venetian marble.* By actual measurement, we 
 
 Fig. 36. Plan op Baptistery at Verona. 
 
 found the depth of this font to be four feet and a half. 
 A frieze of small Lombard arches, supported by grotesque 
 heads, runs round the summit. On the faces are repre- 
 sented the following subjects : The Annunciation, the 
 Visitation, the Birth of our Lord, the Angels appearing 
 to the Shepherds, the Adoration of the Wise Men, Herod 
 commanding the Slaughter of the Innocents, the Execu- 
 tion of his Decree, the Flight into Egypt, the Baptism 
 of Christ in the Jordan. In the last-mentioned subject, 
 the water of the Jordan is raised into a hillock, and our 
 Saviour is being immersed in it. Two angels stand on 
 
 Maiifei, Verona lllustrala, part iii. cap. 3. 
 
'96 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 the shore holding His garments. There is also a picture 
 of the baptism of Christ over the high altar. 
 
 Fig. 37. Elevation of Baptistery at Verona. 
 
 Zeno, Bishop of Verona, who died about A.D. 390, 
 says, in his second Invitation to Baptism : " Hasten, my 
 brethren, to be purified. The water, vivified by the Holy 
 Ghost, and rendered tepid by an agreeable fire, already 
 
 invites you with its sweet murmur Rejoice, 
 
 therefore ; you are immersed naked in the font, but you 
 rise again, clothed in a white and heavenly garment, 
 which he who does not defile shall inherit the kingdom 
 of heaven."* Zeno's writings contain eight invitations 
 to the font, a sermon for those who are to be baptized, 
 and seven addressed to the neophytes after baptism. 
 They may be found in the Bibliotheca Magna Patrum, 
 tom. ii. 
 
 BAPTISTERY OF CIVIDALE. 
 
 Cividale, in the Province of Venetia, the ancient Forum 
 Julii, is interesting from its numerous Roman antiquities. 
 Its duomo, or collegiate church, founded in A.D. 750, 
 is a remarkable mediaeval edifice, and contains a hand- 
 some baptismal font. It is an octagonal basin, four feet 
 and a half in diameter and three feet deep, and was 
 
 * Zeno: Properate benfe loturi, fratres. Aqua viva Spiritu Sancto, 
 et igne dulcissimo temperata, blando murmure jam vos invitat. 
 . . . . Gaudete itaque, in fontem quidem nudi demergitis, 
 sed aetherea veste vestiti, mox candidati inde surgitis, quam qui 
 non poUuerit, regna coelestia possidebit per Dominum Jesum 
 Christum. {Invitat. II. ad Bapi. Bihl. Max. Pair, tom II. p. 442.) 
 
BAPTISTERY OF CREMONA. 
 
 197 
 
 formerly used for the administration of baptism by im- 
 mersion. This elegant font stood in former times in 
 the centre of the baptistery erected near the cathedral 
 by Callixtus, Bishop of Aquileja, in A.D. 773. But after 
 the destruction of the building, which took place in 1645, 
 the font was transferred to the church, where it is still 
 to be seen. It is surrounded by eight columns elegantly 
 sculptured, which support semi-circular arches, adorned 
 with figures, symbols, and various inscriptions.* 
 
 BAPTISTERY OF CREMONA. 
 Neither ancient nor modern writers agree in deter- 
 mining the epoch of the construction of the magnificent 
 baptistery of Cremona, but it is generally thought to be 
 
 Fig. 38. Plan op Baptistery of Cremona. 
 
 not much posterior to the tenth century. The building is 
 octagonal, about sixty feet in diameter, and has sixteen 
 
 * Zancarol, Ant. Civ. For. Jul. lib. iii. De Rubeis, EccL Aquil 
 Mon. Del Torre, Lett. Intorno alle Ant. Crist. 
 
198 
 
 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 columns of Veronese marble, which support the roof and 
 cupola. (Fig. 38.) In the centre is a large octagonal 
 marble basin of a diameter of six feet.* The building is 
 in a plain and simple Lombard style. It has, what is 
 very rare in this class of edifices, a fine projecting porch. 
 
 jfiff. 39. Baptistehy of Ckemona. 
 
 supported by lions. The windows, by which it is scantily 
 lighted, might serve for a Norman castle. The walls 
 within are covered with ranges of Lombard arches, and 
 ragments of frescoes are seen in the gloom.f (Fig. 39.) 
 
 * Merula, Saniuario di Cremona- Aporti, Eccl. Crem. 
 t Murray's Handbook for Italy. 
 
BAPTISTERIES OF ASCOLI AND TORCELLO. igg 
 
 BAPTISTERY OF ASCOLI. 
 
 On the north side of the cathedral there is a detached 
 baptistery, a building of the ninth or tenth century. It 
 is square at the base and octagonal above. Recent ex- 
 cavations* have brought to light a large circular basin, 
 built of travertine marble, and which stood in the middle 
 of the baptistery. To it was attached a square pulpit, 
 from which the administrator addressed the catechumens 
 previous to admitting them to the rite of baptism. f The 
 style of the whole building is Byzantine. 
 
 BAPTISTERY OF TORCELLO. 
 
 Torcello was the parent island of the Venetian States ; 
 the spot to which the unfortunate inhabitants of Altinum 
 and Aquileja fled for safety when their homes were made 
 desolate by the northern invaders. Thus peopled, Tor- 
 cello became a town, and had its cathedral and its bishops 
 
 Fig. 40. Plan of Cathedral and Baptistery of Tokcello. 
 
 long before the existence of St. Mark's at Venice. The 
 cathedral stands in the same state in which it was rebuilt 
 in the beginning of the eleventh century by Orso Orseolo, 
 Bishop of Torcello, and son of the celebrated Doge, Pietro 
 Orseolo. 
 
 * Orsini, Descrizione delk Pitt. Ecc.ddla Citta di Ascoli. Lazzari. 
 Ascoli in Prospettiva. 
 
 f Lopez, Battisteri, p. 269. 
 
200 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 In front of the west door of the cathedral may still 
 be traced the remains of a very perfect baptistery. (Fig. 
 40.) This was a square building externally, measuring 
 thirty-seven feet each way, and internally an octagon, 
 with the angles cut into hemispherical niches. In the 
 centre stood a large font, in the form of an octagon.* 
 
 BAPTISTERY OF PADUA. 
 
 This baptistery is said to have been built about the 
 middle of the twelfth century, although Italian authors 
 disagree as to the precise time in which it was founded. 
 All agree, however, in stating that it was finished and 
 adorned in A.D. 1376. The building is square at the base 
 and circular above. In the centre stands a large circular 
 font, five feet across, and four feet deep. It was formerly 
 used for immersion. 
 
 BAPTISTERY OF PISA. 
 
 This magnificent baptistery has deservedly excited the 
 admiration of travellers. It was begun in A.D. 1153; 
 Diotisalvi was the name of the architect,! but he did not 
 bring the work to a conclusion. It remained unfinished 
 a number of years, from a deficiency of funds. At length, 
 the citizens of Pisa levied a rate for the purpose. An 
 inscription on the south side of the interior, near the 
 floor of the gallery, cut deep in the circular wall, 
 indicates that the work was resumed in 1278. There is 
 
 * Costadoni, Osservazioni inlorno la Chiesa Catted, di Torcdlo, 
 P- 33- 
 
 f The following inscriptions are found on two pilasters within 
 the building: — 
 
 MCLIII MENSE AVG. FVNDATA FVIT HiEC ECCLESIA. 
 DEO TI .SALVI MAGISTER HVIVS OPERIS. 
 
 (This church was founded in the month of May, in the year 11 53. 
 Diotisalvi, master of this work). 
 
BAPTISTERY OF PISA.. 
 
 20I 
 
 reason to believe, from the date on the monument of 
 an operarius, or builder, within the fabric, that it was 
 not completed before the fourteenth century; all which 
 sufficiently accounts for the finials and ornaments in the 
 pointed style which appear in the upper parts of the 
 building* 
 
 This baptistery is of singular design. The plan is 
 circular, with a diameter of one hundred and sixteen feet 
 
 Fig. 41. Flan of Baptisteky at Pisa. 
 
 (Fig. 41); the walls are eight feet thick, the building is 
 raised on three steps, and surmounted with a dome in the 
 shape of a pear. (Fig. 42.) The external elevation is divided 
 into three stories ; in the basement the columns, twenty 
 in number, are engaged, and have arches springing from 
 column to column, with a bold cornice above. In the first 
 story the columns are smaller, stand out in relief, and are 
 placed closer together, and the order is surmounted with 
 pinnacles and high pediments, placed at equal distances : 
 the terminations of these parts are crowned with statues. 
 
 * Knight, Ecclesiastical Architecture of Italy. Morona, Pisa 
 Illustrata. 
 
202 
 
 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Above this is an attic story, decorated with other high 
 pediments, pinnacles, and statues. The dome, which is 
 covered with lead, is intersected by long lines of very 
 prominent fretwork ; all the lines meet in a little cornice 
 
 Fig. 42. Baptistery of Pisa. 
 
 near the top, and terminate in another dome, above which 
 is a statue of John the Baptist. The interior is much 
 admired for its proportions ; light columns of granite, 
 placed between four piers decorated with pilasters, are 
 arranged round the basement story, which support a 
 second order of piers, arranged in a similar manner, on 
 which the dome rests. This dome is famous for its echo. 
 
BAPTISTERY OF PISA. 203 
 
 as the sides produce the well-known effect of whispering 
 galleries* 
 
 The principal entrance facing the east and the duomo, 
 is by a decorated doorway ; on the frieze above is the 
 martyrdom of John the Baptist, and various scenes 
 relating to our Saviour ; among these is a representation 
 of baptism by immersion, the Saviour standing in the 
 water up to His neck.f This sculpture is similar to that, on 
 the ancient bronze door of the cathedral. Above are the 
 busts of eleven figures of sacred persons ; the frieze on 
 which they are sculptured supports the figures of the 
 Madonna and Child, St. John the Baptist, and John the 
 Evangelist. There is a descent of three steps round the 
 building ; the space between the steps and the wall was 
 provided for the accommodation of the persons assembled 
 to witness the ceremony of baptism. 
 
 In the centre of the baptistery is a large octagonal 
 basin, fourteen feet in diameter, and four feet deep. It is 
 provided with an outlet for the escape of the water. The 
 basin is filled by means of a subterranean canal. At the 
 alternate sides of the font are four small conical basins, 
 which are supposed to have been used when the baptism of 
 infants by immersion was practised.^ The font is composed 
 of a variety of marbles ; the brim and base are of broca- 
 tello, the mouldings and divisions, containing sculpture, 
 are Carrara. The pavement of the basin consists of two 
 sorts of marbles, white and blue, in the form of waves. 
 The ancient Romans frequently ornamented their baths in 
 this manner. Round the interior is a band of white 
 marble, with the following inscription : — 
 
 * Penny Encyclopaedia, Article Baptistery. Milani, Battistero di 
 Pisa. Isabelle, Edif. Circulaires. 
 f Martini, Theatrum BasiliccE Pisana, Appendix. 
 X Michael Lopez, Sopra i Battisleri. 
 
204 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 HUNC OPE FIDELI FONTEM QUO GAUDIA CCELI 
 
 DAT BAPTIZATIS TOTIUS PONS BONITATIS ; 
 
 ET QUI TAM MIRO LAVACRO PIA DONA DEDERE, 
 
 ET QUI CONSILIUM, PRECOR HOS BAPTISTA TUERE 
 
 PER DOMINUM XTUM FONTEM QUI PROTEGAT ISTUM. 
 
 (I pray thee, O John the Baptist, to guard with thine faithful 
 protection this font, in which the source of all goodness gives the 
 joys of heaven to the baptized. Protect also those who have made 
 pious gifts, and given advice for the erection of this admirable font, 
 through our Lord Christ, who protects it.) 
 
 In the centre of the pavement existed formerly a circular 
 
 base or pedestal, whence the water was made to issue by 
 
 several openings ; on this was placed a small column, 
 
 supporting the figure of John the Baptist, in bronze. On 
 
 the plinth were the following words : — 
 
 LAURENTIUS JACOPI DE ANCROJACANPIS AC 
 TEMPLI RECTOR D. M. PRAECURSORIS JOAN 
 BAPT. IMAGINEM CONSTITUI ET ERIGI 
 JUSSIT, A.D. MDXX. 
 
 (Laurentius of Jacop of Ancrojacan, and rector of the temple, 
 commanded that the image of John the Precursor be erected and 
 established.) 
 
 The altar is placed to the west of the font, and conse- 
 quently the priest would have his face towards the east, 
 as was the ancient and general usage. Upon the altar is 
 placed a vase of marble and alabaster, within which, 
 according to Martini, was kept the Eucharist for those 
 newly baptized. Opposite the altar is another font, of 
 delicate marble, supported by brackets, highly carved, 
 adapted to the ceremony as practised at the present day. 
 
 BAPTISTERY OF PARMA. 
 The baptistery at Parma was commenced in A.D. 1196, 
 and constructed after the designs of Benedetto Antelmi.* 
 
 * Upon the architrave of the northern door of the baptistery is 
 the following inscription: — 
 
 BIS : BINIS : DEMPTIS : INCEPIT : DICTUS : 
 
 ANNIS : DE MILLE OPUS ; HOC : SCULPTOR 
 
 DUCENTIS : BENEDICTUS : 
 
BAPTISTERY OF PARMA. 205 
 
 But the work experienced many interruptions, especially 
 during the supremacy of the powerful and ferocious 
 Ezzelino da Romana, who, in the middle of the thirteenth 
 century, governed the north of Italy in the name of 
 the Emperor, and who, displeased with the inhabitants 
 of Parma, forbade them access to the quarries of the 
 Veronese territory, from which the marble with which 
 the baptistery was built was obtained.* In consequence 
 of these interruptions, the building was not finished before 
 1281 ; which will sufficiently account for the appearance 
 of the round style in the lower part of the building, and 
 of the pointed, above. Externally, this baptistery is an 
 octagon, six stories in height, ending in a dome, which 
 is covered by a flat wooden roof. The lowest and the 
 highest stories are solid, the others are galleries supported 
 by small columns. The interior has sixteen sides, from 
 which spring converging ribs, that form a pointed 
 dome. The portals are enriched with mouldings and 
 pillars, but without imagery. In the interior of the 
 baptistery the walls are ornamented with frescoes of the 
 thirteenth century, meagrely executed, but well pre- 
 served. f 
 
 In the centre stands a very large octagonal basin, cut 
 out from one block of yellowish-red marble. It appears 
 from an inscription* cut on the rim that this font was 
 made by Johannes Pallassonus in 1299. It is about eight 
 feet in diameter, four feet deep, and contains another 
 basin in the form of a Greek cross, in which the adminis- 
 
 * Storia della Ctltd di Parma di Angela Pezzana. Thesaurus 
 EcclesicB Parmensis. Afr6, Sioria di Parma. 
 
 f Knight's Ecclesiastical Architecture of Italy. 
 \ The following is the inscription : — 
 
 MCCLXXXXVIIII 
 
 JOHANES DE PALLASONO I. PP.' 
 
206 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 trator stood during the performance of the rite.* That 
 this font was formerly used for baptism by immersion, is 
 clearly attested by the following extract, taken from the 
 of&cial report forwarded to the Pope on November 21st, 
 1578, in which is given a full description of the baptistery 
 and its uses. This report is still preserved in the church 
 records of Parma. The extract is as follows : — 
 
 " In eadem Ecclesia adest Baptisterium, et adsunt fontes 
 separati a Baptisterio. 
 
 " Ad sacri fontis consecrationem parochi civitatis non 
 conveniunt. 
 
 " Officium baptizandi pertinet ad duos sacerdotes qui 
 appellantur Dogmani ; attamen ipsi non baptizant, sed 
 habent substitutum qui eorum vices supplet. 
 
 " Baptizant per immersionem." 
 
 In one corner of the baptistery is a smaller font, or, at 
 least, what is now used as such, covered with Runic foliage 
 and strange animals; it stands upon a lion setting his 
 paws upon a ram. All the children born in Parma are 
 now brought to this font to be sprinkled, a practice which 
 was introduced after the seventeenth century, and men- 
 tioned for the first time in i622.t 
 
 On the pilasters and lunette of the northern gate are 
 carved the roots of Jesse and of Joachim, and scenes from 
 the life of the Saviour and John the Baptist. In the 
 baptism they are both represented standing up to the 
 middle in the waters of the Jordan, which are raised into 
 a hillock in the absurd manner so generally adopted in 
 the middle ages. A sketch of this sculpture is presented 
 in the accompanying woodcut. J (Fig. 43.) 
 
 * Michael Lopez, Battistero di Parma, p. 161. His description 
 of this baptistery is very complete. 
 
 t Ihid. p. 120. 
 
 f Ihid. p. 170. 
 
BAPTISTERY OF PISTOIA. 2.0-7 
 
 In the third course of the dome are also scenes from the 
 life of John the Baptist, amongst which one, the Baptism 
 of Christ, is represented in a form which is but an 
 amplification of that adopted in the catacomb of San 
 
 Fig. 43. Baptism of Chxist in the Jordan. A Bas Belief in the Baptistery of 
 Parma ; 13th Cenlury. 
 
 Ponziano at Rome. The Redeemer is placed in the 
 middle of a running stream; John on the right bank 
 places his hand on the Saviour's head ; on the left bank 
 stand three angels holding His clothes. The scene is 
 repeated in a second baptism on the wall behind the altar. 
 It is almost obliterated. 
 
 BAPTISTERY OF PISTOIA. 
 
 This baptistery stands opposite the cathedral of Pistoia, 
 and is called San Giovanni Rotondo, although it is an 
 octagon in shape. According to Vasari, this building 
 was erected in the year 1337 by Andrea Pisano. The 
 style of the exterior is Italian- Gothic. The walls are 
 covered with black and white marble in alternate layers, 
 and surrounded by columns decorated with mosaics. 
 
 The interior of the baptistery is bare and without 
 decoration, and in its primitive simplicity presents a 
 pleasing contrast with the profuse artistic and idolatrous 
 display so universal in Italy. In the centre stands a large 
 square basin, ten feet in diameter, and four feet deep, 
 
208 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 which can contain about nine barrels of water, according 
 to information kindly furnished by an ecclesiastic attached 
 to the cathedral. This font, which is of fine marble, is 
 said to be older than the present building, probably of 
 1256. 
 
 BAPTISTERY OF ST. PETER'S AT ROME. 
 
 In his Memorte Sacre delle Sette ckiese di Roma, Giovanni 
 Severanus, describing the old basilica of St. Peter, 
 informs us that " in the middle of the transept, that is, in 
 the space between the pilasters of the cupola and the 
 pulpit, towards the north, Pope Damasus, who reigned in 
 the year 367, erected a basin for baptism, by collecting 
 the numerous streams of water which flowed from the 
 Vatican hill, and caused damage to the catacomb under- 
 neath." Prudentius, the well-known Christian poet, 
 refers to this font in his Twelfth Hymn, in which he gives 
 a description of the ancient church, and the martyrdom of 
 the Apostles. Damasus himself records this fact in a 
 marble inscription, which is still preserved in the subter- 
 ranean crypts of the modern basilica. " Invenit fontem 
 preebet qui dona salutis," etc. " He devised a font, which 
 offers the gifts of salvation." Cardinal Bullion, in his 
 Historia Templi Vattcani, says that " this basin was large 
 and deep, for the administration of trine immersion, accord- 
 ing to the rite of baptism in those times." (Notandum est 
 fontem ilium spatiosum fuisse, ac profundum, ut nempe 
 regenerandos per trinam immersionem recipere posset, pro 
 ut ritus baptismi eo tempore ferebat. Cap. xxii.) This 
 font was pulled down together with the ancient basilica. 
 
 In the chapel of John the Baptist, the first on the left of 
 the modern magnificent basilica, there is an ancient vase 
 of red porphyry, which formed the cover of the tomb of 
 the Emperor Otho II., as it did more anciently that of 
 Hadrian, and which now serves as a baptismal font. 
 
FRANCE. ^^jy 
 
 When the church was erected, this font was raised on 
 three marble steps, but Benedictus XIII., elected Pope 
 in 1724, being anxious to conform to the ancient rite 
 of administering baptism by immersion, ordered the 
 construction of two steps below the pavement, forming 
 thus a large basin, in which persons could be immersed 
 with ease. Now that the primitive rite is definitively- 
 abandoned, this basin is partly closed with a wooden 
 pavement.* A commemorative inscription, engraved in 
 gilded letters on a marble slab beneath the large picture 
 behind the font, reads as follows : — 
 
 BENEDICTVS XIII. PONT. MAX. 
 
 ORD. PR^DICATORVM. 
 
 HVMAN^ REGENERATIONIS FONTEM 
 
 VETERI RITV INSTAVRAVIT 
 
 ANNO SAL. MDCCXXV. 
 
 PONT. SVI ANNO. II. 
 
 (Benedict XIII., Supreme Pontiff, of the order of Preachers, 
 constructed this font of human regeneration for the ancient rite, in 
 the year of salvation, 1725, the second year of his pontificate.) 
 
 FRANCE. 
 
 Tvlost of the ancient baptisteries in France have been 
 destroyed. The church of St. Jean Le Rond, at Paris, 
 was the baptistery of the cathedral of Notre-Dame, in the 
 vicinity of which it was erected. It was taken down in 
 1748, and not a vestige of the foundations remains. This 
 
 * II fonte battesimale poi, quando venne costruito, ergevasi su 
 tre gradini di lumachella (MartinelH, Basilica Vaticana, lib. ii. p. ij6). 
 Ma Benedetto XIII. , volendo uniformarsi all' antico rito di conferire 
 il battesimo per immersione, commandii che fosse collocato due 
 gradini sotto al pavimento, formando cosi un vano in cui potessero 
 con agevolezza immergersi que' che si battezzavano. Oggi per6^, 
 dismesso affatto I'antico rito, il vano d chiuso in parte da un piano 
 di legno. (Valentini, Basilica Vaticana, t, ii.) 
 
 P 
 
210 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 baptistery took its name from the round form of the 
 oratory, in which was the basin for the administration of 
 baptism. 
 
 Another baptistery was situated near the house of 
 Ste. Genevieve, the patron of Paris, and was known by 
 the name of St. John the Baptist in 88 1. (Lebceuf, 
 Histoire de la ville et du diocese de Paris, i. 20, 437.) 
 
 The ancient church of St. John, at Poitiers, was 
 formerly the baptistery of that city. This edifice has the 
 form of an elongated parallelogram, and contains marble 
 columns of various dimensions. In the centre existed 
 formerly a basin, which was excavated in 1804, by 
 M. Siauve, who reports as follows the results of his 
 discovery : — " The workmen," he says, " had no sooner 
 removed the soil with their pickaxes, than an octagonal 
 wall came to the light. I then recalled to mind the 
 following passage of Don Martene : — ' The church of 
 St. John was formerly the baptistery of the entire city of 
 Poitiers. There were some steps to descend into the font 
 it contained.' On continuing the excavations, one of the 
 steps was discovered. The pavement of the basin, which 
 was probably made of stone or marble, had disappeared, 
 but a canal, which carried off the water, was traced from 
 the font to a drain in the vicinity. I found only two steps, 
 but judging from the thickness of the surrounding walls, 
 and the level of the ancient pavement, there must have 
 been three steps at least." M. de Caumont remarks, in 
 his Cours d' Antiquitis Monumentales, that one of the 
 Corinthian columns which support the open arcade of 
 this baptistery is decorated with figures of fishes. This 
 would confirm the baptismal character of that building, 
 since the fish, as we have already seen, was considered an 
 emblem of baptism, and the font was called " piscina " a 
 fish-pond, from the supposed presence in it, by invocation, 
 of IX&TS (The Fish), an acrostic, composed of the initial 
 
BAPTISTERY OF PUY. 
 
 211 
 
 letters of our Saviour's several titles, Jesus Christ, the 
 Son of God, Saviour. 
 
 The annexed engraving (Fig. 44) represents the plan of 
 a small building at Puy, which was in former times the 
 baptistery of that city. It is an octagon, with a circular 
 
 Fig. ii. Plan op Baptistery at Puy, France. 
 
 recess for the altar, and was built in the course of the 
 twelfth century. 
 
 One of the most interesting features of the cathedral 
 of Frejus is to be found in the ancient baptistery 
 which belongs to it. This edifice is separated from the 
 church by a porch, and is supported by eight columns of 
 granite, bearing Corinthian capitals of white marble. 
 Chapels have been placed in the intervals between the 
 columns. 
 
 At Aix, there is a baptistery which communicates with 
 the nave of the cathedral, and is lower than the pavement 
 of the church. It was restored a few years ago. Eight 
 antique columns of polished granite support the dome of 
 this baptistery. 
 
 The baptistery of Chalons was built in the vicinity of 
 the mother-church, or cathedral, and dedicated to John the 
 Baptist. The small chapel built by the side of it, and 
 
 p 2 
 
2 I 2 
 
 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 which Still exists, was restored in the eleventh century, 
 and consecrated under the same name. 
 
 Fig. 45. BArTisM of King Clovis. 
 
 A baptistery of the fifth century, was excavated 
 recently in close approximation to the ancient cathedral 
 of Marseilles 
 
BAPTISM OF CLOVIS. 2 13 
 
 Gregory of Tours, in the third book of his History of 
 France, designates under the title of Tcmphtm Baptisterii, 
 the temple of the baptistery, the ediiice at Rheiras, in 
 which King Clovis was solemnly baptized by Remigius.* 
 This important event, represented in the accompanying 
 woodcut (Fig. 45), is thus recounted by Gregory of 
 Tours :— " The news of the conversion of the Franks is 
 carried to St. Remy, who, filled with joy, orders the 
 sacred fonts to be immediately prepared ; decorated 
 draperies overshadow the streets; the churches are 
 ornamented with curtains ; the baptistery is put in order ; 
 clouds of perfume arise ; sweet scented tapers are burning, 
 the entire temple of the baptistery is filled with a divine 
 odour, and the Lord gave His grace to the assistants in 
 such abundance that they fancied themselves surrounded 
 by the perfumes of Paradise. The king was the first to 
 .request baptism from the pontiff. Another Constantino, 
 he advances towards the bath, which is to wash away 
 his leprosy — he comes to purify in the fresh water the 
 hideous stains of his past life. As he is about to enter 
 into the font, the saint of God says to him in an eloquent 
 voice : — ' Sicamber, bow humbly thy head ; adore what 
 thou hast burnt ; and burn what thou hast adored.' The 
 king, having confessed his belief in one all-powerful God 
 in the Trinity, was baptized in the name of the Father, 
 the Son and the Holy Ghost, and was anointed with the 
 holy chrism administered with the sign of the cross of 
 Christ. More than three thousand men of his army were 
 also baptized, as well as his sister Albofleda, who, not 
 long after, died in the Lord."t 
 
 * Remigius or Remy, bishop of Rheims, was so distinguished 
 for his zeal that he has obtained the appellation of The Apostle of 
 the Gauls. 
 
 t Gregory of Tours : Nuntiantur hsec antistiti, qui gaudio 
 magno repletus, jussit lavacrum prseparari. Velis depictis adum- 
 
2 14 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 The baptistery is represented by a quadrilateral edifice, 
 without a dome, and pierced with a number of windows. 
 Clovis, in a state of complete nudity, stands erect in the 
 water, which reaches up to his waist. His hands are 
 joined, his features are calm. All the assistants are in 
 the attitude of surprise and expectation — the pretended 
 miracle of the holy ampulla takes place, a shining dove 
 penetrates into the baptistery, holding in its beak the 
 precious ampulla ; Remy in his episcopal robes, watches 
 the descent of the Holy Ghost and renders thanks to God 
 for this manifestation of His favour. The clergy, the 
 courtiers, and the people, are full of admiration. Near 
 the font are represented two of Clovis' soldiers, who are 
 about to imitate his example. 
 
 The following liturgy was used by Remy in the admi- 
 nistration of baptism. It is taken from a manuscript 
 about one thousand years old. 
 
 brantur platese, ecclesiae cortinis albentibus adornantur, baptisterium 
 componitur, balsama diffunduntur, micant flagrantes odore cerei, 
 totumque templum baptisterii divino respergitur ab odore ; talem- 
 que ibi gratiam adstantibus Deus tribuit, ut ^stimarent se 
 paradisi odoribus conlocari. Rex ergo prior poposcit se & ponti- 
 fice baptizari. Procedit novus Constantinus ad lavacrum, deleturus 
 leprae veteris morbum, sordentesque maculas gestorum antiquorum 
 recent! latice deleturus. Cui ingresso ad baptismum, sanctus Dei 
 sic infit ore facundo : " Mitis depone colla, Sicamber, adora quod 
 incendisti, incende quod adorasti." Igitur rex Omnipotentem 
 Deum in Trinitate confessus, baptizatus est in nomine Patris, et 
 Filii, et Spiritus Sancti, delibutusque sacro chrismate cum signa- 
 culo crucis Christi. De exercitu verb ejus baptizati sunt amplius 
 tria millia. Baptizata est et soror ejus Albofleda, quas non post 
 multum tempus migravit ad Dominum. {De Gestis Francorum, 
 lib. ii.) 
 
 Gregory of Tours (a.d. 539-593) is esteemed the father of 
 Gallic history ; his writings disclose considerable diligence, but 
 little judgment. Levity and credulity are the characteristics of his 
 Annals of the Franks, his Miracles or Lives of the Saints, and of his 
 other writings. His tasteless history is the' authority most nearly 
 contemporary with, and, in fact, the only original and detailed 
 chronicle of the reign of Clovis. 
 
LITURGY OF REMY. 2 15 
 
 " On Sabbath morning the children recite the Creed. 
 Catechize them previously, with the hand placed upon 
 their heads, saying : — ' Remember, Satan,' &c., as in the 
 Roman ordinal. Then touch the nostrils and ears of the 
 child, and say : Ephpheta, Ephpheta, &c. Afterwards, 
 apply the exorcised oil to his chest and between his 
 shoulders, and calling each one by name, say : Dost 
 thou renounce Satan ? &c. I anoint thee with the oil of 
 salvation unto life everlasting. Then recite again the 
 Creed, with the hand placed upon their heads. The arch- 
 deacon says : Pray, ye elects, bow the knee, &c. He 
 gives the following notice : Let the catechumens retire, 
 &c. The deacon says : Dearly beloved sons, return to 
 your places, &c. 
 
 " This done, the pontiff proceeds from the church, 
 accompanied by every order of the priesthood, chanting 
 the litany, and preceded by two tapers of the height of 
 a man, with thuribles and tymias, goes to bless the 
 font. The litany having been chanted around the font, 
 silence is restored, and the pontiff says: — 'The Lord be 
 with you. And all answer : And with thy spirit. He 
 then makes the following prayer : — Almighty and ever- 
 lasting God, be present, &c., as in the Roman Ritual. 
 Taking some of the chrism in a small vase, he pours it in 
 form of a cross upon the water, and sprinkles with it the 
 font and the bystanders. The presbyter interrogates 
 each one (of the candidates) as follows : — Believest thou 
 in God the Father Omnipotent ? Answer : I believe, &c. 
 Wilt thou be baptized ? &c. 
 
 "The presbyters or the deacons, or, if need be, the 
 acolyths, having put on other robes, proceed to the font, 
 and enter into the water, and receiving them from their 
 parents, baptize, first the males, and then the females, by 
 trine immersion, with but one invocation of the Lloly 
 Trinity, saying: I baptize thee in the name of the 
 
2l6 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Father, and dip once, and of the Son, and dip again, and 
 of the Holy Ghost, a^id dip the third time. (Et ingredi- 
 untur presbyter! aut diaconi, etiam si necesse fuerit, 
 acolythi discalceati, induentes se aliis vestibus mundis, et 
 ingrediuntur ad fontes intro in aqua, et accipientes eos a 
 parentibus suis baptizantur primi masculi, deinde feminae 
 sub trina mersione, tantum Sanctam Trinitatam semel 
 invocantes, ita dicendo : Baptizo te in nomine Patris, et 
 mergis semel ; et Filii, et mergis iterum ; et Spiritus 
 Sancti, et mergis tertio.) 
 
 " When they have come out of the font, the presbyter 
 dips his thumb in the chrism and anoints them, on the 
 crown of the head, in the form of the cross, saying • 
 Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, &c. 
 
