THE ROMAN RITUAL
COMPLETE EDITION
PHILIP T. WELLER, S.T.D.
Priest of the Diocese of La Crosse
Assistant Professor of Theology at
Loyola University in Chicago
Copyright 1964 Philip T. Weller
THE BRUCE PUBLISHING COMPANY
Nihil obstat:
REV. HUGO C. KOEHLER
Censor deputatus
Imprimatur:
JOHN P. TREACY, S.T.D.
Bishop of La Crosse
September 1, 1964
The text of the Confraternity Edition of the Holy Bible contained in
this book is reproduced by license of the Confraternity of Christian
Doctrine, Washington, D. C., the owner of the copyright of said Holy
Bible. Used with its permission. All rights reserved.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 64-8392
Copyright 1964 PHILIP T. WELLER
MADE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
AUTHOR'S FOREWORD
This complete edition of the Roman Ritual is in accord with the latest
"Editio Typica," dated January 25, 1952. However, since that time a
number of significant additions have been made and revisions put into
effect by the Congregation of Sacred Rites; they have been published in
"Acta Apostolicae Sedis" as well as in "Ephemerides Liturgicae." All of
these changes have been taken into account in the present version.
Moreover, immediately before going to press we were able to incorporate
the changes introduced by the Liturgy Commission's "Instruction" of
September 26, 1964, made public on October 16, 1964, thus bringing the
work fully up to date.
The English version of the psalms and other passages from the Old
Testament are from the Confraternity version, with some adaptations
where necessary for artistic or musical reasons. New Testament passages
are from the Kleist-Lilly version. For the translations in verse of the
hymns I am indebted to the work of Dom Matthew Britt, O.S.B., "The
Hymns of the Breviary and Missal," with the author's kind permission.
A musical supplement to this volume is available at The Bruce
Publishing Company. Music of a worthy nature and suitable idiom for
English texts is provided therein wherever the "Editio Typica" calls
for parts to be sung, or wherever else it is felt that singing would
greatly enhance the sacred rites.
Because the "Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy" (35.3) directs priests
to give liturgical instruction to the people during the very rites
themselves, I have supplied introductions to the principal parts and
some commentary within the rites. These are meant merely as suggestions
on which the celebrant may base whatever commentary he sees fit to
give. Provision is also made for the people's vocal participation so
far as possible, again in accord with the "Constitution."
"Traduttore traditore," "the translator is a traitor," says an Italian
proverb. So he is to many of his readers, and he need look for little
leniency, except perhaps from those who themselves have set their hand
to translating.
CONTENTS
Apostolic Constitution of Pope Paul V on the Roman Ritual
The Holy Sacraments, introduction and general rules
Baptism, introduction and general rules
Rite for baptism of children
Baptism of adults, introduction and general rules
Norms for new rite for baptism of adults
Rite for baptism of adults
Rite for supplying of ceremonies omitted in baptism
Rite for baptism administered by a bishop
Blessing of baptismal water
Confirmation, introduction and general rules
Rite for confirmation apart from danger of death
Rite for confirmation in danger of death
Holy Eucharist, introduction and general rules
Rite for holy communion outside of Mass
Communion during Eastertime
Communion for the sick, general rules
Rite for communion for the sick
Rules for celebrating Mass more than once the same day
Mass celebrated by a blind priest
Forty Hours' Adoration
Penance, introduction and general rules
Common form for absolution
Rite for absolving from excommunication
General absolution and papal blessing for religious
Papal blessing for secular tertiaries
Rite for absolving from suspension or interdict apart from
sacramental confession
Anointing of the Sick, introduction and general rules
Rite for anointing of the sick
Visit and care of the sick
Spiritual assistance to the dying
Apostolic blessing at the hour of death
Rite for commending a departing soul
Prayers at the moment of death
Matrimony, introduction and general rules
Rite for celebrating marriage within Mass
Rite for celebrating marriage apart from Mass
Mixed marriage
Celebration of a silver or golden wedding
Solemn engagement or betrothal
Holy Orders: priesthood, introduction
Rite for ordination of priests
The Seven Penitential Psalms and Litany of the Saints
Liturgy for the Faithful Departed, introduction and general rules
Rite for burial of adults
Exequies when the body is not present
Rite for burial of children
Vespers for the dead and prayers at a wake
Blessings and other sacramentals, introduction and general rules
Blessings for special days and feasts
Blessings of persons
Blessings of animals
Blessings of places not designated for sacred purposes
Blessings of places designated for sacred purposes
Blessings of things designated for sacred purposes
Blessings of things designated for ordinary use
Processions, general rules
Rites for processions
Exorcism, introduction and general rules
Rite for exorcism
Litanies
Blessings formerly reserved to religious orders
Appendix: reception of converts; profession of faith; itinerarium;
prayers at meals; oath against modernism
Index
Index of psalms, canticles, hymns
DECREE
In preparing a new edition of the Roman Ritual, the Congregation of
Sacred Rites decided to introduce a number of additions and revisions,
in order to bring it in line with recent legislation, as well as to
produce a more orderly arrangement of the whole subject matter. Then,
when the work had been studied and finally completed it was submitted
to the Supreme Pontiff, Pope Pius XII, for approval.
On the recommendation of the undersigned Cardinal Pro-Prefect of the
Sacred Congregation of Rites, His Holiness in turn confirmed and
approved this edition of the Roman Ritual, and decreed that it be the
model to which all future editions of the Roman Ritual are to conform,
anything to the contrary notwithstanding.
+ CLEMENT CARDINAL MICARA
Bishop of Velletri
Pro-Prefect of the Cong. of Sacred Rites
+ ALPHONSE CARINCI
Archbishop of Seleucia
Secretary
THE APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION OF POPE PAUL V
on the Roman Ritual
POPE PAUL V
as a Perpetual Memorial
Called by divine munificence, and not through any personal merit, to
occupy the See of the Apostles, we deem it our duty to watch with full
earnestness over all that concerns the decorum of God's house. And such
constant vigilance on our part prompts us to take suitable measures so
that, as the Apostle admonishes, everything in divine worship may
function decently and orderly. Particularly is this true in regard to
the administration of the sacraments of the Church of God; here
especially our office obliges us to provide that a religious observance
be given those rites and ceremonies established by apostolic tradition
and the decrees of the fathers. Pope Pius V, our saintly predecessor,
fully conscious of his obligation which is now ours, labored with
pastoral indefatigability to publish first the Roman Breviary, then the
Roman Missal--both having been worked out with much labor and zealous
care--so that there might be, God willing, a uniform manner of chanting
and praying the Church's liturgy. He did this not only to restore
careful observance of the sacred rites in celebrating the Holy
Sacrifice and chanting the Divine Office, but also for the purpose of
promoting the bond of Catholic unity in faith and in government, under
the visible authority of the Roman Pontiff, the successor of St. Peter.
With similar wisdom our predecessor of blessed memory, Clement VIII,
followed in the footsteps of Pius V. He not only gave to the bishops
and lesser prelates of the Church the carefully revised Pontifical; but
he also made a systematic compilation of many other ceremonies wont to
be used in cathedrals and lesser churches, embodied in the Ceremonial
which he promulgated. With all this accomplished there remained to be
published, by authority of the Holy See, a volume of the Ritual which
would contain the genuine and sacred rites of the Catholic Church,
those which must be observed by shepherds of souls in the
administration of the sacraments and in other ecclesiastical functions.
Amidst the numerous existing rituals it would rank as the official and
authorized one, by whose standard the officiants could fulfill their
priestly office unhesitatingly, and with uniformity and precision. This
matter had been urged a long time ago. But since the work of the
General Councils (whose acts by God's help have been published both in
the Greek and Latin tongues) is at present hindered, we considered it
our obligation to prosecute the business in right good earnest. In
order that the task proceed correctly and orderly as it should, we
assigned it to certain of our venerable brethren among the cardinals,
outstanding for their piety, learning, and sagacity. Aided by the
counsel of scholars and through comparison with ancient as well as
other available rituals--in particular that erudite work of Julius
Antonius of blessed memory, Cardinal with title of St. Severina, a man
of singular piety, zeal, and learning--the commission of cardinals has
succeeded in compiling a ritual of desired brevity, after mature
deliberation and with the help of God. Now as we see lying before us
this well-arranged assortment of received and approved rites of the
Catholic Church. we deem it fitting that it be published for the
universal utility of God's Church, under the title of "The Roman
Ritual." Therefore. we exhort in the Lord the venerable brothers
patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, and their vicars, beloved sons of
ours, as well as abbots, all pastors wherever they labor, and all
others concerned, sons of the Roman Church, that in future they use
during the sacred functions this Ritual, made official by the authority
of the same Church, mother and mistress of all; and that in a matter so
important as this they observe inviolately whatever the Catholic Church
with her ancient and approved traditions has laid down.
Given at Rome at St. Mary Major, under the fisherman's seal, on June
17, 1614, in the tenth year of Our Pontificate.
S. Cobellutius.
THE HOLY SACRAMENTS
INTRODUCTION
In the fullness of time, when our heavenly Father was to exercise the
most lavish act in His economy with mankind, He did so by means of a
sacrament, the foremost sacrament: the incarnation with its extension
throughout the ages in the Church, the mystical body of the Word made
Flesh. "As Christ comes into the world He says, 'No sacrifice, no
offering was your demand; you have endowed me instead with a body. You
have not found any pleasure in burnt sacrifices, in sacrifices for sin.
See then, I said, I am coming to fulfill what is written of me, where
the book lies unrolled; to do your will, O my God.'"[1] "He has put
everything under His dominion, and made Him the head to which the whole
Church is joined, so that the Church is His body, the completion of Him
who everywhere and in all things is complete."[2] The incarnation and the
Church together is the primal sacrament; in fact, it may well be
considered the one full sacrament of the New Covenant, all others by
that name being fundamentally the unfolding communication of this
supreme work of God's manifest kindness, mercy, and grace.
Christ and His Church. In becoming man He "is that head whose body is
the Church; it begins with Him";[3] the Church, a new creation, the
sacrament in which we are redeemed. Never before had God approached man
in such full realism. This manifestation of the sole-begotten Son in
creature form signified dramatically the limit to which the Uncreated
would stoop, in order that He who is the Creator of man in the original
state of grace would be likewise the renovator of man fallen from this
estate. "O stupendous interchange of gifts, that the Creator of the
human race, taking to Himself a human body, has deigned to be born of a
virgin, and coming forth as man without the intervention of human seed,
has endowed us with His divinity!"[4] The essence of Godhead is joined in
sacramental mystery with visible mortal substance, "so that while we
contemplate Him as God made manifest to our sight, we may be drawn by
Him to the love of things unseen."[5] And since after the resurrection
Jesus Christ would withdraw His glorified humanity from the earth to
the seat at the right hand of God the Father, He provided that the
sacramental mystery of incarnation and redemption be prolonged in the
sacramental mystery of His body the Church. "I will not leave you
orphans; I am coming back to you. Yet a little while, and the world
sees me no longer; but you will see me, because I live, and you, too,
shall live. On that day you will come to understand that I am in the
Father, and you are in me, and I in you.... I am the vine, you are the
branches.... But when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will
conduct you through the whole range of truth. He is to glorify me, for
He will draw upon what is mine and announce it to you."[6]
Christ who is life came as the sacrament of the Word made Flesh,
prolongs life in the sacrament of the Church, effects and sustains life
in the members of the Church through her sacramental mysteries. These
are her most treasured possessions and her primary (and normally
indispensable) means of grace. It is by the first of them, baptism,
that the Church can solemnly declare to the soul dead in sin: "Awake,
you that sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you
light."[7] Baptism is the sacrament which re-creates us a child of God, a
brother of Jesus, a member of the Church. It is the beginning of our
ontological union with the mystical body of the Savior. Yet another
sacrament, the Eucharist, is required to intensify and complete this
incorporation.[8] "He that eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, abides in
me and I in him."[9] We are made a new creature by water and by blood, as
symbolized on Calvary: "One of the soldiers opened His side with a
spear; and immediately blood and water flowed out."[10] To complete
Himself the head needs to draw members unto Him to build up the mystic
edifice. Through the sacraments which flow from the side of Christ,
God's plan of developing and completing the mystic Christ is carried
out.[11] Consequently, it is so much more important that we know and
accept Christ living and acting in sacramental reality here and now in
His body the Church than simply to contemplate Him as the historical
figure who onetime in the past went about in our world working the
salvation of men.
By uniting us with Christ, the head, the sacraments unite us with His
other members in the Church, the society of the faithful. "We, too, all
of us, have been baptized into a single body by the power of a single
Spirit, Jews and Greeks, slaves and free men alike; we have all been
given drink at a single source, the one Spirit. The body, after all,
consists not of one organ but of many.... And you are Christ's body,
organs of it depending upon each other."[12] To perfect the bond of
fellowship is primarily the work of the Eucharist, yet every sacrament
has a share in this consolidation, since all of them converge toward
the Eucharist as their end. The Eucharist is par excellence the
sacrament of fellowship, unity, charity. As sacrifice the eucharistic
oblation of Christ, truly His very own renewal of Good Friday in
sacramental manner, is also the sacrifice of the Church, with a priest
as minister acting in the person of Him and in the person of the entire
fellowship of the faithful. Then as the communion of the body and blood
of Christ, the holy sacrament of the altar, which culminates the bond
of union and love between Jesus and the individual recipient, likewise
extends the kiss of peace from member to member. If no other
consideration, then this very one along with its corollaries should go
far toward demonstrating that the sacramental mysteries of Christ and
His Church, viewed and used properly, avoid the stigma of routine or
ritualism or external formalism or arbitrariness which the unknowing
would at times hurl at them. Although objective functions of religion,
our wonderful sacraments indeed provide full play for man's subjective
religious aspirations. They are the universal means of holiness, alike
for the highest mystic and for the lowliest sinner. We acknowledge that
God can and does come to a soul with His grace outside of their stream-
-the Spirit breathes where He will. Yet ordinarily they are the main
contact with and growth in Christ and His Church--they are necessary,
they have stability, they work infallibly. "By means of the holy
sacraments all true justice is established in its beginning, that which
exists is increased, that which is lost is restored";[13] so teaches the
Council of Trent.
It is certainly made plain from the history of Christianity that the
sacraments fare better or worse in respect to how men evaluate them at
different times and among different cultures as well as individuals.
The simple of heart delight in them more readily than those of
overrefined intellects; and this is predicated without implying that
true intellectualism need in any way find them embarrassing. The most
brilliant of the Fathers and Scholastics have been their champions. The
best endowed theologians have been responsible for their theological
formularies. To Christians in the East they seem to be more awe-
inspiring than to the brethren in the West; at least we find among the
former less controversy and hairsplitting and rationalizing and less
temptation to neglect them at times for less certain sources of piety.
The sacraments fared badly in the Protestant revolt: "How can a man be
justified by an external ceremony without right movements of the
heart?" No need to point out the fallacious way in which the question
is formulated! And if havoc was raised for the sacramental system by
Protestant subjectivism and individualism, its death knell was tolled
for those outside the Church by the former's stepchild, Rationalism.
For the latter the very notion of sacrament becomes laughable, since
this system identifies "sacramentalism" with necromancy--logical
enough, and completely in accord with its denial of God's grace and
man's personal or inherited guilt. Modern civilization with its
instability, vulgarity, intellectual confusion, subjectivism, and
unbelief finds beyond itself the acceptance of God becoming immanent
and operative in creature elements, words, and gestures. Nevertheless,
there are indications that a change of heart is occurring in the sects,
who are showing evidence of discovering that what is natural Christ has
made supernatural, as St. Chrysostom points out: "For if you had been
incorporeal, He would have delivered to you the incorporeal gifts bare;
but because the soul has been locked up in a body, He delivers to you
the things that the mind perceives, in things sensible.[14]... For
although they are done on earth, yet nevertheless they are worthy of
the heavens. For when our Lord Jesus Christ lies slain (as a
sacrifice), when the Spirit is with us, when He who sits on the right
hand of the Father is here, when sons are made by the washing...when He
says, 'Whose sins you retain they are retained, whose sins you remit,
they are remitted': when they have the keys of heaven, how can all be
other than heavenly?"[15] In Catholicism too there is increased devotion
to the sacraments ever since the eucharistic-liturgical renewal of Pius
X. In fact, whenever we find an age deeply conscious of the doctrine of
the mystical body, the sacrament of Christ and His Church, we notice a
corresponding deepening of faith that in the sacramental mysteries we
have Christ's incarnation and redemption made present again.
For all who believe in the Scriptures it is there to perceive that
already in the Old Testament the foundations were laid for future faith
in the sacraments of the Church. The ancient covenant had its own
sacraments which not only preannounced ours, but had a certain
efficacy, not in the sense that they caused grace, but rather that they
conferred grace by reason of the faith in Christ which they expressed.
There is one episode in particular which the Church with fine
psychological insight borrows during Lent, in order to impress upon her
candidates for baptism that henceforth their communion with God will be
effected chiefly through her sacramental powers. On Monday in the third
week of Lent, she uses as the Epistle of Mass the passage from the
Fourth Book of Kings which recounts Naaman's cure of leprosy through
the waters of the Jordan. "In those days Naaman, general of the army of
the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable...but
a leper. Now there had gone out robbers from Syria, and had led away
captive out of the land of Israel a little maid, and she waited upon
Naaman's wife. And she said to her mistress: 'I wish my master had been
with the prophet that is in Samaria; he would certainly have healed him
of the leprosy which he has.' ...So Naaman came with his horses and
chariots, and stood at the door of the house of Eliseus; and Eliseus
sent a messenger to him, saying: 'Go, and wash seven times in the
Jordan, and your flesh shall recover health, and you shall be clean.'
...Naaman was angry, and as he turned and was going away with
indignation, his servants came to him and said to him: 'Father, if the
prophet had bid you to do some great thing, surely you would have done
it; how much rather what he now said to you: "Wash, and you shall be
clean"?' Then he went down and washed in the Jordan seven times,
according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored,
like the flesh of a little child, and he was made clean."[16] The Church
reads this as an instruction on baptism for her catechumens, but it can
be applied as well to all the sacraments. Naaman, when he believed in
Eliseus (a type of Christ) and consented to wash in the waters of the
Jordan (the sacramental signs which both signify and effect), had his
flesh restored (purification and grace) like the flesh of a little
child (sonship of divine adoption).
During His public life our Lord, before instituting the sacraments,
took pains to secure our faith in them by frequently making use of
homely signs as He went about healing the people of their infirmities.
We believe that these miracles had not only an immediate purpose of
dispensing mercy to those He found afflicted with bodily and spiritual
ailments, or to confirm His divine nature and mission in the sight of
onlookers, but also served to preannounce that in the sacraments He
would institute, "virtue would go out from Him and heal all."[17]
Moreover, these good works of Jesus do more than teach and prefigure.
The fathers never tire of proclaiming that His historical acts are
performed not only for the moment, but that they are done "in
mysterio"; that whenever His deeds are set before us in the Gospel for
our contact by faith, or in the liturgy for our contact by sacrament,
the grace which they one time merited is now produced within us. "As
Jesus was departing again from the district of Tyre...they brought to
Him one deaf and dumb, and entreated Him to lay His hand upon him. And
taking him aside from the crowd He put His fingers into the man's ears,
and spitting, He touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, He
sighed and said to him: 'Ephpheta,' that is, 'Be opened.' And his ears
were at once opened, and the bond of his tongue was loosed, and he
began to speak correctly."[18] What He could have accomplished by a mere
act of will or the utterance of a word He chose actually to effect
through the instrumentality of matter, gestures, and words: spittle,
touch, Ephpheta. Another time when ten lepers besought Jesus to have
mercy on their condition, He commanded them to present themselves to
the priests: "and as they went they were made clean."[19] Spiritual
leprosy is now cleansed by Christ acting through His Church, whose
priests are His tools, dispensing medicinal powers by means of
effective and demonstrative signs.
A sacrament, or a mystery, as the Greek fathers call it, is a visible
thing which contains an invisible divine power and action, the inward
content being really connected with and partially signified by the
outward words, elements, and their application, the full essence
remaining, nonetheless, concealed, mysterious, and transcendent to
human comprehension. What the human mind apprehends of the sacrament,
in so far as it is knowable to finite beings, is grasped by the
intellect, aided by the senses through the visible signs, and
supernaturally enlightened by faith. The marvelous role of a sacrament,
as a sensory material instrument to effect God's grace and
simultaneously render present the redemptive work of Christ, is an act
of religion which appeals to the body-spirit nature of which man is
composed. Mankind sinned by turning his will away from the Creator to
prefer the creature. Justification shall be humbly sought through the
instrumentality of the same creature things which brought his ruin.
We must consider here St. Paul's teaching on the "new creation." "If
anyone be in Christ, he is a new creation; the former things have
passed away, behold all things are made new."[20] By the coming and
sacrifice of Christ, creation, all of it, animate and inanimate, has
been consecrated anew and transfigured. As in Adam all sinned and were
penalized with God's curse-he, his posterity, and the entire cosmos
which was summed up in him, so in Christ shall all be redeemed and made
a new creation. For this purpose a new order has come into being, new
realities which exist on a plane midway between heaven and earth, the
plane on which God and creatures meet and embrace. This new world is
found in the sacramental character of the Church, the great sacrament
in herself, her seven sacraments in the narrower and stricter sense,
along with her sacramentals. Here we have a marvelous structure, the
cornerstone of which is Christ, wherein the communication of His divine
life is bound up with a visible organization, human persons, sensory
objects.
As the humanity of Christ drawn from the earth was a real physical
cause, not merely a moral one, of bringing His divinity and the Holy
Spirit upon the earth and into the mystical body, so material nature
was ordained by Him to participate in conferring Himself and the
operation of the Holy Spirit on humankind until the coming of the
everlasting kingdom. Precisely how the sacraments as external signs are
the bearers of supernatural riches has been a matter of enthusiastic
speculation, in fact, of heated controversy among theologians. We like
to believe that they are right who go all the way in attributing as
much power of causality to them as they could possibly be endowed with.
It should be perfectly obvious, of course, that at most sacraments are
instrumental causes only, that God Himself is the principal cause of
grace. On this score there must be nothing short of universal
agreement. But as instrumental causes, how do they operate? Unless we
are mistaken, it appears that the tendency is to favor such theologians
of today who place themselves on the side of the early Scholastics, who
in turn based their convictions on a realistic understanding of
scriptural terminology and the writings of the fathers. If they are
right, then the sacraments are in the strictest sense real causes
(physical causes, or as Scheeben[21] says, hyperphysical causes) of
grace. Otherwise the sacraments in their character of outward signs
would merely dispose the soul for the reception of grace, would call
upon God, effectually inducing Him to exercise His power of producing
grace. To maintain, however, that they are truly physical instrumental
causes (and not merely moral causes) entails that divine power has been
imparted to them to the extent that God works directly through them, so
that His grace is immediately effected in man's soul by them. In other
words, the outward signs of the sacraments are possessed of at least a
transient power of the Holy Spirit. "If under the appearance of bread
and wine there can be the body and blood of Christ, St. Thomas, the
most honest and logical of all thinkers, will say that under baptismal
water there also can be the power of the Holy Ghost, so that baptismal
water, or any other sacramental sign, is not only an infallible token
of God's activity in the souls of men, but that it is more: the water,
the chrism, and the words of absolution, they all contain a
participated power from Christ."[22] St. Ambrose, whose insight into the
sacramental mysteries of the Church can hardly be equaled, is
positively uninhibited when he considers the divine powers given to
sacramental signs. It is not enough for him to speak in some vague way
about a participated power of Christ. He insists on a divine presence
in the material elements, and that not only at the moment they are
employed to confer a sacrament, but in themselves, because they have
been so fructified through the Church's consecration. "What have you
seen? Water, certainly. but not water alone.... I believe that there is
in it the presence of divinity. Do you believe in its power to effect,
but not in the presence? How can the effect follow unless the presence
first precede it?"[23] If his words are to be dismissed as pure
hyperbole, then so are the sacred prayers which the Church uses at the
consecration of the font of baptism as well as the holy oils. One must
consider, moreover, the Church's deep solicitude about the handling and
disposal of sacramental elements, as expressed again and again in the
rubrics of the Ritual. But how can lowly matter be the repository of
lofty supernatural realities? St. Ambrose is content to state that in
the sacraments, from every aspect, there is much more than bodily eyes
can discern.
The sacraments are mysteries, both in the sense that they are corporeal
bearers of divine operations, and that they are mysterious entities,
supernatural realities which we cannot fully comprehend. But to assist
the intellect--aided necessarily by faith--to penetrate partially into
their spiritual content, they are clothed in powerful external and
demonstrative signs. Their property of signification, moreover, is to
be sought throughout the rite under which they are administered, from
beginning to end, and not only under the essential acts alone. To add
to their power of signifying what they effect, the Church, guided by
divine wisdom, in true genius has surrounded each sacrament with a
number of solemn and beautiful ceremonies and prayers above what is
required as a minimum for validity. In baptism, for example, how much
better we understand that it is deliverance from Satan's bondage
because the exorcisms signify this aspect; that it is a renewal of the
whole man because this is signified by partaking of the blessed salt,
by the touching with spittle of the nostrils and ears, by the anointing
with oil of catechumens; that it is a consecration and elevation to the
state of divine sonship, so that the Blessed Trinity makes the soul a
temple of Its indwelling, as signified by the consecration with chrism,
the conferring of the white garment, the presentation of the lighted
candle; and then that it is essentially a death and a resurrection in
Christ Jesus, a total incorporation in Him and His Church, as
demonstrated by the bath in the fountain of baptismal waters, the holy
womb of Mother Church, wherein we die to the old man conceived by the
first Adam and put on the new Adam, Jesus Christ our Savior. Although
we cannot consider it here, the whole eucharistic rite is even more
powerfully demonstrative.
From our catechism we learned that the Eucharist is a thing of past,
present, future--a memorial of our Lord's sacrifice, a present
participation in its grace, a pledge of future resurrection and
immortality. St. Thomas makes it clear that what is predicated of the
Eucharist in this respect is likewise true of each sacrament. "A
sacrament is a commemorative sign of that which has gone before,
namely, of Christ's passion; a demonstrative sign of what is effected
in us now by the passion of Christ, namely, of grace; a predictive
sign, in as much as it preannounces future glory."[24] In this way the
sacraments are indeed a clear announcement of the glad tidings of
Christianity. We are brought into contact with the person of our Lord
as High Priest in the act of redeeming us, as beneficent dispenser of
the fruits which He merits for us, as the king of future glory "Who has
dominion over God's house."[25] What broader dynamic vistas are opened to
us when we contemplate the Church's sacramental mysteries in this
threefold activity, instead of regarding them as a mere affair of the
moment. Through them, more than in any other exercise of religion, are
we given sure signs of God's predilection for us and our predestination
as His elect. "Who will come forward to accuse God's elect, when God
acquits us? Who will pass sentence against us, when Jesus Christ, Who
died, nay, has risen again, and sits at the right hand of God, is
pleading for us? Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will
affliction, or distress, or persecution, or hunger, or nakedness, or
peril, or the sword?"[26] We see in the sacraments guarantees of our high
calling; they give us such confidence because they have marked us with
the seal of the Blessed Trinity and the cross of Christ, fed us with
the bread of heaven, loosed us from sin, anointed us for glory. "Let us
come forward with sincere hearts in the full assurance of the faith,
our guilty consciences purified by sprinkling, our bodies washed clean
in hallowed water."[27] Baptism is the beginning of our election. The
eucharistic banquet is food for the elect.
Quite another and a very meaningful teaching of how time becomes
vanquished in the sacramental mysteries is given by the fathers and
finds frequent expression in liturgical prayers. It is said that
sacraments are re-enactments under signs and symbols of the saving work
of redemption. A popular way of expressing the same is to state it
somewhat as follows: "The sacraments make it possible for us to take
our place at the foot of the Cross"; or as Karl Adam says, they are "a
refreshing touching of the hem of His garment, a liberating handling of
His sacred wounds."[28] The Eucharist is most directly the sacramental
re-presentation of the paschal sacrifice of Christ. However, many of
the early fathers, in the East particularly, do not limit the sacrifice
of redemption to the moment of His death. They look upon the Passover
sacrifice of the New Covenant as something which began with His
appearance in the flesh (the basis in concrete expression of His will
to be sacrificed), continued throughout His life until reaching a
climax on Calvary ("My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass
from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will."[29]), finally
approved in the resurrection (when the Redeemer became the glorified
God-man), rewarded and exalted in the ascension, and only to be
completed and perfected in the final coming, when He shall gather
together His elect to partake in the eternal sacrifice of heaven. These
historical events already past, together with the Parousia of future
time, form one integral act by which Christ becomes our Paschal Lamb
offered for the world's ransom. And what He did historically is now
brought about mystically (in mysterio) by Him and His Church, through
the instrumentality of external sacred formulae. In the sacramental
activity of the glorified Christ and His mystical body we have
continually set forth the Savior in the act of doing the will of the
Father who sent Him. This altogether admirable and realistic
explanation of the mystery which is Christ, as St. Paul expresses it,
profoundly affects our thinking about the sacraments. The sacraments,
as an objective remembrance of all that happened to Christ--from
incarnation to everlasting glorification--make it possible for us to
participate in the mysteries of our divine head, not only in the
effects but in the very facts. In fine, we live with Christ in the
sacraments. They are the drama of redemption in which God through
Christ carries on His action in the Church and in our individual souls.
What is impossible for us to experience with Christ in a natural way,
we can experience with Him in a sacramental way. We die and rise with
Christ sacramentally; in the same way we share with Him the exaltation
at the right hand of His Father.[30]
Under sacramental signs the economy of salvation flows anew into God's
holy Church, and her people are caught up in its stream. Sin and its
prompter are routed as the Holy Spirit comes to make His abode in the
soul, to establish and then ever to perfect its sharing in the nature
of God by the bond of grace and charity. We cannot even speak of a
cooperation of man in the strict sense. The work is God's, not man's.
Yet man does not remain altogether passive. His contribution is one of
right disposition of mind and will. The sacraments are a matter of
divine action and human devotion--devotion in its best meaning, that
is, sincere allegiance to the task that Christ and His Church propose
to accomplish. In the case of the minister, he must above all be
empowered by the Church to act in her behalf and have the intention of
doing what the Church purposes to do in her sacraments. It is not
required of him that he believe in them or be enlightened about them.
Nor does his personal unworthiness hinder their effect. They do what
they do, whether his own life be blameless or corrupted in grossest
sin, whether he be zealous or indifferent, whether his manner of
administering them be a cause of edification or of scandal. But this
least minimum is not what the Church wants to find in the human conduit
of divine powers. She desires and, in the case of her especially
deputed and ordained ministers, she commands that her sacred treasures,
as befits their very dignity and sanctity, be handled with pure heart
and unsoiled hands, that they be dispensed with understanding,
solemnity, and reverence. "Since in God's Church nothing is holier,
loftier, more beneficial, or more divine than the sacraments instituted
by Christ the Lord for the salvation of mankind, let every pastor--in
fact, every priest to whom pertains their administration--bear
uppermost in mind that he is dealing with holy things, and that he must
be prepared almost every moment to discharge this sacred office.
Therefore, let him ever be solicitous about leading a blameless, a
chaste and holy life. For even though the sacraments cannot be sullied
by the unclean nor their effects impeded through an evil minister, yet
they who administer them while unworthy and unclean are guilty of
grievous sin."[31] It must be maintained that priests in discharging
their sacramental office not only sanctify the subjects, but are in
turn themselves sanctified, in the measure of how devotedly they
perform their stewardship. "Imitamini quod tractatis: Let your conduct
be in conformity with the action you perform."[32] First things first! A
priest's sacramental ministry is the Alpha and Omega of his sacerdotal
existence. All else pertaining to the care of souls, be its import what
it may, must be kept subordinate.
The devotion we speak of is presumed likewise in the subject of the
sacraments, even though we say they produce their effects infallibly as
long as the recipient places no obstacle in the way. The chief
disposition required in the subject is faith, faith in Jesus Christ and
all therein implied. Faith is so necessary that it cannot be dispensed
with even in infant baptism, in which case, however, the Church
supplies vicariously what the child is incapable of eliciting.
Moreover, the subject must have the intention of receiving the
sacrament, except the Eucharist, because the body and blood of our Lord
is always received, no matter what the disposition or preparation of
the one who communicates. As a preparatory act to sacramental
regeneration and transfiguration, in the case of an adult, there must
be a change of heart, a turning away from sin and a wholehearted
conversion to Christ. This is nothing else than the activity of faith
referred to above. "For he that comes to God must believe that He is,
and is a rewarder to them that seek Him."[33] (Even this activity of
faith on the part of man, it must not be forgotten, is made possible
only because God previously gives the impetus by a gratuitous movement
of grace.) Man's faith summons the sacrament to effect the mystical
marriage of the soul with its Maker. Once this union through grace has
been consummated, the accompanying virtues of faith, hope, and charity
infused by God into man will assist the latter to seek a continuance
and increase of grace and charity, by means of a devout and fruitful
use of the other sacraments, above all the sacrament of the Eucharist.
Man's subjective devotion and aspirations, in union with the Church's
faith and fervor, will determine to a greater or lesser degree how
fruitful the operation of the Holy Spirit will be. The sacraments of
Christ's Church are the chief and universal way for man to plunge into
the redemptive stream of holiness and ultimate glorification. Yet he
will not be swept along with the current to its intended supernatural
termination without some consciously directed endeavor on his part.
It would be incomplete, indeed, a serious omission were we to conclude
our consideration of the sacramental concept without some brief word
about its property of cult. St. Thomas tells us that the sacraments
have a twofold purpose, namely, to perfect the soul for its part in the
worship of God according to the Christian dispensation, and to be a
remedy against sin.[34] Their movement is upward from man to God as well
as downward from God to men. In fact, the two trends are inseparable.
In the sacramental life of the Church man is sanctified not for his own
sake, but rather that, being made a new creature and consecrated to an
ennobled dignity by the divine Spirit, he may give glory to the triune
God, now on earth and forever in heaven. Christ's redemptive sacrifice
glorifies the Father in two ways: first, by faithfully fulfilling His
Father's will; second, by raising man to a state in which he can
participate with the divine head in giving glory to God. "Glorify your
Son, that your Son may glorify you, even as you have given Him power
over all flesh, in order that to all you have given Him, He may give
everlasting life."[35] It was principally as a priest, the High Priest
according to the order of Melchisedech, that Christ brought about the
rapprochement between His Father and outcast humankind. And since we
have been incorporated in Him, we must in all things be like Him, also
to the extent of sharing in His priesthood.
Precisely for this reason three sacraments especially have a
consecratory role. They are the priestly sacraments: baptism,
confirmation, and holy orders, which imprint indelibly on the soul a
character, making it conformable to the priesthood of the incarnate
Word. The seal of Christ in the soul is more than an image of the High
Priest--it actually endows the soul with a participated power of His
priesthood. So that a man sealed with the third character of orders is
fully made one with the eternal High Priest, and henceforth the two are
identified in all that pertains to the Church's sacramental activity of
worship and sanctification. Yet the faithful who lack the full priestly
consecration are, nevertheless, constituted priests in the image of
Christ in a lesser and general way by the sacramental characters of
baptism and confirmation. And thus for all members of the City of God
the sacraments are instruments of divine worship. In this their God-
ward direction they reach their superlative perfection and fullest
mystery. They are the outward protestation of our inner faith; they
express in solemn manner our profession of God's excellence, His power
and His kindness. Adoration, supplication, thanksgiving, satisfaction,
humility, obedience, charity, the spirit of sacrifice or asceticism--
all these inward acts are called forth and embodied in the rites and
prayers which embellish sacramental administration, ever converging
toward the Eucharist, the sacrament which is at the same time the New
Covenant sacrifice of the Whole Christ, wherein worship no longer
remains purely subjective, but the inward total surrender becomes
localized in the most realistic objective act of glorifying God, the
eucharistic offering of the vine and the branches, that sacrifice in
which Christ is priest and victim and we are truly priests and victims
in Him and with Him, raising aloft to the divine majesty all honor and
glory.
--Translator
ENDNOTES
1. Heb 10.5-7, Knox version.
2. Eph 1.22-23, Knox.
3. Col 1.18.
4. Vespers on the Octave of Christmas.
5. Preface of Mass on Christmas.
6. Jn 14.18-20; 15.5; 16.13-14.
7. Eph 5.14.
8. Cf. Ferdinand Holbock: "Der Eucharistische und der Mystische Leib
Christi," p. 215.
9. Jn. 6.57.
10. Jn 19.34.
11. Cf. St. Thomas, S. Th., III P., q. 64, 2 and 3.
12. 1 Cor 12.13-14, 27.
13. Preface to Session VII.
14. Homily 82 on Mt 26.26-28, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Vol. X,
The Christian Literature Co., New York, 1888.
15. Homily 14 on Heb 7.1-2, ibid, Vol. XIV.
16. 4 Kgs 5.1-14.
17. Lk 6.19.
18. Mk 7.32-35.
19. Lk 17.14.
20. 2 Cor. 5.17.
21. Cf. "The Mysteries of Christianity."
22. Vonier: "Key to the Doctrine of the Eucharist," p. 69.
23. "De Mysteriis," Florilegium Patristicum, Fasc. VII, Pars III, Bonn,
1936.
24. S. Th., III P., q. 60, art. 3.
25. Heb 10.21.
26. Rom 8.33-35.
27. Heb 10.22.
28. "The Spirit of Catholicism." p. 19.
29. Mt 26.39.
30. For an adequate treatment of this explanation of the Christ-Mystery
there is a rather vast literature, access to which can best be sought
in the volumes of "Jahrbuch fur Liturgiewissenschaft."
31. Roman Ritual. Sec. I, Ch. I, nos. 3 and 4.
32. Rite of ordination.
33. Heb 11.6.
34. S. Th., III P., q. 60, art. 5, and q. 63, art. 1.
35. Jn 17.2.
THE ROMAN RITUAL
PART I. GENERAL RULES FOR ADMINISTERING THE SACRAMENTS
1. The rites and ceremonies of the sacraments prescribed in this book,
based as they are on ancient usage, the sacred canons of the Catholic
Church, and on decrees of the popes, should be regarded with due
understanding and reverence, and faithfully observed everywhere. Thus
it is fitting above all to know and consider what the Sacred Council of
Trent (Sess. VII, Can. XIII) has decreed about these rites, namely:
2. "If anyone says that the received and approved rites of the Catholic
Church, wont to be used in the solemn administration of the sacraments,
may be contemned, or arbitrarily omitted by the ministers without sin,
or be changed into other new ones at the option of any pastor of the
churches: let him be anathema."
3. Since in God's Church nothing is holier, loftier, more beneficial,
or more divine than the sacraments instituted by Christ the Lord for
the salvation of mankind, let every pastor, in fact, every priest to
whom pertains their administration, bear uppermost in mind that he is
dealing with holy things, and that he must be prepared almost every
moment to discharge this sacred office.
4. Therefore, let him ever be solicitous about leading a blameless, a
chaste, and holy life. For even though the sacraments cannot be sullied
by the unclean nor their effects impeded through an evil minister, yet
they who administer them while unworthy and unclean are guilty of
grievous sin. Should a priest be conscious of mortal sin (which God
forbid), let him not dare to administer the sacraments without first
disposing himself through sincere contrition. Moreover, if there is
sufficient opportunity for confession, and if time and place allow, he
ought to go to confession.
5. No matter at what hour day or night he is called upon to dispense
the sacraments, let him exercise his sacred ministry without delay,
especially in urgent cases. On this account he will take frequent
occasion to advise his people that they should call him immediately for
such ministration, regardless of the hour or any inconvenience
whatsoever.
6. Before he proceeds to exercise this office, he should if possible
spend a little time in prayer and reflection on the sacred act he is
about to perform; and he should review the ceremony and rubrics as time
permits.
7. Every time he administers the sacraments he will be vested in
surplice and stole of the proper color as the rite requires. Exception
is made for the sacrament of penance, where conditions of time, place,
or custom may dictate otherwise.
8. He will be assisted by at least one cleric, if possible, or by
several as the nature of the sacrament or circumstance of place will
dictate. The latter should wear a proper garb and also the surplice.
9. He will take care that the sacred vessels, vestments, linens, and
other requisites be kept clean and in good condition.
10. As the Council of Trent prescribes, he will use the opportunity
afforded at the administration of the sacraments to explain with
diligence their power, efficacy, and use, as well as the signification
of the ceremonies, whenever this can conveniently be done, basing the
instruction on the teaching of the holy fathers and on the Roman
catechism.
11. When he dispenses any sacrament he will pronounce attentively,
distinctly, reverently, and clearly all words pertaining to its form
and administration. Likewise he should say all other prayers with
devotion, not trusting to memory which often fails, but reciting
everything from the book. And he should perform the ceremonies and
rites with such solemn demeanor that those who assist thereat will be
attentive and duly edified.
12. As he is about to administer a sacrament, let him be intent on what
he is about to do, avoiding unnecessary conversation with another. And
during the administration itself he should endeavor to have actual or
at least virtual attention, intending to do what the Church does in the
matter.
13. Especially, he should sedulously avoid, directly or indirectly, any
impression of seeking or demanding gain from dispensing the sacraments.
But let him do so gratuitously, absolutely immune from the crime or
even suspicion of simony or avarice. If after the sacrament has been
conferred the faithful freely make an offering as an alms or in devout
appreciation, he may lawfully accept it in accordance with local
custom, unless the bishop decides otherwise. Nevertheless, it is
permissible to ask or exact such offerings or taxes which have been
fixed by a provincial council or at a meeting of the bishops of a
province, and approved by the Holy See. But a pastor should never
refuse his gratuitous ministry to those who are unable to give the
stipend.
14. It is forbidden to administer the sacraments of the Church to
heretics or schismatics, even though they may mistakenly ask for them
in good faith, unless they first renounce their errors and are
reconciled to the Church.
15. The recipients of the sacraments should be admonished on opportune
occasion to assist thereat with piety and devotion, free from levity in
word or act, receiving them with the reverence they demand.
16. The priest should always have the Ritual with him (wherever
necessary) when he dispenses the sacraments, and should carefully
observe the rites and ceremonies prescribed in it.
17. This book, by the way, contains only the rites of those sacraments
which pertain to priests, namely: baptism, penance, Eucharist,
anointing of the sick, and matrimony.* The rites of the two remaining
sacraments, confirmation and holy orders, since they pertain to
bishops, are given in the Pontifical. Whatever else a pastor must know,
teach, or observe in connection with the sacraments can be learned from
other books, especially the Code of Canon Law and the Roman catechism.
Therefore, the scope of this book must restrict itself mainly to the
rites pertaining to the five sacraments cited.
18. Finally, whoever is bound to administer the sacraments should
possess the necessary books pertaining to his office, particularly
those to be used as permanent registers of the various parochial
functions, as exemplified at the end of the Ritual.
* The rite of confirmation has since been included in the Ritual.--
Trans
THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM
INTRODUCTION
To be baptized is to be immersed in Christ's death, to be buried with
Christ, to be risen with Christ to new life. From this sacramental fact
or experience we derive all our Christian glory: we are washed clean
from original sin and all personal sins, we are marked with the
ownership of Christ by a brand or indelible seal, filled with divine
life, enhanced with supernatural gifts, reborn children of God, and
made members of Christ's mystical body.
"I tell you truly that unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and
dies, it remains a single grain of wheat; but if it dies, it brings a
good harvest."[1] By the paschal mystery of death and resurrection Christ
made an end of the deserved condemnation to everlasting death brought
by Adam upon his seed, and simultaneously raised up to new life His own
posterity, heirs according to the promise. By the paschal sacrament of
baptism our own death and resurrection with Christ is signified and
effected in sacramental mystery.
We are born anew in baptism through water and the Holy Spirit.
Cognizant of this truth the Church has always looked upon Easter as the
ideal time to illustrate it and to actualize it. In fact, there is a
rubric (no. 41) in the rite for adult baptism, to the effect that the
solemn administration of the sacrament to adults ought, if convenient,
to be reserved to this time. For at Easter the newly consecrated
fountain of living water becomes the tomb into which a man descends in
death and burial with Christ, so as to rise through Him and with Him to
the new life of a son of God. "Have you forgotten that all of us who
were baptized into Jesus Christ were, by that very action, sharing in
His death? We are dead and buried with Him in baptism, so that just as
He was raised from the dead by that splendid revelation of the Father's
power so we too might rise to life on a new plane altogether."[2]
Again and again in the Gospel our Lord speaks of the necessity of dying
in a moral sense, of losing one's life in order to save it. But here
St. Paul speaks of baptism as a mystical dying of the old man through
participation in the death of Christ, in order to become a new creation
through a mystical participation in His resurrection. This Pauline
conception, in all its profundity, is truly fundamental to a worthy
understanding of the essence of baptism. Through the archetypal
sacrament of incarnation the human race as a whole is already taken up
into the mystic Christ in a general way, owing to the fact that the Son
of God has united the human nature which is common to us all with His
own divine nature. Yet by a positive decree of the God-man, each
individual man must normally be incorporated in Christ's Church by
water and the Holy Spirit. Before a new life can begin the old life
must die. Before the Savior's human body would become glorified and
immortal, it would first submit to death and burial. As the head, so
the members. The waters of baptism must swallow us up so that we can be
planted in His death. This was very clearly demonstrated for many
centuries by the ancient way of administering baptism by immersion and
by the way the baptismal font was constructed. The font being sunk
below the floor level of the baptistery, the candidate had to make a
descent into it as into a tomb; and the complete immersion of the body
in the water clearly signified death and burial, for water is not only
life-giving but also death-dealing.
The passion of Christ destroyed sin. Because we are buried in the
waters of baptism, we participate in His passion, and thus sin is
destroyed in us. The resurrection of Christ meant new and glorious life
for Him and for all men, since all are summed up in Him. Because we
come forth from the waters of baptism, we participate likewise in His
resurrection, and thus His new and glorious life becomes ours.
In commenting on the words of Christ to His disciples, "Now you are
clean by reason of the word which I have spoken to you,"[3] St. Augustine
says: "The word cleanses also by means of water. Take away the word,
and what else is the water but simply water. Yet let the word be added
to the element and it becomes a sacrament and thus also a visible
word."[4] How water is the element for the first sacrament of the New
Law, the first sacrament of initiation into the mystical body, was
typified in the Old Law by the Deluge and also by the passage of the
Israelites through the Red Sea. This latter account from the Book of
Exodus was sung during the Easter vigil in Africa, and commented on by
Augustine in a sermon preached on Easter eve, as well as in another
sermon devoted to the exegesis of the Old Testament.[5]
In his writings against the Pelagians and also in a number of his
sermons, Augustine likes to use one of his favorite expressions: "massa
perditionis," the mass of perdition, that is, the accursed and
condemned mass of men, by which phrase he likens all humanity to a huge
invalid stretched helpless over the entire face of the earth. God in
His goodness has taken pity on this invalid, this broken mass, and has
chosen a number of the elect whom He has formed into a new mass, which
is the mystical body. Baptism is the means of entering into this new
mass, the Church of Christ. Our Lord's holiness is our holiness, giving
us new life, new strength. This we receive through baptism in the death
of Christ. Augustine says: "All that happened on the cross, at His
burial, in His resurrection on the third day, in His ascent into
heaven, and when He took His place at the right hand of the Father, all
happened in such a way as to prefigure...the Christian life that we are
leading today."[6] In ourselves we are many, in Christ we are one, one
Son, one Shepherd. "What is the Church? She is the body of Christ. Join
to it the head, and you have one man.... And what is His body? It is
His spouse, namely, the Church."[7] So close is this union that through
it we become Christ. "Let us rejoice and give thanks, for not only are
we become Christians, but we are become Christ. My brethren, do you
understand the grace of God that is given us?"[8]
Such, in the infinite mercy of God, is the new life bestowed by His Son
in the Easter mystery. Because of our solidarity with Christ, we share
also in His priesthood. We owe much to Augustine for his development of
the doctrine of the universal priesthood of Christians. He placed the
origin of this priesthood in baptism, as symbolized by the post-
baptismal anointing on the crown of the head. To have a share in
Christ's redemptive work is also to have a share in His high-priestly
dignity and power. In explaining the words of the Apocalypse, "They
shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with Him a
thousand years,"[9] he wrote: "This is not spoken of bishops and priests
alone, who are properly called priests in the Church. But since all are
called the anointed on account of the mystic chrism, so all are called
priests, because they are members of the one Priest."[10]
The metaphor of light applied to Christ who is the Light of the world
and the Sun of Justice, applied also to Christians who are the
enlightened, and applied to grace which is the light of the soul, is
found frequently in the New Testament. The fathers of the Church made
generous use of this metaphor, likening the descent of Jesus into hell
to the setting of the sun and His resurrection to the rising sun.
Christ, then, is the great light appearing to the baptized, the true
sun which enlightens the new children of the Church with its life and
warmth. With this metaphor in mind, Augustine explains to the newly
baptized on Easter eve that baptism is also an illumination of the
soul:
These newborn infants, whom you see outwardly clothed in robes of
white, have been made clean inwardly, and they who were heretofore
darkness, immured in the black night of their sins, are now resplendent
in soul, as their spotless apparel signifies. Now that they have been
purified in the laver of forgiveness, washed in the fountain of wisdom,
and suffused with the light of justice, it is fitting that we sing,
"This is the day which the Lord has made; let us be glad and rejoice
therein."[11]
The passage from death to life is understood by the Church as a
profound mystery of light. To us who were buried in darkness and
immured in the shadows of death a light has flashed forth from heaven,
purer than the sun. All who fall under its rays are filled with its
divine life.
One of Augustine's longest Easter sermons is devoted to the Song of
Songs, which sings the theme of Christ's marriage with His bride, the
Church.[12] The symbolic application of this scriptural passage to the
sacrament of baptism is often dwelt on by the fathers, in particular by
Cyril of Jerusalem and even more at length by St. Ambrose.[13] Baptism is
the mystery of the soul's marriage with its divine Bridegroom, for the
soul must first be washed clean before she can be clothed in her bridal
raiment, preparatory to sitting down to the wedding banquet of the
Eucharist at the side of her Spouse, preparatory to being led into the
nuptial bower by the Spouse. From the custom prevailing in the Orient
and in Africa as well of taking a bath before the nuptial festivities,
the Christians of old were quick to see the analogy. Cyril of Jerusalem
takes the words of the Sulamite woman in the Song of Songs, "I have put
off my garment; how shall I put it on?"[14] and refers them to the
ancient rite of laying aside one's old garment before entering the
baptismal font, and putting on the white tunic on coming forth from the
saving waters.[15] Whoever has put off his old garment in baptism, that
is, the old man of sin, may not be clothed thereafter in the vesture of
the onetime sinful man, but must wear the white robe of grace in which
he has been vested for his mystical marriage with Christ, and which
resembles the raiment white as snow of the risen Savior.
If we accept the wisdom of the fathers, as they understood
realistically St. Paul's inspired thinking, baptism, and the other
sacraments for that matter, will cease to be regarded as some kind of
purification and sanctification merely of the present moment. Rather it
will be appreciated in all its might and splendor as the mystery of
Christ which associates the subject with the incarnation and
redemption, transforming and glorifying him in the stream of divine
life which he has entered as a new member of the primal sacrament:
Christ and His Church. As the external rite of baptizing readily
demonstrates: baptism implants the person in Christ's death and
resurrection and thus effects incorporation (the water and the
Trinitarian invocation), it fills him with the Holy Spirit and anoints
and consecrates for participation in the priesthood of Christ
(anointing with chrism), it envelops him in Christ's glory and
immortality (clothing with white garment), it plants the seed of
everlasting transfiguration and illumination (presenting of lighted
candle). All this is the objective fact of baptism and the work of God.
Before God's action can take place, however, the Church, as the spouse
of Christ, must concur in the divine work, and the candidate for
baptism must be predisposed, as reasonable and willing clay, to be
fashioned by the hand of Christ and His Church as a new communicant in
the body of the faithful. We have mentioned above, in the introduction
to the sacraments, that the disposition of faith and will are supplied
by the Church in the case of children. But when it is a question of a
responsible adult, preparation of intellect and will is a necessary
preliminary. "What do you ask of the Church of God? Faith.... Will you
be baptized? I will." In order to understand the rite of administering
baptism, one must be aware that the rite as it now stands is a
composite of prayers and ceremonies originally performed in successive
steps over a long period of time. The first contact with Jesus Christ
is a psychological one--by faith; and faith must inevitably lead up to
the sacrament prescribed for complete assimilation in Him: "He who
believes and is baptized shall be saved."[16] Faith comes from hearing.
"For Moses said: 'A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up to you of
your brethren, like to me. Him you shall hear according to all things
whatsoever He shall speak to you. And it shall be, that every soul
which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the
people.'"[17] And it is the Church who is empowered and enjoined by its
prophet, Christ, to unfold to men the gospel narration, the perfect
revelation of the Almighty by means of the incarnation, with the
ensuing obligations imposed on us.
The work of salvation is from first to last the work of God, who by a
loving gift of grace moves man to seek Him, supplies the grace of
coming to faith, and leads him to the portals of holy Mother Church to
receive from her the full and true faith which leads to life
everlasting. Yet it is now left to the one God has chosen whether he
accept the Gospel with his mind and with his heart: "If then you will
inherit life, keep the commandments: love the Lord your God with your
whole heart, with your whole soul, with your whole mind, and your
neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depends the whole law
and the prophets. And faith demands that you worship one God in Trinity
and Trinity in Unity, neither confusing the Persons nor making a
distinction in their nature. For the Father is a distinct Person; and
so is the Son; and so is the Holy Spirit. Yet the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit possess one Godhead, co-equal glory, co-eternal majesty."[18] For
although the sacraments as instruments of God are His objective
operation, they are ever the respecter of the subject's dignity as a
person and of his personal responsibility. Then, only after he makes
the assent of faith and turns in repentance from sin to embrace the
commandments, will the sacrament elevate him to union with God. During
the period of preparation, when grace is illuminating the intellect to
see Christ's revelation in a favorable light and is inclining the will
to surrender to its attraction, the Church stands by both as mystagogue
to explain the mystery of Christian initiation and as sanctifier to
come to the assistance of the candidate by administering efficacious
sacramentals. Along with her preaching or catechizing, she lifts up her
voice in manifold supplications to God for the sake of her chosen one;
she performs her exorcisms to drive afar Satan with his apostate
legions; signs the bodily senses with the power of the holy cross;
conserves and nourishes with the blessed salt; opens the ears to hear
the good news of the Christian Gospel and looses the tongue[19] to
proclaim its glorious salvation; imparts strength and litheness through
anointing with oil of catechumens. It would require much space to do
justice to these richly symbolic and impressive ceremonies; moreover,
they must be considered in their historical setting before any attempt
at an adequate exposition can be achieved. Yet we perceive, in this
cursory reference to the preparatory acts which precede baptism, that
even here the work of Christ and His Church is primary--man's part
secondary.
Immediately following baptism of an adult, it is the wish of the Church
(rubric no. 52) that confirmation be conferred on him, provided a
bishop is present who may lawfully do so, and that the Eucharist be
offered and holy communion received by the neophyte. The interchange of
life--Christ in us and we in Him--established through baptism is
strengthened and perfected by further reception of the other
sacraments, above all by the Eucharist. The one baptized is like a
newborn babe of God crying out for the perfection of the Holy Spirit's
indwelling with His gifts, which confirmation confers in complement to
the divine work already initiated. But the newborn of God still hungers
for the supersubstantial food--he desires to be nourished with the body
and blood of Jesus. And when this longing for the Eucharist is sated,
then perfect incorporation in the mystic Christ has been accomplished
and the symbol of Calvary has been made actual for him--he has entered
into the paschal mystery by water and by blood.
--Translator
ENDNOTES
1. Jn 12.24.
2. Rom 6.3-5.
3. Jn 15.3.
4. "Tractatus in Joan." 80.3.
5. "Sermon 363.2" (ML 39.1635).
6. "Enchiridion" 53 (ML 40.257)
7. "Sermon" 45 (ML 38.265).
8. "Trac. in Joan." 21 (ML 35.1568).
9. Apoc 20.6.
10. "De civitate Dei" 20, CSEL 40.455.
11. "Sermon" 223 (ML 223)
12. Sermon 138 (ML 183).
13. "De mysteriis" 9.55 f.
14. 5.3.
15. "Catecheses Mystagogicae".
16. Mk 16.16.
17. Acts 3.22-23.
18. Rite for baptism of adults.
19. It used to be the tongue that was touched with spittle, not the
nostrils.
PART II. THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM
CHAPTER I: RULES FOR ADMINISTERING BAPTISM
1. That holy baptism, the gateway to the Christian religion and to
eternal life, holding as it does the first place among the sacraments
instituted by Christ for the New Covenant, is necessary for salvation
for all, either in act or desire, is testified by the divine Truth
Himself in these words: "Unless a man be born again of water and the
Holy Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (Jn 3.5).
Therefore, the greatest concern is to be exercised for its correct and
timely administration and reception.
2. In the administration of this sacrament, certain things are
absolutely necessary by divine law, such as the matter, form, and
minister. Others pertain to its solemnity, such as the rites and
ceremonies received and approved by ancient and apostolic tradition;
yet even these may not be omitted except in case of necessity.
Regarding all this, let certain points be remarked at the outset, so
that the sacred function may be carried out with exactitude and
devotion.
3. When baptism is administered with all the rites and ceremonies
prescribed in this Ritual, it is called solemn; otherwise it is non-
solemn or private.
The Matter for Baptism
4. First of all a pastor will understand that since the matter for this
sacrament is real natural water, no other liquid may be used.
5. The water for solemn baptism is that which has been blessed on the
preceding vigil of Easter, and carefully preserved in a clean font to
keep it pure. If new baptismal water is to be blessed, the old should
be poured into the sacrarium in the sacristy, or preferably the
sacrarium of the baptistery.
6. If the baptismal water has so diminished that it is foreseen it will
not suffice, unblessed water may be added even repeatedly, but in
lesser quantity than the blessed each time this is done. If it becomes
contaminated or has leaked out or in any way is deficient, the pastor
will see to it that the font is thoroughly cleansed and replenished
with fresh water, and proceed to bless it according to the form given
below.
7. If the water has frozen it should be thawed. But if it is partly
frozen or too cold a smaller quantity of unblessed warm water may be
mixed with some baptismal water in a special container, and this tepid
mixture used in baptizing, thereby preventing injury to the infant.
The Form for Baptism
8. The form for baptism is as follows: I baptize you in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and it is absolutely
essential. In no circumstance can it be altered, and these words must
be pronounced simultaneously with the pouring of the water.
9. A priest of the Latin rite must always use the Latin form. Since
baptism may positively never be repeated, if one is to be baptized
conditionally (see below), the condition is expressed in these words:
If you are not baptized, I baptize you in the name of the Father, etc.
This conditional form should not be chosen lightly or without
consideration, but the decision must be made prudently, and only in a
case where, after careful investigation, a reasonable doubt exists as
to whether the sacrament of baptism had been truly or validly
administered.
10. Although baptism can be administered validly by pouring the water
or by immersion or by sprinkling, nevertheless, one should adhere to
the first method or the second, or to the mixed form of these two,
whichever is the more common practice and in harmony with the custom of
the particular rite. The water is to be poured on the head with a
triple ablution (or the head is to be immersed three times), each time
in the form of a cross, saying the words simultaneously. The same
person must both pour the water and pronounce the words.
11. If baptism takes place by infusion, care must be taken that the
water does not fall back into the font from the infant's head. It
should either fall into the sacrarium of the baptistery or into a
special basin provided for that purpose, and in the latter case this
water will be emptied later in the sacrarium of the baptistery or of
the church.
The Minister of Baptism
12. A priest is the ordinary minister of solemn baptism. But its
administration is reserved to the pastor, or to another priest who has
the pastor's permission or that of the local Ordinary. Even one who
travels about should receive solemn baptism from his own pastor and in
his own parish, if there is no difficulty from delay or inconvenience;
otherwise any pastor within his own territory may confer solemn baptism
upon a wanderer.
13. Without proper permission, a priest is not allowed to confer solemn
baptism in territory other than his own, even upon his own subjects.
14. In a diocese or territory where no parishes or quasi-parishes have
been established, the question as to which priest (the Ordinary
excepted) has the right to baptize within the whole territory or a part
thereof must be decided from particular statutes and accepted customs.
15. A deacon is the extraordinary minister of solemn baptism. He may
not, however, use his power without the consent of the Ordinary or the
pastor--such permission being granted for a just cause, and lawfully
presumed when necessity urges.
16. In danger of death non-solemn baptism can be administered by anyone
as long as he uses the proper form and matter and has the right
intention. If possible two witnesses or at least one should be present
so that the baptism can be proved. A priest if available should be
preferred to a deacon, a deacon to a subdeacon, a cleric to a laic, a
man to a woman, unless for the sake of modesty it is more fitting that
the woman baptize rather than the man, or because the woman might know
the form and method better than the man. Father or mother are not
permitted to baptize their child, except when in danger of death no one
else can be had who could baptize.
17. It should be a pastor's concern that the faithful, particularly
midwives, doctors, and surgeons be thoroughly instructed in the correct
manner of baptizing in a case of necessity.
18. Baptism of adults should be referred to the local Ordinary if
convenient, so that he himself if he so desires or another delegated by
him may administer it with greater solemnity.
Baptism of Children
19. In regard to baptism:
(a) classed as children or infants are such who have not yet attained
the use of reason, and likewise the feeble-minded from infancy, no
matter what their age;
(b) reckoned as adults are all who have the use of reason; and to be
admitted to baptism it suffices that an adult requests it of his own
accord.
20. No child is to be baptized while still enclosed in the mother's
womb, as long as there is a probable hope that it can be properly
brought forth and then baptized. If only the head of the child has come
forth and there is danger of its dying, it should be baptized on the
head; if afterward it is born and lives, baptism may not be repeated
conditionally. If another member of the body makes its appearance and
there is danger of death, the baptism should be conferred conditionally
upon that member; if the child lives after birth it must be rebaptized
conditionally. Should a mother die in confinement, the fetus should be
extracted by those obliged thereto by their profession, and if there is
a certainty that it lives, it should be baptized absolutely, otherwise
conditionally. A fetus baptized while in the mother's womb must be
rebaptized conditionally after birth.
21. One should see to it that every abortive fetus, no matter of what
period, be baptized absolutely if it is certainly alive. If there is
doubt about its being alive, it should be baptized conditionally.
22. A monster or abnormal fetus should in every case be baptized at
least with the following expressed condition: If you are a human being,
I baptize you, etc. When in doubt as to whether there is one or several
persons in the deformed mass, one part is to be baptized absolutely,
and the others each with the condition: If you are not baptized, I
baptize you, etc.
23. Foundlings should be baptized conditionally, unless there is a
certainty from due investigation that they have already been baptized.
24. An infant of infidel parents may be baptized lawfully even though
the parents are opposed, provided that its life is in such danger that
one can reasonably foresee it may die before attaining the use of
reason. Outside the case of danger of death, it may lawfully be
baptized, provided its Catholic rearing is guaranteed, as in the
following two cases: (a) if parents or guardians or at least one of
them consent; (b) if parents, i.e., father, mother, grandfather,
grandmother, or guardians do not exist, or if they have lost their
right over the child or are unable to exercise it.
25. Generally, the norms stated in the preceding rubric are to be
applied to baptism of infants whose parents belong to a heretical or
schismatic sect, or of Catholic parents who have lapsed into apostasy,
heresy, or schism.
The Rites and Ceremonies of Baptism
26. Baptism should be administered solemnly, except in the case
provided for in rubric no. 28 below. The local Ordinary may for weighty
and plausible reasons permit the ceremonies prescribed for infant
baptism to be used in the baptism of adults.
27. Children must be baptized in the rite of the parents. If one parent
belongs to the Latin rite, the other to an Oriental rite, the child
should be baptized in the rite of the father, unless some special law
provides otherwise. If only one parent is Catholic, the child is to be
baptized in the rite of the Catholic party.
28. In danger of death private baptism is permissible, and, if the
minister is neither priest nor deacon, he does merely what is required
for validity. When private baptism is conferred by a priest or by a
deacon, if time permits the ceremonies which follow the act of
baptizing should be added. Outside the danger of death the local
Ordinary may not permit private baptism, except in the case of adult
heretics who are to be baptized conditionally. The ceremonies which for
any reason were omitted in the administration of baptism should be
added later in church as soon as possible, except in the case of adult
heretics who have received private baptism conditionally with the
permission of the Ordinary, as stated above.
29. When baptism is repeated conditionally, the ceremonies which were
omitted in the former baptism should be supplied. provided this will
not run contrary to anything prescribed in rubric no. 28. But if they
were used in the former baptism, they may be repeated or omitted.
30. A pastor should see to it that the person baptized is given a
Christian name. If he does not succeed in this, he must add the name of
a saint to the one chosen by the parents, and inscribe both in the
baptismal register.
The Sponsors
31. In accordance with ancient ecclesiastical custom, no one should be
solemnly baptized unless he has a sponsor, provided this is possible.
Even in private baptism a sponsor should assist if one can easily be
had. If there was no sponsor at the private baptism, one should be used
at the time when the ceremonies are supplied, in which case the sponsor
contracts no spiritual relationship.
