are "The Ministration of Public Baptism;" "The Ministration of Private Baptism;" "The Churching of Women:" "The Order for the Burial of the Dead," "The Communion at the Burial of the Dead;" and "The Form of Consecrations;" all of which differ very widely from our own.
Public Baptism is only allowed between Easter and Pentecost. The sign of the Cross, a Form of Exorcism, the anointing with oil, and the Trine Immersion are enjoined. A portion of consecrated milk and honey, and white garments, as an emblem of innocency, were given to each child.[1] In the case of adults, the Priest was to retire, while the candidates were placed in the water, the males by the Deacons, the females by the Deaconesses. A Form for consecrating the milk and honey is appended to the office.[2] In
- ↑ "This dipping does very significantly express the three great effects of Baptism: for as immersion necessarily implies three several states or conditions; the descent into the water, the being totally covered with it, and the rising out of it again: so by these are represented Christ's death, burial, and resurrection: and in conformity thereto our dying unto sin, the destruction of its power, and our resurrection to a new course of life. By the person's descending into the water, is livelily represented his going down to the grave, and dying to sin: by his being totally covered with it, which is a kind of burial in the water, is denoted his being absolutely in the power of death, &c. and then by his emersion or rising up out of the water, is signified his entering upon a new course of life." He explains the trine immersion to represent the Trinity, and the three days burial of Christ, and his resurrection on the third day. Deacon's Comprehensive View, p. 231. He explains the white garments to signify "his having put off the lusts of the flesh." Ibid. 232.
- ↑ Deacon thus explains the milk and honey. "After the kiss of peace he receives a taste of consecrated milk and honey, in token of his spiritual infancy, that, now he is a child adopted into God's family, for sweet milk is the nourishment of new born babes." Ibid. 232.
