As infant baptism became common, the process of catechizing shifted from before to after baptism. In the Western church, the baptismal anointing with oil (chrism) slowly developed into a separate sacrament called confirmation. First Communion was often delayed for a number of years. Scholastic theologians developed theological language to describe the way baptism left its mark on the person baptized.
The patristic form of the catechumenate was in its prime in the third, fourth and fifth...
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