9. What is baptism of desire?
An earnest wish to receive
baptism, or to do all that God requires for us for our salvation, together with
a perfect contrition, or a perfect love of God.
An ardent desire of baptism, accompanied
with faith in Jesus Christ and true repentance, is with God, like the baptism
of water. In this case, the words of the Blessed Virgin are verified: “The Lord
has filled the hungry with good things.” (Luke i, 35.) He bestows the good
things of heaven upon those who die with the desire of baptism. We read of a
very interesting instance, in confirmation of this truth, is the Annals of
the Propagation of the Faith. It is related by M. Odin, missionary
apostolic, and subsequently, Archbishop of New Orleans, Louisiana: “At some
distance from our establishment of Barrens,” he says, “in Missouri, United States
of America, there was a district inhabited by Protestants or infidels, with the
exception of three or four Catholic families. In 1834 we had the consolation of
baptizing several persons there: thus it was that the Lord was pleased to reward
the kindness with which one of the respectable inhabitants gave us hospitality every
time we journeyed that way. This worthy man, who was not a Catholic, had three
little children, who received with eagerness the instructions we never failed
to give them. The tallest of the sons, only eight years old, especially showed
such a particular relish for the word of God, that he learned by heart the
entire catechism. Evening and morning he addressed his little prayer to the
good God; and if ever his little sister missed that holy exercise, he
reproached her very seriously. Things were at this point when the cholera broke
out in the neighborhood. Then this good little boy said simply to his mother: ‘Mamma,
the cholera is coming here: oh! how glad I should be if the priests from the
seminary came to baptize me! That cruel disease will attack me, I am sure it
will, and I shall die without baptism; then you will be sorry.’ Alas! the poor
child predicted truly: he was one of the first victims of the dreadful plague.
During the short moments of his cruel sufferings he incessantly asked for
baptism, and even with his last sigh he kept repeating: ‘Oh! if any one would
baptize me! My god! must I die without being baptized!’ The mother, thinking
that she could not herself administer the sacrament, although there was evident
necessity, was in the greatest trouble; neither would the child consent to
receive it from the hands of a Protestant minister. At least he died without
having obtained his ardent wish. As soon as I heard of the cholera being in
that part of the country, I hastened thither; but I only reached there some
hours after the child’s funeral. The family was plunged in the greatest
affliction. I consoled them as much as I could, and especially in relation to
the eternal destiny of their poor little one, by explaining to them what the Church
teaches us on the baptism of desire. This consoling doctrine much assuaged
their grief; after giving the other necessary instructions, I baptized the
mother and the two young children, and some days after, the father failed not
to follow the example of his family.” (“Catholic Anecdotes,” p. 547.)
Although it be true that the
fathers of the Church have believed and taught that the baptism of desire may
supply the baptism of water, yet this doctrine, as St. Augustine observes,
should not make any one delay ordinary baptism when he is able to receive it;
for, such a delay of baptism is always attended with great danger of salvation.
10. What is the baptism of blood?
Martyrdom for the sake of Christ.
There is still another case in
which a person may be justified and saved without having actually received the
sacrament of baptism, viz.: the case of a person suffering martyrdom for the
faith before he has been able to receive baptism. Martyrdom for the true faith
has always been held by the Church to supply the sacrament of baptism. Hence,
in the case of martyrdom, a person has always been said to be baptized in his
own blood. Our divine Saviour assures us that “whosoever shall lose his life
for his sake and the gospel, shall save it.” (Mark viii, 35).) He, therefore,
who dies for Jesus Christ, and for the sake of his religion, obtains a full
remission of all his sins, and is immediately after death admitted into
heaven.
St. Emerentiana, while preparing
to receive baptism, went to pray at the tomb of St. Agnes. While praying there,
she was stoned to death by the heathens. Her parents were greatly afflicted,
and almost inconsolable, when they learned that their daughter had died without
having received baptism. To console her parents, God permitted Emerentiana to
appear to them in her heavenly glory, and to tell them not to be any longer afflicted
on account of her salvation, “for,” said she, “I am in heaven with Jesus, my
dear Saviour, whom I loved with my whole heart, when living on earth.” (her
Life, 23d Jan.)
St. Genesius of Arles is also
honored as a saint, because, for refusing to subscribe to a persecuting edict
of Maximillian, he was put to death, though, at that time, he had not been
baptized. (Michael Müller, God the Teacher of Mankind: A Plain,
Comprehensive Explanation of Christian Doctrine. Grace and the Sacraments:
Baptism, Confirmation, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders and Matrimony [New
York: Benziger Brothers, 1882], 219-22)