If you wish to arrange a Baptism, please note that you cannot do this by email, SMS text or telephone. You can only arrange a Baptism by speaking personally to a member of the parish clergy after Mass at the weekend. If you are registered with our parish, please ask Deacon Mike or Fr Terry to give you a Baptism application form. When you have returned the completed form, we shall meet with you to discuss our Baptism Preparation Course. If you are a new parishioner and are not yet registered with the parish, please ask Deacon Mike or Fr Terry to give you a registration form and kindly complete and return this to us first.
If you do not live in the parish of Prestatyn with Rhuddlan, your request for Baptism must be made in writing, addressed to the parish priest here, and must be accompanied by a letter from your own parish priest in which he confirms that you have completed the Baptism Preparation Course operated by your own parish and gives his permission for the Baptism to take place in Prestatyn or Rhuddlan.
PREPARATION FOR BAPTISM
The arrangements and preparation depend on the age of the candidate for Baptism. If the candidate is over the age of seven, a period of instruction and formation in the Catholic faith is required, lasting normally six months.
If the candidate for baptism is below the age of seven, the preparation and instruction is oriented to the parents of the candidate. At least one of the parents must be a Baptised Catholic and must be practising their faith, with regular participation in the Holy Eucharist (Mass) on Sundays. You should approach a member of the parish clergy after Mass at the weekend to request a Baptism Application Form. When you have completed this, you must return it in person, to a member of the parish clergy. We shall then invite you to a preliminary interview, during which we will discuss the reasons for your choice of the Sacrament of Baptism and make arrangements for you to take part in the Baptism Preparation Course for Parents which we operate in Prestatyn Parish. These courses are normally held three times a year. After you have completed the Baptism Preparation Course, we shall then make arrangements for the Baptism of your child. This will take place over two weekends, during the scheduled Sunday Mass. Please note that the date of the Baptism cannot be arranged until the Preparation Course has been completed in full.
On the first occasion, the candidate for Baptism will be presented to the congregation and their forthcoming Baptism will be announced. On the second weekend, the candidate will be Baptised as part of the scheduled Sunday Mass. The first part of the Baptism ceremony will take place at the beginning of Mass and the actual Baptism itself will be administered after the Mass has concluded. This makes it possible for guests who are not Catholic, and who may not wish to attend the whole of the Sunday Mass, to come to the church after Mass for the celebration of the Baptism proper.
CHOOSING GODPARENTS (SPONSORS)
The role of a Godparent in a Catholic Baptism is very important and is more more than just ceremonial or symbolic. During the Baptism ceremony, the Godparents will witness the solemn promises which are made by the candidate or by the parents of the candidate. The celebrant will then ask the Godparents to state that they are prepared to help the candidate or the candidate's parents to fulfil their duty and keep the Baptism promises which they have just made. Each candidate for Baptism has TWO Godparents, although if need dictates, they may choose to have only one. At least one Godparent must be a Baptised Catholic who is practising their faith by taking part in the Holy Eucharist (Mass) each week. The place of the other Godparent may be taken by a Baptised member of another Christian denomination, such as an Anglican or Methodist, and their name will be entered in the Baptism register as a "Christian witness." Please note the a person who has not been Baptised cannot be a Godparent. It is highly desirable that one of the Catholic Godparents should also act as the candidate's Sponsor when they receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. This both marks the link between the two Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation as Sacraments of Initiation into the Christian faith, and emphasises the role which the Godparent plays in the personal growth of the candidate in the Christian faith.
THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM : ITS ORIGIN AND MEANING
Nearly 2,000 years ago Jesus Christ was put to death on a Cross. He was raised three days later by the power of God. People ask to be Baptised (often referred to as Christened) because they believe that Jesus really is risen and alive today and because they wish to follow him by living their lives according to the Gospel and the commandments that he gave to us, most especially the commandment to love God and love our neighbour.
During the ceremony of Baptism, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the candidate becomes a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ, a member of God's Church, and is welcomed into the Christian family.
A sign of the Cross is made on the candidate’s forehead before they are Baptised — and they will be anointed with the Holy Oil of Catechumens and the Holy Oil of Chrism. Anointing is a very ancient custom, first used in Old Testament times and symbolises the strength which God will give to the newly Baptised Christian to help them to live up to the promises which they will make to Him during the ceremony.
If the candidate for Baptism is a child or infant and, therefore, too young to make the promises of the Baptism ceremony by themselves, their parents and Godparents will make the promises for them and will give a solemn undertaking before God to pass on their own Christian faith to their child by teaching them to know and love God and their neighbour and by the example of their own lives.
The priest then blesses the water used in the Baptism ceremony. He pours it over the candidate’s head three times — (1) in the name of the Father; (2) in the name of the Son; (3) in the name of the Holy Spirit. Just as water washes and cleanses us, so through Baptism God washes away and forgives our sins. In the early days of the Church people were baptised as adults and usually in a river. They were submerged under the water symbolising that they had died to their old way of life and entered the Tomb with Christ. They re-emerged, symbolising that they had risen with Christ to a New Life. When a person is Baptised, they are given the same New Life which is nothing less than a share in the everlasting, divine life of Jesus Christ himself. Through Baptism, the candidate is thus Born Again to a life that will last into eternity.
A lighted candle is given to the newly Baptised person. This is lit from the Paschal (or Easter) candle which burns beside the Font throughout the ceremony. It is so-called because it was carried into the church on Holy Saturday evening, as darkness fell and the celebration of Easter and Jesus’ resurrection from the dead was beginning. The people followed this one light into the darkened church; it symbolised Christ, risen from the dead, enlightening our world that had been darkened by our sins. As the baptised person now shares in Christ’s own divine, eternal life, this is symbolised by lighting their Baptism candle from the Paschal candle. This Baptism candle is given to the baptised person to keep, as a life-long reminder that they are now Christian, that they share in Christ’s own life and to remind them always to reflect the Light of Christ in their daily life.
The newly Baptised person is clothed in a white garment to symbolise the holiness of the life of Christ whose divine, everlasting life they now share in. If the person who has been Baptised is a baby or small child, their Christening shawl is blessed in the ceremony and used for this purpose.
The benefits which a person receives at Baptism need to be renewed regularly otherwise it is possible that they may not succeed in embracing the Christian faith as adults, or that they could lose that faith altogether. God renews our Faith, our Hope and our Love when we take part in the life and worship of the Christian community in church and celebrate the Sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist (Mass), obeying Jesus’ command to us: "Do this in remembrance of me."
