Catechumen

“ S. AUGUSTIN, L. C.-In his discourses before Catechumens, and in such writings as might fall into their hands, he cautiously conceals from them the mystery of the Eucharist. His ordinary expression is, the faithful know it; calls it, “ the Sacrament known to the faithful, made from corn and wine," Sermon iv.on Jacob and Esau;—and tells the Catechumen Honoratus, that “when once he has been baptized, he will know where, when, and how the great Sacrament, the sacrifice of the new law is offered.”—“Ask a Catechumen," he says, “ if he eats the flesh of the Son of Man, and drinks his blood ? ”

“ If there be a council, the black-robe must come to invoke the Holy Spirit on their deliberations; if a feast, he must be present to bless the viands and to check all approaches to disorder. And always in the afternoon, old and young, warrior and gray-haired squaw, Christian and catechumen, assemble for the catechism. ”

“ Now, in this matter I do not hesitate for a moment to place the Catholic catechumen, who is burning with love for God, before the baptized heretic; nor yet do we thereby do dishonor to the sacrament of baptism which the latter has already received, the former not as yet; nor do we consider that the sacrament of the catechumen [2] is to be preferred to the sacrament of baptism, when we acknowledge that some catechumens are better and more faithful than some baptized persons. For the centurion Cornelius, before baptism, was better than Simon, who had been baptized. ”

“ If a catechumen coming into the Church have taken his place in the order of catechumens, and fall into sin, let him, if a kneeler, become a hearer and sin no more. But should he again sin while a hearer, let him be cast out. ”

“ Accordingly he washed his eyes in that pool which is interpreted, Sent—he was baptized in Christ. If, therefore, when He baptized him in a manner in Himself, He then enlightened him; when He anointed Him, perhaps He made him a catechumen. [3] In many different ways indeed may the profound meaning of such a sacramental act be set forth and handled; but let this suffice your Charity. You have heard a great mystery. Ask a man, Are you a Christian? His answer to you is, I am not, if he is a pagan or a Jew. But if he says, I am; you inquire again of him, Are you a catechumen or a believer? ”

“ For as the Prophets heard otherwise than the many, so also do the faithful than the Catechumens. Hereby the Catechumen also is taught not to learn to hear these things of men, (for He saith, “Call no man master upon the earth [53] , but from above, from heaven, “For they shall be all taught of God.” (Is. liv. 13.) ”

“ First, who among them is a Catechumen, who a complete Christian, is a thing uncertain: they come to Church: hear the sermon, join in the prayers, indiscriminately: even should heathens chance to come in, they will throw their holy things to the dogs, and their pearls (which, indeed, are but counterfeits,) before swine. They hold the overthrow of discipline to be [Christian] simplicity; and our reverence for the same, meretricious art. Every where, and with all kinds of persons, they affect to be on good terms. ”

“ For we are not, as is well known, content with what the apostle or the Gospel has recorded, but both in preface and conclusion we add other words as being of great importance to the validity of the ministry, and these we derive from unwritten teaching. Moreover we bless the water of baptism and the oil of the chrism, and besides this the catechumen who is being baptized. On what written authority do we do this? Is not our authority silent and mystical tradition? ”

“ Prayer for the Catechumens, said secretly, before the holy Oblation.
The Priest. O Lord our God, who dwellest in the highest, and lookest down upon the humble; who hast sent Thine only-begotten Son our Lord and God Jesus Christ as the salvation of the human race; look down upon Thy servants the Catechumens, who bow their heads before Thee, and make them worthy at the befitting time of the laver of regeneration, for the remission of their sins, and for the garment of incorruptibility: unite them to Thy holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, and number them in the fold of Thine elect. ”

“ But he presumed to preach the gospel, he called himself the bishop of bishops, he convened the first general council, and made Christianity the religion of the empire, long before his baptism! Strange as this inconsistency appears to us, what shall we think of the court bishops who, from false prudence, relaxed in his favor the otherwise strict discipline of the church, and admitted him, at least tacitly, to the enjoyment of nearly all the privileges of believers, before he had taken upon himself even a single obligation of a catechumen? ”

“ It is all the same to me, good people, whether I bind my opponent awake or sleeping; but it is easier to fetter a man who offers no resistance. If those whom the apostle admits into the ranks of the clergy are not catechumens but the faithful, and if he who is ordained bishop is always one of the faithful, being one of the faithful he cannot have the faults of a catechumen imputed to him. ”

“ As to the contents of our catechism, it is not a large system or body of divinity, to puzzle the heads of young beginners, but only a short and full explication of the baptismal vow. The primitive catechisms, indeed, (that is, all that the catechumens were to learn by heart before their baptism and confirmation,) consisted of no more than the renunciation, or the repetition of the baptismal vow, the creed, and the Lord’s prayer: and these, together with the ten commandments, at the Reformation, were the whole of ours. ”

“ Those who had been admitted as candidates for Baptism were in most Churches still reckoned among the Catechumens, being distinguished as συναιτοῦντες , “competentes.” But from Cyril’s language in several passages it appears that in the Church of Jerusalem they ceased to be regarded as Catechumens, and were reckoned among the Faithful. “Thou wert called a Catechumen, while the word echoed round thee from without. Think not that thou receivest a small thing: though a miserable man, thou receivest one of God’s titles. ”

“ Hist., page 588, num. 6, Juo writes: “To the hearers of the new life, the apostolic creed is delivered, which they publicly confess before baptism.” Ex Meginh. de Fide.
Page 590, num. 14, the following is quoted from Juo: “During the answers to the threefold question, the catechumen (that is, the novice who has learned the faith) is washed from the filth of the old wickedness (namely, through baptism) , and puts on the new man.” ”

“ I had noticed that he was among the most diligent of all who worked for me. After the building was finished, he was asked to come to school, and, although much older than the majority there, such was the progress made, that he was several times sent out as a teacher. I had often observed him in church paying marked attention to the preaching, and I hoped the truth was finding its way to his heart. He called one day to ask for a copy of the Catechumen’s Catechism, and to tell me that he wished to become a candidate for baptism and church membership. ”

“ The only persons, not catechumens, who can be in the same category, are persons who have been validly baptized, and stand in the same relation to the sacrament of Reconciliation that catechumens do to the sacrament of Faith. ”

“ The people formerly were divided into three classes in the church, for there were catechumens, faithful, and penitents; but it is clear from the present canon there were two kinds of catechumens: one consisting of those who heard the Word of God, and wished to become Christians, but had not yet desired baptism; these were called “hearers.” Others who were of long standing, and were properly trained in the faith, and desired baptism—these were called “competentes.” ”

“ Another ceremony used in the admission of Catechumens, at least in some Churches, mentioned by S. Augustine [18] : “Sanctification is not of one kind only: for I suppose that Catechumens also are sanctified in a certain way of their own by the sign of Christ’s Cross, and the Prayer of the Imposition of Hands; and that which they receive, though it be not the Body of Christ, is yet an holy thing, and more holy than the common food which sustains us, because it is a sacrament.” ”

“ It has, therefore, been well and truly said, by I recollect not what writer, that a boy may preach, but to catechize requires a man.—Bp. Jebb.
CATECHIST. The person who catechizes. There were officers of this name in the ancient Church; but they did not form a distinct order. Sometimes the bishop catechized, sometimes the catechists were selected from the inferior orders, as readers, &c.— (See Bingham.)
CATECHUMENS. A name given, in the first ages of Christianity, to the Jews or Gentiles who were being prepared and instructed to receive baptism. ”

“ The candidates were taught the Holy Scriptures, and a formal confession of faith, probably similar to the ancient creed in which the Christian belief of the church has for so many centuries been expressed. These instructions were given by the bishop himself as chief catechist; and also by the presbyters, deacons, lectors, and other members of the inferior ministry. Deaconesses and aged women acted as instructresses of their own sex; and one of these was always present during the questioning of the female catechumens by the male catechists. ”