 " They are then received by the sponsors, and the pontiff 
 walks out of the font and takes his seat in the church. 
 The children are brought to him, and he gives them a 
 stole, a chasuble, the chrism, and ten silicas, and then the 
 children are clothed. They afterwards attend mass, and 
 they are recommended not to take any food till after they 
 have received the communion." 
 
 Gregory of Tours, in the Fifth Book of his History, 
 gives an account of the conversion and baptism of a 
 number of Jews at Clermont, through the labours of the 
 bishop Avitus. " The Jews for a long while hesitated and 
 wavered ; but on the third day they sent him (Avitus) an 
 answer in the following terms : ' We believe that Jesus 
 is the Son of the living God, often announced by the 
 prophets, and therefore beg of thee to wash us with 
 baptism, that we may not persevere in our sin.' On 
 learning this, the pontiff, filled with joy, proceeded to the 
 baptistery, situated outside of the walls of the city ; there 
 a multitude fell upon their knees before him, entreating to 
 be baptized. Weeping for joy, he washed them all in the 
 sacred water, and anointed them with the holy chrism. 
 
BAPTISMS IN FRANCE. 217 
 
 and added them all to the Church, their mother. There 
 were more than five hundred who received baptism.* 
 
 Alluding to the persecutions inflicted upon a young 
 maiden in order to force her to abjure the Catholic faith, 
 Gregory says that, " after she had endured many suffer- 
 ings and lost all her earthly riches, she was led to a new 
 baptism. While she was being plunged in this filthy 
 bath, she exclaimed : ' I believe that the Father, the 
 Son, and the Holy Ghost, are of one substance and one 
 essence.' She was then taken out of the bath and sub- 
 mitted to the rack according to the law, and after passing 
 through the excruciating tortures of the flames and the 
 iron spikes, was decapitated, and thus consecrated to the 
 Lord." t 
 
 Charlemagne (a.d. 742-814) decreed a law punishing the 
 refusal of baptism with the penalty of death, a fact which 
 degrades his bigotry even below the ignorant ferocity of 
 Clovis, or the fanatical proselytism of the Koran. Finding 
 that the sturdy Saxons resisted all the persuasions and 
 entreaties of the priests sent to offer them the rite of 
 
 * Gregory of Tours : Uli autem diu sestuantes atque dubitantes, 
 tertia die, conjuncti in unum ad eum mandata remittunt, dicentes : 
 "Credimus Jesum filium Dei vivi, nobis prophetarum vocibus 
 repromissum ; et ideo petimus ut abluamur baptismo, ne in hoc 
 delicto permaneamus." Gavisus autem nuntio pontifex, nocte 
 sancta Pentecostes, vigiliis celebratis, ad baptisterium foras mura- 
 neum egressus est ; ibique omnis multitudo coram eo prostrata, 
 baptismum fiagitavit. At ille, pras gaudio lacrymans, cunctos aqua 
 abluens, chrismate liniens, in sinu matris ecclesiae congregavit. 
 Fuerunt autem qui baptizati sunt, amplius quingenti. {De Geslis 
 Francorum, lib. v.) 
 
 t Gregory of Tours : Post multas quaestiones, post ablatos 
 terrenarum divitiarum thesauros, cum ad hoc frangi non posset, 
 ut beatam scinderet Trinitatem, ad rebaptizandum invita deducitur. 
 Cumque in illud coenosum lavacrum vi cogeretur immergi, pro- 
 clamaret: " Patrem cum Filio, ac Spiritum Sanctum unius credo 
 esse substantias essentiaeque." Exhinc ad legitimam deductam 
 quaestionem, post equuleos, post fiamrnas et ungulas, Christo 
 Domino capitis decisione dicatur. (Lib. ii.) 
 
2l8 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 baptism, Charlemagne resorted to acts of the most savage 
 cruelty. Four thousand of them who refused to submit 
 were butchered in one day, on the banks of a small river 
 which discharges itself into the Oder. At another time, 
 besides ravaging their country with fire and sword, he 
 decimated in cold blood all the inhabitants, and obliged 
 them, by the most rigorous edicts, to make a seeming 
 compliance with the doctrines and ceremonies of the 
 Romish Church. 
 
 In a treatise on the Mystery of Baptism, written by 
 Magnus, archbishop of Sens, in obedience to a command 
 of Charlemagne, we find the following definition of the 
 ordinance : — " Baptism, a Greek-Latin word, means 
 dipping or washing, because in it man is renovated by 
 the grace of the Holy Ghost. For this reason the infant 
 is immersed three times in the sacred font, that by this 
 triple mystical immersion may be represented the burial 
 of Christ during three days, and the rising out of the 
 water, the resurrection of Christ from the sepulchre." 
 (Baptisma graecum nomen est, quod in Latinam linguam 
 conversum tinctio vel lavacrum interpretatur, quod ibidem 
 infans, vel etiam cujuscumque setatis homo per gratiam 
 Spiritus Sancti renovatur in melius. Idcirco mergitur 
 infans tribus vicibus in sacris undis, ut mystice triduanam 
 designes Christi Domini nostri sepulturam. Demersio 
 trina et elevatio ab aquis similitudo Christi est de 
 sepulchro resurgentis). This treatise, which gives the 
 symbolical import of each rite performed in connection 
 with baptism, is reproduced by Martene [De Antiquis 
 Ecclesics Ritihus) from an old manuscript in the National 
 Library at Paris. 
 
 Fulbertus, bishop of Chartres in the eleventh century, 
 teaches also the doctrine of baptismal regeneration in the 
 following terms: — "We know, and know truly, that we 
 were polluted by our first birth, and purified by the second ; 
 
FRANCE: VARIOUS TESTIMONIES. 2ig 
 
 therefore we are buried and we die with Jesus Christ, that 
 we may be born again and quickened with Him. The 
 water and the Holy Ghost are united in that sacrament ; 
 the water denotes the burial, the Holy Ghost the life 
 eternal. As Jesus Christ lay buried three days in the 
 ground, so man is dipped, and, as it were, buried three 
 times in the water, that he may rise again by the Holy 
 Spirit." * 
 
 In their numerous writings, Anselme of Laon (1030- 
 II 17), Yves of Chartres (1115), Honorius of Autun, Hugue 
 of St. Victor, mention three immersions. Pierre Lombard, 
 in the Fourth Book of his Distinctiones, in answer to the 
 question how many times immersion should be adminis- 
 tered, said : " Either once or thrice, according to the 
 various custom of the church. (De immersione vero si 
 quaeritur quoties fieri debeat, precise respondemus vel 
 semel, vel ter pro vario ecclesise more.) Thomas Aquinas 
 (1227-1274) says that in baptism is performed trine immer- 
 sion in water. (In baptismo fit trina immersio in aquam. 
 In Symbol Apost.c. 13.) The celebrated Gerson, Chancellor 
 of the University of Paris, and author of The Imitation of 
 Jesus Christ [h..V>. 1363-1429), informs us that in his time 
 single or trine immersion was practised, according to the 
 different usages of the churches. In answer to the 
 question : Quoties debet immergi } (How often should one 
 be immersed?) he says: "Secundum consuetudinem eccle- 
 
 * Fulbertis: Scimus et vere scimus, nos prima nativitate pollutos, 
 
 secunda nativitate mundatos Common enim cum 
 
 Christo, et sepeliri ad hoc tendit, ut cum illo resurgere possimus, 
 
 et cum illo vivere Proinde aqua et Spiritis Sanctus 
 
 sociantur causis, sed beneficiis separantur. Requiritur sane in 
 baptismalis sacramentis aqua propter sepulturam, Spiritus Sanctus 
 propter vitam aeternam. Sicut ergo Dominus noster Jesus Christus 
 tribus diebus et tribus noctibus corporaliter sub terr» sepulcro 
 conditus fuisse describitur, et homo ita sub cognato terras elemento 
 trina vice demersus operitur, ac sic vitalis imitatione mysterii dum 
 demergitur sepelitur, dum educitur suscitatur. 
 
2 20 THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 sise, vel semel propter imitatem diviiiee essentiae, vel ter 
 propter Trinitatem Personarum." (According to the usage 
 of the church, either once, to denote the unity of the 
 Divine essence, or three times, to represent the Trinity of 
 the Persons. 
 
 A learned monk, in the library of the Minerva at Rome, 
 has kindly favoured us with the following extract from a 
 manuscript of the fourteenth century, which contains the 
 directions of Guillaume Durant, bishop of Mende from 
 1286-1296, to the clergy of his diocese. In the chapter on 
 baptism, the bishop says : " Each basilica should be pro- 
 vided, if possible, with stone fonts. Otherwise, let there 
 be a. wooden basin made expressly for the purpose. . . 
 Teach frequently your people the form of baptism, in 
 order that they may, in case of necessity, observe it 
 scrupulously, to wit : that he who baptizes, after giving a 
 name to the child, and made the sign of the cross upon 
 the water, must plunge the infant three times in the form 
 of the cross, in warm or cold water, saying: P ... or 
 C . . . I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and 
 of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. And if he 
 cannot say the words in Latin, let him pronounce them in 
 the common language. Should he have immersed the 
 child but once, and forgotten to give it a name, and not 
 used the word ego., I ; if he has said the remaining part of 
 the form, the child shall be considered as duly baptized 
 . . . (Baptizans infantem . . . ter in modum crucis 
 immergat ilium in aquam calidam vel frigidam. . . .) 
 
 M. de Moleon, in his Voyages Liturgiques de France; 
 alludes to the existence at Orleans of a ritual of the year 
 1 58 1, in which trine immersion is directed as follows: — 
 "Dicit Presbyter puero, et ego baptizo te in nomine Patris, 
 mer gat semel; et Filii, mergat secundo; et Spiritus Sancti. 
 Amen. Mergat tertio. 
 
 There are still existing in several churches of France 
 
BAPTISTERY OF CHARTRES. 
 
 221 
 
 paintings of baptism by immersion. In the cathedral 
 of Sens a painted window contains a representation of the 
 baptism of Eutropus by Simon and Jude. Under the 
 portico of the cathedral of Bourges, Ursinus is shown as 
 baptizing by immersion the son of Leocades, governor of 
 the Gauls. Upon the entrance of the church of St. 
 Trophimus, at Aries, is sculptured a baptismal scene : a 
 child is plunged into a font, and the Holy Ghost descends 
 upon it in the form of a dove. 
 
 The annexed figure (Fig. 46) represents a stone font of 
 
 Fig. 46. Font at Chartres, France. 
 
 the twelfth century, which is now in the crypt of the 
 church of Notre Dame, at Chartres. 
 
 The font in the church of Thouveil (Fig. 47) is of the 
 eleventh century, and has the form of a trough, in which 
 the infant was laid down, and thus immersed in the water. 
 It is about one foot and a half in width, and four feet and 
 a half in length. The baptismal fonts in the church of 
 Limay, near Nantes, are of the same shape. 
 
 In the church of St. Peter's, at Montdidier, is a font, 
 which was made in the latter part of the eleventh century. 
 In the museum of the Louvre, at Paris, is a font, richly 
 ornamented, brought from the East on the occasion of the 
 
222 
 
 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 baptism of the sons of St. Louis. The font of Pont de 
 Mousson has the shape of a tub, and is decorated with 
 bas-reliefs, which represent John the Baptist preaching 
 to publicans and soldiers, and baptizing two Jews, who 
 stand in the water up to their waist. Another bas-relief 
 
 Fig. 47. Font at Thouveil, France. 
 
 shows the Precursor in the act of baptizing our Saviour, 
 with the waters of the Jordan rising up to the middle of 
 the body. 
 
 The Roman Ordinal of baptism, edited by order of 
 Clement VIII. and Urban VIIL, is now used in all the 
 Catholic churches of France. It directs, as we have 
 already seen, three affusions, instead of three immersions. 
 
 GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 It is an opinion commonly received, that Christianity 
 was first planted in Britain when the Romans began to 
 colonise the island, and to establish magistrates and 
 jurisdiction. Eusebius, the friend of Constantine, who 
 was proclaimed emperor in Britain, specifies the British 
 Islands among the countries where the Gospel had 
 
GREAT BRITAIN. 223 
 
 been preached, (e-n-l ra? KaXovfievw; BpLTTaviKo,^ vijaov^. 
 Demonst. Evangelica:) Theodoret (torn. iv. serm. 9), names 
 the Britons in his enumeration of the different nations 
 converted by the Apostles. Tertullian, in his treatise 
 Against the Jews {Adversus Judmos), speaks of the 
 ■wide extension of Christianity in Britain. (Britannorum 
 inaccessa Romanis loca, Christo ver6 subdita.) A 
 Christian Church subsisted there, though not always 
 in an equal degree of vigour, till the persecution of 
 Diocletian. It then acquired new strength and 
 reputation from the pious fortitude of its martyrs, 
 amongst which may be mentioned Alban, Aaron, and 
 Julius. 
 
 The church of London was in existence as early as the 
 latter part of the second century, though it is not until 
 the sixth that we find any actual reference to it. But at 
 that period a very interesting incident occurred in the 
 church, which Bede dramatically relates in his Eccle- 
 siastical History : — " When Sebert, the founder of West- 
 minster Abbey, and the joint founder (according to Bede) 
 with Ethelbert, king of Kent, of St. Paul's, died, he left 
 his three sons, who were yet pagans, heirs of his temporal 
 kingdom. Immediately on their father's decease they 
 began openly to practise idolatry (though whilst they 
 lived they had somewhat refrained), and also gave free 
 license to their subjects to worship idols. At a certain 
 time these princes, seeing the bishop (of London, 
 Mellitus,) administering the sacrament to the people in 
 the church, after the celebration of mass, and being puffed 
 up with rude and barbarous folly, spoke, as the common 
 report is, thus unto him : — ' Why dost thou not give us, 
 also, some of that white bread which thou didst give unto 
 our father, Saba (Sebert), and which thou dost not yet 
 cease to give to the people in the church } ' He answered, 
 ' If ye will be washed in that wholesome font where your 
 
2 24 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 father was, ye may likewise eat of this blessed bread 
 whereof he was a partaker; but if ye contemn the lavatory 
 of life, ye can in no wise taste the bread of life.' 'We 
 will not,' they rejoined, ' enter into this font of water, for 
 we know we have no need to do so ; but we will eat of 
 that bread nevertheless.' And when they had been often 
 and earnestly warned by the bishop that it could not be, 
 and that no man could partake of this most holy oblation 
 without purification and cleansing by baptism, they at 
 length, in the height of their rage, said to him, ' Well, if 
 thou wilt not comply with us in the small matter that 
 we ask, thou shalt no longer abide in our province 
 and dominions ; ' and straightway they expelled him, 
 commanding that he and all his company should quit the 
 realm." 
 
 In the seventh century, before Rome had succeeded in 
 bringing the British Christians under her despotic spiritual 
 power, the missionary labours of such men as Paulinus, 
 Aiden, Coleman, and the Venerable Bede, were attended 
 with wonderful success among the native pagans of 
 Britain, especially in Northumberland. We have already 
 seen that Paulinus baptized King Edwin at York, A.D. 
 627, and at the village of Rigin he immersed a great 
 number of people in the river Glen, and again in the 
 rivers Swalva and Trehenta (Swarle and Trent). Rev. 
 Dr. Cathcart, in the London Freeman, describes one of the 
 natural baptisteries in which Paulinus is said to have 
 baptized three thousand on one occasion. " About eleven 
 miles from the Cheviot Hills, separating England and 
 Scotland, and about the same distance from Alnwick 
 Castle, the celebrated seat of the Dukes of Northumber- 
 land, and near the village of Harbottle, there is a remark- 
 able fountain. It rises on the top of a slight elevation, and 
 at the present time it is thirty-four feet long, twenty feet in 
 breadth, and two feet in depth, but it is capable of being 
 
ENGLAND : NORTHUMBERLAND. 225 
 
 made deeper by placing a board over an opening at one 
 side. A stream issues from the spring which forms a 
 little creek. A few shade-trees and benches surround it, 
 bearing the usual knife-marks of visitors. The traditions 
 of Northumberland point out this fountain as one of the 
 baptisteries of Paulinus, the apostle of the North of 
 England, where he immersed three thousand during the 
 Easter of A.D. 627. The 'History of Northumberland' 
 contains and confirms the testimony of tradition. The 
 spring is a place of public resort for the population for 
 many miles, and for numerous strangers, on account of 
 its early baptismal associations. The writer saw several 
 visitors during a half-hour which he spent beside its clear 
 waters. An ancient statue, as large as life, which formerly 
 lay prostrate in the spring, now stands against a tree on 
 its margin. The drapery of the ' bishop,' as the statue is 
 called, shows that it was set up at a very remote period, 
 probably only two or three centuries after Paulinus, whom 
 it was doubtless intended to represent. A large crucifix 
 now stands in the centre of the fountain, erected under 
 the superintendence of the aged vicar of the parish (a 
 clergyman who graduated at Oxford), which bears the 
 following inscription : ' In this fountain, called the 
 " Lady's Well," on the introduction of Christianity, in the 
 Saxon reign of Edwin, and early in the seventh century, 
 Paulinus, an English bishop, baptized three thousand 
 people.' A short distance from the spring is the village 
 of Holy Stones, where a nunnery once stood, to which the 
 well belonged. Some scanty remains of the convent are 
 still to be seen, and the stones can easily be detected in 
 the houses of the hamlet. This establishment was located 
 near the spring, at an early day, to gain a special blessing 
 from so holy a fountain; and it is strong corroborative 
 evidence of the sacred use to which Paulinus devoted its 
 
 crystal waters The Lady's Well is some thirty or 
 
 Q 
 
2 26 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 forty miles from Newcastle, and is full of interest to the 
 antiquary and the traveller." 
 
 Bede recounts the following conversions and baptisms : 
 " Byrinus preached in the province of Gevisses, and 
 baptized both the king and the people, and Oswal, king 
 of Northumberland, being present, received him as he 
 came out of the bath." (Eum de lavacro exuentem 
 suscepisse.) 
 
 " When Wilfrid converted the South Saxons, and Edil- 
 malch, their king, was baptized in Mercia, King Wolfhere 
 being present, received him when coming out of the water 
 as his godson." (A quo etiam de fonte egressus loco filii 
 susceptus est.) 
 
 " The holy days of Lent were at hand, and were 
 rendered more religious by the presence of the priests, 
 insomuch that the people, being instructed by daily 
 sermons, resorted in crowds to be baptized ; for most of 
 the army desired admission to the water of the saving 
 bath. The army advanced, still wet with baptism." * 
 
 Speaking of a little boy who had been delivered from 
 death by his father's prayers, he adds : — " When he had 
 lived there a long time after, and applied himself to the 
 reading of the Scriptures, he was informed that he had 
 not been regenerated by the water of baptism, and being 
 then washed in the font of the saving bath, he was after- 
 wards promoted to the order of the presbytery." f {EccL 
 Hist. b. i. ch. xxiv.) 
 
 * Beda : Aderant Quadragesimae venerabiles dies, quos reli- 
 giosiores reddebat przesentia sacerdotum, in tantum, ut quotidianis 
 prasdicationibus instituti, certatim populi ad gratiam baptismatis 
 convolarent ; nam maxima exercitus multitude undam lavacri 
 salutaris expetiit . . . Madidus baptismate procedit exercitus, 
 fides fervet in populo, et conterrito armatorum praesidio, divinitatis 
 expectatur auxilium. {Hist. Eccl. lib. i. cap. xx.) 
 
 f Beda: — Cum multo post hagc tempore viveret, et Scripturis 
 legendis operam daret, tandem didicit se aqua baptismatis non 
 
ENGLAND : AUSTIN. 227 
 
 Alluding to a Christian soldier who had suffered martyr- 
 dom, Bede says : — " Though he was not washed in the 
 font of baptism, yet he was cleansed by the washing of 
 his own blood, and rendered worthy to enter the kingdom 
 of heaven." * [Eccl. Hist. b. i. ch. vii.J 
 
 Austin, a monk in the convent of St. Andrew, at Rome, 
 was sent in the year 589, by Pope Gregory, as Primate 
 of Britain ; but was unable to reduce the British clergy 
 to conformity with the Church of Rome, and to prevail on 
 them to admit the slightest change in their ancient 
 customs. From the account given by Bede, we learn that, 
 before the final conference held with Austin and his 
 companions, the British bishops solicited the advice of an 
 anchorite of great reputation for sanctity and wisdom, 
 and besought him to give an opinion on the difiicult 
 question, whether they ought to abandon the customs and 
 usages of their ancestors and adopt those' of Austin. His 
 answer was that he saw no reason why they should adopt 
 any alterations in their religion, simply on the bare 
 request of a stranger ; but since the essence of religion 
 consisted in love and unity, not in forms, if the stranger 
 were a holy man, and sent from God, they should follow 
 him. This answer occasioned a second question, by what 
 marks they should discern whether he were a holy 
 man or not ? The answer of the anchorite was worthy 
 of his reputation : he told them to judge the character 
 and pretensions by the conduct of the man who 
 supported them; if he were meek and humble, then 
 they might conclude that he was the disciple of Him 
 
 esse regeneratum, et mox fonte lavacri salutaris ablutus, etiam 
 postmodum ad ordinem presbyterii promotus est. {Hist. Ecdes. 
 lib. i. cap. xxiv.) 
 
 * Quia etsi fonte baptismatis non est ablutus, sui tamen est 
 sanguinis lavacro mundatus, ac regni coelestis dignus factus est 
 ingressu. {Hist. Ecdes. lib. i, cap. vii.) 
 
 Q 2 
 
2 28 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 who had taught men to bear His yoke ; but if the 
 stranger were haughty and arrogant, then it was certain 
 that he could not be sent from God, whatever might 
 be his pretensions. The Britons, still unsatisfied, 
 demanded what were those marks of gentleness and con- 
 descension by which they might discern of what spirit 
 the stranger was animated ? " His spirit," the sage 
 replied, " you will discern in this : let him and his 
 companions first come to the synod, and if, on your 
 approach, he shall rise up in condescension and love, and 
 greet you, then look upon him as a servant of Christ, and 
 submit to whatever he shall ordain ; but if he shall 
 contemptuously refuse to rise up to you who are the 
 greater number, then let him see that you despise his 
 insolence and disclaim his authority." 
 
 After some further deliberations, the British bishops, 
 seven in number, with Dinoth, abbot of Bangor, and 
 some other learned men, consented to meet Austin at a 
 second conference. The archbishop and his companions 
 were seated in the place of meeting before the Britons 
 entered, and as Austin did not rise from his seat to 
 receive them, they acted in conformity with the advice of 
 the hermit, and opposed all his overtures of union with 
 great spirit and perseverance. After a violent contest, 
 Austin addressed them in these words : — " In many things 
 you act contrary to our customs as well as to the usages 
 of the Catholic Church. Notwithstanding, if you will 
 submit to my authority in these three matters, namely, 
 in observing the Easter festival after our manner, in 
 administering baptism according to the custom of the 
 Church of Rome,* and in joining with us to convert 
 
 * Ut ministerium baptizandi, quo Deo renascimur, juxta morem 
 Sanctse Romance ApostolicEe Ecclesiae, compleatis. " That you 
 complete the administration of baptism, by which we are born 
 again unto God, according to the custom of the Roman Apostolical 
 
ENGLAND : AUSTIN. 229 
 
 the Saxon pagans, in all other things which you do con- 
 trary to our customs, we will bear with you." To this 
 demand the Britons answered that they would not comply 
 with any one of the three particulars, neither would 
 they acknowledge him for their archbishop. Austin, 
 fired with indignation at this refusal, answered them 
 with threats, and plainly intimated that if they would 
 not accept peace from their brethren, they must expect 
 war from their enemies, and if they would not preach 
 the Word of Life to the Saxons, they should themselves 
 suffer death. (Bede, Eccl. Hist. lib. ii.) 
 
 A judicious writer speaks as follows of the character and 
 career of Austin: — "The personal merit of this missionary 
 will bear no comparison with that of the first Christian 
 Apostles. While Paul and his brethren, in their journeys 
 for the propagation of the Gospel, exposed themselves to 
 innumerable perils, without any prospect of temporal 
 advantage, this apostle travelled under the protection of 
 princes, enjoyed the support and assistance of the civil 
 power, and found his spiritual labours the direct path to 
 worldly honour and emolument. A pope was his master ; 
 a king was first his patron, and then his disciple ; and the 
 sole government of his new church, with all the advan- 
 tages of supremacy in a well-arranged hierarchy, was his 
 recompense. That which decisively fixed the reproach of 
 inordinate ambition in his character is, that he not only 
 seized the metropolitan dignity in the English Church 
 before it was well formed, but endeavoured to bring the 
 ancient and independent British churches under his yoke ; 
 
 Church." The precise defect intended is left to conjecture. The 
 baptism of infants seems most probable, for it had already been 
 adopted in the Church of Rome, through the prevailing influence 
 of Augustine, and enforced under pain of excommunication by 
 several councils. The reader will presently see that, in answer to 
 an inquiry made by Austin, the Pope recommended him to baptize 
 infants williuut delay in case of danger of death. 
 
230 THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 and that, meeting with more resistance than he expected 
 from the free spirit of the ancient Britons, his haughty 
 temper could not brook the opposition, and he at least 
 meditated revenge. We can only judge of the character 
 of this apostle by his actions, imperfectly recorded, for 
 none of his writings remain." {Oxford Encyclopcedia.) 
 
 The doctrine of the saving efficacy of baptism and the 
 administration of that ordinance to infants, seem to have 
 been introduced in Great Britain in the seventh century. 
 Bede designates baptism under the appellation of the 
 saving bath, "lavacrum salutare." Pope Gregory (A.D. 60 1), 
 in a letter to Austin, advises him to baptize the child 
 in the very hour of its birth if there be danger of death ; 
 " For," he adds, " as the grace of the holy mystery is to 
 be with much discretion provided for the living and the 
 understanding, so it is to be without any delay offered to 
 those who are on the point of death, lest, while a further 
 time is sought to confer the mystery of redemption, a 
 small delay intervening, the person to be redeemed should 
 be no more."* (Bede's Ecclesiastical History, book i. 
 chap. 27.) 
 
 Bishop ^Ifric in his Easter Homily, teaches, " That the 
 heathen child is baptized, and changes not its outer form, 
 although inwardly converted ; it is carried to the font, 
 sinful through Adam's transgression, and is washed 
 inwardly from all its sin, yet changes not its outward 
 form. So also the holy font-water, which is called the 
 
 * "Baptizare autem vel enixam mulierem vel hoc quod genuerit, 
 si mortis periculo surgetur, vel ipsa hora eadem qua gignit, vel 
 hoc quod gignitur eadem qua natum est, nullo mode prohibetur; 
 quia sancti mysterii gratia sicut viventibus atque discernentibus, 
 cum magna discretione providenda est, ita his quibus mors 
 imminet, sine ulla dilatione oflferenda, ne dum adhuc tempus ad 
 praebendum redcmptionis mysterium quaeritur, interveniente paulu- 
 lum mora inveniri non valeat, qui redimatur. (Beda, Hist. Eccles. 
 lib. i. cap. xxvii.) 
 
ENGLAND: ANGLO-SAXONS. 231 
 
 wellspring of life, is outwardly like any other water and 
 subject to corruption ; but the Holy Ghost descends with 
 power upon the corruptible water, through the blessing 
 of the priest, and through that spiritual power, all sin is 
 washed away both of the body and the soul." 
 
 The baptism of infants was enforced by severe enact- 
 ments. The laws of Ina, king of Wessex, made at a 
 West-Saxon Witenagemot, held in A.D. 690, provide that 
 parents should bring their children for baptism within 
 thirty days after birth, under forfeiture of as many 
 shillings. If the infant died unbaptized, all the parents' 
 property was forfeited.* 
 
 A decree of the tenth Northumbrian Synod orders : — 
 " Let every child be baptized in good time, within nine 
 days, under the penalty of six ore : and if a child die a 
 pagan (that is, without baptism) within nine days, through 
 negligence, let satisfaction be made to God without any 
 worldly mulct ; and if after nine days, let satisfaction be 
 made to God, and twelve ore be paid, because he was a 
 heathen so long.f 
 
 The ninety-fifth Excerption of Eigbright (a.d. 740) is as 
 follows : — " Let the parent, whose child is dead without 
 baptism through his neglect, do penance one year, and 
 never live without penance. If the priest, whose duty it 
 
 * Be cildum. Of children. 
 
 II. Cild, binnan thritagum 2. Let a child, within thirty 
 
 nihta, siegefulwad. Gifhitswa days, be baptized. If it be not 
 ne sie, xxx. scill. gebete. Gif hit so, let him make " bot " with xxx. 
 dhonne sie dead butan fulwihte ; shillings. But if it die without 
 gebete he hit mid eallum dham baptism, let him make "b5t" for 
 dhe he age. it with all that he has. 
 
 j- Quilibet infans mature baptizatur intra ix. dies, sub poena vi. 
 orarum, et si infans paganus intra ix. dies per negligentiam 
 mortuus sit, emendent apud Deum absque mukta mundana ; et si 
 supra ix. dies fuerit, emendent apud Deum, et solvant xii. oras 
 parocho illi quod ethnicus tarn diu fuerit. {Leges. Presbyt. Norlhumb. 
 X. A.D. 950.) 
 
232 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 was, neglected to come, though asked, let him be chastised 
 of the doom of the bishop for the damnation of a soul. 
 But all the faithful may do this when they find any dying 
 unbaptized ; nay, it is commanded that men should snatch 
 a soul from the devil by baptism ; that is, by baptizing 
 them with water, simply blessed in the name of the 
 Lord, by immersing them, or pouring water upon them, 
 in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. 
 Therefore, they who can, and know how to baptize, 
 faithful monks especially, ought always to have the 
 Eucharist with them, though they travel to places far 
 distant." This collection of Excerptions, like a code 
 of canons for the province of York, has undergone 
 numerous alterations, having been augmented, curtailed, 
 and transposed at discretion. (Spelman, Concilia Magncz 
 Britannia^ 
 
 In the tenth century the 17th of the Ecclesiastical 
 Institutes orders that, " If any one bring a sickly child to 
 a mass-priest, be it of whatever mass-priest's district it 
 may, then let him baptize it forthwith, and for no business 
 let him neglect to baptize it, be it from whence it may. 
 If he on any account neglect it, and it die without baptism, 
 then be it known to him that on doomsday he shall 
 render an account for that soul to God. (Wilkins, Concil. 
 tom. i. p. 218.) 
 
 The great festivals of Easter and Whitsuntide were the 
 ordinary times appointed for the administration of 
 baptism. These festivals, we have already shown, had 
 long been signalized by the observance of this rite in the 
 Roman Church. In England this regulation was solemnly 
 enacted at the Council of Calcuith, in A.D. 787 {Cone. Calc. 
 can. 2); and is also mentioned in the reports of the 
 legates, Gregory and Thyophylact, to Pope Adrian I. of 
 their proceedings in Great Britain. This report contains 
 the following recommendation : — 
 
ENGLAND : ANGLO-SAXONS. 
 
 2^2, 
 
 Ut baptismus secundum ca- 
 nonica statuta exerceatur, et non 
 alio tempore, nisi pro magna 
 necessitate : et ut omnes gene- 
 raliter symbolum et orationem 
 Dominicam sciant, et illi qui 
 parvulos de sacro fonte susci- 
 piunt et pro non loquentibus res- 
 pondent, ob renunciationem 
 Satanse, et operum et pomparum 
 ejus, seu fidei credulitatem, 
 sciant se fidejussores ipsorum ad 
 Doroinum pro ipsa sponsione, 
 ut dum ad perfectionem setatis 
 pervenerint doceant eos praedic- 
 tam orationem Dominicam et 
 symbolum ; quia nisi fuerint, dis- 
 trict^ ab eis exigetur, quod pro 
 non loquentibus Deo promittitur. 
 Ideo generaliter omni vulgo 
 prjecipimus, hoc memoriae man- 
 dari. {Proemium ad Adrianum 
 Papam I.) 
 
