In the service of the Divine Liturgy, there is still a mention of people who at a certain moment had to leave their church. This practice took place in the early centuries of Christianity. were a special category of people who wanted to become Christians, but were not before baptism.
In the Christian Church of the first centuries, there were special institutes of catechism, in which cycles of lectures on the foundations of the doctrine and morality of the Church were read. The main teachers were the clergy, and the listeners were the catechumens. In ancient times, it was impossible to come to the temple alone and immediately receive the sacrament of baptism. At first, a person prepared for this great event in his life. He announced the basic truths of Christianity. That is why the Church calls these people catechumens.
The catechumens could listen to conversations and teachings for several years before accepting the sacrament of baptism. They were allowed, even obligated, to attend Sunday services. The catechumens were present at the evening service and liturgy. True, during the liturgy, only the first part of the service was available to the catechumens. Then they left the temple. In addition, those preparing for holy baptism (catechumens) were already supposed to lead a pious life, striving for moral purity.
At the end of the catechumens course, people preparing to be baptized could take the appropriate exams on the knowledge of the basics of the Christian faith. Only if the clergyman saw a sincere desire to be united to God in the holy sacrament and an awareness of the approach to this, baptism was performed. After that, the person was already called faithful.
At present, not all churches have the practice of catechism, which consists of at least one preliminary conversation before the sacrament. However, in large cities, some parishes practice a partial return to the institution of publicity.
