Baptism

Baptism

Origin — Early Christian descriptions — Affusion — The Catechumenate — ‘Competentes’ — ‘Scrutinies’ — ‘Effeta’ — ‘Traditio Symboli’ — ‘Redditio Symboli’ — Formulae — Chrysom oil — Gallic Use — Confirmation — Council of Cloveshoo — Sarum Use — Sponsors — Origin of rite of 1549 — Changes in 1552 — Slight alterations in 1662 — Private Baptism of Children in Houses — Duty of Laity in case of necessity — Public Baptism of such as are of Riper Years.

As to this rite, there is direct authority in the New Testament, which is found in Matt. xxviii. 19, “Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost”; and again in Mark xvi. 16, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved”; and likewise in John iii. 5, “Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God”.

The earliest Christian authorities do not describe the preparation required for baptism in any detail, beyond a general allusion to prayer, fasting and confession, and baptism by immersion or affusion “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost”.

The only substitute for water, in the days before the Peace of the Church, was martyrdom; the Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus states of the catechumen (who is mentioned below) that “if they should kill him before he receives baptism for the forgiveness of his sins, he shall be justified because he is baptized in his own blood”.

Pope Stephen II. in 754 allowed wine as a substitute for water where the latter was not available; but baptism in milk instead of water, as was attempted in Ireland between 1100 and 1200 was held to be invalid.

The use of oil, based on 1 John ii. 20, 27, is mentioned in all the earliest authorities, Tertullian, Cyprian, Hippolytus.

Though immersion seems to have been the ordinary practice in the East, baptism by affusion, i.e. sprinkling, seems to have been practised, for climatic reasons, generally in the West.

With the general acceptance of Christianity, it was found that a regular system of preparation was required.

During the time of persecution, the first step towards being admitted into the Christian religion was that of entering the catechumenate. A regular ceremony for this was evolved: at Rome the convert presented himself to the priest, who blew in his face (this was called insufflation) and marked him on the forehead with the sign of the Cross “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost”; salt, which had been exorcised, was also placed in the mouth of the candidate. These catechumens were admitted to religious assemblies, but were dismissed before the Eucharist. Catechumens could remain in this category as long as they liked: the Emperors Constantine and Constantius remained such until dying.

Those who wished to complete their initiation gave in their names at the beginning of Lent, when, if no objection was made to them, they became ‘Competentes’. From the earliest times, Easter was recognized as the proper time for baptism, though in the East, Epiphany was also employed, and amongst other churches in the West other festivals besides Easter were adopted, but these were relinquished wherever the Roman Use subsequently prevailed. Those catechumens who thus became Competentes had to go through a course of preparation, which lasted all through Lent. They had, in the time of St. Cyril, to attend church each day and hear a sermon after being exorcised and be subject to seven scrutinies.

About 600 this had become reduced to seven scrutinies beginning on the third week in Lent.

Each scrutiny commenced with the Competentes, after the Collect and before the Lection, engaging in prayer, which was followed by a Collect to which all said Amen. After they crossed themselves, they were visited by three exorcists or acolytes, in turn, who made the sign of the Cross on their foreheads, and imposing his hands upon them pronounced the formulary of exorcism: in the East this was accompanied by insufflation. A priest then repeated the ceremony of signing and imposition of the hands. At the third scrutiny the ceremony of ‘Apertio aurium’, or ‘Opening of the Ears’, was performed; this was everywhere, except in Rome, called the ‘Traditio Symboli’, at which instruction was given in the Gospel, the Creed, and the Lord's Prayer.

At the seventh scrutiny, on Saturday before Easter, or any time after the third scrutiny, the priest himself exorcised each candidate, and then with his saliva, or holy oil, anointed him on the nostrils and ears; this was called the ‘Effeta’. The candidate then divested himself of his clothes, and was anointed with holy pure oil, and renounced Satan thrice, and recited the Creed; this was called the ‘Redditio Symboli’: in the East this was done facing west at the renunciation, and facing east at the pronunciation of the Creed.

At baptism, which at Rome was a subsequent service, three questions were asked:

“Do you believe in God the Father Almighty?

Do you believe also in Jesus Christ his only Son Our Lord who was born and suffered?

Do you believe also in the Holy Ghost, the holy Church, remission of sins and the resurrection of the body?”

After his triple credo (I believe), he was baptized “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost”; he was thrice immersed, but in a baptistery the water was only generally up to his waist, and the immersion was by affusion, the water being sprinkled over him. On coming out of the water, the candidate was anointed with Chrism Oil, and then put on a white garment, called a ‘chrysom’. The Pope or Bishop then pronounced the invocation of the Holy Ghost (according to the ordo of St. Amand, this prayer was accompanied by the imposition of hands), and afterwards signed each one with the sign of the Cross with his thumb, previously dipped in chrism, upon the forehead, saying, “In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus sancti. Pax tibi”. The Communion followed, after which the newly baptized at Rome and Alexandria were also given a drink composed of milk, honey, and water, specially blessed during the Communion service, but this is now only done in the Coptic Church. In the Gallic Church, except at Milan, the ceremony of the Effeta took place at the initiation of the catechumen and the Traditio Symboli on the Sunday before Easter.

Then on Easter Eve there were not two but only one ceremony: after the exorcising of the water and the infusion of the chrism, the candidate, divested of clothing, faced west and thrice renounced the devil; he then entered the font and faced east, and thrice made confession of the Christian faith and was thrice immersed (except in Spain, where there was only one immersion, as distinguishing the ceremony from that which obtained amongst the Arians).

The neophyte was then signed on the head with chrism by the Bishop, who handed him a white garment called a chrysom; except in Spain the Bishop also washed the feet of the neophyte. The ceremony ended with an imposition of hands by the Bishop accompanied by a petition for the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit. After this the newly baptized received the Communion.

Baptism was originally considered to be the function of the Bishop alone, though in case of necessity it was recognized as valid even if performed by the laity; express mention of this is made by Tertullian and in the Didascalia. As the churches became more numerous outside the episcopal cities, authority had to be granted to all priests to baptize, but the right of blessing the oils and signing with the Cross and laying on of hands or confirmation was reserved for the Bishop: this is referred to both by St. Jerome and St. Isidore of Seville. In the Eastern Church the rite was regarded as all one and delegated to priests in general; though the chrism is now only blessed by the Patriarchs of the Church. But this custom, which appears to have existed at an early date in the Gallic Church, is condemned in the Letter of Pope Innocent I. to Decentius referred to in Book I., Chapter VII. p. 30, and the Councils of Orange, 441, and Epaone, 517, likewise animadverted against it.

Polycarp, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus and Cyprian, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen all refer to infant baptism, and sponsors are mentioned in the Canons of Hippolytus. In course of time these infants outnumbered the adult candidates for baptism, but the change in the order of the service was very gradual, and at first the whole of the ceremonies for the adult were undergone by the infants, who were solemnly called upon to recite the Creed and make their profession of faith, by their sponsors as their deputies.

The differences between the baptismal customs of Rome brought over by St. Augustine and those obtaining in Britain in the Celtic Church were the cause, in part, of the strife between them, which, as we have seen, only ended at the Council of Cloveshoo in 747, when the Roman Use was finally adopted.

In the Sarum Manual, we find that the Gallic customs of the signing of the catechumen on the right hand, the triple infusions of the font with holy chrism, and the presentation of a candle, as well as a chrysom robe to the neophyte, were included. At the same time the catechumenate was only continued by that part of the christening service, which was still called by the name of “Ordo ad faciendum catechumenum”, performed at the church door: the exorcisms at each scrutiny were reduced to one, and the course of instruction only survived in the reading of the Gospel (Matt. xix. 13, 14, 15). The anointing and renunciation of Satan were all included with the baptism in the one rite. At the same time, the blessing of the water in the font and the confirmation became separate rites; the former was still only performed on Easter or Whitsun Eve, and the latter deferred until the children came to years of discretion, though where the baptism was performed by a Bishop the confirmation immediately followed; Queen Elizabeth, it may be noted, was baptized and confirmed by Archbishop Cranmer when three days old.

Notice must here be made as to the Sponsors, or Godparents. By the Canons of Hippolytus, these were required to be a man for a man and a woman for a woman, which later became construed to mean a deacon for a man and a deaconess for a woman.

Further, a sponsor was required for the entrance to the catechumenate and also for confirmation.

Though Pope Leo IV. in 853 forbade more than one sponsor, yet they were supposed to be different persons on each occasion.

As the method by affusion became more and more the practice, so the rule relaxed as to the sex of the sponsor, and at the same time, with the prevalence of infant over adult baptism in England, at any rate, the custom grew up of having three sponsors at baptism, who no doubt represented historically the sponsors at the catechumenate, baptism, and confirmation respectively.

By the code of Justinian, 525, sponsorship was held to create such a degree of parentage as to form a bar to marriage.

The revisers or Windsor Commission in 1548 based the rite of baptism upon that contained in the Sarum Manual and upon Hermann's Consultation, which had been published in 1543, and translated into English from the Latin in 1547 and 1548. Following the tenets of the reformers, the Roman Ceremonies were for the most part replaced by exhortations. The memory of the catechumenate was still retained by the reception of the infant at the church door, but the ceremonies of insufflation and administration of salt and acolyte's crossing were omitted, likewise that of the Effeta and the exorcism was reduced from thrice to once; still the recitation of the Lord's Prayer and Apostles' Creed and introduction into the Church were retained.

