Cat. xviii. contains many indications from which we may
conclude with certainty that it was delivered either on the night of
Good Friday, or in the early hours of the morning of the “Great
Sabbath.” Thus in § 17 he speaks of “the
weariness caused by the prolongation (ὑπερθέσεως)
of the fast of the Preparation (Friday), and the watching.”
In § 21 he calls upon the Candidates to recite the Creed, which he
had dictated to them, and which they would be required to repeat more
publicly immediately before their Baptism, as we learn from §
32: “Concerning the holy Apostolic Faith which has been
delivered to you to profess (εἰς
ἐπαγγελίαν), we have spoken through the grace of the Lord as many Lectures as was
possible in these past days of Lent.…But now the holy day of the
Passover is at hand, and ye, beloved in Christ, are to be enlightened
by the washing of regeneration. Ye shall therefore again
be taught what is requisite if God so will; with how great devotion and
order you must enter in when summoned, for what purpose each of the
holy mysteries of Baptism is performed, and with what reverence and
order you must go from Baptism to the holy altar of God, and enjoy its
spiritual and heavenly mysteries.” The additional
instructions here promised were to be given on the same day as the last
Lecture, Cat. xviii, that is on Easter Eve immediately before
Baptism. For it was forbidden to reveal the mysteries of Baptism,
Chrism, and the Holy
Eucharist to the uninitiated, and yet it was necessary that the
Candidates should not come wholly unprepared to perform what would be
required of them. The full explanation of the various ceremonies
and of the doctrines implied in them was reserved for the Mystagogic
Lectures, which were to be delivered on Easter Monday and the four
following days, after the public Service, not in the great Basilica,
but in the Holy Sepulchre itself.