The Ancient Church Orders (Maclean)

The Ancient Church Orders (Maclean)

continued

Chapter V: The Ministry and Ordination

1. Bishops, presbyters, deacons. In D the organisation of the ministry closely resembles that of NT. There is a local ministry of bishops and deacons (§ 15), chosen by the people especially for Sunday worship ('On the Lord's own day assemble...Appoint for yourselves therefore bishops and deacons'); presbyters are not mentioned. In addition, there is an itinerant ministry of 'apostles' and 'prophets' (§ 11). This is a decisive argument for the very early date of this manual. The possibility of the prophet settling in the place is contemplated*; this is perhaps a step towards a localised (monarchical) episcopate (§ 13). The prophets instruct; they are 'your high priests'; they 'speak in the Spirit'; at the Eucharist they 'give thanks as much as they * If there is no prophet, D says that firstfruits are to be given to the poor. In Hermas the prophets have apparently become subordinate to the presbyters (e.g. Vis. iii. 1).

2 The name 'high priest' for bishops is common, e.g. AC ii. 26 (and || Didasc and EthD 6), vii. 42 (some MSS), viii. 11, 12, etc. (cf. viii. 5 and || Const H, ἀρχιερατεύειν, in bishop's ordination prayer); CH xxiv. 200; EgCO 56; SEC 65; EthCO 42; Test ii. 21; H₃ p. 105. Cf. Test i. 21 (ordination prayer), EthS 53. 5—2 will,' i.e. their utterance is unrestrained (§ 10)*. The functions of the 'apostle' are not defined. Perhaps the word is used in the sense of a delegate or messenger from other churches as in 2 Co. viii. 23, Ph. ii. 25.—The primitive features of D are removed in the parallel portions of AC vii. The other Church Orders have bishops, presbyters, and deacons. The Bishop is the ruler—in EdCan 5, 17 he is called 'the Guide' (Dûqâ = dux); he is the shepherd of the sheep; he is the normal president of Christian worship, and celebrates the Eucharist when he is present, though the presbyter is expressly recognised as being capable of celebrating it (AC iii. 20, vii. 26 [where 'presbyter' takes the place of the 'prophet' of ||D 10], EthD 16, Test i. 31); he confirms, and he alone ordains, a presbyter being forbidden to ordain even the minor orders (AC iii. 11, 20, EthD 14, CH iv. 32).

3 The deacon, on the other hand, is 'ordained not to the priesthood, but to minister to the bishop and the Church' (Test i. 38, cf. EgCO 33, EthCO 24, H₂ p. 109). The Council of Nicaea says that he is the ὑπηρέτης of the bishop (can. 18). CH v. 33 f. says that he does not belong to the presbyterate, but that he is to minister to the bishop and presbyters and to the sick. * So in Justin Martyr (Apol. i. 67), after the Offertory the president 'offers prayers and thanksgivings' (i.e. the Eucharistic Thanksgiving) 'as far as he is able' (ὅση δύναμις αὐτῷ). The name 'shepherd' used absolutely as a title for the bishop (apart from the metaphor of the flock) is not common, but is found in ApCO 18 (cf. 22 syr, lat), AC ii. 1 28 42 43 (the first and two last also in || Didasc) and frequently in Test.

4 So in AC ii. 26, 30 ff., iii. 19 f. and || Didasc iii. 13, EthD 16. The 'Gallican Statutes' (§ 4; Wordsworth, MG p. 166) say that the deacon is not consecrated to the sacerdotium, but for ministerium. In AC viii. 46 he is expressly forbidden to celebrate the Eucharist. The Church Orders show that deacons were pressing their claims; almost all (except Test which is enthusiastic about both deacons* and widows) have regulations intended to repress their claims. There are some interesting indications of the relative positions of presbyters and bishops in the Church Orders. In all of them (after D) the bishop is supreme; the presbyters are his counsellors and sit in judgment with him (AC ii. 28, and || Didasc, H₁ p. 39 f.; cf. Ignatius passim). Yet in some of these manuals there are traces of a closer relation. In CH iv. 30—32 the presbyter is to be ordained with the same prayer as a bishop except that the words 'bishop,' 'episcopate,' are to be altered to 'presbyter,' 'presbyterate,' and enthronisation is to be omitted. 'The bishop in all things is to be put on an equality with the presbyter except in the name of the chair (cathedrae) and in ordination, for the power of ordaining is not given to him' (the presbyter). With this we may compare the direction in CH ii. 10 that 'one of the bishops and presbyters (unus ex episcopis et presbyteris) is to lay hands on a bishop-

5 * Contrast Test i. 34, which calls the deacon the 'counsellor of the whole clergy,' with EgCO 33, EthCO 24, H₃ p. 109, which say the exact opposite. 6 elect and to say the prayer over him.' The meaning seems to be: 'one of those who have both the episcopate and the presbyterate'; for in CH iv. 32 a presbyter is said not to have power to ordain. The earlier section therefore cannot contemplate the case of a simple presbyter ordaining a bishop-elect. There is hardly enough here to prove that CH belongs to the time of Hippolytus or earlier, for Jerome has almost the same expression: 'What does a bishop that a presbyter does not, except ordination?' (Ep. cxlvi. ad Evangelum 1). But, without entering on the disputed question of the origin of the episcopate, we may remark that there is little doubt that the direction to use the same prayer for bishop and presbyter is an archaic feature, and goes a long way to prove the priority of those manuals which have it to those which have it not. It would be extremely unlikely that a compiler who found two separate prayers in his sources would go out of his way to suppress one of them. The direction in EgCO-sah 32 for the ordination of presbyters is: 'Let him [the bishop] pray over him according to the form which we said for the bishop.' The Arabic translation has: 'He prays over him according to the pattern which we have said concerning the bishop' (Horner, pp. 307, 245). This would seem to mean the same thing as CH, that the same form was to be used for bishop and presbyter. But Funk (TUH p. 45) disputes this.

7 EthCO 23 (the parallel passage) has: 'In the form which we said before he shall pray, saying...,' and gives a separate ordination prayer for the presbyter; so H₃ (p. 108) has: 'et dicat secundum ea quae praedicta sunt, sicut praediximus super episcopum, orans et dicens,' and adds the separate prayer. From this Funk deduces the conclusion that EgCO (which contains no ordination prayers at all) does not exclude, but rather implies, the use of a separate prayer for presbyters. But this view is made very improbable by the phrase used. It is much more likely that EthCO (which perhaps was the first to make the change) took over the reference to bishops from the older form in its source, and then rather awkwardly added a separate prayer to it. 8 The ordination prayer for presbyters in EthCO and H (which closely agree) is very simple, and refers to Moses' elders. The only function of a presbyter which is mentioned is ruling. Separate prayers are also found in Test i. 30 (developed from H₃), AC viii. 16 and ConstH 6 (mentioning priestly duties, ἱερουργίας, on behalf of the people), Sar 13 (referring to the function of reconciliation).—In EgCO, EthCO, H₃, Test, the presbyters also lay hands on, or touch, the candidate; but this is not mentioned in AC, which only says that the presbyters and deacons are present. Ordination prayers for deacons are given in CH v. 39—42, EthCO 24, H₃ p. 110 (a fragment), Test i. 38, AC viii. 17, Sar 12. Those in EthCO and H₃ are practically the same (as far as H goes); that in Test is clearly derived from them. Those in CH, AC, Sar, seem to be quite independent of them and of one another, except that CH and AC both refer to Stephen, while Sar refers to the seven 'deacons' of Acts vi.

9 Archdeacons (ἀρχιδιάκονοι) are not heard of by name till the end of the fourth century, when we find them in 'Silvia.' The name there, however, does not seem to denote a separate office, but is given to the deacon whose duty it is to call people to prayer. So in Test i. 19, 34 there is a 'chief deacon,' not one of a separate order, but selected from the other deacons to be guest-master and to help the priest to write the names of those who make offerings. ArD does not mention the chief deacon in the parallel passage. It is not probable that the word ἀρχιδιάκονος was used in the Greek original of Test, for Jacob of Edessa in translating the book into Syriac does not use the usual Syriac transliteration of the word, but translates by the phrase 'chief of the deacons.' Chorepiscopi are not mentioned in the Church Orders. But EdCan 24 apparently alludes to them in the injunction that a Ruler is to be appointed as head over village presbyters.

10 Metropolitans also are not found in them. Although the neighbouring bishops are said to attend at an episcopal election, there is not much trace of the existence of ecclesiastical provinces (for ApCO see below p. 171). This is natural enough in the fourth century, when provincial organisation was only just beginning; but it would be difficult to explain at a later date. We may, as it is, perhaps make the deduction that none of these manuals came from great centres like Alexandria and Antioch. The name 'metropolitan' is found at Nicaea (can. 6), and Laodicea (can. 12); cf. Antioch in Encaen. (can. 19). There is just a trace of a primacy in ArD 36 where the 'first bishop among them' says the ordination prayer (cf. AC viii. 4, 'one of the first bishops'). A similar but fainter trace in EgCO-boh 31 (Tattam p. 32) is shown by the Sahidic and Arabic versions to be a mistake. 'They request (axiou = ἄξιονσι) one of the bishops' [to lay on hands and pray] has become in the Bohairic 'He who is worthy (ἄξιος) out of the bishops,' etc.

11 2. Ordination of a bishop. The ordination or consecration to the episcopate (there is no difference of nomenclature at this early period) takes a very simple form in these manuals. A prayer is said by one or more bishops, with laying on of hands; the new bishop, being then placed in his throne, receives from all the kiss of peace, and himself proceeds to celebrate the Eucharist. At least three bishops must attend; see AC iii. 20 ('or at least two') EthD 16, ApCan 1 ('two or three'), Nicaea can. 4. AC viii. 27 says that if because of persecution or any similar cause only one bishop may be had, he must have authority from several bishops. The real significance of the attendance of these bishops is that they come to assent to the election; probably the idea of securing validity for the ordination in case of any defect in one of the consecrators had not arisen at this date. The bishops assist in the ceremony, but as a rule only one, chosen by the others, says the prayer (so CH ii. 10, where only one lays on a hand; EgCO 31 and H₃ p. 103, where all have previously laid on hands and then one again does so alone). But in EthCO 22 all lay on hands and all say the prayer. In Test i. 21 they all lay on hands and say a declaration, and then one bishop lays on hands and says the prayer; ArD 36 is similar.

12 In AC viii. 4 one of the principal bishops standing near the altar with two others, says the prayer, the other bishops and the presbyters praying in silence, and the deacons holding the Gospels over the new bishop's head. But it is not certain what the three bishops do. Laying on of hands is not expressly mentioned. Yet from the analogy of the other Church Orders and from the other ordinations of AC, all of which mention imposition of hands, it is probable that the three bishops lay on hands; and from the fact that the other bishops are expressly told to keep silence, it is not unlikely that all three join in saying the prayer. As Sarapion gives us hardly any rubrical directions the usage in his diocese is uncertain. 13 The ordination prayer for a bishop is very nearly the same in CH, EthCO, H₃, and ConstH. It is short and simple. The functions mentioned are, visiting and feeding the people, offering the gifts of the congregation (the Eucharist), absolution, exorcising and healing (CH), and 'reconciling' God's face (ConstH, H₃). The prayer is given below, the words in italics being found in only one of the four authorities. [The form in H and EthCO is nearly the same as in ConstH, all but quite insignificant differences being given in the notes.]

CH

14 O God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who dwellest in the heights and lookest on humble things, who knowest all things before they are made; thou who hast constituted the bounds of the Church, by whose power it is that from Adam there should remain a just race in the manner of this bishop who is great Abraham (? ratione hujus episcopi qui est magnus A.), who hast constituted prelacies and principalities; look on N. thy servant, giving thy power and effectual Spirit, whom thou gavest through our Lord Jesus Christ thy only Son to thy holy Apostles who founded the Church in every place to the honour and glory of thy holy Name. Forasmuch as thou knowest (cognovisti) the

CONSTH

15 O God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Father of mercies and God* of all comfort, who dwellest in the heights and lookest on humble things, who knowest all things before they are made; thou who hast given the bounds of the Church through the word of thy grace, who hast preordained the just race from the beginning from Abraham‡, who hast constituted rulers§ and priests, and hast not left thy sanctuary without a ministry, who from the foundation of the world wast well pleased to be glorified|| in those whom thou hast chosen, even now pour out the power proceeding from thee of thy ruling¶ Spirit whom thou gavest through thy beloved son Jesus Christ to thy holy Apostles who * Eth: Lord. Eth: an ordinance to. ‡ H: the race of the just, Abraham. § Eth: judges. H: princes. || H: preached (?). ¶ ἡγεμονικόν, from Ps. li. 12 LXX. Eth: holy.

16 H: gavest to thy beloved Son Jesus Christ, which he bestowed on the holy Apostles [Test, AC similar, ArD like ConstH]. Eth: gavest to thy beloved Son Jesus Christ, which thou grantest to us the holy Apostles thy helpers in thy Church (working) with the plough of thy cross, and in the place of thy sanctuary—to thee be glory, and praise unceasingly to thy Name. hearts of each one, grant to him that without sin he may see thy people, that he may be worthy to feed thy great and holy flock. Cause also that his life (mores) may be an example (superiores) to all the people without any falling away, and that he may be envied by all for his excellency; and receive his prayers and offerings which he shall offer to thee day and night, and may they be to thee a sweet savour. Give also to him, O Lord, the episcopate, and a mild spirit, and power to forgive sins; and give him ability to loose all bonds of iniquity of demons, and to heal all diseases, and bruise Satan under his feet shortly, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom be glory to thee with him and the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. Amen.

CONSTH

17 founded the Church in the place of thy sanctuary* to the unending glory and praise of thy Name. O thou who knowest the hearts of all, grant‡ to this thy servant, whom thou hast chosen to thy holy episcopate, even§ to serve the highpriesthood to thee, without blame ministering night and day||, and unceasingly to reconcile¶ thy face and to offer to thee the gifts of thy holy Church, and to have in the high-priestly spirit power to forgive sins according to thy command, to give lots according to thy ordinance,and to loose every bond according to the power which thou gavest to the Apostles, and to please thee in mildness and a pure heart, offering to thee a sweet savour, through thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord‡‡, with§§ whom be glory, might and honour to thee with the Holy Ghost||||, now and for ever and ever. Amen. This short prayer is expanded in Test and AC.

18 * H: in every place, even thy sanctuary. H inserts: Father. ‡ Eth inserts: the Holy Ghost. § Eth, H insert: to feed thy [holy, H] flock and. || Eth: day and night. ¶ Eth: supplicating worthily to see. Eth: to give the ordination of thy ordinance. Eth inserts: of iniquity. ‡‡ Eth, H omit: our Lord. §§ Eth, H: through. |||| Eth: to Father, Son and Holy Ghost. H: to Father and Son with the Holy Ghost. Eth inserts: in thy holy Church. 19 Each has a long preamble before 'O God and Father,' quite independent of the other, and each in its own style; and each has several additional sentences, also independent, and also each in its own style, in the text of the prayer itself. Funk supposes that AC is the original of all the Orders, and that Test is derived from one of the EthCO type. This would mean, first, that a compiler of the EthCO type freely treated AC by omitting the preamble and long passages—those which are specially in the style of AC; then that other compilers followed suit, agreeing together in one short type of prayer, though not in exact verbal concurrence with one another; then that the Test compiler inserted into the resultant short form another preamble and long interpolations, both in his own style. All this is most improbable*. Speaking generally, we may notice that in liturgical forms interpolation is a priori more likely than omission. They grew rather than diminished in length; and it may confidently be said, that the earlier the form, the simpler it is. In this particular case we must come to the conclusion that the simpler ordination prayer given above represents the original much better than the more complex forms of Test or AC, which are produced by enlargement and interpolation. Indeed we may (though very tentatively) reconstruct the original prayer by omitting all phrases in the form given above which are not common to all. And we may also probably conclude that in the Original,

20 * Similarly the ordination prayer for a presbyter is shorter in ConstH than in AC. the prayer for presbyters and for bishops was the same. 3. Minor Orders. There was a tendency to supplement the organisation of the ministry by offices which are additional, and (with one possible exception) inferior, to those of bishop, presbyter, and deacon. Most of the Church Orders draw a distinction between those offices that have, and those that have not, laying on of hands (χειροθεσία), which is commonly used only in the ordination of bishops, presbyters, and deacons. But ConstH extends it to deaconesses and subdeacons, and AC also to readers (see the Table, p. 15). Similarly St Basil (Ep. can. tertia ccxvii. 51) makes a clear distinction on these lines, A.D. 375. He says that lapsed clergy are ejected from the ministry, 'whether they be in orders (ἐν βαθμῷ, cf. ApCan 82), or remain in the ministry which is conferred without imposition of hands.' And in A.D. 341 the Council of Antioch in Encaeniis (can. 10) expressly uses χειροτονεῖν* (though this word need not necessarily imply laying on of hands) of presbyters and deacons, but καθιστᾶν of readers, subdeacons, and exorcists, though the latter word may be used of any order from bishops downwards (e.g. AC iii. 20, vi. 17, viii. 17, ApCO-æh 17, 20 f., EgCO 33, 35, 37; Sar 14 has χειροθεσία καταστάσεως ἐπισκόπου, and so for presbyters and deacons, § 12 f.: Sarapion has no benedictions of minor orders; for other instances see Brightman JThSt i. 273 f.). Epiphanius includes

21 * For the meaning of χειροτονία, χειροθεσία in AC see below p. 153 ff. the subdeacons in the ἱερωσύνη, but not readers: 'The reader is not a priest (ἱερεύς), but as it were a scribe (γραμματεύς) of the word' (Expos. Fid. 21, ed. Petavius, i. 1104). At Laodicea, c. A.D. 380, the bishops, presbyters, and deacons are apparently placed in a class by themselves as ἱερατικοί; the rest are κληρικοί (can. 27, 30, etc.). But in AC iii. 15 the minor orders are included in the ἱερατικοί (so ApCan 63). The natural conclusion from this is that at first these minor orders were not ordained with laying on of hands, but that ConstH made some advance in the case of subdeacons and deaconesses, and that AC went still further and added readers to those who were so ordained. But Funk (DidCA ii. p. xv, TUH 41, 52 f., 192 ff.) thinks that the process was the reverse; that laying on of hands for the minor orders was dropped, first partially by ConstH (which he regards as later than AC) and then wholly by the rest. He says that the Monophysites do not use laying on of hands for this purpose, while the Nestorians use it (Denzinger Ritus Orientalium ii. p. 228) for a reader [apparently not for a subdeacon, ib. p. 229]. Thus the older sect follows the usage of AC, the younger that of EgCO; and he deduces from this the priority of AC over EgCO. It is difficult to see the force of this argument. In the first place, though the Monophysites do not use the ordinary laying on of hands, the ordainer touches the temples of the reader or subdeacon (for the Copts see Denzinger ii. 3, 5; for the Syrian Jacobites see ii. 66 f.). And even if it were not so the deduction would not follow.

22 The Nestorians have more affinity to AC, the Monophysites to Test (which here follows the EgCO custom) for doctrinal reasons; and therefore no chronological deductions can be made one way or the other*. 4. Divisions of the Minor Orders. Readers and 'widows' (with whom we may class deaconesses) seem to be the oldest of the minor orders. Subdeacons, singers, interpreters, doorkeepers, acolytes, exorcists, virgins (or ascetics, or solitaries), 'those with gifts' (charismata), appear in various parts of the world. But the last three are not properly orders at all, as is expressly said in several of the Church Orders; though exorcists are on the border line (they are 'appointed,' like readers and subdeacons, at Antioch in Encaen. can. 10; but the Church Orders look on them as charismatic, e.g. AC viii. 26). Acolytes only appear in the West. Cornelius in his letter to Fabius of Antioch (Eusebius HE vi. 43) says that there were then (A.D. 251) forty-two in Rome.

23 Subdeacons are also first mentioned at the same time and place. Cornelius (loc. cit.) mentions seven. Cyprian (Ep. xxxiv. [xxvii.] 4) and Didasc ii. 34* * For the question whether the text of ConstH about a reader shows signs of being an alteration of AC, see below, p. 153 f. In Cornelius' list there are '36 (or 46) presbyters, 7 deacons, 7 subdeacons, 42 acolytes, 52 exorcists, readers and doorkeepers, and over 1500 widows and persons in distress.' Test (i. 34) has 12 (DidCA i. p. 116, H₁ p. 40, Gibson p. 51) also mention subdeacons; and they are the only minor order mentioned at Elvira in Spain, c. A.D. 305 (can. 30). The reference in Didasc is perhaps an interpolation, for otherwise they are not found in the East till the fourth century. They are not mentioned in ApCO, and Eusebius apparently does not recognise them as existing in the persecution of his own time in the East (HE viii. 6). At Neocaesarea in Cappadocia (c. A.D. 320?) a subdeacon is called a 'minister,' ὑπηρέτης (can. 10); an offending deacon is to be degraded to the rank of a 'minister.' This name is also found at Laodicea (can. 20 ff.), and in AC (iii. 11,, vi. 17, viii. 28, cf. ὑπηρεσία viii. 10; in ii. 28 and apparently in || Didasc it is used of deacons). The name ὑποδιάκονος is found at Antioch in Encaen. (can. 10), in Sar 25, and in Athanasius Hist. Arian. 'ad monachos,' § 60 (ὑποδιάκονον...ὑπηρετοῦντα). Subdeacons are found in EgCO, EthCO, H₃ (p. 116), Test, ConstH, AC; and also in EdCan 5, where in an apparently exhaustive list no other minor order is mentioned. They are found in our present text of CH, but Achelis thinks they are interpolated. In

24 presbyters, 7 deacons, 14 subdeacons, 13 widows 'who sit in front.' ApCO (18 ff.) has 3 presbyters, 3 deacons (so syr), 3 widows; the number of readers is not mentioned, probably only one. Harnack (SApC p. 95) suggests that as there were 14 regions in Rome, and as Pope Fabian, c. A.D. 236, had divided the regions among the deacons (Catal. Liberianus), 7 subdeacons were added in his time to the 7 deacons, so as to have one deacon or subdeacon for each region, while the 42 acolytes would provide three for each region. M. xxi. 217 Achelis suggests that we should alter 'presbyters and subdeacons and readers' into 'presbyters and deacons and readers' as otherwise deacons would be omitted; Funk, on the other hand, thinks that the omission of deacons is merely due to a scribe, and is a clerical error (TUH 227). Singers (ψάλται, ᾠδοί, ψαλτῳδοί) are not found as a separate class or order in Test, EgCO, EthCO, H, CH; but they have become such in AC (iii. 11, vi. 17), at Laodicea (can. 23), in ApCan 43, 69, and in Test-arab, which alters the Test enumeration given above to 'four subdeacons and readers, three widows and singers,' and which adds to Test i. 45 a chapter about the appointment of a singer.

25 Interpreters would only exist in bilingual countries. They are found in Egypt (Sar 25) and in Syria and Palestine (Epiphanius, Expos. Fid. 21; and in 'Silvia,' where however the presbyter interprets for the bishop, vii. 5). They are not found in the Church Orders. For this office in later times see Brightman LEW 578. Doorkeepers (πυλωροί) as an order are mentioned in Cornelius' list, and in AC ii. 57, iii. 11, EthD 10, etc.; not in Test, EgCO, EthCO, H₃. Their function seems at first to have been performed by deacons, who as they grew in importance gave up their more menial offices to subdeacons and doorkeepers. But the direction for deacons to watch the doors is preserved in almost all the Church Orders, even in AC, which makes a separate order of door-keepers. 26 5. Widows and deaconesses are frequently mentioned in early Christian literature in connexion with the ministry to women as well as with the receipt of alms. The Pastoral Epistles and the reference in Ignatius to 'the virgins who are called widows' (Smyrn. 13) prepare us for a considerable development. In ApCO there is a trace of a struggle between those who desired to push women's work, and those who wished to minimise it, the latter position being evidently taken by the writer; but three widows are to be appointed, two to pray and (strange to say) to receive spiritual revelations (so ApCO-syr 21 and H₂ p. 95), the third to visit the sick. There is not much said of 'widows' in most of the manuals parallel to CH. But in Test there is a great extension of their position, and this is one of the marked characteristics of the writer. Corresponding to presbyters there are 'presbyteresses' or 'widows who sit first' (προκαθήμεναι) to whom is given almost all the women's ministry. But deaconesses are also incidentally mentioned, as corresponding to the deacons; nothing, however, is said about their appointment, nor yet of the functions they are to perform, except that they are to carry the Eucharist to a sick woman just as deacons carry it to a sick man (ii. 20 for deacons and deaconesses; for the former cf. Justin, Apol. i. 65). 'Widows' in Test take the part in the baptism of women usually assigned to deaconesses.

27 Both widows and deaconesses are allowed to stand within the veil at the Eucharist (so ArD); but in the rubric about the communion widows are included in the 'priesthood,' while deaconesses are excluded from it (i. 23). ArD shows traces of some confusion: it talks of 'widows who are deaconesses' (§ 38). In Test widows are not to be ordained with laying on of hands, though a form of prayer is given, to be used at their appointment (κατάστασις). They are bidden to be silent in church* (i. 40). In AC the deaconess (ἡ διάκονος or διακόνισσα) takes the place assigned in Test to 'widows who sit first' (see on baptism below, p. 105 f.), and widows are subject to deaconesses (iii. 8; so EthD 12). Widows are, however, mentioned frequently in AC, chiefly as receiving alms and as praying for the donors. They must be not less than sixty years of age, and monogamous (iii. 1; so EthD 12, cf. 1 Ti. v. 9). Presbyteresses (πρεσβύτιδες) are identified with 'those who sit in front' (προκαθήμεναι) at Laodicea (can. 11), where their appointment for the future is forbidden. The same council forbids women to 'approach near the altar' (can. 44), apparently referring to the custom approved in Test and ArD. Presbyteresses are also found in Didasc ii. 28 (DidCA i. 108, H₁ p. 38); its 'presbyterae' appear as πρεσβύτιδες in || AC. In AC iii. 5 this word again occurs, but it is not in || Didasc;

28 in AC ii. 57 αἱ χῆραι καὶ αἱ πρεσβύτιδες = 'anus ac viduae' of || Didasc. The 29 * So AC iii. 6, EthD 12; the || Didasc forbids them to teach at all (cf. 1 Ti. ii. 12). 'presbyteresses' and 'widows' seem to be the same persons, both in Didasc and in AC. The name πρεσβῦτις was not liked by Epiphanius (Haer. lxxix. 4), except as a designation of an elder widow. There are no deaconesses in CH, EgCO, EthCO, H₃. In AC ii. 58, EthD 10 they arrange the places of the women in church, as deacons do those of the men. They may do nothing without the authority of the deacon; and are the intermediaries when any women have business to transact with the deacon or bishop (AC ii. 26; cf. EthD 6*). 6. Readers. There is some evidence that the reader once occupied a very high position, though we see by Cornelius' list that in the third century he had sunk to a low one in Rome. In Test i. 35, 44 f. and AC viii. 21 f. he comes after the subdeacon, in EgCO 35 f., EthCO 27, CH vii. 48 f. and at Antioch in Encaen. (can. 10) before him; but Test is inconsistent, for in i. 23 (twice) the reader comes first. There is also an indication that Test has deliberately altered in i. 44 f. the order of his source, for he begins about the appointment of a subdeacon with the word 'similarly' which is inappropriate as it stands, but would be very appropriate if the chapter about the reader had preceded. AC also is inconsistent; in iii. 11 the reader comes first, in vi. 17 the subdeacon; but in these passages the order of offices is vague. CH also is inconsistent;

30 * SEC-arab 53 (corresponding to SEC-sah 66) and EthS 54, which are parallel to AC viii., speak of subdeaconesses and female readers. But SEC-boh, sah has 'subdeacons and readers.' see xxi. 217, where the subdeacon comes first. In ApCO 19 f. the reader comes before the deacon, and Harnack sees here a very old arrangement dating from the second century, in which the office of reader (like that of the exorcist) was charismatic, and he was not included among the clergy; whereas early in the third century, in Rome, he came to be reckoned among the clergy. He points out that in Didasc the reader was to receive a double portion at the Agape like the presbyters and deacons, while in || AC ii. 28 this is reduced to a single portion (SApC p. 71 f.). We remember what an important position the reader takes in Justin's account of the Eucharist (Apol. i. 67).

31 There are other traces of the old position of the reader, even after that position had been lost. For example, ApCO 19 insists that the reader must be able to instruct or narrate (διηγητικός)—he 'fills the place of an Evangelist*'—though the same manual does not insist that a bishop should be so ('if he knows not letters, he shall be meek' etc. § 16). So in Test (i. 45) the reader must have had 'much experience' and be 'learned and of much learning, with a good memory.' At one time, it would appear, the reader expounded as well as read; when his function was limited to the mechanical reading of the Scrip- * The Bohairic has altered this (Tattam p. 22). The possibility of an unlearned (ἀναλφάβητος or ἀγράμματος) bishop is often recognised: e.g. AC ii. 1 and Didasc, EthD 3. Some manuals however will not tolerate an ignorant bishop: cf. Test i. 20, AC viii. 2 (another inconsistency), SEC 63 (Horner, p. 338).

32 tures his position fell. In the Clementine Epistle to James 13 there are catechists who are to instruct and must be learned. In Cyprian (Ep. xxxviii. [xxxii.] 2), though the reader is inferior to the subdeacon, he reads the Gospel in the Liturgy; and in CH vii. 48 the Book of the Gospels is given him at his appointment. In Test (i. 45) this becomes 'a book' only; and (i. 27) the reader reads 'the Prophets and the rest' (i.e. the Apostle). In ConstH he receives a book, in EgCO 35 the 'book of the Apostle' (the Pauline Epistles; EgCO-arab 26 has simply 'the book,' and so EthCO 27 'the Scripture'). AC viii. 22 merely refers to his reading the Scriptures. In Sarapion the office is mentioned, but we learn nothing about it. Another probable trace of older custom is that in Test i. 19 the reader is allowed to say the 'commemoration' (probably the suffrages of the Ectene) as an alternative to the chief deacon. Harnack goes so far as to say (SApC p. 69) that the ordination prayer for a reader in AC viii. 22 points back to the time when readers were regarded as having a charisma. But those who had a charisma in old times were not ordained. Doubtless, however, AC, like Test, contains relics of a bygone point of view. Another thing that points in the same direction is the comparative scarcity of readers. AC ii. 28 and || Didasc say: 'if there be a reader.' ApCO 19 apparently only provided for one reader in each church (Harnack, SApC p. 15, proposes to insert εἴς). See also above, pp. 14 f., 81 n.

33 7. Confessors. Those who in times of persecution had confessed the faith, even though they had not been martyred, received for the rest of their lives great reverence. A sort of honorary presbyterate was extended to them all as a class, and this is provided for in CH vi. 43-47, EgCO 34, EthCO 25, Test i. 39 [H₃ is wanting]. Achelis (Die Can. Hipp. p. 221 ff.) has adduced some evidence that in the third century confessors were held as qualified to be among the clergy. But there is no evidence that they were allowed to perform ministerial functions without ordination. The section in CH and its cognates is much confused, and we can only arrive at the sense by comparing one with another. That in EgCO runs as follows :— 34 If a confessor has been in chains for the Name of the Lord, they shall not lay hand upon him for the diaconate (or ministry) or presbyterate, for he has the honour of the presbyterate by his confession. But if he is to be appointed bishop, then there shall be laying on of hands on him. But if he is a confessor who was not brought before an authority, nor was punished with chains, nor shut up in prison, nor condemned with any sentence, but in a casual way he was only insulted for the Name of our Lord, and he was punished in the house (privately?), though he confessed, hand is to be laid on him for every office of which he is worthy. Now the bishop shall give thanks according as we have said before. It is not altogether necessary for him to recite the same words which we said before, as if learning to say them by heart in his thanksgiving to God; but according to the ability of each one he is to pray. If indeed he can pray sufficiently well with a grand prayer, then it is good. But if also he should pray and recite a prayer in (due) measure, no one may forbid him, only let him pray being sound in orthodoxy (slightly altered from Horner, p. 308 f.).

