Baptism

Salt- is a sign of preservation from corruption…

Third, the initiatory structure reaches its highest emotional and liturgical peak in the
presentation and reception of the newly baptized within the gathered assembly of the
Faithful.
Toward the end of the eight century Charlemagne, king of the Franks, consolidated an
empire which covered much of present-day France and Germany.
Baptism ceremony disappeared from the Easter vigil entirely, although the font and water
were still blessed for use during the rest of the year: The preparatory rites and ceremonies,
the last vestiges of the ancient catechumenate, were reduced to short service at the church
door; and the baptism itself was now witnessed by only the godparents and relatives
instead of the entire congregation.
Peter Lombard defined baptism as “a dipping or external washing of the body together with
a prescribed formula of words.”
Hugh of St. Victor defined it as “water made holy by the word of God for washing away sins.”
(On the Sacraments II, 6, 2)
Baptism was something that cleansed the soul from sin.
Aquinas regarded martyrdom the “most excellent” form of baptism.
1. Later, in the thirteenth century, John Duns Scotus:
1. Sacraments not as instrumental causes of grace but as symbolic actions done by the
church which provided occasions for God to give grace directly to the recipients.
2. Not a power activated later in life but an imprint on the soul.
Baptism for Children
Before the celebration of the sacrament, it is of great importance that parents,
moved by their own faith or with the help of friends or other members of the
community, should prepare to take part in the rite with understanding. They should
be provided with suitable means such as books, instructions, and catechumens
written for families.

Sacrament of Baptism
2. Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit
(vitae spiritualis ianua), and the door which gives access to the other sacraments.
Through Baptism, we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become
members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission:
“Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word.”
What is this Sacrament called?
3. This sacrament is called Baptism, after the central rite by which it is carried out; to
baptize (Greek baptizein) means to “plunge” or “immerse”; the “plunge” into the water
symbolizes the catechumen’s burial into Christ’s death from which he rises up by
resurrection with him, as “a new creature.”
4. This sacrament is also called “the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
“for it signifies and actually brings about the birth of water and the Spirit without which
no one “can enter the Kingdom of God.”
5. “This bath is called enlightenment, because those who receive this [catechetical]
instruction are enlightened in their understanding...” Having received in Baptism the
Word, “the true light that enlightens every man,” the person baptized has been
“enlightened,” he becomes a “son of light,” indeed, he becomes “light” himself:
1. Baptism is God’s most beautiful and magnificent gift... We call it gift, grace,
anointing, enlightenment, garment of immortality, bath of rebirth, seal and most
precious gift. It is called gift because it is conferred on those who bring nothing of
their own; grace since it is given even to the guilty; Baptism because sin is buried in
the water; anointing for it is priestly and royal as are those who are anointed;
enlightenment because it radiates light; clothing since it veils our shame; bath
because it washes; and seal as it is our guard and the sign of God’s lordship.
The Grace of Baptism
6. For the forgiveness of sin:
1. A new creature
2. Incorporated into the Church, the Body of Christ.
3. The sacramental bond of the unity of Christians
4. An indelible spiritual mark

Confirmation
 The earliest Christian community experienced what it believed to be the spirit of
God and understood itself to be guided and empowered by that spirit.
 Almost everything that seemed to be beyond human ability and ingenuity in those
early years was attributed to the power of God and the working of the Holy Spirit:
o the disciples’ courage to preach the news
o people’s willingness to accept
o miraculous cures
o conversions
o decisions
o courses of events
o even the community’s survival of Jewish and Roman persecution (Acts 2, 6, 8,
11and so on).
o the fellowship
 o the transformation of their lives
o their release from guilt about the past
o their exuberant hope for the future were looks upon as due to the Spirit
working in and through the church (Romans 8).
 The name “confirmation” was first used by the French councils of Riez and Orange in
439 and 441, which gave priests permission to anoint the children they baptized
with consecrated chrism, and instructed bishops to visit rural areas of their dioceses
regularly in order to confirm these baptisms by the imposition of hands.
 The one attributed to Urban insisted that “…all the faithful must receive the Holy
Spirit after baptism through the imposition of the hand of the bishop so that they
may become fully Christians.
 Melchiades suggested that episcopal confirmation had an even greater dignity than
baptism because its minister held a higher office that the minister of baptism, and
went on to say, “At the baptismal font the Holy Spirit bestows absolutely all that is
needed to restore innocence, but in confirmation he provides an increase of grace. In
baptism we are born to new life; after baptism we are confirmed for combat. In
baptism we are washed; after baptism we are strengthened.”
 those who died without confirmation were saved, but those who survived needed
the assistance of confirmation to face the conflicts and battles of the world.
 Most of the scholastics agreed that the essential “matter” of confirmation was the
anointing with chrism since this was found in all medieval rites, and that its proper
“form” was the formula that the bishop pronounced as he did this:
o “I sign you with the sign of the cross, and I confirm you with the chrism of
salvation, in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”
 Albert the Great and Alexander of Hales viewed the character of confirmation as a
configuration to Christ the King, the Christian’s leader in spiritual battle.
 Baptism- salvation, Confirmation- Strength to combat battles.
 Some scholastics suggested that in baptism people received the Holy Spirit while in
confirmation they received the seven gifts of the Spirit mentioned in Isaiah 11 and
cited by Ambrose: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and
fear of the Lord.

Confirmation in Modern Times/Contemporary Times

 confirmation could be given to any baptized Catholic but that it was not necessary to
receive the sacrament until the age of seven even though it should not be postponed
beyond the age of twelve.
 (Contemporary Times) The search for a better justification for confirmation began
early. Around the turn of the century, some Catholic theologians tried to distinguish
between the sacramental effects of baptism and confirmation by proposing that
baptism gave a dynamic presence of the Holy Spirit while confirmation gave
the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
 the 1940s and 1950s confirmation gave the seven as the sacrament of “Catholic
 action,” the sacrament that made young Catholics active Christians and soldiers of
Christ, ready to bring the spiritual and social message of Christianity into the world.
 Edward Schillebeeckx suggested that confirmation was an incorporation into the
complete mystery of the church in that it was a deeper encounter with the
mystery of Christ and the Holy Spirit.
 Karl Rahner wrote of confirmation as an assertive counterpart to passive
baptism, an ecclesial symbol that those who are empowered by the Holy Spirit can
transcend their own limitations and can be instruments of grace in the world.
 Marian Bohen viewed confirmation as a sacrament of God’s love by which
Christians became fully accepted as God’s children in the Spirit, were sealed as
brothers and sisters of Christ, and were constituted as witnesses to the
Father’s love for all people.
 Charles Davis suggested that confirmation did not change what the Holy Spirit did
for Christians, but rather it changed their relation to God and the church by making
them witnesses of Christ, heralds of the gospel and prophets in the world.
 still used in Orthodox and so-called uniate:
o “Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit.”
 designate seven to eighteen years of age as appropriate for confirmation. (Rome)
 the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
o “by the sacrament of Confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound
to the Church are enriched by a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence
they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and
defend the faith by word and deed” (1285, quoting from the Constitution on
the Liturgy 11).
 receiving certain spiritual powers or abilities, which should not be confused with
actually using them.

Some Notes from Mons:

NOTES FOR BAPTISM:
John’s baptism is a temporary rite to prepare them from the Baptism in the Spirit.
The very moment the magi give homage to Jesus, it ended astrology.
Christian Baptism is not an attempt to mimic the baptism of Jesus. (We are not the
Messiah)
Water is penitential in nature.
The Baptism of John the Baptist is different as well. That is a Pre-Paschal Baptism.
(Jesus is not yet undergoing his passion, death and resurrection)
Jesus’ ministry of Baptism: Those who got baptized before were raised to the level of
actualized completion by the Pentecostal Event.
Baptism in the ACTS was not Johannine but Christic. It became more complex than a
 water bath alone.
We received a new clothing; we are clothed with Christ.
The Lenten Season is specially designed for the catechumenate.
o Temptation of Jesus
o Transfiguration
o Samaritan Woman
o The Man Born Blind
o Lazarus
The Baptismal font also symbolizes the womb of the Church.
Limbo- is a state for the unbaptized children after death. They will not see God but

they will not also suffer the torments of the other world 😊.
Sacramentum tantum- rite
Sacramentum et res- character
Res tantum- grace
Faith infused in baptism means Christian Belief.
o The Power to believe in Christ.
o The hope of things above.
o The love of God above all things.

NOTES FOR CONFIRMATION:

July 22- Mary Magdalene, June 11- St. Barnabas. There are 14 Apostles in the Liturgy.
In the Church- the age of 15 is already considered an adult.
All the strength given to the Sacrament of Confirmation is due to the Holy Spirit.
Confirmation is a very short rite for it completes what has been started in the
sacrament of Baptism.
Only Bishops has the faculty to confirm.
The Matter: Anointing with Chrism. The Form: I sign with the gift of the Holy Spirit…
Confirmation is a configuration to Christ the King.
Being confirmed also means being a soldier of Christ for life.
It is a tatak na kaloob ng Espirito Santo.