CATECHESIS

CATECHESIS. In the first four centuries of the Church’s history, the teaching of ethics and basic doctrine-followed by Baptism (q.v.), Chrismation, and the reception of the Eucharist (q.v.)-took place during a catechumenate that lasted from one to three years. This situation changed drastically in the 5th c. when the Christianization of the Byzantine Empire meant that infant Baptism became the prevalent way to receive people into the Church.

In the early Church (and in some places today) the instruction of catechumens was not usually given by bishops and priests until the final baptismal phase. (See Cyril of Jerusalem.) Although many people came from pagan backgrounds, this fact alone did not account entirely for the length of instruction in comparison with later practice. Much more information was thoroughly taught in the early centuries. For example, it was common for catechumens to attend a daily matins service. Over the course of the instruction, the entirety of the Scriptures (q.v.) would be read to them and explained by specially appointed teachers. It was expected that the length of the catechumenate would be sufficient to test the ethics of the individual. “Exorcism” (q.v.) as a class in moral behavior followed by a prayer of deliverance from a particular evil-a kind of preparation for confession of sins in the modern practice-was also administered by the laity. The catechumenate was also long enough to secure the person’s full participation in, and assimilation into, the Christian community. Only at the end of this process was the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (q.v.) and the Lord’s Prayer taught to the catechumen.

The Church has historically differentiated between those people who have already participated in Baptism and the Eucharist and those who have not. The lack of differentiation between these two groups seeking to enter the Orthodox Church has clouded the issue of why catechumens were dismissed from the Divine Liturgy in the past: People without experience of Baptism and the Eucharist are not able to understand what happens during the liturgy (q.v.) of the faithful. Further, the catechumens were most likely not “sent away” in their dismissal, but were sent to continued instruction, which did not preclude fellowship with the community.

Today as the Divine Liturgy is celebrated, the trisagion hymn is periodically replaced by the hymn, “As many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ, Alleluia.” This biblical hymn marks customary days of Baptism within the Church, and occurs on Christmas (25 December), Theophany (6 January), Holy Saturday (Easter) and the whole of Bright Week (i.e., the eight days or octave of the feast), and on Pentecost. These traditional days of Baptism occur at the end of three catechetical seasons in which catechumens are prepared for reception into the Church. Each season is ended by a day on which is read a text directly relating to Baptism, as listed below.