Concerning the Latins (Roman Catholics) and Their = Baptisms

An Excerpt from The Rudder

Baptism=20 and the Reception of Converts

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All this theory which we have been setting forth here is = not=20 anything superfluous; on the contrary, it is something which = is most=20 needful, both on every occasion in general, but especially = today on=20 account of the great controversy and the widespread dispute = which is=20 going on in regard to the baptism of the Latins, not merely = between=20 us and the Latins, but also between us and the Latin-minded=20 (otherwise known as Latinizers). So, following what has been = said,=20 since the form of the Apostolical Canon demands it, we = declare that=20 the baptism of the Latins is one which falsely is called = baptism,=20 and for this reason it is not acceptable or recognizable = either on=20 grounds of rigorism or on grounds of economy. It is not = acceptable=20 on grounds of rigorism: (1st) because they are heretics. = That the=20 Latins are heretics there is no need of our producing any = proof for=20 the present. The very fact that we have entertained so much = hatred=20 and aversion against them for so many centuries is a plain = proof=20 that we loathe them as heretics, in the same way, that is to = say, as=20 we do Arians, or Sabellians, or Spirit denying and = Spirit-defying=20 Macedoniacs. If, however, anyone should like to apprehend = their=20 heresies from books, he will find all of them in the books = of the=20 most holy Patriarch of Jerusalem Sir Dositheus the = Papomastix (i.e.,=20 Scourge of Popes) together with their most learned = refutations.=20 Nevertheless, he can obtain sufficient knowledge even from = the=20 booklet of learned Meniatos entitled =E2=80=9CA Rock of = Scandal,=E2=80=9D to=20 translate into English the Greek title of it, Petra=20 Scandalou. Enough was said concerning them by St. Mark = of=20 Ephesus in Florence (at the twenty-fifth general assembly), = who=20 spoke frankly as follows: =E2=80=9CWe have split ourselves = off from the=20 Latins for no other reason than the fact that they are not = only=20 schismatics but also heretics.=E2=80=9D Wherefore we must = not even think of=20 uniting with them. Even the great ecclesiarch Silvester = (Section 9,=20 ch. 5) said: =E2=80=9CThe difference of the Latins is a = heresy, and our=20 predecessors also held it to be such.=E2=80=9D So, it being = admitted that=20 the Latins are heretics of long standing, it is evident in = the very=20 first place from this fact that they are unbaptized, in = accordance=20 with the assertions of St. Basil the Great above cited, and = of the=20 saints preceding him named Cyprian and Firmilian. Because, = having=20 become laymen as a result of their having been cut off from = the=20 Orthodox Church, they no longer have with them the grace of = the Holy=20 Spirit with which Orthodox priests perform the mysteries. = This is=20 one argument which is as strong and indisputable as the = Canons of=20 St. Basil the Great are strong and indisputable, and the = words of=20 St. Cyprian the ecclesiastic martyr, seeing that they have = received=20 and retain the sanction of the holy Sixth Ecumenical = Council. (2nd)=20 The Latins are unbaptized because they do not observe the = three=20 immersions which have to be administered to the one being = baptized,=20 as the Orthodox Church has received instructions from the = Holy=20 Apostles from the beginning. The earlier Latins, being the = first to=20 innovate with regard to the Apostolical Baptism, began using = affusion, which means the process of pouring a little water = on the=20 head of the child, a practice which is still in vogue in = some=20 regions; but the most of them take a bundle of hog hairs and = sprinkle a few drops of water three times on the = infant=E2=80=99s forehead.=20 In other parts of the earth, however, as we have been = informed by=20 one who has returned thence, they merely take a little = cotton=20 (everyone knows how much water cotton absorbs), and, dipping = it into=20 water, they wipe the child with it and call it baptized. So = the=20 Latins are unbaptized because they do not perform the three=20 immersions and emersions, in accordance with the Apostolic=20 tradition. As touching these three immersions, we do not say = how=20 necessary and indispensable they are to the celebration of = Baptism.=20 Whoever wishes may read about it, but as for any need there = may be,=20 let him read the manual of the highly educated and most = learned=20 Eustratius of Argent. But we too shall say in connection = with=20 Apostolical Canon L whatever is now needed on this head. If, = however, anyone among the Latins or the Latin minded should = put=20 forward a claim to the three invocations of the Holy = Trinity, he=20 must not pretend to have forgotten those things which he was = told=20 further above by sacred Firmilian and by Athanasius the = Great: to=20 wit, that those supergodly names are idle and ineffective = when=20 pronounced by the mouth of heretics. For, unless this be the = case,=20 we must most certainly believe that those wicked old women = actually=20 do miracles by simply repeating the divine names in = incantations. So=20 the Latins cannot even perform a baptism because they are = heretics=20 and have lost the grace required to celebrate Christmas = rites, and=20 they have added to their iniquities that of overthrowing the = Apostolical Baptism of three immersions. So, I say, let = those who=20 accept the Latins=E2=80=99 sprinkling (often dignified by = the name=20 aspersion) reflect what they can