4Real Forums: Baptism Preparation

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Topic: Baptism Preparation

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LucyP
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Posted: May 05 2008 at 12:51pm \| IP Logged

I am so happy. Our children (DS 4; DD 1) will be baptised on 31st May. Sadly it will be outside Mass as DS would not cope with the attention/people; happily it is a Marian day :o)

How can I prepare him?

How can I prepare myself/my husband? IT feels such a big, beautiful step forward for them and I feel I can't just sit back and turn up on the day.

The plan is to invite guests to feel free to join us for the 10am Mass, Benediction & Exposition, confession if they want, and then the baptism at 11.30.

What do I need to know? I've never been to any baptism except of adult believers, let alone a Catholic one. I know we need something white to put on them afterwards - DS has a white linen jacket, DD will be in a white dress but I don't know what I could put on her post baptism. Do the Godparents hold the child at the font or the parents? I am totally clueless!

SusanJ
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Posted: May 05 2008 at 1:01pm \| IP Logged

Does your parish not do baptism preparation classes? The custom of putting on the white garment afterwards is not universal. If you are going to dress them in white for the entire liturgy I don't think you are required to add anything else afterwards. Likewise, I believe it is no longer the case, necessarily, that the godparents hold the baby at the font. Norms might be different in the UK. I've only seen that here when a family used the 1962 Missal for a baptism. Dh held our son and I held our daughter at their respective baptisms and the godparents were next to us.

Do try to relax and enjoy the beautiful day (May 31st is our anniversary--it IS a beautiful feast!). In my Irish-Catholic family baptisms are a huge deal and I end up hosting lots of out-of-town guests for an entire weekend at six weeks postpartum. I remind myself all weekend to relax and enjoy and pray but its a lot of spotlight on the mom. You might be a bit off the hook in this regard with two kids and both of them old enough to help you entertain :)

Prayers for your family during this exciting time.

Susan

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LucyP
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Posted: May 06 2008 at 2:08pm \| IP Logged

Well I believe it does but we can't get to them. Our preparation was a five minute chat to the priest.

Thank you for your prayers, Susan. And congrats to your dh!

teachingmom
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Posted: May 06 2008 at 11:35pm \| IP Logged

Congratulations, Susan! I was Godmother to a niece who was adopted at age 6. She and her 2yo brother were baptized a few months after the adoptions. She wore a white dress and her brother wore a white boy's suit of some sort. They did not put on anything else white after being baptized. I stood with my niece near the baptismal font and she simply bent her head over while standing to be baptized. It seems that current practice in the U.S. is for either one of the parents or one of the Godparents to old an infant during the actual baptism. So you could probably choose which of you will hold your one-year-old while she is being baptized.

Don't worry - the priest should direct you in the details. Relax and enjoy this great occasion. Are you planning a celebration afterwards for family and friends who will be joining you?

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donnalynn
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Posted: May 08 2008 at 12:51pm \| IP Logged

Lucy -

I wanted to offer my prayers for you - what a wonderful journey you and your family are beginning.

I have rarely done things in the "proper" order

. But I am finally taking the narrow way!

My girls were baptized at almost 4 and 18 months during a regular Sunday Mass - it was very stressful, a little confusing, and very overwhelming. They wore regular clothes and then we changed them into their white dresses after the moment of Baptism - it was very awkward.

My boys were baptized at 3 and 5 outside of Mass by our parish priest (different parish than the girls) with only family and Godparents in attendance - we chose a good Catholic couple to be the Godparents for both boys. That went so much smoother - it was relaxed, and we all had a good giggle because Christian (age 6) really put up quite a fuss and you would have thought that demons were being driven from him - I don't know that I would have giggled if this had happened in front of the entire congregation!

Sometimes you just never know how children will react in certain situations.

The boys both wore white shirts and dark blue pants - they were each given a white bib of sorts to represent the clean garment of Christ that they were now clothed in (not sure of the exact words).

For preparation you could go over the Baptismal promises that you are making on behalf of your child. You could also read what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says about Baptism. If there are classes but you can't get to them I would ask to borrow the materials to look over.

For your four year-old I would take him to the Church and show him the Baptismal Font - you could go over the basics of what to expect or ask whoever is going to preside if they could walk you and your son through what to expect.

Do you have any Catholic story books that speak about Baptism? Maybe some of the ladies here would have suggestions. Or you could ask your RE director.

And I agree - do not worry!

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