A translation from this source.
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR:
The following document was
composed, printed and distributed in Metz in 1764 through the efforts of Jean-Martin
Moye and Louis Jobal de Pagny. The scandal that followed the publication was
one of the reasons that prompted the bishop of Metz to remove Jean-Martin Moye
from the episcopal see and to name him vicar of the parish in Dieuze in January
1765. The two people responsible for this work had been influenced mentioned
within, Sacred Embryology by
Francesco Cangiamila, which appeared in Sicily in 1745 with the approval of the
Bishop of Catania. The two learned of the doctrine inside this book through the
Abrégé de l’Embryologie Sacrée [a shortened version of this book] which
appeared in Paris in 1762. It appears that Moye is the only author of this pamphlet,
and that Jobal financed its publication. The modern reader might be as shocked
at this work as the pastors and the bourgeois of Metz. Modern theology and
contemporary pastoral approaches do not accept the very strict beliefs
regarding the absolute necessity of sacramental baptism for the salvation of
children who died before the age of reason. The doctrine of limbo for children
which had been generally accepted since St. Augustine is no longer taught. The
Church trusts in the infinite goodness of God and in the universality of
salvation by Christ for all those who do not oppose it. Abbé Georges Tavard (now deceased).
NOTE FROM THE TRANSLATOR: Blessed Jean-Martin Moye wrote in a run-on style that does not easily lend itself translation. This explains the quirky style. I took some liberties with punctuation and phrasing, but I did not want to correct too amply because then the reader would lose the flavour of the original.
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Since it is an article of the
faith that we cannot be saved without baptism, according to the words of our Saviour:
“If anyone is not reborn by water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter into the
Kingdom of Heaven”, everyone, if they have the slightest zeal for souls, must
do what he can to procure holy Baptism for children. Nevertheless, experience
teaches us that there is an infinite number who haplessly perish without
receiving it, and this because of the negligence or the ignorance of those who
should oversee this important matter, such as pastors, midwives, fathers,
mothers, relatives and friends. In the end, everyone should be able to provide
this good work; and yet we only barely think of it, so that every day there are
miscarriages and loss of blood; children perish without this sacrament that is
so necessary, above all, during the death of pregnant women whom we bury with
their fruit, instead of opening them up right after death to give them holy
baptism. There should be in every place people capable of performing this
operation, and, when they cannot, every person should be ready to do it,
whatever character they might be, as decreed by Van Espen, the bishop of
Catania in his edict of 1742.
“If
a pregnant woman dies,” says the Roman Ritual, “she must be immediately opened up
to pull out the fetus/infant to baptize him.” And since we do not know at which
time he is animated, because some say thirty or forty days, and now the more
competent physicians believe it is at twenty—there are even authors who
maintain that he is animated immediately after conception-- the most certain way would be to perform the cesarean operation on all women about whom we have the
slightest doubt that they are pregnant; and far from listening to relatives who
oppose it, we must on the contrary force them to consent by having recourse to
the Magistrate. There are bishops who have excommunicated all those who wanted
to stop this act of charity. We must look for the child, not only in the place
he would naturally be, but also everywhere where he could be, such as the
higher areas of the womb, and see if there is more than one. It is also good to
know that sometimes it happens that a woman delivers in agony, and if we are
not careful, the child can be suffocated in the bed. We baptize these kinds of
children by immersion, that is by dunking in warm water. If there is doubt as
to whether he is living, or whether it is a true embryo or child, we baptize
with this condition “If you are capable of receiving baptism, I baptize you in
the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The water must
touch the child immediately, his head or chest; thus we must remove the skin
that envelopes him, or if we baptize him
under this skin or membrane, the way it is done when there is reason to fear
that we will make the child die by opening it, we must rebaptize him
conditionally after having opened it; likewise, if we had baptized a child in
the mother’s womb on the arm or foot or with a pipe, or by sprinkling with the
hand, we must rebaptize the child on the head conditionally.
We must not easily believe that the
child is dead, even if he doesn’t give any sign of life, and in doubt we must
baptize him conditionally. To distinguish if the production is a true embryo,
or only a mole or a blood clot or a false germ, we must examine it with
attention, even if the foetus is no bigger than a grain of barley or an ant. If
the membrane is whitish, similar to intestines, of oval shape, and it is soft
to the touch, we can believe that it is a foetus and not a mole. But if what
has come out of the womb is a shapeless flesh, marked with bloody, blackish
veins and it is rough and hard to the touch, we can believe it is only a mole
of flesh and not a child; but we must nevertheless always open it with caution,
because with miscarriages, blood clots, abortions and caesarean operations, we
must have great care to examine with all our attention possible all that comes
out of the mother’s womb. And we must avoid doing like some imprudent midwives,
who toss them indiscreetly without examination; and sometimes it happens that
women have miscarriages without hardly realizing it. I was quite surprised when
I began to inquire on how people behave in these unfortunate circumstances, to
see that the first persons to whom I addressed myself about this had this
misfortune, because of their lack of education about this. I beg of those women
who will have knowledge of this writing to send it to all those who might make
use of it. And if someone wants a greater knowledge about this, he only has to
look at the book entitled Sacred Embryology.
