Aidan Kavanagh, OSB, (1926-2006) founded the doctoral program in liturgical studies at Notre Dame and served as professor of liturgics at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music and Yale Divinity School. His texts on liturgy, rites of initiation, and liturgical theology made him a significant figure in American Catholic liturgiology. He is the author of Elements of Rite, On Liturgical Theology, and The Shape of Baptism published by Liturgical Press.

• ContentsIntroduction  ixThe TraditionChapter OneThe Foundations   3Ablutions and Baptisms in Judaism   6The New Testament   11Baptism in New Testament Churches   23Chapter TwoThe Ritualization of Christian Initiation   35Aboriginal Patterns: East Syria and the Graeco-Latin West   40Roman Adaptation of the Initiatory Pattern of Hippolytus   54The ReformsChapter ThreeThe Reforms of the Second Vatican Council: The Context   81Baptismal Debates: 1937-1964  86Chapter FourThe Reforms of the Second Vatican Council: The Norm of Baptism   102The Reforms of the Council   103The Norm of the Eucharist   106The Norm of Baptism   109The Pastoral Roots of the Norm of Baptism   115Chapter FiveThe Reforms of the Second Vatican Council: The Rites of Adult Initiation   126The Structure of the Rites of Adult Initiation   128Evangelization and Precatechumenate   129The Catechumenate   129Period of Purification and Enlightenment   133The Sacraments of Initiation   134Period of Postbaptismal Catechesis or Mystagogia   142Observations   144The FutureChapter SixSpeculations, Observations, and Conclusions   153The Pastoral Sensitivity of Baptism   154The Meaning and Knowledge of Baptism   158Pastoral Observations   163Pastoral Cautions   180Theological Observations   194Summary   199Bibliography   205Index   216