Catechumens and catechesis in the early church

Catechumens, their instruction, and preparation for baptism. Part of Baptism.

First Apology 61Justin Martyr · ca. 150–155 · Justin describes baptism: instruction, prayer and fasting, then washing in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, called “illumination.”
Miscellanies 6.11.89Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Many Christians, like Odysseus' crew, stop their ears to Greek learning for fear of never returning; but the teacher of catechumens should gather what is useful from it, without lingering, and use music to form character.
Octavius 40.2Minucius Felix · ca. 197–250 · Caecilius accepts Christianity and asks for further instruction the next day.
On Repentance 6Tertullian · ca. 198–206 · Catechumens must not put off repentance, presuming on baptism to wash away sins committed meanwhile; true repentance must come before baptism, which seals a faith already changed.
Apostolic Tradition 15Hippolytus of Rome · early third century
Apostolic Tradition 17Hippolytus of Rome · early third century
Apostolic Tradition 18Hippolytus of Rome · early third century
Apostolic Tradition 20Hippolytus of Rome · early third century
Apostolic Tradition 27Hippolytus of Rome · early third century · Catechumens receive exorcized bread and do not recline at the Lord's supper; guests remember their host and eat with decorum and sobriety.
Commentary on John 6.225Origen · ca. 230–248 · Beginners in the faith are baptized by John's preparatory baptism so that they may later receive the spiritual Word.
Homily on Luke 21Origen · ca. 233–250 · Luke dates John’s call by Roman and Jewish rulers because the Gospel was for the nations and for Israel; the desert is the soul without peace, and the way to be prepared for the Lord is the spacious human heart.
Homily on Luke 22Origen · ca. 233–250 · The filling of valleys and levelling of mountains is fulfilled when Christ comes into the soul; John’s warning to the “brood of vipers” is addressed to catechumens; and the stones from which God raises children to Abraham are the Gentiles, once hardened by idolatry.
Homilies on Ezekiel 6.5Origen · ca. 238–250 (Jerome's translation in the 380s) · Not all who are baptized are washed for salvation, as Simon Magus shows; catechumens must prepare so that their baptism brings salvation.
Homilies on Joshua 4.1Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · Creation serves the righteous, and the exodus and the crossing of the Jordan are fulfilled in the convert, who crosses the Red Sea as a catechumen and the Jordan in baptism.
Homilies on Joshua 9.9Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · Jesus reads the law to those with inner ears; the “men, women, infants, and proselytes” of the assembly are the perfect, the weaker, the newly baptized, and the catechumens, and Scripture distinguishes “man” and “woman” by the soul, not by sex.
Homilies on Numbers 3.1Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · Like the manna, the word of God nourishes some and condemns others, and neither baptism nor the catechumenate guarantees possession of the Holy Spirit.
Instructions 2.5Commodian · 3rd century (disputed) · Catechumens must leave their old life and avoid sin, since baptism forgives only past sins.
Commentary on the Song of Songs 3.193Origen · ca. 240–245 (Rufinus's translation ca. 410) · The fragrant but fruitless trees are the catechumens; the apple trees are souls renewed in God's image; the Word becomes to each what each needs.
Against Celsus 3.51Origen · ca. 248 · Unlike philosophers who preach to anyone, Christians examine and instruct inquirers before admitting them, expel the immoral, readmit the penitent only after a long probation, and bar the lapsed from church office.
Commentary on Matthew 11.18Origen · ca. 246–248 · The mountain where Jesus sits is the Church; the deaf, blind, lame, and maimed in soul, such as catechumens laid at the feet of Christ’s body, are healed in time, fulfilling Isaiah spiritually.
Letter 18.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The other lapsed must be encouraged, and dying catechumens must not be refused God's grace.
Letter 73.22Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · A catechumen martyred before baptism is not lost: he holds the true faith and is baptized in his own blood, like the penitent thief.
On Rebaptism 11Anonymous · ca. 250–258 (disputed) · A catechumen martyred before baptism is saved by confessing Christ, but a heretic who dies confessing only the name of Christ while believing in another Christ is not.
Canon 42Anonymous · ca. 306 (disputed, ca. 295–314) · Catechumens of good life are baptized after two years, sooner in danger of death.
Canon 45Anonymous · ca. 306 (disputed, ca. 295–314) · A long-absent catechumen known to be living as a Christian is not to be refused baptism.
Canons of Hippolytus, canon 10Anonymous · 4th century · Inquirers are examined about their motives and occupation and taught to renounce the devil; a slave of a pagan master is not baptized against the master's will but, if he dies unbaptized, is counted with the faithful.
