Baptism: The Facts

....And we're back.  I'm just going to gloss over the fact that I haven't posted in weeks and get to postin'.

A long, long time ago (really, July 25), Carson, her cousin Madelyn, and another baby from our church were baptized together.  It was a beautiful day, filled with family and countless reminders of our blessings.  Here are the facts about Catholic baptism:

1. The Purpose
The main purpose of Catholic baptism today is to welcome new members to the church family.  The parents and godparents get to stand in front of their community and introduce their child, promise to raise that child in the faith, and ask for help in doing so.  And the other members of the community get to meet the baby and agree to help them.  I love the idea of this, and it was awesome for Brandon & I to get to "present" our daughter together.

2. The Gown
Babies being baptized are dressed in a white garment to symbolize innocence and a new life in Christ.  Two thousand years ago, Christians wore fresh (clean) clothes after baptism, and since now we pretty much always wear fresh clothes, the tradition has remained in the form of white garments.

Carson wore a gown that was first worn by my dad.  Then his two sisters wore it.  And then all of their kids wore it, so my brothers, sister, cousins, and I were all also baptized in this gown.  And then cousin Patrick wore it when he was baptized.  And on this day, Carson wore it. 
These are the people who were present at C's baptism who had also worn the gown.

 

And here is cousin Madelyn's gorgeous gown, a replica of a gown worn by many in their family, which was made (yes, she made every detail!) by Meme. It's truly amazing.

3. The Godparents
Parents of a child being baptized choose two people to help guide and teach the child in their faith.  The godparents are partly responsible for the child's upbringing in the church, and should the parents be unable to teach the child about God and faith, the godparents agree to do so completely.  We chose Uncle Jon and Aunt Anna to be Carson's godparents for lots of reasons.  But mainly for their stunning good looks.

And Brandon was beyond honored to be Madelyn's godfather.  Seriously. He was SO excited.

4.  The Bling
Okay, this is not necessarily traditional of all baptisms, but Carson received several meaningful (and sparkly!) gifts for her baptism.

The first is from Brandon and I.  When we saw it, it just looked like C, and it's something she'll be able to wear for years to come.  The second is a beautiful locket from Gram and Poppy.  It has her initials engraved on one side and "Baptism" with the date engraved on the other.  It is such a wonderful keepsake that she can wear at future sacraments and will always remind her of the day. (*side note--does anyone know how to get pictures sized for a locket?  Or do you just have to stand reeeaalllyyy far away?).  And lastly, Meme and Papa gave both Carson and Madelyn a gorgeous little cross pendant necklace so they have a memento from their special day.  I think it's so sweet they have the same charm given to them both on such an important day that they shared.


5. The Water

The water in the baptismal font, which is poured over the child's head, symbolizes cleansing and new life in Christ. 

Carson was pretty sure it was a bath and spent almost the entire ceremony and the post-baptism picture time trying to wiggle out of my arms to get to it.  She even tried charming it with a head tilt and a grin.  I had to ask Brandon to hold her over it when they actually poured the water on her head, because my arms were so tired I was afraid I'd drop her! 

 

Both Carson and Madelyn handled the dousing like pros.

  

                              

6. The Oils
There are a few different oils rubbed on the babies at various points in the ceremony.  Olive oil is rubbed on the baby's chest, as a symbol of strengthening (that's what the book says), and oil of chrism is rubbed on their heads as a sign of sealing them with the gifts of the Spirit.  As Aunt Mollie says, "It smells like Jesus."  So when you see the babies' heads in pics of later in the day, the babies aren't dirty--just blessed and smellin' good!

7. The Nap (really, I just wanted an excuse to post these pics.

Phew!  Getting baptized is exhausting!  This is C before we even left the Church parking lot...

8. The After-Party
Post-baptism, we all headed to my parents' house for food and fellowship.  It was such a wonderful, fun, and special afternoon.  Looking around the room, I was so thankful that Carson has such a large and loving family.  How amazing for her to have so many people want to celebrate her and Maddy. 

It also struck me how blessed she is to have sweet, loving cousin Maddy to share such experiences with.  In the blink of an eye, we'll be celebrating their First Communion!  But for now, we prefer to slow down, take it in, and thank God for these once-in-a-lifetime moments and friends.