Easter Vigil Question

[Mark1970]

As I understand it, the Easter Vigil has a rite for blessing the baptismal font which includes blessing the water associated with the font, or a blessing of the holy water where there is no font.

In my parish, we have a wooden, portable baptismal fort which is usually placed in the sanctuary with the Paschal candle. However, in the Easter Vigil last Saturday, the priest didn’t bless the font. Instead of having the Litany of the Saints and Blessing of the Font, the blessing the priest used was the simple blessing of holy water for churches with no font. There’s no way I could be mistaken about which form he used, both forms were given in the booklets we had for the Vigil and he clearly used what I describe. I’m assuming this was incorrect?

 

[Deo_Gratias42]

The blessing used for holy water used for baptisms that’s done during the Easter Vigil is very specific and contains many elements to it. (At least the EF Easter Vigil does).

 

[Leon_Bloy]

Which form was this? EF or OF?

It also matters whether or not people were baptized during the mass.

 

[bmullins]

Did you have anyone to baptize? We did the same thing but we had no one being baptized, only 5 people being confirmed.

 

[John_Lilburne]

As I understand it, the Easter Vigil has a rite for blessing the baptismal font which includes blessing the water associated with the font, or a blessing of the holy water where there is no font.

In my parish, we have a wooden, portable baptismal fort which is usually placed in the sanctuary with the Paschal candle. However, in the Easter Vigil last Saturday, the priest didn’t bless the font. Instead of having the Litany of the Saints and Blessing of the Font, the blessing the priest used was the simple blessing of holy water for churches with no font. There’s no way I could be mistaken about which form he used, both forms were given in the booklets we had for the Vigil and he clearly used what I describe. I’m assuming this was incorrect?

The Easter Vigil has a choice of two blessings. It has: “42. If no one is to be baptized and the font is not to be blessed, the Litany is omitted, and the Blessing of Water (no. 54) takes place at once.” If someone is baptised the Blessing of Baptismal Water is used, n. 44.

From Roman Missal, English translation according to the third typical edition, approved for use in the dioceses of Australia, England and Wales, and Scotland, published by Catholic Truth Society, in 2010, ISBN 9781860827303, page 405.

 

[Mark1970]

It was OF. Although there was on-one to be baptised at the Easter Vigil, my assumption was that as long as a Church has a baptismal font, then it should be blessed annually at the Easter vigil, using the full rite of Litany of the Saints and formula for blessing the font.

My missal gives two introductory prayers, one for if there are candidates to be baptised during the Vigil, another if there are none to be baptised at the Vigil. There then follows the Litany, with my Missal giving the instruction that it is only omitted if there is no-one to be baptised AND there is no baptismal font. We have a font, but my pastor omitted the litany. He also omitted the blessing of Baptismal Water with its references to baptismal regeneration, and only used the “Blessing of Water” which is used if there is no font to be blessed and has no references to baptism.

 

[Leon_Bloy]

Mark, with respect, you might have been misreading the book… I don’t have it in front of me, but in the one I was using, I realized that there were very large portions for the priest to skip if nobody was being baptized, including the Litany. One might have been able to read it with the understanding that just a single paragraph or prayer was to be skipped, when it was the entire following section.

I don’t think the font is blessed at all unless there are actual baptisms taking place - just the water used for aspersion of the faithful.

At my parish we are very careful to observe the books and rubrics exactly, and there was no blessing of the font, no litany, etc.

 

[Mark1970]

Mark, with respect, you might have been misreading the book… I don’t have it in front of me, but in the one I was using, I realized that there were very large portions for the priest to skip if nobody was being baptized, including the Litany. One might have been able to read it with the understanding that just a single paragraph or prayer was to be skipped, when it was the entire following section.

I don’t think the font is blessed at all unless there are actual baptisms taking place - just the water used for aspersion of the faithful.

At my parish we are very careful to observe the books and rubrics exactly, and there was no blessing of the font, no litany, etc.

Checking my source, there is the rubric: “If the font is to be blessed but no-one is to be baptised” before one of the prayers at the start of the Liturgy of baptism, before the Litany of the Saints. And part way through the font blessing, there is an either/or choice in one of the the prayers, depending on whether there are baptisms or not. This seems to suggest it’s permissable to bless the font without performing baptisms immediately afterwards, but I could be mis-reading it.