Canons of Hippolytus, canon 15Anonymous · 4th century · Those living by sexual immorality, lying, magic, usury, sedition, and similar works are not admitted to the catechumenate or baptism until three witnesses attest that they have left them; relapsed believers are expelled until they do penance.
Canons of Hippolytus, canon 19Anonymous · 4th century · The order of baptism: martyrdom as baptism in blood, examination of candidates, fasting, exorcism, vigil, renunciation of Satan, threefold confession and immersion, anointing, the bishop's prayer and kiss, and first communion with milk and honey.
Canons of Hippolytus, canon 30Anonymous · 4th century · Catechumens must be ready to forsake family and suffer death; the three temptations of Christ are read as desire, pride, and avarice; a long description of Christian conduct follows, with counsel for those seeking perfection and rules for Sunday communion.
Church History 6.3.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · With the catechists driven out by persecution, pagans came to Origen for instruction.
Church History 10.4.45Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Paulinus paved the floor with marble and built side halls for those still preparing for baptism, fulfilling the prophecy in deed.
Church History 10.4.63Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Paulinus arranged his people like parts of the church building: the simple faithful as the wall, door-keepers at the entrances, beginners learning the Gospels, and catechumens near the inner hall.
Homilies 3.29Anonymous · 4th century (reworking earlier material) · Zacchaeus announces that the crowd and Simon are waiting; Peter dismisses the unbaptized Clement, prays with the baptized, and goes out.
Recognitions 3.67Anonymous · Greek original 3rd–4th century; Rufinus's Latin translation before 407 · Peter invites the people to enroll for baptism after three months of instruction and fasting, describing baptism in running water with anointing.
Testament of Our Lord 2.1Anonymous · ca. 350–500
Testament of Our Lord 2.2Anonymous · ca. 350–500
Testament of Our Lord 2.3Anonymous · ca. 350–500
Testament of Our Lord 2.5Anonymous · ca. 350–500
Canon 5Anonymous · ca. 315 (approximate) · A catechumen who sins is moved down to the hearers, and expelled if he goes on sinning.
Demonstration of the Gospel 2.3.91Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · The two sheep are catechumens and the baptized; the heifer is the church’s presiding clergy.
Demonstration of the Gospel 7.1.75Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · The heifer and two sheep may mean poverty, or figuratively the church's three orders: leaders, the faithful, and catechumens.
Demonstration 7.20Aphrahat · 337-345 · Before baptism, those intending to vow virginity and holiness must be warned: whoever wants marriage should marry before baptism, and whoever loves possessions should withdraw.
Catechetical Lecture 0.1Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · Cyril welcomes the candidates for baptism, who are at the threshold of the kingdom, and urges that their purpose be sincere.
Catechetical Lecture 0.2Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · Simon Magus was baptized but not enlightened, and the guest without a wedding garment was thrown out; the candidates must come with sincere purpose.
Catechetical Lecture 0.4Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · The church has opened its doors to all; the candidates have forty days to put off their sins, become “faithful,” and prepare their souls for the heavenly bridegroom.
Catechetical Lecture 0.10Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · The candidates must not repeat to catechumens what they are taught, for the mysteries heard out of season harm the hearer as wine harms the sick.
Catechetical Lecture 0.16Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · Cyril praises the gifts of baptism and warns of the dragon who lies in wait, urging prayer, vigilance, and resistance to mockery of the rite.
Catechetical Lecture 1.2Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · Cyril urges the candidates to put off the old self by confession and come to the baptismal seal with a sincere heart, since God, like a recruiting officer, examines every purpose.
Catechetical Lecture 18.30Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · Eternal life comes from the Father through the Son in the Spirit; Cyril closes the Lenten lectures and announces the lectures on the mysteries to be given in Easter week.
Defence against the Arians 83Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 349–357 · Athanasius shows from the Mareotic minutes themselves that the charge was impossible: catechumens were present and Ischyras was lying sick, so no Eucharist was being celebrated.
History of the Arians 78Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 357 · Athanasius describes the Meletians chosen as bishops: pagans and councillors seeking tax immunity, uncatechized and ready to become Arians at the emperor’s word.
Commentary on Ephesians 6.19Marius Victorinus · ca. 360–363 · Prayer must be for others as well as oneself, leaders for the faithful and catechumens, and the faithful for their leaders, and Paul asks the Ephesians to pray that he may proclaim the mystery boldly.
Commentary on Galatians 6.6Marius Victorinus · ca. 360–363 · Explaining the Greek verb “to catechize” as to sound the word into a new Christian’s ears, Victorinus says the catechumen should share all good things with his teacher.
