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Wherefore here all things are in harmony with the gift, but there all things are contrary to the gift; for there is much wailing and lamentation for those being initiated, and children stand around weeping, and a wife tearing her cheeks, and downcast friends, and servants full of tears, the whole appearance of the house imitates some wintry and gloomy day; but if you should open up the very heart of the one lying there, you will find it gloomier than these things. For just as winds with much force, blowing against each other, cut the sea into many parts; so also the thoughts of the terrible things then possessing him, falling upon the soul of the sick man, split his mind into many cares. When he looks upon his children, he thinks of their orphanhood; when he looks towards his wife, he considers her widowhood; when he sees his servants, he observes the desolation of the entire house; when he returns to himself, he reminds himself of this present life, and as he is about to be torn away, he receives a great cloud of despondency. Such is the soul of the one about to be initiated. Then in the midst of the noise and the confusion itself, the priest enters, being more terrible than the fever itself, and more cruel than death to the sick man's relatives; for the entrance of the presbyter is considered a greater despair than the voice of the physician despairing of his life, and the prerequisite for eternal life seems to be a symbol of death. But I have not yet put the finishing touch on the evils; for in the midst of the disturbance of his friends and their preparations, the soul has often leaped away, leaving the body desolate, and often, even when present, has been of no help. For when he neither recognizes those present, nor hears a voice, nor is able to answer with those words through which he will deposit the blessed covenant with the common Master of us all, but, like a useless piece of wood or a stone, the one about to be enlightened lies there differing in no way from a corpse, what is the benefit of the initiation in such insensibility?

2. For the one who is about to approach these sacred and awesome mysteries must be watchful and alert, be pure from every care of this life, be full of much sobriety, much readiness, banish from his mind every thought foreign to the mysteries, and prepare his house to be clean on all sides, as if about to receive the king himself. Such is the preparation of your mind, such are your thoughts, such is the purpose of your soul. Therefore, await the worthy reward for this most excellent disposition from God, who in his recompense surpasses those who show obedience toward him. But since it is also necessary for fellow-servants to contribute what is from themselves, we too shall contribute what is from ourselves, or rather, not even these things are ours, but these too are the Master's. For what have you, he says, that you did not receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? I wanted first of all to say: Why on earth did our fathers, passing over the entire year, legislate that the children of the Church be initiated at this time? and for what reason after our instruction, having removed your shoes and stripped you, they send you naked and unshod, with only your tunic, to the voices of the exorcists. For not simply nor idly did they prescribe this appearance and this time for us; but both these things have a certain mystical and ineffable reason. And I wanted to tell this to you; but I see that my discourse now urges us on to another, more necessary topic. For it is necessary to say what baptism is, and for what reason it entered into our life, and how many good things it brings us. But, if you wish, let us first discourse concerning the name of this mystical cleansing. For it does not have one name, but many and various ones; for this purification is called a laver of regeneration; For He saved us, it says, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. It is also called

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Ὅθεν ἐνταῦθα μὲν ἅπαντα σύμφωνα τῇ δωρεᾷ, ἐκεῖ δὲ πάντα ἐναντία τῇ δωρεᾷ· καὶ γὰρ θρῆνος καὶ ὀδυρμὸς πολὺς μυσταγωγουμένων, καὶ παιδία περιίσταται κλαίοντα, καὶ γυνὴ τὰς παρειὰς καταξαίνουσα, καὶ φίλοι κατηφεῖς, καὶ οἰκέται δακρύων γέμοντες, ὅλον τὸ τῆς οἰκίας σχῆμα χειμερινήν τινα καὶ ζοφώδη μιμεῖται ἡμέραν· ἐὰν δὲ αὐτὴν τοῦ κατακειμένου τὴν καρδίαν ἀναπτύξῃς, σκυθρωποτέραν τούτων εὑρήσεις. Καθάπερ γὰρ ἄνεμοι μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς ῥύμης ἐξεναντίας ἀλλήλοις ἐμβάλλοντες εἰς πολλὰ τὸ πέλαγος διατέμνουσι μέρη· οὕτω καὶ οἱ λογισμοὶ τῶν τότε κατεχόντων δεινῶν εἰς τὴν τοῦ κάμνοντος ἐμπίπτοντες ψυχὴν, εἰς πολλὰς τὴν ἐκείνου διάνοιαν σχίζουσι φροντίδας. Ὅταν εἰς τὰ παιδία ἀπίδῃ, τὴν ὀρφανίαν αὐτῶν ἐννοεῖ· ὅταν πρὸς τὴν γυναῖκα ἀποβλέψῃ, τὴν χηρείαν λογίζεται· ὅταν ἴδῃ τοὺς οἰκέτας, τὴν ἐρημίαν ἁπάσης σκοπεῖ τῆς οἰκίας· ὅταν πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ἐπανέλθῃ, τῆς παρούσης ἑαυτὸν ἀναμιμνήσκει ζωῆς, καὶ ἀποῤῥήγνυσθαι μέλλων, πολὺ δέχεται τῆς ἀθυμίας τὸ νέφος. Τοιαύτη ἡ τοῦ μέλλοντος μυσταγωγεῖσθαι ψυχή. Εἶτα μεταξὺ τῶν θορύβων καὶ τῆς ταραχῆς αὐτῆς, ἐπεισέρχεται ὁ ἱερεὺς αὐτοῦ τοῦ πυρετοῦ φοβερώτερος ὢν, καὶ τοῦ θανάτου τοῖς τοῦ κάμνοντος προσήκουσιν ἀπηνέστερος· τῆς γὰρ τοῦ ἰατροῦ φωνῆς τῆς ἀπογινωσκούσης τὴν ζωὴν τὴν ἐκείνου μείζων ἀπόγνωσις εἶναι νομίζεται ἡ τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου εἴσοδος, καὶ θανάτου σύμβολον εἶναι δοκεῖ τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς ἡ ὑπόθεσις. Ἀλλ' οὔπω τὸν κολοφῶνα ἐπέθηκα τῶν κακῶν· μεταξὺ γὰρ θορυβούντων τῶν ἐπιτηδείων καὶ παρασκευα49.225 ζομένων, παλλάκις ἔρημον ἀφεῖσα τὸ σῶμα ἀπεπήδησεν ἡ ψυχὴ, πολλοὺς δὲ καὶ παροῦσα οὐδὲν ὤνησεν. Ὅταν γὰρ μήτε τοὺς παρόντας ἐπιγινώσκῃ, μήτε φωνῆς ἀκούῃ, μήτε ἀποκρίνασθαι δύνηται τὰ ῥήματα ἐκεῖνα, δι' ὧν τὴν μακαρίαν συνθήκην πρὸς τὸν κοινὸν ἡμῶν ἁπάντων καταθήσεται ∆εσπότην, ἀλλ' ὥσπερ ξύλον ἀργὸν ἢ λίθος, ὁ φωτίζεσθαι μέλλων πρόκειται νεκροῦ μηδὲν διαφέρων, τί τῆς μυσταγωγίας ὄφελος ἐν ἀναισθησίᾳ τοσαύτῃ;

