Sacraments of Initiation
Part 2 History of Initiation
Chapter 27 Trent and Beyond
Preliminary QuestionsBibliography |
TheologyTrentCatechism |
Before Vatican IITo Think About |
Preliminary Questions
Bibliography
Theology
Trent
(First) Great Liturgical Consolidation
Roman books serve whole (or nearly whole) Church.
Catechism
Term "catechism" seems to have been coined by Luther. (Stevick, Made, p 100.) Long catechism and short catechism = Teacher’s edition and Student’s edition; or Clergy’s edition and People’s edition.
1529 Luther’s Larger Catechism
1555 Catechism of Peter Canisius
1566 Catechism of the Council of Trent
Before Vatican II
The state of Christian Initiation in the USA in the years before the Second Vatican Council:
1. Baptism and Confirmation were seen as two separate sacraments with little relation one to another. Eucharist was not considered as a sacrament of initiation. The sacraments were usually received in the order: 1) baptism, as infant, 2) first confession followed by 3) first holy communion in the first grade. Then in the third or fourth grade 4) confirmation. It is only with the renewed practice of initiation following the Council that the sacraments baptism, confirmation and eucharist are seen as one process celebrating the Pascal victory. Baptism Confirmation Eucharist had become Baptism Penance Eucharist Confirmation.
2. There was no rite for the baptism of infants. There were two rites for the baptism of adults. The first rite included baptism by stages with a catechumenate. This rite was in the books but it was never used. The second rite was developed for emergency situations; this rite was commonly used for adults and infants. It took place all at once: the exorcisms, the catechumenate, the baptism, the post-baptismal anointings all taking place in one (brief) ceremony..
3. There was no rite for the baptism of infants. Infants were baptized with the shorter rite for adults. There were no adaptations made in view of the fact that the one being baptized was an infant: for example, one spoke to the infant as to an adult, "Do you renounce Satan?" No Rite for the Baptism of Infants existed in the church until 1969.
4. The primary concern in the baptism of infants was original sin, which kept one from heaven. Hence the "quam primum" (Infants are to be baptized "as soon as possible") of the 1917 Code of Canon Law. [Infants were baptized and immediately excommunicated.] Eucharist and Confirmation become a "carrot" held before one’s nose that kept one going to all those classes. (Stevick, Made, 116.) Baptisms were usually performed in the vestibule of the church or wherever the baptismal font was located. (More affluent churches has a separate small room as a Baptistery.) They were usually performed on Sunday afternoon. It is only in the reforms following the Council that the public nature of Baptism is realized and a special Mass was written for Baptism.
5. At the time of the Council, Confirmation was an independent sacrament usually described as the sacrament of Christian adulthood which made the Christian a soldier for Christ (thus the meaning of the slap on the cheek.) The Hispanic sections of the United States continued the more ancient custom of taking the infant who had been baptized by the pastor to be confirmed at the Cathedral the first chance they got, thus many cathedrals even today will have a sign for infant confirmation on the first Sunday of the month for example. This preserved the ancient order of baptism, confirmation, eucharist. And while allowing the infant to be baptized by the pastor, confirmation was saved for the original minister of the sacrament, the overseer or the bishop. In the English speaking parts of the United States which were originally mission territories where the missionary bishops had great areas to cover it was not always possible to have the infant confirmed before First Communion. As the local pastor could admit a child to First Communion, it became more and more frequent that the child not be confirmed until the bishop would arrive in the parish – which was often several years after first communion. Confirmation was prepared for by the same kind of classes in the Catholic school that were used to prepare the child for First Confession and First Holy Communion.
6. Adults who had been baptized in a non-Catholic community and who wished to become Roman Catholics usually underwent a series of Catechetical "instructions" with the pastor often using the book, Fr. Smith Instructs Jackson. At the end of this period of instruction (four or six weeks) the adult was given first Holy Communion. Frequently the adult was first baptized conditionally. In the ecclesiology of the time the major distinction -- "the conversion" point -- was between Roman Catholics and all others, not between Christian and non-Christian. Consequently all other Christian religions were looked upon with suspicion and it was often presumed that their baptisms were most probably invalid. Hence many (if not most) "converts" (and indeed we called them such) were baptized at least conditionally. If they were in danger of death the priest could confirm them; otherwise they waited until the bishop came to the parish for the confirmation of the children and any adults who had not yet been confirmed came forward and were confirmed by the bishop, following the children, in the same ceremony.
To Think About
© Copyright: Tom Richstatter, Franciscan Province of St. John the Baptist, Cincinnati Ohio, Order of Friars Minor. All Rights Reserved. This page was created by Fr. Thomas Richstatter, O.F.M. Every effort has been, and is being made, to acknowledge sources when the ideas are not my own. Any failure to comply with the United States Copyright Act (Title 17, United States Code) will be corrected immediately should I become aware of it. This site was updated on 10/07/08 . Your comments on this site are welcome at tomrichs@psci.net.