Baptism

Celebration of Baptism

When you wish to have your child baptised, you should contact the priest or the parish office. Baptism is usually celebrated on Saturday afternoons. Particularly special times are the Easter Vigil or Easter Sunday morning, when baptism is celebrated during Mass. Similarly, baptism is often celebrated during Mass on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which ends the Christmas season. Please note:

1. You need to arrange for Godparents: one male and one female, practising Catholics. They should be 16 or over, mature enough for this special responsibility.
2. Collect a card beforehand from the parochial house or the sacristy, on which you provide details for filling in the baptism register afterwards.
3. You will need to bring a white garment/Christening robe. The baptismal robe is to mark and celebrate the baptism; it should not be worn before the water is poured and the baptism completed.
4. A baptismal candle is needed; it will be lit from the paschal candle, representing the light of Christ.
5. The baptismal ceremony is designed like a little journey, in four stages:

First: the welcome at the door; second: the reading from the bible; third: the baptism at the font; fourth: the celebration at the altar.

The whole group gathers in the porch, inside the inner church doors. The whole group moves then to the front seats to listen to the reading from the bible. The whole group gathers in a circle around the font for the baptism, and the whole group moves up in a circle around the altar for the final celebration: the Our Father and the final blessing.