Congratulations and welcome to the Catholic Church and your continued faith journey toward Heaven. During your RCIA initiation, you no doubt learned that the Sacraments are “efficacious signs of Grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us” (CCC 1131). According to French theologian, Jean Danielou, S.J., the rites of the Church were intended to transmit the grace of the Sacraments and, importantly, “to instruct the faithful in their meaning and in the meaning of the whole Christian life” (Danielou, The Bible and the Liturgy, vii).
In the early church, Sacraments were thought of as, “the essential events of Christian existence and of existence itself, as being the prolongation of the great works of the Old Testament and the New” (Danielou 17). The sacramental preparatory process was a lengthy and rigorous one, whereby the catechumen (who was usually and adult) demonstrated worthiness to receive the sacraments and consecrate himself to Christ (34).
However, over time, some of the richness of the sacraments has been lost, due to a lack of understanding of the significance of sacramental signs (Danielou, 3). Today I will focus on the meaning of rites and signs in the sacraments of initiation: Baptism, Confirmation, and the Holy Eucharist, how they relate to salvation history, and their importance in providing a deeper meaning of for our sacramental life today.
Biblical symbolism constitutes, “the primitive foundation which gives us the true significance of the sacraments in their original institution” (Danielou 7). Typography is the study of how past events foreshadow future ones. When you explore the rich symbolism found in sacramental rites you will discover connections to both the Old and New Testaments, dating back to Creation. It is not the past events themselves but their anticipation of new and future events of greater magnitude which are important. The more you look at typology as it relates to the bible, liturgy, and the sacraments, the more you can glimpse at God’s awesome plan of Salvation.
Genesis begins with God’s creation of the world and everything in it, which was deemed good. Sin entered the world because our first parents, Adam and Eve, chose to turn away from God and were tempted by the devil, who promised them god-like power. As a result of this Original Sin, God banished Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden and life for them became a struggle. The struggle with mankind still exists today. Importantly and throughout history, God has called us and continues to call us back into relationship with Him.
In Genesis 3:15 we get our first glimpse of God’s promise of a Redeemer, who will “strike at your [the devil’s] head, while you [the devil] strike at his heel”. The bible notes suggest that this is a foreshadowing of the Resurrection of Jesus, who will defeat the devil once and for all. How, then, does this story relate to the Sacraments today? By studying the sacramental rites and symbolism practiced during the first centuries of the church, we can better understand salvation history and the importance of the sacraments in our faith journey today.
Baptism
In the early church, Baptismal preparation began at the opening of Lent and lasted for 40 days. Its purpose was to renounce Satan and its control over the catechumen, and to ensure the purity of the candidate’s motives. This process mirrors Christ’s journey into desert for 40 days when He fasted and was unsuccessfully tempted by the Devil (19). It also recalls the 40 years of wandering in the desert by the Israelites due to their idolatry worship (Numbers 14:34).
Once deemed worthy to receive Baptism, the candidate stood outside the baptistry, where he was stripped naked and anointed with oil. The stripping of clothing symbolized the removal of the powers of sin and the dominion they had over the candidate (38). This action recalls the nakedness of Christ on the cross, “who, in his nakedness despoiled the principalities of power and fearlessly triumphed over them on the cross” (38). After being stripped, the catechumen was anointed with oil, making him a partaker in the true olive tree-Jesus Christ. As a strengthening agent, the oil was also intended to keep the candidate strong against the temptation of evil (40). Next came the Baptism itself.
Most people associate water with the baptism. Water cleanses, water purifies. But water also destroys. The use of water in baptism symbolizes both. The waters of Baptism were first sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Then the candidate was plunged three times into the water to signify the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ (43).
Water as a sign of life is evident in the Creation story as well as in the saving graces that God provided when He miraculously parted the Red Sea, so Moses and his followers could cross to safety (Exodus 14:19-22). But water also destroys as we saw when God allowed the Red Sea waters to flow back following Moses’ crossing, which drowned the Egyptians who were pursuing them (Exodus 14: 23-31). During the Great Deluge, God punished the wicked with a flood which destroyed the entire world except for Noah and his family (Genesis 7-9).
After the plunging in water, the candidate was clothed in white garments, signifying baptismal grace. These white garments also have an eschatological meaning, as they signify the glory in which the martyrs were clothed after they died. White is the color of salvation. This tradition of wearing white for baptism is carried on today (52).
The Sphragis
The sphragis is the sign of the cross which was placed on the forehead of the baptismal candidate during the ceremony. Historically, the word, sphragis, was used to indicate a permanent mark; shepherds used one to mark their sheep and the Romans tattooed members of their army. The Christian sphragis was considered both a sign of belonging and a sign of protection against evil for the baptismal candidate The sign of the cross continues to be a sign of protection for Christians.
Confirmation
The distinction between Baptism and Confirmation is not as apparent in the early centuries of Christianity as it is today. In Baptism, the candidate is configured to Christ whereas the Confirmation candidate is configured to the Holy Spirit (118). When the Confirmant was anointed with the muran, a holy ointment, it was believed that Confirmation perfected Baptism. Importantly, the confirmant received the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom and understanding, counsel and fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.
The Eucharist
The animal sacrifices of the old covenants made between God and the Israelites were replaced with Christ, the new and everlasting covenant. The Eucharist was the final initiation sacrament the candidate received. The Eucharistic is seen as both a sacramental representation of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and as sacramental participation in the heavenly liturgy.
As a sacramental representation of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, the Eucharist replicates the Last Supper, the night before His Passion. As sacramental participation in the heavenly liturgy, the Eucharist is the figure of Christ perpetually offering Himself to the Father in the heavenly sanctuary (131). This is known as anamnesis; to make past events present now (137). The altar represents the cross. The bread and wine become Christ’s body and blood during the consecration, when heaven and earth are united. Christ is the Pascal Lamb, who created the new and everlasting covenant between God and his people. During the consecration, The Holy Spirit transforms the bread and wine into Christ’s body and blood, and are reminiscent of the wine and bread offered by the high priest Melchizedek in the Old Testament (143). Christ said, “I am the bread of life that came down from heaven and whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood will have eternal life” (Jn 6: 48-55). As God nourished the Israelites with manna during the Exodus, those who partake in Holy Communion are nourished in Christ.
“The Word became flesh to make us “partakers in the divine nature”. For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word, and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God. For the Son of God became man so that we might become God. The only begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in His divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods (CCC 460).
I hope you now have a better understanding of the meaning of the signs and rites of the sacraments and how they tie to our biblical history. And, in receiving the sacraments and all the grace they provide, we the Body of Christ can conform ourselves more closely to Christ and become participants in salvation history, which will lead us to heaven.
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