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.

2. Even Simon Magus once came to the Laver  8  Acts viii. 13. : he was baptized, but was not enlightened; and though he dipped his body in water, he enlightened not his heart with the Spirit: his body went down and came up, but his soul was not buried with Christ, nor raised with Him  9  Rom. vi. 4; Col. ii. 12. . Now I mention the statements  10  Greek, ὑπογραφή, meaning either an “indictment,” or a descriptive “sketch.” For the former meaning, see Plato, Theaet. 172, E. ὑπογραφὴν …ἣν ἀντωμοσίαν καλοῦσιν. of (men’s) falls, that thou mayest not fall: for these things happened to them by way of example,  and they are written for the admonition   11  1 Cor. x. 11. of those who to this day draw near. Let none of you be found tempting His grace,  lest any root of bitterness spring up and trouble you   12  Heb. xii. 15. . Let none of you enter saying, Let us see what the faithful  13  “The faithful” are those who have been already baptized, and instructed in those mysteries of the Christian Faith which were reserved for the initiated. See Index, “Faithful.” are doing: let me go in and see, that I may learn what is being done. Dost thou expect to see, and not expect to be seen? And thinkest thou, that whilst thou art searching out what is going on, God is not searching thy heart?

8 Acts viii. 13.
9 Rom. vi. 4; Col. ii. 12.
10 Greek, ὑπογραφή, meaning either an “indictment,” or a descriptive “sketch.” For the former meaning, see Plato, Theaet. 172, E. ὑπογραφὴν …ἣν ἀντωμοσίαν καλοῦσιν.
11 1 Cor. x. 11.
12 Heb. xii. 15.
13 “The faithful” are those who have been already baptized, and instructed in those mysteries of the Christian Faith which were reserved for the initiated. See Index, “Faithful.”

Προσῆλθέ ποτε καὶ Σίμων τῷ λουτρῷ ὁ μάγος: ἐβαπτίσθη, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐφωτίσθη: καὶ τὸ μὲν σῶμα ἔβαψεν ὕδατι, τὴν δὲ καρδίαν οὐκ ἐφώτισε Πνεύματι: καὶ κατέβη μὲν τὸ σῶμα, καὶ ἀνέβη: ἡ δὲ ψυχὴ οὐ συνετάφη Χριστῷ, οὐδὲ συνηγέρθη. Ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω τὰς ὑπογραφὰς τῶν πτωμάτων, ἵνα μὴ σὺ ἐμπέσῃς. Ταῦτα γὰρ τυπικῶς ἐγένετο ἐκείνοις, γέγραπται δὲ πρὸς νουθεσίαν τῶν μέχρις σήμερον προσερχομένων. Μήτις ὑμῶν εὑρεθῇ πειράζων τὴν χάριν: μήτις ῥίζα πικρίας ἄνω φύουσα ἐνοχλῇ: μήτις ὑμῶν εἰσέλθῃ λέγων: Ἀφὲς ἴδωμεν τί ποιοῦσιν οἱ πιστοί: εἰσελθὼν ἴδω, ἵνα μάθω τὰ γινόμενα. Ἰδεῖν προσδοκᾷς, τὸ δὲ ὀφθῆναι οὐ προσδοκᾷς; καὶ νομίζεις, ὅτι σὺ μὲν πολυπραγμονεῖς τὰ γιγνόμενα, Θεὸς δὲ σοῦ οὐ πολυπραγμονεῖ τὴν καρδίαν;