Holy water on an unbaptized baby

[pmoo]

Okay, here’s my dilemma. I recently took my two small grandchildren to mass with me. Towards the end of the service, our priest called all the young children up to the front for a blessing, so I took the two little ones with me. After the blessing, the priest sprinkled the children with holy water. My granddaughter definitely got some but I’m not sure about my grandson, who is still a baby and not yet baptized. AFTER having done this, Fr. then brought another baby forward and asked if he had been baptized because unbaptized babies cannot receive holy water!

Well, this is news to me as when I went through RCIA, our instructor said it’s okay for unbaptized to receive holy water. However the husband of a friend said this is true unless it’s at the altar. At the altar, it’s considered a baptism.

How can this be if I didn’t know and my grandson’s parents didn’t know and this was not our intention. They are planning a baptism at their own church. They are not members of our church and did not give me permission to baptize him. I do not have custody. Now, I’m not even sure if my grandson received the holy water as I was holding him and didn’t get any.

I’ve emailed our other priest (on vacation) but he hasn’t responded. How can a baby be accidently baptized and what does it mean when he is baptized for real?

 

[kristie_m]

It is my understanding that one cannot be “accidentally” baptized. I believe the trinitarian formula MUST be used in order for it to be a true baptism. Therefore, it seems to me that the child in question didn’t get baptized…he just got wet.

That said, sprinkling the unbaptized with holy water is probably not a good idea, as it is a reminder of a baptism that they have not yet experienced. I wouldn’t stress about it too much.

 

[1ke]

Holy water can be used in various ways. When you took the children up to the altar, they received a blessing with holy water, nothing more. Blessing with holy water does not confer baptism.

Your friend’s husband is wrong regarding the location of such a blessing with holy water (at the altar versus not at the altar) making some material difference. It doesn’t.

Only saying the words of baptism while pouring or immersing in water can confer baptism. Neither a baby, nor an adult, can be “accidentally” baptized. Blessing someone with holy water does not baptize them.

 

[benedictgal]

While the priest may have had the best intentions, he has no right to imbed any new rituals within the context of the Mass, as this is causing confusion among the faithful, as evidenced in the OP.

According to Redemptionis Sacramentum:

[11.] The Mystery of the Eucharist “is too great for anyone to permit himself to treat it according to his own whim, so that its sacredness and its universal ordering would be obscured”.27 On the contrary, anyone who acts thus by giving free rein to his own inclinations, even if he is a Priest, injures the substantial unity of the Roman Rite, which ought to be vigorously preserved,28 and becomes responsible for actions that are in no way consistent with the hunger and thirst for the living God that is experienced by the people today. Nor do such actions serve authentic pastoral care or proper liturgical renewal; instead, they deprive Christ’s faithful of their patrimony and their heritage. For arbitrary actions are not conducive to true renewal,29 but are detrimental to the right of Christ’s faithful to a liturgical celebration that is an expression of the Church’s life in accordance with her tradition and discipline. In the end, they introduce elements of distortion and disharmony into the very celebration of the Eucharist, which is oriented in its own lofty way and by its very nature to signifying and wondrously bringing about the communion of divine life and the unity of the People of God.30 The result is uncertainty in matters of doctrine, perplexity and scandal on the part of the People of God, and, almost as a necessary consequence, vigorous opposition, all of which greatly confuse and sadden many of Christ’s faithful in this age of ours when Christian life is often particularly difficult on account of the inroads of “secularization” as well.31

Furthermore, according to the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, everyone receives the blessing at the appropriate time, which is the end of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. There is no need to impart a special blessing for a particular group of individuals, since everyone, young, old, Catholic and non-Catholic, who is present at the Mass will receive the blessing.

 

[FrDavid96]

Okay, here’s my dilemma. I recently took my two small grandchildren to mass with me. Towards the end of the service, our priest called all the young children up to the front for a blessing, so I took the two little ones with me. After the blessing, the priest sprinkled the children with holy water. My granddaughter definitely got some but I’m not sure about my grandson, who is still a baby and not yet baptized. AFTER having done this, Fr. then brought another baby forward and asked if he had been baptized because unbaptized babies cannot receive holy water!

Well, this is news to me as when I went through RCIA, our instructor said it’s okay for unbaptized to receive holy water. However the husband of a friend said this is true unless it’s at the altar. At the altar, it’s considered a baptism.

How can this be if I didn’t know and my grandson’s parents didn’t know and this was not our intention. They are planning a baptism at their own church. They are not members of our church and did not give me permission to baptize him. I do not have custody. Now, I’m not even sure if my grandson received the holy water as I was holding him and didn’t get any.

I’ve emailed our other priest (on vacation) but he hasn’t responded. How can a baby be accidently baptized and what does it mean when he is baptized for real?

There is definately a lot of confusion here (confusion by the priest on what should happen at Mass, and confusion about holy water and what it means, etc. etc.)

The bottom line is that you have nothing to worry about because your granddaughter was certainly not baptised that day. As others have said, but just to reinforce it, baptism cannot happen by accident–even if one is sprinkled with Holy Water “at the altar” or near it, or anyplace else.

The only way she could have been baptised would be if the priest had said “I baptise you in the name of the Father…” along with the sprinkling of (holy) water. Since that clearly didn’t happen, there’s not even the most remote chance that she was baptised. So, please don’t be concerned about that.

 

[pmoo]

Thanks to everyone for your reaffirmation of what I thought must be true. While I’m sure the priest doesn’t want unbaptized people receiving holy water at the altar, it sounded as if it were completely taboo. I have been agonizing over this, worrying that I had somehow ruined my grandchild’s baptism.

I really feel so much better now!

 

[Victorious]

That said, sprinkling the unbaptized with holy water is probably not a good idea, as it is a reminder of a baptism that they have not yet experienced. I wouldn’t stress about it too much.

Why not sprinkle the unbaptized with holy water? Holy water is not merely a reminder of Baptism. It is a sacramental. It imparts blessings, and – most of all – it is powerful against demons.

And as proof that the unbaptized may benefit from sacramentals, consider the case of Alphonse Ratisbonne, the atheist scion of a family of Jewish bankers. During a pleasure tour of Rome, he was befriended by a Catholic nobleman who challenged him to wear a Miraculous Medal. Ratisbonne accepted. Result: he received a miraculous infusion of knowledge of the truth of the Catholic faith, accepted Baptism, became a priest, and eventually founded the Congregation of Our Lady of Zion (which unfortunately now appears to have departed from its charism, though that doesn’t affect the point here).

 

[benedictgal]

Why not sprinkle the unbaptized with holy water? Holy water is not merely a reminder of Baptism. It is a sacramental. It imparts blessings, and – most of all – it is powerful against demons.

And as proof that the unbaptized may benefit from sacramentals, consider the case of Alphonse Ratisbonne, the atheist scion of a family of Jewish bankers. During a pleasure tour of Rome, he was befriended by a Catholic nobleman who challenged him to wear a Miraculous Medal. Ratisbonne accepted. Result: he received a miraculous infusion of knowledge of the truth of the Catholic faith, accepted Baptism, became a priest, and eventually founded the Congregation of Our Lady of Zion (which unfortunately now appears to have departed from its charism, though that doesn’t affect the point here).

However, that still does not give the priest the right to add some an extra ritual into the Mass. This kind of activity only engenders confusion.

 

[Victorious]

However, that still does not give the priest the right to add some an extra ritual into the Mass. This kind of activity only engenders confusion.

No argument there. But I wasn’t addressing the added ritual. All I was addressing was the comment that holy water shouldn’t be applied to the unbaptized.

 

[zab]

Furthermore, according to the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, everyone receives the blessing at the appropriate time, which is the end of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. There is no need to impart a special blessing for a particular group of individuals, since everyone, young, old, Catholic and non-Catholic, who is present at the Mass will receive the blessing.

I’m not sure that it is correct to imply that it is always wrong for the priest to give a special blessing at the end of Mass to a group of individuals or a couple. For example, we will occassionally have a couple celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. At the end of Mass before the final blessing, Father will ask us to be seated and he calls the couple forward, gives them a special blessing.

 

[Phemie]

I’m not sure that it is correct to imply that it is always wrong for the priest to give a special blessing at the end of Mass to a group of individuals or a couple. For example, we will occassionally have a couple celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. At the end of Mass before the final blessing, Father will ask us to be seated and he calls the couple forward, gives them a special blessing.

