> > << Does anyone know, generally, when the baptism of catechumens
> > stopped
> > being a regular part of the Easter liturgy? >>
> >
>
> > It still is a regular part of Easter, at least for adults who join
> > the church.
> >
> Quite so; but its function has been restored by Vatican II.
> Previously the Easter Vigil had dwindled to a shadow of its former
> self, no doubt because of the increasing shortage of catechumens to
> baptise. The ceremonies were put back into the afternoon of Holy
> Saturday during the 10th century, and into Saturday morning during the
> 14th. By this time they had become a formality performed by the
> clergy, with minimal interest from the laity and no actual baptisms.
Many thanks to all who have offered responses to my original, and as
it is now apparent to me, badly conceived query. But my curiosity
remains. Apparently, catechumens are still baptized at Easter, even
if there are not that many of them around now as there were in the
early Christian centuries. When, then, did it infants begin being
baptized on an ad hoc basis, so to speak, without waiting for Easter?
It seems to have been this practice that pulled the rug out from
under the Easter baptismal ceremonies.
Jim Bugslag
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