The first sacrament a person receives in life is the sacrament of Baptism. We celebrate that sacrament in Midleton Parish on Saturdays at 4.30pm and Sundays at 1.15pm. On the second Sunday of the month the sacrament is celebrated in Ballintotis Church, the other weekends it is celebrated in Holy Rosary. For those ceremonies the maximum number of children for the celebration of the sacrament in Holy Rosary is three and in Ballintotis it is two. In order to book a date for a baptism, a completed ‘request form’ and a copy of the infant’s birth cert must be handed in to the Parish Office or can be e-mailed to the parish with the documents attached. The request form can be collected in the Parish office or downloaded from the
parish website and the date chosen will be confirmed after reception of the request form and the copy of the birth cert. Note that if there are two godparents there should be one godmother and one godfather. The following information is just some detail about the origins of infant baptism and the basic understanding of the sacrament and what is important in relation to the celebration of the sacrament as stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
1252. The practice of infant Baptism is an immemorial tradition of the Church. There is explicit testimony to this practice from the second century on, and it is quite possible that, from the beginning of the apostolic preaching, when whole “households” received baptism, infants may also have been baptized.
1253 Baptism is the sacrament of faith. But faith needs the community of believers. It is only within the faith of the Church that each of the faithful can believe. the faith required for Baptism is not a perfect and mature faith, but a beginning that is called to develop”
1254 For all the baptized, children or adults, faith must grow after Baptism. For this reason the Church celebrates each year at the Easter Vigil the renewal of baptismal promises. Preparation for Baptism leads only to the threshold of new life. Baptism is the source of that new life in Christ from which the entire Christian life springs forth.
1255 For the grace of Baptism to unfold, the parents’ help is important. So too is the role of the godfather and godmother, who must be firm believers, able and ready to help the newly baptized – child or adult on the road of Christian life. Their task is a truly ecclesial function.