-When Celestine held the Apostolic height, and shone as first bishop over the whole world.

It is the last piece of evidence we shall quote, and surely leaves nothing to be desired on the score of completeness or of clear definition.

CHAPTER III.

The Witness of the Monuments with Regard to Holy Baptism.

BAPTISM in the early centuries (when it was not a case of the children of Christian parents, who, as Tertullian says, do not become Christians, but are born so) was always preceded by a period of instruction which was called the Catechumenate. There was a certain ceremony in admitting inquirers to this grade, consisting generally in prayer with the imposition of hands. Thus in the life of St. Martin by Severus Sulpitius (" Dial.," ii. cap. v.) we read that that saint was accustomed to admit postulants to the Catechumenate wherever he might be, even in the open fields, by laying his hand on each of them. Some of the ancient liturgical books have a rite appointed for this purpose, under the title "Ad Christianum faciendum".

This Catechumenate lasted for a considerable period. In the second and third centuries it was extended generally to three years, and this period is laid down in the "Apostolical Constitutions" (viii. c. 32), with the proviso, however, that it might be shortened in special cases. If a catechumen fell seriously ill during this period, and was in danger of death, he was at once baptized. St. Basil, for instance (" Epist.," 176), writes to the wife of Arintheus, a Roman prætor, saying that he baptized him although only a catechumen, because he was in danger of dying.

There were various grades in the Catechumenate. The audientes, or hearers, were admitted to the church to hear the lessons from Holy Scripture and the Homily, but to nothing else. It was for these that St. Augustine wrote his work, "De catechizandis rudibus," and we can gather from that book how far their instruction had to go before they were admitted to the next grade, that of the Genuflectentes, or kneelers. These were admitted to the prayers and received the blessing of the Bishop. There was a special place in the Mass beyond which they might not stay, and the earlier portion of the Liturgy hence acquired the name of Missa Catechumenorum. Lastly, there were the Competentes who were ready and anxious for the Sacrament, and to these, at last, was taught the mystery of the Holy Trinity and the Sacrament of Penance.

Baptism was usually conferred on converts only on one or at most on two occasions in the year, on Holy Saturday and the Eve of Pentecost. The whole of Lent was in some sort a special preparation, and was fasted rigorously by those who were candidates. The new name, the Christian name as we still say, the imposition of which was held to imply the acceptance of Christian obligations, was given on the fourth Sunday of Lent in the West (Aug. "Serm.," ccxiii.), and on the second Sunday in the East (Cyril., “Hier. Catech.," iii.). It marked yet another stage in the long preparation. The next step was the confession of sins made to the Bishop, which took place about Passion Sunday, and was followed by the Scrutiny, a ceremony which lasted for seven days. On each day the catechumens came to the church, bareheaded and barefooted, and took their stand in the appointed place. Then came the exorcists and did their office. blew three times in the face of each, and then touched their nostrils and ears with saliva, while they recited

They

over them the prayers of exorcism. By the sixth century there had been added the ceremony of placing salt in their mouths, and this was then considered an ancient ceremony going back to the Apostles. So it may have been introduced long before, although we have no trace of it (Isid. Hisp., "De div. off.," ii. 20; Aug., "De nupt. et concup.," II. xxix. 50).

Such was the Catechumenate in early times. There are many inscriptions commemorating catechumens in the catacombs. Here it may suffice to note one only, which may yet be seen in the Vigna Vannutelli on the Via Tiburtina, fixed to the wall of the Osteria in the place of the bowling-green.

KITE. BIKTOP · KATHXOTMENOC
ΑΙΤΩΝ - ΕΙΚΟΣΙ - ΠΑΡΘΕΝΟΣ

ΔΟΥΛΟΣ - ΤΟΥ - ΚΥΡΙΟΥ ΙΗΣΟΥ

Here lies Victor, a Catechumen, aged twenty years. A Servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Method of Baptizing.

If we are to trust the references to the administration of baptism which are to be found in the pages of the Fathers, we shall almost certainly be led to the conclusion that the sacrament was always given, in the case of adults no less than of little children, by the method of complete submersion, the whole body of the candidate being plunged under the water, so as to be entirely submerged at one and the same moment. No doubt this was what was generally regarded as ideal, and it is only thus that the full force of St. Paul's words, "Buried with Him in baptism," could be realized. But, in practice, although such immersion

of infants caused little difficulty, it was scarcely possible to arrange for it in the case of grown men and women. A great depth of water would be required, and this, especially in the times of persecution, would be very hard to obtain. St. Peter himself is said to have baptized in the Tiber, though the evidence for this is not very strong. Still, it may have been possible for him to do so in the earliest years, before the outbreak of the first great persecution of Nero. After that date it would have been quite impossible.

It is at this point that the evidence of the monuments becomes valuable, as supplementing and ex

BAPTISM OF CHRIST, from

the Crypt of Lucina.

BAPTISM, in the Gallery of the Sacraments, in the Catacomb of St. Callixtus.

(From Rogers' "Baptism and Christian Archæology," Oxford University Press.) plaining the evidence of the Fathers. We have in the paintings of the catacombs a great number of representations of the act of baptism; some depicting the Christian sacrament and others the baptism of Christ. Both are valuable evidence for our purpose, for there is no reason to doubt that each alike would represent the ceremony as it was ordinarily administered, so that it might at once be recognized by the faithful who looked upon it.

The earliest representation of all is in the Crypt of Lucina on the Appian Way, which now forms part of the Catacomb of St. Callixtus. It dates from the first