EPIKLESIS IN THE ANTIOCHENE BAPTISMAL

ORDINES*

has been written about the epiklesis, or invocation, in

ea:ste:rn eucharistic liturgies, and by comparison the epiklesis
baptismal services has been somewhat neglected. 'Epildesis'
a vague term, for properly it should include any invoof the deity in the course of the service - and there are
many such invocations; moreover, even in the so-called
epiklesis' the invocation need not necessarily be
Father, and ask for the sending of the Holy Spirit,
ugh this is the pattern that has emerged in, and become
liar from, the main Greek eucharistic liturgies that survive.
e shall see, in this respect the epikleses at the consecration
e baptifmal water in the Antiochene rite provide a considervariety of patterns.
In the Antiochene baptismal services epikleses are to be found
number of different points, but my main concern in this paper
be the epiklesis that occurs in the prayer of consecration of
water, and I shall mention the other epildeses (E.g. over the
over the candidates) only in so far as they are relevant to the
dy of the baptismal epildesis proper.
The ten different baptismal services which provide the source
terial for our study belong to the four ecclesiastical bodies which
(or once used) Syriac as a liturgical language: the Church of
Eaet, the Syrian Orthodox, the Maronite, and the Melkite
1rches. The services are as follows : 1

The standard East Syrian ordo is attributed to the Catholicos

o'yahb In. The edition I use is that printed in Urmiah in
90, and the service is henceforth designated as I.

* For

abbreviations, see p. 216.

Full bibliographical details about editions can be found in " Studies ",
17-21.
1

184

SEBASTIAN BROCK

EPIKLESIS IN THE ANTIOCHENE BAPTISMAL 'ORDINES'

185

SYRIAN ORTHODOX

Five different services are available, three long and

service in normal use is attributed to Jacob of Serugh,

this I employ the edition in Assemani, Oodex Liturgicu8
309-50, Ill, pp. 184-7 11 Designated as JS.

(1) The normal service in use is attributed to Severos

found in a number of slightly different forms 2: as will
there is considerable variation in the precise position oft
klesis over the water in the different texts 3. For this ordd
make use of both the printed editions and the earliest man
(which date from the 8th-Hth century) 4. The long pr
the consecration of the water in this service is also found
Byzantine, Melkite and Ethiopian rites 5. The ordo is
lized as S.

(2) One of the early manuscripts of S, BM Add. 14518,

a service which has many deviations from the norm of
These deviations in fact provide numerous points of contac
the Maronite service. I quote from my. edition of this s
in preparation 6. Symbolized as SD.
(3) An abbreviated service is also attributed to Severos, a
this I employ the Horns edition (1950) 7. Designated as
(4) Another long service, surviving in two early manuscrip
attributed to Timothy of Alexandria. Together with SIJ
service serves as a link between S and the Maronite ordo attri
to Jacob of Serugh. I quote from my edition of the servi
Le Museon 8. Symbolized as T.
(5) A very short ordo, for use in cases of emergency, is attrib
to Philoxenos. For this I quote from the edition in Asse
Oodex Liturgicus Il, pp. 307-8 9. Designated as Ph 10.
For details, see "Studies", passim.
Cp below, pp. 186-8.
4 For details, see referenoe in note 1.
An English translation
prayer of oonseoration of the water, based on the earliest m~mLlsOJrip1
published in O.C.P. 37 (1971), pp. 317-32.
5 The texts (apart from the Ethiopio) are set out side by side in
dies ", pp. 46-51.
6 See provisionally A 1'emarkable Syriac baptismal ordo (BM Add.
Parole de l'Orient 2 (1971) 365-78.
7 For details of ot,her editions and manusoripts, see A short
baptismal service in Syriac, Parole de l'Orient 3 (1972) pp.
s Le Mus60n 83 (1970), pp. 357-431.
9 For further details, see referenoe in note 7.
10 A further short servioe is attributed to Io1,J.annan bar Shushan (+
but I have not had aooess to any manuscript of this.
2

short Maronite service is attributed to Basil, and is availprint only in Latin translation 12. The epiklesis is almost
with that in Sshort.

though the Melkites now follow the Constantinopolitan rite

mploy Arabic, the oldest surviving baptismal services are in
and belong to the genuine Antiochene liturgical tradition:
The normal service is attributed to Basil, symbolized as B;
his I quote from the edition in Assemani, Oodex Liturgicu8
pp. 199-237. The prayer of consecration of the water in this
ice is the same as that in S and the Byzantine rite, although
d B represent two independent translations from the Greek.
An anonymous short Melkite ordo, containing a number of
haic features, is also available, and for this I quote from my
ion, in Parole de l'OrienP3. Symbolized as Mshort.
My procedure will be, in the first place, to study the formal
lIcture of the baptismal epikleses, and then to go on to consider
ir actual content and their biblical terms of reference. In the
t part of this enquiry it will be necessary to extend the horizon
cl. compare the structure of the baptismal epikleses with that
eucharistic ones in the Antiochene tradition, while in the second
t we shall need to look at the writings of Greek and Syriac Fathers
the subject of baptism, in particular John Chrysostom, Theoe of Mopsuestia, Ephrem, Narsai and Jacob of Serugh.
First of all, however, I should say something about the multication of epikleses in two of the services, T and S. In the
rse of the consecratory prayers in T ( 24-38), there are,
rprisingly, two separate invocations to the Father, requesting
El consecration of the water by the Holy Spirit, although the
brics recognize only the second as the epiklesis. How this
The Bkerke edition of 1942 is not available to me.
DENZINGER I, pp. 358-9.
13 See referenoe in note 7.

11

12

THE ANTIOCHENE BAPTISMAL ' ORDINES '

THE EPIKLESIS IN

187

SEBASTIAN BROCK

duplication arose must remain in the sphere of "!J'JVCUCl>1

as we shall see, these two epikleses neatly exemplify
cally different types of epiklesis that are represented
chene baptismal texts.
The situation in S is considerably more
well known that the prayer of consecration in this
found in the Constantinopolitan rite, and in the Melkite
pian services. Now if the different texts are set side b
at once becomes apparent that originally an invocation
Holy Spirit must have been altogether absent from the
for there is absolutely no agreement about the position
an invocation, and the different texts supply their in
epikleses in a variety of different places 14. Moreover,
that there is great variation over the positioning of such
lesis among the individual texts of S indicates that the
still had no invocation for the Holy Spirit when it first cam
translated into Syriac.
The precise situation can best be seen from the fo
layout of the relevant parts of the prayer, where the origin
common to S, D, the Ccnstantinopolitan and EthIOpIan
given in roman type, while the various interpolated epikl
given in italic. The three passages in the original fOrIn
prayer which can reasonably be described as e-pikleses (
without any mention of the Holy Spirit) are given in spaced
ing; these will be referred to below as S *a,b,c,.
Original prayer 15

thou didst break the heads

of the dragons in the waters;

Byz
Thou didst sanctify the st.
of the Jordan, sending
tram heaven thy Holy Spir
thou didst break the he

14 Op " Studie8 ", pp. 52-9. I have not included in the followin
the curious epiklesis to be found in the Oharfet edition (1922), which
of only from the French translation by G. KHOURI-SARKIS in L'Orient
1 (1956); this reads" tourne-toi, apparais Seigneur, descends sur 11
sur ces eaux et sanctifie-les". I know of no early manuscript con
this epiklesis; "sur nous " indicates that the source may be a
epiklesis (see p. 193), while" descends" suggests an occidental
for this phraseology is extremely rare in Syriac.
15 The Oonstantinopolitan m'do is at this point based on the
prayer Mtyo:<; d, and the only Greek parallel to Sand B here is
by a short ordo included in Goar's Euchologion; cp H. El'fG:EIEB~Dr:NG,
ilbe1'8ehenes griechi8che8 Taufwa88e1'weihegebet und 8eine Bedeutung,
chliche Studien 14 (1965), pp. 281-91, and my "Studie8 ", pp. 44-7.

the dragons lurking there; do

thou, therefore, 0 king who
lovest mankind, be present even
now by the visitation of thy Holy
Spirit, and sanctify

fearful, who shall with?

o Lord, upon
thy
creature,
water, and grant
he grace of rede.mon
the
blesSIng
h ~ J 0 l' d an, (Make it
ell of immortality etc.) 16.

* * *
thou, Lord of all, (+ send thy Holy Spirit and sanctify this
and 17) a p p 0 i n t (D make) t his w ate r the w ate r
est, etc. 18.

* * *
the Fathe1' Almighty, and send upon us
mercy on us, O God
P
l t th
upon this water that is being sanctified.. ... the arac e e, y
Spirit etc. 19.

* * *

0 l'

u P 0 nth i s wa t e l' (+ and sanctify

Pt~eao:~rshadowing ;f thy Holy Spirit 20) and g l' ant t h ~ t

se who are baptized in it may be change,

they may strip off the old man...

* * *

16
17

.
. f
d in B z and the short m'do in Goal'.
This interpola~IOn,IS oun
d J.' th 9th jl0th century manuscript
The interpolatIOn IS to be foun m
e

t ' Shortest in B. This epiklesis is

S, BM Add. ,1449~, ,
18 The ensumg lIst IS longes
m
,s
' m of the water.
mediately preceded b y an exorClS ,
ire ra er derived from
19 This interpolation, which constItutes a~ e~t
t Pd Ketween S *b and
Greek Anaphora of St Mark (see'b:low), IS dl~ts~r e f S (see p 192f.).
" t and In some e 1 IOns 0

in several early. ma~uscllp s,

I
rly manuscripts and editions
20 The interpolatIOn IS found m severa ea
(see p. 193).

188

SEBASTIAN BROCK

21

May it please thee now too,

our Lord,

for thy Holy Spirit to dwell

upon these thy servants who are
being baptized, and perfect
them
and appoint them associates of
thy Christ etc.

EPIKLESIS IN THE ANTIOCHENE BAPTISMAL 'ORDINES'

B
Do thou
o Lord God, send
wate1' by means of this
oil of true unction th
which is beyond all ages,
thy living and holy Spiri
bless and sanctify and
it and those who are bapt
it, and make them associ
thy Christ etc.

FORMAL STRUCTURE

As far as their formal structure is concerned, the epiklese

the baptismal water can conveniently be divided into four se
types:
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(1)

"Em~E may originally be based on Gen iv 4 (acceptance

Abel's sacrifice); cp also Eleazar's prayer in III Macc
3, 12.
For the combination of ~m~E .. ~oe;
Xapw, note especially
e similar wording in the prayer of the consecration of the
ater in Apostolic Oonstitutions VII.43.5: Ka"n~E e~ OUpetV013
etl. ay(Mov 't"o {)~<up 't"o13't"o, ~oe; ~~ Xapw xctt MvetfLw ...
S *a is followed by an exorcism of the water, "Let there
ee from it... ". An analogy to this reversal of what might
thought to be the logical order is to be found in the Roman
aptismal ordo 25; in both cases the sequence should be attrib'I1ted to the conflation of elements of different origin.

S *b 'AAA?!. o'u ~~O'7to't"et 't"(;)v a7tav't"{.ov &Vet~EL~ov 't"o {)~<up 1'o13't"o {)~<up
&Vet7tetuO'E<ue;, {)~<up &7tOAu't"p~O'E<ue;, ()~<up aYLetO'fLo13..
&v(X~d~ov : the sense is 'appoint' 26.
f5~<up &Vet7t(XUGE<ue;: Ps xxii (xxiii) 2; the other phrases are
not biblical.
S *b is immediately preceded by the exorcism.

Those having no reference at all to the Holy

Those where the Holy Spirit is requested to '
Those where the Father (or Christ) is asked to '
Holy Spirit.
Those where some verb other than' come' or ' send'
We may look at these in turn.

S *c: 'Em([JaV'l)&L XUpLE 1'q) {)~et1'L 1'OU1'<p Xetl. ~oe; fLE't"(X7tOL'l)&~Vc(L

1'OUe; ev etu't"q) ~(X7t't"L~ofLt!;Voue; ...
'Em([J!XV'l)&L: possibly from Ps lxxix (lxxx) 2 (efLMv'l)&L); 27
cp Ph. Note also I Clem. 59, 1'OLe; ~EofL~voLe; em([Jav'l)&L.

Type 1 :

Holy Spirit is requested to 'come' in several of the Antioe ordines, I, JS, SD, Tb and Mshort; all of these except I have
cally the same wording.

Three epikleses of this type are to be found in the course

original form of the consecratory prayer common to Byz
B 22 ; these are :
(i)

189

S *a : "Em~E XUpLE e7tl. Tf)v X1'(GLV GOU 1'(xU1''l)V 23, e7tl. 't"0
Xetl. ~oe; (xU1'q) 't"~V XapLV 1'~e; &7tOAU1'p~O'E<ue;, 1'~V <:{lj~o'V'la\J
IopMvou... 24

21 At the end of the long prayer of consecration S, Band

company (cp "Studie8 ", p. 50); the interpolated epiklesis in B
be seen by juxtaposing Sand B.
22 I am not concerned here with questions of their relationship
another.
23 Byz adds xcd, so that ..~v X'dow then refers to the
absence of the conjunction in S Band Eth shows that this is a
element in Byz.
24 Byz adds TCOLlIcrOV e:t.U'TO acp'&e:t.pcrLe:t.<; 7'C1jy1)v.

Type 2:

I ' ... the Spirit who came down and remained upon our Saviour, (thus) depicting the type of this holy baptism; may
that same Spirit come, 0 Lord, upon this water, so that it
may receive power for the help and salvation of those who
baptized in it. '
came .. remained: cp Matt iii 16 (Old Syriac) and John
Cp E. STOMMEL, Studien zur Epikle8e der romi8chen Taujwa88erweihe
1950), p. 2lf.
Cp "Studie8 ", p. 59.
Cp also verse 20 (~TCLcpe:t.VOV), which is taken as a reference to Epiphany
usebius (PG 23, 968). On the origin of 'Emcp&ve:Le:t. as the name of the
see J. DANIELOU, in Noel-Epiphanie, retour du Ohri8t (Paris, 1967),

190

SEBASTIAN BROCK

i 32 (Old Syriac and Peshitta), although in the

the Spirit is construed as a feminine.
the same: Perhaps derived from the Greek
St James (.. cxu't"o 't"o 7tVEufLcx). According to Botte 28
phora has influenced the wording of the eucharistic e
in the East Syrian anaphora of Theodore.
come: perhaps from Acts i 8 (Peshitta),
p. 199 f.
receive power: Acts i 8 (Peshitta) 29.
(ii) JS, SD, Tb and Mshort: (Mshort pr May thy living
Spirit be sent and) may rthy living and holy Spirit (om
the Spirit of holiness JS) come, 0 Lord (om Mshort)
rand repose (om JS) on this water (+ and drive from
power of the enemy, and kindle it with his ill'vincil)le
and bless JS;
and kindle it with thy invincible
and sanctify it, rand make it (om JS) in the likeness
water) which flowed from the (thy Mshort) side rof
JS) only-begotten one (om Mshort) on the (thy
be sent (tstdr): the verb is feminine, whereas
it come', is masculine; since no other epiklesis with
ing 'let thy Holy Spirit be sent' appears to be
likely that tstdr is a corruption of tU?', 'do thou
which there are parallels elsewhere 30.
come: see p. 197, 199,
?'est and ?'epose : Isaiah xi 2 (Peshitta, but verbs
cp p. 200.
kindle: reference is to the apocryphal
popular among Syriac writers, that flames appeared
Jordan's waters at Christ's baptism 31.
bless: cp p. 202.
make it : cp p. 202.
flowed: John xix 34 (Greek E~~A.&EV = Pe:shitta
Syriac not extant). The verb 'flowed' indicates
epiklesis originated in a Syriac, and not a Greek,
milieu, for while the Peshitta follows the Greek text

28 B. BOTTE, L'epiclese dans les litur'gies syriennes orientales

Erudiri 6 (1954), pp. 48-72.
'
290p SD 35; Jacob of Serugh (ed. BEDJAN) IV, p. 707;
Jerusalem, Oat. Myst. 11, 3 : o{JTW xo:l 't'o b"mpXtO"'t'ov 't'OU't'O ~AO:toV &mJ~A1J,:ie:
xo:l e:OXTI a() v 0: [L t v 't"'1AtXO:{)"'1V A 0: [L ~ &, v e: t ...
30 See pp. 195f., and note 64.
31 See" Timothy", p. 409, note 64.

THE EPIKLESIS IN THE ANTIOCHENE BAPTISMAL 'ORDINES '

191

34, 'went forth', the variant 'flowed' is attested in a

mber of early Syriac writings 32, and may well have been
e reading of the Old Syriac (lost for this verse). For the
gin. of the variant (John vii 38) see below, p. 211f.
. s~~e: all t~e texts except Mshort use the word dafneh,
hich IS found III the Peshitta at John xix 34; Mshort, hower, reads setrak, for which support can be found in a number
passages in Ephrem 33. It is very likely that setra was the
ord used in the Old Syriac at John xix 34, since this version
ploys that word in John xx 25 (where the Peshitta again
dafna),
ype 3 :

ather (or, in one case, Christ) is asked to 'send' the Holy

and sanctify the water in B, Ta, Sshort and some of the
lated epikleses in S. These differ considerably in detail
one another.
Yea, we request thee, Father of mercy and God of all
mfort, send thy living Spirit and sanctify this water, and
ay it become the spiritual womb which gives rebirth anew
mankind who are baptized in it.
Yea: cp Sshort, also A. Thomas 157.
Father .. comfort: 2 Cor i 3 (Peshitta),
womb: from John iii 4; cp p. 209.
.. thou didst sanctify the streams of the Jordan; do
hou now too, 0 Lord God, send on this water, by means of
is sanctified oil of true anointing, thy dove which is beyond
11) ages, that is, thy living and holy Spirit, and bless and
nctify and perfect it and those who are being baptized in
and make them associates of thy Christ...
sanctified oil: B is unique among the Antiochene m'dines
associating the coming of the Spirit with the pouring of
e myron on to the water 34.
E.g. Ephrem (ed. LAMY) I, 511 ; Oomm. Diat. X 12 (but not XXI 11) ;

f Treasures (ed. BEZOLD) p. 255 (but not p. 263) ; Jacob of Serugh

DJAN) V, p. 670 5 Note, however, that Didymus uses ~ppe:uO"e:v in
quotation of John xix 34 (PG 39, 689).
E.g. Ephrem (ed. LAMY) I, 53, 109, 477; cp also PAYNE SMITH The
Syriacus col. 2603.
'
Moshe bar Kepha, in his commentary on the baptismal service ( 13),
at the myron represents the Holy Spirit hovering (mr'a1Jbfa) over

192

SEBASTIAN BROCK

THE EPIKLESIS IN THE ANTIOCHENE BAPTISMAL 'ORDINES '

dove: earlier in B's prayer reference is made

ing of the dove 'to those who were protected
in Noah's ark', and the olive branch it held is
'the promise of reconciliation and salvation from
and the mystery of this hidden grace... '. Reference
dove is also found in Byz, but it is absent from
bless and sanctify: comparison with S here (see
p. 188) shows that these two words are an additi
which also alters the object of 'perfect', substituti
water and the candidate!" for' the candidates' (alon.
Cp also below, p. 202.
make: S has the less specific word
B is secondary. Cp 8lso below, p. 202.

(iii)

Sshort (also the short Maronite service): Yea, Lord, se

Holy Spirit on thIS water, and bless and sanctIfy It,
may be for him who i" baptized in It saving water, w
joy..
Yea: Thus Ta.
Lord: Christ 36 : just before the epildesis cumes an
cism of the water and a reference to Christ's sanctificati
the water of Jordan by thy descent and by the coming
Holy Spirit'.
bless and sanctify: cp B, and below, p. 202.
saving water, water of joy: C'p S *b, where S (agains
and B) adds' water of joy' after {)~U)P &va7t(xu(jeU)~ ; the
IS no doubt inspired by tAawv &yaAA~&(jeU)~ in Ps xliv

(iv) Sa (.. do thou, Lord of all,) send thy Holy Spirit on

and sanctify it and (appoint it water of rest... ).
This interpolated 37 epikleSIS IS found only III
14494. For the phrasedogy, cp below, p. 202.
v) Sb Have mercy on us, God the Father Almighty,
upon us and this water which is being sanctified.. the
lete, thy Holy Spirit...
This interpolated epiklesis is found in BM Add.
14493, and 14499 (mg), amcng the early manuscripts,
the water, and he quotes Severos as stating that' the mYl'on re1=)reE;en1
Holy Spirit' (BM Add. 21210, f. 137b-sa).
35 Compare Jacob of Serugh (ed. BEDJAN) IV, p. 49 17
36 In the Horns edition this part of the prayer is anomalously
with one addressed to the Father.
37 Into the middle of S *b.

193

6 of the services printed in Assemani's Oodex Liturgicus

II Ill) 38. The whole prayer is derived from the Greek
phora of St Mark 39.
UpOn'llS : this is the only epiklesis over the baptismal water
which God is requested to send his Spirit 'upon us', as
II as upon the water; the phrase is, however, commonly
hnd in the eucharistic epikleses of the numerous Syrian
thodox anaphoras, and its presence here is simply indicative
its origin.
sanctified: it is remarkable that, in the course of adaptaOn from the eucharistic liturgy, the epiklesis has lost the
tual request that the water be sanctified by the coming of
e Holy Spirit 40.

texts do not fall into the above categuries:

(.. appear, 0 Lord, on this water,) and sanctify it by the
yershadowing of thy Holy Spirit (and grant that those who
l'e baptized III It may be changed... )
ThIS interpolated 41 epiklesis is found in BM Add. 14494,
449~, 14499, 17128, and 14500 among the early manuscripts,
nd III several of the printed editions (SA I IV VI, SH).
overshadowing: the phraseology here has its closest parallel
the epiklesis of the anaphora of Xystus. Cp below, p. 202f.
Ph Shine forth, 0 Lord, on this water, and may thy Holy
pirit stir it in the power of its might, and do thou be mingled,
nd let the all-worshipful Tr~nity, too, be mingled in it. ..
Shine forth: or 'appear'; cp S *c, which is rf'ndered
'be revealed' in S, and 'turn' in B.
o Lord: Christ is addressed (as in the epikleses of all
the other short services).
stir: from John v 7 ('rap&(j(jU); azi' in Old Syriac and
Peshitta).
For the varying positions, see" Studies ", p. 54 and" Consecration"
214.
'
9 For details, see" Studies ", pp. 54.6. It is also found in the service
e consecration of the myron; cp E. P. SIMAN, L'exp61'ience de l' Esprit
'eglise d'apres la tmdition syrienne d'Antioche (Paris, 1971), p. 227f.
~~ In the Greek Anaphora of St ,Mark the epiklesis ends up, after a
lIst of epithets of the Holy Spirit, with tvoc ocu-ra &YL<xcrn XOCL -rEAELC~cr'll
'txv'rol)'lJvoclJ,0s .&e:6 s , XOCL 7t"OL'~cr'll 't"QV iLev &p-rov X't"A.
middle of S * c.
8

194

SEBASTIAN BROOK
EPIKLESIS IN THE ANTIOOHENE BAPTISMAL 'ORDINES'

be mingled: compare the epiklesis over the

, May the grace from the gift of the Holy Spirit
be mingled (tetballat) in this oil... ' 42.
Before comparing these consecratory epikleses with
the eucharistic liturgies, we should briefly look at the other
which are sometimes present in the baptismal
are said over the oil of anointing, over the candid~ttes,
one case, over the priest himself.
(1)

Type 1 :

No examples.
(2) Type 2 :
Introduced by 'let there come'.

(i)

I contains a prayer over the oil of anointing, in

following epiklesis is found 43 :
May the grace from the gift of the Holy Spirit
be minghd with this ojI, and may it (se. the grace) gr
those who are anointed with it a pledge of the resurre
and may it rest and dwell on this oil and bless and s
it and seal it, in the name ...
grace: the 'grace of the Holy SpIrit' is not foun
where in the baptismal epikleses, but features in the ana
of Nestorius and Theodore 44.
gift: cp Acts of Thomas (ed. Wright) p. 323 ( 19
mingled: see above, under Ph.
rest .. dwell: the first verb is identical with thati
epikleses of the anaphoras of Nestorius and Theode
also p. 200.

42 P. 67-8; compare a prayer in S (Homs edition, p. 31), befo

consecration of the water, which opens" Mingle (mazzeg), 0 Lord, i
water ... the power and operation of thy Holy Spirit". Outside the
gical texts, note especially Ephrem H. de Fide XL, 9, " (the fire (i.e.
which flew (down) into the midst of the bread, and is mingled (w-met
in the midst of the water" ; Fanqitho (Mosul edition) VI, p.
Holy Spirit descended from on high that she might be mingled
with the race of man (sc. at Pentecost)". For western parallels,
chley, pp. 146, 149.
43 P. 67-8.
44 It appears, however, to have featured in the baptismal
known to Theodore of Mopsuestia: " ... that the grace of the
may come on the water and make it... " (Ham. Oat. XIV, 9 = ed.
p. 420).

195

bless ... seal: the same three verbs are also found in the
of the anaphora of Theodore.

rayer over the oil of anointing is also found in JS, with

following epiklesis 45 :
May thy power come, 0 Lord, from the uppermost heights,
may it rest in this oil, and may the mysteries of thy Christ
in it, and may it be ...
power: cp A. Thomas 27, ' Come, power of grace, which
from on high'; and especially 121, quoted below 46.
imprinted: cp " Studies", p. 35 note 4.
epiklesis of this type occurs in JS in a prayer
the candidates 47 :
May thy living and holy Spirit come and rest and repose
the head of this thy servant ...
rest .. repose: cp p. 200.
should be added that the various epikleses, over the oil
the candidate, in the Acts of Thomas take on this form;
particular the epiklesis over the oil 48 in 121 (ed. Wright,
291) is in part identical with that in JS:
May thy power come and rest upon this oil ...
The epildeses in the Acts of Thomas are all addressed
Christ.
ype 3:

uced by 'send' ; these fall into two groups, the first (nos
below) with the verb in the imperfect (jussive), the second
iii)-(iv) below) with the verb in the imperative:
has the following epiklesis, said over the candidate 49 :
e pleased, 0 Lord, to send upon him thy Holy Spirit, and
vershadow and search out all his limbs, and purify him berehand and sanctify him that he may be made worthy of
e holy anointing.
Il, p. 330.
, Power' features in Narsai's
13
:NGANA, I, p. 345 ). Lluvoq.LL<;
III the New Testament.
AS,lEMANI Il, p. 334.
the Syriac; in the Greek
Homs edition p. 30.
ASSEMANI

description of the baptismal epiklesis

and 7tV~uiLCG are already closely asso.
.
it is over the candidate.

SEBASTIAN BROCK

196

be pleased: cp EU~Q}(.~O'YlC; in the epiklesis of

in Apost. Oonst.
ove1'shadow: cp p. 202f.
(ii) Like I and JS, B has a prayer said over the oil of

this has the following epiklesis 50 :

V\'e call upon thy great ... name, that thou
fearful Spirit (or Spirit of might) upon this oil and
so that it may be..
perfect: cp. p. 202.
(Hi) The following epiklesis occurs in a prayer for the

to be found in both Sand B (with certain variations

them) 51 :
Send thy Holy Spirit upon him .. so that, filled
heavenly gifts, he may ...
(iv) In the course ofthe priest's prayer for himself in
is found 52 :
Send upon me thy Holy Spirit and strengthen
(4)

Type 4:

The only epiklesis of this type is found in the final part

consecration prayer common to Sand B: in S the epikl
over the candIdate, while in B it is over the water (see
p. 191.). The text of S here is translated on p. 188.
Such are the epikleses in the Antiochene
The following table gives an overall picture of their
according to types; those over the water are listed first.
(1)

Type 1 : S *abc

(2)

Type 2: I JS SD Tb Mshort ; loll JSoll, cand.

(3)

Type 3: (a) introduced by imperfect: Mshort

Scand.
(b) introduced by imperative:
Bcand. Scand. Spriest.

(4)

Type 4: Se, Ph; Scand.

EPIKLESIS IN THE ANTIOCHENE BAPTISMAL 'ORDINES '

WITH THE EUCHARISTIC EPIKLESES

have seen that, while the full serVIces always address

esis to the Father, all the short services address it to Christ.
first may seem surprising, but it readIly becomes underle in the light of the tradition that Christ sanctified all
al water 53 at his baptism (see below, p. 204f): it is thus
tural that Christ should be asked to send his Spirit ta reachis original sanctification. What is interesting is that
s still addressed (in Mshort) when it is his death, not his
, which is primarily linked with the baptismal water;
and Tb, which employ the same epiklesis as Mshort, alter
dress to the Father, in conformity with the norm of later
is very likely that S * was also orIginally addressed to
not the Father, and the interpolated epiklesis in the Byei rite would appear to retain this original address, since it
aced by O'U xaL T<X 'IopMvE('oc PE'L&pOC ~Y[Il(.(jIl(.(;, where the subjeot
sanably only be Christ, although in S an added sentence
the Father the subject of this verb 54.
e eucharistic anaphoras provide no exact parallel to this
to Christ, although one might compare the early epikleses,
sed to the Father, which ask for the sending of the Logos,
Spirit 55. If, however, one considers the epikleses addressed
'ist in the short baptismal services with those in the Acts
mas, a remarkable fact emerges: side by side with the refor Christ's 'power' to come (e.g. 121), we find that
~casion Christ himself is asked to come, e.g.
27: Come, holy name of the Messiah ...
157 : Yea, Lord, come and abide in this oil .. ,
ype of invocation, where Christ was addressed in the imperwas evidently once fairly widespread, for it has left traces
old Gallican liturgy 56, as well as in a short prayer common
Greek anaphoras of John Chrysostom and Basil 57 :
eA&e

In all the short services the epiklesis IS addressed to

the Father.
ASSEMANI Ill, p. 213.
Horns edition p. 32; ASSEMANI Ill, p. 212f.
52 Horns edition p. 23.

50

197

ELC;

TO &YL!XO'OC(' 1j[LiXc;.

See especially Jacob of Serugh (ed. BEDJAN) I, p. 188 for this idea.
See the texts laid out in "Studies ", p. 50.
E.g. Euchologion of Serapion (ed. BRIGHTMAN, p. 106).
K. GAMBER, Die Ohristus-Epiklese in der altgallischer Liturgie,
9 (1966), pp. 375-82 (with references) ; also 10 (1967), pp.

51

BRIGHTMAN,

Liturgies Eastern and Western, I, p. 341.

198

SEBASTIAN BROCK

'l'HE EPIKLESIS IN THE ANTIOCHENE BAPTISMAL 'ORDINES '

This usage has its roots in the New Testament phrase

'our Lord, come.' 58. It would appear that at
and baptism Christ was simply asked to come and
two events of his earthly life 59.

y there come " and corresponding to the Greek anaphora

I} is found in all three East Syrian, and in some West Syanaphoras, and that type 3 (b) subdivides into two classes,
he Greek anaphoras : the vast majority follow the pattern
anaphoras of James 65 and Mark, while only a very small
. prc vide the pattern which we have in the anaphora of
ihrysostom and in the Syriac baptismal epikleses of type
Curiously, enough, among this minority there figure proly the anaphoras of Timothy and Severos 66, precisely the
chs to whom the two Syrian Orthodox baptismal services
ributed, although it should be noted that, beyond the coinin structure, there is little agreement in phraseology.

.Lvv.LIi1d

(2)

Oonstruction

In the epikleses of type 2, the Holy Spirit is gram

the sanctifier (' may thy Holy Spirit come .. and may h
fy .. ') 60, but in those of type 3 (b) 61, it is the Father (ot
who is always the sanctifier (' send thy Holy Spirit .. and\13
(imperative) ... '). If one compares this state of affairs wi
in the Greek and Syriac eucharistic epikleses, some int
facts emerge.
Among the Greek anaphoras only that of Basil corr
to our type 2, and there the subject of the verb' sanctify' is
the Spirit (sA&dv xod &y~&cra~
). All the other
anaphoras belong to our type 3 (b) 62, being introduced
imperative 'send'; the ensuing construction, however,
always the same: only in the anaphora of John Chrysost
we find 'send' followed by another imperative (1to["y)crov), i
words, with the Father still the subject of the verb; in t
phoras of James and Mark, by way of contrast, a final cIa.
sues, and the subject of the verb 'sanctify' is the Holy
Thus our baptismal epikleses of type 3 (b) - those introdu
the imperative' send' - correspond in contruction to the e
in the anaphora of John Chrysostom 63.
If one turns to the eucharistic epikleses in the Syria
phoras one will find that the pattern of our type 2 (intr
6B Cp below, note 71. Note also the imperative in one of the e
in the service of blessing the Epiphany water (ed. BUDGE, in .JOHN
QUESS OF BUTE, The Blessing of the Water on the Eve of Epiphany (
1901), pp. 73=93) : "do thou, lover of mankind, come even now thro
overshadowing of thy Holy Spirit and bless this water... ". Gp also
of Serugh (ed. BED.TAN) IV, p. 52 9
69 Cp (for the eucharist) O. CULLMANN, The Ohristology of t
Testament (London, 1963), p. 209ff.
60 I is an exception, in that the water is the subject of the ne:x:
81 Type 3(a) follows no regular pattern in this respect.
82 The only exception is the anaphora in Apostolic Oonstitutions,
belongs to type 3(a).
63 The epikleses in the service for the blessing of the Epiphany
have a related construction: the imperative' sanctify' is prefaced,
send thy Holy Spirit " but by 'through the overshadowing of thy
Spirit' (as Se); cp Budge in op. cit., pp. 73=93, 76=98, 86.

