Why your baby should be baptized ASAP
There's a temptation to delay baptism due to social factors, or to think we don't need to do it 'as soon as possible' due to lower rates of infant mortality. Fr Michael Müller answers this.
Editors’ Notes
Father Michael Müller (1825-1899) was an American Redemptorist who wrote prolifically about the faith, often in a popular style.
Over the centuries, the Church and Catholic writers have found it necessary to remind parents about the importance of baptizing their children as soon as possible.
Τhere can be a temptation to delay the baptism of an infant due to familial or social factors—such as the desire for certain family members to be present, or the idea that a party is necessary in order to mark an event as important as baptism.
The legitimacy of such delays seems to be based on a combination of three ideas:
Historic calls for infants to be baptized as soon as possible do not apply to us today, because such calls were based on high rates of infant mortality, which have now decreased
Danger to an infant’s life will allow enough time for parents or caregivers to baptize before it is too late
The intention of the parents to baptize is sufficient in order for the infant to be saved and attain the beatific vision (i.e., unbaptised infants go to Heaven, rather than Limbo).
However…
Even if infant mortality rates have decreased, they have not decreased to zero. Are we willing to take risks with our children's souls based on percentages and mortality rates?
When we are told that the rate adverse reactions to certain unnecessary “medical treatments” is very low, many respond by saying:
“That may well be so. But I don't want my child to be one of those you're admitting are still being damaged.”
At least with these alleged “medical treatments,” there’s some sense (or at least illusion) that they are for the common good. But no common good is served by delaying baptism for one’s child.
Conversely, there are many natural measures that must be done relatively quickly for newborns. For example, the umbilical cord must be cut; they must be cleaned, dressed and fed; and sometimes they must receive legitimate medical procedures or treatments.
These days, fathers are often the ones who cut the cords; but if the father happened to be absent, (e.g., a soldier at war, or any other reason,) we would consider it absurd to leave the cord uncut and a bloody placenta hanging from the infant for days or weeks.
Breastfeeding is the recommended means of feeding infants; but if the mother was unable to do this immediately for whatever reason, we would consider it absurd to wait to feed the infant for the days or weeks required for her health to recover, or lactation to start in earnest.
Infants needs to be cleaned and dressed promptly, and we would not countenance any delays (even while acknowledging practices such as leaving the vernix on the child.)
If a child is born with a life-threatening or debilitating condition, we would consider it absurd to delay treatment for any reason—let alone something as trivial as waiting for the family doctor, or one’s uncle who is a doctor, etc.
Delaying an infant’s baptism longer than is necessary is worse than refusing to cut the cord; worse than refusing to clean or dress; worse than refusing the necessary treatment to secure life.
Some of these arguments are presented by Cardinal Gibbons here:
Some of the reasons offered in the past for modest delays included a long distance from the parish church, and the difficulty of taking a newborn there, whether through the open air, on foot or in a cart, in challenging climates. Such problems remain, in a different form, for those who live long drives away from their chapels.
However, the advent of climate-controlled cars should reduce these delays as much as possible. We are born the prisoners of Satan; baptism frees our infants from this state, cleanses them from original sin and puts them in a state of grace, makes them Christians, makes them adopted children of God, and members of the Church. All this makes up a great good which brings glory to God, allowing the baptized soul to say with Our Lady: “My soul doth magnify the Lord.”
We should take advantage of the decreased infant mortality and ease of getting to church, rather than taking advantage of this to wait longer than is necessary.
Regarding the other two “unspoken ideas”:
The idea that we will always have time to baptize an infant before death is utterly without foundation. Any of us—infant, child or adult—could die instantly in a car crash, or in our sleep, or in a terrorist attack or act of war, etc.
The idea that the intention of the parents is sufficient for the child to attain the supernatural reward of Heaven and the beatific vision is without foundation in the Catholic faith. It is addressed in detail by Fr Müller below, who also quotes St Augustine’s famous warning: “[I]f you wish, to be a Catholic, do not believe, do not say, do not teach, that infants who die before they are baptized can obtain the remission of original sin.”
Finally, it may be tempting to think that a celebration is necessary in order to convey the importance of baptism to one’s other children or to the extended family, and that accompanying delays to the baptism itself are thereby justified. But such an attempt to convey the importance of baptism will be utterly thwarted if it entails delaying the sacrament longer than is justified or necessary.
Against all such delays, Fr Müller talks about the importance of parents baptizing their children as soon as possible—setting out the reasons why this is necessary, the consequences of failing to do so, and the rewards awaiting those who make this profession of faith.
While making the decision to baptize one’s baby “as soon as possible” may rock the boat and cause difficulties—perhaps with family members unable to come so quickly—this decision is definitely worth it.
So, in light of all this, do not delay!
This article compiles examples from Catholic authorities explaining exactly what is meant by “as soon as possible” in this context:
Incidentally, it is sometimes alleged that Fr Müller denied the concept of “baptism of desire.” Following this article, we have included his treatment of the concepts of baptism of desire and baptism of blood, taken from the same work.
The First and Most Necessary Sacrament
Fr Michael Müller
From Grace and the Sacraments
Benziger Bros, New York, 1882.
Chapter IV, Baptism, 179-192
Available at Archive.org
Translated with headings and some line breaks added by The WM Review
Which is the first and most necessary sacrament?
Baptism is the first sacrament, because, before it, no other sacrament can be received; and it is also the most necessary sacrament, because, without it, no one can be saved.
We have explained the nature, necessity, and efficacy of the sacraments in general. We now naturally give an account of each one in particular. Baptism comes first.
It is so particularly the first, that we cannot receive any other sacrament before it. To attempt to give or to receive any other sacrament before baptism would be a worthless ceremony. Were a person, for instance, who has not been baptized, to receive holy orders, he would not be a priest—he would not even be a Christian.
It is only by baptism that we are entitled to the privilege of receiving the other sacraments.
The necessity of baptism
Baptism is also the most necessary of all sacraments, for, without it, no one can be saved. The reason of this is, because baptism has been ordained by Jesus Christ as the only means of receiving the forgiveness of original sin, and of all the sins committed before baptism:
“Go,” said he to his apostles, “into the whole world, and teach all nations, and baptize them... He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved: but he that believeth not” (and consequently will not be baptized) “shall be condemned.” (Mark xvi, 15, 16).
Whoever, therefore, dies without baptism will remain fixed for all eternity in the state of original sin, and also of actual sin, if he has committed any; for God, who is infinite holiness itself, can never unite himself to a soul that is in sin and at enmity with him. For this reason, Nicodemus was told by our Lord:
“Amen, amen, I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost” (that is, in baptism), “he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (John iii, 5.)
After his miraculous conversion St. Paul went to Damascus, and prayed and fasted there for three days. But, as neither faith, nor repentance, nor fasting, nor prayer, is of any avail to salvation without baptism, Ananias was sent by our Lord to tell him “to be baptized and wash away his sins.” (Acts xxii, 16.) The Jews, who were converted by St. Peter’s first sermon, asked: “Men and brethren, what must we do?” St. Peter answered: “Do penance and be baptized, every one of you, for the remission of your sins.” (Acts ii, 38.)
The necessity of baptism for infants
This necessity of baptism extends to all persons, even to infants; for they, too, come into the world “as children of wrath,” having the stain and guilt of original sin, and being in a state of separation from God, and subjected to the sentence of temporal and eternal death decreed by God against all the descendants of Adam; and they remain in this state of separation from God until they receive the inestimable blessing of a new birth by water and the Holy Ghost.
Our divine Saviour wishes little children to come to him, and declares that of such is the kingdom of God; but he recognizes it to be in the power of others to allow or prevent it: “Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God.” (Mark x, 14.) Parents and guardians can “suffer them to come” to Jesus, by having them baptized; they can also prevent or “forbid them” by neglecting to secure this blessing for them through their own indifference or unbelief; but they cannot, by their heretical or infidel opinions, change the law of Christ, which requires both infants and adults to be baptized in order to be saved.
Hence it has always been the practice of the Church to baptize infants soon after their birth. This shows her belief that, on account of original sin, they cannot enter heaven if they die without baptism.1 Therefore…
“[I]f you wish,” says St. Augustine, “to be a Catholic, do not believe, do not say, do not teach, that infants who die before they are baptized can obtain the remission of original sin.”2
And:
“Whoever says that infants themselves are made alive in Jesus Christ when they die without baptism, opposes directly all that the apostles have preached; he condemns the whole Church, in which they hasten to baptize little infants, because they believe that these infants cannot otherwise have life in Jesus Christ.”3
Miracles wrought to prove this necessity for infants
God has sometimes wrought miracles, to show how necessary baptism is for the salvation even of little children. It has happened that some of these poor little infants, having died without being baptized, were miraculously restored to life.
St. Augustine relates an interesting instance of this kind. At Uzale, a woman had an infant son. She so ardently desired to make him a good Christian, that she had him already inscribed on the roll of the catechumens. Unfortunately he died before they had time to baptize him. His mother was overwhelmed with grief; still more for his being deprived of eternal life, than because he was dead to her. Full of confidence, she took the dead child, and publicly carried it to the Church of St. Stephen, the first martyr. There she prayed for the son whom she had just lost; and this was her prayer:
“Holy martyr, thou seest that I am left without any consolation; for I cannot say that my son is gone before me, since thou knowest he is lost: and this is the reason why I weep. Give me back my son, so that I may see him in heaven in the presence of Him who crowned thee!”
Whilst praying in this way, and shedding bitter tears, her son moved, uttered a cry, and was suddenly restored to life. And because his mother had said, “Thou knowest why I ask him back,” God was pleased to show that she spoke sincerely. She immediately carried him to the priest.
He was baptized, sanctified, anointed, confirmed, and, after thus receiving the sacraments of baptism and confirmation, he died again. The pious mother, happy in seeing him regenerated in the waters of baptism, took care not to lament his death; on the contrary, she followed him to the grave with a gay and smiling air, because she knew very well that he was not going into a cold grave, but to dwell with the angels in heaven.4
The miracle of the murdered child
A similar miracle was witnessed by the whole parish of St. Martin-des-Champs in Paris. This miracle took place in 1393, through the powerful intercession of the Blessed Virgin, Mother of God; and that prodigy is stamped with the character of truth.
An unfortunate woman, having forgotten the laws of religion and honor, from one crime precipitated herself into another. She even went so far as to stifle the cries of nature. To save her reputation, and to rid herself of a little girl whom she had brought into the world, she had the horrible barbarity to take the life of the helpless child by thrusting a piece of linen into its mouth, so that it could not breathe and was smothered. Then she had it secretly carried out of the city and buried in a heap of manure, near the door of St. Martin-des-Champs.
Providence so arranged it, that a huntsman passed that way some time after: one of his dogs stopped at the place, began to smell round the heap of dirt, scattered it with his paws, and exposed the child to view. People ran from all parts; and as there was no proof that baptism had been administered, it was thought that the body ought not to be buried in consecrated ground.
Whilst the people were consulting about it, a woman, touched with compassion, cried out that it was a great pity an innocent creature should be deprived of the sight of God by the fault of its parents; and, instantly, taking the little body in her arms, she proposed to carry it to the church, and ask the Blessed Virgin to intercede for it.
It was a second prodigy, remarks the historian of the time of Charles VI, that, of more than four hundred persons who heard what the woman said, not one opposed it; and that, on the contrary, all of them proceeded to the Church of St. Martin-des-Champs. When they reached the church, the pious woman laid the child before the altar of the Blessed Virgin, and the religious and all present were asked to pray for it.
At the end of some moments the protection of Mary was publicly manifested: the dead infant gave signs of life; it made an effort to throw out the cloth that had stifled it, and succeeded; then it gave a loud cry. This was the signal for universal acclamation; all the bells were rung, the Te Deum was sung, and, as the crowd was so dense that not a step could be taken in the church toward the baptismal font, the child was baptized at the foot of the altar, and received the name of Mary.
It lived three hours after, in the sight of every one. This child of benediction then died, and, the day after, it was buried, in the church, under the very altar at which it had been baptized.5
St Cyprian: ‘No soul is to be lost by useless delays’
As the lives of all infants are too frail to be depended on, it is the duty of parents to see that the children that are born to them should also soon be born to God by baptism.
In the time of St. Cyprian, a certain bishop, named Fidus, maintained that baptism ought not to be given to infants before the eighth day after their birth. St. Cyprian assembled a council at Carthage to discuss this opinion, which was condemned by all the bishops.
“The grace and mercy of God,” says the council, “ought not to be refused to any child of man born of men; for, as the Lord says in the Gospel, ‘The Son of man is not come to destroy men’s souls, but to save them;’ so, as far as depends on us, no soul is to be lost by useless delays.”6
Let it, then, be remembered, says St. Alphonsus, that to put off the baptism of infants for more than ten or eleven days is, according to the more common opinion of theologians, a mortal sin, unless there is some extraordinary reason for deferring it.
