Letter 44

From: Ambrose, Bishop of Milan To: The newly baptized of Milan Date: ~390 AD Context: A mystagogical letter [instruction given to the newly baptized after Easter] explaining the meaning of the sacraments they have just received — baptism, chrismation, and the Eucharist. Ambrose, Bishop, to those newly born in Christ through the waters of baptism. Now that you have passed through the sacred rites, I can explain to you what they mean. Before your baptism, we could not speak of these things — the mysteries must be experienced before they are understood. [It was standard practice in the early Church to withhold detailed explanation of the sacraments until after baptism, a discipline called the disciplina arcani.] When you entered the baptistery, you faced west and renounced Satan. West is the direction of darkness, the place where the sun dies. You turned your back on the old life — on sin, on death, on the kingdom of the enemy. Then you faced east, toward the rising sun, toward Christ, toward the new creation. You were stripped of your garments — as Adam and Eve were naked in paradise without shame. You entered the font naked and without pretense, carrying nothing of the old world into the new. The water closed over you three times — once for each person of the Trinity. In that water, your old self drowned. I do not speak figuratively: the person you were before baptism no longer exists. You have died with Christ and risen with him. The water is both grave and womb. Then you were anointed with chrism — the oil of the Spirit, poured on your head as it was poured on priests and kings in the Old Testament. You are now a royal priesthood, a holy nation (1 Peter 2:9). Finally, you approached the altar and received the body and blood of Christ. What appears to be bread is his body; what appears to be wine is his blood. This is not a symbol — it is the reality that makes all symbols meaningful. Guard what you have received. You carry the treasure of heaven in vessels of clay. Live accordingly.

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