Baptism In The Medieval West

As infant baptism became common, the process of catechizing shifted from before to after baptism. In the Western church, the baptismal anointing with oil (chrism) slowly developed into a separate sacrament called confirmation. First Communion was often delayed for a number of years. Scholastic theologians developed theological language to describe the way baptism left its mark on the person baptized.

The patristic form of the catechumenate was in its prime in the third, fourth and fifth centuries. The history of baptism in the early medieval period is a story of its division of the patristic unified structure of initiation into three separate ritual moments of water baptism, confirmation, and first Eucharist. There were a variety of reasons for the decline of the catechumenate. One factor was the mass conversions of the German and Slavic tribes. Since they were largely nomadic tribes, they were not in one place long enough for an extended period of formation. Another reason was the shift toward infant baptism. Since most adults had already been baptized, the majority of baptisms celebrated gradually became infant baptisms. Augustine's teaching and others on original sin prompted an even stronger emphasis on the baptism of infants as soon as possible after birth. Without many adult candidates for initiation, the need for an extended catechumenal preparation disappeared. Catechism now took place after baptism. Parents and godparents were the primary agents of catechizing, although the bishop was responsible to see that they accomplished the task. After the reforms of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215), parish priests increasingly were responsible for catechizing children. In the Western church, the postbaptismal anointing, now called confirmation, became separated from baptism, largely because it was reserved to the bishop. The increasing size of dioceses led to multiple celebrations of the Easter Vigil in different parts of the diocese and made it impossible for the bishop to preside at all the Easter initiations. In the East, a priest administering baptism was allowed to confirm at the same ceremony; but in the West, Pope Innocent I in a letter to Bishop Decentius of Gubbio in 412, insisted that only the bishop could anoint the forehead with chrism. Where the bishop was not present for the Easter Vigil, the anointing was deferred. At first, this deferment would generally happen during Easter Week, but over the centuries, the gap between baptism and anointing widened farther and farther, reaching as much as fourteen years in recent centuries. In the process, confirmation came to be seen as a separate sacrament, its intimate link with baptism obscured by the passage of time. When the bishop was present, however, the integrity of the initiation pattern was preserved in many places at least into the twelfth century. Even though the initiates were usually infants, they were still baptized, confirmed, and given the Eucharist. If the infants were too young to chew the bread, their Communion consisted of the cup alone. After about the twelfth century, the practice of giving Communion to young children disappeared in the West. The reasons for this disappearance were the decreased frequency of Communion and the increased reverence of the body and blood of the Lord, which led to some scrupulous concerns about infants, who might spit up soon after receiving the sacrament. Though exceptions still occurred, the writings of Thomas Aquinas in the thirteenth century clearly indicated that the separation of baptism and confirmation had become common. Priests baptized; while only bishops confirmed. Aquinas defended this new practice on the basis that the church, guided by the Holy Spirit, could adapt its practices as it saw the need. The scholastic theology represented by Thomas Aquinas provided a systematic framework for understanding medieval sacramental practice. Two aspects of scholastic theology that often are misunderstood are the character of the sacraments and the meaning of the phrase ex opere operato. Aquinas explained the character conferred by baptism as a permanent effect of baptism, an effect which establishes a relationship between the believer, Christ, and the worshiping community of faith. Since this relationship is permanent, baptism is not repeatable. The phrase ex opere operato (from the act being performed) has often been understood as a quasi-magical notion of sacrament. Aquinas made it clear, however, that the phrase simply expresses the permanent availability of God's salvation in Christ. If the sacrament is celebrated, then God is present and God's grace is available, even if the minister is unworthy or the sacrament is celebrated poorly. The notion of the ex opere operato nature of the sacramental action is complemented by the ex opere operantis (from the act of the one acting), which involves the interior attitudes and intentions of those celebrating the sacraments. The spiritual effect of the sacraments depends on both dimensions. Thomas Aquinas and other scholastics struggled to develop a theology to explain confirmation as a sacrament separate from baptism. Aquinas spoke of confirmation as a sacrament of spiritual maturity, though it is clear that this maturity is not chronological, since even a confirmed infant is spiritually mature. Aquinas saw confirmation as conferring a fullness that brought baptism to perfection. He also adopted a language of strengthening or combatting from earlier sources to explain confirmation as a conferring of the Holy Spirit's gifts in order to carry on the church's mission. The scholastic theological perspective and the practices upon which it was based continued largely unchanged until the Reformation and the Council of Trent in the sixteenth century.