the normal practice of immersion was impossible, so that aspersion or affusion—the baptism of the sick—was necessary. Constantine was the most prominent of these catechumens. See also Deathbed conversion. During the fourth and fifth centuries, baptism had become a several-week-long rite leading up to the baptism on Easter. During this time, catechumens attended several meetings of intensive catechetical preaching, often by the bishop himself, and often accompanied by special prayers, exorcisms, and other rites. Catechumens recited the Apostles' Creed on Holy Saturday to show that one had completed catechetical instruction. By the sixth century, most of those presented for baptism were infants, and pre-baptismal catechesis was abandoned. The decline of preaching and education in general following the barbarian invasions also affected the decline of catechesis. Later, instructors (catechists) would teach Christians who had been baptized as children, to prepare for practicing the religion as thinking persons, both older children and adults. The term, catechism, used for a manual for this instruction, appeared in the Late Middle Ages. During this time the instruction was also expanded to include memorization of the Lord's Prayer and Apostles' Creed. Some clergy probably provided expositions of this material in addition to the Ten Commandments. The main function of catechesis during this period was preparation for confession by enabling the Christian to identify their sins. Cyril of Jerusalem wrote a series of sermons aimed at catechumens, outlining via passages of scripture the main points of the faith, yet dividing between those merely interested and those intending baptism then continuing with certain sermons aimed at those who had been baptized. St. Augustine was among those enrolled as a catechumen as an infant, and did not receive baptism until he was in his thirties. He, and other Fathers, fulminated against the practice. Reformation Jean Gerson's L'ABC des simples gens was an important catechetical work published at the advent of the printing press. Along with Gerson's other catechetical works, it addressed the unique problems of teaching the faith to children. Sixteenth-century Christian humanists considered the reform of catechesis to be a high priority.Bishop of Basel Christoph von Utenheim, in one of the most successful efforts to revive catechesis, worked to have regular catechetical preaching instituted throughout his diocese. Johann Geiler von Kaisersberg was another popular preacher who followed the tradition of Gerson by preaching on the basics of the faith. During the Protestant Reformation, the Reformers insisted that the