The Divine Ministry of Jesus Christ 

indicates that Jesus was in truth the One who was baptizing, even though the baptizing was actually carried 

out by Jesus' disciples (Jn 4:1 3). Here Sacred Scripture clearly counts the baptism given by the disciples of 

Christ just as if it had come from Christ. Sacred Scripture considers that baptism by Christ's disciples comes 

directly from Christ, so much so that the clear statement is made in the Gospel that  he [Jesus] remained with 

them and baptized  (Jn 3:22). The baptism given by the disciples of Christ during His Ministry did truly 

proceed from Christ, and so must have been the true Sacrament of Baptism. For when any disciple of Christ 

baptizes, it is Christ who baptizes. But if that baptism by the disciples were not the true Sacrament, then 

Sacred Scripture would not have told us it came from Christ. How could Jesus the Messiah give anyone a 

baptism which was lacking in the power and grace of the true Sacrament of Baptism, when all true 

Sacraments, and their grace and power, proceed from Jesus Christ? Therefore, the true Sacrament of Baptism 

was given, first to the humanity of Jesus Christ by the Holy Trinity at the baptism of John, and thereafter, by 

the disciples of Christ to His followers during His Ministry, even before the Crucifixion. 

    Furthermore, Blessed Anne Catherine describes the baptism given by Jesus' disciples in the following way. 

     The spot upon which Andrew, Saturnin, and the other disciples baptized in turn upon Jesus' command, 

was the little island upon which He Himself had been baptized .While the disciples baptized, Jesus taught 

and prepared the aspirants for Baptism. 

421

     Near the place of Baptism was a kind of altar upon which lay the baptismal garments. Two of the disciples 

imposed hands upon the shoulders of the neophytes while Andrew or Saturnin, sometimes another, dipped the 

hollow hand three times into the basin and poured the water over their head baptizing them in the name of the 

Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. 

422

    According to Blessed Anne Catherine, Jesus Himself taught and prepared many of the candidates for 

baptism. His disciples baptized under his direction and authority. They baptized in the same place where Jesus 

Himself  had received the first true Sacrament of Baptism. And they used a formula very similar to the one 

used today in the Sacrament of Baptism, including pouring water three times and using the words  in the 

name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 

423

 Blessed Anne Catherine further states that both 

the procedure and words used by John for baptism were different than that used by the disciples of Jesus.

424

This baptism, given by the disciples of Christ under His direction and authority, was clearly and without any 

doubt the true and full Sacrament of Baptism. Nothing more and nothing different, of any significance, is 

found in the Sacrament of Baptism today. The words used by Jesus' disciples invoked the name of the Father 

and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; they poured water three times over the person being baptized; and they 

baptized under Jesus' direction and with His help in teaching and preparing the candidates for Baptism. 

Therefore, the baptism given by the disciples of Jesus Christ, under His direction, and beginning soon after 

Jesus' baptism by John, was the true and full Sacrament of Baptism, just as it is today. 

    Some claim that, at that time, there was not yet a true Sacrament of Baptism, even the baptism which 

Sacred Scripture describes as being given by the disciples of Christ under His direction (Jn 3:22; 4:1 2), because 

Jesus had not yet suffered and died for our salvation. Now it is true that the power of salvation and the grace 

for all the Holy Sacraments of the Church proceed from the Cross of Jesus Christ. However, Time is no 

obstacle to God. Do you not know that whoever is saved, throughout all of Time, even going back thousands 

of years before the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ, is saved by the One True Sacrifice of Christ on the 

Cross? And the Church clearly teaches that the merits of Jesus Christ, which most obviously include Christ's 

suffering and death on the Cross, were the source of grace and power which brought about the Immaculate 

Conception of the Virgin Mary.

425

 Therefore, under the authority and direction of Christ, the true Sacrament of 

Baptism (and other Sacraments) could be dispensed before the Crucifixion, in accordance with the will of God. 

    A clear and indisputable example of a Sacrament beginning before the Crucifixion of Christ is the first Holy 

Eucharist. At the Last Supper, on the night before the Crucifixion, Christ Himself established the Sacrament of 

Holy Communion and Christ Himself consecrated the first Eucharist. Yet the Crucifixion of Christ, that most 

holy event which is in truth the source of grace and power for all the Holy Sacraments, occurred the following 

day for nothing is impossible to God. 

105