
CONDITIONAL BAPTISM
If there be any doubt as to whether the
person has been baptized before, then the following form should be used.
IF thou art not
baptized, I baptize thee in the Name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost.
PRIVATE BAPTISM
This form of baptism may be used when
there is great need and the Solemn form cannot be used. All that is
required is for the priest to pour clean water over the head of the
person while saying:
I BAPTIZE thee in the
Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.
The water must touch and flow over the
skin of the head.
SOLEMN BAPTISM
BEGINNING OUTSIDE THE CHURCH
The rite begins outside the church. This may
instead be outside the baptistery, or outside the church within the
narthex, or outside the area where is located the bap-tismal font. It
need not be physically outdoors. However, this is preferred.
For infant baptism (Christening), all is as
below, but the godparents/sponsors an-swer the questions.
THE QUESTIONING
Priest: N., what dost thou ask of the Church of God?
Sponsor/Catechumen: Faith.
Priest: What does faith offer thee?
Sponsor/Catechumen: Life everlasting.
Priest: If then thou desirest to enter into life, keep the
commandments. 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart
and with thy whole soul and with thy whole mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.'
THE EXSUFFLATION
The priest then breathes on the candidate in the
form of a cross, saying:
Priest: Go forth from him (her), unclean spirit, and give place to
the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.
THE SIGN OF THE CROSS
The priest then makes the sign of the
cross with his thumb on the forehead and breast of the candidate:
Priest: Receive the Sign of the Cross both upon thy forehead and also
upon thy heart ; take to thou the faith of the heavenly precepts; and
so order thy life as to be, from henceforth, the temple of God.
Priest: Let us pray: Mercifully hear our prayers, we beseech Thee, O
Lord; and by Thy perpetual assistance keep this Thine elect, N,
signed with the sign of the Lord's cross, so that, preserving this
first experience of the greatness of Thy glory, he (she) may deserve,
by keeping Thy commandments, to attain to the glory of regeneration.
Through Christ our Lord.
Sponsor/Catechumen: Amen.
THE IMPOSITION OF HANDS
Then priest then places his hands on the
candidate's head.
Priest: Let us pray: Almighty, everlasting God, Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, look graciously down upon this Thy servant, N., whom
Thou hast graciously called unto the beginnings of the faith; drive
out from him (her) all blindness of heart; break all the toils of
Satan wherewith he (she) was held: open unto him (her), O Lord, the
gate of Thy loving kindness, that, being impressed with the sign of
Thy wisdom, he (she) may be free from the foulness of all wicked
desires, and in the sweet odor of Thy precepts may joyfully serve
Thee in Thy Church, and grow in grace from day to day. Through the
same Christ our Lord. Amen.
Sponsor/Catechumen: Amen
THE IMPOSITION OF SALT
The priest then may optionally place a
little bit of blessed salt in the candidate's mouth, symbolizing the
wisdom that gives us a relish for the sweetness of divine nourishment.
Priest: N., Receive the salt of wisdom; let it be to thee a token of
mercy unto everlasting life. May it make thy way easy to eternal life.
Sponsor/Catechumen: Amen.
Priest: Peace be with you.
Sponsor/Catechumen: And with thy spirit.
Priest: Let us pray:
O GOD of our fathers,
O God the Author of all truth, vouchsafe, we humbly beseech Thee, to
look graciously down upon this Thy servant, N., and as he (she)
tastes this first nutriment of salt, suffer him (her) no longer to
hunger for want of heavenly food, to the end that he (she) may be
always fervent in spirit, rejoicing in hope, always serving Thy name.
Lead him (her), O Lord, we beseech Thee, to the laver of the new
regeneration, that, together with Thy faithful, he may deserve to
attain the everlasting rewards of Thy promises. Through Christ our Lord.
Sponsor/Catechumen: Amen
ADMISSION INTO THE CHURCH
THE EXORCISM
The priest makes the Sign of the Cross
over the candidate three times, saying:
Priest: I exorcise thee, unclean spirit, in the name of the Father
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, that thou goest out and
depart from this servant of God, N. For He commandeth Thee, accursed
one, Who did walk upon the sea, and stretch out His right hand to
Peter about to sink. Therefore, accursed devil, acknowledge thy
sentence, and give honor to the living and true God: give honor to
Jesus Christ His Son, and to the Holy Spirit; and depart from this
servant of God, N. because God and our Lord Jesus Christ hath
vouchsafed to call him (her) to His holy grace and benediction and to
the font of Baptism.
THE SIGN OF THE CROSS
The priest again makes the sign of the
cross on the candidate's forehead.
Priest: And this sign of the holy Cross, which we make upon his (her)
forehead, do thou, accursed devil, never dare to violate.
