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The List of Things that are not Water

The list of things that are not water continues to grow, that is, the list of invalid matter for Baptism is being amplified. I’m not surprised that these things are invalid matter: no doubt at all, but I am shocked at some of the things that people have apparently thought of.

From Tractatus Canonico-Moralis de Sacramentis by Felix M. Cappello (p. 102):

3. Materia certe invalida est:

lac, sanguis, sputum, urina, pituita, saliva, sudor, lacrimae;

vinum, cerevisia, oleum, ius densum;

lutum, atramentum;

succus e floribus, herbis et radicibus expressus.

4. Est materia dubia:

ius tenue, lixivium, cerevisia valde tenuis, tenue atramentum;

aqua ex sale soluto;

nix et glacies non soluta;

humor fluens e vite aliisque plantis;

aqua per artem chemicam e floribus, plantis, radicibus, vino etc. educta

.

My translation:

3. Matter that is certainly invalid:

milk, blood, spittle, urine, mucus, saliva, sweat, tears;

wine, beer, oil, thick broth;

mud, ink;

juice squeezed from flowers, herbs, and roots.

4. Matter that is doubtful:

thin broth, lixivium, very thin beer, thin ink;

water released from salt;

snow and ice not melted;

moisture flowing from a vine or other plants;

water produced out of flowers, plants, roots, wine, etc. through chemistry.

.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 4th, 2007 at 3:16 PM and is filed under canon law, cappello, latin, liturgy, religious practice, translation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “The List of Things that are not Water”

Larry
Posted May 4th, 2007 at 6:33 PM.

I’m curious about the “Est materia dubia” category.

Why does it exist? Was there some minute theological support for baptizing babies, children or adults with ice, very thin beer or thin ink?

So if I was baptized with very thin beer (I prefer that to being submerged in a snow pile or a cooler full of ice cubes), it would not be a “certainly invalid” or a “certainly valid” baptism.

Assuming everything else with the baptism was handled correctly, what would my status be (other than having a predisposition toward beer)? If there is a chance that the baptism is valid and a chance that it is not valid, could I be baptized correctly just to be sure? What if it was very thin light beer, would that make a difference?

Dylan
Posted May 4th, 2007 at 6:46 PM.

In the case of a doubtful baptism, a conditional baptism ’sub conditione’ should be done.

The doubtful category exists because … well it’s doubtful. We know that water has to be used, but if I add a drop of beer to a bucket of water, it’s still water. At what point does it become something other than water?

In an emergency without regular water around, it could come up … plus what else are sacramental theologians going to discuss? Although, I sadly wouldn’t be surprised if there are priests out there who like to “experiment” with baptism a little bit.

Now, if that was a Bud Light, then I’d say it’s a guaranteed valid baptism! :)

The List of Things that are not Water

2 Responses to “The List of Things that are not Water”

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