www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West History of the Initiation ritual

Hello everyone,
I'm a new person, just registered. Am excited to be here, as I'm in the process of learning more about my Byzantine Catholic family background. My mother's family was Byzantine Catholic, having come from eastern Slovakia and eastern Hungary. I, too, was baptized as a Byzantine Catholic. However, since moving around quite a bit growing up, I attended Roman Catholic Churches. I am now living in central Oklahoma, and am still attending Roman Catholic Churches.

I am taking a Sacramental Theology class, and will be discussing the Initiation process a person takes to become a member of the Eastern Catholic Church - namely, Baptism, Chrismation and Eucharist. My question is: could someone tell, briefly, of the history of this process - how the East decided to combine all three sacraments into one ritual, when it happened, and why?

Sorry, I guess that question turned into several, all wrapped into one question. If this question can't be answered well enough in this forum, could someone point me to a book or website, that may talk about this?

Thank you, in advance, for any helpful information.

Denise

Denise,

Glory to Jesus Christ!

The mysteries of initiation are fundamentally trinitarian in character. They are an initiation into the life of the Church, which is an initiation into the life of the Holy Trinity. Eastern Christians view baptism, chrismation and Eucharist as a connected trinitarian mystery.

The East views these three mysteries a little differently than the West does. In baptism, the East emphasizes less the "washing away" aspect but more the aspect of death and rebirth -- the infant's mortal nature dies in baptism and the infant is restored to her immortal nature. Baptism is essentially *paschal* in the Eastern tradition -- it is viewed as the personal Pascha, and the personal reconciliation of the individual with the Father. Chrismation comes naturally next, following less the tradition of Pentecost in Acts as that of the Gospel narratives relating to Christ's baptism in the Jordan, where we see the Holy Spirit descending upon Christ immediately following his baptism -- and so, following the example of Christ, we chrismate immediately following baptism. With the infant's nature restored, reborn and reconciled with the Father, the gift of the Holy Spirit is given to guide the child to truth and holiness. Eucharist naturally follows this as well, for it is by virtue of our rebirth in baptism and our life in the Holy Spirit that we receive the Eucharist. The Eucharist is discerned not in the rational mind, but rather in the Holy Spirit -- and as a result, for Eastern Christians at least, the quite recent innovation in the Latin Church of postponing chrismation until many years *after* Eucharist is received seems completely upside down.

Sacramental mysteries are viewed, in the Eastern tradition, as gifts of the Church given to help us grow in holiness and enter the Kingdom. They aren't viewed in a spirit of utilitarian rationalism (at this age, you need "x", so we'll administer that sacrament at that time). The three sacraments of baptism, chrismation and Eucharist unite the individual fully with the Body of Christ, bringing them fully into the experience of the Kingdom of God on Earth. Is one fully in the Church, fully in the Body, without the Eucharist? How can that be? For it is in the Eucharist that we become the Body, that we are made the Body, individually and collectively. Keeping the little ones away from the Eucharist really means that full membership in the Body of Christ is reserved for adults.

That attitude was nothing new, and was expressed by the apostles. Christ had a different perspective, and chided the apostles for theirs. Paul's subsequent commentary, frankly, has nothing to do with rational understanding of the Eucharist or reception of the Eucharist by children. Paul was speaking of the need for one to examine oneself carefully so as not to partake unworthily. This is a reference to the tradition requiring an individual and personal examination of conscience before approaching the chalice. And as children are sinless, this examination is not needed for them -- they simply approach and taste and see how good the Lord is.

Finally, it is wonderful that most cradle Eastern Christians refer to receiving communion as their first memory of the Church -- isn't that the way it *ought* to be?

Hope this helps,

Deacon El

I suggest "Of Water and the Spirit" by A. Schemmann. SVS press publishes the book and it is an excellent book on the rites of initiation. Google St. Vladimir Seminary, check out their bookstore and order a copy.

Dear Denise:
It was very early that baptism, chrismation, and reception of Eucharist was a unified sacrament-both East and West. It was only after the legitimization of the Christianity during the reign of Constantine and the huge increase in Church membership that chrismation came to be separated from baptism in the West. I agree that "Of Water and Spirit" by Fr. Alexander Schmemann (may his memory be eternal) is an excellent book for understanding the Eastern Christian theology of baptism-I read this book for a sacramental theology course. The url for St. Vladimir's Seminary Press is www.svspress.com. [svspress.com.] I can also suggest sources for a better understanding of how confirmation came to be a separate rite in the East, but I have to leave for work now-if you wish to send me a PM to remind me, I'll look through my books and find the source I have in mind. Best of luck in your searching.
In peace,
Ryan

The connection of baptism to chrismation is seen in the synoptic gospels when Christ is baptized in the Jordan. When he emerges from the water, he is sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit. The east and west both had this practice, but over time the west retained the sealing to the bishop, who couldn't always make it to every baptism. So the time between baptism and chrismation grew in the west to where it is now, almost a rite of passage. This only happened in the last century and there is already movement in the west to decrease the gap of the regular age of those receiving confirmation from 14-16 year olds to 7-11 year olds. Those areas moving the age of confirmation down to 7 (the age of reason and the youngest individual bishops could decide to confirm) have also restored the order of the sacraments with the child being confirmed between his baptism and his reception of the Eucharist. The remnant of this practice is still seen in the west as the child is anointed with oil after his baptism, but the Holy Spirit is not called down upon him at that time. Children who convert to Catholicism who are 7 or older are baptized, confirmed, and communed according to the RCIA guidelines.

You might be interested in checking out one of the two Oklahoma missions. There is one in Oklahoma City and one in Tulsa. You can find the contact info for them here: http://www.archeparchy.org/page/directories/directory-OK.htm

In addition to what Wondering said above about receiving the Seal and Gift of the Holy Spirit after baptism, it must be remembered that in the early church EVERYONE was expected to receive communion at EVERY liturgy unless they were a penitent--someone who had committed a grave sin and was thus barred from communion for a period of time.

The Eucharist is THE Sacrament/Mystery of the Church. Through It, we are partakers not only of Christ but also are unified one to another--"that they all may be one."

Most of the above is from my reading of Schmemann's Of Water and the Spirit, which I also highly recommend, and possibly also a bit of his Eucharist: Sacrament of the Kingdom.