INSUFFLATION. — Like exsufflation, insufflation (ì.) is an ancient ecclesiastical ceremony still employed today in the solemn administration of Baptism, in the blessing of holy chrism and of the oil of catechumens, and in the consecration of the baptismal font. It has a twofold meaning: a negative, exorcistic one as the expulsion of the evil spirit (exsufflation with a cold breath) and a positive, sanctifying one as the infusion of the Holy Spirit (insufflation with a warm breath, i.e., exhalation); in some formulae both purposes are combined, as in the present Ordo Baptismi parvulorum.
The rite of blowing upon the catechumen before admission to Baptism derives from the ancient practice of driving away demons from the possessed and the sick by means of the breath. In this way, catechumens, regarded as enslaved by the demon, are exorcised by the breath; this custom is found in Jerusalem (St. Cyril, Procatech., 9 [of 347]), in Africa (Tertullian, Apol., 23: PL 1, 415; St. Augustine, Contra Iul., I, 50, 60, 4: PL 45, 1073, 1081, 649), among the Donatists (St. Augustine, Contra Cresc., II, 5, 7), and in Rome between the 5th and 6th centuries (John the Deacon, Epist. ad Senarium: PL 59, 401-402). However, this practice is not found in the Roman Sacramentaries nor in the Ord. Rom. VII; it does appear in the Ord. Romanus antiquus of the 10th century, sometimes preceded or followed by the sign of the Cross, a rite already attested in the so-called Bobbio Missal of Gallican origin (8th century): “Post hec [signa Crucis] insufflabis in os eius ter et dices: Accipe spiritum sanctum in corde retenias” (ed. E. A. Lowe, London 1920, no. 233). In the Pontificale Romanae Curiae of the 13th century it is prescribed: “Hic ad modum crucis alet in faciem cathechizandi et dicat ei: Iohannes, accipe Spiritum Sanctum per istam insufflationem et Dei benedictionem. Pax tibi!” (M. Andrieu, Le Pontifical romain, II, Vatican City 1940, p. 514).
The oils of chrism and of catechumens in the blessing on Holy Thursday are likewise exorcised by blowing, a rite described in the Ord. of St. Amand: “Exaltat in eam pontifex tribus vicibus” (L. Duchesne, Origines du culte chrétien, 5th ed., Paris 1925, p. 487); in Ord. Romanus I, no. 31: “Pontifex... halat ter in ampullam chrismatis... insufflat ter... et similiter halat in ipsam, sed tacite...” (PL 78, 952). The other bishops present also take part in the rite according to Ord. Romanus X, nos. 10, 11: “Halet ter in illam; halent etiam in ipsam omnes episcopi qui assistunt ibi” (ibid., 1012).
The exhalations upon the baptismal water have the same purpose as the insufflation of the catechumens: exorcism and sanctification. This rite is of Gallican origin; evidence is provided by the Missale Gothicum (ed. C. Mohlberg, Augsburg 1929, no. 259): “Deinde insufflas aquam per tres vices” and the Gelasian Sacramentary of the 8th century (Gellone, Sangallo). At Rome (e.g., it is lacking in the Gregorian Sacramentaries, in Amalarius, and in Ord. Romanus antiquus), it is found in Ord. Romanus X (no. 21: PL 78, 1016); yet it did not become general use until the Roman Missal of Pius V. BIBLICA.: Fr. J. Dölger, Der Exorsismus im althchristlichen Taufurial, Paderborn 1909, pp. 63 ff., 118 ff.; Ad. Franz, Die kirchlichen Benediktionen im Mittelalter, I, Freiburg 1909, pp. 50 ff., 334 ff.; II, ibid. 1909, p. 541 ff.; J. Braun, Ein unverstandenes und missdeutetes Zeichen im Ritus der Taufwasserweihe, in Stimmen der Zeit, 137 (1940), pp. 217 ff.; Ph. Oppenheim, Commentationes in ritum baptismalem, Turin-Rome 1943, pp. 93-102; M. Righetti, Manuale di storia liturgica, II, Milan 1946, pp. 150, 170; Ed. Stommel, Studien zur Epiklese der römischen Taufwasserweihe, Bonn 1950, pp. 50 ff.