Oration 18.10Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory describes his mother’s reverence and her prayers for her husband’s conversion, his dream of a psalm, and his admission as a catechumen by bishops travelling to Nicaea in a rite resembling ordination.
Oration 40.15Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Baptism, the seal, protects in life and is the best shroud in death; the devil persuades people to delay it out of fear of spoiling it, but catechumens should enter fully and take up the shield of faith.
Homilies 13.1Basil of Caesarea · ca. 363-378 · Basil reverses Solomon's “time to be born and time to die” for baptism, which brings death to sin and new birth, and urges the delaying catechumens to be baptized at Pascha.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 5.7Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · Baptism's gift belongs to God, not the minister: the minister is a workman, like a dyer who cannot give color without the dye, or a vinedresser who cannot make the vine grow, as Paul says of himself and Apollos.
Ancoratus 118.8Epiphanius of Salamis · 374 · Catechumens are to be taught the creed word for word.
On Paradise 58Ambrose · ca. 375-378 · As a catechumen must test what heretical teachers such as Photinus, Arius and Sabellius read to him, so Scripture must be handled carefully; Adam and Eve should first have examined the tree.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.39.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · The instruction of catechumens is introduced.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.39.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Catechumens are taught about the Father, the Son, the Spirit, creation, providence and human nature.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.39.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · The catechist gives thanks for Christ's saving work and teaches the incarnation, passion, resurrection and ascension.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.40.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Before baptism the candidate learns to renounce the devil and join Christ.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.6.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · The catechumens are bidden to pray.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.6.5Anonymous · ca. 380 · The deacon leads the prayer for the catechumens.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.6.6Anonymous · ca. 380 · The prayer asks that the catechumens be cleansed and brought to baptism.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.6.9Anonymous · ca. 380 · The people answer “Lord, have mercy”; the bishop blesses the catechumens, and they are dismissed.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.32.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · New inquirers are examined on their motives, conduct and status.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.32.9Anonymous · ca. 380 · Actors, gladiators, soldiers, magicians, concubines and others are admitted only on giving up their practices; catechumens are instructed for three years.
Fragment 1Nicetas, bishop of Remesiana · ca. 380–414 · Nicetas says that those preparing for baptism need simple instructions drawn from Scripture on what they renounce, desire, receive and must keep.
Fragment 2Nicetas, bishop of Remesiana · ca. 380–414 · Nicetas describes the catechumen as a guest who hears the mysteries from outside until baptism makes him one of the faithful.
Pilgrimage (Itinerarium) 24.2Egeria · ca. 381-395 · At dawn the bishop prays, blesses catechumens and faithful, and dismisses them.
Pilgrimage (Itinerarium) 24.6Egeria · ca. 381-395 · The bishop blesses catechumens and faithful separately.
Pilgrimage (Itinerarium) 45.1Egeria · ca. 381-395 · Candidates for baptism give their names before Lent.
Pilgrimage (Itinerarium) 46.1Egeria · ca. 381-395 · The candidates are exorcized daily and then taught by the bishop.
Pilgrimage (Itinerarium) 46.4Egeria · ca. 381-395 · Catechesis lasts seven weeks; in Holy Week there is no time for it.
Altercatio, chapter 4, speech 1Evagrius of Gaul · ca. 400 · Simon declares himself convinced and asks to be made a catechumen.
Exposition of Psalm 118 0.2.3Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Though baptism purifies at once, the newly baptized offer their gift only on the eighth day, after instruction in the sacraments.
Letter 151.14Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine rebukes Caecilianus for remaining a catechumen instead of being baptized; the letter breaks off.
Letter 258.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine urges Marcianus to enroll for baptism, citing Terence and Virgil's Fourth Eclogue, which he says may echo a Sibylline prophecy of Christ.
On the Mysteries 1Ambrose · ca. 387–391 · Ambrose explains why he teaches the newly baptized about the sacraments only after their initiation, beginning with the rite of “Ephphatha.”
Explanation of Twelve Psalms 1.21.2Ambrose · ca. 387-397 · Christians and catechumens should keep from the counsels of the ungodly.
Sermon 56.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The candidates, already conceived in the Church’s womb, will be born of God the Father in baptism; asking that God’s name be hallowed means asking that it be held holy in us.
Sermon 57.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The candidates first learned the Creed, what to believe; now they learn the Prayer, how to call on him in whom they believe.
Sermon 58.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Having recited the Creed, the candidates receive the Lord’s Prayer, dictated by Christ, their advocate and judge; they will recite it in eight days and the Creed again on the Saturday of their baptism.