Priest: Through the same Christ our Lord.
Sponsor/Catechumen: Amen.
THE IMPOSITION OF HANDS
The priest again lays his hands on the
candidate's head.
Priest: Let us pray: O Holy Lord, Father Almighty, Eternal God,
Author of light and truth, I implore thine everlasting and most just
goodness upon this thy servant N., that thou wouldst vouchsafe to
enlighten him (her) with the light of thy wisdom: cleanse him (her)
and sanctify him (her), give unto him (her) true knowledge; that,
being made worthy of the grace of thy Baptism, he (she) may hold firm
hope, right counsel and holy doctrine.
Priest:Through Christ our Lord.
Sponsor/Catechumen: Amen.
ADMISSION INTO THE CHURCH
The priest lays the end of his stole on
the candidate as a symbol of his priestly authority, and admits him
into the church building, which is the symbol of the Church of
Christ. If the ritual did not begin outside, then the candidate moves
from their location to the Nave of the Church or into the Baptistery
or area with the font.
Priest: N., enter thou into the temple of God, that thou mayest have
part with Christ unto life everlasting.
Sponsor/Catechumen: Amen.
THE PATER NOSTER
Having entered into the Nave or
Baptistery, the candidate recites the Creed and
Our Father.
Sponsor/Catechumen: 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 THE NAVE OR BAPTISTRY
THE SOLEMN EXORCISM
Priest: I exorcise thee, 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, that thou be depart from
this creature of God N, which our Lord hath deigned to call unto His
holy temple, that it may be made the temple of the living God, and
that the Holy Spirit may dwell therein. Through the same Christ our
Lord, who shall come to judge the living and the dead, and the world
by fire
THE RENUNCIATION OF SATAN
Priest: N., dost thou renounce Satan?
Sponsor/Catechumen: I do renounce him.
Priest: And all of his works?
Sponsor/Catechumen: I do renounce him.
Priest: And all his pomps?
Sponsor/Catechumen: I do renounce him.
THE ANOINTING
The priest anoints the candidate with the
oil of catechumens on the heart and between the shoulders in the form
of a Cross, saying:
Priest: I anoint thee with the oil of salvation in Christ Jesus our
Lord, that thou mayest have everlasting life.
Sponsor/Catechumen: Amen.
AT THE FONT
The priest removes his violet stole and
puts on a white one.
THE PROFESSION OF FAITH
Priest: N., dost thou believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of
Heaven and Earth?
Sponsor/Catechumen: I do believe.
Priest: Dost thou believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son our Lord, Who
was born and Who suffered?
Sponsor/Catechumen: I do believe.
Priest: Dost thou believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic
Church, the communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the
resurrection of the body and life everlasting?
Sponsor/Catechumen: I do believe.
BAPTISM
If the one to be baptized is a baby, the
godparents take him to the font (the god-mother holds him in her
arms, the godfather touches the baby's shoulder with his right hand);
if he is an adult, the sponsor puts his right hand on the shoulder of
the one to be baptized.
Priest: N., wilt thou be baptized?
Sponsor/Catechumen: I will.
The priest pours water over the head of
the candidate three times, once after each mention of the Divine
Persons. The water he uses will have been blessed previously. If it
is not, then he blesses it before changing to the white stole. As he
pours the water, the priest says these words (or the words of a
conditional Baptism):
Priest: I baptize thee in the name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit.
THE ANOINTING WITH CHRISM
Priest: May the Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Who hath regenerated thee by water and the Holy Spirit, and who hath
given thee the remission of all thy sins, may He Himself anoint thee
with the Chrism of Salvation, in the same Christ Jesus our Lord, unto
life eternal.
Sponsor/Catechumen: Amen.
Priest: Peace be with you.
Sponsor/Catechumen: And with thy spirit.
THE WHITE LINEN CLOTH
The priest may optionally take a white
linen cloth -- symbolizing the purity of a soul cleansed from all
sin, and a relic of the days when the newly baptized wore white albs
for 8 days -- and places it on the head of the candidate.
Priest: Receive this white garment, which mayest thou carry without
stain before the judgment seat of our Lord Jesus Christ, that thou
mayest have life everlasting.
THE LIGHTED CANDLE
The priest gives the candidate or the
sponsor a lighted candle.
Priest: Receive this burning light, and keep thy Baptism so as to be
with-out blame: keep the commandments of God, that when the Lord
shall come to the nuptials, thou mayest meet Him together with all
the Saints in the heavenly court, and mayest have eternal life and
live for ever and ever.
BLESSING
Priest: N., go in peace and the Lord be with you. Amen.
Sponsor/Catechumen: Amen.
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