§6Non quod in aquis spiritum sanctum consequamur, sed in aqua emundati sub angelo spiritui sancto praeparamur.
Not that we obtain the Holy Spirit in the waters, but, having been cleansed in the water, we are prepared under the angel for the Holy Spirit.
hic quoque figura praecessit; sic enim Iohannes antepraecursor domini fuit praeparans uias eius.
Here too a figure went before; for in this way John was the forerunner of the Lord, preparing His ways.
ita et angelus baptismi arbiter superuenturo spiritui sancto uias dirigit ablutione delictorum, quam fides impetrat obsignata in Patre et Filio et Spiritu Sancto.
So also the angel, the administrator of baptism, directs the ways for the Holy Spirit who is about to come, by the washing away of sins, which faith obtains, sealed in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
nam si in tribus testibus stabit omne uerbum, quanto magis, dum habemus per benedictionem eosdem arbitros fidei quos et sponsores salutis, sufficit ad fiduciam spei nostrae etiam numerus nominum diuinorum? cum autem sub tribus et testatio fidei et sponsio salutis pignerentur, necessario adicitur ecclesiae mentio, quoniam ubi tres, id est Pater et Filius et Spiritus Sanctus, ibi ecclesia, quae trium corpus est.
For if on the testimony of three witnesses every word shall stand, how much more, while through the blessing we have the same ones as arbiters of our faith whom we also have as sponsors of our salvation, is even the number of the divine names sufficient for the confidence of our hope? Moreover, since under the three both the attestation of faith and the promise of salvation are pledged, the mention of the church is necessarily added, because where the three are—that is, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit—there is the church, which is the body of the three.
§7Exinde egressi de lauacro perungimur benedicta unctione de pristina disciplina, qua ungi oleo de cornu in sacerdotio solebant; ex quo Aaron a Moyse unctus est, unde Christus dicitur a chrismate, quod est unctio, quae domino nomen accommodauit, facta spiritalis, quia spiritu unctus est a deo patre, sicut in Actis: collecti sunt enim uere in ista ciuitate aduersus sanctum filium tuum, quem unxisti. sic et in nobis carnaliter currit unctio, sed spiritaliter proficit; quomodo et ipsius baptismi carnalis actus, quod in aqua mergimur, spiritalis effectus, quod delictis liberamur.
After that, having come out of the bath, we are thoroughly anointed with a blessed unction according to the ancient discipline, by which they were accustomed to be anointed with oil from a horn for the priesthood; from which Aaron was anointed by Moses, whence Christ is called from the "chrism," which is unction, which lent the name to the Lord, having been made spiritual, because He was anointed with the Spirit by God the Father, as it is written in the Acts: "For they were gathered together in truth in this city against Your holy Son, whom You anointed." In this way, in our case also the unction runs carnally, but profits spiritually; just as also the carnal act of baptism itself, in that we are plunged in the water, has a spiritual effect, in that we are freed from sins.
§8Dehinc manus imponitur per benedictionem advocans et \\ inuitans spiritum sanctum.
Next, the hand is imposed through a blessing, calling upon and inviting the Holy Spirit.
sane humano ingenio licebit spiritum in aquam arcessere et concorporationem eorum accommodatis desuper manibus alio spiritu tantae claritatis animare, deo autem in suo organo non licebit per manus sanctas sublimitatem modulari spiritalem? sed est hoc quoque de ueteri sacramento, quo nepotes suos ex Ioseph, Ephrem et Manassem, Iacob capitibus impositis et intermutatis manibus benedixerit, et quidem ita transuersim obliquatis in se, ut Christum deformantes iam tunc portenderent benedictionem in Christum futuram.
Indeed, if it is permitted for human ingenuity to summon a spirit into water, and to animate their union with another spirit of such great brightness by applying hands from above, shall it not be permitted for God in His own instrument, through holy hands, to modulate spiritual sublimity? But this also is from the ancient sacrament, by which Jacob blessed his grandsons from Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, their heads having been imposed and his hands interchanged, and indeed so crossed and slanted over each other, that, forming the figure of Christ, they already then portended the blessing that was to be in Christ.
tunc ille sanctissimus spiritus super emundata et benedicta corpora libens a patre descendit, super baptismi aquas tanquam pristinam sedem recognoscens conquiescit, columbae figura delapsus in dominum, ut natura spiritus sancti declararetur per animal simplicitatis et innocentiae, quod etiam corporaliter ipso felle careat columba.
Then that most holy Spirit willingly descends from the Father upon the cleansed and blessed bodies, and rests upon the waters of baptism, recognizing them as it were His ancient seat, having slipped down upon the Lord in the figure of a dove, so that the nature of the Holy Spirit might be declared through an animal of simplicity and innocence, since even bodily the dove lacks gall itself.
ideoque, estote, inquit, simplices sicut columbae; ne hoc quidem sine argumento praecedentis figurae.
And therefore He says, "Be simple as joys"; not even this indeed is without the argument of a preceding figure.
quemadmodum enim post aquas diluuii, quibus iniquitas antiqua purgata est, post baptismum, ut ita dixerim, mundi pacem caelestis irae praeco columba terris ad-. nuntiauit dimissa ex arca et cum olea reuersa, quod signum etiam apud nationes paci praetenditur, eadem dispositione spiritalis effectus terrae id est carni nostrae emergenti de lauacro post uetera delicta columba sancti spiritus aduolat pacem dei adferens, emissa de caelis, ubi ecclesia est arca figurata.
For just as after the waters of the deluge, by which the ancient iniquity was purged, after the baptism, so to speak, of the world, a dove, sent forth from the ark and returning with an olive branch, announced peace to the earth as a herald of divine wrath, which sign is also held out for peace among the nations; by the same arrangement of spiritual effect, to our earth—that is, to our flesh emerging from the bath after ancient sins—the dove of the Holy Spirit flies, bringing the peace of God, sent forth from heaven, where the church is figured by the ark.
sed mundus rursus deliquit; quo male comparatur baptismus diluuio.
But the world sinned again; in which respect baptism is ill compared to the deluge.
itaque igni destinatur, sicut et homo qui post baptismum delicta restaurat, ut hoc quoque in signum admonitionis nostrae debeat accipi.
Therefore it is destined for fire, just as also the man who after baptism restores his sins; so that this too ought to be received as a sign of our admonition.