The Ceremonies of Baptism

It is mortal to omit all the ceremonies of Baptism, or some notable one from them, because thus a grave precept of the Church is violated.

Resolves. - 1. Necessity being excluded, it is mortal to baptize without the anointing of Chrism, because this has a special and grave signification. - St. Ligorius, n. 141.

Outside a case of necessity it is mortal to baptize solemnly with water not consecrated, because an omission of this sort in the ceremonies of Baptism is very grave. More probably also the same must be said if private Baptism is in question ¹, as the Salmanticenses, Roncaglia, and Diana judge. Nevertheless Lacroix, n. 263; Gobat; St. Ligorius, n. 102, and in Homo apostolicus, n. 8, hold the opposite opinion, and not improbably.

¹ It scarcely appears why this opinion is called by the Author more probable. Indeed the authors alleged by him are conveniently explained of solemn Baptism, as St. Alphonsus also interpreted them, and they do not make any word about private Baptism. Nay, in the Synod of Genoa held under His Eminence Cardinal Tadini (chap. 5, section 1, On Baptism) it was forbidden that anyone use consecrated water in Baptisms conferred privately. See Frassinetti, Comp. Theol. mor., note 90.

It is mortal to baptize without necessity outside the Church, unless proximate danger of death threatens, or there is some other great inconvenience. - St. Ligorius, n. 142.

It is mortal to omit the anointing with the oil of catechumens, or other similar things, because it is grave matter, at least from the end of the Church, just as the mixing of water with wine in the holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. - St. Ligorius, n. 144.

Questions. - QUESTION 1. If Baptism solemnly conferred is discovered to be invalid, whether the ceremonies also must be repeated?

Resp. It is controverted. There is a twofold probable opinion. Hence the ceremonies need not necessarily be repeated; nevertheless it is to be advised that they be repeated, if this can be done without scandal or infamy.

QUESTION 2. How is the prohibition of using old chrism, or chrism of another year, to be understood?

Resp. 1. It is to be taken rigorously when new chrism is had. Therefore a Priest would sin gravely who, disregarding recent chrism, used old.

Resp. 2. But in solemn Baptism it is permitted to use chrism of the preceding year until fresh consecrated chrism has been received. Therefore the anointing with chrism and oil must not be omitted for this reason, that oils recently blessed could not yet have been had, nor for that cause must Baptism be deferred to another time, however brief. - Thus against not a few, from the recent decision of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, given on September 19, 1859, in Cadurcensis.

Vol. III, Bk. II, Tr. II, Ch. IV, Ceremonies, Proof, and Annotation of B…, Article I: Rites and Ceremonies Commonly to Be Observed · Vol. III, Bk. III, Tr. II, Appendices, To n. 214. - Appendix II. Historical-Liturgical Appendix on Baptism

But the blessing of the baptismal font on Holy Saturday must be done with chrism of the preceding year, unless the Parish Priest has been able to procure recent oils for himself; nor must the infusion of chrism and oil be omitted until another is received. - Thus from the decision of the Sacred Congregation of Rites just cited.

n. 255.

- QUESTION 3. Whether the interrogations which, from the Rubric of the Roman Ritual, are to be made to the sponsors, can be made in the vernacular language?

n. 255.

Resp. No; but all things must be done as they lie in the Roman Ritual. Thus very recently the Sacred Congregation of Rites, on August 12, 1854, in Lucionensis. - Besides, nothing prevents those things which pertain to the Sacrament of Baptism itself from being explained in the vernacular language. - Thus from the response of the Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office to the Vicar Apostolic of Siam, April 30, 1808.

Vermeersch, Theologia Moralis

Arthur Vermeersch, S.J. — 7 passages

Vol. III, Bk. II, Tr. II, Ch. IV, Ceremonies, Proof, and Annotation of B…, Article I: Rites and Ceremonies Commonly to Be Observed

n. 248.

— 1. Of itself, the ceremonies of baptism determine the rite to which one will belong (c. 98).

Yet offspring must be baptized in the rite of the parents. If the parents belong to different rites, the offspring, with special law saved, is to be baptized in the rite of the father. If only one parent was Catholic, he is to be baptized in this one's rite (c. 756).

The ceremonies are to be taken from an approved ritual, and therefore, in the Latin Church, from the Roman Ritual. And the rites, in grave matter, are to be observed under grave sin.

Notable ceremonies are: in solemn baptism, use of water blessed for this, which seems prescribed under grave sin (c. 757), saliva, salt, breathing, anointing with chrism, and indeed recent chrism if it is at hand, and a sponsor.

When a grave cause impedes all from being used, let at least those be observed which, in the case, can be observed. Those omitted will have to be supplied in the Church when opportunity is given. Nevertheless in baptism which is conferred at home because of imminent danger of death, the ceremonies which precede baptism are omitted; only the ceremonies which follow baptism, if time is present, are observed (c. 759, §1).

Some ceremonies are prescribed for the baptism of infants, others for the baptism of adults. But because of a grave and reasonable cause, the local Ordinary can now indulge that adults be baptized with the ceremonies of infants, which are shorter and simpler.

The reason can be sought from the aversion of the one to be baptized from longer ceremonies, from other business to which the minister must attend, or from too great a number of those to be baptized. Wherefore an Ordinary of missions who knows his missionaries to be stretched by many cares seems able simply to permit them, in his territory, the use of the ceremonies of infants.

When an infant baptized by a heretical minister is brought to the Catholic Church, the ceremonies of the baptism of children are to be used, whether baptism under condition must be repeated or not. - But if an adult is converted from heresy, the ceremonies can laudably be supplied but need not be, unless baptism must be repeated under condition; in that case, by common law, with dispensation of the Ordinary saved, the ceremonies of adult baptism are to be used.

Nevertheless it is lawful for the local Ordinary to permit that this conditioned baptism of a converted heretic be done without ceremonies (c. 759, §2).

When baptism is repeated conditionally, the ceremonies which were omitted in the prior baptism must be supplied, with the exception just mentioned saved; but if the prior baptism was conferred solemnly with all ceremonies, the ceremonies in the second can be repeated or omitted.

Observe that the thumb is to be used for applying saliva; but the eucharistic fast is not broken by salt tasted by catechumens. When the hair of the person to be baptized is too thick, some anoint with chrism the upper forehead, or the part of the head near the hairline; others take care that some part on the crown be shaved; others separate the hair, content if a very little chrism touches the head. The Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide, January 14, 1806, disapproved none of these.
"Let pastors take care that a Christian name be imposed on him who is baptized; but if they cannot obtain this, let them add to the name imposed by the parents the name of some saint, and in the book of the baptized let them write down both names" (c. 761).

Both names are to be written down so that the person can always be certainly recognized.

Interrogations to sponsors are to be uttered in the Latin language, but, if there is need, let them be repeated in the vernacular language which the godfathers and godmothers can use in their responses. And while the priest recites in Latin the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Creed, the sponsors will be able to recite the same at the same time in the vernacular tongue.
Except in imminent danger of death, the sacrament is not of itself to be separated from the solemnities. Wherefore as an abuse to be eliminated there has been reproved the custom of certain regions always of washing infants, ondoyer, with essential baptism, so that afterward in the Church the ceremonies alone may be supplied.

Where the abuse has been general, it belongs of itself to the Ordinary to determine beforehand the mode by which it is to be eliminated; but individual priests can accommodate themselves to the instructions of the Ordinary; and of itself it is to be wished that they know how to dissuade from the practice in such a way that they do not contradict the Ordinary.

n. 249.

— Place. 1. Solemn baptism is, under grave precept, of itself to be conferred in a church or in the adjoining baptistery (c. 773). Wherefore, if the parochial church is too distant, but another church or another public oratory is nearer, baptism is to be conferred in this sacred place (c. 775).

But by c. 774, §1, it is now established that, any contrary custom or law being reproved, indeed every contrary privilege revoked, any parochial church whatever is to have a baptismal font, "with the legitimate right already cumulatively acquired by other churches nevertheless saved," or which they will have acquired thereafter from episcopal ordinance.

Nevertheless in private houses, solemn baptism can be administered to the children or grandchildren "of those who actually hold supreme rulership of peoples or have the right of succeeding to the throne, as often as they have duly requested it"; and, from a just and reasonable cause, in some extraordinary case, also to others, if the local Ordinary has judged it to be conceded (c. 776).

From the very ordinary use of the word, nepos can be taken both for the son of a brother and for the son of one's own son.

It is also manifest that in regions of missions or in places where churches are lacking, solemn baptism can and must be administered outside the church by a competent minister.

n. 250.

— Baptism, whether private or solemn, can be administered on any day.

How quickly? "Let infants be baptized as soon as possible; and let pastors and preachers frequently remind the faithful concerning this grave obligation of theirs" (c. 770).

From the nature of the thing, a delay which brings in danger of dying without baptism is grave; and, with custom and the prescription of positive law attended to, many judge that a delay is grave which, without cause, is protracted beyond a month, or, with cause, beyond two months. Certainly a bishop can command that baptism not be deferred beyond eight days.

R. P. Cappello, op. c., I, n. 19, seems to speak too severely here.

Adults themselves also are of themselves to be baptized as soon as this can be done worthily and conveniently, since baptism is the gate of the Church, and the Church is a necessary society. Yet because of notable temporal harm it will be able prudently to be postponed. And c. 772 itself advises that, "according to the most ancient rite of the Church," the baptism of adults, if it can conveniently be done, especially in metropolitan or cathedral churches, be reserved to be done on the vigil of Easter and of Pentecost.

n. 251.

— Delegation of Faculties. The various faculties which we have recalled as made by law to Ordinaries can prudently be delegated by them to others, from general principles. For they pertain to their ordinary power.

Vol. III, Bk. III, Tr. II, Appendices, To n. 214. - Appendix II. Historical-Liturgical Appendix on Baptism

I. Ceremonies

For the sake of greater clarity and of far more frequent use, we assume the baptism of infants, in whose present Roman rite we can distinguish three parts: the first at the doors of the church; the second, indeed in the church, but up to the laying aside of the violet stole; the third from the taking up of the white stole to the end of the ceremonies. In the baptism of adults, the entrance to the baptistery follows the second part.

Outside the church, these ceremonies take place.

The preliminary dialogue, in which, with the minister asking, the sponsor declares on behalf of the infant the intention of seeking the faith which would give eternal life, and is admonished by the minister concerning the added condition of observing the commandments.
Two series of actions with formulas: a) Accipe signum. Preces nostras... Omnipotens... Exorcizo te... Deus patrum nostrorum. The priest breathes three times upon the one to be baptized, adjuring the devil that he depart from him. He signs the forehead and breast with the sign of the cross, with hands also imposed. He exorcises salt, of which he places a very small quantity in the mouth of the infant;

b) the other series, sufficiently similar to the preceding. Exorcism, imposition of the cross on the forehead, of the hands on the head, with the formulas: Exorcizo te... Ergo maledicte... Et hoc signum... aeternam. After the command has been made imperatively to the demon, the priest is permitted to introduce the infant into the church, covering the same with the end part of the stole.

Within the Church, while the priest keeps the violet stole. In the very introduction into the church, the recitation of the Creed and the Pater. Then the repeated exorcism: Exorcizo te omnis spiritus immunde, etc. With his finger moistened with his saliva, the priest touches the nostrils and ears: "Ephpheta." Satan, his works, and his pomps are rejected three times. With the oil of catechumens the infant is anointed on the breast and between the shoulders.

After the priest has taken the white stole. The candidate is ordered to profess the faith three times. Then, after an affirmative answer has been given to the question "Do you wish to be baptized?" the infant is baptized.

Brief ceremonies follow: anointing with chrism (Deus Omnipotens), imposition of the white linen on the head (Accipe vestem); the blessed candle handed to the sponsor (Accipe lampadem).

The neophyte is dismissed: Vade in pace et Dominus sit tecum. Amen.

This order of baptizing infants is nothing but the abbreviated order of the baptism of adults, accommodated to the condition of little children (cf. Rituale, t. 2, c. 4).

n. ¶2.

II. Historical

Ceremonies of the seventh century, the Gallo-Roman rite.

That rite, so manifold with repeated exorcisms, already of itself suggests the suspicion of a thing which from many successive parts has been made one and simultaneous. And in truth, it is composed of several ceremonies which, in the seventh century, were celebrated on several distinct days within Lent, from the beginning of the third week up to the Paschal night. This is testified to us especially by the Gelasian Sacramentary of the more ancient recension (ed. Wilson, Oxford, 1894, p. 46 ff.) and by the ancient Order which is counted in the seventh place among the "Roman Orders" (these Orders were made public by Mabillon in Museum Italicum II, Paris, 1724).

Concerning this Gallo-Roman Order of the seventh century it is enough for us to have observed these things. Then there were preserved the rites by which in former times postulants were first admitted among the catechumens, and then were enrolled among the "competentes," i.e., candidates proximate to baptism. Wherefore seven scrutinies were made (or rather, at that epoch were considered to be made), i.e., examinations of the candidates with exorcisms; these were performed not by a priest but by an acolyte (exorcist?). But on the day of the third scrutiny, the symbol of faith, the Lord's Prayer, and the beginnings of the four Gospels were handed down to the catechumen. These scrutinies are still represented in the present order of baptizing adults by three signations, or impressions of the sign of the cross upon the one to be baptized. While today, by the interrogation "Do you wish to be baptized?" baptism, both of infants and of adults, is separated from the threefold profession of faith, then the threefold immersion was performed in such a way that the immersions occurred immediately after the professions of faith.

Those going out from the pool were dried by sponsors or godmothers with the linen which today is figured by the small white linen which is imposed upon the baptized person. Immediately after baptism, the neophytes returned into the church, and there received the sacrament of confirmation from the bishop and were admitted to first communion. They had to keep the white garments until the following Saturday (in albis). They laid them aside on the immediately following Sunday.

The pure Roman order of the same age, as far as it is permitted to conjecture from the Sacramentary sent by Hadrian I to Charles the Emperor in the year 876, was much more meager. Yet the most beautiful ceremony of the handing down of the Gospels is Roman.

In the Roman order of the sixth century (described in the letter of John, Roman deacon, to Senarius, P.L. 59, 399 ff.) the following are already noted: admission of the postulant into the catechumenate; catechesis; imposition of the hand; renunciation, exsufflation, and imposition of salt; enrollment of the catechumen among the competentes. Then the scrutinies are named; these are not yet, as in the seventh century, simple ceremonies, but true examinations concerning the faith of the candidates. There were not seven, but only three, placed on the third, fourth, and fifth Sundays of Lent, and therefore outside the rite of Holy Saturday. Among the scrutinies the symbol was handed down. Also enumerated are the touching of the ears and nostrils, but made with oil; the anointing of oil on the breast alone. Finally there are reported the threefold immersion "in the name of the Trinity," the anointing of chrism on the head of the one baptized, and the taking of the white garment.
The Romano-African baptismal order in the fourth and fifth century.

The principal witnesses of this rite are St. Augustine, here and there in his works; Pope Siricius, in the letter to Himerius 2 (P.L. 13, 1134); likewise Pope St. Leo, in sermon n. 40, n. 2 (P.L. 54, 269); the author of the book De Sacramentis, l. II, c. 7, n. 20 (P.L. 16, 429).

Catechumens were divided into two classes. Catechumens of the first class were not immediately prepared for baptism; yet they were taught the doctrine of faith, and were frequently subjected to signation and imposition of hands; they received exorcised salt. This state was prolonged for several years. For from the fourth century catechumens incline to defer initiation until the last moments of life. Then they passed into the class of the elect or competentes, who were prepared to receive baptism at Easter. The names of the elect were proposed at the beginning of Lent. They were subjected to scrutinies or examinations and exorcisms; the symbol and prayer were handed down to them, and they had to "return" it by recitation.

After the last scrutiny the anointing of oil was made. But on the very day of baptism, after the last and solemn return of the symbol and of the Lord's Prayer, there followed the threefold renunciation and the threefold profession of faith (in the same way as today). After the professions of faith the immersions were made; the anointing of chrism and the handing over of the white garment followed. Concerning this anointing it is asked whether it pertained to baptism or to the subsequent confirmation.

The African-Roman baptismal rite before the fourth century.

The principal documents are the works of Tertullian, St. Cyprian, and the Egyptian Ecclesiastical Constitution (Apostolike Paradosis of Hippolytus of Rome), edited several times.

Catechumens had not yet been divided into two classes. The exercises of the catechumenate were already almost similar to the exercises of the later age. Yet catechumens were already compelled to the renunciation by which they renounced all duties connected with danger of idolatry, spectacles, etc. But there is not yet question of the handing down of the symbol. After the preparation of the catechumenate the candidates were called competentes and were suitable for receiving baptism. But the baptismal ceremony itself consisted of three rites: renunciation, profession of faith, and immersion, which we have described above.

n. ¶3.

III. Circumstances of Baptism

Time. From the beginning, Easter and Pentecost were deputed to the solemn conferral of baptism; to these, in certain Churches, other feasts were joined. Thus Clovis was baptized on the birthday of the Lord. But baptism was administered at the end of the vigils of Easter and Pentecost.
Tertullian already names sponsors (godparents) (De Baptismo, c. 18, 19).
The name began generally to be imposed around the second century, when the usage of the baptism of little children became general. Yet already in the fourth century, through St. John Chrysostom (In Genes., Hom. 21, n. 3. P.G. 53, 179), the Church exhorted Christian parents to give their children the name of a man of conspicuous virtue. Nevertheless, the best Christians then without scruple kept the names Isidore, Apollonius, Dionysius, which had long been taken from pagans; nor did St. Martin change his name.
The place of baptism. Baptism in the open air, in a river or pond, which place in the sixth century St. Augustine of Canterbury and in the seventh Paulinus of York used, must have been rare from the beginning. For domestic churches (in private houses), and at least from the third century public churches, were available for the ceremonies of worship. Baptism was also performed in the catacombs, which at first were reserved for burials. Let a witness be the pool in the catacomb of St. Priscilla, which is assigned to the fourth century. In the fourth century there already existed baptisteries distinct from basilicas. The most celebrated is the Lateran, which draws its origin from Constantine, although few traces of the origin survive. Forms varied, yet in such a way that the octagonal and circular prevailed. Chapels for dispensing confirmation and Holy Communion were sometimes joined to the baptistery.

On account of the baptism of infants becoming strong in the sixth century, baptismal fonts were substituted in place of pools. Yet fonts were not conceded to all parishes. The recent canonical Code first granted to parishes the formal right of having fonts.

The ordinary minister of baptism for a long time was the bishop, whose intervention is still attested by the blessing of the oil with which those to be baptized are to be anointed; and c. 772 says that it is fitting that, if it can conveniently be done, the baptism of adults be conferred in the vigil of Easter and Pentecost in churches, especially cathedral and metropolitan churches.

From the eleventh century, the priest became the ordinary minister. Yet in a case of necessity every layperson can baptize. This, however, was sometimes denied to women.

The manner of baptism. Complete or partial immersion (with infusion) was formerly the general usage, which persevered in the Western church until the end of the Middle Ages, and is still used in the East. This usage is more conformable to the etymology of the word baptizein, which is to immerse. Yet from the beginning infusion was admitted for the sick and in a case of necessity; this mode is already mentioned in the Didache, c. 7, n. 4.

E. de M., N. r.

Prümmer, Manuale Theologiae Moralis

Dominic M. Prümmer, O.P. — 11 passages

Vol. III, Pt. II, Tr. II, Chapter VII. On The Ceremonies Of Baptism

n. 139.

139. Notion. Since baptism is so necessary and excellent a sacrament, the Church has been accustomed from the earliest times to administer it with great solemnity of ceremonies. Under the name of ceremonies, however, we understand here not only the actions to be performed by the minister, but also all the other things that the Church prescribes for the worthy administration of baptism. Therefore, we also include sponsors. "For indeed, from most ancient tradition, the presence of sponsors at baptism has always been regarded as a principal ceremony in the Church of Christ."¹⁹⁶

¹⁹⁶ Holy Office, September 15, 1869.

n. 140.

140. Obligation. Outside a case of necessity, baptism must be conferred solemnly with all the ceremonies prescribed in the Ritual.¹⁹⁷ Hence a priest sins gravely not only if, without cause, he omits all the prescribed ceremonies, but also if he knowingly neglects some notable part of them, for example, the anointing with chrism,¹⁹⁸ the insufflation, and the imposition of saliva and salt.¹⁹⁹ It was already said above, n. 100, that it is gravely forbidden for a priest to use the old oils of the past year, unless necessity compels it. For if fresh oils cannot be had, baptism is not therefore to be deferred, but is to be administered with the oils of the preceding year.

The entire baptismal rite must be performed in the Latin language.²⁰⁰ In some dioceses, however, there exists a legitimate custom approved by the Supreme Pontiff of putting the questions either in the vernacular language alone or in both languages.²⁰¹ The sponsors may recite the Our Father and the Creed in the vernacular language while the priest recites them in Latin.²⁰²

The ceremonies may licitly be omitted: a) in a case of necessity, that is, when danger of death is imminent. The Roman Ritual describes how one is then to proceed;²⁰³ b) if a heretic certainly baptized validly returns to the bosom of the Church. In that case the new convert is neither rebaptized nor are the ceremonies of baptism repeated; c) if a heretic doubtfully baptized is rebaptized under condition. This is so, at least by the particular law of certain regions, for example, England and the ecclesiastical Province of Philadelphia.²⁰⁴ For the bishop can permit private baptism to be conferred, and consequently the ceremonies to be omitted, if heretics are baptized under condition in adult age.²⁰⁵ When baptism has been conferred without ceremonies in danger of death, they must afterward be supplied. But if, while the ceremonies of solemn baptism are being performed, danger of death should become imminent for the person to be baptized, baptism itself must be performed immediately; then, while the baptized person is still living, the ceremonies marked for after baptism, and finally the ceremonies marked for before baptism, must be supplied. Thus the Roman Ritual.²⁰⁶

When the parents of an infant belong to different rites, for example, to the Latin and Greek rites, the infant is ordinarily to be baptized according to the rite of the father.²⁰⁷

¹⁹⁷ Code of Canon Law, c. 755.

¹⁹⁸ St. Alphonsus, Theol. mor., l. 6, n. 141.

¹⁹⁹ Cf. the Constitutions of Benedict XIV, Inter omnigenas, February 2, 1744, and Omnium sollicitudinum, September 13, 1744.

²⁰⁰ Holy Office, August 25, 1880.

²⁰¹ Cf. Schüch, Handb. der Pastoral, § 273.

²⁰² Sacred Congregation of Rites, December 30, 1881, ad X (Decr. auth., n. 3535).

²⁰³ Tit. 2, c. 2, n. 28 sqq.

²⁰⁴ Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments, January 4, 1914, in The Ecclesiastical Review (1914), 723.

²⁰⁵ Code of Canon Law, c. 759, § 2.

²⁰⁶ Cf. Göpfert, Moraltheol. III, 38.

²⁰⁷ Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, April 11, 1894; Code of Canon Law, c. 756, § 2.

n. 141.

141. Place. Solemn baptism must be conferred in a church or in a public oratory,²⁰⁸ for "the proper place for administering solemn baptism is the baptistery in a church or public oratory." A parish church has a baptistery by the law itself; another church or public oratory has one by ordinance of the local Ordinary.²⁰⁹ The reason of fittingness is that baptism is the gate through which entry is made into the Catholic Church. Therefore, it is fitting that a man be baptized in some place deputed to the public worship of the Catholic Church. Such a place is a church or public oratory. There are, however, cases in which it is lawful to baptize outside a church:

a) The children or grandchildren of those who actually hold supreme sovereignty can be baptized in the chapel of the house or in another decent place.²¹⁰

b) It is lawful to baptize in the sacristy for a reasonable cause to be approved by the bishop, for example, because of severe cold harmful to the infant.²¹¹

c) In mission territories or elsewhere, where Catholics live far from a church, so that infants newly born cannot be carried to church without great inconvenience, it is lawful to baptize in private houses.²¹² The custom of baptizing at home the infants of the wealthy or of others, however, seems to be illegitimate, unless somewhere the bishop, for a just and reasonable cause, has permitted it in some extraordinary case.²¹³

When a priest administers baptism in a private house because of imminent danger of death, he need not necessarily employ the other ceremonies prescribed in the Ritual. But if he baptizes in a private house outside imminent danger of death, for example, because an infant recently born cannot be carried without grave danger to health to a distant church, then he must employ all the ceremonies of the Roman Ritual²¹⁴ or of another legitimately approved Ritual.

Time of baptism. In ancient times, the vigils of Easter and Pentecost were observed for baptism, and this discipline is still commended in the baptism of adults.²¹⁵ Today no time is appointed, except that the Church commands that baptism be received as soon as possible.²¹⁶

²⁰⁸ Code of Canon Law, c. 773.

²⁰⁹ Roman Ritual, tit. 2, c. 1, n. 42 sq.

²¹⁰ Code of Canon Law, c. 776, § 1.

²¹¹ Sacred Congregation of Rites, March 14, 1861 (Decr. auth., n. 3104, dub. 9).

²¹² Sacred Congregation of Rites, February 4, 1871 (ibid., n. 3234, dub. 3).

²¹³ Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments, December 23, 1912 (Acta Apostolicae Sedis IV, 735); Code of Canon Law, c. 776.

²¹⁴ Thus the Sacred Congregation of Rites, June 17, 1914 (Acta Apostolicae Sedis VI, 32).

²¹⁵ Code of Canon Law, c. 772.

²¹⁶ Cf. above, n. 126.

n. 142.

142. Name. A name must be imposed upon the one to be baptized, and indeed a Christian name, although this seems to be a counsel rather than a strict precept.²¹⁷ The pastor, however, should take care that "obscene, fabulous, or ridiculous names, or the names of vain gods or of impious pagan men, are not imposed."²¹⁸ But if the parents altogether demand that such a name be imposed, for example, Venus, Epicurus, and so forth, baptism is not therefore to be deferred; rather, the infant is to be baptized, with a Christian name added in a lowered voice, and both names are to be entered in full in the book of the baptized.²¹⁹

²¹⁷ St. Alphonsus, Theol. mor., l. 6, n. 145.

