Triple Exorcisms on Holy Saturday: Traditional Latin Mass Baptism for Adults

Well, life is still pretty surreal around here as I’m still processing the events of the most glorious Holy Week of my life. Easter Vigil was the night of my husband’s Baptism, Confirmation, and First Communion according to the pre-1955 rubrics of the Traditional Latin Mass. And, as promised, I am finally getting around to sharing some of the details with you.  

Paschaltide (Easter through Pentecost) is a fitting time not just for neophytes (the newly baptized) and their families to reflect on baptism, but for all of us. So I thought I would share some elements from the traditional Ordo Baptismi Adultorum (Rite of Baptism for Adults 1962) that stood out to me. Being also familiar with the infant ceremony (our daughter was baptized just last year), I can tell you that much of what distinguishes Traditional Latin Baptisms from the Novus Ordo is present in both the infant and the adult ceremonies. 

You’ll notice that all of these elements are part of the pre-baptismal ceremonies, or what Dom Guéranger calls the Catechisation, and do not occur at the actual Vigil. At one time these would begin at the hour of None (about 3 o’clock) as part of the Vigil while the rest of the faithful listened to passages read from scripture. As a matter of practicality, these pre-baptismal may take place Holy Saturday morning instead. They lead all the way up to the baptismal font, which is empty. The catechumens then return that evening for the actual baptism during the Vigil after the blessing of the new baptismal water.  

The Entrance

A substantial portion of the ceremonies take place outside of the church proper—either in the vestibule or outside the front doors. The persons to be baptized are forbidden to enter the church because they are unworthy, to put it simply. They have not yet devoted themselves to Christ the Lord, and so there is a profound atmosphere of penance. They first need to cast aside their old ways and denounce the world of Satan. The priest wears purple, and the catechumens are denied entrance. 

When it comes time, the priest ceremoniously leads the candidates inside, having one take hold of his purple stole and the rest linking arms to follow behind. “Enter into the holy church of God, that thou mayest receive the heavenly blessing from Christ Jesus, the Lord, and mayest have part with Him and His saints!” the priest exclaims. 

At one time, having entered the church, the candidates would then have immediately fallen prostrate upon the floor “in silent adoration.” This was omitted from our ceremony, but what a profound image to bear in mind as the candidates enter the church—as overcome by awe and reverence in knowledge of their utter unworthiness and yet one step closer to life in Him. 

The Salt

The priest takes a pinch of blessed salt between his thumb and index finger and places it on the tongue of each candidate, saying “receive the salt of wisdom; may it be unto thee a sign of reconciliation unto life everlasting.”

The salt is a first bit of nourishment. It awakens the tastes so that the candidate may develop true relish for divine wisdom and good works and be delivered from the corruption of sin. 

And, in turn, one might say that it makes the candidate salty: “so that they may be inflamed with zeal, joyous in hope, constant in serving thee.” 

The Triple (!) Exorcism

There are three series of exorcisms in the adult rite, in contrast to only one in the infant rite. If you have never attended such a thing, strange scenes from horror films may be coming to mind. You would probably be quite underwhelmed by what actually goes on at a baptism. In short, the priest says a series of commands and prayers that are used to expel demons.

The traditional ceremonies assume that demons are very real. Persons to be baptized have been wandering in the world of darkness without the sanctifying grace that comes with baptism. It should not be surprising then, that the priest comes to the candidate’s aid. He alternates between prayers on their behalf—“Reach out the reward to them who ask, open wide the door to them who knock”—and commands against demons—“Flee in trembling and groaning!”

Let us not forget that a spiritual battle is underway in the pre-baptismal ceremonies (hence the penitential atmosphere I mentioned earlier). We see this clearly in the commands of the priest: “May you [accursed Satan] have nothing in common with these servants of God, whose thoughts are already of heaven, and who are determined to renounce both you and your world and to overcome you and so win a blessed and immortal reward.” The battle is not yet won. 

The Men from the Women

The men and women are grouped separately and the men lead the women. This can serve as a matter of practicality, a natural division of a large group. 

More substantially, however, the prayers and exorcisms differ between the men and the women. For example, the first prayer for the men invokes “God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob,” that is the God of the old prophets. But for the women the first prayer invokes “God of heaven, God of earth, God of the angels,” that is (to my mind) the God of creation. While the second prayer for the women will go on to invoke the old prophets, only the women have the privilege of their first prayer. If I had to take a wild stab at it, I would say that the ceremonies recognize the unique role women have in creation, just as the veil does. 

Another difference is that the words of the second and third exorcisms are perhaps a little more intense for the men than they are for the women. One might say that it presumes that the men need to be tried a little more thoroughly in this regard.  

The Saliva 

Yes, the priest wets his thumb with his saliva and touches the ears and nose of the candidate. In doing so, he imitates Jesus when he gave sight to the blind man. As the Gospels tell us, Jesus mixed his own saliva with clay and rubbed it on the blind man’s eyes and then commanded him to wash them in the waters of Siloe.  

While the priest does so he says “Ephpheta!” which is the Aramaic word spoken by Jesus to the blind man meaning “be thou opened!” Accordingly, this ceremony points to baptism as an opening of the mind to the light of heavenly truth. 

How fitting that immediately after this the candidate formally renounces Satan and all his works. 

As I mentioned at the outset, the pre-baptismal ceremonies end on the ultimate cliff-hanger. If they are done on Holy Saturday morning, the baptismal font is dry. The candidates return later that evening for the final ceremony—that is, to borrow Guéranger’s words, to see Jesus’ Resurrection fulfilled in their Baptism.