marymajor's Advent Calendar: December 5

[Note: * exorcisms was, in those days, viewed as part of the benefit of Baptism, which is the rejection of all evil spirits; St. Augustine does not mean actual exorcisms, but the rejection of evil spirits and temptations.]

December 5


Now think about yourselves. You did not exist, and then you were created, and brought to the threshing floor of the Lord, and you were treaded out, by the labor of oxen, that is, by the labor of those who instructed you in the Catholic Faith. When you were being held back as Catechumens, you were being stored in the barn. Then you were enrolled for baptism, and by fastings and exorcisms* you began to be ground into flour. Then you were brought to the water, and you were sprinkled with it, and you were made one (John 17:11). Then, with the coming of the fire of the Holy Ghost you were baked, and you became the bread of the Lord.


- St. Augustine