medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
From The Catholic Encyclodedia (1911) - on line version.
Under "Minor Orders"
"There are, then, in the Western Church four minor orders: porter, lector,
exorcist, and acolyte; the cantors merely exercise an office and are not an
order. These four orders are all mentioned about the year 252 in the famous
letter of Pope Cornelius to Fabius of Antioch (Eusebius, Church History
I.6.43): "He (Novatian) knew that there were in this Church (of Rome) 46
priests, 7 deacons, 7 subdeacons, 42 acolytes, and 52 exorcists, lectors,
and porters." "
The full article is rather more nuanced and compare Latin with Greek
practice and what flourished at what date.
An exorcist therefore ranked above a "reader" and below a "server" - but I
think the latter Minor Order was often the level at which "ordinands"
completed their training.
Clearly, in the early centuries, if you came from a pagan family and were
being baptised as an adult (and had p[resumably taken part in pagan
rituals), then exorcism was routine, a prerequisite to baptism.
Brenda M C .
----- Original Message -----
From: "Cormack, Margaret Jean" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, September 01, 2013 5:13 PM
Subject: Re: [M-R] exorcism and baptism
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
I wonder if anyone on the list can tell me when exorcism became part of the
baptismal ritual?
When is a ritual incorporating it first attested?
Also, I have heard that ability of practitioners (priests? missionaries?)
to expel demons was one of the strong 'selling points' for early
Christianity early on. However, I have no written source for this, nor
whether it is one of those things claimed by early apologists but not
otherwise attested. I vaguely associate this idea with Peter Brown, but
need some concrete bibliography! Can anyone provide some?
Thanks,
Meg
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