35 EthCO is still more confused, and Test, in which the passage is shorter, scarcely less so. But the general sense is clear. A confessor is to rank with presbyters; if he is required for the episcopate he is to be ordained with laying on of hands. This is intelligible. Apart from the question of the bishop having the sole right of ordination of others, it would be difficult to have honorary bishops, as there was only one bishop for each diocese; while it would be easy to have honorary presbyters, as there were so many ordinary presbyters. The rest of the section deals with another class of confessors, who are worthy of ordination by their confession; and with the permission to deviate from the fixed prayer of ordination. The || AC viii. 23 is quite plain. Its object is to repress the undue claims of confessors to minister, and it is a simplification of what was an ambiguous chapter in its source. It says that a confessor is not ordained, for it (confessorship) is of his own will (γνώμη) and endurance; but he is to be honoured, and if wanted for a bishop or presbyter or deacon he is to be ordained. A self-asserting confessor is to be cast out. Here is a clear instance of the posteriority of AC (see below, p. 145).

36 8. Promotion. The promotion of readers is mentioned in AC viii. 22, Test i. 45, but not in EgCO, EthCO; that of subdeacons in Test i. 44. St Basil forbids the advancement of an offending reader or minister (subdeacon) in Ep. canon. tert. ccxvii. 69, and implies that ordinarily they would be promoted. In Cyprian Ep. xxxix. (xxxiii.) 5 some readers are mentioned as about to become presbyters directly, because they had been confessors; this has a bearing on what was said about confessors above. The promotion of deacons is referred to in the ordination prayers in AC viii. 17, EthCO 24 and probably Test i. 38 (this is made likely by || EthCO 24, now newly published); H₃ breaks off before this sentence in the prayer is reached. In the fourth-century Life of Polycarp by Pseudo-Pionius (Lightfoot, Ignatius, iii. 433 ff.), Polycarp is made to be successively deacon, presbyter, and bishop (§§ 11, 17, 23); and so the Council of Sardica (c. A.D. 347) says (can. 10) that a bishop must have been reader, deacon, and presbyter in succession and for a considerable time; but the genuineness of these canons is disputed. ApCO-syr 22 (so H₂ p. 97) refers to the promotion of the deacons to the episcopate (ποιμενικὸς τόπος), a comment on 1 Ti. iii. 13; it is not said that they can become presbyters.

37 9. Marriage of the clergy. The Church Orders do not all take quite the same line on this question. CH, EgCO, EthCO, H₃ say nothing about it. ApCO-syr 16 shows a somewhat ascetic tendency. A bishop is better as a celibate or if 'from one wife,' i.e., probably, a widower. This is softened in ApCO-boh, sah; a married bishop 'having children' (παίδων μέτοχος for παιδείας μ. 'one who can impart discipline' which is undoubtedly the original) is to abide with his wife (H₂ is wanting here; ApCO-arab, eth read 'before he becomes bishop' for 'having children'). ApCO suggests that presbyters should not marry (§ 18), but deacons are expressly allowed to do so once; they must be 'monogamous' (a different expression from that used of bishops) and 'educating their children' (τεκνοτρόφοι, § 20). Test says nothing of presbyters' marriage, but evidently would wish bishops and deacons to be celibates or widowers, though it actually prescribes a less strict rule (i. 20, 33). AC ii. 2 and || Didasc (H₁ p. 16), and ApCan 5, 40, 51, on the other hand, rather favour married bishops than otherwise, as also apparently do the Clementine Homilies* (iii. 68). Thus also ArD 36 is less ascetic than || Test, and makes no suggestion that the bishop should be a widower; it prefers a celibate, but a bishop may be married. EthD 3 seems to insist that a bishop must be married.

38 Funk (TUH 63) remarks that while in the time of Clement of Alexandria presbyters might marry, a stricter discipline came in during the fourth century, as Epiphanius witnesses. He argues that AC, which is more lax on this subject, must therefore be earlier than Test, which is more strict. The history of opinion does not justify this view. The tendency in the fourth century is undoubted; but it was far from universal, and there were differences of opinion between men of opposite schools of thought then as * The date of the 'Clementine' literature is uncertain: it used to be thought to belong to the second or to the third century; but the latest writers on the subject attribute it to the fourth (Dom Butler in JThSt x. 457; cf. Hort, Clementine Recognitions, London 1901, p. 130). now. Test and AC represent such opposite schools; ApCan, as we should expect, favours the AC view. The councils of Antioch in Encaeniis and of Gangra (c. A.D. 370?) do the same. The former (can. 25) assumes as a probable state of things that a bishop will have a 'household' and 'sons.' Funk's argument, then, would require us to put, not only Test, but ApCO into the fifth century, which is impossible. His deduction that Test insists on presbyters being celibates or widowers is not warranted by the text, which says nothing about it, but only that they must be 'pure, without blame' (i. 29), almost the same phraseology as is used about subdeacons and readers (i. 44 f.).

39 Those Church Orders which mention the subject of clerical marriage at all insist at least on monogamy; the clergy must not have married again after their first wife's death, for this was the interpretation which they put on the injunction of the Pastoral Epistles; see e.g. AC vi. 17, which expressly extends the injunction of monogamy to the minor orders. In ApCan 17—19 no one who has married twice after baptism, or who has married a widow or a divorced or an unworthy woman, or two sisters, or a niece, may enter even the minor orders. It may be remarked that even the less austere Church Orders show a great dislike of second marriages. They are to be avoided by laymen also, though not forbidden to them. But third or fourth marriages are abominated. Thus EthD 12 says: 'A first marriage is pure before the Lord, but they who marry a second time are transgressors of the Law...And they who marry a third time are not to be numbered with the flock of Christ. But as to those who marry a fourth time, their lasciviousness is yet more evident, and they shall find reproach and dishonour. For in the first creation the Lord gave one woman to one man and for this cause they two became one flesh.' The remarriage of widows is in question; the writer goes on, however, to allow (though grudgingly) a second marriage. The || AC iii. 2 is similar, but not quite so strong. St Basil says that digamists and trigamists were subject to penance; trigamy, indeed, was no longer described as marriage at all (Ep. canon. prim. clxxxviii. 4; cf. also Ep. canon. sec. cxcix. 50).

40 Marriage after ordination is forbidden in AC vi. 17 (not in || Didasc) to bishops, presbyters, deacons, but not to subdeacons, singers, readers and doorkeepers; in ApCan 26, to all clergy except readers and singers. And this was the general rule, though post-ordination marriage was only forbidden by civil law under Justinian, A.D. 528. The council of Neocaesarea (c. A.D. 320?) forbids it to presbyters (can. 1), and a few years earlier that of Ancyra also to deacons, unless they have given notice of marriage before they are ordained (can. 10). 41 It is a matter of some surprise that the Church Orders do not show an elaborate system of discipline, such as the canons of some of the Councils would lead us to expect. Grades of penitents* are found in several fourth century writers, e.g. Basil (Ep. canon. sec. cxcix. 22, tert. ccxvii. 56 ff., 80 f.). But it would seem that the division of penitents into 'stations' was never a universal thing in all countries. In the canons of Elvira in Spain they are not divided into 'stations,' but are punished according to the nature of their offences, in no very methodical manner. In the AC liturgy we find divisions of penitents, but not elsewhere. The discipline of the laity is exercised by the bishop and presbyters through the deacons (Test i. 36 f., AC ii. 16,, EthD 4, not || Didasc). AC and EthD speak of quite short periods of penitence, from two to seven weeks; they make a protest (as does Didasc) against too great severity, e.g. AC ii. 13 f., EthD 3; cf. ApCan 52. A rather unguarded statement of Didasc (so EthD 3) that one who sins after baptism is condemned in hell, is qualified in || AC ii. 7 by the addition of the words 'unless he repent and cease from his transgression.' Later phrases in Didasc and EthD show that this is the meaning there also. In CH xv. 79 (not in || EgCO, EthCO) it is said that those who fall into great sin after baptism are to be expelled until they repent with weeping, fasting, and works of mercy; but this manual has no specially ascetic tone. A stricter tendency is found in Test, due probably to the Montanistic influence at work in it (see below, p. 118). In i. 37 the deacon is forbidden to bring into the church 'for partaking' one who, having been baptized, has committed violence on a woman 'even

42 * Traces of them are found in Tertullian (e.g. especially de Poenit. 6 where 'auditor' probably = a penitent) and in Cyprian. if he repent.' It would, however, be a mistake to build too much on this. The meaning probably is that the matter is taken out of the hands of the deacon, who in this Church Order is otherwise given a very large discretion; nothing is said further. The extremely rigorist line taken by the Council of Elvira (c. A.D. 305) is not imitated, so far as we can judge, by any of the Church Orders. In all this literature the catechumens are dismissed before the more solemn part of the Liturgy, the Missa Fidelium as it was afterwards called, begins. For the subject of 'Penitential Discipline in the First Three Centuries' reference may be made to an article by Dr Swete in JThSt iv. 321 ff.

