St. Cyril Says ... (on Baptism and the Holy Ghost)
More lectures from St. Cyril of Jerusalem ...
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This Holy Ghost came down when the Lord was baptized, so that His dignity (that is, the one who was baptized) might not be hidden; as John says, But He who sent me to baptize with water, the same said to me, 'Upon whomsoever you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, the same is He who baptizes with the Holy Ghost. But see what the Gospel says; the heavens were opened; they were opened because of the dignity of Him who descended; for he says, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and lighting upon Him: that is, with voluntary motion in His descent. For it was fitting, as some have interpreted, that the primacy and first-fruits of the Holy Spirit promised to the baptized should be conferred upon the manhood of the Saviour, who is the giver of such grace. But perhaps He came down in the form of a dove, as some say, to show a figure of that dove who is pure and innocent and undefiled, and also helps the prayers for the children she has begotten, and for forgiveness of sins; even as it was figuratively foretold that Christ would be thus manifested in the appearance of His eyes; for in the Canticles she cries concerning the Bridegroom, and says, Your eyes are as doves by the rivers of water.
Of this dove, the dove of Noah was partially a figure, according to some. For just as in his time there came salvation by means of wood and of water, and the beginning of a new generation, and the dove returned to him in the evening with an olive branch; so also, some say, the Holy Ghost descended upon the true Noah, the Author of the second birth, who unites the wills of all nations, of whom the various kinds of animals in the ark were a picture: - Him at whose coming the spiritual wolves eat with the lambs, in whose Church the calf, the lion, and the ox eat in the same pasture, as we behold to this day the rulers of the world guided and taught by Churchmen. The spiritual dove therefore, as some interpret, came down at the time of His baptism, that He might show that it is He who, by the wood of the Cross, saves those who believe, He who in the evening should grant salvation through His death. (Catechetical Lectures, XVII, 9)
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This Holy Ghost came down when the Lord was baptized, so that His dignity (that is, the one who was baptized) might not be hidden; as John says, But He who sent me to baptize with water, the same said to me, 'Upon whomsoever you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, the same is He who baptizes with the Holy Ghost. But see what the Gospel says; the heavens were opened; they were opened because of the dignity of Him who descended; for he says, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and lighting upon Him: that is, with voluntary motion in His descent. For it was fitting, as some have interpreted, that the primacy and first-fruits of the Holy Spirit promised to the baptized should be conferred upon the manhood of the Saviour, who is the giver of such grace. But perhaps He came down in the form of a dove, as some say, to show a figure of that dove who is pure and innocent and undefiled, and also helps the prayers for the children she has begotten, and for forgiveness of sins; even as it was figuratively foretold that Christ would be thus manifested in the appearance of His eyes; for in the Canticles she cries concerning the Bridegroom, and says, Your eyes are as doves by the rivers of water.
Of this dove, the dove of Noah was partially a figure, according to some. For just as in his time there came salvation by means of wood and of water, and the beginning of a new generation, and the dove returned to him in the evening with an olive branch; so also, some say, the Holy Ghost descended upon the true Noah, the Author of the second birth, who unites the wills of all nations, of whom the various kinds of animals in the ark were a picture: - Him at whose coming the spiritual wolves eat with the lambs, in whose Church the calf, the lion, and the ox eat in the same pasture, as we behold to this day the rulers of the world guided and taught by Churchmen. The spiritual dove therefore, as some interpret, came down at the time of His baptism, that He might show that it is He who, by the wood of the Cross, saves those who believe, He who in the evening should grant salvation through His death. (Catechetical Lectures, XVII, 9)
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