The Poverty of the New Rite of Baptism

When one compares the old and new rites of Baptism, the deletions are immediately apparent. While most of the prayers and ceremonies of the 1964 rite (published in parallel Latin/English) are still intact in the post Vatican II version (published in English in 1976, 1983, and 1988), they have been rearranged. Still more importantly, in the new rite much rich biblical vocabulary and phraseology has been removed. I will highlight several such instances below.

1a. In describing how we are to keep God's commandments, the old rite of Baptism says: "you shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, and with your whole soul, and with your whole mind, and your neighbor as yourself" (Matt 22:37).

1b. The new rite of Baptism says: "by loving God and your neighbor." In today's parlance, "love" can mean many things, some of them cheap. It does not make sense to remove the biblical verse, which so much more clearly and forcefully inculcates the radical demands of Christian discipleship (cf. Matt 19:21; Luke 9:23; 14:26-27).

2a. After making the sign of the cross on the infant, the old rite says: "Receive the mark of the cross on your + forehead and within your + heart. Embrace the faith with its divine teachings. So live that you will indeed be a temple of God."

2b. The new rite says: "In its (the community's) name I claim you for Christ our Savior by the sign of his cross. I now trace the cross on your forehead..."

There is no mention of the faith (Eph 4:5), nor the phrase "divine teachings." The connection of faith with embracing a specific set of divinely revealed doctrines is important in an age when the concept of faith is so nebulous in the minds of many.

3a. In the old rite of Baptism the child is given salt as part of the rite of exorcism. This is a powerful sacramental which is rich in symbolic meaning. As explained at Sancta Missa: "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."

Then six fruits of baptism are named:

• ...satisfy him (her) with the bread of heaven...
• ...fervent in spirit,
• joyful in hope,
• and zealous in your service...
• ...born again...
• ...obtain unending rewards which you have promised...

John 6:50: "This is the bread which cometh down from heaven; that if any man eat of it, he may not die."

Acts 18:25: "This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, spoke, and taught diligently the things that are of Jesus, knowing only the baptism of John."

John 3:5: "Jesus answered: Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."

Many biblical passages (1 Kings 19:10; Ezra 7:23; Isa 26:11; John 2:17; Acts 21:20; 1 Cor 12:31; Tit 2:14; Rev 3:19) inculcate the value of holy zeal, an attribute which is thoroughly unfashionable in today's world.

The prayer goes on: "I exorcise you, unclean spirit...depart from this servant of God... Jesus Christ, Our Lord and God, has called him (her) to his holy grace and blessing, and to the font of baptism..."

1 Pet 5:10: "But the God of all grace, who hath called us into his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little, will himself perfect you, and confirm you, and establish you."

3b. Omitting the imposition of salt, the new rite has a prayer of exorcism, which says: "cast out the power of Satan, spirit of evil, to rescue man from the kingdom of darkness...; set him (her) free from original sin, make him (her) a temple of your glory, and send your Holy Spirit to dwell with him (her)..."

4a. When one receives the white baptismal garment, the old rite says: "...when you stand before the judgment seat of Our Lord Jesus Christ, you may have life everlasting..."

2 Cor 5:10: "For we must all be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the proper things of the body, according as he hath done, whether it be good or evil."

4b. The new rite says: "...bring that dignity unstained into the everlasting life of heaven..."

The reference to judgment has been dropped.

5a. Upon receiving the lighted candle, the old rite says: "...keep the grace of your Baptism throughout a blameless life. Observe the commandments of God. Then, when the Lord comes to the heavenly wedding feast..."

1 Tim 6:14: "That thou keep the commandment without spot, blameless, unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Matt 19:17: "Who said to him: Why asketh thou me concerning good? One is good, God. But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments."

Connecting the candle to meeting the Lord at the heavenly wedding feast alludes specifically to the parable of the wise and foolish virgins (Matt 25:1-13), and more broadly to the whole biblical tradition which describes the union of Christ and His Church in nuptial imagery (cf. Matt 22:2-12; John 3:29; Eph 5:25-32; Rev 19:7-9; 21:2).

5b. The new rite says: "May he (she) keep the flame of faith alive in his (her) heart. When the Lord comes, may he (she) go out to meet him with all the saints in the heavenly kingdom."

The phrase "go out to meet him" likewise alludes to the parable of the wise and foolish virgins (Matt 25:6), but the allusion is much more difficult to catch. The reference to "observing the commandments," as the means by which one preserves one's baptismal innocence unstained for heaven, is gone.

What benefit, then, has accrued to the Church from the promulgation of the new rite of Baptism? It is less deeply soaked in the text of Scripture. It lacks the grace of the sacramental salt. It does less justice to the traditional baptismal calls to love God with one's whole heart, to follow the commandments, and to embrace the divine teachings of the faith. The fruits of baptism are much more vague; the new rite leaves out such concepts as becoming fervent, joyous, and zealous, and being born again. Perhaps the Pope's program for the Reform of the Reform ought to include abrogating the impoverished rite of 1976 and restoring the sacred vocabulary of Baptism from Tradition.

Ed Snyder
April 21, Anno Domini MMIX