ST. MARY'S BAPTISMAL INFORMATION

Last updated July 21, 2014

Congratulations on choosing to be Baptized or having your child baptized!

Baptism comes to us from Jesus the Christ. As found in the last words of St. Matthew's Gospel, "Go out to all the world and instruct them in all that I have taught you. Baptize them, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Behold, I am with you always!" Since these words, the Catholic Christian Church has been baptizing new Christians to the Faith of Christ. Please contact the pastor at Sacred Heart for further information

Please note the following statement of Pope John Paul II, "In this regard, I would like you to pay particular attention to the two fundamental sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist. As soon as I was raised to the Chair of Peter, I approved the instruction in which the Church confirmed the practice of infant Baptism, which has been in use since the beginning. In the pastoral practice of your local Chruches you have rightly insisted on the need to adminster Baptism only when there is a well-founded hope that the child will be brought up in the Catholic faith, so that the sacrament will bear fruit (cf. CIC 868.2). At times, however, the Church's guidelines are interpreted more strictly than they are meant to be. As a result, parents are told without sufficient reason that their child's Baptism must be postponed, or even refused. Prudence and pastoral charity suggest a more understanding attitude towards those who approach the Chruch with good intentions to request Baptism for their child. The same pastoral chairty should also restain pastors from making demands that are not required by the Chruch's doctrine or law. It is right that parents should be properly prepared for the Baptism of their child by their pastor, but it is equally important that the first sacrament of Christian initiation should be seen primarily as God the Father's gift to the child. The free and unmerited nature of grace is never so evident as on the occasion of a child's Baptism: 'In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the expiation for our sins.' (1 John 4:10)." (Italics added by the Vicar General of Peoria Diocese as found in the monthly mailing of Feb. 2000.)

Please note that the Godparents must be practicing Catholic Chirstians! And it is still the custom of the Catholic Church that the child's name reflect a Catholic Christian Saint or Blessed! Please do not chose names that are purely secular. Let us imiate the Saints by naming our children after them!
Here is a website with Saints' names. Click Here!