Bowler,
I believe what the Church teaches. Here is an excerpt from an important Catholic textbook. It seems to explain how far the Church will go on those particular subjects:
on martyrdom:
"The theological concept of martyrdom (greek{m'artus}, a
witness) includes three separate and distinct elements, viz.:
(1) Violent death or extremely cruel treatment which would naturally
cause death, irrespective of whether the victim actually dies or is
saved by a miracle, as was St. John the Evangelist when he escaped
unharmed from the cauldron of boiling oil into which he had been thrown
by order of the Emperor Domitian. (2) The endurance of death or violence
for the sake of Christ, i.e. for the Catholic faith or for the
practice of any supernatural virtue. Hence the so-called ``martyrs'' of
revolution or heresy are not martyrs in the theological sense of the
term. (3) Patient suffering, endured voluntarily and without resistance.
This excludes soldiers who fall in battle, even though they fight in
defence of the faith.[39]"
- see below for the whole text plus footnotes
On implicit or explicit desire: see most of what is found below. The footnotes are quite important.
(This book can also be found online)
______________________________________________________________________________
chapter from Pohle/Preuss, The Sacraments, Vol. I:
CHAPTER II
THE NECESSITY OF BAPTISM
Baptism is necessary for salvation, but, under certain conditions, the
place of Baptism by water (baptismus fluminis) may be supplied by
Baptism of desire (baptismus flaminis) or by Baptism of blood
(baptismus sanguinis). We shall explain the Catholic teaching on
this point in three theses.
Thesis I: Baptism is necessary for salvation.
This proposition embodies an article of faith.
Proof. We have, in a previous treatise,[1] distinguised between two
kinds of necessity: necessity of means (necessitas medii) and
necessity of precept (necessitas praecepti).
Since Baptism is necessary for infants no less than for adults,
it follows that all men need it as a means of salvation (necessitas
medii), and that for adults it is also of precept (necessitas
praecepti). However, since the Baptism of water may sometimes be
supplied by the Baptism of desire or the Baptism of blood, Baptism of
water is not absolutely necessary as a means of salvation but merely in
a hypothetical way. That Baptism is necessary for salvation is an
expressly defined dogma, for the Council of Trent declares: ``If any one
saith that Baptism is free, that is, not necessary unto salvation, let
him be anathema.''[2]
a) This can be conclusively proved from Holy Scripture. Our Lord's
command: ``Teach ye all nations, baptizing them,''[3] plainly imposes on
all men the duty to receive Baptism, as is evidenced by a parallel
passage in St. Mark: ``Go ye into the whole world, and preach the Gospel
to every creature; he that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved:
but he that believeth not shall be condemned.''[4] Here we have Christ's
plain and express declaration that while unbelief is sufficient to incur
damnation, faith does not ensure salvation unless it is accompanied by
Baptism.
That Baptism is necessary as a means of salvation (necessitate
medii) follows from John III, 5: ``Unless a man be born again[5] of
water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.''
Spiritual regeneration is more than a mere keeping of the Commandments;
it involves a complete transformation of the soul. As no one can come
into this world without being born, so no one can enter Heaven unless he
is supernaturally reborn. Hence Baptism is, ordinarily, a necessary
means of salvation.[6]
b) This teaching is upheld by Tradition.
The African bishops assembled at the Council of Carthage (416),
in a letter to Innocent I, complain of the cruelty of the Pelagians, who
condemn their children to eternal death by refusing them Baptism.[7]
Tertullian writes: ``The precept is laid down that without Baptism
salvation is attainable by none, chiefly on the ground of that
declaration of the Lord, who says: Unless a man be born of water, he
hath not eternal life.''[8]
St. Basil, at a somewhat later date, says: ``If you have not passed
through the water, you will not be freed from the cruel tyranny of the
devil.''[9]
This belief of the primitive Church was embodied, as it were, in the
catechumenate, an institution which lasted well into the Middle Ages.
