Rite of Baptism of Infants

Roman Ritual

17 June 1614

Praenotanda

• Definitions (1-3)• Matter for Baptism (4-7)• Form for Baptism (8-11)• Minister of Baptism (12-17)• Baptism of Adults (18) / of Children (19-25)• Rites and Ceremonies (26-30)• Sponsors (31-38)• Time and Place of Administration (39-46)• Holy Oils and Other Requisites (47-71)

At the Threshold of the Church• 1. The priest interrogates the child: N, what do

you ask of the Church of God?• The sponsor replies: Faith.• Priest: What does faith bestow on you?• The sponsor replies: Life everlasting.• 2. Priest: If then you wish to enter into life, keep

the commandments: 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.

• 3. Then he blows gently three times on the face of the infant and says: Go out from him/her, you unclean spirit, and make way for the Holy Spirit, the Consoler.

• 4. With his thumb he makes the sign of the cross upon the forehead and breast of the infant, saying: Receive the sign of the Cross upon your brow (+) and upon your heart (+). Enter into the service of the heavenly commandments, and act in such a way that you may deserve henceforth to be known as God’s temple.

• Let us pray.• Graciously hear our entreaty, O Lord, we beseech

you, and with your unfailing might guard this chosen one, N., now signed with the seal of our Lord’s holy cross. Help him/her to hold fast to this first acquaintance with your majestic glory, that in keeping your commandments, he/she may deserve to attain the everlasting bliss destined for all who are born anew. Through Christ our Lord.

• R. Amen.

• 5. He now lays his hand upon the head of the child; then with outstretched hand he says:

• Let us pray.• Almighty, everlasting God, Father of our Lord

Jesus Christ, deign to regard with favor your servant/handmaid, N., whom it has pleased you to call to the beginnings of faith. Drive out from him/her all blindness of heart. Sunder all snares of Satan which hitherto bound him/her; open to him/her the gate of your fatherly love, that dedicated with the seal of your wisdom, he/she may remain unsullied from every evil desire.

• And inspired by the loveliness of your precepts, may he/she serve you with glad heart in your church, advancing in perfection from day to day. Through the same Christ our Lord.

• R. Amen.• 6. The priest blesses salt, which once blessed may

serve for future baptisms….• 7. He puts a little of the blessed salt into the mouth

of the child, saying: N., receive the salt of wisdom; may it be unto you a sign of reconciliation unto life everlasting.

• R. Amen.

• Priest: Peace be with you.• R. And with your spirit.• Priest: Let us pray.• God of our Fathers, O God, you source of all truth,

humbly we implore you to look with mercy upon this your servant/handmaid, N., and no more let him/her hunger who now tastes this first nourishment of salt. But let him/her be enriched with heavenly food, so that he/she may ever be inflamed with zeal, joyous in hope, constant in serving you. We bid you, Lord, lead him/her to the bath where one is born anew, that in the company of your faithful he/she may deserve to win the everlasting reward which you have promised. Through Christ our Lord.

• R. Amen.

• Priest: I cast you out, unclean spirit, in the name of the Father (+), and of the Son (+), and of the Holy (+) Spirit Depart and vanish from this servant/handmaid of God, N. For it is he who commands you, doomed and accursed one, he whose feet once trod the waves, who reached out his saving hand to Peter when he began to sink. Therefore, accursed fiend, admit your doom, and pay honor to Jesus Christ, His Son and to the Holy Spirit, and keep far from this servant/handmaid of God, N. For Jesus Christ, our Lord and God has graciously called him/her to his holy grace and blessing, indeed to the fountain of baptism.

• 8. Here he signs with his thumb the forehead of the child, saying: And this sign of the holy + cross which we trace on his/her brow, accursed demon, never dare to violate. Through the same Christ our Lord.

• R. Amen.

• 9. He lays his hand upon the child’s head; then with outstretched hand he says:

• Let us pray.

• O holy Lord, almighty Father, eternal god, Author of light and truth, I entreat for this your servant/handmaid, N., your unfailing and righteous mercy. Ma it please you to enlighten him/her with the light of your understanding. Cleanse and sanctify him/her. Endow him/her with true knowledge, so that he/she may be made worthy of the grace of your baptism, and thus remain steadfast in firm hope, right purpose, and holy doctrine. Through Christ our Lord.

• R. Amen.

Procession into the Church

• 10. The priest places the end of the stole which hangs from his left shoulder upon the child and leads him/her into the church, while saying: N., enter into the temple of God, that you may have a part with Christ unto life everlasting.

• R. Amen.

Procession to the Font

• 11. After they have come into church, the priest leads the way to the font, praying aloud together with the sponsors:

• “I believe….” [Apostles’ Creed]

• “Our Father….” [Lord’s Prayer]

• 12. Then before entering the baptistery, he turns to the candidate and says: I expel you, every unclean spirit, in the name of God, the Father (+) almighty, in the name of Jesus (+) Christ, his Son, our Lord and Judge, and by the power of the Holy (+) Spirit. Depart from the handwork of God, N., whom our Lord has deigned to call to his holy temple, that he/she may be made a temple of the living God, and the Holy Spirit may dwell within him/her. Through the same Christ our Lord, who will come to judge the living and the dead and the world by fire.

• R. Amen.

• 13. The priest moistens his thumb with his saliva … and touches the ears and nostrils of the child. He touches the right ear then the left, saying only once: Ephpheta, which means: Be opened!

• Then he touches the nostrils, one after the other, adding: Unto the odor of sweetness. But you, evil spirit, be gone, for the judgment of God draws near!

• 14. Now he questions the candidate by name: N., do you renounce Satan?

• Sponsor: I do renounce him.

• Priest: And all his works?

• Sponsor: I do renounce them.

• Priest: And all his pomps?

• Sponsor: I do renounce them.

• 15. The priest dips his thumb in the Oil of Catechumens, and in the form of a cross anoints the child on the breast and between the shoulders on the back, saying only once for the two anointings: I anoint (+) you with the oil of salvation in Christ Jesus, our Lord, that you may have life everlasting.

• R. Amen.

• 16. Then he wipes his thumb and the places anointed with cotton or similar material.

Within the Baptistery

• 17. Remaining in the same place outside the baptistery gates, the priest exchanges his purple stole for a white one. Then he enters the baptistery, followed by the sponsor with the child. At the baptismal font he interrogates the candidate by name, with the sponsor giving the answer:

• Priest: N., do you believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth?

• Sponsor: I do believe.• Priest: Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only-

begotten Son, our Lord, who was born for us and who suffered for us?

• Sponsor: I do believe.• Priest: Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy

catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?

• Sponsor: I do believe.

• 18. The priest says to the candidate, calling him/her by name: N., do you wish to be baptized?

• Sponsor: I do.• 19. With the godfather or godmother (or

both) holding the child, the priest takes baptismal water with the ladle, pours it three times in the form of a cross on the child’s head, and simultaneously pronounces only once distinctly and attentively the following words:

• N., I baptize you in the name of the Father (+) and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit (+).

• 20. But where it is the custom to baptize by immersion, the priest takes the infant, and handling it carefully so that it will not be injured, he baptizes with a threefold immersion, pronouncing the words only once.

• 21. The godfather or godmother (or both) lifts the child from the holy font, receiving it from the hands of the priest.

• 22. If there is doubt whether the child has been baptized before, the following form is used: N., if you are not baptized, I baptize you in the name of the Father (+), and of the Son (+), and of the Holy (+) Spirit.

• 23. Then the priest dips his right thumb into the holy chrism and in the form of a cross anoints the child on the crown of the head, saying:

• May God almighty, Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who has caused you to be born anew by water and the Holy Spirit and granted you remission of all sins, may he now anoint you (+) with the chrism of salvation in the same Christ Jesus, our Lord, unto life everlasting.

• R. Amen.

• Priest: Peace be with you.

• R. And with your spirit.

• 24. He wipes his thumb and the place anointed with cotton. Then he puts a white linen cloth (in place of the white garment) on the child’s head, saying: Receive the white garment, and carry it unsullied unto the judgment seat of our Lord, Jesus Christ, that you may have life everlasting.

• R. Amen.• 25. Then he presents a lighted candle to the newly

baptized or to the sponsor, saying: Receive this burning light. Safeguard your baptism by a blameless life. Keep the commandments of God, that when our Lord comes for the heavenly wedding you may meet him together with all the saints in the courts of heaven and live for the ages of ages.

• R. Amen.

• 26. In conclusion, the priest says: N., go in peace, and the Lord be with you.

• R. Amen.