say by way of = reply to the=20 authority of the present Apostolical Canon, and further in = reply to=20 the following one (XLVII). I know what the immediate=20 defensors of the Latin pseudobaptism argue. They = argue that=20 our Church became accustomed to accepting converts from the = Latins=20 with chrism (alone), and there is, in fact, some formulation = to be=20 found in which the terms are specified under which we will = take them=20 in. With regard to all this we reply in simple and just = words: that=20 it is enough that you admit that she used to receive them in = chrism=20 (alone). So they are heretics. For why the chrism if they = were not=20 heretics? So, they being admittedly heretics, it is not = probable=20 that the Orthodox and Apostolic Church would deliberately = disregard=20 these Apostolical Canons and the Synodical Canons which we = have=20 noted in the preceding pages. But, as it seems and as it is = proper=20 for us to believe, the Church wished to employ some great = economy=20 with respect to the Latins, having as an example conducive = to her=20 purpose that great and holy Second Ecumenical Council. For = the fact=20 is that the Second Council, as we have said, employed = economy and=20 accepted the baptism of Arians and of Macedoniacs with the = aim and=20 hope of their returning to the faith and receiving full=20 understanding of it, and in order to prevent their becoming = yet more=20 savage wild beasts against the Church, since they were also = over=20 many in multitude and strong in respect of outward things. = And, as a=20 matter of fact, they accomplished this purpose and realized = this=20 hope. For, thanks to this economy those men became more = gentle=20 towards the Orthodox Christians and returned so far to piety = that=20 within the space of a few years they either disappeared = completely=20 or very few of them remained. So those preceding us also = employed=20 economy and accepted the baptism of the Latins, especially = when=20 performed in the second manner, because Papism, or Popery, = was then=20 in its prime and had all the forces and powers of the kings = of=20 Europe in its hands, while, on the other hand, our own = kingdom was=20 breathing its last gasps. Hence it would have become = necessary, if=20 that economy had not been employed, for the Pope to rouse = the Latin=20 races against the Eastern, take them prisoners, kill them, = and=20 inflict countless other barbarities upon them. But now that = they are=20 no longer able to inflict such woes upon us, as a result of = the fact=20 that divine Providence has lent us such a guardian that he = has at=20 last beaten down the brow of those arrogant and haughty = monsters,=20 now, I say, that the fury of Papism (otherwise known as = Roman=20 Catholicism, or Popery) is of no avail against us, what need = is=20 there any longer of economy? For there is a limit to = economy, and it=20 is not perpetual and indefinite. That is why Theophylactus = of=20 Bulgaria says: =E2=80=9CHe who does anything as a matter of = economy, does=20 it, not as simply something good, but as something needed = for the=20 time being=E2=80=9D (commentary on Gal. 5:11). =E2=80=9CWe = have employed economy=20 enough,=E2=80=9D says St. Gregory the Theologian in his = eulogy of=20 Athanasius, =E2=80=9Cwithout either adopting what is alien = or corrupting=20 what is our own, to do which would make us really bad = economists (or=20 poor managers of economy).=E2=80=9D That is what I say too, = It is certainly=20 poor economy when it does not serve to convert the Latins = and forces=20 us to transgress the rigorism of the sacred Canons and to = accept the=20 pseudobaptism of heretics. =E2=80=9CFor economy is to be = employed where=20 there is no necessity of transgressing the laws,=E2=80=9D = says divine=20 Chrysostom. The fact that that formulation was made = economically is=20 plainly evident from this, that until then the Easterners = had been=20 baptizing the returning Westerners, as is attested by the = local=20 synod in the Lateran of Rome, held in the year 1211 after = Christ.=20 For it says in its fourth Canon that the Easterners would = not hold=20 services wherever Westerners had been holding services = unless they=20 first purified the place by the ceremony of sanctification. = And=20 afterwards it says that the Easterners themselves rebaptized = those=20 joining the Eastern Church on the ground that they had not = had a=20 holy Apostolical baptism. (See Dositheus, p. 8-24 of the=20 Dodecabiblus.) So when it is taken into account = that up to=20 that time, according to the testimonies of the same enemies, = the=20 Easterners had been baptizing them, it is plain that it was = for the=20 sake of a great economy that they later employed the = expedient of=20 chrism simply because our race could not afford, in the = plight in=20 which it then was in, to excite any further the mania of = Popery; and=20 in addition there is such evidence in the fact that they = then=20 abrogated and invalidated all that had been wrongly done in=20 Florence, and there was great excitement among the Latins on = this=20 account. So, the need of economy having passed away, = Rigorism and=20 the Apostolical Canons must have their place.

From The Rudder (Book of the Sacred = Canons of=20 the Church), pp. 72-74. This is a footnote from Saint = Nikodemos'=20 interpretation of Canon XLVI of the 85 Canons of the Holy=20 Apostles.

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Concerning the Latins (Roman Catholics) and Their = Baptisms

An Excerpt from The Rudder

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