Principles of Sacramental Theology
v
08/03/2012
F
Recommended
Text Books
1.
William Bausch: How to
understand Sacraments
2.
J. Komonchak et al: The
Dictionary of theology
3.
M. G Lawler: Symbols of
Sacraments
4.
B. Leeming: Principles of
Sacramental Theology
5.
Kane Osborne: Sacramental
Theology
F
Introduction
Sacramental theology is one of the areas
or subjects which have been discussed much in the Roman Catholic Church during
the past century. This has affected not only the academic and theological life
of the church but also the practical and liturgical life of the church. Since
Vatican II, all the rites of the sacraments have been renewed, thereby taking
profound changes. In the past century, sacramental theology has gone through
revolutionary approach bringing deeper meaning in the church and in the
celebration of the sacraments. This deeper meaning has affected the believers
or members of the church. In recent years, we have seen profound changes in the
celebration of the liturgy. These changes however, do not imply that the
tradition has been abolished.
The study of the sacraments has three
different presuppositions:
1.
The ecclesiological presupposition which
guides any theology and the practice of sacrament. It is a guiding principle
for theology and the sacraments.
2.
The undergirding theology which implies
Christology. This also helps us to understand the church and Christ himself.
3.
The interpretation of the scriptures,
particularly the New Testament.
An historical-critical understanding of
these presuppositions is very important especially when it comes to the
interpretations of those aspects. In other words, you have to look at the
history of the sacraments from a critical point of view especially when it
comes to interpretations. Ecclesiology and Christology complements the
principles of sacramental theology. Understanding the two gives us a solid
foundation in our faith and it helps us to explain to other people what we have
understood ourselves.
v What is
the connectivity between sacramental theology, ecclesiology and Christology?
F The Meaning of Sacrament.
The
Baltimore catechism tells us that a sacrament is an outward sign instituted by
Christ to give grace. This definition is a nice one but it does not speak to
the depth of our understanding of theology. St. Paul writes about the mysterion
or mysteries that eventually came to be called sacraments. Eastern and Orthodox
Churches still use the word ‘Mysterion’ or ‘Mysteries’ for the sacraments. In
the early days of the church, these mysteries included what came to be known as
the seven sacraments. But there was more to it than those seven sacraments.
At the
time of the Patristic periods (2nd to 6th century), the
sacramental action of the church had developed into rich series of rituals
involved in the celebration of the sacraments. The official first time we see
the list of sacraments as we have them now was during the time of Peter
Lombard. He was the one who first draw a list of the sacraments in the so
called “Sentences.” Prior to this, the sacraments looked different. For
instance, the so called confirmation was part and parcel of the sacrament of
baptism. Lombard separated confirmation from baptism because he saw that
confirmation is a substantial sacrament on its own right.
v 23/4/2012
F Sacraments as Presented in the New
Testament
Jesus
never used the term sacrament as we have it now nor did any of those who wrote
the New Testament use it. Nowhere in the New Testament did we find the word
sacrament used. The Greek word ‘mysterion’ or ‘mystery’ as we have seen earlier
on is not the same as sacrament.
F Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles
In the
Acts of the Apostles we find a number of passages that testify to the presence
of certain sacraments in some of the Christian communities.
F Baptism
·
Acts 2:41: “They accepted what he said and
were baptised. That very day, about three thousand were added to their number.”
·
Acts 8: 12: “But when they came to accept
Philip’s preaching of the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of
Jesus Christ, they were baptised, both men and women, and even Simon himself
became a believer. After his baptism Simon went around constantly with Philip
and was astonished when he saw the wonders and great miracles that took
place.”
·
Acts 8: 38: “He ordered the chariot to
stop, then Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water and he baptised
him”
·
Acts 9: 18: “It was as though scales fell
away from his eyes and immediately he was able to see again. So he got up and
was baptised, and after taking some food he regained his strength.”
·
Acts 10: 48: “He then gave orders for them
to baptised in the name of Jesus Christ. Afterwards they begged him to stay on
for some days (Cornelius).