199

hraseology

come /send'
e have just seen that the oriental eucharistic and baptismal
ses divide up into two main types, thoE'e introduced by , come'
hose introduced by 'send'. The former is the only one
found in the East Syrian epikleses (of whatever kind), but
ot confined to them, since it is found in the Greek anaphora
a,sil and in several West Syrian anaphoras, as well as in cerbaptismal epikleses of West Syrian origin, whether Syrian
()dox, Melkite or Maronite (where it is the only type representThe latter, introduced by 'send' is the norm of the Greek
West Syrian anaphoras as well as the West Syrian baptismal
eses, with the exception of the Maronite ordo.
word or two might be added about the biblical sources
e verbs 'come' and 'send'. A number of passages speak
e Holy Spirit' coming' (gPXEcr&CltL) 67, notably Isaiah xxxii 15
68, Mark iii 16 (and parallels), Acts xix 6 69 and the famous
Approximately one-third of the fifty that I have been able to exa, although in several of these it is combined with 'send' ; the comion tsdr
n't' (cp Mshort, above p. 190), however, seems to be conto that of .Jacob Baradaeus (Cambr. Add. 2887 f. l27 b -8 a). (Besides
naphoras in print, I have consulted the extensive collection to be found
ambridge Add. 2887).
65 This is of course only to be expected, in view of the great influence
exercised on the Syriac anaphoras.
66 AS I, p. 22, 68f.
B' Note that in every case the Spirit comes upon people, not objects.
68 But not in the Peshitta.
89 Acts i 8 should perhaps be added, for, although the Greek has the
pound ~7te:Ae:6cre:'t'OG~, it is possible that the phraseology arose in a
64

200

SEBASTIAN BROCH:.

variant to the Lord's prayer, Luke xi 2 : EA&<X'T<U 'TO

Eep' ~fLiiC; XiXt XiX&iXPLcr<x'T<U ~fLiiC; 70. The imperative
ever, in the Acts of Thomas, suggests that the
usage should rather be seen in the early litmgical phrase
, Our Lord, come' 71, quoted in I Cor xvi 22 - a
according to the Didache 10,6, was used in the course of
in the early church. This would seem to be
fact that the baptismal epiklesis was evidently originally a
to Christ, not the Father.
While Syriac employs only Sd1' for 'send', the
phoras are divided between XiX'TiX7tZ[L7t<U (J oh{/, Oh1'ysostom,
Oonstitutions) and E~iX7tocr'TZAA(i) (Ma1'k), while both verbs
in James 72. The former word does not occur at all in
Bible 73, but the latter could be derived from Psalm
or Gal iv 6 (cp Luke xxiv 49).
crou

'rest' etc.
The epikleses of type 2, introduced by 'may there
usually continue with further verbs describing the Spirit's
ments 75 ; I alone has no such accompanying verb. In the
mal texts the following combinations of verbs are found.
(a) ne81'e alone: JS SD; JSoil 76.
(b) ne81'e w-nettniIJ: Tb; JScand.
(c) te81'e w-te8kan: Ioil.
(d) as (b) but with neskan added: Mshort.
(ii)

EPIKLESIS IN THE ANTIOCHENE BAPTISMAL 'ORDINES'

201

an exact parallel is only to be found in the ana phora of

77, out of the fifty-odd anaphoras that I have exathe second (nes1'e w-nettnilJ) is familiar from the East
anal=,hc)ra of Nestorius, the Maronite known as the Sha1'1'a1',
West Syrian attributed to Diosko1'oS (I) 78. The phrawould appear to derive flOm Isaiah xi 2 (on the gifts of
for the Peshitta here has these two verbs, although
rse order 79, but what is significant is that the Syriac is
ly version to render a single Hebrew verb by two words.
'sanctify' etc.
variety of verbs, or combinations of verbs, are employed
ote what the Spirit (or the Father) does to the baptismal
thus we have 'appoint', 'bless', 'sanctify', 'make' and
a) 'appoint'
his occurs only in S *a, and in B the word is altered to the
explicit 'make' 80. In the Greek anaphoras &viXad~iXL is
led to that of Basil 8\ while among the Syriac ones it is
a in that of the XII Apostles (I), as well as in a few others 82.
(b) 'sanctify'
As might be expected, the word occurs in most of the epis 83, but usually in conjuution with other verbs, and the closest
llel to the use of this verb alone, as we find in Sac and Ta,
aI'S to be the Syriac anaphora of Mark 84.

The Greek anaphoras provide no parallels to this

while the Syriac ones provide them only for the first
Syriac speaking area : note the use of this passage a few words
in I's epiklesis, and the reminiscences referred to in note 29.
'0 Cp F. H. CHASE, The Lord's Prayer in the Ea1'ly Ohunh (Te
Studies I, 3; Cambridge, 1891), pp. 25-31.
71 On linguistic grounds alone it is likely that should be constru
" Our Lord, come. " (fLO:poWO: '&0:, cp Rev. xxii 20), rather than" Our
has come" (fLO:PO:v 0:.&0:) ; see J. A. EMERTON, " Maranatha ", J .T.S. 18 (1
p. 427 ; cp also B. BOTTE, "Maranatha ", in Noel.Epiphanie, 1'etour du 0
(Paris, 1967), pp. 25-42.
'2 Outside the consecratory epikleses &;v't"LXC('t"o:mffL7t"c.> is also emplo
'3 Compare, however, 7t"efL7t"c.> in vVisdom ix 17 and John xiv 26.
'4 Note also that Didymos quotes Ps xlii 3 and cxlvii 7 (both
&~a7t"OCl"'t"eAAc. in a baptismal context (PG 39, 705).
'5 In some West Syrian anaphoras these sometimes follow the
, send' : this is typical of the fusion, that occurs in many of these anlapllO
of the two main types of epiklesis.
'6 Cp Acts of Thomas 121, and perhaps Narsai (ed. MINGANA) I, p.

AS n, p. 96.
AS I, p. 280f.
No variants.
Likewise later in the prayer, at the point of B's interpolated epiklesis
188). For parallels to this alteration, see" Studies ", p. 59, note 3.
The anaphora in Apostolic Oonstitutions has &;7t"o!po:(vc.>, which may
be a rendering of Aramaic bwy = 3e:lxvUfL~'
An interesting parallel to S *a is provided by the end of the bapepildesis in the Euchologion of Serapion (ed. BRIGHTMAN, J.T.S.
1900), p. 262) : xo:l 6l<; xa't"EA.&wv (, fLOVOYEV~<; Cl"OU A6yo<; &7t"l 't",z 630:'t"a 't"ou
Mvou &y~a &; 7t" E 3 E 1: ~ e: v, 06't"c.> xal vuv &v 't"o,ho~<;
xal 7t"vEufLa't"~x,z 7t" 0 ~ 1) Cl" 6: 't" c.>.

x a 't" E P X e Cl" .& c.>

xal

63 Apost. Oonst. and John Ohrysostom are exceptions for the Greek
phoras.
84 BM Add. 17229 (13th cent.), f. 50ab:
"send ... thy Holy Spirit
sanctify this spiritual eucharist... " (the epiklesis in the Syiac Mark
different from that in the Greek).

202

EPIKLESIS IN THE ANTIOCHENE BAPTISMAL 'ORDINES '

SEBASTIAN BROCK

(c) 'bless and sanctify'

This occurs in JS and Sshort; cp B. 'Bless' is
eucharistic epikleses and is to be found only in
(euAo'Y~cro:~ .. &'Y~&cro:~ .. &.vo:ae~~o:~) 85 and the three East
phoras, of which that of Addai and Mari provide an
to the pair in JS 86 and Sshort 87. H, in its interpolated
has inserted these two verbs before' perfect .. and make
found at that point in the original prayer. The
bination, apart from the verb 'bless', is identical with
anaphora of Mark, and the Syriac one of Ignatius bar
(d) 'sanctify and make'
Found in SD Tb and Mshort. This combination is
the C:-reek anaphora of ~ames, and as a result it is fairly
as mIght be expected, In the Syriac anaphoras 89, which
model their epikleses on this.
The only two epikleses which are not Included in
categories are I and Ph, for whose phraseology here no
can be adduced from the eucharistic anaphoras.
(iv)

'overshadow(ing)'
Se is the only baptismal epiklesis to employ the noun
utha , 'overshadowing' 90, and the phraseology of Se here,
tIfy by the overshadowing of thy Holy Spirit', is closely.

n.

B5 It is interesting that "bless" has been dropped from the

translation (Cambridge Add. 2887, f. 78b).
B6 I~ seems likely that in this respect JS has preserved an old~
of wordmg than have Mshort SD and Tb (all of which have "sancti
make ").
B7 The combination" bless and sanctify" also occurs in a few
?piklese~ in the service for the blessing of the Epiphany water, ed.
m op. c~t., p. 76=98, 86.
BB Cambridge Add. 2887, f. 1458 ; cp Anaphora of Moshe bar
where gmar is used instead of samli (Cambridge Add. 2917 f. 558.
B9 Although. it, do:s not occur in the Syriac anaphora of St Jam
n, p. 150). ThJs mdICates that the authors of the West Syrian an
sometimes made direct use of the Greek James.
90 With the possible exception of the short Maronite ordo : Den
~ranslates t?~ word? introducing the epiklesis by " ... et per advent
~llapsum spIrItus tu! sancti sanctificasti et mundasti eam (sc. aqua
?anis} ... ", but iD; the almost identical epiklesis in Sshort only ad
IS found - both m the printed editions and in the earliest mantis
(BM Add. 14495 and 17128, of the lOth/11th centuries). Outside
no~~ and the verb occur only in JS (ASSEMANI n, p. 344) and S
edItIOn, pp. 26, 30, 54 [Byz emqJoL't"I)(jL~, om B]; cp p. 196).

