The Quarterly Journal of St. Philaret’s Institute

This translation of Theodore of Mopsuestia’s second homily on baptism (the 13th Catechetical Homily) into Russian continues the translation project of the Catechetical Homilies. Since the text of the Homilies is not preserved in the original Greek, the Russian translation was made from the Syriac version surviving in the manuscript Mingana Syr. 561. The translation tends to be literal, simultaneously avoiding the redundancies of the Syriac text. The translation has an introduction and historical theological commentary in the footnotes. In the introduction, the pre-baptismal rites, namely of the renunciation and commitment, and the first rite of baptism — the anointment of the forehead — are described and analyzed from the perspective of the history of liturgy and sacramental theology. According to the baptismal rite in Theodore’s church, renunciation follows the rite of the “handing back” the Creed and the Lord’s prayer and was probably performed on Easter night right before baptism. The candidates pronounced the formula of renunciation individually. The rite of commitment was joined to renunciation and after this, the bishop anointed the candidates on the forehead. Theodore interprets these rites as a change of lordship and communion. First, the candidates belonged to Satan and expressed this through their bodily movements, kneeling and praying to God for mercy. Rejecting Satan and joining Christ, they change the lordship of the former to that of the latter. Theodore compares anointment to accepting a soldier to the military service and to buying a sheep: both solder and sheep have a mark of their king/owner on their skin. The anointment gives the παρρησία — confidence and the freedom of speech, which in the ancient world was a right of free citizens and a privilege of friends. After the anointment, the sponsor covers the candidate’s head with a linen cloth and helps him to stand up, which also points out his new place as a free citizen in a heavenly city.