F Eucharist as described by Luke
Acts
2:42 – 6: “These remained faithful to the teachings of the Apostles to the
brotherhood, to the breaking of bread and to prayers. And everyone was filled
with awe, the apostles worked many signs and miracles. All who shared the faith
owned everything in common; they sold their goods and possessions and
distributed the proceeds among themselves according to what each one needed.
Each
day, with one heart, they regularly wet to the Temple but met in their houses
for the breaking of bread; they shared their food gladly and generously; they
praised God and were looked up to by everyone.”
F Marriage according to Paul
1.
1 Corinthians 7
2.
Ephesians 5: 21-33
F
Prayer
with the anointing of the sick
James
5: 14: “Any one of you who is in trouble should pray; anyone in good spirit
should sing a psalm. Anyone of you who is ill should send for the elders of the
church and they must anoint the sick person with oil in the name of the Lord
and pray over him.”
F
The
Rite of Laying on of Hands
·
Acts 6: 6: “They
presented these to the apostles, and after prayer they laid their hands on
them.”
·
Acts 8: 17: “Then they
laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.” – The Samaritan
Converts.
F
Reconciliation
Ephesians 2: 15-16: “His purpose in this
was, by restoring peace, to reconcile them both to God in one Body; in his own
person he killed the hostility”
F
First
Christians and the Sacraments
We
noticed that the day after Pentecost, the first Christian community did not
find themselves as possessing the seven sacraments as we know it today. When
the twelve and their companions
were
filled with the Holy Spirit, they went to different corners to proclaim he
might deeds of God - Acts 2: 5-11. When people asked what they ought to do, Peter
answered – “you must repent and be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of your sins.”
After
the Pentecost narrative, Acts of the Apostles resumed with the life of the
first Christian community and how they lived the life of some of the sacraments
– Acts 2: 42. Here we have the evidence of baptism and the Eucharist. However,
the way these sacraments were lived in different communities was not exactly
the same. It was later that the Church decided on a common formula on the
sacraments.
F
The
Pauline Communities
Letters
of Paul are the oldest written evidence of the life of the first communities.
They were written down about 20 years after the death of Jesus. His first
letter to the Corinthians speaks of baptism and the Eucharist as if they were
already well known among the communities.
F
The
Lord’s Pasch
The
oldest narrative relating to the evening of Maundi Thursday is 1st
Corinthians 11: 23-26: “For the tradition I received from the Lord and also
hand on to you is that on the night he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some
bread, and after he had had given thanks, he broke it, and said, ‘This is my
body which is for you, do this in remembrance of me.’ And in the same way, with
the cup after supper, saying ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever
you drink it, do this as a memorial of me”
F
Baptism
Paul
as he was going along developed a comparison with the baptism and the crossing
of the Red Sea. For Paul, baptism and the Eucharist are means of expression
written in human life to proclaim the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This means that we are not living the baptism and Eucharist for ourselves but
to proclaim the death and resurrection of Jesus. We are to die to ourselves and
live for Christ. Our life does not end with death but with resurrection.
F
Marriage
Ephesians 5: 25-6 “Husbands should love
their wives, just as Christ loved the Church and sacrificed himself for her to make her holy by washing
her in cleansing water with a form of words so that when he took the Church t
himself, she would be glorious, with no speck, wrinkle or anything like that,
but holy and faultless.”
In marriage the love between the man and
the woman is that gives gift of self to each other. In marriage, the Paschal
mystery of Christ is also expressed. Paul says husband should love their wives
just as Christ loves the Church. The love between man and woman involves an
identification with Christ as a gift to the Church.
In Paul’s letters, there was no talk about
the rite of ceremonies of the sacraments. What we find there is that people
were called to accompany Jesus in his journey to Easter and after resurrection.
Though Paul did not use the word ‘sacrament’, yet we find that sacraments are
there in his writings.
F
Sacraments
in Matthew’s Communities
·
Baptism
In Matthew’s Gospel, baptism makes a solid
appearance. After his resurrection, Jesus sends his disciples on a mission –
Matthew 28: 19-29. The baptism which the Church celebrates today goes back to
the Lord’s command. In Matthew chapter 3; 13, we also find the same authority.