 " That baptism be practised 
 according to the canonical 
 statutes, and not at any other 
 time, except in great necessity ; 
 and that all in general know the 
 creed and the Lord's Prayer ; 
 and that all who take the chil- 
 dren out of the font and answer 
 for them that cannot speak, know 
 that they are sureties to the 
 Lord, according to their spon- 
 sion, for the renouncing of 
 Satan, his works, and pomps ; 
 and for their believing of the 
 creed ; that they may teach 
 them the Lord's Prayer aforesaid, 
 and the creed, while they are 
 coming to ripeness of age ; for 
 if they do not, what is promised 
 to God in behalf of them that 
 cannot speak, shall be with 
 rigour exacted of them. There- 
 fore we enjoin that this be 
 charged on the memories of all 
 the people in general. 
 
 The tenth Excerption of Eigbright requires, " that the 
 rite and time of baptizing at proper seasons, according to 
 the institutions of canons, be most cautiously observed by- 
 all priests." * 
 
 The Fourth Constitution, adopted at Reading, in a.d. 
 1279, says: — -"We think lit to explain what is provided 
 in this present constitution concerning the reserving of 
 children to be baptized till the general baptizing at 
 Easter and Pentecost, out of our regard to that statute, 
 which seems to have been hitherto neglected, namely, 
 that children born within eight days before Easter, and 
 as many before Pentecost, be reserved to be baptized 
 at those times, if it may be done without danger; so 
 
 * Ut a cunctis sacerdotibus jus et tempus baptismatis tempo- 
 ribus congruis, secundum canonicam institutionem, cautissime 
 observetur. i^Excerp. Eigberti. x, a.d. 740.) 
 
2 34 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 that they receive instruction between the time of their 
 birth and their receiving perfect baptism, so that im- 
 mersion alone remains to be performed on the day of 
 baptism." * 
 
 The regulation designating Easter and Pentecost as the 
 legitimate times for baptizing, and limiting to them the 
 administration of this ordinance, failed of meeting with 
 universal acquiescence in Great Britain ; for the tenth 
 among the laws of the Northumbrian prie.sts, which we 
 have already quoted, enjoins baptism within nine days 
 after birth, and imposes penalties for default. Towards 
 the close of the twelfth century this appropriation of 
 Easter and Whitsuntide fell silently into disuse, 
 neither pope nor council authorizing the change, or 
 seemingly observing it. (Dalleus, De ctdtibus religiosis 
 Latinorum). 
 
 Baptism was administered in England by immersion, 
 and priests were expressly forbidden to pour water upon 
 the head. The sixth Canon of the Council of bishops 
 of the province of Canterbury, held at Celchyth, A.D. 8i6, 
 under Wulfred, archbishop of Canterbury, and Kenulf, 
 king of Mercia, says — " Let ministers take notice that 
 when they administer the holy baptism, that they do 
 not pour the holy water upon the heads of the infants, 
 but that they be always immersed in the font; as the 
 Son of God has in His own person given an example 
 to every believer, when He was thrice immersed into 
 
 * Quod in constitutione cavetur de pueris baptizandis, usque ad 
 generale baptismo Paschae at Pentecostes videlicet reservandis, 
 pro ipsius statuti reverentia quod hactenus videtur esse neglectum, 
 sic duximus declarandum : ut pueri per octo dies ante Pascha, et 
 dies totidem ante Pentecostes ilati, si absque periculo servari 
 valeant, usque ad tempora ilia reserventur baptizandi ; ita tamen 
 quod medio tempore inter nativitatem puerorum hujusmodi et per- 
 fectum baptismum recipiant catechismum, solaque diebus baptismi 
 supersit immersio facienda. {Constiluliones Peccham, iv.) 
 
ENGLAND : WESTMINSTER COUNCIL. 235 
 
 the waters of the Jordan. In this manner it ought to be 
 observed." * 
 
 That this canon prevailed afterwards, is evident from 
 the following resolution adopted by a Council held in 
 Ireland in A.D. 1172 : "Ut pueri deferrentur ad ecclesiam, 
 et ibi baptizentur in aqua mundi trina mersione." (That 
 the boys be brought to church, there to be baptized in 
 pure water with trine immersion.) 
 
 The Third Canon of the Westminster General Council, 
 held in A.B. 1200, says : — " If a layman baptize a child in 
 case of necessity, let all that follows after immersion 
 (the chrism, the putting on the white garment, and the 
 delivering of the lighted taper) be performed by the 
 priest." (Si vero in necessitate puer baptizetur k laico, 
 sequentia immersionem non praecedentia per sacerdotem 
 expleantur. Concilium Londinese, can. iii. A.D. 1200). 
 
 The Twelfth among the Constitutions of Edmund 
 (A.D. 1236) recommends that, " If a child be baptized by a 
 layman, let what goes before (the exorcisms and catechism) 
 the immersion, and what follows after, be fully supplied 
 by the priest." (Si vero baptizatus fuerit puer k laico, 
 praecedentia et subsequentia mersionem expleantur vel 
 suppleantur k sacerdote. Constit. Edmundi, can. 12.) 
 
 In the old cathedral at Carlisle there is a fresco which 
 represents St. Austin in a font up to his waist, and the 
 minister ready to immerse him. This painting was made 
 in the eleventh century. 
 
 * Sciant etiam presbyteri, quando sacram baptismum ministrant, 
 ut non efifundant aquam sanctam super capita infantium, sed 
 semper mergeantur in acria ;* sicut exemplum praebuit per semet- 
 ipsum Dei Filius omni credenti, quando asset ter mergatus in 
 undis Jordanis. Ita necesse est secundum ordinem servari et 
 haberi. (From a manuscript in the British Museum, Cotton, 
 Vespasian, a. xiv. fo. 147-151- It is the only known ancient copy, 
 and contains many corruptions in spelling and grammar.) 
 
 * This word stands for aqua^ water. 
 
236 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 " Among the plates published by Mr. Strutt ( View of 
 Manners, Qfc, vol. II. plate viii. p. 121), there is one from 
 a manuscript life of Richard, Earl of Warwick, which 
 represents 'how he was baptized, havyng to his godfathers 
 King Richard and Seynt Richard Scrope, then (1381) 
 Bishop of Lichefield, and after, in processe of tyme, he was 
 Archebishop of Yorke.' This plate (see Fig. 48) Mr. Strutt 
 took from ' a very curious and valuable manuscript in the 
 Cotton Library, marked Julius E. IV. The original 
 delineations, together with the writing, are all done by 
 the hand of John Rouse, the Warwickshire antiquary and 
 historian, who died the 14th of January, 1491, the seventh 
 year of Henry the Seventh. It is illustrated with fifty- 
 three excellent delineations, which fully explain the 
 manners and customs of the times in which they were 
 done.' Round a neat Saxon font the company stand. A 
 bishop is holding the child, stark naked, and just going to 
 be dipped, over the font. The hand of the royal godfather 
 is on his head. The archdeacon, according to custom, 
 stands by the bishop, holding up the service book open, 
 which implies that the baptism is being performed 
 according to the ritual. As the child's face is toward the 
 water, this is the last of the three immersions, and the 
 bishop may be supposed now uttering the last clause 
 of the baptismal words, — and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. 
 The priest on the other side of the officiating bishop is 
 holding the chrism. Fonts, like medals, form a history, 
 and from a history of fonts incontestible evidence rises to 
 prove that, during the whole reign of Popery (in England), 
 public ordinary baptism was administered by immersion ; 
 that the mode was not changed to sprinkling here, any 
 more than on the Continent, for such considerations as 
 climate or timidity, rank or caprice ; and that, in the 
 public opinion, there was no hazard to health in dipping 
 infants. The noble babe, whose baptism is here rep re- 
 
BAPTISM OF THE EARL OF WARWICK. 
 
 237 
 
 sented, was born on the twenty-eighth of January, at 
 Salwarp, in the county of Worcester." (Robinson's 
 History of Baptis^n. A very valuable work, full of inter- 
 esting researches.) 
 
 Fiff. 48. Baptism of Richard, Earl of Warwick. 
 
 A Catechism published in 1548 alludes to baptism as 
 follows : — " What greater shame can there be, than a man 
 to professe himself to be a Christen man because he is 
 baptized, and yet he knoweth not what baptisme is, nor 
 what strength the same hath, nor what the dyppyng in the 
 water doth betoken .... when God is added 
 and joyned to the water, then it is the lathe of regene- 
 
238 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 racion .... a bathe that washeth our soules by the 
 Holy Ghoste, as Saynct Paule calleth it, saying, God hath 
 saved us thorowe hys mercye by the bathe of regeneracion 
 . . . . for baptisms and the dyppynge into the water 
 doth betoken that the olde Adam, with all his sinne and 
 evel lustes, ought to be drowned and kylled by daily 
 contrition and repentance." * 
 
 William Tyndal, otherwise called, Hychins, thus speaks 
 of baptism: — " The plungynge into the water sygnyfyeth 
 that we dye and are buryed with Chryst, as concernynge 
 the old lyfe of Synne which is Adam. And the pullynge 
 out agayn sygnyfyeth that we ryse agayn with Chryst in 
 a newe lyfe." {The Obedyence of a Chrysten Man.) 
 
 The first Prayer-Book of Edward VI., following the 
 Manual of Sarum,t directed the priest to dip the child in 
 the water three times ; " first, dypping the right side ; 
 secondly, the left side ; the third time dypping the face 
 towards the fonte." J (2, Edw. VI. A.D. 1548.) But in the 
 second Prayer-Book the direction for trine immersion was 
 
 * Catechismus, that is to say, a short instruction into Christian 
 religion for the syngular commodite and profyte of childre and 
 yong people. Set forth by the mooste reverende father in God, 
 Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of all England, and 
 Metropolitane. {Gualierus Lynne, excudebat. 1548.) 
 
 ■j- Manual of SaxnTa :^" Deinde accipiat Sacerdos infantem per 
 latera in manibus suis, et interrogato nomine ejus, baptizet eum sub trina 
 tmmersione, tantum sanctum Trinitatem invocando, ita dicens : N. Et 
 ego baptizo te in nomine Patris : e/ mergat eum semel versa facie ad 
 aquilonem, et capite versus orientem : et Fili : et iterum mergat semel versa 
 facie ad meridiem : et Spiritus Sancti. Amen: et mergat tertio recta 
 facie versus aquam. {Ritus Baptizandi.) The Sarum Ritual was 
 drawn up about a.d. 1085, by Osmund, bishop of Salisbury, and 
 chancellor of England. It was adopted by almost the whole of 
 England, Wales, and Ireland, and continued in use until the reign 
 of Edward VI. 
 
 X Then the Prieste shall take the childe in his hands, and ask 
 the name : and naming the child, shall dyppe it in the water 
 thryse : First, dypping the right side ; Secondly, the left side ; the 
 third time dypping the face toward the fonte. 
 
ENGLANB : RUBRIC. 239 
 
 omitted, and the priest was simply directed to dip the 
 child discreetly and warily. " But if they (the godfathers 
 and godmothers) certify that the child is weak, it shall 
 suffice to pour water upon it." This is the first authentic 
 permission for altering the mode of baptism we find in the 
 ecclesiastical annals of Great Britain.* 
 
 Dr. Wall, in his History of Infant Baptism, says : — 
 " In the Church of England, it being allowed to weak 
 children (in the reign of Queen Elizabeth) to be baptized 
 by affusion, many fond ladies and gentlewomen first, and 
 afterwards, by degrees, the common people, would obtain 
 the favour of the priest to have their children pass for 
 weak children, too tender to endure dipping in the water. 
 As for sprinkling, properly called, it seems it was, at 1645, 
 just then beginning, and used by very few." 
 
 The alteration of the rubric in 1661 shows that immer- 
 sion was no longer the rule : " If they shall certify him 
 that the child may well endure it, he shall dip it in the water 
 discreetly, &c. The custom of sprinkling in England has, 
 in a great measure, arisen from the principles laid down 
 in the Directory of 1644, when the Presbyterian power 
 had, during the Protectorate of Cromwell, gained the 
 ascendency over the Anglican Church. The Assembly 
 of Divines then debated the manner in which baptism 
 should be directed in their formula, and decided by a vote 
 of twenty-five to twenty -four, that sprinkling alone should 
 be mentioned without reference to immersion ; but, as we 
 have already seen, the episcopal ritual still retains the 
 
 * S, 6, Edward VI. . . . (a.d. 1551.) 
 
 Then the Priest shall take the child into his hands, and shall 
 say to the godfathers and godmothers, Name this child ; and 
 then naming it after them (if they shall certifie him that the child 
 may well endure it), he shall dip it in the water, discreetly and 
 warily ; But if they certifie that the child is weak, it shall suffice to 
 pour water upon it. 
 
240 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 direction for immersion, although it admits sprinkling or 
 pouring as equally valid. 
 
 In the Prayer-Book of 1549, the administration of 
 baptism was followed immediately by two ancient 
 customs, which were omitted in 1552 — the putting on 
 the chrism, or white vesture, and the anointing. The 
 signing of the cross upon the child was retained. The 
 address to the congregation, with the Lord's Prayer, and 
 the thanksgiving that follows, were placed in the Prayer- 
 Book in 1352. It is an addition which unequivocally 
 expresses the regeneration of each baptized infant. It is 
 as follows : — 
 
 " Then the Minister shall say, 
 
 "We receive this child into the congregation of Christ's 
 flock, and do sign him with the sign of the Cross, in 
 token that hereafter he shall not be ashamed to confess 
 the faith of Christ crucified, and manfully to fight under 
 his banner, against sin, the world, and the devil ; and to 
 continue Christ's faithful soldier and servant unto his life's 
 end. Amen. 
 
 " Seeing now, dearly beloved brethren, that this child 
 is regenerate, and grafted into the body of Christ's 
 church ; let us give thanks unto Almighty God for these 
 benefits ; and with one accord make our prayers unto 
 Him, that this child may lead the rest of his life according 
 to this beginning. 
 
 " We yield Thee hearty thanks, most merciful Father, 
 that it hath pleased Thee to regenerate this infant with 
 Thy Holy Spirit, to receive him for Thine own child by 
 adoption, and to incorporate him into Thy holy church." 
 
 Robinson, in his History of Baptism, acknowledges 
 that baptisteries, which imply an intermediate state of 
 the ordinance between that in rivers and that in fonts, 
 were but few in Britain. Yet he adds, "there were, 
 
ENGLAND : CANTERBURY. 
 
 241 
 
 however, as Bede observes, some of these oratories or 
 baptismal chapels erected here at first." The period of 
 these is between the coming of Austin and the conquest 
 by the Normans. 
 
 In his account of Edwin's conversion to the Christian 
 faith, Bede informs us that a wooden booth was hastily 
 erected at York, which was called St. Peter's Church, 
 and in which the king and many of the nobility were 
 catechised and baptized. On this very spot, Edwin after- 
 wards built a stately and magnificent church of stone. 
 Robinson refers a chapel of the Abbey of Braintree in 
 Essex to that period ; he notices also a Roman bath, at 
 the west end of the parish church of St. Mary at Dover, 
 which he thinks had been used at first for the church 
 baptistery. 
 
 The accompanying plan of the old cathedral and 
 baptistery of Canterbury (Fig. 49), is taken from a paper 
 
 Fiff. 49. Plan op Saxon Cathedral, Cantekbury, a.d. 950. 
 A. Nave. BB. Towers. C. Chapter. D. Choir. E. Baptiatery. 
 
 on Choirs and Chancels, read by Arthur Ashpitel, Esq., 
 F.S.A., before the Society of Antiquaries in London, on 
 January 15th, 1857. 
 
 The church of the Holy Sepulchre, at Cambridge, is 
 remarkable for the antiquity and peculiarity of construc- 
 
 R 
 
242 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 tion of the older part, which is believed to be the oldest 
 remaining specimen of the circular churches in England — 
 the others being those of Northampton, Little Maplestead 
 in Essex, and the Temple Church in London. It is probable 
 that round churches, wherever they occur, were originally 
 baptismal oratories. The round church at Cambridge, de- 
 dicated under the title of the Holy Sepulchre, is supposed 
 to have derived its circular shape from the church in 
 which the small chapel of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem 
 is contained. It is forty-one feet in diameter, and has a 
 peristyle of eight (the mystic number, according to 
 Ambrosius in his notice of the baptisteries of Milan) rude 
 massive pillars, supporting circular arches with chevron 
 mouldings. Of the origin of this church no record exists. 
 Report has ascribed its foundation to the Templars, and 
 as bathing for chivalrous* purposes was occasionally 
 performed on the Continent in the baptismal churches of 
 St. John,t the erection of baptisteries by the Knights 
 Templars, both for parochial and chivalrous uses, would 
 appear to be neither inconsistent nor improbable. 
 
 " Most of the fonts in the mediaeval Gothic churches of 
 England either belonged to the original Saxon wooden 
 churches or to the succeeding Norman ones. When these 
 churches, in their turn, became much dilapidated, the 
 Gothic church was either grafted on the Norman or 
 erected on the same foundation as the original site, which 
 was still observed. The Christianised pagans, under the 
 Roman dominion in England, generally selected the sites 
 of the demolished heathen temples for their new places of 
 worship, at first setting up a mere wooden shed for 
 
 * The bath and white garment of the novice, says Gibbon 
 (vol. xi. p. 38), were an indecent copy of the regeneration of 
 baptism. 
 
 f Robinson's History of Baptism. 
 
ENGLAND : CONSTITUTION OF EDMUND. 243 
 
 temporary baptismal purposes, but a permanent church 
 was afterwards generally erected over the font. In Ifley 
 church, Oxfordshire, which is supposed to have been 
 originally built by the Anglo-Normans, there is an Anglo- 
 Saxon font, for total immersion, which was the practice 
 adopted in the first ages of Christianity." {Sacred Archi- 
 tecture, by R. Brown.) 
 
 By an ancient Ecclesiastical Constitution* (a.d. 1236) a 
 font of stone was required to be placed in every church, 
 and it was to be capacious enough for total immersion. 
 
 At this early period fonts appear to have been regarded 
 with peculiar reverence, and are frequently preserved, 
 whatever changes the church may have undergone ; for 
 this reason Norman fonts are very numerous ; they are 
 frequently richly ornamented and well worthy of preserva- 
 tion ; their form is usually square, supported on five legs, 
 or small pillars ; or circular, at first supported also upon 
 legs, but at a subsequent period assuming the form of a 
 cup, supported on a single pillar or pedestal, and richly 
 ornamented, many examples of which occur during the 
 later Norman period ; sometimes they are in the form 
 of a tub, richly decorated, or with four small pillars 
 placed against it, giving it the appearance at first sight of 
 being square ; they are sometimes octagonal. The fonts 
 are usually placed at the west end, near the south 
 entrance of the church. 
 
 * " In every baptismal church let there be a baptistery of stone, 
 or, however, one that is sufficient (large enough for dipping such 
 as are baptized in it, says Lynwood in his Constitutiones AnglicB), 
 handsomely covered and reverently kept, and not used for any 
 other purposes. Let not the water in which a child has been 
 baptized be kept in the baptistery above seven days." Baptisterium 
 habeatur in qualibet Ecclesia Baptismala lapideum, vel ahud com- 
 petens (sub quod baptizandus possit in eo mergi) (vas) quod 
 decenter cooperiatur, et reverenter observetur. Aqua ver6, in qua 
 baptizatus fuerit puer, uhra septem dies in baptisterio non servetur. 
 (Constitutiones Edmundi, can. 10, a.d. 1236.) 
 
 R 2 
 
244 
 
 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 A font of great antiquity is to be found in the noble 
 church of Malvern. This font, like all those which were 
 in use amongst our ancestors, having been adapted for 
 
 Fig. 50. Font at Bridbkibk. 
 
 immersion, is of large dimensions, being nine feet two 
 inches in circumference, and thirteen inches in depth ; the 
 form is circular, without ornament of any kind, and an 
 orifice remains in the centre for carrying off the water. If 
 
ENGLAND : CUMBERLAND. 245 
 
 not of Saxon workmanship, it is doubtless of a period not 
 later than the twelfth century. 
 
 In the ancient church of St. INIartin's, near Canterbury, 
 is a most curious font, of great antiquity, ornamented with 
 rude carved work, in which are no legendary images, or 
 any superstitious figures whatever. It more resembles a 
 great tub than a basin, and stands low on the floor, 
 so that a person might much more easily step into it, 
 according to the ancient mode of baptizing, than stoop 
 down to it, in order to receive the sprinkling of water. 
 (King's Monumenta Aniiqua.) The form as well as the 
 ornaments of this font pleads strongly in favour of its 
 antiquity. 
 
 At Bridekirk, a parish in thd" county of Cumberland, 
 there is a church dedicated to St. Bridget ; a very ancient 
 edifice which contains a singular font, a large open vessel 
 of greenish stone. (See Fig. 50.) It exhibits in rude 
 relief various designs symbolical of the serpent and the 
 forbidden fruit, the expulsion of Adam and Eve from 
 Paradise, the baptism of Christ, &c,, likewise a Runic 
 inscription which has been variously interpreted by 
 different antiquarians. In the baptism of Christ, He is 
 represented standing naked " in a kind of font or vase, 
 with a nimbus, almost defaced, round His head, and over 
 Him is a dove." By the side of the font stands John 
 the Baptist, with his left hand behind the shoulders of the 
 Saviour, and his right on His side. 
 
 Referring to this font and the representation of baptism 
 upon its eastern side, Bishop Nicholson wrote to the 
 famous antiquarian. Sir William Dugdale, "Now, Sir, I 
 need not acquaint you that the sacrament of baptism was 
 anciently administered by plunging into the water in the 
 western as well as the eastern parts of the Church, and 
 that the Gothic word ^^[1^71 ^JL N (Mark i. 8, and Luke iii. 
 7 and 12), the German word Tai^ffe^i, the Danish Dobe, and 
 
246 
 
 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 and the Belgic Doopen, as clearly make out that practice as 
 the Greek word Bairriafxa!' (See Gibson's Camdeii. p. 841.) 
 There is a font of considerable interest in the abbey 
 church of Romsey. It is constructed upon an elevated 
 platform of stone, paved with tiles, of the height of above 
 fifteen inches. The depth of this font is three feet six 
 inches, the width two feet ten inches, and consequently is 
 large enough for the total immersion of an infant. There 
 is at the bottom a perforation for drawing off the water. 
 
 ^■H^ 
 
 Fig. 51. Font at Linlet. 
 
 The font in the upper church at Lewes is shaped like a 
 barrel ; the body adorned with fretwork, and an upper 
 and lower band or fascia of rounds and quatrefoils. This 
 font is set against a pillar. 
 
 The font in Hendon church stands on the left hand of 
 
ENGLAND : DARENTH. 247 
 
 the principal entrance, and is very remarkable for the 
 antiquity of its appearance. It is made of stone, lined with 
 lead, and has a brass plug at the bottom (almost decayed 
 by time) to let the water out. This font is of a square 
 form, and very large, having its sides ornamented with 
 columns supporting circular arches, which are of Saxon 
 workmanship and rudely executed. 
 
 The old font at Barnswood, in Gloucestershire, which is 
 still preserved, was lined with lead, and is of considerable 
 dimensions. It was evidently intended for immersion, 
 for which Bishop Lyndwood says a font is required. 
 (Quod baptizandus possit in eo mergi.) Some escutcheons 
 and rude sculpture remain ; but the arms are destroyed. 
 
 At the west end of the nave of the church at Fincham, 
 in Norfolk, stands a large stone font, with a basin about a 
 yard square. On the south side or square are the figures 
 of three men under three arches of stone, in a very rude 
 and antique dress. They represent Christ rising from the 
 tomb, and the soldiers guarding the sepulchre. The north 
 side clearly exhibits the baptism of Christ, and the descent 
 of the dove over Him. 
 
 We are indebted to William Newman, Esq., of South- 
 ampton, for the annexed engravings, which represent the 
 celebrated font at Darenth church, in the county of Kent 
 (Figs. 52 and 53). In his History of Kent, Mr. Samuel 
 Bagshaw informs us that " this font was removed from an 
 old chapel dedicated to Hilles St. Margaret, about a mile 
 south-east from Darenth church, the chapel having fallen 
 to decay. The ruins of the chapel are still seen in a field 
 a little south-west of the manor house." Mr. Newman 
 writes : — " When I was last at the church, about twenty- 
 six years ago, the font was closed inside with wood, which 
 came within a few inches of the top, and formed a cover 
 on which was placed a small modern font with cover, 
 quite large enough to sprinkle the whole congregation ; 
 
248 
 
 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 but finding a small hole in the centre, I, with a piece of 
 wire, found the depth from the top to be nineteen inches 
 
 Fig. 62. Font at Dabenth Church. 
 
 and a half inside, the diameter at the top thirty-five inches, 
 and the height from the floor forty-eight inches." 
 
 Fig. 53. ScuLPTUBES on the Font at Daeenth. 
 
 The curious sculptures on the Darenth font have claimed 
 the attention of several antiquarian writers. The subjects 
 present a singular mixture : they comprise David playing 
 
ENGLAND : BRIGHTON. 249 
 
 the harp ; the baptism of an infant by immersion ; a Sagit- 
 tarius ; a crowned king holding a short staff, surmounted 
 by a disc ; three strange monsters, and another beaten by 
 a man. Some antiquarians have regarded these curious 
 representations as partly sacred and partly cabalistic, 
 whilst others would trace a symbolical import. Mr. 
 Bagshaw says : — "Some of the figures on the font appear 
 to be chimerical, and others symbols of the sacraments. 
 One represents King Edgar, who raised Dunstan to the 
 See of Canterbury ; another illustrates his conflicts ; one, 
 Dunstan playing on the harp ; another shows the sharp 
 encounter he had with the devil, in beating whom he 
 broke his pastoral staff." {History of Kent ^ 
 
 The date of the costume is considered to be of the 
 twelfth century. Each of the eight compartments is 
 enclosed by plain columns, bearing round arches, which 
 spring from regular Norman capitals, and with raised 
 ornamental bosses. The decorative details are apparently 
 of the Norman period. 
 
 The font in Brighthelmstone church, Sussex (See 
 design in Antiquarian Reporter, iii. 185), is undoubtedly of 
 great antiquity. It is circular, surrounded by bas-reliefs, 
 divided into several compartments, each representing a 
 Scriptural or legendary subject. The largest represents 
 the Lord's Supper. The figure of Christ, distinguished by 
 a nimbus emanating from His head, seems as in the act 
 of blessing the elements. Only six of the Apostles are 
 here introduced. The compartment to the left contains 
 the figure of a man standing in the water up to his waist. 
 One on the right holding his clothes, and another on the 
 left dressed in a ceremonial habit, like that of a priest, is 
 presenting two rolls of linen. This sculpture represents 
 the baptism of some great man converted to Christianity. 
 These figures are shown as if standing under arches, 
 probably meant for those of a baptistery. 
 
250 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 The font at Walsingham is decorated with all the 
 charms of art; with all the blandishments of sculpture, 
 architecture, and Romish superstition. When first raised 
 it must have excited admiration, bordering on enthusiastic 
 devotion. The whole consists of three portions, or 
 divisions, in height, a base, or steps; a shaft; and a capital, 
 or basin. In the first are two tiers, or series of steps, 
 raised above the pavement, each of which is ornamented 
 on the exterior face with various panels and tracery. 
 Each is also subdivided into two steps ; the upper step, or 
 surface, is formed of two divisions in its elevation, and 
 eight in its horizontal plan. From the centre of this 
 rises the shaft, which is surrounded by canopied niches, 
 pinnacles, buttresses, pediments, and statues. At the 
 angles are eight smaller statues, standing on pedestals, 
 and a series of trefoil leaves extends round the upper 
 member of this shaft, which is surmounted by the basin 
 or font. This consists, like all the other parts, of eight 
 faces, each of which displays a canopied recess, filled with 
 a group of figures in baso-relievo, representing the seven 
 sacraments of the Romish Church, with the Crucifixion : — 
 I. Baptism. 2. Confirmation. 3. Penance. 4. The Eucha- 
 rist. 5. Ordination. 6. Marriage. 7. Extreme Unction. 
 (Britton's Architectural Antiquities of Great Britain}) 
 
 In a letter to the Duke of Leeds, Mr. Holden gives a 
 description of the reliefs on the font at Thorpe Savin, in 
 Yorkshirfe. He says : — 
 
 " This font has attracted the notice of several anti- 
 quaries, who have spoken of it as a very extraordinary 
 thing of the kind, though I have not heard that any one 
 has ventured to give an explanation of it ; and, indeed, 
 the sculptor himself had no other idea than a few devices 
 purely symbolical. Many of these ancient fonts have 
 been charged with representations of some marvellous 
 actions of legendary saints or bishops, and others seem 
 
ENGLAND: THORPE SAVIN. 25 1 
 
 to have had nothing in view but to remind the spectators 
 of some circumstance in the life of our blessed Saviour, 
 or some ceremony in the Christian Church. Of the latter 
 sort I take this font to be ; the two first compartments 
 being evidently a representation of the baptism of a child, 
 in which a monk is preparing to immerse it in a font, 
 whilst four sponsors are stretching out their hands in 
 token of their vow. In the next is a man tying up sheaves 
 of corn with a sickle under his girdle. The fourth com- 
 partment presents a person on horseback, riding over a 
 bridge, and holding in his hands a censer, out of which 
 seems to issue something like flames. Next is a man 
 with a helmet on his head, and a basket hung by a belt 
 across his shoulder, out of which he appears to be sowing 
 seed ; and next to him is a person who is about to seat 
 himself in a chair, or rather a tub, which, from the 
 appearance of the top, seems to have some allusion to the 
 Papal dignity. . . . All these figures are 'cut in stone in 
 alto-relievo, and, as far as one may judge from the circular 
 arches and mouldings, which are beautifully cut, are of 
 Saxon origin, and probably contemporary with the church 
 itself." {Archaologta, vol. xii.) 
 
 Mr. Francis Douce thinks that four of the compartments 
 represent the seasons of the year. " Winter is figured by 
 an old man warming himself before a fire in the chimney ; 
 Spring, by ope riding out a-hawking, as would probably 
 appear from an attentive inspection of the original ; 
 Summer, by a man reaping corn and. bundling it up into 
 sheaves ; and Autumn, by a husbandman sowing seed. 
 The other compartments exhibit the ceremony of baptism 
 with the parents and sponsors." 
 
 " I think the sculptor's design was to intimate that the 
 baptismal rite might be performed at all times of the 
 year ; in contradistinction to that of marriage, which was 
 not allowed but at particular seasons. Among our Saxon 
 
252 THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 ancestors, baptism was required to be administered within 
 nine, or sometimes within thirty days, under a certain 
 penalty. Among other nations, during the earl}' periods 
 of Christianity, baptism was not permitted but at Easter 
 and Whitsuntide, a practice that continued in France 
 until after the year 1200, as appears from several councils. 
 I think this is a presumption in favour of the antiquity 
 of the font in question, which. is probably Saxon. The 
 figures of the seasons are borrowed from the representa- 
 tions of particular months, as we find them in very ancient 
 calendars." (See Archceologia, vol. xii., which contains a 
 representation of these bas-reliefs.) 
 
 Most of the ancient fonts in Scotland were destroyed at 
 the time of the Reformation, by the people inflamed by 
 anti-Popish zeal. There is one at Morton, which was 
 found buried in a heap of rubbish in a neglected corner of 
 the churchyard. It is an octagon of red freestone, with 
 different crosses neatly carved upon each side, and has 
 a hole at the bottom, of an inch in diameter. Another 
 font has been found in the churchyard of Dalgaron ; it is 
 an octagon of white freestone, with a hole in the bottom, 
 but no carving upon it. The third was at the old church 
 of Dunscore ; it is of red freestone, much broken, and 
 has no hole for the letting out of the water. On it are the 
 arms of Kirkpatrick, of Closeburn. All these fonts were 
 large enough for the immersion of infants. 
 
 The Edinburgh Encyclopcedia thus describes, in its 
 article on Baptism, the introduction of sprinkling into 
 Scotland: — "In this country, however, sprinkling was 
 never used in ordinary cases till after the Reformation. 
 During the persecution of Mary, many persons, most of 
 whom were Scotch, fled from England to Geneva, and 
 there greedily imbibed the opinions of that church. In 
 1556, a book was published at that place, containing 
 'the forms of nravpr and ministration of thp sarramprifc 
 
SCOTLAND : IRELAND. 
 
 253 
 
 approved by the famous and godly learned man, John 
 Calvin,' in which the administrator is enjoined to 'take 
 water in his hand, and lay it upon the child's forehead.' 
 These Scottish exiles, who had renounced the authority of 
 the pope, implicitly acknowledged the authority of Calvin ; 
 and returning to their own country, with Knox at their 
 head, established sprinkling in Scotland." 
 
