Catechism of the Catholic Church — paragraphs 1201

1201 The mystery of Christ is so unfathomably rich that it cannot be exhausted by its expression in any single liturgical tradition. The history…
1202 The diverse liturgical traditions have arisen by very reason of the Church's mission. Churches of the same geographical and cultural area…
1203 The liturgical traditions or rites presently in use in the Church are the Latin (principally the Roman rite, but also the rites of certain…
1204 The celebration of the liturgy, therefore, should correspond to the genius and culture of the different peoples. In order that the mystery…
1205 "In the liturgy, above all that of the sacraments, there is an immutable part , a part that is divinely instituted and of which the Church…
1206 "Liturgical diversity can be a source of enrichment, but it can also provoke tensions, mutual misunderstandings, and even schisms. In this…
1207 It is fitting that liturgical celebration tends to express itself in the culture of the people where the Church finds herself, though…
1208 The diverse liturgical traditions or rites, legitimately recognized, manifest the catholicity of the Church, because they signify and…
1209 The criterion that assures unity amid the diversity of liturgical traditions is fidelity to apostolic Tradition, i.e., the communion in the…
1210 Christ instituted the sacraments of the new law. There are seven: Baptism, Confirmation (or Chrismation), the Eucharist, Penance, the…
1211 Following this analogy, the first chapter will expound the three sacraments of Christian initiation; the second , the sacraments of…
1212 The sacraments of Christian initiation - Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist - lay the foundations of every Christian life. "The…
1213 Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua) , and the door which…
1214 This sacrament is called Baptism , after the central rite by which it is carried out: to baptize (Greek baptizein ) means to "plunge" or…
1215 This sacrament is also called " the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit ," for it signifies and actually brings about…
1216 "This bath is called enlightenment , because those who receive this [catechetical] instruction are enlightened in their understanding .…
1217 In the liturgy of the Easter Vigil, during the blessing of the baptismal water , the Church solemnly commemorates the great events in…
1218 Since the beginning of the world, water, so humble and wonderful a creature, has been the source of life and fruitfulness. Sacred Scripture…
1219 The Church has seen in Noah's ark a prefiguring of salvation by Baptism, for by it "a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through…
1220 If water springing up from the earth symbolizes life, the water of the sea is a symbol of death and so can represent the mystery of the…
1221 But above all, the crossing of the Red Sea, literally the liberation of Israel from the slavery of Egypt, announces the liberation wrought…
1222 Finally, Baptism is prefigured in the crossing of the Jordan River by which the People of God received the gift of the land promised to…
1223 All the Old Covenant prefigurations find their fulfillment in Christ Jesus. He begins his public life after having himself baptized by St.…
1224 Our Lord voluntarily submitted himself to the baptism of St. John, intended for sinners, in order to "fulfill all righteousness." Jesus'…
1225 In his Passover Christ opened to all men the fountain of Baptism. He had already spoken of his Passion, which he was about to suffer in…
1226 From the very day of Pentecost the Church has celebrated and administered holy Baptism. Indeed St. Peter declares to the crowd astounded by…
1227 According to the Apostle Paul, the believer enters through Baptism into communion with Christ's death, is buried with him, and rises with…
1228 Hence Baptism is a bath of water in which the "imperishable seed" of the Word of God produces its life-giving effect. St. Augustine says of…
1229 From the time of the apostles, becoming a Christian has been accomplished by a journey and initiation in several stages. This journey can…
1230 This initiation has varied greatly through the centuries according to circumstances. In the first centuries of the Church, Christian…
1231 Where infant Baptism has become the form in which this sacrament is usually celebrated, it has become a single act encapsulating the…
1232 The second Vatican Council restored for the Latin Church "the catechumenate for adults, comprising several distinct steps." The rites for…
1233 Today in all the rites, Latin and Eastern, the Christian initiation of adults begins with their entry into the catechumenate and reaches…
1234 The meaning and grace of the sacrament of Baptism are clearly seen in the rites of its celebration. By following the gestures and words of…
1235 The sign of the cross , on the threshold of the celebration, marks with the imprint of Christ the one who is going to belong to him and…
1236 The proclamation of the Word of God enlightens the candidates and the assembly with the revealed truth and elicits the response of faith,…
1237 Since Baptism signifies liberation from sin and from its instigator the devil, one or more exorcisms are pronounced over the candidate. The…
1238 The baptismal water is consecrated by a prayer of epiclesis (either at this moment or at the Easter Vigil). The Church asks God that…
1239 The essential rite of the sacrament follows: Baptism properly speaking. It signifies and actually brings about death to sin and entry into…
1240 In the Latin Church this triple infusion is accompanied by the minister's words: "N., I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the…
1241 The anointing with sacred chrism , perfumed oil consecrated by the bishop, signifies the gift of the Holy Spirit to the newly baptized, who…
1242 In the liturgy of the Eastern Churches, the post-baptismal anointing is the sacrament of Chrismation (Confirmation). In the Roman liturgy…
1243 The white garment symbolizes that the person baptized has "put on Christ," has risen with Christ. The candle , lit from the Easter candle,…
1244 First Holy Communion . Having become a child of God clothed with the wedding garment, the neophyte is admitted "to the marriage supper of…
1245 The solemn blessing concludes the celebration of Baptism. At the Baptism of newborns the blessing of the mother occupies a special place.
1246 "Every person not yet baptized and only such a person is able to be baptized."
1247 Since the beginning of the Church, adult Baptism is the common practice where the proclamation of the Gospel is still new. The…
1248 The catechumenate, or formation of catechumens, aims at bringing their conversion and faith to maturity, in response to the divine…
1249 Catechumens "are already joined to the Church, they are already of the household of Christ, and are quite frequently already living a life…
1250 Born with a fallen human nature and tainted by original sin, children also have need of the new birth in Baptism to be freed from the power…
1251 Christian parents will recognize that this practice also accords with their role as nurturers of the life that God has entrusted to them.