203

in the anaphora of Xystos 91, although the word magnais quite frequently found in the West Syrian eucharistic
based ultimately on ~mcpm1"~cro:v in the Greek anaphora
whose construction they imitate (xO:1"&7te[L~ov.. tv~ ~mcpo~;;,,,,~,I'<"{,

92

~cpm1"&(j) /-~cr~c.,

are not found in biblical Greek. While

is probably inspired by the Greek, E:mcpo~1"&(j) itself may
lly have been a rendering of agen, which is biblical, for
el'S (among other words) ~mcrx~&~e~v 93 in Luke i 35 94 (Old
and Peshitta), and clearly soon became a technical term
e activity of the Holy Spirit, for in Acts x 44 and xi 15
it used to render ~m7tL7t1"(j) in the phrase ~7te7tecrev 1"0 7tveutLo:
~ttha

11 dealing with the content of the baptismal epikleses we

inevitably be concerned to a certain extent, at least, with
questions of the significance and meaning of baptism, as
stood in the Syriac liturgical tradition; these issues, however,
e discussed only in so far as they are raised by the wording
epikleses themselves.
e have already seen in passing, in the course of our discusof the formal structure of the epikleses that there are wide
i:mces between the individual baptismal epikleses in their
gical terms of reference; we have, in fact, as many as eight
rent sets of reference within the epikleses themselves:
The Jordan waters are seen as being reactivated in the font.
(S *a).
The baptii"mal water is the' water of rest' (Ps xxii (xxiii) 2).
(S *b),

Baptism is a representation of the death and resurrection

of Christ (Rom vi 5). (S *e).
Christ's baptism is a type of our own resurrection. (I).
Cambridge Add. 2887, f. 41a; cp also the epikleses in the blessing
Epiphany water, which, however, reverse the order: "by the over
... sanctify ... " (references in note 63).
'EmqJoL't"'ij(j(xV is sometimes rendered, more literally, by the participle
For rabbef /rubbafa, which also serve as renderings of emqJOL't"'ijcrcx.v
West Syrian anaphoras, see p. 209.
Again in Acts v 15. It also represents crx"I)v6w in John i 14 (subject
and emcrx"I)v6w in n Cor xii 9 (subject MVcx.fl.L~ -rou XPLcr"OU).
94 On the possible significance of this see p. 209.

204

(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)

SEBASTIAN BROCK

EP][Kl,ES.[S IN THE ANTIOCHENE BAPTISMAL 'ORDlNES'

The baptismal water represents the primeval water

(Traces of this in JS and SD).
The baptismal water represents a spiritual womb
iii 4). (Ta).
The baptismal water is prefigured in the water
of Bethesda (John v 4,7). (Ph).
The baptismal wate.c is the water which flows
of Christ (John xix 34). (Mshort, JS, SD, Tb).

Before we discuss these one by one, however, it

ful to consider briefly certain basic questions that
in mind: What is the relationship of Christian baptism
baptism, and to his death? What was the role of the
at Christ's baptism, and how is it related to his role in the
tion of the baptismal water?
Already in the Gospels and Acts we find traces of a
of opinion about the origins of Christian baptism, and its
ship to Christ's own baptism on the one hand, and his de
the other. In John iv 2, for example, we hear that Jesus' di
baptised during his earthly ministry, while elsewhere, in A
Christian baptism is regarded as having taken its origin. i
events of Pentecost, and this alone is compatible with the P
(and possibly the Johannine) view of the links between C
death and Christian baptism 95. We can find traces of thes
opposing views, and sometimes attempts to synthesize
embodied in the baptismal epikleses themselves, in so far
of these emphasize the relationship between the baptismal
and the Jordan's water, while others are primarily concerne
link it with Christ's death.
This brings us to a second point: where the prime int
is in Christ's baptism, not his death, the sanctifier of the
will originally have been Christ himself, not the Holy Spir
it will be recalled that in the Gospels the Holy Spirit appears
Christ's ascent from the Jordan. Once an epiklesis of the
Spirit over the baptismal water had become established prac
however, there arose a certain amount of speculation about
precise role of the Holy Spirit at Christ's baptism 96, and oIl.

to provide an exact parallelism between Christ's

Christian baptism it is stated that it was the Holy
Christ, who sanctified the Jordan waters. Thus, in
'"'hQ.,.,~r hymns, ascribed to Ephrem, we find (Vr.l) :
descended from on high
sanctified the water by her hovering,
reference seems to be to the Jordan as well as to bapater in general.
'e frequently, however, the Holy Spirit is seen as cooper'th Christ in the sanctification of the Jordan water. Thus
Greek baptismal liturgy we have

OH'JUJ.U

95 Later on yet other views about the origin of Christian baptism

found. Thus Afrahat (Dem. XII, 10) places it on the' paschal night',
the washing of the disciples' feet; Solomon of Bosra (Book of the Bee,
BUDGE 43 (p. 105)) attributes the same view to Basil.
96 The difficulties that arose are well highlighted in Ambrose de Sa

205

"a

'\\ (= Christ) XIXL

'IopMVELIX pE~&plX ~ylMIX<;, ouplXv6&EV XIXtfLo/lX<; ,,0 &YL6v (l"QU 7tVEUfLlX. 97

at the end of the consecratory prayer in S the process is

a step further, and it is the Father who sends the Holy
a.nd sanctifies the Jordan:
Thou (the Father) didst send thy Holy Spirit in the form
Of a dove and didst sanctify the streams of the river Jordan 9S.
me, or similar, ideas can be found in a number of writers
patristic period, and there is no doubt a polemical note in
e Jacob of Serugh who emphasize that the role of the Holy
at Christ's baptism was simply to bear testimony 99.
ith these preliminaries we may turn to the terms of referbe found in the different epikleses.

18-19: Ambrose asks why the Holy Spirit came down after Christ's
, whereas in Christian baptism the font is consecrated (sc by the
t of the Spirit) before baptism. His answer is that the order of events
ist's baptism was intended to show that Christ sanctified the water

This part of the prayer is derived from the service of the blessing
Epiphany water, and the same idea (with slightly different wording)
d in the Syriac versions of that service (ed. BUDGE, in op. cit., p. 73= 93).
are also the introduction to the epiklesis in the short Syrian Ortho
and Maronites services: "(Christ) who didst sanctify the Jordan's
by thy descent into it and by the coming of thy Holy Spirit". See
206.
Homs edition, p. 39.
Ed. BEDJAN I, p. 185; cp Ephrem H. Epiph. (ed. Lamy) XIV, 50,
(ASSEMANI II, p. 333).

206

(1)

SEBASTIAN BROCK

The Jordan waters are reactivated in

In this (vestigial) epiklesis the Father is asked

baptismal water the' blessing of the Jordan " in
sanctification that the Jordan received by Christ's deI3ce:rl."
Originally this prayer was probably addressed to
the Father.
The tradition that Christ actually sanctified
his baptism is a very early one, although not
for it is first attested in the writings of Ignatius of
In the Antiochene baptismal m'dines it is referred to on
of occasions, mostly in poetic texts, as, for example,
mediately before the consecratory prayer in S 101 :
John mixed the baptismal water, but Christ
by descending and being baptized in it... It is he who h
fied all rivers and fountains 102.
The mention of 'rivers and fountains' here suggests
tradition was especially popular in communities which
ing water' - i.e. rivers or springs - for baptism. Such
well attested, in particular for the second century 103,
clearly known in the Syrian area, since it is mentioned in
mentine Recognitions 104 , the Acts of Thomas 105 and
mentum Domini 106. In this connection it is interesting
that the tradition is very much alive in the services for the
of the Epiphany waters.
(2)

The baptismal water becomes the 'water of rest

Psalm xxii (xxiii), with its picture of the Lord as the

was frequently employed in a baptismal context in early
art and literature. The 1Sawp &.vomodlO"E:wc; of verse 2
100 Ep. Ephes. XVIII.2: ..... E~O:7t't"tG.&-1) lvo: 't"ijJ 7t&.&eL '1'0
The sense of 't"ijJ 7t&.&eL is ambiguous, and need not necessarily
Passion (as LIGHTFOOT, ad. lac. assumes).
101 Horns edition, p. 35.
102 Cp also I, p. 60 : (Christ was baptized) "that he might
water ".
103 E.g. Didache VII, 13; see T. Klauser, "Taufet
Wasser ", in Pisciculi. Studien ... F. J. Dolger dar-geboten... (MUnster,
pp. 15764.
104 PG 1, 1329; 2, 29.
105 49 and (Greek only) 121; contrast 27, 134.
106 Ed. RAHMANI, p. 126.

EPIKLESIS IN THE ANTIOCHENE BAPTISMAL 'ORDINES '

207

given baptismal connotations first by Origen, after

given a similar interpretation in particular by Eusebius,
Hesychius of Jerusalem, and, in the Antiochene area,
107.
It is very likely that the description of the candidaeep " found in most of the Antiochene baptismal services,
ves from this Psalm lOB.
ptism is a representation of the death and resurrection
Christ (8 *0).
s Pauline theme lies behind the third of the vestigial epicS *, where Romans vi 5 is specifically quoted, in ccnjunch Ephesians iv 22 and Colossians iii 10. It is remarkable
e Pauline teaching on br ptism as a burial with Christ has
little impression on the Antiochene baptismal texts 109,
words 'be buried', 'burial' are in fact never found in
lthough the idea receives a little more prominence in homicommentaries on the baptismal service 110.
'ist's baptism is a type of our own resurrection (I).
;8 curious reversal of the Pauline view of the parallelism
11 our baptism and Christ's death and resurrection is found
consecratory prayer of I, whose relevant sections read 111 :

... our Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the type of his baptism,
ignified the resurrection from the dead, and commanded us
hat in the mystery of his baptism we should make a new and
piritual birth for those that believe.
me idea is reflected in an 'onitha in the same service

112 :

See .T. DANIELOU in Richesses et deficiences des anciens psautiers latins

ea Biblica Latina 13 (1959)), pp. 195-6; cp. 1923, 197-201; also
EN, Das BUd des Guten Hirten in den altch1'istlichen Baptisterien,
i ... (MUnster, 1939), p. 231f. For the Gnostic interpretation given
UGLe;, see P. VIELHAUER, in Beiheft 30 zur Z.N. W. (1964), pp. 281-99.
Thus QUASTEN, att. cit., pp. 23942.
Thus reflecting the absence of the theme from second century wrIters;
BENOIT, Le bapteme au 2e siecle (Paris, 1953) p. 227.
sE.g. Afrahat Dem. XII,10; Chrysostom PG 59, 151; Theodore
Oat. XIV,5; Narsai (ed. MINGANA) I, pp. 345-6; .Tacob of Serugh
EDJAN) I, p. 181, and regularly in the later commentators. Note
Oonst. VII,43.
70. The style of this prayer suggests to me a Greek origin.
66.

SEBASTIAN BROCE:

208

Thy baptism with water has sanctified

claimed our resurrection.
There do not appear to be any traces of this idea in the
tiochene services.

EPIE:LESIS IN THE ANTIOCHENE BAPTISMAL 'ORDINES'

209

ral;l;ef (from Gen i 2) is still employed elsewhere of the

ovement in some of the baptismal ordines 116, although
rather more common in the West Syrian anaphoras,
finding a place in the consecratory epiklesis itself 117.

baptismal water represents a spiritual womb (Ta).

(5)

The baptismal water represents the primeval wate

in JS and SD).

Although this idea is not present in the epiklesis

does occur in the consecration prayer common to JS
and evidently it once played a more prominent part in t
chene ordines than it does in the surviving texts. Thi
in JS and SD is in fact the only place in the Antiochen
where specific reference is made to the activity of the Ho
over the primeval waters, although, as we shall see, there a
of such a reference in other texts too.
The ' Spirit' of Genesis i 2 is already brought into co
with Christian baptism by TertuIlian 113, while in the Syr
the same point is often made 114. According to this piece
logy baptism is seen as the New Creation, and once it had
established it will have encouraged the assignment of a mor
role of the Holy Spirit in the course of the consecration.
baptismal water.
In the fourth and fifth centuries, however, when the
school of exegesis developed a hostile attitude to typolo
exegete par excellence, Theodore of Mopsuestia, denied that
i 2 referred to the Holy Spirit at all. This literal interp
of Genesis i 2 (which is earlier found in Ephrem) not only
de rigueu1 among East Syrian exegetes, but it also gaine
adherents among the Syrian Orthodox, such as Jacob of Ser
In the light of this it is not surprising to find no direc
ences to the activity of the Holy Spirit in Genesis i. 2 outs
and SD, nor is it surprising that we should have in these t",
nes an ensuing epiklesis which provides a completely differ
of references (to John xix 34), which were entirely accept
the views of the Antiochene exegetical school.
Not all traces of the old typology, however,
De Rapt. IV, 1-3.
E. g. Ephrem H. Epiph. (ed. LAMY) VHI,16.
115 See T. J ANSMA, Some 1'emarks on the Sy1'0-hexaplaric "'P'(J',{M,1W
Vetus Testamentum 20 (1970), pp. 16-24, for details (cp also
in P. O. XXII. 4, p. 108).
113

114

origin of the motif is probably to be found in Nicodebelieving question in John iii 4, 'Can a man enter his
womb 118 a second time and be born again? '. The same
is to be found elsewhere in the course of T 119, as well
me of the other Antiochene ordines 12 0, and reference to
s on baptism in Ephrem 121 and Philoxenos 122 indicate that
soon gained much richer connotations, thanks to the paralawn between the Incarnation and the Christian's baptism.
vided the schema :
Holy Spirit: Mary: Christ's Incarnation: Holy Spirit:
ptismal water: the reborn Christian.
his further frame of reference is specifically intended in
t some of the Antiochene liturgical texts is suggested by the
t between the 'womb of the water' and the 'womb of
() be found in Mshort, JS, SD and Tb 123, where the missing
the chain of thought is Mary, the New Eve 124. It is also
e that this parallelism is implicit in the use of the verb agen
T 13 xi and 53; JS (ASSEMANI H, pp. 315, 325, 342). It is
und in the commentators, e.g Moshe bar Kepha (see note 34).
E. g. the Syriac John Oh1'ysostom (AS I, p. 170), XII Apostles
anaphora, AS I, p. 246), 0Y1'il (AS I, p. 342f), Jacob of Serugh
naphora, AS H, p. 20f) etc.
karsa in the Old Syriac and Peshitta (as T).
35, 43.
I, p. 70, 74 (both 'uba); B (Assemani HI, p. 230: this prayer is
nded version of one found in I, p. 74!); JS (Assemani H, pp. 338,
); S (Horns edition, pp. 31, 46). SD 31, 32, 36, 41. It is very
9n in Syriac writers, e. g. Narsai (ed. MINGANA) I, p. 348 etc. ; Jacob
gh (ed. BEDJAN) I, p. 607 etc. For western use see LUNDBERG,
See E. BECK, Le Rapt'me chez S. Ephrem, L'01'ient Syrien 1 (1956),
f.
3Apud Dionysios bar Salibi, Oomm. Gospels (ed. A. VASCHALDE,
res Syri 49) II, p. 304 (tr. p. 2.46) ; French translation in E. P. Slop. cit. [note 39], p. 217.
Cp "Timothy", pp. 419-20.
Cp Jacob of Serugh, (ed. BEDJAN) IV, p. 703.

SEBASTIAN BROCK

210

for the the Spirit's activity over the water, for the
and Peshitta employ this verb to render bt'(jx,&.~(U in
(' The power of the highest shall overshadow thee ') 125.
(7)

The baptismal water is prefigured in the water

of Bethesda (Ph).

The episode of the healing of the paralytic in John

infrequently taken as a type for Christian baptism,
larity of the interpretation is shown by the very lrE,ql;len
Greek writers, of XOAU[L~~&PC( (John v 2) in the sense of'
water' or 'font' 126 ; in the Syriac New Testament
actually rendered ma'muditha in both the Old Syriac
That this should be the biblical episode referred to in
eprkleslS is, however, a little surprising 127, but the
the word nzi' in Ph makes the allusion certain.
Early Syriac writers make no special use of the
John v in connection with baptism 128, but if one turns
of Serugh's homily on the healing ofthe paralytic in this
one finds, in the opening pages of the homily, what is
commentary on the thought behind the epiklesis in
quotations must suffice to illustrate this 130 :
The Son of God descended and stirred (azi'ah) the
water, so that it might give healing birth to all kinds
creatures every day: a new creation has begun,
from our Lord.
or 131
That mighty one, who was born of thee (sc. the
a divine way, will stir (nzi') the fountain, so that the
may be healed in it.
See above, p. 203.
See LAMPE, A Patristic Lexicon s.v.
127 There are, however, some parallels in Ethiopic and Latin
texts, see LUNDBERG p. 25, and ATCRLEY pp. 106, 164.
128 The connection is already made in Tertullian De Rapt.
may possibly already have been in the mind of the evangelist hi
O. CULLMANN, Les sam'ernents dans l'evangile johannique
pp. 55-7).
129 Ed. BEDJAN, IV, pp. 701-24, esp. 702-8.
130 P. 702.
131 P. 707.
125
126