Sermon 58.13Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · At the Easter Vigil the candidates will recite the Creed; they should say it daily as a mirror of their faith and a garment for the soul, until faith gives way to the vision of God.
Sermon 59.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · After the Creed, short in words and great in meaning, the candidates receive the Lord’s Prayer, given by Christ to the apostles and handed on to us.
Sermon 132.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The faithful know what Christ meant by eating his flesh; Augustine urges the catechumens to give in their names for baptism at Easter so that they too may understand and share the Lord’s table.
Sermon 212.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The Creed, all of it drawn from Scripture, is to be learned by heart and never written down, as a sign of the new covenant written on the heart.
Sermon 216.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The candidates for baptism, called competentes because they “seek together,” seek the one thing of Psalm 27: to dwell in the house of the Lord.
Sermon 228.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · During Easter week the newly baptized watch the older faithful; Augustine warns that bad examples among the baptized will be answerable for those they lead astray.
On the Profit of Believing 20Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391–392 · Augustine recounts his doubts after leaving the Manichaeans, the influence of the bishop of Milan, and his decision to remain a catechumen, and urges Honoratus to follow Catholic teaching.
Life of Saint Martin 2Sulpicius Severus · ca. 396–397 · Martin, son of a pagan officer, becomes a catechumen as a boy, is forced into the army at fifteen, and lives there like a monk.
Life of Saint Martin 7Sulpicius Severus · ca. 396–397 · Near Poitiers Martin prays over a catechumen who had died unbaptized; the man revives, is baptized, and describes his judgment.
Confessions 5.25Augustine of Hippo · ca. 397–401 · Doubting everything like the Academics, Augustine decided to leave the Manichees and to remain a catechumen in the catholic church until he found certainty.
Confessions 8.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 397–401 · Victorinus, after long hesitating for fear of his pagan friends, went to the church and was baptized.
Canon 5Anonymous · 397 · Even at Easter catechumens receive only the customary blessed salt.
On Catechizing the Uninstructed 1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 399–405 · Augustine explains that the deacon Deogratias of Carthage asked how to instruct beginners in the faith, and agrees to write out of love for him and for the Church.
On Catechizing the Uninstructed 2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 399–405 · Augustine consoles Deogratias that speech always falls short of thought, and sets out his plan: the narration, precepts and exhortation, and how to catechize with cheerfulness.
On Catechizing the Uninstructed 5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 399–405 · Love should be built even from the fear of God; the catechist should learn why the candidate has come and, even if his motives are false, lead him to truly desire the Christian faith.
On Catechizing the Uninstructed 6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 399–405 · If a candidate says God moved him by a sign or dream, the catechist should turn him to the surer guidance of Scripture, then narrate from creation to the Church, giving reasons that point to love without lengthy disputation.
On Catechizing the Uninstructed 7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 399–405 · After the narration the catechist should present the resurrection, the last judgment, and the heavenly city, and prepare the hearer for temptations, for scandal from bad Christians, and against placing his hope in any human being.
On Catechizing the Uninstructed 8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 399–405 · Educated candidates who have already read much should be handled briefly and modestly, asked what they have read, approved where their reading is sound, warned where it is heretical, and led to the way of love.
On Catechizing the Uninstructed 12Augustine of Hippo · ca. 399–405 · Weariness at repeating familiar things is overcome by love, through which the catechist shares the beginner's delight in what is new, as one enjoys showing familiar sights to a newcomer or guiding a lost traveller.
On Catechizing the Uninstructed 13Augustine of Hippo · ca. 399–405 · When a hearer seems unmoved or tired, the catechist should draw him out with questions, refresh him with something striking, and let him sit, as Mary sat at the Lord's feet, rather than make him stand.
On Catechizing the Uninstructed 14Augustine of Hippo · ca. 399–405 · Sadness at an interrupted task, at others' scandals, or at one's own sins is to be overcome: God's order is better than ours, a new convert consoles grief over those who fall, and catechizing is itself a work of mercy that quenches sin.
On Catechizing the Uninstructed 15Augustine of Hippo · ca. 399–405 · Before giving a model discourse, Augustine notes that speech varies with the audience, and that love adapts itself to each hearer, so his written example cannot fully show what is done in live speech.
On Catechizing the Uninstructed 26Augustine of Hippo · ca. 399–405 · After the address the candidate is asked whether he believes, is signed with the cross and given the sacrament of salt, and is taught to read Scripture by the rule of love; Augustine then begins a shorter model address.
