By DON FIER
Two key features have been always present in the Church’s liturgy, dating back to apostolic times: There is one and the same Paschal Mystery and it is celebrated in a variety of forms. There is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all” (Eph. 4:5-6), yet the mystery contained therein “is so unfathomably rich that it cannot be exhausted by its expression in any single liturgical tradition” (Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC], n. 1201).
It is most fitting, therefore, that throughout the history of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church, “this richness found expression among various peoples and cultures in ways that are characterized by a wonderful diversity and complementarity” (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCCC], n. 247).
The basic reason there are so many liturgical traditions in the Catholic Church is because of the great variety of cultures that exist in the world. “The Church is ready to adapt the liturgy to reflect this cultural variety,” explains Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ, “but always on one condition: that essential unity is maintained by fidelity to the Apostolic Tradition, by professing the same faith, receiving the same sacraments deriving from apostolic succession, and obedience to the Roman Pontiff” (The Faith, p. 110).
Indeed, the catholicity (universality) of the Church is manifested by the magnificent diversity of legitimately recognized liturgical traditions or rites.
In answer to a related question: “Is everything immutable in the liturgy?” the Compendium provides a direct and concise answer: “In the liturgy, particularly in that of the sacraments, there are unchangeable elements because they are of divine institution. The Church is the faithful guardian of them.
There are also, however, elements subject to change which the Church has the power and on occasion also the duty to adapt to the cultures of diverse peoples” (CCCC, n. 249). To be sure, however, this adaptation requires the conversion of peoples’ minds and hearts, and in some cases, the surrender of ancient practices that are incompatible with the Catholic Faith.
The Catechism now launches into an individual exposition of each of the seven sacraments of the new law as instituted by Christ. To begin, we are reminded of an important point made in an earlier column (see volume 148, n. 30; July 30, 2015), that in the sacramental life there is “a certain resemblance between the stages of natural life and the stages of the spiritual life” (CCC, n. 1210).
“The sacraments give the Christian’s life its beginning and growth, its healing and its mission,” says Christoph Cardinal Schönborn. “They touch all the stages and important moments of earthly life” (Living the Catechism of the Catholic Church: The Sacraments [LC-S], p. 55), and include both the personal and social dimensions of life.
As also discussed earlier in this series, the sacraments may rightly be grouped into various categories (see volume 148, n. 32; August 13, 2015). Following the analogy given above, the Catechism’s order in presenting them makes use of the resemblance between natural life and spiritual life: first, the sacraments of Christian initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist); second, the sacraments of healing (Penance and Anointing of the Sick); and third, the sacraments at the service of communion and the mission of the faithful (Matrimony and Holy Orders).
“This order, while not the only one possible, does allow one to see that the sacraments form an organic whole in which each particular sacrament has its own vital place” (CCC, n. 1211).
The group of three which is first expounded upon, “the sacraments of Christian initiation — Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist — lay the foundations of every Christian life” (CCC, n. 1212). As explained by Blessed Pope Paul VI in his 1971 apostolic constitution Divinae Consortium Naturae: “The faithful are born anew by Baptism, strengthened by the sacrament of Confirmation, and receive in the Eucharist the food of eternal life.”
This was a topic to which the Second Vatican Council devoted special attention. In fact, the Council Fathers “prescribed that the rites [of the sacraments of Christian initiation] should be suitably revised in order to make them more suited to the understanding of the faithful” (ibid).
Let us look more closely at why Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist have come to be known as the “sacraments of Christian initiation.” According to Fr. Edward Yanold, SJ, in his contribution to a work entitled Commentary on the Catechism of the Catholic Church (edited by Michael J. Walsh), it was not until the Second Vatican Council that it became commonplace for these three sacraments to be linked together with this terminology.
“If the sacraments are celebrated in the order in which they are described in the [Vatican II] documents,” states Fr. Yanold, “we enter the Church at Baptism, our membership is confirmed and we receive new responsibilities at Confirmation, and the process is completed at our First Holy Communion, when through receiving the Body of Christ we become fully members of His Body which is the Church” (p. 242).
Returning again to our analogy, the fittingness of the term “initiation” becomes evident. Each of the three sacraments progressively integrates the Catholic person more fully into the life of the Church — they serve to welcome, incorporate, and unite him into the Body of Christ.
Just as one is born physically and receives natural life, through Baptism he is sacramentally born anew and, as it were, receives spiritual life and becomes a member of Christ’s family. Just as one grows from childhood to adulthood and matures physically in the natural life, Confirmation confers graces which strengthen and prepare one to wage spiritual combat and to be, as it were, a soldier for Christ — it perfects baptismal grace. Finally, just as natural food provides nourishment and sustains natural life, the Eucharist provides the food of eternal life. It is the culmination of one’s initiation into the life of the Church.
“The three sacraments thus form a progressive initiation into the mystery of Jesus Christ” (Yanold, p. 342). Furthermore, as specified in the 1983 Code of Canon Law, they “are interrelated in such a way that they are [all] required for full Christian initiation” (can. 842 § 2). In other words, even though Baptism is certainly valid and efficacious without Confirmation and Eucharist, the fullness of “Christian initiation remains incomplete” (CCC, n. 1306).
What about the order and timing for reception of the sacraments of initiation? Baptism, of course, is the sacrament by which one is cleansed of original sin, receives sanctifying grace for the first time, becomes an adopted child of God, and gains entrance into the Church. Thus, it is necessarily the first sacrament which must be received — it is “the door which gives access to the other sacraments” (CCC, n. 1213).
There is a significant difference, however, in the practices followed by Eastern and Latin Churches for conferral of the other two sacraments of Christian initiation for newborn children. In the Eastern Rite, Confirmation and the Holy Eucharist are received immediately following infant Baptism.
In the Western tradition, however, this process is followed only for the Baptism of adults — First Communion and Confirmation after infant Baptism are delayed until the person has matured and received instruction in the faith. With the re-establishment of the Rite for Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) after the Second Vatican Council, however, many Catholics in the Latin Rite are now witnessing the conferral of all three sacraments of initiation for adults coming into the Church at the Easter Vigil each year.
A Single Celebration
From a historical perspective, “through the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist, people have come into the fold of the Catholic Church since the day of Pentecost” (The Didache Series: The Sacraments [DS-S], p. 44). In apostolic times, converts were welcomed into the Church in a personal and intimate way due to persecution by the Roman Empire.
The Acts of the Apostles recounts examples of very rapid initiation (see Acts 8:26-40; 16:23-34), but evidence also exists that preparation for the sacraments was normally longer, up to three years (cf. LC-S, p. 57). The initiation process changed, however, after the legalization of Christianity in the early fourth century due to several factors: Secrecy was no longer necessary; small, informal communities were giving way to larger, more organized parishes; and Baptism of infants was quickly becoming the norm (cf. DS-S, p. 44).
With the establishment of RCIA in the aftermath of Vatican II, the Church effectively restored the dynamic Christian initiation process — after centuries of disuse — followed by the early Church.
“Today in all the rites, Latin and Eastern, the Christian initiation of adults begins with their entry into the catechumenate and reaches its culmination in a single celebration of the three sacraments of initiation: Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist” (CCC, n. 1233).
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(Don Fier serves on the board of directors for The Catholic Servant, a Minneapolis-based monthly publication. He and his wife are the parents of seven children. Fier is a 2009 graduate of Ave Maria University’s Institute for Pastoral Theology. He is doing research for writing a definitive biography of Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ.)
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