²¹⁸ Roman Ritual, tit. 2, c. 1, n. 70.

²¹⁹ Holy Office, January 13, 1883; Code of Canon Law, c. 761.

n. 143.

143. Sponsor. From ancient times,²²⁰ sponsors were employed in the conferral of baptism, who were called receivers, sponsors, sureties, and so forth. The laws concerning sponsors now in force in the Church were enacted by the Code of Canon Law,²²¹ which establishes "that only one be employed, although of a sex different from the one to be baptized, or at most one man and one woman." This statute indeed binds under grave sin; hence a pastor would sin gravely if, for example, he admitted three sponsors. St. Alphonsus²²² thinks that it is also a grave sin if two female sponsors were taken for a boy, or two male sponsors for a girl; but that it is a light sin if two male sponsors were admitted for a boy and two female sponsors for a girl. The reason is that, in the first case, spiritual kinships with the baptized person would be uselessly multiplied, but not so in the second case.

The law of sponsors can be explained briefly in this manner: In every solemn baptism one sponsor suffices, whether a man or a woman; two sponsors are permitted, provided that they are of different sexes; three or more sponsors are prohibited.

Today, in many regions, especially where numerous Protestants live, there exists a custom of presenting several sponsors. This custom cannot be tolerated, but the pastor is bound to obey Catholic law. Nothing prevents more than two from being admitted as witnesses of baptism, or as so-called "honorary sponsors."

²²⁰ Cf. Tertullian, De bapt., c. 18 (Migne, Patr. lat. 1, 1330).

²²¹ c. 764.

²²² St. Alphonsus, Theol. mor., l. 6, n. 156.

n. 144.

144. Necessity of sponsors. a) In solemn baptism there is required under grave sin, insofar as it can be done, at least one sponsor, whether a man or a woman. b) In a baptism of necessity or in private baptism, there is no grave obligation of summoning a sponsor.

Everyone indeed concedes that a sponsor is not strictly required: 1. if a layman baptizes in necessity; 2. when a heretic is rebaptized under condition. Whether, however, a priest administering private baptism is strictly bound to employ a sponsor is not established. The negative opinion seems truer, because private baptism is administered without ceremonies. Moreover, among the ceremonies of baptism, the designation of a sponsor holds the first place.²²³ Therefore, if private baptism is administered, a sponsor is not strictly required, but one should be employed if he can easily be had,²²⁴ since this tends to the benefit of the one to be baptized. But when the baptismal ceremonies are supplied after a baptism of necessity, a sponsor also must be employed, who nevertheless in this case contracts no spiritual kinship.²²⁵

c) In baptism repeated conditionally, the same sponsor who perhaps was present at the prior baptism and who then contracts spiritual kinship should be employed, insofar as this can be done. Outside this case a sponsor is not necessary in conditional baptism; if one is nevertheless employed, he does not contract spiritual kinship.²²⁶

Qualities of sponsors²²⁷ are partly for validity and partly for liceity.

²²³ Holy Office, September 15, 1869.

²²⁴ Code of Canon Law, c. 762, § 2.

²²⁵ Cf. St. Alphonsus, Theol. mor., l. 6, n. 147; Code of Canon Law, c. 762, § 2.

²²⁶ Code of Canon Law, c. 763.

²²⁷ Cf. Code of Canon Law, cc. 765 and 766.

n. 145.

145. For validity it is required:

That they have the perfect use of reason and the intention of undertaking this office. Hence a ratification given afterward does not suffice.²²⁸
That they be Catholics, and neither a) infidels or persons belonging to a heretical or schismatic sect; nor b) persons who, by a condemnatory or declaratory sentence, are excommunicated, infamous with infamy of law, or excluded from legitimate acts; nor c) deposed or degraded clerics.²²⁹

Benedict XIV already laid down, through an Instruction of the Holy Office dated December 9, 1745, "that infidels, heretics, or schismatics cannot be sponsors in a baptism conferred upon the children of Catholics; which same statute we read in the Roman Ritual under the title concerning sponsors, where these words are found: 'Pastors should know, moreover, that infidels or heretics are not to be admitted to this office.'" The reason for this prohibition is evident; for the office of sponsors is, when parents are lacking, to instruct the baptized person in the truths of faith and morals. But who can persuade himself that a heretic would wish to instruct the baptized person in the Catholic faith, which he himself opposes? This prohibition is indeed so strict that baptism is to be administered without sponsors rather than with a non-Catholic sponsor. Thus Benedict XIV (loc. cit.) and the Holy Office several times.²³⁰ But if a heretic has already been designated as sponsor by the parents and cannot be removed without great inconvenience, he can then be admitted as a witness; he cannot, however, be inscribed in the book of baptisms as sponsor, since he has exercised the office of sponsor invalidly. According to the custom of several dioceses, in this case the pastor designates as sponsor the midwife carrying the infant, if she is a Catholic, or the assisting sacristan.

Just as a heretic cannot be admitted as sponsor in a Catholic baptism, so also a Catholic cannot be a sponsor in a baptism administered by a heretical minister. Benedict XIV said in the cited Instruction that it is safer for a Catholic to abstain; but the Holy Office, on June 30 and July 7, 1864, decreed: "It is absolutely unlawful for Catholics, either personally or through others, to discharge the office of sponsor in baptisms administered by heretics to the children of heretics."²³¹ There are indeed authors who permit this for a reasonable cause,²³² but in practice there must be no departure from the Decrees of the Holy Office, because otherwise the Catholic would commit forbidden communication in sacred things with heretics.

That they be neither the father nor the mother nor the spouse of the one to be baptized.

The reason is twofold: a) to avoid spiritual kinship among such persons; b) because parents are already bound by natural law to the education of their children, whereas sponsors by ecclesiastical law must sometimes supply their place. But no one can supply for himself. Hence, according to the discipline now in force, a father or mother can in no case validly exercise the office of sponsor in the baptism of his or her own child. But if no one else is present who can hold the child to be baptized, the father or mother can indeed perform this task, but does not become a sponsor.

That they be designated by the one to be baptized himself, or by his parents or guardians, or, if these are lacking, by the minister of baptism.²³³
That, in the act of baptism, they physically hold or touch the one to be baptized, either personally or through a proxy, or immediately lift or receive him from the sacred font or from the hands of the baptizer.²³⁴

As regards this contact, it suffices "if the sponsor, by physical contact with the infant, joins himself to the person by whose hands the infant is held, and accompanies the one carrying him to the infusion of the water, without its being necessary that the sponsor, male or female, alone, after the carrier has been removed, receive the infant into his or her hands and present him to the priest to be baptized."²³⁵ In most regions it is now customary for the midwife or another woman to carry the infant, while the male and female sponsors accompany her, answer the questions, and, while the priest pours the water, place a hand upon the infant, touching him. In the baptism of adults, however, the sponsors place a hand upon the shoulder of the one to be baptized. When a sponsor discharges his office through a proxy, the proxy indeed must touch the infant, but it is the designated sponsor, and not the proxy, who contracts spiritual kinship and the other obligations.

²²⁸ Cf. Holy Office, September 15, 1869.

²²⁹ Code of Canon Law, c. 765, n. 2.

²³⁰ For example, May 3, 1893; June 27, 1900.

²³¹ Collect. de Prop. Fide, n. 1257.

²³² For example, Azor, Diana, and Laymann; St. Alphonsus (Theol. mor., l. 6, n. 156) also seems to favor this opinion.

²³³ Sess. 24, c. 2, De reform. matr. Cf. Code of Canon Law, c. 765, n. 4.

²³⁴ Code of Canon Law, c. 765, n. 5.

²³⁵ Thus the old Roman Ritual, tit. 2, c. 1, n. 25.

n. 146.

146. For liceity it is required:²³⁶

That they have attained the fourteenth year of age, unless for a just cause it should seem otherwise to the minister.
That they not be excommunicated or excluded from legitimate acts because of a notorious delict,²³⁷ or infamous, whether by infamy of law or of fact, nor interdicted, nor publicly criminal.

Those who are punished with these penalties by sentence of a judge exercise the office of sponsor not only illicitly but also invalidly, as was said above, n. 2.

Illicit sponsors are, for example, concubinarians living in an invalid civil marriage, and notorious Freemasons, concerning whom the Holy Office wrote to the Ordinaries of Brazil on July 5, 1878: "It is altogether to be forbidden that notorious Masons undertake the office of sponsor in the sacrament of baptism or confirmation. For they, insofar as they adhere to a sect condemned by the Church, are in no way fit to procure, if there should be need, the Christian education of their spiritual children." A pastor cannot, however, exclude from the office of sponsor one who neglects annual confession and Communion, or who indulges excessively in intoxicating drink, unless public scandal would arise from his admission. The reason is that in present times sponsors rarely exercise a real influence upon the spiritual education of their children.

That they know the rudiments of the faith.

It is also most fitting that sponsors have been signed with the sacrament of confirmation. Thus the old Roman Ritual, tit. 2, c. 1, n. 24.

That they not be religious of either sex or novices, unless necessity urges and the express permission of at least the local superior is had.

Such necessity can easily occur in foreign missions.

That they not be constituted in sacred orders, unless the express permission of their own Ordinary is added.

Therefore a secular priest cannot undertake the office of sponsor without the express permission of the bishop or vicar general, while an exempt religious priest cannot do so without the express permission of his major superior.

The office of sponsors, since they are spiritual parents, is "to have their spiritual child perpetually commended to them and, in those things which pertain to instruction in the Christian life, to take diligent care that throughout his whole life he show himself to be such as they solemnly promised at his baptism that he would become."²³⁸ This obligation of caring for the Christian education of the child is grave of itself, but it does not bind unless it is established that the child is not sufficiently educated by his parents and those who take their place. Thus St. Thomas²³⁹ and theologians commonly teach.

²³⁶ Code of Canon Law, c. 766.

²³⁷ By the name of legitimate ecclesiastical acts are signified: exercising the office of administrator of ecclesiastical goods; discharging the parts of judge, auditor and relator, defender of the bond, promoter of justice and of the faith, notary and chancellor, messenger and apparitor, advocate and procurator in ecclesiastical causes; exercising the office of sponsor in the sacraments of baptism and confirmation; casting a vote in ecclesiastical elections; exercising the right of patronage (Code of Canon Law, c. 2256, § 2).

²³⁸ Code of Canon Law, c. 769.

²³⁹ S. theol. 3, q. 67, a. 8.

n. 147.

147. Scholion 1. On the pastoral prudence to be employed in rejecting an unworthy sponsor. In doubt whether someone can be admitted validly or licitly to the office of sponsor, the pastor, if time permits, should consult the Ordinary.²⁴⁰ In rejecting the unworthy from the office of sponsor, the pastor should employ all prudence and kindness, lest he offend others or harm the good of religion. Hence he should never use harsh and injurious words, but should say in a gentle manner that he is acting solely from the prescriptions of the Church and cannot admit such a person as sponsor. When an infant is announced to be baptized, the priest should at once inquire concerning the quality of the sponsors and not wait until all are prepared in the church. He should then immediately admonish them that another sponsor be designated. If very great inconveniences would arise from the rejection of an unworthy sponsor, he should take care that the sponsor not touch the one to be baptized in the act of baptism; and if not even this is possible, he can tolerate the unworthy sponsor, provided that grave scandal does not arise therefrom. For the law concerning the rejection of unworthy sponsors is a positive ecclesiastical law. But no positive law binds with great inconvenience, nor is our pious mother the Church judged to urge that law in such great straits, especially since in our times the principal office of a sponsor, namely, the spiritual education of the baptized infant, can scarcely ever be put into practice.

Although the admission of a heretical sponsor is gravely prohibited, and indeed today is invalid, nevertheless several authors, for example, Lehmkuhl²⁴¹ and Noldin,²⁴² think that, in order to avoid grave evils, the pastor can tolerate a heretic touching the one to be baptized in the act of baptism. For the office of sponsors today is honorific rather than practical. Therefore, the Sacred Penitentiary also permitted on December 10, 1860, that a bishop could admit to the office of sponsor one notoriously bound by ecclesiastical censures, if otherwise graver evils would occur.

²⁴⁰ Code of Canon Law, c. 767.

²⁴¹ Cas. consc. II, n. 86.

²⁴² De sacr., n. 78.

n. 148.

148. Scholion 2. On the book of the baptized. The pastor or one taking his place is bound diligently to record in the book of the baptized those baptized, whether born legitimately or illegitimately, according to the prescriptions of the new Roman Ritual, tit. 12, c. 2, and of the Code of Canon Law, c. 777.²⁴³ In this book of the baptized it is also to be noted if the baptized person has received confirmation, contracted marriage, unless it concerns a marriage of conscience, received the sacred order of the subdiaconate, or made solemn profession; and these annotations are always to be included in the certificate of baptism received.²⁴⁴

²⁴³ Cf. our Man. iur. can., q. 283.

²⁴⁴ Code of Canon Law, c. 470, § 2. For the faithful from Russia, cf. Sacred Congregation for the Oriental Church (Pontifical Commission for Russia, July 13, 1928), Acta Apostolicae Sedis XX, 260.

n. 149.

149. Scholion 3. On the blessing of a woman after childbirth. It is a pious and laudable custom, but not a precept, that a woman after childbirth come to church to give thanks to God for her safety and receive the special blessing found in the Roman Ritual, tit. 7, c. 3. This blessing is not among strictly parochial rights, but can be given by any priest in any church or public oratory.²⁴⁵ A bishop, and a fortiori a pastor, cannot by his own authority derogate from this statute of common law. If the pastor himself has been requested, he cannot refuse this blessing. This blessing is not to be denied to a Catholic woman, even if her offspring was born dead without baptism.²⁴⁶ On the contrary, this blessing is to be denied: a) to a non-Catholic mother, at least if scandal of the faithful is rightly feared therefrom; b) to all mothers who have borne offspring from manifestly illegitimate intercourse, for example, from fornication, adultery, a merely civil marriage, and so forth; c) to a mother whose offspring is baptized and educated in heresy or schism; d) to a mother who, without a dispensation of the Church, entered a mixed marriage, even though valid.²⁴⁷

²⁴⁵ Sacred Congregation of Rites, January 12, 1704, and November 21, 1893 (Decr. auth., n. 2123 ad 6; n. 3813).

²⁴⁶ Sacred Congregation of Rites, May 19, 1896 (Decr. auth., n. 3904).

²⁴⁷ Code of Canon Law, c. 2375.

Marc, Institutiones Morales

Clement Marc, C.SS.R. — 14 passages

Vol. II, Part Third: On the Sacrame…, Tr. II, Chapter IV: On the Ceremonies of Baptism

n. ¶1480.

Things to be noted beforehand. 1. "Private Baptism is called that in which no other ceremony prescribed by the Ritual is employed except the washing of the one to be baptized, with the words of the form pronounced, namely those things which by divine law are necessary for Baptism. But it is judged solemn when those rites and ceremonies are employed which the Roman Ritual records as having been received and approved from Apostolic and most ancient tradition, and as pertaining to its solemnity."²

It was asked: "Whether in places where there is no parochial church, nor baptismal font, Baptism can be conferred with all the solemnities and ceremonies customary in the Church?" And by a Decree of the HOLY OFFICE, on February 29, 1663, it was prescribed to missionaries that they can, indeed are held to, use those ceremonies which they can use. "Wherefore it is at once clear that private Baptism is not to be substituted for solemn Baptism because some ceremony cannot be done; for, this being omitted, the others are to be fulfilled."³

These things having been premised, we shall treat: 1. of the place and time of solemn Baptism; 2. of sponsors; 3. of the accessory rites of Baptism.

Vol. II, TREATISE ON BAPTISM, Ch. V, NAMELY ON PATRONS AND CERE…, ARTICLE I: ON PATRONS · Vol. II, TREATISE ON BAPTISM, Ch. V, NAMELY ON PATRONS AND CERE…, ARTICLE II: ON THE CEREMONIES OF BAPTISM

I. On the Place and Time of Baptism

n. ¶1481.

I. The place of solemn Baptism regularly cannot be except a church in which a sacred font is found constituted. This is established from the Roman Ritual and from the Decree of Clement V in the Council of Vienne. Whence St. Alphonsus says: "It is mortal to baptize outside the church without necessity."⁴

We have said regularly; for there is excepted: 1. The case of necessity, which is judged present not only when danger of death is imminent for the infant, but also when the infant cannot be carried into the church without danger of infamy of the parents, or of another grave harm: in which case, from at least the permission of the Bishop, Croix with others affirms that Baptism can be conferred solemnly at home.⁵ 2. The privilege of Kings and Princes, whose sons and descendants it is licit to baptize solemnly in their chapels. But by the name of Princes, according to the more probable opinion, magnates are not to be understood, even those having temporal jurisdiction, but only those who possess absolute authority. "Yet, I think," says St. Alphonsus,⁶ "that where the custom has been introduced of baptizing the sons of magnates at home, it is not easily to be disapproved, as Croix says."

n. ¶1482.