``Catechumeni''[10] was a name applied to adults who were under
instruction with a view to receiving Baptism. Until recently they were
believed to have been divided into three classes, viz.:
audientes (greek{>akro'wmenoi}; genuflectentes
(greek{g'onu kl'inontes}); and competentes
(greek{futiz'omenoi}). This theory was based upon a misunderstood canon
of a council of Neocaesarea (between 314 and 325). Other theologians
thought that there were two classes, catechumeni and
competentes or electi. But this distinction is equally
untenable, because St. Cyril of Jerusalem and other Fathers number the
competentes, or candidates for Baptism, among the faithful
(fideles, greek{pisto'i}). To the late Professor Funk belongs
the credit of having shown that the catechumens were all in one
class.[11] But even though we now discard the three (or two) stages of
preparation, this does not alter the fact that the ecclesiastical
authorities were at great pains properly to instruct converts, so as to
make them well-informed and loyal Catholics. The catechumens had to pass
seven consecutive examinations (septem scrutinia) before they
were admitted to Baptism. Besides, for a whole week after Baptism they
wore white garments, which they put off on Low Sunday (Dominica in
albis, scil. deponendis). Had not the Church been so firmly convinced
of the importance and necessity of Baptism, she would certainly not have
surrounded this Sacrament with so many imposing ceremonies nor spent so
much time and labor in preparing candidates for its reception. The very
existence of the catechumenate in the primitive Church proves that
Baptism was always regarded as a matter of spiritual life and
death.[12]
c) It is a moot question among theologians at what time Baptism became a
necessary means of salvation.
Even if it were true, as some older writers hold, that express
belief in the Messias and the Trinity was a necessary condition of
salvation already in the Old Testament, Baptism certainly was not,
either as a means or in consequence of a positive precept.[13] For those
living under the New Law the necessity of Baptism, according to the
Tridentine Council,[14] began with ``the promulgation of the Gospel.''
When was the Gospel promulgated? Was it promulgated for all nations on
the day of our Lord's Ascension, or did its precepts go into effect only
when they were actually preached to each? Were we to adopt the latter
assumption, we should have to admit that the necessity of Baptism, and
consequently the duty of receiving the Sacrament, was limited both with
regard to time and place, e.g. that the law did not go into
effect in Palestine until the Gospel had been sufficiently promulgated
throughout that country, which required some thirty years or more. To be
entirely consistent we should have to admit further that Baptism did not
become necessary for salvation in the farther parts of the Roman Empire
until about the close of the third century, in the Western hemisphere
until the sixteenth century, in Central Africa or the Congo Free State
until the beginning of the twentieth. This would practically mean that
millions of pagans after the time of Christ were in precisely the same
position as the entire human race before the atonement, and that their
children could be saved by a mere ``Sacrament of nature.''[15] Though
this way of reasoning appears quite legitimate in the light of the
Tridentine declaration, it is open to serious theological objections. In
the first place, we must not arbitrarily limit the validity of our
Saviour's baptismal mandate. Secondly, we cannot assume that for more
than a thousand years the children of pagan nations were better off in
the matter of salvation than innumerable infants of Christian parentage,
who were unable to avail themselves of the ``Sacrament of nature.''
Third, the assumption under review practically renders illusory the
necessity of Baptism through a period extending over many centuries. To
obviate these difficulties we prefer the more probable opinion that the
law making Baptism necessary for salvation was promulgated on Ascension
day or, if you will, on Pentecost, simultaneously for the whole world,
and at once became binding upon all nations.[16]
Thesis II: In adults the place of Baptism by water can be supplied in
case of urgent necessity by the so-called Baptism of desire.
This proposition may be qualified as ``doctrina catholica.''
Proof. The Baptism of desire (baptismus flaminis) differs from the
Baptism of water (baptismus fluminis) in the same way in which
spiritual differs from actual Communion. If the desire for Baptism is
accompanied by perfect contrition, we have the so-called boptismus
flaminis, which forthwith justifies the sinner, provided, of course,
that the desire is a true votum sacramenti, i.e., that it
implies a firm resolve to receive the Sacrament as soon as opportunity
offers.
The Tridentine Council pronounces anathema against those who assert
``that the Sacraments of the New Law are not necessary for salvation,
but superfluous, and that without them, or without the desire thereof,
men obtain of God through faith alone the grace of justification.''[17]
At a later date the Holy See formally condemned a proposition
extracted from the writings of Bajus, which says that ``Perfect and
sincere charity can exist both in catechumens and in penitents without
the remission of sins.''[18] Hence the Church teaches that perfect
charity does remit sin, even in catechumens or in penitents, i.e.
before the reception of the Sacrament, yet not without the Sacrament, as
we have seen in Thesis I. Nothing remains, therefore, but to say that
the remission of sins through perfect charity is due to the fact that
such charity implies the desire of the Sacrament. Indeed the only
Sacraments here concerned are Baptism and Penance. The Council of Trent
[19] explains that primal justification (from original sin) is
impossible without the laver of regeneration or the desire thereof, and
[20] that forgiveness of personal sin must not be expected from perfect
charity without at least the desire of the Sacrament of Penance.
a) That perfect contrition effects immediate justification is apparent
from the case of David,[21] that of Zachaeus,[22] and our Lord's own
words to one of the robbers crucified with Him on Calvary: ``This day
thou shalt be with me in paradise.''[23]
The Prophet Ezechiel assured the Old Testament Jews in the name
of Jehovah: ``If the wicked do penance for all his sins, ... he shall
live, and shall not die.''[24] In the New Testament our Lord Himself
says of the penitent Magdalen: ``Many sins are forgiven her, because she
hath loved much.''[25] Since, however, God has ordained Baptism as a
necessary means of salvation,[26] perfect contrition, in order to obtain
forgiveness of sins, must include the desire of the Sacrament. Cfr. John
XIV, 23: ``If any one love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will
love him, and we will come to him, and will make our abode with
him.''[27]
b) According to primitive Tradition, the Baptism of desire, when based
on charity, effects justification, though not without some ideal
relation to the Baptism of water.
The anonymous author of the treatise De Rebaptismate,
which was composed about 256 against the practice championed by St.
Cyprian,[28] calls attention to the fact that the centurion Cornelius
and his family were justified without the Sacrament,[29] and adds: ``No
doubt men can be baptized without water, in the Holy Ghost, as you
observe that these were baptized, before they were baptized with water,
... since they received the grace of the New Covenant before the bath,
which they reached later.''[30]
The most striking Patristic pronouncement on the subject is found in St.
Ambrose's sermon on the death of the Emperor Valentinian II, who had
died as a catechumen. ``I hear you express grief,'' he says, ``because
he [Valentinian] did not receive the Sacrament of Baptism. Tell me, what
else is there in us except the will and petition? But he had long
desired to be initiated before he came to Italy, and expressed his
intention to be baptized by me as soon as possible, and it was for this
reason, more than for any other, that he hastened to me. Has he not,
therefore, the grace which he desired? Has he not received that for
which he asked? Surely, he received [it] because he asked [for
it].''[31]
St. Augustine repeatedly speaks of the power inherent in the desire for
Baptism. ``I do not hesitate,'' he says in his treatise De
Baptisma against the Donatists, ``to place the Catholic catechumen,
who is burning with the love of God, before the baptized heretic.... The
centurion Cornelius, before Baptism, was better than Simon [Magus], who
had been baptized. For Cornelius, even before Baptism, was filled with
the Holy Ghost, while Simon, after Baptism, was puffed up with an
unclean spirit.''[32] A seemingly contradictory passage occurs in the
same author's Homilies on the Gospel of St. John. ``No matter what
progress a catechumen may make,'' it reads, ``he still carries the
burden of iniquity, which is not taken away until he has been
baptized.''[33] The two Augustinian passages quoted can, however, be
easily reconciled. The command to receive the Baptism of water exists
also for the catechumens and ceases to be binding only when there is an
impossibility. ``I find,'' says the same author, ``that not only
martyrdom for the sake of Christ may supply what was wanting of Baptism,
but also faith and conversion of heart, if recourse can not be had to
the celebration of the mystery of Baptism for want of time.''[34] St.
Bernard invokes the authority of SS. Ambrose and Augustine in support of
his teaching that a man may be saved by the Baptism of desire if death
or some other insuperable obstacle prevents him from receiving the
Baptism of water.[35] The Popes decided many practical cases of
conscience by this rule. Thus Innocent III unhesitatingly declared that
a certain deceased priest, who had never been baptized, had undoubtedly
obtained forgiveness of original sin and reached Heaven, and that the
sacrifice of the Mass might be offered up for the repose of his
soul.[36]
The question whether the votum baptismi accompanying perfect
contrition must be explicit, is to be decided in the same way as the
parallel problem whether pagans, in order to be justified, must have an
express belief in the Trinity and the Incarnation, or whether an
implicit belief in these mysteries is sufficient.[37] The more common
opinion holds that the votum implicitum is all that is required.
This ``implicit desire'' may be defined as ``a state of mind in which a
man would ardently long for Baptism if he knew that it is necessary for
salvation.''[38]
Thesis III: Martyrdom (baptismus sanguinis) can also supply the place
of Baptism.
Though the Church has never formally pronounced on the subject, the
teaching of Scripture and Tradition is sufficiently clear to enable us
to regard this thesis as ``doctrina certa.''
Proof. The Baptism of blood, or martyrdom, is the patient endurance of
death, or of extreme violence apt to cause death, for the sake of Jesus
Christ.
The theological concept of martyrdom (greek{m'artus}, a
witness) includes three separate and distinct elements, viz.:
(1) Violent death or extremely cruel treatment which would naturally
cause death, irrespective of whether the victim actually dies or is
saved by a miracle, as was St. John the Evangelist when he escaped
unharmed from the cauldron of boiling oil into which he had been thrown
by order of the Emperor Domitian. (2) The endurance of death or violence
for the sake of Christ, i.e. for the Catholic faith or for the
practice of any supernatural virtue. Hence the so-called ``martyrs'' of
revolution or heresy are not martyrs in the theological sense of the
term. (3) Patient suffering, endured voluntarily and without resistance.
This excludes soldiers who fall in battle, even though they fight in
defence of the faith.[39]
Since martyrdom effects justification in infants as well as adults, its
efficacy must be conceived after the manner of an opus operatum,
and in adults presupposes a moral preparation or disposition, consisting
mainly of faith accompanied by imperfect contrition.[40] It does not,
however, require perfect contrition, else there would be no essential
distinction between Baptism of blood and Baptism of desire.[41]
a) The supernatural efficacy of martyrdom may be deduced from our Lord's
declaration in the Gospel of St. Matthew: ``Every one that shall confess
me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in
Heaven,''[42] and: ``He that findeth his life, shall lose it; and he
that shall lose his life for me, shall find it.''[43] If a man gives up
his life for Jesus, he will surely be rewarded. ``Greater love than this
no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends.''[44]
Consequently, martyrdom must be regarded as equivalent to Baptism for
the unbaptized, and as a means of justification for the baptized.
b) The ancient Church explicitly interpreted Christ's teaching in this
sense, as is evident from the honors she paid to the martyrs.
Tertullian says: ``We have, indeed, likewise a second font,
itself one [with the former], of blood to wit.... This is the Baptism
which both stands in lieu of the fontal bathing when that has not been
received, and restores it when lost.''[45] St. Cyprian declares that the
catechumens who suffer martyrdom for Christ's sake, go to Heaven. ``Let
them know ... that the catechumens are not deprived of Baptism, since
they are baptized with the most glorious and supreme Baptism of
blood.''[46] St. Augustine expresses himself in a similar manner: ``To
all those who die confessing Christ, even though they have not received
the laver of regeneration, [martyrdom] will prove as effective for the
remission of sins as if they were washed in the baptismal font.''[47]
The Greek Church held the same belief. St. Cyril of Jerusalem writes:
``If a man does not receive Baptism, he hath not salvation, the martyrs
alone excepted, who attain to Heaven without water.''[48] And St.
Chrysostom: ``As those baptized in water, so also those who suffer
martyrdom, are washed clean, [the latter] in their own blood.''[49]
The primitive Church venerated in a special manner all those who
suffered martyrdom for the faith, the unbaptized as well as the
baptized. Among the earliest martyrs to whom public honors were paid,
are St. Emerentiana, a foster-sister of St. Agnes, and the Holy
Innocents, of whom St. Cyprian, following St. Irenaeus,[50] says that
though they were too young to fight for Christ, they were old enough to
gain the crown of martyrdom.[51]
c) The Baptism of blood is more perfect than the Baptism of desire, and,
in a certain sense, even excels Baptism by water.
$alpha$) It is more perfect than the Baptism of desire, both
in essence and effect, because it justifies infants as well as adults
quasi ex opere operato, whereas the Baptism of desire is
efficacious ex opera operantis, and in adults only. Martyrdom,
however, is not a Sacrament because it is no ecclesiastical rite and has
not been instituted as an ordinary means of grace. It is superior to the
Baptism of desire in this respect, that, like ordinary Baptism, it not
only forgives sins and sanctifies the sinner, but remits all temporal
punishments. St. Augustine says: ``It would be an affront to pray for a
martyr; we should [rather] commend ourselves to his prayers.''[52] Hence
the famous dictum of Pope Innocent III: ``He who prays for a martyr
insults him.''[53] St. Thomas teaches: ``Suffering endured for Christ's
sake ... cleanses [the soul] of all guilt, both venial and mortal,
unless the will be found actually attached to sin.''[54]
$beta$) Martyrdom is inferior to Baptism in so far as it is not a
Sacrament, and consequently neither imprints a character nor confers the
right of receiving the other Sacraments. It excels Baptism in that it
not only remits all sins, together with the temporal punishments due to
them, but likewise confers the so-called aureole.[55] It is superior to
Baptism also in this that it more perfectly represents the passion and
death of Christ. Cfr. Mark X, 38: ``Can you drink of the chalice that I
drink of, or be baptized with the baptism wherewith I am
baptized?''----``Let him who is deemed worthy of martyrdom,'' say the
Apostolic Constitutions,[56] ``rejoice in the Lord for obtaining such a
great crown.... Though he be a catechumen, let him depart without
sadness; for the suffering he endures for Christ will be to him more
effective than Baptism.''[57] St. Bonaventure explains this as follows:
``The reason why [martyrdom] has greater efficacy is that in the Baptism
of blood there is an ampler and a fuller imitation and profession of the
Passion of Christ than in the Baptism of water.... In the Baptism of
water death is signified; in the Baptism of blood it is incurred.[58]
[1] Pohle-Preuss, Grace, Actual and Habitual, pp. 281 sqq.
[2] Sess. VII, De Bapt., can. 5: ``Si quis dixerit, baptismum
liberum esse, hoc est non necessarium ad salutem, anathema sit.
(Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 861)
[3] Matth. XXVIII, 19.
[4] Mark XVI, 15 sq.
[5] greek{>e`an tis gennhq~|h}.
[6] V. Theses II and III, infra.
[7] ``Parvulos etiam baptizandos negant ac sic eos mortifera ista
doctrina in aeternum necant.''
[8] De Bapt., c. 12: ``[1]Praescrebitur nemini sine baptismo
competere salutem et ex illa maxime pronuntiatione Domini, qui ait: Nisi
natus quis ex aquq fuerit, non habet vitam aeternam.[/i]''
[9] Hom. in Bapt., n. 2.---Cfr. A. Seitz, Die
Heilsnotwendigkeit der Kirche nach der altchristlichen Literatur biz zur
Zeit des hl. Augustinus, pp. 280 sqq., Freiburg 1903. On Infant
Baptism, v. infra, Ch. IV, Sect. 2, pp. 268 sqq.
[10] greek{Kathco'umenoi}, from greek{kathce~in}, to instruct orally.
On the catechumenate see T. B. Scannell, s.v. ``Catechumen,'' in
Vol. III of the Catholic Encyclopedia.
[11]F. X. Funk, Kirchengeschichtliche Abhandlungen und
Untersuchungen, Vol. I, pp. 209 sqq., Paderborn 1897.
[12] Cfr. J. Mayer, Geschichte des Katechumenates und der Katechese
in den ersten sechs Jahrhunderten, Kempten 1868; P. Gobel,
Geschichte der Katechese im Abendlande vom Verfalle des
Katechumenates bis zum Ende des Mittelalters, Kempten 1880; T. B.
Scarmell in the Catholic Encyclopedia, l.c.
[13] On the justification of adults and children under the Old Testament
and among the pre·Christian Gentiles, v. supra, p. 19 sqq.
[14] Sess. VI, cap. 4: ``... quae quidem translatio [i.e.
iustificatio] post Evangelium promulgatum sine lavacro
regenerationis aut eius votu fieri non potest.''
(Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 796).
[15] V. supra, p. 18 sqq.
[16] Cfr. Bellarmine, De Bapt., 5; Billuart, De Bapt.,
dissert. 1, art. 2, S{} 2. H. Hurter holds a different opinion
(Compendium Theol. Dogmat., Vol. III, 12th ed., n. 317, Innsbruck
1909).
[17] Sess. VII, De Sacram., can. 4: ``Si quis dixerit,
sacramenta Novae Legis non esse ad salutem necessaria, sed superflua, et
sine eis aut eorum veto per solam fidem homines a Deo gratiam
justificationis adipisci, ... anathema sit.'' (Denzinger-Bannwart,
n. 847).
[18] Prop. 31: ``Caritas perfecta et sincera ... tam in catechumenis
quam in poenitentibus potest esse sine remissione peccatarum.''
(Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 1031).
[19] Sess. VI, cap. 4. (Note 14, p. 242, supra).
[20] Sess. XIV, cap. 4. Cfr. the dogmatic treatise on the Sacrament of
Penance.
[21] Cfr. Ps. 50.
[22] Cfr. Luke XIX, 9.
[23] Luke XXIII, 43.
[24] Ez. XVIII, 21: ``Si autem impius egerit poenitentiam ab omnibbus
peccatis suis, ... vit^a vivet non morietur.''
[25] Luc. VII, 47: ``Remittuntur peccata multa, qoaniam dilexit
multum.''
[26] V. supra, Thesis I.
[27] Other Scriptural texts in our treatise on the Sacrament of Penance.
[28] This treatise was perhaps written by Bishop Ursinus (cfr. Gennad.,
De Vir. Illustr., c. 27).
[29] Acts X. 44 sqq.
[30] ``Atque hoc non erit dubium, in Spiritu Sancto homines posse
sine aqua baptizari, sicut animadvertis baptizatos hos, prius aqu^a
baptizareutur, ... quandoquidem sine lavacro, quod postea adepti sunt,
gratiam repromissionis acceperint.'' (Migne, P. L., III,
1889).
[31] De Obitu Valent., n. 51 sq.: ``Audio vos dolere quod non
acceperit sacramenta baptismatis Dicite mihi, quid aliud in nobis est
nisi voluntas, nisi petitio? Atqui etiam dudum hoc voti habuit, ut et
antequam in Italiam venisset initiaretur, et proxime baptizari se a me
velle significavit, et ideo prae ceteris causis me accerseudum putavit.
Non habet ergo gratiam quam desideravit? Non habet quam poposcit? Certe
quia poposcit, accepit.''
[32] De Bapt. c. Donat., IV, 21: ``Nec ergo dubito,
catechumenum catholicuм divin^a caritate flagrantem haeretico baptizato
anteponere.... Melior est enim centurio Cornelius nondum baptizatus
Simone [Muga] baptizato; iste enim et ante baptismum S.
Spiriiu impletus est, ille et post baptismum immundo spiritu impletus
est.'' (Migne, P. L., XLIII, 171).
[33] Tract. in Ioa., 13, n. 7: ``Quantumcunque catechumenus
proficiat, adhuc sarcinam iniquitatis portat; non ill^a dimittitur,
nisi quum venerit ad baptismum.''
[34] De Bapt. c. Donat., IV, 22: ``Invenio, non tantum
passionem pro Christo id quod ex baptismo deerat posse supplere, sed
etiam fidem conversionemque cordis, si forte ad celebrandum mysterium in
angustiis temporum succurri non potest.''
[35] Ep. 77 ad Hug. Vict., n. 8: ``Ab his duabus columnis
difficile avellor; cuм his, inquam, aut errare aut sapere me fateor,
credens et ipse sol^a fide [i.e. format^a][/i] posse
hominem salvari cuм desiderio percipiendi sacramentum, si tamen pio
implendi desiderio mors anticipans seu alia quaecuмque vis invincibilis
obviaverit.'' (Migne, Patr. Lat., CLXXXII, 1036).