IIE EPIKLESIS IN THE ANTIOCHENE BAPTISMAL' ORDINES '

211

of Serugh it is Christ who stirs the baptismaJ water;

iklesis of Ph it is his spirit, for the prayer is addressed
t, and not to the Father.
1'e can be no doubt that the epildesis in Ph was composed
I" which thought exactly as Jacob of Serugh did 132.
It is
ble, too, that it is Jacob of Serugh who is the Syriac writer
ought appears to be closest to our final frame of reference :

e baptismal water is the water which flows from the side

Christ

(MshOlt,

JS,

SD

and Tb).

have already seen that explicit reference is made to John

in the closely related epikleses to be found in Mshort, JS,
Tb ; in the first of these it is Christ who is addressed, while
ther three the request for the Spirit is made to the Father.
I" likely that the address direct to Christ is the older 133.
e also noticed that the variant ' flowed', in place of ' went
indicates that this epiklesis originated in a Syriac, and
ek, speaking area 134, The purpose of this variant is clearly
John xix 34 with a christological interpretation of the
own passage John vii 37-8, where the verb' flow' (p~(U jrda)
135.

though a number of Antiochene writers connect the water

1 xix 34 with baptism 136, it is interesting that Theodore
no reference at all to the passage in his baptismal homilies,
e same is true of Narsai in his two memre on baptism; Narlence is particularly significant in that at one point the
t cries out for such a reference to be made 137. It would
I have come across no example of this interpretation of .Tohn V
writings of Philoxenos himself.
Cp above, pp. 197.
See p. 190.
On this see especially H. RARNER, Flurnina de ventre OhTisti, Biblica
1), pp. 269-302, 367-403, and M. E. BOIsMARD, De son vent1'e coulefieuves d'eau, Revue biblique 65 (1958), pp. 527-46. The connectween the two passages is very obvious in .Tacob of Serugh (ed. BEDV, p. 608 (end): "Rivers of living water flow over the earth from
tain which the spear (1'urnba) pierced open on Golgotha ".
Ephrem (ed. LAMY) I, col. 53; Afrahat Dern. XII.8; Chrysostom
IH, 16-17 (ed. WENGER, SO 50, pp. 160-1) ; Theodore of Mopsuestia
.. John, ad lac. For its use in western baptismal texts, see Lundberg,
note 3, land p. 232. According to CULLMANN (op. cit. [note 128],
) the connection was already intended by the evangelist.
7 Ed. MINGANA I, pp. 348-9.

SEBASTIAN BROCK

212

rather appear that East Syrian writers go out of their

making use of John xix 34 in a baptismal context.
The only Syriac writer known to me, beside
really emphasizes the baptismal reference in John
of Serugh, in his homily on the three baptisms 138.
is worth quoting at some length 139 :
Christ came and opened up baptism by his cross,
so that it should be a mother of life for the world in p
water and blood for the fashioning of spiritual ba
flowed forth for it, and baptism became the mothe
No previous baptism (i.e. of Moses or of John) ever ga
only the baptism which was opened up by the Son of
it gives birth to children spiritually with' the water and
and, instead of a soul, the Holy Spirit is breathed
I should also add that the water from the side of C
a baptismal role in a quaint piece of Christian myt~olq
found in the Gave of Treasures. The anonymous WrIter
how, at the crucifixion, 'the blood and water flowed
side of Christ, and came down into the mouth cf Ada
buried immediately beneath the cross), and they constitut
mal water for him, and he was baptized' 140. Note
water and the blood are mentioned together in Jacob
and the Gave of Treasures (where the image of course c
avoid this) : usually in patristic tradition the water al
ferred to baptism (as in our epikleses), while the blood
as a reference, either to the eucharist, or to martyrdom
opening of the consecration prayer in S = E, however
has the blood of John XIX 34 in mind in one passage,
find mention of ' water which is sanctified through invo
Ed. BEDJAN I, pp. 153-67.
P. 162.
140 Ed. BEZOLD, p. 255; compare p. 263, where a 'robe 0
mentioned in place of baptism: for this, see my "Aspects of G
in Syriac" (forthcoming), note 114. Another nice piece of my
found in Jacob of Serugh (ed. BEDJAN, V. p. 670), where the
thief is also baptized in the water (mixed with the blood) fro
of Christ.
141 Hence the frequent reversal of the Gospel's word
and water "). A list of these interpretations can be found in
COTT, The Gospel according to St John, Il, p. 328f.
138
139

EPIKLESIS IN THE ANTIOCHENE BAPTISMAL 'ORDINES'

213

of which we receive the purification which is given

h the holy blood... ' 142.

t emerges from .this survey of the Antiochene baptismal

1 From the structural point of view the differentiation
epikleses using the verb 'send' and those using 'come'
me to be of basic importance. Here it is interesting that
bution of these two main types to a certain extent cuts
e boundaries of ecclesiastical allegiance: while 'send'
exclusively in West Syrian (and, of course, Greek) texts,
which is the norm of the East Syrian texts, is also attested
West Syrian ones (as well as in the Greek anaphora of
d is actually the only type to be found in JS.
it seems clear that requests to 'send the Holy Spirit'
mparatively late introduction in consecratory epikleses,
regular only in the 5th century; this certainly seems to
se with the baptismal epikleses, seeing that the original
the consecration prayer common to S Band Byz conreference to the Holy Spirit at all 143. Use of the verb
however, would appear to be of much greater antiquity,
we should recognize three different stages of development.
test stage the Father is addressed and the request is made
~Spirit 'may come' ; this is the form that we normally
h in the surviving epikleses of this type. The short baptisices, however, which (being less frequently used) have
many archaic features, indicate that the baptismal epikoriginally addressed to Christ. Thus we have the interstage, where Christ is requested that 'his Spirit may
this is attested in Mshort and in some of the epikleses in
of Thomas. The earliest stage is represented only in
f the other epikleses to be found in the Acts of Thomas l
'ist is addressed with the imperative 'come'. In the
he eucharistic liturgy this usage can reasonably be taken
a the Didache, to the New Testament itself, and the liturase marana tha, quoted by Paul. One can of course only
about its possible use in the primitive baptismal liturgy,
is the original reading (so E); for the many variants here,
hse,crai;ion ", p. 326.
also J. QUASTEN, The blessing of the baptismal font in the Syrian
fourth centu1'Y, Theological Studies 7 (1946), pp. 30913.

214

SEBASTIAN BROCK

but this would certainly fit in well with the early Antid
tion that Christ sanctified the Jordan by his baptis
simply asked to come and reactivate it at each baptism
I would accordingly suggest that in the Syriac-sp
ches an epiklesis, using the verb' come', is of very
quity 144, and that it was once the norm over the entire a.
by these churches. From the early 5th century onwar
Greek influence led to the partial replacement, in the m
area 145, of this type of epiklesis by one using the v
Sand :8, as might be expected, have suffered most in);
although ' come' does survive in a qala in S (Homs editi
JS, on the other hand, proves to be the most conserva,
the West Syrian baptismal m'dines, and this conforms
the picture that is emerging from the study of otherp
Maronite litmgical tradition as well 146.
The West Syrian baptismal epikleses, where' send
adopted, follow (as we have seen) the construction fo
Greek anaphora of John Oln'ysostom, employing two'
'send .. sanctify (eto.) .. " against the practice of the vas
of West Syrian anaphoras, where a final clause follows.\~.
ative 'send '. Indeed, the independence of the West S
tismal and eucharistic epikleses is rather remarkable,
from rather rare coincidences of phraseology, the singl
instanoe of interaction is provided by the interpolatio
texts of S, of the epiklesis from the Greek anaphora of
It is hard to draw any conclusions from the seco
our study, of the content of the epikleses, for here it is:
variety of terms of reference that most impresses one.
a wider reading of the relevant patristic sources than m
throw up more parallels than those I have adduced,
suoh paralells often serve very nicely to illustrate th
behind the different epikleses, in the absence of any dir
tions I would regard it as unwise to use this sort of m
any attempt to fix the approxImate date of the texts of th
at any rate on the basis of the evidence of the epikle
The ensuing verbs' sanctify' etc. will be later features.
Theodore (died 428) still uses 'come' : see note 44. T
of course, that the usage was not confined to the Syriac-speal'
and helps explain how it came to be preserved in the Greek a
Basil.
146 E.g. W. MACOMBER, The Maronite and Chaldean 1)ej"s~(nM
phora of the Apostles, a.c.p. 37 (1971), pp. 55-84.
144
145

EPIKLESIS IN THE ANTIOCHENE BAPTISMAL 'ORDINES '

215

might be different if there were available comparative

other parts of the Antiochene baptismal services as
is something for the future.
Sebastian

BROOK