Page:The Nestorians and their rituals, volume 2.djvu/181

Rh in His Church that same leaven which they had taken from His body to be for the sacrament of His Body, and also for the sacrament of Baptism. And when the disciples went forth to convert the nations, they divided this leaven amongst themselves, and they took oil of unction and mixed it with the water which was kept in the vessel, and they divided this also amongst themselves to be a leaven for Baptism. The loaf which John had, and which was mixed with the blood which flowed from His side, they bruised into powder, then mixed it with flour and salt, and divided it among them, each portion being put into a separate vessel to serve as leaven for the Body and Blood of in the Church. This is the account which I have read, which bore the sign of Peter, and I have written it as I found it for the benefit of such as may read this our Epistle. The presbyter Rabban Shimoon, who first related the narrative to me, and then afterwards showed me the written account, can witness to the truth." From an ancient work by Yohanan Bar Zoöbi.

For the doctrine of the Nestorians respecting Confirmation the reader is referred to Appendix B, Part IV. c. 1 and 4, and to the Baptismal office given under Chapter XLI., from which it would seem that they regard this rite rather as an appendix to baptism than as a separate sacrament. Mar Abd Yeshua says, that "the oil of unction is used in the birth which is by baptism," clearly intimating that it is a subsidiary part of that holy ordinance; and in the solemn invocation of the, (which together with the imposition of hands, appears to form the only essentials of confirmation according to their ritual, since the oil of unction is not used then, but before the person is baptized,) grace is declared to be conveyed "through the holy sacrament of baptism," and no mention whatever is made of any distinct grace being imparted through the oil of unction.

Moreover, that Confirmation, as held by the Nestorians, is not a sacrament according to the definition of our Church, is clear from this, that they do not claim either for the matter or form of the rite the authority of " Himself," which is deemed an essential according to the teaching of the Catechism. Mar Abd Yeshua says, that "the oil of unction is an apostolical