Procatechesis, or, Prologue To The Catechetical Lectures Of Our Holy Father, Cyril, Archbishop Of Jerusalem.

 1. Already there is an odour of blessedness upon you, O ye who are soon to be enlightened : already ye are gathering the spiritual  that to them that

 2. Even Simon Magus once came to the Laver : he was baptized, but was not enlightened and though he dipped his body in water, he enlightened not his

 3. A certain man in the Gospels once pried into the marriage feast , and took an unbecoming garment, and came in, sat down, and ate: for the bridegroo

 4. For we, the ministers of Christ, have admitted every one, and occupying, as it were, the place of door-keepers we left the door open: and possibly

 5. Possibly too thou art come on another pretext. It is possible that a man is wishing to pay court to a woman, and came hither on that account . The

 6. See, I pray thee, how great a dignity Jesus bestows on thee. Thou wert called a Catechumen, while the word echoed round thee from without hearing

 7. We may not receive Baptism twice or thrice else it might be said, Though I have failed once, I shall set it right a second time: whereas if thou f

 8. For God seeks nothing else from us, save a good purpose. Say not, How are my sins blotted out? I tell thee, By willing, by believing . What can be

 9. Let thy feet hasten to the catechisings receive with earnestness the exorcisms : whether thou be breathed upon or exorcised, the act is to thee sa

 10. Attend closely to the catechisings, and though we should prolong our discourse, let not thy mind be wearied out. For thou art receiving armour aga

 11. Let me give thee this charge also. Study our teachings and keep them for ever. Think not that they are the ordinary homilies for though they als

 12. When, therefore, the Lecture is delivered, if a Catechumen ask thee what the teachers have said, tell nothing to him that is without . For we deli

 13. Ye who have been enrolled are become sons and daughters of one Mother. When ye have come in before the hour of the exorcisms, let each one of you

 14. And when the Exorcism has been done, until the others who are being exorcised have come , let men be with men, and women with women. For now I nee

 15. I shall observe each man’s earnestness, each woman’s reverence. Let your mind be refined as by fire unto reverence let your soul be forged as met

 16. Great is the Baptism that lies before you : a ransom to captives a remission of offences a death of sin a new-birth of the soul a garment of l

 17. We for our part as men charge and teach you thus: but make not ye our building  hay and stubble  and chaff, lest we  suffer loss   work being burn

 (  To the Reader 

 FIRST CATECHETICAL LECTURE

 Lecture II.

 Lecture III.

 Lecture IV.

 Lecture V.

 Lecture VI.

 Lecture VII.

 Lecture VIII.

 Lecture IX.

 Lecture X.

 Lecture XI.

 Lecture XII.

 Lecture XIII.

 Lecture XIV.

 Lecture XV.

 Lecture XVI.

 Lecture XVII.

 Lecture XVIII.

 Lecture XIX.

 Lecture XX.

 Lecture XXI.

 Lecture XXII.

 Lecture XXIII.

14. And when the Exorcism has been done, until the others who are being exorcised have come  47 , let men be with men, and women with women. For now I need the example of Noah’s ark: in which were Noah and his sons, and his wife and his sons’ wives. For though the ark was one, and the door was shut, yet had things been suitably arranged. If the Church is shut, and you are all inside, yet let there be a separation, men with men, and women with women  48 : lest the pretext of salvation become an occasion of destruction. Even if there be a fair pretext for sitting near each other, let passions be put away. Further, let the men when sitting have a useful book; and let one read, and another listen: and if there be no book, let one pray, and another speak something useful. And again let the party of young women sit together in like manner, either singing or reading quietly, so that their lips speak, but others’ ears catch not the sound:  for I suffer not a woman to speak in the Church   49 . And let the married woman also follow the same example, and pray; and let her lips move, but her voice be unheard, that a Samuel  50 may come, and thy barren soul give birth to the salvation of “God who hath heard thy prayer;” for this is the interpretation of the name Samuel.

47 From S. Augustine, de Symbolo, i. 1 (Migne T. vi. p. 930), we learn that the Candidates were brought in before the Congregation one by one for exorcism; and so, as Cyril here shews, they had to wait outside till the others returned.
48 Chrys. in Matt. Hom. lxxiv. § 3: “You ought to have within you the wall that separates you from the women: but since ye will not, our fathers have thought it necessary to separate you at least by these boards; for I have heard from my elders that there were not these walls in old times.” These barriers had not yet been introduced at Jerusalem, or Cyril’s admonition would have been needless. Compare Apostolic Constitutions, II. 57.
49 1 Cor. xiv. 34; 1 Tim. ii. 12.
50 1 Sam. i. 13, 20. On the various interpretations of the name Samuel, see Dict. Bib. “Samuel,” and Driver on the passage. Cyril adopts the meaning “heard of God.”

Καὶ ὅταν ἐπορκισμὸς γένηται, ἕως ὅτου οἱ ἄλλοι ἐπορκιζόμενοι παραγένωνται, ἄνδρες μετ' ἀνδρῶν, καὶ γυναῖκες μετὰ γυναικῶν. Νῦν γάρ μοι χρεία τῆς τοῦ Νῶε κιβωτοῦ: ἵνα ᾖ Νῶε χωρὶς καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ: καὶ ἡ γυνὴ, καὶ αἱ γυναῖκες τῶν υἱῶν αὐτοῦ. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ μία ἦν ἡ κιβωτὸς, καὶ κεκλεισμένη ἦν ἡ θύρα: ἀλλὰ ἐσχημάτιστο τὰ πράγματα. Εἰ καὶ κέκλεισται ἡ ἐκκλησία, καὶ πάντες ὑμεῖς ἔνδον: ἀλλὰ διεστάλθω τὰ πράγματα, ἄνδρες μετ' ἀνδρῶν, καὶ γυναῖκες μετὰ γυναικῶν: μὴ γένηται ἡ ὑπόθεσις τῆς σωτηρίας, πρόφασις ἀπωλείας: κἂν ἡ ὑπόθεσις καλὴ, πλησίον ἀλλήλων καθέζεσθαι, ἀλλὰ μακρὰν ἔστω τὰ πάθη. Εἶτα οἱ ἄνδρες καθεζόμενοι καὶ ἐχέτωσαν βιβλίον χρήσιμον: καὶ ὁ μέν τις ἀναγινωσκέτω, ὁ δέ τις ἀκουέτω: κἂν μὴ βιβλίον παρῇ, ὁ μὲν προσευχέσθω, ὁ δέ τι χρήσιμον λαλείτω. Καὶ ὁ σύλλογος πάλιν ὁ παρθενικὸς οὕτω συνειλέχθω, ἢ ψάλλων ἢ ἀναγινώσκων ἡσυχῇ: ὥστε λαλεῖν μὲν τὰ χείλη, μὴ ἀκούειν δὲ τὰ ἀλλότρια ὦτα. Γυναικὶ γὰρ λαλεῖν ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ οὐκ ἐπιτρέπω: καὶ ἡ ἔγγαμος [δὲ] ὁμοίως μιμείσθω: καὶ προσευχέσθω, καὶ τὰ χείλη κινείσθω, φωνὴ δὲ μὴ ἀκουέσθω: ἵνα παρέλθῃ Σαμουὴλ, ἵνα σου ἡ στεῖρα ψυχὴ γεννήσῃ τὴν σωτηρίαν Θεοῦ ἐπακούσαντος. Ὁ γὰρ Σαμουὴλ ταύτην ἔχει τὴν ἑρμηνείαν.