Water Baptism

  • Thread starter Thread starter love4mary
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
L

love4mary

Guest
Was discussing Water Baptism with my fiancee today and we both came up with the same question…“Why does the water in baptism have to be Moving Water”?
 
This is not a theological answer, but water can not help but move if it is poured over a body or has a body immersed into it.
 
love4mary said:
Was discussing Water Baptism with my fiancee today and we both came up with the same question…“Why does the water in baptism have to be Moving Water”?
Click to expand...
What do you mean by “moving water” and on what document are you basing this on?

Canon Law states:

Can. 853 Apart from a case of necessity, the water to be used in conferring baptism must be blessed according to the prescripts of the liturgical books.

Can. 854 Baptism is to be conferred either by immersion or by pouring; the prescripts of the conference of bishops are to be observed.
 
Somewhere I either heard or read that in “Full Immersion” baptism, the water must First be moving as in a river or whirlpool,etc…
 
love4mary said:
Was discussing Water Baptism with my fiancee today and we both came up with the same question…“Why does the water in baptism have to be Moving Water”?
Click to expand...

Because​

  • it is prefigured in the vision of the river flowing from the Temple in Ezekiel 47
  • which is referred to in John 7 - “out of his belly shall flow streams of living water”
  • fulfilled on the Cross, when Blood & water flowed from the pierced Heart of Christ
  • and is anticipation of the life of the City of God, which is gladdened by the river which flows through it.
    The theme of water is so full of associations in the Bible that it is not possible to do it anything like justice - it connects with the Holy Spirit, the creation of all things, our renewal through Baptism, with the Exodus, & most of all with Christ 🙂
If it were stagnant or still, it would not be such a lively sign of these things; so its significance would be obscured: which would lessen the value of the sacramental sign as a witness to the fulfilment of all creation in Christ by Whom, for Whom & in Whom it is created. 😃
 
love4mary said:
Somewhere I either heard or read that in “Full Immersion” baptism, the water must First be moving as in a river or whirlpool,etc…
Click to expand...
Canon Law does not require the water to be “moving”.

It is possible that there are additional rubrics spelled out in liturgical texts somewhere, such as something from the Conference of Bishops for the US, but I’ve never heard that.
 
Well, before entering the baptismal pool or font, the water flows through the water pipes much as a river would. So required or not, it would seem this condition has been met courtesy of fluid dynamics.
 
love4mary said:
Was discussing Water Baptism with my fiancee today and we both came up with the same question…“Why does the water in baptism have to be Moving Water”?
Click to expand...
Where do you get “moving” water from? Many places it’s is refered to as “Living” water.
 
Br. Rich,I probably got moving water from “Living” water…Just equated the two I suppose. Non moving water, or stagnet water to me would represent death, moving would be life.

I could be way off on this which is why I was asking.
 
love4mary said:
Br. Rich,I probably got moving water from “Living” water…Just equated the two I suppose. Non moving water, or stagnet water to me would represent death, moving would be life.

I could be way off on this which is why I was asking.
Click to expand...
It is not required to be moving water. It is required to be natural water which would be capable of sustaining life.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top