II. Formerly the TIME of solemn Baptism was assigned twice in the year, namely on the Vigil of Easter and on the Vigil of Pentecost. And this custom indeed still flourishes at Rome for the Baptism of Hebrews or other converted unbelievers; but elsewhere it has now gone into desuetude.

n. ¶2.

II. On Sponsors

SPONSORS are as it were spiritual parents, who receive the baptized person from the sacred font into their care.⁷

n. ¶1483.

Principles. I. In SOLEMN Baptism at least one sponsor is to be employed, and indeed under grave obligation, whether this is a man or a woman; nor can more than TWO be licitly employed. Thus the Council of Trent established (sess. 24, de ref. matr., cap. 2). "But the presence of sponsors in Baptism, from most ancient tradition, has always been held as a principal ceremony in the Church of Christ, so that the signification of spiritual generation might be preserved through sponsors, and the religious education of the child might be placed in safety by their pledge."⁸

We have said: 1. in solemn Baptism; for although a sponsor can be employed, indeed is laudably employed, in private Baptism, nevertheless he is licitly omitted.⁹ 2. Whether man or woman: these are the words of Trent, from which it is more probably gathered that, if there is only one sponsor or one sponsa, a male or a female can be employed, of whatever sex the one to be baptized may be. 3. Nor can more than two be licitly employed, namely one man and one woman, lest relationships be multiplied.

Hence: 1. A pastor who admits no sponsor, or more than two sponsors, sins gravely; for he transgresses the precept of the Church imposed under grave obligation. The sponsor and sponsa cannot be two males or two females, although it is controverted whether this would be mortal or only venial. Yet it seems more truly to St. Alphonsus to be mortal, if the sponsors or sponsae differ in sex from the one to be baptized, because thus relationships would be multiplied, contrary to the intention of the Council of Trent.¹⁰

The carelessness of parents is to be disapproved, who entrust the office of sponsor not to chosen and suitable persons, but to anyone whoever first comes, even though they know for certain that he is never again going to visit his spiritual son.¹¹
It is most fitting that sponsors be at least at the age of puberty and marked by the Sacrament of Confirmation. ROMAN RITUAL.

n. ¶1484.

II. That someone VALIDLY be sponsor and contract the obligations annexed to the office of sponsor, the following conditions are required: 1. That he have the use of reason and be baptized. 2. That he have the intention of carrying out that office. Whence the laws require: 3. That he be designated by the parents, or at least by the pastor, if the parents had not designated him; but it is not licit for the pastor, unless a grave reason is present, concerning which see n. 1486, to change the sponsor designated by the parents. 4. That in Baptism itself, by himself or by a proxy, he physically hold or touch the infant while he is baptized, or immediately lift or receive him from the sacred font, or from the hands of the one baptizing.¹²

n. ¶1485.

III. From the receiving of the baptized person from the sacred font there arises the office of pedagogue and spiritual relationship. 1. The OFFICE OF PEDAGOGUE; for sponsors are held to have care concerning the baptized person, that is, to instruct him concerning faith and morals. Yet this obligation presses only when true necessity demands it, for example in the case in which the baptized were being nourished among unbelievers. "But when they are nourished among Catholic Christians," says St. Thomas,¹³ "they can sufficiently be excused from this care, presuming that they are diligently instructed by their own parents. Yet if in any way they should perceive the contrary, they would be held, according to the manner, to expend care upon the salvation of their spiritual children." 2. SPIRITUAL RELATIONSHIP, which arises between those lifting, the sponsor and sponsa, and the baptized person, and his father and mother, and between the one baptizing and the baptized person and the father and mother of the baptized.¹⁴ This relationship is an impediment diriment of matrimony, concerning which there will be speech in the Treatise on Matrimony, n. 2021 seq.

n. ¶1486.

It is asked: Who are PROHIBITED from being sponsors?

Resp. Illicitly, although validly, sponsors are: 1. Apostates, heretics, publicly excommunicated persons, and all those infamous from crimes. 2. Those ignorant of the rudiments of faith; for no one becomes a teacher unless he first has been a disciple. 3. Monks, Nuns, and all Regulars separated from the world, unless Regulars have been made Bishops. 4. Spouses with respect to spouses, and parents with respect to children; for, with respect to those of others, at least from today's custom, both spouses can be admitted.¹⁵ And "nothing prevents parents, in a case of necessity, from performing the place of sponsors, materially holding their infants, and responding for them to the one baptizing, yet apart from the prerogative of true and properly so-called sponsorship, namely apart from the necessity of undergoing the burdens which an office of this kind carries with itself, of contracting the impediment of spiritual relationship prohibiting the use of matrimony."¹⁶

Note. From the ROMAN RITUAL public sinners must be kept from the office of sponsor. "But it is necessary: 1. that they truly be such, publicly known; 2. that the rejection be done prudently, for example by taking care beforehand in good ways that they do not present themselves, or by calling them to a secret conversation and saying that the Church cannot admit them as sponsors, although they can assist as witnesses; but let the motive never be publicly indicated, and often not even privately, to avoid quarrels; and, if another sponsor cannot conveniently be called, let Baptism be conferred without a sponsor; 3. that the rejection can be carried out in such a way that greater evils are not provoked; concerning which in our cities there will scarcely ever be no reason for fear"¹⁷ (cf. n. 1294).

PARTICULAR STATUTES are to be observed, where they are in force, which remove certain others from the office of sponsor, for example secular clerics, lay persons not fulfilling the precept of annual confession or Easter Communion, etc. In involved cases, the Bishop is to be consulted, as far as this can be done.¹⁸

n. ¶3.

III. On the Accessory Rites

n. ¶1487.

I. The ACCESSORY rites or Ceremonies preceding, accompanying, or following Baptism must be employed under grave precept. The reason is that they are prescribed by the Roman Ritual for a grave end, and have special fruits, so that it is mortal, without grave cause, to omit all the ceremonies of Baptism, or some notable one from among them, especially the use of consecrated water, the anointing of the oil of catechumens, and of chrism.¹⁹ Hence Laymann judges that magnates sin gravely who, outside necessity, have their sons baptized at home, or privately in church, so that afterwards, with pomp, the ceremonies may be completed in church after the sponsors have arrived; who, moreover, Baptism having already been conferred before, are not truly made sponsors.²⁰ (Cf. n. 2021 seq.)

n. ¶1488.

II. When the ceremonies have been omitted on account of necessity or negligence, they are to be SUPPLIED solemnly, and indeed under grave obligation, in church. This is established from the Roman Ritual, title Order of supplying omitted things, and from the common opinion. Yet this is not the custom in converted heretics, lest the people think that we disapprove their Baptism, even if rightly conferred. But whether the ceremonies are to be repeated when Baptism solemnly conferred is discovered to be invalid is controverted. Yet it is safer to repeat them, and in practice it is advised, unless danger of scandal or infamy obstructs.²¹

Various decrees of the HOLY SEE pertain here:

To the question: "Whether, in the administration of Baptism, the questions to which the sponsor of the infant ought to respond can be made in the vernacular tongue whenever the said sponsor is ignorant of Latin; or whether at least the question made in Latin, as the Ritual bears, can immediately be translated into the common tongue?" The S. Rit. C., August 31, 1867, in Ambianen., responded: Negatively to each, according to the Decree in Molinen., of September 12, 1847:²² "For the rest, nothing obstructs that in the vernacular tongue all those things which pertain to the Sacrament of Baptism itself be explained." Thus the S. C. DE PROP. FIDE to the Vicar Apostolic of Siam, April 30, 1808.²³
If a priest baptizes, in a case of necessity, outside the church, he ought to omit all ceremonies which precede Baptism, even if the infant seems about to live so long. But Baptism having been conferred as above, he ought to anoint him on the crown with chrism if he has it, impose the white garment, and provide the lighted candle. But when the infant has recovered, he is to be presented in church; and there the omitted ceremonies which precede Baptism are to be supplied. Thus the S. Rit. C., September 23, 1820, in Colagurit.²⁴
It was asked: 1. What ceremonies are to be supplied over a Catholic adult: those which in the Ritual are assigned for the Baptism of adults, or for the Baptism of infants? 2. What are to be observed for an adult heretic converted to the Catholic Faith, when he is to be baptized under condition, on account of a founded doubt concerning the validity of Baptism? And the S. Rit. C. responded (August 27, 1836, in Rhedonen., under 3 and 4): To 1. "Let the ceremonies and prayers be observed which in the Ritual are assigned for the Baptism of infants." To 2. "Insofar as the ceremonies are to be supplied, and are believed to be supplied, as in doubt, those are to be supplied which are prescribed for the Baptism of adults."²⁵

"For ENGLAND faculty was given of conferring Baptism in this case without ceremonies, which for AMERICA, when the Bishops asked in the year 1866, was denied. Yet in a particular case, from a grave cause, it seems that the Bishop can dispense so that it is licit to omit the ceremonies, as you may conjecture from the note itself which is added in the Collection of Gardellini to the decree just cited in Rhedon."²⁶

To the question of the Bishop of Tonkin: "Whether in these places, where there is no common church or oratory, it is licit for a priest solemnly, that is, with all

the ceremonies and prayers prescribed in the Roman Ritual employed, to baptize the children of Christians in their private homes?" The S. C. Prop., on January 21, 1789, responded: Not only that it is LICIT, but that he MUST.¹

n. ¶1489.