32. When baptism is repeated conditionally, the same sponsor who was
present at the first baptism should assist if possible; apart from this
case, no sponsor is required in conditional baptism. In a baptism
repeated conditionally, neither the sponsor who was present at the
first baptism nor the one assisting now contracts a spiritual
relationship, unless the sponsor was the same in both instances.
33. There should be only one sponsor (who may be of different sex from
the one baptized); or at most two may be employed, a man and a woman.
34. To validly act as sponsor it is required:
(a) that the person is baptized, has attained the use of reason, and
has the intention of acting in this capacity;
(b) that he does not belong to a heretical or schismatic sect, is not
excommunicated whether by condemnatory or declaratory sentence, nor
legally infamous, debarred from legal acts, nor a deposed or degraded
cleric;
(c) and that the person is not the father, mother, or spouse of the one
baptized;
(d) that he is chosen by the one baptized, or by the parents,
guardians, or, if these are wanting, by the minister;
(e) that during the act of baptizing the sponsor (or his proxy)
physically hold or touch the one baptized, or immediately lift him out
of the water, or take him into his arms from the font or from the hands
of the minister.
35. To lawfully act as sponsor it is required:
(a) that he has reached the age of fourteen, unless the minister sees
fit to admit a younger person for some valid reason;
(b) that he is not excommunicated for a notorious crime, nor excluded
from legal acts, nor legally infamous (even though no sentence has been
issued to that effect), nor interdicted, nor a public criminal, nor
infamous in fact;
(c) that he knows the rudiments of the faith;
(d) that he is neither a novice nor a professed religious, unless
necessity urges it and the sponsor has the express permission from at
least the local superior;
(e) that he is not in sacred orders, unless he has the express
permission of the Ordinary.
36. When in doubt as to whether a person may validly or lawfully be
permitted to act as sponsor, the pastor should consult the Ordinary if
time allows.
37. Only the minister and the sponsor contract a spiritual relationship
from baptism with the one baptized.
38. It is the duty of sponsors by reason of their position ever to
regard their godchild as a personal charge, and in all that pertains to
his Christian upbringing to watch over him faithfully, so that in his
whole life he may prove himself true to the promises which they once
solemnly spoke for him.
The Time and Place for Administering Baptism
39. Infants should be baptized as soon as possible, and pastors and
other priests when preaching should frequently warn the faithful of
their serious obligation in this respect.
40. Private baptism when necessity demands may be conferred at any time
and in any place.
41. Solemn baptism, too, may be administered on any day. In harmony
with earliest ecclesiastical discipline, baptism of adults ought to be
conferred if convenient on the vigils of Easter and Pentecost,
especially in cathedral or metropolitan churches.
42. The proper place for administering solemn baptism is the baptistery
in a church or public oratory.
43. Every parish church should have a baptismal font, and all contrary
statutes, privileges, or customs are reprobated and revoked; without
impairing, however, the legitimate cumulative right already claimed by
other churches. The local Ordinary can permit or command that a
baptismal font be placed in another church or public oratory even
within the parish boundaries, if it will serve the convenience of the
faithful.
44. When distance or other circumstances make it extremely inconvenient
or dangerous to bring the candidate for baptism to the parish church or
to another which has the right to a baptismal font, the pastor may, in
fact, must, administer solemn baptism in the nearest church or public
oratory within the parish limits, even though it has no baptismal font.
45. Solemn baptism may not be administered in private homes, except in
the following circumstances: (a) when the persons to be baptized are
children or grandchildren of such persons as hold the supreme position
of government or have the right of succession to the throne, provided
this privilege is duly requested; (b) when the Ordinary, after prudent
and conscientious deliberation, judges that it should be allowed in
some extraordinary case for a just and worthy reason. In the cases
cited the baptism is to be administered in the chapel of the home or at
least in a suitable room, and duly blessed baptismal water is to be
used.
46. The baptismal font should be constructed in a becoming style and
located in a proper place. It should be made of solid material (such as
will keep in the water), properly decorated, secured with lock and key,
and fastened so that dust and dirt cannot penetrate. The baptistery
should have a grill or should be railed off. If possible a
representation of the baptism of Christ by St. John should be painted
or placed in the baptistery.
The Holy Oils and Other Requisites
47. Holy chrism and the oil of catechumens used in baptism must have
been consecrated by the bishop on the preceding Holy Thursday. Older
oils may not be used except in case of necessity.
48. The pastor must see to it that he obtains immediately the newly
consecrated oils from his Ordinary, and thereupon he burns the old oils
in church (in the sanctuary lamp).
49. If the consecrated oils do not suffice, then other non-consecrated
olive oil is added, but in lesser quantity than the consecrated each
time this happens.
50. Holy chrism and oil of catechumens should be preserved in
individual vessels of silver or at least of pewter, and be kept
properly sealed. These vessels should have each a distinct style, and
should be marked with capital letters to avoid every error.
51. For daily use smaller containers made of silver if possible or of
pewter should be employed. These may be either separate or joined
together, yet properly covered and easily distinguishable. Each one
should have its individual mark as noted above, so that the priest may
not mistake one for the other.
52. Into these latter as much chrism and oil of catechumens as required
is poured from the larger vessels, and it is advisable to provide the
separate containers of the oilstock with a little cotton or similar
material to absorb the oils. This will prevent the danger of leakage,
and at the same time when pressed with the thumb will yield enough for
the anointings.
53. These vessels should be reverently reserved in church in a special
place (compartment) which is decent and clean, and kept under lock and
key. Thus they will be safely guarded from improper handling by anyone
except a priest, as well as from sacrilegious misuse. The pastor ought
not to keep them in the rectory, unless some necessity and serious
reason warrants, and then only with the permission of the Ordinary.
54. As far as possible let it be the pastor's concern that the holy
oils be fetched by himself, some other priest, or at least by a cleric,
and not by a lay person. Let him beware also of ever giving any of the
holy oils to anybody, no matter under what pretext.
55. The salt which is to be put into the mouth of the candidate for
baptism must be blessed with its own special form as designated later
in the rite for baptism. Nor is salt thus blessed to be used at the
blessing of water. It should first be reduced to fine granules, and
kept clean and dry. Salt thus blessed should not be given to anybody,
nor even returned to anybody who may have brought it for the blessing,
but it should be saved exclusively for baptism or thrown into the
sacrarium.
56. Therefore, when the sacrament of baptism is about to be conferred,
the following articles should be at hand:
57. The vessels containing oil of catechumens and chrism.
58. A vessel containing the salt to be blessed, or some already
blessed, as stated before.
59. A clean vessel or a ladle made of silver or other metal for pouring
the baptismal water on the head of the one who is being baptized; and
this vessel should be used for no other purpose.
60. A basin or cup to receive the water which flows down from the head
of the baptized, unless it falls directly into the sacrarium.
61. Cotton or similar material to be used for wiping the parts anointed
with the holy oils.
62. Two stoles if readily available, one purple and the other white, to
be exchanged as noted below; otherwise at least one stole should be
provided; and for more solemn baptism also two copes of corresponding
colors.
63. A piece of bread with which to remove the oil from the priest's
fingers when he washes his hands; moreover, a basin for washing the
hands after baptism, and this should not be used for other purposes.
64. A white garment in the form of :l little mantle, or a small piece
of white linen to be placed on the infant's head.
65. A waxen torch or wax candle which shall be burning when given to
the baptized.
66. Lastly, the ritual should be in readiness and also the baptismal
register in which the names of the baptized are inscribed.
67. Everything being prepared, the priest washes his hands, puts on a
surplice and purple stole, and proceeds to the administration of this
great sacrament. He should be assisted by one cleric or more if
possible, who are likewise vested in surplice.
68. Thus vested the priest advances to the threshold of the church. The
people with the child should be waiting outdoors.
69. He ascertains, unless this information is already known to him,
whether the candidate belongs to his parish, its sex, whether it had
been baptized at home and by whom and in what manner, and he inquires
who will act as sponsors. The latter he instructs to assist with due
reverence and to answer the interrogations for the candidate.
70. Since a name is given to those who through baptism are to become
children of God, newly born in Christ and enrolled in His service, let
the priest see to it that ugly, notorious, or ridiculous names are not
imposed, nor those of false deity or heathen profligates. Rather let
names of the saints be selected as far as possible, whose example the
faithful may devoutly imitate and to whose patronage they are
entrusted.
71. Everything being provided for and the name approved, with the one
who is to be baptized, if a child, resting on the right arm of the
person holding it, the pastor proceeds with the baptism according to
the rite which follows.
N.B. These additional rules occur in the "Collectio Rituum" both for
Germany and the U. S.:
a. the baptistery may be decorated and the church bells may be rung;
b. a more solemn baptism is one attended by a number of the faithful;
c. the priest and his assistants first come to the altar and there
offer a prayer before proceeding with the rite;
d. the people present should participate in all the responses, the
Creed, the Lord's prayer, and in the singing, if there is such.
CHAPTER II: RITE FOR BAPTISM OF CHILDREN
AT THE DOOR OF THE CHURCH
Reception of the Child
{Having versed himself in all the preparatory rules given above, the
priest meets the child at the entrance or in the narthex of the church.
It must be kept in mind that the formulary for baptism of a child is
simply an abridgment of that for an adult. In olden times baptism of
adults was not administered in one continuous ceremony but in stages
spread out over a period of time, and not all of these took place
within the sacred edifice. The first five steps given here reproduce in
outline the onetime ceremonies of enrolling a catechumen.}
1. The priest says the greeting: Peace be with you.
He then asks the name of the child (if several are to be baptized he
asks the name of each one):
Priest: What is your name?
Sponsors: N.
{From the beginning the Church has proclaimed to men the good news of
salvation in Christ. And from one who wants the benefit of the good
news the response of faith is demanded. To ask for baptism is first of
all to ask for the faith of the Church. In the following brief dialogue
between priest and subject is summed up the chief content of Christian
life, of which faith is the foundation, everlasting life the goal, and
love of God and of neighbor the means. The priest's role in the
sacrament is pointed up here, that of representative of Christ and the
Church, the role he plays from start to finish of the sacramental
action.}
P (to each): N., what are you asking of God's Church?
Sponsors: Faith.
P (to each): What does faith hold out to you?
Sponsors: Everlasting life.
2. P (to each): If, then, you wish to inherit everlasting life, keep
the commandments, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all
your soul, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."
{The next ceremony and all the following exorcisms in the rite are
designed to free the subject from the power of Satan, who has this
power in view of original sin. The signification is accomplished by an
exhaling of breath, as to blow away something, or figuratively, the act
of dispelling the evil spirit.}
3. The priest thrice breathes softly in the face of the child (each one
singly), and follows up the gesture with these words:
Depart from him (her), unclean spirit, and give place to the Holy
Spirit, the Advocate.
{By the cross Christ takes possession of the mind and heart of the
child, fitting him to become a temple of the Blessed Trinity, and
imposing on him the obligation of belief and observance of the
commandments. The sign of the cross used here and throughout the rite
is indicative of the essential fact that the sacrament has its efficacy
from the paschal sacrifice of Jesus.}
4. With his thumb the priest traces the sign of the cross on the brow
and on the breast of the child, saying (to each):
Receive the sign of the cross on your + brow and on your + heart. Put
your whole trust in the heavenly teachings. And lead a life that will
truly fit you to be a dwelling place for God.
{It is the express wish of the Church that opportunity be given to all
who assist at her sacred functions to participate actively as far as
possible (cfr. "Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy"). From here on all
are to say the parts marked all for them.}
Then he adds this prayer:
For one:
Let us pray.
Lord, if it please you, hear our prayer, and by your inexhaustible
power protect your chosen one, N., now marked with the sign of our
Savior's holy cross. Let him (her) treasure this first sharing of your
sovereign glory, and by keeping your commandments deserve to attain the
glory of heaven to which those born anew are destined; through Christ
our Lord.
All: Amen.
For several:
Let us pray.
Lord, if it please you, hear our prayer, and by your inexhaustible
power protect your chosen ones, N. and N., now marked with the sign of
our Savior's holy cross. Let them treasure this first sharing of your
sovereign glory, and by keeping your commandments deserve to attain the
glory of heaven to which those born anew are destined; through Christ
our Lord.
All: Amen.
{Laying on of hands is a symbol with a variety of meanings. Here it is
an act of appropriation. The Church acknowledges or claims the child as
her own, places a protecting hand on him, and commends him to God.}
5. The priest lays his hand on the head of the child (on each one
singly), after which he holds his hand outstretched and says:
(In the act of supplying ceremonies after a private baptism, notice
that there are two changes of wording in the prayer below. Consult the
footnotes).
For one:
Let us pray.
Almighty, everlasting God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, look with
favor on your servant, N., whom it has[1] pleased you to call to this
first step in the faith. Rid him (her) of all inward blindness. Sever
all snares of Satan which heretofore bound him (her). Open wide for him
(her), Lord, the door to your fatherly love. May the seal of your
wisdom so penetrate him (her) as to cast out all tainted and foul
inclinations, and let in the fragrance of your lofty teachings. Thus
shall he (she) serve you gladly in your Church and grow daily more
perfect;[2] through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
For several:
Let us pray.
Almighty, everlasting God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, look with
favor on your servants, N. and N., whom it has[1] pleased you to call to
this first step in the faith. Rid them of all inward blindness. Sever
all snares of Satan which heretofore bound them. Open wide for them,
Lord, the door to your fatherly love. May the seal of your wisdom so
penetrate them, as to cast out all tainted and foul inclinations, and
let in the fragrance of your lofty teachings. Thus shall they serve you
gladly in your Church and grow daily more perfect;[2] through Christ our
Lord.
All: Amen.
The Blessing of Salt
{Salt is a condiment meant to flavor foods and also preserve them.
Among some peoples it is given to a newly arrived guest in sign of
hospitality and friendship. Among the Hebrews it was eaten to symbolize
the binding nature of a compact. Christ told the Apostles: "You are the
salt of the earth" (Mt 5.13). As salt acts on food to preserve it and
keep it from spoiling, Christ's followers are to influence the world
for good and to preserve from corruption the truths He taught them. In
the rite of baptism salt is especially a symbol of wisdom--that the
subject be given a relish for heavenly doctrine; and a symbol of a
blessed immortality--that he be preserved from final corruption. In the
ancient rite the first stage, enrolling of catechumens, terminated with
the giving of blessed salt.}
6. The priest blesses salt, which once blessed may serve for future
baptisms;* (unless he is to use salt that already has been blessed).
God's creature, salt, I cast out the demon from you, in the name of God
+ the Father almighty, in the love of our Lord Jesus + Christ, and in
the strength of the Holy + Spirit. I purify you by the living God, the
true God, the holy God, by God who created you to be a preservative for
mankind, and ordered you to be sanctified by His ministers for the
benefit of the people who are about to embrace the faith. In the name
of the Blessed Trinity may you become a saving sign empowered to drive
away the enemy. Therefore, we beg you, Lord, our God, to sanctify + and
to bless + this creature, salt, thus providing a perfect remedy for all
who receive it, one that will permeate their inmost being. We ask this
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is coming to judge both the
living and the dead and the world by fire.
All: Amen.
* When a deacon administers baptism he uses salt already blessed by a
priest.--Trans.
7. The priest puts a pinch of the blessed salt in the mouth of the
child (to each one), saying as he does so:
N., take this salt in sign of wisdom. May it be for you likewise a
token that foreshadows everlasting life.
All: Amen.
Priest: Peace be with you.
All: And also with you.
{In the next prayer there is an allusion to the Eucharist, the
"heavenly nourishment" the child will receive after he is baptized.}
The priest then adds this prayer:
For one:
Let us pray.
God of our fathers, God, source of all truth, we humbly ask you to be
well disposed to your servant, N. After this first[3] taste of salt, let
his (her) hunger for heavenly nourishment not be prolonged but soon be
satisfied. For then he (she) will always pay homage to your holy name
with fervor, joy, and trust.[4] In your tender care, O Lord, lead him
(her) to the bath of water where one is born over again, so that taken
into the family of your faithful he (she) can finally attain the
everlasting reward which you have promised; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
For several:
Let us pray.
God of our fathers, God, source of all truth, we humbly ask you to be
well disposed to your servants, N. and N. After this first[3] taste of
salt, let their hunger for heavenly nourishment not be prolonged but
soon be satisfied. For then they will always pay homage to your holy
name with fervor, joy, and trust.[4] In your tender care, O Lord, lead
them to the bath of water where one is born over again, so that taken
into the family of your faithful they can finally attain the
everlasting reward which you have promised; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
Exorcism of the Subject
{In early times the catechumen had at this stage advanced to the rank
of a petitioner. He continued with his instructions, was examined, and
was subjected to the first scrutinies. Elements of the ancient rite are
here preserved, especially in the solemn exorcism that follows. The
priest now uses the power of exorcism received from Christ to free the
person from the tyranny of Satan and to fit him throughout life for the
whole Christian warfare against sin. The ancient enemy of mankind seeks
to dispute with the Son of God for the possession of a man's soul. But
in this confrontation Jesus is victorious as He was when once Himself
tempted in the desert.}
The priest says:
I cast you out, unclean spirit, in the name of the Father, + and of the
Son, + and of the Holy + Spirit. Depart and stay far away from this
servant (these servants) of God, N. (N. and N.). For it is the Lord
Himself who commands you, accursed and doomed spirit, He who walked on
the sea and reached out His hand to Peter as he was sinking. So then,
foul fiend, recall the curse that decided your fate once for all.
Indeed, pay homage to the living and true God, pay homage to Jesus
Christ, His Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Keep far from this servant
(these servants) of God, N. (N. and N.), for Jesus Christ, our Lord and
God, has freely called him (her) (them) to His holy grace and blessed
way and to the waters of baptism.
{Under seal of the cross the child is now given over to the custody of
Christ. We recall here the words of the Apocalypse: "Then I saw another
angel rising out of the East, carrying the seal of the living God; and
he called aloud to the four angels who had been given the power to
ravage land and sea: 'Do no damage to sea or land or trees until we
have set the seal of our God upon the foreheads of His servants'" (7.2-
3).}
8. Now the priest traces the sign of the cross upon the brow of the
child (on each one), saying as he does so:
Never dare, accursed fiend, to desecrate this seal of the holy + cross
which we imprint upon his (her) brow; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
Prayer of Enlightenment
{In former times the exercises in preparation for baptism included
readings from and instructions on the Holy Bible. The readings chosen
were episodes or incidents from the Old Testament which prefigured
baptism, such as the miraculous water of Meriba (Num 20.1-3), the cure
of Naaman the leper (4 Kgs 5.1-14), and the prophecy about the
restoration of Sion (Is 49.8-15); and especially the gospel accounts of
the Samaritan woman (Jn 4.6-42) and the man born blind (Jn 9.1-39).
These readings served to illumine the deep significance of the
sacrament. The living waters of baptism give the grace both of healing
and enlightenment, somewhat as our Lord once gave bodily sight to the
man born blind and spiritual sight to the Samaritan woman.}
For the Jews the laying on of hands was a religious rite, both in the
official liturgy and in private life. There is a fine example of this
in the Gospel, the occasion when little children were brought to our
Lord. St. Mark tells us that "embracing them and laying hands on them
He blessed them" (10.16). St. Matthew in the parallel passage adds the
interesting detail that this blessing was accompanied by a prayer
(19.13).
9. The priest next lays his hand on the head of the child (on each
one), after which he holds his hand outstretched and says (notice the
change in wording when supplying ceremonies after private baptism:
consult the footnote):
For one
Let us pray.
Holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God, source of light and truth,
I appeal to your sacred and boundless compassion on behalf of this
servant of yours, N. Be pleased to enlighten him (her) by the light of
your eternal wisdom. Cleanse, sanctify, and endow him (her) with true
knowledge.[5] For thus will he (she) be made ready for the grace of your
baptism and ever remain steadfast, never losing hope, never faltering
in duty, never straying from sacred truth; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
For several
Let us pray.
Holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God, source of light and truth,
I appeal to your sacred and boundless compassion on behalf of these
servants of yours, N. and N. Be pleased to enlighten them by the light
of your eternal wisdom. Cleanse, sanctify, and endow them with true
knowledge.[5] For thus will they be made ready for the grace of your
baptism and ever remain steadfast, never losing hope, never faltering
in duty, never straying from sacred truth; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
10. Then the priest places the left end of his stole on the first child
only and conducts him (her)--followed by the others--into the holy
place; in doing so he says:
Come into God's sanctuary, N. (N. and N.), where you will be given a
share with Christ in everlasting life.
All: Amen.
INSIDE THE CHURCH EDIFICE
The procession then makes its way to the baptistery. In a solemn
baptism the organ may be played and hymns sung at this time. See the
special music supplement for the voice and organ parts for the text
given below.
HYMNS
Psalm 99
All: Arise, come to your God, * sing Him your songs of rejoicing.
P: Sing joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; serve the Lord with
gladness; * come before Him singing for joy.
All: Arise, come to your God, * sing Him your songs of rejoicing.
P: Know that the Lord is God. He made us, we belong to Him, * we are
His people, the sheep He tends.
All: Arise, come to your God, * sing Him your songs of rejoicing.
P: Enter His gates, giving thanks. Enter His courts with praise; * give
thanks to Him and bless His name.
All: Arise, come to your God, * sing Him your songs of rejoicing.
P: Indeed, the Lord is good; His kindness endures forever; * He is
faithful from age to age.
All: Arise, come to your God, * sing Him your songs of rejoicing.
P: Give glory to the Father in heaven, to His Son, Jesus Christ, our
Lord, * to the Spirit who dwells in our hearts.
All: Arise, come to your God, * sing Him your songs of rejoicing.
Psalm 22
P: The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. * In verdant pastures He
gives me repose.
All: Beside restful waters He leads me * He refreshes my soul.
P: He guides me in right paths * for His name's sake.
All: Even though I walk in the dark valley * I fear no evil; for you
are at my side
P: With your rod and your staff * that give me courage.
All: You spread the table before me * in the sight of my foes;
P: You anoint my head with oil; * my cup overflows.
All: Only goodness and kindness follow me * all the days of my life;
P: And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord * for years to come.
All: Glory be to the Father.
P: As it was in the beginning.
{The Church has now thrown open her doors to the child and welcomed him
into God's house. The procession comes to the baptistery but halts
before the gates. In the time of the catechumenate a special day in
Lent was assigned for entrusting (traditio) the candidates with the
Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Gospels--the whole deposit of faith.
The celebrant, especially if he was the bishop, commented on the Creed,
article by article, and on the Lord's Prayer, petition by petition; and
delivered a homily on each of the four Gospels. Having memorized the
Creed and the Lord's Prayer, the candidates solemnly recited these
aloud (redditio) before the celebrant on another day assigned for this
ceremony. It is the latter that is being recalled in what follows.}
AT THE GATES OF THE BAPTISTERY
The Creed and Lord's Prayer
11. Priest: Will you please recite the Creed?
All: I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and
earth. And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; who was conceived
by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius
Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell;
the third day He arose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven,
and sits at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from there He
shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy
Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the
forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life
everlasting. Amen. Priest: Now please say the Lord's Prayer.
All: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom
come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day
our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who
trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us
from evil. Amen.
{In early times the catechumens were called the elect at this final
stage. The next rites enshrine what remains of the very impressive
former rites of initiation. The great scrutiny, also called opening of
ears, took place in some parts of the Church on Wednesday of the fourth
week in Lent (in Rome, at St. Paul's Church). The exorcism of the Evil
One, now held at the baptistery, is the final and definitive one.}
12. Having his back turned to the gates of the baptistery, the priest
says (notice the change in wording when supplying ceremonies after
private baptism; consult the footnote):
Final Exorcism
For one
I cast you out, every unclean spirit, in the name of God + the Father
almighty, in the name of Jesus + Christ, His Son, our Lord and judge,
and in the power of the Holy + Spirit. Begone, Satan, from God's
handiwork, N. Because our Lord (has) graciously called him her to His
holy sanctuary, where he (she) will become a dwelling place for the
living God, a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. We ask this in the
name of Christ our Lord, who is coming to judge both the living and the
dead and the world and the dead and the world by fire.
All: Amen.
For several
I cast you out, every unclean spirit, in the name of God + the Father
almighty, in the name of Jesus + Christ, His Son, our Lord and judge,
and in the power of the Holy + Spirit. Begone, Satan, from God's
handiwork, N. and N. Because our Lord has graciously called them to His
holy sanctuary, where they will become a dwelling place for the living
God, a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. We ask this in the name of
Christ our Lord, who is coming to judge both the living and the dead
and the world by fire.
All: Amen.
Touching of the Ears and Nostrils
Christ used this action and these words in healing the deaf-mute,
although He actually touched the ears and mouth, not the nostrils. The
change of touching the nostrils instead of the mouth was made quite
early by the Church, at least by the fourth or fifth century, for we
find that St. Ambrose said: "For the sake of propriety the nostrils are
touched instead of the tongue." Here the action and words signify that
the inner faculties are being attuned and sharpened to perceive the
good news of Christ's redeeming grace and its fragrance.
13. The priest then moistens his thumb with his spittle and touches the
ears and nostrils of the child (each one). The use of saliva may be
omitted for reasons of hygiene, when there is fear of contracting or
communicating disease (by order of Pius XII in 1944). But the ceremony
itself is not omitted. He touches first the right ear then the left,
saying:
Ephpheta, which means: Be opened. Next touching the nostrils, he adds:
And perceive the fragrance of God's loving ways. But you, evil spirit,
begone, for the judgment of God has come.
Threefold Renunciation of Satan
{The child, through the sponsors, now publicly renounces the devil
three times, corresponding to the later threefold profession of faith.
In Eastern Christendom the candidates used to turn to the West, a
symbol of darkness and evil and the lair of evil spirits, and actually
spat in that direction to show their loathing for the father of
darkness. Then they turned to the East, the region of the rising sun,
that part of the world where the ancients thought Paradise was and
which they also regarded as the scene of Christ's second coming, to
swear allegiance to our Lord whom they called the sun of holiness. We
can learn from this that baptism requires a reorientation or conversion
of the whole man.}
14. The priest questions the candidate by name (each one):
Priest: N., do you renounce Satan?
Sponsors: I do renounce him.
P: And all his works?
Sponsors: I do renounce them.
P: And all his attractions?
Sponsors: I do renounce them.
Anointing for Spiritual Combat
{The Christian life is a contest and a struggle against the powers of
evil. Therefore, as an athlete of Christ the baptismal candidate is
anointed with oil, signifying that he is willing to engage in the
contest, and that he is being given suppleness and strength for this
purpose. In olden times the entire body of the candidate was anointed,
in imitation of wrestlers and athletes who anointed their entire bodies
with olive oil prior to entering the arena. In the present form the
anointing is reduced to the chest and shoulders.}
15. The priest dips his thumb in the oil of catechumens and anoints the
child (each one) in the form of a cross on the breast and on the back
between the shoulders, pronouncing only once these words:
I anoint + you with the oil that sanctifies in Christ Jesus our Lord,
that you may have everlasting life.
All: Amen.
16. Afterward he wipes his thumb and the spots anointed with cotton or
similar material.
17. Remaining in the same place outside the gates of the baptistery, he
exchanges the purple stole for a white one. (In a more solemn baptism
he also changes the cope.) Then he enters the baptistery and so do the
sponsors with the child.
INSIDE THE BAPTISTERY
{The candidate is now brought to the baptismal font, which the fathers
call the womb of Mother Church. And from this symbolic womb the child
will emerge a new creature, as St. Paul says. The font with its water
has been consecrated on the previous Easter night with most impressive
prayers and rites, showing that a life-giving quality has been imparted
to it by the Spirit of Christ, as signified by the prayer formulas, by
the act of plunging into it the paschal candle (a symbol of Christ),
and by pouring in the fragrant sacred oils (also a symbol of Christ and
His grace).}
Final Profession of Faith
{The candidate now makes a threefold profession of faith, in the three
Persons of the Blessed Trinity, in whose name he is to be baptized,
thus showing clearly that baptism is the "sacrament of faith," as the
Church's tradition refers to it.}
Standing beside the font the priest puts the following questions to
each one to be baptized, calling him (her) by name. The sponsors give
the answers:
Priest: N., do you believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of
heaven and earth?
Sponsors: I do believe.
P: Do you believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was born
into this world and suffered for us? Sponsors: I do believe.
P: And do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the
communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the
body, and life everlasting? Sponsors: I do believe.
18. Then calling him (her) by name the priest inquires (of each one)[6]
(notice the omissions when supplying ceremonies; consult the footnote):
Priest: N., do you wish to be baptized?
Sponsors: I do.
Act of Baptizing
{We come now to the most highly symbolic act of the whole rite: baptism
in water which signifies and effects the cleansing of the soul, death
and burial of the old life that comes from Adam, and resurrection to
the new life that comes from union with Christ. No words can tell more
eloquently what transpires here than these quotations from Sacred
Scripture:
"I will pour out on you pure water and you shall be purified. I will
cleanse you of all your stains and of all your idols, and I will give
you a new heart" (Ez 36.25).
"Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself up for it, to consecrate
it, cleansing it by water and word, so that He might present the Church
to Himself all glorious, with no stain or wrinkle or anything of the
sort, but holy and without blemish" (Eph 5.26-27).
"Let us make our approach in sincerity of heart and full assurance of
faith, our guilty hearts sprinkled clean, our bodies washed with pure
water" (Heb 10.22).
"Have you forgotten that when we were baptized into union with Jesus
Christ we were baptized into His death? By baptism we were buried with
Him, and lay dead, in order that, as Christ was raised from the dead in
the splendor of the Father, so also we might set our feet upon the new
path of life" (Rom 6.3-4).
"Baptized into union with Him, you have all put on Christ as a garment"
(Gal 3.27).
"For in baptism you were buried with Him, in baptism also you were
raised to life with Him" (Col 2.12).}
19. As the godfather or godmother (or both if two sponsors are used)
holds the child, the priest takes water from the font with a ladle,
pours it three times in the form of a cross on the head of the child,
and while pouring pronounces only once distinctly and attentively the
words:
N., I baptize you in the name of the Father, + (here he pours the first
time) and of the Son, + (pouring a second time) and of the Holy +
Spirit (pouring a third time).
20. But where it is the custom to baptize by immersion, the priest
takes the child, and handling it carefully so that it will not be
injured be baptizes with a threefold immersion, pronouncing the words
only once:
N., I baptize you in the name of the Father, + and of the Son, + and of
the Holy + Spirit.
21. Forthwith the godfather or godmother (or both of them together if
there are two) lifts the child from the holy font, receiving it from
the priest.
22. If there is doubt whether the child has already been baptized, the
following form is used:
N., if you are not baptized, I baptize you in the name of the Father, +
and of the Son, + and of the Holy + Spirit.
Anointing With Chrism
{To show further that baptism identifies the Christian with Christ, the
newly baptized is now anointed with the holy oil of chrism. According
to long-standing tradition priests and kings are anointed with oil.
Christ our High Priest and King of kings received a supernatural
anointing from His heavenly Father. So also the child, newly made a
Christian, is given the priestly anointing, because through baptism he
shares in the priesthood of Christ; and the anointing is done on the
crown of the head, because he shares likewise in the kingship of
Christ. Another reason for the anointing is that baptism imprints on
the soul an indelible character, marking one with the sign of
membership in the Church and designating the right to participate in
her worship.}
23. The priest dips his thumb in holy chrism, and in the form of a
cross anoints the child (each one) on the crown of the head, saying:
The almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, has caused you to be
born over again of water and the Holy Spirit and pardoned you all your
sins. May He now anoint + you with the chrism that sanctifies in Christ
Jesus our Lord, and bring you to everlasting life.
All: Amen.
Priest: Peace be with you.
All: And also with you.
The priest wipes his thumb and the place anointed with cotton.
Bestowal of the White Robe
{In ancient times when baptism was administered by immersion, the
candidates stripped off their old garments before descending into the
font, never to wear them again. Figuratively it meant putting off the
old man of sin who stems from Adam. On coming out of the font after
baptism they clothed themselves in new white garments in sign of their
new innocence and purity; or as St. Paul says, "putting on Christ as a
garment." This is reminiscent of our Lord's parable of the wedding
garment. The present ceremony is a token of the onetime fuller
symbolism.}
24. The priest puts a white linen cloth (in place of the white garment)
on the head of the child (on each one), saying:
Take this white robe and keep it spotless until you arrive at the
judgment seat of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you may be rewarded with
everlasting life.
All: Amen.
Bestowal of the Blessed Candle
{In a final ceremony the newly baptized is presented with a lighted
candle. Formerly it was a burning torch instead; and with burning
torches held aloft the "newborn from the dead" marched into the church
to assist for the first time at the Eucharist, singing as they went,
the psalm, "I will go to the altar of God." This is reminiscent of the
parable of the wise and foolish virgins. The present rite points up the
truth that baptism is related not only to the past--the sacrifice of
Christ; not only to the present--the grace of new birth; but also to
the future--the glory of the life to come.}
25. Next the priest presents a lighted candle to the newly baptized (to
each one) or to the sponsors, saying:
Take this burning candle as a reminder to keep your baptismal
innocence. Obey God's commandments, so that when our Lord comes for the
joyous wedding feast you may go forth to meet Him with all the saints
in the halls of heaven, and be happy with Him forevermore.
All: Amen.
26. In conclusion the priest says:
Go in peace, N. (N. and N.), and may the Lord be with you.
All: Amen.
27. The rite described above must be observed also by a deacon who
administers solemn baptism; however, he uses salt and water blessed
previously for this purpose by a priest.
28. When children of both sexes are to be baptized, during the
interrogations the boys are placed to the right, the girls to the left;
and everything is said as above, using the proper gender and plural
number. However, the first questions, the exsufflation, the signing
with the cross, the touching of the ears and nostrils with spittle, the
questions concerning the renunciations, the anointing with oil of
catechumens, the questions on the chief articles of the Creed, the
actual baptizing, the anointing with chrism, the bestowal of the white
garment and the lighted candle--each one of these ceremonies must be
applied separately to each individual, beginning always with the boys
and finishing with the girls.
For greater convenience these matters are noted in their proper place
by rubrics contained in parentheses. Thus when the term "to each
person" occurs in a given rubric, it is to be understood that the words
are to be said or the action performed separately for each person until
the next rubric, beginning with the boys and finishing with the girls
using the proper terms of gender as stated above. But if in a similar
rubric the term "for all in common" occurs, it is to be understood that
the words should be employed only once for all in common until the next
rubric.
29. If a child or an adult is ill, and so seriously that he might die
before baptism could be completed, the priest, omitting all that
precedes the act of baptizing, should baptize at once with a threefold
or even a single ablution in the form of a cross, saying: I baptize
you, etc.
If baptismal water is not available and necessity urges, the priest
should use ordinary water. Then if he has chrism with him he anoints
the person on the forehead, saying: "The almighty God," etc., as above,
Next he places on him the white garment, saying: Take this white robe,
etc., as above. Lastly, he presents the lighted candle with the words:
"Take this burning candle," etc., as above.
If the one thus baptized recovers, all ceremonies omitted should be
supplied later.
30. When several are to be baptized in imminent danger of death. and
time does not allow that each be baptized separately, the minister is
permitted to baptize all at one time, pouring water on the head of each
with the one form: "I baptize you in the name of the Father, + and of
the Son, + and of the Holy + Spirit." However, this manner of baptizing
may never be used unless danger of death renders impossible the time
required to baptize each one separately.
31. The sponsors should be reminded of the spiritual relationship which
they contract with the one baptized; this relationship is a diriment
impediment to matrimony.
32. The pastor should admonish the parents that neither they nor a
nurse should allow the child to sleep in the same bed with them, for
there is danger that the child might be smothered. Rather, they should
watch over the child with tender solicitude, and give it proper rearing
in the Christian way of life.
33. The parents, and if necessary others responsible, are to be advised
that under no condition are they to confide an infant for suckling or
nursing to the care of a woman who is a Jewess, infidel, or heretic.
34. Before the child is taken out of church or before the sponsors
depart, the pastor should carefully enter all names and other data of
the baptism in the baptismal register in the manner prescribed.
35. If baptism was not administered by one's own pastor nor in his
presence, the one who administered it should as soon as possible give
notification thereof to the pastor of the one baptized.
36. To prove that baptism has been conferred, the testimony of one
trustworthy witness or the oath of the baptized person himself if he
was baptized in adult age is sufficient, unless the rights of another
party are prejudiced thereby.
ENDNOTES
1. In supplying ceremonies: whom it has already pleased you, etc.
2. In supplying ceremonies add the following:
May the taste of salt be for him (her) (them) a medicine and help him
(her) (them) make good use of the grace received in baptism; through
Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
3. In supplying ceremonies the word first is omitted.
4. In supplying ceremonies the priest here says the following:
For one: In your tender care, O Lord, you have led him (her) to the
bath of water where one is born over again. And having been taken into
the family of your faithful, may he (she) finally attain the
everlasting reward which you have promised; through Christ our Lord.
R: Amen.
For several: In your tender care, O Lord, you have led them to the bath
of water where one is born over again. And having been taken into the
family of your faithful, may they finally attain the everlasting reward
which you have promised; through Christ our Lord.
R: Amen.
5. In supplying ceremonies the priest says instead:
Enable him (her) (them) to use well the grace received in baptism and
ever remain steadfast, never losing hope, never faltering in duty never
straying from sacred truth; through Christ our Lord. R: Amen.
6. In supplying ceremonies omit nos. 18-22 and go to no. 23, anointing
with chrism.
BAPTISM OF ADULTS
INTRODUCTION
On April 16, 1962, the Holy See authorized and published a new rite for
baptism of adults. The official decree along with the text of the rite
and some explanation are carried in "Acta Apostolicae Sedis," 54 (1962)
310-338. We now have not only a much improved and simplified form of
prayers and ceremonies, but also are permitted to carry out this
impressive though lengthy function in successive stages instead of in
one continuous action. What it amounts to is a restoration in some
degree of the ancient catechumenate.
Along with instructing prospective converts in the Church's doctrine a
priest can now impart efficacious sacramentals to them during this
period, leading up gradually to the act of baptizing itself. This can
be done if desired in as many as seven distinct ceremonies spread out
over the weeks or months of preparation for their reception into the
Church. There can be no doubt that the rite thus becomes much more
meaningful for the parties concerned. Since the officiating priest is
supposed to give an explanation of the prayers and ceremonies as he is
celebrating them, he may find the following notes of some help.
The catechumenate in early times had no one set form for all parts of
Christendom. In the western Church alone Rome, Milan, Gaul, Spain, and
Africa had their own provincial rites, differing considerably in
structure and detail. Therefore, we attempt here merely a general
outline of what took place. Before being received into the
catechumenate, which in some places lasted two or three years, the
candidates for baptism received some preliminary instruction. Only then
were they made catechumens, and impressive liturgical acts marked this
stage of progress, such as the signing on the forehead with the brand
of Christ, the sign of the cross; exsufflation and exorcism; the laying
on of hands which signified the bestowal of God's first gifts on the
one who was seeking Him; and lastly the giving of salt, one of the most
important sacramentals in use in the early Church.
By these sacramentals the pagan, Jew, or idolator was made a
catechumen, an aspirant for baptism and for full-fledged membership in
the body of Christ's Church. In a certain sense they regarded
themselves as already Christians, and were given a privileged status in
the Christian community. The first contact with Christ was established,
the contact by faith or the psychological contact, as theologians of
the present day would call it. This earned the catechumens the right
and privilege to assist at the fore-part of the Mass, being obliged to
leave, however, after the sermon and before the offering of gifts. Many
a catechumen became so well pleased with his new state that baptism was
deferred indefinitely, oftentimes until death was at his heels. In some
cases this was not because formidable obstacles stood in the way of
learning and assenting to the doctrines of Christianity, but far more
because of unwillingness to abide by its moral demands.
Normally, though, the catechumens would advance to baptism, and the
time would come to declare such intention by registering themselves as
candidates. This happened at the beginning of Lent. The holy fast of
forty days was observed by the faithful and the catechumens alike. And
that was the most suitable and most time-hallowed period for the
candidates for baptism to prepare themselves, so that they would be
ready to receive the sacrament on Easter night. "Note that Easter is
near at hand. Give in your name for baptism," says St. Augustine in a
sermon delivered at the approach of Lent. Under the tutelage of
selected or appointed monitors, who later would act as godparents, the
candidates learned by rote the Creed and the Lord's Prayer, and also
how to deport themselves during the rites that were to take place on
Easter night. Theodore of Mopsuestia, in his "Commentary on the Lord's
Prayer and on the Sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist," says the
godparent had to guarantee that the candidate was worthy of being
baptized; that either his past life had been irreproachable or that he
had sincerely broken off his former sinful ways, and now gave every
promise of being able to continue in righteous living once he would be
received into the Church. In the case of exceptionally notorious
sinners, three godparents or "references" were demanded, whose double
duty it was to certify to the present good standing of their godchild
and to vouch for his future perseverance in the fear of the Lord.
The six weeks of Lent were designed to test of what spirit the
candidates were informed. This time of probation was a serious
business, given over to prayer and to the strict fast, the fast that
could not be broken until the evening meal. If the candidate was
married, complete continence was expected of him throughout these
weeks. Daily or almost daily the candidates had to assemble for
instruction on the Creed and on the Ten Commandments. Nor did their
formation consist in oral instruction only but also in exorcisms and
other sacred rites given the generic name of scrutinies. To have some
idea of the nature of the prayers and instructions used on the days of
the scrutinies, and to see how intimately the entire congregation of
faithful shared in the Church's solicitude for her baptismal aspirants,
we need only consult the "Gelasian Sacramentary" and the "Ordo Romanus
VII." There we can find the Mass formularies once used in ancient times
for the days of the scrutinies, but no longer contained in our present
missal.
Among the rites preparatory to baptism, of special importance were the
"traditio symboli" and the "redditio symboli," which took place at the
close of Lent and marked the culmination of the probationary period.
The former, "traditio symboli," was the formal and oral delivery of the
Creed by the bishop to the candidates. In some places--in Africa, for
instance--this happened on the Saturday two weeks prior to Holy
Saturday or the day before what is now called Passion Sunday. Surely
the catechumens already knew the chief articles of faith, but this
formal "handing over" of the Creed to them may have been the first time
they heard its actual formula pronounced. Delivered to them orally and
not in written form, since it was one of the "secrets" to be kept from
the uninitiated, they were to learn it, assimilate it, memorize it, so
as to be able to recite it on the night of their baptism. The "redditio
symboli," which we may call the "giving back" or the rendering of the
Creed, was the solemn recitation of the Creed by the candidates usually
on the Sunday before Easter. On the same day in some places the Lord's
Prayer was formally and solemnly delivered to them, and a homily
preached explaining the petitions of the prayer.
Before we go on to consider the solemnities of the Easter vigil, there
is a last thing in the series of preparatory acts worthy of mention,
bearing the euphonious Latin name of "capitilavium." The English
equivalent is "head-washing." "Capitilavium" was also one of many
titles for Palm Sunday in certain parts of Christendom, although we
know from St. Augustine that in Africa the day for washing heads and
for bathing the body was Maundy Thursday. Why should the heads of those
who were to be baptized and anointed be washed? For the very valid
reason that throughout the entire season of Lent the candidates had to
forego the luxury of bathing. Such deprivation was one more penitential
exercise. We should not be surprised, then, to find St. Augustine
penning the words about washing and bathing on this day, so that, as he
explains, all might come to the font and to the anointing without
offense to the olfactory sense. We get the impression, too, that this
cleansing process was not left to private initiative, but that it took
place under supervision.
At last came the great Paschal Night, the solemnity of solemnities, the
mother of all vigils, the night of light, "nox lucida, splendida, miris
irradiata fulgoribus," as the paschal hymn of praise, the "Exultet,"
says. Everywhere the night was made resplendent by burning lights, not
only in the churches but on the streets, highways, and hilltops,
telling of the divine mysteries being re-enacted in God's house. The
night, as St. Gregory of Nyssa describes it, made so luminous by the
many lamps enkindled, that its radiance mingled with the rays of the
sun at dawn, making of it one long continuous day unspoiled by the
accustomed darkness. This was a fitting expression of the joy that
filled men's hearts over the resurrection of our Lord. "Be enlightened,
for Christ our Light is risen!"
The vigil of Easter was a night-watch in the full sense of the word,
the only time of the year, as a rule, when the people spent the entire
night in church, from the evening hours until daybreak. In the early
Church the ordinary vigil, for instance, the weekly vigil in
preparation for the Lord's Day, consisted of a service held at the
beginning of the night and another one at the end of the night, at both
of which the faithful assisted, but with the hours intervening spent at
rest in their own dwellings. But in the case of the Easter vigil the
night-watch was prolonged throughout the many hours from evening
sundown to morning sunrise. It consisted of prayer and song, reading
and instruction, and intervals of silent meditation. If the faithful
had not assembled in church during the first hours of the night-watch,
they arrived at least by midnight, because this was the hour according
to tradition when Christ the Lord arose from the dead. Furthermore,
midnight of Easter, as Lactantius bears witness, was the moment when
Christians of former ages expected the second coming of Christ in power
and glory. In some places, as St. Jerome implies, the people were
dismissed shortly after midnight, instead of waiting for the
administration of baptism, because the midnight hour had come and gone
without bringing in its wake the Last Day and Christ's second coming.
Another year would have to be lived before that longing of the early
Christians could be satisfied.
In the western Church, in the foreground of the Easter vigil service
was the act of baptism, together with its related rites. Among these
rites, of special importance and significance was the lighting of the
Easter candle and the solemn and beautiful hymn of praise which
accompanied it. The latter is a song of praise and thanksgiving for the
merciful dealings of God toward mankind. It glorifies the spiritual
light brought into the world by Christ. That is the motif sounded
throughout the vigil service--Christ is the Light of the world, but now
especially He is a light to the catechumens, who in this holy night are
to be taken into the kingdom of light by baptism. Expressive of Christ
who dispels the darkness, the paschal candle is also a symbol of the
baptized, of their victory over the devil, over sin, and over death, of
the light and life of grace which permeates the souls of the
illuminati, the enlightened, as the baptized are called.
Looking back to antiquity, whether Christian or pagan, we find what
great importance was once attached to the "lucernarium," and how a form
of it was taken over into the liturgy of Easter eve from earliest
times, only to receive considerable embellishment in succeeding
centuries. The ancient "lucernarium" was the lighting of lamps at
eventide. Sometimes the term was also applied to the act of bringing
such a light into the room where the family was gathered together,
especially the bringing of a lamp to the table at which the family was
seated for the evening meal. To the pagans light was a symbol of their
deities; to the Christians light was a symbol of Christ. To the pagan
especially, light was a friendly, precious, and sacred thing, an
antidote to his extraordinary, even abnormal fear and abhorrence of
darkness. Hence the lighting of the evening lamp had the character of a
cult and was carried out to the accompaniment of prayer and hymns. It
was a cult, moreover, observed not only in the home but also in the
pagan temple.
That there was a liturgical ceremony of light held in church as part of
the vigil service in the fourth century, and that it in some way
resembled the very solemn rite that we now have in the new "Ordo
Sabbati Sancti," with the exclamatory prayer "Lumen Christi! Deo
gratias!" is attested to, in the case of Jerusalem and Spain, by the
nun, Etheria. In describing this custom as she saw it on her pilgrimage
to Jerusalem, she remarks with surprise that the light is not brought
into the chapel of the resurrection from outdoors, as happened to be
the case in her homeland of Spain, but from another chamber in the
grotto. We learn, moreover, that in Spain the fire for the ceremonial
light was struck from flint in front of the church edifice.
It was around 400 A.D. that the use of the paschal candle was
introduced. The candle symbolized Christ who this night triumphed over
death, bringing by the light of His grace liberty to the captives held
in the darkness of sin. The light of grace shining in the souls of the
faithful is to the darkness of this world what the pillar of light was
to the Jews in the desert. To the catechumens on their way to the
light, Christ is their leader, symbolized by the paschal candle,
conducting them in solemn procession to the baptismal font. St.
Augustine composed a metrical eulogy on the candle, of which he gives
the first part in the "City of God."
Once the lights in the basilica were enkindled, the vigil service
proceeded with singing of psalms, readings from Sacred Scripture,
prayer, and brief allocutions from the bishop. One after another a
reader intoned a lesson from the Old Testament or one of the prophecies
properly called. The choice of the lessons generally in use for this
occasion agreed singularly with the Bible scenes depicted in the
paintings of the catacombs; there were the same subjects, all symbols
of the regeneration of the soul in baptism or of its growth in grace
through penance and the Eucharist. The history of creation, the history
of the Fall, and the promise of redemption passed in view, as selected
passages from Genesis, Exodus, and Daniel were read. After every two or
three readings there was a long interruption, the interval being filled
out with a short sermon in explanation of the scriptural text, silent
meditation on the same, and the singing of psalms and canticles, in
particular the canticle of Moses and the canticle of the Three Youths.
Sometime in the course of the vigil--we do not know exactly when--the
candidates for baptism were obliged, each one separately, to recite the
Creed before the assembled congregation. Since the very purpose of this
second "redditio" was to be a personal and public profession of faith,
it had to occur before the catechumens retired to the baptistery. It is
our guess, therefore, that it took place at this point, following the
prophetic readings from the Old Law.
At the hour of cockcrow the wearisome service of watching and praying
was almost over, for the time for baptism was at hand. For the last
time the bishop addressed the candidates on the subject of the
sacrament about to be received. Were they ready to accept this gift of
God and with it the obligations and responsibilities of the Christian
way of life--now was the time to make their final and irrevocable
choice. Before entering the baptistery they gave expression by gesture
and by word of their readiness to renounce Satan and his realm and to
be converted to Christ. Turning toward the West, the region of darkness
and the habitat of demons, they renounced the devil in practically the
same formula given in our present-day rite. "Do you renounce Satan, and
his angels, and his pomps?" The word pomps was used by Tertullian to
signify the public spectacles of the pagans, whether of the temple, the
theater, the circus, or their games; but by the time of Augustine it
had come to connote all the allurements that the devil dangles before
the eyes of men, in order to turn them away from following Christ.
Having voiced their renunciation of the evil one and his pomps, they
turned to the East, the kingdom of Light, pledging their allegiance to
the Sun of Justice. Then they went in procession to the font, chanting
the forty-first psalm, "As the hind longs for the running waters." This
practice gave St. Augustine occasion to preach a special sermon, in
which he exhorted the faithful to direct their desires with full ardor
to the fountain of living waters. When the catechumens had retired to
the baptistery, the faithful continued the vigil in church. In later
times this part of the vigil service developed into a form which
eventually became the Office of Matins for Easter, with invitatory,
three psalms, followed by the Gospel of the resurrection according to
St. Mark, and concluding with a homily by the bishop.
On coming to the baptistery one of the first acts of the candidates was
to remove their shoes. As far back as St. John Chrysostom and John the
Deacon, the fathers of the Church bear witness to the removal of shoes
in the liturgy of baptism, indicating that there is a ceremonial reason
for it and that it has a mystical and sacramental significance.
Commenting on this part of the ritual, St. Gregory Nazianzen explains
that when the Israelites were about to depart from Egypt, this ungodly
land, they were instructed by the Lord to wear shoes on their feet in
the course of the exodus. Contrariwise, he goes on to say, those who
desire to enter a land made sacred by the footprints of the Almighty
should remove their shoes, as Moses did on Mount Sinai before coming
into the presence of God to receive the Ten Commandments. If we want to
walk with God who is life, we, like Moses, must divest ourselves of
anything that reminds one of death, specifically the shoe leather
derived from a dead animal.
We come now to the curious rite called the "exorcism of the cilicium"
which was used in Africa, but mainly in the East. "Cilicium" is
sackcloth, a penitential garb made of coarse material; in biblical
times and in the early Christian centuries it was invariably made of
goats' skin or camels' hair. Here again, as in the removal of shoes, we
have an example of ancient and pagan culture exerting its influence on
Christian worship, a case where the Church borrows an idea of pagan
origin and gives it her own much richer symbolism. In the Greek and
Roman world, sackcloth and everything made of animal skin were banned
from the temple service, because they were a reminder of death. With
this ancient idea in mind, St. Jerome explains that sackcloth, a tunic
of skin, an image of death, is worn by the candidate before he
approaches the saving waters. But once the time has come to die to the
old man and to put on the new, he lays aside the garment of death
before descending into the font. Afterward, when he has been reborn,
the neophyte replaces it with the white robe of linen, which has
nothing of death in its makeup.
Before the candidates would descend into the font to be reborn by water
and the Holy Spirit, the water was first blessed. This blessing may
have taken place even before the solemn procession to the baptistery,
and may have been administered by one of the assisting clergy. There
are references in Augustine indicating that the blessing was given by
making the sign of the cross and pronouncing a prayer over the water.
The very elaborate ceremony and beautiful text--along with the
admixture of holy oils--used today in the consecration of the font are
of much later origin. A characteristic of all the formulas for this
blessing, whether ancient or those still in use, is that God is invoked
to send the Holy Spirit upon the water to endow it with power to bestow
grace, to make it supernaturally fecund. Just as God, through His sole-
begotten Son Jesus Christ, sanctified the waters of the Jordan, so must
the water of baptism be consecrated, be made a supernatural water by
which the baptized would be changed from carnal into spiritual men.
One by one the catechumens walked down the several steps to the floor
of the font, until the water reached up to the waist. In that position,
prior to being immersed in the name of the Blessed Trinity, the
candidate had to make a final solemn profession of faith in the Blessed
Trinity, either himself if an adult, or by the mouth of the godparent
in the case of a little child. The interrogations were framed in a few
words, and concerned themselves with securing the affirmation of the
catechumen's belief in the three Persons of the Trinity. According to
the rite used in Milan in the latter part of the fourth century, the
candidate was questioned as to his belief in God the Father, and
immediately following his affirmation of faith was immersed in the
water. Then he was questioned as to his belief in the Son. Again the
affirmation, followed by the second immersion; and the same procedure,
of course, for the Holy Spirit, followed by the third immersion. St.
Ambrose assumes his hearers know that, accompanying the immersions, the
Trinitarian form of baptism was recited: for the first immersion, "I
baptize you in the name of the Father;" for the second immersion, "and
of the Son;" for the third immersion, "and of the Holy Spirit." These
were the equivalent if not the exact words. The Gelasian Sacramentary
of a later date is witness to the fact that this was also the manner of
baptizing in the Roman Church as late as the sixth century, that is,
each interrogation in turn followed immediately by the act of immersion
in the water, and not, as nowadays, the three interrogations and
responses first, and then the essential matter and form of the
sacrament.
Having come up from the waters of baptism, dead to sin, risen with
Christ, reborn in the womb of Mother Church, the neophytes were clothed
in the white linen tunic of innocence and purity, the garment that they
would wear throughout the paschal octave. St. Ambrose speaks of an
anointing on the head of the newly baptized as soon as the latter came
out of the font. Moreover, he clearly distinguishes this act from the
act of confirming, which came closely thereafter, but was first
preceded by the washing of feet. On the other hand, the custom in
Jerusalem? as St. Cyril recounts, was to administer chrism on the brow,
on the ears, on the nostrils, and on the breast, directly after
baptism, and these anointings constituted the sacrament of
confirmation. Anointing with chrism on the brow has long been
recognized as a most expressive symbol of the seal of the Spirit
imprinted on the soul through the sacrament of confirmation. Anointing
with chrism, moreover, especially when done on the crown of the head,
as is the case in our present rite of baptism, has long been the sign
of a Christian's share in the priesthood and kingship of Jesus Christ.
When the neophytes had passed through the Red Sea of baptism, it
remained for them to be nourished with the manna of the Eucharist, the
sacrament which would consummate their identification with the divine
head and their union with one another in the body of the faithful. The
time was at hand for them to hasten to accept the invitation and
promise held out during the long period of preparation--to be table
guests with Christ and His chosen ones at the paschal feast of the
Lamb. The procession now wended its way into the basilica, where the
new children of Mother Church were given a privileged place near the
altar, perhaps on the highest step of the choir or chancel, in full
view of, although separated from, the body of the faithful. The
Sacrifice of the Mass and first holy communion brought to an end the
long service of the blessed night.
--Translator
ENDNOTES
1. For a fuller treatment and documentation see the author's "Selected
Easter Sermons of St. Augustine," Herder (1959).
CHAPTER III: RULES FOR ADMINISTERING BAPTISM OF ADULTS
1. An adult should not be baptized without his knowledge and consent,
and then only after being duly instructed. Moreover, he must have true
compunction for his sins. But in danger of death, if he cannot be more
thoroughly instructed in the principal mysteries of faith, it suffices
for baptism that he manifest in some way his assent to these mysteries,
and promise in earnest that he will keep the commandments of the
Christian religion if his life is spared. If he is unable even to ask
for baptism, but has either earlier or in his present state indicated
in some probable way the intention to receive it, he should be baptized
conditionally. If afterward he recovers, and a doubt remains as to the
validity of the baptism, he should be baptized conditionally.
2. Baptism of adults should be referred to the local Ordinary if
convenient, so that he, if it is his pleasure, or one delegated by him
may administer it with greater solemnity; if not, the pastor himself
should baptize with all the prescribed ceremonies.
3. This solemn manner of baptism is most fittingly celebrated on the
vigils of Easter and Pentecost, in accord with apostolic tradition.
4. Consequently, if at these seasons catechumens are being readied for
baptism, it ought to be reserved to these two days if there is nothing
to hinder it.
5. But if there should be any converts around the time of Pentecost or
later who would take it ill to have their baptism delayed for a long
period, and want to hasten it, they may be baptized sooner if they are
properly instructed and prepared.
6. After due instruction the catechumen should be baptized in church or
in the baptistery, assisted by a sponsor. But the catechumen himself
makes the responses to the priest's questions, unless he is a deaf-mute
or does not know the language; in which case he answers through the
sponsor or another interpreter, or manifests his consent by a nod.
7. The priest who is to baptize adults, as well as the candidates
themselves, if in good health, ought properly to be fasting. Unless
prevented by grave reasons, immediately following baptism an adult
should assist at Mass and receive holy communion.
8. For which reason baptism of adults should take place at a time of
the day that would not impede receiving communion.
9. The feeble-minded and insane are not to be baptized, unless their
condition stems from birth or before attaining the use of reason; in
which case they are baptized in the manner of infants. However, if they
have lucid intervals, they should be baptized during such a period if
they manifest a desire for it. They should be baptized also when in
imminent danger of death, provided that prior to losing their reason
they showed a desire for baptism. People who are suffering from
somnolency, or delirium should be baptized only when recovered and
provided they are willing; but in danger of death they should be
baptized if previously they manifested such desire.
10. The priest should inform himself of the candidate's status,
particularly when dealing with strangers. In these cases let him make
careful inquiry as to whether they were ever baptized elsewhere and
whether it was done properly, thus precluding that someone already
baptized should wrongly ask for it again--be it out of ignorance,
error, selfish advantage, or any other reason.
11. In every case where, after due investigation, a reasonable doubt
remains as to whether the person has been baptized really or validly,
baptism should be administered again conditionally.
12. Prospective converts to the Catholic Church from heresy, in whose
baptism either the necessary form or the matter was not used, should be
baptized absolutely. But first they must be duly instructed in the
Catholic faith. In a case, however, where in baptism by heretics the
necessary form and matter were used, only the rest of the ceremonies
should be added, unless the Ordinary decides otherwise for a good
reason.
13. For the rest, one should study and observe all that is prescribed
for baptism at the beginning of Chapter I.
CHAPTER IV: RITE FOR BAPTISM OF ADULTS
ARRANGED FOR THE STAGES OF THE CATECHUMENATE
(Promulgated on April 16, 1962)
GENERAL NORMS FOR THE USE OF THIS RITE
1. All local Ordinaries may permit or prescribe that this rite be
observed in baptism of adults.
2. The whole rite is divided into seven stages:
The first stage deals with the spiritual preparation to be made by the
priest in charge of instructing the catechumens as well as by the
faithful. These prayers, by emphasizing what a serious matter Christian
life is, will prove to be a spiritual help to the catechumens (nos. 1-
3). This part is followed by the formal roll call, the basic
instruction, the act of turning away from error and turning to God, and
the first solemn signing with the cross (nos. 4-12), which is also the
basic exorcism or the radical deliverance from the power of evil
spirits.
The second stage deals with the very ancient ceremony of administering
blessed salt, which symbolizes the catechumens' ever growing delight in
the Christian religion (nos. 13-17).
The third, fourth, and fifth stages embody the solemn, thrice repeated
exorcisms, which forcefully impress on the catechumens how much effort
is entailed in total conversion to God, and how the devil, the
adversary of mankind, opposes it with all his might (nos 18-24; 25-31;
32-40).
The sixth stage has the ceremonies directly preparatory to baptism,
ceremonies derived from very ancient use and filled with profound
significance. They consist of the solemn procession of the candidates
into church (nos. 41-42), followed by the recitation of the Creed and
the Lord's Prayer, the final exorcism, and the rite called "opening of
ears"; lastly, another renunciation of Satan, the anointing with oil of
catechumens, which makes a person a warrior against the enemies of
Christ and the Church (nos. 47-49).
The seventh and last stage leads up to baptism proper. It consists of
another roll call, the profession of faith, the request for baptism
(nos. 51-52), the act of baptizing (nos. 53-55), the anointing with
chrism, which suggests the grace of the Holy Spirit received in baptism
(no. 55), the bestowal of the baptismal robe and the lighted candle
(nos. 56-57), and the dismissal of the baptized (no. 58).
3. The various stages of the rite follow the progress of the Christian
instruction or catechesis imparted to the catechumens. And for that
reason it is not allowed to omit them, to mix them up, or to change the
given order. All that is allowed is to annex one part to another if
pastoral considerations urge it. But if for good reason a catechumen
objects to taking part in the rites along with the others, he should at
least receive them privately.
Perhaps in certain places or territories or in certain cultures some of
these ceremonies might cause wonderment or not be well taken. In such
cases the conference of bishops enjoys the faculty of determining what
exactly should be done, in accord with the following norms:
(a) If in some place, according to the common understanding of the
people, the touch of the priest's hand in tracing the sign of the cross
on the catechumens is interpreted as signifying a juridical act with
certain legal consequences, or as signifying anything opposed to its
proper Christian meaning, then, above all if it would set back the work
of conversion, the bishops may determine how this ceremony should be
carried out. Their decision may be that the rubrics are to be followed
to the letter, or that the sponsors are to make the sign on the
catechumens, or else that the catechumens sign themselves while the
priest makes the sign of the cross over all together.
(b) Whenever it is practically impossible for the priest himself to
place the blessed salt in the mouth of the catechumens, it is the
bishops' prerogative to decide on the other method provided in the
rubrics at that place, namely, that the catechumens themselves do so,
taking a pinch of salt from a large vessel provided for that purpose.
(c) In regard to the anointing with oil of catechumens these points are
to be kept in mind: the signification of this anointing must be
carefully and sedulously explained to the catechumens in every part of
the Church. But if in some place it is utterly impossible to have them
grasp its real underlying purpose, in face of their own popular and
inveterate customs, then the bishops may dispense from the practice,
but only for that specific people or place and only as long as its
didactic purpose cannot be achieved. Yet priests must do their utmost
so that, as Christian practices gradually are better understood by the
people, the ceremony of anointing with this consecrated oil may
regularly be observed.
(d) The rules here laid down for anointing with oil of catechumens
apply equally for the anointing with holy chrism which ordinarily
follows the actual rite of baptism. Moreover, because the sacrament of
confirmation must be conferred by laying on of hands together with
anointing the brow with chrism (canon 780), it is necessary that,
beginning with the first instructions on baptism, the catechumens are
so well prepared that they may rightly and fully understand the
significance of the anointings with holy oils called for in the rite of
baptism. Whatever decisions are arrived at on the aforesaid points by
the conferences of bishops are to be referred to both the Sacred
Congregation of the Faith and the Congregation of Sacred Rites, and
then, if the Holy See approves, put into practice.
4. As far as possible the rites and ceremonies should be carried out
with solemnity and with the faithful in attendance; and the preparation
for the rites should be so well done that the candidates will derive
all the more spiritual fruit from them. If opportunity allows, the
godfathers and godmothers should be present at each of the various
stages. Before the ceremonies begin a clear explanation on the popular
level should be given for the benefit of the candidates and the
faithful alike. If only one or a few candidates are to be received, the
liturgical stages of the catechumenate or the sacred rites here
described may be performed even outside the church edifice (but in a
worthy place) and in a simple manner. And as far as special
circumstances allow the local Ordinaries or the conferences of bishops
should determine exactly what is to be done, so that there will be
uniformity throughout the diocese or territory.
5. All the formulae may be said in the vernacular, but in a version
approved either by the conference of bishops of a nation or territory
or by the local Ordinary. (In the document of 1962 certain exceptions
are listed here, but they are no longer applicable in view of the later
Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy).
6. The conference of bishops should see to it that a vernacular version
for the whole territory be prepared by a commission especially set up
for this purpose. Fully competent persons, whether clergy or laity, are
to be employed in making the text, which text is to be not only a
faithful version but also one true to the idiom of the respective
language. Finally such versions are to be approved by the
aforementioned conference of bishops, however, only for a period of ten
years at the most, in order that these versions may be continually
adapted to gradual evolution in the respective languages.
RITE FOR BAPTISM OF ADULTS
ARRANGED FOR THE STAGES OF THE CATECHUMENATE
FIRST STAGE
{The rite given here is the new one (see the introduction) which,
although it does not necessarily supplant the old, is such a vast
improvement that it practically renders the old one obsolete. Although
the new order provides that the seven stages or parts be carried out at
different intervals, they may be carried out all at one time or several
parts may be combined, in both of which cases the priest simply omits
the concluding words "Go in peace" at the end of one part and the
opening prayer "God, come to my rescue" of the next. Each part is to be
prefaced with an explanation of the rite. For this purpose a priest may
find helpful the introductions given above, one to baptism in general,
the other to adult baptism, and also the commentary given in the rite
for baptism of a child.}
1. The priest, vested in surplice and purple stole or even a cope of
the same color, comes to the altar steps with his assistants. He kneels
and implores God's help, after which he rises, signs himself with the
cross, and says:
Priest: God, come to my rescue.
All: Lord, make haste to help me.
P: Glory be to the Father.
All: As it was in the beginning.[1]
2. Then he intones the antiphon which is continued by the assistants
(if this and the following psalms are to be sung see the music
supplement):
Antiphon: I will pour out on you pure water, and you shall be cleansed
of all your stains, says the Lord.
If possible he sings or recites the following alternately with all who
are present:
All: Ant. I will pour out * on you pure water, and you shall be
cleansed of all your stains, says the Lord.
P: O Lord, our Lord, how glorious is your majesty over all the earth! *
you have exalted your majesty above the heavens.
All: Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings you have fashioned praise
because of your foes, * to silence the hostile and the vengeful.
P: When I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers, * the moon and
the stars which you set in place--
All: What is man that you should be mindful of him, * or the son of man
that you should care for him?
P: You have made him little less than the angels, * and crowned him
with glory and honor.
All: You have given him rule over the works of your hands, * putting
all things under his feet:
P: All sheep and oxen, * yes, and the beasts of the field,
All: The birds of the air, the fishes of the sea, * and whatever swims
the paths of the seas.
P: O Lord, our Lord, * how glorious is your name over all the earth!
All: Glory be to the Father.
P: As it was in the beginning.
Psalm 28
P: Give to the Lord, you sons of God, * give to the Lord glory and
praise,
All: Give to the Lord the glory due His name; * adore the Lord in holy
attire.
P: The voice of the Lord is over the waters, the God of glory thunders,
* the Lord, over vast waters.
All: The voice of the Lord is mighty; * the voice of the Lord is
majestic.
P: The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars, * the Lord breaks the
cedars of Lebanon.
All: He makes Lebanon leap like a calf * and Sarion like a young wild
bull.
P: The voice of the Lord strikes fiery flames; the voice of the Lord
shakes the desert, * the Lord shakes the wilderness of Cades.
All: The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests, *
and in His temple all say, "Glory!"
P: The Lord is enthroned above the flood; * the Lord is enthroned as
king forever.
All: May the Lord give strength to His people; * may the Lord bless his
people with peace.
P: Glory be to the Father.
All: As it was in the beginning.
Psalm 41
P: As the hind longs for the running waters, * so my soul longs for
you, O God.
All: Athirst is my soul for God, the living God. * When shall I go and
behold the face of God?
P: My tears are my food day and night, * as they say to me day after
day, "Where is your God?"
All: Those times I recall, now that I pour out my soul within me, when
I went with the throng * and led them in procession to the house of
God,
P: Amid loud cries of joy and thanksgiving, * with the multitude
keeping festival.
All: Why are you so downcast, O my soul? * Why do you sigh within me?
P: Hope in God! For I shall again be thanking him, * my Savior and my
God.
All: My soul is downcast within me; * so will I remember you from the
land of the Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Misar.
P: Deep calls unto deep in the roar of your cataracts; * all your
breakers and your billows pass over me.
All: By day the Lord bestows His grace, * and at night I have His song,
a prayer to my living God.
P: I sing to God, "My Rock, why do you forget me? * Why must I go about
in mourning, with the enemy oppressing me?"
All: It crushes my bones that my foes mock me, * as they say to me day
after day, "Where is your God?"
P: Why are you so downcast, O my soul? * Why do you sigh within me?
All: Hope in God! For I shall again be thanking Him, * my Savior and my
God.
P: Glory be to the Father.
All: As it was in the beginning.
Repeat the antiphon:
I will pour out on you pure water, * and you shall be cleansed of all
your stains, says the Lord.
3. Then he says:
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Our Father (the
rest inaudibly until:)
P: And lead us not into temptation.
All: But deliver us from evil.
P: Lord, heed my prayer.
All: And let my cry be heard by you.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
Let us pray.
Almighty, everlasting God, who enable us, your servants, in our
profession of the true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the three
Persons in the eternal Godhead, and to adore their oneness of nature,
their co-equal majesty; grant, we pray, that by steadfastness in that
faith we may ever be guarded against all adversity.
Hear our prayer, almighty God, so that what we purpose to do by our
lowly ministry may have its full effect by your power.
We beg you, O Lord, grant that our chosen one (ones), well instructed
in the holy mysteries, may be born again in the font of baptism and be
added to the household of your Church; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
AT THE ENTRANCE OR IN THE VESTIBULE OF THE CHURCH
4. Next the priest calls the candidates by their full name, first the
men then the women, and each one answers "Present." Afterward he puts
these questions to them:
P: What are you asking of God's church?
All: Faith.
P: What does faith hold out to you?
All: Everlasting life.
P: If, then, you wish to inherit everlasting life, keep the
commandments, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all
your soul, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." On
these two commandments depend the whole law and the prophets. Now faith
demands that you worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in unity,
neither confusing the Persons one with the other, nor making a
distinction in their nature. For the Father is a distinct Person, so
also the Son, so also the Holy Spirit; yet all Three possess the one
nature, the one Godhead.
5. He questions them further, with all giving the answers together,
each one for himself in the singular forms:
P: Do you renounce Satan?
All: I do renounce him.
P: And all his works?
All: I do renounce them.
P: And all his attractions?
All: I do renounce them.
6. Next the priest questions them on the Creed, saying:
P: Do you believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and
earth?
All: I do believe.
P: Do you believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was born
into this world and suffered for us?
All: I do believe.
P: Do you also believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church,
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of
the body, and life everlasting?
All: I do believe.
7. The priest thrice blows softly in their face, and follows up the
gesture with the words below, saying them only once:
7a. But if it seems impractical to breathe on them from a distance, he
simply holds his right hand outstretched toward the catechumens while
he says the words:
Depart from them, unclean spirit, and give place to the Holy Spirit,
the Advocate.
{The previous act of blowing (exsufflation) was a sign of removing
something, or, figuratively, driving out the evil spirit. The next act
of breathing on them (insufflation, a breath as if preceded by the
letter h) is a sign of giving something, or, figuratively, bestowing on
them God's Spirit and His blessing.}
8. Here he breathes softly on them in the form of a cross, saying:
Receive, by this breath, the good Spirit along with His + blessing.
P: Peace be with you.
All: And also with you.
8a. Here again if it seems impractical to breathe on them from a
distance, he holds his hand as in 7a while he says:
Receive, by this laying on of hands, the good Spirit along with His +
blessing.
P: Peace be with you.
All: And also with you.
9. Then the candidates pass in single file before the priest, who makes
the sign of the cross on the brow and heart of each, saying:
N., receive the sign of the cross on your + brow and on your + heart.
Put your whole trust in the heavenly teachings. And lead a life that
will truly fit you to be a dwelling place for God. On entering God's
Church acknowledge with joy that you have escaped the clutches of
death.
{But if the number of catechumens is large, they remain in their place
and sign themselves with the thumb on the brow and heart, at the same
time that the priest makes the twofold sign of the cross over them,
saying:
Receive the sign of the cross on your + brow and on your + heart. Put
your whole trust in the heavenly teachings. And lead a life that will
truly fit you to be a dwelling place for God. On entering God's Church
acknowledge with joy that you have escaped the clutches of death.}
The priest continues:
Worship God the Father almighty, and Jesus Christ, His only-begotten
Son, our Lord, who is coming to judge both the living and the dead and
the world by fire.
All: Amen.
The priest then adds (using the singular forms when required):
Let us pray.
I entreat you, blessed Lord and Father, almighty and everlasting God,
to point out the way of truth and godly knowledge to these servants of
yours who grope in uncertainty and doubt in the darkness of this world.
Open their inner sight, the better to see you as the one God, the
Father in the Son and the Son in the Father, in union with the Holy
Spirit. May it be their good fortune to enjoy the fruit of this avowal
both now and forevermore; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
9a. If there are serious objections to the priest himself tracing the
sign of the cross on the person of the catechumen, then, in accord with
the general norms for this rite (no. 3a), the conference of bishops may
determine whether the subjects are to be signed with the cross by the
godparents or do so themselves, while the priest simply makes the sign
of the cross over them.
10. After this the candidates pass again in single file before the
priest, who traces the sign of the cross with his thumb on the brow of
each, saying:
I sign you on the brow + that you may take up the cross of our Lord.
On the ears:
I sign you on the ears + that you may listen to the heavenly teachings.
On the eyes:
I sign you on the eyes + that you may see the grandeur of God.
On the nostrils:
I sign you on the nostrils + that you may sense the sweet fragrance of
Christ.
On the mouth:
I sign you on the mouth + that you may proclaim the word of life.
On the breast:
I sign you on the breast + that you may believe in God.
On the shoulders:
I sign you on the shoulders + that you may take on you the yoke of His
service.
{But if the number of catechumens is large, there is no objection to
having a number of priests perform the above ceremonies.}
Finally he makes one large sign of the cross over the elect, saying:
I sign all of you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of
the Holy Spirit, that you may come to your eternal destiny and have
life without end.
All: Amen.
Then he adds these two prayers (using the singular forms when
required):
Let us pray.
Lord, if it please you, hear our prayer, and by your inexhaustible
power protect your chosen ones, N. and N., now marked with the sign of
our Savior's holy cross. Let them treasure this first sharing of your
sovereign glory, and by keeping your commandments deserve to attain the
glory of heaven to which those born anew are destined; through Christ
our Lord.
All: Amen.
Let us pray.
God, who first made the human race and then fashioned it anew, show
your mercy to the people you are to adopt, and by the New Covenant add
them as new offspring to your family. Thus, as children of the promise,
may they delight in having become by grace what they could not have
aspired to by nature; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
10a. But if it is inadvisable for the priest to trace the sign of the
cross on their person (see no. 9a above), then the candidates,
remaining in their place, sign themselves with the thumb on the
respective parts of the body each time the priest makes the sign of the
cross, saying:
I sign you on the brow + that you may take up the cross of our Lord.
On the ears:
I sign you on the ears + that you may listen to the heavenly teachings.
On the eyes:
I sign you on the eyes + that you may see the grandeur of God.
On the nostrils:
I sign you on the nostrils + that you may sense the sweet fragrance of
Christ.
On the mouth:
I sign you on the mouth + that you may proclaim the word of life.
On the breast:
I sign you on the breast + that you may believe in God.
On the shoulders:
I sign you on the shoulders + that you may take on you the yoke of His
service.
11. Then the priest holds his hand outstretched over them and says
(using the singular forms when required):
Let us pray.
Almighty everlasting God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, look with
favor on your servants whom it has[1] pleased you to call to this first
step in the faith. Rid them of all inward blindness. Sever all snares
of Satan which heretofore bound them. Open wide for them, Lord, the
door to your fatherly love. May the seal of your wisdom so penetrate
them, as to cast out all tainted and foul inclinations, and let in the
fragrance of your lofty teachings. Thus shall they serve you gladly in
your Church and grow daily more perfect. And once they have tasted the
medicinal property of salt, may they be fit to approach the grace of
your baptism;[2] through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
12. In conclusion the priest says:
Go in peace and may the Lord be with you.
All: Amen.
SECOND STAGE
13. The priest, vested in surplice and purple stole or even a cope of
the same color, comes to the altar steps with his assistants. He kneels
and implores God's help, after which he rises, signs himself with the
cross, and says:
P: God, come to my rescue.
All: Lord, make haste to help me.
P: Glory be to the Father.
All: As it was in the beginning.
AT THE ENTRANCE OR IN THE VESTIBULE OF THE CHURCH
14. The priest blesses salt with this exorcism:
Exorcism
God's creature, salt, I cast out the demon from you, in the name of God
+ the Father almighty, in the love of our Lord Jesus + Christ, and in
the strength of the Holy + Spirit. I purify you by the living God, the
true God, the holy God, by God who created you to be a preservative for
mankind, and ordered you to be sanctified by His ministers for the
benefit of the people who are about to embrace the faith. In the name
of the Blessed Trinity may you become a saving sign empowered to drive
away the enemy. Therefore, we beg you, Lord, our God, to sanctify and
to bless + this creature, salt, thus providing a perfect remedy for all
who receive it, one that will permeate their inmost being. We ask this
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is coming to judge both the
living and the dead and the world by fire.
All: Amen.
Before giving the blessed salt to the catechumens the priest adds this
prayer (using the singular forms when required):
Let us pray.
Blessed Lord and Father, almighty and everlasting God, who is, who was,
who ever shall be, whose beginning is unknown, whose end is
inconceivable. We humbly implore you on behalf of these servants of
yours whom you have freed from the shackles of error; graciously heed
them as they bow low before you at the cleansing font where one is born
over again by water and the Holy Spirit. May they put off the old man
and put on the new man created in your image; may they receive the pure
and spotless robe and thus become worthy of serving you, our God;
through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
15. Taking a pinch of blessed salt he puts it in the mouth of each
catechumen, saying:
N., take this salt in sign of wisdom. May it be for you likewise a
token that foreshadows everlasting life.
Candidate: Amen.
P: Peace be with you.
Candidate: And also with you.
Then he adds this prayer (using the singular forms when required):
Let us pray.
God of our fathers, God, source of all truth, we humbly ask you to be
well disposed to your servants, N. and N. After this first[3] taste of
salt, let their hunger for heavenly nourishment not be prolonged but
soon be satisfied. For then they will always pay homage to your holy
name with fervor, joy, and trust.[4] In your tender care, O Lord, lead
them to the bath of water where one is born over again, so that taken
into the family of your faithful they can finally attain the
everlasting reward which you have promised; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
15a. Wherever it is inconvenient for the priest himself to put the salt
in the mouth of the catechumens, the conference of bishops may decide
that the catechumens themselves do so, taking a pinch of salt from a
larger vessel offered to them by the priest.
16. In conclusion the priest says:
P: Go in peace and may the Lord be with you.
All: Amen.
THIRD STAGE
17. It is left to the prudent judgment of the Ordinary whether the
three following stages, i.e., the three series of exorcisms, are to be
carried out independently and separately, or whether all three are to
be combined into one action, or even whether only one of the three is
to be used, omitting the other two.
18. The ceremonies of this stage are always to take place with the men
in a separate group and the same for the women; also if convenient at a
different place or time.
19. The priest, vested in surplice and purple stole or even a cope of
the same color, comes to the altar steps with his assistants. He kneels
and implores God's help, after which he rises, signs himself with the
cross, and says:
P: God, come to my rescue.
All: Lord, make haste to help me.
P: Glory be to the Father.
All: As it was in the beginning.
FOR MEN
AT THE ENTRANCE OR IN THE VESTIBULE OF THE CHURCH
20. The priest says to the candidates (now called the elect) who are
standing before him:
Pray, you who are chosen by God; kneel down and say the Our Father.
The candidates kneel and say Our Father (up to the word "evil"
inclusive.)
P: Arise and conclude your prayer with the Amen.
The candidates stand up and say: Amen.
The priest says to the sponsors:
Mark them with the sign of the cross while I do likewise.
The sponsors trace the sign of the cross on the candidates' brow with
the thumb, whereas the priest makes the sign over them--both priest and
sponsors saying the words:
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit.
21. When the candidates are men the priest says the following prayer
holding his hand outstretched over them, and changing the plural forms
to the singular when required:
Let us pray.
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, O God, who appeared to Moses, your
servant, on Mt. Sinai, and led the children of Israel out of Egypt's
land, appointing your good angel over them to guard them day and night;
we beg you, Lord, if it please you, to send down your holy angel from
heaven to guard these servants of yours in like manner,[5] and to lead
them to the grace of your baptism; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
The priest then pronounces the exorcism over them, changing the plural
forms to the singular when required:
Exorcism
Now, foul fiend, recall the curse that decided your fate once for all.
Indeed, pay homage to the living and true God, pay homage to Jesus
Christ, His Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Keep far from these servants
of God, for Jesus Christ, our Lord and God, has freely called them to
His holy grace and blessed way and to the waters of baptism.
The priest makes the sign of the cross over them, while the candidates
sign themselves on the brow with the thumb; the priest says:
Never dare, accursed fiend, to desecrate this seal of the holy + cross
which we imprint on their brow; through Christ our Lord, who is coming
to judge both the living and the dead and the world by fire.
All: Amen.
The ceremony concludes with no. 24 below:
For Women
22. When the candidates are women the priest says (changing the plural
forms to the singular when required):
Pray, you who are chosen by God; kneel down and say the Our Father.
The candidates kneel and say Our Father (up to the word "evil"
inclusive.)
P: Arise and conclude your prayer with the Amen.
The candidates stand up and say: Amen.
The priest says to the sponsors:
Mark them with the sign of the cross while I do likewise.
The sponsors trace the sign of the cross on the candidates' brow with
the thumb, whereas the priest makes the sign over them--both priest and
sponsors saying the words:
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit.
23. Holding his hand outstretched over them, the priest says (using
singular forms when required):
Let us pray.
God of heaven and earth, God of the angels and archangels, God of the
patriarchs and prophets, God of the apostles and martyrs, God of the
confessors and virgins, God of all the devout; God whom every tongue
praises and before whom all bend the knee, in heaven, on earth, and in
the depths; I call on you, Lord, to watch over these servants of yours
in like manner,[6] and to lead them in your kindness to the grace of your
baptism; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
Exorcism
Using the singular forms when required:
Now, foul fiend, recall the curse that decided your fate once for all.
Indeed, pay homage to the living and true God, pay homage to Jesus
Christ, His Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Keep far from these servants
of God, for Jesus Christ, our Lord and God, has freely called them to
His holy grace and blessed way and to the waters of baptism.
The priest makes the sign of the cross over them, while the candidates
sign themselves on the brow with the thumb; the priest says:
Never dare, accursed fiend, to desecrate this seal of the holy + cross
which we imprint on their brow; through Christ our Lord, who is coming
to judge both the living and the dead and the world by fire.
All: Amen.
The ceremony concludes with no. 24 below:
24. In conclusion the priest says:
P: Go in peace and may the Lord be with you.
All: Amen.
FOURTH STAGE
25. The ceremonies of this stage are always to take place with the men
in a separate group and the same for the women; also if convenient at a
different place or time.
26. The priest, vested in surplice and purple stole or even a cope of
the same color, comes to the altar steps with his assistants. He kneels
and implores God's help, after which he rises, signs himself with the
cross, and says:
P: God, come to my rescue.
All: Lord, make haste to help me.
P: Glory be to the Father.
All: As it was in the beginning.
AT THE ENTRANCE OR IN THE VESTIBULE OF THE CHURCH
For Men
27. The priest says to the candidates (now called the elect) who are
standing before him:
Pray, you who are chosen by God; kneel down and say the Our Father.
The candidates kneel and say Our Father (up to the word "evil"
inclusive.)
P: Arise and conclude your prayer with the Amen.
The candidates stand up and say: Amen.
The priest says to the sponsors:
Mark them with the sign of the cross while I do likewise.
The sponsors trace the sign of the cross on the candidates' brow with
the thumb, whereas the priest makes the sign over them--both priest and
sponsors saying the words:
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit.
28. Holding his hand outstretched over them the priest says the
following prayer (using the singular forms when required):
Let us pray.
God, the everlasting support of all who seek you, the liberator of all
who plead with you, the peace of all who importune you, the life of all
the faithful, the resurrection of the dead; I appeal to you on behalf
of these servants of yours who desire[7] the gift of baptism and the
abiding grace bestowed in this supernatural birth. Claim them as your
own, you who have graciously promised: "Ask and you shall receive, seek
and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you." Reach out the
reward to them who ask, open wide the door to them who knock. For then
will they attain the everlasting blessing of heavenly cleansing, and
possess the kingdom which in your bounty you have promised; through
Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
The priest then pronounces the exorcism over them (using the singular
forms when required):
Exorcism
Hear, accursed Satan, for I adjure you in the name of the infinite God
and His Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior, to flee in trembling and
groaning, for you and your envy are vanquished. May you have nothing in
common with these servants of God, whose thoughts are already of
heaven, and who are determined to renounce both you and your world and
to overcome you and so win a blessed and immortal reward. Pay homage,
then, to the Holy Spirit, who now approaches from heaven's high citadel
to frustrate your wicked designs, and to prepare their hearts, once
they are purified in the grace-laden waters, as a sanctified dwelling
for God. And so will these servants of the Most High, delivered from
guilt of past crimes, render endless thanks to the everlasting God and
laud His holy name forevermore.
All: Amen.
The ceremonies conclude with the form given below in no. 31.
For Women
29. The priest says to the candidates who are standing before him
(using the singular forms when required):
Pray, you who are chosen by God; kneel down and say the Our Father.
The candidates kneel and say Our Father (up to the word "evil"
inclusive.)
P: Arise and conclude your prayer with the Amen.
The candidates stand up and say: Amen.
The priest says to the sponsors:
Mark them with the sign of the cross while I do likewise.
The sponsors trace the sign of the cross on the candidates' brow with
the thumb, whereas the priest makes the sign over them--both priest and
sponsors saying the words:
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit.
30. Holding his hand outstretched over them the priest says the
following prayer (using the singular forms when required):
Let us pray.
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, O God, who appeared to Moses, your
servant, on Mt. Sinai, and led the children of Israel out of Egypt's
land, appointing your good angel over them to guard them day and night;
we beg you, Lord, if it please you, to send down your holy angel from
heaven to guard these servants of yours in like manner,[8] and to lead
them to the grace of your baptism; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
The priest then pronounces the exorcism over them, changing the plural
forms to the singular when required:
Exorcism
Now, foul fiend, recall the curse that decided your fate once for all.
Indeed, pay homage to the living and true God, pay homage to Jesus
Christ, His Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Keep far from these servants
of God, for Jesus Christ, our Lord and God, has freely called them to
His holy grace and blessed way and to the waters of baptism.
The priest makes the sign of the cross over them, while the candidates
sign themselves on the brow with the thumb, the priest saying:
Never dare, accursed fiend, to desecrate this seal of the holy + cross
which we imprint on their brow; through Christ our Lord, who is coming
to judge both the living and the dead and the world by fire.
All: Amen.
31. P: Go in peace and may the Lord be with you.
All: Amen.
FIFTH STAGE
32. The ceremonies of this stage are always to take place with the men
in a separate group and the same for the women; also if convenient at a
different place or time.
33. The priest, vested in surplice and purple stole or even a cope of
the same color, comes to the altar steps with his assistants. He kneels
and implores God's help, after which he rises, signs himself with the
cross, and says:
P: God, come to my rescue.
All: Lord, make haste to help me.
P: Glory be to the Father.
All: As it was in the beginning.
AT THE ENTRANCE OR IN THE VESTIBULE OF THE CHURCH
For Men
34. The priest says to the candidates (now called the elect) who are
standing before him:
Pray, you who are chosen by God; kneel down and say the Our Father.
The candidates kneel and say Our Father (up to the word "evil"
inclusive.)
P: Arise and conclude your prayer with the Amen.
The candidates stand up and say: Amen.
The priest says to the sponsors: Mark them with the sign of the cross
while I do likewise.
The sponsors trace the sign of the cross on the candidates' brow with
the thumb, whereas the priest makes the sign over them--both priest and
sponsors saying the words:
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit.
35. Then the priest holds his hand outstretched over them and says the
following (using the singular forms when required):
Exorcism
I cast you out, unclean spirit, in the name of the Father, + and of the
Son, + and of the Holy + Spirit. Depart and stay away from these
servants of God. For it is the Lord Himself who commands you, accursed
and doomed spirit, He who walked on the sea and reached out His hand to
Peter as he was sinking. So then, foul fiend, recall the curse that
decided your fate once for all. Indeed, pay homage to the living and
true God, pay homage to Jesus Christ, His Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Keep far from these servants of God, for Jesus Christ, our Lord and
God, has freely called them to His holy grace and blessed way and to
the waters of baptism.
The priest makes the sign of the cross over them, while the candidates
sign themselves on the brow with the thumb; the priest says:
Never dare, accursed fiend, to desecrate this seal of the holy + cross
which we imprint on their brow; through Christ our Lord, who is coming
to judge both the living and the dead and the world by fire.
All: Amen.
36. Then the priest, still holding his hand outstretched over the
candidates says (using the singular forms when required):
Let us pray.
Holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God, source of light and truth,
I appeal to your sacred and boundless compassion on behalf of these
servants of yours. Be pleased to enlighten them by the light of your
eternal wisdom. Cleanse, sanctify, and endow them with true knowledge.[9]
For thus will they be made ready for the grace of your baptism and ever
remain steadfast, never losing hope, never faltering in duty, never
straying from sacred truth, but ready at all times to receive your
grace; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
The ceremony concludes with the words given in no. 40 below.
For Women
37. The priest says to the candidates (now called the elect) who are
standing before him:
Pray, you who are chosen by God; kneel down and say the Our Father.
The candidates kneel and say Our Father (up to the word "evil"
inclusive.)
P: Arise and conclude your prayer with the Amen.
The candidates stand up and say: Amen.
The priest says to the sponsors:
Mark them with the sign of the cross while I do likewise.
The sponsors trace the sign of the cross on the candidates' brow with
the thumb, whereas the priest makes the sign over them--both priest and
sponsors saying the words:
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit.
38. Then the priest holds his hand outstretched over them and says the
following (using the singular forms when required):
Exorcism
I cast you out, unclean spirit, in the name of the Father, + and of the
Son, + and of the Holy + Spirit. Depart and stay far away from these
servants of God. For it is the Lord Himself who commands you, accursed
and doomed spirit, He who restored sight to the man born blind and
raised Lazarus from the tomb where he had lain four days. So then, foul
fiend, recall the curse that decided your fate once for all. Indeed,
pay homage to the living and true God, pay homage to Jesus Christ, His
Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Keep far from these servants of God, for
Jesus Christ, our Lord and God, has freely called them to His holy
grace and blessed way and to the waters of baptism.
The priest makes the sign of the cross over them, while the candidates
sign themselves on the brow with the thumb; the priest says:
Never dare, accursed fiend, to desecrate this seal of the holy + cross
which we imprint on their brow; through Christ our Lord, who is coming
to judge both the living and the dead and the world by fire.
All: Amen.
39. Then the priest, still holding his hand outstretched over the
candidates says (using the singular forms when required):
Let us pray.
Holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God, source of light and truth,
I appeal to your sacred and boundless compassion on behalf of these
servants of yours. Be pleased to enlighten them by the light of your
eternal wisdom. Cleanse, sanctify, and endow them with true
knowledge.[10] For thus will they be made ready for the grace of your
baptism and ever remain steadfast, never losing hope, never faltering
in duty, never straying from sacred truth, but ready at all times to
receive your grace; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
The ceremony concludes with the words given in no. 40 below.
40. Lastly the priest says:
P: Go in peace and may the Lord be with you.
All: Amen.
SIXTH STAGE
AT THE ENTRANCE OR IN THE VESTIBULE OF THE CHURCH
41. At the appointed time the catechumens assemble at the church door,
or at another place outside the edifice, from where they will march in
solemn procession to the church. The priest, vested in surplice and
purple stole or even a cope of the same color, comes to the altar steps
with his assistants where he kneels and implores God's help. Then he
rises and goes to the church entrance where he stands facing the elect
and makes the sign of the cross, saying:
P: God, come to my rescue.
All: Lord, make haste to help me.
P: Glory be to the Father.
All: As it was in the beginning.
42. Next the priest with his left hand takes hold of the right forearm
of the first elect, or else puts in his hand the end of the stole
hanging from his left shoulder, and conducts him into the church. The
first candidate with left hand holds onto the right hand of the second,
the second of the third, etc.
In doing so the priest says:
Come into God's holy sanctuary to receive a heavenly blessing from our
Lord Jesus Christ and to be united with Him and His saints.
All: Amen.
43. Having come into the church the elect lie prostrate on the floor--
all at the same time--and spend a few moments in adoration.
44. Then at a signal they rise together; the priest then holds his hand
outstretched over their heads as they join with him in reciting the
Apostles' Creed and the Lord's Prayer:
AT THE GATES OF THE BAPTISTERY
All: I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and
earth. And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; who was conceived
by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius
Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell;
the third day He arose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven,
and sits at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from there He
shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy
Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the
forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life
everlasting. Amen.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come,
thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our
daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who
trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us
from evil. Amen.
45. Standing with his back turned to the gates of the baptistery, the
priest again holds his hand outstretched over the heads of the elect,
and says (using the singular forms when required):
Exorcism
Surely it is no secret to you, Satan, that punishment is your lot,
torments your portion, that the day of judgment threatens you, that day
of never ending torture, the day that shall be like a flaming furnace,
in the midst of which everlasting perdition awaits you and your
apostate angels. Therefore, accursed one, deservedly doomed, pay homage
to the living and true God, pay homage to Jesus Christ, His Son, and to
the Holy Spirit, the Advocate. In His name and power I command you,
unclean spirit whoever you are, begone and stay far away from these
servants of God. For today Jesus Christ, our Lord and God, freely calls
them to His holy grace and blessed way and to the waters of baptism,
where they will become God's dwelling by the water of rebirth that
gives full remission of sin We ask this in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who is coming to judge both the living and the dead and the
world by fire.
All: Amen.
46. The priest then moistens his thumb with his spittle and touches the
ears and nostrils of the person (each one). The use of saliva may be
omitted for reasons of hygiene, when there is fear of contracting or
communicating disease. But the ceremony itself is not omitted. He
touches first the right ear then the left, saying:
Ephpheta, which means: Be opened.
Next touching the nostrils he adds:
And perceive the fragrance of God's loving ways. But you, evil spirit,
begone, for the judgment of God has come.
46a. As said above, whenever there is a just cause prohibiting or
dissuading the priest from using his spittle, he may simply go through
the gesture of touching the ears and nostrils.
47. Next the priest calls the candidates by their full name, first the
men then the women, and each one answers: Present Afterward he puts
these questions to them:
P: Do you renounce Satan?
All: I do renounce him.
P: And all his works?
All: I do renounce them.
P: And all his attractions?
All: I do renounce them.
48. Then the candidates pass in single file before the priest, who dips
his thumb in the holy oil of catechumens and anoints each one in the
form of a cross, first on the breast then on the back between the
shoulders, pronouncing only once these words:
I anoint + you with the oil that sanctifies in Christ Jesus our Lord,
that you may have everlasting life.
All: Amen.
P: Peace be with you.
All: And also with you.
48a. But wherever the anointing with oil of catechumens gives rise to
considerable difficulties that are insurmountable for the time being,
the conference of bishops can dispense from the practice for that
particular place or people, in accord with the norms established for
the use of this new rite. Nevertheless, all priests whose task it is to
instruct catechumens and the faithful should bear in mind that they
must do their utmost to remove such difficulties, so that, as Christian
practices gradually are better understood, the ceremony of anointing
catechumens with the holy oil may be observed.
In the meantime a substitute ceremony should be used, namely this, that
as the candidates pass in single file before the priest he blesses each
one with the sign of the cross in the ordinary way, saying:
I strengthen you with the sign of the cross + in Christ Jesus our Lord,
that you may have everlasting life. Peace be with you.
And then he goes on with the exorcism as given above.
Or the ceremony may also be performed in one action for the whole
group.
49. Afterward he wipes his thumb and the spots anointed with cotton or
similar material. He then adds the following:
Go out, unclean spirit, and pay homage to the living and true God.
Depart, unclean spirit, and give place to Jesus Christ, His Son. Stay
far away, unclean spirit, and give place to the Holy Spirit, the
Advocate.
If the number of catechumens is large there is no objection to having
these ceremonies performed by several priests.
50. In conclusion the priest says:
P: Go in peace, and may the Lord be with you.
All: Amen.
SEVENTH STAGE
51. The elect are assembled at the baptismal font. The priest, vested
in surplice and purple stole or even a cope of the same color, comes to
the altar steps with his assistants. He kneels and implores God's help.
after which he rises, signs himself with the cross, and says:
P: God, come to my rescue.
All: Lord, make haste to help me.
P: Glory be to the Father.
All: As it was in the beginning.
52. Next the priest calls the elect by their full name, and each one
answers: Present. Afterward he puts these questions to them:
P: Do you believe in God the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and
earth?
All: I do believe.
P: Do you believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was born
into this world and suffered for us?
All: I do believe.
P: And do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the
communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the
body, and life everlasting?
All: I do believe.
P: Do you wish to be baptized?[11]
All: I do.
53. The candidate at this moment is bareheaded and has his clothing
loosened at the neck. As the godfather or godmother (or both if two
sponsors are used) take hold of or touch the candidate, the latter
bends down over the font, and the priest takes baptismal water with a
ladle, pours it thrice in the form of a cross on the head of the
candidate, and baptizes him in the name of the Blessed Trinity, saying:
N., I baptize you in the name of the Father, + (here he pours the first
time) and of the Son, + (pouring a second time) and of the Holy +
Spirit (pouring a third time).
54. If the water which runs off the head of the baptized cannot fall
into the sacrarium of the baptistery, it should be caught in a basin
provided for that purpose and later thrown into the sacrarium.
If several are being baptized each one has the ceremony administered to
him in the manner described above; and if there are both men and women
the men are baptized first, followed by the women.
If there is doubt whether the person has already been baptized, the
following form is used:
N., if you are not baptized, I baptize you, etc.
55. The priest dips his thumb in holy chrism (if convenient he may be
assisted here by another priest or several others, also vested in
surplice and white stole), and in the form of a cross anoints the
person on the crown of the head, saying:
The almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, has caused you to be
born over again of water and the Holy Spirit and pardoned you all your
sins. May he now anoint + you with the chrism that sanctifies in Christ
Jesus our Lord, and bring you to everlasting life.
All: Amen.
P: Peace be with you.
All: And also with you.
55a. If anointing with chrism involves a great difficulty, the
conference of bishops may dispense with it (see what is said above in
no. 48a); and in this case the following alternate ceremony should be
substituted:
The priest blesses each of the baptized (or all in one action) with the
sign of the cross, saying:
The almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, has caused you to be
born over again of water and the Holy Spirit and pardoned you all your
sins. May He now fill you with His blessing + in Christ Jesus our Lord,
and bring you to everlasting life.
All: Amen.
P: Peace be with you.
All: And also with you.
56. When all have been anointed with holy chrism (or blessed as
directed in no. 55a), the priest wipes his thumb with cotton or
something similar. Now the sponsors give the white robe to their
respective godchild as the priest says:
Take this white robe and keep it spotless until you arrive at the
judgment seat of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you may be rewarded with
everlasting life.
All: Amen.
And the baptized are now vested in the new white robes, removing if
necessary some of their outer clothing.
57. Next the godparents place a lighted taper or candle in the right
hand of their respective godchild as the priest says:
Take this burning candle as a reminder to keep your baptismal
innocence. Obey God's commandments, so that when our Lord comes for the
joyous wedding feast you may go forth to meet Him with all the saints
in the halls of heaven, and be happy with Him forevermore.
All: Amen.
The baptized hold the lighted candle till the end, except while being
confirmed.
58. In conclusion the priest says: Go in peace, and may the Lord be
with you.
All: Amen.
Thus terminates the rite of adult baptism.[12]
ENDNOTES
1. Scholars maintain that the proper English rendition of this is: "As
it was in the beginning, so may it be now and for ever and ever." The
English version we use, they say, is derived from a translation ordered
by Henry VIII, as given in the Book of Common Prayer. Let the hero who
will break the tradition come forth.
1. In supplying ceremonies: whom it has already pleased you, etc.
2. In supplying ceremonies: May the taste of salt be for them a
medicine and help them to make good use of the grace received in
baptism; through Christ our Lord. R: Amen.
3. In supplying ceremonies the word first is omitted.
4. In supplying ceremonies the priest here says the following:
In your tender care, O Lord, you have led them to the bath of water
where one is born over again. And having been taken into the family of
your faithful, may they finally attain the everlasting reward which you
have promised; through Christ our Lord. R: Amen.
5. In supplying ceremonies: "those whom you have led," etc.
6. In supplying ceremonies: "those whom you have led," etc.
7. In supplying ceremonies: "who have received the gift of baptism,"
etc.
8. In supplying ceremonies: "those whom you have led," etc.
9. In supplying ceremonies the priest says here instead:
Enable them to use well the grace received in baptism and ever remain
steadfast, never losing hope, never faltering in duty, never straying
from sacred truth, but ready at all times to receive your grace;
through Christ our Lord. R.: Amen.
10. In supplying ceremonies the priest says here instead:
Enable them to use well the grace received in baptism and ever remain
steadfast, never losing hope, never faltering in duty, never straying
from sacred truth, but ready at all times to receive your grace;
through Christ our Lord. R.: Amen.
11. In supplying ceremonies omit this and what follows and go to no.
55, anointing with chrism.
12. The following rubrics from the old rite for adult baptism are still
pertinent, even though the new rite of 1962 says nothing about them:
(a) the newly baptized go to a place apart to put on the white robe;
(b) the ceremony described above must be followed also by a deacon who
administers solemn baptism, except that he uses salt and water
previously blessed by a priest; (c) if a bishop is at hand he should
forthwith confer the sacrament of confirmation (if he can licitly do
so); and then Mass is celebrated at which the neophytes assist and
receive holy communion.
CHAPTER V: RITE FOR SUPPLYING CEREMONIES OMITTED IN BAPTISM OF A CHILD
Everything takes place as above in Chapter II, except those parts that
are provided for in the footnotes. However, according to the
"Instruction" of September 26, 1964, the following forms of exorcism
are omitted: "Depart from him, etc." (p. 44); "I cast out, etc." (p.
49). "I cast you out, etc." (p. 54).
CHAPTER VI: RITE FOR SUPPLYING CEREMONIES OMITTED IN BAPTISM OF AN
ADULT
Everything takes place as above in Chapter IV, except those parts that
are provided for in the footnotes. However, according to the
"Instruction" of September 26, 1964, the following forms of exorcism
are omitted: "Depart from them, etc." (p. 85); "Now, foul fiend, etc.'
(pp. 93 and 95); "Hear, accursed Satan, etc." (p. 97); "Now, foul
fiend, etc." (p. 98); "I cast you out, etc." (pp. 100 and 101); "Surely
it is no secret, etc." (p. 104); "Go out, unclean spirit, etc." (p.
106).
CHAPTER VII: RITE FOR BAPTISM ADMINISTERED BY A BISHOP
1. If a bishop or a cardinal wishes to confer baptism, whether on
children or adults, the same preparation is made and the same order is
followed as given above, but with the following additions.
2. There should be chaplains in attendance, or other priests and
clerics vested in surplice who will assist him and act as ministers of
the book, mitre, etc.
3. The bishop wearing the rochet vests in amice, alb, cincture, purple
stole and cope, and uses the gold mitre. Thus vested he proceeds with
his assistants to the administration of the sacrament. During the
interrogations he is seated, and wears the mitre. But at the ceremony
of breathing he stands, still using the mitre. Then he sits down again,
while he signs the candidate with the sign of the cross on the brow and
on the breast. He stands (without mitre) during the prayers which
precede and follow the blessing of salt, and the same while he blesses
the salt; however, he is seated (with mitre) at the time he puts the
blessed salt into the mouth of the candidate. Again he stands (with
mitre) for the exorcisms, the touching with spittle, and for the solemn
entrance into the church. He remains standing for the Apostles' Creed
and the Lord's Prayer (without mitre.) When he asks: "Do you believe in
God..." and: "Do you wish to be baptized?" and if he baptizes by
infusion, he is seated (with mitre). However, if he baptizes by
immersion he is standing (retaining mitre).
4. At the conclusion, when he anoints with chrism and when he bestows
the white garment and the lighted candle, as well as when he says "Go
in peace..." he is seated (with mitre).
5. In the case where the bishop wishes only to perform the act of
baptizing--a priest having previously carried out all the other
ceremonies--he comes to the baptistery (vested in white), and commences
with: "What is your name?..." Then continues "Do you believe in God..."
to the conclusion of the ceremony as given above.
CHAPTER VIII: BLESSING OF BAPTISMAL WATER
{The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, no. 70, says: "Except during
Eastertime baptismal water may be blessed within the rite of baptism
itself by an approved shorter formula." It does not, however, specify
which formula is to be used.}
Outside the Vigil of Easter if there is no consecrated water at hand
1. The font should be thoroughly cleansed, then filled with fresh
water. The priest goes to the font preceded by the crucifer and
acolytes, the thurifer, the bearers of the sacred oils of chrism and
catechumens, and accompanied by other assistants or priests. Arriving
there, the Litany of the Saints is said (see Litany of the Saints)
after the seven penitential psalms.
2. Or the shorter litany as given in the Missal for Holy Saturday may
be used.
3. Before the verse: That you graciously hear us, the following verse
is said twice:
That you bless + and sanctify + this font which serves to give birth to
new offspring for you.
All: We beg you to hear us.
4. After the litany the Lord's Prayer and Apostles' Creed are said
aloud; then the following:
P: Lord, you are the fountain of life.
All: And by your splendor we will see the light.
P: Lord, heed my prayer.
All: And let my cry be heard by you.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
Let us pray.
Almighty everlasting God, be present at these mysteries of your great
love, be present at these sacramental rites. Send forth the Spirit of
adoption to beget new life in the people who are born to you from the
font of baptism, so that what we purpose to do by our lowly ministry
may have its full effect by your power; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
Exorcism of Water
God's creature, water, I cast out the demon from you by the living +
God, by the true + God, by the holy + God, by God who in the beginning
separated you by His word from the dry land, whose Spirit hovered over
you, who made you flow out of Paradise.
5. He divides the water with his hand and sprinkles it out of the font
toward the four quarters of the earth; and then continues:
And He commanded you to water the whole earth with your four rivers; He
who in the desert by the wood cast into you changed you from bitter
water into sweet water fit to drink; who brought you forth from the
rock to quench the thirst of the languishing people you had delivered
from Egypt. I cast out the demon from you by Jesus Christ, His only-
begotten Son, our Lord, who in Cana of Galilee changed you into wine by
a wondrous miracle, who walked on the waves, and who was baptized in
you by John in the Jordan; who from His pierced side let you flow along
with His blood; who commanded His disciples to baptize with you all
those who believe, saying: "Go teach all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." May you
become sacred water, blessed water, a water to wash away filth and to
cleanse from sin. Therefore, I command you, every unclean spirit,
delusion and falsehood personified, to leave and stay far from this
creature, water, thus letting it be for all who will be baptized in it
a fountain gushing forth everlasting life, begetting in them new birth
in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We ask this in the
name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, who is coming to judge both the living
and the dead and the world by fire.
All: Amen.
Let us pray.
Holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God, we earnestly entreat you,
the sanctifier of supernatural water, to look with favor on our lowly
ministry, and to send your holy messenger down on this water, which we
are making ready to cleanse and purify the human race. And once they
have been cleansed of the sins of their former life, freed of their
guilt, and given a new birth, may they remain a clean dwelling for your
Holy Spirit; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
6. He breathes thrice upon the water in the form of the Greek letter
"Ps", then incenses the font. After this he pours the oil of
catechumens into the water in the form of a cross, saying:
May this font be sanctified and made fruitful by the oil that
sanctifies for those who are born anew herein for everlasting life; in
the name of the Father, + and of the Son, + and of the Holy + Spirit.
All: Amen.
7. Then he pours in chrism in the same manner, saying:
May this infusion of the chrism of our Lord Jesus Christ and of the
Holy Spirit, the Consoler, be done in the name of the Holy Trinity.
All: Amen.
8. After this he takes the two phials of holy oils, and pours both
together into the water in the form of a cross, saying:
May this mingling of the chrism that sanctifies with the oil of
anointing and the water of baptism be done in the name of the Father, +
and of the Son, + and of the Holy + Spirit.
All: Amen.
9. He mixes the oils and water with his hand, and sprinkles it over the
font. Then he cleanses the oil from his hand with a piece of bread. If
there are any to be baptized, he baptizes in the ordinary way.
Otherwise he washes his hands, and the ablution is poured into the
sacrarium.
SHORT FORM FOR BLESSING BAPTISMAL WATER
This shorter blessing which Pope Paul III formerly conceded to the
missionaries among the Indians of Peru may now be used only where the
indult has been extended by the Holy See.
Exorcism
God's creature, water, I cast out the demon from you in the name of
God, + the Father almighty, in the name of Jesus + Christ, His Son, our
Lord, and in the power of the Holy + Spirit. I cast out you, the devil
and adversary of mankind, along with all your evil influence and
cunning wickedness, so that when you take flight this creature, water,
may become a fountain gushing forth everlasting life. May those who are
to be baptized in it have their sins forgiven and become a sanctuary
for the living God, a dwelling for the Holy Spirit. We ask this in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is coming to judge both the living
and the dead and the world by fire.
All: Amen.
Let us pray.
Holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God, we earnestly entreat you,
the sanctifier of supernatural water, to look with favor on our lowly
ministry, and to send your holy messenger down on this water, which we
are making ready to cleanse and purify the human race. And once they
have been cleansed of the sins of their former life, freed of their
guilt, and given a new birth, may they remain a clean dwelling for your
Holy Spirit; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
Then the priest pours oil of catechumens into the water in the form Of
a cross, saying:
By this adding of the oil of anointing to the water of baptism may it
be sanctified and made fruitful; in the name of the Father, + and of
the Son, + and of the Holy + Spirit.
All: Amen.
Then he pours in chrism in the same manner, saying:
By this adding of the chrism that sanctifies to the oil of anointing
and the water of baptism may it be sanctified and made fruitful; in the
name of the Father, + and of the Son, + and of the Holy + Spirit.
All: Amen.
SHORT FORM FOR BLESSING BAPTISMAL WATER
Prescribed by the First Provincial Council of Baltimore and approved by
Pope Pius VIII
For the use of Missionaries in North America
This blessing is the same as the one given directly above, except for
the following rubric and form added at the very end:
Lastly the priest says as he blesses the water itself:
May this font be sanctified and made fruitful for those who are to be
reborn in it; in the name of the Father, + and of the Son, + and of the
Holy + Spirit.
All: Amen.
THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION
INTRODUCTION
Christ our Lord instituted confirmation as the sacrament which
complements, perfects, or strengthens the divine life implanted in us
through baptism. Indeed, the significance of confirmation would be
missed entirely were it ever to be considered apart from the act of
Christian regeneration, of which it is the noble fulfillment. It is no
less great in dignity precisely because its purpose is to augment and
bring to completion our initiation into the mystery which is Christ.
Along with the Eucharist it is a continuation of the process by which
the soul becomes fully made one with the divine head and His mystic
bride, the Church. And since, like baptism, it imprints a character,
it is the second step, the second "ordination" by which the soul is
configured to the High Priest, Jesus Christ, imparting a higher
consecration to the universal priesthood of the Christian body, along
with fuller life and activity in this body and greater responsibility
toward it.
When it was the practice to administer confirmation immediately after
baptism, the relation between the two could more easily be perceived;
so much so, in fact, that associating them thus closely in point of
time led some to the erroneous conclusion that the act of baptizing
and the consequent consignation or sealing with the Holy Spirit
comprised but parts of one sacrament. It is still allowed to confirm
immediately after baptism in the Oriental rites and in some localities
of the Latin Church. However, in the main the discipline is to
separate confirmation from infant baptism by a considerable interval,
for the practical purpose of making it possible to instruct the
candidate in the chief tenets of faith, that thus he derive fuller
benefits from this sacrament. Yet it is the express mind of the Church
that confirmation should not be deferred unduly, even in the case of
children and despite the reasons for her present discipline. And so in
her official pronouncements the Church indicates the age of
discretion, approximately the seventh year, as the time when
confirmation ought to be given, in order to bring down the Holy Spirit
in increased strength upon the soul that is already His habitation
through the sacrament of rebirth. She states, moreover, that the ideal
is attained when confirmation precedes even admittance to the banquet
table of the Holy Eucharist. Leo XIII commended the bishop of
Marseilles for confirming children before first communion, as more in
accord with ancient practice. This is the ideal because it is the
logical order: baptism plants the seed of divine life; confirmation
matures and perfects it; Holy Eucharist is the nourishment which
sustains it.
Baptism effects in the soul the indwelling of the Holy Spirit with His
sevenfold gifts, yet not in a measure altogether complete. For God in
His bounty and love has ordained that confirmation make perfect what
is still somehow imperfect, that the Person of the Holy Spirit, to
whom especially is attributed the work of sanctifying, be poured out
in fuller measure upon a Christian, so as to raise him to the adult
state in the spiritual life. Accordingly, in the order of dignity,
confirmation is more excellent than baptism, not because it confers
absolutely new powers, but rather because it invigorates and ennobles
those which are already existent. In baptism the Blessed Trinity comes
to inhabit the soul; in confirmation the Father and the Son send to it
the Holy Spirit in pentecostal mission to consecrate anew the edifice
which the first sacrament has established. The one is the sacrament of
birth; the other the sacrament of manhood. Baptism incorporates a man
in Christ and His Church; confirmation elevates his being in Christ
through the anointing which brings more abundant grace. The former
fashions; the latter strengthens. The former initiates; the latter
seals.
The Council of Trent defined that confirmation is a sacrament distinct
from baptism and that it confers its own special grace. It left to the
speculation of theologians what precisely the special grace or
principal effect of confirmation is. For theologians of old,
specifically the fathers of the Church, the purpose of confirmation is
the completing or perfecting of baptism. This idea received fairly
recent corroboration from the Congregation of the Holy Sacraments in
1935, in a pronouncement that "Confirmation is the complement of
baptism and the sacrament in which the fullness of the Holy Spirit is
imparted" (AAS 27 [1935] 15). The statement was prompted by a desire
to encourage the reception of this sacrament before the reception of
the Eucharist. And it is in full accord with the mind of the early
fathers. Sticking to the metaphor by which our Lord Himself likened
our union with Him to a marriage, the fathers spoke of baptism as the
ritual bath given in ancient times and cultures to a bride; of
confirmation as the anointing of the bride with precious and fragrant
ointments and perfumes; of the Eucharist as the act of leading the
bride to the bridegroom for consummation of the marriage.
Furthermore, the fathers tell us that confirmation presupposes
something already existing, to which confirmation adds firmness,
strengthens, gives stability. In confirmation the bishop comes to seal
and confirm what the priest has already done in baptism. Confirmation
produces in the baptized a higher ontological union with Christ
through the sacramental character it imprints. And since the character
is the foundation of union and elevation, it is likewise the
consecration to a more intensive mode of sharing in His priesthood.
This general priesthood of the laity, first conferred by the character
of baptism, is now given greater extension in confirmation, of which
the essential outward sign now is the anointing with chrism along with
the words: "I seal you with the sign of the cross, and I confirm you
with the chrism that sanctifies; in the name of the Father, and of the
Son. and of the Holy Spirit." An anointing has always been associated
with the conferring of priestly power and dignity; and on Maundy
Thursday when chrism is consecrated by the bishop, the consecratory
preface tells that "Chrism, which has its name from the holy name of
Christ, is destined to be poured out in regal, sacerdotal, and
prophetical honor upon the faithful, and to envelop them with the
garment of incorruptible grace."
The fathers, moreover, find a basis for comparing baptism with
confirmation in Sacred Scripture. Isaia foretold that the Christ,
Yahweh's anointed, would have the sevenfold gift of the Spirit in Him.
"And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him: the Spirit of wisdom
and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of fortitude, the
Spirit of knowledge and of godliness. And He shall be filled with the
Spirit of the fear of the Lord."[1] This prophecy is surely fulfilled in
first instance in the incarnation. Yet the fathers conceive of another
outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the sacred humanity of Christ in the
instance of His baptism by John in the Jordan. As Christ is to
inaugurate the public ministry of preaching the glad tidings of
salvation to mankind, the Spirit descends on Him anew and imparts to
Him anew His sevenfold gifts. In other words, the fathers distinguish
phases in the mode of the gifts' operation. St. Cyril of Jerusalem in
particular sees a propriety in having Isaia's words accomplished a
second time in the Messiah, for starting with His baptism Jesus
actively undertakes the task of the new and final prophet of God, and
God endows Him with the gifts empowering Him to act as the definitive
witness of divine revelation and the inaugurator of the New Covenant.
The same Holy Spirit and the same gifts flow from the head onto the
members. Since we are Christ's brethren the prophecy of Isaia is
similarly accomplished in us, the first time in baptism but a second
time in confirmation, when the sevenfold gifts descend as a second
anointing from heaven upon us, that we may be a finished product in
the supernatural order, perfectly molded in the image of our Lord.
Among these gifts conferred, fortitude is particularly predominant,
since it is the one required above all others to seal the virtue of
faith infused in baptism and to make it better operative in Christian
living, even to the point of absolute heroism.
Endowed with the grace of confirmation, the grace of completion and
perfection, a Christian is equipped to share in Christ's public
ministry, to assist Christ and the Church in the work of proclaiming
the good news of salvation to all men, by word and more especially by
our manner of life. The catechism has taught us that confirmation
enlists us as soldiers or knights of Jesus Christ. Our Lord Himself
had a better word for it. He spoke of our being a witness, which word
in Greek is martyr. He guarantees us this power in the words: "You
shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall
be witnesses for me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and even
to the very ends of the earth."[2] A witness of Christ should ever be
ready to confess Him, by an unreserved acceptance in mind of the
complete deposit of faith that he reveals to His Church, by profession
in word for all to hear of the faith that is in him, by keeping
without stint the commandments that He has imposed, by suffering
himself to be mocked, despised, reviled, persecuted, and even if
necessary to run the gamut--being a blood witness of Him, a martyr in
the strict sense. The consecration to martyrdom, so conspicuously
evidenced in the early Christians, is an effect of confirmation
residing in potency in ourselves, and an attendant obligation which
the confirmed must be prepared to assume if called upon.
St. Thomas dwells at length on another effect of confirmation,
stressing that baptism through its sacramental seal and confirmation
more nobly through its seal constitute the Christian in a priestly
relation to Christ the High Priest. From our union with Him and as
sharers in the priesthood of our head, we obtain the right to
participate in the worship of God according to the Christian
dispensation. This comprises the seven sacraments, above all the
Eucharist, and also the sacramentals, blessings, and other prayers.
According to the New Covenant dispensation the liturgy is the chief
means for all members of the mystic body of Christ to offer praise and
thanksgiving and satisfaction and impetration to God. When it is a
question of other external activities, such as the various works in
the apostolate of Catholic action, their source and inspiration can be
found in confirmation too, but they are directly a special deputation
from the hierarchy to the laity, and flow only indirectly from the
priestly consecration of sacramental character. There can be no doubt,
of course, that confirmation is in a singular way the sacrament from
which Christians derive grace for exercising works of the apostolate,
in accordance with their capacity and under the supervision of their
spiritual leaders. For the closer they become identified with Christ,
the greater is their dignity and mission as His disciples to let their
light shine before men.
So excellent a sacrament as confirmation must normally be conferred by
a bishop, a procedure indicating that confirmation perfects and
completes the sacrament of baptism. The bishop enjoys the plenitude of
the priestly unction of Jesus Christ, and for this reason he is the
ordinary minister. Besides, he can add much to the external
magnificence and solemnity when he himself administers it, rather than
an ordinary priest. Or should it happen that the latter does
administer it on occasion, by special delegation of the Holy See, even
in this instance the element of chrism must have been consecrated by a
bishop. Chrism is composed of olive oil and fragrant balsam or other
perfumes. The olive tree which is always green is a symbol of life,
fruitfulness, peace. St. Paul tells us that we, as wild olives, have
been grafted on and have become a partaker of the stem and fatness of
the olive tree that is Christ.[3] Balsam which is aromatic and
preserving is a symbol of the fragrance and incorruption of the grace
of the Holy Spirit. The oriental churches do not spare the highly
scented perfumes in preparing chrism, and this is as it should be
precisely because the sacraments are outward signs of inward grace,
and outward signs are meant to appeal to the senses, including the
olfactory sense. Holy chrism, says St. Cyril of Jerusalem, is no
longer mere oil; but just as the element of bread becomes by the
epiclesis the body of Christ, so likewise by the invocation of the
Holy Spirit this oil becomes "Christ's charism productive of the Holy
Spirit, through the presence of His divinity." He is in the chrism as
He is in the baptismal water. "It contains Him, and constitutes the
element under which He exercises and conceals His action."[4]
--TRANSLATOR
ENDNOTES
1. Isa 11.2-3 in the Septuagint.
2. Acts 1.8.
3. Rom 11.17
4. "Catechesis XXI," in Tixeront, "History of Dogmas," II, p. 169.
PART III: THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION
CHAPTER 1: RULES FOR ADMINISTERING CONFIRMATION
1. The sacrament of confirmation must be conferred by laying on of
hands together with anointing with chrism on the brow, accompanied by
the words prescribed in the Church's official book, the Pontifical.
2. This sacrament imprints a character, and for this reason cannot be
repeated; but in case a reasonable doubt exists as to whether it has
really been given validly or at all, it should be administered again
conditionally.
3. Oil of chrism used in administering this sacrament, even when the
minister is an ordinary priest, must have been consecrated by a bishop
in communion with the Holy See on the preceding Maundy Thursday; and
one may not use the old oil except in an emergency. As soon as the
consecrated oil has diminished to a small quantity, non-consecrated
olive oil should be added to it, but in a lesser quantity than the
consecrated each time this happens. It is never allowed to administer
confirmation without chrism, nor to receive it from a heretical or
schismatic bishop. The anointing is not to be performed with some kind
of instrument but by the minister's hand, properly placed on the head
of the subject.
4. The ordinary minister of confirmation is the bishop alone. The
extraordinary minister is a priest to whom this faculty has been
granted, either by common law or by a special indult of the Holy See.
Those who enjoy this faculty by law, besides cardinals of the holy
Roman Church, are: an abbot or prelate nullius, and a Vicar and a
Prefect Apostolic, who, however, can validly use this privilege only
within their own boundaries or territory and only as long as they are
in office. A priest of the Latin rite, who possesses this faculty by
virtue of an indult, can confer confirmation validly only on the
faithful of his own rite, unless the indult expressly provides
otherwise. Priests of the Oriental rite have the faculty or privilege
of conferring confirmation along with baptism to infants who belong to
their own rite; but it is gravely unlawful for them to administer it
to infants of the Latin rite.
5. In virtue of a general indult of the Holy See, the faculty of
conferring the sacrament of confirmation as extraordinary ministers is
granted, only under the conditions enumerated below, to the following
priests and only to these:
(a) pastors having their own proper territory, excluding therefore
pastors of private persons or families, unless they also have their
own territory, although held cumulatively with other pastors;
(b) vicars and also parochial administrators;
(c) priests who are exclusively and permanently in charge of a
definite territory with a definite church, with full care of souls
together with all the rights and duties of pastors.[1]
6. The aforementioned ministers can validly and licitly confer
confirmation personally, but only to the faithful living in their
territory, including persons who are staying there although not proper
subjects; this takes in seminaries, hotels, hospitals, and all other
kinds of institutions, even those of exempt religious; as long as such
persons are critically ill and in danger of death. If these same
ministers exceed the limits of the mandate, let them realize fully
that they are committing a very serious offense, that such
administration is null and void, and that they are subject to the
penalties mentioned in no. 22 below.
7. They can use this faculty both in the episcopal city itself or
elsewhere; whether the see is occupied or vacant, as long as the
diocesan bishop is unavailable or lawfully prevented from conferring
the sacrament himself; and if no other bishop in communion with the
Holy See, including a mere titular bishop, is able to act as a
substitute without great inconvenience.
8. A priest empowered with this apostolic privilege has the obligation
to administer the sacrament to those in whose favor the faculty is
granted, if they rightly and reasonably request it.
9. One who is not yet baptized cannot be confirmed validly. Besides,
one must be in the state of grace in order to receive confirmation
licitly and with spiritual profit. If the recipient has the use of
reason, he should be properly instructed. Whenever this sacrament is
to be administered to those who are critically ill, the minister
should instruct them, in accord with the person's intelligence, in
matters they ought to know; and he must arouse in them the intention
to receive this sacrament as a source of strength for the soul. If
later on they recover, then those whose duty it is must give them
further instruction in the mysteries of faith and on the nature and
effect of the sacrament.
10. Although this sacrament is not necessary by necessity of means, no
one is allowed to neglect it if there is a possibility of receiving
it. On the contrary, let every pastor see to it that the faithful
approach it when the opportunity presents itself.
11. Even though it is the practice in the Latin Church to defer the
sacrament of confirmation until about the age of seven, nevertheless,
it may be given earlier if a child is in danger of death or if the
minister deems it advisable for any just and serious reason.
12. Confirmation is to be administered in accordance with the
requirements of the Code of Canon Law as modified for this case, using
the rite given in the chapter that follows. It is to be conferred
without a fee based on any title. Those to be confirmed (if more than
one) must be present from the first laying on (or extension) of hands
and must not leave until the rite is finished.
13. Although the proper place for administering confirmation is in
church, the minister may, for a just and reasonable cause, administer
it in another suitable place.
14. In accordance with a most ancient custom of the Church, there
should be a sponsor if one can be had, just as in baptism.
15. The sponsor may act as such only for one or two parties, unless
the minister decides otherwise for a good reason; but no recipient is
to have more than one sponsor.
16. To act as sponsor it is required:
(a) that the person is confirmed, has attained the use of reason, and
has the intention of acting as such;
(b) that he does not belong to a heretical or schismatic sect, is not
excommunicated either by condemnatory or declaratory sentence, nor
legally infamous, debarred from legal acts, nor a deposed or degraded
cleric;
(c) is not the father, mother, or spouse of the one being confirmed;
(d) that he is chosen by the recipient or the parents or guardians, or
if these are wanting or decline, by the minister or pastor;
(e) that during the act of confirming he or a proxy physically touch
the recipient.
17. To lawfully act as sponsor it is required:
(a) that the person is not the same as the sponsor for baptism, unless
confirmation is conferred immediately after baptism, or the minister
decides in favor of it for a good reason;
(b) that the person is of the same sex as the recipient, unless the
minister decides otherwise in a particular case for a good reason;
(c) that he has reached the age of fourteen, unless the minister sees
fit to admit a younger person for a good reason;
(d) that he is not excommunicated for a notorious crime, nor excluded
from legal acts, nor legally infamous (even though no sentence has
been issued to that effect), nor interdicted, nor a public criminal,
nor infamous in fact;
(e) that he knows the rudiments of faith;
(f) that he is neither a novice in religion nor a professed religious,
unless necessity urges it and the sponsor has the express permission
from at least the local superior;
(g) that he is not in sacred orders, unless he has the express
permission of the local Ordinary.
18. A spiritual affinity between the sponsor and the confirmed results
from a valid confirmation, by force of which the sponsor is obligated
ever to regard his godchild as a personal charge, and to see to his
Christian upbringing. However, this spiritual relationship does not
constitute an impediment to matrimony.
19. According to the norm of canon 798, the extraordinary minister
should record the confirmation in the parish register, entering his
own name, the names of the confirmed (and if not his subject, also his
diocese and parish), of the parents and sponsors, the date and place,
and adding this annotation: "Confirmation was given by Apostolic
indult, in view of critical illness and danger of death." A record is
also to be made in the baptismal register in accordance with canon
470--2. If the one confirmed is of another parish, the minister should
at once notify the pastor of the party of the fact by means of an
official document containing all the data mentioned above.
20. Extraordinary ministers are bound in each instance to send an
official notice at once to their own diocesan Ordinary, stating that
they administered confirmation and giving all the data.
21. To prove that confirmation has been conferred, without prejudice
to anyone, the testimony of one trustworthy witness or the oath of the
confirmed himself, if he was confirmed in adult age, is sufficient.
22. A priest who dares to administer the sacrament of confirmation
without the faculty conceded either by law or by the Roman Pontiff is
to be suspended; or if he presumes to exceed the limits of the faculty
given him he is ipso facto deprived of that very faculty.
CHAPTER II
I. RITE FOR CONFIRMATION
When Administered by a Priest by Delegation of the Holy See Apart From
the Case of Danger of Death
(Or When Administered by a Bishop or Lesser Prelate)
{For their convenience, the rite is arranged also for bishops and
lesser prelates. The Motu Proprio "Sacram Liturgiam" of Paul VI
specifies that confirmation may be administered in Mass, after the
Gospel and homily (see also the notes for Rite I for Confirmation).
For points of commentary, in addition to that given here, consult the
introduction to confirmation. The music supplement contains an English
processional hymn for the bishop's solemn entry and other appropriate
music.}
1. When a priest administers confirmation in virtue of the faculty
granted him by the Holy See, he is vested in surplice, white stole and
even a cope of the same color. (A bishop or lesser prelate wears the
vestments proper to his office.) He stands before the altar facing the
people, who are arranged men on the right, women on the left. (A
bishop first washes his hands before taking his position at the
altar.) The priest explains to all present that a bishop alone is the
ordinary minister of confirmation and that he himself is to confirm by
special delegation of the Holy See.
2. Then, if the delegation was granted by indult, the pertinent
document is read aloud and clearly in the vernacular. After this the
priest admonishes that no one of the confirmed is to leave before the
blessing which he will give at the end of the ceremony. If for a valid
reason infants are admitted to the sacrament, the priest instructs the
sponsors to hold them in the right arm. As for the adult candidates,
he directs them to place one foot on the right foot of the sponsor, or
he directs the sponsors to place the right hand on the right shoulder
of the person being confirmed.
3. Now that all is ready the ceremony begins. As the candidates kneel
before him with folded hands, the celebrant, remaining in the same
position, folds his hands on his breast and says:
May the Holy Spirit come upon you, and may the power of the Most High
keep you from sin.
All: Amen
4. Then, as he makes the sign of the cross on himself, he continues:
Celebrant: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
All: Who made heaven and earth.
Celebrant: Lord, heed my prayer.
All: And let my cry be heard by you.
Celebrant: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
First Laying on of Hands
{Laying on of hands, an ancient symbol of conferring a power, dignity,
or an office, takes two forms, the one involving actual contact,
laying hands on the head of the subject as will happen later; the
other without it, in simply stretching forth hands over the subject as
happens here. St. Luke, for example, says that at the ascension our
Lord lifted up His hands and blessed the disciples (24.50). The latter
method can also be seen in the sign of the cross which accompanies
absolution or a blessing.}
5. Next he holds his hands outstretched over the recipients, saying:
Let us pray.
Almighty everlasting God, who once gave new life to these servants of
yours by water and the Holy Spirit, forgiving them all their sins;
send forth on them from heaven your Holy Spirit, the Advocate, along
with His sevenfold gifts.
All: Amen.
Celebrant: The Spirit of wisdom and understanding.
All: Amen.
Celebrant: The Spirit of counsel and fortitude.
All: Amen.
Celebrant: The Spirit of knowledge and piety.
All: Amen.
Celebrant: Fill them with the Spirit of holy fear, and seal them with
the sign of the cross + of Christ, in token of everlasting life. We
ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns
with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.
All: Amen.
{The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit just enumerated had been promised
to the sacred humanity of the Messiah by the prophet Isaia (11.2
Sept.). What is given to our Lord is given to us, His members, by
extension, first in baptism and now in fuller measure and in another
phase in confirmation, enabling us to witness Christ and the Church to
the world, to remain strong, steadfast, and sinless in the faith.}
Second Laying on of Hands and Anointing
{Confirmation is the completion of baptism and the making of a perfect
Christian. Its minister now fixes Christ's seal on the baptized to
close the vessel into which the Holy Spirit has poured His grace, to
preserve this holy thing for God. The Christian, as a witness of
Christ, receives the seal of the cross as well as the anointing with
chrism on his forehead, for he ought to be proud of his faith and to
radiate it in an unblushing front, in demeanor redolent of sincerity
and conviction. His very body, too, is consecrated and raised up to
its proper role as image of the soul. The whole man is engaged in the
duty of being a prophet, yes, even a martyr of God. The fragrant
perfume in the chrism of anointing signifies the fragrance of a
virtuous life that should characterize the new people of God.}
6. Then the celebrant confirms them (a bishop wears the mitre at this
time, and so does a higher prelate, such as a protonotary apostolic),
as they kneel in line, first the males then the females. When one row
is finished all rise and others kneel in place, and so on till the
end. The celebrant asks the name of each one as he is presented by the
godfather or the godmother; and dipping the tip of his thumb in chrism
he confirms in the following way: laying his right hand on the head of
the recipient he marks with his thumb the sign of the cross on the
person's forehead, while saying the first part of the form up to the
word cross inclusive, and goes on with the rest of the form, making a
threefold sign of the cross over him at the places indicated:
N., I seal you with the sign of the + cross; and I confirm you with
the chrism that sanctifies; in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
+ and of the Holy Spirit.
All: Amen.
Then he strikes the confirmed lightly on the cheek, saying:
Peace be with you.
{This last action is a token of the kiss of peace given in earlier
times; but it now has an added significance of reminding the confirmed
to be ready at all times to suffer for the faith.}
7. Now a linen band is fastened around the head to cover the spot just
anointed. But if this practice is not observed any longer, the priest
wipes the spot carefully with cotton which is later burned. (When a
bishop or prelate confirms, one of the assistants wipes off the
chrism.)
8. After all have been confirmed the celebrant cleanses his fingers
with bread and washes them over a bowl. The water together with the
bread is poured into the sacrarium, and the same is done with the
ashes of the burnt cotton.
9. During the washing of hands the entire congregation sings or
recites the following antiphon (or if a priest confirms, and there is
no one to sing the antiphon, he recites it himself later). The
celebrant may intone the antiphon up to the asterisk (see the music
supplement for the notes and organ accompaniment to this):
Antiphon
Confirm, O God, * the work you have begun in us from your heavenly
sanctuary, the new Jerusalem. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be, world without end. Amen. Confirm, O God, the work you have
begun in us from your heavenly sanctuary, the new Jerusalem.
{The prayer above is an Old Testament prayer from a psalm verse, but
used here by the Church in an accommodated sense. It adds no new
thought but is rather a part of the whole signification of this
sacrament, recalling that God's work in the recipient began at baptism
and is now being given a finishing touch.}
10. After the antiphon the celebrant. now standing with hands joined
and facing the altar, sings or recites the following verses to which
al present make the responses (a bishop or protonotary removes the
mitre at this point):
Celebrant: Lord, show us your mercy.
All: And grant us your salvation.
Celebrant: Lord, heed my prayer.
All: And let my cry be heard by you.
Celebrant: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
While the newly confirmed kneel, the celebrant continues singing or
reciting the following prayer:
Let us pray.
God, who gave to your apostles the Holy Spirit, ordaining that they
and their successors should hand down that Gift to the rest of the
faithful; look with favor on our lowly service, and grant that the
same Holy Spirit may come on these persons whose brow we have anointed
with holy chrism and sealed with the sign of the holy cross. May He
consecrate their heart as a worthy dwelling for His glory. We ask this
through you, who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
God, forever and ever.
All: Amen.
11. Then he adds:
See, thus shall everyone be blessed who lives in the fear of the Lord.
Turning to the newly confirmed he blesses them with the sign of the
cross:
The Lord bless + you from Sion on high, that you may see the glory of
Jerusalem all your days and be rewarded with everlasting life.
All: Amen.
12. At the end of confirmation the celebrant is seated (a bishop and a
protonotary wear the mitre at this time), and he counsels the sponsors
to foster right living in their godchildren, to shun evil and do good
and to teach them the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Hail Mary. It
is customary in the U. S. for the celebrant to recite the last-named
prayers with the congregation.
12a. If a bishop has confirmed, he may add the pontifical blessing at
this time he wears the mitre and holds the crozier. If a protonotary
apostolic gives this blessing, he wears the mitre but makes the sign
of the cross only once while imparting the blessing.
Celebrant: May the name of the Lord be blessed.
All: Both now and forevermore.
Celebrant: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
All: Who made heaven and earth.
Celebrant: May almighty God bless you, the Father, Son, + and Holy +
Spirit.
All: Amen.
The following additional directives are given in the new "Instruction"
of September 26, 1964:
no. 64. If confirmation is conferred within Mass, it is fitting that
Mass be celebrated by the bishop himself. In this case he confers
confirmation while vested in the Mass vestments. The Mass within which
confirmation is conferred may be celebrated as a votive Mass of class
II, of the Holy Spirit.
no. 65. After the Gospel and homily, before the reception of
confirmation, it is praiseworthy that those to be confirmed renew the
promises of baptism, according to the rite lawfully in use in the
individual regions, unless this has already taken place before Mass.
no. 66. If the Mass is celebrated by another, it is fitting that the
bishop assist at the Mass wearing the vestments prescribed for the
conferral of confirmation, which may be either the color of the Mass
or white. The bishop himself should give the homily, and the celebrant
should resume the Mass only after confirmation.
CHAPTER III
II. RITE FOR CONFIRMATION
When Administered by a Priest by Apostolic Indult to a Sick Person in
Danger of Death
{If time allows and the priest wishes to explain some of the
ceremonies, he may consult the introduction as well as the commentary
in Chapter II.}
1. When a priest administers the sacrament of confirmation to a sick
person in danger of death (see above), he wears at least a white stole
if a surplice is not available. He explains to all present that a
bishop alone is the ordinary minister of confirmation and that he
himself is to confirm by special delegation of the Holy See. Let him
take heed not to administer the sacrament in the presence of heretics
or schismatics; much less should the latter act in the capacity of
assistants.
2. He directs the sponsor to place his right hand on the right
shoulder the recipient, whether child or adult.
3. As he stands facing the one to be confirmed and with his hands
pined on his breast, he says:
May the Holy Spirit come upon you, and may the power of the Most High
keep you from sin.
All: Amen.
4. Then, as he makes the sign of the cross on himself, he continues:
Priest: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
All: Who made heaven and earth.
P: Lord, heed my prayer.
All: And let my cry be heard by you.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May he also be with you.
5. Next he holds his hands outstretched over the recipient, saying:
Let us pray.
Almighty everlasting God, who once gave new life to this servant of
yours by water and the Holy Spirit, forgiving him (her) all his (her)
sins; send forth on him (her) from heaven your Holy Spirit, the
Advocate, along with His sevenfold gifts.
All: Amen.
P: The Spirit of wisdom and understanding.
All: Amen.
P: The Spirit of counsel and fortitude.
All: Amen.
P: The Spirit of knowledge and piety.
All: Amen.
P: Fill him (her) with the Spirit of holy fear, and seal him (her)
with the sign of the cross + of Christ, in token of everlasting life.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and
reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and
ever.
All: Amen.
6. Having asked the name of the recipient, he dips the tip of his
thumb in chrism and confirms in the following way: laying his right
hand on the head of the person he marks with his thumb the sign of the
cross on the person's forehead, while saying the first part of the
form up to the word "cross" inclusive, and goes on with the rest of
the form, making a threefold sign of the cross over him (her) at the
places indicated:
N., I seal you with the sign of the + cross; and I confirm you with
the chrism that sanctifies; in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
+ and of the Holy Spirit.
All: Amen.
Then he strikes the confirmed lightly on the cheek, saying:
Peace be with you.
7. After the anointing with chrism the priest wipes the spot carefully
with cotton; then he cleanses his fingers with bread and washes them
over a bowl. He deposits the water, bread, and cotton in a clean
receptacle. Later he will take it with him to church, and after
burning the cotton, pours the ashes and the whole residue into the
sacrarium.
8. Having washed his fingers the priest says the following antiphon:
Confirm, O God, the work you have begun in us from your heavenly
sanctuary, the new Jerusalem. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit.
All: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world
without end. Amen.
And the antiphon "Confirm, O God, etc.," is repeated.
9. After this the priest stands facing the sick person, with his hands
joined on his breast, and says:
P: Lord, show us your mercy.
All: And grant us your salvation.
P: Lord, heed my prayer.
All: And let my cry be heard by you.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
Keeping his hands joined he continues:
Let us pray.
God, who gave to your apostles the Holy Spirit, ordaining that they
and their successors should hand down that Gift to the rest of the
faithful; look with favor on my lowly service, and grant that the same
Holy Spirit may come on this person whose brow I have anointed with
holy chrism and sealed with the sign of the holy cross. May He
consecrate his (her) heart as a worthy dwelling for His glory. We ask
this through you, who live and reign with the Father and the Holy
Spirit, God, forever and ever.
All: Amen.
10. Then he adds:
See, thus shall everyone be blessed who lives in the fear of the Lord.
Turning to the newly confirmed he blesses him (her) with the sign of
the cross:
The Lord bless + you from Sion on high, that you may see the glory of
Jerusalem all your days and be rewarded with everlasting life.
All: Amen.
ENDNOTES
1. By a special indult for the U. S., the main chaplain of a maternity
hospital or children's home may confirm infants in danger of death.
THE SACRAMENT OF THE HOLY EUCHARIST
INTRODUCTION
"The chalice of benediction which we bless, is it not the communion of
the blood of Christ? And the bread which we break, is it not the
partaking of the body of the Lord? For we, being many, are one bread,
one body, all that partake of one bread."[1] These words of St. Paul
show how their author penetrates the heart of the eucharistic
sacrament, by perceiving its essential function as the "aedificatio,"
the building up of the mystery which is Christ and His Church. All
seven sacraments have this same purpose, but it is true of the
sacrament of the altar in the most eminent degree. Following our
initiation into the mystic Christ through baptism and the intensified
consolidation resulting from confirmation, it remains for the
Eucharist to deepen, in fact, to consummate our identification with
the divine head and our union with one another in the body of the
faithful. "O sacrament of God's love, O sign of unity, O bond of
charity"[2]--so exclaims St. Augustine as he considers that the real
purpose of the sacrament is to further and complete the bond existing
between Christ and His Church, between Him and the individual, and
between all members in loving reciprocity. The Eucharist continues and
perfects the purpose of the incarnation--to bring all things to a head
in Christ--"Through Him to reconcile all things unto Himself, making
peace through the blood of His cross, both as to the things that are
on earth and the things that are in heaven."[3] Guitmand of Aversa
(1095) sees the incarnation's extension in the Eucharist symbolized in
one of its elements, bread. "Like the eucharistic bread which is
compounded of many grains, so the Church, comprised of many people and
nations, is ground by the mill-stones of the Old Covenant and the New,
and kneaded by the water of baptism and forged by the fire of the Holy
Spirit in an indissoluble unity."[4]
Scheeben, when he considers the Eucharist's function of bringing us
into the most intimate union possible in this life with the mystic
Christ, maintains that by comparison all other means of union, be it
the general union inaugurated between the God-man and human beings by
the incarnation or the union of faith and baptism, "almost seem to be
no more than a preparation for it."[5] And he adds: "The true body of
Christ is reproduced at the consecration, that He may unite Himself
with individual men in communion and become one body with them, so
that the Logos may, as it were, become man anew in each man, by taking
the human nature of each into union with His own."[6] According to the
generality of Fathers and Scholastics, it is certainly true that
baptism is the foundation of ontological union with Christ and
consequent embodiment in the Church, even though some of them appear
to attribute the whole work exclusively to the Eucharist.
Nevertheless, they are practically unanimous in regarding the
incorporation brought about by baptism as something imperfect or at
least incomplete, and insisting that the Eucharist is required to make
incorporation perfect. To support their view, they find an analogy in
the Old Testament, in that they liken baptism to the passage of the
Israelites through the Red Sea, whereby they secured their deliverance
from Egyptian bondage, and became once more free to pursue their
mission as God's chosen people. Yet while they were making their
course to the Promised Land, they would have died of hunger and left
the desert strewn with rotting skeletons, had not Yahweh in provident
largesse supplied them with food for the journey. Hence the Eucharist
is compared to the miraculous manna which fell from the heavens each
day, providing sustenance and strength until they would reach the
destined country flowing with milk and honey.
Our Lord, during His public ministry, had spoken to the apostles about
the Eucharist and had made references to a vital and real union of
Himself with them; but it is at the Last Supper that He ties the two
facts together in their unmistakable relationship. On the night before
He died, having anticipated in sacramental manner the sacrifice of
redemption and having communicated the apostles with His "body broken"
and His "blood shed," He goes on to address them in the famous
farewell discourse: "I am the vine, you the branches; he that abides
in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for without me you can
do nothing.... As the Father has loved me, I also have loved you.
Abide in my love."[7] Despite their lack of erudition, they must have
grasped the point that the Eucharist in which they had just
participated was the consummating bond between the Master and
themselves and the linking with one another. A few moments later, when
Jesus lifted His eyes to heaven in prayer for His disciples, they were
to hear a truth equally marvelous--that not only had they been united
to His own Person, but owing to His substantial relationship to God,
they had been made one with the Father. "I pray for them, I pray not
for the world, but for them whom you have given me, because they are
yours.... Holy Father, keep them in your name whom you have given me,
that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that
they may be perfected in unity...that the love wherewith you have
loved me may be in them, and I in them."[8] Vivification had come to
them from the communion of the body and blood of the Mediator, Jesus
Christ. What was theirs is ours as well. Baptism has made us sons of
God, brethren of Jesus, and temples of the Holy Spirit. But when the
sacrament of water and the Holy Spirit is followed by the most august
sacrament of the body and the blood, then are verified in all
excellence, the words of the psalmist: "You have made man a little
less than God, crowning him with glory and honor."[9] And how does the
Eucharist effect our unity in the Father and in the Son and in the
Holy Spirit? The principle of operation is the Holy Spirit Himself,
who brought about the hypostatic unity of the two natures in Christ at
the incarnation, and who, in His role of sanctifier, vivifier, and
unifier within the mystical body, causes us to be one body and one
heart in the Holy Trinity. It is the Spirit of Christ working in the
body of Christ. "There are diversities of graces, but the same Spirit;
and there are diversities of ministries, but the same Lord; and there
are diversities of operations, but the same God, who works in all."[10]
The outward signs of the Eucharist signify ecclesiastical unity. In
the very elements employed, as many of the fathers like to dwell on,
we have symbols which clearly demonstrate that the sacrament of the
altar has the pre-eminent purpose of solidifying the organic oneness
of Christ and the Church. First, the elements of bread and wine point
to the inner content as possessing the quality of spiritual food. The
Eucharist is our daily supersubstantial bread which we must eat, in
order that we may be sated with its divine nourishment, and made to be
of one heart in the affection of our heavenly Father. It bears analogy
to ordinary food, with this exception--whereas the food of nature is
assimilated into the being of the one that eats thereof, the food of
the altar transforms the partaker into the likeness of itself, that
we, "being many, are one bread, one body, all that partake of one
bread." A second demonstrative sign is found in the many grains of
wheat from which the bread is compounded and in the many grapes from
which the wine is pressed. These signify the "res" of the sacrament,
the special sacramental grace, whose function is to effect the unity
of all communicants with the Person of Him who is received. We are
like the many kernels ground into one loaf and the many grapes pressed
into one chalice, divinized and unified in Christ when the Sanctifier,
almighty and everlasting God, descends in consecratory operation upon
the bread and wine under which we are represented. A final symbol, of
which ecclesiastical writers never tire, is the admixture of a small
quantity of water with the larger portion of wine in the chalice
during the Sacrifice--the water being a symbol of our humanity
commingled with and absorbed by the wine that represents Christ's
divinity. In a similar way we are assimilated to Him when the wine is
transubstantiated into Him, and later given to us as the communion of
His blood--the price of reconciliation, the sign of unity, the bond of
charity. The sacramental signs signify the unity of the mystic Christ,
and the presence contained under the signs effects such unity, the
incomparable exchange of supernatural love and fellowship between the
incarnate God and us, as well as among ourselves From what has been
said thus far, an impression may have been given that it is
principally in holy communion by itself that we have the effectual
symbol (signum efficax) for the upbuilding of the mystical body. But
this would not be consonant with sound doctrine. And even though the
Ritual is directly concerned with the aspect of the Eucharist as the
Church's divine banquet (the Missal is the vehicle for dealing with
the Holy Sacrifice), it is impossible to present a proper treatise on
communion without placing it in its rightful setting within the
structure of the eucharistic Sacrifice. Moreover, we must maintain
that the marvel of union with God in the banquet is inseparably
related to the still greater wonder of fellowship with Him in self-
immolation. It is when He is lifted up, He said, that He draws all
things to Himself. And holy communion is at best the climax of
participation in His eucharistic oblation. The only-begotten Son's
offering of Himself on Calvary, of which the Mass is at once the
sacramental renewal and application, is a greater act of love than the
gift of Himself as sacramental food considered alone. To regard
communion simply as any kind of spiritual food is to lose sight of its
essential dependence on the Sacrifice. It is more than a bread giving
life to the soul; it is the body that was broken and the blood of the
New Covenant that was shed; it is Christ our Pasch who was immolated.
And right here is a good place to introduce parenthetically reference
to a confusing distinction often made in treating of the Eucharist,
for we observe in our reading that the fault persists, even in the
latest works and textbooks on the subject. We refer to the unfortunate
tendency to divide into two separate realities "the Sacrifice" and
"the Sacrament," as though the former were something that lies outside
of the concept of sacrament. There is perhaps no one who has done us a
better service in clearing away the fog than Abbot Vonier, in his
work: "Key to the Doctrine of the Eucharist," and he is only restating
the correct thought and terminology of St. Thomas. We quote: "Even St.
Thomas, with his great hold of the oneness of the eucharistic
sacrament, uses this duality of expression (i.e., 'sacrifice' and
'sacrament') when necessary, and distinguishes within the sacrament
between sacrifice and sacrament. But let it be clear at once that this
is merely a necessity of language, which has nothing in common with
the much more drastic divisions of sacrifice and sacrament which were
introduced at a later date. But it would be truly disastrous if at any
time we came to look upon the Eucharist in its sacrificial aspect as
something less sacramental or even non-sacramental, leaving the
sacramental denomination exclusively to the reception of Christ's body
and blood. This would at once remove the eucharistic sacrifice from
the sacramental theory of the Church; it would make of it something
for which there are no provisions in our general theology.... The
sacrifice of the Church, Mass, is truly the sacrament at its best and
fullest; and the sacrifice of the Mass, if it have any human
explanation, must be explained in sacramental concepts."[11] To sum up
the matter--the sacrament of Holy Eucharist is accomplished in the
sacrificial oblation, and this is followed by the use of the sacrament
through sacrificial communion.
Out of the oblation of the Son of God on Calvary is born the Church,
the mystic bride of the divine victim. For the sake of His Church--so
that the Whole Christ can continue until the end of time to put itself
in contact, not only with the fruits of Calvary but with the very
action itself, the Eucharist has been instituted; or as the Council of
Trent says: "in order that Christ might bequeath to His beloved bride,
the Church, a visible sacrifice,"[12] that is, a sacrifice which would
repeat in the mode of sacrament the one which could be offered up only
once in the order of nature. Our Eucharist, therefore, is the unbloody
renewal, or better, the sacramental making present of the sacrifice of
the cross; at which we are not placed at a distance from what is
transpiring upon the Christian altar, but in which we are actively
participating in the highest degree of unity and supernatural charity
as members of the Church. How is this stupendous thing made possible?
Because the Son of God has likewise left behind for His Church the
sacramental priesthood of holy orders, whose members are empowered to
offer in His stead. Standing at the altar of the divine liturgy, the
priest is sacrificant in a dual role, at one time acting in the Person
of Christ, at another as the personification of the entire
ecclesiastical body. Through him we have the sacrificial oblation of
the Eucharist placed in our hands, so that we, united in the love of
our Lord, may worship the Father with a sacrament which renders Him
all honor and glory, and draws down upon us every grace and blessing--
nay more, it bears us aloft as one Christ to the altar on high, in the
sight of the divine Majesty, dedicating and consecrating us to God,
since we form one sacrificial victim with the Lamb that was slain.
In the general introduction to the sacraments and in the foreword to
confirmation, we have touched on the question of how all the faithful
are empowered to offer the Sacrifice along with Christ through the
representation of the priest; and have seen that the power derives
from our configuration to Christ as High Priest produced by the
sacramental character of baptism and confirmation, so that every Mass
is in all truth the offering of the entire ecclesiastical body with
its High Priest. In what sense, however, can we speak of our self-
immolation in the Mass? Or how are we offered along with the divine
victim? It seems to us that the question has to be resolved by
distinguishing between what is effected strictly by power of sacrament
(vi sacramenti) and that which follows from concomitance. In the
strict concept of sacrament, the victim offered is the body and blood
of Christ in an immolated state, as signified by the words of
consecration; not the Person of Christ as He is now the head of the
mystic body in glory. Therefore, we cannot appeal to our incorporation
as a basis for our being co-victims in the immolation signified and
effected sacramentally by the consecration. But by concomitance the
Person of Christ in His present state as head of the Church is present
really, not in a mere moral sense, along with the body and the blood,
and thus, in union with Christ we become a real sacrifice, and can
speak of a real self-immolation on our part. In addition we are
victims in a moral sense, dependent on the intensity of dispositions
of faith, supernatural charity, the spirit of self-sacrifice, and the
degree of our participation. It is clear and certain, consequently,
that the Eucharist as sacrifice alone, prescinding from the communion
which may or may not follow, is of immense benefit to all members of
the Church, both living and dead (and indirectly to the generality of
human society), and that it is an effectual sign of building up the
mystery which is Christ and His Church.
Yet there always would be something incomplete and unfulfilled if the
sacrament of the altar accomplished in the sacrificial part were not
followed by the use of the sacrament through holy communion. Partaking
of the victim that has been offered is the apex of participation and
the supreme realization of the life that the Eucharist is meant to
impart. "Amen, amen I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the
Son of man, and drink His blood, you shall not have life in you. He
that eats my flesh and drinks my blood has everlasting life, and I
will raise him up in the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my
blood is drink indeed. He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood
abides in me and I in him."[13] The sacred banquet is the consummation
of what has preceded. Communion is for us the pledge that the
eucharistic renewal of the cross sets forth continually our
reconciliation and fellowship with God. "O taste and see that the Lord
is our delight; happy is the man that builds on Him."[14] Nowhere in the
Mass so much as at the festive table do we have the striking
exemplification of our being the beloved of Christ and the elect of
God.
--TRANSLATOR
ENDNOTES
1. 1 Cor 10.16-17.
2. Serm. de Tempore.
3. Col 1.20.
4. Translated from German text given in Holbock: "Der Eucharistische
und der Mystische Leib Christi," p. 14.
5. The Mysteries of Christianity," p. 485.
6. Ibid., p. 486.
7. Jn 15.5-9.
8. Ibid., 17.9-26.
9. Ps 8.6.
10. Cor 12.4-6.
11. Op. cit., p. 57 f.
12. Sess. XXII, ch. 1.
13. Jn 6.54-57.
14. Ps 33.8.
PART IV. THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY EUCHARIST
CHAPTER I
GENERAL RULES FOR ADMINISTERING THE EUCHARIST
Revised according to the Constitution "Christus Dominus" of January 6,
1953; and the "Motu proprio" of Pius XII, March 19, 1957.
1. The greatest solicitude is to be observed so that all-sacraments of
the Catholic Church will be dispensed with reverence and exactitude.
Particularly is this true of the administration and reception of t he
most holy sacrament of the Eucharist, than which there is nothing more
sublime, nothing holier, nothing more wonderful in the Church of God.
For in it is contained the highest of God's gifts, Christ, the Lord
Himself, author and source of all grace and holiness.
2. Therefore, let every pastor attach the greatest significance
thereto, that not only he himself handle, watch over, and dispense
this adorable sacrament with becoming reverence and fitting worship,
but also that the people committed to his care will devoutly adore it,
and receive it worthily and frequently, especially on the higher feast
days.
3. Hence he will frequently remind the people that this divine
sacrament is to be approached with proper preparation, with fervor and
piety, and with an outward bearing of humility; likewise, that
sacramental confession should precede it if necessary and that the
eucharistic fast is to be observed; and that at the moment of
communion they should kneel on both knees, receiving it in humble
adoration and with reverence, the men separate from the women, if
possible.
4. As for the eucharistic fast:
(a) Natural water does not break the eucharistic fast. If on account
of exhausting work, the long distance they must travel to church, or
the late hour of Mass, the faithful, even if not infirm, cannot
approach the eucharistic table fasting, they may take some quick
nourishment, except alcoholic beverages, up to one hour before
receiving communion. These aforesaid reasons of grave inconvenience
can prudently be decided by their confessor. N.B. The privilege of
taking non-alcoholic liquid nourishment one hour before communion was
extended without restrictions as to inconvenience by the later "Motu
proprio" of Pius XII, March 19, 1957.
(b) The faithful who receive holy communion at evening Masses, whether
in Mass itself or shortly before or immediately after, may at supper
beforehand (which is allowed up to three hours before holy communion)
take the accustomed moderate amount of alcoholic beverage with the
meal, excluding strong liquor. But as for liquids that may be taken up
to one hour before communion any kind of alcoholic drink is excluded.
5. Moreover, the communicants should be admonished not to leave church
right after receiving; not to engage in idle conversation nor to
violate custody of the eyes; and neither immediately to read prayers
from a book nor to expectorate, lest the sacred species fall from the
mouth. Rather, as befits devotion they should spend some time in
mental prayer, thanking God for this singular favor and at the same
time for the Savior's sacred passion, in memory of which this mystery
is celebrated and received.
6. The priest will see to it that a sufficient number of consecrated
particles, for communion of the sick or other faithful, will at all
times be reserved in a ciborium of solid and suitable material, kept
clean, with tight-fitting lid, and covered with white silk; and as far
as circumstances allow, the ciborium is to be reserved under lock in a
finely wrought tabernacle which is immovable and located in the middle
of the altar.
7. The tabernacle ought properly to be covered with a canopy, and
nothing else kept therein. It should be placed on the main altar or on
another where it can be viewed readily, so that due worship may be
rendered this great sacrament, yet so that it in no way interferes
with other ecclesiastical offices and solemn ceremonies. At least one
lamp must be kept burning before it day and night, which is to be fed
with olive oil or beeswax. In places where olive oil is not
obtainable, it is left to the judgment of the Ordinary to substitute
other vegetable oils as circumstances dictate. The pastor shall see to
it that all appurtenances set aside for the cult of this sacrament are
kept clean and in good repair.
8. The sacred species are to be renewed frequently. The hosts to be
consecrated should be fresh, and after they are consecrated the older
species should be distributed first or else consumed.
9. All the faithful must be allowed to receive holy communion, except
those excluded for a valid reason. Prohibited in particular are those
who are known publicly to be unworthy, such as the excommunicate,
those under interdict, and the notoriously infamous, unless there be
evidence of their repentance and amendment, yet not until they have
first made satisfaction for scandal publicly given.
10. Occult sinners who request holy communion in private must be
refused by the minister, when he knows for certain that they have not
amended; but he may not do so whenever they request it in public, if
it is impossible to avoid scandal by refusing them.
11. The feeble-minded or the insane are not permitted to communicate.
However, if they at times have lucid intervals and manifest the proper
piety, they may be allowed to receive while in this state, provided
there be no danger of irreverence.
12. Holy Eucharist is not to be administered to children who have not
yet reached the age of reason, and who have neither understanding nor
appreciation of the sacrament.[1]
13. The ordinary minister of holy communion is a priest exclusively.
The extraordinary minister is a deacon to whom this privilege may be
granted by the Ordinary or the pastor, but only for a good reason. In
case of necessity the permission can lawfully be presumed.
14. Every priest may distribute holy communion during Mass; and, when
celebrating a Mass privately, also immediately before or after, yet
subject to the rule contained in rubric no. 18 below. Even apart from
Mass, every priest who is from another place enjoys the same faculty
provided he has at least the presumed permission of the rector of the
church.
15. A priest may administer holy communion either in the form of
unleavened bread or leavened bread, according to the rite of which he
is a member. But if an emergency arises where no priest of another
rite is available, a priest belonging to an Oriental rite (which makes
use of leavened bread) is permitted to administer the Eucharist in
unleavened form; and similarly a priest belonging to the Latin rite,
or to one of the Oriental rites which makes use of unleavened bread,
is permitted to administer the Eucharist in leavened form. Yet each
one must follow the ceremonies of his own rite during the actual
administration.
16. All the faithful, no matter which rite they belong to, are allowed
to receive the Eucharist in any rite whatsoever as an exercise of
piety. But all should be persuaded to fulfill the Easter duty each in
his own rite. Holy Viaticum should be received by the dying in their
own rite, but in an emergency it is lawful to receive it in any rite.
17. The holy Eucharist may be distributed on any day. On Holy Saturday
communion may be distributed to the faithful only during Mass, or
immediately after the conclusion of this solemnity. Holy communion
should be distributed only during the hours when Mass may be offered,
unless there is a valid reason for doing otherwise. But holy Viaticum
may be administered any time of the day or night.
18. During Mass the priest who is celebrant is not permitted to
distribute communion to any of the faithful who are so far away that
he himself would lose sight of the altar.
19. Holy communion may be distributed in every place where Mass is
allowed, even in a private oratory, unless the Ordinary forbids it in
a particular case for a good reason.
ENDNOTES
1. Pope Paul VI on May 24, 1964, gave communion to 34 children, many
them deformed and one four-year-old already dying of cancer.
CHAPTER II
RITE FOR ADMINISTERING HOLY COMMUNION APART FROM MASS
1. When a priest is about to administer the holy Eucharist outside of
Mass, he will have on hand a sufficient number of consecrated
particles for all who are to communicate. In addition there should be
in readiness at a convenient place one or more vessels containing wine
and water for the purification of the communicants,* and a clean linen
cloth should be extended before them. The candles on the altar are
lighted. Having washed his hands, the priest vests in surplice and a
stole which should be either white or the color suited to the day's
office (on All Souls' a purple stole is used instead of black).
Preceded by a cleric or another assistant, the priest goes to the
altar with hands folded, or he carries before his breast the burse
containing the corporal. He genuflects, ascends to the predella, opens
the tabernacle, genuflects, takes out the ciborium which he places on
the corporal, and uncovers it. The assistant kneels on the epistle
side, and says the "Confiteor" in the name of the people.
* This rubric is still observed in the Mass of ordination, but in
general has fallen into disuse.--Trans.
2. Then the priest genuflects again, with hands joined turns to the
people, taking care that he does not have his back turned to the
Blessed Sacrament, and standing a little toward the gospel side, he
says:
May almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you your sins, and lead
you to everlasting life.
All: Amen.
May the almighty and merciful Lord grant you pardon, absolution, + and
remission of your sins.
All: Amen.
As he says these words, he makes with his right hand the sign of cross
over the communicants.
3. Then turning back toward the altar, he genuflects, takes the
ciborium in his left hand and with his right removes a host which he
holds between the thumb and index finger a little above the ciborium.
He turns again to the people, and standing in the middle of the
predella, says in a loud voice three times:
See the Lamb of God, see Him who takes away the sins of the world.
Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof, but only say
the word, and my soul will be healed. The people may join in saying
the words Lord, etc.
4. If he gives holy communion to priests or other members of the
clergy, they receive first, kneeling at the altar steps, or if more
convenient, on the floor of the sanctuary, separate from the laity.
(Pries and deacons who receive wear a white stole or one of the same
color worn by the ministrant.) He then proceeds to the faithful and
begins the distribution at the epistle side.*
* At the moment the priest gives the communicants the sacrament, they
hold the paten below their chin (Instruction of S. C. S., dated March
2, 1929).
5. In giving the sacred host he makes with it the sign of the cross
over the ciborium in the case of each person, saying simultaneously:
The body of Christ.
The communicant says: Amen.
6. When all have communicated, the priest returns to the altar places
the ciborium on the corporal, genuflects, and then says:
O sacred banquet in which Christ becomes our food, the memory of His
passion is celebrated, the soul is filled with grace, and a pledge of
future glory is bestowed, (P.T. and on Corpus Christi: Alleluia).
P: You have given them the bread of heaven (P.T. and on Corpus
Christi: Alleluia).
All: Which has all delight within it (P.T. and on Corpus Christi:
Alleluia).
7. Then he adds:
P: Lord, heed my prayer.
All: And let my cry be heard by you.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
Let us pray.
God who left us in this wondrous sacrament a memorial of your passion,
help us, we beg you, so to reverence the sacred mysteries of your body
and blood, that we may always experience the effects of your
redemption. We ask this of you who live and reign with God the Father,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.
All: Amen.
In Easter time the following is said instead:
Let us pray.
Pour out on us, O Lord, the Spirit of your love, so that we, fully
nourished by the Easter mysteries, may be of one heart in your love;
through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with
you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.
All: Amen.
8. Before replacing the sacrament, the priest takes special care to
deposit in the ciborium any fragment of host that may adhere to his
fingers. Then he purifies in the finger bowl the fingers which touched
the sacrament and wipes them with a purificator. The water used in
purifying his fingers is later poured into the sacrarium, or some
other decent receptacle, if there is no sacrarium. Lastly he replaces
the ciborium in the tabernacle, genuflects, and locks the tabernacle.
9. Then lifting his eyes, extending, elevating, and joining his hands,
and bowing to the cross, he says:
May the blessing of almighty God, here he turns toward the people and
continues: Father, Son, + and Holy Spirit, come upon you and remain
with you forever.
All: Amen.
This blessing of the communicants takes place only when they receive
outside of Mass, either immediately before or after.
10. The rite described above is observed also when a deacon gives holy
communion. Whenever a bishop distributes communion outside of Mass, he
blesses in the usual way, saying: "May the name of the Lord be
blessed," etc., and makes the threefold sign of the cross.
11. During Mass communion of the people ought to follow immediately
after that of the celebrant (although for a valid reason it may happen
occasionally at a Mass said privately that it be distributed right
before or after Mass), since the prayers which follow communion in
Mass are not intended for the priest alone but apply to the other
communicants as well.
12. Therefore, if some are to communicate during Mass, the priest
having consumed the Precious Blood and before taking the final
ablutions, places the consecrated particles in the ciborium, or on the
paten when only a few will communicate, unless they have been in the
ciborium or another chalice from the beginning. In the meantime the
assistant extends the communion cloth before the communicants. If the
ciborium is in the tabernacle, the priest genuflects after he has
opened the tabernacle door. Then with the ciborium in his left hand,
he holds a host just above it with his right, turns to the people
squarely in the center, and says: See the Lamb of God, etc., as
explained above He then gives the Eucharist to the communicants,
beginning with the ministrants at the altar if they wish to receive.
When the distribution is finished, he returns to the altar, without
saying anything, neither does he give the blessing because he will
impart it at the end of the Mass. Lastly he says the prayers of
ablution as given in the Missal, consumes the final ablutions, and
concludes the Mass.
13. Should it happen that some occasionally communicate immediately
before or after a Mass said privately, then the priest will administer
holy communion vested in the Mass vestments, in the same manner as is
done outside of Mass as explained above; yet always omitting the
Alleluia and the blessing at the end if black vestments are worn.
CHAPTER III
THE PASCHAL COMMUNION
1. It is the pastor's duty to promulgate to the people during Lent,
either directly or through other preachers, canons 906 and 859,--1, of
the Code of Canon Law which declare: "Every one of the faithful of
either sex, who has attained the years of discretion, in other words
the use of reason, is bound to confess sincerely all his sins at least
once a year, and must receive the sacrament of Eucharist once a year,
at least during Eastertime, unless perhaps on the counsel of one's
pastor or confessor one is discouraged from receiving it for a while
because of some valid reason."
2. The time within which the Easter communion must be received
commences on Palm Sunday and terminates on Low Sunday.* But it is the
right of the local Ordinary, if circumstances of persons or place
demand, to extend this time for all the faithful, however, not earlier
than the fourth Sunday in Lent nor later than Trinity Sunday. The
faithful should be persuaded to fulfill this obligation, everyone in
his own parish church. Whoever fulfills it in another church must see
to it that he inform his own pastor of the fact. The precept of Easter
communion still continues to be binding if one has neglected it during
the time prescribed, no matter for what reason.
* In the United States, from the first Sunday in Lent till Trinity
Sunday.--Trans.
3. The obligation to ensure that children fulfill the precept of
Easter communion devolves on those especially charged with their
welfare, namely, parents, teachers, confessors, tutors, and pastors.
4. The pastor should also exert himself so that the people will
communicate on Easter itself, and on this day he himself will
administer the sacrament to his parishioners, unless prevented by some
valid excuse. As to the rest he will observe whatever is prescribed
below in the section on the care of souls.
5. He will also take communion to the sick members of his parish
during Eastertime, even though they have received it at other times.
CHAPTER IV
COMMUNION FOR THE SICK
1. The faithful are bound by precept to receive holy communion when in
danger of death from any cause. And even though they may have
communicated on that very day, nevertheless, it is strongly
recommended that they receive a second time when at the point of
death. As long as this danger continues, they are allowed and should
receive holy Viaticum more than once (but only once a day), if the
confessor so advises.
2. Holy Viaticum for the sick should never be deferred unduly, and
those having the care of souls should be most concerned that the sick
receive it while fully conscious. Yet care is to be taken above all
lest it be brought to the unworthy--whereby others could be
scandalized--unless they first have confessed and have made the
necessary reparation for scandal publicly given.
3. The pastor should exhort a sick person to receive holy communion
even when not grievously ill nor in imminent danger of death,
particularly on the occasion of a high feast; and let him never
decline to administer it.
4. Viaticum may be given to the dying even though they are not
fasting. But great care is to be exercised lest it be administered in
a case where there might occur some irreverence to this sublime
sacrament, such as delirium, incessant coughing, or the like. The
sick, even those who are not bedridden, may take some liquid
nourishment, except alcohol, if owing to their illness they cannot
observe complete fast up to the time of receiving communion without
grave inconvenience. They may also take medicine either in solid or
liquid form (except alcohol), providing it is truly medicine
prescribed by a physician or even one of the patent medicines. It is
left to the prudent judgment of the confessor to determine under what
conditions the sick may be dispensed from the law of fasting without
any time-limit whatsoever. N.B. This rubric has been liberalized by
the aforementioned "Motu proprio" of Pius XII, which states: "The
sick, even though not confined to bed, can take non-alcoholic drink
and true and proper medicines, either liquid or solid, without
limitation of time, before celebrating Mass or receiving holy
communion."
5. Yet no one is to have the Blessed Sacrament brought to him solely
for the purpose of adoring it or having it in his presence, whether
out of devotion or under any other pretext.
6. The bearing of this holy sacrament from the church to the home of
the sick must be done with proper decorum. The priest who carries it
will have it covered with a clean veil, will go in procession
(publicly) with becoming reverence, holding the sacred host before his
breast in devotion and awe, and preceded by a torchbearer. Holy
communion should never be carried to the sick in a wholly private
manner, except for a just and reasonable cause.
7. The right and duty of carrying holy communion publicly from the
church to the sick, even to non-parishioners, belongs to the pastor of
the given territory. Other priests may do so only in case of
necessity, having at least the presumed permission of the respective
pastor or the Ordinary.
8. Any priest may carry communion to the sick in a private manner,
provided he has permission--at least presumed--from the priest who is
charged with the custody of the Blessed Sacrament. Whenever holy
communion is to be administered privately to the sick, special
attention is to be paid to the reverence and dignity owing to this
great sacrament.
9. The administration of holy communion as Viaticum, whether done
publicly or privately devolves on the pastor in whose territory the
sick reside.
10. As the pastor proceeds to take communion to one who is sick, he
will by ringing the church bells, assemble some of his parishioners,
either the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament (where this
organization is in existence) or some other pious faithful, so that
they can accompany the holy Eucharist carrying candles or torches, as
well as the umbella or canopy if such is available. He will have given
notice beforehand that the sickroom be in order, and that there be
prepared therein a table covered with clean linen on which the most
holy sacrament can be placed with propriety.
11. The following articles should be in readiness in the sickroom:
lighted candles, two vessels--one containing water, the other wine, a
linen cloth to be placed under the chin of the communicant, and
whatever else will fittingly enhance the room, depending on the
peoples' circumstances.
12. As soon as the escort for the Blessed Sacrament is assembled the
priest vests in surplice and stole, or even in white cope; and
likewise vested in surplice are the acolytes or clerics or priests (if
they customarily assist) who will accompany him. Then with due
reverence he takes some particles (only one, if he is to travel by a
long or difficult route) from the ciborium and puts them in a pyx or
small receptacle which he closes firmly and covers with a silk veil.
Having received the humeral veil over his shoulders, he now takes in
both hands the receptacle with the sacrament, and proceeds on the way,
walking bareheaded below the umbella or canopy.
13. At the head of the procession there should always be an acolyte or
other server who carries the lantern (the sacrament may not be carried
thus at night, except in case of necessity). Following next are two
clerics or their substitutes, one of whom carries the holy water with
aspersory, the burse containing the corporal to be used in covering
the table upon which the Blessed Sacrament will be placed in the
sickroom, and the linen purificator for wiping the priest's fingers;
the other carries the Ritual and the little bell which he rings
continually. Then follow the torchbearers; and lastly the priest,
holding the sacrament elevated before his breast and reciting the
"Miserere" or other psalms and canticles. Should the journey be long
or difficult, and even perhaps made on horseback, it will be necessary
that the receptacle with the sacrament be securely encased in a
beautifully made burse, and this fastened to the neck and secured at
the breast, so as to prevent the sacrament from falling or being
shaken out of the pyx.
RITE FOR COMMUNION FOR THE SICK
14. As he enters the sick-room the priest says:
P: God's peace be in this home.
All: And in all who live here.
Sprinkling With Holy Water
{Sprinkling the sick person and the room with holy water is like
sprinkling the congregation before Mass on Sunday or on other
occasions. It is a commemoration of the cleansing water of baptism,
but even more, it is the Church's sacramental and prayer that the
grace of baptism be renewed in the present need.}
15. All who are present should be kneeling. The priest places the
Blessed Sacrament on a corporal laid out on the table. (This table is
made ready, covered with a white cloth, and on it a crucifix and two
lighted candles, holy water, a glass of water, and a white napkin.)
The priest genuflects in adoration and lays aside the humeral veil.
Then taking holy water he sprinkles the sick person and the room,
saying the antiphon:
Purify me with hyssop, Lord, and I shall be clean of sin. Wash me, and
I shall be whiter than snow. Have mercy on me, God, in your great
kindness. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy
Spirit.
All: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world
without end. Amen.
P: Purify me with hyssop, Lord, and I shall be clean of sin. Wash me,
and I shall be whiter than snow.
Then he continues:
P: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
All: Who made heaven and earth.
P: Lord, heed my prayer.
All: And let my cry be heard by you.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
Let us pray.
Hear us, holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God, and in your
goodness send your holy angel from heaven to watch over and protect
all who live in this home, to be with them and give them comfort and
encouragement; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
{After carrying out the following rubric, it would be very fitting for
the priest, if time allows, to say one or the other penitential psalms
(see Part IX. The Seven Penitential Psalms), or a prayer or gospel
reading from the ministration to the sick (see Chapter III).}
16. Then he approaches the sick person to ascertain if he is properly
disposed to receive holy communion (or Viaticum), and if he wishes to
confess any sins. If so, he hears his confession and absolves him,
although the person should have gone to confession beforehand, unless
necessity dictates otherwise.
17. After the Confiteor has been said by the sick person or by someone
else in his name, the priest says:
May almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you your sins, and lead
you to everlasting life.
All: Amen.
P: May the almighty and merciful Lord grant you pardon, absolution, +
and remission of your sins.
All: Amen.
18. Having genuflected, he removes the host from the pyx, holds it up
before the sick person, and says:
See the Lamb of God, see Him who takes away the sins of the world.
(And as usual he adds thrice:) Lord, I am not worthy that you should
come under my roof, but only say the word, and my soul will be healed.
19. The sick person says the words "Lord, I am not worthy," etc. with
the priest at least once. in a subdued voice. As the priest gives the
Eucharist to the sick person he says:
Take, my brother (sister), food for the journey to heaven, the body of
our Lord Jesus Christ. May He shield you from the hostile demon and
lead you to everlasting life.
Sick person: Amen.
20. If holy communion is not given as Viaticum he says as usual:
P: The body of Christ.
Sick person: Amen.
21. If death is imminent and there is danger in delay, the priest
omits all or part of the very first prayers, and beginning with the
words "May almighty God," etc., gives Viaticum at once.
22. Afterward the priest cleanses his fingers in the glass of water
and wipes them with the purificator. The water is later poured into
the sacrarium (of the church), or if there is none, into another
decent receptacle (in the house of the sick person). Then he says:
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
Let us pray.
Holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God, full of trust we beg you
that our brother (sister) may find lasting health for body and soul in
receiving the sacred body of our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who
lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God,
forever and ever.
All: Amen.
{The preceding prayer speaks of the Eucharist as a help to the body of
the sick person. This is a thought quite foreign to the people in our
day, and the priest might find this moment a fine opportunity to
comment on it. In the Eucharist Christ once more stands by to complete
the baptismal consecration of the body, to heal it, and so restore it
to its proper function as the soul's instrument. Over and over again
in her official prayers the Church asks for health as one of the
normal graces that flow from the body of Christ. It is true, of
course, that bodily health is a subordinated good in the process of
salvation. But when this good is needed the Eucharist has its part to
play. It brings our body into contact with Him who healed the sick
when He was on earth, and who may, in a measure He alone determines,
again exercise His power and His mercy as the Savior and God who gives
life. Little by little the Eucharist brings the body back under the
governance of the soul.}
23. If the priest has brought with him another sacred host (and this
should always be so except in the above-mentioned case), he puts on
the humeral veil, genuflects, and, taking the host in its pyx and
covered with the humeral veil, makes with it the sign of the cross
over the sick person, without saying anything. He then reverently
carries it in procession to the church, in the same order as he came,
meanwhile saying Psalm 148 "Praise the Lord from the heavens" and
other psalms and hymns as time permits.
24. Having returned to the church, he places the host on the altar,
genuflects, and says:
P: You have given them the bread of heaven (P.T. and on Corpus
Christi: Alleluia).
All: Which has all delight within it (P.T. and on Corpus Christi:
Alleluia).
P: The Lord be with you.
May He also be with you.
Let us pray.
God, who left us in this wondrous sacrament a memorial of your
passion, help us, we beg you, so to reverence the sacred mysteries of
your body and blood, that we may always experience the effects of your
redemption; you who live and reign forever and ever.
All: Amen.
25. He now announces the indulgences which the holy pontiffs have
granted to those who act as an escort to the Blessed Sacrament.
26. Lastly he again covers the pyx with the humeral veil, and makes
the sign of the cross over the people with the pyx, without saying
anything, and replaces it in the tabernacle.
27. If only one sacred host was taken along, owing to the length or
difficulty of the journey or the inconvenience of returning it to the
church with the reverence demanded (see above), in that case,
following the afore-mentioned prayers and administration of holy
communion, the priest gives the blessing simply with his hand in the
ordinary way, saying: "May the blessing of almighty God," etc. And
having extinguished the lights, lowered the umbella, and concealed the
pyx on his person, the priest and his assistants remove their
vestments, and return to the church or to their respective homes.
28. When holy communion is distributed to several sick persons
confined in the same home or hospital but in separate rooms, the
priest or deacon should recite all prayers before communion (as
prescribed in the Ritual, Part IV, ch. 4) only in the first room. In
the other rooms he says: "May almighty God," etc.; "See the Lamb of
God"; "Lord, I am not worthy," etc., only once; "Take, my brother
(sister)," etc.- or "The body of Christ"; and in the last room he adds
"The Lord be with you," etc., and the prayer "Holy Lord," etc. In the
last room, moreover, if any sacred hosts are left over, he imparts the
blessing with them. The prayers prescribed to be said in church at the
very end are carried out in the usual way.
29. The rite described above is observed also when a deacon is the
ministrant.
30. Whenever for a just and reasonable cause holy communion is brought
to the sick in a non-solemn way, the priest wears at least a stole
under his usual clothes. The pyx is encased in a burse suspended from
the neck on a cord and secured at the breast. He should never be alone
but should be accompanied by at least one cleric or one of the
faithful. Arriving at the sick-room, the priest should put on a
surplice with the stole, if it was not worn before.
CHAPTER V
INSTRUCTION FOR A PRIEST HAVING THE FACULTY OF CELEBRATING MASS TWICE
OR THRICE ON THE SAME DAY
The following rules were issued by the C. S. R., and carried in
"Ephemerides Liturgicae" 67 (1953) p. 39:
1. All priests who are to celebrate Mass twice or three times on the
same day may consume the two ablutions prescribed by the rubrics of
the Missal in each preceding Mass, but using only water, which,
according to the new principle, does not break the fast.
2. A priest who celebrates three Masses without interruption on
Christmas or All Souls is to follow the rubrics pertaining to the
ablutions (see below).
3. Should a priest who is obliged to celebrate two or three Masses on
the same day inadvertently take wine also, he is not prevented from
celebrating the second and third Mass.
The following additional rule, over and above what is said in the
preceding or subsequent decrees, was issued by the C. S. R. and
carried in AAS 46 (1954) p. 71:
Instruction for a priest having the faculty of celebrating Mass twice
or thrice on the same day:
Priests who are to celebrate a later Mass at a late hour, or after the
heavy duties of their ministry, or after traveling a long distance may
take some liquid nourishment, excluding alcohol, between Masses; but
in this case they should abstain at least one hour before exercising
the sacred ministry.
The following rules were issued by the C. S. R., and carried in
"Ephemerides Liturgicae" 75 (1961) pp. 438-439:
1. A priest who celebrates two or three Masses without interruption
(i.e.. without leaving the altar) on Christmas or All Souls observes
the following rules:
(a) In the first and second Mass, if another is to be celebrated
immediately, after consuming the Precious Blood he does not purify or
wipe the chalice, but places it on the corporal and covers it with the
pall. Then with hands joined he says: "What I have received by mouth,"
etc., and afterward cleanses his fingers in the finger-bowl, saying
"Lord, may your body," etc. and wipes them. Having done this he
removes the pall from the chalice which is still resting on the
corporal and covers the chalice as usual, namely with the purificator,
the paten containing the host to be consecrated, the pall, and the
veil. But the chalice is not to be taken off the corporal. If
inadvertently he consumes wine in the ablutions, he may nevertheless
celebrate a second and third Mass if necessary, without the customary
three-hour interval. As for the rest Mass is concluded in the usual
way.
(b) In the second and third Masses, if preceded immediately by the
other Mass, having removed the veil at the offertory he moves the
chalice slightly toward the epistle side but on the corporal; and
after offering the host he does not wipe the chalice but lifts it
slightly above the corporal, pours in wine and water, and without
wiping it makes the offering of the chalice. All else follows as
usual.
2. A priest who celebrates several Masses without interruption should
consume the two ablutions in the preceding Mass as prescribed by the
rubrics. If the next Mass is to be celebrated before an interval of
three hours, he takes water only in the ablutions. But if he
inadvertently also consumes wine, he may nevertheless celebrate the
next Mass if necessary, without the customary three-hour interval.
The following rule was issued by C.S.R., and carried in "Ephemerides
Liturgicae" 78 (1964), p. 164:
The time for computing the eucharistic fast for a priest is contingent
on the moment of communion and not the moment Mass begins."
CHAPTER VI: INSTRUCTION REGARDING THE CELEBRATION OF MASS BY A BLIND
PRIEST IN VIRTUE OF AN APOSTOLIC INDULT
Revised according to the Instruction of the S. C. R. of December 15,
1957
I. Preliminary
1. A priest who is blind, or one who suffers temporarily or
permanently from such defective vision that he can read only
extraordinarily large type, can obtain from the Holy Father or from
the Congregation of Sacred Rites (unless his own bishop has this
faculty from the Holy See) a dispensation to celebrate either the
votive Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary or the daily Mass for the Dead,
in compliance with the norms explained more fully below.
2. The conditions attached to the grant of this privilege are not mere
formality or convention but are obligatory in conscience.
3. If the privilege contains the following clause: "As long as the
petitioner is not totally blind," and in the course of time he should
go totally blind, then he must refrain from celebrating Mass until he
has sought a new indult from the Congregation of the Holy Sacraments.
And when he has obtained it, he is bound "sub gravi" to use the
assistance of another priest, even though this obligation possibly is
not expressly included in the indult.
II. Rules Concerning the Votive Mass of the B.V.M.
1. Which of the votive Masses of the Blessed Virgin is to be used:
(a) The blind priest who has this dispensation shall use the fifth
Mass assigned among the votive Masses of the B. V. M., in all seasons
of the church year, and using always white vestments;
(b) should he, however, have sufficient eyesight left to be able to
read from the Missal for the Blind also the other four votive Masses
of the B. V. M. prescribed for the various seasons, then he has
permission to use these, according to the different seasons.
2. When the votive Mass of the B. V. M. is to be used:
(a) The votive Mass of the B. V. M. may be used at any time of the
year; but it must be used on every single day when the daily Mass for
the Dead is not allowed, following the calendar of the church where
the blind priest celebrates Mass--however, with due respect to the
more extensive privileges explained below in No. 3 concerning Masses
for the Dead;
(b) a blind priest shall, on the last three days of Holy Week, refrain
altogether from celebrating Mass;
(c) on Christmas day he may say three Masses. 3. The ceremonies to be
observed:
3. The ceremonies to be observed:
(a) Whenever a blind priest celebrates a votive Mass of the B. V. M.
for a cause both important and public, the following are said: only
the one collect, the "Gloria," "Credo," solemn preface, "Ite, Missa
Est," and the usual last Gospel; and this despite the fact that on
such occasion priests who do not have the privilege in question are
obliged by the rubrics to say the proper commemorations, or the
collect ordered by the Ordinary:
(b) In all other cases:
i. the Gloria is said:
(a) whenever it is said in the Mass of the day, in
compliance
with the calendar of the church in which the Mass is
celebrated;
(b) on the anniversary of the celebrant's ordination;
(c) on Saturday;
ii. in regard to the collect only one is said;
iii. the "Credo" is said:
(a) whenever it is said in the Mass of the day, according
to the calendar of the church in which the Mass is
celebrated;
(b) on the anniversary of the celebrant's ordination;
iv. in the preface are inserted the words: "et te in
veneratione,"
unless it is a feast day of the B. V. M., and in these instances
the
preface to be used will be the one proper to the feast;
v. the last Gospel is always that of St. John;
vi. in a private oratory the special calendar of the celebrant
will
be the rule.
III. Rules Applying to Masses for the Dead
1. In place of a votive Mass of the B. V. M., a blind priest may
celebrate the daily Mass for the Dead, whether a sung Mass or low
Mass, in accordance with rubrical prescriptions regarding Masses for
the Dead as well as the calendar of the church where he celebrates
Mass or of a private oratory;
2. He reads this Mass likewise on All Souls', even for all three
Masses if it is his wish to offer three, saying only the one collect
"Fidelium." If on this day he celebrates two Masses or three, he shall
comply with the Constitution of Benedict XV: "Incruentum Altaris
Sacrificium," by force of which only one Mass can be applied to a
particular person and a stipend accepted for it; whereas the other two
Masses, as holds true for every priest, must be applied, the second
for all the faithful departed and the third for the intention of the
Holy Father, and no stipend can be accepted for these.
3. In this Mass only the one collect is said.
4. A blind priest is never obliged to say the sequence "Dies Irae";
yet if the Mass is sung, even though he need not read the sequence,
the choir may not neglect to sing it.
The matter given above for the celebration of Mass by a blind priest
is to be emended in accord with a new instruction of the Congregation
of Sacred Rites, dated April 15, 1961:
Directive no. 3 of Part I is to be emended as follows: "...to use the
assistance of another priest or of a deacon."
Directive no. 1 (a) of Part II is to be emended: "If, however, he
celebrates Mass in a church or a public or semi-public oratory, he may
use the color either of the votive Mass or that which conforms to the
office of the day."
Directive no. 3 (b) ii of Part II is to be emended: "Nevertheless, the
priest has the right to add other collects prescribed or permitted by
the rubrics."
Directive no. 3 (b) iii of Part II is to be emended: "The Credo is
also said if the Mass is celebrated as a votive Mass of the first
class."
Directive no. 3 (b) iv of Part II is to be emended: "In every votive
Mass the common preface is said, except in Masses of the blessed
Virgin Mary.
The following new directive is to be added: "If the Mass is a high
Mass the solemn or ferial tone is used, in accord with the rank of the
Mass of the current day or of the votive Mass."
Directive no. 1 of Part III is to be emended: "The daily Requiem Mass
may always be used, even though the Mass prescribed by the calendar is
one of the first, second, or third class."
For a full report with annotations of the aforesaid new instruction
see "Ephemerides Liturgicae" 75 (1961) 362.
CHAPTER VII: FORTY HOURS ADORATION LITANY, PRAYERS, AND SUFFRAGES AT
EXPOSITION AND REPOSITION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT
Where the Forty Hours Adoration is Celebrated According to the
Clementine Instruction
I. EXPOSITION
1. For the solemn exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in the Forty
Hours prayer, first the solemn votive Mass of the Blessed Sacrament is
celebrated according to the Instruction of the S. C. R., issued on
April 7, 1927, which is likewise to be followed for the other Masses
during this devotion. Consult also the new Code of Rubrics of July 26,
1960.
2. At the end of the solemn Mass the procession with the Blessed
Sacrament is held inside the church, during which the hymn Sing, my
tongue, the Saviour's glory is sung (see below), as far as the verse
Down in adoration falling exclusive. The hymn may be repeated until
the end of the procession.
3. At the end of the procession the Blessed Sacrament is exposed for
adoration upon a throne, and then the two final verses of the hymn are
sung. The celebrant incenses the Blessed Sacrament as usual.
{The music and organ accompaniment to the following hymn, Litany of
the Saints, etc., are given in the music supplement.}
Hymn: Pange lingua
Sing, my tongue, the Savior's glory,
Of His flesh the mystery sing;
Of the blood, all price exceeding,
Shed by our immortal king,
Destined, for the world's redemption,
From a noble womb to spring.
Of a pure and spotless virgin
Born for us on earth below,
He, as man, with man conversing,
Stayed, the seeds of truth to sow;
Then He closed in solemn order
Wondrously His life of woe.
On the night of that Last Supper
Seated with His chosen band,
He, the paschal victim eating,
First fulfills the Law's command:
Then as food to all His Brethren
Gives Himself with His own hand.
Word made flesh, the bread of nature
By His word to flesh He turns;
Wine into His blood He changes:
What though sense no change discerns?
Only be the heart in earnest,
Faith her lesson quickly learns.
Down in adoration falling,
Lo! the sacred host we hail;
Lo! o'er ancient forms departing,
Newer rites of grace prevail;
Faith for all defects supplying,
Where the feeble senses fail.
To the everlasting Father,
And the Son who reigns on high,
With the Holy Spirit proceeding
Forth from Each eternally,
Be salvation, honor, blessing.
Might, and endless majesty. Amen.
4. At the end of the hymn the versicle and response are omitted. The
chanters begin the litany at once with all present responding followed
by psalm 69 and the versicles, as far as "The Lord be with you," etc.,
exclusive.
(See Litany of the Saints for litany). At the end of the Litany the
celebrant stands and sings the orations:
Celebrant: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
Let us pray.
God, who left us in this wondrous sacrament a memorial of your
passion, help us, we beg you, so to reverence the sacred mysteries of
your body and blood, that we may always experience the effects of your
redemption.
From Advent Until Christmas
God, who willed that your Word take flesh in the womb of the blessed
Virgin Mary at the Angel's message; grant that we, your petitioners,
who believe she is truly the Mother of God, may be aided by her
intercession.
From Christmas to the Purification
God, who brought to mankind the gift of eternal salvation through the
virginal motherhood of blessed Mary; let us be helped by her prayers,
since through her we have been favored with the source of life, our
Lord Jesus Christ, your Son.
From the Purification to Easter and After Eastertime to Advent
We entreat you, Lord God, grant us, your servants, the enjoyment of
lasting health of body and mind; and by the glorious intercession of
blessed Mary, ever a Virgin, free us from present sorrow and give us
everlasting joy.
Eastertime
God, who mercifully brought joy into the world by the resurrection of
your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ; grant that we may come to the joy of
everlasting life through the prayers of His Mother, the Virgin Mary.
Almighty everlasting God, be gracious to your servant, N., our
sovereign Pontiff, and in your kindness lead him on the path of
everlasting salvation; may he by your grace seek only that which
pleases you and carry it out with all his might.
God, our refuge and our strength and source of all goodness, heed the
holy prayers of your Church, and grant that we fully obtain whatever
we ask for in faith.
Almighty everlasting God, who will the salvation of every man and
would have no one perish; see how many souls are deceived by the wiles
of the devil and how their hearts are gone astray; help them to escape
the evils of heresy, to repent and to return to the unity of your
truth.
Almighty everlasting God, Lord of both the living and the dead; deal
mercifully with all whom you foresee shall be yours by faith and good
works. Hear us, your lowly servants, and grant that those for whom we
earnestly offer our prayers, whether this present world still detains
them in the flesh or the world to come has already claimed their
souls, may obtain pardon of all their sins, through your mercy and
goodness and through the intercession of your saints. We ask this
through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with
you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.
All: Amen.
P: Lord, heed my prayer.
All: And let my cry be heard by you.
P: May the almighty and merciful Lord graciously hear us.
All: And may He ever preserve us. Amen.
P: May the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God
rest in peace.
All: Amen.
If the papacy is vacant, in place of the invocation "That you
graciously preserve our Holy Father and all orders of the Church,"
etc., the invocation will be "That you graciously preserve all orders
of the Church," etc. And the verse "Let us pray for our Sovereign
Pontiff, N.," together with its response and prayer is omitted.
II. REPOSITION
1. At the reposition of the Blessed Sacrament on the third day, after
the celebration of the solemn votive Mass as on the first day, the
celebrant removes his chasuble and maniple at the sedilia. Having put
on the cope he returns to the altar, genuflects on both knees, and
then kneels on the lowest step.
2. The Litany of the Saints is sung together with psalm 69 and the
prayers that follow, as far as "The Lord be with you" exclusive. Then
the Blessed Sacrament is taken from the throne and placed on the
altar: having put incense in two thuribles for the procession, the
celebrant incenses the Blessed Sacrament as usual.
3. Then the procession with the Blessed Sacrament takes place in
church as on the first day, and the hymn "Sing my tongue" is sung as
far as the verse "Down in adoration" exclusive.
4. At the end of the procession the Blessed Sacrament is placed on the
altar table, and the chanters intone "Down in adoration" and all join
in singing the last two verses. The celebrant again incenses the
Blessed Sacrament as usual.
5. Afterward the versicle is sung:
Chanters: You have given them the bread of heaven (Alleluia).
All: Which has all delight within it (Alleluia).
Then the celebrant stands and sings Let us pray. God, who left us in
this wondrous sacrament, etc., and all the other prayers sung on the
first day at exposition, up to and including May the souls, etc. Then
the blessing with the Blessed Sacrament is given in the usual way and
the sacred host is replaced in the tabernacle.
THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
INTRODUCTION
When the fathers of the Church say that penance is a second plank of
salvation for all who have suffered supernatural shipwreck after
baptism, it is implied that they conceive of a real dependence of the
former upon the latter. And we understand from the development of
doctrine that this dependence rests absolutely on the baptismal
character, which is the basis in the subject for reconciliation and
renewed friendship with God, if such is to be accomplished by
sacramental means. For the character, the indelible seal of our
organic union with Christ, is not destroyed by sin, no matter how
heinous. Even the crime of unbelief, which alone severs all communion
with Christ in His body, the Church, does not destroy the sacramental
character. Tragic though it is, the culprit's soul retains the mark of
the divine Lamb--to its condemnation, it is true; yet in this case too
rehabilitation or reincorporation in Christ will be founded on the
same basis. It is owing to the ineffaceability of the character that
baptism can never be repeated, and that there must be in the
dispensation of Providence another sacrament of reconciliation,
similar to baptism, but still distinct in its purpose and to certain
defined limits in its effects. For baptism is a new creation, the
sacrament of regeneration and incorporation in the mystic body, the
bestowal of the pristine robe of sanctifying grace, which involves a
total obliteration of both sin and its punishment in time and in
eternity. Penance, on the other hand, is the sacrament of reanimation
and healing of an unhappily fallen member of Christ, bruised and
broken and dead in sin--the sacrament of restoration to friendship
with God and renewed union with Christ. It also brings full pardon of
sin, with full remission of eternal punishment, but a part of the debt
remains to be paid. This is the temporal punishment, which even
sacramental absolution does not cancel entirely. Only by exercising
the virtue of penance as an integral part of the sacrament can full
satisfaction be rendered to God in this world and all debts canceled
by Him. It is from this necessity-that the recipient approach the
sacrament in a penitential spirit and laden with the fruits of
penitential works, whether they anticipate or more generally follow
the actual pronouncement of absolution--that the sacrament has its
very name.
Through the sacramental mystery of penance, the passion of Jesus comes
down to us anew; and His saving blood flows anew as a purifying stream
over the filth of our wickedness. We have been made a new creature by
death and resurrection with Christ in baptism, and have received from
the Church the admonition to carry our new life without stain to the
judgment seat of our Lord. But Christ knew what is in man; therefore,
on the day He arose from the dead, He instituted the sacrament which
would again and again, as often as we have need of it, put us in
contact with the paschal mystery of redemption, in order that we might
renew in ourselves His new and glorious and immortal life. It is the
risen Savior Himself who lifts us up when we are prostrate in sin,
albeit the operation takes place through the instrumentality of a
priest. Yet He left no doubt that the minister of penance acts in the
name of God, when He prefaced the granting of power to absolve with
the words: "As the Father has sent me, I also send you. When He had
said this, He breathed on them, and He said to them: 'Receive the Holy
Spirit. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and
whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.'"[1] True, the priest,
in the capacity of minister of penance, is a physician in the sense
that he makes a spiritual diagnosis and prescribes a remedy; and judge
in that he decides whether or not the subject is properly disposed;
but he becomes in one act physician, judge, and mediator when he
dispenses this grace-laden mystery through the rite of absolving. The
most essential act, therefore, in the whole process of this sacrament
is absolution, under which sign divine grace is infallibly conveyed
(providing no obstacle is placed in the way), and under which
operation Christ is present as priest, physician, and judge. Other
external acts like declaration of sins and satisfaction sometimes may
be dispensed with; absolution never, for it is unconditionally of the
essence of the sacrament. By this sacramental act the passion of
Christ belongs to us as though we ourselves had suffered it. Much can
be said for the psychological and therapeutic value of confession, but
apart from sacramental absolution about the same results can be
obtained in a psychiatrist's office. And the peace of soul, which we
desire and obtain when we receive penance, is a concomitant of our
real supernatural resuscitation through being absolved, much more than
it is a moral consequence of merely revealing our inner wretchedness.
It is in virtue of the sacrament itself, rather than owing to any
other accompanying and accidental advantages, that devotional
confession is so earnestly recommended. Penance, like all sacraments,
has a medicinal character and effect, and as such it was instituted
immediately for the healing of a soul afflicted with grievous sin.
However, the sacramental principle must be retained and applied in
each case, making no exception for penance--that sacraments have a
consecratory (or reconsecratory) and an elevating function, and
besides they are the chief means by which we tender worship to God as
members of His Son and of His Church. It is this latter function of
transfiguration which is chiefly operative and which must be
emphasized in the practice of devotional confession, because the
penitent in such confession, guilty of only venial sin or entirely
free from sin, does not require the healing of penance-venial sin may
be expiated in other ways--but he is seeking in penance its secondary
effects: blotting out of venial sins, increase of divine life,
remission of temporal punishment, divine assistance in future combat
against the powers of darkness, and last but not least the glory of
God.
We are going to consider below how the subjective dispositions of the
recipient play a more significant part in penance than they do in the
other sacraments. Nonetheless, it may not be overlooked that here, as
in all intercourse between Creator and creature, God's operation in us
through grace is paramount "Convert us, O Lord, to you, and we shall
be converted; renew our days as from the beginning."[2] Christ goes out
to seek the sinner. The sinner does not stand abandoned in his misery,
nor does he attempt on his own initiative, no matter how strong the
personal effort, to struggle up to the heights from whence he has
plunged. God calls the sinner back to Himself, by instilling
confidence in His tender forgiveness or fear of His just retribution.
And if the lost sheep heeds the call, he appears before God, not in
isolation and loneliness, but in the unity and faithfulness of Christ
and succored by the compassionate tears and prayers of the Church. He
is led back in repentance by One who is not only the divine
transcendence but also the humanly immanent One--by the God-man, the
mediator, who as man is not insensible to the penitent's lapses, and
who as God is capable of absolving, of binding up his wounds and
pouring in oil and wine. Moreover, when it comes to satisfaction for
sin, the Church prays in the rite for confession: "May the passion of
our Lord, Jesus Christ, the merits of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the
saints, and all the good you do and the suffering you endure, gain for
you the remission of your sins, increase of grace, and the reward of
everlasting life." Herein lies a wealth of teaching and a world of
consolation. Christ our head has made satisfaction for all our
iniquity by His atoning sacrifice. Left to ourselves we would be
powerless to do anything of the kind. Therefore, every penance that we
perform by way of expiation and every cross we endure, all are
meritorious only because they receive consecration from being drawn
into the all-redeeming and all-satisfying, yes, the superabundant
sacrament of God's condescension to us. And more--Christ and the
penitent are supported in the expiatory act rendered to the Almighty
by the entire communion of saints, the merits won for the penitent by
the Mother of the Redeemer and all His faithful members triumphant in
heaven, militant on earth, and suffering in purgatory.
What does the sacrament of penance demand from the recipient? We
indicated above that his personal contribution to the validity and
efficacy of penance is of greater moment here than in the case of the
other sacraments. The dispositions required of the subject can best be
summed up in the Greek word "metanoia," a transformation, a conversion
of mind and will. The act of "going to confession," consequently, is
infinitely more than a revealing of one's miserable plight, in the
manner of unloading a heap of refuse without further ado. Too much
emphasis can be laid on the declaration of faults, to the neglect of
the far greater importance of genuine conversion which includes, above
all, sorrow, and sorrow contains implicitly permanence of resolve and
the will to make satisfaction. "Be converted and do penance for all
your iniquities, and iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from
you all your transgressions, by which you have transgressed, and make
to yourselves a new heart and a new spirit; and why will you die, O
house of Israel?"[3] Grace presupposed, metanoia, conversion, is an act
of the mind in apprehending the havoc of sin as an offense against God
with detriment to the soul, along with the knowledge obtained from
positive divine law that transgressions must be confessed. Conversion
is a movement of the affections in experiencing sorrow for sinful
actions, either because they have offended God's love and holiness,
or, falling short of this, at least because of the reprobation they
deserve. Conversion is an act of the will, first, in that it contains
the resolve of permanent repudiation of past conduct and a
wholehearted turning to God; second, in that it is a willingness to
exercise works of penance as satisfaction for the injury done to the
divine majesty. Penitence results from enduring sorrow and expresses
itself in outward acts of satisfaction, of which prayer, fasting, and
alms-deeds are the most approved and salutary. In her present
discipline, the Church sees fit not to impose as strict obligation the
rigorous penances of former times, wisely cognizant that her members
are not made of the same stern stuff as in the days of enthusiastic
Christian fervor. Nevertheless, her mind in this regard is not altered
to the extent that the penance which is of obligation should be merely
a token. As the Roman Ritual still has it: "He (the minister) shall
impose a suitable and salutary satisfaction, as wisdom and prudence
will dictate, keeping in mind the state of the penitents and other
considerations such as their sex, age, and disposition. But let him
take heed lest he impose too light a penance for grievous sins, and by
such possible connivance become a party in another's sins. The
confessor must bear in mind that satisfaction is not intended merely
as a means for betterment and a remedy for weakness, but also as a
chastisement for past sins." Whatever happens in actual practice, the
subject of the sacrament of penance should know that he is acting in
full accord with the true Christian spirit if he goes beyond
fulfilment of a token penance, if such is prescribed, and, by taking
upon himself works of supererogation, derives benefits in a measure
pressed down and running over. Equally explicit is the Ritual
regarding the type of penances to be enjoined. They should be
"practices which are opposed to the sins confessed, for example,
almsgiving in the case of the avaricious, fasting or other
mortifications of the flesh for the dissolute, acts of humility for
the proud, exercises of piety for the lax." All earnest members of
Christ's mystic body, sincerely desirous of advancing in perfection
through this most personal of the sacramental mysteries, will attach
utmost importance to the prescriptions given above, so that the
heavenly mediator may come to them unimpeded in His redeeming might,
to heal His sheep and to set them back in the pasture of refreshment,
to ennoble and prepare them for eternal peace and light.
--Translator
ENDNOTES
1. Jn 20.21-23.
2. Lam 5.21.
3. Ezech 18.30-31.
PART V. THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
CHAPTER I
GENERAL RULES FOR ADMINISTERING PENANCE
1. The holy sacrament of penance was instituted by Christ the Lord so
that the faithful who have fallen back into sin after baptism may be
restored to God's grace. This sacrament must be dispensed all the more
carefully where it is approached with greater frequency, thus
demanding so much for its worthy and proper administration and
reception. The three things required essentially are matter, form, and
minister. Its remote matter are the sins in question, its proximate
matter the acts of the penitent, namely, contrition, confession, and
satisfaction. The form consists in the actual words of absolution: I
absolve you, etc. The minister is a priest who possesses either
ordinary or delegated power to absolve. Yet when there is danger of
death any priest, whether approved for hearing confessions or not, can
validly and licitly absolve any penitent from all sins or censures, no
matter how reserved or how notorious; and this even when an approved
priest is available. Required in the minister of this sacrament are
goodness, knowledge, and prudence; moreover, he is obligated by the
seal of a secret confession to strictest perpetual silence regarding
it. Confessors must conscientiously see to it that they are well
grounded in these and other requisite qualifications.
2. A confessor should keep in mind above all that he holds the office
of both judge and physician, and that he has been constituted by God a
dispenser equally of divine justice and mercy, so that like an arbiter
between God and men he may advance the cause of God's honor and souls'
salvation.
3. So that he may be competent to judge rightly, discerning between
one leper and another leper, and like a skilled physician understand
how wisely to heal the diseases of souls and know how to apply a
suitable remedy to each case, let him strive to the utmost--by means
of fervent intercession before God, judicious counsel from men of
experience, and consultation with experienced authors, especially the
Roman Catechism--to acquire the fullest knowledge and prudence for his
office.
4. He should know which cases and censures are reserved to the Holy
See or which ones to his bishop, as well as the regulations of his
particular diocese, and carefully observe them.
5. Lastly, he shall be studious in learning the full doctrine of this
sacrament, together with any other matters necessary to its correct
administration; and in exercising this ministry he should follow the
rite as given below.
Rite for Administering the Sacrament of Penance
6. A priest who is called upon to hear confessions should do so
promptly, and make himself easily available. Before he enters the
confessional, he shall, if time allows, earnestly implore God's help,
so that he may rightly and devoutly fulfill this ministry.
7. The proper place for sacramental confession is a church or a public
or semipublic oratory.
8. The confessional for female penitents should always be located in
an open and conspicuous place, generally in a church or otherwise in a
public or semipublic oratory designated for women. The confessional
should be built so that there is a stationary perforated grating
between confessor and penitent.
9. Confessions of female penitents should never be heard outside a
confessional, except in the case of illness or some other real
necessity, and observing then such precautionary measures as the local
Ordinary deems opportune. Confessions of men, however, may be heard
even in a private home.
10. A surplice and purple stole should be worn by the priest, as
occasion and place warrant.
11. The penitent, when necessary, should be instructed to approach
this sacrament with becoming humility of soul and demeanor, to kneel
upon entering the confessional, and to sign himself with the sign of
the cross.
12. After which the confessor shall inquire about the penitent's state
of life (unless he already is aware of it), how long since his last
confession, whether he has fulfilled the penance imposed, whether his
past confessions have been made properly and completely, and whether
he has examined his conscience as he ought.
13. If the penitent is involved in some reserved case or is under a
censure from which the confessor himself cannot absolve, the latter
must delay absolution until he has obtained faculties from his
superior.
14. Whenever the confessor perceives that the penitent (depending on
the individual's capability) does not know the rudiments of Christian
faith, he should briefly instruct him if time allows, explaining the
articles of faith and other matters which must be known in order to be
saved. In fine, he should reprove the penitent for his lack of
knowledge, and admonish him to familiarize himself thoroughly with
these things in the future.
15. The penitent says the "Confiteor," either in Latin or in the
vernacular, or at least the following words: "I confess to almighty
God and to you, father." Next he confesses his sins in detail, being
aided whenever necessary by the priest. The latter is not to reprove
the one confessing until the enumeration of sins is completed (see
below), nor is he to interrupt with questions, unless this becomes
necessary for fuller understanding. Accordingly he will instill
confidence in the penitent, kindly encouraging him to acknowledge all
sins honestly and in their entirety, undaunted by that false shame
which hinders some, at the devil's prompting, from courageously
confessing their sins.
16. If the penitent does not mention the number, species, and
circumstances of sins which require such explanation, the priest shall
prudently question him.
17. But he must be careful not to discourage anyone by curious or
useless questions; let him especially avoid imprudent questioning of
young boys or girls (or others) concerning matters with which they are
unacquainted, lest they be scandalized and learn thereby to commit
certain sins.
18. Only after he is finished hearing the confession does he weigh the
gravity and number of the sins acknowledged by the penitent, and
administer with fatherly understanding the rebuke and admonition that
he considers necessary, in keeping with the individual's condition in
life and the gravity of his sins. Moreover, he will attempt in moving
words to inspire the penitent with contrition, induce him to amend his
life, and suggest remedies against sin.
19. Finally, he shall impose a suitable and salutary satisfaction, as
Wisdom and prudence will dictate, keeping in mind the state of the
penitents and various considerations such as their sex, age, and
disposition. But let him be careful not to impose too light a penance
for grievous sins, and by such possible connivance become a party in
another's sins. The confessor must bear in mind that satisfaction is
not intended merely as a means for betterment and remedy for weakness,
but also as a chastisement for past sins.
20. Therefore, he should strive as far as possible to enjoin as
penances practices which are opposed to the sins confessed, for
example, almsgiving in the case of the avaricious, fasting or other
mortifications of the flesh for the dissolute, acts of humility for
the proud, exercises of piety for the lax. In the case of persons who
come to confession irregularly or very seldom, as well as such who
fall back readily into sin, it will be most advantageous to counsel
frequent confession, about once a month or on occasions of special
feast days. Likewise he will advise them to communicate that often, if
this is practicable.
21. A confessor must not enjoin a penance which would be remunerative
to himself, neither may he exact nor accept anything at all from the
penitents in return for his services.
22. He must not impose a public penance for sins that are secret, no
matter what their enormity.
23. The priest must take great pains to decide in which instances
absolution should be given, denied, or deferred, lest he absolve such
as are indisposed for this benefit--persons, for example, who give no
indication of contrition, who refuse to put an end to hatred and
enmity, to make restitution when they are able, to give up an
approximate occasion of sin, or in any other way refuse to forsake
their sins and amend their life. To this class belong also persons who
have given public scandal, unless they make public satisfaction and
remove the scandal. Moreover, he cannot absolve any whose sins are
reserved to higher authorities.
24. But if anyone who is in danger of death goes to confession, he
must be absolved from all sins and censures, regardless of how they
are reserved, for in this case every instance of reserved sin becomes
void. Yet whenever possible he should first make satisfaction, if any
is required of him. And if later he recovers, and there is any reason
why he would normally have had to seek absolution from higher
authority, he must have recourse to this authority as soon as
possible, and be ready to do whatever is required.
25. If a sick person while he is confessing or even before he begins
should happen to lose the power of speech, the priest should endeavor
to ascertain the penitent's sins by means of nods and signs, in so far
as he is able. And having ascertained them either in a general way or
in detail, the party is to be absolved, whether he gave evidence
directly or through another that he was desirous of confessing.
26. Furthermore, the priest should remember that one may not impose a
heavy or onerous penance on the sick. At most he may simply indicate
the type of penance which they could fulfill at an Opportune time,
should they get well. In the meantime, the priest may enjoin a type of
prayer or light satisfaction suitable to the condition of the sick
person, and after the latter has accepted it he should be absolved, as
the case requires.
CHAPTER II
THE COMMON FORM FOR ABSOLUTION
1. As a priest is about to absolve a penitent (after having enjoined a
salutary penance on him and the latter accepting it) he begins by
saying:
May almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you your sins, and lead
you to everlasting life. R.: Amen.
2. Next he raises the right hand toward the penitent and says:
May the almighty and merciful Lord grant you pardon, absolution, + and
remission of your sins. R.: Amen.
Form for Absolution
May our Lord Jesus Christ absolve you. And I by His authority release
you from every bond of excommunication (suspension) and interdict, in
so far as I am empowered and you have need. And now I absolve you from
your sins; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the
Holy Spirit. R.: Amen.
3. If the penitent is a layman the word suspension is omitted. A
bishop in absolving makes the threefold sign of the cross.
Prayer of Indulgence
May the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, the merits of the blessed
Virgin Mary and the saints, and all the good you do and the suffering
you endure, gain for you the remission of your sins, increase of
grace, and the reward of everlasting life. R.: Amen.
4. For a good reason it suffices to say the form "May our Lord," etc.,
and the other prayers given above may be omitted.
5. In case of urgent necessity such as danger of death, the priest may
use the short form:
I absolve you from all censures and from your sins; in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit. R.: Amen.
CHAPTER III: RITE FOR ABSOLVING FROM EXCOMMUNICATION APART FROM
SACRAMENTAL CONFESSION
1. If a priest is empowered by his superior to absolve from the
sentence of excommunication and if the delegation prescribes a
specified form, this form is to be observed in every instance.
However, if the document of delegation states: "He is to absolve
according to the usual form of the Church," then the form given below
is to be observed.
2. In the first place the excommunicate should if possible make
satisfaction beforehand for the offense for which he incurred
excommunication. If this is not possible for the time being, he must
give sufficient guarantee that he will make satisfaction at first
opportunity; or if this is questionable, he must take an oath that he
will do so.
3. Second, if the offense for which he incurred excommunication is a
grievous one, an oath must be exacted from him that he will obey the
Church's laws applicable to him in this matter, especially that he
will not offend henceforth against the canon or decree, the violation
of which was responsible for the excommunication.
4. Lastly, the following ceremony must be observed in absolving him:
The penitent kneels before the priest, and, if a male, his shoulders
are uncovered down to his shirt. The priest, who is seated, lightly
strikes the penitent with a rod or cord, reciting the following psalm:
Psalm 50: "Have mercy on me, O God," etc. (see Psalm 50).
5. The priest rises and with head uncovered says:
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Our Father
(the rest inaudibly until):
P: And lead us not into temptation.
All: But deliver us from evil.
P: Lord, save your servant.
All: Who trusts in you, my God.
P: Let the enemy have no power over him (her).
All: And the son of iniquity be powerless to harm him (her).
P: Let him (her) find in you, Lord, a fortified tower.
All: In the face of the enemy.
P: Lord, heed my prayer.
All: And let my cry be heard by you.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
Let us pray.
God, whose nature is ever merciful and forgiving, accept our prayer
that your servant who is bound by the sentence of excommunication may
be released by your loving kindness; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
6. Then he sits down, and with head covered says:
May our Lord Jesus Christ absolve you, and I by His authority and that
of the Holy Father (or that of the Most Reverend Bishop, N., or of the
respective superior), release you from the bond of excommunication
incurred (or pronounced against you) because of...(the offense or
reason is mentioned); and I restore you to communion and union with
the faithful, as well as to the holy sacraments of the Church; in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit. R.:
Amen.
7. If the priest has had no specified form prescribed by his superior,
nor is ordered to absolve according to the general and customary form
of the Church, he is to observe, nevertheless, the ceremony and
prayers given above, provided the offense was of a serious nature. But
if the case is not especially serious, he may absolve with the
following words:
"May our Lord Jesus Christ absolve you," etc., as given above.
8. In a sacramental confession the confessor who has the faculty to
absolve an excommunicate does so, using the common form prescribed
above in sacramental absolution.
CHAPTER IV:
GENERAL ABSOLUTION AND THE PAPAL BLESSING
By Indult of the Holy See for Religious Orders and Their Affiliate
Tertiaries
1. When giving the papal blessing with plenary indulgence at the hour
of death, the usual form is followed, except that in the "Confiteor"
the name of the Saint-Founder of the respective order is inserted.
2. When imparting the papal blessing, the usual form is followed This
blessing can be used only twice a year and never on the same day nor
in the same city or community on and in which the bishop imparts it.
3. In imparting the general absolution to any religious order or the
papal blessing with plenary indulgence to secular tertiaries, the two
following forms must be used:
I. General Absolution for every religious order which enjoys this
privilege
The priest vested in surplice and purple stole says:
Antiphon: Do not keep in mind, O Lord, our offenses or those of our
parents, nor take vengeance on our sins.
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Our Father (the rest inaudibly until:)
P: And lead us not into temptation.
All: But deliver us from evil.
P: Lord, show us your mercy.
All: And grant us your salvation.
P: Lord, heed my prayer.
All: And let my cry be heard by you.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
Let us pray.
God, whose nature is ever merciful and forgiving, accept our prayer
that we and all your servants, bound by the fetters of sin, may be
pardoned by your loving kindness.
We beg you, Lord, hear the plea of your suppliants, pardon the sins of
your penitents, and kindly grant us your tender forgiveness along with
your peace.
Show us, O Lord, your indescribable mercy, blot out our
transgressions, and graciously deliver us from the condemnation they
deserve.
God, who are offended by our sins but appeased by our penances, may it
please you to hear the entreaties of your people and to turn away the
stripes that our transgressions rightly deserve; through Christ our
Lord.
All: Amen.
After these prayers the Confiteor is said by the people or by one who
represents them, inserting in its proper place the name of the Saint-
Founder of the order. The priest then adds May almighty God, etc., May
the almighty and merciful Lord, etc. In conclusion he says:
May our Lord Jesus Christ absolve you by the merits of His sacred
passion and shower upon you His grace. And I--by His authority and
that of the blessed apostles, Peter and Paul, and by the authority
which the supreme pontiffs have granted to you and our Order and
committed to me in this instance--release you from every bond of
excommunication, suspension, and interdict you may have incurred, and
I restore you to the unity and communion of the faithful and to the
holy sacraments of the Church. Likewise, I absolve you, by the same
authority, from every violation of vows, the rule, constitutions,
admonitions, and orders of our superiors, from all penances which you
have neglected or forgotten. And lastly I grant you remission and
indulgence of all sins which by human frailty, ignorance, or malice
you have committed against God and neighbor, and which you have
already confessed; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of
the Holy Spirit.
All: Amen.
II. Papal Blessing With Plenary Indulgence for Secular Tertiaries and
for all others who share with them or with religious of any order
these same privileges and graces.
The priest vested in surplice and purple stole says:
Antiphon: Let my prayer, Lord, ascend to the throne of your majesty.
Bend your ear to our entreaties. Spare, Lord, your people whom you
redeemed by your precious blood, and be not angry with us forever.
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Our Father
(the rest inaudibly until:)
P: And lead us not into temptation.
All: But deliver us from evil.
P: Save your servants.
All: Who trust in you, my God.
P: Send them aid, Lord, from on high.
All: And from Sion protect them.
P: Let them find in you, Lord, a fortified tower.
All: In the face of the enemy.
P: Let the enemy have no power over us.
All: And the son of iniquity be powerless to harm us.
P: Lord, heed my prayer.
All: And let my cry be heard by you.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
Let us pray. God, whose nature is ever merciful and forgiving, accept
our prayer that we and all your servants, bound by the fetters of sin,
may be pardoned by your loving kindness.
We beg you, Lord, hear the plea of your suppliants, pardon the sins of
your penitents, and kindly grant us your tender forgiveness along with
your peace.
Show us, O Lord, your inexpressible mercy, blot out our
transgressions, and graciously deliver us from the condemnation they
deserve.
God, who are offended by our sins but appeased by our penances, may it
please you to hear the entreaties of your people and to turn away the
stripes that our transgressions rightly deserve; through Christ our
Lord.
All: Amen.
Next the Confiteor is said by the people, and then the priest
continues:
May our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave blessed Peter the Apostle the
power of binding and loosing, absolve you from every bond of sin and
lead you to everlasting life.
All: Amen.
By the sacred passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, the prayers
and merits of blessed Mary, ever a Virgin, the blessed apostles, Peter
and Paul, our blessed father, N., and all the saints, and by the
authority granted to me by the holy pontiffs, I impart to you a
plenary indulgence for all your sins; in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit.
All: Amen.
If the indulgence is imparted immediately after the absolution of the
sacrament of penance, the priest begins at the words May our Lord
Jesus Christ, who gave blessed Peter, etc., continuing to the end.
If circumstances prevent the use of the complete form given above the
priest may omit all else and simply say the following:
By the authority granted me by the supreme pontiffs, I impart to you a
plenary indulgence for all your sins; in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit.
All: Amen.
CHAPTER V
RITE FOR ABSOLVING FROM SUSPENSION OR INTERDICT APART FROM SACRAMENTAL
CONFESSION AND OF DISPENSING FROM IRREGULARITY
1. If the faculty of absolving anyone from suspension or interdict has
been granted to a priest, but the delegation does not prescribe a
specified form, then the following form may be used:
Penitent: "I confess to almighty God," etc.
Priest: "May almighty God," etc. "May the almighty and merciful Lord,"
etc.
By the authority granted me by N., I release you from the bond of
suspension (or interdict) which you have incurred (or which you are
declared to have incurred) for such and such an act (or such and such
a reason); in the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the
Holy Spirit. R.: Amen.
2. But if the confessor has been granted the power of dispensing from
the irregularity either in the sacramental forum or outside of it, in
that case, after he has pronounced the absolution from sins, he adds
what follows:
And by the same authority I release you from the irregularity
(irregularities, if more than one) you have incurred for such and such
an act (or such and such reasons, mentioning them); and I reinstate
you and restore you to the exercise of your orders and your offices;
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit.
R.: Amen.
3. If the person is not in orders, he says:
I reinstate you to the candidacy for all orders, or to other offices
as the mandate directs.
4. If it is necessary to restore a title of benefice and to regularize
any emoluments gained unlawfully therefrom, he adds:
And I restore to you the title (s) of benefice (s) and regularize any
emoluments gained unlawfully therefrom; in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit. R.: Amen.
5. Let the priest be careful not to exceed in any way the limits of
the faculty granted him.
THE SACRAMENT OF THE ANOINTING OF THE SICK
INTRODUCTION
The Church presupposes ideal circumstances, or at least normal ones,
as witnessed by the Roman Ritual, for carrying out her many
prescriptions with dignity, edification, and effectiveness. Take, for
example, the rubrics for processions, for the burial service, for
communion brought to the sick, and for the sacrament of anointing of
the sick. Yet how often her wishes in these matters are interfered
with by enfeebled faith, by adverse conditions of weather, by an urge
to rush through everything, or by inadequacies as to place,
appurtenances, and participants. This is especially true in the case
of conferring the sacrament of Christian consolation to the sick or
dying. How often in our day, when negligence or violence or accidents
or sudden seizure with fatal illness are by no means the exception, it
is impossible to give this sacrament at all, or it is administered
only in greatest haste, with curtailment of all but the essential
anointing, thereby losing for the recipient as well as the bystanders
so much of its signification as the Christ-mystery which heals,
soothes, strengthens, purifies, consecrates, and ushers the
Christian's soul into the joys of everlasting beatitude.
Last anointing is the sacrament of Christian consolation, through
which a member of Christ is made ready to share mystically by his
suffering and bodily death in the suffering and sacrificial death of
the head of the human race. It is the sacrament of consolation for the
subject directly concerned as well as for his brethren in the faith.
The note of consolation is so marked a feature that any illness which
could prove fatal calls for its administration, long before the death
rattle announces that the end is at hand. As the rubric below directs:
"It must be received if possible while the sick person is still
conscious and rational, so that the recipient himself, in order to
receive the sacrament more fruitfully, may assist with faith and
devout intention while he is being anointed with the holy oil." Hence
it is utterly reprehensible to delay this sacred anointing until the
last agony has begun. Rather than delay until the final moments of
illness, the rubrics provide that, should there be any doubt about the
illness being critical, the sacrament may be administered
conditionally. Better too early than too late! Moreover, the last
sacraments are three. Penance may, and the holy Eucharist should
ordinarily accompany the anointing. And instead of the sorry and
unbecoming spectacle of the priest racing with death to the bedside of
the sick, the Church prescribes a devout and dignified procession from
church to home, with the minister assisted by clergy and acolytes and
accompanied by devout layfolk, all of whom are to assist in imparting
the consoling mysteries to the one afflicted on his bed of pain, and
by their prayerful attendance give comfort and encouragement to him in
the loneliness of suffering or of the final combat.
On the other hand, the Church feels that it is hardly too late, unless
rigor mortis has set in, to come with her saving compassion to a
stricken child of hers, even when all hope is abandoned by human
reckoning. For if the dying person is no longer conscious or rational,
her last sacrament is endowed by Christ with so much power that it
does extraordinarily what sacramental absolution does normally,
cleansing the soul even of grievous sin, provided the subject has
remained habitually attrite. Suarez does not hesitate to maintain that
this sacrament administered to a dying person deprived of his senses
is a means of salvation by far more secure than even sacramental
absolution. Or if the subject to all appearances is dead, but there
can be, nevertheless, some slight doubt, the rubrics direct that he be
anointed conditionally. In the discipline regarding anointing of the
sick every advantage is given to the afflicted Christian, for in her
sacramental mysteries the Church is always conscious of herself in the
role of a solicitous mother, and of Christ as the hound of heaven,
watching over us from the cradle and pursuing us to the grave.
It is necessary, then, for priests and all the people of God to
recapture the consoling meaning and purpose of the final sacrament of
Christian life, to view it as Christ intended and as the Church has
traditionally understood it. Although it may have about it a certain
ring of finality, it is not exactly a last resort when everything else
fails; it is not a substitute for any other sacrament, but it has a
purpose all its own and a mystery all its own. It is not a substitute
for the sacrament of penance; rather it is a complement of penance,
for it accomplishes what penance leaves undone. Penance heals us of
our sins, but not infrequently the scars of sin remain. Whereas
anointing of the sick, if it proves to be the very last anointing,
wipes away all scars or remains of sin, and heals the soul so
perfectly that St. Thomas can conceive of it as an immediate anointing
for glory, a carte blanche admittance to the beatific vision.[1]
This sacrament can be regarded as a complement both of baptism and
confirmation. In relation to the former it is a gratuitous restoration
to the innocence of Christian rebirth. In relation to the latter it
strengthens the member of Christ for the final and decisive battle
against the infernal powers. For as the Council of Trent declares:
"Extreme unction was regarded by the Fathers as being the finishing
process not of penance alone but also of the whole Christian life."[2]
The coming of the Lord is anticipated for the benefit of the one
departing this life. In this coming the Son of God appears as judge,
it is true; however, in virtue of the sacrament He comes above all as
the Redeemer full of mercy, "Who shall wipe away all tears from their
eyes, and death shall be no more, nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow
shall be any more, for the former things are passed away.... 'See, I
make all things new.'"[3] Anointed and consecrated with the holy oil of
the sick, the subject can approach the divine judgment seat confident
that his personal merits and demerits are swallowed up in the infinite
satisfaction which the Savior has sacramentally communicated to him.
Thus far the emphasis has been mainly on one aspect of this sacrament,
namely, the aspect stressed by theologians like St. Thomas and St.
Bonaventure, who consider as its primary effect procuring for a
departing soul such perfect condition that it can wing its way into
the arms of its Maker immediately on shaking off the shackles of
earthly existence. But theologians today are saying that this is
altogether a too one-sided view. Basing their argument on the words of
St. James, as well as on the prayers and actions that constitute the
sacramental rite, not only its present forms but also those found in
the ancient sacramentaries, they say that a better balance is
necessary when speaking of the purpose and effects of the sacrament of
anointing. In their view the sacrament is not primarily or exclusively
a preparation for death. Nor is it exactly the last time Christ comes
to man in a sacrament, for Viaticum is ideally the last sacramental
encounter with Christ. Rather it is to be seen as the sacrament in
which Christ comes to the Christian who is in suffering and in pain
from serious illness or from a serious accident, to heal, soothe,
strengthen, and purify. He comes to the sick person to extend to him
His personal love and care, that compassion, that out-pouring through
His sacred humanity of the divine power "which went forth from Him."
In the Church today, by this sacramental action, are renewed to the
eyes of faith such scenes as the evangelist describes "Wherever He
went, into village or hamlet or town, they laid the sick in the market
places, and entreated Him to let them touch but the tassel of His
cloak; and as many as touched Him were saved."[4] Sacred Scripture sees
sin and sickness as intimately related, as two aspects of a
fundamental disorder in man. Therefore, God's saving action includes
the deliverance of man not from sin alone nor from sickness alone, but
from both. A rather strange attitude to bodily suffering is found in
some works on the spiritual life, where it is supposed that the
Christian is bound to regard suffering as primarily a real benefit and
to accept it as a pure blessing. The truth of the matter is that
suffering, whether of mind or body, is at once a trial and a call.
Suffering and illness came into the world not from God but from sin.
And bodily suffering can by its unnerving property engender in man not
necessarily heroic virtue but also blasphemy and despair. So we find
in the Gospel that our Lord was oftentimes the enemy of sickness and
combatted it in one and the same action of eradicating sin from the
human heart and sickness from the body and mind. Consequently, it is a
duty for the Christian to strive for and to pray for bodily and
spiritual health, as the Church's official prayers make plain. And the
sacraments were instituted precisely for the purpose of sanctifying
the soul through the body.
In a collection of liturgical prayers called the "Sacramentary of
Serapion" (ca. A.D. 350), a prayer used in the blessing of oil of the
sick calls on God to endow the oil with power of healing, so that it
may wipe out every weakness and infirmity, and act as a remedy against
every devil and expel every unclean spirit; that it may eradicate
fever and chill and weakness; that it may be a good grace for the
remission of sins, a remedy for life and salvation; that it may bring
health and integrity of soul and body and spirit; that it may impart
perfect well-being." That Christ, with His deep understanding of human
nature, should institute a sacrament for the sick which alleviates
body and soul at a single stroke ought not to cause wonderment. In
this sacrament, then, as the anointing with soothing oil signifies, we
may see Christ coming to the sick person to soothe, to comfort, to
console by His presence, and to fully cure him if He so sees fit. We
speak of the sacraments as encounters with Christ. We leave it to our
blessed Lord to determine whether the encounter in the instance of
this sacrament will result in health for the body as well as for the
soul. Even if the sacrament does not bring a complete bodily cure--and
in the opinion of doctors and nurses this happens more often than
people think--it brings an interior peace and purity. It gives the
sick person courage, helping him to a trusting self-surrender into the
hands of a compassionate Savior.
--Translator
ENDNOTES
1. "S. Theol.," q. XXIX, a. 1, p. 2.
2. Denziger, Sess. XIV, "Doctrina de sacramento extremae unctionis".
3. Apoc. 2.4-5.
4. Mk 6.56.
PART VI. ANOINTING OF THE SICK
CHAPTER I: GENERAL RULES FOR ADMINISTERING THE ANOINTING OF THE SICK
1. The sacrament of anointing of the sick was instituted by Christ our
Lord as a heavenly remedy, not only for the soul but likewise for the
body's well-being. Although it is not per se required for salvation by
necessity of means, nevertheless, no one may neglect to receive it,
and it must be given with all care and zeal in cases of critical
illness. In fact, it must be received if possible while the sick
person is still conscious and rational, so that the recipient himself,
in order to receive the sacrament more fruitfully, may assist with
faith and devout intention while he is being anointed with the holy
oil.
2. According to the general practice of the Church, this above all
must be observed--if there is time and the condition of the sick
person permits, the sacraments of penance and holy Eucharist are to be
administered to him before he is anointed.
3. The pastor must provide that the holy oil of the sick be reserved
in church in a silver or pewter vessel, guarded under lock and key in
an ambry which is neat and suitably ornamented. This oil, consecrated
by the bishop on Maundy Thursday, must be renewed each year, and the
old oil burned. Nor may one use the old oil unless some necessity
warrants. If the consecrated oil does not suffice, then other non-
consecrated olive oil is added, but in lesser quantity than the
consecrated each time this happens.
4. A pastor must obtain the holy oil from his own Ordinary. He may not
keep it in the rectory, save by reason of necessity or some other
reasonable cause and with sanction of the Ordinary.
5. The oil can be reserved either in its fluid state or absorbed in
cotton or similar material. Yet to avoid spilling it while carrying it
on a sick call, it is more practical to reserve it in the latter way.
6. This sacrament can be administered validly by any priest and by a
priest only. The ordinary minister is the pastor of the place where
the sick person is confined. However, in an emergency or with
permission of the pastor or also of the Ordinary (which permission can
be reasonably presumed), any priest available can administer this
sacrament.
7. The ordinary minister is in justice bound to administer this
sacrament personally or by his substitute, and in a case of necessity
every priest is bound out of charity to do so.
8. Anointing of the sick can be given only to one of the faithful--one
who has attained the age of reason and who is in danger of death by
reason of illness or old age. The sacrament may not be given more than
once during the same illness, unless after receiving the sacrament,
the sick person has recovered from the danger and then has a critical
relapse.
9. If there is a doubt as to whether the sick person has attained the
age of discretion, or is really in danger of death, or is already dead
this sacrament must be administered conditionally.
10. The sacrament is not to be conferred on the impenitent who
obstinately persevere in manifest mortal sin. Yet if there is a doubt
about this, it may be administered conditionally.
11. Nonetheless, it must be administered absolutely to the sick who
while they were rational did request it at least implicitly, or to all
appearances would have requested it, yet afterward lose consciousness
or their rational faculties.
12. If one is at the point of death and there is danger of his
expiring before the anointings can be performed, he should be anointed
at once, the minister beginning at the place: "By this holy
anointing," etc., as given below. Later, if he is still alive, the
prayers which were omitted should be said.
13. If there is doubt whether the person is still alive, the anointing
takes place with the conditional form: "If you are still alive, by
this holy anointing," etc., see below.
14. Should it happen that a sick person, after making a confession of
his sins, is approaching the end, then the same priest who brings
Viaticum can also carry with him the oil of the sick. Yet if another
priest or a deacon is available, the holy oil should be carried by
him. Vested in surplice and carrying the holy oil concealed, he
accompanies the priest who bears the holy Viaticum. And after the sick
person has received Viaticum he is anointed by the priest.
15. Five parts of the body chiefly must be anointed, the ones with
which man is endowed by nature as the organs of sensation, namely,
eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and hands. Yet the feet likewise are to be
anointed, although this anointing may be omitted for any good reason.
The anointings, except for some serious cause, must be made directly
by the hand of the minister and not applied with some instrument.
16. Whereas the hands of the laity must be anointed on the palms, a
priest's hands are anointed on the back.
17. At the anointing of the eyes, ears, and the other organs which are
double, the priest must take care lest, while anointing one of these
parts, he should happen to complete the form of the sacrament before
he has anointed both organs.
18. If a person is lacking one of these bodily members, the part
nearest it is to be anointed, with the use of the same form.
19. The form of this sacrament used by the Church of Rome is the
solemn deprecatory form which the priest uses at each anointing,
saying: "By this holy anointing and by His most tender mercy may the
Lord forgive you all the evil you have done through the power of sight
or hearing," etc. R: Amen.
20. In an emergency an anointing of only one of the senses suffices,
or the forehead only may be anointed, the minister using the shorter
form: "By this holy anointing may the Lord forgive you all the evil
you have done." R: Amen. But the obligation of supplying all
anointings remains (see no. 12) when the danger later ceases.
21. Whenever this sacrament is administered to several sick persons at
the same time, the priest presents the crucifix to each one to be
kissed, recites once all prayers that precede the anointings, anoints
each individually with the respective forms, and then says only once
all the prayers that follow the anointings.
The following additional directives are given in the new "Instruction"
of September 26, 1964:
no. 68. When anointing of the sick and Viaticum are administered at
the same time, unless a continuous rite is already found in a
particular Ritual, the rite is to be arranged as follows: after the
sprinkling with holy water and the entrance prayers given in the rite
of anointing (see Rite for Anointing of the Sick), the priest hears
the confession of the sick person, if necessary, then administers the
anointing (see Invocation of the Trinity and Anointings), and then
gives Viaticum (see Rite for Communion for the Sick), omitting the
sprinkling with its formulas and the Confiteor and absolution.
If, however, the apostolic blessing with plenary indulgence at the
hour of death is to be imparted on the same occasion, it takes place
immediately before the anointing, omitting the sprinkling with its
formulas and the Confiteor and absolution (see Rite of the Apostolic
Blessing with the Plenary Indulgence at the Hour of Death).
CHAPTER II: RITE FOR ANOINTING OF THE SICK
{The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy says that, "in addition to the
separate rites for anointing of the sick and for Viaticum a continuous
rite will be prepared according to which the sick person is anointed
after he has made his confession and before he receives Viaticum." And
now--just before we go to press--the new "Instruction" of September
26, 1964, gives the rules for a continuous rite (see Rules for
Administering Anointing of the Sick). Then at his discretion and
depending on circumstances he may add prayers from the part dealing
with the care of the sick, the apostolic blessing in the hour of
death, and prayers for the dying. Although rubric no. 1 below does not
require them, certainly it is proper to include among the
appurtenances on the table a crucifix, two lighted candles, etc.}
1. As he is about to confer the sacrament of anointing of the sick the
priest should see to it, if at all possible, that the following
preparations are made. There should be in the sick-room a table
covered with a white cloth; and on it a container with cotton or
similar material made into six separate pellets for wiping the parts
anointed, a small piece Of bread for cleansing the priest's fingers,
and a bowl for washing his hands; a wax candle to be ignited later to
give light to the priest as he performs the anointings In fine, it
shall be his concern that everything is as clean and orderly as
possible for the administration of this sacrament.
2. Then the clerics or servers are summoned, or at least one cleric to
carry the cross (one without a staff, not the processional cross),
holy water and aspersory, and the Ritual. The priest himself
reverently takes the vessel containing the oil of the sick (encased in
a silk cover of purple color), and bears it carefully so that it will
not spill. If the journey is long or is to be made on horseback
(sic!), or if there is any danger whatever of spilling the holy oil,
the vessel enclosed in the sack or burse as already stated should be
suspended from the neck so that it can be carried more easily and
securely. No bells are rung in the course of the journey.
Introductory Prayers
The three introductory prayers that follow are very much the same as
those ordinarily used for a priest's visit to the home of a sick
person. They are preceded by the peace-greeting, the sacramental of
sprinkling with holy water, which commonly is a reminder of baptism
and an occasion for renewing the baptismal promises, confession if the
person wishes to confess, and a little sermon in which the priest
offers some consoling thoughts along with a summary of the nature and
effects of the sacrament of the sick (see the introduction). If time
permits the priest may choose to read one of the psalms and one or the
other gospel passages taken from the rite of visitation and care of
the sick.
3. Arriving at the place where the sick person is confined, the priest
on entering the room says:
P: God's peace be in this home.
All: And in all who live here.
4. The priest places the holy oil on the table, and then vests in
surplice and stole. Next he presents a crucifix to be devoutly kissed
by the sick person. After that he sprinkles holy water in the form of
a cross on the patient, the room, and the bystanders, saying:
Purify me with hyssop, Lord, and I shall be clean of sin. Wash me, and
I shall be whiter than snow. Have mercy on me, God, in your great
kindness. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy
Spirit.
All: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world
without end. Amen.
P: Purify me with hyssop, Lord, and I shall be clean of sin. Wash me,
and I shall be whiter than snow.
If the patient wishes to go to confession, he hears his confession and
absolves him. Then he speaks words of consolation to him and if time
permits briefly explains the power and efficacy of this sacrament.
When advisable he adds words of encouragement and directs the
patient's thoughts to hope of everlasting life.
5. Next he says:
P: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
All: Who made heaven and earth.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
The plural form used in the next prayer is by no means the majestic
plural but a relic of the days when a number of priests assisted. Now
it can refer to those who assist the priest.
Let us pray.
Lord Jesus Christ, as we, in all humility, enter this home, let there
enter with us abiding happiness and God's choicest blessings. Let
serene joy pervade this home and charity abound here and health never
fail. Let no evil spirits approach this place but drive them far away.
Let your angels of peace take over and put down all wicked strife.
Teach us, O Lord, to recognize the grandeur of your holy name.
Sanctify our humble visit and bless + what we are about to do; you who
are holy, you who are kind, you who abide with the Father and the Holy
Spirit forever and ever.
All: Amen.
Let us pray and beseech our Lord Jesus Christ to bless this dwelling
more and more and all who live in it. May He give them an able
guardian angel. May He prompt them to serve Him and to ponder the
wonders of His law. May He ward off all diabolical powers from them,
deliver them from all fear and anxiety, and keep them in good health
in this dwelling; He who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy
Spirit, forever and ever.
All: Amen.
Let us pray.
Hear us, holy Lord Father, almighty everlasting God, and in your
goodness send your holy angel from heaven to watch over and protect
all who live in this home, to be with them and give them comfort and
encouragement; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
6. If time does not permit, all or part of the foregoing prayers may
be omitted. Next comes as usual the general confession of sins
(Confiteor), after which the priest says:
May almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you your sins, and lead
you to everlasting life.
All: Amen.
P: May the almighty and merciful Lord grant you pardon, absolution, +
and remission of your sins.
All: Amen.
Invocation of the Trinity and Anointings
Rubric no. 7 directs the bystanders to recite the penitential psalms
and Litany of the Saints while the priest is performing the
anointings. This was well advised in former days when the prayers and
forms were said in Latin. In our present practice it is surely
preferable to have the people listen to the stately official prayers
and make the responses as indicated.
7. Before the priest begins to anoint the sick person he invites all
present to pray for him. And if circumstances are favorable and those
present are able to do so they should recite the seven penitential
psalms and Litany of the Saints or other prayers while the priest
administers the sacrament. First the priest extends his right hand
over the head of the sick person, saying:
In the name of the Father, + and of the Son, + and of the Holy +
Spirit; may any power the devil has over you be destroyed by the
laying-on of our hands and by calling on the glorious and blessed
Virgin Mary, Mother of God, her illustrious spouse, St. Joseph, and
all holy angels, archangels, patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs,
confessors, virgins, and all the saints.
All: Amen.
8. Next he dips his thumb in the holy oil, and anoints the sick person
in the form of a cross on all bodily members indicated below,
pronouncing in each instance the respective form as follows:*
* In the case of bodily members which are double, the right organ is
anointed at the place indicated in the form by the +, and the left
organ before the remaining words are completed.--Trans.
Anointing the Eyes (on the eyelids)
By this holy anointing + and by His most tender mercy may the Lord
forgive you all the evil you have done through the power of sight.
All: Amen.
9. After every anointing the assistant, provided he is in holy orders,
otherwise the priest himself, wipes the part anointed with a fresh
pellet of cotton or similar material. These pellets are deposited in a
clean receptacle and later taken to church where they are burned and
the ashes thrown into the sacrarium.
Anointing the Ears (on the lobes)
By this holy anointing + and by His most tender mercy may the Lord
forgive you all the evil you have done through the power of hearing.
All: Amen.
Anointing the Nose (on each nostril)
By this holy anointing + and by His most tender mercy may the Lord
forgive you all the evil you have done through the sense of smell.
All: Amen.
Anointing the Mouth (on closed lips)
By this holy anointing + and by His most tender mercy may the Lord
forgive you all the evil you have done through the sense of taste and
the power of speech.
All: Amen.
Anointing the Hands (on the palms)
By this holy anointing + and by His most tender mercy may the Lord
forgive you all the evil you have done through the sense of touch.
All: Amen.
10. Note as said above that priests are anointed on the back of the
hands, not on the palms.
Anointing the Feet (either on the instep or sole)
By this holy anointing + and by His most tender mercy may the Lord
forgive you all the evil you have done through the ability to walk.
All: Amen.
11. The anointing of feet, as has been said, may be omitted for any
good reason.
12. When the priest has finished the anointings he rubs his thumb with
particles of bread, then washes his hands and wipes them with a towel.
The water used for this purpose together with the bread is later
thrown into the sacrarium, or for lack of such, into another decent
receptacle. Afterward the priest says:
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Our Father
(the rest inaudibly until:)
P: And lead us not into temptation.
All: But deliver us from evil.
P: Save your servant.
All: Who trusts in you, my God.
P: Lord, send him (her) aid from your holy place.
All: And watch over him (her) from Sion.
P: Let him (her) find in you, Lord, a fortified tower.
All: In the face of the enemy.
P: Let the enemy have no power over him (her).
All: And the son of iniquity be powerless to harm him (her).
P: Lord, heed my prayer.
All: And let my cry be heard by you.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
Let us pray.
Lord God, who spoke through your apostle James, "Is anyone of you
sick? He should call in the priests of the Church, and have them pray
over him, while they anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. That
prayer, said with faith, will save the sick person, and the Lord will
restore him to health. If he has committed sins, they will be forgiven
him." We beg you, our Redeemer, to cure by the grace of the Holy
Spirit this sick man's (woman's) infirmity. Heal his (her) wounds, and
forgive his (her) sins. Rid him (her) of all pain of body and mind.
Restore him (her), in your mercy, to full health of body and soul, so
that having recovered by your goodness, he (she) may take up his (her)
former duties. We ask this of you who live and reign with the Father
and the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.
All: Amen.
Let us pray.
We entreat you, Lord, to look with favor on your servant, N., who is
weak and failing, and refresh the life you have created. Chastened by
suffering, may he (she) know that he (she) has been saved by your
healing; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
Let us pray.
Holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God, in pouring out the grace
of your blessing on the bodies of the sick, you show your loving care
for your creatures. And so now as we call on your holy name, come and
free your servant from his (her) illness and restore him (her) to
health; reach out your hand and raise him (her) up; strengthen him
(her) by your might; protect him (her) by your power; and give him
(her) back in all desired well-being to your holy Church; through
Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
13. Lastly, if the patient's condition allows, the priest may add a
few well-chosen words, inspiring him to resist the temptations of the
devil, and if death comes to expire peacefully in the Lord.
14. He should leave some holy water for the use of the sick person and
also a crucifix, unless he has one, so that he may often gaze on it
and devoutly kiss it and embrace it.
15. He should likewise instruct the family or the nurse to notify the
pastor immediately if the sick person gets worse or approaches the
last agony, so that the priest may be present to assist the dying and
commend his soul to God. But if death is imminent the priest should
say the prayers for the commendation of a departing soul before he
leaves the house.
16. All that pertains to the care and visitation of the sick, the
prayers for the dying, the commendation of a departing soul, and the
burial rites are found below in their proper place.
CHAPTER III: VISIT AND CARE OF THE SICK
1. A pastor must remember above all that the care of the sick is one
of the most important duties of his ministry. Immediately upon
learning that one of his parishioners is ill, without waiting to be
summoned, he ought to visit him of his own accord; and this not only
once but frequently throughout the duration of the illness. Moreover,
he should request his parishioners to inform him when one of them
takes ill, especially if the case is serious.
2. It will be helpful, particularly if the parish is a large one, to
have a list of the sick, so that he can keep posted on their condition
and readily keep them in mind, in order to be of proper assistance to
them.
3. If the pastor himself is legitimately prevented at times from
visiting his sick parishioners, for instance if they are numerous, he
will arrange to have other priests perform this ministry in his stead,
provided he has such assistants in the parish; at least this could be
done by some of the devout laity, persons filled with a spirit of
Christian charity.
4. When he visits the sick his demeanor should be sincere and
dignified, as becoming a priest of the Lord, so that he will edify by
word and example, not the sick alone, but the relatives and others as
well.
5. Let him give special attention to those that are destitute, who
require the charity and help of a kind and providing shepherd. If he
is unable to provide such needs for them out of his own resources, let
him turn for alms to his fellow men, either to some charitable
organization or society, if there is such in the community, or to
private sources.
6. But more than anything else, he should undertake the spiritual
ministration of the sick, giving all diligence to it, so that he may
direct them along the way of eternal salvation, and protect them with
weapons of the spirit against the onslaughts of the evil one.
7. Let him be so well prepared when he makes a sick call, that he will
always be enabled to speak to the person in convincing terms, using
especially examples from the lives of the saints, a practice which
proves most beneficial. Moreover, he will admonish the sick to place
all confidence in God, to repent of sin, to implore the divine mercy,
to bear patiently the pains of illness, believing them to be a
fatherly visitation from God and conducive to salvation, a means for
reforming his life.
8. Then he ought with becoming prudence and charity to induce the sick
person to go to confession, and hear his confession, even if it is the
latter's wish to make a general confession.
9. Besides, the priest should manifest real concern that nothing be
used or prescribed as a bodily remedy to the sick which would be
detrimental to spiritual well-being.
10. Whenever the condition of the sick person becomes critical, the
pastor should warn him not to be deceived in any way, whether by the
devil's wiles, or by the insincere assurances of the physician or
false encouragement of relatives and friends, so as to delay the
timely concern for his soul's welfare. On the contrary, he should be
urged to receive with due speed and devotion the holy sacraments,
while his mind is still sound and his senses intact, casting aside
that false and pernicious procrastination which has already brought
many to everlasting punishment and daily continues to do so through
the illusions of the devil.
11. Should it happen that one who is sick cannot be induced to confess
his sins, neither through the encouragement and admonition of the
clergy nor the advice of relatives and friends, still there is no
reason for total despair. But as long as he remains alive, various
effectual exhortations should be repeated to him, both by priests and
other pious folk, pointing out for his reflection the perils to his
eternal salvation and the horrors of everlasting death, but stressing
at the same time the unfathomable mercy of God, who invites him to
repentance and who is ever ready to forgive. Likewise, both private
and public prayer should be resorted to, in order to implore divine
grace for the salvation of this pitiable individual.
12. Moreover, the priest shall be on the lookout for any particular
temptations or false attitudes that might beset the sick person, and
wisely counteract them with suitable remedies as the case requires.
13. He should see to it that there are placed within sight of the
patient a crucifix, an image of the blessed Virgin Mary, and that of a
saint for whom he has a special devotion. Then too there should be at
hand a vessel with holy water to be used for frequent sprinklings of
the sick person.
14. And let the priest recite for him, as his condition allows, some
short prayers and pious affections, particularly verses of the psalms,
or the Lord's Prayer, the Hail Mary, the Creed. Or the priest may give
a meditation on our Lord's passion, or he may dwell on the sufferings
of the martyrs and the example of the saints, or the joys of eternal
blessedness. This, however, should be done discreetly and only if
opportune, so as to prove consoling and not aggravating to the person.
15. He should console the sick person by assuring him of a remembrance
in Mass and in his other prayers, mentioning that others will do
likewise, and then really fulfill the promise.
16. If the illness is serious and even critical, the priest should
advise the patient while he is still fully rational to put all his
affairs in good order and to make a will. Should it happen that he has
in his possession anything that belongs to another, he should be
induced to restore it. And for the good of his soul he ought to be
persuaded to bequeath some part of his substance for charitable
purposes; yet in suggesting this the priest should guard against any
indication of self-seeking.
17. Lastly the priest should admonish him that if he recovers he ought
before all else to betake himself to church, there to give thanks to
God for being restored in health and to receive holy communion. As a
final word let him be exhorted to lead a better life in the future.
18. The priest is at liberty to say or to omit the following prayers,
either in whole or in part, depending on the time at disposal or on
the condition of the patient.
19. On entering the sick-room the priest says first:
P: God's peace be in this home.
All: And in all who live here.
20. Next he sprinkles with holy water the sick person, the bed, and
the room, saying:
Purify me with hyssop, Lord, and I shall be clean of sin. Wash me, and
I shall be whiter than snow. Have mercy on me, God, in your great
kindness. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy
Spirit.
All: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world
without end. Amen.
P: Purify me with hyssop, Lord, and I shall be clean of sin. Wash me,
and I shall be whiter than snow.
Then he exercises his ministry toward the sick, according to the
directions given above. Having done so, or before he departs, he may
pray one of the first four of the penitential psalms (p 323) or psalm
90 (p. 227), adding in conclusion "Glory be to the Father," etc. Then
he continues:
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Our Father
(the rest inaudibly until:)
P: And lead us not into temptation.
All: But deliver us from evil.
P: Save your servant.
All: Who trusts in you, my God.
P: Lord, send him (her) aid from your holy place.
All: And watch over him (her) from Sion.
P: Let the enemy have no power over him (her).
All: And the son of iniquity be powerless to harm him her).
P: Let him (her) find in you, Lord, a fortified tower.
All: In the face of the enemy.
P: May the Lord console him (her).
All: On his (her) bed of suffering.
P: Lord, heed my prayer.
All: And let my cry be heard by you.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
Let us pray.
God, whose nature is ever merciful and forgiving, accept our prayer
that we and this servant of yours, who are bound by the fetters of
sin, may be pardoned by your loving kindness.
God, the divine healer of human infirmity, come in power to this
servant of yours in his (her) affliction, so that aided by your tender
mercy he (she) may be restored in perfect health to your Church.
We entreat you, Lord God, grant this servant of yours the enjoyment of
lasting health of body and mind; and by the glorious intercession of
blessed Mary, ever a Virgin, free him (her) from present sorrow and
give him (her) everlasting joy; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
P: May the blessing of almighty God, Father, Son, + and Holy Spirit,
come upon you and remain with you forever.
All: Amen.
He then sprinkles him (her) with holy water.
21. At this time the priest is at liberty to add any of the following
psalms, readings from the Gospel, and other prayers, depending on
circumstances as well as the devout wishes of the sick person: for
example, psalm 6, the first of the penitential psalms, or any of the
parts given below.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
P: A lesson from the holy Gospel according to St. Matthew.
All: Glory be to you, O Lord.
22. As the priest announces the lesson from the holy Gospel he signs
himself on the brow, mouth, and breast in the usual way; and he traces
the sign on the sick person in the same way if the person is a man and
is unable to do so himself.
23. If the person is a woman she should if possible make the
prescribed signs of the cross on herself in the afore-mentioned places
while the priest is signing himself. If she is unable to do so another
woman should do it for her. And this also applies in the other
readings from the Gospel.
Matthew 8.5-13
At that time when He returned to Capharnaum, a centurion approached
and appealed to Him in the following words: "Sir, my slave lies sick
at home; he is paralyzed and suffers frightfully." Jesus said to him:
"Am I to come and cure him?" By way of answer the centurion said:
"Sir, I am not fit to have you come under my roof. No, only utter a
word, and my slave will be cured. It is the same with me: I am only an
inferior officer, but have soldiers under me, and when I say to one,
'March,' he does it." On hearing this, Jesus was struck with
admiration, and said to the accompanying crowd: "I tell you frankly, I
have never found such lively faith anywhere in Israel! I tell you,
crowds of people will arrive from east and west and, in the company of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, will recline at table in the kingdom of
heaven, when, at the same time, the born citizens of the realm will be
hurled into the outer darkness. There it is that weeping and gnashing
of teeth will really be heard." Jesus then said to the centurion: "You
may go. In answer to your faith, your wish shall be granted." The
slave was cured that same hour.
Let us pray.
Almighty eternal God, everlasting salvation to those who believe in
you; graciously hear us on behalf of your sick servant, N., for whom
we beg your merciful aid, so that having recovered from his (her)
illness he (she) may give thanks to you in your Church; through Christ
our Lord.
All: Amen.
Psalm 15
P: Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge; * I say to the Lord, "My
Lord are you. Apart from you I have no good."
All: How wonderfully has He made me cherish * the holy ones who are in
His land!
P: They multiply their sorrows * who court other gods.
All: Blood libations to them I will not pour out, * nor will I take
their names upon my lips.
P: O Lord, my allotted portion and my cup, * it is you who hold fast
my lot.
All: For me the measuring lines have fallen on pleasant sites; * fair
to me indeed is my inheritance.
P: I bless the Lord who counsels me; * even in the night my heart
exhorts me.
All: I set the Lord ever before me; * with Him at my right hand I
shall not be disturbed.
P: Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoicing, * my body, too,
abides in confidence;
All: Because you will not abandon my soul to the nether world, * nor
will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.
P: You will show me the path to life, fullness of joys in your
presence, * the delights at your right hand forever.
All: Glory be to the Father.
P: As it was in the beginning.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May he also be with you.
P: A lesson from the holy Gospel according to St. Mark.
All: Glory be to you, O Lord.
Mark 16.14-18
At that time He appeared directly to the Eleven as they were reclining
at table, and reproved them for their unbelief and hardness of heart,
because they had not believed those who had seen Him risen from the
dead. He also said to them: "Go into the whole world and preach the
gospel to all creation. He that believes and is baptized will be
saved; he that does not believe will be condemned. And in the way of
proofs of their claims, the following will accompany those who
believe: in my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new
tongues; they will take up serpents in their hands, and if they drink
something deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on
the sick, and these will recover."
Let us pray. God of the heavenly powers, who at a word of command can
banish all weakness and infirmity from the human body, may it please
you to bend down in pity on N., your servant, so that freed from
illness, restored to strength, and fully recovered he (she) may offer
praise to your holy name; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
Psalm 19
P: The Lord answer you in time of distress; * the name of the God of
Jacob defend you!
All: May He send you help from the sanctuary, * from Sion may He
sustain you.
P: May He remember all your offerings * and graciously accept your
holocaust.
All: May He grant you what is in your heart * and fulfill your every
plan.
P: May we shout for joy at your victory and raise the standards in the
name of our God. * The Lord grant all your requests!
All: Now I know that the Lord has given victory to His anointed, *
that He has answered him from His holy heaven with the strength of His
victorious right hand.
P: Some are strong in chariots; some, in horses; * but we are strong
in the name of the Lord, our God.
All: Though they bow down and fall, * yet we stand erect and firm.
P: O Lord, grant victory to the king, * and answer us when we call
upon you.
All: Glory be to the Father.
P: As it was in the beginning.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
P: A lesson from the holy Gospel according to St. Luke:
All: Glory be to you, O Lord.
Luke 4.38-40
After leaving the synagogue, He entered Simon's house. Simon's mother-
in-law happened to be suffering from an acute attack of fever, and
they appealed to Him in her behalf. So He stood over her and sternly
rebuked the fever; and it left her. She rose immediately and waited on
them. When the sun went down, everybody interested in persons
suffering from various diseases brought them to Him. He laid His hands
on each one of them and cured them.
Let us pray.
Holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God, who by your gracious
outpouring of power can impart strength to the fragile human
condition, so that body and mind are made whole by your kind healing;
may it please you to be so disposed to this servant of yours, that
freed from all distress of bodily suffering he (she) may know once
more the blessing of perfect well-being; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
Psalm 85
P: Incline your ear, Lord; answer me, * for I am afflicted and poor.
All: Keep my life, for I am devoted to you; * save your servant who
trusts in you.
P: You are my God; have pity on me, Lord, * for to you I call all the
day.
All: Gladden the soul of your servant, * for to you, Lord, I lift up
my soul;
P: For you, Lord, are good and forgiving, * abounding in kindness to
all who call upon you.
All: Hearken, Lord, to my prayer * and attend to the sound of my
pleading.
P: In the day of my distress I call upon you, * for you will answer
me.
All: There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, * and there are no
works like yours.
P: All the nations you have made shall come and worship you, Lord, *
and glorify your name.
All: For you are great, and you do wondrous deeds; * you alone are
God.
P: Teach me, Lord, your way that I may walk in your truth; * direct my
heart that it may fear your name.
All: I will give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with all my heart, *
and I will glorify your name forever.
P: Great has been your kindness toward me; * you have rescued me from
the depths of the nether world.
All: God, the haughty have risen up against me, and the company of
fierce men seeks my life, * nor do they set you before their eyes.
P: But you, Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, * slow to anger,
abounding in kindness and fidelity.
All: Turn toward me, and have pity on me; * give your strength to your
servant, and save the son of your handmaid.
P: Give me a proof of your favor, that my enemies may see, to their
confusion, * that you, Lord, have helped and comforted me.
All: Glory be to the Father.
P: As it was in the beginning.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
P: A lesson from the holy Gospel according to St. John.
All: Glory be to you, O Lord.
John 5.1-14
At that time there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to
Jerusalem. There is a pool near the Sheepgate in Jerusalem which in
Aramaic is called Bethesda. It has five porticoes. In these a number
of bedridden invalids--blind, crippled, haggard people--were always
awaiting the motion of the water; for an angel of the Lord would
descend into the pool from time to time and stir the water; and the
first invalid then to go in after the stirring of the water would get
well, no matter with what disease he was afflicted. There was a man
there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus
caught sight of him lying on his mat, and learned of his long-standing
affliction, he said to him: "Would you like to get well?" "Why, sir,"
replied the invalid, "I have nobody to put me into the pool the moment
the water is stirred up, and by the time I get there, someone else has
gone down ahead of me." Jesus then said to him: "Stand up; take your
mat and walk." Immediately the man got well, took up his mat, and
walked. That day was a Sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had
been cured: "Today is a Sabbath. You are not allowed to carry the
mat." "But," he replied, "He who made me well also told me: 'Take up
your mat and walk.'" Then they asked him: "Who is the man who told you
to take up your mat and walk?" But the cured man did not know who He
was; for, since there was a crowd of people in the place, Jesus had
left unnoticed. Later Jesus met him in the temple and said to him:
"Listen; you are now well and strong. Do not sin any more, or
something worse may happen to you."
Let us pray.
Lord, look with favor on your servant who is weak and failing, and
refresh the life you have created. Chastened by suffering, may he
(she) know that he (she) has been saved by your healing; through
Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
Psalm 90
P: You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High, * who abide in the
shadow of the Almighty.
All: Say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress, * my God, in whom I
trust."
P: For He will rescue you from the snare of the fowler, * from the
destroying pestilence.
All: With His pinions He will cover you, and under His wings you shall
take refuge; * His faithfulness is a buckler and a shield.
P: You shall not fear the terror of the night * nor the arrow that
flies by day;
All: Not the pestilence that roams in darkness * nor the devastating
plague at noon.
P: Though a thousand fall at your side, ten thousand at your right
side, * it shall not come near you.
All: Rather with your eyes shall you behold * and see the requital of
the wicked,
P: Because you have the Lord for your refuge; * you have made the Most
High your stronghold.
All: No evil shall befall you, * nor shall affliction come near your
tent.
P: For to His Angels He has given command about you, * that they guard
you in all your ways.
All: Upon their hands they shall bear you up, * lest you dash your
foot against a stone.
P: You shall tread upon the asp and the viper; * you shall trample
down the lion and the dragon.
All: Because he clings to me, I will deliver him; * I will set him on
high because he acknowledges my name.
P: He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in
distress; * I will deliver him and glorify him;
All: With length of days I will gratify him * and will show him my
salvation.
P: Glory be to the Father.
All: As it was in the beginning.
Let us pray.
Almighty everlasting God, look down in mercy on the infirmity of your
servant, and reach out your majestic right hand to protect him (her);
through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
24. On finishing the last prayer the priest lays his hand on the head
of the sick person, saying:
They shall lay their hands upon the sick and all will be well with
them. May Jesus, Son of Mary, Lord and Savior of the world, through
the merits and intercession of His holy apostles Peter and Paul and
all His saints, show you favor and mercy.
All: Amen.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
P: The beginning of the holy Gospel according to St. John.
All: Glory be to you, O Lord.
John 1.1-14
When time began, the Word was there, and the Word was face to face
with God, and the Word was God. This Word, when time began, was face
to face with God. All things came into being through Him, and without
Him there came to be not one thing that has come to be. In Him was
life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the
darkness, and the darkness did not lay hold of it. There came upon the
scene a man, a messenger from God, whose name was John. This man came
to give testimony--to testify in behalf of the light--that all might
believe through him. He was not himself the light; he only was to
testify in behalf of the light. Meanwhile the true light, which
illumines every man, was making its entrance into the world. He was in
the world, and the world came to be through Him, and the world did not
acknowledge Him. He came into His home, and His own people did not
welcome Him. But to as many as welcomed Him He gave the power to
become children of God--those who believe in His name; who were born
not of blood, or of carnal desire, or of man's will; no, they were
born of God. (Genuflect here.) And the Word became man and lived among
us; and we have looked upon His glory--such a glory as befits the
Father's only-begotten Son--full of grace and truth!
All: Thanks be to God.
25. Lastly he blesses the sick person, saying:
May the blessing of almighty God, Father, Son, + and Holy Spirit, come
upon you and remain with you forever.
All: Amen.
Then he sprinkles the person with holy water.
26. All the preceding may be abbreviated at the discretion of the
priest.
CHAPTER IV: SPIRITUAL ASSISTANCE TO THE DYING
1. As the illness becomes more critical, the pastor will make his
visits to the sick person more frequent, being incessantly solicitous
for his eternal salvation. He will advise especially that he be called
at once when danger threatens, in order that he may be of assistance
to the dying at the necessary moment. Having administered holy
Viaticum and anointing of the sick, if death is imminent he will
immediately begin the prayers of commending a departing soul, as
explained below. But when time permits, he may first render the
following pious service, if he judges it expedient and the condition
of the patient warrants.
2. First, in order that the sick person may gain the indulgence
granted by lawful ecclesiastical authority, the priest reminds him of
this, and explains the conditions for gaining it--above all that he
invoke with contrite heart the all-holy name of Jesus, once or
repeatedly.
3. Then he recommends and encourages him to elicit, as long as he
remains conscious, the acts of faith, hope, and charity, and arouses
in him other virtuous dispositions, namely:
That he firmly believe all articles of faith, and all that the holy
Roman Catholic and apostolic Church believes and teaches;
that he have confidence that our Lord Jesus Christ, in His boundless
clemency will be merciful to him, and that through the merits of His
sacred passion and the intercession of Blessed Mary and all the
saints, he will come to possess life everlasting;
that he love the Lord God with his whole heart, and strive to love Him
with the same intensity of the saints and blessed;
that for the love of God he have heartfelt sorrow for every offense
committed against God and neighbor;
that for the love of God he charitably forgive all who have offended
him or have been inimical to him;
that he ask pardon of all whom he has offended in word or deed;
that in resignation to God's will and as penance for his sins he bear
patiently all suffering and the burden of sickness;
that if the Lord be gracious enough to restore his health, he purpose
in future to guard against sin with all his power, and keep the
commandments of God.
4. He will encourage him, moreover, to pray as well as he can the
following ejaculations from time to time, at least mentally:
Have mercy on me, God, according to your great kindness.
In you, Lord, I have trusted; let me never be confounded.
Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit; you have redeemed me, Lord
God, ever faithful.
Be pleased, O God, to set me free; make haste, O Lord, to help me.
Be to me, Lord, a divine protector.
God, be merciful to me a sinner.
O most loving Lord Jesus Christ, by the power of your sacred passion
receive me into the company of your elect.
Lord Jesus Christ, receive my spirit.
Mary, Mother of God, Mother of mercy, defend me from the evil foe, and
receive me in the hour of my death.
Holy angel of God, be my guardian.
All holy angels and saints, intercede for me and hasten to help me.
5. These and like words can be spoken to the dying person by the
compassionate priest, depending on the person's ability to understand.
CHAPTER V: RITE OF THE APOSTOLIC BLESSING WITH PLENARY INDULGENCE AT
THE HOUR OF DEATH
1. The apostolic blessing with plenary indulgence at the hour of death
should be imparted, following the reception of the last sacraments, to
those who desire it while still rational and conscious. It may likewise
be granted to anyone who has given any indication of such desire, or
who has seemed contrite before becoming unconscious or irrational. But
it must be denied absolutely to the excommunicated, the impenitent, or
those who die in patent mortal sin.
2. The pastor or another priest who assists the sick person, vested in
surplice and purple stole, on entering the room where the sick person
lies, says:
P: God's peace be in this home.
All: And in all who live here.
Next he sprinkles the sick person, the room, and the bystanders with
holy water, saying:
Purify me with hyssop, Lord, and I shall be clean of sin. Wash me, and
I shall be whiter than snow. Have mercy on me, God, in your great
kindness. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy
Spirit.
All: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world
without end. Amen.
P: Purify me with hyssop, Lord, and I shall be clean of sin. Wash me,
and I shall be whiter than snow.
3. If the sick person wishes to confess, the priest hears his
confession and absolves him. If not, he bids him make an act of
contrition, and if time permits, briefly instructs him on the power and
efficacy of this blessing. He then exhorts him to invoke the holy name
of Jesus, to bear his sufferings patiently in expiation for past sins,
to resign himself fully to God's holy will, even to the extent of
accepting death resignedly in satisfaction for punishment due to sin.
4. The priest consoles him, instilling confidence that by the divine
bounty he will receive remission of temporal punishment and everlasting
life.
5. Then he says:
P: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
All: Who made heaven and earth.
P: Do not keep in mind, O Lord, the offenses of your servant nor take
vengeance on his (her) sins. Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy. Our Father (the rest inaudibly until:)
P: And lead us not into temptation.
All: But deliver us from evil.
P: Save your servant.
All: Who trusts in you, my God.
P: Lord, heed my prayer.
All: And let my cry be heard by you.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
Let us pray.
Merciful God, kind Father, our sole comfort, who will that no one who
believes and trusts in you should perish, in your boundless love look
favorably on your servant, N., whom the true faith and Christian hope
commend to you. Come to him (her) with your saving power, and by the
suffering and death of your only-begotten Son, be pleased to grant him
(her) pardon and remission of all sins. Let his (her) soul at the hour
of its departure find in you a merciful judge, and cleansed of every
stain in the blood of your Son, let him (her) be found worthy of
passing into everlasting life; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
6. After the "Confiteor" has been said by one of the assistants, the
priest says May almighty God, etc. May the almighty and merciful Lord,
etc. Then he continues:
May our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave to His blessed apostle Peter the
power of binding and loosing, mercifully accept your confession and
restore your baptismal innocence. And I, by the power given to me by
the Holy See, grant you a plenary indulgence and remission of all sins;
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit.
All: Amen.
P: By the sacred mysteries of mankind's restoration may almighty God
remit for you the punishment of the present life and of the life to
come, and may He open to you the gates of Paradise and admit you to
everlasting happiness.
All: Amen.
P: May almighty God, Father, Son, + and Holy Spirit, bless you.
All: Amen.
7. But if the dying person is so near death that time does not allow
the Confiteor or the foregoing prayers, the priest imparts the blessing
at once, saying:
By the authority granted me by the Holy See, I impart to you a plenary
indulgence and the remission of all sins; in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit.
All: Amen.
P: By the sacred mysteries, etc.; may almighty God, etc., as above.
In dire urgency it suffices to say:
By the authority granted me by the Holy See, I impart to you a plenary
indulgence and the remission of all your sins; and I bless you in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit.
All: Amen.
8. If this blessing is given to more than one the above prayers arc
said only once for all in common.
9. With the greatest fervor the priest should add the prayers given
below in the rite for commending a departing soul: and he should exhort
the bystanders to pray for the dying person.
CHAPTER VI
RITE FOR COMMENDING
A DEPARTING SOUL TO GOD
1. Whenever a pastor goes to carry out the ceremony of commending a
departing soul, he should if possible be assisted by at least another
cleric. The latter will carry the vessel with holy water, a surplice,
and a purple stole. Arriving at the sick-room, the priest puts on the
surplice and stole, and then entering the room says:
P: God's peace be in this home.
All: And in all who live here.
Next he sprinkles the sick person, the room, and the bystanders with
holy water, saying the antiphon:
Purify me with hyssop, Lord, and I shall be clean of sin. Wash me, and
I shall be whiter than snow.
2. Then he presents a crucifix to the dying person to be kissed, and at
the same time says a few words to him of hope for eternal salvation.
Moreover, he places the crucifix within sight of the patient, so that
gazing on it he may take comfort from the hope which it symbolizes.
3. Then a candle is lighted. The priest and all the bystanders kneel
and pray the short litany as follows:
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Holy Mary, pray for him (her).
All holy angels and archangels, pray, etc.
Holy Abel,
All choirs of the just,
Holy Abraham,
St. John the Baptist,
St. Joseph,
All holy patriarchs and
prophets,
St. Peter,
St. Paul,
St. Andrew,
St. John,
All holy apostles and evangelists,
All holy disciples of our Lord,
All holy Innocents,
St. Stephen,
St. Lawrence,
All holy martyrs,
St. Sylvester,
St. Gregory,
St. Augustine,
All holy bishops and confessors,
St. Benedict,
St. Francis,
St. Camillus,
St. John of God,
St. Mary Magdalen,
St. Lucy,
All holy monks and hermits
All holy virgins and widows,
All holy men and women, saints of God, intercede for him (her).
Be merciful, spare him (her), O Lord.
Be merciful, deliver him (her), O Lord.
Be merciful, deliver, etc.
From your wrath,
From the peril of death,
From an evil end,
From the pains of hell,
By your nativity,
By your cross and passion,
By your death and burial,
By your glorious resurrection,
By your wondrous ascension,
By the grace of the Holy Spirit, the Advocate,
On the day of judgment,
We sinners, beg you to hear us.
That you may spare him (her), we beg you to hear us.
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
4. And as the soul struggles in its death agony, the following prayers
are recited:
Depart, Christian soul, from this world, in the name of God the Father
almighty who created you; in the name of Jesus Christ, Son of the
living God, who suffered for you; in the name of the Holy Spirit who
sanctified you; in the name of the glorious and blessed Virgin Mary,
Mother of God; in the name of St. Joseph, her illustrious spouse; in
the name of the Angels and Archangels, Thrones and Dominations,
Principalities and Powers, Cherubim and Seraphim; in the name of the
patriarchs and prophets, the holy apostles and evangelists, the holy
martyrs and confessors, the holy monks and hermits; in the name of the
holy virgins and all the holy men and women of God. May you rest in
peace this day and your abode be in holy Sion; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
God of mercy, God of pity, in your great compassion you blot out the
sins of the penitent and cancel the debt of past misdeeds by your
gracious pardon. May it please you now to look with favor on your
servant, N., and hear him (her) as he (she) pleads for the forgiveness
of all his (her) sins, sincerely acknowledging them. All-merciful
Father, grant his (her) request, and refashion in him (her) whatever
has been marred by human frailty or defiled by the devil's treachery.
Unite to the one body of the Church this member whom you have redeemed.
Have pity, Lord, have pity for his (her) tears and sighs, for his (her)
only hope is in your mercy. Grant him (her) the grace of being
reconciled to you; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
I commend you, dear brother (sister), to almighty God, and entrust you
to Him whose creature you are. Having paid the debt of human nature in
surrendering your soul, may you return to your Maker who formed you out
of the dust of the earth. May your spirit, as it leaves the body, be
met by the noble company of angels. May the high court of the apostles
come forward to plead for you. May the victorious army of white-robed
martyrs welcome you. May the lily-white throng of glorious confessors
surround you. May the joyous choir of virgins escort you. May St.
Joseph, the tender patron of the dying, sustain you in high hope. May
the holy Virgin Mary, Mother of God, turn kindly eyes on you. May Jesus
Christ appear before you with gentle and joyous countenance, and
appoint a place for you in His presence forever. Far from you be all
the terror of darkness, the hiss of flames, the anguish of torment. Far
from you be the accursed Satan and his accomplices. Let him shrink
abashed into the vast chaos of everlasting night when you draw near
with your escort of angels. Let God arise and His enemies be scattered;
let those who hate Him flee at His coming! Let them vanish like smoke;
as wax melts before the fire, so let sinners perish before the face of
God, while the good triumph and make merry in His presence. Shame and
confusion come upon hell's legions, and let Satan's cohorts not dare to
bar your way. May Christ, who for your sake was crucified, deliver you
from torment. May Christ, who condescended to die for you, deliver you
from everlasting death. May Christ, Son of the living God, give you a
place in the ever verdant gardens of His Paradise, and may He, the true
shepherd, own you for one of His flock. May He absolve you from all
your sins, and place you at His right hand among His elect. May you see
your Redeemer face to face, and standing ever in His presence gaze with
delighted eyes on Truth itself made manifest. There take your place in
the ranks of the blessed, and enjoy the blessed vision of your God
forever.
All: Amen.
Receive your servant, Lord, into the place of salvation, for which he
(she) hopes because of your mercy.
All: Amen.
Deliver, O Lord, the soul of your servant from the perils of hell, the
snares of punishment, and every tribulation.
All: Amen.
Deliver, O Lord, the soul of your servant, as you delivered Enoch and
Elias from the death all men must die.
All: Amen.
Deliver, O Lord, the soul of your servant, as you delivered Noe from
the flood.
All: Amen.
Deliver, O Lord, the soul of your servant, as you delivered Abraham out
of Ur of the Chaldees.
All: Amen.
Deliver, O Lord, the soul of your servant, as you delivered Job from
his sufferings.
All: Amen.
Deliver, O Lord, the soul of your servant, as you delivered Isaac from
being sacrificed at the hand of his father, Abraham.
All: Amen.
Deliver, O Lord, the soul of your servant, as you delivered Lot from
Sodom and the flames of fire.
All: Amen.
Deliver, O Lord, the soul of your servant, as you delivered Moses from
the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.
All: Amen.
Deliver, O Lord, the soul of your servant, as you delivered Daniel from
the den of lions.
All: Amen.
Deliver, O Lord, the soul of your servant, as you delivered the three
young men from the fiery furnace and from the hands of the wicked king.
All: Amen.
Deliver, O Lord, the soul of your servant, as you delivered Susanna
from an unjust condemnation.
All: Amen.
Deliver, O Lord, the soul of your servant, as you delivered David from
the hands of King Saul and Goliath.
All: Amen.
Deliver, O Lord, the soul of your servant, as you delivered Peter and
Paul from prison.
All: Amen.
And as you delivered blessed Thecla, your virgin and martyr, from a
thrice frightful torment, so deliver the soul of this servant of yours,
and let him (her) rejoice with you in the good things of heaven.
All: Amen.
We commend to your keeping, O Lord, the soul of your servant, N., and
we beg you, Lord Jesus Christ, Savior of the world, who came on earth
for his (her) sake, to bear him (her) aloft to the bosom of the
patriarchs. Acknowledge him (her), Lord, as one of your own, not made
by strange gods but by you, the only true and living God. For there is
no other God than you, and nothing to compare with your works. Lord,
let his (her) soul find joy in your presence. Put out of mind his (her)
past transgressions and excesses which passion and desire engendered.
For although he (she) has sinned, yet he (she) has never denied the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but has believed, and has had zeal for
God's honor and faithfully worshipped God who created all things.
We beg you, O Lord, remember not the sins of his (her) youth, the
faults of ignorance, but in your mercy keep him (her) in mind in the
brightness of your glory. Let the heavens be opened to him (her), let
the angels rejoice with him (her). Lord, receive your servant into your
kingdom. Let him (her) be welcomed by St. Michael, the archangel of
God, who has won the leadership of the heavenly host. Let the holy
angels of God come to meet him (her) and lead him (her) into the
heavenly- city. Jerusalem. Let him (her) be received by the blessed
apostle, Peter, to whom God has entrusted the keys of the kingdom of
heaven. Let him (her) be helped by St. Paul, the apostle chosen to be
the herald of the Gospel. Let him (her) find an intercessor in St.
John. the beloved disciple of God, to whom were revealed heavenly
mysteries. Let all the holy apostles to whom our Lord gave the power of
binding and loosing pray for him (her). Let all the saints and elect of
God, who in this world endured great suffering for Christ, intercede
for him (her). Freed from the bonds of the flesh, may he (she) attain
the glory of the kingdom of heaven, through the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
forever and ever.
All: Amen.
May Mary the Virgin Mother of God, loving consoler of those in
distress, commend to her Son the soul of His servant, N., that by her
motherly intervention he (she) may escape the terrors of death, and in
her company gladly come to the longed-for home in heaven.
All: Amen.
I turn to you for refuge, Saint Joseph, patron of the dying, at whose
happy deathbed Jesus and Mary stood watch. By the love which they
pledged at your departure, I earnestly commend to you the soul of this
servant, N., in his (her) last agony, so that under your protecting
care he (she) may be delivered from the wiles of the devil and from
everlasting death and attain everlasting happiness; through Christ our
Lord.
All: Amen.
5. If the death agony is prolonged, the priest may read for the dying
person the following chapter from the Gospel according to St. John:
John 17.1-26
When Jesus had delivered this discourse, He raised His eyes to heaven
and said: "Father, the hour is come! Glorify your Son, that your Son
may glorify you. You have given Him authority over all mankind, that He
might give eternal life to all you have entrusted to Him. And this is
the sum of eternal life--their knowing you, the only true God, and your
ambassador Jesus Christ. "I have glorified you on earth by completing
the work you gave me to do. And now, for your part, Father, glorify me
in your bosom with the glory I possessed in your bosom before the world
existed. I have made your name known to the men whom you singled out
from the world and entrusted to me. Yours they were, and to me you have
entrusted them; and they cherish your message. Now they know that
whatever you have given me really comes from you; for the message you
have delivered to me I have delivered to them; and they have accepted
it. They really understand that I come from you, and they believe that
I am your ambassador.
I am offering a prayer for them; not for the world do I pray, but for
those whom you have entrusted to me; for yours they are. All that is
mine is yours, and yours is mine; and they are my crowning glory. I am
not long for this world; but they remain in the world; while I am about
to return to you. Holy Father! Keep them loyal to your name which you
have given me. May they be one as we are one. As long as I was with
them, I kept them loyal to your name. I shielded and sheltered the men
whom you have entrusted to me; and none of them is lost except the one
who chooses his own doom. And thus the Scripture was to be fulfilled!
But now I return to you, and I say this before I leave the world that
they may taste my joy made perfect within their souls. I have delivered
to them your message; and the world hates them, because they do not
belong to the world, just as I do not. I do not pray you to take them
out of world, but only to preserve them from its evil influence. The
world finds nothing kin in them, just as the world finds nothing kin in
me. Consecrate them to the service of the truth. Your message is truth.
As you have made me your ambassador to the world, so I am making them
my ambassadors to the world; and for their sake I consecrate myself,
that they, in turn, may in reality be consecrated.
However, I do not pray for them alone; I also pray for those who
through their preaching will believe in me. All are to be one;-just as
you, Father, are in me and I am in you, so they, too, are to be one in
us. The world must come to believe that I am your ambassador. The glory
you have bestowed on me I have bestowed on them, that they may be one
as we are one,--I in them and you in me. Thus their oneness will be
perfected.
The world must come to acknowledge that I am your ambassador, and that
you love them as you love me. O Father! I will that those whom you have
entrusted to me shall be at my side where I am: I want them to behold
my glory, the glory you bestowed on me because you loved me before the
world was founded. Just Father! The world does not know you, but I know
you, and thus these men have come to know that I am your ambassador. I
have made known to them your name, and will continue to make it known.
May the love with which you love me dwell in them as I dwell in them
myself."
The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. John
John 18 and 19
The band sent to seize Jesus
Here Jesus ended and, with His disciples, went out to a place beyond
the stream Cedron, where there was a garden. This He entered,
accompanied by His disciples. But Judas, His betrayer, was also
acquainted with the place--for Jesus had often resorted there with His
disciples and so, accompanied by the band of soldiers and servants sent
by the chief priests and the Pharisees, He went there with lanterns,
torches, and weapons. Jesus, who knew well what was awaiting Him, came
forward and said to them: "Who is it you are looking for?" "Jesus of
Nazareth," was their reply. Jesus said to them: "I am He!" Judas, His
betrayer, had taken His stand with them. The moment He said to them, "I
am He," they fell back and dropped to the ground. He then asked them a
second time: "Who is it you are looking for?" "Jesus of Nazareth," was
their reply. Jesus went on to say: "I told you I am He. Therefore,
since you are looking for me, let these men go unmolested." This
incident was to fulfill the statement He had made, namely: "Of those
you have entrusted to me, I have not lost a single one."
Then Simon Peter, who carried a sword, unsheathed it and, striking the
chief priest's servant, cut off his right ear. The name of the servant
was Malchus. "Put the sword back into the sheath," Jesus said to Peter;
"shall I not drink the cup which the Father has presented to me?" The
company of soldiers, led by the chief officer, and the attendants of
the Jews now arrested Jesus and fettered Him. They led Him first to
Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was the chief
priest of that year. Caiaphas was the man who had counseled the Jews
that it was to their advantage that one man should die to save the
nation.
Peter's first denial of Jesus
Simon Peter and another disciple had been following Jesus; but, while
the latter disciple, an acquaintance of the high priest, had gone along
with Jesus into the palace of the chief priest, Peter remained outside
at the door. So the other disciple, the acquaintance of the chief
priest, went out and, after speaking to the portress, brought Peter in.
Then the girl who was the portress said to Peter; "Are you, perhaps,
one of the disciples of that man?" "I am not," he replied. Meanwhile
the officers and the guards, who had made a coal fire, because it was
cold, were loitering about and warming themselves. Peter also wanted to
warm himself, and so he mingled with the group.
Jesus struck by a guard
The chief priest now questioned Jesus about His disciples and about His
teaching. "I have spoken openly," replied Jesus, "where all the world
could listen. I have always taught at synagogue meetings and in the
temple, where all the Jews are wont to meet. I have said nothing in
secret. Why do you question me? Question those who heard what I said.
You see, they know what I said." No sooner had Jesus said this than one
of the guards who stood by, gave Him a blow in the face and said: "Is
this the way you answer the chief priest?" Jesus protested. "If I was
wrong in speaking this way," He said to him, "then prove me wrong; but
if I was right, then why do you strike me?" The result was that Annas
sent Him fettered to Caiaphas the chief priest.
Peter's second and third denials of Jesus
Simon Peter was still lingering about, warming himself. "Are you,
perhaps, one of His disciples?" he was asked. He denied it and said: "I
am not." Then one of the servants of the chief priests, a relative of
the one whose ear Peter had cut off, said: "Did I not see you in the
garden with Him?" Again Peter denied it; and immediately a cock crowed.
They next led Jesus from Caiaphas to the praetorium. It was early
morning. They themselves did not enter the praetorium to avoid being
defiled, since they wanted to eat the paschal supper. Pilate therefore
came out to face them. "What charge," he said, "do you bring against
that man?" By way of answer they replied: "If this man were not a
criminal, we should not have handed Him over to you." "Then take Him in
charge yourselves," Pilate said to them, "and try Him by your law." "We
have no power," the Jews rejoined, "to put anyone to death." This
incident was to fulfill the statement Jesus had made when indicating
the kind of death He was to die.
The trial of Jesus before Pilate
Pilate then went back into the praetorium and summoned Jesus. "Are you
the King of the Jews?" he asked Him. Jesus answered: "Do you ask this
question from personal observation, or have others spoken to you about
me?" "Am I a Jew?" replied Pilate. "Your own nation and the chief
priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?" "My kingdom,"
Jesus explained, "is not a worldly one. If mine were a worldly kingdom,
my subjects would exert themselves to prevent my being surrendered to
the Jews. As it is, my kingdom is not of an earthly character." "Then
you are a king after all!" Pilate said to Him. "You are right," replied
Jesus; "I am a king. For this purpose I was born, and for this purpose
I came into the world--to give testimony to the truth. Only he who is
open to the truth gives ear to my voice." "What is truth?" Pilate said
to Him, and with that went outside again to face the Jews. He said to
them: "I find no guilt in Him. It is a custom among you that I release
someone at your request at the Passover. Do you want me, therefore, to
release as your choice the King of the Jews?" Back came their shout:
"No; not this man, but Barabbas." Barabbas was a robber.
Pilate attempts to appease the Jews
Then Pilate took Jesus in charge and had Him scourged. The soldiers
also plaited a crown of thorns and put it on His head; besides, they
threw a purple cloak round Him and, marching up, saluted Him: "Long
live the King of the Jews!" They also slapped Him in the face. Pilate
went outside once more and said to the crowd: "Now look! I am bringing
Him out to you, and you must understand that I find no guilt in Him!"
Jesus, therefore, came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple
cloak. "Here is the man!" Pilate said to them. But when the chief
priests and their underlings saw Him, they burst out shouting: "To the
cross! To the cross!" "Then take Him in charge yourselves and crucify
Him," Pilate said to them; "I certainly find no guilt in Him." "We have
a Law," countered the Jews, "and according to the Law He must die, for
He has declared Himself the Son of God."
Pilate surrenders Jesus for crucifixion
The result was that, when Pilate heard this kind of language, he was
still more alarmed. He re-entered the praetorium and said to Jesus:
"Whence are you?" But Jesus gave him no answer. "You will not speak to
me?" Pilate said to Him; "Do you not know that I have power to set you
free and power to crucify you?" "You have no power whatever to harm
me," replied Jesus, "unless it is granted to you from above. That is
why he who surrendered me to you is guilty of a graver offense." As a
result, Pilate was anxious to release Him; but the Jews kept shouting:
"If you release this man, you are not a friend of Caesar. Anyone who
declares himself a king renounces allegiance to Caesar." Pilate
accordingly, on hearing such language, had Jesus led out, and seated
himself on the judge's bench at a place called Lithostrotos, or in
Hebrew Gabbatha. It was the Day of Preparation for the Passover. The
time was about noon. He then said to the Jews: "Look, there is your
king!" Then they shouted: "Away with Him! Away with Him! Crucify Him!"
"Your king am I to crucify?" Pilate replied. The high priests answered:
"We have no king but Caesar!" Then at last he handed Him over to them
for crucifixion. And so they took Jesus in charge.
Jesus the Nazarene, king of the Jews
Carrying His own cross, He went out to the place called Skull's Mound,
which is the rendering of the Hebrew, Golgotha. Here they crucified
Him, and two others at the same time, one on one side, one on the
other, while Jesus was in the center. Pilate also had a notice
inscribed and posted on the cross. The inscription ran as follows:
"Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews." Many of the Jews read this
notice, since the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. It
was drawn up in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. The chief priests of the
Jews, therefore, said to Pilate: "Do not let your inscription be, 'King
of the Jews,' but: 'He said, I am the king of the Jews.' " Pilate
replied: "My inscription stands!"
The soldiers distribute His clothes among themselves
When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took His clothes and made
four parts of them, one for each soldier, besides the tunic. This tunic
was seamless, woven from top to bottom in a single piece. So they said
to one another: "Do not let us tear it. Rather, let us draw lots for
it, to see to whom it shall belong." Thus the Scripture text was to be
fulfilled: "They distributed my clothes among them, and for my garment
they cast lots." This is what the soldiers did.
Jesus commits His mother to John
There stood beside the cross of Jesus His mother, His mother's sister,
Mary, the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen. Seeing His mother and
the disciple whom He loved standing by, Jesus said to His mother:
"Mother, this is your son." He then said to the disciple: "This is your
mother." That same hour the disciple took her into his home. After
this, knowing that all the details would presently be completed so as
to fulfill the Scripture, Jesus said: "I am thirsty." A jar containing
sour wine was standing there; so a sponge soaked in the sour wine was
put on a stalk of hyssop and reached up to His lips. As soon as Jesus
had taken the sour wine, He said: "It is now completed." And He bowed
His head and surrendered His spirit.
Jesus' side pierced with a lance
Since it was Preparation Day, the Jews did not wish the corpses to
remain on the crosses during the Sabbath, for that Sabbath was a holy
day; so they requested Pilate to order that the men's legs should be
broken and the bodies removed. Accordingly, the soldiers came and broke
the legs both of the one and of the other that were crucified with Him.
When they came to Jesus, they saw that He was already dead. So they did
not break His legs, but one of the soldiers pierced His side with a
lance, and immediately there came out blood and water. This statement
is the testimony of an eyewitness. His testimony is true, and he knows
that he is speaking the truth, so that you, too, may believe. In fact,
these incidents took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: "Not
a bone of His shall be broken." And still another Scripture text says:
"They will look upon Him whom they have pierced."
The burial of Jesus
After this, Joseph of Arimathea, a disciple of Jesus, though but a
secret one because of his fear of the Jews, petitioned Pilate for
permission to remove the body of Jesus, which Pilate granted. So he
came and removed His body. Also Nicodemus, the man who had at first
visited Jesus by night, appeared on the scene, bringing with him a
mixture of myrrh and aloe, of about one hundred pounds. They took the
body of Jesus and wrapped it in a shroud along with the spices, in
accordance with the Jewish custom of burying. There was a garden at the
place where Jesus was crucified, and in the garden was a fresh tomb, in
which no one had as yet been laid to rest. Here, then, because it was
the Preparation Day of the Jews and the tomb was close by, they laid
Jesus to rest.
6. Prayer to our Lord Jesus Christ, contemplating the various steps of
His passion; to be said either by the dying or by another in his stead:
P: We adore you, Christ, and we bless you.
All: For by your holy cross you redeemed the world.
O God, in order to redeem the world, you willed to be born of a woman
and to submit to circumcision; to be repudiated by the Jews and
betrayed with a kiss by the traitor, Judas; to be bound in chains and
led like an innocent lamb to the slaughter; to be made a shameful
spectacle before Annas, Caiaphas, Pilate, and Herod; to be accused by
false witnesses, tortured by scourging and mockery, spat upon, crowned
with thorns, whipped and struck with a reed, blindfolded, stripped of
your garments, nailed to the cross and raised up on it, reckoned among
robbers, your thirst slaked with vinegar and gall, your side pierced
with a lance. Lord, by your holy sufferings, which I, unworthy as I am,
recall to mind, and by your holy cross and death, deliver me (or if
another says the prayer for the dying person: deliver your servant, N.)
from the pains of hell, and lead me (him) (her) to Paradise, as you led
the good thief who was crucified with you. We ask this of you who live
and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and ever.
All: Amen.
The following psalms may be added:
Psalm 117
P: Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, * for His mercy endures
forever.
All: Let the house of Israel say, * "His mercy endures forever."
P: Let the house of Aaron say, * "His mercy endures forever."
All: Let those who fear the Lord say, * "His mercy endures forever."
P: In my straits I called upon the Lord; * the Lord answered me and set
me free.
All: The Lord is with me; I fear not; * what can man do against me?
P: The Lord is with me to help me, * and I shall look down upon my
foes.
All: It is better to take refuge in the Lord * than to trust in man.
P: It is better to take refuge in the Lord * than to trust in princes.
All: All the nations encompassed me; * in the name of the Lord I
crushed them.
P: They encompassed me on every side; * in the name of the Lord I
crushed them.
All: They encompassed me like bees, they flared up like fire among
thorns; * in the name of the Lord I crushed them.
P: I was hard pressed and was falling * but the Lord helped me.
All: My strength and my courage is the Lord, * and He has been my
savior.
P: The joyful shout of victory * in the tents of the just:
All: "The right hand of the Lord has struck with power: the right hand
of the Lord has exalted me; * the right hand of the Lord has struck
with power."
P: I shall not die, but live, * and declare the works of the Lord.
All: Though the Lord has indeed chastised me, * yet he has not
delivered me to death.
P: Open to me the gates of justice; * I will enter them and give thanks
to the Lord.
All: This gate is the Lord's; * the just shall enter it.
P: I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me * and have been
my savior.
All: The stone which the builders rejected * has become the
cornerstone.
P: By the Lord has this been done; * it is wonderful in our eyes.
All: This is the day the Lord has made; * let us be glad and rejoice in
it.
P: O Lord, grant salvation! * O Lord, grant prosperity!
All: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; we bless you from
the house of the Lord. * The Lord is God, and He has given us light.
P: Join in procession with leafy boughs * up to the horns of the altar.
All: You are my God, and I give thanks to you; * my God, I extol you.
P: Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; * for His kindness endures
forever.
All: Glory be to the Father.
P: As it was in the beginning.
Psalm 118
P: Happy are they whose way is blameless, * who walk in the law of the
Lord.
All: Happy are they who observe His decrees, * who seek Him with all
their heart.
P: And do no wrong, * but walk in His ways.
All: You have commanded * that your precepts be diligently kept.
P: Oh, that I might be firm in the ways * of keeping your statutes!
All: Then should I not be put to shame *when I beheld all your
commands.
P: I will give you thanks with an upright heart, * when I have learned
your just ordinances.
All: I will keep your statutes; * do not utterly forsake me.
P: How shall a young man be faultless in his way? * By keeping to your
words.
All: With all my heart I seek you; * let me not stray from your
commands.
P: Within my heart I treasure your promise, * that I may not sin
against you.
All: Blessed are you, O Lord; * teach me your statutes.
P: With my lips I declare * all the ordinances of your mouth.
All: In the way of your decrees I rejoice, * as much as in all riches.
P: I will meditate on your precepts * and consider your ways.
All: In your statutes I will delight; * I will not forget your words.
P: Be good to your servant, that I may live * and keep your words.
All: Open my eyes, * that I may consider the wonders of your law.
P: I am a wayfarer of earth; * hide not your commands from me.
All: My soul is consumed * with longing for your ordinances at all
times.
P: You rebuke the proud; * cursed are they who turn away from your
commands.
All: Take away from me reproach and contempt, * for I observe your
decrees.
P: Though princes meet and talk against me, * your servant meditates on
your statutes.
All: Yes, your decrees are my delight; * they are my counselors.
P: I lie prostrate in the dust; * give me life according to your word.
All: I declared my ways, and you answered me; * teach me your statutes.
P: Make me understand the way of your precepts, * and I will meditate
on your wondrous deeds.
All: My soul weeps for sorrow; * strengthen me according to your words.
P: Remove me from the way of falsehood, * and favor me with your law.
All: The way of truth I have chosen; * I have set your ordinances
before me.
P: I cling to your decrees; * Lord, let me not be put to shame.
All: I will run the way of your commands * when you give me a docile
heart.
P: Glory be to the Father.
All: As it was in the beginning.
7. Three pious and helpful prayers for the dying together with the Our
Father and Hail Mary, to be said during the last agony:
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Our Father,
etc. Hail Mary, etc.
Lord Jesus Christ, by your sacred agony and by the prayer you offered
for us on Mt. Olivet, when your sweat became like drops of blood
trickling to the ground, I humbly implore you to offer up the flow of
that bloody sweat which poured from you in frightful anguish. Present
it to God, your almighty Father, in atonement for the many sins
committed by your servant, N. Deliver him (her) in the hour of his
(her) death from all the penalties and sufferings which he (she) fears
his (her) sins have deserved. We ask this of you who live and reign
with the Father and the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.
All: Amen.
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Our Father,
etc. Hail Mary, etc.
Lord, Jesus Christ, who for our sake submitted to a shameful death on
the cross, I humbly implore you to offer up all the bitter pain and
suffering you endured on the cross for us wretched sinners, especially
in the hour when your sacred soul left your sacred body. Present them
to God, your almighty Father, for the soul of your servant N. Deliver
him (her) in the hour of his (her) death from all the penalties and
sufferings which he (she) fears his (her) sins have deserved. We ask
this of you who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
God, forever and ever.
All: Amen.
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Our Father,
etc. Hail Mary, etc.
Lord Jesus Christ, who spoke by the mouth of the prophet: "I love you
with undying love; therefore I have pity on you and have drawn you to
myself"; I humbly implore you to offer up for the soul of your servant,
N., the very same charity which brought you down from heaven to earth,
to endure all those bitter sufferings of yours. Present them to God,
your almighty Father. Deliver him (her) from all the penalties and
sufferings which he (she) fears his (her) sins have deserved, and save
his (her) soul in this hour of his (her) departure. Open wide for him
(her) the gate of life, and let him (her) rejoice with your saints in
everlasting glory. Lord Jesus Christ, font of all mercy, who ransomed
us with your precious blood, take pity on the soul of your servant, and
graciously lead him (her) to the ever verdant beauty of Paradise. There
may he (she) live united with you in inseparable love? never to be
parted from you and your elect. We ask this of you who live and reign
with the Father and the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.
All: Amen.
CHAPTER VII: AT THE MOMENT OF DEATH
1. At the moment a person is departing this life, then especially
should all who are present kneel down and devote themselves to most
fervent prayer. The dying person himself should say if he can
(otherwise the priest or anyone present pronounces for him distinctly)
the words: "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!" This and the following aspirations
may be whispered in his ear from time to time, if it seems advisable:
Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
Lord, Jesus Christ, receive my spirit.
Holy Mary, pray for me.
Mary, Mother of grace, Mother of mercy, shield me from the enemy, and
receive me at the hour of my death.
St. Joseph, pray for me.
O blessed Joseph, with Mary, your virgin-wife, open to me the innermost
depths of divine mercy.
Jesus, Mary, Joseph, I give you my heart and my soul.
Jesus, Mary, Joseph, assist me in my last agony.
Jesus, Mary, Joseph, may I sleep and rest in peace with you.
2. Wherever it is custom, the bell of the parish church should be
tolled to announce to the faithful that someone is dying, so that they
may pray for the person.
3. When the soul has departed, the following is said immediately:
Come in haste to assist him (her), + you saints of God; Come in haste
to meet him (her), you angels of the Lord. * Enfold in your arms this
soul, + and take your burden heavenwards to the sight of the Most High.
V. May Christ receive you, for it was He who called you; And may angels
carry you unto Abraham's bosom.
R. Enfold in your arms this soul, * and take your burden heavenwards to
the sight of the Most High.
V. Lord, grant him (her) eternal rest, and let perpetual light shine
upon him (her).
R. Take your burden heavenwards to the sight of the Most High.
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Our Father (the rest inaudibly until:)
P: And lead us not into temptation.
All: But deliver us from evil.
P: Lord, grant him (her) eternal rest.
All: And let perpetual light shine upon him (her).
P: From the gates of hell.
All: Deliver his (her) soul, O Lord.
P: May he (she) rest in peace.
All: Amen.
P: Lord, heed my prayer.
All: And let my cry be heard by you.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
Let us prayer.
To you, O Lord, we commend the soul of your servant, N., that he (she)
who has departed this life may evermore live for you. In your all
merciful and loving forgiveness, blot out the sins which he (she) has
committed through human weakness; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
If the deceased was a priest, the title priest is added after his name.
4. Meanwhile the church bell should be tolled, if such is the custom,
so that those who hear it may pray for the departed. The body should be
laid out with due respect in a becoming place, and lights placed about
it. A small crucifix should be fixed in the hands of the corpse, with
the hands resting on the breast; or if a crucifix is not available, the
hands should be arranged in the form of a cross. The corpse is to be
sprinkled with holy water, and, until it is removed for burial, prayers
are to be said for its soul's welfare by those present, both clergy and
laity.
THE SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY
INTRODUCTION
Whatever regard Christian people have for marriage in this age and
whatever it proves to be in actual experience among the married, holy
matrimony in its very essence is part and parcel of the "new creation"
resulting from the espousal of God's eternal Son with His human
creatures. For the members of Christ it is above all else a sacrament,
and somewhat like the consecratory sacraments which imprint a
character, matrimony constitutes a Christian couple in a new
relationship to Christ and to His bride, the Church. An appreciation of
the meaning of this new relationship was never so imperative in
Christendom as now, in order that this state of life, so utterly
sublime and sacred in its total being, may be entered into with worthy
dispositions by the faithful, and once embraced, that their minds be
imbued with a right concept of the sacrament, and their wills intent on
achieving its noble purposes.
To extol Christian marriage by no means entails a disparagement of the
mystical marriage of celibates and consecrated virgins. The two states
are complementary; each is vitally necessary to the life of the
mystical body, hence each is essentially good. In the body of Christ
which is the Church, there is no place for Manichean dualism or its
attendant schools of thought, which, because they clove an unnatural
and un-Christian dichotomy between soul and body, considered it their
service and duty to denounce marriage as something impure. St.
Augustine set out to condemn their heresy, as well as to correct some
of the more orthodox among the Fathers who had held opinions closely
related to their error. Whether he succeeded completely can be
questioned. Read his tracts "On the Good of Marriage" and "On
Virginity"--does he not appear much too apologetic about the married
state? For a good Christian synthesis on the vocations to virginity and
marriage we shall have to look elsewhere, if it yet has been composed.
(Certainly, nothing of the kind can be attempted here.) That virginity
has the primacy is incontestable from the utterances of Christ,[1] St.
Paul,[2] and the Council of Trent.[3] Yet virginity should not be exalted
at the expense of its complementary. Both are holy because both are
ways of loving and serving God and of attaining to the heavenly
nuptials with Him.
Our Lord, when elevating matrimony to the dignity of a sacrament, did
not take hold of something mundane and lift it out of a thoroughly
unhallowed position, for He was dealing with an institution that was
intrinsically holy in its origin. As Leo XIII said: "Marriage had God
for its author, and has been even from the beginning a foreshadowing of
the incarnation of the Word of God."[4] Moreover, even after the Fall,
marriage remained "endowed with that blessing which alone was never
taken away, neither in punishment for original sin nor by the sentence
of the flood."[5] But after Adam's sin, man had made marriage a thing
more and more profane; hence, Christ had to restore it to its original
purity, as it was when "God created man to His own image; to the image
of God He created him; male and female He created them. And God blessed
them, saying: 'Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue
it.'"[6] He restored marriage to its onetime unity and indissolubility
which had been violated, even by the chosen people, and annexed to it
supernatural graces over and above the inherent goodness it had always
retained. Yet He did not stop here. He raised it infinitely,
transfiguring it in its whole being by making it the sacrament of His
sacred nuptials with the Church. Now as a sacrament Christian matrimony
is the concrete actualization, the offshoot of the mystical organism of
the Whole Christ, an "ecclesiola," the mystical body in miniature.
When St. Paul declares that "marriage is a great sacrament--I speak as
pointing to Christ and to the Church,"[7] he does not mean that it is a
simple image of the divine espousal, but a visible and effectual sign,
a replica which really participates in what it demonstrates. Sacraments
effect what they signify. Since the day the conjugal union was raised
to a sacrament, it is the mystical body itself, in the sense of being
its primary and simple basis. It is "Christ loving Himself." It is the
sacramental microcosm in imitation of the mystical macrocosm, the man
(as Christ), the woman (as the Church) in loving communion mutually
fostering and enriching themselves and begetting new offspring for the
kingdom of heaven. Marriage is a sacrament not merely because it is a
symbol of, but especially because it is a real participation in, the
sacramental nuptials of the incarnate God with His mystic bride.
If we seek for the meaning of marriage, nothing comes closer to
explaining it than to view it as a communion of love. Not, however,
love in any such trivial or loose or even vile sense as is oftentimes
bandied about. Let us recall that when St. John wished to tell the
first Christians about God, he could find no better way to describe Him
than to say that: "God is love (caritas); and who abides in love abides
in God, and God in him."[8] Love is at the basis of the community of life
which goes on between the Persons of the triune God. The Father's love
begets the Son, and from their mutual love proceeds the Holy Spirit.
Love is at the root of the incarnation: "God first loved us, and sent
His Son to be a propitiation for our sins."[9] The love of Christ is
communicated to that extension of Himself, the Church: "Christ also
loved the Church, and delivered Himself up for it; that He might
sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water in the word of life."[10]
And matrimony is a community of love: "So also ought men to love their
wives as their own bodies; he that loves his wife loves himself."[11]
Conjugal love before the coming of the Savior could in no way be a
symbol of the love within the Trinitarian community, nor could it be an
exemplar of the love of the Word incarnate for mankind. But when He
appeared in the flesh, and once He had made conjugal love into a
sacrament of the New Covenant, then did love in natural marriage, now
supernaturalized and divinized, become a concrete duplicate of that
divine charity which begot the Son of Mary and espoused Him to His
creatures. Marriage as a sacrament is not only a sacred thing but it is
a sanctifying thing, for as an effective sign it has entered into a
special union with Christ and with His life of grace. The sanctifying
process in Christian matrimony goes on and on, taking into its orbit
the spiritual and physical union, the mutual giving and surrender, all
the ecstasies and heartaches, the recompenses and sacrifices. "To this
purpose we may well ponder over the words of the saintly Robert
Cardinal Bellarmine, who along with other eminent theologians gives
expression to the devout conviction: 'The sacrament of matrimony can be
regarded in two ways, first in the making, and then in its permanent
state.' For it is a sacrament similar to the Eucharist, which is a
sacrament not only when it is being effected, but also as long as it
endures. For as long as the married parties are alive, so long is their
union a sacrament of Christ and the Church."[12]
The marriage union has a supernatural and sanctifying character because
it is rooted in the mystical union of Christ and the Church. In other
words, the parties who contract the union, the Christian man and woman
who administer the sacrament to each other, have already been
assimilated into the sacred nuptials of Christ and His mystic bride,
through their oneness with Him produced by the seal of baptism. And
now, upon the basis of union in the mystical body through baptism, they
will reproduce Christ's marriage through entering into another
sacramental alliance, by which the man takes the place of Christ, the
woman the place of the Church, and the two made one form a new branch
for extending the nature and the ends of that godly root from which it
has sprung. Objectively, whatever functions the bridal pair henceforth
perform, in so far as these functions pertain to the matrimonial state,
he does so in the name of Christ and in His stead, she does so in the
name of the Church and in her stead. Would that they might be at all
times conscious of this vicarious position! But consciously or not,
such is the objective reality brought about by the sacrament. The love
and devotion of their union in nature are submerged in love and
devotion of the supernatural wedding of Christ with the Church, and the
grace of the latter union flows into and permeates the former, both as
to its being as well as to its end. God's life enters into the married
pair in a very special manner, and His sustaining grace is with the
trust reposed in them.
God wills that the love of husband and wife be a fruitful one, even as
He wills that the love-union of His only-begotten Son with His body the
Church be fruitful. In the latter nuptials there is in progress a
continual interchange of love, devotion, and enrichment between the new
Adam and the new Eve, so that He with a divine ravishment ever seeks to
endow her with His personal treasures, to make her a bride without
blemish or wrinkle; and she in her subjection to Him is solicitous only
about adorning herself with all supernatural beauty as a bride for the
celestial bridegroom--engrossed in bringing all things under His gentle
dominion. Their union is rendered fruitful with many offspring, when
through the font of baptism, the womb of holy Mother Church, Christ
sends forth the Holy Spirit to re-create what nature has produced, and
thus a countless progeny is reborn into the bosom of God's household.
True to its prototype, the love-union of Christian husband and wife has
for its end their mutual animation, a heightening of their whole
personalities through the interchange of complementary gifts. "It is
not good for man to be alone; let us make him a help like to
himself."[13] Their union is in first place of a spiritual nature, the
knitting together of two persons whose very fibers differ in
consequence of being male and female, the divergence based not merely
on bodily distinctions, but also on a difference of psychological
properties. Marriage is above all a copulation of souls, two in one
spirit, as well as two in one flesh. In the beloved the other sees and
loves Christ, and all the giving and surrender that goes on between
them has for its purpose the solidifying and advancement of each other
in all that appertains to their happiness in this life and their
welfare in the life to come.
Hand in hand with mutual enrichment, holy matrimony is destined by its
Author for human fertility, that by the physical consummation of the
love-union, husband and wife can be co-creators with the Almighty of
new life upon earth and potential citizens for heaven. In fact, it is
in the physical consummation of marriage that the communion of love
reaches its perfect expression, for two reasons: first, because it is
one of the chief goods of marriage and, second, because hereby the
human race is perpetuated. In this connection St. Cyril of Alexandria
says: "Christ was invited to the wedding feast with His disciples, not
merely to take part in the rejoicing, but in order to work a miracle,
and to sanctify the act of human generation in its very source; so that
henceforth it is something other than a mere carnal union."[14] Just as
it is a serious crime against nature and against God to regard the
conjugal act as an end solely to sensual gratification, it is likewise
a serious distortion to recognize it exclusively as a vehicle for
procreation. To state, moreover, that it is a legitimate means for
satisfying concupiscence, is putting it in a very negative way, indeed;
besides it is at best an expression of a half-truth. Matrimony within
the Christian economy does not have its characteristic qualities
separated into sacred and profane, for Christ has sanctified and
sacramentalized it through and through. God has allotted the physical
element in marriage to the purpose of consolidating the love which
exists in the nobler realm of the spirit, and to the end of begetting
offspring, in which fruitfulness the union realizes its most profound
significance. Under the influence of grace, carnal knowledge in
matrimony is a good, a good which is pleasurable, a good which is
productive, a good which is sanctifying. Let us hold tight to the truth
that matrimony is a sacrament, and it is so, as Pius XI stated in the
quotation given above, not only when it is being effected, that is,
when the contract is ratified, but as long as it endures. Therefore,
its consummation especially is part of its sacramentality, because it
completes the signification of the intimate bond and total surrender
between Christ and the Church, and whatever is a sign of grace becomes
an effectual instrument of grace. All this, of course, provided it is
consummated in Christ (in the state of grace) and in the stead of
Christ and the Church (in a manner befitting Christians and for a holy
purpose).
Matrimony like all the sacraments has as its work the elevation of the
human race to a new and higher order of being in Christ. Supernaturally
consecrated and transfigured by grace, it has become the high vocation
to which a majority of Christ's members are called. If at times some
are found who view it as an "embarrassing sacrament," the fault lies in
a woeful misconception of the divine scheme of creation and redemption,
as it now unfolds itself under the Church's authorization and with the
seal of her sacramental powers. An attempt has been made here to show
the people of God what they are in consequence of receiving the
sacrament of matrimony. If married Christians will realize what they
are, the serious responsibilities of their vocation ought to be plain
to them.
--Translator
ENDNOTES
1 Mt 19. 11-12.
2. 1 Cor 7.
3. Denzinger, Sess. XXIV, Can. 10.
4. Encyclical, "Arcanum Divinae Sapientiae," Feb. 10, 1880.
5. Nuptial blessing in Roman Missal.
6. Gen 1.27-28.
7. Eph 5.32.
8. Jn 4.16.
9. Eph 5.25-26.
10. 1 Jn 4.10.
11. Eph 5.28.
12. Pius XI, Encyclical, "Casti Connubii," Dec. 31, 1930.
13. Gen 2.18
14. Commentarium in "Johannem," II, 1; quoted from Kothen: "Marriage
the Great Mystery," p. 8.
PART VII. MATRIMONY
CHAPTER I: GENERAL RULES FOR SOLEMNIZING MATRIMONY
1. When a pastor is informed that a marriage is to be contracted in his
parish, he will first of all ascertain from the parties concerned the
names and condition in life of the persons, and if any canonical
impediment exists in their case; if they are taking the step freely and
willingly and with right intention; if they are of proper age, the man
at least sixteen and the woman at least fourteen; and if they are
sufficiently instructed in Christian doctrine.
2. The pastor must know from Canon Law the impediments to matrimony,
those which render it illicit and those which render it null, and know
how to reckon the various degrees of consanguinity and affinity.
3. It is his duty to be well versed in all the laws which, according to
Canon Law, are to be observed for the proper celebration of marriage,
and to endeavor to have them fully carried out in his parish.
4. The pastor will bear in mind especially that a marriage ceremony
performed between a man and a woman who has been forcibly abducted for
marriage is wholly null and void, according to Canon Law, as long as
the victim remains in the power of her abductor. The same holds true
generally of marriages contracted without the presence of the parish
priest or the Ordinary or a priest delegated by either of the
aforesaid, and without at least two witnesses.
5. Although either a pastor or the local Ordinary, within the confines
of his territory, may assist validly at marriages, not only of his own
subjects but also of those who are not subjects, nevertheless, the Code
lays down that as a rule the marriage is to be contracted in the
presence of the bride's pastor, unless a just cause excuses therefrom;
in which case it ought to take place in the presence of the groom's
pastor. A marriage between Catholics who belong to different rites is
to be celebrated in the rite to which the groom belongs and in presence
of his parish priest, unless some special law provides otherwise.
6. Before a marriage is contracted the banns of matrimony must be
published by the pastor of each party concerned. The banns are to be
published on three successive Sundays or other feasts of precept, in
church and during the parochial Mass or other sacred functions at which
there is a large attendance of the faithful. However, the Ordinary may
substitute in place of the usual banns a public notice affixed to the
door of the parochial or another church. This notice will give the
names of the contracting parties, and is to remain there for a period
of at least eight days, including two on which the people are obliged
to assist at Mass.
7. If the man and woman belong to different parishes, the banns must be
published in each parish church.
8. The banns should be published in the following way. During the
parochial Mass or at some other sacred function, as explained above,
the parish priest makes the announcement to the people, using the
vernacular form:
"Be it known to all here present that N., son of N., of the parish of
N., and N., daughter of N., of the parish of N., intend to be united in
holy matrimony. Therefore, we hereby admonish each and all that, if
anyone of you has knowledge of an impediment existing which would
prevent their marrying, whether it be an impediment of blood
relationship, relationship through marriage, spiritual relationship, or
of any other kind, you are bound to make it known to the pastor or the
bishop as soon as possible. This is the first (or second, or third)
publication of the banns."
9. The proper local Ordinary of the parties concerned at his discretion
may dispense from the publication of the banns for a legitimate reason,
even if they were to have been published in another diocese.
If there is more than one bishop considered as "Ordinary," dispensation
from banns must be granted by the one in whose diocese the marriage
will take place, but if the marriage is to take place outside the
regular diocese, anyone of the proper Ordinaries can grant the
dispensation.
10. If some other pastor has tended to the inquiry about the freedom to
marry or to the publication of banns, he must at once send an official
notice of the results to the pastor who is supposed to assist at the
marriage.
11. Even after the investigation as to the status of freedom has been
made and the banns published, the pastor should not assist at the
marriage until he has received all necessary documents. Nor should he
do so before three days have elapsed since the final banns, unless a
sufficient reason prompts otherwise.
If the marriage does not take place within six months after the
publication of banns, these must be repeated, unless the Ordinary deems
otherwise.
12. Provided no impediment, whether doubtful or certain, has been
discovered, the pastor is to admit the parties to the solemnization of
marriage following the proclamation of banns.
13. Except in case of necessity, a pastor should never assist at the
marriage of strangers, that is, those who have no established domicile
or quasi-domicile anywhere, without first having referred the case to
the Ordinary or his delegate and received permission.
14. The pastor should not neglect to instruct the bridal couple, as
circumstances will demand, on the sanctity of this sacrament, their
mutual marital obligations, and the duties of parents toward their
offspring. And he will earnestly admonish them that they ought to
receive the sacraments of penance and holy Eucharist before their
marriage.
A Catholic who is not yet confirmed ought to receive confirmation
before entering the state of marriage, if this is possible without too
great inconvenience.
15. The parish priest will caution young people not to contract
marriage without the knowledge of or against the reasonable wishes of
their parents. And if they will not accede to this he is not allowed to
assist at their marriage until he has consulted the Ordinary.
16. The pastor should see to it that the bridal couple, after the
promises, receive the solemn nuptial blessing. This can be imparted
even after they have lived in the married state for some time. The new
rubrics of the Missal (no. 381b), as well as the new "Instruction" of
September 26, 1964, direct that the nuptial blessing within Mass must
be given by the priest who celebrates Mass, even if another priest has
presided over the marriage.
17. Nevertheless, the pastor should explain to the couple that the
nuptial blessing is simply a part of the ritual and solemnity of
marriage, and in no way belongs to its essence or validity. Such
explanation will be in order particularly in the case of converts, or
if the parties had been validly married before their conversion.
18. The rule formerly occurring under this number has been emended by
the new "Instruction" of September 26, 1964; viz.: the nuptial blessing
must always be imparted within the Mass, even in the prohibited season,
and even if one or both of the spouses is entering a second marriage.
19. A marriage of two Catholics should be celebrated in the parish
church, and only if the Ordinary or the pastor gives permission may it
be celebrated in another church or in a public or semipublic oratory.
The Ordinary may allow a marriage to be celebrated in a private home
only in some extraordinary case, and then there must always be a just
and reasonable cause for granting the permission. But he should not
permit it in a church or oratory of a seminary or convent of women
except in an urgent case, and then with due precautions. Mixed
marriages must not take place in church. But if in the prudent judgment
of the Ordinary this rule cannot be observed without misunderstanding
or ill will, it is left to his discretion to grant a dispensation in
the matter.
The following additional directives are given in the new "Instruction"
of September 26, 1964:
no. 70. Matrimony, unless a just cause excuses from the celebration of
Mass, must be celebrated within Mass after the Gospel and the homily.
The latter is never omitted.
no. 71. Whenever matrimony is celebrated within Mass, the votive Mass
for marriage should always be celebrated or a commemoration made of it,
according to the rubrics, even during the prohibited season.
no. 72. As far as possible the pastor or his delegate who assists at
the marriage shall celebrate the Mass; but if another priest assists,
the celebrant must not continue the Mass until the rite of matrimony
has been completed. The priest who assists at the marriage but does not
celebrate the Mass is vested in surplice and white stole, and,
according to the local custom, also in cope; and he must give the
homily.
CHAPTER II
RITE FOR CELEBRATING MARRIAGE
I. RITE AS CELEBRATED WITHIN MASS
1. When all has been complied with as prescribed above in the general
rules for solemnizing marriage, and there is no legitimate impediment
to prevent it, the ceremony of marriage proceeds as follows. Assembled
in church are the bridal couple, attended by at least two witnesses,
and also the parents or other relatives and friends who ought to honor
the occasion with their presence. At hand are the Ritual, a vessel with
holy water and the aspersory, and a tray for the rings.
{According to the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, a marriage
celebrated within the Mass is to take place after the Gospel and the
homily. In the Roman Ritual the rite for marriage is austerely brief
and clear. Based on the decree "Tametsi" of the Council of Trent, it
simply provides for an exchange of consent between the parties, and a
sealing of the contract by the act of presenting the blessed ring.
Nevertheless, as witnessed in rubric no. 6 below, the Church has always
permitted and even encouraged considerable diversity in the rite of
this sacrament, so that due consideration be given to the local customs
and traditions of different countries and their laudable use be
retained.}
1a. After the Gospel and homily the man and woman kneel before the
priest at the altar. If there is no homily the priest may read the
following exhortation, a custom of very long standing in the U. S.
Exhortation Before Marriage
Beloved of Christ. You are about to enter upon a union which is most
sacred and most serious. It is most sacred, because established by God
Himself. By it, He gave to man a share in the greatest work of
creation, the work of the continuation of the human race. And in this
way He sanctified human love and enabled man and woman to help each
other live as children of God, by sharing a common life under His
fatherly care.
Because God Himself is thus its author, marriage is of its very nature
a holy institution, requiring of those who enter into it a complete and
unreserved giving of self. But Christ our Lord added to the holiness of
marriage an even deeper meaning and a higher beauty. He referred to the
love of marriage to describe His own love for His Church, that is, for
the people of God whom He redeemed by His own blood. And so He gave to
Christians a new vision of what married life ought to be, a life of
self-sacrificing love like His own. It is for this reason that His
apostle, St. Paul, clearly states that marriage is now and for all time
to be considered a great mystery, intimately bound up with the
supernatural union of Christ and the Church, which union is also to be
its pattern. This union, then, is most serious, because it will bind
you together for life in a relationship so close and so intimate, that
it will profoundly influence your whole future. That future, with its
hopes and disappointments, its successes and its failures, its
pleasures and its pains, its joys and its sorrows, is hidden from your
eyes. You know that these elements are mingled in every life, and are
to be expected in your own. And so not knowing what is before you, you
take each other for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in
sickness and in health, until death.
Truly, then, these words are most serious. It is a beautiful tribute to
your undoubted faith in each other, that recognizing their full import,
you are, nevertheless, so willing and ready to pronounce them. And
because these words involve such solemn obligations, it is most fitting
that you rest the security of your wedded life upon the great principle
of self-sacrifice. And so you begin your married life by the voluntary
and complete surrender of your individual lives in the interest of that
deeper and wider life which you are to have in common. Henceforth you
will belong entirely to each other; you will be one in mind, one in
heart, and one in affections. And whatever sacrifices you may hereafter
be required to make to preserve this mutual life, always make them
generously. Sacrifice is usually difficult and irksome. Only love can
make it easy, and perfect love can make it a joy. We are willing to
give in proportion as we love. And when love is perfect, the sacrifice
is complete. God so loved the world that he gave His only-begotten Son,
and the Son so loved us that He gave Himself for our salvation.
"Greater love than this no man has, that a man lay down his life for
his friends."
No greater blessing can come to your married life than pure conjugal
love, loyal and true to the end. May, then, this love with which you
join your hands and hearts today never fail, but grow deeper and
stronger as the years go on. And if true love and the unselfish spirit
of perfect sacrifice guide your every action, you can expect the
greatest measure of earthly happiness that may be allotted to man in
this vale of tears. The rest is in the hands of God. Nor will God be
wanting to your needs; He will pledge you the life-long support of His
graces in the holy sacrament which you are now going to receive.
The Exchange of Consent
1b. First the priests asks the man:
N., do you take N., here present, for your lawful wife according to the
rite of our holy Mother, the Church?
The man answers:
I do.
2. Then he asks the woman:
N., do you take N., here present, for your lawful husband according to
the rite of our holy Mother, the Church?
The woman answers:
I do.
The consent of one party does not suffice but must be given by both
expressed in words if possible, or by equivalent signs made either by
the parties themselves or through a proxy.
2a. Having witnessed their mutual consent the priest bids them to join
their right hands. And where the custom prevails the bridal couple may
pledge themselves to each other in the words given below, repeating
them after the priest.
To make it clear that the mutual consent already given constitutes the
essence of the sacrament, the priest might--with proper authorization--
preface the forms below with these words: "Now that you are united in
holy matrimony, join your right hands and say, 'I, N., etc.'"
The man:
I, N.N., take you, N.N., for my lawful wife, to have and to hold, from
this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in
sickness and in health, till death do us part.
The woman:
I, N.N., take you, N.N., for my lawful husband, to have and to hold,
from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer,
in sickness and in health, till death do us part.
Ratification and Blessing of the Church
{In earlier ages the bride's father used to place her hand in that of
her husband, perhaps implying that it was he who joined the partners
together. The practice, of course, was objectionable, and it may have
been for this reason that in the thirteenth century some local rituals
directed the priest to say: "I join you in holy matrimony; in the name
of the Father, etc." The Council of Trent in forbidding clandestine
marriages adopted the form: "I join you, etc.," but added, as the Roman
Ritual still does, "or instead the priest may use other words in accord
with the received rite of a particular region." Therefore, the form of
the Roman Ritual and an alternate one are given below.}
While the man and woman have their hands joined the priest says:
According to the Roman Ritual:
I join you together in sacred wedlock; in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit. All: Amen.
Alternate form (with proper authorization):
By the authority of the Church I hereby ratify and bless the bond of
marriage you have contracted; in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, + and of the Holy Spirit.
All: Amen.
Priest: I call upon all of you here present to be witnesses of this
holy union. "What God has joined together, let no man put asunder" (Mt
19.6).
2b. Then the priest sprinkles them with holy water. Next he blesses the
ring (or rings), saying:
P: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
All: Who made heaven and earth.
P: Lord, heed my prayer.
All: And let my cry be heard by you.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
For one ring
Let us pray.
Make holy, + O Lord, this ring which we bless + in your name, so that
she who is to wear it may be true to her husband in all things, and may
abide in your peace and in accordance with your will, living always in
love given and returned; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
For two rings
Let us pray.
Make holy, + O Lord, these rings which we bless + in your name, so that
they who are to wear them may be true to each other in all things, and
may abide in your peace and in accordance with your will, living always
in love given and returned; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
3. Following the prayer the priest sprinkles the ring(s) with holy
water. The groom receives the ring from the priest and places it on the
ring finger of the bride's left hand, saying:
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. With
this ring I marry you and pledge to you my ever-faithful love.
If two rings are used the bride then receives the ring from the priest
and places it on the ring finger of the groom, saying:
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. With
this ring I marry you and pledge to you my ever-faithful love.
Other prayers that may be added (taken from the "Collectio Rituum,"
U.S.A.)
{If the following psalm is to be sung see the music and organ
accompaniment in the music supplement.}
Psalm 127
P: Happy are you who fear the Lord, * who walk in His ways!
All: For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork; * happy shall you
be, and favored.
P: Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine * in the recesses of your
home;
All: Your children like olive plants * around your table.
P: See, thus is the man blessed * who fears the Lord.
All: The Lord bless you from Sion: * may you see the prosperity of
Jerusalem all the days of your life;
P: May you see your children's children. * Peace be upon Israel!
All: Glory be to the Father.
P: Our Father (the rest inaudibly until:)
P: And lead us not into temptation.
All: But deliver us from evil.
P: Save your servants.
All: Who trust in you, my God.
P: Lord, send them aid from your holy place.
All: And watch over them from Sion.
P: Lord, heed my prayer.
All: And let my cry be heard by you.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
Let us pray.
Almighty everlasting God, who by your power created Adam and Eve, our
first parents, and joined them in a holy union; sanctify the hearts and
the bodies of these servants of yours and bless + them. Make them one
in the union and love of true affection; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
The following prayers may be said either at this time or at the end of
Mass, before the blessing of the congregation:
The priest holds his hands outstretched (in the form of a blessing)
over the bride and groom, while a server holds the book for him, and
says:
May almighty God bless you by the Word of His mouth, and unite your
hearts in the enduring bond of pure love.
All: Amen.
The following is omitted if the spouses are too old to have children.
P: May you be blessed in your children, and may the love that you
lavish on them be returned a hundredfold.
P: As it was in the beginning.
All: Amen.
P: Lord, have mercy.
All: Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy.
P: May the peace of Christ dwell always in your hearts and in your
home; may you have true friends to stand by you, both in joy and in
sorrow. May you be ready with help and consolation for all those who
come to you in need; and may the blessings promised to the
compassionate descend in abundance on your home.
All: Amen.
P: May you be blessed in your work and enjoy its fruits. May cares
never cause you distress, nor the desire for earthly possessions lead
you astray; but may your hearts' concern be always for the treasures
laid up for you in the life of heaven.
All: Amen.
P: May the Lord grant you fullness of years, so that you may reap the
harvest of a good life, and, after you have served Him with loyalty in
His kingdom on earth, may He take you up into His eternal dominions in
heaven. Then joining his hands he concludes: Through our Lord Jesus
Christ, His Son, who lives and reigns with Him, in the unity of the
Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.
All: Amen.
4. Then the priest continues with the Mass, observing everything
prescribed in the Roman Missal.
5. If several couples are married at the same time the consent of each
couple is received and the marriage contracted separately, the priest
adding in each case the form: I join you together in sacred wedlock,
etc. But the blessing of the rings and also the subsequent blessings
are pronounced only once.
6. Let it be noted that wherever it is the practice to use other
laudable customs and ceremonies at a marriage it is fitting that these
be retained.
7. After the marriage ceremony the pastor or the priest in charge
should without delay enter in the matrimonial register the names of the
bridal pair and the witnesses, the place and date of marriage, and all
other data. This holds true also when another priest delegated by the
pastor or the Ordinary has assisted at the marriage.
In addition the pastor will make an annotation in the baptismal
register, after the name of the person, to the effect that the party
contracted marriage in his parish on such a day. If either party was
baptized elsewhere, a notice of the marriage is to be forwarded either
directly or through the chancery office to the pastor of the place of
baptism, so that the latter too may make the proper entry in the
baptismal register of his church.
The Nuptial Blessing
The nuptial blessing, sometimes called the blessing of the bride, is to
be said in the vernacular even within the Mass. And the blessing is to
be given always; the former prohibition of it during Advent and Lent no
longer is in force. Moreover, in accord with the Constitution on Sacred
Liturgy, it is duly amended in its wording so as to include both
spouses and to remind them to remain faithful to each other. The Church
no longer wants to deprive her children of a special blessing at the
moment when they assume such solemn and demanding duties.
After the Our Father of the Mass the priest, standing at the epistle
side and facing the married couple who kneel on the altar step,
pronounces the following solemn blessing:
Let us pray.
Lord, graciously hear our fervent prayer, and in your loving kindness
further your own design for the continuance of the human race. Let the
union made by your sanction be preserved by your help. We ask this
through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.
All: Amen.
Let us pray.
O God, your mighty power created all things out of nothing. You, having
laid the foundations of the world and made man in your likeness, gave
this man an inseparable helpmate, fashioning woman's body out of his
very flesh, and thereby teaching us that it is never lawful to put
asunder that which it pleased you to form out of a single substance.
God, you sanctified the bodily union of husband and wife by a great
sacrament, thus foreshadowing, in the marriage bond, Christ's union
with the Church. God, you joined woman to man, and endowed this primal
union of theirs with the one and only blessing that was not forfeited
either in punishment of the first sin or under sentence of the flood.
Look with favor on these servants of yours, henceforth united in holy
wedlock, who seek strength and protection from you. May marriage be for
them a yoke of love and peace. May their union in Christ be faithful
and chaste. May this woman be loved by her husband as Rachel was; may
she be prudent like Rachel, faithful and long-lived like Sara. May they
both be so irreproachable in their conduct that the Father of lies can
have no dominion over them. May they ever remain steadfast in the faith
and in your commandments, true to each other, avoiding unlawful
familiarities, and strengthening their weakness by firm discipline. May
they be of grave demeanor, held in honor for their chastity, well
schooled in heavenly lore. May they be fruitful in offspring. May their
life together be one of tried and proven innocence, and may they come
to rest among the blessed in your heavenly kingdom. Let them see their
children's children to the third and fourth generation, and let their
old age be such as they long for. We ask this through our Lord Jesus
Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the
Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.
All: Amen.
The Church's Congratulations to the Newly Wed
{Liturgiologists say that the form given below is a good wish offered
to the couple rather than another prayer of blessing, and for this
reason is not prefaced as usual with the words, "Let us pray." It is
one of the most ancient forms found in the various rituals that have a
rite for marriage.}
Before the last blessing of the congregation, the priest turns to the
bridal couple and says:
The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob be with you. May
His blessing be fulfilled in you. And may you see your children's
children to the third and fourth generation, and come at last to
everlasting life; by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and
reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.
All: Amen.
Lastly the priest may give a final exhortation, either in his own words
or in the form given below, reminding them to be faithful to each
other, to live in the fear of the Lord, to love each other, and to
instruct their offspring dutifully in their religion He then sprinkles
them with holy water and concludes the Mass as usual.
Exhortation After Marriage
Having been united in the holy bonds of matrimony, give thanks to the
Almighty for the favors which He has bestowed upon you. The graces
which you have received have been granted for the purpose of animating
you in the discharge of the obligations which married life imposes, and
which are beautifully expressed in these words of the Apostle: "Let
women be subject to their husbands, as to the Lord; for the husband is
the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the Church....
Therefore, as the Church is subject to Christ, so also let the wives be
to their husbands in all things. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ
also loved the Church, and delivered Himself up for it, that He might
sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water in the word of life....
So also ought men to love their wives as their own bodies." Ever
mindful of these duties which you owe to each other, and to those with
whose welfare you may be especially charged, cherish with solicitude
the grace that has this day been conferred upon you; it will direct you
in every difficulty; it will comfort you in the hour of trial; it will
be a continual source of peace, of joy, of mutual affection on earth,
and a pledge of your eternal and perfect union in heaven.
II. RITE AS CELEBRATED APART FROM MASS
{The rite given below follows the directives of the new "Instruction"
of September 26, 1964.}
1. The priest is vested in surplice and white stole, and he may also
wear a white cope. At hand near the altar are a tray for the ring(s), a
vessel with holy water and aspersory, and the Ritual.
2. Standing at the altar the priest awaits the bridal couple who are
solemnly escorted to the altar by the parents or by other relatives and
friends.
3. First the priest gives a brief exhortation. This is not the homily;
the homily comes later after the reading of the Epistle and the Gospel.
As an exhortation the priest may read the one given under Rite As
Celebrated Within Mass, or the one that follows.
Exhortation Before Marriage Apart From Mass
Beloved of Christ: The union of man and woman in Christian marriage is
brought about by God and for the purposes of God. The prompting to
enter this holy state has come, we trust, from Him, rather than from
any mere passing affection on your part. In the sacred contract which
you are about to ratify, God is ever a third partner, and as you plight
yourselves to each other, you are giving yourselves over to the
fulfilment of His designs. All the while He stands by to accompany your
union with the assistance of His grace, so that you may thankfully
accept its blessings and faithfully fulfill its duties.
Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Son of the eternal Father, came on
earth to espouse Himself to His creatures. Thereby He inaugurated in
the world a new kingdom, the Catholic Church, through which all men are
destined to be brought to the knowledge and service of God and of
Christ. You are members of Christ through baptism. And now in Christ's
name you are to administer the sacrament of matrimony to each other,
that by your sacred bond a new cell may be formed within His body, the
Church, to the advantage both of human society and the kingdom of God.
Christian wedlock, sanctified and raised to the dignity of a sacrament
by our Lord, is ordained by the Almighty for your mutual love and
consolation, for replenishing the earth, and for a replica of the union
of Christ and His mystic spouse. Therefore, St. Paul admonishes the
husband to love his wife as Christ loved the Church; and he bids the
wife to be subject to her husband as to the Lord. Henceforth your task
as husband and wife will be for the purposes of Christ and for no
other. You are to live together in peace and in love. In this sacred
relation each must be studious to please, and this will entail a
constant sacrifice of self. Ready to deny your own will and inclination
in all things, stripping yourselves of selfishness and sin, your
marriage will truly be modeled on the mystic nuptials of Christ. Thus
God will be glorified, you will be made holy in His sight and pleasing
to each other, and your happiness together will be assured throughout
your life on earth and continue onward in the life to come.
You pay your vows of conjugal fidelity at the very altar of our Lord.
Let the sacrifice of each to the other be merged in the sacrifice of
Christ. Be of one mind with Him who will sanctify your every joy and
lighten your every sorrow. Build your marriage upon Him who is its
unity and its firmness. He will send His Spirit to sustain you and to
deliver you out of the snares of the Evil One and of worldlings who
would trample this divine institution under foot. May the Lord be in
your heart and on your lips as you now exchange your vows. And let all
of you who assist at this sacrament, relatives and friends, now join
with the Church of God in earnest prayer for this bridal couple, that
they may co-operate with the grace bestowed in sacramental wedlock and
thus reap its full fruits.
The priest then reads the Epistle and Gospel of the Nuptial Mass:
Epistle (Eph 5.22-33)
Brethren: Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. Let
wives be subject to their husbands who are representatives of the Lord,
because the husband is head of the wife just as Christ is the head of
the Church and also the savior of that body. Thus, just as the Church
is subject to Christ, so also let wives be subject to their husbands in
all things.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the Church, and
delivered Himself for her, that He might sanctify her by cleansing her
in the bath of water with the accompanying word, in order to present to
Himself the Church in all her glory, devoid of blemish or wrinkle or
anything of the kind, but that she may be holy and flawless. Even so
ought husbands to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves
his wife, loves himself. Now no one ever hates his own flesh; on the
contrary, he nourishes and cherishes it, as Christ does the Church,
because we are members of His body. "For this cause a man shall leave
his father and mother, and cling to his wife; and the two shall become
one flesh." This is a great mystery--I mean in regard to Christ and the
Church. Meanwhile, let each of you love his wife just as he loves
himself, and let the wife reverence her husband.
A chant may be sung between the Epistle and Gospel.
Gospel (Mt 19.3-6)
At that time the Pharisees interviewed Him to sound Him out. "Is it
right," they asked, "to divorce one's wife for any reason whatever?" He
answered as follows: "Did you never read that the Creator in the
beginning made human beings male and female, and declared: 'For this
reason a man must leave father and mother and indissolubly cling to his
wife,' and, 'The two are to become one'? It follows, then, that they
are no longer two persons but one. Consequently, what God has yoked
together man may not separate."
After the reading of the Epistle and Gospel the priest delivers a
sermon or homily drawn from the sacred texts.
Then follows the celebration of marriage.
The Exchange of Consent
From here onward everything is the same as in the preceding rite,
except that psalm 127 is omitted.
The Nuptial Blessing
The nuptial blessing given here is always to be imparted to the
spouses, even in the prohibited season, and even if one or both parties
is entering a second marriage ("Instruction" of September 26, 1964).
Psalm 127
After the psalm:
P: Lord, have mercy.
All: Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
P: Our Father (the rest inaudibly until:)
P: And lead us not into temptation.
All: But deliver us from evil.
P: Lord, heed my prayer.
All: And let my cry be heard by you.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
Let us pray.
Lord, look down from heaven with favor on this married couple, and
bless + their union. And as you onetime sent your holy Angel Raphael as
a herald of peace to Tobias and Sara, the daughter of Raguel, so may it
please you, Lord, to let your blessing come likewise upon this husband
and wife. May it ever remain with them, helping them to do your will
and to live together in the bond of loving you; through Christ our
Lord.
All: Amen
Then, with the server holding the book, he raises his hands and holds
them extended over their heads and says:
May the Lord God almighty bless you most abundantly. And may you see
your children's children to the third and fourth generation, and reach
a happy old age; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen
After this the priest may give a final exhortation in his own words or
he may use the one given under Rite for Marriage Within Mass, or the
one that follows:
Exhortation After Marriage
By the power of God who has joined you together, and by your own
generous surrender to each other, a great sacrament has been realized.
The earthly love between you has been overlaid by the supernatural love
of Christ for the Church. Your new fellowship is a spectacle pleasing
to God and to angels, for it is a union which surpasses all others,
destined as it is to populate the Church of God in heaven and on earth.
Christian marriage, since it is a sacrament, is a true participation in
the redeeming might of Jesus. As Christian spouses the very blood of
the Savior is mingled with the blood that flows through your veins.
"Know that you are the temple of God and that your bodies are the
members of Christ." On this day of your nuptials you become instruments
of grace to each other, and every day of your life you must continue to
be a means of God's grace. More than a union of bodies, chaste wedlock
is a union of souls.
To the extent that your souls become more and more closely knit
together, in that same proportion will you find your mutual love and
happiness increasing from year to year. The husband is to be the savior
of his wife, as Christ is the Savior of His Church. The wife must be
the support of her husband, as the Church is ever the faithful co-
worker with Christ.
Be mindful that in the world today the enemies of Christian wedlock are
multiplied. Unless you are on your guard, the spirit of darkness would
seduce you with the enticing temptation that infidelity is so much
easier than purity, or selfishness and pleasure-seeking so much more
fashionable than the blessings of children. Far from abetting the false
attitude and lax morals found among worldlings, you as Christian
spouses are bound to repudiate them by word and especially by example.
But there is no reason to become fainthearted. A truly successful,
happy, and holy marriage is possible for you, no matter how evil the
environment. You will not be alone. God is a partner in your sacred
resolve. Observe His laws, and you will find Him ever faithful in
guiding you over the rough paths into the way that assures harmony,
contentment, and peace.
In conclusion the priest says:
Go in peace, and may the Lord be with you.
All: Amen.
The prayer of the faithful is highly recommended after the completion
of the rite of matrimony, according to a formula approved by the local
Ordinary, in which petitions for the spouses are also to be included
("Instruction" of September 26, 1964).
If marriage is celebrated during the prohibited season, the pastor
should advise the spouses to take into account the special character of
the liturgical season ("Instruction" of September 26, 1964).
III. MIXED MARRIAGE
The Roman Ritual does not provide any rite or form whatsoever for mixed
marriage. It is left, then, to the Ordinary of a diocese to determine
how a mixed marriage should be performed. In many dioceses of the
United States it may take place in the church, subject, however, to
certain restrictions. With the approval of the Ordinary, and depending
on the religious persuasion and sensibilities of the non-Catholic
party, we suggest here a form that may be following in whole or in
part.
1. The priest may read the Epistle and Gospel of the Nuptial Mass.
2. Then he may give an exhortation, either in his own words or he may
use the one that follows.
Exhortation Before a Mixed Marriage
Beloved of God: Sacred Scripture tells us that God Himself is the
author of the marriage bond. Its laws were made not by man but by God,
in the beginning, when our first parents heard the word from their
Creator that they were to be two in one flesh. So sacred has the
marriage bond been from its foundation that, when the Son of God, our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, walked the earth, He was at pains to
restore it to its original purity, and henceforth entrusted all its
care and safeguards to His spouse, the Church. Providence has ordained
that in the state of wedlock you are to share each other's life, for
the purpose of carrying out His designs, while promoting your own
welfare and happiness.
Faithful to her charge, the Church, like a good mother, is earnestly
concerned that you may ever respect the holy contract you are making.
Once you have freely promised yourselves to each other in matrimony,
you become subject to its divinely made laws. No power on earth can
alter or mitigate them for you in any respect. In marriage your souls
are joined together more directly and more intimately than your bodies,
and thus your union is meant to foster happiness in this life and to
secure the blessedness of the life to come. God who instituted marriage
and who governs it will give you the blessings that flow from it. You
in turn must dispose yourselves for these graces and blessings by being
resolved to do His will.
A blessing of matrimony is love--love in that noble sense which seeks
primarily the good of the beloved, the good of the soul as well as that
of the body. It was this thought which prompted St. Paul to say:
"Husbands love your wives as Christ also loved the Church." A blessing
of matrimony is children, the reason for which it is ordained, so that
a man and woman are ennobled and endowed to co-operate with the Creator
in bringing new life into the world. "Increase and multiply," said God
to Adam and Eve, "fill the earth and subdue it." But you must also
understand that parents are destined not only to bring offspring into
being, but to present them to the Church of Christ, in order that they
become living members of Christ, and finally citizens of the kingdom of
heaven. A blessing of matrimony is conjugal fidelity, that complete and
perfect unity which can prevail only between one man and one woman, as
Christ our Lord so clearly taught when He said: "For this reason a man
must leave father and mother and indissolubly cling to his wife, and
the two are to become one.... Consequently, what God has yoked
together, man may not separate."
The ideal of marriage upheld by the Church, as you see, is a very lofty
one, to which you must aspire but which can be realized only by God's
help. For this reason we who assist at this nuptial union call down the
divine assistance upon you. Yet it remains for you to cultivate the
seeds of grace by doing all in your power to keep your wedlock free
from every defilement, and to show a holy reverence for it, lest the
love between you grow cold, and the peace and happiness of family life,
resting as it does on the union of souls, be destroyed. Remember that
God commands you to do what you are able, and to implore Him for what
you are not able to accomplish by yourselves, so that He may help you.
The Exchange of Consent
3. First the priest asks the man:
N.N., do you take N.N., here present, for your lawful wife?
The man answers: I do.
Then he asks the woman:
N.N., do you take N.N., here present, for your lawful husband?
The woman answers: I do.
Joining their right hands they pledge their marriage vows, first the
man, then the woman:
I, N.N., take you, N.N., for my lawful wife (husband), to have and to
hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for
poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us part.
The priest says:
By the authority committed to me I pronounce you united in the bonds of
matrimony.
4. Next, if the Ordinary allows it, the priest blesses the ring(s), see
Rite for Marriage Within Mass.
The groom receives the ring from the priest and places it on the ring
finger of the bride's left hand, saying:
With this ring I marry you and pledge to you my ever-faithful love.
If two rings are used the bride then receives the ring from the priest
and places it on the ring finger of the groom, saying:
With this ring I marry you and pledge to you my ever-faithful love.
4a. In some places it is now permitted to impart the nuptial blessing
at a mixed marriage. "Herder Correspondence," I. S (May, 1964), p. 139
says that "the nuptial blessing is henceforward to be given at mixed
marriages." If it is permitted by the Ordinary, this would be the
proper time for it; and in that case some of the prayers recommended in
No. 5 could be omitted.
5. Then the priest may say psalm 127 and the other prayers that follow
under Rite for Marriage Within Mass.
6. The priest may give a final exhortation in his own words or he may
use the form that follows.
Exhortation After a Mixed Marriage
For the good of husband and wife and for the good of human society, it
is decreed by God that every true marriage is a permanent institution,
one that endures until the end of life. "What God has yoked together
man may not separate." Once your union has been consummated no power on
earth can dissolve it. Your hearts ought to be filled with gratitude to
almighty God for giving you a positive guarantee that your marriage
cannot lawfully be sundered by anyone. This will make you happy and
secure in your union, and cause it to go beyond serving passing
delights and reach out for the delights that are lasting.
With God for its author, matrimony is intimately a part of religion and
all that is holy. Thus you are bound to show reverence toward it and to
make all your thoughts and actions conform to the will of God. Only
then do the blessings of matrimony come to you and to society as a
whole. From the sacredness of wedlock flows its peace and harmony, in
which it is seen that man is the ruler of the family and has authority
over his wife. But because she is flesh of his flesh and bone of his
bone, she is subject and obedient to the man not as a servant but as a
companion, just as his dominion over her is one of tenderness, never of
severity. A right relationship of this kind will result in the
happiness you expect to enjoy in the married state. It will help you to
support and comfort each other in the trials you will experience. It
will be a continual source of peace and joy in this life and a pledge
of lasting joy in the life to come. Go in peace, and may the Lord be
with you.
CHAPTER III: CELEBRATION OF A SILVER OR GOLDEN WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
{The latest edition of the Roman Ritual, published in 1952, prescribes
that this ceremony take place after the last Gospel of Mass. But in the
spirit of the Constitution on Sacred Liturgy it appears now that it is
proper to have it take place within the Mass, after the Epistle and
Gospel, as in the case of the marriage rite.}
1. A husband and wife who have reached the twenty-fifth or the fiftieth
anniversary of their wedding may wish to offer a solemn and public
thanksgiving in church. On this occasion the priest, wearing the Mass
vestments, first delivers a short homily, after which he celebrates a
Mass for them. This Mass enjoys the same privileges as the Nuptial
Mass. It may be a Votive Mass of the II class of the Blessed Trinity or
of the Blessed Virgin, but not the Votive Nuptial Mass, and has a
second Collect under one conclusion, that which is used in the Mass of
Thanksgiving.
2. After the last Gospel the celebrant removes the maniple, and turning
toward the jubilarians carries out the following ceremonies. In place
of the homily the priest may use the allocution that follows.
Allocution to the Jubilarians
Beloved of Christ: The Council of Trent has declared that "wedlock is a
holy thing and it should be dealt with in a holy manner." Evidently you
subscribe wholeheartedly to this teaching, because you begin the
festivities of your silver (golden) wedding in the house of God. You
have come to offer thanks to Him for His benevolent favors of the past
twenty-five (fifty) years, and to ask His blessing on the years that
remain to you. You return as devout pilgrims today to the altar of God,
where in your early years you were made joyful and glad with the
marriage sacrament. You were then married in Christ, and Christ, the
good Lord, has continued these many years to be your portion in
happiness and your chalice in sorrow. And you live in hope that He will
likewise be for you an everlasting inheritance when the pilgrimage on
this earth comes to an end.
On the day of your wedding so long past, grace was laid up in your
souls through the sacrament which you administered to each other. Today
you stand before the world in striking testimony of what God's grace,
conferred in matrimony, can accomplish in the husband and wife who
carefully guard and use the divine treasure that is in them. The world
has great need of the living sermon which your example of fidelity and
love dins into its ears. You have been dauntless in the face of so many
wiles and temptations that could have made of your marriage something
entirely other than it has actually been.
We have every reason to believe that your married love has closely
resembled Christ's love for His spotless bride, the Church, and that as
Christ is the Savior of the Church, so you have been a savior to each
other, helping each other to grow in holiness and in true love for God
and neighbor. And so it has come about that you have found in your life
together true peace, dignity, happiness, and security. Of course, it is
no secret that your way has not been easy at all times. You have had to
endure suffering together. You have often been nailed to the cross of
sacrifice. But because you have been faithful to God, He has been
faithful to you, and with His help you have been able to accomplish
what of yourselves you could not have accomplished.
In the name of Christ, of the Church, and of all her children here
present, as well as in my office as your pastor, I extend heartiest
congratulations to you and all good wishes for your future years
together. We offer the holy Sacrifice of the Mass in praise and
thanksgiving to our heavenly Father for the good work He has wrought in
you. We beg Him, too, to remain ever at your side in His full power and
glory, assisting you to persevere in fidelity and love to the end, so
that your wedlock kept holy on earth may adorn you for the hour in
which the heavenly messenger comes to conduct you to the everlasting
divine nuptials of the Lamb of God.
Then the following psalm and prayers are said:
P: Ant. See, thus is the man blessed who fears the Lord.
Psalm 127
(If this psalm is to be sung see the music supplement).
Or in place of psalm 127 the following may be substituted:
Psalm 116
P: Praise the Lord, all you nations; * glorify Him all you peoples.
All: For steadfast is His kindness toward us, * and the fidelity of the
Lord endures forever.
P: Glory be to the Father.
All: As it was in the beginning.
All: See, thus is the man blessed who fears the Lord.
{In some places in the U. S., and not only in Hawaii, two leis, or
wreaths of flowers, are blessed at a silver or golden wedding
celebration, and presented to the jubilarians. One lei may be of white
flowers, the other red, the former symbolizing fidelity, the latter
sacrifice. While the priest blesses the leis the man holds the white
one, the woman the red.}
Blessing of the Leis
P: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
All: Who made heaven and earth.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
Let us pray.
God, by whose word all things are made holy, may it please you to bless
+ these wreaths of flowers; and grant that those who are to wear them
will receive from you health of body and peace of soul; through Christ
our Lord.
All: Amen.
The priest sprinkles the leis with holy water.
After explaining in a few words the symbolism of the leis, he asks the
husband to put his lei on the wife and then the wife to put her lei on
the husband.
Renewal of the Marriage Vows
The jubilarians join their right hands and repeat after the priest, the
man first:
I, N.N., reaffirm my marriage vow of twenty-five (fifty) years ago, and
rededicate myself in the same spirit that I once took you, N.N., for
better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health,
till death do us part.
The woman next repeats the same formula; after which the priest says:
P: Lord, send them aid from your holy place.
All: And watch over them from Sion.
P: Lord, heed my prayer.
All: And let my cry be heard by you.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
Let us pray.
Lord, reach out your right hand to your faithful servants, so that they
may seek you wholeheartedly and receive from you all the good things
that they desire.
Almighty everlasting God, look kindly on these servants of yours who
have come to your holy sanctuary with glad hearts to offer their thanks
to you; grant that they, whose only trust is in you, may be filled with
your grace, may live together in charity and unity on this earth, and
finally attain (along with their children) the joys of everlasting
life; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
3. Then the "Te Deum" is sung or recited (if sung, see the music in the
music supplement). The celebrant intones the first verse:
Te Deum
P: We praise you, God; * we acclaim you Lord of all creation.
All: Everlasting Father, * all the world bows down before you.
P: All the angels, all the hosts of heaven, * and the myriad powers;
All: All the cherubim and seraphim * call out with tireless voices:
P: Holy, holy, holy,: the Lord God of heavenly hosts!
All: The heavens and the earth are filled * with your majesty and
glory.
P: Your praises are proclaimed * by the illustrious apostles;
All: And by all the prophets, * your most admirable heralds;
P: By the white-robed army * who shed their blood for you.
All: And throughout the world * holy Church attests Her faith in you:
P: The heavenly Father, whose majesty is boundless; the true and only
Son, whom we adore;
All: And likewise the Holy Spirit, * sent to be Our Advocate.
P: You, O Christ, * are the King of glory!
All: Only you, O Christ * are the Father's everlasting Son.
P: In taking flesh and becoming mankind's Savior, * you did not disdain
the Virgin's womb.
All: In destroying by your might the sting of death, * you opened up to
believers the kingdom of heaven.
P: Now you sit at God's right hand, * in the Father's glory.
All: And so we firmly believe * that you are the judge who is to come.
Kneel for the following verse:
P: We therefore implore you to save your servants * whom your precious
blood redeemed.
Then stand again.
All: Add them to the number of your saints * in everlasting glory.
P: Save your faithful people, Lord; * bless all who belong to you.
All: Be their shepherd and rule over them, * and exalt them forever and
ever.
P: Day by day we praise you, * and never cease to worship you.
All: We will continue to praise your holy name, * in time and in
eternity.
P: In your great mercy, Lord, * keep us today from all sin.
All: Have mercy on us, O Lord, * have mercy on us.
P: May your mercy, Lord, remain with us always, * for we put our whole
trust in you.
All: My hope is in you alone, O Lord; * may I never be disappointed.
Then there is added:
P: Let us bless the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
All: Let us praise and mightily exalt Him forever.
P: Lord, heed my prayer.
All: And let my cry be heard by you.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
Let us pray.
God, whose mercy is immeasurable and whose goodness is inexhaustible,
we give thanks to your loving majesty for all the gifts bestowed on us.
And we continue to appeal to your bounty, so that you will never
abandon those whose requests you grant in this life, but will give them
even greater rewards in the life to come.
God, who instructed the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy
Spirit, guide us by your Spirit to desire only what is good and so
always to find joy in His comfort.
God, you allow no one who trusts in you to be afflicted beyond measure,
but give a hearing to the pleas of your fervent petitioners; thus we
give you thanks for having heard our requests and prayers, and we
continue to call on your loving kindness to protect us ever from all
adversities; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
4. After this the priest sprinkles the jubilarians with holy water
saying:
May the blessing of almighty God, Father, Son, + and Holy Spirit, come
upon you and remain with you forever.
All: Amen.
In conclusion he says:
Go in peace, and may the Lord be with you.
All: Amen.
CHAPTER IV: SOLEMN ENGAGEMENT OR BETROTHAL
{It is praiseworthy and in accord with ancient ecclesiastical custom
for a Catholic young man and young woman who become engaged to have the
engagement solemnized and blessed by the Church. For detailed
discussion of a betrothal and its consequences one may consult Canon
Law (canon 1017) and a commentary. Let it suffice here to say that no
action is admissible to compel the celebration of marriage, even after
a formal engagement has taken place, although a damage suit would be
permitted before a competent judge, either in ecclesiastical or civil
court.}
Today there is no prescribed ritual for a formal engagement. But it is
fitting that it take place before the altar of God and be followed by
Mass and holy communion.
1. The priest vests in surplice and white stole, or if Mass is to
follow, in the Mass vestments. He is assisted by two servers, and at
hand are holy water and an altar missal. He awaits the couple at the
communion table; and as they come forward the following psalm may be
sung on the eighth psalm-tone (see music supplement).
Psalm 126
P: Unless the house be of the Lord's building, * in vain do the
builders labor.
All: Unless the Lord be the guard of the city, * in vain does the guard
keep his sentry.
P: It is futile that you rise before daybreak, * to be astir in the
midst of darkness,
All: You that eat the bread of hard labor; * for He deals bountifully
to His beloved while they are sleeping.
P: See, offspring come from God's giving, * a fruitful womb is the
reward of His blessing.
All: Like arrows in the hand of the warrior, * are children begotten of
a youthful father.
P: Happy the man who has filled with them his quiver; * they shall
uphold him in contending at the gate with his rival.
All: Glory be to the Father.
P: As it was in the beginning.
2. Now the priest addresses them, either in his own words or in the
short form that follows:
Allocution
Beloved of Christ: It is in God's designs that you are called to the
holy vocation of matrimony. For this reason you present yourselves
today before Christ and the Church, before His sacred minister and the
people of God, to ratify in a formal manner your engagement. You are
here to ask the blessing of God and of the Church on your proposal, and
to ask the good prayers of the faithful here present. You realize that
what has begun at the inspiration of your heavenly Father requires
equally His grace to be brought to a happy conclusion.
We trust that you have given serious and prayerful deliberation to your
promise that you will one day be married; also that you have consulted
with your parents and elders. In the time that intervenes until your
wedding day, may you prepare for the sacrament of matrimony by a
virtuous courtship. Then, when the happy day arrives on which you will
give yourselves irrevocably to each other, you will have laid a sound
religious foundation for the many years you will spend together, years
that will be filled with joy and prosperity, and years that will
finally give way to an eternity of joy and blessedness. May the union
you purpose to consummate one day in Christian marriage be truly a
sacramental image of the union of Christ with His beloved bride, the
Church.
3. With their right hands joined the couple repeat after the priest
what follows:
The man first:
In the name of our Lord, I, N.N., promise that I will one day take you,
N.N., for my wife, according to the ordinances of God and holy Church.
I will love you as I love myself. I will keep faith with you and be
loyal to you, and so aid you and comfort you in all your necessities.
These things and all that a man ought to do for his espoused, I promise
to do for you, and to keep the promise by the faith that is in me.
Then the woman:
In the name of our Lord, I, N.N., do declare that, in the form and
manner in which you have promised yourself to me, I will one day bind
and oblige myself to you, and will take you, N.N., for my husband. And
all that you have pledged to me, I promise to do for you, and to keep
the promise by the faith that is in me.
4. Then the priest takes the two ends of his stole and in the form of a
cross places them over the clasped hands of the couple. Holding the
stole in place with his left hand, he says:
I bear witness to your solemn proposal and I declare you engaged; in
the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit. As he
pronounces the last words he sprinkles them with holy water in the form
of a cross.
All: Amen.
5. Then he blesses the engagement ring:
P: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
All: Who made heaven and earth.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
Let us pray.
Almighty God, Creator and preserver of the human race and the giver of
everlasting salvation, may it please you to make holy this ring, which
we bless + in your name; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
He sprinkles the ring with holy water.
6. The man takes the ring and places it first on the index finger of
the left hand of the woman saying:
In the name of the Father, then on the middle finger, adding: and of
the Son, finally placing and leaving it on the ring finger he
concludes: and of the Holy Spirit.
7. The priest opens the missal at the beginning of the Canon, and
presents the page imprinted with the crucifixion to be kissed, first by
the man and then by the woman.
8. After this the priest may read these passages from Sacred Scripture:
Tobias 7 and 8
Tobias said: "I will not eat nor drink here this day, unless you first
grant me my petition, and promise to give me Sara, your daughter."
...The angel said to Raguel: "Be not afraid to give her to this man,
for to him who fears God is your daughter due to be his wife; therefore
another could not have her." ...And Raguel, taking the right hand of
his daughter, gave it into the right hand of Tobias, saying: "The God
of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob be with you, and
may He join you together, and fulfill His blessing in you." And taking
paper they made a writing of the marriage. And afterwards they made
merry, blessing God. ...Then Tobias exhorted the virgin, and said to
her: "Sara, arise, and let us pray to God today, and tomorrow, and the
next day; because for these three nights we are joined to God; and when
the third night is over, we will be in our own wedlock. For we are the
children of saints, and we must not be joined together like heathens
that know not God." So they both arose, and prayed earnestly both
together that health might be given them.
John 15.4-12
At that time Jesus said to His disciples: "Remain united with me, and I
will remain united with you. A branch can bear no fruit of itself, that
is, when it is not united with the vine; no more can you, if you do not
remain united with me. I am the vine, you are the branches. One bears
abundant fruit only when he and I are mutually united; severed from me,
you can do nothing. If one does not remain united with me, he is simply
thrown away like a branch, and dries up. Such branches are gathered and
thrown into the fire to be burned. As long as you remain united with
me, and my teachings remain your rule of life, you may ask for anything
you wish, and you shall have it. This is what glorifies my Father--your
bearing abundant fruit and thus proving yourselves my disciples. Just
as the Father loves me, so I love you. Be sure to hold my love. If you
treasure my commandments, you will hold my love, just as I treasure my
Father's commandments and thus secure His love. I have told you this,
that my joy may be yours, and your joy may be perfect. This is my
commandment: love one another as I love you."
9. Lastly the priest extends his hands over the heads of the couple and
says:
May God bless your bodies and your souls. May He shed His blessing on
you as He blessed Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. May the hand of the Lord
be on you. May He send His holy angel to guard you all the days of your
life. Amen. Go in peace.
THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY ORDERS: PRIESTHOOD
INTRODUCTION
Christ, eternal High Priest and mediator between God and men, redeemed
us as a priest by offering Himself in sacrifice on the cross. And at
the Last Supper, wishing to bequeath to the Church for all time an all-
perfect offering to God--the sacramental reenactment of the sacrifice
on the cross--instituted both the Sacrifice of the Mass and the
Christian priesthood, the latter to perpetuate the former.
To all who are united with Him in the mystical body, the Church, Christ
has given a share in His priesthood, a share which differs, however, in
degree as well as in kind. First there is the priesthood of all
Christians given in baptism and raised to a higher perfection in
confirmation, by which the Christian people are empowered and
privileged to have an active part in the offering of Holy Mass. In this
participation they give to God the highest and most pleasing gift
possible, that of the body and the blood of His divine Son, and get
back from God in return the very same gift in holy communion.
But since God has made the faithful of His Church priests only in a
limited sense, He has placed at their head priests endowed with the
higher priestly powers of Jesus Christ. These are the priests in holy
orders. In the Sacrifice of the Mass it is they who stand at the altar,
representing Christ as priest and victim, and representing the people
as offerers with them in the act of rendering to their Creator this
all-perfect act of homage.
In offering the sacrifice of the New Covenant the Church does not offer
something new, but a continuation and a representation, through
efficacious sacramental signs, of Christ's saving act in His paschal
sacrifice of death and resurrection. Consequently, the priests of the
Church are not new mediators between God and men, but continue to act
in the place of the one and only mediator, the Son of God and our Lord
and Savior. Their function is to relate the unique priesthood of Christ
to the general priesthood of the new people of God.
Although the highest function of the Christian priesthood is to offer
worship at God's altar, and after that to carry out the related
liturgical acts of administering the other sacraments, the priests of
the Church participate in Christ's priesthood in another ministerial
position. They participate also in the prophetic mediatorship of our
Lord and His apostles, by making present God's holy word through the
continued proclamation to men of the good news of salvation. Here too,
as in the case of the sacrifice of the Church, there is not a new
teaching, not a new revelation, not a new message which priests of the
Church proclaim in their own name, but again it is the word of Christ,
of the one final and definitive prophet of the Most High, being
proclaimed and made present until the end of time. In fact, the
priesthood of the Church would be degraded if it did not include the
ministry of the word, the word of preaching and teaching. It is true,
of course, that the ministry of preaching belongs in the first place to
the bishop of the diocese, with whom the priests in holy orders are
associated. But since the bishop practically speaking cannot carry out
this important duty alone, the Council of Trent repeatedly emphasized
that priests have a grave responsibility of sharing in this prophetic
office of their bishop. The Sacrifice of the Mass and the other
sacraments need to be accompanied by the word of the priest. And when
priests utter the saving words and when they engage in the ministry of
preaching they are not speaking in their own name but in the person of
our Lord.
The Council of Trent has emphasized, moreover, that a priest of the
Church is to resemble in all ways the Good Shepherd of the New
Covenant. In imitating the Good Shepherd priests are associated with
the bishop, who himself is absorbed in the charge of ruling the people
and feeding the flock. And the work of ruling and feeding the flock
does not stop within the sacred precincts of the house of God, it does
not stop at the altar or in the pulpit, but extends outside the sacred
place to other places that are to be made sacred, to the homes of the
faithful or wherever there are men in need of hearing the saving truths
of the Gospel, in need of the saving graces and helps that priests are
empowered to bestow on them, in mind, heart, body, and soul. As the
prayers, in particular the solemn preface, of the ordination rite so
clearly and precisely bring out, the Christian priesthood is not only
of a liturgical or ritual kind, but is charismatic and spiritual in
other respects as well. The gifts conferred on a man in ordination are
designed to edify the Church, edify in the original sense of that word,
that is, to build up the spiritual building or kingdom of the people of
God. Therefore, another conviction, of which the Church has been
strongly aware from the beginning, is expressed in the prayers of the
ordination rite, namely, that the full effectiveness of sacred
functions is conditional upon the sanctity of those who exercise them.
The graces of the Holy Spirit are given to priests not merely to ensure
the sacramental validity of certain actions, but also to help them
acquire a sanctity which might serve as a pattern for the Christian
people.
St. John Chrysostom sums up the function of priests as the ministers of
God by referring to Elias on Mt. Carmel. He describes the scene where
the people of God are assembled in silence, the prophet at prayer, and
fire is falling from heaven. And then goes on to say: "All these things
were wonderful and amazing. But today the mysteries exceed all
amazement. The priest stands there to cause not fire but the Holy
Spirit to descend. He prays at length, not that fire falling from on
high may consume the offerings, but that grace may descend on the
community and may reach men's souls, making them brighter than silver
that is tried by fire" (PG 48.642).
--TRANSLATOR
PART VIII. ORDINATION OF PRIESTS
{The rite of ordination of a priest is taken from the latest edition of
the Roman Pontifical, Part I, issued on February 28, 1962. It has been
requested that it be included here as a convenience, because of its
special importance in the Church's liturgy and because it may be a long
time before the Roman Pontifical is translated into English.}
The ordination of a priest must normally take place within the Mass,
after the tract has been sung or recited up to the last verse
exclusive; or on certain days before the alleluia verse.
The bishop is seated on the faldstool, which has been placed for him at
the middle of the altar. He is wearing the mitre.
The candidates are vested in amice, alb, maniple, and stole worn in the
manner of a deacon. Over the left arm they carry a folded chasuble, the
vestment of priesthood; and in the right hand a lighted candle and the
white linen hand, used later to bind their hands (in some places the
band is attached to the cincture).
The Preparatory Ceremony
{The first part of the rite consists of the calling of the ordinands
and the formal presentation of them to the bishop; the reading of the
interdict; the archdeacon's petition and testimony; and the bishop's
address to the ordinands.}
The archdeacon summons the ordinands with the formula:
Let those who are to be ordained to the order of priesthood come
forward.
As their names are read out one by one by the notary, each one replies:
"Present" and steps forward; they arrange themselves in a semicircle
before the bishop and kneel.
Then one of the assistants reads the interdict, a last warning that if
anyone receives the sacrament under false pretences, he will incur the
penalty of excommunication.
The most reverend father and ruler in Christ, His Excellency, N.N., by
the grace of God and of the Apostolic See Bishop of N., commands and
charges, under pain of excommunication, that no one here present for
the purpose of taking orders shall come forward to be ordained under
any pretext, if he be irregular, excommunicated by law or by judicial
sentence, under interdict or suspension, illegitimate, infamous, or in
any other way disqualified, or of another diocese, unless he has the
permission of his bishop. He enjoins, moreover, that none of the
ordained shall depart until the Mass is over and the bishop's blessing
has been received.
Now the archdeacon presents the candidates to the bishop, saying:
Most Reverend Father, our holy Mother the Catholic Church asks you to
ordain these deacons here present to the burden of the priesthood.
The bishop inquires:
Do you know if they are worthy? The archdeacon replies:
As far as human frailty allows one to know, I am certain and I testify
that they are worthy to undertake the burden of this office.
The bishop says:
Thanks be to God.
The Bishop's Address
{In the first place the bishop addresses himself to the clergy and the
people, consulting with them about the fitness of the men who are being
presented for ordination. This is reminiscent of olden times when the
custom prevailed of having priests and other clergy chosen by the will
of the people. It must be kept in mind, then, that in the present
discipline of the Church the people can merely raise objections, but it
is the bishop who makes the choice.}
The bishop addresses the clergy and the people as follows:
My dear brethren, since the captain of a ship and its passengers alike
have reason to feel safe or else in danger on a voyage, they ought to
be of one mind in their common interests. Not without reason, then,
have the fathers decreed that the people too should be consulted in the
choice of those who are to be raised to the ministry of the altar.
For sometimes it happens that one or another person has knowledge about
the life and conduct of a candidate that is not generally known. And
the people will necessarily be more inclined to be loyal to a priest if
they have given consent to his ordination.
As far as I can judge, the conduct of these deacons, who with God's
help are to be ordained to the priesthood, is commendable and is
pleasing to God. In my opinion, then, they are deserving of being
promoted to a higher honor in the Church. Yet it is well to consult the
people as a whole, rather than to rely on one or a few, whose approval
might be a consequence of partiality or of misjudgment.
Be perfectly free, then, to say what you know about the conduct and
character of the candidates and what you think of their fitness. But
let your approval of their elevation to the priesthood be based more on
their merits than on your own affection for them. Consequently, if
anyone has anything against them, let him for God's honor and in God's
name come forward and sincerely speak his mind. Only let him remember
his own state.
After a brief pause the bishop continues, addressing himself now in
exhortation to the candidates:
My dear sons, who are about to be consecrated to the office of the
priesthood, endeavor to receive that office worthily, and once
ordained, strive to discharge it in a praiseworthy manner. A priest's
duties are to offer sacrifice, to bless, to govern, to preach, and to
baptize. So high a dignity should be approached with great awe, and
care must be taken that those chosen for it are recommended by eminent
wisdom, upright character, and a long-standing virtuous life.
Thus it was that when the Lord commanded Moses to choose as his helpers
seventy men from the whole tribe of Israel, to whom He would impart the
gifts of the Holy Spirit, He said to him: "Choose the ones whom you
know to be elders of the people" (Num 11.16). It is you yourselves who
are prefigured in these seventy elders, if now, by the help of the
sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit, you are faithful to the Ten
Commandments, and display soundness and maturity in knowledge and in
action.
Under the same kind of sign and figure, our Lord, in the New Law, chose
the seventy-two disciples, and sent them before Him two by two to
preach. Thus He taught us both by word and by deed that the ministers
of His Church should be perfect both in faith and in works; in other
words, that their lives should be founded on the twofold love of God
and of neighbor. Strive, then, to be such, that by God's grace you may
be worthy of being chosen to assist Moses and the twelve apostles, that
is, the Catholic bishops who are prefigured by Moses and the apostles.
Then indeed is Holy Church surrounded, adorned, and ruled by a
wonderful variety of ministers, when from her ranks are consecrated
bishops, and others of lesser orders, priests, deacons, and subdeacons,
each of a different dignity, yet comprising the many members of the one
body of Christ.
Therefore, my dear sons, chosen as you are by the judgment of our
brethren to be consecrated as our helpers, keep yourselves blameless in
a life of chastity and sanctity. Be well aware of the sacredness of
your duties. Be holy as you deal with holy things. When you celebrate
the mystery of the Lord's death, see to it that by mortifying your
bodies you rid yourselves of all vice and concupiscence. Let the
doctrine you expound be spiritual medicine for the people of God. Let
the fragrance of your lives be the delight of Christ's Church, that by
your preaching and example you help to build up the edifice which is
the family of God. May it never come about that we, for promoting you
to so great an office, or you, for taking it on yourselves, should
deserve the Lord's condemnation; but rather may we merit a reward from
Him. So let it be by His grace.
All: Amen.
Litany of the Saints
If ordination to the priesthood was not preceded earlier by ordination
to the subdiaconate or the diaconate, then the Litany of the Saints is
chanted at this time. During the litany the candidates humbly lie
prostrate on the floor of the sanctuary. The bishop kneels on the altar
predella. For the litany see Litany of the Saints (and for the music
see the music supplement).
After the invocation "That you grant eternal rest to all the faithful
departed" the bishop stands and turns to the ordinands (who remain
prostrate on the floor). Holding the crozier in his left hand and still
wearing the mitre, the bishop chants or recites the following:
That you bless + these elect. R. We beg you to hear us.
That you bless + and sanctify + these elect. R. We beg you to hear us.
That you bless + and sanctify + and consecrate these elect. R. We beg
you to hear us.
Then the bishop kneels again at the faldstool, and the chanters finish
the litany up to "Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord have
mercy," inclusive.
The Laying-on of Hands
{When the litany is ended the candidates rise and go in pairs to kneel
before the bishop. The bishop places both his hands on the head of each
candidate in turn, without saying anything. This very simple though
impressive action, unaccompanied by prayer or chant, is called the
essential matter of the sacrament. It signifies that the power of
priesthood is conferred by the bishop imposing hands on the candidate,
transmitting to the latter the power which the bishop himself has
received from Christ through the apostles and their successors.}
After the bishop has imposed hands on them, they return to their former
place and kneel. When all are in place the bishop holds his right hand
outstretched over them. Next the priests who are present come forward
and lay both their hands on the head of each candidate Then, forming a
semicircle beginning at the gospel side, they stand behind the
candidates and hold their right hand outstretched over them just as the
bishop is doing.
The act of the priests taking part in the ceremony of laying-on of
hands is perhaps a relic of the time when more than one bishop took
part in the ordination of priests, and each bishop present imposed
hands on the ordinands. The present ceremony of the priests, imposing
hands has no other purpose than to make more forceful the outward sign
of power being conferred through this kind of action.
The bishop (wearing the mitre) now says the following prayer:
My brethren, let us implore God the Father almighty to multiply His
heavenly gifts in these servants of His whom He has chosen for the
office of the priesthood. May they fulfill by His grace the office they
receive by His goodness; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
Then the bishop removes the mitre, turns to the altar, and says:
Let us pray.
The ministers: Let us kneel down. R. Arise.
Then the bishop turns around to the ordinands and says:
Hear us, we pray, O Lord God, and pour out on these servants of yours
the blessing of the Holy Spirit and the power of priestly grace. And
now as we present them for consecration in your benign presence, may
you sustain them forever by the bounty of your gifts. We ask this
through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God,
Here the bishop extends his hands and chants or recites the conclusion
to the preceding prayer and the following versicles:
B: Forever and ever.
All: Amen.
B: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
B: Lift up your hearts.
All: We have lifted them up to the Lord.
B: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
All: It is fitting and right to do so.
The Solemn Prayer and Form of the Sacrament
{This very beautiful prayer, also called the consecratory preface, is
the actual form of the sacrament, and in early times the Roman rite for
ordination had nothing more than a prayer or prayers of this kind,
along with the imposition of hands. A theology of the sacrament could
quite easily be constructed on this prayer. In brief, it asks for God's
grace, for He is the source of all honors and dignities, as also of all
growth and order. It states the principle that God's loving providence
guides His rational creatures through stages of gradual progress and
perfection. It points out how this principle operated in the Old
Testament, in God's choosing Moses and the seventy elders to assist
Him; and in the New, in Christ's choosing the apostles and their
successors to carry out the ministry of His Church. Then follows a
petition that the bishop may have helpers in the men being ordained,
who will prove themselves to be elders in the best sense of the term.
Lastly the Holy Spirit and His gifts are invoked on the candidates,
that they be raised to the priesthood and be filled with the holiness
which should characterize this office.}
The bishop continues with the consecratory preface:
It is indeed fitting and right, praiseworthy and salutary that we
should always and everywhere give thanks to you, O holy Lord, almighty
Father, everlasting God, the source of all honors and the dispenser of
all dignities. Through you all things make progress and receive their
permanence. In accord with your wise designs all rational creatures
advance to a higher excellence. And in accord with this same principle
the various grades of priests and the offices of levites, instituted
for sacred functions, grew and developed. For after appointing chief
priests to rule the people, you selected men of lesser degree and
second rank to be their associates and their helpers. Thus in the
desert you propagated Moses' spirit in the hearts of seventy judicious
men, with whose help he was enabled to govern easily the countless
multitude. Thus too you imbued Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron,
with the abundant graces of their father, in order to assure a
sufficient number of priests for the offering of saving sacrifices and
the performance of the more common sacred rites. By the same
providence, O Lord, you gave the apostles of your Son associate
teachers of the faith, and by their help as preachers of a second rank
the apostles made their voice heard to the ends of the earth.
Therefore, we beg you, Lord, to support us in our weakness with similar
helpers, for inasmuch as we are weaker, so much the more we stand in
need of them.
The Essential Form
At this point the bishop interrupts the chant and recites the following
words, which constitute the essential form of the sacrament:
Almighty Father, we pray that you bestow on these servants of yours the
dignity of the priesthood. Renew in their hearts the spirit of
holiness, so that they may be steadfast in this second degree of the
priestly office received from you, O God, and by their own lives
suggest a rule of life to others.
Here the bishop resumes the chant of the rest of the preface:
May they be prudent fellow-workers in our ministry. May they shine in
all the virtues, so that they will be able to give a good account of
the stewardship entrusted to them. and finally attain the reward of
everlasting blessedness.
The bishop recites the conclusion in a low voice, but loud enough to be
heard by those near him:
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and
reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and
ever.
All: Amen.
Investiture of the New Priests
Now the newly ordained priests go and kneel before the bishop one by
one. The bishop is seated on the faldstool and is wearing the mitre. He
takes the stole, until now worn by the newly ordained on the left
shoulder, draws it over the right shoulder, and arranges it in the form
of a cross over the chest (in the manner worn by a priest). As he does
so he says to each one:
Take the yoke of the Lord, for His yoke is sweet and His burden light.
Next he invests each one with the chasuble, leaving it folded and
pinned at the back but hanging down in front. As he does so he says:
Take the vestment of priesthood which signifies charity; for God is
able to advance you in charity and in perfection.
To this the ordained adds: Thanks be to God.
The bishop rises, removes the mitre, and says the following prayer,
during which all the others kneel:
O God, the source of all holiness, whose consecration is ever
effective, whose blessing is ever fulfilled, pour out on these servants
of yours, whom we now raise to the dignity of the priesthood, the gift
of your blessing. By their noble and exemplary lives let them prove
that they are really elders of the people, and true to the norms laid
down by Paul to Timothy and Titus. Let them meditate on your law day
and night, so that they may believe what they have read, and teach what
they have believed, and practice what they have taught. May justice,
constancy, mercy, courage, and all the other virtues be reflected in
their every way of acting. May they inspire others by their example,
and hearten them by their admonitions. May they keep pure and spotless
the gift of their high calling. For the worship of your people may they
change bread and wine into the body and blood of your Son by a holy
consecration. May they through persevering charity mature "unto the
perfect man, unto the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ," and
rise on the day of the just and eternal judgment of God with a good
conscience, true faith, and the full gifts of the Holy Spirit. We ask
this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with
you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.
All: Amen.
The bishop kneels, facing the altar, and intones the hymn, "Veni
Creator" which is then continued by the choir (for the music see the
music supplement):
Veni Creator
Come, Holy Ghost, Creator blest,
And in our souls take up your rest;
Come with your grace and heavenly aid
To fill the hearts which you have made.
O Comforter, to you we cry,
You heavenly gift of God Most High,
You, fount of life and fire of love,
And sweet anointing from above.
You in your sevenfold gifts are known;
You, finger of God's hand we own;
You, promise of the Father, you
Who do the tongue with power imbue.
Kindle our senses from above,
And make our hearts o'erflow with love;
With patience firm and virtue high
The weakness of our flesh supply.
Far from us drive the foe we dread,
And grant us your peace instead;
So shall we not, with you for guide,
Turn from the path of life aside.
Oh, may your grace on us bestow
The Father and the Son to know;
And you, through endless times confessed,
Of both the eternal Spirit blest.
Now to the Father and the Son,
Who rose from death, be glory given,
With you, O holy Comforter,
Henceforth by all in earth and heaven. Amen.
The Anointing of Hands
After the first verse of the hymn the bishop rises and sits on the
faldstool (wearing the mitre). He removes his gloves but puts the
episcopal ring back on his finger. The gremiale is placed over his
knees. The ordained come forward and one by one kneel before the
bishop. He then takes the oil of catechumens and anoints both of their
hands which they hold together palms upward. First he anoints the
inside of the hands, tracing a cross from the thumb of the right hand
to the index finger of the left, and from the thumb of the left hand to
the index finger of the right. Next he anoints the entire palms. He
says as he performs the anointings:
May it please you, O Lord, to consecrate and sanctify these hands by
this anointing and our + blessing.
All: Amen.
And having made the sign of the cross over the hands of the ordained he
continues:
That whatever they bless may be blessed, and whatever they consecrate
may be consecrated in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
To the above form each of the ordained adds:
Amen.
Then the bishop closes or joins together the hands of the ordained. The
latter, keeping his hands joined, goes to the side of the altar where
one of the assistants of the bishop binds the consecrated hands
together with a white cloth, leaving the fingers free. Each of the
ordained goes back to his place. The bishop cleanses his fingers with a
piece of bread.
Presentation of the Host and Chalice
The bishop now presents each of the ordained with a chalice containing
wine and water and a paten upon it with a host. The ordained touches
with the fore and middle fingers both the paten and the cur of the
chalice. During this ceremony the bishop says:
Receive the power to offer sacrifice to God, and to celebrate Masses
for the living and the dead, in the name of the Lord.
All: Amen.
Having cleansed his hands the bishop goes to the throne or to the
faldstool at the epistle side. Mass is resumed with the singing of the
last verse of the tract or sequence or alleluia verse.
Concelebration of the Mass
After the offertory antiphon the bishop puts on the mitre and is seated
before the middle of the altar. The ordained come to the altar, and two
by two kneel before the bishop and present him with a lighted candle,
kissing his hand as they do so. After this they return to their places.
From now on all the newly ordained priests pray the Mass along with the
bishop, saying all prayers aloud, even those usually said in a low
voice. They receive the kiss of peace from the bishop at the usual
time. At holy communion the ordained, before receiving the sacred host,
say "Amen" to the formula and then kiss the bishop's ring.
After receiving communion they go to the epistle side of the altar to
partake of some wine, not from the chalice which the bishop has
consecrated, but from another containing ordinary wine. One of the
assisting priests holds a chalice and a purificator in readiness for
this purpose.
After taking the ablution and washing his hands, the bishop removes the
mitre, stands at the epistle side, and intones the following
responsories, which are continued by the choir (for the music see the
music supplement):
Responsory
No longer do I call you servants * but my friends, for you have known
all things I have wrought in your midst, (alleluia).*
Receive the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, within you. * It is He whom the
Father will send to you, (alleluia).
V. You are my friends if you do the things that I command you. *
Receive the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, within you.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. * It is
He whom the Father will send to you, (alleluia).
The alleluia is omitted from Septuagesima to Easter.
Having said the responsory the bishop puts on the mitre, goes to the
middle of the altar, and turns to the ordained. The latter now recite
the Creed which is a summary of the faith they will henceforth preach:
I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and
in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy
Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was
crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell, the third day
He arose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven, and sits at the
right hand of God the Father almighty, from there He shall come to
judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy
Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the
resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.
The Commission to Absolve
When the Creed is finished the bishop sits on the faldstool at the
middle of the altar (he is wearing the mitre). As the ordained kneel
before him one by one, he places both his hands on the head of the
ordained and says to each one:
Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are
forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.
Then the bishop unfolds the chasuble, which the ordained has worn
folded on his shoulders until now; and as he lets the chasuble drop at
the back he says to each one:
The Lord clothe you with the robe of innocence.
The Promise of Obedience
Then each of the ordained comes again before the bishop, kneels and
places his folded hands between the hands of the bishop. If the bishop
is the Ordinary of the ordained he says to him:
Do you promise me and my successors reverence and obedience?
The priest replies: I promise.
But if the bishop is not the Ordinary of the newly ordained he says to
him as he holds his hands (if he is a secular priest):
Do you promise reverence and obedience to the bishop who is your
Ordinary for the time being? R: I promise.
Or he says to a priest of a religious order:
Do you promise reverence and obedience to the prelate who is your
Ordinary for the time being? R: I promise.
Then the bishop, still holding the newly ordained's hands within his
own, kisses him on the right cheek, saying:
The peace of the Lord be always with you.
The ordained responds: Amen.
Admonition and Blessing
Afterward when the ordained have returned to their place, the bishop
sits down, puts on the mitre, takes the crozier, and addresses the
ordained as follows:
My dear sons, as the office you are undertaking is hazardous enough, I
admonish you, before you begin to celebrate Mass, to learn carefully
from other experienced priests the ritual of the whole Mass--the
consecration, the breaking of the host, and the communion.
The bishop rises, and retaining the mitre and crozier, blesses the
priests who kneel before him, saying in a loud voice:
May the blessing of almighty God, Father, + Son, + and Holy + Spirit +
come upon you, that you may be blessed in the priestly order, and may
offer for the sins and transgressions of the people appeasing
sacrifices to almighty God, to whom be honor and glory forever and
ever.
All: Amen.
At the end of Mass the bishop gives the pontifical blessing in the
usual way:
B: Blessed be the name of the Lord.
All: Now and forevermore.
B: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
All: Who made heaven and earth.
B: May almighty God bless you, the Father, + Son, + and Holy + Spirit.
All: Amen.
Final Exhortation
The bishop sits down and speaks a final word to the ordained, saying:
My dear sons, ponder well the order you have taken and the burden laid
on your shoulders. Strive to lead a holy and devout life, and to please
almighty God, that you may obtain His grace. May He in His kindness
deign to bestow it on you.
Now that you have been ordained to the priesthood, may I ask you, after
you have offered your first Mass, to celebrate three other Masses,
namely, one in honor of the Holy Spirit, a second in honor of blessed
Mary, ever a Virgin, and a third for the faithful departed. I ask you
also to pray to almighty God for me.
Mass is concluded as usual.
PART IX. THE SEVEN PENITENTIAL PSALMS AND LITANY OF THE SAINTS
These are used on a number of occasions, for example, as prayers for
the sick, especially during the administration of the last sacraments.
Antiphon: Do not call to mind, Lord, our offenses or those of our
parents; * nor take retribution on our sins.
P: Lord, reprove me not in your anger, * nor chastise me in your wrath.
All: Have pity on me, Lord, for I am languishing; * heal me, Lord, for
my body is in terror;
P: My soul, too, is utterly terrified; * but you, O Lord, how long
All: Return, O Lord, save my life; * rescue me because of your
kindness,
P: For among the dead no one remembers you; * in the nether world who
gives you thanks?
All: I am wearied with sighing; every night I flood my bed with
weeping; * I drench my couch with my tears.
P: My eyes are dimmed with sorrow; * they have aged because of all my
foes.
All: Depart from me, all evildoers, * for the Lord has heard the sound
of my weeping;
P: The Lord has heard my plea; * the Lord has accepted my prayer.
All: All my enemies shall be put to shame in utter terror; * they shall
fall back in sudden shame.
P: Glory be to the Father.
All: As it was in the beginning.
P: Happy is he whose fault is taken away, * whose sin is covered.