After triple renunciation of Satan and triple profession of faith and a desire for baptism, baptism by triple immersion or affusion followed, the formula being: “N. I baptize thee in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.”

The giving of the white robe or chrysom followed, and then the unction of the child's head. In the Sarum Use the child had been anointed on the breast and back before baptism with plain holy oil, and after baptism had been signed with cross and chrism. The Gallic custom of giving a taper was also dropped.

As to the blessing of the water in the font, which was to be changed at least once a month, this rite was set forth at the end of the rite of private baptism: the addition of chrism to the water was omitted, and the prayers, though in part similar to those contained in the Mozarabic Rite, were probably taken from some other Gallican Use, the exact source of which has not been traced. Bucer, the joint author with Melanchthon of Hermann's Consultation, who had become Regius Professor of Divinity in 1549, drew up his ‘Censura’ of the First Prayer Book of Edward VI. In the revision of the Prayer Book of 1552 his objection to every scenic practice in divine service and benedictions or consecrations of inanimate things, was to a great extent put into force.

The early part of the service, at the church door, was to be held at the font, and exorcism, unction, and the chrysom were removed from the rite; the crossing, to which he also objected, was, however, retained in a simpler form, but placed after the baptism, the crossing in the confirmation in the subsequent rite being omitted by the Bishop.

The consecration of the water in the font was wholly suppressed.

The opening prayer in the first Book was taken from the Consultation. This was improved in 1552 and has since been retained.

The second prayer was one of those used at the exorcism in the Sarum Rite. The Gospel was taken from St. Mark, which had been in use in Germany in the place of that from St. Matthew in the Sarum Rite, which had been followed by the Effeta and the Redditio Symboli or recitation of the Lord's Prayer and Creed.

The brief exhortation is based on the Consultation from which the thanksgiving is also derived; this was the final prayer of the catechumenate, and in 1549 ended the ceremony at the church door.

The address to the sponsors leads up to the baptismal vows, but in Germany these had already been made at the catechumenate which took place on the previous day.

In 1552 the questions were put to the sponsors directly, instead of to the child, who answered by his sponsors, but the form remained the same. This was altered in 1662 by the insertion of the words “in the name of this child”, and at the same time the word ‘forsake’ was changed to the old word ‘renounce’.

The four prayers and Collect which follow were taken from the consecration of the water, which, however, had been left out. In 1662 pure water in the font is each time directed instead of once a month, and the clause was inserted “Sanctify this water to the mystical washing away of sin”.

The bidding and thanksgiving were added in 1552.

The Charge to the Sponsors remains as in 1549, being based on that given in the Sarum Manual. In 1662 the rubric as to confirmation was made a further charge.

Private Baptism of Children in Houses

In the case of necessity, baptism by laymen has been recognized since the earliest times; according to Tertullian, women were not allowed to administer it, but this was not prohibited by the Didascalia though described as full of risk.

St. Irenaeus and Origen also deal with the subject. In the Sarum Manual there was a rubric directing the priest to instruct the laity in English and Latin how to baptize, but this was not to be done except in dire necessity, and then a man was to act in preference to a woman. In 1549 and 1552 this was clearly laid down at the beginning of this rite, and licences of midwives with a recognition of their duty to baptize ‘in the time of necessity’ was given by the Archbishop in 1567. A Canon of Convocation in 1575 sought to withdraw this right from the laity, but Queen Elizabeth would not sanction it. However, at the revision after the Hampton Court Conference in 1604 King James I. was against it, and a rubric was drawn up, which only mentions “the Minister of the Parish or any other lawful Minister that can be procured”, and this was continued in 1662.

This, however, does not invalidate lay baptism, which, though no longer mentioned in the Prayer Book, has been expressly reaffirmed by the Court of Arches in 1841 in the case of Mastin v. Escott.

As to the rite of publicly receiving such as have been baptized, the only alteration that has been made since 1549 is that the chrysom has not been given to the child. As to a conditional baptism, in the case of doubt, this was ordered by the Council of Hippo in 393 and is mentioned in the Statutes of St. Boniface, circa 755.

The Public Baptism of such as are of Riper Years

Though, as has been seen, the Office for the Baptism of Infants was based on the old Catechumenate and Baptism of Adults, yet the wording had become in the transition no longer quite applicable to adults. In consequence of the Anabaptism and general neglect during the Rebellion, the need of a special rite was recognized, and the present rite was included in the revision in 1662 accordingly, it having been drawn up by Convocation.