Chapter VI: Baptism and Confirmation

1 The following description is taken from six of the Church Orders (CH xix. 101—153, EgCO 45 f., EthCO 34 f., H₃ p. 110 ff., Test ii. 6—10, AC vii. 22, 40—45). In the first five the passages are parallel; but the fragment of H₃ begins in the middle of the baptismal creed. The description in AC is independent (see above, p. 28 ff.). 1. Baptismal ceremonies. The time for baptism is Easter Day at cockcrow (Test 'after midnight'). But CH xix. 107 and Test ii. 6 contemplate in some cases the baptism being postponed to another day; AC does not mention any season. None of these manuals speak of 'Pentecost' as a time for baptism, as Tertullian does; he says that Pascha and Pentecost were the usual seasons (de Bapt. 19), but by the latter term he means the fifty days before Whitsunday (below, p. 133). And this long continued to be the general rule; for baptism at Epiphany and on other days in some places see DCA i. 165.

2 These Church Orders (including AC viii. 32 and || ConstH 22 and SEC 75, EthS 63) give strict directions as to the care to be taken in the selection of the candidates, as to trades and occupations which are forbidden to Christians, and as to the reception of concubines. Military service is forbidden in most of these books; CH xiii. 71 f. is slightly less strict, and AC viii. 32, ConstH 22 soften down the prohibition into a direction that a soldier is to be taught to carry out the Baptist's rules (Lk. iii. 14; so || SEC 75, EthS 63). The prohibition, however impossible in practice, argues the relative antiquity of EgCO, EthCO, Test (H₃ has a lacuna here). ApCan 83 only forbids bishops, presbyters, and deacons to be soldiers. (See further below, p. 145 f.) The selected candidates or 'competentes' were set apart for instruction. The selection was made at the beginning of the 'forty days of Pascha' (Lent). The 45th canon of Laodicea says that none are to be received after the second week in Lent. As the time for baptism comes on, the competentes have the Gospel read over them; on Maundy Thursday they bathe (so also Augustine Epp. liv. 10, lv. 33 Ben., ad Januarium); on the Friday they fast (see below, p. 137); on the Saturday they are exorcised by the bishop after the deacon's litany (so explicitly Test ii. 7, the rest implicitly), and receive the sign of the cross, or seal (see below, p. 108 f.). They keep vigil till cockcrow on Easter Day and then 'come to the water' (the baptistery). Two oils are consecrated by the bishop, one called the 'oil of exorcism,' the other the 'oil of thanksgiving' (CH, EgCO, EthCO; Test similar; cf. Cyr. Jer. CL xx. 3 'exorcised oil').

3 M. Sar 15 f. has two prayers of consecration over the oil (ἄλειμμα) and chrism (χρίσμα); but Brightman (JThSt i. 264 f.) treats the former as being said when the candidates are anointed the first time, and the second at the Confirmation. The water is hallowed (so expressly EgCO, EthCO, AC); this is implied in the epithet 'sacram' in CH xix. 112, but it is not mentioned in Test; it is spoken of in Cyprian Ep. lxx. (lxix.) 1, Sar 7, Cyril of Jerusalem CL iii. 3, Basil de Spir. S. xxvii. (66) (which also mentions the blessing of the chrism), and elsewhere. The interpolated EthS 40 A (see above, p. 21) gives prayers for hallowing the water. 4 The candidate makes a renunciation of the devil, turning (CH, Test, Cyr. Jer.) to the West. The renunciation is universal, at any rate from Tertullian's time onwards. He gives the form as: 'I renounce the devil and his pomp and his angels' (de Cor. 3, de Spect. 4; cf. de Idol. 6) and it is practically the same in the Church Orders, though, except in CH, the word 'pomp' loses its neutral sense of 'retinue' and is used (often in the plural, as it is in the Book of Common Prayer, though there coupled with the singular 'vanity') in the bad sense of 'display,' 'pride' (so Cyr. Jer. CL xix. 6 expressly; see further art. 'Abrenuntio' in ERE i. 38 ff.). The renunciation is sometimes put interrogatively, with the answer 'I renounce'; and in the case of infants, sponsors, that is, the 'parents or relations,' make the replies (Test, CH, EgCO, EthCO; for the sponsors cf. Tertullian, de Bapt. 18). The sponsors are said to take up (suscipere) the baptized from the font (cf. Tertullian, de Cor. 3; so ἀναληφθείς, Socrates HE vii. 4), and are therefore called 'susceptores,' ἀνάδοχοι. Infant baptism is expressly prescribed in AC vi. 15, the preceding chapter having forbidden circumcision; these are interpolations into Didasc by the AC writer. So in Test ii. 8 'babes' are baptized before the adults, just as in i. 23 (and AC viii. 13) they are communicated before them.

5 The first anointing, by the presbyter, follows the Renunciations. The 'oil of exorcism' is used, and the presbyter says: 'Let every spirit depart from thee' (Test developes this a little). This anointing is in all these manuals. In AC vii. 22 it is interpolated into || D 7, which does not mention anointing at all; but AC says that if there is neither oil (ἕλαιον) nor unguent (μύρον), water suffices. So there is an anointing with consecrated oil before baptism in Clementine Recognitions iii. 67, Sar 15, Cyr. Jer. CL xx. 3. This pre-baptismal anointing seems to be the only one in Didasc (iii. 12; the || AC iii. 16 interpolates another after the immersion, see DidCA i. 210 f.), and this also was apparently the custom in the Syriac-speaking Church in the earliest ages. Dom Connolly ('Texts and Studies' VIII. p. xlii) cites the Acts of Judas Thomas (in five places), the Acts of John the Son of Zebedee (in two places), the Life of Rabbula, a Syriac account of the baptism of Constantine, and the Liturgical Homilies of Narsai (fifth century). On the other hand post-baptismal anointing only is mentioned in Tertullian (adv. Marc. i. 14 ['water—oil—honey and milk—sacramental bread'], de Resurr. Carn. 8

6 7—2 ['the flesh is washed, anointed, signed, shadowed with laying on of hands, it feeds on the body and blood of Christ'], de Bapt. 7), and apparently in Cyprian (Ep. lxx. [lxix.] 2) and Origen (in Rom. v. 8). 2. The Baptismal Creed and the Immersions. In CH and Test the candidate turns to the East and makes his act of submission to God*, saying (CH): 'I believe and bow myself before thee and all thy pomp, O Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.' He then goes down to the water, led by the deacon or (CH) the presbyter 'performing the office of a deacon.' The act of submission to God in the other Church Orders takes the form of a recital of a Creed or a profession of faith at the time of baptizing; this is also found as an addition in CH, Test. This is the 'redditio symboli,' as the teaching of the Creed during the catechumenate is the 'traditio symboli.' [At Laodicea (can. 46) the competentes recite the Creed on Maundy Thursday.] The Creed is given in most of the manuals interrogatively; in CH, H₃, Test it is divided into three parts, one for each immersion, but in EgCO, EthCO the whole of the first form of Creed (p. 101) is said thrice‡.

