Friday, April 11, 2014, Adam DeVille
Be Sealed! – Chrismation: A Primer for Catholics
This
semester, in separate classes with both undergraduates and graduates, I have
been able to use an old trick: few things ignite vigorous and lengthy discussion
in a classroom with a healthy number of Catholics (several of whom work for
parishes in several capacities, chiefly those having to do with catechesis) than
to raise the topic of Confirmation. So I innocently ask about that sacrament in
particular, and the sacraments of initiation in general, especially the order of
their administration, and bam!: a good half-hour and more of very
vigorous discussion ensues. I must confess that prior to such regular exchanges
with people in the “front lines” (catechists, parochial school teachers,
directors of religious education, RCIA co-ordinators), I was a hardcore and
unapologetic defender of the ancient and undivided tradition whereby
Baptism-Chrismation-Eucharist are all given in that order, immediately, on the
same day, to everyone from infancy onward. I still think that’s the most
theologically defensible practice, but given the dynamics in the Latin Church
today, and the many pastoral challenges of a serious nature which would attend
an abrupt return to the original practice, I am no longer quite so confidently
willing to insist everyone must follow that practice.
My good friend
Nicholas Denysenko, Orthodox deacon, professor of theology at Loyola Marymount,
and director of the Huffington Ecumenical Institute, has a book coming out in
May that very sensibly and intelligently looks at all these issues: Chrismation:
A Primer for Catholics (Liturgical Press, 2014), 248pp.
The book
is available both as a paperback and as an e-Book so you’ve no excuse for not
ordering it. I interviewed Nick about his last book on Theophany water blessings
here.
And I hope to interview him again about this book in the coming weeks. About
this book, the publisher tells us:
What is chrismation? Nicholas Denysenko breaks open
chrismation as sacrament of belonging by exploring its history and liturgical
theology. This study offers a sacramental theology of chrismation by examining
its relationship with baptism and the Eucharist and its function as the ritual
for receiving converts into the Orthodox Church. Drawing from a rich array of
liturgical and theological sources, Denysenko explains how chrismation initiates
the participant into the life of the triune God, beginning a process of theosis,
becoming like God. The book includes a chapter comparing and contrasting
chrismation and confirmation, along with pastoral suggestions for renewing the
potential of this sacrament to transform the lives of participants.
To read the article in full, visit Adam DeVille’s site here: