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14. Veniens itaque Dominus impleturus summam nostrae salutis non sibi, sed nobis profuturam, in se suscepit et a se sanctificauit baptismatis sacramentum, praemittens Iohannem, cuius baptismum ueritatis figura, non ueritas esset, qui peccatores ad paenitentiam commoneret, non qui remissionem peccatis inferret, ipso Iohanne dicente: Ego baptizo in aqua et paenitentia. Hinc itaque est quod per stramenta ciliciorum ad oleandum sacerdotibus paruuli deducuntur, ut paenitentiae signum habeant propter opus, qui paenitentiae opera demonstrare non possunt propter aetatis tempus. [...]

(ed. Yarza Urquiola, Codoñer 2007: 360)

14. The Lord who came to wholly fulfil our salvation not for His own profit, but for ours, received the sacrament of baptism and sanctified it. He sent before him John (whose baptism was a figure of truth but not truth itself), who admonished sinners to do penance, but did not absove them of their sins, as John himself said: 'I baptize you with water and repentance (cf. Matt 3:11). This is why the children who are led to priests to be anointed walk on sackcloths stretched on the ground, so that those who, because of their age, cannot show the deeds of penance might have a sign of penance through this practice. [...]

(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 - Sacerdos/ἱερεύς

Ritual activity - Baptism and instructing catechumens

Ritual activity - Anointment

Ritual activity - Reconciliation/Administering penance

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER984, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=984