
What is catechesis?
Catechesis is the teaching activity of our Holy Orthodox Church, which dates back to the time of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus is repeatedly called, “Teacher” (as per Matthew 19:16; 22:35-36). For the Lord carried out his activity of preaching His Gospel in a catechetical manner, because, where the light of good knowledge is missing, a truly virtuous life in Christ cannot be obtain. And after the resurrection of the Lord and His Ascension to Heaven, the Holy Apostles, the Apostolic Fathers, as well as all the others who followed them on the way, and still do to this day and age, have preserved and continually improved this good missionary work of the Church.
Within the Early Church, the world was taken over by Christianity, for God “wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (I Timothy 2:4) And due to the absence of expertise, and also lack of freedom, from a pastoral point of view, many were baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity, without first going through a period of preparation and spiritual background check. They had a sincere and pure desire to get baptized, and everything unfolded in a spontaneous way, after hearing the preaching of the Word of God.
However, when they were faced with a great challenge, that of renouncing their faith in Christ, whether they were enticed with enticing lures, or under the threat of martyrdom for Christ, many easily capitulated to the pressures, thereby renouncing eternity. The cause was mainly the lack of knowledge regarding Christian faith, but also of the true values, which Christianity offers us, both in this world and in the next.
And what did the Holy Church do? It did what any mother would do, specifically, started to prepare her children for the difficult and arduous road they would travel in life. It created catechumenate as an institution, through which it trained the candidates for Holy Baptism. Hence, when a man wished to come to the Holy Enlightenment, he was put through a vast and stiff process of training, and also of examination of his true intentions. Precisely for this reason, catechesis in the Early Church had several stages, until the catechumen was admitted to the Holy Baptism.
1. Moral Catechesis
First, we have Moral Catechesis, in which the catechumens were introduced to the ten commandments, which were, are and always will be, proof of our kinship to God. Moreover, the candidate was asked what his occupation was and why does he want to get baptized. He was being investigated very seriously, because many professions (activities) were not (and still are not) compatible with life in Christ. Specifically, those who carried out activities that required idol worship, or other pagan and immoral practices, such as: nudity, deceit, infanticide, etc., were required to end these defilements (and still are to today). As a brief example, we see Holy Apostle Paul, who caused a huge conflict in Ephesus. He had revealed the falsehood of idol worship and preached on the renunciation of these demonic practices, for which he caused major losses to Demetrius the Silversmith (as per Acts 19:23-41). Hence, Moral Catechesis requires renunciation of sinful and immoral life and to receive the holy and moral teaching of the Lord’s Gospel, on which we may change our life in Christ.
2. Biblical Catechesis
Secondly there is Biblical Catechesis, where the catechumens were instructed in knowing the Holy Scriptures. Everything was done in an organized manner, because access to the scriptural text was limited, all of this being caused by the worlds lack of technology, and also, those who knew how to read were very few in number. Not to mention that, only in the middle of the 4th century (367 AD), in a paschal letter of Saint Athanasius of Alexandria (the Great), we find the first complete and certified structuring of the Books of the New Testament.
In this day and age, we could say that a continuation of Biblical Catechesis can be found in the Great Canon of Saint Andrew the Crete, which the Holy Church reads during Great Lent. First, in the opening week of the Lent (from Monday to Thursday), and then, in full, on the Wednesday of the fifth week of Lent. The Great Canon of Saint Andrew of Crete replaces the catechesis, which the bishop did in the Early Church, at certain hours, i.e., the third hour of the day (9:00 AM). Thus, the candidates for Holy Enlightenment (catechumens) received biblical teaching and were beginning to know Christianity.
3. Dogmatic Catechesis
Thirdly we have Dogmatic Catechesis, in which the catechumens receive the teaching of faith (the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed). However, the Symbol of Faith was initially liturgical and not dogmatic, since, at Baptism, the catechumen was asked: Do you believe in God the Father? – I believe!……one immersion……Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, died, rose from the dead on the third day and ascended to heaven and sits at the right hand to the father; Who will come to judge the living and the dead? – I believe!…..another immersion….Do you believe in the Holy Spirit and the Holy Church? – I believe!….. another immersion. This was the baptismal interrogatory, which revealed the Trinitarian structure of the confession of faith – rule of the fide ((Paul L. GAVRILYUK, Cateheză și Catehumenat în Primele Veacuri ale Bisericii, Editura Doxologia, Iași, 2018, pp.101-102).
Next, amid the Christological disputes, the Symbol of Faith received a dogmatic status and functionality precisely because the right faith in the Holy Church was preserved through it. And the bishop explained the Symbol of Faith, in the smallest detail, an activity called explanatio symboli. Hence, before Holy Baptism, the catechumen was required to recite this Symbol of Faith, an activity called reditio symboli. Once the catechumen had received the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, he entered Christianity (became a living member of the Holy Church), with the status of a neophyte (a person who has recently embraced a new religion – in our case Christianity – abandoning the old faith, or the status of a person who did not belong to any religion).
4. Liturgical Catechesis
Only after Holy Baptism, the ones who clothe themselves with Christ, together with all the other members of the Eucharistic Community (the Christians), could take part in the fourth instructive stage, called Liturgical Catechesis (Mystagogical). Here, Christians are introduced to the depth of the Divine Liturgy as well as of the Holy Mysteries. Therefore, Liturgical Catechesis (Mystagogical) can be offered only to those who have received the Mystery of Holy Baptism, the Mystery of Holy Unction, and the Mystery of Holy Eucharist (Holy Communion). For only if one had tasted of the richness of the Grace of the Holy Spirit, by experiencing the Mysteries of Christian Initiation, can he understand human words, which aim to explain (as much as possible) the depth of God’s work with us, His people (a good example are the Mystagogical Catechesis of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem).