Image: Baptism illumination, circa 13th century.
Although few things can match the natural beauty of a fall day in the upper Midwest, I still vividly recall my wife and myself making our way from the cool outside air into the hushed baptistry of our local cathedral, to witness the striking splendor of the Sacrament of Baptism conferred on our first child.
What a wonder it has been, to witness this Sacrament conferred on each of our children, to watch with the eyes of faith as the Blessed Trinity takes hold of this little creature to make it a fitting temple of divine glory, in fulfillment of Christ’s promise: “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him” (Jn. 14:23). What peace and consolation is ours, recognizing that in Baptism, we give our children the greatest of gifts: entrance into supernatural life, a life that – if maintained in fidelity to the Word – will continue into an eternity of joy.
We have been impacted by this truth all the more in recent years, when two different couples in our circle of friends experienced the great sorrow of losing a small child. In both cases, the child was baptized and had not yet reached the age of reason – situations that were heartrending on the one hand, but on the other hand filled with consolation. As Wisdom would have it, “yet is their hope full of immortality.”
For the Church has infallibly declared and ever maintained that baptized children who die before the age of reason enter directly into eternal bliss. They are saints.
“By this edict which will prevail forever, with apostolic authority we declare: that according to the common arrangement of God… the souls of children departing before the use of free will, reborn and baptized in that same baptism of Christ… immediately after their death… have been, are, and will be in heaven, in the kingdom of heaven and in celestial paradise with Christ, united in the company of the holy angels, and… see the divine essence by intuitive vision, and even face to face, with no mediating creature… and seeing thus they enjoy the same divine essence, and also that from such vision and enjoyment their souls, which now have departed, are truly blessed and they have eternal life and rest… [this] vision and enjoyment exist continuously and will continue even up to the last judgment and from then even unto eternity.” –Pope Benedict XII, Benedictus Deus (1336)
This unchanging truth throws even greater light on the surpassing glory of this Sacrament – a glory that ought to be beautifully signified by the very ceremonies themselves. Just as the Mona Lisa deserves a lovely frame, so this masterpiece of grace that God creates in Baptism deserves a worthy rite and beautiful ceremonies.
It was chiefly this conviction that first launched me into a study of the rites in 2010.
Among other insights, I came away with a clear (albeit academic) awareness that the Catholic rite of Baptism (and just about everything else) had apparently undergone rather dramatic changes in the 1970s – changes that ultimately made for a less impressive rite overall, and one that does not as effectively dispose the candidate to sanctifying grace. (Some of the theology behind this shift is distilled in the Further Reading suggested below.)
Learning this, I resolved to give something better to my own children. As it turns out, Pope Benedict XVI had made this “something better” clearly and widely available to Catholics everywhere, just three years earlier.
With his document Summorum Pontificum of 2007, Pope Benedict clarified once and for all that the traditional “pre-Vatican II” rites of Holy Mass (the “Latin Mass”) and of the Sacraments had never been dissolved or superseded; rather, they remain the perpetual heritage of the Church’s worship, the priceless treasure of every believing Catholic. “What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful. It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church’s faith and prayer, and to give them their proper place.” The traditional rites are now often referred to as the “Extraordinary Form.”
The pope went on to declare as law for the Church that every Catholic has the canonical right to choose the traditional form of Baptism for his child, and that every Latin rite priest has the canonical duty to offer this form when asked.
This was all the encouragement we needed to give the gift of an “extraordinary” Baptism to our children, and each of them has since been baptized in the traditional rite. As we repeatedly availed ourselves of this great treasure of the Church’s sacramental patrimony, we began to learn still more about our Faith, and we found ourselves wanting to share this with others.
One way we sought to do this in our own family was by creating a little printable Baptism program for each child’s baptism day so everyone gathered for the ceremony could follow along with the prayers, be edified by orthodox and accurate explanatory notes, and have a profound memento of the great occasion to take home for further reflection.
This has been such a great resource for our family that we decided to make a customizable version available in our store. We hope it serves to make this noble rite more accessible for all the faithful.