Baptism is therefore a gift of the Lord to his disciples. It is not the
Church’s creation but rather the Lord’s creation.
·
Eucharist
Matthew
also records the institution of the Eucharist – Matthew 26: 26 – 29. According
to Matthew, the Lord gives command to the Church. He is the only evangelist who
has: “Jesus said, take, eat, drink of it all of you.” And for baptism, the
Church have to carry is as her mission entrusted by the Lord.
·
Forgiveness
Matthew
ends with forgiveness: 26: 27 – 28. Matthew links the Eucharist with the
forgiveness of sins. For him, baptism, Eucharist and forgiveness are commanded
by the Lord. Therefore in Matthew, we find the originality of the sacraments
especially these three which are celebrated in the community. These sacraments
are not for individuals but have to be celebrated within the community.
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0/4/2012
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Sacrament
in the Christian Community according to Luke
Luke
as we know is the author of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. It
is therefore necessary to look at these two when considering his account of the
presence of the sacraments in the Christian communities. Luke links the
sacraments together but also he tries to interpret them for the community to
enable them understand it.
Baptism
for him is the sacrament on integration into the community while the Eucharist
on the other hands helps the community to live that integration. The Acts of
the Apostles was written 30 years later. By this time, Christianity has already
spread through the Mediterranean region. Luke shows on occasions, the entry of
new members into the communities but the first story for him, takes off from
the Pentecost story. From the sacramental point of view, we find three aspects
mentioned by Luke.
1.
Repentance
For Luke, this repentance is a movement
inwards. In other words, it starts from the person. This inward movement is
done by the believer, it is a personal action.
2.
Baptism
For Luke, this is the action of the
community.
3.
Receiving of the Holy
Spirit.
For
Luke, this is the action of God himself.
Luke
discloses or unveils the rites of the community. We see the foundation of this
in the community of Samaria in Acts 8: 5-17:
And Philip went to a
Samaritan town and proclaimed the Christ to them. The people uninanimously
welcomed the message Philip preached, because they had heard of the miracles he
worked and because they say saw them for themselves. For unclean spirits came
shrieking out of many who were possessed, and several paralytics and cripples
were cured. As a result, there was great rejoicing in that town.
Now a man called Simon
had for some time been practicing magic arts in the town and astounded the
Samaritan people. He had given it out that he was someone momentous, and
everyone believed in him; eminent citizens and ordinary people alike had
declared, “He is the divine power that is called Great.’ He had this following
because for a considerable period they had been astounded by his wizardry. But
when they came to accept Philip’s preaching of the good news about the kingdom
of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptised, both men and women,
and even Simon himself became a believer. After his baptism Simon went around
constantly with Philip and was astonished when he saw the wonders and great
miracles that took place.
When the apostles in
Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and
John to them and they went down there and prayed for them to receive the Holy
Spirit, for as yet he has not come down on any of them: they had only be
baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on the, and they
received the Holy Spirit.
In
this case, the conversion of Cornelius and his family, the natural procedure is
reversed – God has come among them through baptism and the laying on of hands.
Although Peter took the initiative in baptizing them, God is involved by
bringing the Holy Spirit to them through Pater’s laying on of hands. In Acts 8:
38, we also see Philip baptising the Ethiopian eunuch.
F
Regular
Life of the Community
For
the Eucharist, Luke retains the old vocabulary of the first Christian community
namely; the breaking of bread. We find this repeated on the Holy Thursday. We
also find it in Luke 24: 30-34 in the way to Emmaus:
Now while he was with at table, he took the bread and
said the blessing; then he broke it and handed it to them. And their eyes were
opened and they recognised him, but he had vanished from their sight.
Also in Acts 2: 42:
These remained faithful to the teachings of
the apostles, to the brotherhood, to the breaking of bread and to prayers.
This
shows that the breaking of bread is part of their daily lives. It is a
sacrament which helped them to live and move in the community. They were
sharing together their poverty, they joy and their sorrows. This breaking of
bread shows the presence of the living God himself.
F
Sacraments
in the Gospel of St. John
John’s
writing allows us to encounter second century generation. It was written later
than the synoptic. John did not give the account of the Eucharist; yet, his
gospel is full of symbolism which he puts as sacraments. We see this allusion
in 3: 4-8
Nicodemus said’ “How can
anyone who s already old be born? Is it possible to go back into the womb again
and be born?’ Jesus replied:
In truth I tell you, no
one can enter the kingdom of God without being born through water and the
Spirit. What is born of human nature is human, what is born of the Spirit is
Spirit. Do not be surprised when I say: You must be born from above. The wind
blows where it pleases, you can hear it sound, but you cannot tell where it
comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the
Spirit.
5: 1 – 9:
After this there was a
Jewish festival and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now in Jerusalem next to the
Sheep Pool there is a pool called Bethesda in Hebrew, which has five porticos;
and under these were crowds of sick people, blind, lame, paralysed.
One man there had an
illness which has lasted thirty-eight years, and when Jesus saw him lying there
and knew he had been in that condition for a long time, he said, ‘Do you want
to be well again? Sir, replied the sick man, I have no one to put me into the
pool when the water is disturbed and while I am still on the way, someone else
gets there before me. Jesus said, ‘Get up, pick up your sleeping-mat and walk
around. The man was cured at once, and he picked up his mat and started to walk
around.
7:
37 – 39
On the last day, the
great day of the festival, Jesus stood and cried out: “Let anyone who believes
in me come and drink! As scripture says, “From his heart shall flow streams of
living water.” He was speaking of the
Spirit which those who believe in him were to receive for there was no Spirit
as yet because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
9:
6 – 7
Having said this, he spat
on the ground, made a paste with the spittle, put this over the eyes of the
blind man and said to him, “Go and wash in the Pool Siloam (the name means ‘one
who has been sent). So he went off and washed and came back able to see.
Water
is used as part of purification, to bring a new life.
19: 33 – 34
Came to Jesus, they saw
he was already dead, and so instead of breaking his legs, one of the soldiers
pierced his side with a lance, and immediately there came out blood and water.
2:
1 – 12:
The water at Cana already
proclaims the new wine – the Eucharist.
6:
1 – 66
The multiplication of the
loaves signifies the Eucharist.
F
Why
is John interested in symbolism rather than mentioning the sacraments directly?
The
Gospel of John was written much later. Consequently there are varied reasons
John adopted this approach.
1.
The communities have
lived the sacraments already. He was therefore interested in the spiritual
meaning of these sacraments instead.
2.
He wants his readers to
go beyond the external signs. He wants the community members to go deeper in
their spiritual life and also to understand those signs of Jesus.
3.
For John, Jesus’ whole
life was a baptism live in the communities in order to find the experience of
God. He therefore goes beyond the action of baptism itself. Hence he says:
“Unless we are born of water and the spirit, we are doomed to die.” 3:5
4.
Moreover, Jesus’ entire
life was Eucharistic – 6: 48 - 51:
I
am the bread of life. Your fathers ate manna in the desert and they are dead,
but this is the bread which comes down from heave so that a person may eat it
and not die. I am the living bread which has come down from heave. Anyone who
eats this bread will live forever, and the bread that I shall give is my flesh
for the life of the world.
Conclusion:
From
the beginning, the first Christian communities lived with the riches of
sacramental life. Each community has its own way of speaking of the importance
of the sacrament. For Paul, the sacraments are ways of living the Paschal
Mystery. For him, the sacraments link us with the death of Christ in order to
make us partakers of his resurrection. He also associates married life with
baptism and the Eucharist.
For
Matthew, the sacramental rites given by Jesus are a sign of his presence in the
church. Matthew links baptism, Eucharist with forgiveness.
Luke
on the other hand, it is the Holy Spirit which accompanies the work of the
church and makes it fruitful. In Luke we find the rites of baptism, Eucharist
and the laying of hands.
For
John, baptism and Eucharist makes us partakers of true life. These sacraments
help us to know, and understand God better. Hence he deals with symbols and
signs.
·
Why is Jesus called the
primordial sacrament?
·
Why is the Church called
a sacrament?
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07/05/2012
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Modern
Understanding of Sacramental Theology
Having
seen what we have seen, we need to advance further to see what modern
theologians say about sacramental theology. Some of these theologians talks of
sacramental participation. According to them, the celebration or the
participation of members in the sacraments enables them to be like Jesus. As
the members participate in the sacraments, this helps them to bring the reign
of God (the kingdom of God) here on earth.
Most
theologians, especially those of the Protestant faith are talking about two
sacraments; namely, baptism and the Eucharist. The Catholic tradition has
however, maintained the tradition of seven sacraments. Apart from baptism and
the Eucharist, we also have Order, Marriage, Confirmation, Anointing of the
sick, and Penance. The church decimates these sacraments and since they are
decimated through the church, Jesus remains the epicenter or nexus of these
sacraments. Jesus remains the primordial sacrament. In other words, Jesus lives
and acts through the sacraments. The Catechism of the Catholic Church number 1076
confirms this when it says:
The
Church was made manifest to the world on the day of Pentecost by the outpouring
of the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Spirit ushers in a new era in the
‘dispensation of the mystery’ – the age of the Church, during which Christ
manifests, makes present and communicates his work of salvation through the
liturgy of his Church, ‘until he comes.’ In this age of the Church, Christ now
lives and acts in and through the sacraments in a new way appropriate to this
new age. He acts through the sacraments in what the common Tradition of the
East and the West calls “the sacramental economy”, this is he communication (or
“dispensation”) of the fruits of Christ’s Paschal mystery in the celebration of
the Church’s ‘sacramental” liturgy.
F
Edward
Schillebeecks
Edward
Schillebeeckx is a Dutch theologian. He has written extensively on the
sacraments especially during the 1950s and 60s. His writings were very much
linked with the scholastic writings and the fathers of the Church. He sees the
sacraments as outward signs which reveal the divine reality. For him, the
sacraments makes the participants fall in love with God by opening themselves
up to God. For him, the sacraments are an encounter with the Risen Lord. Every
time we celebrate a sacrament, we do encounter Jesus Christ. Therefore we make
a deep relationship with Him.
Schillebeeckx
makes us understand the sacraments better than the scholastics because the
scholastics were using philosophical intellectual language to describe the
sacraments. Languages such as: substance, accident, matter, form, essence and
so forth. Schillebeeckx on the other hand, restores the sense of awe, the sense
of wonder which was there at the beginning of the early Christian community.
However, the scholastics helped us to understand “what” the sacraments are with
their strong philosophical language.
By
the time of Vatican II (1962 – 65), the ideas of Schillebeeckx had already
permeated the Church just like the ideas of Thomas Aquinas which influenced the
council of Trent. In 1960, Schillebeecks published one of his books: “Christus
Sacrament van de Godsontmoeting”, meaning “Christ the sacrament of the
encounter with God”, which has been translated by C. Ernst. The book was
translated into many languages, hence its influence during the Second Vatican
Council.
F
Karl
Rahner
Karl
Rahner approached the sacraments from a different perspective. He expressed the
reality of sacraments as an experience of God. He was approaching the
sacraments from the phenomenological and existential perspective. He was trying
to describe the sacraments from the human experience. One of the problems that
many people had with his writing is that he holds that there was no Biblical
proof that Jesus instituted the sacraments. His reasons are:
1.
The sacrament of marriage
for instance predated Jesus. So he was not the one who instituted it.
2.
Jesus was baptised by
John. So he did not institute the sacrament of baptism.
3.
That there is no proof of
Jesus confirming anyone.
4.
According to Rahner,
Jesus instituted instead, a sacramental Church and the Church in turn
instituted the sacraments because of the needs of the people. Karl Rahner
therefore spoke of the Church as a radical sacrament. According to him,
sacraments represent the grace of God which is made available by the Church.
Invariably, the implication of Karl Rahner’s position is that Christ instituted
the sacraments through the Church.
F
The
Church as a basic Sacrament
The
idea of the Church as a basic sacrament or as sacramental Church makes no sense
unless Jesus is the primordial sacrament. That is, if Jesus is not the
epicenter of the Church. The Church and Jesus go hand-in-hand as we celebrate
the sacraments – we cannot exclude one from the other. We cannot accept Jesus
as primordial sacrament unless we accept the Church as a basic sacrament. In
the documents of Vatican II, the Bishops have accepted that the Church is a
basic sacrament. Seven (7) times explicitly and once implicitly, the documents
speak of the Church as a basic sacrament. We find these in LG article 1, LG,
articles 9 and 48; GS. 45; SC. 2 and 5; AG 5 – referring to Matthew 28: 18.
Nowhere did the Church or the Council define the use of the sacraments. This
implies that the Church has let this definition open to the theologians and
those celebrating to define it in their own context.
F
The
Church and the Seven Sacraments
The
Roman Catholic Community decided officially at the Council of Trent (1547),
that there are seven sacraments. Why did the Council made this decision? This
is because Calvin, Luther, Zwingli and others were maintaining that there only
two sacraments – baptism and the Eucharist. The Church was against this
reduction. It is clear at the time of the Reformation, the Church held that
there seven sacraments; these sacraments were named and explained individually
in all the official documents. This explanation of the seven sacraments was
based upon previous teachings and clarifications of sacramental theology which
were made at the Council of Lyons (1274). They also looked at the Council of
Florence of 1439. Before the clarification in 1547, different communities were
using the ritual for sacraments differently.
F
Brief
Historical overview of the Sacraments
Long
before the Church had developed a definition of the sacraments – 11th
to 12th centuries, the Church had already been living those
sacraments. Therefore sacramental theology or sacramentology is a reflection of
the already lived experience of the Church. What is lived today therefore is
part of the experience of the Church fathers.
·
Baptism and the Eucharist
These
two sacraments came into existence in 270 AD. They go back to the time of Jesus
·
Reconciliation
We
find this sacrament in the writings of Hermes – 140 – 150 AD. We find a clear
reference to the rite of reconciliation and baptism.
·
Orders and the Anointing
of the sick
We
find this around 200 AD from the writings of the Apostolic Tradition of
Hypolitus around 215 AD. We also find the rite of the anointing of the sick
with Hypolitus.
·
Marriage
Around
400 AD, we begin to see on reliable historical data that the Church officials
begin to enter into the marriage rite. A clear sacramental acceptance of marriage
is only seen in the 12th century. This means that it took so long to
accept marriage as a sacrament. The reason behind this is because of the sexual
connotation part of it. Many theologians were asking how sexuality can be seen
as a means of grace.
·
Confirmation
Around
1000 Ad, we see that confirmation was accepted as a separate rite. We see that
the sacraments were not made in one day. It took centuries before they became
what they are today.
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Baptism
This
is the first sacrament we receive as Catholics. It is one of the three
sacraments of initiative; the others are confirmation and the Eucharist. By
receiving baptism, we become part of the Church and a new people. Baptism is
received once in a life time. In a situation where there is doubt if a person
is baptised, he or she receives a conditional baptism. Baptism is administered
by immersion or infusion.
The
word ‘baptism’ is borrowed from Greek and it means deepening in water. Through
the ritual of baptism, the person participates in the dying and rising in the
life of Christ. For some people, baptism by immersion is more meaningful than
just pouring water on the head. This should not put us off anyway, as what is important
is the meaning behind that ritual. Up to the 5th century, most
baptism candidates were adults. After this time, the Church started emphasising
infant baptism because of the original sin. The Church believes that baptism
removes original sin. Infants are also born with original sin and baptising
them will enable them to participate in the new life of baptism; hence the
necessity of baptising infants. Adults take longer time to prepare for baptism.
They were immersed in water but also receive the Eucharist and the Bishop lays
hand on them. The whole action therefore is carried out simultaneously and
generally it takes place on Easter Vigil.
Today,
we have two ways of preparing for baptismal Rite of Christian Initiation for
Adult (RCIA) and the rite of Christian initiation for infants. That of the
adults takes longer time ranging from tow 92) to three (3) years depending on
the country. That of the infants however does not take much time because it is
believed that the sponsors will continue to teach the child as he or she grows.
Baptism
is about life and in baptism we celebrate life since we are born anew in the
Spirit. The Church holds that baptism can take place at any age depending on
when a person is ready or when the sponsors of such a person are ready. There
is therefore no restriction or limitation as regards the age at which a person
can be baptised.
F
Confirmation
The sacrament of confirmation has complex
historical development and a different…… However, this sacrament cannot be
separated from the other sacraments – baptism and the Eucharist. The Orthodox
Church has always maintained that confirmation and baptism cannot be separated.
In fact, they are celebrated together. They are intrinsically bound together.
F
Confirmation
as independent sacrament
From
the early date of the Church, certain elements of baptism began to receive
different emphasis and meaning. Gradually this led to the separation of baptism
and confirmation. Some scholars however, maintain that there is no ground for
separating them. The separation of these sacraments is an issue of the post-New
Testament – cf; Acts 8: 12- 17; Acts 19: 1 – 7; Hebrews 6: 2. A Biblical
principles of sacramental theology must envisage the Salvific action of the
Spirit as a Messianic gift (John 19: 30). The Spirit sustains the Church
throughout the ages. He makes sure that the faith of the Church is maintained.
Tertullian
in his book “De Baptismo” (200 AD), divided baptism into two:
1.
Water Bath with its
anointing
2.
The imposition of hands
with the gift of the Spirit.
The
Apostolic tradition of Hyppolytus (215 AD0 indicates that there were some
post-baptismal anointing done by the bishop to complete the baptism. Pope
Innocent (416 AD) in a letter to Bishop Gubbio, puts it very strictly that the
priest may anoint the baptised with chrism but they are not to sign the brow
with the oil. This was reserved to the Bishops alone when people are confirmed.
F
Bishop
Faustus of Riez, (458).
Faustus
delivered a sermon on Pentecost which had played a great role in the history of
the Church and the sacraments especially the sacrament of confirmation. He
expounded on the doctrinal separation of confirmation from baptism. For him,
baptism is as complete as innocence or purity but it needs the grace of
confirmation. Why? Because baptism regenerates the life of the one baptised.
However, in other to be equipped for the Christian battle, the baptised
Christian needs to be confirmed. Through baptism, a person is cleansed and
washed. In confirmation, he is strengthened. In the Middle Ages therefore,
confirmation – which is often administered on Easter Vigil, gradually became
separated from baptism. By the 11th century, confirmation in the
West had been separated from baptism and it was administered at the age of ten
(10) years.
Some
people at this time, such as Hincmar, the Bishop of Rheims, were of the opinion
that with confirmation, a person becomes a soldier of Christ. The scholastic
theologians treated the sacrament of confirmation not in the older context of
initiation but more in the context of what effect the sacrament has on the
person being confirmed. For them, they treated the understanding of Bishop
Faustus for granted. Thomas Aquinas also saw the sacrament of confirmation as a
spiritual maturity for spiritual battle against the enemies of the faith.
F
The
Council of Trent - 1547
The
Council of Trent dealt with the sacrament of confirmation from the point of
view against the Reformers who denied it. For the Reformers, the Church is
insisting so much on the rite of laying on of hands without looking at the
substance of the sacrament. Vatican II document on the sacred liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium number 71 has
this to say concerning the sacrament of confirmation:
The
rite of confirmation is to be revised also so that the intimate connection of
this sacrament with the whole of the Christian initiation may more clearly
appear. For this reason the renewal of baptismal promises should fittingly
precede the reception of this sacrament. Confirmation may be administered
within Mass when convenient. For conferring outside Mass, a formula introducing
the rite should be drawn up.
The connection of
confirmation with the total initiation process is the key for our
understanding.
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