www.byzcath.org Forums Mysteries: The Life of Worship The Other Sacramental Mysteries Naked Baptism

I witnessed two infants being baptised in the nude. They were promotly dressed afterward. Is this pretty normal and if so what is the context for this tradition?

Christ is in our midst!!

Welcome to the forum.

Did you observe these children being baptized by triple immersion? If so, how did you think they would appear?

Bob
Moderator

I did. Yes, it was triple immersion. I didn't think much of it, but I had a Latin rite Catholic friend with me and she was unsettled by it. I guess that led to a conversation on the underlying "why" and I just couldn't answer her.

Christ is in our midst!!

Something with which we are unfamiliar can often "unsettle" our worldview and comfort zone. But that does not mean that the heretofore unfamiliar is wrong--it's just unfamiliar.

Baptism, as it was done in the first millennium, seems to have been done as you witnessed. The symbolism of triple immersion speaks to our being plunged into the saving act of Christ's Passion, Death, and Resurrection and, by extension, our own passing into that new life He offers in and through Baptism. The person rises from the water as one reborn. Ask your friend how many people being born come out clothed and see if the analogy makes a light go on.

Bob

I verified with a friend who is a Roman Catholic priest that in the Latin Rite baptism by immersion is considered the standard and preferred method of baptism. It just doesn't happen all that much.

Christ is in our midst!!

It may be, too, that many parishes don't have a font large enough for this option.

When our new parish church was build in the late 1990s, we installed a large, heated font that is just inside the door of our worship area. But we are an exception side from our cathedral and a very few other parishes. Even with this, though I don't recall a single baptism by immersion from installation to date.

Bob

If they don't have a font large enough, this is either an oversight, lack of sacramental knowledge, or just plain old Vatican II disruption. Any priest who is ordained should know that baptism is properly by immersion and should, if he is having a new parish built, insist upon a font large enough to baptize an adult.

Christ is in our midst!!

In the Latin Church, the small fonts have been a tradition for centuries. One can see this in churches all over Europe and places where Latin missionaries went.

There is another factor here, though. Parents are not willing to have their children immersed in my experience. It's not up to the priest.

Bob

Which is, a matter of both lack of catechism and a failure of the priest to tell the parents how it will be done. I can see that the word "immersion" would cause most parents a great deal of concern. However, these concerns could be laid to rest if the parents are explained that the child is immersed up to its neck and then water is generously poured over the head.

Christ is in our midst!!

People here are not afraid to tell the priest how things will be done and regularly shop for a parish that will accommodate. The priest who runs off enough people finds his parish closed.

Our font is big enough for immersion but not deep enough for up-to-the-neck immersion; nor is the one at the cathedral.

Bob

You know, the funny thing about this is that we converts from Protestantism come into the Church and we expect things to be done a certain way, coming from our hours and hours of exhaustive study to get us to accept that the apostolic faith is correct. When the light goes on, we see the beauty of the ancient faith and we expect that such a treasure would be zealously and faithfully guarded.

Then we join the Church and within a short period of time find out that the old-timers could care less and get rather annoyed at us "boat people" coming in and telling them what they are doing wrong.

Which is kinda sad really.

Christ is in our midst!!

Not really. You bring freshness that is needed so that we don't become stale. Sometimes it takes new people to wake us all up and give us a renewal of the challenge given to us in Baptism and Chrismation. Don't give up the fight.

Bob