g Missale Gallican. Vetus, apud Mabillon de Liturg. Gall. P. 363.

now to be baptized therein, may receive the fulness of thy grace, and ever remain in the number of thy faithful and elect children; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

turalem emundationem, quam lavandis possunt adhibere corporibus, sint etiam purificandis mentibus efficacesh. Adimple eum (puerum) gratia Spiritus tui Sancti . . . ne sit filius carnis, sed filius thalami tui nuptialis, et hæres regni tui inamissibilis atque perennisi.

SECTION VI.

THE ADMINISTRATION OF BAPTISM.

The churches of Constantinople, Antioch, and Alexandria, have from time immemorial administered the sacrament of baptism immediately after the water was consecrated; and the English ritual has appointed the same order. According to the ancient customs of the Roman church, represented in the sacramentary of Gregory, the profession of faith occurs between the hallowing of the water and the administration of the sacrament k. We find that this custom has been long used in the Roman church; since the sacramentary of Gelasius, A. D. 494, appointed the confession of faith to be made immediately before baptism, though the renunciations were made some hours before!. The English ritual appoints baptism to be administered" in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," which was the form directed by our Saviour Jesus Christ, and which has ever been used

h Manuale Sarisb. fol. 41. Sacr. Gregorii, p. 72. Sacr. Gelasii, Muratori, tom. i. p. 569.

i Rituale Copt. Alexandrin. Asseman. tom. ii. p. 151.

j Goar, Rit. Græc. p. 355. Asseman. tom. ii. p. 225. 180. k Menard. Sacr. Gregorii, P. 73.

Muratori, tom. i. Sacr. Gelasii p. 570.

by the Christian church. We find indeed from ancient rituals, that certain additions were made to these words in some churches, but the substance of the words used by the English church is found in all the Christian rituals.

SECTION VII.

SIGNING WITH THE CROSS.

We learn from Tertullian that the Christians were accustomed to sign their foreheads with the sign of the cross in all the actions of their lives"; and it may well be supposed that such a custom would be also employed in religious offices and prayers. Accordingly we find that this sign was made in some part of almost every Christian office. Omitting, however, all consideration of the use of this sign in the liturgy, and other parts of divine service, let us notice briefly the accounts which we have of the sign of the cross, as used in the rites of baptism. The sign of the cross was made on those persons who in primitive times were admitted to the class of catechumens, and it was often repeated during the course of their instruction V. The candidates for baptism in the eastern church about the fourth century were three times signed in the forehead, before the water was consecrated, and baptism administered ". In many churches also the water was consecrated with the sign of the cross, and prayer. It is manifest from this, that in primitive times the sign of the cross was not only made on the forehead of the elect at the time of baptism, but was used very often in other ways. It does not

seem that any of the most ancient rituals appointed the sign of the cross to be made on the forehead of the person exactly at the time which the English ritual directs. The position of this consignation may therefore be regarded as originally peculiar to the churches of the British empire, though the act itself is probably not more recent than the apostolical age. The form of words with which the priest is directed to administer this rite in the English ritual is not devoid of resemblance to forms used in several ancient rituals on similar occasions.

ENGLAND. We receive this child into the congregation of Christ's flock, and do sign him with the sign of the cross, in token that hereafter he shall not be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified, and manfully to fight under his banner against sin, the world, and the Devil; and to continue Christ's faithful soldier and servant unto his life's end. Amen.

SARUM. Trado tibi signaculum Domini nostri Jesu Christi -ut in fide catholica permaneas, et habeas vitam æternam, et vivas in sæcula sæculorum. Ameny.

BоBIO. Accipe signum crucis tam in fronte quam in corde. Semper esto fidelis. Templum Dei ingredere-Cole Deum Patrem omnipotentem, et Jesum Christum filium ejus, qui venturus est judicare vivos et mortuos, et sæculum per ignem, cum Spiritu Sancto in sæcula sæculorumz.

CONSTANTINOPLE. Σημειωθήτω ὁ σταυρὸς τοῦ μονογενοῦς σου υἱοῦ ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ καὶ τοῖς διαλογισμοῖς αὐτοῦ, εἰς τὸ φεύγειν τὴν ματαιότητα τοῦ κόσμου, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν πονηρὰν ἐπιβουλὴν τοῦ ἐχθροῦ, ἀκολουθεῖν δὲ τοῖς προστάγμασί

σου 2.

y Manuale Sarisb. fol. 37. See also Martene, tom. i. p. 194. who quotes it from a MS. of Jumiege in France, written A. D. 1032.

z Missale Bobiense, 1100

years old, Muratori Lit. Rom. Vet. tom. ii. p. 848. Martene de Antiq. Eccl. Rit. tom. i. P. 37.

a Goar, Rituale Græc. p. 321.