Recently I have had the privilege to perform several baptisms, two of these were adult men. Maybe my ministry has been exceptional in that almost exclusively I have performed baptisms of young children. But, I feel that my life in ministry is probably common in this matter. With these baptisms several thoughts have come to mind and therefore this piece of ‘manna’ is one of four regarding various aspects of baptism. The second ‘manna’ will deal with some of the history and theology of the Sacrament of Baptism as contained in our 1979 Book of Common Prayer. [See: New Baptismal Theology? Adult Baptism] The final three address pastoral aspects of baptisms drawn from my 35 years in the ordained ministry. The first is Holy Baptism: An Adult Respected, the second We Receive You, and the final post is The Tears of Baptism: A Pastoral Response.
One custom I have incorporated into the celebration of the baptismal rite has been the utilization of baptismal salt. In the Catechism of the Council of Trent we read: “When salt is put into the mouth of the person to be baptized, it evidently imports that, by the doctrine of faith and the gift of grace, he should be delivered from the corruption of sin, experience a relish for good works, and be delighted with the food of divine wisdom.”
In many ancient civilizations, salt had great symbolic value. Because of its acknowledged power to purify and preserve, salt spilled on the parchment was a guarantee of good faith in signing a contract or making an agreement. Among the Greeks and the Turks, to eat salt with a stranger was a token of friendship. The Greeks made thank-offerings of salt to the gods they worshiped as givers of life. The ancient Jews offered salt to Jehovah at harvest time. In Jewish tradition today, bread and salt are the first things to be brought into a new house.
In some areas of the far East, people give their children little bags of salt to hang around their necks as protection from the “evil eye.” And in parts of Russia no bride and groom would enter a new home without first throwing salt in every corner to protect them from harm and to encourage health and happiness.
Even in modern Christianity, salt has symbolic significance. The Bible contains many separate references to salt. In the ritual of baptism, salt is used as a symbol of protection against evil, representing purity of mind and soul and the power to resist temptation.
Salt, always used for the seasoning of food and for the preservation of things from corruption, had from very early days a sacred and religious character. The Prophet Eliseus employed it to make palatable the waters of a well (2 Kings 2:19 sqq.). The Orientals used it to cleanse and harden the skin of a newborn child (Ezekiel 16:4); by strewing salt on a piece of land they dedicated it to the gods; in the Jewish Law it was prescribed for the sacrifices and the loaves of proposition (Leviticus 2:13). In Matthew 5:13, salt symbolizes wisdom, though perhaps originally it had an exorcistic signification.
Owing to its preservative quality salt was a sign of purity and incorruptibility, especially among the Semitic peoples. As such, salt served to confirm contracts and friendship; the covenant between Yahweh and Israel on Sinai, e.g., being called a ‘covenant of salt’ in Num. t8: 19. This symbolism, taken together with its seasoning properties, helps to understand the Lord’s saying ‘Ye are the salt of the earth’ (Mt. 5: 13, cf. also Mk. 9: 5o), where the salt represents Christian wisdom and integrity (see also Col. 4: 6). The ritual use of salt is very old and widespread. It was prescribed in the Old Testament for every oblation (Lev. 2: 13) arid played an important part in the sacrifices of the Greeks and Romans. The old pagan Roman custom of placing a few grains of salt on the lips of an infant on the 8th day after his birth to chase away the demons probably lay behind the offering of blessed salt to catechumens which formerly formed part of the Roman Catholic rite of Baptism.
The association of spilled salt and the appearance of evil is illustrated by the overturned saltcellar of the Last Supper. Judas, who has succumbed to temptation, is identified by Christ through the evil significance of the spilled salt.
The use of salt in the Church has belonged almost exclusively to Roman Catholic practice. In fact there are two kinds of salt for liturgical purposes; baptismal salt and blessed salt.
According to ancient practice, the baptismal salt, which is crushed, cleansed and blessed by special prayers, is given to the catechumen before entering church for baptism. In fact, according to the fifth canon of the Third Council of Carthage it would seem that salt was administered to the catechumens several times a year. This use of salt is recorded by St. Augustine (Conf., I. 1, c. xi) and by John the Deacon. St. Isidore of Seville speaks of it (De off., II, xxi), however in the Spanish Church the use of salt was not universal.
The blessed salt is used for the preparation of holy water for the Asperges before the celebration of the Holy Eucharist on Sunday and for use of the faithful in their homes. The present Roman Catholic formula of blessing is taken from the Gregorian Sacramentary (P.L., LXXVIII, 231). Both baptismal salt and blessed salt may be used again without a new benediction.
The appendix of the Roman Ritual has a blessing of salt for the use of animals and another in honor of St. Hubert. The Roman Pontifical orders salt to be blessed and mixed in the water (mixed in turn with ashes and wine) for the consecration of a church. This is also from the Gregorian Sacramentary. Again salt (not specially blessed) may be used for purifying the fingers after sacred unctions.
I began to use the baptismal salt when I ran across a Church of England book of ceremonies, published in 1543, which read: “And then he” that is, the Priest, “puts hallowed salt into his mouth” that is, the mouth of the child whom the Priest is baptizing, “to signify the spiritual salt, which is the Word of God, wherewith he should be seasoned.”
Any priest wishing to observe this ancient custom, traditionally known as the Imposition of Salt, the salt to be used for this purpose should first be blessed according to the following ancient formula updated by this author to a more modern idiom (and yes, it sounds almost like an exorcism but then it was written in the middle of the 16th century):
I solemnly command you, O creature of salt, in the Name of God the Father Almighty, in the charity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the power of the Holy Spirit. I solemnly command you by the living God, by the. true God, the holy God, by God who created you for the protection of the human race, and who commanded you to be hallowed by his servants for the use of those coming to belief, that in the Name of the Holy Trinity you may be effective as an healthful agent for putting the enemy to flight. Wherefore I pray you, O Lord our God, that in sanctifying this creature of salt you would sanctify it; and in blessing it you would bless it, that it may become to all who receive it a perfect remedy abiding within them, in the Name of the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall come to judge the quick and the dead, and the world by fire. Amen.
The way I administer the salt is immediately after the prayer for the newly baptized and following the sealing at baptism and the presentation of a Baptismal Candle in the Order for Holy Baptism, I take a few grains of the blessed baptismal salt between my right thumb and index finger or, if the salt has been ground into a fine powder (I use Martha’s mortar and pestle), and placing the salt on the lips of the person having been baptized, much in the same way the ashes of Ash Wednesday are administered, and say:
RECEIVE the salt of wisdom: may it be to you a pledge of everlasting life. Amen.
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