Infant Baptism.

[aReformedPatriot]

What are the precise steps the priest takes when he baptises a baby? Im kinda looking for a detailed 'how to guide" if you will.

 

[Carrye]

There's a ritual involved, but those aspects that affect the validity of the sacrament are three-fold:

1) Matter: Water poured three times over the person (infant or adult)
2) Form: "I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit".
3) Intention: The minister's (priest, deacon) intention that by pouring the water, and saying the words, the sacrament will be confected (the person will be baptized).

 

[aReformedPatriot]

How does the ritual go?

 

[Paul S]

Here are links to both the 1962 Rite and the 1970 Rite. They're rather long, so I won't post them here.

 

[aReformedPatriot]

Thank You, which one is more relavent to the church today, the 70 rite?

 

[Carrye]

Yes, the 1970 looks familiar. Thanks for the links, Paul. I knew the book it was in (which I don't have), but couldn't find it online.

 

[aReformedPatriot]

V. I exorcise thee, creature of salt, in the name of God the Father + almighty, in the love of our Lord Jesus + Christ, in the power of the Holy + Spirit. I exorcise thee by the living God +, by the true God, + by the holy God, + by God + who hath created thee for the preservation of mankind, and hath appointed thee to be consecrated by his servants for the people coming into the faith, that in the name of the Holy Trinity, thou mayest be made a salutary sacrament to drive away the enemy. Wherefore, we beseech Thee, O Lord our God, that sanctifying + Thou mayest sanctify this salt, and blessing + Thou mayest bless it, that it may become unto all who receive it a perfect medicine, abiding in their hearts, in the name of the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall come to judge the living and the dead, and the world by fire.

R. Amen.

What is done with the salt and what is the purpose of this?

 

[Carrye]

I've never seen the blessing of salt. Does it even exist in the Catholic Church any more? There is however, a rite of exorcism within the baptismal rite.

 

[aReformedPatriot]

I've never seen the blessing of salt. Does it even exist in the Catholic Church any more? There is however, a rite of exorcism within the baptismal rite.

Interesting. Do you believe a baby to be possesd by demons when born?

 

[ZooMom]

No. From the Catholic Encyclopedia:





(2) Baptismal exorcism At an early age the practice was introduced into the Church of exorcising catechumens as a preparation for the Sacrament of Baptism. This did not imply that they were considered to be obsessed, like demoniacs, but merely that they were, in consequence of original sin (and of personal sins in case of adults), subject more or less to the power of the devil, whose "works" or "pomps" they were called upon to renounce, and from whose dominion the grace of baptism was about to deliver them. Exorcism in this connection is a symbolical anticipation of one of the chief effects of the sacrament of regeneration; and since it was used in the case of children who had no personal sins, St. Augustine could appeal to it against the Pelagians as implying clearly the doctrine of original sin (Ep. cxciv, n. 46. P.L., XXXIII, 890; C. Jul. III, 8; P.L., XXXIV, 705, and elsewhere). St. Cyril of Jerusalem (Procat., 14, col. 355) gives a detailed description of baptismal exorcism, from which it appears that anointing with exorcised oil formed a part of this exorcism in the East. The only early Western witness which treats unction as part of the baptismal exorcism is that of the Arabic Canons of Hippolytus (n. 19, 29). The Exsufflatio, or out-breathing of the demon by the candidate, which was sometimes part of the ceremony, symbolized the renunciation of his works and pomps, while the Insufflatio, or in-breathing of the Holy Ghost, by ministers and assistants, symbolised the infusion of sanctifying grace by the sacrament. Most of these ancient ceremonies have been retained by the Church to this day in her rite for solemn baptism.

 

[ZooMom]

Wow. I didn't know a text copy would retain the links. Oh, well.

 

[Benedicta00]

What are the precise steps the priest takes when he baptises a baby? Im kinda looking for a detailed 'how to guide" if you will.

Parents and Godparents present the child and the priest asks what is it that we ask of God’s Church and our response if “Faith!” We bring the child and we profess our faith, renounce Satan and all his evil works and through our faith we ask God to confer his gift of salvation and faith onto this child. After the child has been “born again” we then as parents and Godparents hold to our promise, to cooperate with God’s help as we show our child the way of accepting and receiving the gift they were so graciously and freely given.

Salvation is a process and it’s for everyone and it begins at natural birth and the process will end after our physical death. Then life really begins.

I know that is not what you asked but I thought it would be nice to know what the parents and godparents do.

 

[Benedicta00]

Interesting. Do you believe a baby to be possesd by demons when born?

That is basically what a baptism is, an exorcism. We are born not belonging to God but belonging to Satan through Adam’s seed. That is why baptism is sooooo very important, not just for an adult but even for a baby. It is ruly how we are born again.

 

[AMDG]

I've never seen the blessing of salt. Does it even exist in the Catholic Church any more?

Salt is a prized seasoning. It is a preservative VERY necessary in a land without refrigeration. You know, SALTED meat or fish. Jesus talks about the symbol of salt in Matthew 5:13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot."

Whereas, it's not used in the Rite of Baptism, I have seen it used in special, individual and non-official ceremonies. I know my friend suggested that I have some salt blessed by my priest when he blesses the food we'll prepare on November 25--USA Thanksgiving. When she found out that our priest would not be having that, she gave me some.

Oh, I think I found an Eastern Orthodox website that actually sells blessed salt.

 

[Carrye]

^ Yep, I knew about the Orthodox, but had never seen it in a Catholic parish.

 

[ZooMom]

The blessing of the salt was not used in my children's Baptisms, although I think it was used in my husband's. Anyway, we just had an infant Baptism last Sunday at Mass, and no salt was used. Not sure why.

 

[Wiffey]

^ Yep, I knew about the Orthodox, but had never seen it in a Catholic parish.

When we are Baptised we (or our Godparents on our behalf) renounce Satan and all of his works. We also do this during a Divine Liturgy every year (I forget which one exactly) when we renew our Baptismal vows.

My parish is Greek, and we (at the time we renounce the Enemy) turn and SPIT at the Devil. I think that is cool...

 

[ZooMom]

My son would love that...

 

[Paul S]

Thank You, which one is more relavent to the church today, the 70 rite?

That would depend on who you ask.

The 1970 Rite (of Baptism, and Mass, and everything else) is the Roman Rite as reformed after Vatican II, usually celebrated in the vernacular and in use in almost all Catholic parishes.

The 1962 Rite, often called Tridentine (since it was codified at the Council of Trent in 1570, and changed slightly several times over the years up until 1962), is preferred by some Catholics, who generally think it's a more beautiful rite than the newer one, and since 1988 allowed to be used by permission of the bishop. There's about 200 parishes or so in the US which have the 1962 Rite of Mass, and an order of priests called the FSSP uses the 1962 books for everything.

I'm not sure if the blessing of salt still exists, since I don't have a copy of the new Rituale Romanum, the book which contains all the rites of blessing. As the link showed, it's no longer part of the Rite of Baptism; I have no idea why it and the exorcisms were dropped.

 

[Archbishop 10-K]

There's a famous (or infamous, depending on how you look at it) scene from The Godfather which involves an infant baptism.