The Fathers on bad reasons to delay baptism
St. Gregory Nazianzen sharply rebukes those mothers who, from too great a solicitude for the health of their children, put off their baptism, on the plea that their life is too delicate to pass through the ceremonies of baptism.
“Do not,” he says, “expose your children to evil, but sanctify them and consecrate them to the Holy Ghost from their tenderest years. Do you, indeed, fear to seal them with the seal of God on account of their weak nature? O ye mothers of little faith! Ann, before Samuel was born, promised him to God; and, when born, instantly consecrated him to the Lord. She brought him up to become a priest, and clothed him in the garb of a priest. She put her trust in God, and disregarded human fears and considerations.”7
Indeed “if the Jew,” says St. Basil…
“… does not put off the circumcision of his child on account of the threat of God that every soul which is not circumcised on the eighth day shall be destroyed out of its people (Gen. xvii, 14), why is it that thou delayest baptism, although thou hast heard from the Lord himself: ‘Amen, amen, I say unto you, unless a man be born of water and the Holy Ghost, he shall not enter the kingdom of God’?”8
Hence, “no one,” says St. Cyprian…
“‘… should be denied access to the grace of God, particularly infants, who, by their tears and cries after their birth, seem to implore our help in the most moving manner. They have the best title of any to the mercies of God. If remission of sin is not refused to the greatest sinners, how much less reason is there for denying it to infants, who, as they are but newly born, cannot be guilty of any sin, this only excepted that, being descended from Adam, they are guilty of his sin, and liable to punishment!”
True parental love will seek baptism, even in the face of difficulty
A good mother, it is true, smiles at the first cry of her child; yet she feels that something is wanting to fill up the measure of her happiness. She knows that her tender babe is as yet a child of wrath, shut out from heaven by the decree of the Almighty, and without any right to the heavenly inheritance. It is not a “child of wrath,” but an angel, that the good mother wishes to press to her heart. She, therefore, has it taken to the church, soon after its birth, to be born again, in baptism, to God and heaven.
I know of a mother, who, about fifty years ago, carried her child three hundred and seventy miles to have it baptized by a priest. How edifying it is when parents have their infants, soon after birth, taken to the church, to be born there again, by baptism, to God and to heaven! But how criminal and cruel are those parents who, through carelessness, put off, or neglect altogether, the baptism of their children!
The criminality of delaying baptism
It is a great crime unjustly to withhold, for a considerable time, a large earthly inheritance from one who is justly entitled to it. Now, is the delaying of the baptism of infants anything else than the withholding from them the grace of God, their heavenly inheritance? How guilty, then, in the sight of God, must be those who commit such a crime! But far more guilty are those parents, who, by preventing their children from being baptized, rob them of the inheritance of heaven.
To care so little for the baptism of little children is to see, with indifferent eyes, the blood of Jesus Christ trodden under foot; it is to see the image of God lie in the mire of sin, and not care for it; it is to despise the Blessed Trinity: the Father who created them; the Son who redeemed them; the Holy Ghost who desires to sanctify them.
What a shame for Christians to be so little concerned about the eternal happiness or loss of these helpless creatures! Just as if it were not true what the fathers of the Church say, that the salvation of one soul is worth more than the whole visible world! Was there ever a time when the price of the souls of little children was lessened? Ah! as long as the price of the blood of Jesus Christ possesses an infinite value, so long the price of souls will remain the same also. Heaven and earth will pass away, but this truth will not.
The devil knows and understands it but too well. How he is pleased with those criminal parents, who are called by Jesus Christ rather “hirelings” than fathers and mothers, “because they have no care for their sheep,”—for the spiritual welfare of their little ones,—”and see the wolf,”—that is, death,—”coming, and leave the sheep and flee.” (John x, 12.)
Some take greater care of animals than of their children’s souls
On the day of judgment such parents will be confounded by that poor man of whom we read in the life of St. Francis de Sales, as follows:—
One day, this holy and zealous pastor visited a parish situated on a very high mountain. On reaching the top of the mountain, he felt overwhelmed with fatigue, and his hands and feet were completely benumbed with cold. Whilst he was viewing, with astonishment, the immense ice-blocks of that country, he was told that, some days before, a shepherd, in running after a strayed sheep, fell into one of the frightful precipices of that region; and that his companion, desirous of saving the shepherd’s life, or of honoring him with a Christian burial, should he be found dead, was let down into the icy precipice by means of a rope, and drawn up again, pierced through with cold, and holding in his arms his dead companion.