The particular beauty of the traditional rite stands out in high relief when one reads the early Church Fathers. There is no mistaking in their writing the glory and necessity of this Sacrament for eternal salvation, and the importance of Baptism comes across in all their apostolic labors.
To cite one of my favorite examples, here are the words of St. Hippolytus of Rome (+236), a pupil of the great St. Irenaeus:
“Perhaps someone will ask: ‘What does it conduce unto piety to be baptized?’ In the first place, that you may do what has seemed good to God; in the next place, being born again by water unto God so that you change your first birth, which was from concupiscence, and are able to attain salvation, which would otherwise be impossible. For thus the [Lord] has sworn to us: ‘Amen, I say to you, unless you are born again with living water, into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.’ Therefore, fly to the water, for this alone can extinguish the fire. He who will not come to the water still carries around with him the spirit of insanity for the sake of which he will not come to the living water for his own salvation.” –Homilies, 11:26
I believe that restoring the traditional rite of Baptism and combining it with a more focused pre- and post-baptismal catechesis would yield tremendous fruit in the Church’s labor for souls.
I was further convinced of this need from an unexpected quarter, when I recently had the privilege of being invited to craft some reference material for a local interdenominational men’s Bible study. Now, in my experience, this kind of affair is typically a constant rehash of some version of “What does this verse mean to you?” coupled with constant reminders that everyone has his own interpretation of Scripture, and that’s fine because God loves us all (read: truth doesn’t really matter). Perhaps it was a wiser time when Catholics avoided such gatherings as dangerous to the Faith.
Imagine my excitement, then, when this particular group informed me that they were undertaking a study of the Gospel of John and had learned through the grapevine that I might have some helpful “historical resources” to share with them regarding how “those ancient Christians” might have interpreted the text. Would I be able to share something on, say, John Chapter 3, wherein Jesus speaks with Nicodemus about being “born again of water and spirit”?
I was happy to oblige and pleased to find that the little John 3 resource I generated for the group (as well as a later one on John 6) went a long way in helping them to press the question – namely, “Wait a tick – if Christians for hundreds of years believed this, then why don’t we believe that today? Are there any denominations around here that still believe all the same things as those ancient Christians?”
Indeed.
Obviously, this was (and is) only a starting point, but it was a tremendously important one for that group – and it offers a similarly helpful route for other Catholics in inviting our separated brethren to join us in the Faith. As the famous convert Bl. John Henry Cardinal Newman attested, “to be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant.” Coupled with the virtues of integrity and humility, in obedience to the Spirit of God and the discipline of good research, a focused study like this proffers a unique opportunity to embrace the true Faith, preserved inviolate from the Apostles to our current day in the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church – and this Faith will be only better known and loved through a restoration of Catholic tradition.
Good Lord, speed the day. And bravo the restoration!
For Further Reading:
- Baptisms in the Extraordinary Form – Views from the Choir Loft
- A young priest discusses his first experience offering Baptism according to the traditional rite.
- The Excision of Exorcisms as a Prelude to Devil-Denial – OnePeterFive
- Following the Jesuit superior general’s recent denial of the personal existence of the devil, a systematic theologian opines on one of the more evident changes made to the rite of Baptism after Vatican II
- The Order for Blessing Water: Past and Present – Antiphon
- A scholarly article making for a rewarding (albeit somewhat nerdy) wade into the thicket of post-conciliar change to reveal some odd principles guiding “Study Group 23” in its revision of the rite for providing holy water. (A similar treatment for the Rite of Exorcism can be found here.)
Baptism should be done within the day of the birth (like Pope Benedict was back when he was born) and should be done at the font with no fanfare other than the family. When I was still attending the Novus Ordo and we asked to have our kids baptised, it was like “here’s the dates available, we need to have a special ceremony, and father jazz hands has to show the baby to the whole congregation”. What a load of horse hockey (except the actual baptism that is) .
One very well known Catholic football coach recently had his preemie son baptised at the vatican when he was already about three months old. This is the epitome of irresponsibility to have a preemie baby already in danger of dying wait that long for baptism, I couldn’t believe it
When I was on retreat some years ago, the priest (quoting St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori) said that the parents committed a mortal sin if they delayed baptism beyond the 8th day after birth.
I know some places where the baby isn’t baptized for at least 2-3 months. That’s HORRIBLE.
Excuse me, but what is “preemie”? I know the creativity with which our American cousins treat the English language, but I can’t decipher this.
A birth before the full gestational period of nine months; slang for “premature”.
I baptised my grandson, he being born at 30 weeks gestation and there being some drama at his birth. He is now almost 9 months old and by the looks of it will hold up his end of the scrum without much help from his mates.
Can’t wait till he can swing the heavy maul when I am forging knives. That might be soon. LOL.
Anyhow, our FSSP priest provisionally baptised him subsequently as there was some minor question as to my formula. {In the name of, in the name of, in the name of}.
He was “preemie” but you’d never know it, now!
premature birth
What is the point of ringing once for girls and twice for boys?
Just how they did it back in Europe. I read that in a book years ago. Probably a long tradition discarded somewhere in the brilliant Church decade of the 1950’s.
The point was Catholics had babies, lots babies to fill up the world with saints so it wasn’t some drawn out affair to get the baby baptised. You knew who the parents were, they themselves were married Catholics and two Catholics in good standing could be found to be the Godparents.
Also, the 10th baby was always tithed to the Church. So you raise them until about 7 or 8 years and take them down to the monastery or nunnery and drop them off. It was Catholic order in the world. Now unfortunately we live in a disordered world.
The 10th baby entered seminary or the convent.
I am the 10th of 10. I grew up in the Novus Ordo , learned nothing of the faith and lived as a pagan Catholic in name only for years and years. Today I attend only the TLM and I am the most involved in the Church or shall I say spiritual of my siblings, not putting myself on a pedestal just being honest. I spend my time studying the glories of the Church, the prophecies of the Church, the message of Fatima, etc. I cajole family members lost in the modern world to attend the TLM. I push for the TLM every opportunity I have. I pray the daily rosary for family members and priests and religious.
So the Church didn’t get her tithe initially but I’m working on the payment plan to pay it in full.
????????
But why one for girls and two for boys?
When parents delay baptism until two weeks old they are guilty of sin; if priests refuse baptism to infants who just left the hospital (3-4 days old) then let them be anathema.
The Traditional Baptism is incomparably more beautiful than the modern substitute, but the departure from the tradition did not begin in the 1970s. The original patristic rite of initiation (in both the East and the West) was threefold — Baptism, Chrismation, and Eucharist all within the Divine Liturgy (Mass) rather than as a separate service. The separation occurred for pastoral, rather than any theological, let alone dogmatic reason. Although this traditional unity has been maintained among Eastern Catholics, there is no dogmatic obstacle to its recovery among Western Catholics, as demonstrated by Fr. Mark . Morozowich, SEOD in “Eastern Catholic Infant Communion: Has Catholic Dogmatic Teaching Prohibited It?” Logos: A Journal of Eastern Christian Studies 49 (2008) 71-90.
Bravo! ???? ???? ????
The only thing I’d add is that Baptism should not be delayed. Please see my reply to John Burroughs above. Thank you.
Christ was brought to the temple when He was 40 days old ergo new borns were baptized about that age. Now, of course, Catholics wait months and months for Aunt Joan and Uncle Joe to be available for the big event… the big family get together afterwards.
My brother was sick with a terrible cough as a little baby and my Mother baptized him herself. The priest told her she shouldn”t have but I always thought she did the right thing.
In danger of death (which perhaps your brother was in or your mother thought he was in) it is absolutely permissible, nay a duty, for a layperson to baptize an infant if a priest or deacon cannot be found in time (or they won’t perform the baptism for whatever reason.) It likely makes the records keeping a bit more of a mess but, in the end, that doesn’t really matter.
Thank you.