Baptism Of Desire And St. Alphonsus

 

To My Readers: This week my guest poster, Dominic Caggeso, shows how the great Doctor of the Church, St. Alphonsus Liguori, convinced him of the heretical view of the Feeneyites in denying Baptism of Desire. He explains further, how the glorious St. Alphonsus can be used as a defeater against the Feeneyite heresy.

Feel free to comment as usual. If you have a specific comment or question for me, I will respond as always, but it may take me a bit longer to do so this week. 

God bless you all, my dear readers---Introibo

**SPECIAL NOTICE TO MY READERS** Unfortunately, this will be Dominic's last post. He will now be dedicating all his time and efforts to his Traditionalist publishing company. I want to publicly thank him for all he has done and wish him nothing but the greatest success. 

I still have John Gregory writing a post every other month, and in the other months, Lee has graciously offered to step up and help out. As long as I get a one week break each month, I can continue writing. ---Introibo

Baptism of Desire and St. Alphonsus

By Dominic Caggeso

By the grace of God, I came out of the Novus Ordo. If you have also left, you likely understand the difficulty of searching for the true Catholic Faith after realizing the Second Vatican Council and the Novus Ordo religion were full of deceits and falsehoods. It's one thing to know you can no longer trust the "authorities" of the Novus Ordo, but quite another to discern which voices within the "Traditional Catholic" world to heed.

The shock of discovering the subtle and skillful deceptions within the Novus Ordo makes one understandably cautious, skeptical, and thorough in seeking the True Faith. Therefore, after leaving, I meticulously examined the various Traditional Catholic groups. I explored each group and its positions, repeatedly reading their writings and watching their videos, comparing them to one another. This was, and to some extent still is, an agonizing and gut-wrenching process. Consensus, popularity, presentation skills, size, or geographical proximity could not be used to determine the validity of any group’s theological positions. Instead, the logic and merits of their arguments were all that mattered. During this time, I developed a prayer I still recite daily: “Dear Lord, please lead me to true Catholic doctrine. If I am deceived, please don’t let it be a cause of my damnation.” In other words, I asked to be led to the Truths of the Catholic Faith, recognizing my own susceptibility to manipulation and deception.

With this mindset, I forced myself to explore the arguments against Baptism of Desire. I had discovered these arguments online, presented forcefully and seemingly knowledgeably by individuals largely critical of the Novus Ordo and the Second Vatican Council, and very familiar with the writings of past popes and councils. Despite their unpopularity among the various Trad groups, I could not dismiss their position without careful examination. Encounters with these individuals often resulted in accusations of heresy. Therefore, I needed to determine the validity of their arguments, lest I put my soul in possible danger.  I needed to approach their arguments with an open mind. However, I also knew I was unqualified to fully grasp the finer points of Sacramental theology on this subject. I begged Our Lady for guidance.

Just Listen to the Priests

If, by God's grace, I reach Heaven, I will be eternally grateful for our Sedevacantist clergy. As I write this article now, I am already extremely grateful for them. They stepped into the breach after Vatican II, traveling the world to provide the Sacraments, acting as caring pastors, and exposing the many errors of the Novus Ordo sect. Without being able to articulate it, I sense that our priests and bishops possess a certain authority over their flocks. However, without delving into the profound theological technicalities of jurisdiction, I hesitate to say this authority is equivalent to that of clergy before the Second Vatican Council. After all, I distinctly remember what it was like coming out of the Novus Ordo, and searching for the voices of Truth. At the end of the day, I was the one, determining for myself, which group of Traditional Catholics was adhering to Catholic doctrine. I chose, based on my evaluation of the evidence, to reject the position of the “recognize and resist” and to adhere to sedevacantism.  

When I left the Novus Ordo, I wasn’t immediately placed under the pastoral care and authority of any sedevacantist bishop, but instead, I had to go to them. Thank God such priests and bishops like Fr. Cekada, Bishop Sanborn and Bishop Dolan made themselves available online in order for a person like me to find them. But there was no pope to approve their teachings, so I had to decide to believe them based on the merits of their arguments. 

I say all this because I want to underscore the point that I can not necessarily listen to my priest as the final and definitive answer on every pressing theological question. Don't get me wrong, I highly value the advice and instruction of our sedevacantists priests and I don’t automatically question what they say. In fact, as far as I know, I am in complete agreement with them. However, regarding Baptism of Desire, the stakes felt too high to rely solely on their knowledge without personally exploring the counterarguments. 

St. Alphonsus’ Writings

In my quest for certitude of Catholicity on the subject of Baptism of Desire, I ventured on my own into the vast Traditional Catholic online world. I quickly encountered numerous writings by saints on Baptism of Desire, most particularly St. Alphonsus. I was greatly relieved that this Saint and Doctor of the Church spoke to plainly and boldly on the subject. Below is his treatment of the subject, taken from the Latin version of his sixth book of Moral Theology, followed by an English translation from the CMRI website. I painstakingly copied the Latin from a scanned photocopy of the 1841 edition. A few minor blemishes on the photocopy may have resulted in one or two misspelled Latin words, for which I apologize.

