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Part of Baptism: 1. Sacrament of Baptism 2. Baptism of Desire It is difficult for us today to feel the resonant joy in the opening words of Tertullian’s De Baptismo: “Felix sacramentum aquae nostrae” — the bliss of the oath of allegiance taken in the sacramental water. For the early Christians baptism was the conscious and blessed beginning of the Christian life, a new birth and a re-birth in the image of Christ, accomplished by bathing in water while a few words were uttered. With all the simplicity of a divine act, in con…

Part of Sacraments: 1. The Sacraments in General 2. Mystery Theology Mystery theology is the attempt at a synthesis of all the doctrines of faith from the point of view of the mysterium, i.e., of God’s action by which he has effected our salvation in Christ and which is transmitted to us in the Church, particularly in its sacraments and liturgical celebrations. The initiator of this synthesis in contemporary theology was Odo Casei, a monk of Maria Laach, who died in 1948. At first he met with much opposition, but in the long r…