On hearing this account, St. Francis turned to his attendants and said:
“Some persons imagine that we do too much, and yet we certainly do far less than these poor people. You have heard in what manner one has lost his life in an attempt to find a strayed animal; and how another has exposed himself to the danger of perishing, in order to procure for his friend a Christian burial, which, under these circumstances, might have been omitted. These examples speak to us in forcible language; by this charity we are confounded,—we who perform much less for the salvation of souls intrusted to our care, than those poor people do for the security of animals confided to their charge.”
Then the holy prelate heaved a deep sigh, saying:
“My God, what a beautiful lesson for bishops and pastors! This poor shepherd has sacrificed his life to save a strayed sheep, and I, alas! have so little zeal for the salvation of souls! The least obstacle suffices to deter me, and to make me calculate my every step. Great God, give me true zeal, and the genuine spirit of a good shepherd! Ah, how many shepherds of souls will not this herdsman judge!”
Some only care about their children’s bodily health
Alas! how just and how true is this last remark! Parents are the shepherds of their little ones. If they saw them attacked by a dangerous bodily sickness, they would think of means to save their bodily life.
Now they see them very sick in their souls by original sin, and they are less concerned for their spiritual than for their bodily health!
They hear one of their children weeping, and they at once try to console it; they hear a little dog whining at the door, and they open it; they hear a beggar asking for a piece of bread, and they give it; and they hear the spiritual mother of their children, the Catholic Church, cry in lamentable accents, “Let my little ones have the life of grace by baptism,” and they do not heed her voice.
The judgement and punishments awaiting neglectful parents
They hear Jesus Christ cry: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John iii, 5); “Suffer,” therefore, “the little ones to come to me” (by baptism), “and forbid them not,”—prevent them not from coming to me by this sacrament, keep them no longer separated from me, by suffering them to live and die in original sin; they hear our Lord say: “Woe to him who scandalizes a little child,”—who keeps it deprived of my grace and friendship, of my eternal glory and happiness; they hear him say: “Woe to you: you yourselves have not entered into union with me, and those that were entering in, you have hindered” (Luke xi, 52); they see our dear Saviour weep over Jerusalem, over the loss of so many little ones who die without baptism, and they hear him say: “Weep not over me, but for your children,”—and neither his voice nor his tears make any impression upon them.
They say, with the man in the Gospel: “Trouble me not, the door” (of our heart) “is now shut: I cannot rise and give thee.” (Luke xi, 7.) “If an ass,” says our Lord, “falls into a pit, you will pull him out even on the Sabbath-day;” and you banish the souls of thousands of little children from my presence by keeping them from baptism! Oh, what great cruelty, what hardness of heart, nay, what great impiety! If they were blind, they would not commit sin; but, as Jesus Christ has spoken so clearly on the necessity of baptism for salvation, they have no excuse for their sin of suffering their children to remain unbaptized forever, or at least for a considerable time.
God has sometimes fearfully punished certain persons who grew up without baptism, and afterward delayed being baptized, although they understood the absolute necessity of baptism for salvation. St. Wulfran converted many Frieslanders from their idolatry to the Catholic faith, by the great miracles which he performed amongst them. One day, two children were cast into the sea, to be drowned in honor of the idols. St. Wulfran rescued them from death by a miracle. When Radbod, the King of Friesland, witnessed this miracle, he promised to become a Christian, and had himself instructed with other catechumens.
When he was on the point of being baptized, he asked where the great number of his ancestors and nobles were in the next world. St. Wulfran answered that hell is the portion of all who die guilty of idolatry. At these words the king drew back and refused baptism, saying he would go with the greater number. This tyrant afterward sent for St. Wulfran to treat with him about his conversion, but died before the saint arrived.9
If God thus punished this king for delaying his baptism, and refusing it when he was prepared to receive it, will the Lord be more merciful to those parents through whose fault so many little ones have died without baptism, and on that account are forever deprived of the beatific vision of God?
Oh, fathers and mothers, unworthy of the name, who practice such cruelty toward your little ones! Why did you not die sooner than become such unnatural fathers and mothers? God wishes that the children he gave you should also be his children by baptism, and you despise this blessing by delaying their baptism. What horrible blindness! What unpardonable crime! What frightful murder of the souls of your children!