Questions. Q. 1. How is the prohibition of using OLD CHRISM, or chrism of another year, to be understood?

Resp. It is to be taken strictly when new chrism is had. Therefore a priest would sin gravely who, new chrism having been set aside, should use old. But it is licit, whether in Baptism itself or in the blessing of the Font to be carried out on Holy Saturday, to use chrism of the preceding year, when fresh chrism cannot be had. Nor is the ceremony prescribed by the Roman Ritual to be deferred until new oils are received. From the response of the S. R. C. in Oriolen., September 23, 1837² (cf. n. 545, end).

Q. 2. What must be noted concerning the imposition of the NAME?

Resp. Generally a name must be imposed: except if danger of death presses and there is doubt concerning the sex. But the ROMAN RITUAL admonishes: "Let the pastor take care that obscene, fabulous, or ridiculous names, or names of empty gods, or of impious pagan men, not be imposed, but rather, as far as can be done, names of Saints." Whence it is only prohibited to impose obscene names, etc., and it is advised to impose names of Saints. But names imposed in Baptism can licitly be changed in Confirmation, indeed also at other times, even by private authority.³

Q. 3. What ought the minister to do AFTER Baptism?

Resp. The pastor ought: "1. to note down in the Book the names of the baptized person and of his parents and sponsors; 2. to admonish the sponsors concerning the relationship contracted and their obligation; 3. to inculcate to mothers and nurses that they not lie down with infants, on account of danger of suffocation." Yet if "the bed is wide, the child inconsolable, who cannot otherwise be defended from cold, and the woman is accustomed in sleep to retain her own position and place," the danger seems absent.⁴

n. ¶1490.

Note. Concerning DESCRIPTION in the Book let these things also be noted: 1. Since the inscription of Baptism and of the names of the baptized and of the sponsors is necessary, for making faith concerning the existence of Baptism and the impediment of relationship, the pastor is held under grave obligation to write and preserve accurately the book of Baptisms. 2. If an infant has been validly baptized privately at home, or in church under condition on account of a positive doubt concerning the value of prior Baptism, it is better to note each diligently.⁵ 3. The inscription of an illegitimate infant must be cautious. Concerning an adulterine child there is no difficulty; for, unless it is established concerning the adultery by sentence of a judge, one must stand by the saying of law: "He is the father whom the nuptials demonstrate." If he was born from a merely civil marriage, let him be inscribed as such, without another note. If he is natural, acknowledged by no one, let him be inscribed as born from unknown parents; if he is acknowledged by the father before witnesses, let his declaration be inserted, to be subscribed by him and the witnesses; likewise concerning the mother, if she by herself, or in writing, or through suitable witnesses, acknowledges the infant as her own. Thus Martinet.⁶

When the baptism of illegitimate children is celebrated, the same solemnities in extrinsic apparatus as for legitimate children are not to be employed (S. C. Conc., July 31, 1867).⁷

Konings, Theologia Moralis

Anthony Konings, C.SS.R. — 7 passages

Vol. II, TREATISE ON BAPTISM, Ch. V, NAMELY ON PATRONS AND CERE…, ARTICLE I: ON PATRONS

Patrons are, as it were, spiritual fathers, who lift the baptized person from the sacred font, and, in default of the parents, undertake care of him.

n. ¶2.

n. ¶1265.

1265. Principles. - I. In solemn Baptism there must, under grave obligation, be employed at least one patron, whether he be a man or a woman; nor can more than two licitly be employed. Thus Trent established.¹ But if a Parish Priest were to admit more patrons than two, he would sin gravely, because he would violate the precept of the Church imposed under grave obligation, lest relationships be multiplied.²

II. In order that someone be truly a patron, the following conditions are required: 1° that he have the use of reason, and himself be baptized; 2° that he have been designated by the parents, or justly by the Parish Priest; 3° that he touch the one to be baptized, by himself or at least through another, and indeed physically (which more probably also holds as regards adults to be baptized³), and in the ablution itself, so that it does not suffice if it is done among the ceremonies;⁴ 4° that he have the true intention of carrying out the office of a patron.⁵

n. ¶1266.

1266. Questions. - Query 1° What are the obligations of patrons?

Resp. They are held to fulfill the office of teacher in a case of necessity, or when the parents of the little child are lacking. Hence they are held to instruct the baptized person concerning Faith, morals, various obligations, etc. But they are released from every obligation when they can prudently presume that the baptized person is diligently instructed by the parents.⁶

Consequently the priest, after Baptism has been conferred, must warn the patrons concerning the obligations undertaken, and besides concerning the spiritual relationship contracted. - But concerning that relationship contracted through Baptism we shall speak where we treat of the impediments of Matrimony.

Query 2° In private Baptism must a patron necessarily be employed?

Resp. Negatively, because he does not seem to be required by the Church except for solemn Baptism. Nevertheless also in private Baptism he can be employed, and more laudably is employed. - Thus commonly with St. Alphonsus.⁷ But if he is employed and lifts the infant with the intention of a patron, he contracts relationship.⁸

Query 3° Can the patrons be two males, or two females?

Resp. Negatively, because Trent established that at most two patrons can be employed, namely a man and a woman. But it is probable that it is only venial, if it is done thus. Several, however, with Bonacina, think that it is mortal. - "This seems truer," says St. Alphonsus,¹ "if the patrons were of a different sex from the infant, because thus the relationships would be multiplied, which Trent wished to prohibit; otherwise if they were of the same sex."

Query 4° Must the patron of a male, if he is the only one, be male, and of a female, female?

Resp. More probably, negatively; because Trent says: "Whether man, or woman"; therefore a man or a woman can be employed indiscriminately.²

Query 5° Who are prohibited from being patrons?

Resp. Validly indeed, but illicitly, the following are patrons: 1° an Abbot and Monk, or a Religious and Nun of any Order in which solemn vows are emitted (or of any religious Institute whatever, in whose Rule this is prohibited), and this whether by himself or by procurator; 2° spouses with respect to spouses, and parents with respect to children; 3° all who are of depraved morals and lost reputation, as heretics, unbelievers, those publicly excommunicated or interdicted, those who are not of sound mind, those who are ignorant of the rudiments of the faith. - Therefore those notoriously enrolled in condemned societies, public concubinarians, and other public criminals are to be kept away. - Besides, "it is most fitting that patrons be at least in the age of puberty, and marked with the Sacrament of Confirmation." - Concerning a heretical patron Kenrick warns:⁴ "To avoid grave offense, sometimes a heretic who presents himself as sponsor is not openly repelled: nevertheless he is never to be admitted as sponsor, but the parents are to be warned that only a Catholic can perform that office: wherefore the custom of some persons everywhere receiving heretics for that office is altogether to be disapproved, being satisfied if one or the other sponsor is Catholic."

Vol. II, TREATISE ON BAPTISM, Ch. V, NAMELY ON PATRONS AND CERE…, ARTICLE II: ON THE CEREMONIES OF BAPTISM

It is mortal, without grave cause, for example urgent necessity, to omit all the ceremonies of Baptism, or some notable one from them, because thus a grave precept of the Church is violated.¹

n. ¶1267.

1267. Resolves. - 1° Necessity being excluded, it is mortal to baptize without the anointing of Chrism, because this has a special and grave signification.²

2° Outside a case of necessity, it is mortal to baptize solemnly with non-consecrated water, because an omission of this sort in the ceremonies of Baptism is very grave. Probably there will be no sin, if there is question of private Baptism.³

3° It is mortal without necessity to baptize outside the Church, unless there is imminent proximate danger of death, or some other great inconvenience is present.⁴ Wherefore the Fathers of the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore⁵ command "that priests never dare to confer this Sacrament outside the church" (not even in the sacristy without a reasonable cause to be approved by the Bishop. S. C. R. 16 Mar. 1861) "except in an imminent case of death, in cities having one or more churches. Those who live in the country, or in villages and little towns, where there is no church, should bring infants to the nearer church or station, in which the Holy Sacrifice is usually offered, to be baptized. But if because of intemperate weather, difficulty of the journey, poverty of the parents, or other grave causes this cannot be done, then they leave it to the prudence of the Missionary," and, as the S. C. de P. F. also commanded on 21 Jan. 1739, "that they baptize them at home" and "with all the ceremonies of the Church." - Concerning the place in which the children of kings or great princes can be baptized, see, if you wish, St. Alphonsus.⁶ (7) p. 401.

