The Material Sign of Baptism
and the Life of Christ
Blessing of Baptismal Water
in the Early Church
Body in Baptism
Lighted Candle and Baptism
White Robe of Baptism
Effects of Baptism
The Infusion of Virtues
The sunshine, the carbons, and the rain could never share the life
of the plant unless they died to their lower existence and were
assumed or taken up into plant life Plants could never share the
sensitive and locomotive power of animals, unless they died to their
lower existence and were taken up by the animal. None of the things
in lower creation could live in man, and share his arts, his sciences,
his thinking and his loves unless they ceased to be what they were,
submitting to the death of knife and fire.
Now, since there is a life above the human, the Christ-life, man,
or the old Adam, cannot share in it unless he dies to himself. But
here there is no confiscation or violent appropriation as there
is when the cow eats grass. Christ will not take us up to Himself
unless we freely give ourselves to Him. This death to the life of
sin, this sharing of the divine life, is Baptism.
Water: The Material Sign of Baptism
Water is used for cleansing from dust and dirt; therefore, it may
be the symbol of a spiritual washing from original sin. But it can
also symbolize both death and life. One can plunge into water and
be submerged by it; then it is a symbol of death. After the plunge,
one may rise from the water; then it is a token of resurrection.
A descent into water has always been a description of penetration
into deep and mysterious fecundities; the Greeks believed that the
whole living universe came from water.
From another point of view, water is an excellent symbol of Baptism,
because it is an open sign of separation. Water very often is the
natural boundary between city and city, state and state, nation
and nation, continent and continent, tribe and tribe. Those who
live on one side of water are "separated" from those who
live on the other. In the early days, before rapid communication,
it was a dramatic experience to pass from one territory to another.
This symbolism, therefore, was well fitted for the Divine Master
to indicate the separation of the Christian from the world, as the
water which was divided in the Red Sea, was a symbol of the separation
of Israel from the slavery of Egypt.
Once the Jews had crossed the Red Sea, another symbol was used
to "separate" them as the people of God, and that was
circumcision. Not only was it a token of their covenant or testament
with God, but it was required of all Israelites who partook of the
Passover. In the New Testament, the same order is followed. Baptism,
or incorporation into the Church, is the condition of reception
of the New Passover, the Eucharist.
As ranchers brand their cattle, as ancient Romans branded their
slaves, so God branded His own, both in the Old Testament and in
the New; with circumcision of the flesh in the Old and circumcision
of the spirit, or Baptism, in the New.
It may be objected, what good does a little water do when poured
upon the head of a child? One might just as well ask what does a
little water do when poured into the boiler. The water in the boiler
can do nothing of and by itself, nor can the water on the head of
a child. But when the water in the boiler is united to the mind
of an engineer, it can drive an engine across a continent or a ship
across the sea. So too, when water is united to the power of God,
it can do more than change a crystal into life. It can take a creature
and convert him into a child of God.
Naaman in the Old Testament was something like those today who
think of the power of Baptism coming from water rather than from
the Passion of Christ. Naaman was the general of the king of Syria.
A maid who came from Samaria said that she wished that he had known
the great prophet of Israel, for he could have cured him. The king
then bade Naaman to go to Israel where he met the prophet, Eliseus.
Eliseus said to him: "Go and wash seven times in the Jordan,
and thy flesh shalt recover health and thou shalt be clean."
Naaman was insulted because he was told to go to that insignificant
river Jordan to bathe:
"'Why', he said angrily, 'I thought he would come out to meet
me, and stand here invoking the name of his God; that he would touch
the sore with his hand and cure me. Has not Damascus its rivers,
Abana and Pharphar, such water as is not found in Israel?'"
(IV Kings 5:11, 12)
His servants, however, bade him go wash and be made clean, and
he went down and washed seven times according to the word of the
man of God, and his flesh was restored and was made like the flesh
of a little child when he was made clean. Then he confessed that
it was done by the power of God: "I have learned, he said,
past doubt, that there is no God to be found in all the world, save
here in Israel" (IV Kings 5:15).
Baptism and the Life of Christ
Under the Old Law people believed in, or yearned for, a Messias
who was to come. Abraham believed and his faith was accounted to
him as justice, and he received circumcision as a sign of faith.
What was the faith, therefore, that justified Abraham, who was
the father of the Jews? It was the faith in the Messias, or the
Christ Who was to come. There is no salutary faith except in Christ.
The Jews believed in the Christ Who was to come; we believe in Christ
Who has come. The times have changed, but the reality of faith has
not changed. There is only one faith. The faith that saves all men,
making them pass from carnal generation to spiritual birth.
The reason Our Lord was baptized was because it was part of the
whole process of emptying, of humiliation, of the Incarnation. How
could He be poor with us, if He did not in some way conform to our
poverty? How could He come among sinful men to redeem them, if He
did not also reveal the necessity of being purged from sin? There
was no need of Our Blessed Mother to submit to the rite of purification,
as there was no need of Our Lord to submit to the rite of Baptism
by John. He had no need personally of having sins remitted, but
He assumed a nature which was related to sinful humanity. Though
He was without sin, He appeared to all men as a sinner, as He did
on the cross. That was why He walked into the Jordan with all the
rest of the sinners to demand the baptism of penance "in remission
In a very special way, Baptism is related to the death and Resurrection
of Christ. In order to be saved, we have to recapitulate in our
own lives the Death and the Resurrection of Christ. What He went
through, we have to go through. He is the pattern, and we have to
be modeled after Him. He is the die, we are the coins that have
to be stamped with His image. In all of the sacraments, the virtue
of the Passion and Resurrection of Christ is in some way applied
to us. In Baptism, there is a very close relationship between the
burial and the resurrection. The catechumen is plunged into the
water as Christ was plunged into death. We say plunged into death
because of the words of Our Lord: "There is a baptism I must
be baptized with, and how impatient am I for its accomplishment"
(Luke 12:50). Baptism not only incorporates us to the death of that
which is evil in us, but also to the Resurrection of Christ, and
therefore, to a new life.
There was recently found an inscription on a baptistry erected
in the time of Constantine in the beginning of the fourth century,
and it reads: "The waters received an old man, but brought
forth a new man." St. Paul speaks of this: "It follows,
in fact, that when a man becomes a new creature in Christ, his old
life has disappeared, everything has become new about him (II Corinth.
The Blessing of Baptismal Water
The water used in Baptism is blessed on Holy Saturday after the
Litany of Saints, whose intercession is invoked on all those who
will receive the sacrament. Then follows a prayer asking God to
send forth "the Spirit of adoption" on those who are to
be baptized. God has one Son Who exhausts the fullness of His glory,
but baptism gives Him millions of adopted sons because it makes
them partakers of His divine nature. The baptismal water is blessed
by a prayer which recalls beautifully all the events of salvation
which were in any way connected with water, from the beginning of
the world when God's Spirit hovered over the water, down to the
commandment of Christ to baptize.
Throughout the Old Testament water is represented as a sinister
element, and is supposed to be the abode of demons. To confirm this
idea, the "Apocalypse" affirms that there will be no sea
in the new earth after the resurrection of the just. Water, because
of its unholy association, is exorcised on Holy Saturday that it
may become "holy and innocent." The priest then takes
the water, divides it into four quarters of the globe to symbolize
the four waters that branched out of Paradise and covered the earth.
Next, he breathes upon the water three times symbolizing the Holy
Spirit, then dips the paschal candle (the symbol of the risen Christ)
into it three times. Here the consecration formula uses the symbolism
of human generation: "May the power of the Holy Spirit descend
into this brimming font, and make the whole substance of this water
fruitful in regenerative power." And again, "Just as the
Holy Spirit came down upon Mary and wrought in her the birth of
Christ, so may He descend upon the Church, and bring about in her
maternal womb (the font), the rebirth of God's children."
The baptismal font in a church is now generally placed as far from
the altar as possible. It often is a corner to the left of the entrance.
In the early Church, the baptistry was sometimes placed outside
the Church. The reason is that the person about to be baptized was
not yet a member of the Church and, therefore, was not allowed to
participate in its mysteries.
The baptismal font, if properly erected, has steps going down into
it, to indicate that it is a pool. Its shape was octagonal, because
the Resurrection took place on the eighth day, or the day after
the Jewish Sabbath.
In the Old Testament, circumcision was always performed on the
eighth day. The son that David had through his sin with Bethsabee
died on the seventh day. The first seven days were symbols of the
bonds of sin; hence, the eighth day represented the breaking of
those bonds and the liberation from them. In the New Testament,
Easter is the eighth day par excellence, and that was the reason
why Baptism was administered on Easter.
Baptism in the Early Church
Baptism was usually given the night before Easter Sunday, but the
baptismal ceremonies began with the opening of Lent. At that time
all of the candidates, converts, or catechumens had their names
inscribed by a priest in the Church. They were then brought before
a bishop who examined the candidates concerning their moral life.
Generally, the bishop would bring out the fact that the candidate
for Baptism had lived under Satan, but now he must abandon him This
meant a conflict and a battle. That is why we still have in the
Church the Gospel of the temptation of Christ for the first Sunday
of Lent, because it was the theme of the bishop to the catechumens
at the beginning of their instructions.
The ceremony of Baptism took place then in three places and in
like manner today: (1) Before the entrance to the Church, which
in the early Church was at the beginning of Lent; (2) Inside the
Church and before one comes to the baptistry, which happened in
the middle of Lent in the early Church; and (3) Finally, the baptistry
itself on Holy Saturday night, or Easter morning.
In the baptismal ritual, the stole of the priest at the beginning
of the Baptism is violet in color; this is because in the early
Church, the first part of the ceremony of Baptism was during Lent.
Toward the end of the ceremony, the priest changes his stole to
white, following again the tradition of the early Church, when Baptism
was administered on Easter Sunday.
The Baptism begins with a dialogue. The ceremony begins with: "What
do you ask of the Church of God?" The answer is: "Faith."
The priest asks: "What does faith offer you?" The candidate
or his sponsors answer: "Eternal life." Note the close
connection between faith and Baptism. After His Resurrection, Our
Lord said to His Apostles: "Go out all over the world and preach
the gospel to the whole of creation; he who believes and is baptized
will be saved; he who refuses belief will be condemned" (Mark
Our Blessed Lord first put belief before being baptized. In order
to be saved, one must believe and be baptized. One can be saved
by faith without the sacramental sign of baptism; that is, through
desire or by martyrdom, but he who refuses to believe will be condemned:
"For the man who believes in him, there is no rejection; the
man who does not believe is already rejected; he has not found faith
in the name of God's only-begotten Son" (John 3:18).
The dialogue begins with "What do you ask of the Church of
God?" Why the Church? Because the Church precedes the individual,
not the individual the Church. When a person is baptized, he is
not to be thought of as another brick that is added to an edifice,
but rather as another cell united to the Christ-life. The Church
expands from the inside out, not from the outside in. The foundation
cell of the Church is Christ, and through Baptism, there is a multiplication
of the cells of His body until there is a differentiation of functions
and the building up of the whole Church. As a child is formed in
the womb of the mother, so the Church, as a spiritual mother, forms
and gives birth to the children of God. The Christian life resulting
from Baptism is not an individual and solitary experience. It is
a life in the Church and by the Church. As St. Paul expresses it:
"Through faith in Christ Jesus you are all now God's sons"
(I Corinth. 12:4).
Baptism does not first of all establish an individual relationship
with Christ, and then accidentally make one a member of His body,
the Church. It is the other way around. The baptized person is first
made a member of the Church, and thus he is incorporated into Christ.
Baptism is social by nature. We are made members of Christ's body
before being established in our individual relationship with Christ:
"We, too, all of us have been baptized into a single body
by the power of a single Spirit, Jews and Greeks, slaves and free
men alike; we have all been given drink at a single source, the
one Spirit." (I Corinth. 12:13)
In Baptism, infants are incorporated into Christ, not through an
act of their own will, but through an act of the sponsor who represents
the Church and assumes responsibility for the spiritual education
of the infant. The parents, of course, must consent to the baptism;
the Church refuses to baptize anyone against his or her will, or
even to baptize an infant unless there is some guarantee that the
child will be raised in the faith. The sponsors are representatives
of the Church, not representatives of the parents. They witness
the incorporation of the infant into the fellowship of Christ.
It may be asked why should a child be baptized when he has nothing
to say about it? Well, why should a child be fed? Is he asked his
advice before he is given the family name? If he receives the name
of the family, the fortune of the family, the rank of the family,
the inheritance of the family, why should he not also receive the
religion of the family? In our own country we do not wait until
children are twenty-one and then allow them to decide whether or
not they want to become American citizens, or whether they want
to speak the English language. They are born Americans; so we in
Baptism are born members of the Mystical Body of Christ. If one
waits until he is twenty-one before learning something about his
relation to the Lord Who redeemed him, he will have already learned
another catechism, the catechism of his passions, his concupiscences,
and his lusts.
Though the Hebrews had passed through the Red Sea, they were, nevertheless,
followed by the Egyptians; so too, though a person is baptized,
he is still followed by Satan throughout his life. That is why the
baptized person is asked to renounce Satan and all of his seductions.
This renouncing of Satan has as its parallel the attachment to Christ
or the transfer from one master to another. In Baptism today, the
ceremonies of exorcism follow rapidly upon one another, and thereby
have lost the significance which they had in the early Church when
they were separated by several weeks. This evil that the baptized
are invited to combat, is not just a moral force or a vague kind
of paganism; it is a cosmic reality, for the devil is, as Our Lord
said, the prince of this world. That is why even before the Church
begins the baptism of a person, it blesses water, oil, and salt,
in some instances even with exorcisms, in order to snatch them out
of the power of Satan.
There is a triple renouncing of Satan which corresponds to the
threefold profession of faith:
Question: Do you renounce Satan?
Answer: I do renounce him.
Question: And all his works?
Answer: I do renounce them.
Question: And all his allurements?
Answer: I do renounce them.
This question has reference to the words of St. Paul to the Romans:
"Let us abandon the ways of darkness, and put on the armor
of light" (Rom. 13:12).
Thus the triple profession of faith accompanies the triple renouncing
of Satan, and is bound to a gesture; namely, the anointing with
the oil of catechumens. The one who baptizes dips his thumb in oil,
and then traces a cross on the breast and between the shoulders
of the one to be baptized. Formerly the oil was rubbed all over
the body. This was also done on athletes who were engaging in some
sport in the arena, but here the signification is spiritual, for
it is the beginning of a spiritual competition (I Corinth. 9: 24-27).
The exorcisms look both to the future, as well as to the past,
to remind the catechumen that the struggle against the forces of
Satan is a confrontation of God and the devil, the devil seeking
to dispute the souls which Our Lord won, as he tempted Our Lord
in the desert.
In the early Church, the renouncing of Satan was done facing the
west. This is because the west is where the light of the sun disappears;
therefore, it was regarded even by the ancient Greeks as the place
of the gates of Hades; also, because Christ on the Last Day said
He would come from the east to the west: "When the Son of Man
comes, it will be like the lightning that springs up from the east
and flashes across to the west" (Matt. 24:27). The baptismal
liturgy of Milan reads: "Ye were turned to the east for he
who renounced the demon turns himself to Christ. He sees Him face
In the exorcism, the priest says: "I exorcise you, unclean
spirit, in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Come forth, from this servant of God [name] for He commands you,
spirit accursed and damned, He Who walked upon the sea and extended
His right hand to Peter as he was sinking. Therefore, cursed devil,
acknowledge your condemnation and pay homage to the true and living
God; pay homage to Jesus Christ, His Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
and depart from the servant of God [name], for Jesus Christ, Our
Lord and our God, has called him [her] to His holy grace and blessing,
and to the font of Baptism."
When the priest signs the forehead with his thumb in the form of
a cross, he says: "Then never dare, cursed devil, to violate
the sign of the cross which we are making upon his [her] forehead
through Christ Our Lord."
The various exorcisms, the laying on of hands, breathings, and
sign of the cross are done in the vestibule of the Church. The second
act of the ceremonies takes place at the entrance of the baptistry.
The evil spirit has no authority in the holy place; that is why
the final exorcism of the devil is at the entrance.
The Body in Baptism
Because the body is to become by Baptism the temple of God, because
God dwells in it, it is fitting that it have an important role in
the sacrament. Each of the senses are spiritualized in the sacraments:
hearing, taste, touch, smell, and sight.
The ears of the baptized person are touched with the words, "Be
thou opened." The Hebrew word Our Lord used in opening the
ears of the deaf man was "Ephpheta." The assumption is
that the person up to this moment has been deaf to the hearing of
the word of God. Now his ears are opened, so that he can understand
the word of God, and the confidences which God exchanges with him
about the Kingdom of Heaven.
Tasting is testing. Before food goes into the stomach, it passes
through the laboratory of the mouth for either approval or disapproval.
In the spiritual order, the taste is not for body-food, but soul-food;
the material element here used as a symbol for tasting Divine Wisdom
and the Eucharist is salt. Placing salt on the tongue of the candidate
for Baptism, the Church says: "Satisfy him [her] with the Bread
of Heaven that he [she] may be forever fervent in spirit, joyful
in hope, zealous in your service." Scripture bids us: "How
gracious the Lord is. Taste and prove it" (Psa. 33:9).
The symbolism is that the truths of faith infused at Baptism will
be preserved from error; that the person may reflect the savor of
Christ in his life, and this taste of salt may be converted into
a yearning for the Bread of Life, the Eucharist, which is the end
of all the sacraments. When the faith is gone, everything is gone,
as Our Lord warned:
"You are the salt of the earth; if salt loses its taste, what
is there left to give taste to it? There is no more to be done with
it, but throw it out of doors for men to tread it under foot."
The body, during the ceremony, is touched in three places with
oil: on the breast, between the shoulders, and on the head. The
first two anointing are with the oil of catechumens, the last with
chrism. The sign of the cross is made on the breast with oil to
indicate that the heart must love God; between the shoulders to
remind us that we are to carry the Cross of Christ; on the head,
as a sign of eternal election in Christ Our Lord.
The "Apocalypse," describing the end of the world, says
the destroying angel was "to attack men, such as did not bear
God's mark on their foreheads" (Apoc. 9:4). The elect will
be known, because they have already been signed and have lived up
to all the Cross commits them to in this life.
The last anointing with chrism, which takes place after Baptism,
is the symbol of the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament, oil was
poured upon the head of the priest (Ex. 29:7), and upon kings (I
Kings 10:1), to render them holy unto the Lord. Pulled out of the
powers of darkness by Baptism, the Christian is now transported
into the light of God and into His kingdom; that is why he becomes
royal. St. Leo bade the faithful: "Recognize, O Christian,
We associate goodness with sweet odors and badness with foul odors.
We have a "nose" for detecting the healthy and the unhealthy.
This sense of smell is spiritualized in Baptism, and is made to
symbolize sanctity or holiness.
The Church speaks of saints as dying in "the odor of sanctity."
Sometimes their bodies after death give forth a sweet odor. The
saintly Cure of Ars would walk along a line of several hundred persons
waiting to go to confession. He would pick out one here and there
and put them first in line. When asked how he could do it, he answered:
"I can smell sin." As the Church signs the nostrils of
the catechumen, she says: "I sign you on the nostrils that
you may perceive the sweet fragrance of Christ."
The eyes of the candidate are anointed, as the Church says: "I
sign you on the eyes that you may see God's glory." By this
is symbolized a new kind of vision: the things of God in addition
to the things of earth: "Fix (your) eyes on what is unseen,
not on what we can see. What we can see lasts but for a moment;
what is unseen is eternal" (II Corinth. 4:18). Our Blessed
Lord spoke of some who had eyes and yet were blind, because they
had no faith: "Have you eyes that cannot see?" (Mark 8:18).
As a further example of the role of vision, a lighted candle is
given to the one baptized. He is bidden to receive this burning
light, and keep the grace of his baptism without blame. This refers
to the words of Our Lord: "Your light must shine so brightly
before men that they can see your good works, and glorify your Father
Who is in Heaven" (Matt 5:16).
We have the same eyes at night as during the daytime, but we cannot
see at night because we lack the light of the sun. So there is a
difference in persons looking upon the same reality, such as life,
birth, death, the world. The baptized person has a light which the
others do not have. Sometimes the person with the light of faith
will regard the other person as ignorant or stupid, but actually
he is only blind. On the other hand, the one who is baptized must
not believe that his superior insights are due to his own reason,
or his own merits. They are solely due to the light that has come
to him through Christ.
There are various lights in the world: the light of the sun which
illumines our senses; the light of reason which illumines science
and culture; and the light of faith which illumines Christ and eternal
The Baptism Itself
The actual moment of Baptism comes when the priest pours water
on the head of a person, saying: "I baptize thee, in the name
of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." The personal
pronoun "I" refers not only to the priest, but to Christ
Who speaks through the tongue given Him by the Church as He spoke
through the tongue given Him by Mary. As the portals of the flesh
once opened to the life of the human, now the womb of the Church
opens and exults: "A child is born."
St. Augustine said this is a greater act than the creation of the
world, for it blots out our debt of sin to God, original sin if
it be an infant, original and personal sins if it be an adult. The
full effects of this act will be mentioned later.
The Lighted Candle and Baptism
Because the Sacrament of Baptism opened the eyes of the soul to
see, it was called the sacrament of illumination: "Remember
those early days, when the light first came to you" (Heb. 10:32).
Once asleep to the wonders of Redemption, eyes are now awake to
receive Christ, the light of the world (John 1:19) and to become
sons of light (I Thess. 5:5).
Because Baptism is the sacrament of faith, it is the sacrament
of light. This baptismal candle in the early Church was always kept
by the person baptized, and was lighted on the anniversary of one's
baptism and on feast days, and brought to the church for the Easter
vigil and the renewal of baptismal vows. Then later, if the person
was married, the candle was lighted at his wedding. If he was ordained,
it was lighted at his ordination, and when he died, it was lighted
again as he went to his Judge.
The White Robe of Baptism
That the body is now the temple of God is further indicated by
putting on a white robe after the Baptism itself. Today this is
often only a small white cloth, but its symbolism still remains:
"The body is for the Lord."
In the Transfiguration, Our Blessed Lord's garment was white (Matt.
17:2) as a symbol of holiness and purity. White was the color of
the vestments in the Old Testament. It was the color of the veil
which divided the sanctuary. It was the attire of the high priest.
It was the color of festivity (Eccles. 9:8), and of triumph (Apoc.
6:2), and a symbol of glory and majesty (Matt. 28:3). The prayer
that is said at Baptism is a petition that this garment be kept
without stain: "Receive this white garment. Never let it become
stained, so that when you stand before the judgment seat of Our
Lord you may have life everlasting." Dante, in his practical
knowledge of human nature, knowing that many do not keep it sinless,
described purgatory as a "place where we go to wash our baptismal
The white robe further symbolizes the recovery of the vestment
of light which was man's before the Fall. As Gregory of Nyssa said:
"Thou hast driven us out of paradise and called us back; Thou
hast taken away the fig leaves, that garment of our misery, and
clothed us once more with the robe of glory."
Because Baptism in the early Church was by immersion, there was
an additional symbolism attached to the new garment that was put
on, namely, to signify the entirely new life that came to one after
one was "buried with Christ in His Death" (Rom. 6:4).
The neophyte did not resume the clothing he had taken off. He put
on a new white garment, which he wore at all services during the
entire Easter octave. A week later, in the early Church, there was
"the sabbath of the removal of white robes." These were
solemnly taken off and deposited in the treasury of the baptismal
Effects of Baptism
The first effect of Baptism is the restoration to friendship with
God which was lost by original sin. The baptized person is made
a partaker of the divine nature and, therefore, a sharer in divine
life. There is more difference between a soul in the state of grace
which begins in Baptism and a soul not in the state of grace than
there is between a baptized person in the state of grace on this
earth and a soul in glory in heaven. The relation of the first two
is the relationship between a crystal and an elephant: one cannot
beget the other. The second relationship is that of an acorn and
an oak. The acorn has the potential of becoming an oak; the baptized
person in grace has the potential to enjoy the glory of God. That
is why Baptism is said to make the person a new creature: "In
fact, when a man becomes a new creature in Christ, his old life
has disappeared, everything has become new about him" (II Corinth.
This sharing of the divine nature makes us the adopted sons of
the eternal Father. Just as Christ is the Divine Son Incarnate;
so we become adopted children, as distinct from the natural Son:
"But all those who did welcome him, He empowered to become
the children of God." (John 1:12)
"Those who follow the leading of God's Spirit are all God's
sons." (Rom. 8:14)
The Dauphin, the father of Louis XVI, gave a lesson on the effect
of Baptism to his two sons. They had been baptized as infants but
in emergency. It was only years later, when they had reached the
age of reason, that the ceremonies were performed. Immediately after
Baptism, it was noted that the names of the two children were registered
after a common laborer about the palace. The royal father said:
"See, my children, in the eyes of God, men of all conditions
are equal. In His sight, faith and virtue are all that matters.
One day you will be greater than this child in the eyes of the world;
but if he is more virtuous than you, then he will be greater than
you in the sight of
This likeness to God or the unlikeness will be the determinant
of our future state. A mother knows her daughter is her own because
that child shares her nature; a mother also knows the child next
door is not her own because of the diversity of nature and parentage.
So it will be with Christ on the last day. He will look into a soul
and see His divine resemblance and say: "Come, ye blessed of
My Father. I am the Natural Son and you are the adopted children";
but to those who have not that likeness, Christ will say: "I
know you not"--and it is a terrible thing not to be known by
Another effect is incorporation in the Mystical Body of Christ.
Baptism is not just a bond existing between the person and Christ:
to be united to Christ is to be united with the Church, for the
Church is His body. The Church is not an organization, but an organism.
As circumcision was an incorporation into the spiritual body of
Israel, so Baptism is incorporation into the spiritual body of the
Church. A physical body is made up of millions of cells, and all
of these coordinate and cooperate into a unity, thanks to the soul
which organizes them, the invisible mind which guides them, and
the visible head which directs them. So too, all the baptized are
incorporated into the Mystical Body, thanks to the Holy Spirit which
vivifies it; thanks to the invisible head, Christ, Who rules the
organism of the Church; and thanks to the visible head, its Vicar
of Christ, who directs it on earth.
The two most common errors concerning the Church are these: (1)
the belief that Christians came first and then the Church; and (2)
that to justify the Church one must go to the New Testament--which
antedated the Church.
In regard to the first error, the Christians did not come before
the Church. The physical body of Christ was the beginning of the
Church, and the Apostles constituted its first prolongation. The
Church, or the body of Christ, was not composed of the will of individual
Christians; the latter were not first brought to Our Lord and then
inducted in some way into the Church. The Church has its origin
not in the will of man, nor in the flesh of man, but in the will
of Christ, Our Lord. The Apostles were the ministers of the Lord
Himself. The world is called into the Church, but the world does
not make the Church by sending men into it.
Regarding the second error, the Church was in existence throughout
the entire Roman Empire, before a single book of the New Testament
was written. Long before St. Paul wrote any of his epistles, he
said that he had "persecuted the Church." The Church was
in existence before he wrote about it so beautifully. The Gospel
came out of the Church; the Church did not come out of the Gospel.
