nsiderable controversy.
Many scholars hold (and this certainly seems the most natural
interpretation) that consecrated bread was taken from the Eucharist
and given to the catechumens. Bingham, however, maintains that the
reference is not to the consecrated bread, but to salt, which was
given to them as a symbol "that they might learn to purge and cleanse
their souls from sin."

3. _The Duration of the Training_.--Various statements with regard to
the duration of the catechumenical training are found in
ecclesiastical authorities. The Apostolical Constitutions, for
instance, fix it at three years;[1] the synod of Elvira at two.[2] The
references in the Fathers, however, imply that for practical purposes
it was limited to the forty days of Lent. Very probably, however, the
forty days of actual instruction were preceded by a period of
probation.

4. _The Relation between the Catechumenate and Baptism_.--Catechetical
instruction was designed as a preliminary to baptism. There were two
directions, however, in which this purpose was enlarged: (a) We have
no reason to suppose that when infant baptism was introduced, those
who had been baptized in infancy were excluded from the catechetical
training, or that instruction was deemed unnecessary in their case,
though as a matter of fact we have no definite reference to their
admission. The custom of postponing baptism, which was very general in
the 4th and 5th centuries, probably made such cases more rare than is
generally supposed, and so accounts for the absence of any allusion to
them in connexion with the catechumenate. (b) We have no reason to
suppose that the instruction given in the famous catechetical schools
of Alexandria and Carthage was restricted to candidates for baptism.
There is no doubt that "catechetical" is used in a much wider sense
when applied to the lectures of Origen than when used of the addresses
of Cyril of Jerusalem. The "instruction" of Origen was given to all
classes of Christians, and not merely to those who were in the initial
stages.

5. _Characteristics of the Catechumenical Training_.--Besides
instruction there were some other important features connected with
the catechumenate. (a) The duty of _confession_ was impressed on the
candidates. (b) The ceremony of _exorcism_ was often performed in
order to free the catechumen from evil spirits. (c) At a certain point
in the