 At St. Doulough's, a parish in the county of Dublin, 
 Ireland, there is an ancient church, which is still tolerably 
 entire, and is one of the oldest and most singular religious 
 edifices in the country. It is situated on an eminence at 
 the extremity of an avenue about fifty yards in length, at 
 the entrance of which is a low granite cross, supposed to 
 
 Fig. 54. St. Doulough's Well. 
 have been originally placed over the south porch. The 
 church is about forty-eight feet long, and eighteen feet 
 wide, with a massive square embattled tower, and is built of 
 the limestone found in the neighbourhood. This building 
 is supposed to have been erected in the tenth century. 
 Near the church is a well dedicated to St. Catherine, 
 enclosed within an octagonal building, represented 
 in the above engraving (Fig. 54) ; the interior is circular, 
 and has three deep recesses in the walls, in which 
 are stone seats. In the centre of the area is the well, 
 encircled by a ring of stone, two feet in depth and five 
 inches thick on the edge. In each spandril of the arched 
 
2 54 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 ceiling, and over each recess in the walls, is a sunken 
 panel, and the interior was formerly decorated with 
 paintings of Scriptural subjects. {Topographical Dictionary 
 of Ireland^ 
 
 Mr. W. F. Wakeman, in his Archaologia Hibernica, thus 
 describes this interesting edifice :— " The well of St. 
 Doulough, which was probably also used as a baptistery, 
 is quite in keeping with the singular character of his 
 church. The spring, which is covered by a stone-roofed, 
 octagonal building, rises through a circular basin, cut out 
 of a single stone, and was, not many years ago, thought 
 to possess miraculous powers. According to tradition, 
 the interior of the octagon building was anciently 
 decorated with pictures, and holes are pointed out as 
 having been made by the iron pins by which they were 
 fastened to the wall. Adjoining is a most curious sub- 
 terranean bath. It is supplied by the well, and even 
 yet the water rises to a considerable height within it. 
 According to Mr. D' Alton, the well was dedicated to the 
 Blessed Virgin, and the bath was called St. Catherine's 
 Pond." 
 
 Immersion was still practised in Ireland during the 
 sixteenth century. In an account of a voyage, written 
 by Mr. Edward Waight, in 1589, he says: — "Their manner 
 of baptizing differeth something from ours ; part of the 
 service belonging thereto is repeated in Latin, and part in 
 Irish. The minister taketh the child in his hands, and 
 first dippeth it backwards, and then forwards, over head 
 and ears into the cold water, in the midst of winter, 
 whereby also may appear their natural hardiness." 
 
255 
 
 BELGIQM. 
 
 The Archaeological Museum in Brussels contains a 
 brass font from Tirlemont, of the middle of the twelfth 
 century, with a representation of the baptism of Christ, 
 who appears as a child half immersed in the water ; the 
 Baptist standing at the right side, and the Holy Ghost 
 as a dove occupying the upper part of the figure. This 
 font is figured in Stahnepken's Tresor de I'art ancien 
 en Belgique, pi. 23, pp. 19, 20, and is fully described in 
 Didron's Annales, torn. xix. p. 188. 
 
 At Li^ge, in the Romanesque church of St. Bartho- 
 lomew, is a bronze font of great interest, and of far higher 
 artistic merit than that in the Brussels Museum. It is 
 cylindrical, resting on a base surrounded by twelve bulls, 
 symbolising, as appears by the inscription accompanying 
 them, the twelve apostles. (Fig. 55.) There is, doubtless, 
 an allusion to the brazen sea in the court of Solomon's 
 Temple. On the outside are sculptured, in very high 
 relief, and in a very masterly style, the five following 
 scenes: — i. John the Baptist preaching to the publicans 
 and the soldiers, with the following inscription : — Facite 
 ergo fructus dignos poenitentiae. 2. John baptizing two 
 Jews in the river Jordan — Ego vos baptize in aqua, venit 
 autem fortior me post me. 3. The baptism of Christ 
 The Saviour is represented of small size, half immersed 
 in the Jordan, which rises in the centre of the composition 
 like a small mountain ; the Baptist stands on the left side, 
 and the " angeli ministrantes " (ministering angels) as 
 designated by the inscription, on the right. The Eternal 
 Father is represented above looking down, as if from a 
 rainbow, and the Holy Ghost descends as a dove on the 
 head of the Saviour. — Ego a te debeo baptizari et tu venis 
 ad me. 4. The baptism of Cornelius, the centurion, by 
 Peter. — Cecidit Spiritus Sanctus super omnes qui audie- 
 
25b THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 bant verbum. 5. The baptism of the philosopher Craton 
 at Ephesus, by John. On an open book in the hand of 
 the Evangelist, is inscribed — Ego te baptizo in nomine 
 Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen. 
 
 In the last two groups each of the figures is immersed 
 to the breast in the circular font, and the blessing of God 
 is represented by a hand issuing from a rainbow above, 
 
 Fig. 65. Font at Liege in Belgium. 
 
 with the fingers extended, according to the Roman mode 
 of benediction, and with a triple ray of light emanating 
 from the out-stretched hand. This font was wrought at 
 Dinant, by Lambert Patras, in the year 11 12. A detailed 
 account, with engravings of some of the groups, is given 
 by Didron in his Annates Archeologiques, tom. v. p. 21, 
 as well as by Cahier and Martin, in the Melanges Archeo- 
 logiques, vol. iv. 
 
257 
 
 GERMANY. 
 
 The circular churches in Germany ceased to be used 
 after the beginning of the eleventh century, except in rare 
 and isolated instances. At that date all the barbarian 
 tribes had been converted, and the baptism of infants 
 was a far less important ceremony than the admission 
 of adults into the bosom of the church, and one not 
 requiring a separate edifice for its celebration. 
 
 The circular church called the Baptistery at Bonn 
 (Fig. 56), which was removed only a few years ago, was 
 one of the most interesting specimens of this class of 
 monuments. No record of its erection has been pre- 
 served, but its style is evidently of the eleventh century. 
 
 There is another small edifice called a baptistery at 
 Ratisbon, built in the latter part of the twelfth century. 
 It is a square surrounded by three apses, and surmounted 
 by an octagonal dome. 
 
 At Cobern, on the Moselle, is a little chapel, hexagonal 
 in plan, with an apse. The details of this building are 
 remarkably elegant. (Ferguson's Architecture.) Dr. 
 G. W. Anderson says, that there is a font at Magdeburg, 
 in the cathedral, which probably dates from the fourteenth 
 century. " It is about three feet in diameter, and a foot 
 and a half in depth. In the church of St. Sebaldus, at 
 Nuremberg, is a very remarkable baptistery. It is made 
 of copper, and is one of the earliest specimens of metal 
 work of that old mediaeval city. Two things make it 
 specially worthy of note ; in it the Emperor Wenzel was 
 baptized in 1361, and it is furnished with a grate beneath 
 for the purpose of warming the water, a thing doubtless 
 much needed in a country where, even at the present day, 
 there is a great deficiency in the means of warming some 
 of the churches. This font is three feet in diameter, and 
 eighteen or twenty inches deep." 
 
 s 
 
258 
 
 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 The size of these fonts testifies to immersion as being 
 formerly the common mode of baptism in Germany. 
 Mandus, Archbishop of Mentz in 847, says : — " After the 
 baptized come up out of the font, the presbyter," &c. In 
 his De Institutione Clericorum, lib. i. cap. 28, he refers to 
 trine immersion as representing the three days' burial of 
 our Saviour, in accordance with the words of the Apostle : 
 
 Fig. bd. Baptistery at Bonn. From Boisseree's " Nieder Rhein." 
 
 " So many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ, were 
 baptized into his death." (Potest et haec trina mersio 
 triduanam Domini sepulturam significare, maxime cum 
 dicat apostolus ; Quicumque baptizati sumus in Christo 
 Jesu, in morte ipsius," etc.) 
 
 Referring to the ancient baptistery of Mentz, Venantius 
 Fortunatus says : — 
 
 ARDUA SACRATI BAPTISMATIS AULA CORUSCAT, 
 QUO DELICTA AD^ CHRISTUS IN AMNE LAVAT. 
 HIC PASTORE DEO PURIS GREX MERGITUR UNDIS, ETC.* 
 
 (The lofty hall of sacred baptism shines ; in which Christ washes 
 the sins of Adam in a flood. Here by the Shepherd the flock is 
 immersed unto God in pure water.) 
 
 Carminum, Lib. JL De BapUsteno Maguntia. 
 
THE POMERANIANS. 259 
 
 In the year 1125, Otho, with his assistants, apostles to 
 the Pomeranians, baptized at Julin and Strettin, within 
 two months, twenty-two thousand. The Abb6 Fleury, in 
 his Histoire EccUsiastique, gives the following account of 
 this mission : " The bishop," says he, " clothed in his 
 pontifical robes, ascended an elevated place, and, through 
 an interpreter, addressed the people, who were anxious 
 to hear him. ' May you be blessed of the Lord,' said he, 
 ' for the kind reception you have extended to us. Already 
 you know the cause of our coming from so far. We seek 
 your salvation and happiness, for you will be eternally 
 happy if you acknowledge your Creator and serve Him.' 
 As he was thus exhorting the people with these simple 
 words, they declared with but one voice that they were 
 ready to receive his instruction. He employed seven days 
 in catechizing them carefully with the assistance of his 
 priests and pupils. He then directed them to fast during 
 three days, wash themselves, put on a white garment, and 
 thus prepare themselves for the ordinance. He ordered 
 the erection of three baptisteries, in one of which he 
 himself was to baptize the young boys, and the two others 
 were to be used by the priests for baptizing the men and 
 women separately. These baptisteries were great vats 
 sunk into the ground, and surrounded with curtains 
 
 supported by small poles When the people came 
 
 to receive baptism, the bishop made them an exhortation 
 suited to the occasion, and having placed the men on the 
 right, and the women on the left, administered to them 
 the unction of the catechumens, and then sent them to 
 the baptisteries. Each person went accompanied by a 
 sponsor, to whom he consigned the lighted taper, and the 
 garment, which the godfather held before his face until 
 the ceremony was concluded. No sooner was the priest 
 notified that some one was standing in the water, than he 
 gently moved aside part of the curtain, and baptized the 
 
 s 2 
 
26o 
 
 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 catechumen by dipping his head three times. He then 
 anointed him with the holy chrism, handed him a white 
 garment, and told him he might come up out of the water. 
 In winter, baptism was administered in warm water, in 
 baths perfumed with incense and other spices." 
 
 An ancient ritual, found in a manuscript codex of the 
 monastery of Glogan, in the diocese of Cologne, directs 
 the presbyter to receive the children from their parents 
 and baptize by trine immersion, first the males, and then 
 the females, saying : " I baptize thee in the name," &c. 
 (Eo autem ordine sic peracto, presbyter accipiens infantes 
 a parentibus eorum, sicut justum est, et ab eis rogatus 
 sub trina mersione primum masculos, et postmodum 
 foeminas nominando baptizet his verbis : Ego, baptizo te 
 in nomine," &c.) 
 
 Fig. 57. 
 
 Baptism of an Infant. From a Saoramentary of Cathedral of Meta, 
 in Germany. 
 
 In St. Peter's Church, at Cologne, is a fresco repre- 
 senting the immersion of Rubens, the painter, when an 
 infant, in 1577. 
 
 Chrismann, of the Order of the Minor Brethren of St. 
 Francis des Recollets, in his Regula Fidei CatholiccB ei 
 
LUTHER. 261 
 
 Collectio Dogmatum Credendorum, asserts that " the rite of 
 immersion in the administration of baptism was in general 
 use during the first twelve centuries, both in the Latin 
 and Greek Churches, but that from the fourteenth century 
 it was abandoned by nearly the entire Latin Church, not 
 in consequence of any solemn decree of a council, but 
 from desuetude, and then the rite of pouring prevailed." 
 
 Martin Luther, in his works (vol. ii. p. 76, edit. 1551), 
 says : " On this account (as a .symbol of death and 
 resurrection), I could wish that such as are to be baptized 
 should be completely immersed into water, according to 
 the meaning of the word, and to the significance of the 
 ordinance, not because I think it necessary, but because it 
 would be beautiful to have a full and perfect sign of so 
 perfect a thing; as also, without doubt, it was instituted 
 by Christ." 
 
 The following prayer seems to have been originally 
 composed by Luther, and from his form of baptism it 
 was taken into that provided for the reformed service of 
 Cologne, where it follows the examination and exorcism : — 
 
 " Almighty God, who in old time didst destroy the 
 wicked world with the flood, according to Thy terrible 
 judgment, and didst preserve only the family of godly 
 Noah — eight souls, of Thy unspeakable mercy ; and who 
 also didst drown, in the Red Sea, obstinate Pharaoh the 
 king of the Egyptians, with all his army and warlike 
 power, and causedst Thy people of Israel to pass over 
 with dry feet: and wouldst shadow in them holy baptism, 
 the laver of regeneration ; furthermore, who didst conse- 
 crate Jordan with the baptism of Thy Son Christ Jesus, 
 and other waters to holy dipping and washing of sins, we 
 pray Thee for Thy exceeding mercy, look favourably upon 
 this infant ; give him true faith, and Thy Holy Spirit, 
 that whatsoever filth he hath taken of Adam, it may be 
 drowned, and be put away by this holy flood, that being 
 
262 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 separated from the number of the ungodly, he may be 
 kept safe in the holy ark of Thy church, and may confess 
 and sanctify Thy name with a lusty and fervent spirit, and 
 serve Thy kingdom with constant trust and sure hope, 
 that at length he may attain to the promises of eternal 
 life with all the godly. Amen." 
 
 In their work on Theology, Doctors Storr and Flatt 
 express themselves in the following terms : — " The old 
 custom of immersion was also retained a long time in the 
 Western Church, at least in the case of those who were 
 not indisposed. And even after aspersion had been fully 
 introduced in a part of the Western Churches, there yet 
 remained several who for some time adhered to the 
 ancient custom. Under these circumstances, it is certainly 
 to be lamented that Luther was not able to accomplish 
 his will with regard to the introduction of immersion in 
 baptism, as he had done in the restoration of wine in the 
 Eucharist." (Vol. ii. p. 291.) 
 
 Salmasius, Professor in the University of Leyden, in 
 1632, and author of eighty printed works, asserts that " the 
 ancients did not baptize otherwise than by immersion, 
 either once or thrice ; except clinics, or persons confined 
 to their beds, who were baptized in a manner of which 
 they were capable ; not in the entire laver, as those who 
 plunge the head under water, but the whole body 
 had water poured upon it. Thus Novatian, when sick, 
 received baptism, being TrepfyyOeii;, poured over, not 
 /SaTTTto-^et?, haptized." 
 
 The baptism of infants was opposed by several religious 
 communities in Germany, and especially by the Menno- 
 nites. 
 
 According to an Account of the Origin of the Dutch 
 Baptists, published at Breda, in 1 819, by Doctor Ypeij, 
 Professor of Theology at Groningen, and Rev. J. J. 
 Dermont, chaplain to the king of the Netherlands, the 
 
THE MENNONITES. 263 
 
 Mennonites are descended from the Waldenses, who were 
 driven by persecution into various countries, and who, 
 during the latter part of the twelfth century, fled into 
 Flanders, and into the provinces of Holland and Zealand. 
 In the year 1500 many people were discovered in Flanders, 
 who condemned the custom of baptizing infants, and 
 admitted to that ordinance only those who were of a 
 competent age, and had given a rational account of their 
 faith. The appellation of Mennonites was given to these 
 Anabaptists, in 1536, from Menno, a converted priest, 
 who joined them about that time and became their 
 leader. 
 
 Mr. Mosheim says : — " The true origin of that sect 
 which acquired the denomination of Anabaptists, and 
 derived that of Mennonites from the famous man to 
 whom they owe the greatest part of their present felicity, 
 is hidden in the depths of antiquity. . . . The Menno- 
 nites are not entirely in erro]- when they boast of their 
 descent from the Waldensians, Petrobrusians, and other 
 ancient sects, who are usually considered as witnesses of 
 the truth in the times of general darkness and super- 
 stition." {Ecclesiastical History, cent. xvi. sect. iii. part ii. 
 chap, iii.) 
 
 The number of Mennonites now existing in Holland 
 is said to be small, there being only about one hundred 
 and fifty congregations of them. The sect numbers 
 about five thousand in Russia, and fourteen thousand 
 in Prussia. 
 
 The following ceremony is performed by the Menno- 
 nites, in the administration of baptism. This ordinance is 
 given after the sermon ; those who are to receive it go to 
 the minister or teacher, who comes down from the pulpit 
 to perform that function. He asks them if they are willing 
 to be baptized ; they answer by an inclination or bending 
 forward their body. The candidates kneel, and the 
 
264 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 minister, in the same posture, says his prayers ; which 
 being ended, the reader or chanter of the assembly comes 
 with a basin full of water, and follows the minister, who 
 goes to each of the neophytes, still kneeling; and, pouring 
 some water upon the head of each of them, he says, "N. N. 
 I baptize you with water ; may our Lord Jesus Christ 
 baptize you with and by His Spirit." When they have 
 all been baptized, the minister raises them one by one, 
 congratulating them on being admitted into the society of 
 the faithful, and gives them the kiss of peace. 
 
 This mode of baptism is in reality a wide departure 
 from the views of Menno, who says : " After we have 
 searched ever so diligently, we shall find no other baptism 
 but dipping in water, which is acceptable to God and 
 approved in His word." {Opera, fol. i. seq.) 
 
 The following picture (Fig. 58) represents baptism as it 
 is practised by the Collegians or Rhynsburgers. It is 
 taken from Les Ceremonies et Coutumes Religieuses par 
 Bernard Picard, a valuable work published at Amster- 
 dam, in 1736. The ceremony is thus described : — 
 
 "The candidate for baptism makes publicly his pro- 
 fession of faith on a Saturday, in the morning, before an 
 assembly of Rhynsburgers held for that purpose. A 
 discourse is pronounced on the excellency and nature of 
 baptism. The minister and candidate go together to a 
 pond, behind a house belonging to the sect (we might 
 call it an hospital, since they receive for nothing those 
 who have not wherewithal to pay their hotel bills). In 
 that pond the neophyte, catechumen, or candidate is 
 baptized by immersion ; if a man, he has a waistcoat and 
 drawers ; if a woman, a bodice and petticoat, with leads 
 in the hem, for the sake of decency. The minister, in the 
 same dress as the men wear, is also in the water, and 
 plunges them in it, pronouncing at the same time the 
 form used by most Christian communities. This being 
 
266 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 over, they put on their clothes, go back to the meeting, 
 hear an exhortation to perseverance in complying with 
 the precepts of Christ ; a public prayer is said, and some 
 hymns or psalms sung." 
 
 RUSSIA. 
 
 The font {KoXvfi^jjdpa) in the Greek Church, is a far 
 less conspicuous ornament than it is in the Latin. Baptism 
 by immersion has been retained in the East, but the font 
 seldom or never possesses any beauty. The material is 
 usually either metal or wood. In Russia, the colum- 
 bethra is movable and only brought out when wanted. 
 
 According to the orthodox confession of faith of the 
 Greek Church, baptism is a washing away, and rooting 
 out of original sin, by being thrice immersed in water ; 
 the priest pronouncing these words : In the name of the 
 Father, Amen; and of the Son, Amen; and of the Holy 
 Ghost, Amen. After which regeneration by water and the 
 Spirit, a man is restored to the grace of God, and the way 
 opened him into the kingdom of heaven ; as our Saviour 
 said. Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he 
 cannot enter into the kingdom of God. (John iii. 5.) But 
 this mystery being once received, is not to be again 
 repeated ; provided the person who administered the 
 baptism believed orthodoxly in three Persons in one God ; 
 and accurately, and without any alteration, pronounced 
 the aforementioned words, namely. In the name of the 
 Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen. As 
 the Holy Catholic and Orthodox Church directs.* 
 
 To ^a.itTicr[i.a, elvat ix,ia iKTrXvaK, Koi dvaipetris toO TrpoTraropLKOv 
 d/AapT77jU,aTos, Sta t^s Tpirrjs KaTa8v(r6(i)s w to i'Scop, Xe'yovTos Tov tepeios 
 TO, Xoyta TavTO., €is to ovo/xa tow IlaTpos, a.[j.ijV Kal tov 'YioS, afn-qv' koI 
 TOV ayiov Tlv€VfjLaTO<; d^ijv, Koi fxera. Tyjv avayivvyjcnv TavTrjv ii i'SaTos 
 
THE GREEK CHURCH. 267 
 
 The Greeks take care to bring their children, as soon 
 as they are eight days old, to the church door. This 
 religious custom is very ancient amongst them, and may 
 be regarded as an imitation, or subsequent figure, of the 
 presentation of Jesus in the temple of Jerusalem. If an 
 infant, however, be in any apparent danger of death, he 
 is baptized immediately, for fear he should die in darkness, 
 or as they express it, out of the light. The priest goes to 
 the church door, in order to receive the infant and give 
 him his benediction, as the aged Simeon did formerly to 
 our blessed Saviour. At the same time he marks him 
 with the sign of the cross on his forehead, his mouth and 
 chest. These are the preliminary ceremonies to baptism, 
 and are styled, putting the seal upon an infant. The 
 initial ceremony is followed by a prayer repeated by the 
 priest ; after which he takes the infant and raises him in 
 his arms, either before the church door, or the image of 
 the Virgin, making upon him several signs of the cross. 
 
 The baptism is performed by a threefold immersion ; 
 but before he administers the sacrament, the priest 
 breathes three times on the infant, which is looked upon 
 as an exorcism, deliverance from the power and malice of 
 the devil. Afterwards, he plunges him three times all 
 over in the baptismal font, and at each immersion names 
 one of the three Persons in the Trinity. The relatives, 
 who bring the child to be baptized, take care to have the 
 baptismal water warmed, and throw into it a collection of 
 
 KoX IIvevyaaTos, ytVcrat 17 StaAXay^ tov avOpwTrov /jlI tov Omv, kol 
 (Tvyy>u>piiTai rj cicroSos €ts rrjv ^acriXuav tZv ovpavSiv, Kara to, Xdyia tov 
 (Tuyrripo^ r)jxoiV, Xeyoi'Tos" lav jxyj tis yevvfjdrj i^ i'Saxos Koi Hvivfiaro^, 
 ov Svyarai elo'eXOeZv eh ttjv /SacriXeLav tov Oeov' tovto to fiAxiTripiov ixlav 
 <f>opa.v Xa/M^avoixevov, Skv StScrat Sevrepov, p,ovov Ikuvo^ ottov /SaTrriftt va 
 TTUTTetrq opOoSo^uK iva Oebv TpuTviroo'Ta.Tov, Koi va. eiirev aKpi/3S)'; koX 
 aTTapaXXaKToys to. rrpopprjOivTa \6yia' ets to ovop-a tov IlaTpos, koI tov 
 'Ylov, Koi TOV ayiov ni/eu//,aTOS, a.p.rjv' Kara Trp/ yv<afji,rjv T^s KaOoXiK^s (cai 
 opOoSo^ov fKKX-qtria';. 
 
2 68 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 the most odoriferous flowers. Whilst the water is being 
 warmed, the priest sanctifies it by a prayer, breathes 
 upon it, and then pours oil into it, and with the same oil 
 anoints the infant in the form of a cross. The oil is a 
 symbol or figure of man's reconciliation with his Maker ; 
 and this unction is performed by the priest upon the 
 child's forehead and breast, all around about his ears and 
 upon his loins, during which he pronounces the following 
 forms of words in anointing the forehead : The servant of 
 the Lord is anointed; in anointing his breast, For the cure 
 of his soul and body; and at the unction of his ears, he 
 adds, that the faith may be received by hearing. 
 
 If the infant that is to be baptized be a male child, the 
 godfather stands before the font ; but if it be a female the 
 place is occupied by the godmother. 
 
 The three immersions in the baptismal font imply the 
 death, resurrection, and immortality of a Christian. The 
 first buries the old man, the second regenerates and 
 restores him again to life, and the third entitles him to 
 eternal life. This allusion, by which the Greek Church 
 characterises and describes the ordinance of baptism, is an 
 incontestible proof of the Trinity being represented in 
 their three immersions, and it is likely or presumable, 
 that this ceremony was formerly introduced to distinguish 
 between the orthodox and some particular anti-Trinitarian 
 heretics. 
 
 The Greek Church baptizes and confirms at the same 
 time. After the last prayer in the office of baptism, the 
 infant is confirmed by the priest, who, on applying the 
 chrism, in the form of a cross, to the forehead, eyes, nose, 
 mouth, ears, breast, hands, and feet of the infant, says : 
 Behold the seal of the gift of the Holy Ghost. Seven 
 days after baptism, the infant is brought to church in 
 order to be washed. The priest, pronouncing the prayers 
 directed in their ritual, washes the infant's body with a 
 
THE GREEK CHURCH. 269 
 
 new sponge or a linen cloth prepared for that purpose, 
 and dismisses him with the following words: Thou art now 
 baptized, surrounded with a celestial light, sanctified and 
 washed in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 The last ceremony is that of the tonsure, which, 
 according to some writers, typifies the dedication of the 
 person baptized to the service of God, the cutting off 
 the hair being considered as a mark of servitude. At 
 the end of the baptism, the priest, at the request of the 
 parents, usually hangs a little cross of gold, silver, or 
 other metal, round the infant's neck, which some of the 
 Russians, especially of the lower people, hold in great 
 estimation. 
 
 The following picture (Fig. 59) and account of the 
 ceremony of baptism are borrowed from Picard's inter- 
 esting work, Les Ceremonies et Coutumes Religieuses. 
 
 "As soon as an infant comes into the world, the parents 
 send for a priest to purify him. This purification extends 
 to all those who are present at the ceremony. They 
 baptize their infants, according to Olearius, as soon as 
 they are born; but according to other historians, those 
 who are in good circumstances are not so strict, and defer 
 the ceremony for some time. The godfathers and god- 
 mothers of the first child must stand sureties for all the 
 other children in that family, however numerous they 
 may be. After their entrance into the church, the god- 
 fathers deliver nine wax-tapers into the hands of the 
 priest, who lights them all up, and sticks them in the 
 form of a cross about the font or vessel in which the 
 infant is to be baptized. The priest thurifies the god- 
 fathers, and consecrates the waters, after that, he and the 
 godfathers go thrice in procession round it. The clerk, 
 who marches in the front, carries the image of John the 
 Baptist. They then all range themselves in such a 
 
THE GREEK CHURCH. 27 I 
 
 manner that their backs are turned towards the font, as a 
 testimony, says Olearius, of their aversion to the three 
 questions which the priest proposes to the godfathers, 
 that is to say:— I. Whether the child renounces the 
 devil. 2. Whether he abjures his angels ; and 3. 
 Whether he abhors and detests their impious works. 
 At each question the godfathers answer Yes, and spit 
 upon the ground. The exorcism follows, which is per- 
 formed out of the church, lest the devil as he comes out 
 of the infant, should pollute or profane it. The baptism 
 which ensues, is performed by triple immersion. The 
 priest, having put a grain of salt into the infant's mouth, 
 anoints him several times in the form of a cross, and puts 
 on him a clean shirt. The water in the font is changed 
 at every baptism, because the Russians are of opinion 
 that it is defiled or tainted with the original sin of such as 
 are therein baptized. 
 
 Proselytes to the Russian religion are baptized in some 
 rapid stream or adjacent river. They are plunged therein 
 three times successively, and if it happens in the winter 
 season, a hole is made in the ice for the performance of 
 the ordinance. If, however, a person is of too weak a 
 constitution to undergo immersion, a barrel full of water 
 is poured over his head three times one after another." 
 
 The following Baptismal Office is taken from the 
 General Liturgy of the Greek Church : — 
 
 LITURGY OF THE GREEK CHURCH. 
 Prayers on initiating a Catechumen. 
 
 The Priest unties the girdle of the person who desires to he sanctified, 
 takes off his clothes, and turns him towards the east ; having only one 
 garment loose, his head uncovered, his feet naked, and his hands held 
 down : the Priest then blows in his face thrice, and signs him on the 
 forehead and on the breast thrice, and lays his hand upon his head, 
 saying : — 
 
 Let us pray unto the Lord. 
 
 In Thy name, O Lord the God of truth, and in the name of 
 Thine only-begotten Son, and Holy Ghost, I lay my hand upon 
 
2 72 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 this Thy servant {by name), who fleeth unto Thy holy Name, that 
 he may be defended under the covering of Thy wings. Put away 
 from him his former error, and fill him with faith in Thee, with 
 hope and charity, that he may confess Thee the only true Ged, 
 and Thine only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, and Thy 
 Holy Spirit. Grant him to walk in the ways of Thy command- 
 ments, and to do such things as are well pleasing in Thy sight, 
 which if a man do he shall live by them. Write him in the book 
 of life, gather him in the fold of Thine heritage. Let Thy holy 
 name, and the name of Thy beloved Son Jesus Christ our Lord, 
 and of Thy life-giving Spirit be glorified in him. Let Thine eyes 
 look upon him always in mercy, and let Thine ears be open to his 
 prayers. Make him to rejoice in the work of his hands, and in all 
 his generation, that he may confess Thee, and worship and glorify 
 Thy great and exalted name, evermore praising Thee all the days 
 of his life. 
 
 Exclamation. For all the powers of heaven celebrate Thee, and 
 Thine is the glory of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
 Ghost, now and for ever, even unto ages of ages. Amen. 
 
 The first Exorcism. 
 
 Let us pray unto the Lord. 
 
 The Lord rebuketh thee, O Satan ; He who came into the 
 world and dwelt among men to destroy thy tyranny, and deliver 
 mankind from thy sway ; He who triumphed on His cross over 
 every adverse power, while the sun was darkened and the earth 
 did quake, the graves were opened, and the bodies of the saints 
 arose ; He who destroyed death by His death, and vanquished 
 him who had the power of death, that is, the devil. I adjure thee 
 by God, who showed the tree of life, and appointed the cherubim 
 and a flaming sword turning on every side to guard it : rebuked 
 shall thou be. I adjure thee by Him who walked upon the back 
 of the sea, as upon the dry land, and calmed the tempest of the 
 winds ; by Him at whose look the depths are dried up, at whose 
 threat the mountains are dissolved. It is He who commands thee 
 now by us : tremble, depart, flee from this His creature, nor dare 
 to return again, nor dare to lurk concealed within him, or to meet 
 him, or to meditate against him, either in the evening or the 
 morning, at midnight or at noonday. Hie thee to thy own hell 
 until the day prepared for judgment. Fear God who sitteth upon 
 the cherubim, and who pierceth the abyss with His look : while 
 angels and archangels, thrones, dominions, principalities, powers, 
 virtues, the many-eyed cherubim, and the fix-winged seraphim 
 tremble before Him. Flee, depart from this new warrior enlisted 
 under the standard of Jesus Christ ; by Him I adjure thee, by Him 
 who walketh upon the wings of the winds, and maketh His angels 
 a flaming fire ; Flee, depart from this His creature, with all thy 
 angels and all thy power. 
 
LITURGY OF THE GREEK CHURCH. 273 
 
 Exclamation. For the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 
 of the Holy Ghost, is glorified, now and for ever, even unto ages 
 of ages. Amen. 
 
 The Second Exorcism. 
 
 Let us pray unto the Lord. 
 
 The holy, dreadful, and glorious God, whose power is incom- 
 prehensible, and whose ways are past finding out. He who pre- 
 pared the punishment of eternal torments for thee, O Satan, 
 commands thee now by us, His unworthy servants, to depart with 
 all thy powers from him, who is here signed in the name of Jesus 
 Christ our Lord, the true God. I adjure thee, therefore, thou 
 wicked, thou unclean, impure, abominable, and alienated spirit ; 
 I adjure thee by the might of Jesus Christ to whom all power is 
 given in heaven and on earth, who said to the devil that was deaf 
 and dumb. Depart, and confess the insufficiency of thy strength ; 
 who hadst not power even over the swine, remember Him who at 
 thy request permitted thee to enter into the herd of swine. Fear 
 God, by whose command the earth was founded on the waters, who 
 created the heavens, who weighed the mountain in scales, and 
 the valleys in a balance, who placed the sand for bounds to the 
 sea, whose pathway is in the great waters ; He who toucheth the 
 mountains and they smoke, who decketh Himself with light as 
 with a garment, and spreadeth out the heavens as a curtain ; who 
 laid the foundation of the earth so strong that it cannot be moved 
 for ever ; who calleth up the waters of the sea and poureth them 
 on the face of the earth: begone, depart from him who is prepared 
 for this holy illumination. I adjure thee by the saving passion of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, by His precious body and blood, and by 
 His fearful advent, for He shall come and shall not tarry ; He 
 shall come to judge the world, and thee and thy combined powers, 
 and shall condemn thee to hell-fire, and cast thee into outer 
 darkness, where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched. 
 