Limbo a necessary conclusion, whatever anyone says
What, then, is the lot of those who die in original sin without being guilty of actual sin? It is an article of faith that they will never enter heaven and enjoy the beatific vision of God.
However, St. Thomas of Aquinas and many other eminent theologians are of opinion that, though these souls will never see God, they will not be tormented in their senses, nor be afflicted because of the privation of the sight of God—of a happiness which they are incapable of enjoying.
As a man, they say, does not feel pain at not being able to fly, so these infants are not afflicted at not being able to enjoy the glory which they were never capable of possessing, either in the order of nature, or in that of grace. They think that these infants, at least after the last judgment, will enjoy a natural beatitude, inasmuch as they will have a natural knowledge and a natural love of God; that they will be placed in a sort of terrestrial paradise; that is to say, these infants will inhabit the earth after it has been renovated, and enjoy the delights of the purified elements.
“‘Considering the divine goodness,’ says St. Alphonsus, ‘it appears to me more probable that these souls receive neither reward nor punishment in the other life;” and from this opinion St. Augustine does not dissent.”10
The rewards awaiting those who baptise their children quickly
If God punishes those who deprive infants of the grace of baptism forever, or at least for a considerable time, he, on the other hand, rewards those who take them to baptism as soon as possible; for he is more eager to bestow rewards than to inflict punishments.
“Whosoever,” says our dear Saviour, “shall give to drink to one of these little ones, even a cup of cold water, shall not lose his reward.” (Matt. x, 42.) If Almighty God rewards one for a drink of cold water which he gives to a little child, what reward will he not bestow upon him who gives to a child the kingdom of heaven by means of baptism? No doubt, one of the greatest blessings God can bestow upon a person is the gift of the true faith.
Now, there are on record many examples to show that God granted this inestimable gift of faith to non-Catholics who suffer their children to be baptized in the Catholic Church. In 1848, there lived, near Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a Protestant family by the name of Pollworth, who were often visited by the Rev. A. Urbanek.
After a short time, Mrs. Pollworth joined the Catholic Church; but her husband remained obstinate, and often said that he would never become a Catholic. He consented, however, to have his children baptized. The baptismal ceremonies were performed with the greatest solemnity before High Mass, after which the Blessed Sacrament was exposed.
The newly-baptized children stood close to the altar-steps, and their father immediately behind them. Jesus Christ wished to reward him for having permitted his children to be baptized.
During the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, he appeared to Pollworth in the sacred host as the Good Shepherd, with a lamb upon his shoulders. The apparition lasted for about five minutes. On leaving the church, Pollworth asked some of his neighbors whether they had not seen anything singular during the divine service; but when he perceived that they knew nothing of the apparition, he said no more.
The next day he invited the priest to pay him a visit, and no sooner had the Rev. Fr. Urbanek entered the house than Pollworth said:
“Now, indeed, is the lost sheep found at last, after its long straying among the briers. I wish to become a Catholic.”
A few days later, he was received into the Church, and, after having made his profession of faith, he solemnly attested by oath the truth of the apparition of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.
Fin.
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Appendix—Fr Müller and “supplying” baptism
8. Can the baptism of water be ever supplied?
When a person cannot receive the baptism of water, it may be supplied by the baptism of desire, or by the baptism of blood.
Almighty God is goodness itself. Hence he wishes that all men should be saved. But, in order to be saved, it is necessary to pass, by means of baptism, from the state of sin to the state of grace. Infants, therefore, who die unbaptized, can never enter the kingdom of heaven. The case of grown persons is somewhat different; for, when grown persons cannot be actually baptized before death, then the baptism of water may be supplied by what is called the baptism of desire.
There is an infidel. He has become acquainted with the true faith. He most earnestly desires baptism. But he cannot have anyone to baptize him before he dies. Now, is such a person lost because he dies without the baptism of water? No; in this case, the person is said to be baptized in desire.
9. What is the baptism of desire?
An earnest wish to receive baptism, or to do all that God requires of us for our salvation, together with a perfect contrition, or a perfect love of God.
An ardent desire of baptism, accompanied with faith in Jesus Christ and true repentance, is, with God, like the baptism of water. In this case, the words of the Blessed Virgin are verified: “The Lord has filled the hungry with good things.” (Luke i, 35.) He bestows the good things of heaven upon those who die with the desire of baptism. We read of a very interesting instance, in confirmation of this truth, in the Annals of the Propagation of the Faith. It is related by M. Odin, missionary apostolic, and, subsequently, Archbishop of New Orleans, Louisiana:
“At some distance from our establishment at Barrens,” he says, “in Missouri, United States of America, there was a district inhabited by Protestants or infidels, with the exception of three or four Catholic families. In 1834 we had the consolation of baptizing several persons there; thus it was that the Lord was pleased to reward the kindness with which one of the most respectable inhabitants gave us hospitality every time we journeyed that way. This worthy man, who was not a Catholic, had three little children, who received with eagerness the instructions we never failed to give them.
“The tallest of the sons, only eight years old, especially showed such a particular relish for the word of God, that he learned by heart the entire catechism. Evening and morning he addressed his little prayer to the good God; and if ever his little sister missed that holy exercise, he reproached her very seriously. Things were at this point when the cholera broke out in the neighborhood. Then this good little boy said simply to his mother: ‘Mamma, the cholera is coming here: oh! how glad I should be if the priests from the seminary came to baptize me! That cruel disease will attack me, I am sure it will, and I shall die without baptism; then you will be sorry.’
“Alas! the poor child predicted truly: he was one of the first victims of the dreadful plague. During the short moments of his cruel sufferings he incessantly asked for baptism, and even with his last sigh he kept repeating: ‘Oh! if anyone would baptize me! My God! must I die without being baptized?’ The mother, thinking that she could not herself administer that sacrament, although there was evident necessity, was in the greatest trouble; neither would the child consent to receive it from the hands of a Protestant minister. At last he died without having obtained his ardent wish.
“As soon as I heard of the cholera being in that part of the country, I hastened thither; but I only reached there some hours after the child’s funeral. The family was plunged in the greatest affliction. I consoled them as much as I could, and especially in relation to the eternal destiny of their poor little one, by explaining to them what the Church teaches us on the baptism of desire. This consoling doctrine much assuaged their grief; after giving the other necessary instructions, I baptized the mother and the two young children, and, some days after, the father failed not to follow the example of his family.”11
Although it be true that the fathers of the Church have believed and taught that the baptism of desire may supply the baptism of water, yet this doctrine, as St. Augustine observes, should not make any one delay ordinary baptism when he is able to receive it; for such a delay of baptism is always attended with great danger of salvation.
10. What is the baptism of blood?
Martyrdom for the sake of Christ.
There is still another case in which a person may be justified and saved without having actually received the sacrament of baptism, viz.: the case of a person suffering martyrdom for the faith before he has been able to receive baptism. Martyrdom for the true faith has always been held by the Church to supply the sacrament of baptism. Hence, in the case of martyrdom, a person has always been said to be baptized in his own blood. Our divine Saviour assures us that “whosoever shall lose his life for his sake and the gospel, shall save it.” (Mark viii, 35.) He, therefore, who dies for Jesus Christ, and for the sake of his religion, obtains a full remission of all his sins, and is immediately after death admitted into heaven.
St. Emerentiana, while preparing to receive baptism, went to pray at the tomb of St. Agnes. While praying there, she was stoned to death by the heathens. Her parents were greatly afflicted, and almost inconsolable, when they learned that their daughter had died without having received baptism. To console her parents, God permitted Emerentiana to appear to them in her heavenly glory, and to tell them not to be any longer afflicted on account of her salvation, “for,” said she, “I am in heaven with Jesus, my dear Saviour, whom I loved with my whole heart, when living on earth.”12
St. Genesius of Arles is also honored as a saint, because, for refusing to subscribe to a persecuting edict of Maximilian, he was put to death, though, at that time, he had not been baptized.
From the same work, pp 218-222
Conc. Trent., Sess. vii, Can. 5.
Lib. iii, de Orig. Animae
Letter clxvi.
Sermo 324.
Debussi, Nouveau Mois de Marie, 132.
St. Cyprian, epist. lix.
Orat. 40, t. i, p. 648.
T. ii, p. 1, Hom. in Sanct. Bapt, nn. 1, 2, p. 159.
Butler’s “Lives of the Saints,” March 20.
“Defence of the Council of Trent.”
“Catholic Anecdotes,” p. 547.
Her Life, 23d Jan.
I have heard that before Vatican II conditional baptisms for converts into the Church were standard due to the perfidiousness of Protestant belief and practice. Does anyone know if this is correct?