[36] 3 Decret., tit. 13, c. 2: ``Presbyterum quem sine unda
baptismatis diem clausisse significasti, quia in sanctae matrix
ecclesiae fide et Christi nominis confessione perseveraverit, ab
originali peccata solutum et coelestis patriae gaudium esse adeptum
asserimus incunctanter.''
[37] On this question cfr. Pohle-Preuss, Grace, Actual and
Habitual, pp. 182 sqq.
[38] Oswald, Die Lehre von den hl. Sakramenten der kath. Kirche,
Vol. I, 5th ed., p. 211. Cfr. A. Seitz, Die Heilsnotwendigkeit der
Kirche nach der altchristlichen Literatur bis Zeit des hl.
Augustinus, pp. 290 sqq., Freiburg 1903.
[39] Cfr. Benedict XIV, De Serv. Dei Beatif., III, 11.
[40] Cfr. Conc. Trid., Sess. XIV, cap. 7 (Denzinger-Bannwart, n.
897).
[41] V. supra, Thesis II.
[42] Matth. X, 32.
[43] Matth. X, 39. Cfr. Matth. XVI, 25; Luke IX, 24; XVII, 33.
[44] John XV, 13.
[45] De Bapt., c. 16: ``Est quidem nobis etiam secundum
lavacrum, unum et ipsum, sanguinis scil.... Hic est baptismus, qui
lavacrum et non acceptum repraesentat et perditum reddit.''
[46] Ep. 73 ad Iubaian., n. 21, ed. Hartel, II, 735: ``Sciant
... catechumenos ... non privari baptismi sacramento, utppte qui
baptizentur gloriosissimo et maximo sanguinis baptismo.''
[47] De Civ. Dei, XIII, 7: ``Quicuмque etiam non recepta
regenerationis lavacro pro Christi confessione moriuntur, tantum eis
valet ad dimittenda peccata, quantum si abluerentur fonte
baptismatis.''
[48] Catech., 3, n. 10 (Migne, P. G., XXXIII, 439).
[49] Hom. in Martyr. Lucian., n. 2 (Migne, P. G., L. 522).
Other apposite texts in Seitz, Die Heilsnotwendigkeit der Kirche,
pp. 287 sqq.
[50] Adv. Haeres., III, 16, 4. On the veneration of the martyrs
in the early Church cfr. Pohle-Preuss, Mariology, pp. 144 sqq.,
150.
[51] Ep. 56 ad Thibarit.: ``Aetas necdum habilis ad pugnam
idonea exstitit ad coronam.''
[52] Serm., 159, c. I: ``Iniuria est pro martyre orare, cuius
nos debemus oratianibus commendari.''
[53] ``Iniuriam facit martyri, qui orat pro eo.'' Cap. ``cuм
Marthae,'' De Celebr. Missae.
[54] Summa Theol., 3a, qu. 87, art. 1, ad 2: ``Passio pro
Christo suscepta ... purgat ab omni culpa et veniali et mortali, nisi
actualiter voluntatem peccato invenerit inhaerentem.''
[55] See Eschatology. On the three-fold aureola (martyrum,
virginum, doctorum) v. St. Thomas, Summa
Theol., 3a, qu. 96.
[56] Probably composed in the beginning of the fourth century.
[57] Const. Apost., V, 6: ``Qui martyrio dignus est habitus,
laetiti^a in Domino efferatur, quod tantam coronam nactus fuerit....
Quamvis catechumenus sit, sine tristitia excedat: passio enim pro
Christo perlata erit ei sincerior baptismus.''
[58] Comment. in Sent., IV, dist. 4, p. 2, art. 1, qu. 2, ad 2:
``Ratio autem quare efficaciam habet maiorem est, quoniam in baptismo
sanguinis amplior et plenior est imitatio et professio passionis Christi
quam in baptismo aquae.... In baptismo aquae mors significatur, hic
autem suscipitur.'' For a fuller treatment of this topic cfr. Gihr,
Die hl. Sakramente der kath. Kirche, Vol. I, 2nd ed., pp. 271
sqq.
Topic: SJB on BOD of the Catechumen (Read 4292 times)