4° It is mortal to omit the anointing of the Oil of Catechumens, or other similar things; because it is grave matter, at least from the end of the Church, just as the commingling of water with wine in the Sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist.⁷

n. ¶1268.

1268. Questions. - Query 1° Is it ever lawful to defer the ceremonies for a time?

Resp. Negatively, unless with the license of the Ordinary, where it can conveniently be had (De Herdt, Pr. R. R. c. 2. § 12. n. 1), and for a grave cause, lacking which Baptism is to be deferred until the ceremonies can be completed.²

Query 2° If Baptism solemnly conferred is found to be invalid, are the ceremonies also to be repeated?

Resp. It is controverted. There is a twofold probable sentence. Hence the ceremonies are not necessarily to be repeated: nevertheless it is to be advised that they be repeated, if it can be done without scandal or infamy.³

Query 3° Are omitted ceremonies afterward to be supplied?

Resp. Affirmatively, and that as soon as possible and under grave obligation, unless nevertheless as regards heretics validly baptized and returning to the Catholic Church, "for a reasonable cause it should seem otherwise to the Bishop." See nevertheless what has been said in n. 1264. II. - If there is question of a "Catholic adult validly baptized after birth, ... the ceremonies and prayers are to be observed ... for the Baptism of infants."⁴

Query 4° What does the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore specifically command concerning the names which are imposed upon those to be baptized?

Resp. "When various names, both of Saints and of family, are bestowed upon infants in Baptism, if the priest has judged it expedient, in the first interrogation let him express all the names; but in the following forms and prayers let him repeat only the names commonly called Christian. But in the book of Baptisms let all the names be recorded."⁵

Query 5° What likewise concerning the Baptismal font?

Resp. "Care is to be taken that baptismal fonts under key be erected as soon as possible in each church" (not in the sacristy. Gardell. in S. R. C. 16 Dec. 1826. III. ad V. 1), where the Sacrament of Baptism is ordinarily ministered; "near these let all things which pertain to the administration of this Sacrament be kept cleanly."⁵

Query 6° How is the prohibition of using old Chrism, or that of another year, to be understood?

Resp. 1° It is to be taken rigorously, when new Chrism is had. Therefore the priest would sin gravely who, the recent Chrism being available, used the old.

Resp. 2° If the new is not had in due time, this happens either fortuitously (because, for example, he who was to bring it came late), or regularly (for example, on account of the great distance of the parish from the episcopal city). - In the latter case the blessing of the Font is to be celebrated with the infusion of the Oils of the preceding year, and the new ones are to be employed in the blessing of the Font, which, the contrary custom having been eliminated since it is an abuse, ought to be done (S. R. C. 7 Dec. 1844 in Urbevet.) on the Vigil of Pentecost. - In the former case the Font is blessed on Holy Saturday, without the old Oils being infused (unless, nevertheless, it is foreseen that Baptism is to be solemnly ministered immediately after the blessing of the Font). But the new Oils, as soon as they have been received, are to be infused into the Font blessed without Oils, privately (i.e. without solemnity) and separately by a priest vested in surplice and stole, the rite of the Missal being observed. But if before they have been received an infant to be baptized is brought, his Baptism is not to be deferred until they are received, but, with the old Oils infused into the Font, it is to be conferred solemnly, and in this case the new ones are infused on the Vigil of Pentecost. - S. R. C. 12 Apr. 1755 in Lucan. ad 3.; 23 Sept. 1837 in Oriol. ad 1. 2. 3. 4.; 12 Aug. 1854 in Lucion. ad 79. 80.¹

Query 7° What does the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore warn concerning the blessing of a woman after childbirth?

Resp. "Let pastors commend that pious rite. The prelates desire, ... that the blessing ... not be conferred in future promiscuously, and with no account had of the disposition of the woman after childbirth, nor outside the church or the place where the Holy Sacrifice is offered."² (a), p. 393.

Merkelbach, Summa Theologiae Moralis

Benedict Henry Merkelbach, O.P. — 14 passages

Vol. III, Special Moral Theology: On…, Treatise: On Baptism, Appendix: On the Ceremonies of Baptism

S. Th. III, q. 66, a. 10; q. 67, a. 7-8; q. 71.

169. Obligation of observing the rites and ceremonies. - 1. Baptism of itself and outside a case of necessity must be conferred solemnly, i.e. with all the ceremonies and rites prescribed in the ritual (can. 755, § 1). This obligation is grave by its genus, from a grave precept of the Church enacted on account of reverence toward the sacrament (n. 103); whence the minister sins gravely if without a just reason he omits all the ceremonies, or a notable part of them, or notably changes them.

Thus if he neglects the anointing with oil or chrism, the insufflation, the imposition of saliva and salt, the use of consecrated water, the profession of faith, or even several lesser ceremonies. Likewise it is a grave sin to use old oils beyond a year, if new ones can be had; for otherwise Baptism would not have to be deferred on this account, but administered with the oils of the preceding year, which therefore are to be preserved until the new ones have arrived. When blessed oil is about to be lacking, other unblessed olive oil should be added, even repeatedly, but in a lesser quantity (Roman Ritual, tit. 2, c. 1, n. 47-49); the same is to be done for blessed water if it has been diminished in the baptistery (can. 757, § 2; Rit., n. 6).

Per accidens, in danger of death, Baptism can be conferred privately: then, if it is conferred by a minister who is neither priest nor deacon, only those things are to be placed which are necessary for the validity of Baptism; if by a priest or deacon, let the ceremonies also be observed, if time is present, which follow Baptism (can. 759, § 1).

The whole baptismal rite is to be performed in the language of the ritual, i.e. in Latin in the Latin Church, even as to the questions to be put to the sponsors. Yet the minister can repeat in the vernacular language the questions put in Latin and receive the responses in the same language; indeed, sometimes an indult is conceded by the Holy See that they may simply be made in this language. Likewise the sponsors can recite the Our Father and the Creed in the vernacular language, while the priest recites them in Latin speech.

The offspring of Catholics is to be baptized in the rite of the parents; but if the parents are of diverse rites, let it be baptized in the rite of the father, unless another thing is provided by special law. If only one of the parents is Catholic, the offspring is to be baptized in the rite of this one (can. 756). The obligation is certainly grave.

The baptized person belongs to that rite with whose ceremonies he was baptized, unless fraud, or necessity, or apostolic dispensation intervened. But if, contrary to the prescription of can. 756, at the prayers of the parents he was baptized by a minister of another rite, he belongs to the rite in which he ought to have been baptized, as the Commission for the Interpretation of the Code declared, October 16, 1919, unless nevertheless legitimate permission of the Ordinary has been added.

Although it is not a precept, but only of counsel, that a Christian name be given to the one to be baptized, nevertheless let the pastor take care that obscene, fabulous, or ridiculous names, or the names of empty gods or impious pagans, not be imposed (Rit., n. 54). But if this cannot be prevented, Baptism is not for this reason to be deferred, but the child is to be baptized; yet to the name imposed by the parents there should be added, in a low voice, the name of some saint, and both should be inscribed in the book of the baptized (can. 761), so that namely the person can certainly be recognized.

The right of choosing the name belongs to the parents, then to the sponsors; if these are lacking, let the pastor impose it. The name imposed in Baptism can licitly be changed in Confirmation; nevertheless this generally does not seem opportune, lest confusions arise.

Different ceremonies for the Baptism of infants or of adults are prescribed and are to be observed. But the Ordinary of the place, for a grave and reasonable cause, can indulge that the ceremonies for the Baptism of infants be used in the Baptism of adults (can. 755, § 2). If the ceremonies have been omitted for any reason whatever, they are to be supplied as soon as possible in the church (can. 759, § 3), which obligation is grave; whence if in danger of death a priest baptized privately, even adding the ceremonies which follow Baptism, once the danger has ceased the rest are afterward to be supplied (Rit., c. 2, n. 29). But since the ceremonies follow Baptism, hence:

a) If the Baptism of a Catholic was certainly conferred validly in infant age, for the adult the ceremonies from the rite of the Baptism of infants are to be supplied.

b) If the Baptism of a Catholic is repeated under condition, then if indeed the ceremonies were omitted in the prior Baptism, they are to be supplied; but if in the prior Baptism they were used, in the other they can be repeated or omitted (can. 760). The same seems to be said if Baptism was certainly invalid.

c) If the Baptism of a heretic is repeated conditionally in adult age, of itself the ceremonies are to be supplied; nevertheless the Ordinary of the place can permit that they be omitted (can. 759, § 2); if in infant age, the ceremonies are to be supplied secretly, for in this way Baptism is to be repeated.