Augustine’s baptism: Its significance once and today

Abstract

In those days Christian baptism was an extensive ceremony. 1 Its preparations started weeks before the actual baptism took place. A person who would like to receive baptism should first 'turn in his name' (the so-called nomen dare) to be inscribed by the Church official, who as a rule, was the bishop. 2 After that he 3 received an extensive catechetical instruction. Baptism took place at dawn on Easter Sunday. We do not know the exact rites of the Church of Milan at the time of Augustine, but from two works by Ambrose, his so-called On the Sacraments (De sacramentis) and On the Mysteries (De mysteriis) we seem to be able to reconstruct how baptism was administered in 387. It was accompanied by rites such as a washing of feet (symbolising the forgiveness of sins, a symbol dear to Ambrose), anointments, the laying on of hands, and so on. Also, the newly baptised person received the sign of the cross on the forehead: from then onwards he belonged to Christ. This sign was originally an X, derived from the old-Hebrew sign of Tau already mentioned by the prophet Ezekiel (ch. 9), and also in St John's Apocalypse (cf. e.g. Daniélou 1964:154f., 330f.). This sign was considered a mark of property and protection.Augustine's baptism took place in the baptistery of Milan's main church. A couple of years ago, when excavations were conducted for the construction of an underground, the ancient baptistery from Ambrose's times was discovered. 4 When visiting present-day Milano, you can still see it: after entering the cathedral at the back, left side, you should immediately turn to the right and then go downstairs. I mention this, because only few persons visiting the immense cathedral of Sta. Thecla are aware of this possibility. When seeing the ancient baptistery, you may learn how the adult Augustine, by then 32 years old, was immersed in 'living' (that is: flowing) water. This immersion took place three times, after he had heard three questions: 'Do you believe in God the Almighty Father?'; 'Do you believe in our Lord Jesus Christ and his cross?'; 'Do you also believe in the Holy Spirit?' and after that he subsequently answered three times: 'Credo, I believe!' (Ambrosius De sacramentis 2, 20; cf. Ambrosius De mysteriis 21; 28). It is from the baptismal rite with its three questions and answers that we still have our tripartite confessions (see e.g. Kelly 1960:30-61, esp. pp. 36-37 on Ambrose).Who was the person then baptised? Many popular tales (and even handbooks of history, philosophy and theology!) still have it that a certain pagan, after a dramatic conversion, became a Christian. This representation is wrong. What really happened was this: an ambitious young man from Africa -for a few years already even the most important professor of rhetoric of the whole Roman Empire, the man who delivered speeches for the Emperor and a consul 5 -had resigned from his position and received baptism in the Catholic Church. Originally, in North Africa, he was raised in some sort of Catholic environment; as a student he became a member of a...