 For Thine is the power, O Christ our God, with the Father and 
 the Holy Spirit, now and for ever, even unto ages of ages. Amen. 
 
 The Third Exorcism. 
 
 Let us pray unto the Lord. 
 
 O Lord of Sabaoth, the God of Israel, who healest every sick- 
 ness and every infirmity, look down upon Thy servant ; search him 
 out and examine him, and deliver him from all the snares of the 
 devil. Rebuke the evil spirits and cast them out, and purify the 
 work of Thine own hands, and by Thy speedy help beat down 
 Satan under his feet. Give him victory over him, and all his 
 unclean spirits ; that by Thy mercy he may be worthy of Thy 
 immortal and heavenly mysteries, and glorify the Father, the Son, 
 and the Holy Ghost, now and for ev«r, even unto ages of ages. 
 Amen. 
 
2 74 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 The. Fourth Prayer. 
 Let us pray unto the Lord. 
 
 O Lord, who ruleth over all, who didst create man in Thine own 
 image and similitude, and gavest him the capacity of obtaining 
 eternal life, and didst not contemn him even when, through sin, 
 he had fallen ; but didst dispense salvation to the world by the 
 incarnation of Thy Christ ; receive into Thy heavenly kingdom 
 this Thy creature, who is delivered from the bondage of the 
 adversary. Open the eyes of his understanding that he may 
 behold the brightness of Thy Gospel. Set the angel of light to 
 guard his life, to deliver him from the snares of the enemy, from 
 the evil which besets him, from the noonday phantasms, and from 
 evil dreams. 
 
 The priest then blows upon his mouth, upon his forehead, and his 
 chest saying : — 
 
 Drive away from him every evil and unclean spirit that lurketh 
 in him, and hath made itself a nest in his heart. {This he repeats 
 three ti?nes.') 
 
 The spirit of error, the spirit of impiety and of all covetousness, 
 the spirit of lying and of all uncleanness, inspired by the craft 
 of the devil ; and make him a rational sheep of the fold of Thy 
 Christ, a member of Thy Church, a son and inheritor of Thy 
 kingdom. Grant that He may order his conversation according to 
 Thy precepts, that he may preserve the seal unbroken, and Thy 
 garment undefiled, and so attain the blessedness of the saints in 
 Thy kingdom. 
 
 Exclamation. Through the grace and mercy, and loving kind- 
 ness of Thine only-begotten Son, with whom Thou art blessed, 
 together with Thy most holy, good, and life-giving Spirit, now and 
 for ever, even unto ages of ages. Amen. 
 
 The priest then turns the catechumen to the west, uncovered, without 
 shoes, and his hands lifted up, and says : — 
 
 Dost thou renounce the devil and all his works, all his angels, 
 all his service, and his pomps ? 
 
 The catechumen then answers, or his sponsor if it'- he a pagan or a 
 child, and says : I do renounce. 
 
 The priest then repeats the same question the second and the third 
 time, and he answers the same to each. 
 
 The priest : Hast thou renounced the devil .'' 
 
 The catechumen : I have renounced. 
 
 The same question and answer three times. 
 
 The priest : Blow and spit upon him. 
 
 Which he does; and the priest turns him to the east, holding his hands 
 down, and then says to him : Art thou joined unto Christ t 
 
 The catechumen or sponsor : I am joined. 
 
 The same question and answer three times. 
 
LITURGY OF THE GREEK CHURCH. 275 
 
 The priest : Hast thou been joined unto Christ ? 
 
 Answer: I have been joined. 
 
 Priest : Dost thou believe in Him ? 
 
 Answer: I believe in Him as King and God, and then repeats the 
 creed, I believe in one God, to the end. 
 
 The same questions and answers, and the creed, are repeated a second 
 and a third time. 
 
 The priest : Hast thou been joined unto Christ } 
 
 And he answers thrice : I have been joined. 
 
 Priest: Worship Him. 
 
 The catechumen, lowing, says: I worship the Father, the Son, and 
 the Holy Ghost, the consubstantial and undivided Trinity. 
 
 The priest : Blessed be God who would have all men to be 
 saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth ; now and for 
 ever, even unto ages of ages. Amen. 
 
 Then he says this prayer. 
 
 Let us pray unto the Lord. 
 
 O Lord our God, who rulest over all, we beseech Thee to call 
 this Thy servant {by name) to Thy holy sanctification, and grant 
 unto him the grace of Thy holy baptism ; put off from him the 
 old man, and renew him for eternal life ; replenish him with Thy 
 Holy Spirit, and join him to Thy Christ, that he may no longer be 
 a child of the flesh, but a child of Thy kingdom. Through the 
 loving-kindness and grace of Thine only-begotten Son, with whom 
 Thou art blessed, with Thy most holy, good, and life-giving 
 Spirit, now and for ever, even unto ages of ages. Amen. 
 
 Prayers on signing the child with the sign of the cross, when it 
 receives its name on the eighth day after its birth. 
 
 // is to he observed that the midwife must carry the child to church on 
 the eighth day after its birth, and stand with it before the doors of the 
 church.* 
 
 The priest begins : Blessed is our God : Trisagion : Pater noster : 
 After the exclamation, the troparion of the day, or of the saint of the 
 church. 
 
 The priest then signs the child on the forehead, on the mouth, and on 
 the breast, and says this prayer. 
 
 Let us pray unto the Lord. 
 
 O Lord our God, we implore Thee, and we pray unto Thee : 
 let the light of Thy countenance be signed upon this Thy servant 
 {by name)] and let the cross of Thine only-begotten Son be signe<? 
 in his heart and in his mind ; to drive away all worldly vanities, 
 
 * The child is always carried directly into the church j but this direction, and many others 
 of this sort, allude to the ancient manner of building churches, with a refectory and narthex. 
 i' Here he gives the child its name. 
 
 X 2 
 
276 THE ARCHEOLOGY OK BAPTISM. 
 
 and protect him from the deceitful wiles of the adversary ; that he 
 may obey Thy commandments. Grant, O Lord, that Thy holy 
 name may remain upon him never to be renounced, that in Thy 
 good time he may be joined to Thy holy church, and made perfect 
 in the tremendous mysteries of Thy Christ ; that living after Thy 
 commandments, and preserving this seal inviolable, he may 
 obtain the blessedness of the elect in Thy kingdom ; through the 
 grace and loving-kindness of Thine only-begotten Son, with whom 
 Thou art blessed, together with Thy most holy, good, and life- 
 giving Spirit, now and for ever, even unto ages of ages. Amen. 
 
 Then he stands he/ore the church doors or before the image of the most 
 holy Virgin, and makes the sign of the cross with the infant, saying: 
 
 Hail, O Virgin full of grace, the mother of God ! for from thee 
 did Christ our God, the Sun of Righteousness arise, to enlighten 
 those who sat in darkness. Rejoice, too, thou righteous old man 
 (Simeon) 1 who didst hold in thy bosom the Saviour of our souls, 
 Him who gave us the resurrection unto life. 
 
 Then follows the dismission; and a direction exhorting not to delay 
 baptizing the infant, if it appears in danger of dying, concludes the 
 ceremony^ 
 
 The Office of Holy Baptism. 
 
 The priest goes into the church, and puts on his white sacerdotal 
 garment, and his epimanikia, and after the candles are all lighted, he 
 takes the censer and incenses the font all round ; then he gives away the 
 censer and bows. The deacon then says. Bless, Master. 
 
 The priest aloud. 
 Blessed be the kingdom of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
 the Holy Ghost, now and for ever, even unto ages of ages. 
 Amen. 
 
 Deacon. Let us pray unto the Lord in peace, for heavenly peace, 
 
 and the peace of all ; for His holy house ; for the archbishop, that 
 
 he may sanctify this water by the virtue, operation, and descent of 
 
 the Holy Ghost ; that He may send down upon it the grace of 
 
 redemption, the blessing of the River Jordan ; that the purifying 
 
 virtue of the super-substantial Trinity may rest upon it. Let us 
 
 pray the Lord to illuminate us with the light of knowledge and 
 
 piety, by the coming of the Holy Ghost ; that it may report every 
 
 machination of all enemies, visible and invisible. Let us pray the 
 
 Lord to make him, who is baptized therein, worthy of His immortal 
 
 kingdom. Let us pray the Lord for him who now comes to this 
 
 holy illumination and for his salvation, to make him a child of light 
 
 and an heir of everlasting blessings ; that he may be planted in, 
 
 and be partaker of, the death and resurrection of Christ our God. 
 
 Let us pray the Lord that he may preserve the garment of baptism 
 
 and the clothing of the spirit spotless and immaculate in the dread 
 
 day of Christ our God. Let us pray the Lord that this water may 
 
LITURGY OF THE GREEK CHURCH. 277 
 
 be the laver of regeneration, for the remission of sins, and for the 
 garment of incorruption. Let us pray the Lord that our Lord 
 God may hear the voice of our petitions. Let us pray the Lord to 
 deliver us from all afBictions, strife, and necessity. Protect us, 
 save us, be merciful unto us. 
 
 While the deacon says these words, the priest, in a low voice, says 
 this prayer. 
 
 O most merciful and gracious God, who alone searchest the 
 heart and reins, and knowest the secret thoughts of men ; for 
 nothing is hid from Thy sight, but all things are open and naked 
 before Thee. O Thou vcho seest what is in me, reject me not, nor 
 turn away Thy face from me ; but pardon mine offences at this hour. 
 It is Thou who forgivest the sins of men upon true repentance ; 
 wash away the pollutions of my body, and the defilements of my 
 soul. Sanctify me thoroughly by Thine all-perfect and invisible 
 power and Thy spiritual right hand ; lest, after I have preached 
 liberty to others, and declared it through faith in Thy unspeakable 
 love to mankind, I myself, as a servant of sin, should be a castaway. 
 Let me not be confounded, O Lord, for Thou only art good and 
 merciful. Send down Thy power from above, and strengthen me 
 for the ministration of this great and heavenly mystery. Fashion 
 Thy church in him who is now to be regenerated, and build him 
 up on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, that he may 
 not be thrown down ; plant him as a plant of truth in Thy holy, 
 catholic, and apostolic church, that he may not be plucked up ; 
 but that, growing in piety, he may glorify Thy holy name, of the 
 Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, now and for ever, 
 even unto ages of ages. Amen. 
 
 // is to he observed that he is not to elevate his voice at the end of this 
 prayer, hut say Amen to himself, and then this prayer in a loud voice. 
 
 Great art Thou, O Lord, and wonderful are Thy works ; nor can 
 words express the praise of Thy marvellous acts. {Thrice.) For 
 Thou, of Thine own good pleasure, didst bring all things out of 
 nothing into being; Thou upholdest them by Thy power, and 
 governest the world by Thy providence. Thou hast composed the 
 creation of four elements ; Thou hast crowned the year with four 
 seasons. To Thee, all-intellectual, powers are subject ; the sun 
 shines to praise Thee, the moon to show forth Thy glory, the stars 
 are present at Thy call, the light pays homage to Thee, the 
 abyss trembles before Thee, and the fountains are obedient to Thy 
 will. Thou didst spread the heavens as a curtain, and didst found 
 the earth upon the waters ; Thou didst set the sand for bounds to the 
 sea, and exposed the air for our respiration. Thee do the angelic 
 virtues obey. Thee do the choirs of archangels adore, the many-eyed 
 cherubim, and the fix-winged seraphim which surround Thee, 
 hide themselves for fear of Thine inaccessible glory. For Thou, 
 who art God incomprehensible, without beginning, and inefl!"able, 
 
2 78 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 didst descend upon the earth, and took on Thee the form of a 
 servant, being made in the lilieness of man. For Thou, through 
 the bowels of Thy mercy, couldst not behold the human race 
 subjected to the tyranny of the devil, therefore didst Thou come 
 to save us. We confess Thy grace, we declare Thy mercy, and do 
 not hide Thy loving-kindness. When Thou didst deliver the 
 human race, Thou didst sanctify the Virgin's womb: every creature 
 hailed Thy appearance, for Thou our God wast visible upon the 
 earth, and didst converse among men. Thou didst sanctify the 
 water of Jordan, Thou didst send down Thy Holy Spirit from 
 heaven, and bruise the heads of the serpents which were lurking 
 there. 
 
 Be present therefore, O merciful King, and by the coming of 
 the Holy Ghost sanctify this water [thrice); endue it with the 
 grace of redemption, wherewith Thou didst bless the River Jordan; 
 make it the fountain of incorruption, the gift of holiness, the water 
 of absolution of sins, powerful to heal bodily sickness, deadly to 
 every evil, inaccessible to every adverse power, and abounding 
 with angelic virtue, that all who would beguile may flee from it. 
 Therefore have I called upon Thy name, O Lord, which is 
 wonderful and glorious, and tremendous to Thine adversaries. 
 
 Then, breathing upon the water, he signs it three times with the sign 
 of the cross, and says : — 
 
 Let all adverse power be confounded under the sign of Thy 
 cross [thrice') ; make all aerial and invisible idols to depart from us ; 
 let not the demon of darkness be concealed in this water ; and we 
 beseech Thee, let not the evil spirit, which bringeth darkness of 
 thoughts and trouble of mind, let it not descend with the person to 
 be baptized ; but do Thou, O Lord of all, consecrate this water, 
 that it may be the water of redemption and sanctification for the 
 purifying of the flesh and spirit, for loosening the chains, for 
 remission of sins, for enlightening the mind, the laver of regenera- 
 tion, the grace of adoption, the garment of incorruption, the 
 fountain of- life. For Thou, O Lord, hast said. Wash, and be 
 clean ; Thou hast given us from above the regeneration by water 
 and the Spirit. Show Thy power in this water, O Lord, and 
 grant that the person to be baptized therein may be renewed, that 
 he may put off the old man, which is corrupt after the lust of 
 seduction, and put on the new man after the image of Him who 
 made him, that, being planted in the likeness of His death by 
 baptism, he may be partaker of His resurrection ; that preserving 
 the gift of Thy Holy Spirit, and abounding in grace, he may 
 obtain the prize of his high calling, and be numbered with the 
 firstborn that are written in heaven, in Thee our Lord and our 
 God, Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power, with Thine 
 Eternal Father, and Thy most holy, good, and life-giving Spirit, 
 now and for ever, even unto ages of ages. Amen. 
 
 Peace be with you all. 
 
LITURGY OF THE GREEK CHURCH 279 
 
 Deacon. Bow down your heads to the Lord. 
 
 The priest then blows thrice into the vessel of oil, and signs it thrice 
 with the sign of the cross, that is, the oil which the deacon holds, who 
 then says : — 
 
 Let us pray unto the Lord. 
 
 The priest says this prayer. 
 
 O Lord God of our fathers, who rulest over all ; who didst save 
 Noah in the ark, and didst send unto him the dove, carrying in 
 his mouth the branch of olive, the symbol of reconciliation ; and 
 by his preservation from the flood, didst typify the mystery of 
 grace ; and hast appointed the fruit of the olive for the consum- 
 mation of Thy holy mysteries, whereby Thou didst give Thy Holy 
 Spirit to them who were under the law, and dost now perfect those 
 who are under grace. Bless, we beseech Thee, this oil, by the 
 virtue, operation, and presence of the Holy Ghost, that it may 
 become to those who are anointed with faith and are partakers 
 thereof, the unction of incorruption, the armour of righteousness, 
 the renewing of soul and body ; for turning aside all machinations 
 of the devil, and for deliverance from all evil : to Thy glory, and 
 the glory of Thine only-begotten Son, of Thy most holy, good, 
 and vivifying Spirit, now and for ever, even unto ages of ages. 
 
 Choir. Amen. 
 
 Deacon. Let us attend. 
 
 The priest sings, Halleliija, thrice with the people, and pours the oil on 
 the top of the water, making three crosses with it ; then he says aloud — 
 
 Blessed be God, who enlighteneth and sanctifieth every man 
 that Cometh into the world, now and for ever, even unto ages of 
 ages. 
 
 Choir. Amen. 
 
 The person to he baptized is then presented ; the priest takes some of 
 the oil, and makes the sign of the cross on his forehead, his breast, and 
 between his shoulders, saying : — 
 
 N. The servant of God is anointed with the oil of gladness, in 
 the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, 
 now and for ever, even unto ages of ages. Amen. 
 
 Then he signs him on the breast and the middle of the hack. As he 
 signs him on the breast, he says : For the healing of soul and body. 
 {Then on the ears, saying): For the hearing the faith. {Then on 
 the feet) That thy steps may advance. {Then on the hands) Thy 
 hands have made me and fashioned me. 
 
 The whole body being thus anointed, the priest baptizes him, holding 
 him upright, and turning his face towards the east, saying : — 
 
 IV. The servant of God is baptized in the name of the Father, 
 Amen; and of the Son, Amen; and of the Holy Ghost, Amen; 
 nov/ and for ever, even unto ages of ages. Amen. 
 
2 8o THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Immersing him at each sentence, and leading him out of the water.* 
 The priest after the baptism, washes his hands, and, with the people, 
 sings : — 
 
 Blessed are they whose sins are forgiven, and whose iniquities 
 are taken away. Blessed the man ; and the rest of the Psalm. This 
 he says three times. Then he puts on the baptized person's garment, 
 saying : — 
 
 N. The servant of God is clothed with the garment of righteous- 
 ness, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
 Ghost, now and for ever, even unto ages of ages. Amen. 
 
 This troparion is then sung. 
 
 Grant me the garment of light. Thou who art clothed with light 
 as with a garment, O most merciful Christ our God. 
 
 After he is clothed, the priest says this prayer. 
 Let us pray the Lord. 
 
 Blessed art Thou, O Lord God Almighty, the fountain of all 
 good things ; the Sun of righteousness, who hast enlightened 
 those who sat in darkness by the appearance of Thine only- 
 begotten Son, our God, as the Sun of salvation ; and hast vouch- 
 safed unto us, unworthy as we are, a blessed purification by holy 
 water, and a divine sanctification by the vivifying chrism; and hast 
 now been pleased to regenerate this Thy newly-enlightened servant 
 by water and the Holy Ghost, and to grant him pardon of his 
 sins voluntary and involuntary ; grant him, O Lord, the most 
 merciful ruler of all things, the seal of the holy, omnipotent, and 
 adorable Spirit, and the participation of Thy holy body, and of the 
 precious blood of Christ. Keep him in Thy holiness ; confirm 
 him in the true faith ; deliver him from the evil one, and all his 
 insidious snares ; and by the salutary fear of Thyself, preserve his 
 soul in purity and righteousness ; that in all his actions and words 
 he may do that which is well-pleasing in Thy sight, as Thy child, 
 and an heir of Thy heavenly kingdom. 
 
 Exclamation. 
 
 For Thou art our God, the God of mercy and salvation ; and to 
 Thee we offer up our praise, to the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
 Ghost, now and for ever, even unto ages of ages. Amen. 
 
 * Kai 0T6 ixpi'0'9yj bXov to crSifxa /3airTt^et avrov o tepcvis opOiov avrov 
 KaT(.)(<x>v, KoX ySAeVovTa Kara, dvaroXas, koI Xeyuiv' 
 
 BaTTTtferat o SoBAos tov deov, 6 Setva, cts to ovofia. tov Trarpos, dfj.'^V 
 Kol rov vlov, d/xrjV Kai tov ayiov irvevfjiaTO'S, afiLrjV vvv koX det, koX eis 
 Tovs diSvas Toiv atravMV. Ajjbrjv. 
 
 'EKao'Ty TTpoaprjO-ii, KaTaywv avrov Kai avaymv. 
 
LITURGY OF THE GREEK CHURCH. 28 1 
 
 The Holy Chrism. 
 
 The foregoing prayer being finished, the baptized person is anointed 
 with the holy chrism, the priest making therewith the sign of the cross 
 on his forehead, eyes, nostrils, mouth, ears, breast, hands, and feet, saying 
 at each part : The seal of the gift of the Holy Ghost. Amen. 
 
 The priest then, with the sponsor and child, goes round the font thrice, 
 turning from the right to the left. 
 
 The choir in the meanwhile sings : — 
 
 As many of you as are baptized unto Christ have put on Christ. 
 Hallelujah. Three times. 
 
 Then the Prokimenon. The Lord is my light and my salvation ; 
 whom then shall I fear ? 
 
 V. The Lord is the defence of my life, of whom then shall I be 
 afraid ? 
 
 The Epistle. 
 Romans, chap. vi. vers. 3-12. 
 Priest : Peace be with thee. 
 Deacon : Wisdom. Let us attend. 
 Reader: Psalm. Hallelujah. Three times. 
 
 The Gospel. 
 St. Matthew, chap, xxvii. vers. \b to the end. 
 
 Ec tenia. 
 
 Have mercy upon us, O God, according to Thy great goodness. 
 
 Again we pray for {the sovereign by name). Again we pray for 
 {the imperial family by name). Again we pray for the holy legislative 
 synod. Again we pray for mercy, life, peace, health, salvation, 
 and forgiveness of sins to the servant of God \J)y name), the sponsor. 
 Again we pray for the newly-enlightened servant of God ifiy name); 
 that he may be preserved in the faith of a pure confession, in 
 purity, and in fulfilling the commandments of Christ all the days 
 of his life. For Thou art the merciful God, the lover of mankind, 
 and to Thee we offer up our praise; to the Father, and to the Son, 
 and to the Holy Ghost, now and for ever, even unto ages of ages. 
 
 Choir: Amen. 
 
 Priest: Glory to Thee, O Christ our God, our hope, glory be to 
 Thee. 
 
 Glory: both now. 
 
 Lord, have mercy upon us. Thrice. 
 
 Give the Benediction. 
 The priest gives the Dismission. 
 
 The Ablution after Holy Baptism. 
 After seven days the person is again conducted to church to be washed, 
 when the priest unties his girdle and his linen garment, and says the 
 following prayer : — 
 
282 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Let us pray unto the Lord. 
 
 O God, who, by Thy holy baptism, hast bestowed upon this Thy 
 servant redemption from sin and regeneration of life ; grant, O 
 Sovereign Lord, that the light of Thy countenance may always 
 enlighten his heart, and the shield of his faith protect him from 
 the assault of his enemies ; and do Thou, O Lord most gracious, 
 according to the multitude of Thy mercies, preserve the garment 
 of incorruption he has assumed spotless and undefiled, and the 
 spiritual seal of grace inviolable. For Thy great and glorious 
 name is blessed and praised of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
 the Holy Ghost, now and for ever, even unto ages of ages. Amen. 
 
 Second Prayer, 
 Let us pray unto the Lord. 
 
 Choir. Kyrie Eleeson. 
 
 O Lord our God, who rulest over all ; who dost give Thy 
 heavenly light to those who are baptized ; who hast regenerated 
 Thy newly-enlightened servant by water and the Spirit, and hast 
 granted him remission of sins voluntary and involuntary ; protect 
 him in virtue and goodness by the imposition of Thy mighty hand; 
 preserve in him the pledge of Thy grace inviolable, and make him 
 worthy of Thy favour and of everlasting life. 
 
 For Thou art our sanctification, and to Thee we offer up our 
 praise : to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, now 
 and for ever, even unto ages of ages. Amen. 
 
 Peace be with you all. 
 
 Choir. And with thy spirit. 
 
 Deacon. Bow down your heads to the Lord. 
 
 Choir. To Thee, O Lord. 
 
 Priest. He who hath put on Thee, O Christ, doth now with us • 
 bow down his head unto Thee : make him an invincible champion 
 against those who strive in vain against him and us ; and grant 
 that we may all be victorious to the end, and receive Thine incor- 
 ruptible crown. 
 
 For to Thee belong mercy and salvation, and to Thee we offer 
 up our praise with Thine everlasting Father, and Thy most holy, 
 good, and life-giving Spirit, now and for ever, even unto ages of 
 ages. 
 
 Choir. Amen. 
 
 Then he uniies the girdle of the child and its linen clothes, and 
 washes it with clean water, and sprinkling it, saying : — 
 
 Thou hast been justified, enlightened, and sanctified in the 
 name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and with the Spirit of our God. 
 
 Then taking a new sponge, moistened with water, he washes his face, 
 breast, &c., saying: — 
 
 Thou hast been baptized, enlightened, anointed, sanctified, 
 washed, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
 Holy Ghost, now and for ever, even unto ages of ages. Amen. 
 
LITURGY OF THE GREEK CHURCH. 283 
 
 Prayers on the Tonsure of the Hair. 
 
 Deacon. Let us pray unto the Lord. 
 
 Choir. Kjrie Eleeson. 
 
 O Lord our God, who rulest over all, and hast composed man, 
 whom Thou didst adorn with Thine own image, of a reasoning 
 soul and a beautiful body, that the body might be subject to the 
 soul ; and on the superior part of the body didst place the head, 
 in which many senses are so disposed as not to hinder each other's 
 operation ; and didst cover his head with hair, to guard it from 
 the changes and intemperature of the air ; and didst so marvellously 
 and aptly order all his members, that by them all he might glorify 
 Thee, the Supreme Artificer: Do Thou, O Lord, who by Thy 
 Apostle Paul, Thy chosen vessel, didst command us to do all 
 things to Thy glory, give Thy blessing to this Thy servant {hy name) 
 who is now come to offer to Thee his firstfruits, the tonsure of his 
 head ; bless him together with his sponsor, and grant that they 
 may walk in Thy law, and do those things which are pleasing in 
 Thy sight. 
 
 For Thou art the merciful God, the lover of mankind, and to 
 Thee we oifer up our praise, to the Father, and to the Son, and to 
 the Holy Ghost, now and for ever, even unto ages of ages. 
 
 Choir. Amen. 
 
 Priest. Peace be with you all. 
 
 Choir. And with thy spirit. 
 
 Deacon. Bow down your heads to the Lord. 
 
 Choir. To Thee, O Lord. 
 
 The priest says this prayer. 
 
 O Lord our God, who from the fulness of the baptismal laver of 
 Thy goodness dost sanctify those who believe on Thee, bless this 
 child, and send down Thy benediction on his head ; and as Thou 
 didst bless David the king by the prophet Samuel, so give Thy 
 blessing on the head of this child (by name) by my sinful hand. 
 Enlighten him with Thy Holy Spirit, that as he advances in age 
 even unto grey hairs, he may show forth glory, and see Jerusalem 
 in prosperity all the days of his life. 
 
 For all glory, honour, and adoration are due unto Thee, the 
 Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, now and for ever, even 
 unto ages of ages. Amen. 
 
 Choir. Amen. 
 
 Then the priest cuts his hair* cross-wise, saying : — 
 
 N. The servant of God is shorn in the name of the Father, and 
 
 * He cuts off some locks of the hair with a pair of scissors, in four places on the crown of 
 the head j which he wraps up in a small piece of wax, and throws into the water in the font. 
 
284 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, now and for ever, even unto 
 ages of ages. 
 Choir. Amen. 
 
 Then the ectinia : — Have mercy upon us, O God, according to 
 Thy great goodness ; t'n which mention is made of the Sovereign, the 
 sponsor, and the newly-enlightened. 
 
 And the common Dismission. 
 
 END OF THE ORDER OF HOLY BAPTISM, 
 
 ICELAND. 
 
 It is known from Landnama Bok, and the Shedae of 
 Are, that the Norwegians found some traces of Christianitjr 
 on their arrival in Iceland. There were also some few 
 Christians among these new colonists who, however, soon 
 apostatized to the heathen religion, so that it became 
 general there. It is not known whether any attempts had 
 been made to introduce the Christian religion before the 
 year 981, when a certain bishop, Friedric, arrived there 
 from Saxony, and was obliged to return, after a stay of 
 five years, without having made any great progress. 
 
 However, a church was built in 984 by Thorvard 
 Bodwarson, and some persons received baptism ; but 
 others, though they had no objection to the Christian 
 doctrine, could not be prevailed upon to suffer themselves 
 to be baptized, as they pretended it would be indecent to 
 go naked into the water like little boys to receive baptism, 
 which, according to the custom of these times, could only 
 be done by submersion. Some, however, to show their 
 detestation of paganism, suffered themselves to be signed 
 with the cross, which they called Primsigning. These 
 were not considered either as Christians or heathen ; 
 however, they were allowed to eat with the former, and 
 to be buried close to the churchyard. (From Letters on 
 Iceland, by Uno von Troil, D.D., first Chaplain to his 
 Swedish Majesty, in 1772.) 
 
285 
 
 ARMENIA. 
 
 The Church in Armenia is said to have been founded in 
 the third century of our era, by St. Savorich or Gregory, 
 who converted Taridates, king of that country, by his 
 preaching and miracles. The Armenians are generally 
 considered as Monophysites, or those who confound the 
 two natures of Christ. They have a confession of great 
 antiquity, which they attribute to their apostle of the 
 third century, St. Gregory the Illuminator. Their church 
 government is episcopal, and their clergy are subject 
 to the patriarch, who resides at the great monastery of 
 Echmi}''adzin, about ten miles distant from Erivan. 
 
 The Armenians baptize their children in the following 
 manner : — The officiating priest receives the infant at the 
 church door, which is locked ; he there reads a psalm and 
 several prayers, to which he adds an exorcism, which he 
 repeats three times as he turns himself toward the west. 
 After that, turning himself three times towards the east, 
 he proposes a number of distinct questions on the articles 
 of the Christian faith. Then the door of the church is 
 opened, and they move forward towards the font, where 
 the priest anoints the infant, blesses the water, plunges in 
 the crucifix, and pours into it the chrism. After these 
 ceremonies, the celebrant asks the parents the name they 
 have resolved to give the infant, and on naming it, he 
 plunges it three times, with utmost care and circumspec- 
 tion. The Armenian priests, as well as the Greek, when 
 their fonts are too small, wash the infant all over with 
 their wet hand, in order that the baptismal water may 
 touch each member of the body, and make the child 
 thereby become, as they believe, a second Achilles, invul- 
 nerable in every part, and able to resist, by virtue of this 
 ablution, all the temptations of the devil. 
 
 According to Tournefort, the Armenians baptize their 
 
2 86 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 infants on Sundays only, except they are in danger of 
 death ; and the priest frequently gives them the name of 
 the saint, to whose service that or the following day is 
 peculiarly devoted. After baptism, the godfather carries 
 back the infant to its mother, with drums and trumpets 
 sounding; but it is always carried to the church by the 
 midwife. Upon the reception of her child, the mother 
 prostrates herself to the ground, and the godfather salutes 
 her.* 
 
 The Armenians unite affusion and immersion in the 
 administration of baptism. The following directions are 
 taken from their Ritual, translated from the original into 
 Latin by Assemanus in his Codex Liturgicus: — 
 
 He (the priest) then places the infant in the font, and 
 pours with his hand some water upon his head, saying : — 
 N .... is baptized in the name of the Father, and of the 
 Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; redeemed by the blood of 
 Christ from the slavery of sin, he obtains the liberty of 
 the adoption of the children of our Heavenly Father, that 
 he may become joint-heir with Christ, and a temple of the 
 Holy Ghost, now and for ever, and to ages of ages. This 
 he says thrice and immerses him three times, burying 
 in the water the sins of the old man, and in order to 
 represent the three days' burial of Christ, and His 
 resurrection. He then washes the whole body, and says : 
 As many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have 
 put on Christ. Hallelujah. As many of you as have been 
 illuminated in the Father, the Holy Ghost shall rejoice in 
 you. (Deinde deponit parvulum in fonte, et de ipsa aqua 
 immittit manum supra caput illius, dicens ter : N . . . , 
 Baptizatur in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti, 
 redemptus sanguine Christi a servitute peccatorum, con- 
 sequitur libertatem adoptionis filiorum Patris coelestis, ut 
 
 * Ceremonies et Couiumes Religieuses, par Bernard Picard. 
 
