De superexcellenti baptismo Christi
by Richard of Saint Victor
Source text: Public Domain. English translation/apparatus/encoding: CC BY-NC 4.0, Wroot Press.
https://migne.app/pl/196/de-superexcellenti-baptismo-christi/
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## On the Surpassingly Excellent Baptism of Christ

[1011D]To one kindred in blood, a lord in sanctity, to his beloved N., his own R., such as he is: to will one and the same thing, with one accord, in the One. Led by repentance for my promise, I almost preferred to have promised falsely than to write empty things, for this reason: that concerning those matters which you asked to be explained to you by me, I judged that I perceived nothing at all worthy even to be spoken, still less to be written; but chiefly for this reason, that in those things which I feebly perceive I labor under a poverty of words. But since the little child Jesus did not blush to lie hidden in swaddling-clothes [n: (Luc. II)], I was not at all ashamed to convey the poor sense of my slenderness under [1012D] the swaddling-clothes of words. As often as Mary wraps her little one in swaddling-clothes, so often does a chaste mind expound in simple words the truth which it perceives, even if feebly. And perhaps, if I mistake not, it will be more satisfactory to run into empty speech than into false speech. Attend, therefore, I beseech you, rather to who speaks, and to whom, than to what is said, or by what means. And so I ask for a prayer in return for a prayer, not so eloquent as devout, not distinguished by variety of words, but filled with a shower of tears. If, however, in those things which [1013A] you require of me you yourself perceive anything better, this I demand of you by the right of recompense. But now I turn my pen to the words of the prophet, full of novelty, worthy of wonder, which you desire to be unlocked for you. Enlighten your face, etc. [n: (Psal. CXVIII)]. But God gives the increase by enlightening and sanctifying within. Behold how great was John, how great was Paul. Yet they perceived not great but humble things of themselves, because they were enlightened so as to know themselves. We are nothing, and yet we esteem great things of ourselves, because we are blind, having a white film upon our eyes: *He who sent me to baptize in water, he said to me: Upon whom you shall see,* etc. [n: (Joan. I)] The descent of the Holy Spirit, as also the mission of the Son himself, certain simpler folk understand, soundly enough, but too little. For when they hear from Truth itself: *I [1013B] went forth from the Father, and came into the world [n: (Joan. XVI)]*, they so understand it as though he were first in the Father, and not in the world. And that when he went forth from the Father he forsook the Father, and withdrew from the Father. And that when he came into the world, he came thither where before he was not. This understanding is depraved, and to be banished from every faithful heart. For these do not consider the immensity of God. For God, since he is immense, is in every place, filling every place. And therefore he cannot pass from place to place, as though forsaking one place and occupying another. Nor is he only in every place because he is immense, but he is also everywhere whole, because he is simple. For this is the nature of simplicity: that wherever it is, there it is whole. Since, then, God is immense and simple, it follows that he is everywhere whole. Nor, when he is said [1013C] to be everywhere whole, is he predicated to have parts; nay, in this very thing he is denied to have parts; because, if he had parts, he would not be everywhere whole. Nor, when he is said to be whole everywhere, is it to be understood as though he infuses himself into every creature according to fullness. But he is everywhere whole in himself, that is, wherever he is, he has himself whole. This is to be understood of the Father, this of the Son, this of the Holy Spirit. What, then, is the mission of the Son but the assumption of the servile form? And what the descent of the Holy Spirit, but a certain symbolic presentation and mystical signification of him? For he, descending in the dove, is not thus in himself moved, who ever remains in himself unmoved. Nor did he in any way begin to be in the Lord in a manner in which before he was not in him. To us not [1013D] having it is given, and to those having it, that it may be had more fully. To the Lord, as not having it, it was not given, nor to him as having it, that he might have it more fully — to whom in his own conception it was given according to fullness. For as the Father was with the Son by majesty and, in the man assumed, by the infusion of grace, so also the Holy Spirit. But the Son alone was in him by personal union. Whence he alone — not the Father, not the Holy Spirit — is called Emmanuel, that is, God with us. The descent of the Holy Spirit, then, is nothing but a certain mystical signification of him. For in this, that he manifested himself visibly in such a form over the Lord when baptized, he intimated what is invisibly done in us when we are reborn in Christ; just as the Son was baptized, not for his own sake as though needing any remedy, but that he might furnish us [1014A] an example of humility and confer a remedy of salvation. And the Father himself so thundered: *This is my beloved Son,* etc. [n: (Matth. III)], so demonstrating that we are made his sons through the power of so great a sacrament.

Consider how great is the dignity of this sacrament, that the Son himself so commended it by receiving it, and the Holy Spirit by presenting himself, and the Father by so thundering; through its efficacy we are made members of Christ, temple of the Holy Spirit, and sons of God. Moreover the heavens, before closed through fault, are opened to us; not without great mystery did the Holy Spirit descend, not in a raven, or a kite, or in another form, but in the form of a dove alone. Of the dove it is written in the Song of Songs: *One is my dove, [1014B] one to her mother [n: (Cant. VI)]*. By the dove is understood the Church. The Church is the body of Christ; the Holy Spirit is the spirit of Christ. Fittingly, then, did the Holy Spirit appear in a dove, and not in another form, because the spirit of Christ is only in the body of Christ. And only the body of Christ lives also by the spirit of Christ, just as my body alone lives by my spirit, and your body lives by your spirit. In the body of Christ nothing dead, outside it nothing living, is found. To the unity of which body the Apostle invites us, saying: *Be careful to keep the truth of the spirit in the bond of peace [n: (Ephes. IV)]*. He calls the unity "of the spirit," that unity which the spirit makes in the body of Christ, which is the Church, of which unity the bond is peace; to which unity he [1014C] invites us, saying: *One body, and one spirit [n: (ibid.)]*, as though he should say: Therefore we ought to keep the unity of the spirit because we are one body, and one spirit. One body with our neighbor, and one spirit with God; one body by ministering to one another, one spirit by willing the same thing. We are one body by the uniting of many members, and one spirit dwells in us. Therefore we also ought to keep the unity of the spirit, because to us there is one Lord, and one faith, and one baptism. It behooves us not to dissent through diversity of lords, because to us there is one Lord — the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. For those who have diverse lords sometimes are at discord because of their discord. [1014D] There are also those who have the same lord, but he does not remain one for long, but is changed almost at every moment, now glad, now sad, now just, now unjust. But our Lord, as he is one, so also remains one and the same for ever. And one faith: we are all bidden to believe the same, as also to say the same. It does not become us, the faithful, to dissent in the confession of faith. Let there be, then, a pure and sincere integrity of faith in the heart, let there be a pure and sincere confession of faith in the mouth, because with the heart one believes unto righteousness, but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. If we cannot fully understand all the things to be believed, let us at least hold that usage and form of speaking which the holy Fathers handed down to us in the Scriptures, especially when speech is made of the incarnation of the Word, or of his eternal generation. Just as [1015A] children are first trained to know how to form sound words, and then are to be taught to understand the things that they say. Behold, daily I hear in the Church that Christ is a perfect man, subsisting of a rational soul and human flesh.



## On the Surpassingly Excellent Baptism of Christ (cont.)

And likewise that he himself is, of the substance of the Father, begotten before the ages. Against this form of speaking many speak, saying that Christ is not anything in so far as he is man, nor begotten of the substance of the Father, whereas the saints in many places say that the divine essence begot the divine essence, and nature nature, and substance substance, as God God, and person person. It is no wonder if those whose hands are leprous have leprous tongues; for a certain leprosy is flying, which passes from member [1015B] to member. What wonder, then, if those who live wickedly understand perversely? Blind, and leaders of the blind, they prefer to the most solid authorities of the holy Fathers the arguments — nay, the fragments — of human reason, all of which are broken against the rock of faith like a reed staff. True is the sentence of Truth which he uttered concerning the solidity of faith, that *The gates of hell shall not prevail against it [n: (Matth. XVI)]*. *And my sheep hear my voice, and do not follow a stranger [n: (Joan. X)]*. And that of the Apostle: *The firm foundation of faith stands, having this seal: The Lord knows who are his [n: (II Tim. II)]*. But you, brethren, the sheep of the Lord; sons of the dove, sons of mother Church, members of Christ, whom the anointing itself teaches concerning all things, remain in unity, because to us there is [1015C] one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, and Father of all. One baptism, that is, of the same power and efficacy by whomsoever it be given, because he is within who works inwardly without difference, through different ministers. Many glory that they have the Holy Spirit, when nevertheless they do not have him. The nature of the dove teaches us to recognize those in whom the Holy Spirit is. For the dove is simple, without any gall, does not live by rapine, and moans out of love. In those, then, who are simple, without the gall of all malice, moaning out of love and out of the deferral of the future life, the Holy Spirit dwells. And in those who are of one accord, and keep true peace and love among themselves, which the kisses of doves signify. This innocence of simplicity Scripture commends to us [1015D] by the lamb, and also by the child. Whence the Lord himself, on account of his innocence in every way, was called the Lamb of God [n: (Joan. I)]. And of those like him he says to Peter: *Feed my lambs [n: (Joan. XXI)]*. And he was called shepherd of the sheep, and the faithful the sheep of his pasture [n: (Joan. X)]. And it is a precept of the law that daily the priests should offer two lambs, one in the morning, and the other in the evening [n: (Exod. XXIX)]. In the morning men begin to work. Therefore by the morning is understood the beginning of action, just as by the evening is given to be understood the end. What, then, is it to offer two lambs but to begin works of innocence and to bring them to their end? This is the perpetual sacrifice, because God ever requires of us the virtue of innocence, which is signified also by the child. As there: *Behold, I and my children [n: (Isai. VIII)]*; and [1016A] in the Gospel: *Suffer the little ones to come to me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven [n: (Marc. X)]*; and elsewhere: *Unless you be converted, and become as this little child, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven [n: (Matth. XVIII)]*. If, then, we wish to be of the flock of the Lord, let us be lambs. If we wish to enter the kingdom of heaven, let us be little ones — but in malice, not in wisdom. If we wish the Holy Spirit to descend upon us, and to remain in us, let us be simple as doves. Moreover prudent as serpents: this is the chief prudence of the serpent, that it guards its head. And we too, then, with all keeping let us keep our head, in which is our life, namely, of Christ, who is the wisdom of God. In this head let us always have our eyes fixed, according to that: *The eyes of the wise man are in his head [n: (Eccle. II)]*. If anyone tears his eyes [1016B] away from this head, he must needs become blind. But someone will say: this head is now in heaven, it does not need that I keep it. Let him here hear what the Apostle says: that Christ dwells through faith in our hearts [n: (Ephes. III)]: for the faith of Christ is in your heart, Christ is in your heart; therefore let us keep this head unharmed and whole, because in this head is our life, since the just man lives by faith; let us keep this head, he says, like him who said, "I have kept the faith," as a prudent serpent. But lest our simplicity be cold, it behooves us to be fervent in spirit. Whence the Holy Spirit appeared over the apostles in fire. But because this fervor of spirit is said to be not only in the heart, but also in [1016C] the mouth — that we may reprove sinners, and inflame the lukewarm — therefore the gracious Spirit showed himself in fiery tongues. There are certain men who carry an alien fire in the mouth, who like a serpent bite in secret. This fire is not heavenly, but of Gehenna; not bright, but murky, because he who does evil hates the light. He who sent me to baptize, etc. John baptized in water only, as a man. Jesus in water and the Holy Spirit, as man and God: to baptize in the Spirit is to cleanse from all filth of sin, and moreover to infuse graces. For the Lord Jesus, baptizing in the Spirit, first pours out bitterness, afterward infuses sweetness; first cleanses the vessels of hearts, afterward fills them cleansed. Whence the Apostle: *Christ loved the Church, and delivered himself up for her that he might sanctify her, [1016D] cleansing her by the laver of water in the word of life, that he might present her glorious, having neither spot nor wrinkle [n: (Ephes. V)]*.