Benedict XIV has seen and esteemed it, and several bishops have recommended it.
From all this, it is easy to
conclude what precautions pregnant people are obliged to take to protect the
fruit they are bearing, and with what ardor they should ask God that they have
the happiness of receiving Holy Baptism, and with what care they should avoid
all that could harm them, such as bad treatments, difficult trips, heavy
burdens, quarrels, anger, passions, excessive sadness, bad food, all kinds of intemperance,
excessive fasting-- because a pregnant woman of good temperament can still fast
during the first two or three months of pregnancy. Bloodletting of the foot is
pernicious, that of the arm must be done with prudence in small quantities. Saint
Augustin, Saint Ambrose, Saint Jerome and the theologians teach that the use of
marriage is dangerous in the first eight days following conception and towards
the end of pregnancy. It would be even desirable that during the whole time pregnancy
lasts that the couple live in continence. All movement and all violent
agitations are bad for the fruit, and can obtain their destruction. Balls,
dances, clothing that is too tight, a pregnant person who does not avoid all
these things with care, and who puts her child in danger by her imprudence sins
mortally and becomes a parricide before the eyes of God, because she occasions
corporal death and especially spiritual death, because it often happens he does
not receive baptism and he is lost forever, which is the greatest misfortune.
We do not speak of those women
who are miserable enough to make perish voluntarily the fruit they bear. They
are monsters who inspire horror in nature, and who would deserve death
according to the ordinances of our kings. And the Church, to make people
realize who much She detests this crime, prohibited during the Council of
Elvira the administration of sacraments to them, even at death. Again, if only
these miserable ladies had the care to baptize or have baptized these poor victims!
But the Devil who brings them to this horrible attack, confuses them to the
point that they do not think of this, so necessary as it is. If every pregnant
person reflected upon the notion that it is a matter of supreme happiness or
supreme tragedy for her child, there is nothing she would not do or suffer to
procure baptism for him.
As every person can baptize in
case of necessity, even the father or the mother of the child if there is no one
else to do it, everyone should know how to baptize. One must:
1. Pour natural water, and not eau-de-vie or
rosewater or any other liquor, but simple water, as God sends it, warm or cold,
it makes no difference; one must, I say, pour water on the head of the child in
such a way as the water immediately touches the skin; and if there is hair, it
must be cut or pushed aside.
2. At the same time that water is poured, one
must pronounce these words: “I baptize in the name of the Father, of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.” All these words are so necessary by that omitting a
single one, the baptism would not longer be valid.
3. The person who pronounces the words must
pour the water, because if someone else pronounces the words, the baptism would
again be invalid.
4. If there is a doubt as to whether the
child is living, one must add “If you are living… etc.” If there is a doubt as
to whether the child is a monster, one must add “If you are man…etc.” In that
case, one must avoid choking him but one must have him examined by wise and
enlightened persons who will decide.
5. When a child is baptized, but there is
doubt if the baptism is valid, for instance when he is baptized on a member
other than the head, or if one is not sure that the water touched him, or that one
correctly pronounced the words or finally if there is another reason to doubt
of the validity of the baptism, he must be rebaptized conditionally by saying
“If you are not baptized, I baptize you in the name… etc.” If during the
trouble and confusion, one does not remember the particular condition that one
must add, a general condition can be used that supplants all the others, for
example “If you are capable of receiving baptism, I baptize you in the name…
etc.”
When a child is baptized at birth,
the persons who are present must watch carefully the person baptizing to see
that she does not miss anything, and then tell the priest everything that
occurred. And the person who baptized must be the first to advise if she missed
something or if she has a doubt so that if the child is still living, the fault
may be corrected by baptizing conditionally.
It is recommended to all who see
this writing to pray for all the children who will be subject to the accident
of which we have spoken, that they have the
happiness of receiving baptism, and that those who have received it
conserve the grace, and that God gives them a holy education. For this, we can
employ the intercession of all the children who died in baptismal innocence, so
that they may obtain for others through their prayers the grace of baptism that
had saved them, and the happiness to conserve it.
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