THE GEORGIANS, OR IBERIAKS. 287 
 
 fiat cohaeres Christi, et templum Spiritus Sancti, nunc et 
 semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Haec autem dicens ter 
 mergit, in aqua sepeliendo peccata vetustatis. Significat 
 quoque triduanam Christi sepulturam et resurrectionem. 
 Abluens vero totum corpus, dicit : Qui in Christo bap- 
 tizati estis, Christum induistis. Alleluia. Qui in Patre 
 illuminati estis, Sanctus Spiritus gaudebit in vobis.) 
 
 This Liturgy is also found in a manuscript of the Library 
 of the College Propaganda Fide, in Rome. 
 
 THE GEORGIANS, OR IBERIANS. 
 
 The inhabitants of Georgia, an Asiatic province on the 
 southern slope of the Caucasus, and anciently called 
 Iberia, were converted to Christianity in the fourth cen- 
 tury. The Georgian Church forms an integral part of the 
 orthodox Eastern Church, but is distinguished from the 
 other branches by the peculiarity of delaying the baptism 
 of children until their eighth year. In the performance 
 of that ceremony, they adopt the following method. In 
 the first place, the priest reads a great number of prayers 
 over the child ; and when he comes to that form of words 
 in which, according to the Romish Church, the essence of 
 the sacrament is made to consist, he never breaks off, but 
 reads on without baptizing the child at that time. As 
 soon as the lesson is ended, the child is stripped and 
 baptized by the godfather, and not by the priest, which 
 ceremony is performed with only a repetition of a few 
 words which were pronounced before. When they baptize 
 their children, they confirm them and administer to them 
 the Lord's Supper. {Ceremonies et Coutumes Reltgteuses) 
 
THE MINGRELIANS. 
 
 Mingrelia forms a part of Western Georgia, in Asia, 
 and was ancientl)' called Colchis. The inhabitants of 
 that country call themselves Christians; their service is 
 according to the rites of the Greek Church, with a mixture 
 of Judaism and Paganism. In regard to their baptismal 
 ceremonies, as soon as an infant is born, the papa or 
 priest makes the sign of the cross on his forehead, and 
 eight days afterwards anoints him with the myrone, that 
 is, their consecrated oil ; but he never baptizes him till 
 two years after, and the following form is observed. The 
 child is brought to the church, and presented to t\ie papa, 
 who immediately asks his name, and lights a small wax 
 taper ; after which he reads a long lesson, and repeats 
 several prayers suitable to the occasion. After that the 
 godfather undresses the child, and plunges him naked 
 in a font full of tepid water mixed with walnut-oil, and 
 washes his body all over, the priest taking no share in 
 this part of the ceremony, nor pronouncing a single 
 syllable during the whole of this time. After this general 
 ablution, however, he advances towards the font, and 
 gives the myrone to the godfather to anoint the child. 
 The godfather accordingly anoints his forehead, nose, 
 eyes, ears, breast, the soles of the feet, and the crown of 
 his head. After this ceremony is over, he plunges him 
 again into the font, and offers him a piece of consecrated 
 bread and a small portion of wine. If the child swallows 
 them, it is looked upon as a happy omen. In conclusion, 
 the godfather returns the child to his mother, saying 
 three times : " Yoti delivered him into my hands a Jew, and 
 I return him to you a Christian." {Ceremonies et Coutumes 
 Religieuses) 
 
289 
 
 THE NESTORIANS. 
 
 This is the name of an important and early sect of 
 Christians, the followers of Nestorius, a Syrian by birth, 
 who became patriarch of Constantinople in 428, under 
 the reign of Theodosius II. This prelate agitated the 
 Christian world, after the Arian controversy had been 
 settled, by the introduction of certain subtle disputations 
 concerning the incarnation of Christ, from whence debates 
 and contentions arose which harassed the Church for the 
 space of more than two centuries. He taught that there 
 were two persons in Jesus Christ, and that the Word or 
 Divinity, had not become man, but had descended upon 
 the man Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary, and that the two 
 natures became morally united, as it were, but not hypo- 
 statically joined in one person ; and that when Jesus died, 
 it was the human person, and not the Divinity that 
 suffered. His partisans have continued to this day to 
 form a separate church, which is rather numerous, espe- 
 cially in Mesopotamia, where the patriarch resides at 
 Diarbekr. The Nestorians at one time spread into Persia, 
 and from thence to the coast of Coromandel, where the 
 Portuguese found a community of them at St. Thome, but 
 they persecuted them and obliged them to turn Roman 
 Catholics.* 
 
 The following definition of baptism is taken from the 
 Juval, written by Mar Abd Yeshua, Nestorian Metro- 
 politan of Nisibis and Armenia, A.D. 1298: "Baptism is 
 the immersion in, and the washing with, water, and of this 
 there are five kinds : i . The washing off of the filth of 
 the body, as is commonly done by all men. 2 . The legal 
 
 * Histoire du Nestorianisme, by Father Doucin, a Jesuit, 1698; 
 and a Dissertation on the Syrian Nestorians, in the fourth volume of 
 the Bihliotheca Orientalis, of J. S. Assamanus. 
 
 U 
 
2 90 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 washings, whereby it was believed that purity towards 
 God from all carnal uncleanness was attained. 3. Those 
 of the traditions of the elders, such as ' the washing of 
 cups, and pots, brazen vessels, and tables,' and as ' when 
 they come from the market, except they wash, they eat 
 not.' 4. The baptism of John, whereby he preached only 
 repentance and the forgiveness of sins. 5. The baptism 
 of our Saviour, which is received, through the Holy 
 Ghost, for the gift of adoption, for the resurrection from 
 the dead, and for everlasting life ; which is, ' the circum- 
 cision made without hands, in putting off the body of the 
 sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. For as the 
 circumcision of the flesh was given for a sign denoting 
 those who were of the family of Israel of old according 
 to the flesh, so the baptism of Christ is a sign of spiritual 
 relationship to the new Israel, viz., those who are called, 
 and the children of God ' Those who received Him, 
 to them gave He power to become the sons of God.' 
 
 " The matter of baptism is water, ' Except a man be 
 born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the 
 kingdom of God.' The form of baptism ' in the name of 
 the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,' according to the 
 words of the Saviour. 
 
 " There is also a sixth baptism, that of blood, as our 
 Lord has noticed : ' I have a baptism to be baptized 
 with, and how am I straitened until it is accomplished.' 
 Also a seventh baptism, of tears, after the saying of the 
 Fathers. These two are allied to the fifth, which is an 
 emblem of death and the resurrection." (Chapter iii.) 
 
 The Taxa Samadha, 
 
 or office for the administration of Holy Baptism, according to the 
 Nestorian Ritual. 
 
 Priest. Glory to GoD in the highest, and on earth peace, good 
 will toward men. 
 
 Our Father which art in heaven, etc. 
 
THE TAX A SAMADHA. 2gi 
 
 Prayer. 
 In Thy compassion, O Lord, strengthen our weakness, that we 
 may administer the holy sacraments of sin-forgiving baptism, 
 which were given for the salvation of our race, through the grace 
 of Thy overflowing mercy, O Lord of all, Father, Son, and 
 Holy Ghost. Amen. 
 
 Psalm Ixxxiv. 
 
 Prayer. 
 
 In Thy compassion restore us to Thyself, and make us of Thy 
 household, O Thou righteous Shepherd, who didst go forth to 
 seek after us, and didst find us out in our wanderings, and desired, 
 in Thy grace and mercy, our return, O Lord of all, Father, Son, 
 and Holy Ghost. Amen. 
 
 Then the priest shall pronounce this, laying on hands over those who 
 are to be baptized. Laying his hands on each, he shall say with a 
 loud voice : — 
 
 The promise of Thy mercy, which Thou didst promise us, is 
 fulfilled (Jo be repeated) : Ask, and ye shall receive ; knock, and it 
 shall be opened unto you. The effect surpasses the word spoken, 
 and the fulfilment exceeds the promise ; since Thy gift is not 
 bestowed upon the wise and prudent only, and the door of Thy 
 mercy is not open to them alone, but also unto this Thy servant, 
 whose infancy nature ranks with such as have no understanding, not 
 whom Thy grace has dragged into the life-giving net, and cast 
 into the holy vessel of sin-forgiving baptism, that he may thence 
 be born again spiritually, and grow in faith, and that his body 
 being undefiled by the filth of sin, he may receive an unchanging 
 purification, and become a member of Christ, and be nourished at 
 the table of His sacraments, and that in him bodily stature and 
 spiritual advancement may grow together, and that Thy grace may 
 teach him the power of the world to come, of whichThou dost now 
 give him the figure without his asking it, as Thou hast also opened 
 the door unto him without his requesting it, that with all the true 
 children of Thy sacraments he may thank Thee for the gift which 
 Thou hast imparted to us, and ascribe unto Thee honour, dominion, 
 and worship, now and for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
 Then he shall sign every one of them with the sign of the cross 
 between the eyes with the oil of unction, with his forefinger, signing 
 them from the bottom of the face upwards, and from right to left, 
 saying : — 
 
 A. B. or B. A., be thou signed with the oil of unction, in the 
 name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 
 Amen. 
 
 And as he signs them, all shall enter into the baptistery with censer, 
 lights, cross, Gospel, and all the other utensils, and they shall commence 
 with this hymn : — 
 
 U 2 
 
2 92 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Antiphon. Open unto me the gates of righteousness. The 
 gates of heaven are opened. 
 
 The gates of the spiritual chamber of the Bridegroom are 
 opened for the forgiveness of the sins of men, and through the gift 
 of the Spirit from on high, mercy and peace are now vouchsafed 
 to all mankind. Enter in, therefore, O ye who are called ; enter 
 into the joy which is prepared for you, and with pure and sanctified 
 hearts, and true faith, give thanks unto Christ our Saviour. 
 Glory be to the Father, etc. 
 
 O Thou true Door, open to the lost, and call us to enter Thy 
 treasury on high. 
 
 Then shall he said the following prayer : — 
 
 Gather us, O Lord unto Thyself, and make us to enter into Thy 
 fold, and seal us with Thy sign, and endue our infancy with 
 wisdom through Thy truth, that we may ever praise Thy holy 
 name, O Lord of all. Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen. 
 
 Then they shall chant Psalm xlv. My heart is inditing a good 
 matter, etc, after which the deacons shall say the following : — 
 
 In the depth of contrition and humiliation we oflFer this prayer 
 to the Divine Essence of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the 
 Author and Creator of all things visible and invisible. Who, from 
 the beginning, made man mortal and corruptible for the trial of 
 their free will, and now, in these latter days, has promised them a 
 resurrection from the dead through the advent of the Saviour of 
 all, who, being in the likeness of God, took upon Him the form of 
 a servant, and opened unto us a new life through spiritual signs, 
 having submitted the primogeniture which He took from our race 
 to be baptized by John the preacher in the River Jordan, figuring 
 and disclosing to us, by His own holy baptism, a real resurrection 
 which shall be given to us in reality at the end of the world. 
 And He gave to the holy apostles the holy sacrament of baptism 
 when He sent them to call the Gentiles, and to restore mankind, 
 and He commanded them to hold it as the beginning of faith, and 
 as a schoolmaster in the fear of God, and as the sign of those who 
 should return out of darkness into a knowledge of the truth, and the 
 apostles handed down this ordinance to the priests and to the 
 pastors of Christ's flock, to be to them a sign wherewith to make 
 disciples to all generations. And now behold Thy servants are 
 ready to receive the gift of baptism as a token of their confession 
 of the adorable passion of our Saviour, and that their spirits 
 embrace in faith and love Him who, in the new birth, renews our 
 frame, pardons our sins, and restores us from our fall, and that 
 they wait to become, through the holy sign of sin-forgiving baptism, 
 members and likenesses of Him, who is the Head of the church, 
 and the firstfruits of the dead. And we also supplicate with them, 
 and beseech the compassionate God on their behalf, to make them 
 fit to become incorruptible creatures after the likeness of Christ, 
 
THE TAX A SAMADHA. 293 
 
 who is the firstfruits of the resurrection of life, and that He may 
 send down upon them the gift of the Spirit to strengthen the 
 infirmity of their nature, lest they should in any way doubt the visible 
 sacraments, whereby they receive the unfading benefits to come, 
 and that He may, through the grace of Christ, pour out the efficacy 
 of his gift upon the oil and water wherewith the figure of death and 
 resurrection, and of the heavenly pledge, is consummated. 
 
 Prayer. 
 
 Elect us, in Thy compassion, with a good election, that we may 
 labour before Thee with a spiritual labour, O Thou who didst 
 discover our wanderings ; gather together our dispersions and bring 
 near to Thy house our goings astray, O Lord of all, Father, Son, 
 and Holy Ghost. Amen. 
 
 Then they shall chant Psalm ex. The Lord said unto My Lord, 
 etc. {the sentence. Therefore shall He lift up His head, to he repeated 
 three times). After which the deacon shall say : — 
 
 Let us pray. Kneel. 
 
 Let us humbly thank, and meekly supplicate, and in faith beseech 
 God the Father, who in His great love toward us, sent His only- 
 begotten Son into the world, and by the light of His advent saved 
 us from the errors of darkness in which we stumbled through the 
 works of the devil, who led us away captive. 
 
 With all our heart and mind let us give thanks to the very Son 
 of the essence of the Father, who, of His own will, humbled Him- 
 self, and in His mercy took upon Him our body, and thereby 
 brought us near unto Himself, and renewed us by the truth of His 
 doctrine, and opened unto us the way of light and the path of life. 
 
 With tears of penitence, and with the voice of pure thoughts, let us 
 supplicate Jesus Christ, the physician of souls, who did not despise 
 our pitiable estate, neither was He offended with our putrifying 
 sores ; but in His compassion was long-suffering towards us, and 
 in His gracious mercy waited patiently over our obstinate diseases, 
 and with the medicine of His word cured our stripes, healed our 
 sicknesses, and raised us from our fallings. Whilst our knees are 
 bent in prayer let us give thanks unto Him who humbled Himself 
 to be baptized of John — the voice calling to repentance — not that 
 His purity and holiness needed to be baptized with water, but that 
 He might, through His own holy baptism, sanctify us who are 
 polluted with sin, and that He might sanctify the water, in order 
 that by the hidden power and the weapons of the Spirit, wherewith 
 those are endued who are baptized in faith, Satan, our enemy, 
 may be overcome. 
 
 Let us give thanks to our righteous King, who desireth not 
 the death of a sinner, but rather that he should repent of his sin 
 and live ; and who, in His Gospel, calls upon the penitent, saying : 
 Ask, and a treasure of mercy shall be given you. Let us, there- 
 fore, all we who are the beloved sons of holy baptism, pray for 
 
294 THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 this our son, who is about to receive the sign of life by renouncing 
 the devil and all his works, that he may be perfected in the faith 
 of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and that, he may be made 
 fit to receive this great and wonderful gift of grace, and that he 
 may throw off, through sin-forgiving baptism, the old man, which 
 is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and that he may put on, 
 through the washing of the holy water, the new man which is 
 renewed of God in righteousness and true holiness, that he may 
 be made fit to receive from the holy altar the body and blood of 
 Christ, a pledge of the resurrection to a new life, and that on 
 his account there may be joy among the holy angels in heaven, 
 and throughout the holy church, because he has become one of 
 Christ's flock, and that he may in righteousness and holiness of 
 life keep the gift of the unspeakable mercy which he receives 
 through the Holy Ghost, which shall guide him from this world 
 to the abode of light and life, and that he may become an inheritor 
 of Christ. 
 
 And let us pray also for our holy fathers, Mar , Catholicos 
 
 and Patriarch, and for Mar , Bishop and Metropolitan, who 
 
 are the medium of this great, and wonderful, and incomprehensible 
 gift ; to whom God has been pleased to commit this fountain of 
 life, given in mercy for the forgiveness of the children of men, 
 and through whom it is opened ; which gift was given to them 
 by Him that they might rule over their flocks and the sheep 
 redeemed by the precious blood, committed to their guidance, 
 to be nourished and to be increased by adding to them such as 
 repent, in the rest of the Church, and in peace throughout the 
 world ; so that by keeping them entire, and by overseeing them 
 as is meet, they may be fit to say unto our Lord, with a shining 
 face : Behold, here are we, and the children which Thou hast 
 given us ; we have been kept through Thy compassion. And to 
 hear the voice of our Lord saying unto them : Well done, good 
 and faithful servants, ye have been faithful in little things, 
 therefore great things shall be given unto you. And now let us 
 together ascribe praise to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
 that we may be worthy of the new and never-fading life in the 
 kingdom of heaven through the grace of Christ. 
 
 Rise up by the power of God. 
 
 Prayer. 
 Praise be unto Thee, who hast healed the diseases of our bodies 
 with the oil and water which Thou hast poured into our wounds, 
 and by Thy Spirit, as with a sponge, hast wiped off" the filth of 
 sin from our souls, that Thou mightest make us pure temples of 
 Thy glory, O Lord of all, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. 
 
 Canon. 
 Antiphon. Lord, remember David and all his trouble ; how he 
 sware unto the Lord, and vowed a vow unto the Almighty God 
 of Jacob. 
 
THE TAX A SAMADHA. 295 
 
 Blessed is He who has set up His church after a heavenly 
 figure, filled it with glory, and committed unto it a sin-forgiving 
 baptism for sinners. O Thou Holy One, who didst descend upon 
 Mount Sinai, and didst bless it after a fearful manner, let Thy 
 peace descend upon Thy Church to sanctify it. 
 
 Deacon. Peace be with us. 
 
 Prayer. 
 
 We thank and praise Thee unceasingly in Thy holy Church, 
 which Thou hast filled with all aid and blessing, for all Thy 
 unrequitable benefits and grace towards us, for Thou art the Lord 
 and Creator of all, O Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. 
 
 Prayer. 
 Then shall they {the Priest and Deacon) say as follows : — 
 
 Unto Thee, O Lord of all, we give thanks ; unto Thee, O 
 Christ Jesus our Lord, we off"er praise ; because Thou art He 
 who quickenest our bodies and savest our souls. 
 
 Then they shall pour water into the font sufficient to rise above the 
 head of the person about to be baptized, and shall say : — 
 
 The voice of the Lord is upon the waters ; the glorious God 
 hath thundered. 
 
 Prayer. 
 
 Thou, O Lord, art in truth the quickener of our bodies, and 
 Thou art the righteous Saviour of our souls, and the preserver of 
 our frames continually. Unto Thee, O Lord, we are bound at all 
 times to offer thanksgiving, worship, and praise, O Lord of all. 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. 
 
 Then they shall say : — 
 
 O Holy God, O Holy Mighty, O Holy Immortal, have mercy 
 upon us. 
 
 Prayer. 
 
 Enlighten, O Lord our God, the motions of our thoughts, that 
 we may attend to and understand the sweet sound of Thy life- 
 giving and divine commandments ; and in Thy grace and mercy 
 vouchsafe that we may derive therefrom the fruits of love, hope, 
 and salvation, as may be profitable to our souls and bodies, and 
 we will ever and unceasingly sing praises unto Thee, O Lord of 
 all, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. 
 
 Then the Epistle shall be read by the deacon, saying : — 
 
 The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians. 1 Cor. 
 ix. I, to the end. 
 
 Then shall be said the following anthem. 
 Antiphon. Let the height and depth join with us, and let us 
 
296 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 together give thanks unto the essence which created us, and which 
 shall renew us. 
 
 The friend of the Bridegroom saw among the multitude the 
 living Lamb coming to be baptized, and he cried out in fear and 
 trembling : I have need to be baptized of Thee ; whilst the mul- 
 titude regarded with awe the living sacrament of Baptism. As 
 he was baptizing in Jordan, John beheld a great wonder ; he 
 beheld the Cherubim singing Alleluia, and the Seraphim chanting 
 Holy, Holy, Holy, and the Spirit descending, and the Son being 
 baptized, and the Father declaring : This is My beloved Son, in 
 whom I am well pleased. 
 
 Deacon. Be silent. Peace be with you. 
 
 R. With thee and with thy spirit. 
 
 Priest. The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ from the 
 Gospel of Saint John. St. John ii. 23 to the end, and iii. 1-9. 
 
 R. Praise be unto Christ our Lord. 
 
 Then shall follow two litanies (used also in other offices). 
 Prayer. 
 
 We pray and beseech Thee, O Lord the mighty God, to perfect 
 in us Thy grace, and to pour out through our hands Thy gift, 
 and that Thy pity and compassion may pardon and absolve the 
 iniquities of Thy people, and of all the sheep of Thy flock which 
 in Thy grace and mercy. Thou hast chosen for Thyself, O Lord 
 of all. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. 
 
 Deacon. Bow your heads for the laying-on of hands, and receive 
 ye the blessing. 
 
 Then the priest shall say this, laying-on of hands, silently : — 
 
 O, Thou Treasurer, who dost enrich those who possess Thee, — 
 the rich One who doth not deal unjustly with His servants, — the 
 Lord who doth not neglect those who serve Him, — in Thy com- 
 passion, O Lord, listen to the prayer of Thy servant, and accept, 
 in Thy mercy, the supplication of Thy worshippers, and answer, 
 in Thy pity, the petitions which we offer, out of Thy rich and 
 overflowing treasury, and by Thy grace keep from all evil the flock 
 of Thy beloved people, and cause Thy peace and safety to dwell 
 among them for ever. 
 
 Then, with a loud voice, he shall say : Whilst our souls agree in 
 the one and perfect faith of the glorious Trinity, we all, in one 
 concord of love, are met to ascribe unto Thee praise, honour, 
 glory, and worship, O Thou Lord of all. Father, Son, and Holy 
 Ghost. Amen. 
 
 Deacon. He who is not baptized, let him depart. 
 Then shall be said the following Anthem. 
 
 Ant. Holy and reverend is His name ; there is no end of His 
 greatness. Thy baptism of water sanctifieth our souls, and 
 
THE TAXA SAMADHA. 297 
 
 preacheth our resurrection. The spiritual ones who were with 
 John looked on with wonder when they beheld Him, who sanc- 
 tifieth the nations by His own baptism, receiving baptism at the 
 hands of His servant, in order to free the race of the dying. {To 
 be repeated.) Glory be to the Father, etc. 
 
 In the River Jordan, John baptized the Lamb of God, and as 
 He came up out of the water the Holy Spirit of Truth, in the 
 form of a dove, descended upon the head of our Saviour after 
 His baptism. 
 
 Then the priests and deacons shall stand, some on the right and some 
 on the left, and one of the former shall take the horn in his hand, and 
 shall take his place on the right side of the altar, which is set up in the 
 baptistery ; but if there be no other than the officiating priest present, 
 then the proto-deacon shall take the horn in his hand, and shall stand 
 by the altar, which shall have lights upon it, and shall say : I believe 
 in one God, the Father Almighty, etc. 
 
 Then the priest shall prepare to bless the oil, and shall kneel before 
 the altar, and the deacon shall repeat the Prayer of Commemoration 
 {taken from the Liturgy.) After which, the priest shall say, with a 
 loud voice, as follows : — 
 
 our righteous God, who in the time appointed by Thy 
 wisdom didst conceive a good end to Thy creatures, and according 
 to the desire of Thy mercy didst save them from death, make me 
 a worthy channel of this ministry, — me, whom Thou hast appointed 
 a minister to administer Thy gift. Not because I am blameless, 
 neither because my life maketh me worthy to be sent by Thee, 
 hast Thou chosen me to offer unto Thee the creatures of Thine 
 own formation ; but through Thy unbounded riches and Thy 
 unspeakable mercies, Thou hast ordained that Thy riches should 
 be dispensed by my hands to those who need the gift of Thy 
 grace, that they may receive Thy perfect gift. 
 
 Canon. 
 
 We ascribe unto Thee glory, honour, praise, and worship, now 
 and for ever and ever, and world without end. ( Whilst saying this, 
 the priest shall sign himself with the sign of the cross.) 
 
 Priest. Peace be with you. 
 
 R. With thee and thy spirit. 
 
 Then he shall raise the cloth from the vessel {containing the oil) and 
 shall say : — 
 
 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and 
 the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all, now and for 
 ever and ever. Amen. Whilst repeating this he shall make the sign 
 of the cross over the vessel, and shall say : — 
 
 Lift up your hearts. 
 
 P. Unto Thee, O God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the King 
 of Glory. 
 
298 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Priest. Let us give thanks, worship, and praise to God the 
 Lord of all. 
 
 R. It is meet and right so to do. 
 
 Deacon. Peace be with us. 
 
 Priest {in a low voice). We pray and beseech Thee, who art rich 
 in love, liberal in compassion, benevolent in goodness, and whose 
 glory is unspeakable, our Lord, and Creator, and Benefactor, 
 that by Thy will, O God the Father, and by the will of Thy holy 
 Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, grace from the Holy Ghost, who 
 is perfect in essence of Thee, and one with Thee in substance and 
 in the work of creation, may descend and mingle with this oil, 
 and bestow upon all who shall be anointed therewith, the pledge 
 of the resurrection from the dead, perfect adoption, salvation from 
 the pangs of sin, and joy in the rest of heaven. In Thy wise 
 providence Thou hast raised the minds of men, by the advent of 
 Thine Anointed, to know Thy Trinity, and hast given them spiritual 
 gifts enabling them to attain to the knowledge of faith in Thee. 
 The holy oil which Thou didst give in former days for the ordina- 
 tion of a temporal priesthood and a transitory sovereignty. Thou 
 hast now committed to the priests of the church to be a sign and 
 emblem of those who are translated from earthly things to heavenly 
 in an immortal body and an unchanging spirit, being circumcised 
 thereby with a circumcision without hands, by the throwing 
 off of the body of sin, through the circumcision of Christ, and 
 are thereby made worthy to praise, with fear and trembling, the 
 mighty and sovereign Lord of all, with all the holy and heavenly 
 powers. 
 
 Canon. 
 
 Who, with a loud voice, cry out one to another, saying [here the 
 people join with the priest'), Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts, 
 heaven and earth are full of Thy glory. Hosanna in the highest. 
 Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is He who came and who 
 cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. 
 
 Then the priest shall say with a low voice : — 
 
 And now, O Lord, let this great and divine sacrament be 
 administered by Thy grace, and let the grace of the gift of the 
 Holy Ghost descend upon this oil ; bless it, seal it, and sanctify 
 it, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, that by the 
 power of Thy grace this oil may be for unction, and convey true 
 and perfect sanctification and exalted communion in the kingdom 
 of heaven to all such as shall be anointed therewith, with the life- 
 giving sign, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
 through this baptism which is consummated after the image of the 
 passion, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 Cano7i. 
 
 To whom with Thee and the Holy Ghost we ascribe glory, 
 honour, thanks, and worship, now and for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
THE TAXA SAMADHA. 299 
 
 Here the priest shall sign the oil with the sign of the cross. Then he 
 shall take the horn 0/ unction fro?n the hands 0/ hitn who holds it, and 
 shall sign with oil therefrom the vessel contaitiing the oil on the altar, 
 with the sign of the cross from east to west, and from right to left, and 
 shall say : — 
 
 Let this oil be signed, consecrated, and mixed with this holy oil, 
 that it may be an incorruptible emblem in sin-forgiving baptism, 
 in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 R. Amen. 
 
 Then the priest shall return the horn to him who before had held it, 
 and shall say : — 
 
 Fit us ever, O Lord our God, to stand before Thee with a pure 
 heart, without blame, with open face, and in that favour which was 
 mercifully given to us by Thee, and that we may unitedly call upon 
 Thee, and say : — 
 
 R. Our Father which art in heaven, &c. 
 
 Then they shall draw near to the font, and shall stand on the right 
 and left of it, with one carryitig the censer ; and they shall place the 
 cross and Gospel upon the font, towards the east, until the water is 
 blessed ; and they shall remove the cloth which covered the font, and the 
 priest shall kneel. Then shall the deacofi say : — 
 
 Let us pray. Peace be with us. 
 
 {J2anon said by the priest.^ 
 
 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and 
 the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore. 
 Amen. {Here he shall sign the water with the sign of the cross.) 
 
 Deacon. Mentally pray that peace may be with us. 
 
 Priest {in a low voice). May the necessities of Thy creatures be 
 supplied, O our Creator, through Thy grace, which is a fountain 
 of the water of life, and may petitions such as are meet, be 
 offered up unto Thee that they may bring down liberal gifts, and 
 that from the riches of Thy great mercy we may obtain help to the 
 rest and confirmation of our nature. In Thy inscrutable wisdom 
 Thou didst bring us into this world with a corruptible origin, and 
 when it pleased Thee Thou didst make known to us the doctrine 
 of our renewal and regeneration through our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 who in His baptism figured forth our resurrection from the dead, 
 and commanded us to impart, in the sacrament of baptism, a new 
 and spiritual life to those who believe. The Holy Ghost, of Thy 
 glorious essence — He who descended and rested upon our Saviour 
 when He prefigured this baptism — through the visible water, and 
 according to His will, renews our old creation, and in His grace 
 communicates to us an incorruptible pledge. May that same Spirit 
 descend, O Lord, upon this water, that it may be efficacious for 
 the help and salvation of him who is to be baptized therein. 
 
3O0 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Deacon. In fear and silence stand and pray. Peace be with us. 
 
 Canon {by the priest in a loud voice). That, becoming perfect in 
 body and soul, he may ascribe unto Thee glory, honour, praise, 
 and worship, now and for ever and ever. 
 
 Here the priest shall sign the water, and he shall then take the horn of 
 the holy oil of unction, and shall sign the water with the sign of the 
 cross with the oil therein contained, and shall say : — 
 
 May this water be signed and blessed with the holy oil, that it 
 may become a new and spiritually regenerating bosom through 
 sin-forgiving baptism, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
 and of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 i?. Amen. 
 
 Priest. This holy thing is meet for the one and Divine essence. 
 
 R. The one Father is holy, the one Son is holy, the one Holy 
 Ghost is holy. Glory be to the Father, to the Son, and to the 
 Holy Ghost, He who is holy for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
 Deacon. Praise the living God. 
 
 Then shall he said one of the hymns appointed for Epiphany, lest the 
 congregation should be unemployed ; and the priest, who consecrates, is to 
 stand by the vessel containing the oil, and another by the font, with their 
 faces turned towards the east, and the deacons shall bring the children 
 into the baptistery undressed, their earrings, rings, and bracelets having 
 been taken off, and they shall inquire the names to be given to the children, 
 and shall communicate the same to the priest. The deacons shall then 
 bind up their loins, and shall place their stoles under the vessel containing 
 the oil. And every child who is admitted shall be provided with a napkin 
 to be wrapped in after baptism, which shall he carried by the deacon on 
 his shoulder. And when the children are brought in, the priest shall 
 sign every one of them with the sign of the cross upon the breast, with his 
 three fingers, from below upwards, and from right to left, and shall 
 say : — 
 
 A. B., Be thou anointed in the name of the Father, and of the 
 Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. {To signify that the 
 knowledge of the Trinity is sealed to him from on high!) 
 
 Then those present shall carefully and properly anoint all over the 
 person of him whom the priest anointed, and they shall turn him so that 
 all his back may be anointed, and they shall not leave ahy part of him 
 unanointed. Then they shall take him to the priest standing by the 
 font, who shall place him therein, with his face to the east, and he 
 shall dip him therein three times, saying at the first time: A. B., be 
 thou baptized in the name of the Father. R. Amen. The 
 second time: In the name of the Son. R. Amen. And at the 
 third time : In the name of the Holy Ghost. R. Amen. In 
 dipping him he shall dip up to the neck, and then put his hand upon 
 him so that his head may be submerged. Then the priest shall take him 
 out of the font, and give him to the deacon, who shall wrap him in a 
 white napkin, and commit him to his godfathers. Then his clean clothes 
 
THE TAX A SAMADHA. 301 
 
 shall be put on, hut his head must be left bare until the priest shall 
 bind on his head-dress after the last signing ; and the same shall be 
 done with all the infants one after the other. But take heed, my brethren, 
 and be very careful that you do not take the infants into the bema, as 
 some do who have no understanding ; for this is highly improper, and 
 note that great circumspection and chastity must be exercised in the 
 anointing of female children. 
 
