Vol 9 Issue 30 ~ Editor: Rev. Fr. Courtney Edward Krier
July 30, 2016 ~ Our Lady on Saturday

1. Baptism: Means of Salvation (79)
2. Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
3. Saint Ignatius of Loyola
4. Christ in the Home (53)
5. Articles and notices

Dear Reader:

Remember as a Roman Catholic when, in apologetics class, you learned that when it came to Protestants there was one proof that they were not the Church that Christ founded and that was that there was no unity of faith? There were Anglican Protestants and Lutheran Protestants and Presbyterian Protestants and Calvinist Protestants, etc., ad nauseum, because each had its own confession? That can be said the same today when it comes to the Conciliar Church of Vatican II, for today it is only too obvious as the Protestants and media point readily to the fact that there is not one faith, but a variety: Traditional Catholics (Pius X and Ecclesia Dei), John Paul II Catholics (especially Eastern Europe), Benedict XVI Catholics (Conservative Pro-Life), Francis Catholics (Somewhat Protestant Charismatic), Kennedy and Kaine Catholics (modern Herodians, i.e., state comes first), and Pagan Catholics (just baptized, but faithless). None of these have the same faith: some believe in hell, others don’t; some believe in purgatory, most don’t; some believe in divorce, most get an annulment; some believe in abortion, many still recognize it as murder; some say sodomites can marry, a few brave ones still reject it in their Church; most say all religions are the same, just a very few say it is necessary to be baptized and become Catholic; and, if they believe in sin, more believe it is more sinful for the rich to not help the poor than for themselves to take contraceptives or be in an extramarital relationship, yet few believe that they actually are trying to take the splinter out of their neighbor’s eyes while they can’t see they have a beam in their own. There is no unity of faith in the Conciliar Church and it is more apparent each year just as when one reads the history of the Protestant Reformation the departure from unity grew ever greater each succeeding year—and remember, it was the Protestant Innovators who rallied the poor to rebel against the rich in a redistribution of wealth (the Peasants War) and then blessed the princes in crushing them.

Fortunately, faithful Roman Catholics who have resisted Vatican II still hold to the one, true faith with its sacraments and sacrifice, its apostolicity and holiness in communion with the teaching magisterium that has remained unchanged throughout the ages.

As always, enjoy the readings and commentaries provided for your benefit. —The Editor

____________________

Baptism

Means of Salvation

Sacrament of Baptism

Rituale Romanum

The last official Church document that will be presented is the Rituale Romanum or Roman Ritual. The following is from The Roman Ritual, translated and Edited by Philip Weller, Bruce Publishing Company, Milwaukee, 1950. The notes are contained within the Rituale Romanum of Paul V (1614) and published under Pius XI (1925). The Rituale Romanum would have been used by all Roman Catholic priests in the Latin Rite prior to Vatican II without exception. The notes actually restate what has been already presented but reaffirm its universality and the unity of the Church. Explanation of the baptismal rite itself will accompany the ceremonial portion which will be reserved only to The Rite for the Baptism of Infants.

Title II

Chapter 1 

THE RITE OF ADMINISTERING THE

SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM

THAT holy baptism, the gateway to the Christian religion and to eternal life, holding as it does the first place among the sacraments instituted by Christ for the New Covenant, is necessary unto salvation for all, either in act or desire, is testified by the divine Truth Himself in these words: “Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). Therefore, the greatest concern is to be exercised for its correct and timely administration and reception.

2. In the administration of this sacrament, certain requisites are absolutely necessary by divine law, such as the matter, form, and minister. Others pertain to its solemnity, such as the rites and ceremonies accepted and approved by ancient and apostolic tradition; yet even these may not be omitted except in case of necessity. Regarding all this, let certain points be remarked at the outset, so that the sacred function may be carried out with exactitude and devotion.
3. When baptism is administered with all the rites and ceremonies prescribed in this Ritual, it is called solemn; otherwise it is non-solemn or private.

The Matter for Baptism

4. First of all a pastor will understand that since the matter for this sacrament is real natural water, no other liquid may be used.
5. The water for solemn baptism is that which has been blessed on the preceding Vigil of Easter or Pentecost, and carefully preserved in a clean font to keep it pure and unsullied. If new baptismal water is to be blessed, the old should be poured into the sacrarium in the sacristy, or preferably the sacrarium of the baptistery.
6. If the baptismal water has so diminished that it is foreseen it will not suffice, unblessed water may be added even repeatedly, but in lesser quantity than the blessed each time this is done. If it becomes contaminated or has leaked out or in any way is deficient, the pastor will see to it that the font is thoroughly cleansed and replenished with fresh water, and proceed to bless it according to the form given below.
7. If the water has frozen it should be thawed. But if it is partly frozen or too cold a smaller quantity of unblessed warm water may be mixed with some baptismal water in a special container, and this tepid mixture used in baptizing, thereby preventing injury to the infant.

The Form for Baptism

8. The form for baptism is as follows: Ego te baptizo in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti (I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit), and it is absolutely essential. In no circumstance can it be altered, and these words must be pronounced simultaneously with the pouring of the water.
9. A priest of the Latin rite must always use the Latin form. Since baptism may positively never be repeated, if one is to be baptized conditionally (see below), the condition is expressed in these words: Si non es baptizatus, ego te baptizo in nomine Patris, etc. (If thou art not baptized, I baptize thee in the name of the Father, etc.) This conditional form should not be chosen lightly or without consideration, but the decision must be made prudently, and only in a case where, after careful investigation, a reasonable doubt exists as to whether the sacrament of baptism had been truly or validly administered.
10. Although baptism can be administered validly by pouring the water or by immersion or by sprinkling, nevertheless, one should adhere to the first method or the second, or to the mixed form of these two, whichever is the more common practice and in harmony with the custom of the particular rite. The water is to be poured on the head with a triple ablution (or the head is to be immersed three times), each time in the form of a cross, saying the words simultaneously. The same person must both pour the water and pronounce the words.
11. If baptism takes place by infusion, care must be taken that the water does not fall back into the font from the infant’s head. It should either fall into the sacrarium of the baptistery or into a special basin provided for that purpose, and in the latter case this water will be emptied later in the sacrarium of the baptistery or of the church.

The Minister of Baptism

12. A priest is the ordinary minister of solemn baptism. But its administration is reserved to the pastor, or to another priest who has the pastor’s permission or that of the local Ordinary. Even one who travels about should receive solemn baptism from his own pastor and in his own parish, if there is no difficulty from delay or inconvenience; otherwise any pastor within his own territory may confirm solemn baptism upon a wanderer.
13. Without proper permission, a priest is not allowed to confer solemn baptism in territory other than his own, even upon his own subjects.
14. In a diocese or territory where no parishes or quasi-parishes have been established, the question as to which priest (the Ordinary excepted) has the right to baptize within the whole territory or a part thereof must be decided from particular statutes and accepted customs.
15. A deacon is the extraordinary minister of solemn baptism. He may not, however, use his power without the consent of the Ordinary or the pastor—such permission being granted for a just cause, and lawfully presumed when necessity urges.
16. In danger of death non-solemn baptism can be administered by anyone as long as he uses the proper form and matter and has the right intention. If possible two witnesses or at least one should be present so that the baptism can be proved. A priest if available should be preferred to a deacon, a deacon to a subdeacon, a cleric to a laic, a man to a woman, unless for the sake of modesty it is more fitting that the woman baptize rather than the man, or because the woman might know the form and method better than the man. Father or mother are not permitted to baptize their child, except when in danger of death no one else can be had who could baptize.
17. It should be a pastor’s concern that the faithful, particularly midwives, doctors, and surgeons be thoroughly instructed in the correct manner of baptizing in a case of necessity.
18. Baptism of adults should be referred to the local Ordinary if convenient, so that he himself if he so desires or another delegated by him may administer it with greater solemnity.

Baptism of Children

19. With regard to baptism:
20. a) Classed as children or infants are such who have not yet attained the use of reason, and likewise the feeble-minded from infancy, no matter what their age;
21. b) Reckoned as adults are all who have the use of reason; and to be admitted to baptism it suffices that an adult requests it of his own accord.
22. No child is to be baptized while still enclosed in the mother’s womb, so long as there is a probable hope that it can be properly brought forth and then baptized. If only the head of the child has come forth and there is danger of its dying, it should be baptized on the head; if afterward it is born and lives, baptism may not be repeated conditionally. If another member of the body makes its appearance and there is danger of death, the baptism should be conferred conditionally upon that member; if the child lives after birth it must be rebaptized conditionally. Should a mother die in confinement, the fetus should be extracted by them obliged thereto by their profession, and if there is a certainty that it lives, it should be baptized absolutely, otherwise conditionally. A fetus baptized while in the mother’s womb must be rebaptized conditionally after birth.
23. One should see to it that every abortive fetus, no matter of what period, be baptized absolutely if it is certainly alive. If there is doubt about its being alive, it should be baptized conditionally.
24. A monster or abnormal fetus should in every case he baptized at least with the following expressed condition: Si tu es homo, ego te baptizo, etc. (If thou art a human being, I baptize thee, etc.) When in doubt as to whether there is one or several persons in the deformed mass, one part is to be baptized absolutely, and the others each with the condition: Si non es baptizatus, ego te baptizo, etc. (If thou art not baptized, I baptize thee, etc.)
25. Foundlings should he baptized conditionally, unless there is a certainty from due investigation that they have already been baptized.
26. An infant of infidel parents may be baptized lawfully even though ‘the parents are opposed, provided that its life is in such danger that one can reasonably foresee it may die before attaining the use of reason. Outside the case of danger of death, it may lawfully be baptized provided its Catholic rearing is guaranteed, as in the following two cases: (a) if parents or guardians or at least one of them consent; (b) if parents, i.e., father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, or guardians do not exist, or if they have lost their right over the child or are unable to exercise it.
27. Generally, the norms stated in the preceding rubric are to be applied to baptism of infants whose parents belong to a heretical or schismatic sect, or of Catholic parents who have lapsed into apostasy, heresy, or schism.

The Rites and Ceremonies of Baptism

26. Baptism should be administered solemnly, except in the case provided for in rubric No. 28 below. The local Ordinary may for weighty and plausible reasons permit the ceremonies prescribed for infant baptism to be used in the baptism of adults.
27. Children must be baptized in the rite of the parents. If one parent belongs to the Latin rite, the other to an Oriental rite, the child should be baptized in the rite of the father, unless some special law provides otherwise. If only one parent is Catholic, the child is to be baptized in the rite of the Catholic party.
28. In danger of death private baptism is permissible, and, if the minister is neither priest nor deacon, he does merely what is required for validity. When private baptism is conferred by a priest or by a deacon, if time permits the ceremonies which follow the act of baptizing should be added. Outside the danger of death the local Ordinary may not permit private baptism, except in the case of adult heretics who are to be baptized conditionally. The ceremonies which for any reason were omitted in the administration of baptism should be added later in church as soon as possible, except in the case of adult heretics who have received private baptism conditionally with the permission of the Ordinary, as stated above.
29. When baptism is repeated conditionally, the ceremonies which were omitted in the former baptism should be supplied, provided this will not run contrary to anything prescribed in rubric No. 28. But if they were used in the former baptism, they may be repeated or omitted.
30. A pastor should see to it that the person baptized is given a Christian name. If he does not succeed in this, he must add the name of a saint to the one chosen by the parents, and inscribe both in the baptismal register.

(To be continued)

————————–

Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

Benedict Baur, O.S.B. 

The power of grace

1. The liturgy of the eleventh Sunday after Pentecost connects the healing of the deaf and dumb man with the conversion of St. Paul. “And last of all He was seen also by me, as one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God; but by the grace of God I am what I am; and His grace in me hath not been void” (Epistle). Encountering Christ while hurrying to Damascus to destroy the Church of Christ, Saul received through the mercy and power of the Lord the new interior ear; he understood Jesus. From then on “he spoke right”; he preached Jesus crucified, “unto the Jews indeed a stumbling block, and unto the Gentiles foolishness; but unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (I Cor. 1: 23 f.).
2. “By the grace of God I am what I am” (Epistle). Paul is truly a miracle of the grace of God. Who thought less of becoming a Christian than Saul on his way to Damascus? Who was, humanly speaking, less prepared for the reception of such a grace than this persecutor of the Christians? His heart was burning with hatred for the Galilean. And yet, just at that moment when Saul least expects it, the mercy of the Lord descends upon him. Touched by grace, he fell on the ground, and from that moment on he was deaf and dumb to his former thoughts and ideas, to his entire former way of living. Having broken with his past entirely, after three days of peace and recollection Saul becomes Paul. He is baptized in Damascus, and his soul having been opened to the light and the truth of Christ, he eagerly listens to the inspirations of grace. Then the Lord looses his tongue; and he preaches Christ crucified and the mercy of God towards him: “By the grace of God I am what I am.” Now he delivers himself up entirely to the working of grace within his soul, and grace instructs him. He labors more abundantly than all the other apostles and disciples. “His grace in me hath not been void.”

We are astonished at this miracle of grace, this miracle of the power of the Lord, who makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak. Together with St. Paul, the apostle of grace, we confess: “In God hath my heart confided, and I have been helped; and my flesh hath flourished again; and with my will I will give praise to Him” (Gradual). The Lord gives His graces in abundance. “God, . . . Thou art wont to give beyond the deserts and desires of those who humbly pray” (Collect). Saul did not pray to the Lord; and yet the Lord gave him an abundance of His powerful love and grace.

“His grace in me hath not been void; but I have labored more abundantly than all they; yet not I, but the grace of God with me” (I Cor. 15: 10). No sooner has he been baptized than he goes to the synagogues of Damascus, preaching Christ, whom shortly before he had persecuted. He is not afraid to confess Christ, even when facing those who knew that he had come to Damascus for the express purpose of seizing Christians so that he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Paul did not stop to consider what they might think of him. Grace works in him, urging him to make good use of all his powers to preach Christ. It urges him to undertake three laborious missionary voyages to Greece and Asia Minor, to suffer hunger and thirst, cold and nakedness, scourging and imprisonment for the sake of Christ. Thrice he suffered shipwreck, being a night and a day in the depth of the sea, in danger lest he perish in the waters. Persecution followed him everywhere, from the Jews and the Gentiles, in the cities and in the sea (II Cor. 11:23 ff.). But God’s grace urges him to take loving care of the churches and communities which he founded. He instructs, exhorts, and consoles them in his epistles; he is jealous of them “with the jealousy of God, for I have espoused you to one husband that he may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ” (II Cor. 11:2). “Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I am not on fire?” (II Cor. 11:29.) Paul indeed has labored more for the Lord than all the others. “Yet,” he corrects himself, “not I, but the grace of God with me.” Depending entirely on God’s grace which works all things, Paul considers himself only an instrument. “God in His holy place; . . . He shall give power and strength to His people” (Introit). He is “wont to give beyond the deserts and desires of those who humbly pray.” It is God “who worketh in you both to will and to accomplish, according to His good will” (Phil. 2: 13). Paul is what he is by the grace of God, who determined his future work on the road to Damascus without his prayers and merits; Paul merely cooperated with God’s grace. Thus Paul has become a shining example of what God is willing and able to do with a man who gives himself up entirely into His hands.

3. In Saul and in Paul we recognize ourselves. By ourselves we are but another Saul; but God’s mercy is able to make of us another Paul. “My flesh hath flourished” when touched by the almighty hand of the Lord, who makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak. “I will extol Thee, O Lord, for Thou hast upheld me” (Offertory). If only we also could say with St. Paul: “His grace in me hath not been void.”

PRAYER

O almighty and eternal God, who in the abundance of Thy loving kindness art wont to give beyond the deserts and desires of those who humbly pray; pour down upon us Thy mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and granting us those blessings which we dare not presume to ask. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

“My flesh hath flourished”

1. “I make known unto you the gospel which I preached to you: . . . how that Christ died for our sins, . . . and that He rose again the third day” (Epistle). The Church never tires of announcing in all the rites of her liturgy this message of life for all those who die with Christ in baptism and in the celebration of Mass.
2. “My flesh hath flourished again; and with my will I will give praise to Him” (Gradual). This victorious Easter chant, filled with feelings of gratitude, should be sung by Christians every Sunday. Every Sunday, through the Liturgy of the Mass, we should become more vividly aware of the fact that we possess life, because, having died with Christ, we arose with Him to a new life. The celebration of Mass is for us a renewal and continuation of our baptism, when we were “buried together with Him. . . unto death” (Rom. 6:4). The Apostle instructs us that through baptism we were buried with Him that we might arise to a new life with Him. Our old man was also crucified that the body of sin might be destroyed and serve sin no longer. We believe that we, the members of Christ’s mystical body, the branches of the vine, share the life of the risen Christ because we also died with Him.

“My flesh hath flourished again.” It has been deeply humiliated under the curse and servitude of sin and the concupiscence of the flesh; but now in baptism it has become, through the power of the Lord, a vessel of divine life. Being a branch of Christ, the true Christian, fortified by the power of the risen Christ, is able to resist the assaults of the tempter and the allurements of the flesh and the world. Lifting up his mind and heart to God, he tries continually to fill his soul with divine life, thus becoming ever more perfectly the spiritual, risen man, who out of the fullness of his union with God and Christ is enabled to diffuse light and strength over others also. “My flesh hath flourished again,” for it possesses the life of divine sonship, of Christian virtue and union with God. “With my will I will give praise to Him” (Gradual). “In His holy place, . . . He shall give power and strength to His people,” who live in the union of love within the Church (Introit).

“In the abundance of Thy loving kindness [Thou] art wont to give beyond the deserts and desires of those who humbly pray” (Collect). The Jews bring a deaf and dumb man to the Lord, asking that He impose His hands upon him. The Lord does more than they dare ask of Him. He puts His fingers into the poor man’s ears, and spitting, He touches his tongue, saying, “Ephpheta, which is, Be thou opened” (Gospel). In this act He shows the superabundance of His love. Soon after we were born, devoted hearts and hands brought us to the Lord, imploring Him to deliver us from the power of sin. He received us, washing us in the laver of regeneration that our soul might be free from sin. But that was not enough for His love. He filled us with His life, the immortal life of the risen one, planting in our soul, and even in our weak flesh, the seed of the resurrection to come and preparing us for the blessed transfiguration of our eternal happiness with God. “My flesh hath flourished again.” “I shall not die, but live” (Ps. 117: 17). “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love Him” (I Cor. 2:9). Here on earth He gives a foretaste of this happiness to all of them that love Him, and the fulfillment of it in the land of promise. “O God, . . . in the abundance of Thy loving kindness [Thou] art wont to give beyond the deserts and desires of those who humbly pray.”

3. The resurrection of our Lord is the central truth of our Christian faith. It is the source of the supernatural life of the baptized, an inexhaustible fountain of grace. “I make known unto you the gospel which I preached to you: . . . that Christ died for our sins, . . . and that He rose again the third day” (Epistle).

The Church announces this message to us when she celebrates the Eucharistic sacrifice, which is the representation of the death and resurrection of the Lord. If we share His death, we shall also be partakers of His life. The Mass is the fountain from which we can draw that strength which He has promised. Here we shall be healed and “feel supported in soul and body” (Postcommunion).

When celebrating the Mass we honor the Lord with our gifts “and with the first of all [our] fruits” (Communion): we offer to Him all we have, placing it all as a gift of sacrifice on the altar. Thus sacrificing all we have without reserve, we die a sacred death indeed. But our “barns shall be filled with abundance and [our] presses shall run over with wine” (Communion); for Christ lives in us, and we also shall live because we have died with Him in the spirit of sacrifice, renunciation, and love.

PRAYER

O almighty and eternal God, who in the abundance of Thy loving kindness art wont to give beyond the deserts and desires of those who humbly pray; pour down upon us Thy mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and granting us those blessings which we dare not presume to ask. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

JULY 31

…

[Message clipped]  View entire message