All: Happy the man to whom the Lord imputes no guilt, * in whose spirit
there is no guile.
P: As long as I would not speak, my bones wasted away * with my
groaning all the day.
All: For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; * my strength was
dried up as by the heat of summer.
P: Then I acknowledged my sin to you, * I did not conceal my guilt.
All: I said, "I confess my faults to the Lord," * and you took away the
guilt of my sin.
P: For this shall every faithful man pray to you * in time of stress.
All: Though deep waters overflow, * they shall not reach him.
P: You are my shelter; from distress you will preserve me; * with glad
cries of freedom you will ring me round.
All. I will instruct you and show you the way you should walk; * I will
counsel you, keeping my eye on you.
P: Be not senseless like horses or mules; with bit and bridle their
temper must be curbed, * else they will not come near you.
All: Many are the sorrows of the wicked, * but kindness surrounds him
who trusts in the Lord.
P: Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you just; * exult, all you upright
of heart.
All: Glory be to the Father.
P: As it was in the beginning.
Psalm 37
P: Lord, in your anger punish me not, * in your wrath chastise me not;
All: For your arrows have sunk deep in me, * and your hand has come
down upon me.
P: There is no health in my flesh because of your indignation; * there
is no wholeness in my bones because of my sin,
All: For my iniquities have overwhelmed me; * they are like. a heavy
burden, beyond my strength.
P: Noisome and festering are my sores * because of my folly,
All: I am stooped and bowed down profoundly; * I go all day in
mourning,
P: For my loins are filled with burning pains; * there is no health in
my flesh.
All: I am numbed and severely crushed; * I roar with anguish of heart.
P: O Lord, all my desire is before you; * my groaning is not hid from
you.
All: My heart throbs; my strength forsakes me; * the very light of my
eyes has failed me.
P: My friends and my companions stand back because of my affliction; *
my neighbors stand afar off.
All: Men lay snares for me seeking my life; they look to my misfortune,
they speak of ruin, * treachery they talk of all the day.
P: But I am like a deaf man, hearing not, * like a dumb man who opens
not his mouth.
All: I am become like a man who neither hears * nor has in his mouth a
retort.
P: Because for you, Lord, I wait; * you, Lord my God, will answer
All: When I say, "Let them not be glad on my account * who, when my
foot slips, glory over me."
P: For I am very near to falling, * and my grief is with me always.
All: Indeed, I acknowledge my guilt; * I grieve over my sin.
P: But my undeserved enemies are strong; * many are my foes without
cause.
All: Those who repay evil for good * harass me for pursuing good.
P: Forsake me not, Lord; * my God, be not far from me.
All: Make haste to help me, * O Lord, my salvation!
P: Glory be to the Father.
All: As it was in the beginning.
Psalm 50
P: Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; * in the greatness of
your compassion wipe out my offense.
All: Thoroughly wash me from my guilt * and cleanse me of my sin.
P: For I acknowledge my offense, * and my sin is before me always:
All: "Against you only have I sinned, * and done what is evil in your
sight,"
P: That you may be justified in your sentence, * vindicated when you
condemn.
All: Indeed, in guilt was I born, * and in sin my mother conceived me;
P: See, you are pleased with sincerity of heart, * and in my inmost
being you teach me wisdom.
All: Cleanse me of sin with hyssop, that I may be purified; * wash me,
and I shall be whiter than snow.
P: Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness; * the bones you have
crushed shall rejoice.
All: Turn away your face from my sins, * and blot out all my guilt.
P: A clean heart create for me, O God, * and a steadfast spirit renew
within me.
All: Cast me not out from your presence, * and take not your holy
spirit from me.
P: Give me back the joy of your salvation, * and sustain a willing
spirit within me.
All: I will teach transgressors your ways, * and sinners shall return
to you.
P: Free me from blood guilt, God, my saving God; * then my tongue shall
revel in your justice.
All: Lord, open my lips, * and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
P: For you are not pleased with sacrifices; * should I offer a
holocaust, you would not accept it.
All: My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit; * a heart contrite and
humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
P: Be bountiful, Lord, to Sion in your kindness * rebuilding the walls
of Jerusalem;
All: Then shall you be pleased with due sacrifices, burnt offerings and
holocausts; * then shall they offer up bullocks on your altar.
P: Glory be to the Father.
All: As it was in the beginning.
Psalm 101
P: O Lord, hear my prayer, * and let my cry come to you.
All: Hide not your face from me * in the day of my distress.
P: Incline your ear to me; * in the day when I call, answer me
speedily.
All: For my days vanish like smoke, * and my bones burn like fire.
P: Withered and dried up like grass is my heart; * I forget to eat my
bread.
All: Because of my insistent sighing * I am reduced to skin and bone.
P: I am like a desert pelican; * I have become like an owl among the
ruins.
All: I am sleepless, and I moan; * I am like a sparrow alone on the
housetop.
P: All the day my enemies revile me; * in their rage against me they
make a curse of me.
All: For I eat ashes like bread * and mingle my drink with tears.
P: Because of your fury and your wrath; * for you lifted me up only to
cast me down.
All: My days are like a lengthening shadow, * and I wither like grass.
P: But you, Lord, abide forever, * and your name through all
generations.
All: You will arise and have mercy on Sion, * for it is time to pity
her, for the appointed time has come.
P: For her stones are dear to your servants, * and her dust moves them
to pity.
All: And the nations shall revere your name, O Lord, * and all the
kings of the earth your glory.
P: When the Lord has rebuilt Sion * and appeared in His glory;
All: When He has regarded the prayer of the destitute, * and not
despised their prayer.
P: Let this be written for the generation to come, * and let His future
creatures praise the Lord:
All: "The Lord looked down from His holy height, * from heaven He
beheld the earth;
P: To hear the groaning of the prisoners, * to release those doomed to
die,"
All: That the name of the Lord may be declared in Sion; * and His
praise in Jerusalem,
P: When the peoples gather together, * and the kingdoms, to serve the
Lord.
All: He has broken down my strength in the way; * he has cut short my
days.
P: I say: O my God, take me not hence in the midst of my days; *
through all generations your years endure.
All: Of old you established the earth, * and the heavens are the work
of your hands.
P: They shall perish, but you remain * though all of them grow old like
a garment.
All: Like clothing you change them, and they are changed, * but you are
the same, and your years have no end.
P: The children of your servants shall abide, * and their posterity
shall continue in your presence.
All: Glory be to the Father.
P: As it was in the beginning.
Psalm 129
P: Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord; * Lord, hear my voice!
All: Let your ears be attentive * to my voice in supplication:
P: If you, Lord, mark iniquities, * Lord, who can stand?
All: But with you is forgiveness, * that you may be revered.
P: I trust in the Lord; * my soul trusts in His word.
All: My soul waits for the Lord * more than sentinels wait for the
dawn.
P: More than sentinels wait for the dawn, * let Israel wait for the
Lord,
All: For with the Lord is kindness * and with Him is plenteous
redemption;
P: And He will redeem Israel * from all their iniquities.
All: Glory be to the Father.
P: As it was in the beginning.
Psalm 142
P: Lord, hear my prayer; hearken to my pleading in your faithfulness; *
in your justice answer me.
All: And enter not into judgment with your servant, * for before you no
living man is just.
P: For the enemy pursues me; he has crushed my life to the ground; * he
has left me dwelling in the dark, like those long dead.
All: And my spirit is faint within me, * my heart within me is
appalled.
P: I remember the days of old; I meditate on all your doings, * the
work of your hands I ponder.
All: I stretch out my hands to you; * my soul thirsts for you like
parched land.
P: Hasten to answer me, Lord, * for my spirit fails me.
All: Hide not your face from me * lest I become like those who go down
into the pit.
P: Let me feel your kindness without delay, * for in you I trust.
All: Show me the way in which I should walk, * for to you I lift up my
soul.
P: Rescue me from my enemies, Lord, * for in you I hope.
All: Teach me to do your will, * for you are my God.
P: Your spirit is good; * may it guide me on level ground.
All: For your name's sake, Lord, preserve me; * in your mercy free me
from distress.
P: And in your kindness destroy my enemies; bring to nought all my
foes, * for I am your servant.
All: Glory be to the Father.
P: As it was in the beginning.
Antiphon: Do not call to mind, Lord, our offenses or those of our
parents; * nor take retribution on our sins.
LITANY OF THE SAINTS
{The Litany of the Saints is used in ordination, Forty Hours',
processions, and other occasions. Both the Roman Ritual and the Roman
Pontifical direct that the first three invocations be repeated. The
music for this litany is given in the music supplement. The invocations
are sung (or recited) by the chanters or the priest; the responses by
all.}
P: Lord, have mercy.
All: Lord, have mercy.
P: Christ, have mercy.
All: Christ, have mercy.
P: Lord, have mercy.
All: Lord, have mercy.
P: Christ, hear us.
All: Christ, graciously hear us.
P: God, the Father in heaven.
All: Have mercy on us.
P: God, the Son, Redeemer of the world.
All: Have mercy on us.
P: God, the Holy Spirit.
All: Have mercy on us.
P: Holy Trinity, one God.
All: Have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, pray for us, (After each invocation: "Pray for us.")
Holy Mother of God,
Holy Virgin of virgins,
St. Michael,
St. Gabriel,
St. Raphael,
All holy angels and archangels,
All holy orders of blessed spirits,
St. John the Baptist,
St. Joseph,
All holy patriarchs and prophets,
St. Peter,
St. Paul,
St. Andrew,
St. James,
St. John,
St. Thomas,
St. James,
St. Philip,
St. Bartholomew,
St. Matthew,
St. Simon,
St. Thaddeus,
St. Matthias,
St. Barnabas,
St. Luke,
St. Mark,
All holy apostles and evangelists,
All holy disciples of the Lord,
All holy Innocents,
St. Stephen,
St. Lawrence,
St. Vincent,
SS. Fabian and Sebastian,
SS. John and Paul,
SS. Cosmas and Damian,
SS. Gervase and Protase,
All holy martyrs,
St. Sylvester,
St. Gregory,
St. Ambrose,
St. Augustine,
St. Jerome,
St. Martin,
St. Nicholas,
All holy bishops and confessors,
All holy doctors,
St. Anthony,
St. Benedict,
St. Bernard,
St. Dominic,
St. Francis,
All holy priests and levites,
All holy monks and hermits,
St. Mary Magdalen,
St. Agatha,
St. Lucy,
St. Agnes,
St. Cecilia,
St. Catherine,
St. Anastasia,
All holy virgins and widows,
P: All holy saints of God,
All: Intercede for us.
P: Be merciful,
All: Spare us, O Lord.
P: Be merciful,
All: Graciously hear us, O Lord.
From all evil, deliver us, O Lord.* (After each invocation: "Deliver
us, O Lord."
From all sin,
From your wrath,
From sudden and unprovided death,
From the snares of the devil,
From anger, hatred, and all ill will,
From all lewdness,
From lightning and tempest,[1]
From the scourge of earthquakes,
From plague, famine, and war,[2]
{The following invocation is used only at Forty Hours': From dangers
that threaten us,}
From everlasting death,
By the mystery of your holy incarnation,
By your coming,
By your birth,
By your baptism and holy fasting,
By your cross and passion,
By your death and burial,
By your holy resurrection,
By your wondrous ascension,
By the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Advocate,
On the day of judgment,
P: We sinners,
All: We beg you to hear us.
That you spare us, * (After each invocation: "We beg you to hear us.")
That you pardon us,
That you bring us to true penance,
That you govern and preserve your holy Church,
That you preserve our Holy Father and all ranks in the Church in holy
religion,
That you humble the enemies of holy Church,
That you give peace and true concord to all Christian rulers,
That you give peace and unity to the whole Christian world,
That you restore to the unity of the Church all who have strayed from
the truth, and lead all unbelievers to the light of the Gospel,
That you confirm and preserve us in your holy service,
That you lift up our minds to heavenly desires,
That you grant everlasting blessings to all our benefactors,
That you deliver our souls and the souls of our brethren, relatives,
and benefactors from everlasting damnation,
That you give and preserve the fruits of the earth,[3]
That you grant eternal rest to all the faithful departed,[4]
That you graciously hear us,
Son of God,
P: Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world,
All: Spare us, O Lord.
P: Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world,
All: Graciously hear us, O Lord.
P: Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world,
All: Have mercy on us.
P: Christ, hear us.
All. Christ, graciously hear us.
P: Lord, have mercy.
All: Christ, have mercy.
P: Lord, have mercy. Our Father (the rest inaudibly until:)
P: And lead us not into temptation.
All: But deliver us from evil.
Psalm 69
P: Deign, O God, to rescue me; * O Lord, make haste to help me.
All: Let them be put to shame and confounded * who seek my life.
P: Let them be turned back in disgrace * who desire my ruin.
All: Let them retire in their shame * who say to me, "Aha, aha!"
P: But may all who seek you * exult and be glad in you,
All: And may those who love your salvation * say ever, "God be
glorified!"
P: But I am afflicted and poor; * O God, hasten to me!
All: You are my help and my deliverer; * O Lord, hold not back!
P: Glory be to the Father.
All: As it was in the beginning.
After the psalm the celebrant (still kneeling) sings the following
prayers in the ferial tone:
P: Save your servants.
All: Who trust in you, my God.
P: Let us find in you, Lord, a fortified tower.
All: In the face of the enemy.
P: Let the enemy have no power over us.
All: And the son of iniquity be powerless to harm us.
P: Lord, deal not with us as our sins deserve.
All: Nor take retribution on us on account of our sins.
P: Let us pray for our sovereign Pontiff N..
All: The Lord preserve him and renew his life, make him happy on earth,
and deliver him from the ill will of his enemies.
P: Let us pray for our benefactors.
All: Lord, for the glory of your name, reward with everlasting life all
those who do good to us.
P: Let us pray for the faithful departed.
All: Lord, grant them eternal rest, and let perpetual light shine upon
them.
P: May they rest in peace.
All: Amen.
P: For our absent brethren.
All: Save your servants who trust in you, my God.
P: Lord, send them aid from your holy place.
All: And watch over them from Sion.
P: Lord, heed my prayer.
All: And let my cry be heard by you.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
The Collects for Forty Hours' are given in their proper place (see
Forty Hours' Adoration).
Let us pray.
God, whose nature is ever merciful and forgiving, accept our prayer
that we and all your servants, bound by the fetters of sin, may be
pardoned by your loving kindness.
We beg you, Lord, hear the plea of your suppliants, pardon the sins of
your penitents, and kindly grant us your tender forgiveness along with
your peace.
Show us, O Lord, your indescribable mercy, blot out our transgressions,
and graciously deliver us from the condemnation they deserve.
God, who are offended by our sins but appeased by our penances, may it
please you to hear the entreaties of your people and to turn away the
stripes that our transgressions rightly deserve.
Almighty everlasting God, be gracious to your servant, N., our
sovereign Pontiff, and in your kindness lead him on the path of
everlasting salvation; may he by your grace seek only that which
pleases you and carry it out with all his might.
God, from whom come holy desires, right counsels, and good works, give
to your servants that peace which the world cannot give; so that our
hearts may be dedicated to the observance of your law, freed from fear
of our enemies, and tranquil in the knowledge of your protection.
Lord, inflame our affections and our understanding with the fire of the
Holy Spirit, that we may serve you with a chaste body and please you
with a pure heart.
God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls
of your departed servants remission of all sins; and by our fervent
prayers may they obtain the pardon they have always desired.
We beg you, Lord, let a breath of your grace prompt our undertakings
and guide them along their course, so that our least prayer and work
may ever begin in you and end in you.
Almighty everlasting God, Lord of both the living and the dead; deal
mercifully with all whom you foresee shall be yours by faith and good
works. Hear us, your lowly servants, and grant that those for whom we
earnestly offer our prayers, whether this present world still detains
them in the flesh or the world to come has already claimed their souls,
may obtain pardon of all their sins, through your mercy and goodness
and through the intercession of your saints. We ask this through our
Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you, in the
unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.
All: Amen.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
P: May the almighty and merciful Lord graciously hear us.
All: Amen.
P: May the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest
in peace.
All: Amen.
If the papacy is vacant, in place of the invocation "That you preserve
our Holy Father and all ranks in the Church" etc., the invocation will
be "That you preserve all ranks in the Church," etc. And the verse "Let
us pray for our sovereign Pontiff, N.," together with its response and
prayer is omitted.
ENDNOTES
1. In the procession for averting tempest this invocation is said
twice.
2. In the procession in time of death and plague this invocation is
said twice.
3. In the procession in time of famine and want this invocation is said
twice (see Procession in Time of Famine).
4. In ordination the bishop rises at this point and inserts three
special invocations (see Ordination of Priests).
In the blessing of a new church the priest rises here, and making the
sign of the cross inserts a special invocation (see Blessing of a New
Church or Public Oratory)
In the reconciliation of a profaned church--see Rite for Reconciling a
Profanced Church.
In the reconciliation of a profaned cemetery--see Rite for Reconciling
a Profaned Cemetary.
In the procession for petitioning rain--see Procession for Imploring
Rain.
In the procession for petitioning calm weather--see Procession for
Imploring Fair Weather.
In the procession in time of death and plague--see Procession in Time
of Epidemic and Plague.
THE LITURGY FOR THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED
INTRODUCTION
The burial of one who has fallen asleep in Christ is in a certain sense
a counterpart of his baptism. On the day of baptism he was brought into
the house of God, his body alive but his soul dead in sin. Now, before
being laid to rest, he returns for a last visit to the church edifice,
the earthly image of the heavenly Jerusalem, his body a corpse but his
soul gloriously alive in Christ through the bond of sanctifying grace.
It is truly meet and right and conducive to salvation that at all times
and in all places we give thanks to you, holy Lord, almighty Father
everlasting God, through Christ our Lord. For in the death of your
faithful life is merely changed not taken away, and when the shelter of
this earthly sojourn falls asunder, an everlasting dwelling in heaven
awaits them in reward.[1]
The fragile vessel which was the temple of an immortal soul, the body
consecrated and sanctified along with the soul through baptism and the
other sacraments, is worthy of honor and respect in death as it was in
life. For its committal to the earth is nothing less than the planting
of a seed from which will come forth a glorified body on the day of
resurrection. At the moment of its departure the soul wings its way to
the presence of Him by whom it was fashioned, either to share
immediately in the splendor of the beatific vision, or to be detained
in a place of purification. However, a disembodied soul in the light of
what constitutes human nature, is something incomplete, and it requires
for unending perfection and happiness an eventual reunion with its
onetime earthly abode. Without faith in purgatory as the state of
purification, without faith in man's everlasting transfiguration,
without faith in a corruptible body being revivified an incorruptible
one, we could not understand the suffrages and ceremonies of the
Catholic funeral service. The blessing of the corpse, the prayers, and
the Requiem Mass must be seen for what they are, help to the departed
Christian given by the communion of saints of which he is a member.
Christian burial--the Office, Mass of Requiem, and interment--is
charged throughout in the highest degree with optimism and confidence.
Such optimism and hope in the face of death can be appreciated only if
one understands the mind of the Church in regard to the passing of her
children. One of the finest treatises on the subject is Eugene Walter's
"Die Herrlichkeit des Christlichen Sterbens." Although no attempt can
be made to summarize the work, we borrow here from its inspiring
contents. Death is a summons from God, our almighty sovereign, not when
we but when He wills it. In the realization that death is under His
dominion, faith begins to triumph and to break out into song: "O death,
where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"[2] It is true that
death has come upon man as one of the penalties for sin: "For by a man
came death, and by a man the resurrection of the dead."[3] Yet even this
penalty can be viewed in our favor more as an opportunity for penance
than as a punishment for sin. Adam's fall and our continued
transgressions have their malice mainly in the fact that they are a
turning away from God toward creatures, a preferring of the handiwork
to the Creator. Death once again sets matters in the right order, since
it is a complete separation from creature goods, but above all a return
to God.
In dying man gives back obedience to God. Death affords man the
greatest possibility of making satisfaction for his disobedience. Even
in awaiting death there is an opportunity to show obedience to the
Almighty's decrees, and the longer one must wait for the sentence to
become effective, the more the merit of obedience. While he awaits the
end of this life, confidence in Christ increases on the part of one who
is baptized: "Neither death, nor life...nor any other creature shall be
able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus Our
Lord."[4] Death becomes the complete attainment of his oneness with the
divine head. In dying we can imitate Christ in all things, so that
after "we suffer with Him we may be also glorified with Him."[5] Homage
is rendered to the death of our Lord in all the sacramental worship of
the Church, particularly in the eucharistic re-enactment of His
sacrifice. Honor to the cross is given, moreover, by the acceptance of
our cross as it bears down its heavy weight upon us in the course of
life. By these means we "put on Christ," we increase the stature of our
"being in Christ." But we honor Him, we imitate Him best, we enter into
full possession of Christ especially at the moment of death, when our
union with Him through grace gives place to the glory of possessing Him
wholly, of seeing Him face to face The life of a Christian is an
enduring sacrifice which is brought to its consummation only in death.
In dying the member of Christ partakes of His atoning death, wherein
are embraced all His faithful followers; therefore, death is more than
a consoling thing--it is a holy thing. "Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of His saints."[6] To follow Him unto death is to
follow Him unto glory. "For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall
rise again incorruptible: and we shall be changed. For this corruptible
must put on incorruption; and this mortal must put on immortality."[7]
This lofty view which the Church has of death is reflected in the
service of laying to rest the bodies of her departed children. From
earliest times the Church was most energetic in her efforts "gradually
to draw its adherents away from all those funeral customs which were
incompatible with its own teaching on this matter."[8] In contrast to the
pagan concept of death as the final and irrevocable episode of human
existence, our Savior had proposed to the world a new concept of death.
For the body it is a sleep, as Christ said of his friend, Lazarus, a
sleep while awaiting its final resurrection. "Death for Christians is
not death," says St. Jerome, "but a slumber and a passing sleep."[9] We
remember our beloved dead in Mass, referring to them "who have gone
before us with the sign of faith and who sleep the sleep of peace."
For the soul death is not the end but a birth, a summons to a new
existence. Thus St. Cyprian, in preaching about the mortality of man,
found it necessary to admonish his people: "It has been made known to
us again and again that we should not mourn over our brethren who have
been delivered from this world by the summons of the Lord. For we ought
to know that they are not lost to us but that they have been sent on
ahead of us, that they have departed before us in order to live with
God."[10] In respect of the last obsequies he is prompted to add: "Let us
give no occasion to the gentiles, lest they deservedly and justly
reprove us when we mourn as lost and obliterated those who we say are
alive with Christ. For by such manifestation of the heart and the
breast we deny the faith that we declare by word of mouth. In acting
thus our hope and our faith become a sham, and our words seem to have
the ring of pretense, insincerity, and counterfeit."[11]
The spirit of Christian faith, confidence, and joy in the face of death
is immediately apparent in the burial rite of infants who have died in
the state of baptismal innocence. At their passing the ritual directs
that the church bells should not be tolled, but should be rung in
festive tone. Around their bodies are placed flowers or fragrant herbs
or greens, in token of integrity and virginal purity. The psalms chosen
for the rite are delightful songs of praise and thanksgiving, and the
prayers speak only of the happiness and bliss which fall to their lot
among the saints and the elect in the celestial kingdom. Provided the
newborn babe or child of tender age and sinless life has received the
purifying waters of baptism, it has accomplished the purpose for which
it came into being--to be added to the number of God's adorers in
heaven--and when its Maker calls home the soul, there can be only
rejoicing over the fact that its eternal goal has been reached. Yet
besides the glory of innocence there is the glory of combat, the glory
of those who have borne the heat and the burden of living; albeit they
have not emerged from the battle of life free from the wounds of sin.
God, who is the lover and the rewarder of innocence, is at the same
time the most merciful pardoner of guilt. He is the kind Father,
desiring that none who believes and trusts in Him should perish.
We appreciate readily enough the manifestation of God's kindness when
He forthwith bestows everlasting life on baptized children as soon as
they leave this world, without any merit of their own. A corresponding
mildness and utter generosity on His part in dealing with departed
sinners is discernible in the burial rite for adults, although this is
to some extent obscured by the grim character of certain prayers in the
Requiem Mass and Office added in the course of the Middle Ages. The
Church found it necessary as time went on to sound a somber note in the
liturgy of the dead--notably by the addition of the "Dies Irae" and the
legislation of black vestments--because men had grown too preoccupied
with this life. Thus she used the occasion to rouse them from such
spiritual sluggishness, and the grim aspects of death were brought into
the foreground. She justified the new attitude, however, without giving
up the joyful and festive character of former ages. Both tendencies
persist in the funeral office as we have it today, yet it is to be
feared that the more serious and threatening notes have captured the
imagination of our people, rather than the ones which resound with joy,
peace, and victory.
It must be emphasized for our Catholic people that if, as they know and
believe, the private suffrages of the faithful are of profit to the
departed, how much more are the prayers of the Whole Christ, when the
Church through her sacrifice and petitions comes to their assistance in
the solemnity of her public worship. Christ and His entire mystical
body, the communion of saints, the whole heavenly Jerusalem is present
at the death of the baptized. In the sacrament of last anointing first
of all, and then in the rite of the apostolic blessing at the hour of
death and in the act of commending to God a departing soul, Christ,
with His saving suffering and death, stands by to heal the servants
whom the true faith and Christian hope commend, graciously to grant
pardon and remission of all sin, to act in the role of a merciful judge
to the soul at the hour of its departure, to cleanse it from every
stain in His blood.
By means of the last rites and the funeral liturgy, we learn that
death, which before could be only a punishment, is turned into a
sacrifice through its union with Calvary's: "It is consummated." In
union with the Christ of Calvary, man, by surrendering his soul, helps
to repay humanity's debt. After the soul is born aloft to the bosom of
the patriarchs, the body of a Christian, like the body of Christ which
in death remained hypostatically united to the divine Word, remains
organically incorporated in the mystical body of the Savior, and
contains in itself the seed of glory. Therefore, the liturgy refers to
the faithful departed in living terminology: "repose in the sleep of
peace," "rest in Christ," "the bodies of the saints are laid away in
peace, and their names shall live forever." In the Eucharist the body
has received the seed of everlasting life.
When death has come the preparation of the body of the deceased ought
to take place in a manner befitting so sacred a thing. All manner of
worldly display should be absent, so that this corporal work of mercy
can be carried out in a spirit of true piety. On whom should this duty
devolve if not on the surviving members of the family themselves?
Nobody is more suited to this last act of love than they. We might
shrink today from imitating Christians of early times in certain
practices which accompanied the laying out of the body: catching the
last breath with the mouth, bestowing the kiss of peace on the brow,
placing the Eucharist in the mouth of the corpse (now absolutely
forbidden), washing the body with milk, honey, and wine--all of which
was at variance with the Jewish tradition that defilement resulted from
contact with a dead body.
Yet there are duties and ministrations to the treasured remains that
ought to be accepted without reluctance by relatives and friends:
closing the eyes and mouth, arranging the members in a fitting posture,
fixing the hands in the form of a cross or placing a crucifix in the
hands, washing the corpse and clothing it in its shroud, arranging that
the church bells be tolled to announce the departure and to beg prayers
of the neighboring community. Happily there still are groups, at least
the clergy and religious orders, who regard this office as their own
and fulfill it in a spirit of respect and obligation. Certainly it is
not proper that it be given over entirely to morticians. A little more
concern is in order as to what lengths that profession will be allowed
to go. It is nothing if not grotesque to see a dead person painted and
rouged, as though about to trip out before the footlights in a danse
macabre; and how preposterous to equip a corpse with spectacles (even a
lorgnette). While the body lies in state there ought to prevail an
atmosphere breathing peace and joy, hope, and resurrection. Nearby
should be a crucifix, lighted candles around the body as a reminder
that in life he knew the light of Christ and is now to possess it in
the beatific vision, and floral decorations in number and arrangement
consonant with good taste.
During the time of the wake there should be concern above all for the
departed soul, with the Office for the Dead recited either in its
official form or in an abbreviated and simplified vernacular, or
suitable readings from Sacred Scripture and the rosary service.
From the third century onward there is testimony for the liturgical
custom of chanting psalms when carrying the dead to burial, as well as
for the offering of Mass on the day of demise or funeral, and on the
third, seventh, and thirtieth days after death and on the anniversary.
The burial rite of today is found in its essentials in the fourth
century,[12] consisting of: (1) the preparation of the corpse and the
vigil of players while waking the body; (2) procession from the home to
the church; (3) worship in church with the body present; (4) procession
to the cemetery and interment. However, an organized Office for the
Dead dates only from the eighth century; its texts and rubrics are
given in an antiphonary of St. Peter's and in the "Ordines Romani."
Because it was the teaching of some that the particular judgment takes
place at once at the place where the person expires, the prayer which
follows was said immediately: "Come in haste to assist him, you saints
of God. Come in haste to meet him, you angels of the Lord. Receive his
soul, and offer it in the sight of the Most High. May Christ receive
you...and may the angels lead you to Abraham's bosom." Thereupon came
the preparation for burial referred to above.
Battifol, when describing the transferal of the remains for the final
obsequies, quotes from an ancient source how this was one in Rome:
The body of the departed is brought in the evening to the basilica of
St. Peter. Amid the tolling of bells they cross the forecourt of the
church, and stop at the threshold of that one of its five doors which
is called the "Gate of Jerusalem," because it is the door of the dead.
There they chant "Miserere" with these two antiphons: "Thou Who knowest
the secrets of all hearts, cleanse thou me from sin. Grant me time to
cry in penitence: 'Against thee have I sinned.' Bring him, in O Lord,
to the mountain of their inheritance, even to the sanctuary which thine
hands have prepared, O Lord." The door is opened, the body brought in,
and the office begins. It is a vigil, and includes, as every vigil
should, vespers, three nocturns, and lauds. It is the Roman Office in
its purest state--no hymn, no short lesson.[13]
The burial service reaches its climax in the Mass of Requiem. In the
sacrifice of Christ made present in the Eucharist, the redemptive
mysteries are brought to the soul, endowing it with full salvation and
transfiguration. Evidence of a funeral Mass exists as early as the
second century. The texts of the Requiem are certainly very ancient,
except for the "Dies Irae," and they have a joyful and festive
character which is carried over into their musical settings. It is
necessary to bear in mind that, just as on the feast days of the
saints, the Church in the funeral Mass is commemorating the day of
demise, in fact, the hour of the coming of the Lord. The coming of the
Lord in the Eucharist-sacrifice is joined with His coming at the hour
of death and His coming on the last day. So infinite in power are the
effects of the Mass, that when it is over the Church can envision the
departed in full possession of eternal glory. Thus the procession to
the grave is regarded as a festive entrance into Paradise, symbolized
by the hymn that is sung when the body is carried out.
The final rite of Christian burial is the interment. The body is laid
to rest in consecrated ground among the "saints" who are fallen asleep
in Christ. Before it is given to the earth, the grave is blessed,
provided the cemetery has not received consecration, or if the grave is
not an excavation in the ground but a special tomb or mausoleum. In the
course of this blessing God is besought to appoint one of His holy
angels to stand watch over the grave, to guard it for all time against
desecration. The service of entombment is brought to a beautiful
conclusion in the singing of the "Benedictus," the morning-song of
redemption uttered by Zachary at the birth of John the Baptist, in
acknowledgment of the coming Redeemer. Here in an accommodated sense it
proves to be a song of anticipation and longing for the Lord's second
coming. At the same time the Church sings a canticle of solemn
thanksgiving to God for all the rich graces granted the departed from
the cradle to the grave, for the strength received to fight the enemies
of salvation, along with an earnest supplication that he may enter into
the peace and rest of everlasting glory. Like the rising sun in the
east, the Lord appears in the distance in all power and majesty to
bring light to him who sleeps in the shadow of the grave. Therefore, it
is a tradition practically as old as the Church to bury the body with
its feet pointing toward the east. In all confidence that the deceased
has departed this life in the charity of Christ and that his body will
arise transfigured on judgment day, the hymn concludes with the
antiphon: "I am the resurrection and the life; he that believes in me,
although he be dead. shall live; and every one that lives and believes
in me shall never die."
--Translator
ENDNOTES
1. Preface of Requiem Mass.
2. I Cor 15.55.
3. Ibid. 15.21.
4. Rom 8.38.
5. Ibid., 8.17.
6. Ps 115.15.
7. 1 Cor 15.52
8. Cf. Alfred Rush, C.Ss.R.: "Death and Burial in Christian Antiquity,"
Cath. U. of America Press, Washington, 1941.
9. "Epist. 75 ad Theodor.," P.L., t. XXII.
10. "De Mortalitate," C. XX, P.L., t. IV.
11. Ibid. C. XX, P.L., t. XXII.
12. Cf. Cabrol: Dictionnaire d'Archeologie Chretienne et de Liturgie,
I, 202 v, 2706 ff.
12. Battifol, "History of the Roman Breviary," p. 151, Longmans, 1912.
PART X. THE LITURGY FOR THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED
CHAPTER I: GENERAL RULES FOR CHRISTIAN BURIAL
1. The sacred ceremonies and usages which holy Mother Church is wont to
follow in the burial of her children, coming down to us as they do from
very ancient tradition and the enactments of the popes, must be
observed and adhered to with all diligence by the pastors; for they are
the bearers of true religious mysteries and signs of Christian piety,
as well as most salutary intercessory prayers for the faithful
departed.
2. Whenever priests perform this office let them do so with proper
demeanor and devotion, so that the people may view these sacred rites
for what they really are--introduced for the spiritual welfare of the
departed and likewise for the edification of the living, and not as
emolument for the clergy.
3. Nobody should be interred, especially in case of sudden demise,
until a suitable time has elapsed, so as to preclude all doubt about
death having really set in.
4. Except for a weighty reason, the bodies of the faithful, before they
are interred, must be brought from where they lie in state into the
church, where the obsequies are to be held according to the full ritual
of burial, as prescribed by the approved liturgical books.
5. The church to which the corpse should be taken for the funeral is,
by ordinary right, the deceased's own parish church, unless he had
chosen another for a valid reason or some extraordinary privilege
determines otherwise. If the deceased had membership in more than one
parish, the church for the funeral is to be reckoned as the one in
whose confines he died.
6. Whenever there is a question about the right of some other church,
the right to the funeral of the proper parish church must always
prevail.
7. As established of old, whenever possible the practice must be
retained of celebrating Mass for the deceased with the body present,
before it is laid to rest.
8. The funeral Mass for the departed can be celebrated even on a feast
of higher rank or on a Sunday, as long as it does not interfere with
the parochial or conventual Mass or the Divine Office, nor in any way
impede some solemn celebration as prescribed by the rubrics of the
missal.[1]
9. It is utterly forbidden on the occasion of final obsequies or
interment or on the anniversary of the dead to exact more than the
diocesan tax stipulates.
10. Since it is an ancient custom of the Church to carry lighted
candles in funeral processions and during the exequies, let pastors and
other priests take heed lest this practice be omitted, and at the same
time be on their guard against anything that savors of avarice, as well
as any other unseemliness in this connection.
11. The poor who at death are destitute or leave behind very little, so
that they cannot be buried with the usual outlay, should be given a
decent funeral and burial wholly gratis, with obsequies as prescribed
by the liturgical rules and by diocesan statutes. If necessary, let the
priests who have the care of the aforesaid provide out of their own
pockets for the candles usually used, or let some pious confraternity
do so if such exists, as local usage warrants.
12. A deceased priest or any cleric should, if possible, be clothed in
his accustomed apparel, including the cassock, and over this the
sacerdotal or clerical vestment proper to his rank; and everyone should
wear the tonsure and biretta.
13. A priest especially, in addition to the cassock, should be vested
in amice, alb, cincture, maniple, stole, and purple chasuble.
14. A deacon should be vested in amice, alb, cincture, maniple, stole
(worn over the left shoulder and fastened below the right armpit), and
purple dalmatic.
15. A subdeacon should be vested in amice, alb, cincture, maniple, and
purple tunic.
16. All other clerics in lesser orders ought to be vested in surplice
worn over the cassock.
17. Clerics should not act as pallbearers for a layman, no matter what
his rank or dignity may have been.
18. The bodies of the dead are to be placed in church with the feet
toward the main altar; or if the exequies are held in an oratory or
chapel they are placed with the feet toward its altar. The same applies
to entombment, insofar as place and location permit. The bodies of
priests, however, are placed with head toward the altar.
19. Neither altar antependia nor other altar ornaments may be used to
decorate the bier or catafalque.
20. The bodies of the faithful are to be interred in a cemetery
properly blessed. Each parish ought to have its own cemetery, unless
one in common for several parishes has been lawfully designated by the
Ordinary.
21. Wherever it is possible, the graves of priests and other clerics
should be separate from those of the laity, and located in some more
prominent part of the cemetery. Moreover, if it can be arranged
conveniently, there should be one for priests and another for the
lesser ministers of the Church.
22. The bodies of the dead should not be interred in a church, except
in the cases of resident bishops, abbots, or prelates nullius who are
to be given burial in their own church, or likewise the Roman pontiff,
royal personages, or cardinals.
23. No corpse should be deposited below the altar. Bodies which are
entombed near the altar must be at a distance of at least one meter (40
in.); otherwise it is not allowed to celebrate Mass at the altar until
the corpse has been removed.
24. For the rest, no Christian who has died in communion with the
faithful should be buried outside a church or a cemetery properly
blessed. In some instances where necessity compels a temporary
departure from this rule, care should be taken as soon as possible that
the remains be transferred to consecrated ground, if this is at all
feasible. Until this occurs, a cross should be erected at the head of
the grave in every case, to show that the one here interred has fallen
asleep in Christ.
25. Furthermore, it is not allowed to exhume a body which has been
given permanent ecclesiastical interment in any place, except with the
Ordinary's permission.
Denial of Christian Burial
1. A pastor ought to know precisely who are to be excluded from
Christian burial according to Church law, lest any such ever be
admitted thereto contrary to the decrees of the sacred canons.
2. Persons who depart this life without baptism are not to be allowed
Christian burial. Yet catechumens who die without baptism through no
fault of their own are to be treated the same as the baptized.
3. The following are to be denied Christian burial, unless before death
they manifested some sign of repentance:
(a) persons reckoned as notorious apostates from the Christian faith,
and persons who were notorious for belonging to a heretical or
schismatical sect, or to the Masonic sect, or to other societies of the
same kind;
(b) persons excommunicated or interdicted after a declaratory or
condemnatory sentence;
(c) those who committed suicide with full deliberation;
(d) those who died in a duel or from a wound received in a duel;
(e) those who ordered their body to be cremated;
(f) other public and overt sinners.
If any doubt exists in regard to the cases mentioned above, the
Ordinary should be consulted if time permits; and if a doubt still
remains, the body should be given ecclesiastical burial, yet so that
all scandal is precluded.
4. Those who are deprived of ecclesiastical burial must also be denied
the funeral Mass and even the Mass of anniversary, as well as other
public obsequies.
ENDNOTES
1. This rule in the Ritual, not yet officially revised, must be
reviewed in the light of the new rubrics of the Roman Missal, nos. 406-
408.
CHAPTER II: RITE FOR BURIAL OF ADULTS
1. At the time designated for taking the remains to church, the clergy
are called together, as well as others who should take part in the
obsequies. All assemble in the parish church or in another church, as
local custom determines. As soon as the bells sound the signal in the
usual manner of the locality, the pastor, vested in surplice and black
stole or, as the case may be, wearing also a cope of the same color,
and preceded by a cleric carrying the cross and another the holy water,
goes in company of the others to the home of the deceased. Here candles
are distributed and the torches are lighted.
Meanwhile all is arranged for the procession. The lay confraternities
(if such are present) go first, followed by the regular and secular
clergy according to their rank. Led by the cross they walk two by two,
chanting in devout manner the psalms given below. The pastor walks
before the hearse with its burning torches. Behind the hearse come the
rest of the mourners, devoutly praying in silence for the departed.
2. Previous to removing the body, the pastor sprinkles it with holy
water, then at once begins (without chant) the following:
Antiphon: If you, Lord, mark iniquities, * Lord, who can stand?
Psalm 129
P: Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord; * Lord, hear my voice!
All: Let your ears be attentive * to my voice in supplication:
P: If you, Lord, mark iniquities, * Lord, who can stand?
All: But with you is forgiveness, ' that you may be revered.
P: I trust in the Lord; my soul trusts in His word.
All: My soul waits for the Lord * more than sentinels wait for the
dawn.
P: More than sentinels wait for the dawn, * let Israel wait for the
Lord.
All: For with the Lord is kindness * and with Him is plenteous
redemption;
P: And He will redeem Israel * from all their iniquities.
All: Lord, grant him (her) eternal rest.
P: And let perpetual light shine upon him (her).
Antiphon: If you, Lord, mark iniquities, * Lord, who can stand?
The rite given above, if it has not been carried out in the home or
mortuary, takes place in the vestibule of the church.
Procession to the Church
As the body is being carried out of the home, the pastor, walking
ahead, intones in a clear voice the following antiphon:
Antiphon: The bones you have crushed shall rejoice.
The chanters begin psalm 50, which is carried on alternately by the
clergy. This psalm is given elsewhere; but the ending "Glory be to the
Father," etc., is changed to "Lord, grant him (her) eternal rest," etc.
3. On entering the church the antiphon is repeated:
Antiphon: The bones you have crushed shall rejoice.
As the body is being carried into the church the following responsory
is sung, the chanters intoning it and the clergy alternating with them
as indicated (see the music for this in the music supplement):
Responsory During the Procession
Come in haste to assist him (her), * you saints of God; Come in haste
to meet him (her), you angels of the Lord. * Enfold in your arms this
soul, * and take your burden heavenwards to the sight of the Most High.
V. May Christ receive you, for it was He who called you; And may angels
carry you unto Abraham's bosom.
R: Enfold in your arms this soul, * and take your burden heavenwards to
the sight of the Most High.
V. Lord, grant him (her) eternal rest, and let perpetual light shine
upon him (her).
All: Take your burden heavenwards to the sight of the Most High.
4. The coffin is placed in the middle of the aisle, arranged so that
the feet (unless the deceased is a priest) of the corpse are toward the
main altar; in the case of a priest the head is placed toward the
altar. Lighted candles are put around the body. If nothing hinders it
the Office for the Dead follows immediately, with invitatory, three
nocturns, and Lauds; and the antiphons are said in full before and
after the respective psalm.
But if the Office for the Dead and the Mass of Requiem are not to take
place immediately on bringing the remains into church, but are to
follow later in the day or on the next day, then as soon as the
responsory has been sung these prayers are added: "Lord, have mercy.
Christ have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Our Father," etc., with versicles
and the oration as given below in no. 5, using the short conclusion
"through Christ our Lord. R. Amen," and concluding with "Lord, grant
him (her) eternal rest. R. And let perpetual light shine upon him
(her). V. May he (she) rest in peace. R. Amen."
5. At the end of the Office for the Dead, having repeated the antiphon
of the Canticle of Zachary (or if Lauds is omitted after the nocturn or
nocturns of Matins), all kneel while the following prayers are chanted:
Our Father (the rest inaudibly until:)
P: And lead us not into temptation.
All: But deliver us from evil.
P: From the gates of hell.
All: Deliver his (her) soul, O Lord.
P: May he (she) rest in peace.
All: Amen.
P: Lord, heed my prayer.
All: And let my cry be heard by you.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
Let us pray.
We beg you, O Lord, to absolve the soul of your servant, N., from every
bond of his (her) sins, so that in the glorious resurrection he (she)
may be awakened to new life in the company of your saints and your
elect. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives
and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and
ever.
All: Amen.
If the deceased is a priest one adds the word priest after his name Or
another appropriate oration may be selected from those given under Rite
for Burial of Adults. If this oration does not immediately precede the
burial service or the Mass or the absolution, then one adds the
versicles "Lord, grant," etc., udner Prayers at a Wake.
All orations during the exequies and Office for the Dead are chanted in
the ferial tone, i.e., without inflections, or in another ferial tone
ad libitum. The longer conclusion for the orations is used only in Mass
and in the Office; at all other times the shorter one.
6. During the chanting of Lauds the priest and the ministrants repair
to the sacristy at the proper time to vest for the solemn celebration
of Mass, which will be the one for the day of burial as found in the
Missal.
Absolution at the End of Mass
7. At the end of Mass the celebrant lays aside the chasuble and maniple
at the epistle side of the altar, and puts on a black cope. The deacon
and subdeacon retain their vestments, with the exception of the
maniple. The subdeacon takes the cross and goes to the bier preceded by
two acolytes, one carrying the thurible and incense boat, the other the
holy water with aspersory. He takes his place at the head of the
corpse, standing between two acolytes or candle bearers who are holding
candlesticks with lighted candles. The rest of the clergy follow him in
the order of their rank, all holding lighted candles, and arrange
themselves in a circle around the bier. The celebrant comes last,
accompanied by the deacon on his left. After making the reverence to
the altar he takes his place at the foot of the corpse, facing the
cross. Behind him to the left are the two acolytes, the one with
thurible and incense boat, the other with holy water and aspersory. As
the deacon holds the book for him the celebrant (with hands folded)
says the following prayer without any introductory word. No change of
forms is made even though the prayer is being said for several deceased
or for a woman:
Lord, do not call your servant to account; for no one can stand
guiltless in your presence unless you grant him forgiveness of all his
sins. Therefore, we pray, that in passing judgment you will not let
your sentence fall heavily on one who is commended to you by the
sincere prayer of Christian faith. But with the help of your grace may
this servant, who during life was sealed with the sign of the Blessed
Trinity, be found worthy of escaping the doom of your vengeance. We ask
this of you who live and reign forever and ever.
All: Amen.
Responsory
Deliver me, O Lord, * from everlasting death on that dread day,
When the heavens and the earth are to be stirred;
R. When you shall come to judge the world by fire.
V. I am overcome by fear and foreboding when I ponder the scrutiny and
the wrath which is to come. * When the heavens and the earth are to be
stirred.
V. That day, the day of wrath, of mortal ruin and fearful wailing, the
day of dread and exceeding vengeance.
R. When you shall come to judge the world by fire.
V. Lord, grant them eternal rest, and let perpetual light shine upon
them.
All: Deliver me, O Lord, from everlasting death on that dread day, When
the heavens and the earth are to be stirred; When you shall come to
judge the world by fire.
9. While the first part of the responsory is being repeated, the
celebrant assisted by the deacon takes incense from the boat and puts
it into the thurible, blessing it in the usual way. At the end of the
responsory the first choir sings:
Lord, have mercy.
The second choir responds: Christ, have mercy.
And all together sing: Lord, have mercy.
10. The priest then intones in a clear voice "Our Father."
All continue to say it inaudibly. Meanwhile the priest receives the
aspersory from the deacon, and goes around the coffin sprinkling it
with holy water, three times on the left and the same on the right,
assisted by the deacon who walks to his right, holding the front hem of
the cope. In passing before the altar and the cross which is opposite
him the priest makes a profound bow, while the deacon genuflects; but
if the Blessed Sacrament is present he genuflects in passing the altar.
Returning to his original position he receives the thurible with the
aid of the deacon, and in the same manner as before goes around the
coffin incensing the body. Then returning the thurible he stands at his
place, and with hands folded chants the following (the deacon holds the
book open for him):
P: And lead us not into temptation.
All: But deliver us from evil.
P: From the gates of hell
All: Deliver his (her) soul, O Lord.
P: May he (she) rest in peace.
All: Amen.
P: Lord, heed my prayer.
All: And let my cry be heard by you.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
Let us pray.
God, whose nature is ever merciful and forgiving, we humbly entreat you
for the soul of your servant, N., who at your bidding has today
departed this world; do not deliver him (her) into the enemy's hands,
or put him (her) out of mind forever, but bid your holy angels to
welcome him (her) and lead him (her) home to Paradise. Let him (her)
not undergo the pains of hell, for he (she) put his (her) hope and
trust in you, but let him (her) have the joy that knows no ending;
through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
If the deceased is a priest, the following is said in the above
prayer:"...the soul of your servant, N., your priest.
11. If interment is to take place at this time the body is taken to the
grave. As the procession is leaving the church the clergy sing the
antiphon which follows; or if removal of the body is delayed the
antiphon is sung now at any rate. (For the music see the music
supplement.)
Antiphon
May the angels lead you into Paradise;
May the martyrs receive you at your coming,
And take you to Jerusalem, the holy city.
May the choir of angels be there to welcome you.
And may you, with the once poor Lazarus, have everlasting rest.
At the Grave
12. On reaching the grave the priest blesses it, if it is not yet
blessed, saying:
Let us pray.
God, by whose mercy the souls of the faithful have rest, may it please
you to bless + this grave and to appoint your holy angel to watch over
it. Release from all bondage of sin the soul of him (her) who is buried
here, so that along with your saints he (she) may ever find lasting joy
in you; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
13. He sprinkles the corpse and the grave with holy water and incenses
them. If the grave is already blessed, this blessing is omitted, as
well as the sprinkling and incensation of the corpse and grave.
14. Even though the remains are not taken to the grave at this time
(see no. 11 above), nevertheless, the priest carries out the following
part, and it must never be omitted. He intones the antiphon and the
rest is taken up by the choir (see the music for this in the music
supplement):
Antiphon: I am the resurrection * and the life; he who believes in me
will live even if he dies; and no one that lives and believes in me
shall be dead forever.
Canticle of Zachary
Luke 1.68-79
P: "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel! * He has visited His people
and brought about its redemption.
All: He has raised for us a stronghold of salvation * in the house of
David His servant,
P: And redeemed the promise He had made * through the mouth of His holy
prophets of old--
All: To grant salvation from our foes * and from the hand of all that
hate us;
P: To deal in mercy with our fathers * and be mindful of His holy
covenant,
All: Of the oath He had sworn to our father Abraham, that He would
enable us--
P: Rescued from the clutches of our foes-- * to worship Him without
fear,
All: In holiness and observance of the Law, * in His presence, all our
days.
P: And you, my little one, will be hailed 'Prophet of the Most High'; *
for the Lord's precursor you will be to prepare His ways;
All:. You are to impart to His people knowledge of salvation * through
forgiveness of their sins.
P: Thanks be to the merciful heart of our God! * A dawning Light from
on high will visit us
All: To shine upon those who sit in darkness and in the shadowland of
death, * and guide our feet into the path of peace."
P: Lord, grant him (her) eternal rest.
All: And let perpetual light shine upon him (her).
All: Ant. I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me
will live even if he dies; and no one that lives and believes in me
shall be dead forever.
After this the priest sings: Lord, have mercy.
The choir continues: Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
The priest, sprinkling the coffin with holy water, says Our Father
inaudibly until:
P: And lead us not into temptation.
All: But deliver us from evil.
P: From the gates of hell.
All: Deliver his (her) soul, O Lord.
P: May he (she) rest in peace.
All: Amen.
P: Lord, heed my prayer.
All: And let my cry be heard by you.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
Let us pray.
Lord, we beg you to grant this mercy to your departed servant, that he
(she) who aspired to do your will may not be punished for his (her)
misdeeds. For as here on earth the true faith joined him (her) in
fellowship with the faithful, so in the life beyond let your mercy
unite him (her) with the choirs of angels; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
As he makes the sign of the cross over the coffin the priest says:
P: Lord, grant him (her) eternal rest.
All: And let perpetual light shine upon him (her).
P: May he (she) rest in peace.
All: Amen.
P: May his (her) soul and the souls of all the faithful departed
through the mercy of God rest in peace.
All: Amen.
If he so desires the priest may add one or more of the following
prayers for the deceased or for all the faithful departed or also for
the mourners:
For a Layman
Let us pray.
In your mercy, Lord, listen to our humble prayer, and grant that the
soul of your servant, N., who at your summons has departed this world,
may find rest in the realm of light and peace, and may be joined to the
company of your saints; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen
For a Priest
Let us pray.
God, who in conferring the priestly dignity on your servant, N., made
him share in the priesthood of the apostles; admit him now, we pray, to
everlasting fellowship with them; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
For a Priest's Father
Let us pray.
God, who has commanded us to honor our fathers, show your tender mercy
to the soul of my (our) father, forgive his sins, and permit me (us) to
see him in the joy of everlasting splendor; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
For a Priest's Mother
Let us pray.
God, who has commanded us to honor our mothers, show your tender mercy
to the soul of my (our) mother, forgive her sins, and permit me (us) to
see her in the joy of everlasting splendor; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
For Those at Rest in the Cemetery
Let us pray.
God, in whose mercy the souls of the faithful find rest, kindly forgive
the sins of your servants and of all who here and elsewhere sleep in
Christ; absolve them from all guilt, and let them share in your
presence the happiness that has no end; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
For All the Faithful
Let us pray.
God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls
of your departed servants remission of all sins; and by our fervent
prayers may they obtain the pardon they have always desired. We ask
this of you who live and reign forever and ever.
All: Amen.
For the Mourners
Let us pray.
Lord, while in our sorrow we lament the departure of our brother
(sister), your servant, we beg you to help us keep in mind that we
shall most certainly follow him (her); give us the grace to prepare for
that last hour by a devout and holy life; protect us from a sudden and
unprovided death; teach us to watch and pray, so that when your summons
comes we may go forth to meet the divine bridegroom and enter with Him
the halls of heaven; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
15. On leaving the grave to return to the church the cross-bearer leads
the way. The celebrant begins (without chant) the antiphon "If you,
Lord, mark iniquities," and then recites alternately with the clergy
the psalm "Out of the depths," as given above, Psalm 129.
In concluding the psalm he says in the plural form:
P: Lord, grant them eternal rest.
All: And let perpetual light shine upon them.
And the antiphon is repeated by all.
In the sacristy, before removing his vestments, the priest says the
following prayers:
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Our Father (the
rest inaudibly until:)
P: And lead us not into temptation.
All: But deliver us from evil.
P: From the gates of hell.
All: Deliver their souls, O Lord.
P: May they rest in peace.
All: Amen.
P: Lord, heed my prayer.
All: And let my cry be heard by you.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
Let us pray.
God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls
of your departed servants remission of all sins; and by our fervent
prayers may they obtain the pardon they have always desired. We ask
this of you who live and reign forever and ever.
All: Amen.
16. If for a valid reason (e.g., lack of time, or if other funerals are
to follow immediately) the Office for the Dead with its three nocturns
and Lauds cannot be said, then as soon as the body has been brought
into church at least the first nocturn and Lauds (or even omitting
Lauds) ought to be said, beginning with the invitatory. After the
Office and Mass all that usually concludes the burial service should be
said, as prescribed above.
17. If there is a good reason for not saying even one nocturn,
nevertheless, the rest of the prayers and suffrages should never be
omitted.
18. The proper Mass for this occasion, provided the hour allows it, is
the one listed in the Missal for the day of death or burial--to be
celebrated with the body present. It must never be omitted, unless a
high feast forbids it or some other necessity dictates otherwise. After
Mass everything takes place as above.
19. The rite as given above is prescribed for every funeral of an
adult, for the clergy or the laity, and is to be observed also when a
deacon presides at the obsequies. A deacon may act in this capacity
with the permission of the Ordinary or the pastor, which permission can
be granted for a serious reason. In a case of necessity this may
lawfully be presumed.
CHAPTER III: THE EXEQUIES WHEN THE BODY IS NOT PRESENT
(On the third, seventh, or thirtieth day after death, on the
anniversary, or on any other day)
1. If the exequies take place when the body is not present, the Office
for the Dead is held in church at the proper time, with one or three
nocturns and Lauds, or even without Lauds. Then the solemn Requiem Mass
is celebrated, provided the rubrics permit it. The absolution follows
with the ceremonial used on the day of burial, however, with these
noteworthy differences. A catafalque stands in place where the casket
and body would ordinarily be. The prayer "Lord, do not call your
servant to account" is omitted, and the responsory "Deliver me, O
Lord," is sung at once.
2. While the priest says the "Our Father" inaudibly he sprinkles and
incenses the catafalque; after this he adds the following:
P: And lead us not into temptation.
All: But deliver us from evil.
P: From the gates of hell.
All: Deliver his (her) (their) soul(s), O Lord.
P: May he (she) (they) rest in peace.
All: Amen.
P: Lord, heed my prayer.
All: And let my cry be heard by you.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
Let us pray.
We beg you, O Lord, to absolve the soul(s) of your servant(s), N., (or
N. and N.), from every bond of his (her) (their) sins, so that in the
glorious resurrection he (she) (they) may be awakened to new life in
the company of your saints and your elect; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
If the deceased is a priest or a bishop the title of his office is
expressed in the oration. In place of the preceding oration the
celebrant may use the one said in Mass or another suitable one as given
in the Missal, but using the short form in the conclusion.
The celebrant then makes the sign of the cross over the catafalque,
saying:
P: Lord, grant him (her) (them) eternal rest.
All: And let perpetual light shine upon him (her) (them).
P: May he (she) (they) rest in peace.
All: Amen.
P: May his (her) (their) soul(s) and the souls of all the faithful
departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.
All: Amen.
3. As the ministers return to the sacristy, led by the cross-bearer the
celebrant begins the antiphon (without chant) of the "De profundis" and
then recites this psalm itself alternately with the clergy (see above).
After the psalm the antiphon is repeated, and the prayers which go with
it are finished in the sacristy.
If the absolution has been said for all the faithful departed, in that
case the versicle "May their souls" and the antiphon, psalm, and other
prayers are omitted.
4. The ceremony described above is used for deceased adults, whether
clergy or laity, whenever the exequies are held without the presence of
the body, be it on the third, seventh, or thirtieth day after death or
the anniversary, or on another day.
CHAPTER IV: RITE FOR BURIAL OF CHILDREN
1. First of all let it be the concern of pastors that, in compliance
with ancient and praiseworthy ecclesiastical custom, the bodies of
little children are not interred in that part of the cemetery which is
used for the general public. Rather, as far as possible, they should
have their own special and separate plot, where none but baptized
infants and children who die before attaining the use of reason should
be buried.
2. At funerals of children the church bells, if rung, ought not to be
tolled but rather rung out in festive tones.
{The rite given here for the burial of a child is not to be regarded as
a prayer of petition of the Church for the soul of the child. Rather,
it is to be seen as a prayer of praise and thanksgiving to God for
having taken the child to the glory and happiness of everlasting life.
Viewed in this light Catholic parents will desire that a child of
theirs be laid to rest with these beautiful prayers and ceremonies, in
full accord with the mind of the Church. In this very act of giving
glory to God they will find resignation to His will, and with it peace
and consolation for themselves.}
Rites at the Home
1. When a baptized infant or child dies before attaining the age of
reason, the body is clothed as befits its age, and around it are placed
flowers or fragrant herbs or greens, in token of the child's integrity
and virginal purity. The pastor, vested in surplice and white stole,
goes to the home of the deceased. He should be accompanied by other
clergy if they are available, one of whom carries the aspersory. The
procession is led by the cross-bearer who carries a cross that has no
shaft.
The priest sprinkles the body as he intones the following antiphon,
which is then continued by the choir (for the music see the music
supplement for this psalm and the rest of the service):
P: Ant. Blessed be the name of the Lord, * both now and forevermore.
Psalm 112
P: Praise, you servants of the Lord, * praise the name of the Lord.
All: Blessed be the name of the Lord, * both now and forevermore.
P: From the rising to the setting of the sun * is the name of the Lord
to be praised.
All: High above all nations is the Lord; * above the heavens in His
glory.
P: Who is like the Lord, our God, who is enthroned on high * and looks
upon the heavens and the earth below?
All: He raises up the lowly from the dust * He lifts up the poor from
the dunghill.
P: To seat them with princes, * with the princes of His own people.
All: He establishes in her home the barren wife * as the joyful mother
of children.
P: Glory be to the Father.
All: As it was in the beginning.
All: Ant. Blessed be the name of the Lord, * both now and forevermore.
2. While the body is being taken to the church the first two sections
of psalm 118 are said.
Procession into the Church
As the procession enters the church the following antiphon and psalm
are sung:
All: Ant. This child shall receive a blessing from the Lord, * a reward
from God, his (her) Savior; such is the race that seeks the Lord.
Psalm 23
P: The Lord's are the earth and its fullness; * the world and those who
dwell in it.
All: For He founded it upon the seas * and established it upon the
rivers.
P: Who can ascend the mountain of the Lord? * or who may stand in His
holy place?
All: He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not
what is vain, * nor swears deceitfully to his neighbor.
P: He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, * a reward from God, his
Savior.
All: Such is the race that seeks for Him, * that seeks the face of the
God of Jacob.
P: Lift up, O gates, your lintels; reach up, you ancient portals, *
that the king of glory may come in!
All: "Who is this king of glory?" * "The Lord, strong and mighty, the
Lord, mighty in battle."
P: Lift up, O gates, your lintels; reach up, you ancient portals, *
that the king of glory may come in!
All: "Who is this king of glory?" * "The Lord of hosts; He is the king
of glory."
P: Glory be to the Father.
All: As it was in the beginning.
All: Ant. This child shall receive a blessing from the Lord, * a reward
from God, his (her) Savior; such is the race that seeks the Lord.
{The Roman Ritual does not say where the coffin is to be placed; nor
that Mass is to be celebrated; nor that incense is to be used. In the
U. S., however, custom dictates that the coffin is arranged as at adult
burial and four lighted candles are placed around it; also that incense
is used. And in many places Mass is offered, the Votive Mass of the
Angels--why this one precisely is not clear. If Mass is celebrated it
should follow at this time. The service in church is then concluded
with the blessing of the body, before it is taken to the cemetery.}
The Blessing of the Body
Before sprinkling the body with holy water and incensing it, the priest
chants:
P: Lord, have mercy.
All: Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
P: Our Father (the rest inaudibly until:)
He then sprinkles the body with holy water and incenses it; after which
he says:
P: And lead us not into temptation.
All: But deliver us from evil.
P: You have taken me because of my innocence.
All: And have placed me in your sight forever.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
Let us pray.
Almighty and all loving God, we know that whenever a little child,
reborn in the font of baptism, departs this life, you forthwith bestow
on him the gift of everlasting life, for no merits of his own; and so
we believe that you have given it today to the soul of this child. Thus
we beg you, O Lord, through the intercession of the blessed Mary, ever
a Virgin, to help us serve you with pure hearts here on earth, and to
unite us forever with the blessed little ones in Paradise; through
Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
Procession to the Cemetery
The following antiphon and psalm are sung while the body is being
carried out to the cemetery; or if this is deferred they are sung in
church:
All: Ant. Let young men and maidens, old men and boys, * praise the
name of the Lord.
Psalm 148
P: Praise the Lord from the heavens, * praise Him in the heights;
All: Praise Him, all you His Angels, * praise Him, all you His hosts.
P: Praise Him, sun and moon; * praise Him, all you shining stars.
All: Praise Him, you highest heavens, * and you waters above the
heavens.
P: Let them praise the name of the Lord, * for He commanded and they
were created;
All: He established them forever and ever; * He gave them a duty which
shall not pass away.
P: Praise the Lord from the earth, * you sea monsters and all depths;
All: Fire and hail, snow and mist, * storm winds that fulfill His word;
P: You mountains and all you hills, * you fruit trees and all you
cedars;
All: You wild beasts and all tame animals, * you creeping things and
you winged fowl.
P: Let the kings of the earth and all peoples, * the princes and all
the judges of the earth,
All: Young men too, and maidens, * old men and boys,
P: Praise the name of the Lord, * for His name alone is exalted;
All: His majesty is above earth and heaven, * and He has lifted up the
horn of His people.
P: Be this His praise from all His faithful ones, * from the children
of Israel, the people close to Him.
All: Glory be to the Father.
P: As it was in the beginning.
All: Ant. Let young men and maidens, old men and boys, * praise the
name of the Lord.
At the Grave
The Roman Ritual makes no provision for the blessing of the grave; but
the Collectio Rituum U.S.A. gives the following blessing:
Let us pray.
Lord, be pleased to bless + this grave, and set your holy angel to
watch over it; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
The priest sprinkles the grave with holy water; after which he says:
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Our Father (the
rest inaudibly until:)
P: And lead us not into temptation.
All: But deliver us from evil.
P: Let little children come to me.
All: For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
Let us pray.
Almighty everlasting God, and lover of holy purity, who in your
merciful providence have today called the soul of this child to the
kingdom of heaven, be pleased, Lord, to extend your mercy also to us;
so that, by the merits of your sacred passion and the intercession of
blessed Mary, ever a Virgin, and of all your saints, we too may have
lasting joy in that kingdom, in the company of all your saints and your
elect. We ask this of you who live and reign forever and ever.
All: Amen.
3. The body is then sprinkled with holy water and incensed, and along
with it the grave. After this the body is interred.
4. This rubric in the 1952 edition of the Roman Ritual directs that the
celebrant and his ministers recite the Canticle of the Three Youths as
they return to the church. But according to "Ephemerides Liturgicae"
77.3 (1963) 188-89, it may now be omitted.
On returning to the church the priest says the following prayer before
the altar:
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
Let us pray.
God, who in a marvellous way have disposed the ministries of angels and
of men, mercifully grant that our life on earth may be under the
protection of those who minister to you in heaven; through Christ our
Lord.
All: Amen.
5. The rite given above is to be observed also when a deacon presides
at this function. A deacon may act in this capacity with the permission
of the Ordinary or the pastor, which permission can be granted for a
serious reason. In a case of necessity this may lawfully be presumed.