circle of prayer 24a. a discursus

at first the church baptised immediately on profession of faith (see acts). but it was not long before a two or three year period of catechesis came to be norma. it is not entirely known why this happened. a common explaination is that as christianity became the official religion of the empire, people were coming to conversion with little or no idea of what that meant. karl rahner makes a passing remark in on heresy that the new emphasis on teaching was a response to heresies, especially gnosticism. when one considers that jesus spent three years with the disciples and they were often very slow to understand, the catechesis makes good sense. during this second period, baptism came under the close supervision of the bishops, who were in charge of a local church. deacons and priests had their role in the actual ceremony, as hipppolytus of rome described in the apostolic tradition, but the bishop did the actual annointing, the "chrismation" that underlies the words "christ" and "christian." hippolytus' description of the practice in this second period is worth considering at length:

"At the hour in which the cock crows, they shall first pray over the water. When
they come to the water, the water shall be pure and flowing, that is, the water of a spring
or a flowing body of water. Then they shall take off all their clothes. The children shall be
baptized first. All of the children who can answer for themselves, let them answer. If there
are any children who cannot answer for themselves, let their parents answer for them, or
someone else from their family. After this, the men will be baptized. Finally, the women,
after they have unbound their hair, and removed their jewelry. No one shall take any
foreign object with themselves down into the water.

"At the time determined for baptism, the bishop shall give thanks over some oil, which he
puts in a vessel. It is called the Oil of Thanksgiving. He shall take some more oil and
exorcise it. It is called the Oil of Exorcism. A deacon shall hold the Oil of Exorcism and
stand on the left. Another deacon shall hold the Oil of Thanksgiving and stand on the right.

"When the elder takes hold of each of them who are to receive baptism, he shall tell each
of them to renounce, saying, "I renounce you Satan, all your servicea, and all your works."
After he has said this, he shall anoint each with the Oil of Exorcism, saying, "Let every
evil spirit depart from you." Then, after these things, the bishop passes each of them on
nude to the elder who stands at the water. They shall stand in the water naked. A deacon,
likewise, will go down with them into the water. When each of them to be baptized has
gone down into the water, the one baptizing shall lay hands on each of them, asking, "Do
you believe in God the Father Almighty?" And the one being baptized shall answer, "I
believe." He shall then baptize each of them once, laying his hand upon each of their
heads. Then he shall ask, "Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was
born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and
died, and rose on the third day living from the dead, and ascended into heaven, and sat
down at the right hand of the Father, the one coming to judge the living and the dead?"
When each has answered, "I believe," he shall baptize a second time. Then he shall
ask, "Do you believe in the Holy Spirit and the Holy Church and the resurrection of the
flesh?" Then each being baptized shall answer, "I believe." And thus let him baptize the
third time.

"Afterward, when they have come up out of the water, they shall be anointed by the
elder with the Oil of Thanksgiving, saying, "I anoint you with holy oil in the name of Jesus
Christ." Then, drying themselves, they shall dress and afterwards gather in the church.

"The bishop will then lay his hand upon them, invoking, saying,
'Lord God, you who have made these worthy
of the removal of sins through the bath of regeneration,
make them worthy to be filled with your Holy Spirit,
grant to them your grace,
that they might serve you according to your will,
for to you is the glory,
Father and Son
with the Holy Spirit,
in the Holy Church,
now and throughout the ages of the ages.
Amen.'

"After this he pours the oil into his hand, and laying his hand on each of their heads, says,
'I anoint you with holy oil
in God the Father Almighty,
and Christ Jesus,
and the Holy Spirit.'

"Then, after sealing each of them on the forehead, he shall give them the kiss of peace
and say,
'The Lord be with you.'
And the one who has been baptized shall say,
'And with your spirit.'"

as the church grew, the powerful expressions of the nature of baptism as initiation into the one, undivided church of christ, represented by the bishop, consisting of those who had died and risen with christ, began to change, both in how it was performed and in what it meant. bishops no longer present at each baptism.

in the west the annointing by the bishop continued to be a necessary part of christian initiation, but separated in time from baptism, sometimes by many years, and called confirmation. in the east the entire ritual came to be performed by priests.
the meaning of the rise, especially in the west, came to be less about initiation into the community of those "who were being saved" and more about individual salvation. with each schism and division that tore the Church into different "churches," the image of community became less clear and that of individual salvation more prominent.