“Baptismus autem flaminis est perfecta conversio, ad Deum per contritionem, vel amorem Dei super omnia, cum volo explcito, vel implicito veri Baptismi flaminis, cujus vicem supplet (juxta Trid. Sess.14 c.4) quoad culpae remissionem, non autem quoad characterem imprimendum, nec quoad tollendum omne reatum poeuae: dicitur flaminis, quia fit per impulsum Spiritus Sancti, qui flamen nuncupatur. Ita Viva de Bapt. (q.2, art. 1, n.2, Salm c.1, n.2 cum Suar. Vasq. Val. Croix lib.6, p.1, n.244 el alii) De fide autem est per Baptismum flaminis homines eliam salvari, ex c. Apostolicam. De Presb. non bapt. et Trid. sess.6, c.4 Ubi dicitur neminem salvari posse sine lavacro regenerationis, aut ejus voto.”

Theologia moralis divi Alphonsi De Ligorio 6

page 132

Published 1841

ex typographia Simoniana 

National Library of Naples 

Translation:

“But baptism of desire is perfect conversion to God by contrition or love of God above all things accompanied by an explicit or implicit desire for true Baptism of water, the place of which it takes as to the remission of guilt, but not as to the impression of the [baptismal] character or as to the removal of all debt of punishment. It is called “of wind␅ [flaminis] because it takes place by the impulse of the Holy Ghost Who is called a wind [flamen]. Now it is de fide that men are also saved by Baptism of desire, by virtue of the Canon Apostolicam De Presbytero Non Baptizato and the Council of Trent, Session 6, Chapter 4, where it is said that no one can be saved “without the laver of regeneration or the desire for it.” 

Armed with this quote, and other similar quotes from venerated Catholic Saints and Doctors of the Church, I returned to engage the opponents of Baptism of Desire. I thought this quote would suffice to quell any opposition to Baptism of Desire, and alleviate the anxiety I felt in not having sufficient certitude about it. In my mind, my salvation could possibly be at stake if I came down on the wrong side of this issue. 

I was not prepared for the counter arguments that I received after confidently presenting this quote from St. Alphonsus. I was shocked to learn that the opponents of Baptism of Desire boldly declared that St. Alphonsus was wrong on this topic. The evidence they gave for this accusation against St. Alphonsus was confusing and complex. I was not properly educated in Catholic Sacrament theology to know how to refute their arguments against St. Alphonsus. It was then, that I came upon a counterargument that proved very effective at both giving me peace of mind and also in silencing the attacks of the Feeneyites. I still use this simple argument today, and I would like to share it with you.

St. Alphonsus is in Heaven

Let me preface my thoughts by stating that I now firmly believe in Baptism of Desire. I have listened to the explanations from our priests and have conducted adequate research to convince myself of its truth. In the above writings of St. Alphonsus, he declares that Baptism of Desire is “De Fide,” and cites the Council of Trent as his source. I do not question this. Nevertheless, in addressing opponents of Baptism of Desire, I have found it useful to hypothetically concede that St. Alphonsus might have made an error on this subject. After all, as the Feeneyites point out, saints are not infallible. After making this hypothetical concession, I proceed as follows:

I begin by asking, or otherwise establishing, that St. Alphonsus is in Heaven. Once my interlocutor concedes this point, I highlight that he, St. Alphonsus, unequivocally taught the existence of Baptism of Desire. On this point, they usually agree. I then ask if, by believing in Baptism of Desire, I would be in danger of eternal damnation for denying the Catholic doctrine on water baptism. The answer is almost always affirmative, as they assert that believing in Baptism of Desire makes one a heretic.

At this juncture, I point out that St. Alphonsus clearly believed in Baptism of Desire, and he is neither a heretic nor eternally damned. I conclude with them that, even if he were mistaken on this subject, it evidently does not lead to the loss of one's soul. Therefore I continue, by extension, I cannot lose my soul by simply affirming my belief in Baptism of Desire.

I have found great success with this counterargument in neutralizing the vitriol from the Feeneyites. It is simple and clear. Despite this, however, at times it has evoked very strange and seemingly desperate responses. I recall one instance where, in response to this argument, I was told that because St. Alphonsus did not have access to the internet, he would not be held to the same standard of culpability as I would be for believing in Baptism of Desire. But most of the time, the discussion with the Feeneyites on this topic would quickly end once I made this simple point.

Conclusion

I wanted to share this simple argument with you because it has given me peace of mind and alleviated for me one of the many anxieties we face as Catholics striving to preserve the pure doctrines of the Church during the Great Apostasy. I recognize the limitations of my knowledge of Catholic theology. That is why this simple and logical argument is so attractive. We can read and embrace the teachings of great Saints and Doctors of the Church because the Church, our Mother, has provided them to us. When St. Alphonsus declares Baptism of Desire to be “De Fide,” we can trust him.