The Sacrament of Baptism is the foundation of Christian life, the entrance to the life in the Spirit and access to the other Sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from original sin, become heirs to the Kingdom of God, are incorporated into the Church and become sharers in the Mission of the Church. [Catechism of the Catholic Church 1994 Reference: 1213]

In the early days of space travel, rockets were boosted into orbit in three stages.  Each stage made an important contribution to the orbiting process.  This space-age image might be used to illustrate the rite of becoming a Christian. 

It involves three stages:

• Baptism,

• Confirmation, and the

• Eucharist.

These three stages are called the Sacraments of Initiation.  We should not think of them as three separate ceremonies, but as one ceremony having three separate stages.  All three are needed to boost a person into Christian orbit.

The following imagery scene illustrates how the early Church celebrated the Sacraments of Initiation in a single ceremony of three stages.

The first stage begins with each candidate renouncing Satan and evil.  Next, a deacon accompanies each one down into the pool.  The presbyter asks each candidate, "Do you believe in God the Father?  In God the Son"  In God the Holy Spirit?"

To each question, the candidate responds, "I do believe."  After each response the candidate is plunged into the pool.  The presbyter concludes by saying something similar to the following:
 

When all candidates are baptized, they go into a large room for the second stage of the initiation process.  The bishop calls each candidate by name, lays hands on them, and prays that they may be worthy to receive the Holy Spirit.  Then he anoints them with oil, embraces them, and admits them into the Christian community.

The last stage begins with singing and a procession of people carrying loaves of bread and cups of wine.  These are placed on a table in the center if the room and made ready for the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

Then the bishop prays over them, as Jesus did at the Last Supper.  The presbyter and the deacons distribute the loaves and the wine (now the Body and Blood of Christ) to the whole community, including the newly baptized.

As the Church grew, the bishop could not preside over every Easter Vigil in Rome.  Since he wanted to stay involved in the initiation of each Christian, he reserved to himself the confirmation rite of the newly baptized at a later time that fit his schedule.  And so the confirmation stage became detached from the initiation ceremony.

As the Church grew even more, another change took place.  Many new members were the infants of existing members.  This led to the practice of introducing the infants to the first stage but postponing the last two stages until the infant reached the age of reason (ccc, 1250-1252).

This situation prevailed until modern times, when the Church restored the initiation ceremony for adults to its original integrity (ccc, 1247-1249).

Let us now take a closer look at how the Sacraments of Initiation are celebrated today during the Easter Vigil service.  We begin with the first stage: Baptism.

Anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl suggested that ancient South Americans came from Polynesia.  To prove his point, he made the trip between the two places by raft.  Surprisingly, Thor once had a deathly fear of water. How could he cross four thousand miles of ocean on a tiny raft?

Something happened to Thor to remove his fear.  While on military maneuvers during World War II, his canoe capsized near a waterfall.  As he was being carried toward the falls, he began to pray.  A burst of energy surged through him and he made it to shore, just as the falls was ready to swallow him.  That experience transformed Thor.  In the waters of that river, the old, fearful Thor died and a new, courageous Thor was born.  The waters of that river were an agent of death and an agent of birth, or new life. 

This story leads us to a prominent biblical theme: water as a symbolic agent of death and of birth.  We see it in Israel's crossing of the Red Sea and the Jordan River.  Both crossings serve as symbols of death (to an old life) and of birth (to a new life) (ccc, 1218-1222).

This symbolism continues in New Testament times and is extended to Christian baptism.  Thus, Saint Paul writes in Colossians 2:12: "When you were baptized, you were buried with Christ and in baptism you were also raised with Christ."

This explains why early Christians viewed the baptismal font as a tomb in which they were buried to their old life of sin and a womb from which they were reborn to a new life in Christ.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church says:

The liturgy of Baptism takes place immediately after the Liturgy of the Word in the Easter Vigil service.  For simplicity's sake, we may divide it into three steps:

• presentation of the candidates,

• profession of faith, and

• reception of Baptism.

The liturgy of Baptism begins with the candidates being called forward with their godparents and being presented to the community.  This highly personal moment recalls God's call to Jeremiah to be a prophet.  God said:
 

As God called Jeremiah into existence, so God called each one of us.  It is this mysterious calling that we celebrate in this opening moment of the liturgy.

The call and the presentation are followed by the praying of the Litany of the Saints over the candidates.  It is a beautiful prayer that goes back to the early days of Christianity.  It concludes by asking God to "give new life to these chosen ones" about to be baptized.

After the Litany of Saints, the celebrant blesses the water to be used in baptizing the candidates.  He concludes, praying to the Father:
 

Then the celebrant calls upon the candidates to profess the faith into which they are to be baptized.  He begins by charging the candidates to "refuse to be mastered by sin" and to "reject Satan, father of sin and prince of darkness."

The solemn profession of faith charges the candidates to affirm their belief in the Father, in the Son, and in the Holy Spirit.  The most sacred moment of the ceremony now arrives.

Each candidate approaches the baptismal font individually.  The celebrant bathes each one in water three times, saying:
 

Next the celebrant anoints the newly baptized with holy oil, saying:

The godparents then dress the newly baptized in a baptismal garment as the celebrant prays.

The garment symbolizes that the newly baptized is now clothed in Christ.  Saint Paul writes:

The Baptism concludes with the godparents lighting a small baptismal candle from the large Easter candle (symbol of Christ) and handing it to the newly baptized.  As they do, the celebrant says:

Roberta & Steve received the Sacraments of Initiation during the Easter Vigil - 2002.

Their "Witness Presentations" and other photos are accessible via this link.

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One final, practical point.  The symbolism of water in Baptism explains why we bless ourselves with water upon entering a Church.  It reminds us that we entered the Church for the first time through the waters of baptism and serves as a renewal of our baptismal vows.

The tradition of godparents in the Sacrament of Baptism originates with the early Church. It was normally adults who were Baptized during that time; the Baptism of infants was rare until after the fourth century. Traditionally, an adult wishing to become a Christian would approach the local Christian community and request membership.  The community would then appoint a member of their group to journey with the person seeking membership. This "member" would help the "seeker" along the way and report on his or her readiness to the community and is the same process followed today in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA); however, the adult seeker's helper is called a "sponsor" rather than a "godparent" or "member".
 

• The Church requires only one godparent or sponsor for Baptism, whether the person to be Baptized is an infant or adult. [Code of Canon Law, canons 872-874]
   

• The godparent must be a fully initiated Catholic, having received the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. They must also be at least 16 years of age; and must be a good, practicing Catholic.
   

• Since the primary role of godparents is to assist parents "in their duty as Christian mothers and fathers", where two godparents are selected, they must be a man and a woman, so as to imitate the image of father and mother.
   

• The principle responsibility of a godparent is to give witness to the Christian faith by their lives, not, as is often thought, to take over for parents if something happens to them. The role of godparent obligates one to a sacred responsibility for the whole of one's life.
   

• For the Sacrament of Baptism, individuals Baptized in and members of other non-Catholic Christian traditions cannot serve as godparents, but may be recognized as "Christian witnesses" to a Baptism.
   

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