Sacramental Theology within the Santo Daime

What is amazing about the Daime is that it is a new religious stream of Christianity that is sacramental movement.

This makes it so different from all other different types of new Christian groups. They all believe in salvation by faith alone and by grace. However just as in traditional proto orthodox christianity – one must participate in the sacramental life. It is a requirement, the entire Santo Daime is based around the sacrament itself.

The Daime is not worshipped just as in the same way in the Catholic mass you are not worshipping the communion bread. There is a belief that a real transformation occurs within the Daime, that could have effect on your afterlife. But just like how in the Roman Catholic church they do not worship the bred as their saviour, the understand the true mechanism of action to be that of Christ.

Sacraments of the Catholic Church inherited into the Santo Daime

There are 7 sacraments of the Catholic church. It is understood that

Baptism

When a baby is baptized within the Santo Daime, they are generally understood to have adopted the same presuppositions of the rite of baptism that is inherited from the Catholic church.

Remember that Irineu never claimed to have started a church, and

Laypeople can give valid Catholic baptisms. This was decided at the Council of Florence. As long as the one administering the baptism does so: (1) in the name of the trinitarian God of the father, son and holy spirit; and (2) while actually believing that the baptism will

Within the line of Padrinho Sebastiao, the baptism can be accompanied with the hymn “meu pai peco que vos me ouca”. The final line of this Oracao hymn refer to baptisms, quote:

Aquele que aqui batiza
Batizou no rio de Jordão

Let’s look at this a little further. The baptism of the river of Jordan was a true transformational event in the life of Christ. It is associated with the idea of the “Theophany” by Eastern Christians that believe at the baptism event the real , baptism of Jesus is generally considered as the start of his ministry , and many Christian groups understanding that this is the moment God was fully realized within jesus the man. There is the understanding that Jesus baptism is real and actually does transform the person. That is affirmed once again in this hymn, that the real presence of God is here with us.

This is a form of infant baptism, which differs greatly than believer baptism found in many forms of evangelical christianity which are spreading throughout the new world not only in Brazil but rather the entire Americas. The understanding is that the sacrament of baptism is performed with actor transforming the target to be the most important aspect of the rite.

Confession

hymn 17 irineu. This teaches a confession directly before God, which is different than

Communion

You commune with the divine. You partake in a direct connection to the higher realm. This is the standard understanding within mainstream Catholicism and Orthodoxy. The true presence of God is there when one partakes within the sacrament. When man drinks and digests the Daime, he is taking part in a sacramental divine connection in the same way that Catholics and Orthodox are.

Note how there is not a claim of

Confirmation

Fardamento

Marriage

Holy Orders

This is not something practiced within Santo Daime. There are not strict controls or requirements on who can run a work. It is not necessitated, especially during the pandemic many large groups split up to practice in smaller sub-groups.

In early Santo Daime history, there was a time where there were multiple ranks to the farda. The ranks culminated to the top level which involved Mestre Irineu and his general staff. Throughout the Daime, within the lifetime of Mestre Irineu, these ranks were removed from the tradition and it became more egalitarian.

Holy orders are important to consider because within Catholicism and Orthodoxy there have traditionally been restrictions for who is able to administer sacraments. In Post-Vatican II Catholicism, laypeople can give sacraments within Churches, though a priest must still be there to conduct the mass. There exist rites of initiation that are governed by bigger hierarchical central bodies as to who can lead the mass and who can administer sacraments to the attendees.

Last Rites

The concept of “viaticum” is certainly possible within the Daime, thought it may not necessarily be practiced by all. Since the standard definition of this component of the last rites simply involves administering a sacrament to someone who is going to die – in anticipation of that death – then yes any cup of Daime administered to a dying person could be a participation in the mystery of this sacrament.

In regards to “anointing of the sick” with oil –

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