On the Baptism of Christ.

 The time, then, has come, and bears in its course the remembrance of holy mysteries, purifying man,—mysteries which purge out from soul and body even

 Christ, then, was born as it were a few days ago—He Whose generation was before all things, sensible and intellectual. To-day He is baptized by John t

 Let us then leave the task of searching into what is beyond human power, and seek rather that which shows signs of being partly within our comprehensi

 As, however, examples always render an argument more vivid to the hearers, I propose to instruct the mind of the blasphemers by an illustration, expla

 I find that not only do the Gospels, written after the Crucifixion, proclaim the grace of Baptism, but, even before the Incarnation of our Lord, the a

 Hagar, the handmaid of Abraham (whom Paul treats allegorically in reasoning with the Galatians ), being sent forth from her master’s house by the ange

 Again, at a later time, Isaac—the same for whose sake Ishmael was driven with his mother from his father’s home—was to be wedded. Abraham’s servant is

 According to the same force of the text, Jacob also, hastening to seek a bride, met Rachel unexpectedly at the well. And a great stone lay upon the we

 Again, the great Moses, when he was a goodly child, and yet at the breast, falling under the general and cruel decree which the hard-hearted Pharaoh m

 Even these instances might be enough to confirm our present position but the lover of good thoughts must yet not neglect what follows. The people of

 Now herein, by that wondrous sacrifice, Elijah clearly proclaimed to us the sacramental rite of Baptism that should afterwards be instituted. For the

 Let us for the rest consider the prophecies of it in words and language. Isaiah cried saying, “Wash you, make you clean, put away evil from your souls

 But do ye all, as many as are made glad, by the gift of regeneration, and make your boast of that saving renewal, show me, after the sacramental grace

 Therefore, also, it is that after the dignity of adoption the devil plots more vehemently against us, pining away with envious glance, when he beholds

 And now we have spoken sufficiently for the holy subject of the day, which the circling year brings to us at appointed periods. We shall do well in wh

 For all these things then let us sing to God that hymn of joy, which lips touched by the Spirit long ago sang loudly: “Let my soul be joyful in the Lo

The time, then, has come, and bears in its course the remembrance of holy mysteries, purifying man,—mysteries which purge out from soul and body even that sin which is hard to cleanse away, and which bring us back to that fairness of our first estate which God, the best of artificers, impressed upon us. Therefore it is that you, the initiated people, are gathered together; and you bring also that people who have not made trial of them, leading, like good fathers, by careful guidance, the uninitiated to the perfect reception of the faith. I for my part rejoice over both;—over you that are initiated, because you are enriched with a great gift: over you that are uninitiated, because you have a fair expectation of hope—remission of what is to be accounted for, release from bondage, close relation to God, free boldness of speech, and in place of servile subjection equality with the angels. For these things, and all that follow from them, the grace of Baptism secures and conveys to us. Therefore let us leave the other matters of the Scriptures for other occasions, and abide by the topic set before us, offering, as far as we may, the gifts that are proper and fitting for the feast: for each festival demands its own treatment. So we welcome a marriage with wedding songs; for mourning we bring the due offering with funeral strains; in times of business we speak seriously, at times of festivity we relax the concentration and strain of our minds; but each time we keep free from disturbance by things that are alien to its character.

Ἧκε τοίνυν ἄγων καὶ περιφέρων ὁ χρόνος μνήμην ἁγίων μυστηρίων καθαιρόντων τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ἃ καὶ τὴν δυσέκνιπτον ἁμαρτίαν ἀπορρύπτει τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ τοῦ σώματος, ἐπανάγει δὲ πρὸς τὸ ἐξ ἀρχῆς κάλλος, ὅπερ ὁ ἀριστοτέχνης θεὸς ἐφ' ἡμῖν διεπλάσατο. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ὁ μύστης λαὸς οἱ πεπειραμένοι τῶν ἀγαθῶν τῆς ἡμέρας ἠθροίσθητε, ἐπάγεσθε δὲ καὶ τὸν ἄπειρον ἔτι οἷα πατέρες χρηστοὶ μελέτῃ καὶ προσαγωγῇ ὁδηγοῦντες τοὺς ἀμυήτους πρὸς τὴν τελείαν τῆς εὐσεβείας κατάληψιν. ἐγὼ δὲ ἀμφοτέροις συνήδομαι, τοῖς μὲν τελεσθεῖσιν, ὅτι μεγάλην δωρεὰν ἐπλουτήσατε, τοῖς δὲ ἀμυήτοις, ὅτι καλὴν προσδοκίαν ἐλπίζετε ἄφεσιν εὐθυνῶν, λύσιν δεσμῶν, οἰκείωσιν πρὸς θεόν, παρρησίαν ἐλευθέριον, ἀντὶ δουλικῆς ταπεινότητος ἰσοτιμίαν τὴν πρὸς ἀγγέλους. ταῦτα γὰρ ἡμῖν καὶ εἴ τι τούτοις ἀκόλουθον ἡ τοῦ λουτροῦ χάρις ἐγγυᾶται καὶ δίδωσιν. διὸ τὰς ἄλλας τῶν γραφῶν ὑποθέσεις ἑτέροις καιροῖς ἀναθέμενοι τῷ προκειμένῳ σκοπῷ παραμείνωμεν τὰ οἰκεῖα καὶ πρόσφορα τῇ ἑορτῇ δωροφοροῦντες εἰς δύναμιν: φίλον γὰρ ἑκάστῃ πανηγύρει τὸ ἴδιον. οὕτω γάμον μὲν ταῖς ἐπιθαλαμίοις ᾠδαῖς δεξιούμεθα, πένθει δὲ τὰ νενομισμένα τοῖς ἐπικηδείοις θρήνοις εἰσφέρομεν, ἐν πράγμασι σπουδαιολογούμεθα, ἐν εὐωχίαις λύομεν τῆς ψυχῆς τὸ πεπυκνωμένον καὶ σύντονον, ἕκαστον δὲ καιρὸν τηροῦμεν τῶν ἀλλοτρίων ἀνεπιθόλωτον.