 After those who have been baptized are dressed, the priest shall come 
 forth through the great door of the bema, and with him the deacons 
 with the cross, Gospel, censer, lights, and the horn of unction, and he 
 shall cause the baptized to be brought near to the door of the bema, and 
 say this 
 
 Prayer. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Lord, who hast chosen Thy church in Thy 
 Christ, and hast adorned her with Thy heavenly adornment, and 
 hast made of her children treasures to distribute Thy riches to such 
 as are in need of them, O Lord of all. Father, Son, and Holy 
 Ghost. Amen. 
 
 Glory be to the Most High, who descended and took the body 
 of our humiliation, and made it His in everything appertaining to 
 His Divinity, and promised that thereby we all should become 
 heirs of His glory, and conformed to the image of His honour, O 
 Lord of all, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. 
 
 Canon. 
 
 Ant. O come, let us sing unto the Lord, let us heartily rejoice 
 in the strength of our salvation. Let us come before His presence 
 with thanksgiving, and show ourselves glad in Him with psalms. 
 For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In 
 His hands are all the corners of the earth, and the strength of the 
 hills is His also. The sea is His, and He made it, and His hands 
 prepared the dry land. O come, let us worship and fall down, and 
 kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is the Lord our God, 
 and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand. 
 
 The Lord, by His baptism, has mercifully delivered us from 
 error, sin, and death ; let us, therefore, worship and praise Him. 
 O Thou who didst say in Thy Gospel, Knock, and I will open ; 
 open the door to our prayers. 
 
 Prayer. 
 
 Accept, O Lord, in Thy mercy, the sheep and lambs which have 
 been signed with Thy holy sign, and write their names among the 
 church of the first-begotten in heaven, that they may ever praise 
 and worship Thy Holy Trinity, O Lord of all. Father, Son, 
 and Holy Ghost. Amen. 
 
 Then the priest shall say this confirmation in a loud voice, moving his 
 hand the meanwhile from one to another. 
 
 O Lord, great are the wonderful works of Thy providence, our 
 
302 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 nature is incapable of uttering them. In the beginning of our 
 creation we contemned the honour of our free will through the 
 temptation of Satan, who led us away captive, and we have done 
 despite to the confession of Thy divinity by worshipping that 
 which was not God ; but Thy mercy did not leave us to the 
 destruction which we deserved through our wickedness, but by the 
 appearance of Thy only-begotten Son Thou didst restore us to 
 Thyself, and didst make us worthy to know Thee, and hast raised 
 up our fallen nature by taking a primogeniture from us, and hast 
 made us inheritors of unfading blessings to come. And when the 
 time arrived when we looked for Him to give us the gift of 
 adoption for the salvation of our bodies, Thou didst impart to us 
 the pledge of comfort in the grace of the Holy Ghost, which is 
 conveyed to us through the holy sacraments of spiritual baptism, 
 even as this Thy servant has to-day come forward and taken Thy 
 gift, and thereby has been loosed from the torment of sin, and has 
 become a pure member of the body of Christ, who is the origin of 
 our life, and has obtained the hope that Thy grace will keep him 
 in chastity of living, and purity of conversation, so that, being 
 filled with faith and righteousness, he shall finally attain unto the 
 glorious appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ, and exult in a 
 new and unfading life, and ascribe unto Thee glory, honour, praise, 
 and worship, now and for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
 This prayer of confirmation shall be said over one or over many. 
 Then he shall sign every one with the sign of the cross, saying : — 
 
 The pledge of the Holy Ghost which thou hast received {or, 
 which ye have received), and the sacrament of Christ, of which 
 thou hast partaken {or, of which ye have partaken), and His life- 
 giving sign which thou hast received {or, which ye have received), 
 and the new life unto which thou hast attained {or, unto which ye 
 have attained), and the weapons of righteousness which thou hast 
 put on {or, which ye have put on), keep thee {or, you) from all 
 evil, and from the powers thereof, and sanctify thee {or, you) in 
 holiness ; and may the sign which thou hast {or, which ye have) 
 taken, be unto thee {or, you) for unfading benefits to come at the 
 appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ from heaven ; and in the 
 new world may He place thee {or, you) on His right hand, when 
 thou shalt {or, ye shall) ascribe unto Him glory, honour, praise, 
 and worship, for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
 Then he shall sign them betwixt their eyes with the sign of the cross 
 with the thumb of his right hand, from above downwards, and from 
 right to left, saying : — 
 
 A. B. is baptized and confirmed {or, perfected) in the name of 
 the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. 
 
 Then they shall re-enter the baptistery, and begin* with the following 
 anthem : — 
 
 Ant. Holy and reverend is His name. 
 
THE TAX A SAMADHA. 303 
 
 Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy 
 kingdom come, Thy will be done. 
 
 Ant. He is the Lord our God. 
 
 There is one Lord, one Father, and one baptism for the 
 remission of sins. 
 
 Ant. Thou art God above all gods. 
 
 Our King is with us ; our God is with us ; our help is in the 
 God of Jacob. 
 
 Ant. Blessed are the people who are in such a state. 
 
 Blessed are the people who have the Lord for their God. 
 
 Ant. For He is one God. 
 
 O Christ, who wast baptized, and who appearedst and gavest 
 light to all, let Thy peace dwell with Thy elect people. 
 
 Ant. Create in me a clean heart, O God. 
 
 O Christ, grant that with a clean heart, and with good works, 
 we may perfect Thy will. 
 
 Ant. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 In the Jerusalem above, before the seat of Christ, there may 
 the names of Thy servants be written. 
 
 Ant. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world 
 without end. 
 
 The Epiphany, O Lord, has given joy to the creation, the 
 pledge of blessings, and life everlasting. 
 
 Then the priest shall take the horn, and, standing over the font, he 
 shall pour hack the oil that was in the vessel, into the horn, and should 
 any oil remain attached to the vessel he shall throw it into the font, 
 saying ; — 
 
 It is meet, O Lord, that we should ever offer praise, honour, 
 glory, and worship, to Thy adorable Trinity, for the gift of Thy 
 holy sacraments, which, in Thy mercy, Thou hast given us for the 
 forgiveness of sins, O Lord of all, Father, Son, and Holy 
 Ghost. Amen. 
 
 Or this. 
 
 Blessed is that Majesty, which is worshipped in the highest. 
 O Thou who forgivest our iniquities and our sins, and who wipest 
 out our transgressions through Thy glorious, holy, life-giving, and 
 divine sacraments, O Christ, the hope of our race, now and for 
 ever. Amen. 
 
 Concluding Prayer. 
 
 Let us offer unto Thee glory, honour, praise, and worship, O 
 Thou highest who descendedst, and tookest the body of our 
 humiliation, and raadest us one with Thee in everything, and pro- 
 misedst that Thou wouldest make us inheritors of Thy glory and 
 heirs of Thy inheritance, by making us partakers of Thy excellency. 
 Let Thy mercy and peace ever dwell with us all ; and now unto 
 Thee, through Thee with the Father and the Holy Ghost, be 
 praise. Amen. 
 
304 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Prayer for loosing the water (from its previous sanclification.) 
 
 Thou, O Lord, art blessed, holy, and immortal, and Thy depth is 
 past finding out. In Thy own will Thou didst create us, and when 
 we called upon Thee Thou didst not deny unto us Thy gift, but 
 didst send to us the Holy Ghost, and this water was sanctified by 
 Amen, and by the same Amen it is loosed from its sanctity and 
 returns to its former nature. For all these Thy mercies towards 
 us, we would ascribe unto Thee glory, honour, praise, and worship, 
 now and for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
 He shall not sign the water with the sign of the cross, hut shall insert 
 his hand into it, and shall wash the vessel with the water of the fordan 
 {^font), then stir the water about, and quickly withdraw his hand as if 
 he was taking something therefrom. Then he shall pour a little plain 
 water into the font, and the priest who had administered the rite 
 of baptism, and those who had anointed, and all who had taken any 
 part therein, shall wash the vessel, and their hands and face also in 
 the font ; then the water shall he poured out into a clean place which is 
 not trod upon. If there he an outlet in the font, the water shall be let 
 out therefrom, in order that it may not be trampled on, as it is when it 
 is poured over the body of the church by those who lack knowledge. And 
 if any other person should come to be baptized, this same water is not to 
 be used ; but fresh water is to be brought. And be it known that with- 
 out consecration {of the water) no baptism is to be administered, except 
 in the case of one in the article of death. 
 
 The Chaldeans, who are in communion with the Church 
 of Rome, have made several alterations in the above 
 office, the principal of which are : first, the addition of 
 the renunciations, profession of faith, and the concluding 
 answers made by the sponsors on the part of the person 
 about to be baptized, which have been taken chiefly from 
 the Roman ritual ; and, secondly, the use of meiroom, or 
 chrism, after the prayer of confirmation. It has been 
 seen that the oil of unction is used by the Nestorians only 
 before baptism, and that the invocation for grace with 
 imposition. of hands, and the sign of the cross, withoul oil, 
 form the principal rites of confirmation with them. The 
 Chaldeans have preserved the former anointing entire, 
 but after the imposition of hands, the officiating priest is 
 directed to anoint the baptized person a second time, as 
 follows : — 
 
THE DISCIPLES OF ST. JOHN. 305 
 
 Then the priest shall sign the infant with the ointment of the holy 
 chrism, with the thumb of his right hand, between the eyes, from the 
 chin upwards, and from right to left, saying : — 
 
 I anoint thee with the sacrament of confirmation, and with the 
 chrism of salvation, in the name of the Father, of the Son, and 
 of the Holy Ghost. Amen. 
 
 Then he shall bind a crown on his head, and shall say : — 
 May the crown of A. B. be bound for joy and exultation, and for 
 days of rejoicing, now and for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
 Then the priest shall pray as follows, with his hand laid upon the 
 baptized person. "The pledge," &c., as in the Nestorian office* 
 
 THE DISCIPLES OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 The Disciples of St. John are an ancient Eastern sect 
 found on the borders of Persia and Arabia, but chiefly at 
 Bassora and the district around. They amount to about 
 twenty-five thousand families. Another branch, calling 
 themselves Galileans, exists in Syria, but is much smaller 
 in number. Their origin is involved in obscurity. They 
 claim the Baptist as their founder. The religion of this 
 sect seems to be a compound of the Jewish, Christian, and 
 Mahomedan. They originally inhabited the country 
 about Jordan, but some time after the death of Mahomet, 
 the persecutions of his successors, the Caliphs, obliged 
 them to fly for refuge into Mesopotamia and Chaldea. 
 They did not fix their residence in any city or town that 
 is not built upon the banks of some river. Their creed is 
 contained in a book which they call the Divan. They call 
 themselves by the name of Mendai-Jahia, that is, the 
 Disciples of St. John, and afiirm that they have received 
 from him their faith, their religious books and customs. 
 They celebrate a solemn festival once a year, which is 
 continued five days successively, when all, young and 
 old, flock to their patriarch and are baptized in a flowing 
 
 * The Nestorians and their Rituals, by G. T. Badger. 
 
 X 
 
306 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 river by him. They never baptize in any place but in 
 rivers, and at no time but on Sunday. The infant, before 
 he is baptized, is brought to church, when the bishop 
 reads some prayers over it, suitable to the occasion. 
 The child is thence carried to a river, where both the 
 men and women who are present at the ceremony go 
 up to their knees in water with the bishop. The form 
 of baptism runs thus :— " In the name of the Lord, the 
 first and most ancient of the world, the Almighty, who 
 knew all our actions before the beginning of light, &c. 
 
 After that, he throws water upon the infant three 
 times successively, and as soon as he or some priest, his 
 attendant, begins to read again, the godfather, who has 
 the child in his arms, plunges him into the water. This 
 ceremony of baptism is performed, as is evident, in the 
 name of God only, for they do not acknowledge Jesus 
 Christ to be God or the Son of God, but look on Him 
 as a person far inferior to John the Baptist. It is said, 
 however, that they call Him, as the Mahomedans, the 
 Spirit of God. {Ceremonies Religieuses) 
 
 PERSIA. 
 
 There are vast numbers of Armenian Christians in 
 Persia, whose religion is tolerated. Their former country 
 of Armenia is now the province of Erivan. In baptism 
 they immerse, but do not sprinkle. The priest must 
 officiate in his sacerdotal garb, with a crown on his head, 
 and must have two assistants in holy vestments also, but 
 without crowns. {An account of the East Indies, by Captain 
 Alexander Hamilton, 1688 to 1723.) 
 
 In the province of Mingrelia, they anoint the fore- 
 heads of their children with the oil called myrone as 
 
THE ABYSSINIANS. 307 
 
 soon as they are born, but baptize them not till a long 
 time after, and then they wash them all over with water. 
 {Travels into Persia, by Sir John Chardin.) 
 
 THE ABYSSINIANS. 
 
 The inhabitants of Abyssinia are supposed to have 
 received the Gospel from the Ethiopian Eunuch, or Prime 
 Minister of their Queen Candace, although their general 
 conversion to Christianity was not effected before the 
 middle of the fourth century, when Frumentius visited 
 that country in 333. They are described as a branch of 
 the Copts or Jacobites, with whom they agree in admitting 
 but one nature in Jesus Christ, and rejecting the Council 
 of Chalcedon ; on which account they are also called 
 Eutychians and Monophysites. The term Copt properly 
 applies only to those Christians who live in Egypt, Nubia, 
 and the countries adjacent. The Abyssinian Church is 
 governed by a bishop, or metropolitan, styled Abuna, who 
 is appointed by the Coptic patriarch of Alexandria, 
 residing at Cairo. The churches are very numerous, 
 owing to the prevalence of the opinion among the great, 
 that whoever leaves a fund to build a church, or has 
 erected one during his life, makes a sufficient atonement 
 for all his sins. They are usually erected on eminences, 
 in the vicinity of running water, in order to afford 
 facilities for the purifications and ablutions, which the 
 Abyssinians practise according to the Levitical law. 
 Many of the ceremonies and observances in their mode of 
 worship are obviously derived from the ceremonial rites 
 of the Jewish religion. The religion of the Abyssinians 
 is, in reality, a strange compound of Judaism, Christianity, 
 and superstition. They practise circumcision, observe 
 both Saturday and Sunday as Sabbaths, and eat no meats 
 
 X 2 
 
308 THE ARCH.S;OLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 prohibited by the law of Moses. Their festivals and 
 saints are numberless. 
 
 The Christians of Abyssinia baptize infants, but not 
 before the boys are forty days old and the girls eighty, 
 and as soon as an infant has been baptized, the com- 
 munion is administered to him. Mr. Salt describes a 
 baptism at which he was present, and the ceremonial 
 appears so singular that we shall copy his own statement. 
 "The officiating priest was habited in white flowing robes, 
 with a tiara, or silver-mounted cap on his head, and he 
 carried a censer with burning incense in his right hand ; 
 a second of equal rank was dressed in similar robes, 
 supporting a large golden cross ; while a third held 
 in his hand a small phial containing a quantity of 
 consecrated oil, which is furnished to the Church of 
 Abyssinia by the patriarch of Alexandria. The attendant 
 priests stood round in the form of a semicircle, the 
 boy being placed in the centre, and our party ranged 
 in front. After a few minutes' interval, employed in 
 singing psalms, some of the priests took the boy and 
 washed him all over very carefully in a large basin of 
 water. While this was passing, a smaller font, called 
 me-te-mak (which is always kept outside of the churches, 
 owing to an unbaptized person not being permitted to 
 enter the church), was placed in the middle of the area, 
 filled with water, which the priest consecrated by prayer, 
 waving the incense repeatedly over it, and dropping into 
 it a portion of the meiron, or consecrated oil, in the shape 
 of a cross. The boy was then brought back, dripping 
 from head to foot, and again placed naked and upright 
 in the centre ; and was required to renounce the devil and 
 all his works, which was performed by his repeating a 
 given formula four separate times, turning each time 
 towards a different point of the compass. The godfather 
 was then demanded, and on my being presented, I named 
 
THE ABYSSINIANS. 309 
 
 the boy George, in honour of his present majesty, when I 
 was requested to say the Belief and the Lord's Prayer, and 
 to make much the same promises as those required by our 
 own church. The head priest afterwards laid hold of the 
 boy, dipping his own hand into the water, and crossed 
 him on the forehead, pronouncing at the same moment, 
 ' George, I baptize thee, in the name of the Father, Son, 
 and Holy Ghost' The whole company then knelt down, 
 and joined in reciting the Lord's Prayer." 
 
 We find the following account of the ceremony of 
 baptism in M. Picard's interesting work Les Ceremonies 
 et Coutumes Religieuses : — 
 
 "The mother, dressed in her best clothes, attends at the 
 church door with her infant in her arms. Then the priest 
 who officiates, pronounces several long prayers for a 
 blessing on them both, beginning with those peculiarly 
 appropriated to the mother. Afterwards he conducts 
 them into the church, and anoints the infant six times 
 with the oil consecrated for exorcisms. These first 
 unctions are accompanied with- thirty-six others, ad- 
 ministered with galilacum or catechumen's oil, each 
 on a distinct part of the infant's body. After this, he 
 blesses the font, pouring consecrated oil into it twice, 
 and making, each time, three different signs of the cross 
 with myrone, all of which ceremonies are accompanied 
 with several long prayers. As soon as the benediction 
 of the font is over, he plunges the infant into it three 
 times successively. At the first, he dips one-third part 
 of the infant's body into the water, saying, / baptize 
 thee in the name of the Father; he then dips him lower, 
 about two-thirds, adding : / baptize thee in the name of 
 the Son; the third time he plunges him all over, saying : 
 / baptize thee in the name of the Holy Ghost. Confirmation 
 and the Eucharist are administered after this baptism, 
 which is solemnized before the mass. 
 
3IO THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 "The myron, or meiron, just mentioned, is their chrism ; 
 and the galilacum is the oil of their catechumens. The 
 former is consecrated by the patriarch with certain cere- 
 monies, which it would be tedious here to enumerate, but 
 •there is little or no variation in them from those observed 
 by the Greeks. After the benediction of the new meiron, 
 the old is distributed amongst the bishops. The patriarch 
 of the Copts sends some of it to the metropolitan of 
 Abyssinia, and the emperor is consecrated with it. The 
 galilacum is an oil, which, after it has been employed in 
 scouring the vessels in which the meiron was contained, 
 becomes sanctified by its intermixture with the drops of 
 the meiron remaining in them. 
 
 " In case the infant should be sick, they bring it to the 
 church, and lay it on a cloth spread before the font, into 
 which the priest dips his hands three times and rubs the 
 infant all over with them, wet as they are, from head to 
 foot. If the infant happens to be carried to church in the 
 evening, or at any other time when there is no mass, the 
 mother tarries there with her infant till the next day, that 
 the babe may receive the communion. This custom is 
 observed because baptism can be administered in no 
 place but in the church, and by the ministry of a 
 bishop or a priest. If the infant be indisposed, and it 
 be dangerous to carry it to church, the priest attends 
 at the parent's house, where, after pronouncing several 
 prayers for the mother, and performing the six unctions 
 of exorcism on the infant, he asks it three times whether 
 it believes in one God in Three Persons. When its 
 sponsors have answered, Yes, he then pronounces a 
 few prayers more, and after giving the benediction, 
 immediately withdraws. This ceremony is grounded on 
 one of the Coptic canons which says, 'that if an infant 
 dies after the last unction, or even after the first, such 
 anointing has the same prevailing power and virtue 
 
THE COPTS. 3 I I 
 
 as a regular baptism ; and the infant is in a state of 
 salvation.' " 
 
 The Abyssinians also practise an annual ablution, 
 which they term baptism, and which they consider 
 necessary to wash away the defilement of sin. This 
 general ablution takes place on the festival of Epiphany^ 
 in commemoration of Christ's baptism. Father Alvarez 
 describes it as follows : — 
 
 "On the 4th of July, 1521," he says, "the Abyssinian 
 priests assembled in a numerous body, on the vigil or eve 
 of this festival, and sang all night, in order to bless the 
 lake, into which they threw some holy water. The king 
 himself came there at midnight, and was first baptized 
 himself, then the queen, and then the abuna. The 
 conservatory of water in which they were baptized, was a 
 large square enclosed font, covered over with an oil-cloth. 
 There were six steps to go down into it. The water was 
 conveyed into it through a pipe, at the mouth of which a 
 bag was fastened to receive and refine it. The crowd was 
 very great in the morning. A venerable old man stood 
 up to the shoulders in the water, and plunged every one 
 that came to him, saying, / baptize thee in the name of the 
 Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. They were 
 all stripped, and entirely naked ; those who were of low 
 stature did not go down to the bottom of the steps." * 
 
 THE COPTS. 
 
 This is the name given to the Christian descendants of 
 the ancient Egyptians. With the exception of a small 
 proportion who profess the Romish or Greek faith, 
 the Copts are Christians of the sect called Jacobites, 
 
 Relazione di un viaggio in Africa. 
 
312 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Eutychians, Monophysites, and Monothelites, whose creed 
 was condemned by the Council of Chalcedon, A.D. 451. 
 The Coptic version of the New Testament is valuable on 
 account of its antiquity, dating, according to several 
 critics, as early as the third century, and not later than the 
 fifth, at the lowest computation. The number of churches 
 and convents in ruins proves that the Copts were once far 
 more numerous than at present ; they number about one 
 hundred and fifty thousand, and nearly ten thousand of 
 them reside at Cairo. Their hierarchy consists of a 
 patriarch, a metropolitan of the Abyssinians, bishops, 
 arch-priests, priests, deacons, and monks. The patriarch 
 is styled " Patriarch of Alexandria," but generally resides 
 in Cairo. The metropolitan of Abyssinia, who always 
 resides within his diocese, is appointed by the patriarch, 
 and retains his office for life. The number of Coptic 
 churches and convents is said to amount to one hundred 
 and forty-six, but the former are few in comparison with 
 the latter. The seven great festivals are as follows : — 
 The nativity of Christ, Baptism, the Annunciation, Palm 
 Sunday, Easter, the Ascension, and Whitsuntide. Baptism 
 is practised under a belief that if the ceremony be omitted, 
 the child will be blind in the next world.* 
 
 " On the occasion of the administration of baptism, the 
 Copts celebrate a mass after midnight, accompanied with 
 sundry prayers. After they have sung for some time, 
 the deacons carry the children to the altar, who are there 
 anointed with chrism, to signify the putting on of the new 
 man. That part of the ceremony being closed, they begin 
 to sing again, and anoint the neophytes a second time, 
 signing them with thirty-seven different crosses, which is 
 
 * Description de F Egypie, par Denon ; Didymi Taurinensis, Lite.- 
 ralurcB Copiicts Rudimcntwn ; Account of the Manners and Customs of 
 liTodern Egyptians, written in Egj'pt during the years 1833-35, by 
 Edward W. Lane, 2 vols. London, 1835. 
 
THE COPTS. 313 
 
 looked upon as a kind of exorcism. Then they continue 
 their singing, and the women who are present at the 
 ceremony make loud noises as a demonstration of their 
 joy. In the meantime water is prepared and put into the 
 baptismal fonts. The officiating priest now blesses the 
 water, pouring chrism into it in the form of a cross. 
 After this he takes the infant with one hand, by the right 
 arm and the left leg, and with the other by the left arm 
 and the right leg ; making a sort of cross with the limbs 
 of the infant, who is dressed on that occasion in a little 
 white vestment. During the ceremony the priests both 
 read and sing all the time, and the women make loud 
 acclamations or rather hideous howlings. In conclusion, 
 the priest breathes three times upon the face of the child, 
 in order that he may receive, as they imagine, the Holy 
 Ghost. As soon as the child is baptized, the priest 
 administers to him the Eucharist, and this he does by 
 dipping his finger into the chalice, and putting it after- 
 wards into the infant's mouth. At the end of all these 
 ceremonies, the wax tapers are lighted, and a procession 
 is made round the church, all the assistants singing as 
 they move along. The deacons carry the children in their 
 arms, and the priests march before them, the men and 
 women v/ho assist at the ceremony coming after. The 
 latter continue their howlings all the time.* 
 
 "The Coptic Church is something like the Greek Church 
 in its ceremonies. At baptism they plunge the child three 
 times into the water, and then confirm it, and give it 
 the sacrament, that is, the wine ; the priest dipping the 
 end of his finger in it, and putting it to the child's mouth, 
 which is done after they have administered the sacrament, 
 
 for they do not keep the consecrated mysteries 
 
 If the child happens to be sick, before it is baptized, it 
 
 * Ceranonies d Coutumcs Religieuses. 
 
314 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 is brought to church, for they cannot baptize out of the 
 church ; they lay the child on a cloth near the font, and 
 the priest dips his hands in the water, and rubs it all over. 
 If the child is so ill that it cannot be brought to church, 
 they then only anoint, according to the form they have 
 for this purpose, which they say is good baptism." (From 
 Travels in Egypt, by Richard Pococke, LL.D., F.R.S. 
 London, 1743.) 
 
 Independently of the festivals observed by the Greeks, 
 the Copts have, as we have already said, their Epiphany. 
 The following description of the ceremony performed on 
 that occasion is taken from Father Vansleb's narrative, he 
 was an eye witness (although, perhaps, a prejudiced one) 
 of that festival at Old Cairo. He says : — " As soon as the 
 midnight service was over, which was read at the con- 
 servatory of water in which they were to plunge, the 
 patriarch withdrew to the vestry, whence he returned 
 in a short time, dressed in all his pontifical robes, and 
 attended by a priest and a deacon with his cope on. The 
 former officiated in his alb, and the latter carried a steel 
 cross. As soon as they reached the conservatory, the 
 patriarch began his benediction of the water by reading 
 several lessons, some in the Coptic language, and others 
 in the Arabic, out of the Old and New Testaments. After- 
 wards he purified the water, and stirred it several times 
 crosswise with his pastoral staff. The priests, who were 
 present, repeated the same ceremony after him. During 
 this benediction, there was a large iron sconce with three 
 branches, about six feet high, and in each of them a wax 
 candle burning. After the benediction, the congregation 
 were allowed to plunge themselves, or were plunged into 
 the conservatory ; and as the three who could get there 
 first had the privilege of being dipped by the patriarch 
 himself, one can imagine the hurry and confusion which 
 this act of devotion must create, when no regard was paid 
 
THE COPTS. 315 
 
 to common decency nor to modest behaviour. After all 
 the men had been plunged in this holy water, they with- 
 drew into the choir, and the women moved afterwards 
 with the same irregularity, to bear a part in this immodest, 
 religious ordinance, which may justly be compared to the 
 lewd and dissolute festivals of the Pagans." 
 
 Fig. 60. Plan of the Coptic Churgh, Old Caiko. 
 A. Altar. B. Baptistery. C. C. Entrance. 
 
 In his description of the ancient Coptic churches at 
 Old Cairo, Rev. Alfred Charles Smith says : — " What 
 answers to our ante-chapel at the extreme of the nave, 
 contains beneath a large trap-door a broad and deep tank, 
 called " the Well for Epiphany immersions," and in which 
 at that festival men and boys dip in commemoration of 
 
3l6 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 our blessed Lord's baptism The baptistery is 
 
 usually a small side apartment, generally very dark, with 
 a sunk font; in this the baptized are immersed, sprinkling 
 only with water being unknown."* 
 
 Rev. Dr. Bitting informs us that "in the Coptic 
 church, Aboo Sirgeh, at Old Cairo, there is a baptistery 
 of parallelogram shape, sunk in the floor of the court 
 opposite the altar. It measures inside seven feet and 
 eleven inches in length, five feet nine inches in width, and 
 is four feet two inches deep. It seems to be masonry 
 faced with stone." The preceding sketch (Fig. 60) 
 represents a plan of that interesting church, taken 
 during our recent journey in the East. 
 
 THE MARONITES. 
 
 The term Maronites is the ecclesiastical, and now 
 national, name of a Syrian tribe anciently known as the 
 Mardaites, and inhabiting the slopes of Lebanon and 
 Anti-Lebanon. Their present name is derived from one 
 Maro or Maron, an abbot who lived in the fifth century, 
 and whose life was written by Theodoret. Although in 
 union with Rome, they have not made an unconditional 
 surrender of their church liberties. While acknowledging 
 a titular supremacy in the pope, they have always elected 
 their own hatrak, or patriarch, and they still retain their 
 own liturgical customs. 
 
 The Maronites preserve no water in their fonts, which 
 has been consecrated on Easter-eve for the administration 
 of baptism, according to the custom of the Romish 
 Church ; but whenever any one is to be baptized, they 
 bless the water with a great number of prayers ; then they 
 
 * The Nik and Us Banks, 2 vols. 
 
THE MARONITES. 31 7 
 
 plunge the neophytes three times in the water, which is 
 previously made warm. They never use any salt, and 
 they not only anoint the head, but also the breast, with 
 the palms of their hands. They, moreover, anoint their 
 bodies from head to foot. Besides this unction, which is 
 performed before baptism, they have another after it, 
 which is, properly speaking, the confirmation amongst 
 the Eastern nations; but that custom has been nearly 
 abolished ever since the reconciliation with the Romish 
 Church. At baptism, the godfather never holds the infant 
 at the font; when dipped, the priest takes it out and 
 wraps it up in a linen cloth. 
 
 The Maronites make use during the ceremony of 
 baptism, of the liturgy of James of Edessa,* which was 
 also the form authorized by Gregory Abu'lfaraj. 
 
 In this baptismal office, after the Gloria, and a short 
 'introduction, there follows the 51st Psalm, the Baptismal 
 Psalm of the Syriac Church, and a Canon. 
 
 "Have mercy upon me, O God. Astonishment came upon me 
 nigh to Jordan, and I saw a marvel, how the glorious Bridegroom 
 appeared, that He might make a feast for the Bride and might 
 sanctify her. 
 
 " Wash me thoroughly. I beheld Him, my brother, full of 
 marvels, and the crowds that stood before Him, and Christ the 
 Bridegroom, who was revealed to the son of the barren, that he 
 might be baptized by him. 
 
 " Before Thee, Thee only. The Bride is ready, yet she knoweth 
 not who is the Bridegroom, but awaits Him. The paranymphs 
 are gathered together ; the desert is full ; and our Lord lies hid 
 among them." 
 
 Next we have a prayer of benediction over the catechu- 
 mens, and a psalm. After this a short bidding prayer 
 by the deacon, and an ascription of " Glory to One Eternal 
 Nature ; to One Equal Will ; to One Infinite Virtue ; to 
 One Mighty Power; to One Divine Operation;" ushers 
 
 James of Edessa was prelate of Syria, from a.d. 684-708. 
 
3l8 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 in a long prayer for the catechumens. To this follow 
 two sets of troparia, the Epistle from Romans vi, 3 ; the 
 gradual; the Gospel from St. John iii. i ; the signing, 
 without oil, of the catechumen ; a prayer for him ; the 
 exorcism, which is very strongly marked. It is as 
 follows : — 
 
 Do thou hear, O perverse and rebellious one, who hurtest this 
 creature of God. I adjure thee, enemy of justice, and transgressor 
 of Divine and Holy laws, by the Glory of the Great 'King, depart 
 with fear, and be thou subject to the terrible Lord, who by His 
 commandment hath stretched out the earth above the waters, and 
 hath established it, and fixed the sand as the bound of the sea. I 
 adjure thee by Him, who hath all power in Heaven and on earth; by 
 whom all things were created, and are preserved ; by Him through 
 whom things celestial exist, and the things that are upon earth are 
 strengthened. I adjure thee by Him, who sent the legion of devils 
 into the abyss by means of the swine ; and who overwhelmed 
 Pharaoh in hardness of his heart, together with his chariots and 
 horsemen. I adjure thee by Him, who with Divine power, said 
 to the deaf and dumb spirit, Depart from this man, and enter no 
 more into him. Fear the terrible name of God, at which every 
 creature of angels and archangels tremble ; in whose sight all the 
 army of ministering spirits stand with fear ; on whom cherubim 
 and seraphim dare not look ; whom the heavenly spirits fear, and 
 at whom the abysses tremble. Fear the terrible name of God, 
 who cast down the rebellious demons with chains of darkness 
 into the deep. Fear the future judgment ; tremble ; approach not 
 the creature of God ; adhere not to the creature of God ; for it is 
 not the habitation of devils, but the temple of God. For Himself 
 hath said : I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be to 
 them a God and they shall be to Me a people ; but thee He hath 
 made a spirit deformed, and void and impure. I adjure thee by 
 God, the holy and pure. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, but thou 
 afar from the servants of God ; and depart into a land desolate, and 
 without water, since there is thy place. Be eradicated ; be dis- 
 sipated ; and depart, accursed, from the creature of God ; spirit of 
 impurity, spirit of error, fuel of fire. Depart, nor dare to oppose. 
 For God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, shall utterly 
 pluck thee forth, casting thee out from all His creatures, and casting 
 thee into the fire that cannot be quenched ; and liberating this 
 work of His hands even unto the day of redemption ; for His is the 
 might," &c. 
 
