Father Z for years has been preaching that priests have to be careful to use the proper forms regarding the Mass and other Sacraments and now we seewhy:
How many times over the years have I written on this blog about priests who fool around with the forms of sacrament, the necessary words to be pronounced?
How many? A lot.
Very few things disturb people more than not being sure about the validity of a sacrament, be it Baptism, Penance or Eucharist. I’ve dealt with literally hundreds of questions over the years via email about questionable forms being use, which really upsets people and fills them sometimes with fear.
Is my child really baptized? Was I really absolved? Was that really a Host he gave me? Was Mass really said for my loved one?
FATHERS! Stop being JACKASSES and do it right!
Today the Archdiocese of Detroit made public a letter describing a terrible scenario. In the wake of the decision of the CDF about the INVALIDITY of the form of baptism in the plural (“We baptize you…”), a priest reviewed a video of his baptism and found that he was not validly baptized. That means that he wasn’t confirmed or ordained! That means that all the Masses and absolutions he had given were null. He had to be baptized, absolutely not conditionally, and then confirmed and ordained to diaconate and priesthood, absolutely.
How important is it NOT to screw around with the forms of sacraments?
Hrumpf.
Go here to read the rest. Much evil would be eliminated in this vale of tears if people would just concentrate on doing their jobs properly.
More evidence of the catastrophe of Vatican II. Vatican II must be abrogated in its entirety in order to reform the Catholic Church.
St. Boniface was complaining about priests messing with the formulary long before Vatican II.
Throughout Church history we see this. Saint Francis of Assisi:
LETTER XIII.
To all Clerics,
To my Reverend Masters, all the clerics of the whole world, who live according to the rules of the Catholic Faith, little Brother Francis, their least servant, greeting, with all possible reverence, and humbly kissing their feet. Since I am become a debtor to all, but cannot now, on account of my infirmities, address you personally, I implore you to receive with all love and charity this admonition and instruction, which I write to you in few words. Consider, O clerics, the great sin and ignorance of which some are guilty towards the Sacred Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, His holy Name, and written Words, by which His Body is consecrated ; for we know that the Body of Jesus Christ is not present until His Sacred Words are pronounced. We have nothing, and can see nothing corporally of God in this world, except the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, His holy Name and Words, by which we were created, and by which we have been restored from death to life. Let all those who minister in these most holy Mysteries, and especially those who do so carelessly, consider well within themselves whether the chalices, corporals, and linen which are used in the most adorable Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ, be in a becoming state ; whether Our Lord is not left in an improper place, carried about disrespectfully, received unworthily, and indiscreetly given to others. Sometimes even His holy Name and His written Word are trampled under foot, for the animal man cannot understand the things of God. Shall we not be moved to grief by this when we consider that this sweet Lord places Himself in our hands, and that we daily touch Him and receive Him in our mouth ? Do we not know that one day we shall fall into His Hands ? Let us then at once courageously correct ourselves of these faults and others; and wherever we find the Sacred Body of Our Lord kept disrespectfully and neglected, let us remove It thence, and securely place It in a carefully prepared tabernacle. And in like manner, if we find the Name or the written Words of Our Lord in unclean, places, let us at once collect them, and put them away respectfully. And let us remember that we are bound to observe these things by the commandments of God, and the constitutions of our holy Mother the Church. And let him who neglects this know that he will have to give an account thereof before Our Lord Jesus Christ in the day of judgment. That this writing may be the better observed, let those be blessed by God who cause copies to be made of it. May Our Lord Jesus Christ fill you all, my Masters, with His grace and strength. Amen.
While we can trust in God to fix the problems– that doesn’t mean keep making more problems!
If anybody is … in a bad mental place from this, one of his commenters covers the relevant point:
https://wdtprs.com/2020/08/jackass-priests-who-screw-around-with-the-forms-essential-words-of-sacraments-wherein-fr-z-rants/#comment-614999
Like I said, God can take care of it, but what an incredible wrong to MAKE more uncertainty when administering a gift designed to fight that very problem!
Does anyone know what the difference is between a regular baptism and a conditional one?
A conditional baptism is a second baptism performed when there is good reason to doubt the validity of the first baptism.
nods
Conditional baptism= “just in case, God, no offense, but we’re baptizing him again because we’re not sure about the first one.”
Which would fix a situation where the first one was invalid, but nobody knew it yet.
Or a situation where there’s no record, or a situation where the parents of the infant were spirit-seeking hippies who can’t remember what “Brother Tim” of the Good Time Good Fellowship of the Brothers and Sisters of Cosmic Peace Disciples said, but are sure copious amounts of pharmaceuticals were ingested beforehand.