Welcome!
St Catherine's parish warmly welcomes you the parents.  We realize how important your child's baptism is.  We hope it will be an experience of renewal for your whole family's Christian faith.  We know that parents are the primary teachers in the ways of the faith.  We want to help.  The information here is what you will need for your child’s baptism in our parish.  Thank you in advance for reading it.

Checklist
Here is a step-by-step checklist for parents in order to have their child baptized:

• Decide who will be your child's godparents
  • Please read the “Godparents?” section.
  • This is a life-time commitment and cannot be changed after baptism.
• Decide about a donation
  • A donation of $80 is recommended and will be greatly appreciated.
• Arrange an Interview with one of our priests or deacons:
  • During which you will make reservations for the baptism and for the preparation class.
  • Both parents should be present.
  • Bring your child's Birth Certificate.
• Attend a Baptismal Preparation Class
  • Offered on the 2^nd or 4^th Monday of the month in Milani Center at 7:30pm.
  • Both parents should be present.
  • Godparents are required to attend.
  • Please do not bring very small children to class.
• Celebrate on baptismal day
  • The parish provides candles for baptism, but you may bring your own.
  • Your child should be dressed in white.
  • Baptisms are at 2pm on the 2^nd and 4^th Sunday of the month, except during Lent.
  • Please arrive 15 minutes early.

Godparents
A godparent together with the parents has the responsibility to present an infant for baptism and to help the baptized person lead a Christian life.
There is to be only one male godparent or one female godparent or one of each.
A godparent must

• have the ability and intention of fulfilling the responsibility of a godparent;
• have completed the sixteenth year of age;
• be a Catholic who has been confirmed and has received first Holy Communion,
  • and who leads a life of faith in keeping with the godparent’s responsibility;
• not be the father or mother of the one to be baptized.

A baptized person belonging to a non-Catholic ecclesial community (e.g. a Protestant) can be a godparent together with a Catholic godparent but only as a witness of the baptism.

Marriage and other Sacraments
Parents, are you married in the Church?  Have you been baptized, confirmed, and received first Holy Communion?  Parents are called to be the “first and best teachers in the ways of the faith” to their children by the way they live their lives.  Parents promise at their child's Baptism to raise the child in the Catholic Christian faith. Parents are therefore encouraged to strengthen their own Catholic Christian life so they can be true witnesses of Christ to their children. 

If you want information how to be married in the Church or how to receive any of the other sacraments, please tell the priest or deacon during the interview about your child's baptism.