βʹ. Τὸν γὰρ τοῖς ἱεροῖς τούτοις καὶ φρικτοῖς μέλλοντα προσιέναι μυστηρίοις ἐγρηγορέναι χρὴ καὶ διεγηγέρθαι, πάσης βιωτικῆς φροντίδος εἶναι καθαρὸν, πολλῆς γέμειν σωφροσύνης, πολλῆς προθυμίας, πάντα τὸν μυστηρίων ἀλλότριον λογισμὸν ἐξορίζειν τῆς διανοίας, καὶ πάντοθεν καθαρὸν παρασκευάζειν τὸν οἶκον, ὥσπερ αὐτὸν ὑποδέχεσθαι μέλλοντα τὸν βασιλέα. Τοιαύτη τῆς ὑμετέρας διανοίας ἡ παρασκευὴ, τοιοῦτοι παρ' ὑμῖν οἱ λογισμοὶ, τοιαύτη τῆς ψυχῆς ἡ προαίρεσις. Τὴν μὲν οὖν ἀξίαν ἀμοιβὴν τῆς ἀρίστης ταύτης γνώμης ἀναμένετε παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ, τοῦ ταῖς ἀντιδόσεσι νικῶντος τοὺς τὴν ὑπακοὴν ἐπιδεικνυμένους τὴν πρὸς αὐτόν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ χρὴ καὶ τοῖς συνδούλοις τὰ παρ' ἑαυτῶν εἰσενεγκεῖν, καὶ τὰ παρ' ἡμῶν εἰσοίσομεν, μᾶλλον δὲ οὐδὲ ταῦτα ἡμέτερα, ἀλλὰ καὶ ταῦτα ∆εσποτικά. Τί γὰρ ἔχεις, φησὶν, ὃ οὐκ ἔλαβες; εἰ δὲ καὶ ἔλαβες, τί καυχᾶσαι ὡς μὴ λαβών; Ἐβουλόμην μὲν πρῶτον ἁπάντων εἰπεῖν· Τί δήποτε παραδραμόντες ἡμῶν οἱ πατέρες ἅπαντα τὸν ἐνιαυτὸν, ἐν τούτῳ τῷ καιρῷ μυσταγωγεῖσθαι τὰ τέκνα τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἐνομοθέτησαν; καὶ τίνος ἕνεκεν μετὰ τὴν παρ' ἡμῶν διδασκαλίαν ὑπολύσαντες ὑμᾶς καὶ ἀποδύσαντες, γυμνοὺς καὶ ἀνυποδέτους μετὰ τοῦ χιτωνίσκου μόνου πρὸς τὰς τῶν ἐξορκιζόντων παραπέμπουσι φωνάς. Οὐ γὰρ ἁπλῶς οὐδὲ εἰκῆ καὶ τὸ σχῆμα καὶ τὸν καιρὸν ἐκεῖνοι τοῦτον ἡμῖν διετύπωσαν· ἀλλ' ἔχει ταῦτα ἀμφότερα μυστικόν τινα λόγον καὶ ἀπόῤῥητον. Καὶ τοῦτον ὑμῖν ἐβουλόμην εἰπεῖν· ὁρῶ δὲ ὅτι πρὸς ἕτερον ἀναγκαιότερον ἡμᾶς κατεπείγει νῦν ὁ λόγος. Ἀνάγκη γὰρ εἰπεῖν τί ποτέ ἐστι τὸ βάπτισμα, καὶ τίνος ἕνεκεν εἰς τὸν βίον εἰσῆλθε τὸν ἡμέτερον, καὶ πόσα κομίζει ἡμῖν τὰ ἀγαθά. Ἀλλ', εἰ βούλεσθε, πρότερον περὶ τῆς προσηγορίας τοῦ μυστικοῦ τούτου καθαρμοῦ διαλεχθῶμεν. Οὐ γάρ ἐστιν ἓν αὐτῷ ὄνομα, ἀλλὰ πολλὰ καὶ παντοδαπά· τὸ γὰρ καθάρσιον τοῦτο καλεῖται λουτρὸν παλιγγενεσίας· Ἔσωσε γὰρ ἡμᾶς, φησὶ, διὰ λουτροῦ παλιγγενεσίας καὶ ἀνακαινίσεως Πνεύματος ἁγίου. Καλεῖται καὶ