[A Thanksgiving Concerning the Mystical Water.]
XLIII. After this he comes to the water, and blesses and glorifies the Lord God Almighty, the Father of the only begotten God; 189 One V. ms. has “Son” instead of “God.” Cotelerius remarks that this change was made in the interests of orthodoxy; for the expression “only begotten God” had become common with the Arians. [Comp. John i. 18., where the most weighty ancient authorities read μονογενὴς θεός instead of ὁ μονογενὴς υιός; see Revised Version, margins in loco.—R.] and the priest returns thanks that He has sent His Son to become man on our account, that He might save us; that He has permitted that He should in all things become obedient to the laws of that incarnation, to preach the kingdom of heaven, the remission of sins, and the resurrection of the dead. Moreover, he adores the only begotten God Himself, after His Father, and for Him, giving Him thanks that He undertook to die for all men by the cross, the type of which He has appointed to be the baptism of regeneration. 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 suited His providence to the difference of seasons: at first giving to Adam himself paradise for an habitation of pleasure, and afterwards giving a command on account of providence, and casting out the offender justly, but through His goodness not utterly casting him off, but instructing his posterity in succeeding ages after various manners; on whose account, in the conclusion of the world, He has sent His Son to become man for man’s sake, and to 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 it grace and power, that so he that is to be baptized, according to the command of Thy Christ, may be crucified with Him, and may die with Him, and may be buried with Him, and may rise 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, he shall anoint him with ointment, and shall add as follows:—
[43] Εἶτα ἔρχεται εἰς τὸ ὕδωρ. Εὐλογεῖ καὶ δοξάζει τὸν δεσπότην Θεὸν τὸν παντοκράτορα, τὸν Πατέρα τοῦ μονογενοῦς Θεοῦ, εὐχαριστῶν ὁ ἱερεύς, ὅτι ἀπέστειλεν ἐνανθρωπῆσαι τὸν Υἱὸν αὐτοῦ δι' ἡμᾶς, ἵνα ἡμᾶς σώσῃ, ὅτι ἠνέσχετο τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως ὑπήκοον αὐτὸν γενέσθαι ἐν πᾶσι, κηρῦξαι βασιλείαν οὐρανῶν, ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν, νεκρῶν ἀνάστασιν Ἐπὶ τούτοις προσκυνεῖ αὐτὸν τὸν μονογενῆ Θεὸν μετ' αὐτὸν καὶ δι' αὐτόν, εὐχαριστῶν αὐτῷ τῷ ἀναδέξασθαι αὐτὸν τὸν ὑπὲρ πάντων θάνατον διὰ τοῦ σταυροῦ, οὗ τύπον ἔδωκεν τὸ βάπτισμα τῆς παλιγγενεσίας. Δοξάζει τε, ὅτι ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ Χριστοῦ Θεὸς ὁ τῶν ὅλων Κύριος ἐν ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι οὐκ ἀπέρριψεν τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος, ἀλλὰ διαφόροις καιροῖς διαφόρους προνοίας ἐποιήσατο, τῷ τε Ἀδὰμ αὐτῷ ἐν παραδείσῳ πρῶτον μὲν τρυφῆς λόγῳ τὸν παράδεισον οἰκητήριον δούς, ἔπειτα προνοίας λόγῳ ἐντολὴν ποιησάμενος, ἁμαρτόντα δὲ δικαιοσύνῃ ἐξώσας, ἀγαθότητι δὲ μὴ ἀπορρίψας εἰς τὸ παντελές, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἐξ αὐτοῦ κατὰ διαδοχὴν διαφόρως παιδεύσας: δι' ὃν ἐπὶ τὸ τέρμα τοῦ αἰῶνος ἀπέστειλεν τὸν Υἱὸν αὐτοῦ ἄνθρωπον γενέσθαι δι' ἀνθρώπους καὶ πάντα τὰ ἀνθρώπινα πάθη ἀναδέξασθαι χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας. Αὐτὸν οὖν καὶ νῦν παρακαλείτω ὁ ἱερεὺς πρὸς τῷ βαπτίσματι καὶ λεγέτω, ὅτι: Κάτιδε ἐξ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ἁγίασον τὸ ὕδωρ τοῦτο, δὸς δὲ χάριν καὶ δύναμιν, ὥστε τὸν βαπτιζόμενον κατ' ἐντολὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ σου αὐτῷ συσταυρωθῆναι καὶ συναποθανεῖν καὶ συνταφῆναι καὶ συναναστῆναι εἰς υἱοθεσίαν τὴν ἐν αὐτῷ, τῷ νεκρωθῆναι μὲν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, ζῆσαι δὲ τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ.