CENT. III.
St. CYPRIAN, L. C.-“ It is moreover necessary, that he, who has been baptised, should be anointed, in order that, having received the chrism, that is, the unction, he may be the anointed of God, and possess the grace of Christ.” Ep. lxx. ad Januarium, p. 125.—“ They who had believed in Samaria, (Acts viii.) had believed with a true faith; and were baptised in the one Church by Philip, whom the Apostles had sent. And therefore, because their baptism was legitimate, it was not to be repeated. That alone which was wanting, was supplied by Peter and John ; that, by prayer and the imposition of hands, they might receive the Holy Ghost. The same thing is now done by us, when they, who have been baptised in the Church, are presented to the Bishops, that by our prayer and the imposition of hands, they may receive the Divine Spirit, and be perfected by the seal of the Lord.” Ep. lxxiii. p. 132.
CENT IV.
ST. CORNELIUS,[1] L. C.-The historian Eusebius, speaking of the schismatic Novatus, gives an extract from a letter of the Roman Bishop Cornelius, the contemporary of St. Cyprian, which says, “Novatus was not sealed by the Bishop, as the Canon of the Church required : how then could he have received the Holy Ghost ?” Hist. Eccles. L. vi. c. 43, p. 313.
- ↑ He succeeded St. Fabian in the Chair of Rome, in 251, and died about two years after.