1252 The practice of infant Baptism is an immemorial tradition of the Church. There is explicit testimony to this practice from the second…
1253 Baptism is the sacrament of faith. But faith needs the community of believers. It is only within the faith of the Church that each of the…
1254 For all the baptized, children or adults, faith must grow after Baptism. For this reason the Church celebrates each year at the Easter…
1255 For the grace of Baptism to unfold, the parents' help is important. So too is the role of the godfather and godmother , who must be firm…
1256 The ordinary ministers of Baptism are the bishop and priest and, in the Latin Church, also the deacon. In case of necessity, anyone, even a…
1257 The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation. He also commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and…
1258 The Church has always held the firm conviction that those who suffer death for the sake of the faith without having received Baptism are…
1259 For catechumens who die before their Baptism, their explicit desire to receive it, together with repentance for their sins, and charity,…
1260 "Since Christ died for all, and since all men are in fact called to one and the same destiny, which is divine, we must hold that the Holy…
1261 As regards children who have died without Baptism , the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites…
1262 The different effects of Baptism are signified by the perceptible elements of the sacramental rite. Immersion in water symbolizes not only…
1263 By Baptism all sins are forgiven, original sin and all personal sins, as well as all punishment for sin. In those who have been reborn…
1264 Yet certain temporal consequences of sin remain in the baptized, such as suffering, illness, death, and such frailties inherent in life as…
1265 Baptism not only purifies from all sins, but also makes the neophyte "a new creature," an adopted son of God, who has become a "partaker of…
1266 The Most Holy Trinity gives the baptized sanctifying grace, the grace of justification : - enabling them to believe in God, to hope in him,…
1267 Baptism makes us members of the Body of Christ: "Therefore . . . we are members one of another." Baptism incorporates us into the Church .…
1268 The baptized have become "living stones" to be "built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood." By Baptism they share in the…
1269 Having become a member of the Church, the person baptized belongs no longer to himself, but to him who died and rose for us. From now on,…
1270 "Reborn as sons of God, [the baptized] must profess before men the faith they have received from God through the Church" and participate in…
1271 Baptism constitutes the foundation of communion among all Christians, including those who are not yet in full communion with the Catholic…
1272 Incorporated into Christ by Baptism, the person baptized is configured to Christ. Baptism seals the Christian with the indelible spiritual…
1273 Incorporated into the Church by Baptism, the faithful have received the sacramental character that consecrates them for Christian religious…
1274 The Holy Spirit has marked us with the seal of the Lord ("Dominicus character") "for the day of redemption." "Baptism indeed is the seal of…
1275 Christian initiation is accomplished by three sacraments together: Baptism which is the beginning of new life; Confirmation which is its…
1276 "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching…
1277 Baptism is birth into the new life in Christ. In accordance with the Lord's will, it is necessary for salvation, as is the Church herself,…
1278 The essential rite of Baptism consists in immersing the candidate in water or pouring water on his head, while pronouncing the invocation…
1279 The fruit of Baptism, or baptismal grace, is a rich reality that includes forgiveness of original sin and all personal sins, birth into the…
1280 Baptism imprints on the soul an indelible spiritual sign, the character, which consecrates the baptized person for Christian worship.…
1281 Those who die for the faith, those who are catechumens, and all those who, without knowing of the Church but acting under the inspiration…
1282 Since the earliest times, Baptism has been administered to children, for it is a grace and a gift of God that does not presuppose any human…
1283 With respect to children who have died without Baptism, the liturgy of the Church invites us to trust in God's mercy and to pray for their…
1284 In case of necessity, any person can baptize provided that he have the intention of doing that which the Church does and provided that he…
1285 Baptism, the Eucharist, and the sacrament of Confirmation together constitute the "sacraments of Christian initiation," whose unity must be…
1286 In the Old Testament the prophets announced that the Spirit of the Lord would rest on the hoped-for Messiah for his saving mission. The…
1287 This fullness of the Spirit was not to remain uniquely the Messiah's, but was to be communicated to the whole messianic people . On several…
1288 "From that time on the apostles, in fulfillment of Christ's will, imparted to the newly baptized by the laying on of hands the gift of the…
1289 Very early, the better to signify the gift of the Holy Spirit, an anointing with perfumed oil ( chrism ) was added to the laying on of…
1290 In the first centuries Confirmation generally comprised one single celebration with Baptism, forming with it a "double sacrament,"…
1291 A custom of the Roman Church facilitated the development of the Western practice: a double anointing with sacred chrism after Baptism. The…
1292 The practice of the Eastern Churches gives greater emphasis to the unity of Christian initiation. That of the Latin Church more clearly…
1293 In treating the rite of Confirmation, it is fitting to consider the sign of anointing and what it signifies and imprints: a spiritual seal…
1294 Anointing with oil has all these meanings in the sacramental life. The pre-baptismal anointing with the oil of catechumens signifies…
1295 By this anointing the confirmand receives the "mark," the seal of the Holy Spirit. A seal is a symbol of a person, a sign of personal…
1296 Christ himself declared that he was marked with his Father's seal. Christians are also marked with a seal: "It is God who establishes us…
1297 The consecration of the sacred chrism is an important action that precedes the celebration of Confirmation, but is in a certain way a part…
1298 When Confirmation is celebrated separately from Baptism, as is the case in the Roman Rite, the Liturgy of Confirmation begins with the…
1299 In the Roman Rite the bishop extends his hands over the whole group of the confirmands. Since the time of the apostles this gesture has…
1300 The essential rite of the sacrament follows. In the Latin rite, "the sacrament of Confirmation is conferred through the anointing with…

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