That is allowed by the ritual books, just like there is a special blessing for the parents at the end of the Mass at which their child was baptized.

 

[bpbasilphx]

I have been agonizing over this, worrying that I had somehow ruined my grandchild’s baptism.

---

**Just how would this have ruined your grandchild’s baptism?

Please be specific.

I’m sure when you really think about it, there’s no way, right?

Don’t worry. There’s no such thing as “accidental baptism.” You’re either baptized, which much be done deliberately, or you’re not. And you certainly are not “partially baptized.” (I’m not getting into the issues of baptism of desire or blood here.)**

 

[benedictgal]

That is allowed by the ritual books, just like there is a special blessing for the parents at the end of the Mass at which their child was baptized.

But, what he is doing is imbedding something into the Mass that is not necessarily found in the ritual books. Now, on Saturday, a Quince Anos celebration was imbedded into the Mass. The new ritual calls for the blessing to be imparted after the Post-Communion prayer. After he blessed the young lady, he blessed the rest of the faithful. But, that is quite different from what the OP witnessed.

 

[zab]

But, what he is doing is imbedding something into the Mass that is not necessarily found in the ritual books. Now, on Saturday, a Quince Anos celebration was imbedded into the Mass. The new ritual calls for the blessing to be imparted after the Post-Communion prayer. After he blessed the young lady, he blessed the rest of the faithful. But, that is quite different from what the OP witnessed.

Perhaps she didn’t get to the part where he blessed the rest of the faithful.

 

[pmoo]

Why not sprinkle the unbaptized with holy water? Holy water is not merely a reminder of Baptism. It is a sacramental. It imparts blessings, and – most of all – it is powerful against demons.

And as proof that the unbaptized may benefit from sacramentals, consider the case of Alphonse Ratisbonne, the atheist scion of a family of Jewish bankers. During a pleasure tour of Rome, he was befriended by a Catholic nobleman who challenged him to wear a Miraculous Medal. Ratisbonne accepted. Result: he received a miraculous infusion of knowledge of the truth of the Catholic faith, accepted Baptism, became a priest, and eventually founded the Congregation of Our Lady of Zion (which unfortunately now appears to have departed from its charism, though that doesn’t affect the point here).

This is my thought exactly. However, supposedly, according to the priest and my friend’s husband, the problem is not holy water but holy water at the altar. I agree with the other posts, however, that one can’t accidently be baptized. There must be a desire/intent on the part of the person or the baby’s parents.

 

[Victorious]

This is my thought exactly. However, supposedly, according to the priest and my friend’s husband, the problem is not holy water but holy water at the altar.

Wouldn’t life be so much easier if we just quit fiddling with the liturgy? Say the black, do the red! How hard is that?

 

[pmoo]

But, what he is doing is imbedding something into the Mass that is not necessarily found in the ritual books. Now, on Saturday, a Quince Anos celebration was imbedded into the Mass. The new ritual calls for the blessing to be imparted after the Post-Communion prayer. After he blessed the young lady, he blessed the rest of the faithful. But, that is quite different from what the OP witnessed.

The pastor of our church does ask for the children to come forward and be blessed; however, all he does is make the sign of the cross on their foreheads. This is something new since this new priest (right out of the seminary and from Haiti) arrived. He does this each time he says the mass, so it is confusing.

 

[pmoo]

Wouldn’t life be so much easier if we just quit fiddling with the liturgy? Say the black, do the red! How hard is that?

Yes, especially for a convert. Even though it’s been two years since my baptism/confirmation, I’m still learning.

 

[Phemie]

But, what he is doing is imbedding something into the Mass that is not necessarily found in the ritual books. Now, on Saturday, a Quince Anos celebration was imbedded into the Mass. The new ritual calls for the blessing to be imparted after the Post-Communion prayer. After he blessed the young lady, he blessed the rest of the faithful. But, that is quite different from what the OP witnessed.

I wasn’t responding to the OP but to Zab’s post about a blessing for a couple celebrating their 5oth anniversary.

 

[zab]

I wasn’t responding to the OP but to Zab’s post about a blessing for a couple celebrating their 5oth anniversary.

Speaking of which, my post was not intended to question the practice of the special blessing for those celebrating their 50th wedding anniversay. My point was that it is not correct to say that special blessings should not be happening at all before the final blessing.