The persecution, he says, gained strength. True, but especially then it delivered people who were previously possessed. For it planted miracles like forts among them. Even the death of Stephen did not quench their rage, but rather increased it. It dispersed the teachers, so that the discipleship became greater. There was joy, although there had been great lamentation. Note again the good: the malady lasted long enough, but it was this man who brought them deliverance.

This is what the Lord himself commanded: When they persecute you in one city, flee to another.^[1] It occurred according to the Lord’s will, so that the occasion of tribulation might become the seedbed of the gospel.^[2]

And yet it was the body only which was deemed proper for burial, while the soul was not buried together with the body; nevertheless the body alone was spoken of by the common name. Similarly the blessed Jacob said to his sons, Bury me with my fathers.^[1] He did not say, Bury my body.

Great was [Saul’s] frenzy: that he was alone, that he even entered into houses; for indeed he was ready to give his life for the law. Arresting, it says, men and women: mark both the confidence, and the violence and the frenzy. All that fell into his hands, he put to all manner of ill-treatment, for in consequence of the recent murder, he had become more daring.

The present chapter and the history of the Samaritan woman^[1] prove that these people’s souls were ready and willing to believe.

How did he come to baptize also Simon? In the same way that Christ also chose Judas. And seeing the signs that [Philip] worked, since the others did not receive the signs, [Simon] dared not ask for it. How was it then that they did not put him to death, as they did Ananias and Sapphira? The ancient saying is that he who gathered sticks was put to death as a warning to others. No one else suffered this same fate.^[1]

The good baptized the evil, as Simon Magus was baptized by Philip, a holy man. These four types, therefore, my brothers, are well known. Look, I repeat them again. Hold fast to them, count them, pay attention to them. Beware those types which are evil; hold fast to those which are good. The good are born from the good when holy people are baptized by holy people; the evil from the evil when both they who baptize and they who are baptized live wickedly and impiously; the good from the evil when they who baptize are evil and they who are baptized are good; and the evil from the good when they who baptize are good and they who are baptized are evil.

It was either that he too was overcome by the power of the blessed Philip’s words so that he truly believed in the Lord, or, as is more believable, that he pretended that he believed until he could receive baptism.^[1] For he was so eager for praise that he wished to be believed to be the Christ, as histories tell,^[2] and he hoped to learn from him the arts by which he worked miracles. His followers were also taught to do this. Trained in the evil arts of their founder to enter the church by any sort of deception, they were accustomed to steal baptism.^[3]

Arator explains it beautifully,^[1] Peter frequently made John his comrade because a virgin is pleasing to the church. It must be noted that the Philip who preached the gospel to Samaria was one of the seven, for if he had been the apostle [Philip], he would have been able to lay hands on them himself so that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For this is reserved only to those of pontifical rank. When priests baptize, whether in a bishop’s presence or not, they are permitted to anoint those who are baptized with chrism, but because it was consecrated by a bishop, they are not allowed to make the sign of the cross on the forehead with this same oil. This is reserved to the bishops alone when they transmit the Spirit, the Paraclete,^[2] to those who are baptized.

Why were these not in receipt of the Holy Spirit? It may be that Philip kept this honor for the apostles, or that he did not have this gift or that he was one of the seven. The last is most likely. Thus, I take it, this Philip was one of the seven, the one after Stephen, while the Philip in the story of the eunuch was one of the apostles. Notice how the seven did not go forth. It was part of God’s plan of salvation for those to go forth and for these to be lacking because of the Holy Spirit. For it was the power to work signs that they received, not the power to give the Spirit to others. This was the prerogative of the apostles. And note [how they sent] not just anyone but the leaders, Peter [and John].

And great signs occurred. How was it then that they did not receive the Spirit? They had received the Spirit of remission of sins but not the Spirit of the signs. . . . For it had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. . . . To show that this was the case and that it was the Spirit of signs that they had not received, notice how Simon, once he saw the result, came and asked for this.

For the Holy Spirit was at that time given in such sort, that he even visibly showed himself to have been given. For those who received him spoke with the tongues of all nations, to signify that the church among the nations was to speak in the tongues of all. So then they received the Holy Ghost, and he appeared evidently to be in them.

From all of which we learn that the person of the Holy Spirit is of so great authority and dignity that saving baptism is not complete except when performed with the authority of the whole most excellent Trinity, that is, by the naming of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.^[1]

See how many things are brought about by God’s providence through the death of Stephen and how by degrees these receive the gift. It was a twofold sign—both the giving to those and the not giving to this man. . . . This man should have asked to receive the Holy Spirit, but because this was of no concern to him, he asks, on the contrary, for the power to give it to others. But even those did not receive this power to give, and this man, who was only one of the disciples, wished to be more illustrious than Philip!

This is why the passage fitly applies to the Holy Spirit, because he will dwell not in all people or in those who are flesh but in those whose earth^[1] has been renewed. Finally, it was for this reason that the Holy Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands after the grace and renewal of baptism.

The Samaritan believers had come to the true faith and had been baptized by Philip the deacon, whom these very apostles had sent, within the one church to which alone it has been granted to give the grace of baptism and to loose sins. Since they had already obtained the lawful baptism of the church, it would have been wrong to baptize them any more. Peter and John supplied only what they lacked.

Simon the magician had been here washed indeed in the fount but not clean in his heart; the subsequent punishment revealed him to the world as ignorant of the faith.^[1] He wished to liken the gifts of God to the gathering together of gold and to bring back by means of coin what a merchant buys at a price.

He did not say, Give me also the participation in the Holy Ghost, but Give me this power, with a view to selling to others what could not be sold—something he himself did not possess.

Therefore Peter does well to call it a gift. You thought, he says, you could obtain the gift of God with money. Do you see how they are always free from money? For your heart, he says, is not right before God. Do you see how Simon does everything out of malice? In fact, simplicity was the thing needed. . . . For if it had been done with simplicity, they would even have accepted his eagerness. Do you see how having mean conceptions of great things is to sin doubly? Two things, accordingly, he urges him to do, Repent and pray that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.

Then, when Simon, depraved by long practice of magic, had thought he could gain by money the power of conferring the grace of Christ and the infusion of the Holy Spirit, Peter said, You have no part in this faith, for your heart is not right with God. Repent therefore of your wickedness, and pray to the Lord, if perhaps this thought of your heart may be forgiven, for I see that you are in the bond of iniquity and in the bitterness of gall. We see that Peter by his apostolic authority condemns him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit through vain magic, and all the more because he had no clear consciousness of faith. And yet he did not exclude him from the hope of forgiveness, for he called him to repentance.

[Gregory says,] When holy people deliver a curse as a sentence, they pronounce it not out of a desire for vengeance but out of a just consideration of the case. For they interiorly perceive God’s unerring judgment and recognize that they must smite with a curse the evils that arise exteriorly. And in the curse they do not sin insofar as they do not depart from their interior judgment. Since the one who pronounces the curse remains innocent, and at the same time the curse swallows up to the point of destruction the one who is cursed, we conclude from what happens to both parties that the sentence that has been delivered is hurled at the offender by the sole judge of that which is within.^[1] So it is that in the present passage Simon, who received a curse from Peter, perished in eternal damnation, and below^[2] [we read that] Bar-Jesus, when he had been rebuked by Paul, was presently deprived of the light of day.

Immediately, the above-mentioned sorcerer, as if struck in the eyes of his mind by a divine and marvelous flash when formerly in Judea he had been detected for his evil deeds by the apostle Peter, set out on a very long journey overseas from east to west and went off in flight, thinking that only in this way could he live according to his wish. And when he came to the city of the Romans, the power that obsessed him cooperated with him greatly, and in short time he was so successful in his undertakings that he was honored as a god by the erection of a statue by those in this city. However, his affairs did not prosper for long. Close on him in the same reign of Claudius, the all-good and kindly providence of the universe guided Peter, the great and mighty one of the apostles, because of his virtue the spokesman for all the others to Rome, as if against a great corrupter of life. And he, like a noble general of God, clad in divine armor, conveys the costly merchandise of the light from the east to those in the west, preaching the light itself and the Word that saves souls, the proclamation of the kingdom of heaven.