7 In CH, H₃, Test, the Creed is of the Roman form, and is as follows, the italicised passages being only found in one of these three manuals:— * συντάσσομαι is the usual word, as opposed to ἀντιτάσσομαι 'I renounce'; so AC vii. 41ᵃ, Athanasius Or. c. Arian. ii. 43. The substantive ἀποταγή is used in Sar 9 and AC vii. 41ᵃ. Here 'pomp' = 'retinue,' as above, p. 98. ‡ A reminiscence of a Creed is found in Didasc (DidCA i. 382, H₁ p. 89), and is preserved in ᵠ AC vi. 30ᵇ; but baptism is not being spoken of. There is no mention of a creed in D. Dost thou believe in God the Father Almighty? [H fragment begins here]. Dost thou believe also (Test) in Christ Jesus [CH: Jesus Christ] the Son of God, who came from the Father, who is of old with the Father (Test), who was born of Mary the Virgin [CH: whom Mary the Virgin bore] of the Holy Ghost, who came to save the human race (CH), who was crucified for us (CH) under [Test: in the days of] Pontius Pilate, and died and was buried (H) and rose the third day, coming to life (not CH) from the dead, and ascended into heaven, and sat down (CH: sitteth) at the right hand of the Father, and shall come [Test: cometh] to judge the quick and the dead? Dost thou believe also (Test) in the Holy Ghost, the Paraclete, proceeding from the Father and the Son* (CH) and in the holy Church (not CH), and the resurrection of the flesh? (H).

8 The Creed or form of submission in EgCO and EthCO is a double one; the second part rather strangely has no clause about God the Father. Both parts are said in the water, the former at each immersion, thrice in all; the latter after immersion. In what follows, the three versions of EgCO, the Sahidic and Arabic given by Horner, and the Bohairic given by Tattam, are collated, as well as EthCO. I. I believe [arab: Dost thou believe] in the one true (Eth omits) God, the Father Almighty, and in his only Son our Lord and our Saviour Jesus Christ, and his [boh, Eth: the] Holy Spirit, Giver of life to the universe [arab, Eth: all creation; boh omits], the Trinity of the same substance (ὁμοούσιον), one Godhead [arab, Eth: the Trinity equal in Godhead], one Lordship [Eth: Lord], one kingdom, one faith, one baptism, in the catholic apostolic [arab, Eth omit] holy Church, and life eternal. Amen. Answer: I believe this.

9 * The Filioque is probably an interpolation; see below, pp. 116, 158. 11. Dost thou believe [sah: Thou believest] in the Name of (Eth) our Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God the Father, that he became man for our sake (sah, boh) by a miracle in an incomprehensible unity [arab, Eth: in an incomprehensible miracle; boh: in a wonderful manner] in his [arab: from the; Eth: by the] Holy Spirit, from [Eth: and by] our lady (Eth) Mary the holy (sah, boh) Virgin without seed of man, and that he was crucified for us (boh, sah) in the time of Pontius Pilate and died voluntarily for our salvation; that he rose from the dead (Eth, arab) on the third day; that he released the captives [boh: bonds], ascended into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of his good [arab, Eth: the] Father on high (sah, boh); and that he cometh [arab, Eth: shall come] to judge the quick and the dead at [sah: according to] his appearing and his kingdom? And dost thou believe [sah: thou believest] in the holy, good, and life-giving [arab, Eth: sanctifying] Spirit, purifying the universe (sah, boh), in the holy Church; and dost thou believe the resurrection of the body which shall happen to all men, and the kingdom of heaven and eternal judgment? (arab, Eth; boh omits; sah has a lacuna after 'Church'). Answer: I believe.

10 It is very noteworthy that H₃ has departed from EgCO and EthCO, and has the Roman form of Creed. The submission to God and the baptismal Creed in AC vii. 41 come immediately after the Renunciation and before the first anointing. So in Cyril CL xix. 9 the candidate before the anointing makes his submission, saying: 'I believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and in one baptism of repentance'; but in this account there is another, interrogatory, profession at the immersion (see below). The form in AC is as follows:— 11 And I associate myself (συντάσσομαι) with Christ, and believe and am baptized into one unbegotten only true God Almighty, the Father of Christ, the Creator and Maker of all things, from whom are all things; and into the Lord Jesus the Christ his only begotten Son, the Firstborn of all creation, who before the ages was begotten by the good pleasure of the Father, not created, by whom all things were made, which are in heaven and on earth, both visible and invisible, who in the last days descended from heaven and took flesh and was born of the holy Virgin Mary, and did live (πολιτευσάμενον) holily according to the laws of his God and Father, and was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and died for us, and rose again from the dead after his passion on the third day, and ascended into heaven, and sat down on the right hand of the Father, and again cometh at the end of the world with glory to judge the quick and the dead, of whose kingdom there shall be no end. And I am baptized into the Holy Ghost, that is, the Paraclete, who wrought in all the saints from the beginning of the world, but was afterwards sent both to the Apostles by the Father according to the promise of our Saviour and Lord, Jesus Christ, and after the Apostles to all those that believe in the holy catholic and apostolic Church; into the resurrection of the flesh and into the remission of sins, and into the kingdom of heaven and into the life of the world to come.

12 In Cyril (CL xx. 4) there is, in addition to the formula of submission already mentioned, an interrogation at the water. The candidates are asked if they believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; they descend three times into the water and ascend again. And in the North Italian de Sacramentis (ii. 7; c. A.D. 400) there is a short interrogatory Creed, one clause being said at each immersion: 'Dost thou believe in God the Father Almighty? Dost thou believe in our Lord Jesus Christ and in his cross? Dost thou believe also in the Holy Ghost?' 13 The act of baptizing is performed by the presbyter. The formula of baptism is given in D 7, CH xix. 133, AC iii. 16, vii. 22, 44; cf. ApCan 50. In CH it is: 'I baptize thee in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, who is equal.' The formula is not given in Test, but it is implied in ii. 7, in the long prayer of exorcism said over the competentes. Trine immersion is the usage (cf. Tertullian de Cor. 3, in Prax. 26, ApCan 50), though it is disputed whether this means actual dipping (total immersion). The water must be flowing according to D 7 (ἐν ὕδατι ζῶντι, omitted in || AC vii. 22), CH, EgCO, EthCO; that is, as explained in the two last, it must flow into the font. D, EgCO, EthCO make an exception in case of scarcity of water. D says: 'If thou hast not running water, then baptize in other water; if thou art not able in cold (water), then in warm; but if thou hast neither, then pour water on the head thrice in (els) the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.' CH mentions the water of a stream (xix. 112), not of the sea, as Achelis; see Burkitt in JThSt i. 279. [So in xxix. 213 the dust swept up from the church (loco sacro) is to be cast into a stream.]

14 3. Confirmation. After the baptized come up from the water, the second anointing by the presbyter takes place. The 'oil of thanksgiving' is used, and the presbyter says: 'I anoint thee with oil in the Name of Jesus Christ' (so Test, H₃, EgCO; but EthCO and EgCO-arab omit the last six words; CH substitutes: 'in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost'). The neophyte is then clothed (in white, Test ii. 12; and so often in Christian antiquity, see DCA i. 163, but the other Church Orders merely mention the clothing), and brought from the baptistery into the church. In the anointing of women the services of deaconesses (AC iii. 16) or of 'widows who sit first' (Test ii. 8) are employed, but the presbyter says the words of anointing (Test). Similarly in baptism, the bishop says the renunciations and submissions, but the widows 'beneath a veil receive' women 'by a veil' (ib.). In AC iii. 16 the deacon anoints 'the forehead of the women with the holy oil' and 'after him the deaconess' anoints them; so 'in the laying on of hands' (χειροθεσία) the bishop anoints the head. The writer goes on (iii. 16) to say that the bishop anoints the head of those who are being baptized, whether men or women, with the holy oil (that is, the first anointing).

15 Then the bishop or presbyter baptizes them, and a deacon receives the men and a deaconess the women, so that the 'seal' may be given solemnly (σεμνοπρεπῶς), and then the bishop anoints the baptized with μύρον. In || Didasc (DidCA i. p. 210) a deaconess or another woman, if there is one, anoints women before baptism. In the laying on of hands the bishop is to anoint the head only, whether of men or women, and afterwards when he (or the deacon or presbyter at his command) baptizes, a deaconess is to anoint the women. But a man is to repeat the baptismal formula. Then a deaconess receives the newly baptized ascending from the water, so that the seal may be given 'in purity and holiness.' Both AC and Didasc are a little confused. In || EthD 16 the deaconess anoints the women before baptism and clothes them again afterwards, and the bishop anoints both the men and women on the forehead, and so on, as before.

16 When the newly baptized are brought into the church, the bishop lays a hand on them and invokes for them the Holy Ghost, or the grace of God. The prayer is as follows :— EgCO 46 (sah, boh, arab), ETHCO 35 Lord (Eg) God, as thou hast made these worthy of receiving (Eg) the laver of the new birth and of (arab, Eth) forgiveness of sins unto the future life (sah, boh), make them worthy to be filled with thy (sah, boh) Holy Spirit, and speed forth (Eth) and send down (Eg) upon them thy grace [Eth : the grace of the Holy Spirit], that they may serve thee according to (Eg) thy will, for thine is the glory [Eth : Glory to], Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, in the holy Church, now and always and for ever and ever. H₃ p. 111 Lord God who hast made these worthy to obtain forgiveness of sins by the washing of regeneration of the Holy Spirit, send upon them thy grace that they may serve thee according to thy will, for thine is the glory, Father, and Son, with the Holy Spirit, in the holy Church, both now and for ever and ever. Amen.

17 We bless thee, Almighty Lord God, that thou hast made these worthy to be born again, and pourest on them thy Holy Spirit, that they may be joined to the body of the Church, never to be separated by heathen (alienis) works. Give rather to those to whom thou hast given forgiveness of sins, a pledge of thy kingdom through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom to thee with him and the Holy Ghost be glory for ever and ever. Amen. The forms in EgCO, EthCO, H₃* are mere variants; that in CH does not directly invoke, though it refers to, the gift of the Spirit, but it is not independent of the others, as we see by the common use of phrases and the identity of the drift of the prayers. These forms, then, all seem to depend on a common original. The prayer in Test is longer, being derived from the original, directly or indirectly, by interpolation. It is very similar to H, but like EgCO and EthCO has: 'make them worthy to be filled with the Holy Spirit.' The form in AC vii. 44 is quite independent. It is a prayer for the efficacy of the anointing.

18 There is at this point in EgCO, EthCO, H₃, Test, a third anointing, by the bishop (but in EthCO by the presbyter), with the 'oil of thanksgiving,' on the head. The bishop says: 'I anoint thee with the holy anointing oil from (or in,' or 'in the Name of') God the Father Almighty, and Jesus Christ [Christ * The scribe of H seems to have made a slip in connecting 'Spiritus sancti' with 'regenerationis' instead of with 'gratiam.' In Sar the bishop blesses the oil and no more is said; perhaps the presbyter did the rest. Jesus] (the only Son) and the Holy Ghost [Test amplifies]. He then 'seals' him on the forehead, gives him the kiss of peace, saying: 'The Lord [God of the meek, Test] be with thee' and each one answers separately 'And with thy spirit.' In CH there is no third anointing, but the sign of the cross and salutation follow the laying on of hands and its prayer immediately. In AC also (vii. 43 f.) only one anointing after baptism is spoken of, and the laying on of hands is only referred to incidentally (vii. 44)*; after the anointing and laying on of hands the neophyte stands up, as a sign that he is raised with Christ, and says the Lord's prayer and another.—For the laying on of hands in Confirmation and the invocation of the Holy Ghost see Tertullian de Bapt. 8 (cf. de Resurr. Carn. 8), Cyprian Epp. lxxii. (lxxi.) 1; lxxiii. (lxxii.) 9. Tertullian mentions the anointing in both treatises. Cyril of Jerusalem (CL xxi.) speaks of the anointing, but not of the laying on of hands. Athanasius (ad Serap. Orat. i. 6) says that by the laying on of the Apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given to those who were being regenerated (so Origen de Princip. i. 3).

19 A word may be added about the 'seal,' which has several meanings. (1) It is used for baptism, in the Ancient Homily, 'Pseudo-Clement 2 ad Cor.' 7 f. and * It is perhaps not a mere coincidence that AC also apparently takes the laying on of hands for granted in the ordination of a bishop; but there it is not even referred to (see above, p. 74). In AC ii. 32, iii. 16 the laying on of hands by the bishop in confirmation is explicitly mentioned, and probably also in iii. 10. On the question of the presbyter confirming in AC see p. 155. Hermas Sim. viii. 6; for other second century references see Lightfoot Clement ii. p. 226; perhaps also in ApCO 12 (not in || D). (2) It denotes the sign of the cross, at any time, Cyril CL xiii. 36; so the competentes are 'sealed' before baptism (see above). But especially (3) it denotes the sign of the cross in Confirmation, and so Confirmation itself, or the anointing at Confirmation, as above, and AC iii. 17 (not in || Didasc), vii. 22 (expressly, as distinguished from the immersion), Cyril CL iii. 3. (4) It is used for the action of presbyters at the ordination of presbyters, H₃ p. 110 (not in || EthCO 24); or (5) for the conclusion of a service, Test i. 26, where perhaps a final blessing is meant, the word being used in this sense among the Nestorians to this day; or (6) for the Eucharistic bread, Brightman LEW p. 587. In EdCan 8 the liturgical gospel is called the 'sealer' of the lections; and in Tertullian (de Orat. 18) the kiss of peace is called the 'seal' (signaculum) of prayer.

20 4. The Baptismal Eucharist follows immediately after the Confirmation; for this see above, p. 46. The newly-baptized communicate in Test (i. 23) directly after the clergy and those that have charismata, and just before the infants and the rest of the laity. One feature may be mentioned. In EgCO 45, EthCO 34, Test ii. 8, the candidates for baptism are forbidden to bring anything with them (EgCO specifies 'any other vessel': EthCO has 'any ornament of gold, or ring or gem of any kind') except an offering for the Eucharist. Funk objects (TUH p. 54) that the custom of communicants bringing golden or other vessels to the Eucharist, to receive the sacrament in them, was forbidden A.D. 692 by the Trullan Synod (can. 101) and was not known before, its non-existence being implied by the silence of Cyril of Jerusalem and Chrysostom; and that therefore these manuals cannot be of the fourth century. The argument from silence, however, is usually insecure; and in this case, even if the custom condemned by the Trullan Synod is the same as that referred to in the Church Orders, and even if it did not obtain in the fourth century at Jerusalem and at Antioch, there is no reason why it should not have existed in Egypt.

21 Note 1. Baptism by deacons in case of necessity is allowed in Test ii. 10, and, if permitted by the bishop, in Didasc iii. 12 (DidCA i. 210, Gibson, p. 78, not || AC iii. 16)*. It is prohibited in AC viii. 28, 46 expressly, and by implication in AC iii. 11 and EthD 14, which forbid readers, singers, doorkeepers [and subdeacons, AC] to baptize and only allow the deacons to assist. Women are forbidden to baptize in AC iii. 9 and || Didasc, EthD 13; the language used shows that it was not an uncommon custom. The same prohibition is found in Tertullian de Bapt. 17 (he allows deacons, and even laymen, to baptize in case of necessity), and in the 100th canon of the so-called Fourth Council of Carthage, A.D. 398 (Hefele ii. 417). But, at any rate in the last two instances, the case of necessity is not specially referred to.

22 Note 2. In Test ii. 10, there is a curious provision that no one is to learn about the Resurrection before baptism. This may have been in the original Church Order of this series, for there is a difficult phrase in the corresponding place of EgCO 46 (sah, boh, arab) and EthCO * In Canon 7 of the Roman Synod of A.D. 402 a presbyter and a deacon (i.e. acting together) may baptize in Eastertide; at other times, in cases of necessity, only a presbyter, not a deacon (Hefele ii. 429). 35 (H₃ breaks off just before this) about instruction in the resurrection of the flesh, a phrase which has no appropriateness as it stands, but which may have been a corruption of a prohibition like that of Test. In the baptismal creed of Test and EgCO (sah, boh) there is no clause about the resurrection, but it has been introduced into those of H₃, EgCO-arab, EthCO. Teaching about the resurrection is however given to catechumens before baptism in 'Silvia,' in Cyril of Jerusalem (CL iv. 30, xiv. etc.) and perhaps it is implied in AC vii. 39.