Because Baptism makes us a cell in the body of Christ, it is called
the door of the Church. Each new generation of baptized Christians
is taken up into that already existing unity. St. Peter, changing
the analogy, describes those who are inducted into the Church as
"Draw near to Him; He is the living antitype of that stone
which men rejected, which God has chosen and prized; you too must
be built up on Him, stones that live and breathe, into a spiritual
fabric." (I Peter 2:4, 5)
The very fact that the ceremony of Baptism begins outside of the
Church, or at the door of the Church, and that the adult to be baptized
is led in by a stole, confirms the fact that the unbaptized is not
yet a member of the Church.
The Infusion of Virtues
Another effect is the infusion of virtues. A virtue is something
like a habit. There are two kinds of habits: infused habits, such
as the infused habit of swimming which a duck has when it is born;
and acquired habits, such as playing the violin or speaking a foreign
Baptism infuses seven virtues into the soul, the first three of
which relate to God Himself, namely, faith, hope, and charity. We
are thus enabled to believe in Him, hope in Him, and love Him. But
four other virtues, called moral virtues, are related to the means
of attaining God; these are prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance.
By the right use of things for God's sake, by paying our debts to
God, by being brave about witnessing our faith and temperate about
even the legitimate pleasures of life, we reach God more quickly.
One of the reasons there is little difficulty in convincing children
of the existence of God and the divinity of the Church is that they
already have the gift of faith infused in their souls at the moment
of Baptism. This faith, however, requires practice and intellectual
fortification. If one woke up suddenly and became endowed with the
gift of playing the organ, he would still have to practice to retain
the gift. So, even though the gift of faith is infused, it nevertheless
requires practice. In the adult, Baptism demands faith, but faith
supposes that one has already received the word of God:
"Only, how are they to call upon him until they have learned
to believe in him? And how are they to believe in him, until they
listen to him?" (Rom. 10:14)
It may be asked why adults who already have the faith are said
to need Baptism. If the adult is already justified by faith, Baptism
is necessary in order that he may be incorporated visibly and sacramentally
to Christ in His Church. Furthermore, they receive, in virtue of
Baptism, a fuller grace. In the case of children, the habit of virtue
becomes a conscious act later on. The faith is not just a profession
of doctrine, but is the commitment to Our Lord and Savior.
Another effect, which is closely bound up with grace, is the indwelling
of the Trinity in our souls, from which arises a triple relationship
with the Godhead. First is the relationship with God the Father.
The baptized may now say "Our Father." By nature, we are
only creatures of God; by Baptism, we are sons:
"The spirit you have now received is not, as of old, a spirit
of slavery, to govern you by fear; it is the spirit of adoption,
which makes us cry out, Abba, Father." (Rom. 8:15)
We also have relationship with the Son of God, Who is "the
firstborn of many brethren" (Rom. 8:29). The baptized person
will, therefore, try to reproduce in his soul the image of Christ.
As it is put in "Imitation of Christ":
"Who will give me, Lord, to find You and You alone, and to
offer You my whole heart...You in me, and I in You, and therefore
together, evermore to dwell."
Finally, there is union with the Holy Spirit. At the moment of
Baptism the priest says, "Depart, unclean spirit, and give
place to the Holy Spirit." St. John writes: "This is our
proof that we are dwelling in Him and He in us; He has given us
a share of His own Spirit" (I John 4:13). The Spirit within
us is a moving Spirit, illumining the mind and strengthening the
will to sanctify ourselves and others:
"Nor does this hope delude us; the love of God has been poured
out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom we have received."
The world, therefore, is divided into the "once born"
and the "twice born": between the sons of the old Adam,
and the sons of the new Adam, Christ; between the unregenerate and
the regenerate. There is a real inequality in the world. There are
"superior" and "inferior" peoples, but the basis
of distinction is not color, race, nationality, or wealth. The superior
people of the earth are the supermen, the Godmen; the inferior people
are those who have been called to that superior state but, as yet,
have not embraced it. But the reborn must follow the laws of divine
life, for which the Lord has prepared other sacraments.