He offered money to people without possessions, and that too after seeing people bring the price of what they sold and lay it at the feet of the apostles. He did not realize that they who trod underfoot the wealth offered for the sustenance of the poor would surely never sell him the power of the Holy Spirit for a price.

He who through ignorance wishes to buy is less guilty than he who sells the gift of God, making it a business transaction. And, if you sell what you have received as a gift, you will be deprived of its grace, as if you had been sold to Satan. Furthermore, you are introducing into the church, where we have been entrusted with the body and blood of Christ, the bartering of material for spiritual things.

Seeing him attempting this, Peter said, What madness has moved you to this, wretch? Namely, that you think that what the grace of the Lord gives is something for sale. It is not gained by gold but by a [right] disposition [of mind]; nor is it permitted that corrupt money, which the person whose eyes are fixed on the earth loves, should earn heaven. Surely there remains no peace for you in this lot, nor will you, defiled by your tricks, be able to come to these things, you who seek what does not belong to you, swollen as you are with the gall of a bitter heart; for the Spirit enters those halls of the mind which are bright with honesty.

We must, I think, investigate the fact that often in the divine Scriptures heart stands for understanding. . . . It may be clear to all without doubting that the source of our thoughts is there, and that good and evil are drawn from there. The seat of thought is that tiny part of the body with the appearance of fire, so that it is rightly placed in the position from which good counsel can come to us.

For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity. These are words of strong disapproval, but otherwise he [Peter] did not punish him [Simon], because he did not want faith hereafter to come from compulsion or to appear ruthless in his treatment of the affair, but rather to introduce the subject of repentance. It is sufficient, for the purpose of correction, to convince him, to say what was in his heart. It is sufficient for him to confess he was caught.

The Holy Spirit descended as a dove in order to teach those who wanted to receive him to be simple. Now one who keeps the gall of bitterness in his heart, although he may appear to be baptized, is not freed from the chains of his iniquity; but as if he was cleansed at one moment, the time of his baptism, he is soon seven times more harried by a fierce demon. In vain, therefore, did this man try to buy the gift of the Spirit, since he did not take care to rid himself of his raven-like mind.

And the bishop shall lay his hand upon [the newly baptized], invoking and saying: “O Lord God, who counted these worthy of the forgiveness of sins through the bath of regeneration, make them worthy to be filled with your Holy Spirit, grant to them your grace [in confirmation], that they may serve you according to your will”.

[A]re you unwilling to be anointed with the oil of God? We are called Christians on this account, because we are anointed with the oil of God.

After this, when we have issued from the font, we are thoroughly anointed with a blessed unction—[a practice derived] from the old discipline, in which on entering the priesthood, men were anointed with oil from a horn, ever since Aaron was anointed by Moses. Thus Aaron is called “Christ,” from the “chrism,” which is “the unction”; which, when made spiritual, furnished an appropriate name for the Lord, because he was “anointed” with the Spirit by God the Father; as written in the Acts: “For truly they were gathered together in this city against your holy Son whom you have anointed.” Thus, too, in our case, the unction runs carnally, but profits spiritually; in the same way as the act of baptism is carnal, in that we are plunged in water, but the effect spiritual, in that we are freed from sins.

It would suffice to say, indeed, that there is not a soul that can at all procure salvation, except it believe while it is in the flesh, so true is it that the flesh is the very condition on which salvation hinges. . . . The flesh, indeed, is washed, that the soul may be cleansed; the flesh is anointed, that the soul may be consecrated; the flesh is signed (with the cross), that the soul may be fortified; the flesh is shadowed with the imposition of hands, that the soul may be illuminated by the Spirit; the flesh feeds on the body and blood of Christ, that the soul may fatten on its God. They cannot then be separated in their recompense when they are united in their service.

