The Presbyters Project

115. Dein secundum praeceptum Domini dicentis: Ite, docete omnes gentes, baptizantes eos in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti, subinferente sacerdote "ut habeas uitam aeternam", tinguitur homo aquis; ac tunc ostenditur ei firma promissio, quam Dominus dixit: Qui credit in me, habet uitam aeternam. Quod si omissa qualibet Trinitatis persona baptismum conferatur, omnino nihil egisse baptismi solemnitas deputetur, nisi tota Trinitas ueraciter inuocetur. Nam et baptismus Domini, quando a Iohanne baptizabatur, in Trinitatis ueritate celebratus agnoscitur. Cum enim diceretur a Deo: Hic est filius meus, ecce Pater in uoce, Filius in corporis ueritate, Spiritus Sanctus in specie columbae.

(Yarza Urquiola, Codoñer 2007: 412-413)

115. A man is immersed in water according to the precept of the Lord who said: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matt 28:19), and the priest adds "that you may have life everlasting". In that way the steadfast promise of the Lord is displayed to the man: "He that believed in me hath everlasting life" (John 6:47). But if any person of the Trinity is omitted when the baptism is administered, it is not considered that the solemnity of baptism took place. [It is valid], only if the Trinity as a whole is truthfully invoked. It is also the baptism of the Lord, when He was baptized by John, is known to have been celebrated in the truth of the Trinity. Because when God said: "This is my Son" (cf. Matt 3:17), the Father was in the voice, the Son in the truth of the body, and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove.

(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 seventh-century 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

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER990, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=990