“ Missa is here used for the dismissal of the catechumens, which it was the deacon’s office to proclaim. The whole service was divided into two parts, (1) the mass of the catechumens, containing the Scripture lessons, sermon, and prayers for the catechumens; and (2) the mass of the faithful, or the Eucharist proper. At the end of the first part the deacon warned the catechumens to depart, in words varying slightly in different churches, but substantially the same in all, both east and west: e.g. ”

“ And when their exercises had been completed in this order they were brought by the catechists who had had the charge of them, to the bishop, that on the Holy Sabbath [Easter Even] they might receive baptism, and the catechumens gave their names at the same time, so that they might be set down for baptism at the coming Holy Sabbath. ”

“ Thus at the close of the sermon, the deacon’s voice was heard crying: “Let the hearers [i.e. the second order of catechumens who were permitted to hear the sermon, but not the conclusion of the Eucharistic service] and the unbelievers depart!”170 Then he bid the remaining orders of the catechumens, i.e. the energumens, the competentes, and the penitents to pray for one another, and the people also to pray for them ”

“ Una est fidelium Universalis Ecclesia, extra quam nullus omnino salvatur." Still, it is no less certain that catechumens are in the Church, not actually and properly, but only potentially, as a man conceived, but not yet formed and born, is called man only potentially. ”

“ Reply to Objection 4: There is a twofold instruction in the Faith: the first is for those receiving it for the first time, that is to say, for catechumens, and such instruction is given in connection with Baptism. ”

“ We are thus led to see in them the uninitiated or not yet baptized believers, that is, the catechumens.―The Sacramental part of the service, the separation of which from the didactic part was rendered necessary on account alike of its nature and purpose, and is therefore found existing in the Pauline churches as well as in the church of Jerusalem, was scrupulously restricted in its observance, in Jewish and Gentile churches alike, to those who were in the full communion of the Christian church (Acts ii. 46; 1 Cor. xi. 20-23) . ”

“ The care of the primitive church for the religious teaching of the young and of heathen converts is [Pg 530] abundantly exemplified in the inscriptions of the Catacombs. The catechumens, or learners, as the word signifies—the “Cadets of Christianity”—were a distinctly recognized class for whose instruction especial provision was made. ”

“ It is a significant fact also that some of those who were once its most bitter opponents are gradually returning to its practice. We find, for example, that certain Presbyterian churches confirm large classes of catechumens every year. Certain Methodist book concerns and publishing houses also-publish confirmation certificates, from which we infer that some of their churches also must practice this rite. ”

“ Let us all pray unto God for the catechumens, that He that is good, He that is the lover of mankind, will mercifully hear their prayers and their supplications, and so accept their petitions as to assist them and give them those desires of their hearts which are for their advantage, and reveal to them the Gospel of His Christ ”

“ To believe and to be baptized are the two essential conditions of membership in Christ’s Church [12] : but for the admission of new converts to the class of Catechumens nothing more could be required than evidence of a sincere desire to understand, to believe, and ultimately to be baptized. ”

“ Scriptures in public and to keep the books, (b) acolytes to assist the bishops, (c) exorcists to pray for those possessed of evil spirits, (d) janitors to care for the buildings and preserve order, (e) precentors to conduct public praise service, (f) catechists to instruct the catechumens, (g) interpreters to translate the Scripture lesson. [63:1]
6. The clergy came to be distinct from the laity—a sacerdotal class was developed. In the early Church the priesthood was universal, i. e., laymen as well as Church officers could preach, baptise, administer the sacraments, and exercise discipline. ”

“ All are eager to become Christians and be baptized. During the two weeks that I have spent here, among those to whom we have been able to give instruction, one hundred and fifty adults have been baptized, and today we are to baptize about forty catechumens ”