 After the renunciation, the neophyte makes the following confession : — 
 
 I, N., who am to be baptized, believe in Thee, O Christ our 
 God, and all Thy divine doctrines, which Thou hast inspired by 
 
THE MARONITES. 319 
 
 Thy prophets, apostles, and orthodox doctors. I confess and 
 believe, and am baptized in Thee, and in Thy Father, and in Thy 
 living and Holy Ghost. 
 Then the neophyte recites the Nicene Creed. 
 
 The water is poured into the font, and covered with " a white 
 veil, from the veil which belongs to the church." The unction 
 follows ; then the prayer of incense ; the font is uncovered ; and 
 then comes the following doxology : — 
 
 " A fountain of life in baptism is set open ; and the Father, the 
 Son, and the Holy Ghost, have sanctified it according to their 
 loving-kindness. The Father, by exclaiming. This is My Son, My 
 Beloved ; the Son, by bowing the head and receiving baptism ; 
 the Holy Ghost, by descending in the form of a dove upon Him. 
 Holy Trinity, by whom the worlds have received life. Hallelujah, 
 cleanse our impurity. 
 
 Pried. Prayer of inclination.* Thou hast given us the fountain 
 of true cleansing, to purify us from all sin ; these waters, which 
 are sanctified by the invocation of the Holy Ghost, and by them 
 we have received the purification given unto us by the baptism of 
 Thy Christ. Give, O Lord, power to these waters. Who by the 
 passion of Thine only-begotten Son, didst bestow on us expiation 
 from all sin to the reception of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 Aloud. For Thou art the giver and bestower of all good things, 
 and to Thee we ascribe glory, and to Thine only-begotten Son, and 
 to Thy Holy Ghost, now and ever, and to ages of ages. Amen. 
 _ Prayer of inclination. Lord God Almighty, creator of all things, 
 visible and invisible; Who hast made the heaven, and the earth, 
 and the sea, and all things that are in them ; Who didst gather 
 together the waters into one place, and the dry land appeared ; 
 Who didst close up the deeps of the sea, and restrain them with 
 sand. 
 
 Aloud. Thou hast strengthened the sea with Thy power ; Thou 
 hast broken the heads of the dragons in the waters. Thou art to 
 be feared ; and Who is able to resist Thee 1 Look down, O Lord, 
 on this Thy creature of water, and give it the grace of Thy salva- 
 tion, the blessing of Jordan, the sanctification of Thy Holy Ghost ; 
 that they all may depart from it, who hurt the works of Thine 
 hands ; since Thy name, by which it is called, is great and terrible 
 to Thine enemies. 
 
 He breathes upon the water three times, from west to east, and from 
 right to left ; and says this prayer in a low voice. 
 
 Let the head of the murderous dragon be bruised under the 
 sign of the cross. 
 
 Deacon. Amen. 
 
 * The inclination, ox prayer of inclination, alternates with the prayers to be said aloud in the 
 Syriac offices. The former are said secretly, the hands being crossed, and the head bowed ; in 
 the latter, the priest stands upright, and extends his arms in the form of a cross. 
 
320 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Let invisible and airy spirits fly, I pray Thee O Lord ; and let 
 not the "devil, the lover of darkness, lie hid in this water. 
 
 Priest' Neither let the foul spirit of darkness descend with 
 him who is to be baptized, introduced with the thoughts of his 
 heart. But repel from him the operation of the accurser. 
 
 Deacon. Amen. 
 
 Aloud. And grant to it, O Lord, Thy divine breath, which 
 Thine only-begotten Son breathed upon His holy disciples, and 
 remove all remains of idolatry from their hearts, disposing them 
 to the reception of Thy Holy Ghost, and the remission of sins, 
 through Thine only-begotten Son, our Lord and God, with Whom, 
 
 &c. 
 
 Prayer of inclination, and invocation of the Holy Ghost. 
 Manifest Thyself, O Lord, upon these waters, and sanctify them 
 by the illapse of Thy Holy Ghost ; that he who is jto be baptized 
 in them may be changed, and may put off the old man, which is 
 corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and may put on the new 
 man, which is renewed after the image of Him that created him. 
 He raises his voice, and at each invocation makes a part of the cross : — 
 t (Icode) At this letter the priest stretches his hand to the East. 
 
 '^(Lomad) West. 
 
 ^(Beth) North. 
 
 1 * (Olaph) South. 
 
 O Lord Almighty, make these waters, waters of quiet ; ^ waters 
 of joy and exultation ; ^3 waters mystically foreshown by the death 
 and resurrection of Thine only-begotten Son ; ] waters of expia- 
 tion. Amen. 
 
 .Purification of the filth of the flesh and spirit ; "^ loosing of 
 bands ; tS remission of transgressions ; ] illumination of souls and 
 bodies. 
 
 . The laver of regeneration ; ^ the gift of the adoption of sons ; 
 ..3 the garment of immortality ; } the renovation of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 Amen. 
 
 Waters that purge away all sin. For thou, O Lord, hast said : 
 Wash you ; make you clean ; put away evil things from your hearts. 
 Thou hast given regeneration by water and the Holy Ghost, and 
 to Thee we ascribe, &c. 
 
 The priest takes the horn of holy chrism, and pours it into the waters 
 three times in the form of a cross. Then he says : — 
 
 We pour forth holy chrism into these waters of baptism, that by 
 them the old man may be turned into the new man. In the name 
 
 * The word 13^ * , by these initials, signifies the cj-oss. 
 
THE MARONITES. 
 
 321 
 
 + of the Father. Amen. Alleluia. In the name + of the Son. 
 Amen. Alleluia. In the name + of the Holy Ghost. Amen. 
 Alleluia. 
 
 Prayer of inclination. Thou who didst send down Thy Holy 
 Ghost upon Thine only-begotten Son, God the Word, (Who 
 fulfilled upon earth the dispensation of baptism,) in the shape of a 
 dove, and didst sanctify the streams of baptism ; let it please Thee, 
 O Lord, that Thy Holy Spirit may descend upon this Thy servant, 
 who is to be baptized, and perfect him, and make him a servant of 
 Thy Christ, purifying him in this divine laver. 
 
 Aloud. That he, being illuminated, renewed, and filled with 
 His grace and virtue, may safely keep the treasure of Thy salvation, 
 and may he so be directed to that incorruptible and blessed life, 
 that he may become a partaker of those eternal joys which Thou 
 hast promised to them that love Thee, through the grace and mercy, 
 and love to men of Thine only-begotten Son, by whom, &c. 
 
 People. Amen. 
 
 Priest. Peace be to all. 
 
 People. And with thy spirit. 
 
 The priest waves his hands over the waters, saying aloud : — 
 
 The waters are sanctified that they may be for a divine laver of 
 regeneration. In the name ■\- of the living Father for life. Amen. 
 In the name + of the living Son for life. Amen. In the name -j- 
 of the living and Holy Spirit for life, for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
 The priest pours the oil of unction into the palms of his hand, and 
 anoints the whole body of him that is to he baptized, and says : — 
 
 Wherefore God, even Thy God, Alleluia ; hath anointed thee 
 with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Alleluia ; all thy 
 garments smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia, Alleluia ; out of the 
 ivory palaces whereby they have made thee glad. Alleluia. 
 
 The deacons sing. 
 
 With holy oil God commanded that Aaron should be anointed 
 and sanctified. With holy oil let them be sanctified, the simple 
 lambs that have come to baptism. 
 
 With this oil were priests, prophets, and kings anointed, who 
 have been illustrious and who were crowned. With this same 
 they are anointed, the simple lambs, and become sons of the 
 heavenly Father. 
 
 Moses prefigured to us a type in the desert ; and King David 
 made known to us its mystery. Behold, in the church they are 
 signed with the same, the simple lambs that have come to baptism. 
 
 With holy oil kings were anointed, with the same the priests of 
 the law were anointed. With holy oil they are anointed, the simple 
 lambs that have come to-day to baptism. 
 
 The priest stands by the font, and invokes the Spirit, who 
 
 Y 
 
32 2 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 descends from on high, and rests on the waters, and sanctifies 
 them, and makes new sons to God. 
 
 When the child is plunged into the water, the priest says : — 
 
 N. is baptized for sanctity and salvation and a blameless life, 
 and a blessed resurrection from the dead, in the name of the 
 Father. Amen. And of the Son. Amen. And of the living and 
 Holy Ghost, for life everlasting. Amen. 
 
 The deacons sing. 
 
 Descend, our brother, marked with the cross ; and put on our 
 Lord ; and be mingled with His race ; for it is a mighty race, as 
 is said in His parable. 
 
 And when the child comes out of the water, they sing : — 
 
 Expand thy wings. Holy Church ; and receive the simple lamb, 
 which the Holy Ghost has begotten from the waters of baptism. 
 
 Of this baptism prophesied the son of Zacharias. I, said he, 
 baptize with water ; but He which is to come, with the Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 The heavenly army surround the baptistery; that from its waters 
 they may receive sons like to God. 
 
 From the waters Gideon chose him men, that they might go 
 forth to battle. From the waters of baptism Christ hath chosen 
 worshippers to Himself. 
 
 The foregoing office will give a sufficient idea of the 
 Syrian rites of baptism. (From Neale's History of the 
 Eastern Church.) 
 
 The bathing of the Syrian Christians in the river 
 Jordan, must be reckoned amongst their religious 
 customs, but the ceremony itself is very idle, and, accord- 
 ing to some eye-witnesses, ridiculous. These people, 
 however, practise it as an act of devotion, and Greeks, 
 Nestorians, Copts, &c., wash themselves naked in the 
 river, with great solemnity, in commemoration of Jesus 
 Christ's baptisiTQ. In this instance, they concern them- 
 selves as little in regard to the difference of the sexes as 
 of the sects ; for men and women jump promiscuously 
 into the river and plunge down to the bottom. Some of 
 the most zealous devotees dip their handkerchiefs in the 
 sacred stream, others carry a quantity of the water away 
 
TYRE. 3,3 
 
 with them in bottles ; and the very dirt, sand, and grass 
 that grows upon the banks, are all looked upon as sacred 
 relics.* 
 
 Twenty yards distant from the convent of Mar Behnam, 
 in Syria, is the baptistery ; this is a plain building, of an 
 oblong form, with a semi-circular recess at the eastern 
 end, in which the font is placed. The font is three feet in 
 diameter, and stands about four feet above the ground. 
 
 TYRE. 
 
 A Christian church was established in this famed city 
 before A.D. 58. (Acts xxi. 3-7.) This church prospered 
 for several centuries, and councils were held here. During 
 this period, Tyre was still a strong fortress, as it was also 
 in the age of the crusaders, by whom it was only taken 
 twenty-five years after they had gained Jerusalem. It 
 was in the hands of the Europeans till 1291, when it was 
 finally yielded to the Moslems. Its fortifications, which 
 were almost impregnable, were demolished, and since the 
 reconquest of the city by the Turks, it has been in a 
 ruinous condition, and often almost without inhabitants. 
 At present it is a poor town, called Sour. It was half 
 ruined by an earthquake in 1837. 
 
 On the eastern side of Sour, are the remains of a church 
 of Gothic architecture. As the early Christians were in 
 the habit of converting heathen temples to the worship of 
 the true God, by way of reparation, this may probably be 
 built upon the site, and with the materials of the temple of 
 Jupiter Olympus, which was destroyed by Constantine the 
 Great, or of that Hercules, who was particularly honoured 
 by the Tyrians. The interior is divided into three aisles. 
 
 Ceremonies el Coutumcs Religieuses. 
 
 Y 2 
 
324 
 
 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 separated by rows of granite columns. At the extremities 
 of the two branches of the cross were two towers, the 
 ascent to which was by a spiral staircase, which still 
 remains entire. This was, no doubt, the cathedral of 
 which Eusebius speaks in his dedication sermon, calling 
 it the most magnificent temple in Phoenicia, of which 
 Paulinus was the founder and the bishop. This see was 
 dependent upon the Patriarch of Antioch, but had under 
 it fourteen suffragan bishoprics. 
 
 Rg. 61. Ruins of St. John at Tyre. 
 
 An ancient baptistery has lately been discovered at 
 Tyre. Rev. Dr. Fish gives the following designs and 
 account of this interesting relic of primitive Christianity : 
 
 " I write this sitting on the ruins of ancient Tyre, on 
 the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. As the subject of 
 prophecy, especially by Ezekiel, and a city of vast 
 influence in the days of its glory. Tyre possesses a 
 thrilling interest to the thoughtful visitor. I have time to 
 speak, however, of only one thing. We were fortunate 
 
TYRE. 
 
 325 
 
 enough to reach here when excavations are being made, 
 under German patronage, by Professor Sepp, on the site 
 of the famous church edifice, built about the year 315 after 
 Christ, by Paulinus, bishop of Tyre. Eusebius preached 
 at its dedication. The sermon is in his Ecclesiastical 
 History. 
 
 " Professor Sepp received us very cordially, and showed 
 us some wonderful columns of red granite, and other 
 remains, some of them, probably, of a heathen temple that 
 once stood on the same site. Judge of our interest when 
 he said, ' Here is the old baptistery,' as we stood beside 
 a marble structure, close to the wall, evidently as old as 
 
 Fig. 62. Section of Baptistery at the Old Cathedral op Tyre. 
 a. FaJse Bottom. 5 Jt. 6 in. length in the clear. 3 feet deep in clear, mcluding false hottom 
 
 the church, and an original part of it. I took my tape- 
 measure and noted the dimensions. It is of white marble, 
 in the shape of a cross. There are four steps at either 
 end, leading down into it, and a hole is seen on the level 
 of the floor for letting out the water. The extreme length, 
 inside, is five feet and six inches. The depth is three feet. 
 The width three feet and seven inches. Professor Sepp 
 said, ' They immersed people here.' 
 
 " After a little, I said, ' Did they not also baptize the 
 children } ' 
 
326 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 " He replied, ' Oh, no ; they only baptized the grown 
 people then.' 
 
 " ' But,' said I, ' is it not rather small, taking out the 
 space occupied by the steps.' 
 
 " He at once went down into it, and lowered himself 
 below the level of the top, saying, ' This is the way they 
 baptized themselves.' 
 
 " As we know, candidates often knelt in the water, and 
 projected the head and shoulders forward, doing it, 
 perhaps generally, three times. There is ample room for 
 this, as one readily sees. The officiating minister stood 
 beside the baptistery. It is cut from a solid block ; and 
 the floor was somehow cracked, so that a false bottom of 
 marble and cement was put in. One side is now pretty 
 much broken away ; otherwise it is in a good state of 
 preservation. It will likely be removed, with other 
 antiquities, to Germany. 
 
 " Here, then, is a new witness for the ancient practice 
 of immersion, and I feel a pleasure in having seen it and 
 called attention to it. " It must be remembered that this 
 reaches back very far; and even if the baptistery were 
 found to be less ancient than the church (which I feel 
 sure is not the case), it would only strengthen the force of 
 this evidence ; — showing the prevalence of the practice 
 still later. 
 
 " The celebrated Origen was buried in this church ; so 
 was the great Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. This very 
 day a tomb under the church floor was opened, and I saw 
 the bones and parts of the shroud. Perhaps it was 
 Origen's, or Barbarossa's. 
 
 " Four renowned names are thus connected with this 
 silent, but eloquent witness for scriptural baptism, 
 entombed for centuries under some ten feet of rubbish. 
 These names are Eusebius, Origen, Paulinus, and Barba- 
 rossa. Add to this the fact that no church in all 
 
TYRE. 
 
 327 
 
 Phoenicia, as Eusebius says, compared with this for size 
 and splendour. It was two hundred and sixteen feet long, 
 one hundred and thirty-six feet broad, and had a tower 
 which he describes as ' rising to the heavens,' and ' a 
 quadrangular space (for the audience), with inclined 
 
 Rim 4 incheB thick. 
 
 Kim 4 inches thick. 
 
 Fig. 63. Plan of Baptistery at the Old Cathedral of Tyre. 
 
 a Rim. h Steps, c Bottom, d Extensions. Extreme length 6 ft. 6 in. Size of bottom 
 43 X 36 in. Extreme width 43 in. All are in the clear. 
 
 porticoes, supported and adorned with pillars on every 
 side.' Specimens of these splendid rose-granite columns 
 remain. 
 
 " Tyre early became a Christian city. Paul, on his visit 
 to Jerusalem from Greece, found disciples here, with 
 whom he spent a week, and on parting with them on this 
 same sea-shore, ' they kneeled down and prayed.' And 
 there are no other foundations of an original church 
 ediiice, in any state of preservation like this, so ancient, 
 in all the world. That founded by Helena at Jerusalem, 
 by the Holy Sepulchre, is twenty-one years later, and 
 almost no part of it remains." 
 
 The following description of this baptistery is by Rev. 
 
328 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Dr. Harvey. He says : — " The ruins of the old cathedral, 
 at the north-east angle of the modern wall, are at present 
 the most interesting in Tyre. The church was built by 
 Paulinus early in the fourth century, and is described by 
 Eusebius as the most splendid in Phoenicia. It was two 
 hundred and sixteen feet long, one hundred and thirty-six 
 wide, with nave, transept, and triple apse. Its walls are 
 still partly standing. Its architecture is of the massive 
 and rich order of the later Corinthian. Among the 
 prostrate columns I observed two double ones of red 
 granite, immense in size. Here the great Origen was 
 buried ; and in a later age, the remains of the celebrated 
 Emperor Frederick Barbarossa were deposited beside 
 him. Among other remains disentombed is a remarkable 
 baptistery, standing on the lower floor of the church, and 
 evidently in its original position. It is made from a solid 
 block of white marble, and is unique in its form. Its 
 interior dimensions, as we took them, are : length, five 
 feet three inches ; width, three feet seven and a half 
 inches; depth, three feet eight and a quarter inches. 
 Steps descend into it at each end. The candidate evi- 
 dently entered the pool by the steps at one end ; he then 
 knelt down, and, according to the ancient usage, his head 
 was bowed forward into the water by the administrator, 
 who stood outside and pronounced the formula ; and after 
 being thus baptized he passed out by the steps at the 
 other end. The baptistery was plainly used for adult 
 immersion ; for otherwise there is no explanation of the 
 steps ; and found, as it is, on the lowest floor, there can 
 be no doubt that it belonged to the original church. It 
 is, therefore, an interesting monument, attesting the form 
 of baptism in the fourth century. The bottom of the 
 baptistery seems to have been fractured in some later 
 age, and is now repaired by a slab of marble, which 
 somewhat reduces the original depth." 
 
MYRA AND KASSABAR. 
 
 329 
 
 We give the list of the 
 in the Oriens Christianus:— 
 
 Cassius. 
 
 Marinus. 
 
 Tyrannius (Martyr). 
 
 Methodius. 
 
 Dorotheus I. 
 
 PauUnus. 
 
 Zeno I. 
 
 Paulus. 
 
 Vitalis. 
 
 Uranius. 
 
 Zeno II. 
 
 Diodorus (a.d. 379). 
 
 Reverentius. 
 
 Cyrus. 
 
 bishops of Tyre, as it appears 
 
 Beronicianus. 
 Irenseus (a.d. 449). 
 Photius I. 
 Dorotheus II. 
 Joannes Co.donatus. 
 Epiphanius. 
 Eusebius (a.d. 553). 
 Thomas. 
 Sabas. 
 Photius II. 
 CyriUus. 
 Sophronius. 
 
 Hieremias. 
 
 MYRA AND KASSABAR. 
 
 Myra was one of the six chief towns of Lycia, in Asia 
 Minor. At a late period of the Roman Empire, it became 
 the metropolis of that province. Meletius says that Myra 
 was originally a Rhodian colony, and he boasts that its 
 bishop was the metropolitan of thirty-six suffragan sees. 
 This important town lay about a league from the sea, 
 upon a rising ground, at the foot of which flowed a 
 navigable river with an excellent harbour at its mouth. 
 The present race of Greeks consider Myra as a place of 
 peculiar sanctity. Here, say they, Paul preached ; here is 
 the shrine of St. John, and above all, here are deposited 
 the ashes of St. Nicholas,* their patron saint. Their 
 
 * Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, flourished under Constantine the 
 Great, was persecuted and imprisoned during the reign of Dio- 
 cletian and Licinius, and died about a.d. 342. He Hved in great 
 sanctity, and is said to have performed some miracles. Justinian 
 erected at Constantinople a church to his memory. He is the 
 patron saint of Russia, and his feast is celebrated on the sixth day 
 of December. Nicholas is distinguished among the ecclesiastical 
 writers of his period. 
 
330 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 claim, however, to this ultimate privilege may be doubted, 
 for, according to Murator {Annalt d' Italia, torn, vi.), both 
 Venice and Bari dispute the honour of having carried 
 away his body. 
 
 In the vicinity of Myra have been discovered the 
 remains of " a large Christian cathedral of early 
 Byzantine architecture, one of the most interesting and 
 picturesque ruins in Lycia. It is a noble fabric, and one 
 which excited, on examination, a deep interest. It is but 
 little incommoded by rubbish and bushes, so that we 
 were enabled to place ourselves at once without difficulty 
 under the lofty dome in the centre of the body of the 
 church, and survey its interior, where the noisy chat of 
 a disturbed jackdaw, as it took wing through a large 
 aperture in the vaulted roof, was the only sound to break 
 the solemn stillness then reigning within this impressive 
 ruin. Its eastern end is terminated by a semicircle 
 interrupted by long windows, the tall stone and brick 
 pillars between them standing disconnected, their arches 
 above being broken down. The greater part of this 
 cathedral, however, still remains perfect ; and it was 
 pleasing to see the tenacity with which stone, brick, and 
 mortar, had so long held together against the ravages 
 of time, and through which, in all probability, will be 
 preserved yet many ages this venerable relic of the early 
 days, when Christianity flourished in this country. We 
 had entered Lycia with a thirst for relics of the earlier 
 days of its history. Lycian tombs, Lycian monuments, 
 and Lycian cities, were the principal objects of our 
 search, but here that interest was unexpectedly arrested, 
 and the solemn grandeur of the old and solitary Christian 
 church, towering above the Pagan temple and the Moslem 
 mosque, excited a warmer and healthier admiration, 
 though its age were comparatively modern and its 
 architecture barbarous." 
 
MYRA AND KASSABAR. 
 
 331 
 
 " St. Paul, when on his way to Rome, put into Myra, 
 and there changed ship ; whether the seed of Christianity 
 was then first sown in Lycia, sacred history does not 
 mention ; but we may infer from the zeal and diligence 
 always evinced by that great apostle, that the opportunity 
 was not lost. Myra was, however, the capital of the 
 bishopric of Lycia for many centuries afterwards, and 
 as there are no remains at Myra itself, indicating the 
 existence of a cathedral, we probably behold in this 
 ruin the head church of that diocese, planted there from 
 motives of seclusion and security." {Travels in Lycia, by 
 Messrs. Spratt and Forbes.) 
 
 Fig 6t. Chukch and BAhTisTEaiEs at Kabsabar. 
 
 At a short distance from Myra, in the Valley of Kas- 
 sabar, in Asia Minor, exist the ruins of a large church 
 and two baptisteries, which are thus described by Messrs. 
 Spratt and Forbes : — 
 
 "The church is a large edifice of early Byzantine 
 architecture, and is one of the most interesting and 
 picturesque, as well as best preserved ruins in the pro- 
 vince of Lycia, in Asia Minor. It is situated in a most 
 
332 
 
 THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 sequestered spot near the remains of the ancient Trabala. 
 The eastern end of this building is terminated by a 
 semicircle interrupted by large windows, the tall stone 
 and brick pillars between them standing disconnected, 
 their arches above having broken down. The octagonal 
 erections north and south of the choir were probably 
 baptisteries, one for the men, the other for the women. 
 {Travels in Lycta.) 
 
 List of the bishops of Myra, according to the Oriens 
 Christianus. 
 
 Nicander (Martyr). 
 
 Nicholas I. 
 
 St. Nicholas II. (Martyr). 
 
 Tatianus. 
 
 Serenianus. 
 
 Romanus. 
 
 Petrus. 
 
 Philippus. 
 
 Polydactus. 
 
 Theodorus I. 
 
 Nicholas III. 
 
 Nicetas (Heretic). 
 
 Theodosius I. 
 
 Leo. 
 
 Theodosius IL(a.d. 1143). 
 
 Christophorus (a.d. 1166). 
 
 Eustathius. 
 
 Matthaeus. 
 
 SMYRNA. 
 
 Christianity was early established in this city, chiefly 
 owing to the zeal of Polycarp, who is said to have been 
 the first bishop of Smyrna, and to have suffered martyrdom 
 there (Iren^us, v. 34.) Few traces of the ancient city are 
 now to be seen. The warm baths, on the declivity of 
 Mount Corax, have scarcely a vestige of the buildings 
 which formerly covered them, and the remains of the 
 neighbouring Temple of Apollo have entirely disappeared. 
 The enclosure of the ancient castle on the summit of the 
 hill, its gate ornamented with rude sculptures, a fragment 
 of the entrance to the theatre, and the ruins of Polycarp's 
 church are almost the only relics of antiquity which can 
 
SMYRNA. 333 
 
 now be found. The stadium, of which the ground-plot 
 only remains, is supposed to be the place where Polycarp, 
 the disciple of John, and probably the angel of the Church 
 of Smyrna (Rev. ii. 8), to whom the Apocalyptic message 
 was addressed, suffered martyrdom. The Greeks of 
 Smyrna hold the memory of this venerable person 
 in high honour, and go annually in procession to his 
 supposed tomb, which is at a short distance from the 
 stadium. 
 
 At the ruins called the Baths of Diana, east of the 
 modern town, little except the clear and copious spring is 
 any longer to be seen. It smokes in winter, and to the 
 hand, even in mild weather, appears tepid, but its heat, 
 when ascertained by the themometer, is not higher than 
 the mean temperature of the spring water in that latitude. 
 The Rev. Mr. Arundell, who was for many years chaplain 
 of the English Episcopal Church in Smyrna, inclines to 
 think that this spring was the original baptistery of that 
 city. He says : — " With all due respect for the character 
 of Diana, I would willingly indulge in the supposition, 
 that in later times this beautiful crystal water might have 
 been used as a baptistery for the catechumens of the 
 Church of Smyrna, if not in the days of Polycarp, a 
 century or two later. At least it is evident that 
 here was a circular enclosure, and the pillar, which is 
 still standing, resembles in form and material those 
 which are to be seen near the Jewish quarter in the 
 Turkish cemetery, the undoubted site, in my belief, of 
 the earliest, if not the iirst, Christian church. It 
 was probably the church of the beloved disciple, for 
 it is at a short distance from the present church of 
 St. John. Numerous pillars are still erect, either entire 
 or broken, which ran in a direction nearly north and 
 south, above five hundred feet." {Discoveries in Asia 
 Minor.) 
 
334 
 
 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 List of the bishops 
 
 Or tens Christianus : — 
 
 Aristo I. 
 
 Strataeus. 
 
 Aristo II. 
 
 Bucolus. 
 
 Polycarp (Martyr). 
 
 Papyrius. 
 
 Camerius. 
 
 Thraseas. 
 
 Eudasmon. 
 
 Eutychius. 
 
 Idduas. 
 
 CEthericus (a.d. 448). 
 
 Photius. 
 
 Calloas. 
 
 Stephanus. 
 
 of Smyrna, as collected in the 
 
 Theodoras I. 
 
 Studita. 
 
 Metrophanes. 
 
 Nicetas. 
 
 Theodorus II. 
 
 Joannes. 
 
 . . . . (a.d. I 166). 
 
 Georgius (a.d. 1220). 
 
 Calophorus. 
 
 Isaacus. 
 
 Temp. Andronic. Imper. 
 
 Theodorus III. 
 
 ... . (a.d. 1334). 
 
 Gabriel (a.d. JS7S). 
 
 Ananias (a.d. 1721). 
 
 SAGALASSUS. 
 
 Sagalassus was one of the chief towns of Pisidia, in 
 Asia Minor. This city is noted by Strabo, Pliny, Ptolemy, 
 and Hierocles, and also by the Ecclesiastical Notices 
 and the Acts of Councils, which prove it to have been a 
 bishopric. The ruins of the ancient Sagalassus are in the 
 vicinity of the modern village of Allahsun : — 
 
 "There is, I believe, no other ruined city in Asia 
 Minor," says Mr. Hamilton, "the situation and extensive 
 remains of which are so striking, or so interesting, or 
 which give so perfect an idea of the magnificent combina- 
 tion of temples, palaces, porticoes, theatres, and gymnasia, 
 fountains, and tombs, which adorned the cities of the 
 ancient world. Between the main portion of the town 
 and the scarped cliif which rises to the north of it, an 
 irregular terrace, partly natural and partly artificial, 
 extends for nearly half a mile, following the outline of the 
 hills, and rising gently towards the centre. Its general 
 direction is from W.N.W. to E.S.E.; on it are the remains 
 
SAGALASSUS. 335 
 
 of several buildings, apparently temples or sepulchres ; 
 but at the western extremity is one which appears to have 
 been a church, extending from S.E. to N.W. At its north- 
 west end are the remains of a portico of fluted columns, 
 and at the other extremity is a high wall with an angular 
 niche, and surmounted by a frieze and a cornice. Within 
 are several shafts of fluted marble columns, some of 
 granite very large and plain, and also many tiles lying 
 on the ground ; the length of the building is forty-five 
 paces. Near it are the remains of a small circular 
 building, which may have been a fountain." {Discoveries 
 in Asia Minor ^ 
 
 Referring to this Christian church, Rev. Mr. Arundell * 
 says that " it is constructed of large blocks of marble ; 
 the architecture is of the richest style, the columns are 
 fluted, with Corinthian capitals, and are two feet in 
 diameter. The building stands east and west ; its total 
 length is about one hundred and sixty feet, and the 
 breadth of the nave about seventy-five. The bema is not 
 circular, but angular, its breadth as that of the nave, 
 seventy-five feet, and the depth twenty-one. Between the 
 bema and the nave is a transept extending sixteen feet 
 on either side beyond the nave, making the entire breadth 
 of this part about one hundred and seven feet. From 
 each of these sides a doorway opened into what was 
 probably a side portico with pillars. There were three 
 gates or doors at the great entrance, the centre one, as 
 usual, very large. The portico, or pronaos was twenty- 
 seven feet long, and beyond this, the walls were still ex- 
 tended on either side. From the number of columns lying 
 in all directions, some fluted, others plain, it is possible 
 that there was a nave and side aisles, but there are no 
 foundations to support this conjecture, and the columns 
 
 * Arundell, Discoveries in Asia Minor. 
 
336 THE ARCHEOLOGY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 may have belonged to the front and side colonnades. On 
 the upper part of the walls, which are standing on the 
 north-eastern end, are a number of small figures, for the 
 most part grotesque, as masks, &c., but executed in a 
 very spirited style. A large cross is cut deep into one of 
 the blocks of the principal entrance. Beyond the church, 
 on the west side, at the distance of about one hundred 
 feet, is a large heap of enormous stones, belonging 
 to either a circular or semicircular edifice ; that which 
 remains of the circle being towards the west, not the east, 
 as a bema. There is little doubt that it was circular and 
 elevated on a basement with steps to ascend to it. If 
 there had been one on the other side, but I saw no 
 remains, the church with those additions would have 
 resembled the supposed church of St. John at Pergamos, 
 supposing they had been carried to the same height. The 
 diameter does not appear to have been more than fifteen 
 feet. If a conjecture as to its destination may be hazarded, 
 I should take it for a baptistery." 
 
 According to the Oriens Christianus the following were 
 the bi.shops of Sagalassus, viz.: — Jovius, Forteianus, 
 Theodosius, and Leo. 
 
 YATES AND ALEXANHEIl, CHANCEIIV BUILDINGS, CHANCEllY LANE, LONDON.