The bishop will then lay his hand upon them, invoking, “Lord God, you who have made these worthy of the removal of sins through the bath of regeneration, make them worthy to be filled with your Holy Spirit, grant to them your grace, that they might serve you according to your will, for to you is the glory, Father and Son with the Holy Spirit, in the holy Church, now and throughout the ages of the ages. Amen.” After this he pours the oil into his hand, and laying his hand on each of their heads, says, “I anoint you with holy oil in God the Father Almighty, and Christ Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.” Then, after sealing each of them on the forehead, he shall give them the kiss of peace and say, “The Lord be with you.” And the one who has been baptized shall say, “And with your spirit.” So shall he do to each one.

[I]n the name of the same Christ, are not hands laid upon the baptized persons among them, for the reception of the Holy Spirit?

[O]ne is not born by the imposition of hands when he receives the Holy Spirit, but in baptism, that being already born, he may receive the Holy Spirit, even as it happened in the first man Adam. For first God formed him, and then breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. For the Spirit cannot be received, unless he who receives first has an existence. But . . . the birth of Christians is in baptism.

It is also necessary that he who is baptized should be anointed; so that, having received the chrism, the anointing, he may be anointed of God, and have in him the grace of Christ.

And in the Gospel our Lord Jesus Christ spoke with his divine voice, saying, “Except a man be born again of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” [Jn 3:5]. This is the Spirit that from the beginning was borne over the waters; for neither can the Spirit operate without the water, nor the water without the Spirit. Certain people interpret for themselves incorrectly when they say that by imposition of the hand they receive the Holy Spirit, and are thus received, when it is manifest that they ought to be born again in the Catholic Church by both sacraments.

[I]t has been asked among the brethren what course ought specially to be adopted towards the persons of those who . . . baptized in heresy . . . and subsequently departing from their heresy, and fleeing as supplicants to the Church of God, should repent with their whole hearts, and only now perceiving the condemnation of their error, implore from the Church the help of salvation. . . . [A]ccording to the most ancient custom and ecclesiastical tradition, it would suffice, after that baptism that they have received outside the Church . . . that only hands should be laid upon them by the bishop for their reception of the Holy Spirit, and this imposition of hands would afford them the renewed and perfected seal of faith.

[David says,] you have anointed my head with oil. With oil he anointed your head upon your forehead, for the seal that you have of God; that you may be made the engraving of the signet, holiness unto God.

[Prayer for blessing the holy chrism:] “God of powers, aid of every soul that turns to you and comes under your powerful hand in your only-begotten. We beseech you, that through your divine and invisible power of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, you may effect in this chrism a divine and heavenly operation, so that those baptized and anointed in the tracing with it of the sign of the saving cross of the only-begotten . . . as if reborn and renewed through the bath of regeneration, may be made participants in the gift of the Holy Spirit and, confirmed by this seal, may remain firm and immovable, unharmed and inviolate”.

They who are baptized must after baptism be anointed with the heavenly chrism, and be partakers of the kingdom of Christ.

If, then, the power of both baptism and confirmation, greater by far than charisms, is passed on to the bishops, so too is the right of binding and loosing.

[H]ow dare any man speak against his bishop, by whom the Lord gave the Holy Spirit among you upon the laying on of his hands, by whom you have learned the sacred doctrines, and have known God, and have believed in Christ, by whom you were known of God, by whom you were sealed with the oil of gladness and the ointment of understanding, by whom you were declared to be the children of light, by whom the Lord in your illumination testified by the imposition of the bishop’s hands.

Since in the former council it was decreed, as your unanimity remembers as well as I do, that those who as children were baptized by the Donatists, and not yet being able to know the pernicious character of their error, and afterward when they had come to the use of reason, had received the knowledge of the truth, abhorred their former error, and were received (in accordance with the ancient order) by the imposition of the hand into the Catholic Church of God spread throughout the world.