Page:PracticalCommentaryOnHolyScripture.djvu/807

 join thyself  to  that  chariot!”  He  did  so,  and  heard  the  officer reading the  words:  “As  a sheep  He  was  led  to  the  slaughter; and, like  a lamb  dumb  before  his  shearer  so  opened  He  not  His mouth.” Philip  asked  him:  “Thinkest  thou  that  thou  understandest what thou  readest?”  The  officer  replied:  “How  can  I,  unless  some one show  me?”

He then  requested  Philip  to  come  up  into  the  chariot  and sit with  him. Philip did  so,  and,  beginning  with  the  text  which had puzzled  the  officer,  he  explained  to  him  all  the  Scriptures relating to  Jesus  Christ, instructing  him  in  the  mystery  of Redemption.

As they  rode  on  they  came  to  a stream,  and  the  stranger said to  Philip:  “See,  here  is  water,  what  hindereth  me  from being baptized?”  Philip  replied:  “If  thou  believest  with  thy  whole heart, thou  mayest.”  He  answered:  “I  believe  that  Jesus  Christ is the  Son  of  God.”  He  then  stopped  the  chariot,  and  they both went  down  into  the  water;  and  Philip  baptized  the  officer. But when  they  came  up  out  of  the  water,  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord took away  Philip,  and  the  officer  saw  him  no  more. Praising and blessing  God,  he  went  back  joyfully  to  his  own  country.

''The holy  Sacrament  of  Confirmation. The Sacrament  which  St.  Peter and St.  John  administered  to  the  baptized  Samaritans  was  the  Sacrament of Confirmation,  the  outward  sign  of  which  is  the  imposition  of  hands  with prayer. The anointing  with  chrism  which  accompanies  the  imposition of hands  is  not  explicitly  alluded  to  in  the  account  given,  but  it  can