Addressed to those who have just received the sacrament of baptism, this sermon by St. Ambrose of Milan explains to them that that they've not simply been baptized in ordinary water, but in the sacred waters that transmit the invisible fire of the Holy Spirit....
St. Ambrose explains how the sacrament of baptism was prefigured in the story of the flood and Noah's Ark in the Book of Genesis. The wood of the Ark, the flood waters and the dove which returns with the olive branch all prefigure different...
Ambrose here addresses those who have just received the sacrament of baptism, showing them the many types or prefigurations of the waters of baptism to be found in the Old Testament Scriptures. This a wonderful meditation for those participating in RCIA....
Ambrose here provides a fascinating glimpse into the rites preceding baptism in 4th century Milan as well as into the adult catechesis (RCIA) of the early Church in which direct discussion of the sacraments, mystagogia, was given only after people had already received the sacraments...
Hilary of Poitiers, describes how new Christians in 4th Century France typically felt innundated by the gifts of the Holy Spirit upon their baptism, Confirmation, & first Eucharist: a sense of joy and the release of the 7 gifts and charisms....
Peter Chrysologus, a 5th century Church Father, on the priesthood of all Christian believers conferred in baptism and confirmation. He elaborates his teaching in the course of commenting on the apostle Paul's words in Romans 12:2 where we are called to offer our bodies as...
While preaching on the occasion of the Dedication of a Church, St. Caesarius of Arles points out that baptism makes of us temples of God, sanctuaries of the Holy Spirit....
Here Gregory Nazianzen points out that Christ was baptized not for his sake but for ours. Sanctifying the waters of baptism for all generations to come, he manifested the the Trinity through the Spirit who comes to rest on him in the form of...
Speaking to new Christians, about to be baptized, Cyril of Jerusalem urges them to acknowledge their sins and wash themselves clean, to empty themselves so as to be filled with the Holy Spirit, the supernatural seal conveyed through the anointing with sacred chrism following baptism....
Jerome shows that the living waters & springs for which the deer longs in Psalm 42, is in fact the Trinity. In so doing, he also provides an explanation of what Jesus meant by calling the apostles "fishers of men." ...