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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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