Consider the order and the force of the words. He loved, and he delivered up. A great token of great love. What did that delivering-up confer upon her? Hear. That first he might cleanse her from all contagion of sin, then sanctify her by the bestowal of gifts, and at last, in the world to come, present her to himself glorious — that is, shining in soul and body, and adorned with a twofold robe, having neither spot in the flesh nor wrinkle in the mind. And all this he did not from the works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his great mercy, through the laver of regeneration and renovation of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out upon us abundantly, that [1017A] is, through the laver of baptism, by which we are regenerated into sons of adoption, we who before were sons of perdition. And through the Holy Spirit given to us in this sacrament, our oldness laid aside, we are daily renewed in the knowledge and love of God. Which Spirit he poured out upon us abundantly, that is, unto the remission of all sins and an abundance of virtues. Through the remission of sins we are snatched from the power of darkness; through the abundance of virtues we are translated into the kingdom of the Son of God; through the remission of sins we begin not to be what we were; through the abundance of virtues we begin to be what we were not. Behold with me the charity of Christ that surpasses knowledge, out of which he willed not only to become man, but also, made man, to die for us. First he gave himself to us, then he gave himself [1017B] for us. To us through the incarnation, for us through the passion. He sent his Spirit into our hearts, he promised the vision of the Father, he conferred the power whereby we are made sons of God. And he bestowed such dignity that we have him as head, and are his members, and heirs of eternal life. Since, then, he is omnipotent, what more could he give us? For not to the angelic nature was this dignity conferred, that it should be assumed by the Word of God into unity of person. For so great a grace, then, let us render such thanks as we can, since we are not able to render worthy ones. Let us not be ungrateful. Let no one call the blood of Christ, the blood of the New Testament, the blood by which he was sanctified, a polluted thing. Let no one do insult to the Holy Spirit. I say to you that he deserves much [1017C] worse torments who has despised the Son of God — now glorified, now exalted above every dignity of the supercelestial essences, and placed on the seat of the Father's majesty — than the Jews deserved who crucified him, still mortal, through ignorance. We have now known the truth, and therefore we shall be inexcusable if we despise so great a salvation. Both ways have been announced to us, both that which leads to the left, and that which leads to the right. The broad and spacious way which leads to perdition, [1018A] and the narrow way which leads to life. The way of salvation is indeed narrow at the beginning, that is, for beginners, as at a doorway, because it is begun from the fear of Gehenna and the mortification of vices, which does not come about without bitterness; but before one has passed the doorway, to him now established in the courts of the Lord there will meet the breadth of charity and the sweetness of inner delight, through which the things that before seemed bitter will become pleasant. Then first will he utter the moan of the dove. What is the moan of the dove? *Woe is me, that my sojourning is prolonged [n: (Psal. CXIX)]*? and: *When shall I come, when shall I appear before the face of the Lord [n: (Psal. XL)]*? and: *I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ [n: (Philip. I)]*; and: *Come, Lord Jesus, come, show your face [n: (Psal. LXXIX)]*. *My soul refused to be comforted; I remembered God, and was delighted [1018B] [n: (Psal. LXXVI)]*. For every soul devoted to God, and wounded by charity, and languishing with love, finds nothing under the sun in which to be comforted. The memory of God alone delights it, whose every desire is to be before the Lord. But the raven has a far different moan. For the raven moans when carcasses are lacking to it, in whose stench to plunge its beak; the raven moans when it is told to go forth from the body. Then it cries out, and says: Not today, but tomorrow; not today, but tomorrow. The dove does not say tomorrow, but today, when it is admonished to go out of the prison. Let each one, then, see what he loves, and thus understand whence he is, and of what sort — whether a raven or a dove. Brethren, let our whole endeavor and the entire intention of our mind be to mortify the diseased affection of the flesh, [1018C] and to tear the mind away from the concupiscences of the world, and to kindle our hearts in the love of eternal life — which is done by assiduity in praying, reading, and meditating. Unto that life in which no one dies, no one is born, no one hungers, no one thirsts, no one dreads an enemy, no one betrays a friend; in which is eternal satiety, the highest beatitude. To which may he deign to lead us who is over all, God blessed unto the ages. Amen.
