The Lord has given a redemption of
repentance, so that our chief sins, or rather, all our sins, may be cast
off; and so that we may receive the seal of the Holy Spirit, and may thereby be
made heirs of eternal life. (Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 4.32, c.
A.D. 350, in The Faith of the Early Fathers, 3 vols. [trans. William A.
Jurgens; Collegeville, Minn.: The Liturgical Press, 1970], 1:351)
Reading λυρτον μετανοιας. Others would
read λουτρον μετανοιαν = repentance
at Baptism; or λουτρον μετανοιας = a Baptism of repentance. But whatever
be the correct reading—and since the lectures were taken down in short-hand
from Cyril’s preaching, not even the guarantee of a correct reading could in
this case be taken as a guarantee of what Cyril said—it is clear in the context
that Baptism is what Cyril meant. (Ibid., 368 n. 37)
The
following is from PG 33:493:
