Within Catholic parish communities, the celebration of Baptism is a key moment, when the person being baptised is formally welcomed into the community of faith.

Here in St. Dominic’s we seek to give this lovely sacrament its due prominence. In the normal run of things, it is little infants who are carried by their families for baptism. The parents are reminded that through this sacrament, their child becomes a child of the parish community.

A group of parishioners welcomes the family at the entrance of the church, where the child to be baptised is formally named, and signed with the sign of the cross (our sign of faith). When the moment for baptising comes, the parents hand over their child to the godparents – signalling their understanding that their child becomes our child – and the godparents bring the little one through the moments of baptism.

These moments are the baptising, the ‘christening’ with holy oil, the ‘clothing’ of the newly-baptised, and the receiving of the lighted candle (the light of Christ). After these, the godparents hand back the child to the parents, who are then committed to the responsibility of being the prime teachers and guides for their child in the Christian way.

This sacrament is invariably a very joyful celebration ... made so, not least, by the [often noisy] presence of children.