Author Topic: pre-baptismal duties (Read 631 times)

spouse of Jesus · « **on:** October 12, 2011, 04:41:42 AM »

If one has to wait some years till he or she can receive a Catholic Baptism, what are his duties in these years?
Is he only bound by natural law? What sins is he bound to avoid?

Pyrrhos · « **Reply #1 on:** October 12, 2011, 05:27:27 AM »

Quote from: spouse of Jesus

If one has to wait some years till he or she can receive a Catholic Baptism, what are his duties in these years?
Is he only bound by natural law? What sins is he bound to avoid?

He is certainly bound by Divine and natural law, but not by ecclesiastical law.

He should avoid all sins and try to live a Christian life.

Lybus · « **Reply #2 on:** October 12, 2011, 09:11:26 AM »

Quote from: spouse of Jesus

If one has to wait some years till he or she can receive a Catholic Baptism, what are his duties in these years?
Is he only bound by natural law? What sins is he bound to avoid?

Why, commit all the sinful pleasures he can of course! :dancing-banana:

(I'm just kidding by the way; basically what Pyrrhos said. The main objective, I would think, of the unbaptized person would be to read as much as he can on the Christian religion and just reflect on the truths of the faith, so that his sincerity may be guided in the right direction).

Stephen Francis · « **Reply #3 on:** October 12, 2011, 09:19:21 PM »

Indeed, one should live as much like a traditional Catholic as one can; I see no harm and actually quite a lot of good to be gained from praying the Office and the Rosary, reading the Catechism and lives of the saints and attending Mass and devotions whenever possible.

Certainly there have been many, many converts over the years who began doing all these things before they were baptized, and I honestly believe that a person in your situation* can do a lot for the morale of a traditional parish when they, as a prospective convert, show an abiding love for the things of the Church and eagerly attend her Sacraments, providing one only participates to the degree that is licit (of course, one cannot receive Communion or attend Confession, but one certainly can attend Mass and learn all they can about what the Church expects of us all).

I'm of the opinion that in this embattled time in the Church's history, a truly dedicated person coming to conversion to Christ and His Church would be a real 'shot in the arm' for those who are striving to uphold the Faith.

Mary, Mother of the Church and all the faithful, pray for us.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

*our situations, actually; I have to wait to be baptized until I can find a truly traditional parish/priest and get down to being properly examined and catechized. That will take some time, because traditional Catholic ANYTHING is hard to find in my area.