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ER 702
Presbyters shall not impose hands, consecrate chrism nor anoint the foreheads of the baptized with chrism, because these are the privileges of bishops. Ildefonsus of Toledo (Iberian Peninsula), "De cognitione baptismi", AD 657/667).
The previous sections speak about the imposition of hands performed by the priest [sacerdos], and more specifically bishops. As the imposition of hands gives the Holy Spirit it is also the episcopal prerogative (see below).
 
133. Spiritum Sanctum, sicut uerum est quia ex diuino munere accipere possumus, ita ex nostra potestate dare non possumus. Vt tamen detur eiusdem gratiae largitorem Dominum inuocamus, quo in ministerio nostrae obsecrationis conferatur gratia diuinae uirtutis, Deo tota cooperante, cum et nos orare facit, et is qui benedicitur sanctificationem percipit et ille plenitudinem sanctificationis infundit.
134. Hoc autem a quo potissimum fiat, sicut sanctus papa Innocentius adtestatur, sic dicit non ab alio quam ab episcopo fieri licere, nam presbyteri, licet sint sacerdotes, pontificatus tamen apicem non habent. Hoc autem solis pontificibus deberi, ut uel consignent, uel Paraclitum Spiritum tradant, quod non solum consuetudo ecclesiastica demonstrat, uerum et superior illa lectio Actuum Apostolorum, quae asserit, Petrum et Iohannem esse directos, qui iam baptizatis traderent Spiritum Sanctum. Nam presbyteris seu extra episcopum, siue praesente episcopo, cum baptizant, chrismate baptizatos unguere licet, sed quod ab episcopo fuerit consecratum; non tamen frontem ex eodem oleo signare, quod solis debetur episcopis cum tradunt Spiritum Paraclitum.
 
(ed. Yarza Urquiola 2007: 425)
The previous sections speak about the imposition of hands performed by the priest [sacerdos], and more specifically bishops. As the imposition of hands gives the Holy Spirit it is also the episcopal prerogative (see below).
 
133. It is true that we can receive the Holy Spirit as a divine gift, but we cannot give it by our own power. But we pray to the Lord, giver of this grace, to bestow it upon us, through which the grace of divine power is conferred in the ministry of our supplication. When it makes us pray, with the help of God, a person blessed is also sanctified and a person [who blesses] gives the fullness of sanctification.
134. As Pope Innocentius affirmed this most powerful thing can be done only by a bishop. Presbyters, though they are priests, they do not obtain the summit of pontificate. That it is a privilege only of bishops is clearly shown not only by the ecclesiastical custom, but also by the above-mentioned section in the Acts of Apostles [8:14-15] in which it is said that Peter and John were sent to those already baptized to give them the Holy Spirit. Therefore, when presbyters baptize, either in the presence of a bishop or not, they can anoint the baptized with chrism, but only with chrism consecrated by the bishop. But they cannot sign the foreheads with this oil, because that shall be done only by bishops who give the Spirit-Paraclete.
 
(trans. M. Szada)

Place of event:

Region
  • Iberian Peninsula

About the source:

Author: Ildefonsus of Toledo
Title: De cognitione baptismi
Origin: Toledo (Iberian Peninsula)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian
Ildefonsus was from a Toletan family. As a young man, he was educated in the monastery of Agali, then he was ordained a deacon in Toledo by Bishop Helladius (he writes about these events in his own work De viris illustribus). In AD 657, after the death of Eugenius II, Ildefonsus became the bishop of Toledo at the instigation of King Reccesvinth (reigned 653–72). He died in 667. He wrote De cognitione baptismi during his episcopacy. Along with the passage 2.21–27 from Isidore`s of Seville De officiis it is the most important document of the baptismal practice in the 7th c. Spain. For more detailed information on the text see Robles 1970, and Yarza Urquiola 2007: 278–333.
Edition:
V. Yarza Urquiola, C. Codoñer eds., Ildefonsi Toletani De virginitate Sanctae Mariae, De cognitione baptismi, De itinere deserti, De viris illustribus, Corpus Christianorum. Series Latina 114A, Turnhout 2007
 
Translation:
Ildefonsus of Toledo, Liber de cognitione baptismi, trans. M.C. Billy, Washington, D.C. 1951.
Bibliography:
L. Robles, "Anotaciones a la obra de san Hildefonso De cognitione baptismi", Saitabi: revista de la Facultat de Geografia i Història 21 (1970), 73-146.

Categories:

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος
    Described by a title - Sacerdos/ἱερεύς
      Usurping episcopal power
        Ritual activity - Baptism and instructing catechumens
          Ritual activity - Anointment with chrism
            Ritual activity - Blessing of oil
              Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior
                Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER702, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=702
                Record by: Marta Szada
                last edited: 2020-02-01 21:24:27
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