13.  After a short interval, wonder succeeded wonder.  I will commend the account of it to the ears of the faithful, for to profane minds nothing that is good is trustworthy.  He was approaching that regeneration by water and the Spirit, by which we confess to God the formation and completion of the Christlike man, and the transformation and reformation from the earthy to the Spirit.  He was approaching the laver with warm desire and bright hope, after all the purgation possible, and a far greater purification of soul and body than that of the men who were to receive the tables from Moses.  Their purification extended only to their dress, and a slight restriction of the belly, and a temporary continence.27    Exod. xix. 10, 15.  The whole of his past life had been a preparation for the enlightenment, and a preliminary purification making sure the gift, in order that perfection might be entrusted to purity, and that the blessing might incur no risk in a soul which was confident in its possession of the grace.  And as he was ascending out of the water, there flashed around him a light and a glory worthy of the disposition with which he approached the gift of faith;28    The gift of faith.  One of the questions in some ancient rites of administering Holy Baptism was, “What seekest thou of the Church?” to which the answer was “Faith.” this was manifest even to some others, who for the time concealed the wonder, from fear of speaking of a sight which each one thought had been only his own, but shortly afterwards communicated it to one another.  To the baptiser29    The baptiser.  The Bishop of Nazianzus—not Leontius of Cæsarea, who had much to do with Gregory’s instruction and had, possibly, admitted him to the order of Catechumens. and initiator, however, it was so clear and visible, that he could not even hold back the mystery, but publicly cried out that he was anointing with the Spirit his own successor.

ΙΓʹ. Μικρὸν τὸ ἐν μέσῳ, καὶ τῷ θαύματι θαῦμα συνάπτεται: παραθήσομαι δὲ πιστῶν ἀκοαῖς τὸν λόγον: ψυχαῖς γὰρ βεβήλοις οὐδὲν τῶν καλῶν ἀξιόπιστον. Πρόσεισι μὲν τῇ δι' ὕδατος ἀναγεννήσει καὶ Πνεύματος, δι' ἧς ὁμολογοῦμεν Θεῷ τὴν τοῦ κατὰ Χριστὸν ἀνθρώπου μόρφωσίν τε καὶ τελείωσιν, καὶ τοῦ χοϊκοῦ πρὸς τὸ πνεῦμα μετάθεσιν καὶ ἀνάπλασιν: καὶ πρόσεισι μετὰ θερμῆς τῆς ἐπιθυμίας, καὶ λαμπρᾶς τῆς ἐλπίδος, τῷ λουτρῷ προκαθήρας ἑαυτὸν εἰς δύναμιν, καὶ ψυχῇ καὶ σώματι καθαγνίσας πολλῷ μᾶλλον, ἢ οἱ τὰς πλάκας παρὰ Μωϋσέως δέξασθαι μέλλοντες. Τοῖς μὲν γὰρ μέχρις ἐσθῆτος ὁ ἁγνισμὸς, καὶ γαστρὸς μικρὰ στένωσις, καὶ σωφροσύνη τις σχέδιος: τῷ δὲ πᾶς ὁ ἐν μέσῳ βίος παρασκευὴ τῆς ἐλλάμψεως ἦν, καὶ πρὸ τῆς καθάρσεως κάθαρσις ἀσφαλιζομένη τὴν δωρεὰν, ἵνα ἡ τελειότης τῇ καθαρότητι πιστευθῇ, καὶ μὴ κινδυνεύσῃ τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἐν ἕξει τολμώσῃ μετὰ τῆς χάριτος. Ἐξελθόντα δὲ αὐτὸν ἐκ τοῦ ὕδατος, φῶς περιαστράπτει καὶ δόξα τῆς διαθέσεως ἀξία, μεθ' ἧς προσῆλθε τῷ χαρίσματι τῆς πίστεως: ἔστι μὲν οἷς καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἐπίδηλος, οἳ τότε μὲν σιωπῇ τὸ θαῦμα κατέσχον, ἐξειπεῖν οὐ θαῤῥήσαντες (καὶ γὰρ αὐτοῦ μόνου ταύτην εἶναι τὴν ὄψιν ἕκαστος ᾤετο), μικρὸν δὲ ὕστερον ἀλλήλοις διέδωκαν: τῷ δὲ βαπτιστῇ καὶ τελειωτῇ τοσοῦτον ἐναργής τε καὶ γνώριμος, ὥστε μηδὲ κατασχεῖν δυνηθῆναι τὸ μυστήριον, ἀλλὰ καὶ δημοσίᾳ ῥῆξαι φωνὴν, ὅτι τὸν ἑαυτοῦ διάδοχον τῷ πνεύματι χρίσειεν.