The following is from the creative mind of the Rev. Charles Hocking (ret.) and takes us to Holy Week in the Third Century. Historically, the season of Lent has been a time of preparation for those who are to be baptized on Easter Sunday. Charles brings us into the mind of two pagans, Sappho and Hector, who have prepared and are now at their conversion and baptism on Easter. Thank you, Charles, for this! We hope y’all enjoy this thoughtful and spiritually moving blog post.
Holy Week in the Third Century:
How it was for Sappho and Hector, pagan Greeks becoming Christians
“Dear Diary,
The time has come! We have been chosen. My husband, Hector, and I will join the catechumens after the service tomorrow. It has been almost three years since our testing began as Hearers of the Word. Week after week, on the Lord’s Day, Hector and I would follow the signs of the fish to the place of meeting. We were always welcomed with such grace and joy that we knew that these people were truly different, and, oh, how they love one another. And, yet, there was always the caution. We understood. Were any of us who came to hear the Word really spies, agents of Rome?
Each week, with great anticipation, we looked forward to hearing the gospel story of Jesus, the wisdom of St. Paul, the testimonies of the Believers and finally the sermon message for the day by the bishop. Then, too soon, it was time to leave. We were dismissed. We were not one of them. We were told that only those “in Christ” by virtue of Baptism could share in the Peace of the Lord and the Prayers in Jesus’ name.
Hectors brother will take care of our leather shop. My sister will look after our children. We will be gone for most of eight days.”
“Dear diary,
If “holy” can mean “set apart for God’s use and purpose”, then this past week has been our Holy Week, and we return home no longer “Sappho” and “Hector”. We are now “Martha” and “John”.
Our “Holy Week” began on the Lord’s Day that recalls the time when Jesus turned His full attention to Jerusalem and rode into the city in peace on the back of an ass. When the Hearers of the Word were dismissed, we remained, with a number of others, because we were now catechumens and candidates for Baptism on Easter Eve. For the next six days we shared temporary lodging with our teachers and a prophet.
There we received further instruction in the Holy Scriptures, especially the Hebrew Scriptures that foretold the coming of the Messiah. We received daily exorcisms to drive from us the spiritual enemies of Christ. Every day we fasted, and, on Friday we had no food or drink except a piece of bread and a cup of water. When the Sabbath Saturday dawned, we were hungry and weak. Our final instruction was completed. Then, during the afternoon, we were given new, clean robes of unbleached wool, brown and scratchy, another reminder, I guess, that we would bring nothing of our lives before this day to the place where the water awaited us.
When the sun had set, Hector and I were separated. The men going with the deacons and the women with deaconesses. In the light of torches, we were led to the stream of water. The robe was removed, and, as we had been told, we entered the “waters of death”. With a hand on my shoulder and a hand on my head, the presbyter said, “Do you believe in God the Father, Creator of Heaven and Earth?” I said, “I do believe”. And, I was lowered into the black water of death. This was repeated again when I affirmed my belief in the Son of God, made known in and through Jesus of Nazareth, our Savior. And, finally, a third time, when I affirmed my belief in the Holy Spirit, God with us in His world, the giver of life and love.
When I rose from the water a third time, I was given a new name because the person I had been had died in the waters of death. The person I had become, born again, from the waters of life was now Martha, a child of God, and a member of Christ’s Body, the Church. To mark my re-birth, I was robed in pure white linen and led with the others, including my husband, John, into the congregation gathering to celebrate the Great Feast of the Resurrection, all of us one in Christ, all brothers and sisters.
But, oh, we were so weak, having fasted since Friday morning. It was hard to get into the spirit of the moment when all we could think of was food. Yet, one by one we were led up to the bishop, whose sermons we had heard for so long, and kneeling before him, he laid hands on our heads and anointed us with the oils of healing and cleansing, a last exorcism and a reminder that the Lord is our Shepherd, and we are now of His flock under His love and caring.
Then, to our surprise, the deacons came to us with milk and honey, welcoming us into the Promised Land (and giving us the energy to join in the great celebration of Easter).
As dawn approached, the bishop and presbyters led the whole congregation through the prayers of the Great Thanksgiving – for creation on the first day, the Resurrection on the first day and the gift of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, the first day. Then we were fed with Jesus’ gift of Himself, His Body, the sacramental bread and the gift of His Life, His Blood, the sacramental wine.
By Baptism, the Holy Anointing and our first Holy Communion our Christian initiation was complete. Our Holy Week was over, but we were challenged by the bishop that now, every day, we were to live into being what we had already become by the Grace of God, the Holy Ones and the servants of God.”
The Rev. Charles Hocking is a retired priest living in the Wilmington area. When he is not writing or contemplating life in third century Christianity, Charles enjoys spending time with his wife, his children, and reading.
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