Dialogues 2.4Sulpicius Severus · ca. 404–406 · As bishop Martin raised a dead boy in a pagan village near Chartres, and the whole crowd became catechumens on the spot.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 4.13Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Christ received a servant's baptism so that no proud catechumen, however ascetic, should disdain to receive the Lord's baptism, without which his sins remain.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 10.10Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Christ spoke of the temple of his body, destroyed and raised in three days, which the Church celebrates at Easter, when catechumens receive grace.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 11.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Augustine urges catechumens to hasten to baptism, since no one burdened with unforgiven sins will see the kingdom of God.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 11.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Nicodemus, like the catechumens, believed in Jesus' name, but Jesus entrusts himself only to those born anew, who know what it is to eat his flesh and drink his blood.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 11.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · As Israel ate manna only after crossing the Red Sea, so catechumens must pass through baptism, red with Christ's blood, before receiving the true bread from heaven.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 12.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Catechumens believe in Jesus, but he entrusts himself to them only when they are born again in baptism and receive his flesh and blood.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 13.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Christ was baptized by John to rebuke those, such as continent catechumens, who might think themselves too good to need baptism.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 13.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Others besides Christ were baptized by John so that John's baptism would not seem superior to Christ's, and no catechumen, however advanced, is forgiven before baptism.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 44.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · The anointing with clay signifies the catechumen's faith in the incarnate Word, and the washing in Siloam signifies baptism in Christ, the Sent One.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 96.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · The things the disciples could not bear cannot simply be the later apostolic writings, which even catechumens now bear; only unbelievers and heretics cannot bear what refutes their errors.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 98.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · The spiritual do not hide the faith from the carnal but do not overload them; the milk of the faith is the basic teaching handed on in the Creed and the Lord's Prayer.
On the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins 2.42Augustine of Hippo · 411–412 · There are several kinds of sanctification, like that of catechumens or of food; the holiness Paul ascribes to believers' children, like that of unbelieving spouses, does not replace baptism.
On Faith and Works 1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 413 · Augustine states the view he will answer: that anyone, even one openly persisting in grave sin, should be baptized first and taught morals afterwards, and will be saved “as through fire.”
On Faith and Works 2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 413 · The occasion of the dispute: some wanted to baptize those remarried after divorce, whose unions Christ calls adultery, and extended this to all unrepentant sinners.
On Faith and Works 8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 413 · A married candidate who refused abstinence during the days of preparation would not be baptized; how then can an adulterer who refuses to amend be admitted?
On Faith and Works 9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 413 · Except at the point of death, the time before baptism is precisely when converts should be taught how to live; the catechumenate exists for this.
On Faith and Works 11Augustine of Hippo · ca. 413 · The apostles' letters, written to the baptized, contain both faith and morals; putting faith first reflects that good life follows faith, not that morals should be taught only after baptism.
On Faith and Works 17Augustine of Hippo · ca. 413 · The Red Sea typology supports repentance before baptism: leaving Egypt signifies renouncing sin, and the law given after the crossing included both the worship of God and moral commands.
On Faith and Works 19Augustine of Hippo · ca. 413 · John the Baptist taught soldiers and tax collectors how to live before baptizing them, showing that moral instruction belongs to preparation for baptism.
On Faith and Works 37Augustine of Hippo · ca. 413 · The absence of an explicit apostolic rule on remarried converts proves nothing; Peter's call to leave a crooked generation covers adultery, and John's demands on tax collectors show a fortiori that adultery cannot be allowed.
On Faith and Works 49Augustine of Hippo · ca. 413 · Conclusion: the wicked are tolerated without abandoning discipline; candidates must be taught how to live as well as what to believe; eternal life is not promised to dead faith, and those who openly intend to remain in adultery refuse Christ's gift.
On Adulterous Marriages 1.33Augustine of Hippo · ca. 419–421 · Augustine advises that dying catechumens who can no longer ask for baptism should be baptized, as infants are, while not condemning more cautious clergy.
On Adulterous Marriages 1.34Augustine of Hippo · ca. 419–421 · Augustine explains “Do not give what is holy to dogs,” and rules that dying catechumens living in adulterous second marriages may be baptized, and dying penitents reconciled.
Sermon on the Life of Honoratus 5Hilary of Arles · ca. 430 · Honoratus sought baptism as a youth against his father's resistance, and even as a catechumen honoured the clergy and gave to the poor.
Canon 15Anonymous · 441 · Catechumens troubled by demons may be baptized as need and opportunity allow.
Canon 20Anonymous · 441 · Catechumens are not to share the blessing of the faithful even at household prayers, but are blessed separately.