It's very important to remember one's anniversary of baptism. The Church has given an opportunity to gain a plenary indulgence if one renews the baptismal promises on that day.
A partial indulgence is granted to the faithful, who renew their baptismal promises according to formula in use; but a plenary indulgence is granted, if this is done either: 1) in the celebration of the Paschal Vigil or 2) on the anniversary of one's baptism.
Prayer:
I, __________ (name), who through the tender mercy of the Eternal Father was privileged to be baptized "in the name of the Lord Jesus" (Acts 19, 5) and thus to share in the dignity of his divine Sonship, wish now in the presence of this same loving Father and of his only-begotten Son to renew in all sincerity the promises I solemnly made at the time of my holy Baptism.
I, therefore, now do once again renounce Satan; I renounce all his works; I renounce all his allurements.
I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born into this world and who suffered and died for my sins and rose again. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.
Having been buried with Christ unto death and raised up with him unto a new life, I promise to live no longer for myself or for that world which is the enemy of God but for him who died for me and rose again, serving God, my heavenly Father, faithfully and unto death in the holy Catholic Church.
Taught by our Savior's command and formed by the word of God, I now dare to say:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Prayer Source: Enchiridion of Indulgences , June 29, 1968
Catholic Culture. org
Renewal of Baptismal Promises
Catholic Online Prayers
V. Do you reject Satan?
R. I do.
V. And all his works?
R. I do.
V. And all his empty promises?
R. I do.
V. Do you believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth?
R. I do.
V. Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary was crucified, died, and was buried, rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father?
R. I do.
V. Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?
R. I do.
V. God, the all-powerful Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has given us a new birth by water and the Holy Spirit, and forgiven all our sins. May he also keep us faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ for ever and ever.
R. Amen.
(This is a family service that is directed by one of the parents. The family members renew their baptismal vows and sprinkle themselves with the -Easter Water/Holy water)
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| Pick up your cross and follow me |
Catena Aurea:
Gregory, in Ezech., Hom. i, 10: He denies himself whosoever is changed for the better, and begins to be what he was not, and ceases to be what he was.
Gregory, Mor., xxxiii, 6: He also denies himself, who having trode under foot the risings of pride, shews himself in the eyes of God to be estranged from himself.
Jerome: Otherwise; He takes up his cross who is crucified to the world; and he to whom the world is crucified, follows his crucified Lord.
On Fighting Under the Standard of Jesus Christ
by Richard Challoner, 1807
"Enter ye in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who go in thereat. How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leadeth to life: and few there are that find it!--Matthew 7:13-14
Consider first, that there are upon earth, and have been all along, two opposite kingdoms, two opposite interests, two opposite cities; Jerusalem and Babylon, the city of God and the city of the devil--two opposite standards, that of Jesus Christ, and that of Satan. From the time that man unhappily fell from God by sin, Satan set up his tyrannical usurpation; which he has, by all kinds of tricks and lies, endeavoured to maintain ever since, by alluring poor deluded mortals with the glittering show of worldly pomps, riches, and pleasures, to become his slaves, and to fight under his standard, and by establishing among them his law and maxims, calculated for nothing else but to make them miserable both for time and eternity. And ah! how unhappily has he prevailed over millions! what multitudes everywhere join with him against their God! how is this wretched Babylon spread over all the earth!
Consider 2ndly, that Jesus Christ came into this world to set up His standard, in opposition to the standard of Satan, and to invite all men to follow Him, promising to deliver His followers from all their evils, and to impart to them all His good. They that duly correspond with His call, and join His royal standard, make up the city of God, the blessed Jerusalem, the Church of the Saints. But see now the immense difference between these two opposite cities and their inhabitants; how happy the one, and how miserable the other. The children of Babylon are miserable indeed; they are slaves to passions that can never be satisfied; to a world that can never be contented; to infernal tyrants that are continually dragging them along with them towards hell: they are slaves to empty vanities, childish toys, and lying follies; labouring under a variety of fears, cares, sorrows, uneasinesses, and innumerable other evils, without enjoying so much as any one, solid or lasting satisfaction. But O, how happy are the children of Jerusalem! what content, what peace, what pure pleasure in the soul, are commonly their portion, even in this life, and immortal joys in the next! and shalt thou, my soul, stand one moment to deliberate which of the two thou wilt choose; the standard of Christ, or that of Satan; Jerusalem or Babylon; all good or all evil; verity or vanity; happiness or misery; heaven or hell?
Consider 3rdly, that all manner of motives, from time and eternity, from our origin and last end, from duty and interest, honour and pleasure, fear and love, all here concur to determine the soul in her choice, and to fix her in the happy resolution of following the standard of Jesus Christ. Turn then, my soul, turn away from this Babel of confusion, noise and disorder; break her chains from off thy neck, O captive daughter of Sion. Renounce, for good and all, the king of pride; the tyrant that has usurped to himself the dominion over this world and its deluded admirers; renounce his works and pomps, together with all his associates, the princes of darkness, and all their slaves, and turn thyself to the blessed Jerusalem, the city of peace; embrace the King of Peace, and His glorious standard, with all thy heart; choose Him for thy King for ever; pay Him irrevocable homage, and promise Him inviolable fidelity and obedience.
Conclude, since thou hast now chosen Jesus Christ to be thy king, to fight manfully unto death under His royal standard of the cross; against His and thy enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil. In order to this, learn well the exercise of prayer, and the rules of the Gospel, which are the military discipline which He has fixed for His soldiers.
Renewal of Baptismal Vows
I renew my Baptismal Vows, I renounce Satan and all his works and all his pomps. I take Jesus Christ for my Model and my Guide and I promise to be faithful to Him unto the end of my life. Amen
On the Rules Prescribed by Jesus Christ to His Followers
Consider first, the laws of the military discipline which Jesus Christ prescribes to all that desire to be soldiers, Matt. xvi 24, 'If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.' The observance of these three articles makes a complete soldier of Christ. We must renounce ourselves, we must bear our crosses, and we must walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. The corruption of man by sin, the wounds that sin has left in all the faculties of the soul, the violence of our disorderly passions, and the bent of our natural inclinations to evil, infer a necessity of renouncing ourselves, of fighting against ourselves, and of hating our natural inclinations, if we hope to be happy either here or hereafter. We have not a more dangerous enemy than ourselves, the devil himself cannot hurt us half so much as we hurt ourselves, when we follow our own will, and indulge our own inclinations. The denying, therefore, of ourselves, is the first article of unhappy self-love, the root of all our evils, and its three principal branches, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. The Son of God came down from heaven to engage us in the holy warfare. The humility, the poverty, the voluntary sufferings of His birth, of His life, and of His death, were all levelled against these enemies.
Consider 2ndly, that the soldier of Jesus Christ must stand to His colours, he must not run from the cross; he must bear and forbear; he must endure many conflicts; he must patiently submit to, and courageously go through, the labours and hardships of this short campaign of his mortal life. He must not pretend to fare better than his captain and his king. All sufferings and hardships appear nothing to a brave soldier, when he is following his prince, and is happy in his company. The Christian soldier then, must be willing to carry his cross after Jesus Christ, who opened heaven to us by the cross, and conducts His soldiers thither by the way of the cross. Embrace then, O my soul, this happy instrument of thy salvation, in which, if thou bearest it in a proper manner, thou wilt find an inexhaustible source of grace and comfort. Embrace the holy will of God, which lays the cross upon thee, to bring thee to Himself. He knows what is best for thee, because He is infinitely wise, and He sends thee what He knows is for the best, because He is infinitely good, and good to thee. Thou canst not be in a safer or better way than in the way of the cross, by which Jesus Christ and all His saints have gone to heaven. Even in this life, the true soldiers of Christ find often a greater sweetness in the cross, than in all the pleasure of this world.
Consider 3rdly, that the soldiers of Christ are all called, even as His first disciples were, to follow Him; that is to walk in His footsteps by an imitation of His life. He came down from heaven to be our teacher, and our model, and it is the great duty of all that desire to belong to Him, to copy after this blessed original, and to show forth in themselves the life of Jesus Christ; to learn of Him to be meek and humble of heart; to learn of Him poverty of spirit, a contempt of the honours, riches, and pleasures of this world, and a disengagement of the heart from all earthly things; to learn of Him a horror of sin, and an obedience even unto death; in fine, to learn of him a perpetual conformity to the will of God, and an unbounded charity to every neighbour. Such was the life of Jesus Christ, and such ought to be the life of all His soldiers.
Conclude to embrace henceforward this discipline of Jesus Christ, in all its parts. It is a heavenly discipline indeed since he came down from heaven to teach it, and the observance of it is to bring us to heaven.
http://catholicharboroffaithandmorals.com/
III. Follow Him.
PERORATION
You know now what you must do in order to be admitted among the Saints in heaven. Deny yourself, mortify the lusts of the flesh and all sinful desires, bridle your senses and with constancy refuse to yourself all that is sinful and all that leads to sin. Take up your cross, accept cheerfully all the sufferings and tribulations you receive from the hand of God, for they are graces which will lead you on in the path of salvation, confirm you in good, expiate the temporal punishments due your sins and increase your glory in heaven. Follow Christ. Hold fast to the faith and have charity, and manifest both by an unceasing fervor in the practice of Christian virtues and good works. Even though self-denial, mortification, the carrying of your cross and following Christ be connected with difficulties, let not your courage fail; God is with you, and assisted by his grace you can do all things. Labor, combat and suffer with the Saints on earth, that you may triumph with them in heaven. Amen.
