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​Baptism

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The Sacrament of Baptism is the first of the Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist). In Baptism, God cleanses a person from all sin and welcomes that person into the Church, the community of Christ’s disciples, so that, through active participation in the life of the Church, the baptized comes to experience the fullness of God’s grace and love.  

Adults receive Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist at the Easter Vigil, after preparing according to the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). Children are considered adults when they reach the "age of reason", around the age of seven. Children seven and older, therefore, also receive Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist at the Easter Vigil, and are prepared according to the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, adapted for children (RCIA for Children). Children aged six and younger should be baptized as infants.

Baptism of infants comes when parents and godparents, themselves active and participating members of a parish, ask for the sacrament on behalf of their child. Please click here for a printable list of requirements for the Baptism of Children in the Catholic Church at ICC.

In order that the child’s baptism can be celebrated in a manner worthy of what God does in this sacrament, the parish has established the following guidelines that we ask you to review.

1. Parents are the most important people taking part in the baptism rite. It is their “yes” that makes it possible for the sacrament to be conferred and for the child to begin life as a member of Christ’s church. Since a child can only know what being a member of the church is all about by imitating his or her parents, parents must give indication that they can offer this example to their child. This is usually done by being registered members of a parish. 
2. Parents must also attend a baptismal preparation session. This is required of all parents who have not attended such a preparation within the last two years. The parents must complete the information form distributed at the baptism preparation session.
3. The godparents must submit the Godparent Testimony distributed at the preparation session.
4. Because baptism is the sacrament of bringing a person into the life of the church, a family of faith centered on the Eucharist, all baptisms are normally celebrated at a Sunday Mass (or Saturday Vigil) on designated weekends—usually the first and third weekends of the month, except during the season of Lent (Ash Wednesday through Easter Sunday). Parents may choose any Mass on those weekends.
5. Scheduling a baptism is done only when the parish office has received the registration form and godparent testimony form.
6. Baptism may be celebrated by “immersion” (placing your child into the warmed baptismal font up to his/her neck) or by “pouring,” (pouring water over the child’s head as he/she is held over the font). Please advise the friar of your choice prior to coming to church for the ceremony.
7. Godparents are important. Together with the parents, they are people whom the child can look to in order to learn how it is that he or she ought to live as a Christian. Godparents must be fully initiated Catholics (i.e., they are baptized, confirmed, and have received Communion) no younger than sixteen years old who are members of a parish. (The child is to have only one male and/or one female sponsor.) A baptized person of a different Christian tradition may serve as a ‘witness’ along with a Catholic godparent. ​ ​