As members of your faith community, we welcome you and share your joy as you prepare for your child’s baptism, the single most important day in the life of any child. We understand our responsibility to assist you as the primary educators of your child in the faith, and we look forward to doing our best to be helpful to you in fulfilling you obligations as Catholic parents.
Parents desiring the Sacrament of Baptism for their child (six years of age or less) need to be active and practicing members of this parish. If you are not members of this parish, please discuss this with the priest or deacon at the time you meet with him.
Please make an appointment for both parents to meet with the priest or deacon for an interview. Appointments may be made by calling the parish office at (619) 427-0230 during regular office hours. We ask that parents be registered members of the parish. Registration is only completed when all required steps in the registration process, including the four weeks of envelope use, are accomplished. A date for the baptism should not be scheduled until this registration process is complete. (Registering for Baptism)
After the interview, the parents will be asked to participate in baptismal preparation seminars. The Baptism Preparation Seminar is usually offered on the first and second Thursday of each month from 7:00–9:00 PM in classroom 8 of our school. Both parents are expected to attend both sessions of the seminar. Godparents are welcome to take both sessions of the seminar at our parish with the parents or they may take the seminar at their own parish and submit the certificate of attendance before the baptism date is set. Parents must make arrangements for baby-sitting for their child during the seminar.
Godparents are an important part of the sacrament of baptism, because it is their ministry to assist the parents in bringing the child up in the Catholic faith. Therefore, Godparents must be selected based upon their ability and willingness to do this. The Catholic Church asks that a Godparent must be a practicing Catholic in good standing; must be at least sixteen (16) years old; and must have already received the sacraments of baptism, confession, Holy Communion and Confirmation. If the Godparent is married he or she must be validly married in the Catholic Church. Only one Godparent is required but two Godparents are the norm. Only two Godparents, one male and one female, are allowed and recorded on the baptismal certificate (additional Christian witnesses may be present). Godparents (who are not members of Saint Rose) are asked to submit a letter from their pastor stating that they meet the canonical requirements as Godparents and that they have completed a pre-baptismal seminar.
The Sacrament of Baptism in English is celebrated on the third and fourth Sundays of the month at 2:45 PM in the Church. Please do not arrive any earlier than 2:30 PM so that parking will be available. There are no Baptisms celebrated on the fifth Sundays. As soon as the seminars are completed and the required documents are submitted the date for the baptism can be set with the priest or deacon. Baptism is the first sacrament of initiation and is a public celebration involving the whole church; because of this, “private” baptisms are not encouraged.
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